Book a Week in 2013 - week twenty three

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday, dear hearts! Today is the start of week 23 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.

 

52 Books - Revisit Old Friends: Another year of homeschooling under our belt and 7th grade is done. I am more than ready to rest my brain. At least for a couple weeks before I dive into researching curriculum and doing summer light lessons such as math. I really haven't been in the mood to read anything new and have been revisiting old friends. Can't say they are necessarily comfort books. Just those books that strike my fancy. Surprisingly, even though I've read them before, it seems like the first time and I have the same anticipation of what's going to happen. Some I remember what's going to happen and enjoy the build up. Others leave me thinking - "How could I have forgotten that?" I'm currently rereading an oldie from 1980 Congo by Michael Crichton. Which is now giving me to urge to reread Sphere. And soon I'll be introducing my son to the book, Jurassic Park. We watched the movie together and he loved it and asked to read the book, so it's on the way to us now from Barnes and Noble.

 

Another author I love to revisit over and over again is Nora Roberts and her alter ego J.D. Robb. I never get tired of her In Death series, which I've read twice and listened to in audio book once. I love Eve and Roark and discover something new every time read the series. So, yes, after perusing the shelves and looking at Naked in Death yesterday, thought about about diving in again. I recently downloaded the audiobook of Robert's first book in her key Trilogy, Key of Light and will invariably end up re-reading the book as well when don't have time to listen to the audiobook.

 

I think June is going to be a month of rereading and following rabbit trails, seeing where those books lead me.

 

What are your comfort books or books you like to revisit?

 

What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

 

Link to week 22

[Robin M]

I'm halfway through Congo and enjoying it so far. Since it was written in the 80's and talks alot about computer technology, interesting how much things have advanced in the past 30 years. Started listening to Key of Light by Nora Roberts last night.

[Negin]

I'm currently rereading an oldie from 1980 Congo by Michael Crichton.

Robin, I read this a few years ago and I really enjoyed it. It's one of those stories that I cannot seem to forget. Thanks for the idea about reading Jurassic Park. I think I'll do that with my dc. I'm quite sure my ds will love it. We haven't seen the movie with the kids yet. I've read and loved many of the Michael Crichton books.

 

I finished Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen and give it 3 Stars.

 

 

 

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.

[Stacia]

I am still mentally & emotionally fried from this week (& this past year, really). Still making my way through Phoebe & the Ghost of Chagall. It's really a nice, light story -- it kind of reminds me of books along the lines of Garden Spells. So, if you're needing something pleasant, predictable, & light, this might be one you would enjoy. This is about the max that my brain & soul can handle right now.

 

http://www.featheredquillblog.com/2012/09/book-review-phoebe-ghost-of-chagall.html

[Negin]

I am still mentally & emotionally fried from this week (& this past year, really).

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

 

I can fully relate. :(

Hope things get better.

[Negin]

nm

[Violet Crown]

I'm currently out of the country and needed to travel light, so I abandoned my to-read pile and brought a nicely compact Penguin edition of The Brothers Karamazov, conveniently in two volumes, and (also compact) Five Hundred Years of Printing. I've just read the story of the old woman and the onion, which I like much more than the more famous Grand Inquisitor passage.

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

“You see, Alyosha,†Grushenka turned to him with a nervous laugh. “I was boasting when I told Rakitin I had given away an onion, but it’s not to boast I tell you about it. It’s only a story, but it’s a nice story. I used to hear it when I was a child from Matryona, my cook, who is still with me. It’s like this. Once upon a time there was a peasant woman and a very wicked woman she was. And she died and did not leave a single good deed behind. The devils caught her and plunged her into the lake of fire. So her guardian angel stood and wondered what good deed of hers he could remember to tell to God; ‘She once pulled up an onion in her garden,’ said he, ‘and gave it to a beggar woman.’ And God answered: ‘You take that onion then, hold it out to her in the lake, and let her take hold and be pulled out. And if you can pull her out of the lake, let her come to Paradise, but if the onion breaks, then the woman must stay where she is.’ The angel ran to the woman and held out the onion to her. ‘Come,’ said he, ‘catch hold and I’ll pull you out.’ he began cautiously pulling her out. He had just pulled her right out, when the other sinners in the lake, seeing how she was being drawn out, began catching hold of her so as to be pulled out with her. But she was a very wicked woman and she began kicking them. ‘I’m to be pulled out, not you. It’s my onion, not yours.’ As soon as she said that, the onion broke. And the woman fell into the lake and she is burning there to this day. So the angel wept and went away. So that’s the story, Alyosha; I know it by heart, for I am that wicked woman myself. I boasted to Rakitin that I had given away an onion, but to you I’ll say: ‘I’ve done nothing but give away one onion all my life, that’s the only good deed I’ve done.’

