Book a Week in 2012 - week 43

[Robin M]

Good Morning, my lovelies! Today is the start of week 43 in our quest to read 52 books in 52 weeks. Welcome back to all our readers, welcome to all those just joining in and to all who are following our progress. Mr. Linky is all set up on the 52 books blog to link to your reviews.

 

52 Books blog - Authors birthdays: Another round of author birthdays this week include Ursula Le Guin, Jim Butcher, Debbie Macomber and Michael Crichton.

 

 

Publisher Weeklys Best New books for the Week of October 21st includes a modern translation of the Japanese Tales from the Heike and the first book in a new Lemony Snicket series Who Could That Be At This Hour. Check out PW's Q & A with Snicket's rep Daniel about his latest series.

 

 

 

 

What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

 

Link to week 42

Edited October 21, 2012 by Mytwoblessings

[Robin M]

Yesterday I started Stephen King's The Drawing of the Three which is the 2nd book in his Dark Tower series. Enjoying it so far.

[Jane in NC]

Alert: The Penguin edition has a brief introduction in which the surprise ending of all three stories is given away! Now I already knew how The Turn of the Screw ends, but I hadn't read The Pupil or The Third Person before, and didn't appreciate the spoilers.

 

[/url].

 

Comment to Sharon from the previous thread: My Shakespeare professor in college said never bother to read an introduction to a play, novel or story collection. He felt that a faulty interpretation would be foisted upon us when he preferred to foist his own. ;)

[Just Robyn]

I finished a few books this week.

 

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs - This was cute - and easy, fast read. I didn't think it was funny (not that it was necessarily intending to be, but I think humor could have improved it), didn't like the characters all that much, won't read the next book in the series.

 

Down the Rabbit Hole by Juan Pablo Villalobos - This was a very short (70 pages) and fun, while disturbing, book I pulled off the library bookshelf. Here's the description:

 

Tochtli lives in a palace. He loves hats, samurai, guillotines, and dictionaries, and what he wants more than anything right now is a new pet for his private zoo: a pygmy hippopotamus from Liberia. But Tochtli is a child whose father is a drug baron on the verge of taking over a powerful cartel, and Tochtli is growing up in a luxury hideout that he shares with hit men, prostitutes, dealers, servants, and the odd corrupt politician or two. Long-listed for The Guardian First Book Award, Down the Rabbit Hole, a masterful and darkly comic first novel, is the chronicle of a delirious journey to grant a child’s wish.

 

This book reminded me of A Clockwork Orange because it is about some pretty awful things, but it won't make you just collapse with grief because the narrator lightens everything up. In A Clockwork Orange this is done with a playful narrator and a fun register (Nadsat); in Down the Rabbit Hole this is done with an imaginative seven-year-old boy as the narrator. Between cringes I could laugh, and sometimes I did both simultaneously. My favorite line from the book is -

Hair is like a corpse you wear on your head while you're alive.

Simultaneously funny and terrible - a funny way of thinking about hair, terrible that this boy spends so much time thinking about corpses. I thought the length was pretty perfect. The child narrator is what made this book what it is - disturbing and entertaining - but if dragged on too long, I think it would become stale.

 

William Carlos Williams: Selected Poems - I'll just give you my favorite poem from this collection.

 

The Young Housewife

 

At ten A.M. the young housewife

moves about in negligee behind

the wooden walls of her husband's house.

I pass solitary in my car.

 

Then again she comes to the curb

to call the ice-man, fish-man, and stands

shy, uncorseted, tucking in

stray ends of hair, and I compare her

to a fallen leaf.

 

The noiseless wheels of my car

rush with a crackling sound over

dried leaves as I bow and pass smiling.

[-M-]

Completed since my last post:

 

#115 The Hole (Guy Burt) Fiction. Although I can find nothing on Mental multivitamin (which entered its tenth year this month-- how did *that* happen?) or in my reading journals, I felt that I had begun or skimmed this before. And, no, I haven't seen the movie. In any event, it was an intriguing, if awkwardly written, psychological "thriller."

 

#114 January First: A Child's Descent into Madness and Her Father's Struggle to Save Her (Michael Schofield) Non-fiction. Related article here.

 

#113 The Zen of Steve Jobs (Caleb Melby) Graphic novel. This delightful reimagining of the friendship between Jobs and Zen Buddhist priest Kobun Chino Otogawa sent me to my shelves in search of Walter Isaacson's biography of Jobs.

 

Complete list of books read in 2012 can be found here.

 

In progess:

 

As always, too many to list them all, but...

 

■ (finally!) finishing Quiet (Susan Cain) is high on my priority list this week.

 

■ We're rereading Henry V (Shakespeare) to coincide with St. Crispin's Day...

 

■ and we plan to finish Dracula (Bram Stoker) by Halloween.

 

■ It's been ages since I read a JCO novel, which prompted me to pluck Little Bird of Heaven from the shelves.

 

■ I've also got a David Mamet play on my TBR pile...

 

■ and Every Day (David Levithan), among other interesting books, including the abovementioned Jobs biography. We'll see where the week takes me, I guess.

 

Note:

 

My personal reading goal was to read more non-fiction this year -- specifically, 52 non-fiction books. I'm running a bit behind with 39 in Week 43. 'not sure if I can make up lost ground, but I'm going to try.

