Book a Week in 2013 - week Twenty Two

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday, dear hearts! Today is the start of week 22 in our quest to read 52 books in 52 weeks. Welcome back to all our readers, to all those who are 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. The link is below in my signature.

 

I'm leaving on a jet plane. La la la la la la la la! :seeya: If one of you early risers would please bump this on Sunday morning as I will be traveling home from Texas and won't be online, I would appreciate it.

 

 

 

52 Books Blog - Crime and Punishment: Highlighting # 11 in the great fiction list from SWB's Well Educated Mind.

 

What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

 

Link to week 21

[Rosie_0801]

I get to post first!!! I never get to post first!!!

 

I've just finished reading 'People of the Book' by Geraldine Brooks. Some parts were really good, but I'm kind of bored with 30 year old people who still have mummy and daddy issues and therefore can't handle long term adult relationships.

[Heather in Neverland]

Started Reading:

The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe (American author, DD class 600)

 

 

Still Reading:

Having Hard Conversations by Jennifer Abrams (American author, DD class 300)

The Conviction to Lead: 25 Principles for Leadership that Matters by Albert Mohler (American author, DD class 300)

The God Who is There: Finding Your Place in God's Story by D.A. Carson (Canadian author, DD class 200)

 

 

Finished:

22. The Infernal Devices #3: The Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare (American author, DD class 800)

21. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (American author, DD class 800)

20. Why Revival Tarries by Leonard Ravenhill (British author, DD class 200)

19. The Infernal Devices #2: Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare (American author, DD class 800)

18. The Infernal Devices: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (American author, DD class 800)

17. God's Big Picture: Tracing the Story-Line of the Bible by Vaughan Roberts (British author, DD class 200)

16.The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag: A Flavia de Luce Mystery by Alan Bradley (Canadian Author, DD Class 800)

15.The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner (American author, DD class 900)

14. Prodigy by Marie Lu (Chinese author, DD class 800)

13. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand (American author, DD class 900)

12. The Disappearing Spoon: And Other Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements by Sam Kean (American author, DD class 500)

11. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Anne Fadiman (American Author, DD class 600)

10. A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World by Paul Miller (American author, DD class 200)

9. Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick (American author, DD class 300)

8. Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald (American author, DD class 100)

7. The Bungalow by Sarah Jio (American author, DD class 800)

6. The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen (American author, DD class 800)

5. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen (American author, DD class 800)

4. The Next Story: Life and Faith After the Digital Explosion by Tim Challies (Canadian author, DD class 600)

3. The House at Riverton by Kate Morton (Australian author, DD class 800)

2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (English author, DD class 800)

1. The Dark Monk: A Hangman's Daughter Tale by Oliver Potzsch (German author, DD class 800)

[Negin]

I get to post first!!! I never get to post first!!!

:lol: - Rosie, you made me smile.

 

I finished: A Certain Justice - 3 Stars - liked it more than any other P.D. James that I've read, but it dragged on a bit towards the end, or maybe it was just me.

 

 

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.

 

[Onceuponatime]

 

 

OH MY Goodness! I LOVE this picture! This is crazy but I have an antique Flamenco doll (cloth not plastic) that has this very same outfit, minus the books. The dress is a little longer though.

[MomtoCandJ]

I've read Becoming China's B!tch and Homeward Bound. Read others too but titles escaping me right now. Now I'm reading pregnancy books since its been 5 years since I was pregnant with dd. Most is different hospital policies since dd was born in Georgia and now we are in Michigan and newer developments.

[luvnlattes]

I finished The Round House by Louise Erdrich. It was so strange because the author never used quotation marks, ever. She would do the paragraph breaks so you would know a new character was talking but no quotation marks! For some reason it gave the book a weird feel to me, kind of like I was always inside the main character's head. Over all I thought it was just so-so.

 

I also finished listening to The Virgin Diet by JJ Virgin. This book has a lot of hype about losing 7 lbs. in 7 days but that wasn't why I listened to it. The way you go about this weight loss is to eliminate 7 categories of foods that are like to cause food sensitivity. That's what I was drawn to, the information on food sensitivity. You keep all of these foods out of your diet for 3 weeks and then add them back in 1 at a time to see if your body reacts to any of them. This intrigues me and I'm hoping to give it a try later this summer.

[melmichigan]

I am reading school work for fall :willy_nilly:, Introductory Chemistry by Zumdahl, and the Rhetoric level of the new TOG Y1U1. To break it up I'm reading free fluff on my Kindle. We plan to be out on the boat this week, after everyone goes back to work and school ;), so I'm refraining from starting anything new that might distract me and saving up my book money for some of the new releases coming out next week.

