Book a Week in 2013 - week six

[MomtoCandJ]

Reading Cleaning House to myself and reading What The Robin Knows aloud to dd. finally finished the Great Influenza, could have done with out all the repeat information though.

I have skimmed a lot of DIY, how to type books as well

Week 6: The Great Influenza

Week 5: Who's Panties Are These?

Week 4: What's a Disorganized Person To Do

Week 3: The Other Side of Night

Week 2: Richest Woman in America

Week1: Lotions, Potions, Pills and Magic

[Angel]

I finished my second book this morning. The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan. I had trouble putting the book down, I just didn't have a lot of time to read. My body thinks it needs sleep more than reading time these days. :glare: I gave this one 4.5 stars. There is one part of the book that is a little slow for me. Otherwise, fantastic. I am always amazed at how Jordan can keep all of his characters straight.

 

I don't know how you all read more than one book at a time. I thought about sneaking in a quick read between books, but I feel it is cheating on my other characters. :D

 

2. The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan (599 pages) 4.5 stars

1. The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan (702 pages) 4 stars

 

 

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

 

 

(I'm borrowing whomever's rating system this is because it fits me and I like the word "rubbish" :laugh: )

[tammyw]

I'm currently reading From Beirut to Jerusalem. It is slow going. For me, it's a very challenging read, so if I get through this (almost 600 pages), I'll be quite proud of myself. I may not absorb every single fact, but I am learning.

[luvnlattes]

I finished The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson. The book discusses how it's the little things we do, day in and day out, that bring us success. It's an interesting idea and he talks about how the theory not only applies to your finances and career, but to your health and relationships as well. It was fun to see how some of his comments would bring to mind ideas presented in both Getting Things Done and Reinventing Yourself, two books whose subjects really have nothing to do with each other.

 

This week I'm reading The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom and continuing to listen to Overcoming Dyslexia by Dr. Sally Shaywitz. Oh, and we're doing The Moccasin Trail by Eloise Jarvis McGraw as a read aloud.

 

Books so far this year:

1. The Missing by Chris Mooney

2. Becoming Fearless by Michelle Aguilar

3. Now You See Me by S.J. Bolton

4. Getting Things Done by David Allen

5. Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo

6. Reinventing Yourself by Steve Chandler

7. The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson

[windmillmarie]

We had a series of events here involving freezing pipes exploding and stomach flu at the same time, so reading has been on the backburner for me. I have a few things coming on interlibrary loan. Whatever shows up will be my next book.

 

I have to get my act together and organize a list or a goodreads account or something so I can be just like you guys and have a nice record to look on for the year :hurray:. I feel like I am having a year of change (my mini-mid life crisis if you will) and I think my book selections are going to reflect that. I am also trying to avoid too much gore-dead children-tragedy because I am particularly sensitive right now.

 

So let's see: since January 15

 

The cottage at Glass Beach : a novel / Heather Barbieri. in progress, I'm really loving the writing so far and the pacing.

 

Betty Crocker's Indian home cooking / recipes and written by Raghavan Iyer. I actually read this cover to cover and will probably buy it. I rarely actually read a cookbook.

 

One thousand gifts : a dare to live fully right where you are / Ann Voskamp. Don't think I can finish this one even though it was recommended here on the forums somewhere. I can't handle all the death descriptions and I'm not good with dreamy poetic writing unless I am stoked for it.

 

Something called Boundaries that is upstairs right now. Have to come back and edit. Also reccomended on TWTM forums.

 

I have about 5 things in transit, so those should be here soon. Oh, and I read the Lightning Thief. It's definitely creative. I hate that POV and that talky casual style of writing (sorry, science major here and don't know the lit lingo!) but it wasn't too bad to force myself though. My son's excitement that I read it actually trumped everything!

[Susan in TN]

This week I'm starting on Unnatural Death - a Lord Peter Whimsey mystery by Dorothy Sayers. I discovered a volume of 4 Lord Peter novels in my bookcase last night and thought I'd read at least one of them. I enjoyed The Nine Tailors when I read it years ago.

 

So far read:

The Passage

84 Charing Cross Road

The Hunger Games

Catching Fire

Mockingjay

The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

[Kareni]

My most recent read was fun -- Enchanted, Inc. by Shanna Swendson.

 

From the back of the book: "DON’T MESS WITH HEXES

 

Katie Chandler had always heard that New York is a weird and wonderful place, but this small-town Texas gal had no idea how weird until she moved there. Everywhere she goes, she sees something worth gawking at and Katie is afraid she’s a little too normal to make a splash in the big city. Working for an ogre of a boss doesn’t help.

 

Then, seemingly out of the blue, Katie gets a job offer from Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc., a company that tricks of the trade to the magic community. For MSI, Katie’s ordinariness is an asset. Lacking any bit of magic, she can easily spot a fake spell, catch hidden clauses in competitor’s contracts, and detect magically disguised intruders. Suddenly, average Katie is very special indeed.

 

She quickly learns that office politics are even more complicated when your new boss is a real ogre, and you have a crush on the sexy, shy, ultra powerful head of the R&D department, who is so busy fighting an evil competitor threatening to sell black magic on the street that he seems barely to notice Katie. Now it’s up to Katie to pull off the impossible: save the world and–hopefully–live happily ever after."

 

There are sequels, too.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[PollyOR]

Last week was rough. Lesson learned: there is no such thing as "minor" surgery. :sad:

 

I'm sorry to hear it was rough. I'm having an inguinal (groin) hernia repaired this coming Friday and I'm just a wee bit nervous about the recovery.

 

 

 

We had a series of events here involving freezing pipes exploding and stomach flu at the same time, so reading has been on the backburner for me.

Oh, man! How's that for timing? Just when you NEED water. Hope you all are feeling better and that the damage from the broken pipes wasn't too bad.

[ElaineJ]

I finally finished Death Comes For the Archbishop by Willa Cather this week. It certainly didn't have an action packed plot, but she did a wonderful job of conveying a sense of place. I felt like I could see and experience New Mexico as it was just after the United States added it to its territory. Her main characters were likeable and also realistic. I would recommend the book.

I am currently reading 2 books: The Habit of Being, which is the collected letters of Flannery O'Connor, and Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. Les Miserables is about 1500 pages, so I think it will be awhile before I am done reading it.

 

Elaine

[Hoot]

Today I finished Beowulf, and over the last few days I've made it 6 books into "The Odyssey." I'm hoping to finish it by the end of the week.

 

Completed So Far

 

1. Best Friends by Samantha Glen

2. Wesley the Owl by Stacey O'Brien

3. The Gift of Pets: Stories Only a Vet Could Tell by Bruce Coston

4. Nim Chimpsky: The Chimp Who Would Be Human by Elizabeth Hess

5. Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams & Mark Carwardine

6. Confessions of a Prairie Bitch by Alison Arngrim

7. Beowulf by Seamus Heaney

[trinchick]

Finished a few this week:

 

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (Audio) - After the Hemingway talk on this thread a couple of weeks ago, I thought I'd give it a try on audio. I really enjoyed the story. Well read by Donald Sutherland.

 

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand - A board favorite, and I can definitely see why. I wonder how many other amazing stories of survival and bravery have been lost, untold by survivors too stoic and/or traumatized to share them.

 

Confessions of a Prairie Bitch by Alison Arngrim - I was struck by my own misconception that child actors earn enough to leave them set for life (apart from their own squandering of resources or embezzlement/poor guidance by guardians). I wonder if that is indicative of the era or if the same still is true of today's young actors.

 

In Progress:

I started A Tale of Two Cities on audio this morning for the February Dickens challenge. I listened for more than an hour, and nothing has happened yet. I haven't read any Dickens in years, and I had forgotten how verbose he is. It's getting rather tedious, so I hope the action heats up soon.

 

Finished this Year:

14. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

13. Confessions of a Prairie Bitch by Alison Arngrim

12. The Old Man and the Sea (Audio)

11. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (Audio)

10. Forgotten Bookmarks by Michael Popek

9. An Invisible Thread by Laura Schroff

8. Breaking Night by Liz Murray

7. The Four Story Mistake by Elizabeth Enright (Read aloud)

6. The Autobiography of an Execution by David Dow

5. A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews (Canada)

4. The Children of Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren (Read aloud)

3. The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright (Read aloud)

2. Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill (Canada)

1. A Walk Across the Sun by Corban Addison

[Mom-ninja.]

I just finished Tehanu, by Ursala Le Guin. That is the 4th in the EarthSea series. I am still in love with the series and the writer. The books are not page turners in the traditional sense but instead you can't put them down because you don't want to leave the world she created. There are 2 more in the series, but I still have to get them.

 

 

 

I have those books on my TBR pile.

 

 

 

I don't know if these count. I don't have time for pleasure reading. All of my time is taken up in read text books. I'm currently reading Miller-Levine Biology, SWB's The History of the Ancient World and The Well Educated Mind. I'm also reading A Cultural Landscape.

 

 

Totally counts.

 

 

 

I didn't get much reading done. I got trapped into the Time Suck of "Lizzie Bennet's Diaries." So fun.

[Storm Bay]

I'm back after days as I have insanely got myself involved in another reading group suggested by an old online friend of mine from back in the days I was writing a literary novel (the first chapter was a strong semifinalist in the Dana awards) which I have destroyed all copies of. I still see her on FB from time to time. Some of the challenges are like our group on steroid. I spent the weekend trying to read a book quickly, but fell asleep at night and had so much to do that I listened to a lot of it recorded (I got both the audio & the print book.) Thankfully, I won't have to do that every weekend.

 

The good news is that most of these can be combined with our challenges here, and I am more likely to get more of ours done this way. In fact, I'm rereading (okay, this time recorded) one of the First Ladies Detective agency books, and since the author was born in Africa, taught there & it takes place there, it can also be counted as part of our continental challenge.

 

If this continues, my house will be cleaner since I can justify listening to so much fiction during the day only by doing something at the same time. I do have print books I'm reading. If all three dc were still homeschooling, this couldn't happen, nor could it have happened when they were younger. Plus I joined a choir this year & have to practice even though I won't go to the final concert because it will be in tree season and I hate, hate, hate some of the spring pieces so much I won't sing them (not that I have strong opinions when it comes to music & lyrics, no, not me!)

 

So even though I've only finished the following 4 books (colour coded for different WTM challenges as I have 2 5/5/5s I'm putting some of our challenges in) I'll be finishing more now. Yikes--the colour coding was lost!!! This means I'll have to redo them later when I post more of my reading! Green is for our inspirationall challenge, blue is for my personal y/a challenge as part of my 5/5/5 (and y/a will help me with some of these crazy challenges) & red for the Canadian Challenge. All of these are in my C 5/5/5. I'm still reading Les Miserables, am listening to Tea for the Traditionally Built (continental), and am reading Pride & Prejudice (just for fun, plus continental challenge & possibly classics in my 5/5/5, but possible not) as well as rereading The Hour that Changes the World (Inspirational).

 

My pile is growing, and I have 2 y/a audio books to listen to with ds that will be fit in there as well. I've discovered play-aways (the one I'm listening to right now is one) at the library, and we have some decent headphones that don't sit in your ear, so I'm going to look for more of those as I can listen while I walk (I've been getting lazy with walking this winter, so this will help.)

 

 

1. Reversing Religious Repression

2. Wishing You Were Here Catherine Chant

3. Wish You Were Eyre (Mother-Daughter Book Club)

4. Anne of Green Gables

 

I finished 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea this evening. I liked it. I do wish it wrapped up neater. I like tidy endings for fiction.

 

Robin, does this count for the sci-fi challenge?

 

 

I hope Robin says yes, since as a former scifi reader, I've always understood Jules Verne to be scifi, and indeed, so do scifi readers.

 

I know I read this book, but cannot remember much about it (almost nothing), although I remember quite a bit about Journey to the Centre of the Earth. I read them when I was in high school, I'm sure, since that's when I read quite a bit of scifi.

Dh is a great Wilkie Collins fan, and keeps moving them over to my bedside table. Tell me if you think The Moonstone is a good choice. And get well soon!

 

 

I'm interrupting to say that while I liked Woman in White, I couldn't read most of Moonstone. Does your dh have both?

 

What if you die with an empty Amazon list? That'd be worse!

 

 

I don't know. If it means you got to read every book you wanted to and died at a ripe old age, I think that could be just fine. :)

I suppose that I could give it a try on the Kindle but I am reading the Heritage Press edition of Tom Jones with its magnificent illustrations by T.M.Cleland.

 

I too love Fielding and am especially enjoying the commentaries that begin each book.

 

 

Is Tom Jones a chunkster? I'm pretty much talked into reading it (I think I read it in high school, but can't remember 100 percent for sure), but if it is I may look for a good, unabridged recording of it.

I'm most of the way through Grapes of Wrath. I feel kind of bad saying it because it's so bleak and sad, but I'm really enjoying this book. It's like "hopelessness, hopelessness, hopelessness, crystal clear slice of life, hopelessness, etc."

 

 

Hmm, it's people like you that mean that people like me have to read that book :glare: ;) . Okay, I read it voluntarily and kept on reading waiting for it to get happier and it never did. I read it in high school for entertainment & since I was depressed throughout high school I probably couldn't get past the bleakness of the entire novel to appreciate any "crystal clear slice of life" parts.

[Storm Bay]

 

I didn't get much reading done. I got trapped into the Time Suck of "Lizzie Bennet's Diaries." So fun.

 

 

What are these?

[MelAR05]

I finished The $100 Start Up this week. I really enjoyed it. More practical advice than I would have expected. East of Eden is my book this week. I read it about 9 years ago and am excited to read it again. Curious to see if after 3 children it is still one of my all time favorites.

 

 

Completed:

 

6.) The $100 Start Up

5.) A Christmas Carol

4.) Dracula

3.) The Night Circus

2.) Switch

1.) Getting Things Done

[Violet Crown]

 

I'm interrupting to say that while I liked Woman in White, I couldn't read most of Moonstone. Does your dh have both?

 

 

Is Tom Jones a chunkster? I'm pretty much talked into reading it (I think I read it in high school, but can't remember 100 percent for sure), but if it is I may look for a good, unabridged recording of it.

 

 

 

Dh has now read everything Collins wrote. Likes it all.

 

Tom Jones definitely counts as a chunkster.

[Tullia]

Completed for week 5: Evening in the Palace of Reason James R. Gaines and Whose Body? Dorothy L. Sayers. Thank you to ds who let me borrow from his Bach library: Three Sonatas and Three Partitas for Solo Violin. (BVW 1001-1006) Mark Kaplan.

 

I missed last week's Kindle deal on Gaudy Night, but found Whose Body? Clouds of Witness and the collection Lord Peter Views the Body for reasonable prices.

 

Week 6: I've started The Diamond Age Neal Stephenson.

[Mom-ninja.]

What are these?

 

 

They are a series of videos, done as video blogs, of Pride and Prejudice redone in a modern version. They are fun. I'm enjoying how they are staying true to the characters and changing things to fit into the year 2012. I love Mr. Collins! It's fun for Austen fans.

 

Site if interested

[LostSurprise]

 

I didn't get much reading done. I got trapped into the Time Suck of "Lizzie Bennet's Diaries." So fun.

 

 

Hey, me too! I caught up over Christmas. They just finished the Pemberley arc.

 

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries is a modern adaptation of Pride and Prejudice using vlogs (video blogs) and other social media to tell the story.

 

1st 10 episodes to get a taste:

 

Links to various platforms from the beginning: http://www.lizziebennet.com/story/

[Mom-ninja.]

 

Hey, me too! I caught up over Christmas. They just finished the Pemberley arc.

 

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries is a modern adaptation of Pride and Prejudice using vlogs (video blogs) and other social media to tell the story.

 

1st 10 episodes to get a taste:

 

Links to various platforms from the beginning: http://www.lizziebennet.com/story/

 

 

I'm on episode 60. I haven't checked out the spinoffs.

[Hunter's Moon]

Goodness, how does you all read all of these books so quickly?

 

I do not even have children and I cannot do that!

 

I am currently in the middle of a few books. I am almost done with one, and half way through another. The others are towards the beginning.

[LostSurprise]

 

I'm on episode 60. I haven't checked out the spinoffs.

 

I think the early Lydia (and Maria) spin-offs aren't really necessary to the main storyline, but they certainly make you more connected to Lydia, and better understand that she's a struggling young adult (not a bad or thoughtless person).

 

Soon you'll get to the point where the 'spin-offs' really tell you part of the story. Christmas is a turning point for Lydia and watching her videos then lets you see what's going on with George Wickham. Georgiana's are important too, to see what Darcy's doing.

[VeganCupcake]

Year of Impossible Goodbyes, by Sook Nyul Choi. This covered the end of the Japanese invasion of Korea, and the beginning of North Korea.

 

 

Oooh, yes, that does sound very interesting.

 

I finally finished Death Comes For the Archbishop by Willa Cather this week. It certainly didn't have an action packed plot, but she did a wonderful job of conveying a sense of place. I felt like I could see and experience New Mexico as it was just after the United States added it to its territory. Her main characters were likeable and also realistic. I would recommend the book.

 

 

That is one of my favorites. I love the characters so much.

 

I finished The $100 Start Up this week. I really enjoyed it. More practical advice than I would have expected. East of Eden is my book this week. I read it about 9 years ago and am excited to read it again. Curious to see if after 3 children it is still one of my all time favorites.

 

 

I loved East of Eden some years ago when I read it, too.

 

I'm still reading Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver and listening to Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. I hope to finish both in the next couple of days.

[aggieamy]

Holy Heck. My night's shot. Thank you for introducing something I will not be able to stop until I'm finished. The Lizzie Bennet vlogs.

[Robin M]

Glad you had a productive trip. ;) :lol: Did it keep your ds happy too?

 

 

Yes, he was quite happy and got some comic books, Adventures of tintin, star wars stuff and star wars insider magazine.

[ladydusk]

Completed for week 5: Evening in the Palace of Reason James R. Gaines and Whose Body? Dorothy L. Sayers. Thank you to ds who let me borrow from his Bach library: Three Sonatas and Three Partitas for Solo Violin. (BVW 1001-1006) Mark Kaplan.

 

 

I greatly enjoyed both of these last year. What did you think of the Gaines? Obviously, you got to listen to some Bach ...

[Giraffe]

Still in crazy-land until next week, but managed to finish Book Was There: Reading In Electronic Times by Andrew Piper on various planes. Very interesting book that I would like to own so that I could spend time with it and make notes. Unfortunately that was a library book and had to be returned. I also returned The Artist, The Philosopher, and The Warrior as it's really something I need to read when I get to the Renaissance. Fabulous book, though.

 

Had a library Kindle book come in: Switch: How To Change Things When Change Is Hard so that's next up.

 

Finished:

The Handmaid's Tale, Atwood

The Song of Achilles, Miller

Alias Grace, Atwood

Book Was There: Reading In Electronic Times, Piper

 

In Process:

The Iliad, Homer

The Histories, Herodotus

 

On Deck this week:

Switch: How To Change Things When Change Is Hard. Heath

 

I'll write better reviews, ratings, comments in a couple of weeks when life settles back down for me.

[Susan in TN]

I greatly enjoyed both of these last year. What did you think of the Gaines? Obviously, you got to listen to some Bach ...

 

 

Oh, I loved Evening in the Palace of Reason. It's been years since I read it - I might need to pick it up again.

[Mom-ninja.]

Holy Heck. My night's shot. Thank you for introducing something I will not be able to stop until I'm finished. The Lizzie Bennet vlogs.

 

 

That's exactly what happened to me. :laugh:

[Tullia]

I greatly enjoyed both of these last year. What did you think of the Gaines? Obviously, you got to listen to some Bach ...

 

 

Ds was home for the weekend and we had an interesting conversation about the interview with the author at the back of the book. He's decided to pursue a STEM major, and it's a challenge to do that and stay involved in music.

 

I've put it on the list for reading again, but after I've had a chance to do more research. I thought the jumping back and forth was going to annoy me, but I had a busy week and was forced to read only a couple of chapters at a time. So, instead of reading the book in great chunks I had time to savor the book. I've started a new commonplace book, and found some gems in Gaines. My goal is to find at least one entry for each day's reading. I'm putting some of them on my new blog as well. (Link in the sig line.)

[ladydusk]

I've put it on the list for reading again, but after I've had a chance to do more research. I thought the jumping back and forth was going to annoy me, but I had a busy week and was forced to read only a couple of chapters at a time. So, instead of reading the book in great chunks I had time to savor the book. I've started a new commonplace book, and found some gems in Gaines. My goal is to find at least one entry for each day's reading. I'm putting some of them on my new blog as well. (Link in the sig line.)

 

There were some real gems in that book. I posted my commonplace entries here. I had the following as my siggie here for a while:

 

Once they had [new, foreign] music in hand, old or new, Walther and Bach -- like every other conscientious composer of their day -- went about studying it as they had been taught in school to study oratory, through the threefold discipline of praeceptum, exemplum, and imitatio (learning principles, studying examples, and imitating good execution). In just this way, Bach and Walther studied the Italians: first by copying out their works note for note, then by arranging them for various instruments, finally by transfiguring them in works of their own. pg 125

 

I'll take a gander at your blog :)

[Kareni]

I read and enjoyed the historical romance Marrying the Royal Marine by Carla Kelly. The story was set during the Napoleonic Wars and much of the story took place in Portugal. This was the first book I've read by this author, and I'll be on the lookout for more of her books.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Stacia]

Finished The Dud Avocado. 3 stars. Stream-of-consciousness writings of 21 year-old American Sally Jay having fun & frolicking in 1958 Paris on her uncle's dime. Plenty of adventures, gossip, falling in & out of love on a whim, mishaps, & interesting people. A light, airy read & a pleasant way to spend time reading a book....

 

I've now started Daughters of Copper Woman by Anne Cameron. It is a series of retellings of native histories, folklore, mythical & sacred stories from Vancouver Island, stories passed down through matrilineal groups there. It's lovely so far.

[Stacia]

Last week was rough. Lesson learned: there is no such thing as "minor" surgery. :sad:

...

“Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.†-- Mark Twain

 

Happy reading :ph34r:

 

:grouphug: Sounds like a rough week. Glad Mark Twain can give you a smile over it, though.

 

(I'm borrowing whomever's rating system this is because it fits me and I like the word "rubbish" :laugh: )

 

Psssttt... it's Negin's rating system, I think.

 

We had a series of events here involving freezing pipes exploding and stomach flu at the same time, so reading has been on the backburner for me.

 

:grouphug:

 

 

My most recent read was fun -- Enchanted, Inc. by Shanna Swendson.

 

From the back of the book: "DON’T MESS WITH HEXES

 

That does sound fun. I will have to see if my library carries it...

 

I'm sorry to hear it was rough. I'm having an inguinal (groin) hernia repaired this coming Friday and I'm just a wee bit nervous about the recovery.

 

:grouphug:

 

Yes, he was quite happy and got some comic books, Adventures of tintin, star wars stuff and star wars insider magazine.

 

:hurray: Sounds like a fun bookstore run!

[Trillian]

I stayed up late to finish Great Expectations; it picked up steam midway through :-). Now to get some sleep.

[ladydusk]

Reported spam.

[BigMamaBird]

I finished Grapes of Wrath at 1:30 a.m. last night. It was so bleak, part of me didn't want to keep reading. But the other part of me had become invested in these characters and I REALLY wanted to know what happened to them. The ending wasn't that satisfying to me. They just kind of hunkered down in the barn and the book was over. It was beautiful regardless. Oddly, it made me think of my Grandma. She lived through the Depression and was always telling us about her life as a child and I saw a lot of that in this story.

 

 

1 - All the King's Men - Robert Penn Warren

2 - Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein

3 - A Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood (Canadian Challenge)

4 - Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger

5 - Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury

6 - Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck

[ariasmommy]

Finished one and dropped one:

 

#8 Evening in the Palace of Reason by James R. Gaines - Great book! I gained a better understanding of Bach, his music and the time he lived in, and iTunes is happy about all the music I purchased in order to listen to many of the pieces he mentioned in the book.

 

I gave up on The Great Tradition. Plato and I weren't getting along, and I just don't have the brainpower and patience to tackle it right now. Hopefully someday, when I'm not pregnant and/or sleep-deprived...

[AllSmiles]

Thanks to the recommendations here, I started reading The Book Thief last week. What a great book!

[PaulainTx]

Finished The Handmaid's Tale (17), The Leading Indicators (18), and Death Comes To Pemberley (19).

 

Started Village Diary by Miss Read.

 

Paula

[VeganCupcake]

I finished Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver. It was ok, but not great. I have liked some of her other books much more.

[Robin M]

Book news:

 

Check out Bookish - A joint project of Hachette Book Group, Penguin Group and Simon & Schuster, the site promotes books from nearly 20 publishers and aims to improve book discovery by readers and to sell books.

 

One of my favorite thriller authors has a new book out - Karen Rose - Did You Miss Me

 

 

 

 

I finished reading Cassandra Clare's City of Ashes. Had a hard time since had been a year of more since read City of Bones, but after 3 or 4 chapters started remembering the characters and getting into it. Also zipped through Never Tell a Lie by Hallie Ephron. One of those you don't want to put down. Now reading a novella Comedy in a minor Key by Hans Keilson right now which was from Pick a book based on it's cover from last year.

 

 

*****Almost forgot - for those who missed out last year and newbies - I had put together a list of 52 bookers who have amazon wishlists which we used to send out gifts for birthdays and just because. It needs to be updated so if you want your name to be included please pm your user name, real name and link to your wishlist. I'll put together the list and pm a copy to whoever wants to be involved.

[UrbanSue]

I don't know if these count. I don't have time for pleasure reading. All of my time is taken up in read text books. I'm currently reading Miller-Levine Biology, SWB's The History of the Ancient World and The Well Educated Mind. I'm also reading A Cultural Landscape.

 

Of course it counts! All books count :)

[UrbanSue]

I didn't get to post last week but I read #5 Pride and Prejudice. I've read it many times but when I saw last Monday that it was the 200th anniversary I decided to read it again. I'd had it in mind this year. But then I couldn't find my copy! I really think that dh was reading it and it got stolen (along with his laptop) when his briefcase was stolen. I downloaded a Kindle version of it but I only have the app for my iPod which is pretty miserable for extended reading. Fortunately, I happened upon a nice, inexpensive edition at Costco Monday night so I picked that up. P&P is definitely on my top five list and I didn't feel bad about buying another copy. I really expected it to take me just a couple of days to read it but life is so darn busy and, for some reason, I've been in a curriculum re-vamp mood the last couple of weeks. So I only finished it on Friday.

 

I had started, and am now back at, Acedia and Me by Kathleen Norris. I'm about halfway and I'm not sure what I'm going to think. It started out great but the middle is a little all over the place.

[mumto2]

I finished The Light Between Oceans. It was wonderful, but sad. (I do need to add a trigger warning if you're sensitive to m/c or infertility though.)

 

 

I didn't read your warning until after I had started reading. I liked the book but I am really glad I didn't read it a few years ago. It was a hard read for me with many conflicting emotions.

[PollyOR]

Finished Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde. It was so much fun! I love this series.

 

I started out really strong with books from home (my goal is to pare down my books) and I'm finding that it is more fun to read the books you all are sharing. :thumbup1:

[Jenny in Florida]

At the moment, I'm listening to The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb, by Melanie Benjamin, during walks with the dog each morning and in the car. I'm reading Warm Bodies, by Isaac Marion, when I have the time to sit down and read words on paper.

 

I'm really enjoying Tom Thumb. I read Benjamin's Alice I Have Been last year and liked it quite a bit. So, I was happy when my name came up on the library's hold list for this one. I went through a phase a couple of years ago when I read everything I could find about P.T. Barnum, and it's fun to revisit that world through the eyes of a different character.

 

In the previous weeks, I've finished:

 

Feed, M.T. Anderson

The Lotus and the Cross: Jesus Talks with Buddha, Ravi Zacharias

Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures, Emma Straub

God Believes in Love, Gene Robinson

Beautiful Creatures, Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Uninvited Guests, Sadie Jones

Silver Linings Playbook , Matthew Quick

Hex Hall, Rachel Hawkins

Notes from the Underwire: Adventures from my Awkward and Lovely Life, Quinn Cummings

Son of a Preacher Man, Jay Bakker

The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis

In the Land of Believers: An Outsider’s Extraordinary Journey into the Heart of the Evangelical Church, Gina Welch

Did Jesus Exist? The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth, Bart D. Ehrman

 

I hit the library yesterday and came home with a nice stack of books, including:

 

The Flanders Panel, Arturo Perez-Reverte

Special Topics in Calamity Physics, Marisha Pessl

The 351 Books of Irma Arcuri, David Bajo

And three Daphne Du Maurier novels I may have read already but don't remember.

 

I'm in the mood for books to open and fall into these days. Now all I need is the time to sit down and choose one from the stack to open.

[Jenny in Florida]

 

I started A Tale of Two Cities on audio this morning for the February Dickens challenge. I listened for more than an hour, and nothing has happened yet. I haven't read any Dickens in years, and I had forgotten how verbose he is. It's getting rather tedious, so I hope the action heats up soon.

 

 

For what it's worth, I love Dickens, generally. However, A Tale of Two Cities is on my list of classics that, despite my best, repeated efforts, I simply cannot get into or read through. (Other titles, in case anyone cares, include The Three Musketeers and Moby Dick. Wuthering Heights languished on the list for years, until I finally pushed my way through the audiobook during one of my 13-hour solo drives to Virginia. Even a long drive and an audio version didn't work for Two Cities, though.)

[Jenny in Florida]

I'm interrupting to say that while I liked Woman in White, I couldn't read most of Moonstone.

 

I loved both!

[Laura Corin]

I just pulled ahead. Currently I'm listening to Jack Maggs, by Peter Carey. It's 13 hours; I should finish in something under two weeks, so it's a good thing I'm a bit ahead. At bedtime I'm re-reading Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson, and catching onto it much better than when I first read it years ago.

 

This is my reading so far this year:

 

1: Mr Briggs' Hat

2: Busman's Honeymoon (re-read)

3: Notwithstanding (re-read for book group)

4: Bad Pharma

5: The Pages - Murray Bail

6: Great Tales From English History.

7: Unnatural Causes - PD James (re-read)

 

Laura