Book a Week in 2013 - week ten

[Giraffe]

Can I just stomp my feet and whine that there are few to no South American authors available on Kindle? No Borges, no Marquez, no Allendes. What am I going to do?!

[Just Robyn]

Can I just stomp my feet and whine that there are few to no South American authors available on Kindle? No Borges, no Marquez, no Allendes. What am I going to do?!

 

 

Audible.com?

[Stacia]

Can I just stomp my feet and whine that there are few to no South American authors available on Kindle? No Borges, no Marquez, no Allendes. What am I going to do?!

 

 

Looks like one of Allende's books is available in English for Kindle: Island Beneath the Sea. Also, it looks like she has a new one coming out in April that will be available for the Kindle.

 

If you're looking for Kindle books for the continental challenge, you could try:

Motorcycle Diaries by Che Guevara (I read this a couple of years ago, thought it was ok, not great.)

Gabriel Garcia Marquez (even though his books aren't available for the Kindle, you can read a Kindle biography of him)

various Mario Vargas Llosa books for Kindle

 

Just a few ideas. Did you get your lunch out last week? :)

[TN Mama]

I finished:

 

#12 Barefoot Season by Susan Mallery - This book was okay. I wanted to finish it, and to find out what happened with the characters, but I don't know that I'd read further in the series.

 

#13 I Beat the Odds by Michael Oher - I've been wanting to read this book for over a year. I truly loved the movie The Blind Side, which was based on Michael Oher's life. I enjoyed reading the difference in how the movie portrayed his story, and what actually occurred in his life. In a Heartbeat by the Touhys is also on my TBR list.

 

I'm not 100% sure what's next for me. I have Gifted Hands by Dr. Ben Carson, Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm by Philip Pullman, and The Neighbors by Ania Ahlborn to choose from.

[VeganCupcake]

Wheeeee, I finished Tom Jones!! :coolgleamA:

[LostSurprise]

I finished The Left Hand of Darkness last night. Wow. Just loved it. I knew I would. Ursala Le Guin is turing into one of my favorite writers. This book hits so many interesting points. It was a fasinating world. I haven't processed it all yet. I've already read the Dispossed. I would like more in this cycle. I'm heading to the used book store on Wednesday and I'm hoping I find some more of her treasures.

 

Three of her early Hainish novels (Rocannon's World, Planet of Exile, City of Illusions) are sometimes packaged together under the title Three Hainish Novels. While they're interesting science fiction, they are not as good or mind-blowing as Left Hand or Dispossessed.

 

There are a few short stories too, but I haven't read those.

[Giraffe]

Can I just stomp my feet and whine that there are few to no South American authors available on Kindle? No Borges, no Marquez, no Allendes. What am I going to do?!

Audible.com?

Looks like one of Allende's books is available in English for Kindle: Island Beneath the Sea. Also, it looks like she has a new one coming out in April that will be available for the Kindle.

 

If you're looking for Kindle books for the continental challenge, you could try:

Motorcycle Diaries by Che Guevara (I read this a couple of years ago, thought it was ok, not great.)

Gabriel Garcia Marquez (even though his books aren't available for the Kindle, you can read a Kindle biography of him)

various Mario Vargas Llosa books for Kindle

 

Just a few ideas. Did you get your lunch out last week? :)

 

The audible.com suggestion led me to the Allende book which was noted as Whispersync ready, which meant it had to be available on the Kindle, which led me to the Kindle book Stacia found. Thank you both! I will probably read that one. I'm not big on biographies - I prefer not to know about the personal lives of authors, actors, singers (unless it's Ernest Hemingway who I already know was an @$$). I'd never heard of Llosa ( :blush:) - I'll check those out too.

 

And yes, I got my lunch out. It was divine. I'll post my reading status later, after I finally get Little Miss Wound Up into bed. (It's late here.) Or maybe tomorrow. I'm tired too, and I have an interview in the morning!! :willy_nilly:

[Storm Bay]

Okay, I'm back after a few days (longer than I thought. I'm reading a lot more this year than I have for many years, in part due to audio books, and it's been fun much of the time. I'm reading and really enjoying .