 

Happy reading, folks, and as always, thanks for keeping this feature going, Robin.

Edited October 21, 2012 by Mental multivitamin

[Just Robyn]

#114 January First: A Child's Descent into Madness and Her Father's Struggle to Save Her (Michael Schofield) Non-fiction. Related article here.

 

Wow. Thanks for sharing. Sticking that on my to-read list.

[Mom-ninja.]

ETA: And now working through Arthur's Britain.

 

This looks interesting.

 

 

I finished P.G. Wodehouse The Adventures of Sally which was book 53.

 

 

My dh insists that I read The Last Apprentice and it's quite the perfect October book. I was basically hiding under my blanket last night reading the first few chapters. I told him not to be surprised if I wrap myself around his neck while he's sleeping.

[Angel]

Comment to Sharon from the previous thread: My Shakespeare professor in college said never bother to read an introduction to a play, novel or story collection. He felt that a faulty interpretation would be foisted upon us when he preferred to foist his own. ;)

 

I totally agree with your professor! I never read them, and frequently disagree if I do read them afterward. When I was teaching Shakespeare last year I had one or two who would read those beforehand. It most definitely colored their perception of what they read.

[Angel]

I finished the loveliest Regency romance yesterday! I just couldn't put it down! So my #39 is Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson. Sweet story and characters, lots of beautifully written romance with no s*x. I actually laughed out loud a couple times ;) All this from a brand new author. This is the kind of book that I would like to write. I rarely recommend something as a must read, BUT if you love a good Regency romance, please pick this up! It would definitely get 5 stars from me.

[Violet Crown]

Comment to Sharon from the previous thread: My Shakespeare professor in college said never bother to read an introduction to a play, novel or story collection. He felt that a faulty interpretation would be foisted upon us when he preferred to foist his own. ;)

 

A wise man.

[Paisley Hedgehog]

.

[dangermom]

I was out of town last weekend and never got around to posting my books, so here's two weeks' worth.

 

The Chinese Bell Murders -- A detective story set in Imperial China (Ming Dynasty, IIRC) and written according to approved detective-story rules for the time. Really cool book.

 

The Black Mirror -- a collection of classic SF stories written in German, from 1970s to today. Some great stories, and a few duds.

 

Jane Austen's Sewing Box -- supposed to be a book of Regency items to make, but really a lavish picture book with some very good essays on domestic life. Oh yeah, and some projects.

 

 

For my Gothic in October event, I've also been hosting a read-along of Radcliffe's The Italian, which is being a really fun read, and daily M. R. James stories, which has been very educational and fun (though time-consuming, I may need a week's vacation from blogging at the end!).

[The Governess]

Checking in after an absence from these threads. I went through a dry spell for a bit there, but now I'm back in the game... however, I doubt I will catch up before the year is up. :)

 

 

26. Insurgent by Veronica Roth

25. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

24. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert O'Brien

24. Divergent by Veronica Roth

24. The Chosen by Chaim Potok

23. The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

22. Guiding Readers and Writers, Grades 3-6 by Fountas and Pinnell

21. Fresh Takes on Teaching Literary Elements by Jeffrey Willhelm

20. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

19. Why Don't Students Like School? by Daniel Willingham

18. Improving Comprehension With Think-Aloud Strategies by Jeffrey Willhelm

17. The First Days of School by Harry Wong

16. Mechanically Inclined by Jeff Anderson

15. The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

14. Elizabeth I by Margaret George

13. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

12. Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

11. The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene Du Bois

10. The Wanderings of Odysseus by Rosemary Sutcliff

9. Marva Collins' Way by Marva Collins

8. Climbing Parnassus by Tracy Lee Simmons

7. The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White

6. Elizabeth and Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens by Jane Dunn

5. Her Fearful Symetry by Audrey Niffenegger

4. Crossed by Ally Condie

3. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

2. The Book That Made Your World by Vishal Mangalwadi

1. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

 

Next up: a re-read of The Hobbit and the sequel to The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland.

[Negin]

I've never read a Stephen King book and am wondering if I should. I cannot tolerate scary, but I do like excitement/thriller-type stuff, such as The Dragon Tattoo stuff and so on. I loved The Green Mile movie. The one thing that impresses me is that he loves Harry Potter and cannot stand Twilight, as do I.

 

 

I finished Pictures of You and give it 4 Stars. I think it has a lot to do with timing and what I need at this point in my life - not too heavy or serious :).

 

I'm now reading The Year of Magical Thinking.

 

 

MY RATING SYSTEM

5 Stars

Fantastic, couldn't put it down

4 Stars

Really Good

3 Stars

Enjoyable

2 Stars

Just Okay – nothing to write home about

1 Star

Rubbish – waste of my money and time. Few books make it to this level, since I usually give up on them if they’re that bad.

[Robin M]

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs - This was cute - and easy, fast read. I didn't think it was funny (not that it was necessarily intending to be, but I think humor could have improved it), didn't like the characters all that much, won't read the next book in the series.

 

William Carlos Williams: Selected Poems - I'll just give you my favorite poem from this collection.