 

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

 

I wasn't going to buy books that I'd have to haul back from abroad, but I found in a secondhand bookstore two volumes of short pieces by A. A. Milne, which I bought. Who even knew Milne wrote for grownups? So amidst the Dostoevsky, Milne. And printing.

 

These:

http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/If_I_May.html?id=IAAQYJMgO9EC&redir_esc=y

http://thecaptivereader.wordpress.com/2012/10/03/the-days-play-a-a-milne/

 

[Violet Crown]

I am still mentally & emotionally fried from this week (& this past year, really). Still making my way through Phoebe & the Ghost of Chagall. It's really a nice, light story -- it kind of reminds me of books along the lines of Garden Spells. So, if you're needing something pleasant, predictable, & light, this might be one you would enjoy. This is about the max that my brain & soul can handle right now.

 

http://www.featheredquillblog.com/2012/09/book-review-phoebe-ghost-of-chagall.html

 

Hugs and warm thoughts. Wish I could shoulder some of it for you.

[Jane in NC]

I am still mentally & emotionally fried from this week (& this past year, really). Still making my way through Phoebe & the Ghost of Chagall. It's really a nice, light story -- it kind of reminds me of books along the lines of Garden Spells. So, if you're needing something pleasant, predictable, & light, this might be one you would enjoy. This is about the max that my brain & soul can handle right now.

 

http://www.feathered...of-chagall.html

 

:grouphug:

 

I seemed to be battling a sinus issue this week which made reading unpleasant. There were a couple of days when all I read was a few pages! Fortunately I am on the mend. Amazing what a couple of nights of high quality sleep can do.

 

Given the dull headache, I found I needed escape--for me that is a mystery or police procedural. As mentioned in last week's thread, I think that Aurelio Zen may be my summer companion as I work my way through a series of novels by Michael Dibdin. Vendetta does not feature a straight forward plot line--in part because politics and policing in Italy seem anything but straight forward! This is the second Zen mystery. From here I will move on to Cabal (the third) and also plan to finish The Elegance of the Hedgehog (which I think is a lovely book) as well as the amusing Population: 485 by Michael Perry.

 

The old friends who live on my shelves are mostly female writers: Angela Thirkell, E.M. Delafield, Miss Read, Dorothy Dunnett. I suppose that E.F. Benson's Lucia books deserve a place at the table being a comforting old friend as well.

[Mothersweets]

Just catching up on this thread - this is what I've been reading the past few weeks:

 

A Spoonful of Sugar: A Nanny's Story by Brenda Ashford. This is England's oldest living nanny. She totally rocks - I love her!

 

A Farmhouse in Provence by Mary Roblee Henry. This was published back in 1969 and it shows.

 

Old Friends and New Fancies: An Imaginary Sequel to the Novels of Jane Austen by Sybil G. Brinton. The very first Jane Austen fan fic. There were a LOT of characters to keep straight and it was fairly predictable. I ended up skimming the last 150 pages.

 

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. Read this with my kids - we all liked it.

 

Great Expectations:The Sons and Daughters of Charles Dickens by Robert Gottlieb. Very interesting. Made me want to read more about Dickens even though he had a very unlikeable side as a husband and father.

 

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green - Story of two terminally ill teens, liked it very much.

 

and am in the middle of The Far Side of the World by Patrick O'Brian and am loving it.

 

eta - I've read 30 books so far this year.

[Butter]

I've read 28 or 29 books. We moved this week and that involved a cross country drive (I can't read in a moving vehicle) and lots of unpacking once we got here so I'm still only about halfway through An Abundance of Katherines by John Green. I'm really enjoying it, though it has made me realize I am actually kind of a freak.

[Heather in Neverland]

Started Reading:

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (Ethiopian Author, DD class 800)

 

 

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:

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

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)

 

[Onceuponatime]

Finished The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro, reading The Eight of Swords by John Dickson Carr. Next up: Swerve, How the World Became Modern.

[Just Robyn]

What are your comfort books or books you like to revisit?

 

What are you reading this week?

 

 

There aren't many books that I have reread, and really none that I read repeatedly for comfort. I would *like* to reread some of the books I read in high school, like Romeo and Juliet and Of Mice and Men, and some of my linguistics books from college. But then, there are so many other books I'd like to read for the first time. I'm thinking rereading books from high school and college may be a goal I make for next year.