[Murmer]

Finished: Finished: 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life by Crystal Paine, Marriage and Family Relations by BYU, and A Fresh Start in Fairhaven by Sharon Downing Jarvis

 

Currently Working On:

Downstairs: Eternal Marriage by BYU

Upstairs: The Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards

Kindle: Gone to Green by Judy Christie

IPhone: A Flower Blooms in Charlotte by Milam McGraw Propst

Sweet Boy Read Aloud: The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh and the World of Christopher Robin by A. A. Milne

Angel Girl Read Aloud: The Wind In The Willows

WTM: Don Quixote

IPad: The Purple Land by W. H. Hudson (South America)

Personal Enrichment: Confessions of a Cloth Diaper Convert by Erin Odom

 

Total Finished in 2013: 58

[Storm Bay]

Is there a name for novels with minimal plot and action?

 

 

Literary? Someone somewhere wrote that literary novels are character driven and other novels are plot driven, but as I eschewed any university English classes where we had to analyse novels, I can't say with any certainty. I was fine analysing poetry & Drama, though.

 

 

I finished The Round House by Louise Erdrich. It was so strange because the author never used quotation marks, ever. She would do the paragraph breaks so you would know a new character was talking but no quotation marks! For some reason it gave the book a weird feel to me, kind of like I was always inside the main character's head. Over all I thought it was just so-so.

 

 

Paulette Jiles did this in Enemy Women, but not in all of her books.

[Onceuponatime]

This week I read Tribes by Seth Godin.

 

I am currently reading A Whole Nother Story by "Dr. Cuthbert Soup."

 

There has been some discussion about reading YA lit, I'm not very inclined to read much of that but I do like to keep up with Juvenile literature. I usually find it very entertaining.

[Jane in NC]

A good week for reading!

 

I finished a Peter Lovesey mystery, Cop to Corpse, with detective Chief Superintendent Peter Diamond. While I have really enjoyed this series, this book disappointed me in terms of its construction. Several chapters in, a second storyline pops up. This normally would not bother me, but the second storyline is raised infrequently and in an incongruous fashion. Eventually the two narratives are reconciled but in a way that I feel is forced. Being keen on the characters in the series saved the book for me.

 

This past week I also finished Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, a nice little book. Did anyone else feel that it might have been a great larger book? The story of "re-education" in the countryside during Mao's Cultural Revolution is compelling but I think I might have enjoyed reading more about the countryside and the peasants. Of course, the narrator and his best friend are teens so perhaps it would have been unnatural for the storyline to veer outside of their teen consciousness.

 

Next up is Michael Perry's Population: 485. How did a book on being a volunteer firefighter in a small Midwestern town work its way on to my library list? No idea but I am grateful for the recommendation. What a writer! Perry is the man of great metaphors. Describing one of the people in town he writes

A walking Joshua tree, with a posture less tribute to adversity overcome than adversity withstood.

 

Thanks to those who recommended The Elegance of the Hedgehog which I have also cracked open.

 

I look forward to another good week of reading.

[luvnlattes]

Paulette Jiles did this in Enemy Women, but not in all of her books.

 

What did you think of it?

[Ali in OR]

Finished another Dorothy Sayers Lord Peter Wimsey book, Whose Body? Not sure if I've read it before, but I enjoyed it. I'm also trying to read Cloud Atlas. The library only gives me 14 days to read 500 pages. 6 days into the loan I'm about 100 pages into the book. I've got another Sayers for the treadmill starting tomorrow. I also need to start pre-reading some stuff for next school year soon.

[Narrow Gate Academy]

I finished book 21 this past week, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by Lewis and reviewed it on my blog. I can't believe I've actually stayed on track with my reading for 5 months!! :hurray:

 

Upcoming Reads

The Titan's Curse by Riordan

The Gifts of the Jews by Cahill

Redwall by Jacques

The Horse and His Boy by Lewis

 

Current Reads

The Once Year Bible

The History of the Ancient World by Bauer (I actually made negative progress on this one because I decided to start over and jot down the main people/events and a discussion question or two per chapter)

 

Finished Reads

20. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Doyle

19. The Sea of Monsters by Riordan

18. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Stevenson

17. Captains Courageous by Kipling

16. Getting Things Done by Adler

15. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Aiken

14. The Neverending Story by Ende

13. The Coral Island by Ballantyne

12. The Magician's Nephew by Lewis

11. The Children of Green Knowe by Boston

10. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Twain

9. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Fleming

8. Oliver Twist by Dickens

7. The Lightning Thief by Riordan

6. Children of the New Forest by Marryat

5. The Black Cauldron by Alexander

4. Anne of Avonlea by Montgomery

3. Anne of Green Gables by Montgomery

2. Talking Money by Chatzky

1. Pride and Prejudice by Austen

[eaglei]

Finished two books this week:

 

#28 - The Church Ladies, by Lisa E. Samson. Thought this would be Christian brain candy. It wasn't quite that sweet . . . Too many times it gave me pause - for thought, for reconsideration of previous held ideas, for needing a salve for an *ouch* . . . I didn't think certain aspects of the actual story were all that unique or even unpredictable; rather, it was the author's way of stating some things . . .

