Book a Week in 2012 - week 36

[VeganCupcake]

I just finished Wheat Belly and I'm so impressionable that I have cut out gluten for the last three days. :D

[Rosie_0801]

I've just finished reading a book about growing grains. My aunt insists I'm going to help her grow rice in two old bathtubs so when I saw this in the gardening catalog I accidentallyish bought a copy.

 

:)

Rosie

[Storm Bay]

 

Alan Furst is the WWII espionage author. He has a new book out--haven't read it yet.

 

That's right.

 

I finished A Conspiracy of Friends for some light reading. The funniest parts were near the end. It's not everyone's cup of tea, and I think it may be just that it's very British (not that I'm sure, but perhaps).

 

I'm dutifully reading through Your Three Year Old: Friend or Enemy for work.

[Angel]

I was wondering where you were in the series :) I took a break, too, but might have to pick them up soon. I'm glad I don't have to wait for them to be written anymore like I did when they were coming out.

 

What Heyer is waiting for you? I think I've worked my way through my mom's stash ... I might have one or two left to read.

 

My cousin introduced me to David Eddings somewhere around '89 or '90. I must have had to wait for the last book in The Mallorean but I don't remember that. I remember waiting for Belgarath the Sorcerer and Polgara the Sorceress. I also love Eddings' Elenium and Tamuli series.

 

Though Eddings' is my favorite, I am a huge fan of Robert Jordan as well. I just noticed that they finally have a release date for the last and final book. I have reread that series every time but one that a new book has come out. I'm trying to decide if I want to do that. It's a lot of books to get through before January. All that to say I know what it's like to wait :D

 

As far as Heyer goes, I bought Venetia and The Grand Sophy with a gift card this summer. I started Venetia first because I've heard The Grand Sophy is a huge favorite. I really enjoyed Cotillion by Heyer. I've also read Faro's Daughter this year.

 

I love having someone to talk fantasy with!! I'm not so much into the deep, thoughtful, and depressing books or "R" rated books so I don't get to discuss much here some weeks :D I don't branch out from my favorite genres much.

Edited September 6, 2012 by Angel

[CAMom]

I finished Mozart's Last Aria last night. It was a quick, easy read and I liked the intrigue. The whole time I was reading it, I could picture it as a movie.:)

 

I've started reading A Thousand Splendid Suns. I'm only about 50 pages in but really enjoying it so far.

[Negin]

I finished Mozart's Last Aria last night. It was a quick, easy read and I liked the intrigue. The whole time I was reading it, I could picture it as a movie.:)

This is on my wish list.

 

I've started reading A Thousand Splendid Suns. I'm only about 50 pages in but really enjoying it so far.

This is one of my all-time favorite books. :)

 

I love reading your posts on this thread. :grouphug:

[Mom-ninja.]

I finished The Best of James Herriot.

 

I had no idea that wasn't his real name.

[Storm Bay]

I finished The Best of James Herriot.

 

I had no idea that wasn't his real name.

 

I didn't, either, until I was checking him out the other day to be sure I'd read the same book being posted (not the one you just read.)

[CAMom]

This is on my wish list.

 

I think you'll really like it, Negin.

 

This is one of my all-time favorite books. :)

 

How did I not know this? Now I know I'll continue to like it!:)

 

I love reading your posts on this thread. :grouphug:

 

You are way too sweet!:grouphug:

[Stacia]

Ah. A new week of Book a Week. One of my favorite things about Sundays.

 

:iagree:

 

Anna Karenina - I switched translations to one that got better reviews. So far I've only found subtle differences from the one I was reading before.

 

I wanted to read this before the movie comes out. What do you think so far? What translation are you using?

 

91. True Grit by Charles Portis~western, coming of age, humor/irony. I loved this book. Perhaps I would have felt more moderately if I read it alone, but I read it aloud to dh in the car and we both loved it. Mattie Ross is one of my favorite female characters, so stubborn and used to adult responsibilities but so naive too. Perfect characterization. Very similar to the Coen brothers movie, but with more depth (of course) and more fun poking gentle fun at the characters. Looking forward to Portis' other books. **

 

I will have to keep this in mind. I loved the Coen brothers' movie....

 

Have I mention how much I love Eddings' writing :lol:

 

Another author I need to read...

 

I've been undecided about Red Tent for a few years. Can never seem to decide.

 

Yeah, me too. I read it so many years ago & thought it was ok. Mostly what I remember is sobbing through portions of it. Meh...