 

I finished several short books last week:

 

Waiting for Godot - It seems like there are so many ways to interpret this, which could be considered a good thing, but for me, while I was reading it, it seemed like my mind was jumping all over the place. For a while I was thinking of what I was reading from a religious perspective, then a gay one, then I was thinking of a married heterosexual couple.... I'm sure it would be interesting to go through it several times, each time committing yourself to reading it with one particular interpretation in mind, but on my first read through, I felt pulled in too many directions.

 

The Song of Roland - The descriptions of soldiers killing each other were kind of amusing. Some of the repetition was boring - along the lines of This guy said, "He's great." This other guy said, "He is a warrior." Another guy said, "He has fine thighs." etc. - a stanza a piece, person after person saying just about the same thing. I read this in one day and dreamed a few lines of iambic pentameter that night. Sadly, I didn't write them down, but it was something about buying petticoats.

 

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (A New Verse Translation) - This I enjoyed. The alliteration was entertaining, and so was the story.

 

Things Fall Apart - I just finished this one last night. I like that it shows not only the reasons why a person could consider it bad for missionaries to come in and break up a culture, but some reasons why a person might think it's good. It is thought provoking instead of preachy, imo. Now to decide on how I want to watch Apocalypse Now. They don't have it on Netflix or at my library, and I don't have Amazon Prime. I think I may check out the video rental place.

[Paisley Hedgehog]

. 

 

[Paisley Hedgehog]

.

[Jane in NC]

Most of my comfort books are all in the mystery genre. Laurie R King's Mary Russell series is a perennial favorite, along with anything else Sherlock Holmes related. Other old faves are P. D. James, Joanne Harris, Elizabeth George.

<snip>

Rufus Sewell's Zen is total eye candy. Yowzzer! :drool5: I tried the Dibdin books after the series aired on PBS last year (?) and didn't really like them all that much. I think Dibdin also has a Sherlock pastiche that I tried and wasn't fond of either, but I can't remember why. I am anxious to hear your opinion since we seem to like the same sorts of books.

 

 

 

Double yowzzer to Rufus Sewell as Zen!!

 

Vendetta pulled me in sufficiently so that I'll try Cabal. Off the top, I'd say that Michael Dibdin is not Peter Robinson.

 

Do you like the Martha Grimes series with Richard Jury? The books have become too dark in recent years but I loved the first dozen or so. By the way, Melrose Plant is mine. Taken. A friend told me that she started rereading the series and since it had been 20-30 years since she had read them, she had forgotten much of the plot lines. She is enjoying these books on the second go around. So if Dibdin falls flat, I'll probably return to Grimes for my light reading/beach books, that is, the earlier ones.

[Violet Crown]

I can't resist - crstarlette, in honor of your reading some of my old favorites this week, a poem of combined verse:

 

Sithen the sege and the assaut was sesed at Troye

The borgh brittened and brent to brondez and askez,

The tulk that the trammes of tresoun there wroght

Watz tried for his tricherie, the trewest on erthe.

That warrior, with great strides he stepped,

Small were his thighs, his ribs of wide extent.

I can't go on like this.

That's what you think.

 

ETA: I think it works even better thus:

 

Sithen the sege and the assaut was sesed at Troye

The borgh brittened and brent to brondez and askez,

That warrior, with great strides he stepped,

I can't go on like this.

 

The tulk that the trammes of tresoun there wroght

Watz tried for his tricherie, the trewest on erthe.

Small were his thighs, his ribs of wide extent.

That's what you think.

 

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

 

Please consider reading Paradise Lost next. :D

[Paisley Hedgehog]

. 

 

[Negin]

What are your comfort books or books you like to revisit?

C.S. Lewis said this:

 

“I can't imagine a man really enjoying a book and reading it only once.â€

 

 

 

and this:

 

“It is a good rule after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between.â€

 

 

 

 

I can't say that I stick to that at all, but I have been telling myself to start re-reading some of my favourites a bit more often.

 

 

Thank you for the reminder, Robin.

 

We moved this week and that involved a cross country drive (I can't read in a moving vehicle)

Me neither.

Hope your move goes smoothly.

[Narrow Gate Academy]

I finished book 22 The Horse and His Boy and wrote a brief review.

 

Books to Read

Making It All Work by Adler

 

Books in Progress

The One Year Bible

The History of the Ancient World by Bauer

How to Read a Book by Adler

The Titan's Curse by Riordan

 

Books Finished This Year

21. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by Lewis

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

[Kim in Appalachia]

I finished Le Guin's Lathe of Heaven. I enjoyed it. I love her writing, and it was an interesting read. It did feel dated, and at points over-simplified some difficult topics, but still I enjoyed it.