I'm also listening to my first Jeeves book, and while I don't laugh nearly as often as I do in that book (part of my continental challenge or else the Europe one; not sure yet how much I'll read in Europe) I'm enjoying it on audio more than in print. My list so far this year:

 

 

1. Reversing Religious Repression 4*

2. Wishing You Were Here Catherine Chant 4*

3. Wish You Were Eyre (Mother-Daughter Book Club, Hike the United States, MA) 3*

4. Anne of Green Gables (Canada) (4*)

5. Irregular Portuguese Verbs 2*

6. Tea Time for the Traditionally Built (Africa) 3*

7. Neddiad Daniel Pinkwater 2*

8. Pride and Prejudice 5* (Classics)

9. At First Sight Nicholas Sparks 2* (hike the United States, ??)

10. The Dawkins Delusion? (Dewey Decimal challenge) 2 1/2 *

11. The Diamond of Darkhold 3*

12. The Year My Sister Got Lucky 2/5* (Hike the United States, NY)

13. The Hope Chest (audio, inspirational fiction, Hike the US PA) 2.5 *

14. Forevermore Cathy Marie Hake (audio, inspirational fiction, Hike the US TX) 4*

15. A Year Down Yonder 4* (also, Hike the United States, Illinois)

16. The Hour that Changes the World (inspirational) 4.5*

17. To Cut a Long Story Short Jeffrey Archer2*

18. The Death of Truth: Responding to Multiculturalism, the Rejection of Reason and the New Postmodern Diversity (Dusty Books) 4*

19. Of Mice and Men (Hike the United States; CA) 2*

20. Secrets at Sea Richard Peck 3 *

21. The Gift of the Blessing (Inspirational) 4*

 

This week I read Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan. It's non-fiction about a woman who ends up with a specific type of encephalitis and descends into madness because of it. Doctors think that she's bi-polar or schizophrenic until one doctor finally realizes what's wrong and treats her for it. Amazing story. Sad, but wow. I read it pretty much all in one sitting because I couldn't put it down.

 

This is the second good review I've heard on this, and I've put a hold on it at the library.

[Jane in NC]

Wheeeee, I finished Tom Jones!! :coolgleamA:

 

Well I am proud of you. Want to join my Henry Fielding Fan Club?

[Mom-ninja.]

Is Left Hand part of a series or stand alone?

 

Eyes of the Dragon- Stephen King.

 

Did you like it? My sister has been trying to get me to read it but I have a personal ban on SK.

[LostSurprise]

Is Left Hand part of a series or stand alone?

 

The Left Hand of Darkness is stand alone.

[zillymom]

I'm reading an ARC of A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki. It will be released next week. 1Q84 is next on my list, but I might hold off if most of us are reading it in April instead. :)

 

Just finished a self-published travel memoir, Travels with George. It needs another edit... but otherwise I really enjoyed it. The author took her young son with her to Italy, to share her home country with him. She visits a number of the big cities while there, but also plenty of very small towns, too. I liked that mix.

 

I was trying to read Verdi for Kids by Helen Bauer, but gave up. The content was solid, but I just couldn't get engaged with the text. At all. And I love music history! It just read too much like a dry textbook, and I really had trouble imaging that kids would find it engaging when I couldn't. I was hoping for something closer to a "living book," you know? :( The activities were okay, but... ehhh. Yeah, I just gave up halfway through, which I hate doing.