[Stacia]

Atonement - 1 Star - boring and thoroughly disappointed

 

That's too bad! I hate getting through a book to find it just rated a 1. Argh. :tongue_smilie:

 

The Devil Wears Prada

 

Loved the movie. (Haven't read the book.)

 

I just finished The Summer of Katya, which is my book club's pick for the month. I loved the narrative voice and the setting. The plot reminded me of The Thirteenth Tale and The Forgotten Garden.

 

Sounds like a good one!

 

Reading depth now: Bill Shatner's Up Till Now. very funny autobio. Not what I expected.

 

Will have to check it out. Plus, it sounds like one my dh would enjoy too.

 

I finished Mozart's Last Aria last night. It was a quick, easy read and I liked the intrigue. The whole time I was reading it, I could picture it as a movie.:)

 

I've started reading A Thousand Splendid Suns. I'm only about 50 pages in but really enjoying it so far.

 

I still need to read A Thousand Splendid Suns.

 

Over the past couple of days, I finished a different book -- Wide Open (IMPAC International Dublin Literary Award) by Nicola Barker. Barker creates some of the most interesting, unique, disturbing characters that I meet in books. Her novel is by turns amusing, dark, sad, and symbolic. Overall, I enjoyed the book, but I think it would not be to everyone's liking. (I read her book Darkmans last year & loved it.) She's definitely a great writer & is someone to watch. She's on this year's longlist for the Man Booker prize for The Yips (which I want to read).

 

In the meantime, I'm still working on One Hundred Years of Solitude. I've decided to not worry so much about who everyone in the story is; rather, I'm just going with the flow of the story itself & totally enjoying my jaunt into South American magical realism....

 

--------------------------

My Goodreads Page

Completed the Europa Challenge Cappuccino Level (at least 6 Europa books: #s 4, 9, 10, 11, 14, 19, & 21 on my list).

Completed Robin's Read a Russian Author in April Challenge (#24 & #26 on my list).

 

My rating system: 5 = Love; 4 = Pretty awesome; 3 = Decently good; 2 = Ok; 1 = Don't bother (I shouldn't have any 1s on my list as I would ditch them before finishing)...

 

2012 Books Read:

Books I read January-June 2012

37. Clutter Busting Your Life by Brooks Palmer (3 stars)

38. The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje (5 stars)

39. The Colors of Infamy by Albert Cossery (3 stars)

40. Osa and Martin: For the Love of Adventure by Kelly Enright (3 stars)

 

41. Hexed by Kevin Hearne (4 stars)

42. Soulless by Gail Carriger (3 stars)

43. The Hoarder in You by Dr. Robin Zasio (3 stars)

44. What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty (3 stars)

45. The Rook by Daniel O'Malley (5 stars)

46. The Nazi Séance by Arthur J. Magida (2 stars)

47. Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeyemi (5 stars)

48. Thud! by Terry Pratchett (4 stars)

49. Wide Open by Nicola Barker (3.5 stars)

[Lady Florida.]

 

 

I wanted to read this before the movie comes out. What do you think so far? What translation are you using?

 

 

 

 

I was reading the Constance Garnett translation (the one that's free online), but switched to this one. Although I'm reading the Kindle version, it's available in paperback too. The translators are a husband-wife team. He's American and she's Russian, so you have a native speaker of both languages. As I mentioned previously though, I'm really not seeing a difference - at least not yet. Maybe it comes later.

 

I like it so far. It's still early, it's not a page-turner, but it's interesting. Even though I'm not far into it yet, I can already see some of Tolstoy's beliefs through the characters.

[Mom-ninja.]

I've just finished reading a book about growing grains. My aunt insists I'm going to help her grow rice in two old bathtubs so when I saw this in the gardening catalog I accidentallyish bought a copy.

 

:)

Rosie

 

 

This sounds like a project my boys would love.

[6packofun]

Sharp Objects was too dark for me, too, but I'm excited to read Gone Girl which I hear is SO good.

[Negin]

You are way too sweet!

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

 

Yeah, me too. I read it so many years ago & thought it was ok. Mostly what I remember is sobbing through portions of it. Meh...

Hmmm ... still undecided. I guess I could give it a try at some point.

 

That's too bad! I hate getting through a book to find it just rated a 1.

Yes. Not fun at all.

I've been told that his other book Amsterdam is much better. On the one hand, I'd like to give it a try, but then again, given the fact that I really didn't care for Atonement, I'm not so sure.