 

I can't decide what to read next. I want to read The Shining Girls: A Novel. It comes out Tuesday and I'm trying to resist the urge to have it on my Kindle that morning. :D I don't normally buy books new. I either get them from the library or buy them used. And Neil Gaiman has a book coming out this month too, and I want to buy it. :p

 

I had told myself I would get Gaiman's book, and later this year, when Bacigalupi comes out with another book I will buy it right away. But a novel that's a thriller and sci-fi combined...I may have to get it.

[Mom-ninja.]

Almost done with Dracula. 20 pages to go.

[mlbuchina]

I am still mentally & emotionally fried from this week (& this past year, really). Still making my way through Phoebe & the Ghost of Chagall. It's really a nice, light story -- it kind of reminds me of books along the lines of Garden Spells. So, if you're needing something pleasant, predictable, & light, this might be one you would enjoy. This is about the max that my brain & soul can handle right now.

 

http://www.featheredquillblog.com/2012/09/book-review-phoebe-ghost-of-chagall.html

 

Many hugs to you!!!

 

I am on a camping trip, and have little cell service and no internet. Not much reading going on, either, but hope to be back in the swing of things next week.

 

An old favorite of mine is Wanderlust, by Danielle Steel. It is the only book by her that I really like, and I have to reread it about every six to ten years.

 

Other favorite authors to revisit are Douglas Adams, Terry Brooks, Johanna Lindsey, Diana Gabaldon, Michael Crichton. Those are off the top of my head, but I'm sure there are more.

 

A book that will become an old favorite is A Single Shard, by Linda Sue Park. It is just a lovely story with a sweet message. Well worth reading again and again.

 

Next week I hope to be able to give a better report, and reply to some of your's. I had no idea I had become so reliant on internet service till it was gone! (Not to mention reliable cell phone service.)

[JennW in SoCal]

I so well remember what a relief it was to be done with homeschooling for the year, to just get to read what I wanted, just be a mom again. Good for each of you in finding something cozy and comfy to read while your brain and psyche recharge. I just took a tour of my bookshelves to see what I might revisit should I want something familiar and was dismayed to realize that I actually don't own some books that I thought I had. All the Tony Hillerman Detective Jim Chee mysteries for instance. I own a couple but the rest must all have come from the library! I was also dismayed at all the books I haven't yet read. I inherited a nice stack from Kay in Cal, who started this thread several years ago, and I haven't gotten to several of them yet.

 

I should be finished with From the Mouth of the Whale this afternoon. I am not an adequate enough writer to do justice to reviewing this book, so I'll leave to AS Byatt. From her review in the Guardian last year:

 

Sjón is a poet

, and the aesthetic excitement is his own. He is an extraordinary and original writer. And his translator, Victoria Cribb, is also extraordinary in her rendering of the roughness and the elegance, the clarity and the oddity of this splendid book.

 

It is a splendid book, and one that takes a little more effort than the mysteries I've been consumed with most of the year. It isn't an unpleasant effort at all -- it doesn't feel like work -- but I feel the need to think and pay attention a little more to it as I read. It is one worth going back an re-reading.

 

In the next few weeks I won't be reading anything else requiring much effort as I'm heading to Florida for my oldest's college graduation then helping him pack up to move back to Southern California. I probably will be AWOL from here, too, for a few weeks. But I've got e-books, an audio book and a couple of paperbacks to keep me occupied:

 

Paperbacks:

RailSea by China Mieville

Empire Falls by Richard Russo (one of the unread books I just found on my shelves)

 

Audiobooks:

Count of Monte Cristo (for me)

Redshirts by John Scalzi (to listen together with my college grad while we drive)

 

iPad:

The Last Sherlock Holmes Story by Michael Dibdon

Going Back, a DCI Banks novella by Peter Robinson

Along with all kinds of fun things I've downloaded in the last year - Agatha Christie, GK Chesterton, A Conan Doyle

[mumto2]

Finished The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro, reading The Eight of Swords by John Dickson Carr. Next up: Swerve, How the World Became Modern.

 

 

The Art Forger is on my wish list. Did you enjoy it?

 

I finished Dan Brown's Inferno. It was a good read. I enjoyed all the Dante references although I knew very little. I really want to visit Florence now!

 

I also finished "Bite Me, Your Grace" by Brooklyn Ann. It was a fun vampire historical set in London in the early 1800's.

 

My favorite comfort books are mysteries. It is too hard to pick just a few authors! I have the first J.P. Beaumont by JA Jance checked out of the library currently. I am also waiting for the first Faye Kellerman. I am really looking forward to both series in order.