 

#29 - My Life and Lesser Catastrophes: A Memoir: An Unflinchingly Honest Journey of Faith, by Christina Schofield. Just what the subtitle says - unflinchingly honest - journey of faith. The author and her husband were going along quite nicely in life when tragedy struck, leaving her husband a quadriplegic. Her struggles are achingly raw and real, her humor a welcome break. I'd like to say this was *deep*. It wasn't. It was simply her honest struggle. The reading moved quickly; it ended rather abruptly.

 

Not sure what's up next . . .

[Susan in TN]

I've started and dropped several books recently - usually because the Kindle library loan ended before I could get a good start on them.

 

I did finish 44 Scotland Street - it was a disappointment, although I really didn't have much of an idea of what to expect beforehand.

 

This week I'd like to start The Last of the Mohicans, which has been in our bookshelf for, oh, maybe 15 years and I've never read it.

[mumto2]

I reported the spam in pp.

 

I finished #81 Alone by Lisa Gardner. It is the first in her DD Warren series. It was enjoyable.

 

Also finished #82 The Charm School by Nelson DeMille. This was a reread from the late eighties when I had a love for Cold War spy thrillers. This book certainly fit that description. Lots o f Soviet KGB intrigue set in the American Embassy in Moscow primarily. Provides an interesting fictional storyline to MIA's from Vietnam War. Enjoyed it but really long.

 

Also started and will probably have to abandon(ebook return that I have only read a quarter of) "The Last Days of Richard III and the fate of his DNA: the book that inspired the dig". It is very interesting but a slow read. Everything that is known about his last five months written here. I have already learned what I started the book for so.....a tomb in our village Church is being renovated, when it was opened for the repair two extra bodies were found. The DNA indicates Richard III's cousins. I wanted a clarification surrounding them.

[Onceuponatime]

I would really like to find some more authors like Connie Willis. I love that her books have a connection to the present and aren't too far out in fantasy land, yet with enough of a twist to make them interesting. Also, I would prefer not to do graphic horror, gratuitous gore, or highly descriptive interpersonal physical relationships (how's that for euphemism?)

 

Any recommendations?

[Just Robyn]

I finished:

 

Hamlet - I didn't like this one as much as Othello or A Midsummer Night's Dream. I didn't think there was any good reason given for the characters' ridiculous actions (like Ophelia's reaction to her father's death and Laertes' decision to kill Hamlet based on hearsay from only one person).

 

The Just Bento Cookbook by Makiko Itoh (DD 600) - I have made nine of the recipes from this book so far. The recipes are simple and tasty. I have never enjoyed a cookbook so much. The writer has a couple of websites: Just Bento and Just Hungry. Oh, and no one in my household has a bento box. I upped the quantities to make family meals or made recipes in advance to stock the fridge with food that's already made and could be reheated, but is meant to also taste good cold. I think a lot of this would make really good picnic food, too.

 

Parents and Children by Charlotte Mason (DD 300) - I really liked chapter 17 and found some good nuggets here and there.

 

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad - I enjoyed this and thought it was a lot like Where the Wild Things Are. Kurtz went to the jungle where the natives "roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws" until Kurtz "tamed them with [his] magic trick" and they "made him king of all wild things." Then Marlow shows up to witness the effects of the wild rumpus. Of course, I plan to read Things Fall Apart and watch Apocalypse Now.

 

The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Master and Man by Leo Tolstoy - This is two shorter novellas or longer short stories. I love them up until he spells beliefs and messages out so overtly.

 

I just started reading Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint by Nancy Kress, and I'm still deciding on what fiction I'll read next.

 