BTW Stacia, I have a distant relative here in med school. She and I often discuss books. Her taste is exactly like yours. So very similar! I told her about you. :) She's on goodreads but we have yet to connect. She's super busy, obviously. She gifted our dc with two Terry Pratchett books. Her favorite. You would have approved. :)

Edited September 7, 2012 by Negin in Grenada

[LostSurprise]

Yes. Not fun at all.

I've been told that his other book Amsterdam is much better. On the one hand, I'd like to give it a try, but then again, given the fact that I really didn't care for Atonement, I'm not so sure.

 

 

Welll...I didn't give Atonement a 1, but I didn't like it that much, and I didn't like Amsterdam. The characters seemed to go off the tracks at the end for no understandable reason.

 

At least with Atonement, while I felt jerked around, I understood the character's motivation. I was just annoyed at what McEwan had put me through to get there.

[Storm Bay]

 

 

In the meantime, I'm still working on One Hundred Years of Solitude. I've decided to not worry so much about who everyone in the story is; rather, I'm just going with the flow of the story itself & totally enjoying my jaunt into South American magical realism....

 

.

 

Is this book good? What is South American magical realism?

[Pink and Green Mom]

We're just wrapping up our vacation so I read these three books:

 

#45 - Drinking Closer to Home, by Jessica Blau. I really enjoyed this. Such a crazy family but I really found myself drawn in. Didn't expect to like it as much as I did.

 

#46 - The Kitchen Boy, by Robert Alexander. Historical fiction about the final days and execution of the Romanov family, as told by the kitchen boy. I really liked this one as well.

 

#47 - The Beach House, by James Patterson. This is the first book I've ever read by him, and I didn't particularly care for it.

[Stacia]

Is this book good? What is South American magical realism?

 

I am enjoying it.

 

This is just my opinion on magical realism -- not research or anything. Magical realism is a genre of literature where magical happenings (people living to unreal ages, ghosts being present & active in the lives of the living, strange happenings, etc...) are presented as a part of normal life for the characters; the characters see & interact w/ these things like they're everyday occurrences. Generally, magical realism is strongly associated w/ Latin American writers. I'm not sure if they 'invented' the genre or not, but I've always thought it very typical of many Central & South American writers -- even an autobiography I read (by Cuban Carlos Eire) had a magical realism feel, imo (even though there were no 'magical' events in his autobiography; it's just the way he described things that gave it a certain 'feel', imo). I don't think One Hundred Years of Solitude is the book that created magical realism, but I think it is the most famous work of magical realism.

 

I enjoy a lot of magical realism &/or surreal writing. Through the last couple of years especially, I've read a lot of works that could probably fall under the umbrella of magical realism &/or surrealism. Different parts of the world seem to have different styles to their magical realism &, to me, Latin American magical realism has a style of its own.

 

FYI, here's the wikipedia article about it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_realism

 

And, here's a list on Goodreads of various magical realist works (not sure I agree w/ all of these, but it's a starting point):

http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/magical-realism

 

Don't know if that answered your question or not.... :tongue_smilie:

[Stacia]

I like it so far. It's still early, it's not a page-turner, but it's interesting. Even though I'm not far into it yet, I can already see some of Tolstoy's beliefs through the characters.

 

Keep us posted!

 

BTW Stacia, I have a distant relative here in med school. She and I often discuss books. Her taste is exactly like yours. So very similar! I told her about you. :) She's on goodreads but we have yet to connect. She's super busy, obviously. She gifted our dc with two Terry Pratchett books. Her favorite. You would have approved. :)

 

:D That's cool. She must have good taste in books. ;):lol: If she ever finds time to get on Goodreads, I'd love to friend her for her book suggestions.

 

Welll...I didn't give Atonement a 1, but I didn't like it that much, and I didn't like Amsterdam. The characters seemed to go off the tracks at the end for no understandable reason.

 

At least with Atonement, while I felt jerked around, I understood the character's motivation. I was just annoyed at what McEwan had put me through to get there.

 

Hmmm. I *thought* I wanted to read McEwan sometime, but you & Negin are making me reconsider....

[Lady Florida.]

 

And, here's a list on Goodreads of various magical realist works (not sure I agree w/ all of these, but it's a starting point):

http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/magical-realism

 

 

I didn't know it was called magical realism. I've read more than a few books on that list, and several others (I didn't go through all 300+ pages) are on my TBR list.