[eaglei]

Finished only one book this week:

 

#30 - Wonderland Creek, by Lynn Austin. Thoroughly enjoyed this Christian fiction novel. This is the first book by this author that I've read and I was not disappointed. Takes place during the Depression and involves the Packhorse Library Project where [mainly] women were employed to take reading material by horseback or mule to the families and schools in outlying rural and remote areas of eastern Kentucky. Various schemes and intrigue encapsulate the main character, a naive young girl from Illinois who, up until now, has lived her life through the novels she reads, when she decides to personally deliver the books she has collected to the library in a remote mining village in the mountains of Kentucky.

[Robin M]

C.S. Lewis said this:

 

“I can't imagine a man really enjoying a book and reading it only once.â€

 

 

 

and this:

 

“It is a good rule after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between.â€

 

 

 

 

I can't say that I stick to that at all, but I have been telling myself to start re-reading some of my favourites a bit more often.

 

 

Thank you for the reminder, Robin.

 

 

Oh I like that - read an old one inbetween. What a great idea. Although it won't make my tbr pile get any smaller. :0

[Onceuponatime]

The Art Forger is on my wish list. Did you enjoy it?

 

I finished Dan Brown's Inferno. It was a good read. I enjoyed all the Dante references although I knew very little. I really want to visit Florence now!

 

 

 

 

The story in the Art Forger was ok, but I really liked the art history woven in.

 

You might like the Dante Club by Matthew Pearl.

 

 

My comfort books are cozy mysteries, preferably British. I have quite a few books that I read over and over: The Count of Monte Cristo (a very old abridged version that I own), The Foundation Trilogy, The Prisoner of Zenda, Island of the Blue Dolphins, My Side of the Mountain, and The Mouse That Roared are a few.

[Kim in Appalachia]

I so well remember what a relief it was to be done with homeschooling for the year, to just get to read what I wanted, just be a mom again. Good for each of you in finding something cozy and comfy to read while your brain and psyche recharge. I just took a tour of my bookshelves to see what I might revisit should I want something familiar and was dismayed to realize that I actually don't own some books that I thought I had. All the Tony Hillerman Detective Jim Chee mysteries for instance. I own a couple but the rest must all have come from the library! I was also dismayed at all the books I haven't yet read. I inherited a nice stack from Kay in Cal, who started this thread several years ago, and I haven't gotten to several of them yet.

 

I should be finished with From the Mouth of the Whale this afternoon. I am not an adequate enough writer to do justice to reviewing this book, so I'll leave to AS Byatt. From her review in the Guardian last year:

 

Sjón is a poet

, and the aesthetic excitement is his own. He is an extraordinary and original writer. And his translator, Victoria Cribb, is also extraordinary in her rendering of the roughness and the elegance, the clarity and the oddity of this splendid book.

 

It is a splendid book, and one that takes a little more effort than the mysteries I've been consumed with most of the year. It isn't an unpleasant effort at all -- it doesn't feel like work -- but I feel the need to think and pay attention a little more to it as I read. It is one worth going back an re-reading.

 

In the next few weeks I won't be reading anything else requiring much effort as I'm heading to Florida for my oldest's college graduation then helping him pack up to move back to Southern California. I probably will be AWOL from here, too, for a few weeks. But I've got e-books, an audio book and a couple of paperbacks to keep me occupied:

 

Paperbacks:

RailSea by China Mieville

Empire Falls by Richard Russo (one of the unread books I just found on my shelves)

 

Audiobooks:

Count of Monte Cristo (for me)

Redshirts by John Scalzi (to listen together with my college grad while we drive)

 

iPad:

The Last Sherlock Holmes Story by Michael Dibdon

Going Back, a DCI Banks novella by Peter Robinson

Along with all kinds of fun things I've downloaded in the last year - Agatha Christie, GK Chesterton, A Conan Doyle

 

 

 

 

Ooh, let me know how RailSea is. I had wanted to read it, but I read 3 (or was it 4) Mieville books in a year's time and I decided I couldn't read him anymore. Perdido Station was my last one, and I decided I just wasn't enjoying it and needed to get away. :D Don't know why. His writing is amazing, but that book drove me a bit nuts.

[Ali in OR]

Finished a big challenge for me--read Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell within the 14 days the library allowed me. This was a major brain workout for me, keeping track of the interweaving stories. I was amazed by the intricate structure of the book and enjoyed it very much. Now I'm number 80 on the hold list for the movie (and reading about the movie was what made me put a hold on the book many months ago). I've got some easier fare going now--Dorothy Sayers' Have His Carcase. I've also received word that our June book club pick is Suite Francais which I should be getting from the library this week. And my dd's respite care provider left me In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson--and no time limit on that one!