2013 Books

*dusty book

56. The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Master and Man – Leo Tolstoy

55. Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad

54. Parents and Children – Charlotte Mason*

53. Hamlet – William Shakespeare

52. The Just Bento Cookbook – Makiko Itoh

51. A Coney Island of the Mind – Lawrence Ferlinghetti*

50. The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes – Anonymous

49. Oedipus the King – Sophocles

48. Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen

47. The Saga of the Bloody Benders – Rick Geary

46. The Siege of Macindaw – John Flanagan

45. Requiem and Poem Without a Hero – Anna Akhmatova

44. The Fifty Year Sword – Mark Z. Danielewski

43. The Castle of Otranto – Horace Walpole

42. Thieves of Paradise – Yusef Komunyakaa

41. Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card*

40. The Borden Tragedy – Rick Geary

39. Jack the Ripper – Rick Geary

38. 1Q84 – Haruki Murakami

37. Civil War Poetry and Prose – Walt Whitman

36. The Mystery of Mary Rogers – Rick Geary

35. X’ed Out – Charles Burns

34. The Case of Madeleine Smith – Rick Geary

33. Plot and Structure – James Scott Bell

32. Robinson Crusoe – Daniel Defoe

31. Little Brother – Cory Doctorow

30. Hopscotch – Julio Cortázar

29. The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury

28. The Summer of the Black Widows – Sherman Alexie

27. A Midsummer Night’s Dream – William Shakespeare

26. Herland – Charlotte Perkins Gilman

25. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Other Poems – Samuel Taylor Coleridge*

24. The Country of the Blind and Other Science-Fiction Stories – H. G. Wells

23. The Island of Dr. Moreau - H. G. Wells

22. Leaves of Grass (1855 edition) - Walt Whitman*

21. Poems and Poetics - Edgar Allen Poe

20. The Invisible Man - H. G. Wells

19. Young Goodman Brown and Other Short Stories - Nathaniel Hawthorn

18. Like Water for Chocolate - Laura Esquivel*

17. The Gold-Bug and Other Tales - Edgar Allan Poe

16. Poetics - Aristotle

15. Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

14. Etiquette and Espionage - Gail Carriger

13. Principia Discordia - Malaclypse the Younger*

12. The Power of Half - Kevin and Hannah Salwen

11. The Story of the Stone - Barry Hughart*

10. The Reading Promise - Alice Ozma

9. Factotum - Charles Bukowski*

8. Dracula - Bram Stoker*

7. Nine Princes in Amber - Roger Zelazny

6. The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin

5. Jennifer Government - Max Barry

4. Apocrypha - Catherynne M. Valente*

3. Funniest Verses of Ogden Nash*

2. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood

1. Good Omens - Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

[BigMamaBird]

I read To Kill a Mockingbird this week. I just LOVE that book! Scout reminds me of my own Dd. Fierce, curious, innocent, compassionate. I know a lot of people like the book because of Atticus' courage and the social aspects of the book, but I really enjoy the view of childhood it takes. Long, dirty, barefoot summers and how kids look at the adult's world from the outside.

 

And since I've been on a rather serious book bender, I also read Game of Thrones. It's an easy read, a real page turner. The whole series is one of my guilty pleasures. A friend of mine is taping the series for me so I wanted to reread the books to brush up before we watched it.

 

1 - All The King's Men – Robert Penn Warren

2 - A Stranger in a Strange Land – Robert Heinlein

3 - A Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood

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

5 - Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury

6 - The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck

7 – Murder on the Orient Express – Agatha Christie

8 – The Illustrated Man – Ray Bradbury

9 – The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald

10 – The Hiding Place – Corrie Ten Boom

11 – The Square Foot Garden – Mel Bartholomew

12 - Catch-22- Joseph Heller

13 - Heart of Darkness- Joseph Conrad

14 - Partners in Crime - Agatha Christie

15 - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

16 -O, Pioneers!- Willa Cather

17 - Miss Marple - The Complete Short Story Collection - Agatha Christie

18 - Ringworld - Larry Niven

19 - Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man- James Joyce

20 - Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut

21 - To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

22 - Game of Thrones - George R. R. Martin

[Remudamom]

The Help.

 

Reading is getting pretty slow around here, garden and ponies starting to take over my time!

[zillymom]

Last week I finished:

A Masque of Infamy by Kelly Dessaint (autobiographical novel, coming of age story, tough themes)

Washing Cars & Wasting Time by John C. Oliva (memoir, quick and funny read, especially if you've ever worked retail!)

Trains and Lovers by Alexander McCall Smith (four strangers meet on a train and share stories about love and life)

 

This week I'm reading:

Three Lives of Tomomi Ishikawa by Benjamin Constable

The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara

and I'm slowly reading the Italian book Che animale sei? by Paola Mastrocola for a summer language challenge

[JennW in SoCal]

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad - I enjoyed this and thought it was a lot like Where the Wild Things Are. Kurtz went to the jungle where the natives "roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws" until Kurtz "tamed them with [his] magic trick" and they "made him king of all wild things." Then Marlow shows up to witness the effects of the wild rumpus.

 

Oh my, yes! I would never have thought of that, but I totally see it!! Brilliant.

 

I myself have nothing pithy to say this week.