 

 

 

 

Hmmm. I *thought* I wanted to read McEwan sometime, but you & Negin are making me reconsider....

 

:iagree: I've been thinking I might want to read Atonement, but now I'm not so sure.

[Negin]

Welll...I didn't give Atonement a 1, but I didn't like it that much, and I didn't like Amsterdam. The characters seemed to go off the tracks at the end for no understandable reason.

At least with Atonement, while I felt jerked around, I understood the character's motivation. I was just annoyed at what McEwan had put me through to get there.

Yes, :iagree:.

Had I been in a different mood, I may have given it 2 Stars. I felt that he really dragged it on and on ...

 

I've been thinking I might want to read Atonement, but now I'm not so sure.

It's hard to say since books are so subjective. You never know. You may end up liking it after all.

I should have stuck to my 10% Rule (if a book doesn't engage me in the first 10%, I usually move on to something else - life is too short to read rubbish, IMHO). I kept hoping and thinking that it would get better.

 

#47 - The Beach House, by James Patterson. This is the first book I've ever read by him, and I didn't particularly care for it.

Read this several years ago. I felt the same way.

 

:D That's cool. She must have good taste in books. ;):lol: If she ever finds time to get on Goodreads, I'd love to friend her for her book suggestions.

Yes, I will :). She is on Goodreads. I just haven't been able to find her yet.

[LostSurprise]

Hmmm. I *thought* I wanted to read McEwan sometime, but you & Negin are making me reconsider....

 

I think McEwan is a talented writer. I thought the first section of Atonement was interesting (I had to drag myself through the second and third sections hoping it would all come together), and I liked Amsterdam okay for most of the novel. For those 2 novels I think he lacked the interest (or maybe the ability) to create a catharsis for the reader. That doesn't mean they have to have a happy ending, but that the audience has the ability to work things out with the characters. He didn't do that, so it felt like Agatha Christie not giving you the important clues and then springing an ending on you. :001_huh:

 

People like different things though...and writers go through different stages (I leave the possibility open that I'll like a different McEwan novel).

[Angel]

Finished #34 Venetia by Georgette Heyer last night. What a sweet book! I have struggled for years to find a romance author that I can love that is PG. All my favorite romance authors are bodice rippers, LOL, (Judith McNaught, Julie Garwood, and Kathleen Woodwiess) and I don't read them anymore. I do love Lori Wick but only one of her series is based in England (my favorite place to read about). I look forward to going through Heyer's books! :thumbup:

[-M-]

Late to the thread.

Recently completed:

 

#95 Animal Farm (George Orwell; fiction) With the Misses; a reread. Tied in (so very loosely it may actually come undone) to The Island of Doctor Moreau but also (more reasonably) to our recent studies in political philosophy. I allow synchronicity/serendipity/synthesis a liberal hand in ordering and re-ordering our lit selections.

 

#94 UnWholly (Neal Shusterman; YA fiction) A sequel to his haunting Unwind.

#93 Hamlet (William Shakespeare; play) With the Misses; a re-read. And here is synchronicity/serendipity/synthesis at work: Hamlet was on the list for next year, but the playbill for Three Sisters (at the Steppenwolf) included an ad for Hamlet (at the Writers' Theatre). We have tickets for a show later this month.

In progress:

 

■ Hamlet: Poem Unlimited (Harold Bloom; non-fiction)

■ Are You Liberal? Conservative? Or Confused? (Richard Maybury; non-fiction)

 

And too, too many others.

In queue:

 

■ Metamophoses by Ovid (Charles Matin, translator) Why?

 

"In 1998, Lookingglass debuted Metamorphoses, a play of such grace and beauty that the memory of it still lingers in the minds of audiences today. The critically-acclaimed, record-breaking Chicago engagement led to a Broadway production that garnered Mary Zimmerman the 2002 Tony Award for Best Director and catapulted Lookingglass onto the national stage."

 

We have tickets! Zimmerman actually based her play on the Slavitt translation, but I own the Matin translation and have heard such good things about it.

 

■ Electra (Sophocles)

■ Oedipus Rex (Sophocles)

We'll see the Lyric Opera's Elektra next month, which led to a discussion of the plot, which led Sophocles, which led to a "Well, why not cover this now?" decision.

 

■ It Can't Happen Here (Sinclair Lewis)

To tie in with our political philosophy / presidential politics unit.

[Robin M]

Link to week 37 - please continue conversation in new thread