 

Books Read in 2013

21. Cloud Atlas-David Mitchell

20. Busman’s Honeymoon-Dorothy Sayers

19. Strong Poison-Dorothy Sayers

18. The Kitchen House-Kathleen Grissom

17. Code Name Verity-Elizabeth Wein

16. Pandora’s Lunchbox-Melanie Warner

15. The Light Between Oceans-M.L. Stedman

14. Gaudy Night-Dorothy Sayers

13. Warrior Girls-Michael Sokolove

12. The Shape of the Eye-George Estreich

11. The Tiger’s Wife-Tea Obreht

10. The Hare with Amber Eyes-Edmund de-Waal

9. The Panic Virus-Seth Mnookin

8. Chi Running-Danny Dreyer

7. Speaking from Among the Bones-Alan Bradley

6. The Sun Also Rises-Ernest Hemingway

5. North by Northanger-Carrie Bebris

4. Train Dreams-Denis Johnson

3. Northanger Abbey-Jane Austen

2. Sense and Sensibility-Jane Austen

1. The Great Influenza-John M. Barry

[Robin M]

I am still mentally & emotionally fried from this week (& this past year, really). Still making my way through Phoebe & the Ghost of Chagall. It's really a nice, light story -- it kind of reminds me of books along the lines of Garden Spells. So, if you're needing something pleasant, predictable, & light, this might be one you would enjoy. This is about the max that my brain & soul can handle right now.

 

http://www.feathered...of-chagall.html

 

 

:grouphug: Take your time and keep it light. Another light mystery read author to check out is Cleo Coyle.

:grouphug:

 

I seemed to be battling a sinus issue this week which made reading unpleasant. There were a couple of days when all I read was a few pages! Fortunately I am on the mend. Amazing what a couple of nights of high quality sleep can do.

 

Given the dull headache, I found I needed escape--for me that is a mystery or police procedural. As mentioned in last week's thread, I think that Aurelio Zen may be my summer companion as I work my way through a series of novels by Michael Dibdin. Vendetta does not feature a straight forward plot line--in part because politics and policing in Italy seem anything but straight forward! This is the second Zen mystery. From here I will move on to Cabal (the third) and also plan to finish The Elegance of the Hedgehog (which I think is a lovely book) as well as the amusing Population: 485 by Michael Perry.

 

The old friends who live on my shelves are mostly female writers: Angela Thirkell, E.M. Delafield, Miss Read, Dorothy Dunnett. I suppose that E.F. Benson's Lucia books deserve a place at the table being a comforting old friend as well.

 

Sorry to hear about your sinuses. Know what you are going through. Cool, I'll have to check out Thirkell and the rest.

 

 

Just catching up on this thread - this is what I've been reading the past few weeks:

 

A Spoonful of Sugar: A Nanny's Story by Brenda Ashford. This is England's oldest living nanny. She totally rocks - I love her!

 

A Farmhouse in Provence by Mary Roblee Henry. This was published back in 1969 and it shows.

 

Old Friends and New Fancies: An Imaginary Sequel to the Novels of Jane Austen by Sybil G. Brinton. The very first Jane Austen fan fic. There were a LOT of characters to keep straight and it was fairly predictable. I ended up skimming the last 150 pages.

 

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. Read this with my kids - we all liked it.

 

Great Expectations:The Sons and Daughters of Charles Dickens by Robert Gottlieb. Very interesting. Made me want to read more about Dickens even though he had a very unlikeable side as a husband and father.

 

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green - Story of two terminally ill teens, liked it very much.

 

and am in the middle of The Far Side of the World by Patrick O'Brian and am loving it.

 

eta - I've read 30 books so far this year.

 

Awesome, plus Interesting assortment of books.

 

 

Finished The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro, reading The Eight of Swords by John Dickson Carr. Next up: Swerve, How the World Became Modern.

 

I love art stories. Just added it to my wishlist.

 

 

There aren't many books that I have reread, and really none that I read repeatedly for comfort. I would *like* to reread some of the books I read in high school, like Romeo and Juliet and Of Mice and Men, and some of my linguistics books from college. But then, there are so many other books I'd like to read for the first time. I'm thinking rereading books from high school and college may be a goal I make for next year.

 

I finished several short books last week:

 

Waiting for Godot - It seems like there are so many ways to interpret this, which could be considered a good thing, but for me, while I was reading it, it seemed like my mind was jumping all over the place. For a while I was thinking of what I was reading from a religious perspective, then a gay one, then I was thinking of a married heterosexual couple.... I'm sure it would be interesting to go through it several times, each time committing yourself to reading it with one particular interpretation in mind, but on my first read through, I felt pulled in too many directions.