 

I grabbed a Peter Robinson book at the library because I wanted a to escape back into Yorkshire with familiar characters, but I didn't realize it wasn't a DCI Banks mystery until, oh, 30 pages into the book! I kept thinking he would turn up! It was The First Cut, and it is a suspense novel dealing with a serial killer and one of his victims who lives. It wasn't graphically gory, but it made me squirm nevertheless.

 

I'm still reading The Map That Changed the World, and am half way through the lyrical and evocative From the Mouth of the Whale, a saga from the modern Icelandic author and poet Sjon.

[Robin M]

Hi y'all. I'm back. Barely spent any time online or reading as my sister kept us busy and having fun! So glad today is a holiday so I have a day to lazy and recoup. I finished reading City of Glass by Cassandra Clare this morning. Not sure what's up next.

[Stacia]

Using my ds' laptop right now & am having problems w/ the Enter key. So sorry for one long post w/ no breaks. Rosie, I agree about People of the Book -- loved the historical sections, wasn't so enamored of the modern day sections/personalities. Crstarlette, the bento book sounds neat. I will have to look for that one. I like your assessment of Heart of Darkness -- never heard it compared to Where the Wild Things are.... Love Heart of Darkness & will have to reread it someday. Jane in NC, glad you liked Dai Sijie's book. I loved it as it was (novella) -- just a perfect little story, imo. Not sure I'd want to read a longer version. Mentioned in last week's thread that I finished A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki & loved it. Definitely recommended. I'm not reading anything now. Have had a majorly stressful few weeks w/ the culmination being that two of my elderly sick cats died w/in a few hours of each other yesterday. One had a seizure & passed away; the other one, we had to take in to be put to sleep a few hours later. This after my very elderly cat who died in March. It's been a very hard, sad few months. Just feeling mentally & emotionally fried today. Want to get into reading something but something along the lines of Green Eggs and Ham is about the level I can hope to manage at this point. Anyone have any recommendations of reading when feeling completely brain dead?

[Jane in NC]

Using my ds' laptop right now & am having problems w/ the Enter key. So sorry for one long post w/ no breaks. Rosie, I agree about People of the Book -- loved the historical sections, wasn't so enamored of the modern day sections/personalities. Crstarlette, the bento book sounds neat. I will have to look for that one. I like your assessment of Heart of Darkness -- never heard it compared to Where the Wild Things are.... Love Heart of Darkness & will have to reread it someday. Jane in NC, glad you liked Dai Sijie's book. I loved it as it was (novella) -- just a perfect little story, imo. Not sure I'd want to read a longer version. Mentioned in last week's thread that I finished A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki & loved it. Definitely recommended. I'm not reading anything now. Have had a majorly stressful few weeks w/ the culmination being that two of my elderly sick cats died w/in a few hours of each other yesterday. One had a seizure & passed away; the other one, we had to take in to be put to sleep a few hours later. This after my very elderly cat who died in March. It's been a very hard, sad few months. Just feeling mentally & emotionally fried today. Want to get into reading something but something along the lines of Green Eggs and Ham is about the level I can hope to manage at this point. Anyone have any recommendations of reading when feeling completely brain dead?

 

Stacia, I am so sorry for your loss.

 

Instead of a book, how about an old fashioned musical? It sounds like you need a good escape!

[Mom-ninja.]

Stacia, how about a nice P.G. Wodehouse book? Jeeves might give you some needed laughs.

 

 

I've read Becoming China's B!tch and Homeward Bound. Read others too but titles escaping me right now. Now I'm reading pregnancy books since its been 5 years since I was pregnant with dd. Most is different hospital policies since dd was born in Georgia and now we are in Michigan and newer developments.

 

 

Are congratulations in order?

 

 

 

I'm still chugging along with Dracula. As I said before it's dragging. My crush has moved from Van Helsing to Quincey Morris. He's the American (from Texas) in the book and has a "go get 'em" tough guy attitude that is rather sexy.

[MomtoCandJ]

Yeah, dh and dd are excited. So are all the grandparents, they all live here in Michigan :)

[mumto2]

Stacia -- I am so sorry. I agree that you need a good light movie! :grouphug:

[mumto2]

My Dd15 started the year planning to participate in the book a week. She has kept her list up but hasn't posted in months. So here it is from the start!

 

1) Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers

2) The Last Dragon Slayer by Jasper Fforde

3) The Song of the Quarkbeast by Jasper Forde

4) The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Bradley

5) Beauty and the Beast by Jenni James

6) Sleeping Beauty by Jenni James

7) Awaken by R.H. D'Aigle

8) The Hollow Bettle by Susannah Appelbaum

9) Lady Almina and the Real Downtown Abbey

10)Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

11)Wildwood by Colin Meloy

12)The Tasters Guild by Susannah Appelbaum

13)Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

14)Death Cloud by Andrew Lane

15)The Merchant of Death by D.J. MacHale

16)Oliver Twist by Dickens

17)The Shepherd of Weeds by Susannah Appelbaum

18)Starlighter by Bryan Davis

19)Warrior by Bryan Davis

20)Diviner by Bryan Davis

21)Liberator by Bryan Davis

22)Power Play by Ridley Pearson

23)Beyond the Reflection'sxEdge by Bryan Davis

24)Eternity's Edge by Bryan Davis

25)Nightmare's Edge by Bryan Davis

26)Ever by Gail Carson Levine

27) Squire by Tamora Pierce

28) Peter and the Sword of Mercy by Barry and Pearson

29) The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag by Bradley

30) Robinson Crusoe by Defoe

31)The Enchantress by Michael Scott

32)A Red Herring Without Mustard by Bradley

33)Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners by Bunyon

34)The Swiss Family Robinson by Wyss

35)Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde

36)Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy Sayers

37)Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James

38)Walden by Thoreau

39)The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde

40)The Moonspinners by Mary Stewart

41) I am Half-Sick od Shadows by Bradley

[luvnlattes]

So sorry to hear about your kitties, Stacia. :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

[MomtoCandJ]

Sorry about your fur babies Stacia :(

[Robin M]

Using my ds' laptop right now & am having problems w/ the Enter key. So sorry for one long post w/ no breaks. Rosie, I agree about People of the Book -- loved the historical sections, wasn't so enamored of the modern day sections/personalities. Crstarlette, the bento book sounds neat. I will have to look for that one. I like your assessment of Heart of Darkness -- never heard it compared to Where the Wild Things are.... Love Heart of Darkness & will have to reread it someday. Jane in NC, glad you liked Dai Sijie's book. I loved it as it was (novella) -- just a perfect little story, imo. Not sure I'd want to read a longer version. Mentioned in last week's thread that I finished A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki & loved it. Definitely recommended. I'm not reading anything now. Have had a majorly stressful few weeks w/ the culmination being that two of my elderly sick cats died w/in a few hours of each other yesterday. One had a seizure & passed away; the other one, we had to take in to be put to sleep a few hours later. This after my very elderly cat who died in March. It's been a very hard, sad few months. Just feeling mentally & emotionally fried today. Want to get into reading something but something along the lines of Green Eggs and Ham is about the level I can hope to manage at this point. Anyone have any recommendations of reading when feeling completely brain dead?

 

 

I'm so sorry.... :grouphug:

 

A mystery perhaps - James Patterson books are generally no brainers.

[zillymom]

Stacia, I'm so sorry. (((hugs)))

[Negin]

Stacia, so very sorry. :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

[Maus]

 

Completed:

 

Book #41 - "Daring Greatly" - Brene Brown. Saw her

TED

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talk about shame and vulnerability and something resonated. Found this at my library and I'm glad I did. Just what I needed to learn right now.

 

Book #40 - "The New Testament" - Authorized King James Version (1611). It had been a while since I read it through from first word to last, so it was good discipline to approach it that way.

 

Book #39 - "Teachings of Presidents of the Church - Lorenzo Snow" Forgot this one; I finished it a couple of months ago, but since it was for church, it didn't occur to me that it was a book.

 

 

 

 

 

Book #38 - "The Red Badge of Courage" by Stephen Crane. (WEM)

 

Book #37 - "Recovering Charles" by Jason F. Wright.

 

Book #36 - "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain. (WEM)

 

Book #35 - "Maphead" by Ken Jennings.

 

Book #34 - "Portrait of a Lady" by Henry James. (WEM)

 

Book #33 - "Earthly Deligihts" by Kerry Greenwood. (Australian author, Australian setting.)

 

Book #32 - "The Year of Learning Dangerously" by Quinn Cummings.

 

Book #31 - "The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds" by Alexander McCall Smith. (Zimbabwe born/Scottish author, Scottish setting.)

 

Book #30 - "The Forgotten Affairs of Youth" by Alexander McCall Smith. (Zimbabwe born/Scottish author, Scottish setting.)

 

Book #29 - "The Charming Quirks of Others" by Alexander McCall Smith. (Zimbabwe born/Scottish author, Scottish setting.)

 

Book #28 - "I am Half-Sice of Shadows" by Alan Bradley. (Canadian author, English setting.)

 

Book #27 - ""Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs" by Ken Jennings.

 

Book #26 - "Because I Said So!: The Truth Behind the Myths, Tales & Warnings Every Generation Passes Down to Its Kids" by Ken Jennings.

 

Book #25 - "A Red Herring Without Mustard" by Alan Bradley. (Canadian author, English setting.)

 

Book #24 - "The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing" by Tarquin Hall. (British author, Indian setting.)

 

Book #23 - "The Lost Art of Gratitude" by Alexander McCall Smith. (Zimbabwe born/Scottish author, Scottish setting.)

 

Book #22 - "The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag" by Alan Bradley. (Canadian author, English setting.)

 

Book #21 - "Academic Homeschooling: How to Give Your Child an Amazing Education and Survive" by Tracy Chatters.

 

Book #20 - "The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday" by Alexander McCall Smith. (Zimbabwe born/Scottish author, Scottish setting.)

 

Book #19 - "The Return of the Native" by Thomas Hardy. (WEM.)

 

Book #18 - "The Careful Use of Compliments" by Alexander McCall Smith. (Zimbabwe born/Scottish author, Scottish setting.)

 

Book #17 - "The Right Attitude to Rain" by Alexander McCall Smith. (Zimbabwe born/Scottish author, Scottish setting.)

 

Book #16 - "Inspector Singh Investigates: A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder" by Shamini Flint. (Singaporean author, Malaysian setting.)

 

Book #15 - "Friends, Lovers, Chocolate" by Alexander McCall Smith. (Zimbabwe born/Scottish author, Scottish setting.)

 

Book #14 - "Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie" by Alan Bradley. (Canadian author, English setting.)

 

Book #13 - "Portuguese Irregular Verbs" by Alexander McCall Smith. (Zimbabwe born/]Scottish author, German character, German/Swiss/Italian/Ireland/Indian settings.)

 

Book #12 - "In Cold Pursuit" by Sarah Andrews. (Antarctica setting.)

 

Book #11 - "Anna Karenina" by Leo Nikoleyevich Tolstoy. (Russian; or WEM challenge.)

 

Book #10 - "The Sunday Philosophy Club" by Alexander McCall Smith. (Zimbabwe born/Scottish author, Scottish setting.)

 

Book #9 - "The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection" by Alexander McCall Smith. (]Zimbabwe born/Scottish author, African setting)

 

Book #8 - "The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party" by Alexander McCall Smith. (Zimbabwe born/Scottish author, African setting)

 

Book #7 - "The Double Comfort Safari Club" by Alexander McCall Smith. (Zimbabwe born/Scottish author, African setting)

 

Book #6 - " Tea Time for the Traditionally Built" by Alexander McCall Smith. (Zimbabwe born/Scottish author, African setting)

 

Book #5 - "Crime and Punishment" by Fydor Dostoevsky. (Russian; or WEM challenge.)

 

Book #4 - "The Miracle of Speedy Motors" by Alexander McCall Smith. (Zimbabwe born/Scottish author, African setting)

 

Book #3 - "The Good Husband of Zebra Drive" by Alexander McCall Smith. (]Zimbabwe born/Scottish author, African setting)

 

Book #2 - "Blue Shoes and Happiness" by Alexander McCall Smith. (Zimbabwe born/Scottish author, African setting)

 

Book #1 - "In the Company of Cheerful Ladies" by Alexander McCall Smith. (Zimbabwe born/Scottish author, African setting)

[Stacia]

Thank you, my book friends.

 

I ran to the library with my dad today & found an easy-on-the-brain book that I've now started: Phoebe & the Ghost of Chagall.

[ladydusk]

Well, I can tell we're getting toward the middle of the year ... I'm slumping and we only have 39 posts on Wednesday :lol: :huh:

 

Anyway, I finished Margie Haack's memoir. She and her husband began Ransom Fellowship and I understand that she wrote for World Mag for a time. Anyway, I enjoyed the memoir. It was well written and her perspective as she looks back on her childhood is interesting.

 

We're getting ready to pack for OBX, so I got some beach reads ready to start: the next two LPW books, two from Barbara Pym, and the one and only Josephine Tey book my library has. I'm still working on that Leonardo and the Last Supper book by Ross King. It's kind of slow reading right now: lots of 15 C Italian-French-Catholic political intrigue that I don't know anything about ...

 

Here's the list:

 

Book Reviews

 

1. The White Horse King: The Life of Alfred the Great by Benjamin Merkle

2. Publish and Perish by Sally S Wright

3. Pride and Predator by Sally S Wright

4. Pursuit and Persuasion by Sally S Wright

5. Out of the Ruins by Sally S Wright

6. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

7. Watches of the Night by Sally S Wright

8. Code of Silence by Sally S Wright

9. Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi

10. The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert by Rosaria Butterfield (excellent)

11. Unnatural Death by Dorothy Sayers

12. Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kästner

13.The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy Sayers

14. The Devil on Lammas Night by Susan Howatch

15. The Pemberley Chronicles by Rebecca Ann Collins

16. The Little Way of Ruthie Leming by Rod Dreher (very very good)

17. The Exact Place: a memoir by Margie L Haack

[Robin M]

I've been listening to Nora Robert's Chesapeake Bay series but on the third book, Inner Harbor, the narrator was switched and I simply don't like him. Pulled out the book and reread it instead. Deeply Odd, the next book in Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz just arrived so I'll be happily diving into it next.

[Mom-ninja.]

Finished Austenland. Eh, boring.

[mumto2]

I finished a few more. Some were quick reads others I have been working on for awhile.

 

Hidden in Plain View (a Love Inspired) by Diane Burke -- A detective who grew up Amish goes undercover to protect an amnesia victim who is Amish. Enjoyable.

 

 

The Dark Monk by Oliver Potzsch -- The second Hangman's Daughter book. This one has a Templar connection so I liked it.

 

 

Love Overboard by Janet Evanovich -- One of her first romance novels. Written before the Stephanie Plum books made her famous. Quick funny read. I found several of these in the e-library.

 

Kissed by Crimson (Midnight Breed) by Lara Adrian -- Enjoyable.

 

I am currently reading Inferno by Dan Brown. Really good so far. I had planned to reread Dante's first but was lazy an read wiki instead. For those of you who are wondering the wiki is enough. The references have all been well explained so far.

 

 

[Negin]

Excuse my venting. Just when quite a few things in my life are seriously going wrong, the library card that my good friend gave me to loan books for my Kindle no longer works :sad:. I'll have to read much more slowly and go through fewer books, since I really cannot see how I can afford to buy a new book every week or so. The card doesn't work and Kindle books are still shamefully expensive :banghead:. I don't know what to do. Books are my escape. No libraries here.

Thank you for allowing me to vent.

[Jane in NC]

Excuse my venting. Just when quite a few things in my life are seriously going wrong, the library card that my good friend gave me to loan books for my Kindle no longer works . I'll have to read much more slowly and go through fewer books, since I really cannot see how I can afford to buy a new book every week or so. The card doesn't work and Kindle books are still shamefully expensive . I don't know what to do. Books are my escape. No libraries here.

Thank you for allowing me to vent.

So sorry to hear this! I'd love to help in some way.

 

While I am enjoying both Population: 485 and The Elegance of the Hedgehog, I am also in need of a mystery--my favorite escape from the world. Since I like series, I decided to try a book by Michael Dibdin, Vendetta, the second in his Aurelio Zen mysteries. I think I read the first in the series, Ratking, in recent years. Or maybe I just remember it from Masterpiece?

 

 

 

There were only a couple of Zen mysteries made for Masterpiece. Why were they not more popular? Who doesn't want to watch a brooding anti-hero (who lives with his mother!) fight corruption in Italy?

 

I think Zen and I may have some dates on the beach in the weeks ahead...

[Rosie_0801]

Excuse my venting. Just when quite a few things in my life are seriously going wrong, the library card that my good friend gave me to loan books for my Kindle no longer works :sad:. I'll have to read much more slowly and go through fewer books, since I really cannot see how I can afford to buy a new book every week or so. The card doesn't work and Kindle books are still shamefully expensive :banghead:. I don't know what to do. Books are my escape. No libraries here.

Thank you for allowing me to vent.

 

:grouphug:

[Paisley Hedgehog]

.

[Jane in NC]

 

 

After cleaning out / catching up on my DVR backlog -- BBC's Ripper Street and Copper, and the David Tennant Spies of Warsaw -- along with the Masterpiece Bletchley Circle (did anyone see this?? I loved it!), I've logged the following books:

 

34. Watching the Dark (Peter Robinson) -- the most recent DCI Banks book finally arrived from ILL. Still really enjoying this police procedrual series.

 

Oh, I had no idea that the BBC did a dramatization of the Spies of Warsaw. I loved Alan Furst's book--enjoy his books in general.

 

And thanks for the reminder that I need to put myself on the list at the library for Watching the Dark.

 

Welcome back!

[Mom-ninja.]

Negin, is there anything I can do to help? I'm not sure how the restrictions work or if there is a way around them as far as access to online e-book loans.

[Stacia]

I apologize in advance for my 'no breaks' posts (wonky enter key issues). Jane, that mystery series sounds great. I'll need to look for it. Negin, so sorry to hear about the Kindle card woes. Hope there is an easy fix/solution in your near future. Paisley, it's good to see you back here. I read The English Patient years ago & didn't really care for the story (though his writing is beautiful); I thought the movie was gorgeous eye candy -- just completely luscious -- but I still didn't like the story. (However, I loved his book that came out last year, The Cat's Table.)

[Kim in Appalachia]

I'm currently reading, Lathe of Heaven, by Le Guin. It is a short book, but I've been going slowly. I've been super busy. But I'm always so in love with her writing, it's a joy to pick up and read.