 

The Young Housewife

 

At ten A.M. the young housewife

moves about in negligee behind

the wooden walls of her husband's house.

I pass solitary in my car.

 

Then again she comes to the curb

to call the ice-man, fish-man, and stands

shy, uncorseted, tucking in

stray ends of hair, and I compare her

to a fallen leaf.

 

The noiseless wheels of my car

rush with a crackling sound over

dried leaves as I bow and pass smiling.

 

That's a shame. I loved the Mercy Thompson series. It got pretty intense in the later books. Thanks for sharing the poem.

 

Happy reading, folks, and as always, thanks for keeping this feature going, Robin.

 

My pleasure

 

Started The Passage by Justin Cronin. It is good so far and reminds me of early Stephen King but without the profanity. On page 135 of 750, so I'll be here for a while.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed it. He has a 2nd book The Twelve which just came out and is the 2nd book in the trilogy.

 

The Chinese Bell Murders -- A detective story set in Imperial China (Ming Dynasty, IIRC) and written according to approved detective-story rules for the time. Really cool book.

 

Looks really interesting. Will have to check them otu.

 

I've never read a Stephen King book and am wondering if I should. I cannot tolerate scary, but I do like excitement/thriller-type stuff, such as The Dragon Tattoo stuff and so on. I loved The Green Mile movie. The one thing that impresses me is that he loves Harry Potter and cannot stand Twilight, as do I.

 

I really enjoyed Duma Key which was more psychological thriller than horror. Under the Dome was not so much horror as a psychological experiment when a town is cut off from society by a alien dome. You just have to search through his books and cull out the ones that are pure horror which I can't stand. Same thing with Dean Koontz.

[Stacia]

Well, even though it's still October & I should be concentrating on scary reads, Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell finally came in for me at the library, so I've started reading it. I need to plow through as I think 1) I may not be able to renew it right now because of others having it on hold and 2) I'd like to go ahead & read it because the movie starts soon (Oct. 26) & I'd definitely like to see the movie (because the preview intrigues me). I'm not very far into the book yet, but I love it so far -- Mitchell has a beautiful writing style.

 

Has anyone else read it (or are you planning to read it)? Are you going to see the movie?

 

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

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).

Completed Rosie's Local Reading Challenge (#56 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 (2 stars)

45. The Rook by Daniel O'Malley (4 stars)

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

47. Phoenix Rising by Pip Ballentine & Tee Morris (3 stars)

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

49. Thud! by Terry Pratchett (3 stars)

50. Wide Open by Nicola Barker (3 stars)

 

51. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez (4 stars)

52. The Merciful Women by Federico Andahazi (3 stars)

53. The Vampyre by John William Polidori (3 stars)

54. Living in a Nutshell by Janet Lee (3 stars)

55. Dracula by Bram Stoker (4 stars)

56. Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay (3 stars)

57. Visit Sunny Chernobyl by Andrew Blackwell (4 stars)

58. John Dies at the End by David Wong (4 stars)

Edited September 11, 2014 by Stacia

[Stacia]

Robin, that's a fun new avatar! It's like you just rotated 90 degrees & changed into anime/illustration form! I like that you even kept the red top. :001_smile:

[Kareni]

I just finished Gabriel's Inferno by Sylvain Reynard which I found lengthy but enjoyable. (Well, apart from over usage of the word 'smirked'.)

 

Regards,

Kareni

Edited October 22, 2012 by Kareni

[Jane in NC]

.

 

The Chinese Bell Murders -- A detective story set in Imperial China (Ming Dynasty, IIRC) and written according to approved detective-story rules for the time. Really cool book.

 

 

 

Van Gulik is a wonderful writer. I have always loved how the Judge Dee books incorporate lessons in Confucianism within the mystery.

[Storm Bay]

Comment to Sharon from the previous thread: My Shakespeare professor in college said never bother to read an introduction to a play, novel or story collection. He felt that a faulty interpretation would be foisted upon us when he preferred to foist his own. ;)

 

:iagree: This also holds true, IMO, for philosophy. As one of my family members said, anyone can understand philosophy if someone tells them what it means, but, more importantly, I am free to interpret it however I like (which, so far, is how it is, but I can inject my opinions & arguments with the premises or logic all on my own, and, most of the time, give up with irritation even though I want to love philosophy because I love the way the arguments are formed, etc!!!)

 

However, once in a great while I find that reading a little bit of an intro to a novel can help me with some novels IF it's not interpreting but either giving me historical context or something. I don't usually read them to find out how many of those do that, but if I do, I usually stop when they're going to tell me what the novel is all about or what it means.

 

That brings me to another point--I totally disagree with the postmodernist views about what a novel means, etc--the author is generally expert on that as they knew what they meant when they wrote it. That said, I don't want to know what the meant until after I've read it.

[shanvan]

 

I'm now reading The Year of Magical Thinking.

 

I read this last year. It was poignant. It really made me take a good look at my life and my marriage, and appreciate small things more. Thanks for reminding me about it.

[Just Robyn]

That's a shame. I loved the Mercy Thompson series. It got pretty intense in the later books. Thanks for sharing the poem.