 

That is interesting. I only read it once and was left scratching my head trying to decide about it. I'll have to reread with an idea in mind and see how it goes.

 

I can so totally relate! Since we finished a couple of weeks ago, I haven't felt up to doing anything even remotely challenging. I watch movies, I read fluff books, I nap. We were supposed to start our "school lite" tomorrow but I made an executive decision this morning to postpone everything until after July 4. No one in my house is ready for academics, including the teacher.

 

Most of my comfort books are all in the mystery genre. Laurie R King's Mary Russell series is a perennial favorite, along with anything else Sherlock Holmes related. Other old faves are P. D. James, Joanne Harris, Elizabeth George.

 

When I want to relax I reach for travel or foodie books like Peter Mayle's Provence series, or Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingslover.

 

I have a couple Barbara Kingsolvers on the shelf. Haven't been able to get into King's series yet. I'll have to try again. Perhaps have to be in a particular mood for it.

[Robin M]

Finished a big challenge for me--read Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell within the 14 days the library allowed me. This was a major brain workout for me, keeping track of the interweaving stories. I was amazed by the intricate structure of the book and enjoyed it very much. Now I'm number 80 on the hold list for the movie (and reading about the movie was what made me put a hold on the book many months ago).

 

 

You are making me want to read the book now. ;)

[Jane in NC]

Sorry to hear about your sinuses. Know what you are going through. Cool, I'll have to check out Thirkell and the rest.

 

 

Thanks Robin. I have another woman to add to my old friends list: Barbara Pym. Woo-hoo--BBC Radio 4 Ex is airing a dramatization of her work Jane and Prudence beginning next Sunday. Episodes are available for a week via their I-player. Here is the link but the program won't appear until June 9.

 

Starting June 3, BBC Radio 4 Ex will air Ellis Peter's Brother Cadfael mystery, The Virgin in the Ice, in five episodes. I regularly make a point of sitting with my knitting at some point during the day to listen to an episode or two on Radio 4 Ex. They are usually quite well done.

[Murmer]

Finished: A Flower Blooms in Charlotte by Milam McGraw Propst, Confessions of a Cloth Diaper Convert by Erin Odom, The Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards, and Simple Scrapbook Organization by Jennifer Wilson

 

Currently Working On:

Downstairs: Eternal Marriage by BYU

Upstairs: In Your Place by Rachel Ann Nunes

Kindle: Gone to Green by Judy Christie

IPhone: From a Distance by Tamara Alexander

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: Montessori at Home by John Bowman

 

Total Finished in 2013: 62

[MomtoCandJ]

I'm reading Almost A Miracle the American Victory in the War for Independence, and Eating for Pregnancy :)

[JennW in SoCal]

Thanks Robin. I have another woman to add to my old friends list: Barbara Pym. Woo-hoo--BBC Radio 4 Ex is airing a dramatization of her work Jane and Prudence beginning next Sunday. Episodes are available for a week via their I-player. Here is the link but the program won't appear until June 9.

 

Starting June 3, BBC Radio 4 Ex will air Ellis Peter's Brother Cadfael mystery, The Virgin in the Ice, in five episodes. I regularly make a point of sitting with my knitting at some point during the day to listen to an episode or two on Radio 4 Ex. They are usually quite well done.

 

Do you listen on your computer? The web site says the iPlayer app is not available yet outside the UK, and I don't see these dramatizations as being available as podcasts.

 

You introduced me to the program In Our Time, which I enjoy. Is there anything else you recommend?

[prairiegirl]

I finished 2 books this week: Unglued by Lysa Terkuerst and Me Before You by Jojo Meyes (good book but the sappy part of me would have preferred the predictable ending. I am now on Books # 36 & 37: Death of a Dowage by Joanna Campbell Slan and Prayer by Richard Foster.

[Jane in NC]

Jenn,

I listen via my computer or tablet. There is no way to dowmload the episodes. Try to see if you can access the recent Poirot story.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01073tf/episodes/guide

 

By the way, the programs do not start at the beginning but toward the end of the previous program in the stream.

[Stacia]

Thanks again, friends, for all your kind words & thoughts. :grouphug:

 

There aren't many books that I have reread, and really none that I read repeatedly for comfort.

 

I totally relate to this. I am like this too.

 

Martha Grimes's trilogy featuring precocious twelve year old Emma Graham (Hotel Paradise, Cold Flat Junction, and Belle Ruin) is wonderful. These are well suited to fans of Alan Bradley's Flavia de Luce books.