 

Completed in 2013:

20. Travels with George: A Memoir Through the Italy of My Childhood by Olga Vannucci

19. One and Only: The Freedom of Having an Only Child, and the Joy of Being One by Lauren Sandler

18. Confessions of a Sociopath: A Life Spent Hiding in Plain Sight by M.E. Thomas

17. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

16. At Least You're in Tuscany: A Somewhat Disastrous Quest for the Sweet Life by Jennifer Criswell

15. If It's Not One Thing, It's Your Mother by Julia Sweeney

14. Notes from a Coma by Mike McCormack

13. French Twist: An American Mom's Experiment in Parisian Parenting by Catherine Crawford

12. Il grande albero by Susanna Tamaro

11. Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin

10. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

9. Bliss by Kathryn Littlewood

8. Perelandra by C.S. Lewis

7. Still Alice by Lisa Genova

6. What My Mother Gave Me by Elizabeth Benedict

5. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

4. S is for Space by Ray Bradbury

3. The Aeneid for Boys and Girls by Alfred J. Church

2. Imperfect Harmony: Singing Through Life's Sharps and Flats by Stacy Horn

1. Free Range Learning: How Homeschooling Changes Everything by Laura Grace Weldon

[ChrisB]

I just finished All Things Hidden. It was a fast, interesting read, but it was too depressing for me.

 

Finished:

 

1. Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey, The Countess of Carnarvon

2. Heart of Stone, Jill Marie Landis

3. Code Name Verity, Elizabeth Wein

4. A Love Surrendered, Julie Lessman

5. The Baker Street Letters, Micheal Robertson

6. Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery

7. Anne of Avonlea, L.M. Montgomery

8. Anne of the Island, L.M. Montgomery

9. Confessions of a Prairie Bitch, Alison Arngrim

10. All Things Hidden, Heather Gudenkauf

[VeganCupcake]

Well I am proud of you. Want to join my Henry Fielding Fan Club?

 

I'll join, but I can't promise to put up the autographed posters that come with the membership. :smilielol5:

[PaulainTx]

I've finished:

 

The Lords of the North (35)

Sword Song (36)

The Burning Land (37)

Death of Kings (38)

[Jane in NC]

I'll join, but I can't promise to put up the autographed posters that come with the membership.

 

He's a rock star!

[Stacia]

He's a rock star!

 

Hey, wasn't he in an 80s hair band??? http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/wink.gif http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/tongue_smilie.gif

[Jane in NC]

 

Hey, wasn't he in an 80s hair band??? ;) :tongue_smilie:

 

Can't even say 1780's. Fielding was born in 1707 and died in 1754.

[VeganCupcake]

 

He's a rock star!

 

Oooh la la, maybe I would put that poster up on my wall.

[mlbuchina]

Okay, I'm back after a few days (longer than I thought. I'm reading a lot more this year than I have for many years, in part due to audio books, and it's been fun much of the time. I'm reading and really enjoying .

I'm also listening to my first Jeeves book, and while I don't laugh nearly as often as I do in that book (part of my continental challenge or else the Europe one; not sure yet how much I'll read in Europe) I'm enjoying it on audio more than in print. My list so far this year:

 

 

 

 

 

Ooh, that looks interesting.

 

Also, thanks for saying that you are "listening" to a Jeeves book. I have Carry On, Jeeves, but I can't get into it. I looked it up at my library, and I can get it as an audible download for my tablet. Thanks!

[Violet Crown]

Just popping in to update my list. i'm finishing book 5 right now, which will put me squarely into the book-every-other-week club; I learned in 2012 that that's the most realistic pace I can manage. Onward, through the fog!

 

Currently reading

 

5. John Cardinal Newman, Historical Sketches vol. 1.

 

Just finished

 

4. Welty, Thirteen Stories by Eudora Welty

 

From "The Wide Net":

 

In the grove it was so quiet that once William Wallace gave a jump, as if he could almost hear a sound of himself wondering where she had gone. A descent of energy came down on him in the thick of the woods and he ran at a rabbit and caught it in his hands.

"Rabbit ... Rabbit ..." He acted as if he wanted to take it off to himself and hold it up and talk to it. He laid a palm against its pushing heart. "Now ... There now ..."

"Let her go, William Wallace, let her go." Virgil, chewing on an elderberry whistle he had just made, stood at his shoulder: "What do you want with a live rabbit?"

William Wallace squatted down and set the rabbit on the ground but held it under his hand. It was a little, old, brown rabbit. It did not try to move. "See there?"

"Let her go."

"She can go if she wants to, but she don't want to."

Gently he lifted his hand. The round eye was shining at him sideways in the green gloom.

"Anybody can freeze a rabbit, that wants to," said Virgil. Suddenly he gave a far-reaching blast on the whistle, and the rabbit went in a streak. "Was you out catching cotton-tails, or was you out catching your wife?" he said, taking the turn to the open fields. "I come along to keep you on the track."

[Kareni]

Today I finished Kept: A Coveted Novel by Shawntelle Madison. This is the second book by the author which features a female werewolf who is a hoarder of holiday ornaments and who has OCD. I enjoyed it.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[jenn&charles]

Ok, I haven't posted yet in this challenge until now and haven't linked to the linky thing (but will do so tomorrow when I have more time).

 

This week I'm reading Queen's Gambit

 

I've finished:

1.Shadow on the Crown

2.Creamy & Crunchy

3. The Madman's Daughter

4.Requiem

5. Taken

6. The Ward

7. Wild Children

8. Because I Said So

9. Serving Victoria

10. The Kingmaker's Daughter

11. Godiva

12.The Forgotten Queen

13. The Guardian

 

All of the above should be linked to my reviews.

 

I've read some "kid" books too, but not sure if they count. I'll check back in tomorrow to see how to do the linky thing. I've got so many ARC's to review it's not even funny so this is a GREAT thread for me to check in with!

[Negin]

I am nearly finished with Nothing to Envy. I find my self having to take breaks from this book and walk away because it is so heart-wrenching.

I agree. Loved this book. I don't think I'll ever forget it.

 

Looks like one of Allende's books is available in English for Kindle: Island Beneath the Sea. Also, it looks like she has a new one coming out in April that will be available for the Kindle.

Stacia, although Island Beneath the Sea was not my favorite of hers by any means (and I absolutely LOVE Isabel Allende), I can't wait for her new book. Thank you for this link. :)

[Giraffe]

Funky reading week: had some ups and downs IRL and my reading direction veered sharply off course. I think it’s going to stay wonky for a while. So....

 

The Survival Guide for Parents of Gifted Kids was interesting. It helped me get a good overview about what it’s like to be gifted. DD has decided to blow the pants, shirts, and socks off all of us the past few days, and I have been playing catch up ever since. She is way ahead in some areas (that I hadn't realized) and way behind in others (that I had realized), and once I started playing to her strengths she took off. But one of her weaknesses appears to be an auditory problem so we suspect 2e, if anything. Which leads to:

 

The Mislabeled Child - Still reading this, still not sure what I think.

 

In the meantime I've been twiddling my thumbs with:

 

The Histories by Herodotus - I truly hate this book. I’m reading out of spite at this point. I don’t want to give in! I've finished Book 4.

 

The Iliad: Still working through the audiobook. I am in love with this book, with Molina’s voice, with everything. It’s a violent, horrible story, but strangely relaxing to listen to while I wait on other people to get their business tended to so I can move forward again.

 

I have a couple more education/2e/LD/gifted books waiting in the wings that I will probably read this week. Anyone got some Valium they can share?!

 

Finished:

8. The Survival Guide for Parents of Gifted Kids, Walker (Education freak out) ***

7. The Paris Wife, Mclain (Library Spree) *****

6. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Chua (Library Spree) ***

5. Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard, Heath (Library Spree) ****

4. Book Was There: Reading in Electronic Times, Piper (Library Spree) ***

3. Alias Grace, Atwood (Library Spree, Canadian) ***

2. The Song of Achilles, Miller (Library Spree) ****

1. The Handmaid's Tale, Atwood (Canadian/Continental, TBR/Dusty) ****

 

In Process:

The Iliad, Homer

The Histories, Herodotus

The Mislabeled Child, Eide and Eide

 

Aggie Amy's Rating System(which I’ve adopted):

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

**** - Very good

*** - Enjoyable but nothing special

** - Not recommended

* - Horrible

[Rosyl]

I read several books at a time and am not finishing any this week. Basically, I am just checking in letting you all know that I am sill reading, lol. Here is what I have started: CS Lewis' Great Divorce, The Scarlet Letter by N. Hawthorne, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, The Relationship Cure by John Gottman. These are not "easy" reads. I am reforming my reading habits (I am the one who mentioned I read to much amish fiction last year) My Amish read for the month is Daybreak By Shelley Shepherd Gray--I haven't given it up completely. Too bad we don't get credit for reading the boards :laugh: .

[Giraffe]

The audible.com suggestion led me to the Allende book which was noted as Whispersync ready, which meant it had to be available on the Kindle, which led me to the Kindle book Stacia found. Thank you both! I will probably read that one. I'm not big on biographies - I prefer not to know about the personal lives of authors, actors, singers (unless it's Ernest Hemingway who I already know was an @$$). I'd never heard of Llosa ( :blush:) - I'll check those out too.

 

And yes, I got my lunch out. It was divine. I'll post my reading status later, after I finally get Little Miss Wound Up into bed. (It's late here.) Or maybe tomorrow. I'm tired too, and I have an interview in the morning!! :willy_nilly:

 

And after all that - I found One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, in English, in a bookstore here. SCORE!!!!

 

(And if I can survive teaching seasons, present tense, and past tense to a bunch of third graders, in English next week, I think I might have gotten the job!! Knock on wood!)

[mumto2]

 

 

And after all that - I found One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, in English, in a bookstore here. SCORE!!!!

 

(And if I can survive teaching seasons, present tense, and past tense to a bunch of third graders, in English next week, I think I might have gotten the job!! Knock on wood!)

 

Glad that your interview went well.:) Also finding your book in English. I think my 1Q84 problems are solved as well.

[LostSurprise]

Just popping in to update my list. i'm finishing book 5 right now, which will put me squarely into the book-every-other-week club; I learned in 2012 that that's the most realistic pace I can manage. Onward, through the fog!

 

 

4. Welty, Thirteen Stories by Eudora Welty

 

 

I love Eudora Welty. I based a lot of my senior thesis on her work.

 

 

I'm glad you're with us. The book a week isn't important. Hanging out and talking about what we're reading is.

[Giraffe]

Also finding your book in English. I think my 1Q84 problems are solved as well.

 

Glad you solved the 1Q84 problem. What was the resolution (I'm nosy)? I actually found it here in English too, but they wanted 75TL for it. No way I could afford that. The Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia was "only" 60 TL!

[LostSurprise]

Finished D'Aulaire's Book of Norse Myths (Dewey Decimal challenge, 200s) last night. Loved the art work. Wasn't as impressed with the writing. It wasn't very lyrical. Maybe I wouldn't even notice that normally but I have Gods and Heroes of Viking Mythology somewhere in the bedroom and it does a better job of explaining everything. I have The Norse Myths by Keven Crossley-Holland on my list too, but I'm reading so slowly lately I haven't bothered to order it through the library yet.

 

Off to work on Down the Garden Path, a garden memoir with that British humor you only seem to find in the '30s with people who spent their childhoods reading Oscar Wilde.

[PollyOR]

I'm glad you're with us. The book a week isn't important. Hanging out and talking about what we're reading is.

 

:iagree:

[aggieamy]

Off to work on Down the Garden Path, a garden memoir with that British humor you only seem to find in the '30s with people who spent their childhoods reading Oscar Wilde.

 

This sounds like just my type of book. I'm going to add it to my ro-read list. Let me know how you like it.

[Woodland Mist Academy]

The other thread convinced me to peek in and say hello. :seeya:

 

:lurk5:

[Woodland Mist Academy]

 

Off to work on Down the Garden Path, a garden memoir with that British humor you only seem to find in the '30s with people who spent their childhoods reading Oscar Wilde.

 

 

I didn't expect to see Beverley Nichols here! What a pleasant surprise!

[LostSurprise]

I didn't expect to see Beverley Nichols here! What a pleasant surprise!

 

What else has he written? Did I characterize him correctly? ;)

[Woodland Mist Academy]

His humor does seem to be of a certain time and place. I have laughed myself to tears with his books. The first time someone mentioned the books and how funny they are, I was so confused. Um...a funny gardening book? I remember feeling sorry for the poor soul as she went on and on about them. The first book I read was Merry Hall. I was smitten, to say the least.

 

Beverley Nichols was a prolific writer; he wrote many books in various genres in addition to the gardening/house novels. I'm working my way through the latter--I'm almost finished.

 

I feel as though I should say something witty in his honor, but my mind fails me. This tells me I've spent far too long away from his books. (I usually read them in the spring/summer.) Thankfully it's March!

[Woodland Mist Academy]

His humor does seem to be of a certain time and place. I have laughed myself to tears with his books. The first time someone mentioned the books and how funny they are, I was so confused. Um...a funny gardening book? I remember feeling sorry for the poor soul as she went on and on about them. The first book I read was Merry Hall. I was smitten, to say the least.

 

 

 

Of course it stands to reason that someone-or many someones- here may end up feeling sorry for me because even after having read the books, they still don't see the humor. ;)

[Onceuponatime]

I am so bummed. Neither one of my libraries has anything by Beverley Nichols. Down the Garden Path sounds like something I would enjoy.

[Woodland Mist Academy]

They definitely took some tracking down. I remember being forewarned about that. What's worse is then I had to track down books he references in his books. It started out as a whim, but I happily found a couple. I'm so glad I did! I've not been so lucky with some books of his I've tried to locate.

 

Oh! There is also a parody of his books I was able to find!

 

Anyone feel sorry for me yet? Poor soul, driven to scour the earth for Beverley Nichols materials. . . ;)

[Jane in NC]

Off to work on Down the Garden Path, a garden memoir with that British humor you only seem to find in the '30s with people who spent their childhoods reading Oscar Wilde.

Ooo...New Author on my radar! This looks delightful!

 

Thank you, thank you.

[Kareni]

Anyone feel sorry for me yet? Poor soul, driven to scour the earth for Beverley Nichols materials. . . ;)

 

I see that there is a biography available: Beverley Nichols: A Life by Bryan Connon

 

"The reissuing of Beverley Nichols's delightful books by Timber Press has sparked renewed interest in this unjustly neglected writer. He burst onto the literary scene not long after his studies at Oxford, and his versatility was impressive; his successes included novels, plays, children's stories, biography, political commentary, and books on religion, travel, and gardening. He also composed for the musical stage and ghostwrote the autobiography of the famous singer Nellie Melba. He moved in fashionable and artistic circles where he attained a certain measure of celebrity.

 

Fame did not elude him, but greatness did. In his later years, Nichols was known chiefly for his books on gardens and cats, and he grew increasingly bitter about his failure to be accepted as a serious writer. Bryan Connon has written a fascinating study of a talented man in whom, in J. W. Lambert's phrase, a keen mind "functioned beneath the glad rags," and whose huge and diverse literary output chronicles the events, moods, and personalities of the fascinating age in which he lived.

 

This biography was first published in 1991 by Constable in the U.K., but its distribution was limited and it was never available in the United States. It will be of interest to the thousands of readers who have come to know Nichols through Merry Hall; they will discover an altogether more complex personality than the witty, sometimes sardonic persona he created in his writings."

 

 

I am so bummed. Neither one of my libraries has anything by Beverley Nichols. Down the Garden Path sounds like something I would enjoy.

 

Naturally, as I am as likely to read a gardening book as to actually garden, my library has ten of his books .... (Your two libraries doubtless have myriad books I'd like to read.)

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Woodland Mist Academy]

I see that there is a biography available: Beverley Nichols: A Life by Bryan Connon...

 

". . . It will be of interest to the thousands of readers who have come to know Nichols through Merry Hall; they will discover an altogether more complex personality than the witty, sometimes sardonic persona he created in his writings."

 

No doubt! While reading the gardening books, I often wondered about the rest of his multifaceted life. I'm sure his personality--like his life--was far from simple.

[Stacia]

Yikes, my brain hurts just looking at all of the reading you ladies are doing http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/frown.gif

 

I have not been reporting, but I have been reading. There's no way I can keep up with you all, but I don't want to abandon this challenge. I may not read a book a week, but I really, really, really want to read 52 books this year!

 

Hang in there! You're doing great.

 

Can I join in?

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/seeya.gif Sure thing! Glad to see you here.

 

This week I am joining in a blogosphere Read-a-Long of A.S. Byatt's Possession: A Romance, a re-read for me. I first read this book in college and have been meaning to get back to it ever since.

 

Looking forward to your comments on it. I thought A.S. Byatt did such a lovely job w/ The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye. I want to read some of her other work.

 

Your kidney infection sounds like it was rough. Glad you are feeling better. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/thumbup1.gif

 

Yep, floridamom, hope you are feeling peachy this week. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/grouphug.gif

 

Wheeeee, I finished Tom Jones!! http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/coolgleamA.gif

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/hurray.gif

 

Ok, I haven't posted yet in this challenge until now and haven't linked to the linky thing (but will do so tomorrow when I have more time).

 

This week I'm reading Queen's Gambit

 

 

Welcome! I've always enjoyed seeing the books & lesson plans you post on the Guest Hollow blog, so I'm looking forward to your posts here. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/smile.gif

 

Stacia, although Island Beneath the Sea was not my favorite of hers by any means (and I absolutely LOVE Isabel Allende), I can't wait for her new book. Thank you for this link. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/smile.gif

 

Cool. I remembered you had read that book (I almost mentioned that in my previous post http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/lol.gif ). I'll have to check out her new book too....

[mumto2]

 

The subdivision w/in the one large book is as follows:

Book 1 (April - June), pages 1 - 309

Book 2 (July - September), pages 311-591

Book 3 (October - December), pages 593-925

 

 

Ended up that the library's versions are packaged as one and two together with number three separate. No idea why things don't really add up. Looking forward to trying them after all this effort! Sorry the English copy is so expensive there. What is a TL dollarwise if I may ask?

 

 

Glad you solved the 1Q84 problem. What was the resolution (I'm nosy)? I actually found it here in English too, but they wanted 75TL for it. No way I could afford that. The Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia was "only" 60 TL!

 

[Stacia]

The Histories by Herodotus - I truly hate this book. I’m reading out of spite at this point. I don’t want to give in! I've finished Book 4.

 

ROFL!

 

And after all that - I found One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, in English, in a bookstore here. SCORE!!!!

 

Yay!

 

Glad you solved the 1Q84 problem. What was the resolution (I'm nosy)? I actually found it here in English too, but they wanted 75TL for it. No way I could afford that.

 

Turkish lira (?). Yikes. Over $40, huh...? That is pretty steep.

 

The other thread convinced me to peek in and say hello.

 

<peeking back> Hello! And welcome.

 

I finished A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif last night. Loved it. Hanif is a very talented writer. I loved his skewering of Pakistani military & political people/places/things in A Case of Exploding Mangoes. I read a couple of reviews that compared it to Catch-22, but I've never read Catch-22, so I can't comment on that. Many of you know I don't typically read series books, nor do I often read stand-alone books by the same author w/in a relatively short time period. (I will read individual books by one author &/or series books, but I often spread them out over many years.) So, it's extremely unusual for me that I've read both of Hanif's books in the past month or so. That tells how compelling I find his writing. Definitely recommended.

[Giraffe]

What is a TL dollarwise if I may ask?

 

Turkish lira (?). Yikes. Over $40, huh...? That is pretty steep.

 

I finished A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif last night. Loved it. Hanif is a very talented writer. I loved his skewering of Pakistani military & political people/places/things in A Case of Exploding Mangoes. I read a couple of reviews that compared it to Catch-22, but I've never read Catch-22, so I can't comment on that. Many of you know I don't typically read series books, nor do I often read stand-alone books by the same author w/in a relatively short time period. (I will read individual books by one author &/or series books, but I often spread them out over many years.) So, it's extremely unusual for me that I've read both of Hanif's books in the past month or so. That tells how compelling I find his writing. Definitely recommended.

 

 

Yep, Turkish Lira. It's a little less than 2TL to $1, so Stacia's right: about $40. Hardcover, beautiful, but no way. I paid 25TL ($12-ish) for the Marquez book in paperback! I just couldn't justify spending 100TL on two books.

 

I'll have to keep an eye out for Mohammed Hanif.

[Stacia]

Have started Speaking from Among the Bones (newest Flavia de Luce book) by Alan Bradley. (And every time I post that I rarely read series books, I end up contradicting myself right away!)

 

Have also started a non-fiction book, Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell.

[eaglei]

Not feeling so great last week and just trying to make it through work, etc., so not much reading done . . . am still reading:

 

#12 - A Schoolteacher in Old Alaska: The Story of Hannah Breece, edited by Jane Jacobs, a great niece of Hannah's. The author is refreshingly honest and I am enjoying this memoir of her years in Alaska. She was in her forties when she went and she was one remarkable woman! Here is what Amazon says:

 

"When Hannah Breece came to Alaska in 1904, it was a remote lawless wilderness of prospectors, murderous bootleggers, tribal chiefs, and Russian priests. She spent fourteen years educating Athabascans, Aleuts, Inuits, and Russians with the stubborn generosity of a born teacher and the clarity of an original and independent mind. Jane Jacobs, Hannah's great-niece, here offers an historical context to Breece's remarkable eyewitness account, filling in the narrative gaps, but always allowing the original words to ring clearly. It is more than an adventure story: it is a powerful work of women's history that provides important--and, at times, unsettling--insights into the unexamined assumptions and attitudes that governed white settler's behavior toward native communities at the turn of the century."

[Robin M]

Can I join in?

So far this year I've finished

The Millenium Trilogy (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)

The Maze Runner Series

Working on Hunger Games and Philosophy:A Critique of Pure Treason

Starting Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

 

By all means, dive right in. Glad to have you. Hunger Games and Miss Peregrine's Home are both on my wish list.

 

It' s technically 1am on March 5th and no new Mercy Thompson. :(

 

Thanks for the reminder. Will pick it up the next time I'm at Barnes and Noble. Loving their pick up in store feature. Saves me from having to search forever. Now I can browse for other books without worrying can't find it.

 

I'm currently reading The Mists of Avalon which I found in the thrift store for 75 cents. It calls itself "The Arthurian Legend from the female point of view." It is different enough from the traditional legends to be interesting.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed Mists of Avalon last year. Took me a bit to get into it but once I did, loved it.

 

Ok, I haven't posted yet in this challenge until now and haven't linked to the linky thing (but will do so tomorrow when I have more time).

 

This week I'm reading Queen's Gambit

 

Happy to see you. Looks like you figured out Mr. Linky. Will drop by your blog soon. Queens Gambit looks interesting.

 

 

The other thread convinced me to peek in and say hello. :seeya:

:lurk5:

 

Yeah! Waving back.

 

 

 

Not feeling so great last week and just trying to make it through work, etc., so not much reading done . . . am still reading

 

Hope you feel better soon.

 

 

 

 

I finally, finally got around to reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick. (one of my dusty books) It was interesting, fast paced, quick read and now need to rewatch Blade Runner because its been 20 some odd years since I last saw it. Could see shades of gray from the book for the movie. And now I'm reading Hallie Ephron's newest suspense story There was an old Woman which is coming out in April.

 

 

How's this for great timing since we are armchair traveling down into South America. Also coming out in April is a new book by brazilian author Paulo Coelho called Manuscript found in Accra and I just received an email from his publicists asking if I wanted to review it. Heck yes!!

 

Loved all the responses in the do you really read a book a week thread and wanted to put a like on every single comment. You guys are just so awesome!