 

I'll keep that in mind about the Mercy Thompson books. I did get that impression - that things were getting set up in the first book so future books could focus more on action, and I was left curious about what abilities Mercy had that she would end up learning about in future books, and how she would learn about them. So, it's not like I was completely disinterested; I just don't like Mercy.

[eaglei]

I just barely eked out one book this week . . .

 

#58 - In the Shadow of the Pulpit: An Anecdotal Autobiography, by Ann and Joel Klein. Holocaust survivors who eventually come to America, where he continues as a Rabbi and she eventually finds herself. I really wanted to like this book - couldn't wait to read it, in fact - but I was disappointed. It was rather blah. Too much psychoanalyzing, not enough story.

 

I rarely don't finish a book once I've started it, but I did not finish Make Miracles in Forty Days: Turning What You Have Into What You Want, by Melody Beattie. It seemed trite, repetitious, and just generally not my cuppa . . .

 

Don't know what's up next - maybe an easy-reading novel that I don't have to think too hard on since I have way too much on my mind as it is. :001_smile:

[Robin M]

Robin, that's a fun new avatar! It's like you just rotated 90 degrees & changed into anime/illustration form! I like that you even kept the red top. :001_smile:

 

Thanks - Didn't even think about the red top. Had fun with it and the first one I came up with my hubby told me I looked like Sarah Palin. Ack! So kept playing.

[LostSurprise]

I've never read a Stephen King book and am wondering if I should. I cannot tolerate scary, but I do like excitement/thriller-type stuff, such as The Dragon Tattoo stuff and so on. I loved The Green Mile movie. The one thing that impresses me is that he loves Harry Potter and cannot stand Twilight, as do I.

 

 

 

You should. I always had this idea about Stephen King that his work was semi-lame horror (by reading Cujo and Firestarter in high school). I was really pleasantly surprised by The Stand, It, The Green Mile, Lisey's Story, and his short story collections (Different Seasons is very strong and contains The Body, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, and Apt Pupil..all of which were made into movies).

 

At least try The Green Mile. I read it a few months ago. You'll probably like it. King is more supernatural/thriller.

Edited October 22, 2012 by LostSurprise

[Ali in OR]

I did my scary reads this week--from the children's section! Not sure I could handle anything more. I have avoided reading The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman as a read aloud to the girls because the opening image of a man systematically murdering a family was too much. But reading it on my own, I rather enjoyed this book. It was not too intense and was "unreal" enough to not be disturbing (to me) after all. Then I read Coraline (same author), and for some reason that one bothered me more. I was stressed out for Coraline while reading it, wondering how she would get back to the real world. Stress and reading don't go together for me. I also finished Silas Marner this week to be able to discuss it with dd. She really enjoyed it, and I like this one too.

 

Next up: almost done with another Jane Austen Mystery and I'll see if the library has the next one. I've got The 19th Wife waiting for me at the library as our next book club book--a novel about Brigham Young's 19th wife. I hear it's a long one, so I'll be working on getting that done before it's due back. Hope it's a 4-weeker instead of a 2-weeker!

 

Books Read in 2012 (* = contenders for my 2012 Top Ten)

58. Coraline-Neil Gaiman

57. The Graveyard Book-Neil Gaiman

56. Silas Marner-George Eliot

55. The Orphan Sister-Gwendolen Gross

54. The Secret Life of the Lonely Doll-Jean Nathan

53. The Rook-Daniel O’Malley

52. All Creatures Great and Small-James Herriot

51. The Hobbit-J.R.R. Tolkien

50. Jane and the Stillroom Maid-Stephanie Barron

49. Jane and the Genius of the Place-Stephanie Barron

48. Jane and the Wandering Eye-Stephanie Barron

47. The Power of Habit-Charles Duhigg*

46. Anna Karenina-Leo Tolstoy*

45. Jane and the Man of the Cloth-Stephanie Barron

44. The House of the Seven Gables-Nathaniel Hawthorne

43. Mockingjay-Suzanne Collins

42. The Vitamin D Solution-Michael F. Holick

41. Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor-Stephanie Barron

40. Suspense and Sensibility-Carrie Bebris

39. Catching Fire-Suzanne Collins

38. Pride and Prescience-Carrie Bebris

37. The Night Circus-Erin Morgenstern*

36. Houskeeping-Marilynne Robinson

35. Death Comes to Pemberley-P.D. James

34. The Language of Flowers-Vanessa Diffenbaugh*

33. The Peach Keeper-Sarah Addison Allen

32. 11/22/63-Stephen King*

31. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer-Mark Twain

30. Quiet-Susan Cain*

29. The Paris Wife-Paula McLain

28. The Girl Who Chased the Moon-Sarah Addison Allen

27. The Feast Nearby-Robin Mather

26. The Sugar Queen-Sarah Addison Allen

25. The Invention of Hugo Cabret-Brian Selznick

24. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks-Rebecca Skloot*

23. The Hunger Games-Suzanne Collins

22. Not a Fan-Kyle Idleman

21. Wildwood-Colin Meloy

20. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children-Ransom Riggs

19. The Mysterious Affair at Styles-Agatha Christie

18. A String in the Harp-Nancy Bond

17. The Art of Hearing Heartbeats-Jan-Philipp Sendker*

16. The Lacuna-Barbara Kingsolver*

15. I Am Half-Sick of Shadows-Alan Bradley

14. Garden Spells-Sarah Addison Allen

13. The Prince and the Pauper-Mark Twain

12. Romeo and Juliet-William Shakespeare

11. The Shallows-Nicholas Carr

10. The Handmaid’s Tale-Margaret Atwood

9. Mudbound-Hillary Jordan*

8. The Other Wind-Ursula Le Guin

7. What the Dog Saw-Malcolm Gladwell

6. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall-Anne Bronte

5. Tehanu-Ursula Le Guin

4. The Scarlet Pimpernel-Baroness Orczy

3. The Paleo Diet-Loren Cordain

2. Peter Pan-James Barrie

1. The Farthest Shore-Ursula Le Guin

[VeganCupcake]

Last week, I listened to The Majesty of the Law by Sandra Day O'Connor. I was foolishly wishing for lots of juicy info about supreme court deliberations, but it was really about the U.S. judicial system and the influence of the SCOTUS throughout its history. Interesting, but not what I had hoped for!

 

Now I am listening to The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and reading Feeling Good by David Burns. Feeling Good is so amazing.

[Negin]

I really enjoyed Duma Key which was more psychological thriller than horror. Under the Dome was not so much horror as a psychological experiment when a town is cut off from society by a alien dome. You just have to search through his books and cull out the ones that are pure horror which I can't stand. Same thing with Dean Koontz.

Robin, thank you. Added both to my wish list. Yes, I cannot stand horror either. I tried to read Dean Koontz once and it was so scary. Maybe I need to search his books also.

Love your new avatar:)

 

I read this last year. It was poignant. It really made me take a good look at my life and my marriage, and appreciate small things more. Thanks for reminding me about it.

:). Shannon, you may very well have been the one who told me about it here.

 

I was really pleasantly surprised by The Stand, It, The Green Mile, Lisey's Story, and his short story collections (Different Seasons is very strong and contains The Body, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, and Apt Pupil..all of which were made into movies).

At least try The Green Mile. I read it a few months ago. You'll probably like it. King is more supernatural/thriller.

Tam, I completely forgot that he wrote Shawshank Redemption. This is one of my favorite movies of all time. I probably won't read The Green Mile, since I've seen the movie a few times. I've added on the other books you've mentioned here. Thank you. :)

[Pink and Green Mom]

This week I finished #53 - Goldberg Variations, by Susan Isaacs. Not a fan. It's about an 80 year old entrepreneur who "interviews" the three grandchildren she hardly knows to find a successor for her once she is gone. It wasn't terrible, just not terribly good.

 

Am currently reading We Need to Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver. WOW. I'm about 90 pages in and I really like it. It will be an interesting story about nature v. nurture.

[Storm Bay]

I finished Reamde, which I mentioned a week or so ago (it's long) http://www.amazon.com/Reamde-A-Novel-Neal-Stephenson/dp/0061977969 . It's definitely NOT a 5 star book, and probably worth the average of 3.5 stars there, although if you like this author, you might like it better than I did:) I didn't care about all of the characters (I did care about a couple of them), the beginning is slow & it's a bit over the top. Nevertheless, it was good enough that I didn't drop it.

 

I'm now rereading The Hobbit as ds is doing the book this year, and am still working on Until it Hurts: America's Obsession with Youth Sports and How it Harms our Kids. The latter is very much worth reading if you live in any country which has organized sports for kids under age 6, year round competition in one sport for kids, sport specialization before age 13, etc. The US & Canada are definitely in that category.

 

48. Winter of the World Ken Follet

49. Don’t Turn Around Michelle Gagnon

50. Reamde Neal Stephenson

[Heather in Neverland]

This week...

 

Started Reading:

The Night Circus

 

 

Still reading:

Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wickedly Effective Prose

 

 

Completed:

35. Alone With God

34. What Angel's Fear: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery

33. The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

32. Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy

31. Frankenstein

30. The Lotus and the Cross

29. Desiring God

28. Blood Feud: The Hatfields and the McCoys

27. Among the Gods

26. The Deadliest Monster

25. Faith of My Fathers

24. A Good American

23. They Say/I Say:The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing

22. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

21. Insurgent

20. Stand: A Call for the Endurance of the Saints

19. The Strength of His Hands

18. The Meaning of Marriage

17. Funny in Farsi

16. The Constantine Codex

15. What the Dog Saw

14. What is the Mission of the Church?: Making Sense of Social Justice, Shalom, and the Great Commission

13. Gods and Kings

12. A Skeleton in God's Closet

11. My Hands Came Away Red

10. The Omnivore's Dilemma

9. Dead Heat

8. Redeeming Love

7. Family Driven Faith: What it Takes to Raise Sons and Daughters Who Walk with God

6. Organized Simplicity

5. Year of Wonders

4. The Holiness of God

3. The Paris Wife

2. The Peach Keeper

1. Relic

[Maus]

Completed:

Book #57 - "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. A reread. I read it first in High School, probably for AP English or AP History. I don't remember the long "Introductory Chapter. The Custom-House," though. Maybe that's not in every edition.

 

Book #56 - "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte.

Book #55 - "America: The Story of Us, Book 3 - A House Divided Cannot Stand" by Kevin Baker.

Book #54 - "America: The Story of Us, Book 2 - Creating the West" by Kevin Baker.

Book #53 - "Oliver Twist" by Charles Dickens.

Book #52 - "America: The Story of Us, Book 1 - The World Comes to America" by Kevin Baker, et. al.

Book #51 - "The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains" by Nicholas Carr.

Book #50 - "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen.

Book #49 - "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift.

Book #48 - "No Regrets: How Homeschooling Earned me a Master's Degree at Age Sixteen" by Alexandra Swann.

Book #47 - "What to Read When" by Pam Allyn.

Book #46 - "60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Salt Lake City" by Greg Witt.

Book #45 - "Freeing Your Child From Anxiety" by Tamar Chansky.

Book #44 - "A Nation Rising" by Kenneth C. Davis.

Book #43 - "The Pilgrim's Progress" by John Bunyan.

Book #42 - "The School for the Insanely Gifted" by Dan Elish.

Book #41 - "The Eye of the Sun - Part One of Blackwood: Legends of the Forest" by Les Moyes.

Book #40 - "The Fallacy Detective" by Nathaniel Bluedorn and Hans Bluedorn.

Book #39 - "Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes. Translated by John Ormsby.

Book #38 - "Organizing Solutions for People with Attention Deficit Disorder" by Susan C. Pinsky.

Book #37 - "Growing Up: A Classic American Childhood" by Marilyn vos Savant.

Book #36 -"A Young People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn.

Book #35 - "Organizing the Disorganized Child: Simple Strategies to Succeed in School" by Martin L. Kutscher & Marcella Moran.

Book #34 - "Turn Right at Machu Picchu" by Mark Adams.

Book #33 - "The Lightening Thief" by Rick Riordan.

Book #32 - "Thunder Dog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog, And the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero" by Michael Hingson.

Book #31 - "America's Hidden History" by Kenneth C. Davis.

Book #30 - "The Diamond of Darkhold†by Jeanne DuPrau.

Book #29 - "The People of Sparks†by Jeanne DuPrau.

Book #28 - "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins.

Book #27 - "Well-Educated Mind" by Susan Wise Bauer.

Book #26 - "The Prophet of Yonwood" by Jeanne Duprau.

Book #25 - "City of Ember" by Jeanne Duprau.

Book #24 - "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch.

Book #23 - "Who Moved My Cheese" by Spencer Johnson.

Book #22 - "Deconstructing Penguins" by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone.

Book #21 - "Stargirl" by Jerry Spinelli.

Book #20 - "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins.

Book #19 - "Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins.

Book #18 - "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer.

Book #17 - "Frozen Assets: Cook for a Day, Eat for a Month" by Deborah Taylor-Hough.

Book #16 - "Miserly Moms: Living Well on Less in a Tough Economy" by Jonni McCoy.

Book #15 - "The Highly Sensitive Person" by Elaine N. Aron, Ph.D.

Book #14 - "Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking" by Susan Cain.

Book #13 - "Chasing Vermeer" by Blue Balliett.

Book #12 - "The Highly Sensitive Person" by Elaine N. Aron, Ph.D.

Book #11 - "Extraordinary, Ordinary People" by Condoleezza Rice.

Book #10 - "The Pig in the Pantry" by Rose Godfrey.

Book #9 - "The Virgin in the Ice" by Ellis Peters.

Book #8 - "The Leper of St. Giles" by Ellis Peters.

Book #7 - "St. Peter's Fair" by Ellis Peters.

Book #6 - "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" by Amy Chua.

Book #5 - "Monk's Hood" by Ellis Peters.

Book #4 - "Flash and Bones" by Kathy Reichs.

Book #3 - "Spider Bones" by Kathy Reichs.

Book #2 - "One Corpse Too Many" by Ellis Peters.

Book #1 - "A Morbid Taste for Bones" by Ellis Peters.

[Just Robyn]

I did my scary reads this week--from the children's section! Not sure I could handle anything more. I have avoided reading The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman as a read aloud to the girls because the opening image of a man systematically murdering a family was too much. But reading it on my own, I rather enjoyed this book. It was not too intense and was "unreal" enough to not be disturbing (to me) after all. Then I read Coraline (same author), and for some reason that one bothered me more. I was stressed out for Coraline while reading it, wondering how she would get back to the real world. Stress and reading don't go together for me.

 

I just read Coraline too! I read it to my kids. We enjoyed it, but we had already seen the movie.

 

I also just left it at kids books for scary reads. I had thought I'd finally read some Lovecraft, but after reading The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Rip Van Winkle, and We, I just couldn't read another really old book written by a white male.

[aggieamy]

I finished the loveliest Regency romance yesterday! I just couldn't put it down! So my #39 is Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson. Sweet story and characters, lots of beautifully written romance with no s*x. I actually laughed out loud a couple times ;) All this from a brand new author. This is the kind of book that I would like to write. I rarely recommend something as a must read, BUT if you love a good Regency romance, please pick this up! It would definitely get 5 stars from me.

 

Noooooo! I just made a personal promise to myself that I wouldn't add anymore books to my to-read list until I got it down under 30 and then you have to go and recommend a book that I MUST add to my to-read list.

 

At this rate I'm going to have 500 books on my to-read list.

 

Robin, that's a fun new avatar! It's like you just rotated 90 degrees & changed into anime/illustration form! I like that you even kept the red top. :001_smile:

 

:iagree: It totally looks like you.

 

ETA: Right after I posted this I had a brief moment of internet paranoia and thought ... It looks like Robin, if that previous picture really was Robin and it's not some strange creepy guy in his mom's basement that just found a picture of a cute lady to use as an avatar to throw us all off. Then I paused for a moment and realized that doing a Book-a-Week thread would be the lamest troll in internet history. What's a troll going to do? Recommend crappy books? Make fun of our reading choices? Start read alongs that nobody wants to read? "This week we're all going to read Twilight!"

 

Robin - I've never doubted you're authenticity but I had to laugh at myself for my moment of silly internet paranoia. I blame it on my lectures to DD recently on being careful on the internet.

Edited October 22, 2012 by aggieamy

[Storm Bay]

Good Morning, my lovelies!

 

What are you reading this week?

 

 

Great avatar :).

[Robin M]

:iagree: It totally looks like you.

 

ETA: Right after I posted this I had a brief moment of internet paranoia and thought ... It looks like Robin, if that previous picture really was Robin and it's not some strange creepy guy in his mom's basement that just found a picture of a cute lady to use as an avatar to throw us all off. Then I paused for a moment and realized that doing a Book-a-Week thread would be the lamest troll in internet history. What's a troll going to do? Recommend crappy books? Make fun of our reading choices? Start read alongs that nobody wants to read? "This week we're all going to read Twilight!"

 

Robin - I've never doubted you're authenticity but I had to laugh at myself for my moment of silly internet paranoia. I blame it on my lectures to DD recently on being careful on the internet.

 

"Who's that tripping over my bridge?" roared the troll.

 

If I was the creepy fat guy or gal sitting in the basement I would have said 50 Shades of Gray is the most intelligent, intellectual, literary book everyone has to read it and if you don't have a copy, I'll send you one. :lol:

 

*hugs* Amy!

[Robin M]

@stacia Thank you for recommending otherjohn capture all the book a week threads under the great posts threads. I had been contemplating whether I was going to have to cut and post every single one into a word document or just take the chance they wouldn't be lost in the change over.

[Angel]

Noooooo! I just made a personal promise to myself that I wouldn't add anymore books to my to-read list until I got it down under 30 and then you have to go and recommend a book that I MUST add to my to-read list.

 

Yes, you MUST add it to your list! Actually, you really should go ahead and find a copy now. ;) I read it in two days and so did dd! I just gave it to her on Sunday and she was done last night. And that was in two VERY busy days. I could have finished it in one if I had had the time. So it is a quick read...go ahead and get it! Dd and I have decided we need to own it.

 

I'm such a big help :lol:

[LostSurprise]

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell finally came in for me at the library, so I've started reading it. I need to plow through as I think 1) I may not be able to renew it right now because of others having it on hold and 2) I'd like to go ahead & read it because the movie starts soon (Oct. 26) & I'd definitely like to see the movie (because the preview intrigues me). I'm not very far into the book yet, but I love it so far -- Mitchell has a beautiful writing style.

 

Has anyone else read it (or are you planning to read it)? Are you going to see the movie?

 

I read it. I liked it. I commented on it in this thread when the preview first came out. ;)

 

I'll see the movie if it comes to local theaters.

 

99. I Am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells~fiction, adventure, sociopaths, teen narrator. If you've seen Dexter you know the basic plot of this novel already. High school boy with sociopathic tendencies controls them with elaborate rules. Serial killer comes to town and boy finds his rules challenged by a need to stop the killer. A bit more teen then I like (extended morbid descriptions of his mother's mortuary made me skim ahead), but I though Wells had an interesting concept (even if not original) and portrayed the complex family relationships well. Okay.

 

98. Baby Catcher by Peggy Vincent~memoir, midwives, California, birth stories. If you like birth stories you'll like this. Vincent was a labor and delivery nurse who went back to school in the late '70s to do homebirths as a midwife. She delivered babies in the Bay Area through the '80s. Some sad (warning). Some strange. Most joyful.

 

*Top 10

**Best of the Year

97. Tunnel in the Sky by Robert Heinlein~science fiction, future worlds, survival.

96. The Gypsies by Jan Yoors~'30s, Gypsy/Rom culture.

95. A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute~fiction, WWII, Australia, Malaya, romance.

94. Delta Wedding by Eudora Welty~fiction, deep South, family. *

92. Wasp Factory by Iain Banks~fiction, horror, psychopath, coming of age.

91. True Grit by Charles Portis~western, coming of age, humor/irony. **

85. Doc by Mary Doria Russell~historical fiction, American plains, Doc Holliday.

82. Landscaping with Native Plants of Minnesota by Lynn Steiner~gardening, native plants. *

81. The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa~mathematics, friendship, family, baseball.

79. Half Broke Horses by Jeannette ~memoir, biography, southwest

78. The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack by Mark Hodder~science fiction, alternate history, Richard Burton, steampunk.

68. The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall~children's fiction, sisters, adventure. *

61. The Poisoner's Handbook by Deborah Blum~non-fiction, forensic science, chemistry, New York, Prohibition. *

59. The Green Mile by Stephen King~supernatural, prison, 1930s. *

51. North by Northanger by Carrie Bebis~Jane Austen, mystery

47. The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi~memoir, Italy, criminal case, serial killer. *

41. Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris~fiction, France, WWII, food. *

28. Divergent by Veronica Roth~youth fiction, dystopian.

23. Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood by Oliver Sacks~non-fiction, memoir, history of chemistry.

18. A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell~fiction, WWII **

11. Case Histories by Kate Atkinson~mystery

7. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman~non-fiction/medical *

2. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton~Fiction

1. The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt~Fiction

 

 

Working on:

Blood Meridian (McCarthy) ~I will finish this, I will. Sometime when I can access a Spanish translator on the computer.

The Zookeeper's Wife (Ackerman)

Drinking Coffee, Elsewhere (Packer)

Insurgent

American Pie: my search for the perfect pizza (Reinhart)

Edited October 24, 2012 by LostSurprise
added some finished books

[Storm Bay]

I finished Until it Hurts: American's Obsession with Youth Sports and How it Harms Our Kids, which a book I think is a MUST READ, or did I mention that already???? MY 3 dc do youth sports, and it's made me happy for some of my decisions & also taught me a lot.

[aggieamy]

We finished our read aloud of White Stallion of Lipizza by Marguerite Henry . DD really enjoyed it and I found it a bit dry.

 

Hounded (Iron Druid Chronicles) by Kevin Hearne - This was for book club and I expected to love it but I couldn't even finish it. Most everyone in my book club thought the same.

 

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton was the ladies book club choice for this month and I was unsure of it because it wasn't my usual genre but I LOVED IT. Great plot, great characters, great twist to the end. I'd say this is a must read.

 

 

In progress:

Tom's Midnight Garden by Phillipa Pearce

Paddle to the Sea by Holling C. Holling (read aloud)

Village School by Miss Read

 

 

2012 finished books:

 

111. White Stallion of Lipizza by Marguerite Henry - read aloud (****)

110. The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton (*****)

109. Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach (**)

108. Mrs. Sharp's Traditions: Reviving Victorian Family Celebrations of Comfort & Joy by Sarah Breathnach (****)

107. Beauty by Robin McKinley (*****)

106. Time and Again by Jack Finney (****)

105. The First 20 Minutes: Surprising Science Reveals How We Can: Exercise Better, Train Smarter, Live Longer by Gretchen Reynolds (**)

104. Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright (***)

103. Carry on, My Bowditch by Jean Lee Lantham - read aloud (*****)

102. Outlining Your Novel by KM Weiland (****)

101. Living in a Nutshell - Posh and Portable Decorating Ideas for Living in Small Spaces by Janet Lee (***)

100. Very Good, Jeeves by PD Wodehouse (*****)

99. All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot (*****)

98. How to Get Your Child to Love Reading by Esme Codell (****)

97. Harris and Me by Gary Paulsen (***)

96. The Cat Who Played Brahms by Lillian Jackson Braun (****)

95. Bringing Up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman (**)

94. Surviving Hitler by Andrea Warren (****)

93. The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler (***)

92. Playful Learning by Mariah Bruehl (***)

91. The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern by Lillian Jackson Braun - audiobook (****)

90. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie (***)

89. Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman - YA (****)

88. The Mirror Cracked Side to Side by Agatha Christie (***)

87. The Princess Bride by William Goldman (*****)

86. Crocodiles on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters (***)

86. The Tattooed Potato and Other Clues by Ellen Raskin - YA (***)

84. Supermarket by Satoshi Azuchi (**)

83. Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto (*****)

82. Stein on Writing by Sol Stein (****)

81. Order from Chaos by Liz Davenport (**)

Books 41 - 80

Books 1 - 40

 

Amy's Rating System:

 

***** - Fantastic, couldn't put it down

**** - Very good

*** - Enjoyable but nothing special

** - Not recommended

* - Horrible

[-M-]

Completed since my last post:

 

#117 Henry V (William Shakespeare) Play. A re-read, with the Misses, for St. Crispin's Day.

 

#116 Shelter (Harlan Coben) YA fiction. While I've read and recommended some of Coben's adult fiction titles (e.g., Hold Tight and Caught), I thought this YA selection was improbable, to say nothing of impossibly "gappy" -- that is, too many plot-holes.

 

Complete list of books read in 2012 can be found here.

 

In progess:

 

Too many to list them all, but (finally!) finishing Quiet (Susan Cain) is *still* high on my priority list for this week. We'll see.

[Storm Bay]

Completed since my last post:

 

#117 Henry V (William Shakespeare) Play. A re-read, with the Misses, for St. Crispin's Day.

 

 

Now if you could somehow transmit enjoyment of Shakespeare to my eldest, who is currently studying Hamlet, that would be helpful ;). I'm off to read your link.

[Angel]

I left my library book I was reading at the dentist office this evening. :glare: About two chapters from the end :glare: I just hope no one takes it before I can get there tomorrow morning.

[Robin M]

Link to week 44 - please continue conversation in new thread