 

Good to know. Would they also be suited for kids? (My 12yo ds loves the Flavia books too, so I'm wondering if these others would also appeal?)

 

Almost done with Dracula. 20 pages to go.

 

Ohhh. Down to the final showdown! :thumbup1:

 

Sjón is a poet

,

 

 

Another one I want to read.

 

Finished a big challenge for me--read Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell within the 14 days the library allowed me. This was a major brain workout for me, keeping track of the interweaving stories. I was amazed by the intricate structure of the book and enjoyed it very much. Now I'm number 80 on the hold list for the movie (and reading about the movie was what made me put a hold on the book many months ago).

 

So glad you enjoyed it. I really just loved that book. And, even though I rarely reread books, this may be one I read again in the next year or two. I loved the movie too (even though it, obviously, differed somewhat from the book). Wonderful storytelling, all around.

 

In spite of my funk & sadness over my cats this week, I got to see an incredible production of A Midsummer Night's Dream today. (My sis went along too but she was significantly less enamored of it than I was, lol. Some people also left during intermission, so it's probably one of those 'love 'em' or 'hate 'em' productions.) It was a fantastic mix of the classical & avant-garde using simplistic props, some puppetry, and unique fun added into the production. Loved the sets, loved the acting. Bravo. Really one of the best things I've seen at Spoleto so far. If this travels near you, I'd highly recommend it. (I also loved Le Grand C -- a French acrobatic troupe. Surprisingly, I did not like the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucia -- but my sis & dd absolutely loved it.)

 

 

[Stacia]

Read an interesting book review for Here's Looking at Euclid. Sounds like a neat book. Has anyone read it?

 

My library has it, so I'll request it once I'm back home.

[Stacia]

Sorry to keep posting all in a row....

 

Sat up tonight & finished Phoebe & the Ghost of Chagall. It was completely delightful & light -- just what I needed to read this week. I know there are some Sarah Addisson Allen fans on this thread & I'd recommend this book to you if you enjoy her works; I found it similar in style & lightness. If you're looking to while away the afternoon in a hammock, or by a pool, or on a beach, or curled up in front of a fire with some easy, fun reading, check out this book.

[Rosie_0801]

I finished reading Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost. I don't think I'm ever going to learn to love Shakespeare, but I haven't given up yet.

[Negin]

Oh I like that - read an old one inbetween. What a great idea. Although it won't make my tbr pile get any smaller. :0

I know. I could see re-reading an old favorite after every 5 or 10 books, say, but after every one - that would be too much for me.

[Paisley Hedgehog]

. 

 

[Mom-ninja.]

What gives? This is the second time I've "lost" this thread. It doesn't show up under my contents like it usually does.

[Jane in NC]

What gives? This is the second time I've "lost" this thread. It doesn't show up under my contents like it usually does.

 

Nor is it showing in mine.

 

Did we forget to bribe the moderators? Is this a conspiracy to lure us away from our books? Can we blame this on hackers or spies or some poster's child who wants Mom to get her nose out of a book and take him swimming?

 

Maybe we need to keep bumping the thread so we don't lose it.

[Stacia]

What gives? This is the second time I've "lost" this thread. It doesn't show up under my contents like it usually does.

 

I've had the same thing happen too (but not today). We cannot be going around losing this thread! It's the most important one on here! :hurray:

[Stacia]

I may start reading Maarten Troost's Lost on Planet China. It seems light enough to meet my needs this week.

Amazon Best of the Month, July 2008: Maarten Troost is a laowai (foreigner) in the Middle Kingdom, ill-equipped with a sliver of Mandarin, questing to discover the "essential Chineseness" of an ancient and often mystifying land. What he finds is a country with its feet suctioned in the clay of traditional culture and a head straining into the polluted stratosphere of unencumbered capitalism, where cyclopean portraits of Chairman Mao (largely perceived as mostly good, except for that nasty bit toward the end) spoon comfortably with Hong Kong's embrace of rat-race modernity. From Beijing and its blitzes of flying phlegm--and girls who lend new meaning to "Chinese take-out"--to the legendary valley of Shangri-La (as officially designated by the Party), Troost learns that his very survival may hinge on his underdeveloped haggling skills and a willingness to deploy Rollerball-grade elbows over a seat on a train. Featuring visits to Mao's George Hamiltonian corpse and a rural market offering Siberian Tiger paw, cobra hearts, and scorpion kebabs (in the food section), Lost on Planet China is a funny and engrossing trip across a nation that increasingly demands the world's attention.

 

[Mom-ninja.]

Finished Dracula and will give it a big :glare: . Killed my favorite character. The climax was lacking, imo.

 

One more classic I could've done without. :leaving: