Book a Week in 2013 - week twenty five

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday, dear hearts! Today is the start of week 25 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 Blog - Ode to Fathers: Happy fathers day to all the dads out there.

 

B&N - dynamic dads in fiction

 

10 ten dads in science fiction and fantasy

 

The Best Dad of Fantasy Fiction - Mr. Weasley of course

 

Flavorwire - 15 Books that would make great last minute Father's day gifts.

 

 

What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

 

Link to week 24

[Robin M]

I'm continuing to visit old friends and reread Nora Robert's Key Trilogy this past week. Just started Patricia Briggs Cry Wolf. Having read her Mercedes Thomas series, am more familiar with the character and character mentions, which helps the book make more sense for me this time round

[Heather in Neverland]

Oh my gosh I am first! I have never been first!!! Woo hoo!

 

Started Reading:

The Sherlockian by Graham Moore (American author, DD class 800)

 

Still Reading:

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:

28. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (American authors, DD class 800)

27. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (American author, DD class 900)

26. The Last Camellia by Sarah Jio (American author, DD class 800)

25. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (Ethiopian author, DD class 800)

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

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)

[Negin]

I read The Magician's Assistant- 3 Stars. I loved it for pretty much the entire book, except for the ending, which was so very abrupt, that I swore my Kindle had a problem. It was weird. I would have given it 4 or 5 Stars otherwise. The Kindle version had many hilarious typos, my favorite being: "the twenty two feces of famous people staring vacantly in her direction". Yes, that pretty much sums it up - the feces of famous people versus the faces. And twenty-two feces, mind you. :smilielol5:

 

I also read The Andromeda Strain - 2 Stars - simply because I am not as smart as Michael Crichton and much of it was way over my head and far too scientific.

 

 

 

 

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.

[mumto2]

I'm continuing to visit old friends and reread Nora Robert's Key Trilogy this past week. Just started Patricia Briggs Cry Wolf. Having read her Mercedes Thomas series, am more familiar with the character and character mentions, which helps the book make more sense for me this time round

 

I started Cry Wolf last week. I felt that I was missing something and thought I had started with book 2. I did some research and she wrote a short story called "On the Prowl" first. My library had the book it appeared in so I was able to pick it up yesterday. As soon as I finish my current books I plan to start these again! Hopefully all will make sense.

 

I have been enjoying Glittering Images by Susan Howatch. I am completely immersed in the church politics if the late thirties. I can tell I am going to love this series so I want to thank whoever recommended it!

[Jane in NC]

A carry over note from last week's thread to this week:

 

MMV, you recently read Letters to a Young Poet (Rainer Maria Rilke; ed. 1986. 128 pages. Non-fiction.). Sigh... This was one of my favorite books as a college student. Thank you for reminding me that I should read Rilke's poetry more often.

[Jane in NC]

A cursory glance at my reading list reveals that my taste leans toward fiction with a healthy dose of murder mysteries. Thus a book about first responders is certainly an anomaly. But Population: 485 - Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time goes beyond being a book about volunteer firefighters and EMS crews. Author Michael Perry lives in a small town of New Auburn, Wisconsin. He paints such a vivid picture of small town life where his participation on first responder crews gives him more than a fly on the wall view of families and connections. I closed this book and felt that I had been taking a walk about his town and a drive around his country roads.

 

In spring, the trail to Keesey's abandoned homestead reemerges as a narrow trace of canary grass running due west in the wetlands, a palimpsest revealing that the swamp is not entirely primordial.

 

You can hear his waders squishing in the muck as you stroll with him.

 

Currently I am reading two books, one fiction, one not, in which I have encountered the French word terroir. First Michael Pollan who in his latest, Cooked, describes a sandwich of wood cooked, whole hog barbecue, as it has been made in Eastern NC since colonial times:

 

If a sandwich can be said to have terroir, the quality of place that the French believe finds its way into the best wines and cheeses, this sandwich had it, a sense of place and history you could taste.

 

 

Perhaps it is not surprising to read fictional French food critic, Pierre Arthens ruminating in Muriel Barbery's Gourmet Rhapsody:

 

The only word that mattered to me at the tie was terroir--but today I know that a terroir only exists by virtue of one's childhood mythology and that if we have invented these worlds of tradition rooted deep in the land and identity of a region, it is because we want to solidify and objectify the magical, bygone years that preceded the horror of becoming an adult. Only a fanatical will to make a vanished world endure despite the passing of time can explain this belief in the existence of a terroir--an entire world that has disappeared, a mixture of flavors, smells, scattered fragrances that has left its sediment in ancestral rites and local dishes, crucibles of illusory memories that seek to make gold from sand, eternity from time.

 

.About the latter: food critic Pierre Arthens appears in Barbery's second novel, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, which shares the same Parisian building as its setting. Minor characters from the second novel are major characters in the first.

 

This list so far for 2013:

Rating system: 5 = Love; 4 = Pretty awesome; 3 = Decently good; 2 = Ok; Not bothering with 1's...

Chunksters (500+ pages) in purple.

 

Personal challenges: Old Friends, Dusty Books, Sustainability, Dorothy Dunnett, the Continental Challenge

 

1) Gillespie and I (Jane Harris) 3.5 stars

2) The Feast Nearby (Robin Mather) 3 stars--Sustainability (1)

3) The View from Castle Rock (Alice Munro) 4 stars--Dusty Book (1), Canadian author in the Continental Challenge

4) The Good Food Revolution (Will Allen with Charles Wilson) 2.5 stars--Sustainability (2)

5) Red Brick, Black Mountain, White Clay (Chris Benfey) 4 stars

6) Tom Jones (Henry Fielding) 5 stars--Old Friend (1), Dusty Book (2)**This remains one of my favorite novels of all time!**

7) Uneasy Money (P.G. Wodehouse, audio book) 3 stars

8) Wolf Hall (Hilary Mantel)--4 stars

9) A High Wind in Jamaica (Richard Hughes)--3.5 stars

10) Too Many Cooks (Rex Stout, audio book) 3.5 stars

11) Excellent Women (Barbara Pym) 4.5 stars--Old Friend (2)

12) An Awakening Heart (Barbara Dowd Wright) 3 stars--Dusty Book (3)

13) The Swerve (Stephen Greenblatt) 3.5 stars

14) Das Kapital: A Novel of Love and Money Markets (Viken Berberian) 4 stars

15) Aleph (Paulo Coelho) 1.5 stars Brazilian author in the Continental Challenge

16) Niccolo Rising (Dorothy Dunnett) 5 stars--Dorothy Dunnett personal challenge (1)

17) The Devil on Lammas Night (Susan Howatch) 3.5 stars--Dusty Book (4)

18) Nature Wars (Jim Sterba) 5 stars

19) Blood of the Wicked (Leighton Gage) Continental Challenge (Brazil) 3.5 stars

20) A Ghost in the Machine (Catherine Graham) 3.5 stars --Dusty Book (5)

21) All Natural (Nathanael Johnson) 5 stars

22) Madame Bovary (Gustave Flaubert) 4 stars

23) The Bucolic Plague (Josh Kilmer-Purcell) 2..5 stars

24) Cop to Corpse (Peter Lovesey) 3 stars

25) Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (Dai Sijie) 4 stars

26) Vendenta (Michael Dibdin) 3.5 stars

27) Elelgance of the Hedgehog (Muriel Barbery) 4 stars

28) Population: 485 (Michael Perry) 4.5 stars

29) Stagestruck (Peter Lovesey) 4 stars

[Stacia]

Ok, I am still having weird spacing/entering issues w/ my posts. Argh! Negin, that quote has me rofl!!! Certainly gives a different vibe to the story, I think. Jane, talking about all the foodie stuff makes me think that when you're in the mood for some foodie fun, read Cooking with Fernet Branca. After all, it has the quote, "A culinary triumph: the ingenious use of food as an offensive weapon." Last night, I stayed up late finishing David Wong's This Book is Full of Spiders (the sequel to John Dies at the End). I loved the first book in this series -- a scathingly funny mix of humor & horror. I expected the same from this book, but found this one had a different tone -- more horror, less humor. It was still a pretty good book, but I'm not really into horror books & the humor aspect is what sold me on the first book. Even so, this had a pretty solid look a horror situation (kind-of like zombies, but not), the psychology of mass hysteria, & gov't/media manipulation. So, there were definitely some intriguing aspects to the story that kept me turning the pages in spite of the horror. New character Falconer was a great addition too. But, David Wong, why oh why did you do what you did at the end???? Those of you who have already read the book will know what I mean. RIP. If you enjoyed the first book, I'd still recommend this one, but just don't expect the same level of zingy humor throughout.

[Storm Bay]

a healthy dose of murder

 

 

See where quoting you out of context brought me?

[Ali in OR]

Finished Irene Nemerovsky's Suite Francaise which I thought was amazing. The two works within this reflect everyday life in occupied France in the first part of WWII. She was planning 5 works and the third that she was planning was to be called Captivity with characters in a concentration camp. Sadly, this was her own fate. Humanity's loss; her writing was beautiful and important.

 

Now I have to start reading books I'm thinking about using in our school this coming year (Suite Francaise will be considered but I have a few other WWII books too). So please don't recommend anything too tempting for the next month or two, okay? Red Badge of Courage, In the Garden of Beasts (for me, not school), and The Diary of Anne Frank await.

[Just Robyn]

A carry over note from last week's thread to this week:

 

MMV, you recently read Letters to a Young Poet (Rainer Maria Rilke; ed. 1986. 128 pages. Non-fiction.). Sigh... This was one of my favorite books as a college student. Thank you for reminding me that I should read Rilke's poetry more often.

Oh, I was just looking at that Letters to a Young... series the other day. I'll have to go back to last week's thread to see what MMV said about it.

 

I finished the Walt Whitman portion of my 5/5/5 by reading Poet in New York by Federico Garcia Lorca. He wrote "Ode to Walt Whitman," which influenced Ginsberg in his writing of Howl. "Ode to Walt Whitman" I liked, and I liked two or three other poems in the book. All in all though, it was not my cup of tea. There were just too many "boxes keeping the silence of devoured crabs" and "pigeon coops where the moon lies flat under the rooster."

 

I also read The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. I don't have a lot to say about this. It was short, and there were nice pictures in the edition I read.

 

Finally, I read The Fugitive Philosopher by Timothy Leary, thus finishing the Dewey Decimal challenge. The Fugitive Philosopher turned out to be a bunch of excerpts of other books he wrote arranged chronologically to create an autobiography. I enjoyed parts of it. I think it's hilarious that when he was imprisoned the first time they gave him a personality test - the one he created - so he answered such to make himself look very conventional so he'd be placed in a low security area of the prison. There were many typos in the book, but also photographs and artwork.

 

Dewey Decimal

000 The Reading Promise

100 The Power of Half

200 Principia Discordia

300 Parents and Children

400 Sister Bernadette’s Barking Dog: The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences

500 A Mathematician’s Lament

600 The Just Bento Cookbook

700 Woodsong

800 Oedipus Rex

900 The Fugitive Philosopher

 

I am now reading The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack and trying to finish Characters, Emotion and Viewpoint before I have to return it to the library.

[Onceuponatime]

Still working on My Family and Other Animals. I've also started Major Pettigrew's last stand. So far it is just making me feel sad for the main characters, I hope there is a hopeful ending.

[Stacia]

The timothy leary book sounds good. I will have to look for it. I read a bio of him a few years ago called I Have America Surrounded. You may like it too. I remember reading about the psych test part too, lol. Sorry for any typos - am typing on my phone right now.

[Jane in NC]

Oh, I was just looking at that Letters to a Young... series the other day. I'll have to go back to last week's thread to see what MMV said about it.

 

 

 

The compiled letters that Rilke wrote to a young poet, Franz Kappus, were published in 1929. I don't know if it is part of a larger series. Maybe you could tell me about that. Thanks.

[Violet Crown]

14. Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov.

 

When I got to the end, I felt a strong impulse to go back to the beginning and read it again.

 

Somehow I've ended up in the middle of several books right now, which I try to avoid. One is a library book and another belongs to our rental, so I have only a week left to finish them both, and had thus better move those two to the top of the reading list:

 

R.L. Stevenson, The Master of Ballantrae

John Prebble, The Highland Clearances

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Highland-Clearances-John-Prebble/dp/0140028374

[-M-]

Figured I'd just repost in the current week. Here are the last seven I read, bringing me to fifty.

 

â–  Run, Brother, Run: A Memoir of a Murder in My Family (David Berg; 2013. 272 pages. Non-fiction.)

â–  NOS4A2 (Joe Hill; 2013. 704 pages. Fiction.)

â–  Shakespeare Saved My Life: Ten Years in Solitary with the Bard (Linda Bates; 2013. 304 pages. Non-fiction.)

â–  Cast of Shadows (Kevin Guilfoile; 2006. 319 pages. Fiction.)

â–  Letters to a Young Poet (Rainer Maria Rilke; ed. 1986. 128 pages. Non-fiction.)

â–  Much Ado about Nothing (William Shakespeare ((1599); Folger ed. 2003. 246 pages. Drama.)

â–  Animal Man, Vol. 2 (Jeff Lemire; 2012. 176 pages. Graphic fiction.)

[-M-]

A carry over note from last week's thread to this week:

 

MMV, you recently read Letters to a Young Poet (Rainer Maria Rilke; ed. 1986. 128 pages. Non-fiction.). Sigh... This was one of my favorite books as a college student. Thank you for reminding me that I should read Rilke's poetry more often.

 

 

I read it a few years ago and thought the Misses -- artists, writers, musicians -- would enjoy it. We began by reading a few poems -- in translation, of course (the incomparable Stephen Mitchell). After just that little taste, Miss M-mv(i) asked for a book of Rilke's poetry. Between that and her collection of F. Scott Fitzgerald's correspondence, she's in a sort of reader's paradise. *smile*

 

Anyway, it is no surprise that she and I found much to admire in what amounts to a sort of "loner's treatise," since we are both affirmed introverts. Miss M-mv(ii) thought the writing was beautiful, but that Rilke, in his letters, had little to offer extroverts. *wry grin*

 

 

Oh, I was just looking at that Letters to a Young... series the other day. I'll have to go back to last week's thread to see what MMV said about it.

 

No need to go back. *smile* Comments above.

[-M-]

The compiled letters that Rilke wrote to a young poet, Franz Kappus, were published in 1929. I don't know if it is part of a larger series. Maybe you could tell me about that. Thanks.

 

Funny this should come up. I don't know of a Rilke series, either, but the Misses and I are reading Edward O. Wilson's new book, Letters to a Young Scientist. The "letters to" frame is a useful device.

[-M-]

I read The Magician's Assistant- 3 Stars. I loved it for pretty much the entire book, except for the ending, which was so very abrupt, that I swore my Kindle had a problem. It was weird. I would have given it 4 or 5 Stars otherwise. The Kindle

 

I also read The Andromeda Strain - 2 Stars - simply because I am not as smart as Michael Crichton and much of it was way over my head and far too scientific.

 

RE: the bolded bit -- Maybe you just weren't in the mood for that sort of novel. I disliked it when I first "tasted" it, then gobbled it up a couple of years ago. *LOVED* it. I also really enjoyed the 1971 film, as did my husband, who did not read the book.

 

Edited to ensure that you knew I was being encouraging, not ill-mannered. GRIN

[Kareni]

Out of idle curiousity, I checked to see what my books my local library has that start with Letters to a Young ....

 

Letters to a young progressive

 

Letters to a young actor

 

Letters to a young evangelical

 

Letters to a young activist

 

Letters to a young novelist

 

Letters to a young lawyer

 

Letters to a young feminist

 

Letters to a young teacher

 

Letters to a young chef

 

Letters to a young therapist

 

Letters to a young artist

 

Letters to a young mathematician

 

Letters to a young poet

 

Letters to a young scientist

 

Letters to a young contrarian

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Just Robyn]

The compiled letters that Rilke wrote to a young poet, Franz Kappus, were published in 1929. I don't know if it is part of a larger series. Maybe you could tell me about that. Thanks.

 

 

Doh! As soon as I read your reply I remembered having read the following:

 

In almost every way, Hitchens seems the ideal person to have written Letters to a Young Contrarian, part of a series inspired by Rainer Maria Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet.

 

(Quoted from here. Bolding mine.)

 

I read it a few years ago and thought the Misses -- artists, writers, musicians -- would enjoy it. We began by reading a few poems -- in translation, of course (the incomparable Stephen Mitchell). After just that little taste, Miss M-mv(i) asked for a book of Rilke's poetry. Between that and her collection of F. Scott Fitzgerald's correspondence, she's in a sort of reader's paradise. *smile*

 

Anyway, it is no surprise that she and I found much to admire in what amounts to a sort of "loner's treatise," since we are both affirmed introverts. Miss M-mv(ii) thought the writing was beautiful, but that Rilke, in his letters, had little to offer extroverts. *wry grin*

 

No need to go back. *smile* Comments above.

 

 

Thanks!

[Stacia]

 

Readers of literary fiction are more creative and exercise better judgment, claim scientists. But we knew that already, right? ;) :001_smile:

[Kareni]

Having recently read with pleasure the two latest romantic suspense novels by Jill Sorenson, I've been reading some of her older works. I finished and enjoyed Set the Dark on Fire.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Stacia]

I haven't started any books for my African part of the continental challenge, but I thought I'd post this link to a South African newspaper's article/list of The 10 Best African Writers.

[laughing lioness]

Byzantium by Lawhead. A very good read.

[Storm Bay]

Correction to my post regarding passing 52 books (no point in correcting it in a thread we're done with ;). I've read 56, and forgot ro add a literary one to my list on my computer (too bad that reading literary fiction doesn't also mean we have better memories). I've marked the formerly missing book by putting it in bold. I guess bolded & bolding aren't actually words, which is how I tried to word this first. I there's a scifi challenge somewhere this year, I may as well be part of it, since 3 of these qualify.

 

51. Durable Goods by Elizabeth Berg

52. Across the Universe Beth Revis

53. Millions of Suns Beth Revis

54. Shades of Earth Beth Revis

55. The Solitude of Prime Numbers Paolo Giordano (Italy)

56. The Last Thing I Remember Andrew Klavan

[ladydusk]

I'm finally moving on Tey's Brat Farrar I'm to Ch 5.

 

VBS this week so I'm running around like the proverbial chicken. But I did swing into the library for Sayers' Five Red Herrings, the new How to teach Shakespeare to children, and a whim book: The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen. She's an author I think I found on GoodReads as similar to Barbara Pym. Anyone know her? Worth my time?

[aggieamy]

A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh - This was not particularly a good book. I had a difficult time trying to decide who was the main character and the mystery was pretty weak. It seemed that at the last minute the author randomly picked one of the characters to be the murderer and then came up with some unconvincing clues to tie it all together. And there was an unrelated Russian crime ring randomly thrown in.

 

LadyDusk - I'm going to attempt a few more of her books because I adore all sorts of English mysteries and Ngaio Marsh is well loved by many. I'm hoping it just took her a book or two to get good. Give me a week or two and I'll let you know if I can recommend her later books or not.

 

Eiger Dreams by Jon Krakauer – There are some crazy people out there climbing mountains and doing things I have no interest in. I hope my daughter never finds one of those guys and wants to marry them. Still I had a morbid amount of fun reading the book because I felt like I was peeking into the life of people with too much free time and too much money and a complete disregard for their own safety.

 

In Progress:

 

Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery (read aloud)

The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories by Agatha Christie (audiobook)

What to Eat by Marion Nestle

 

2013 finished books:

 

49. Eiger Dreams by Jon Krakauer (****)

48. A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh (**)

47. Seven Years in Tibet by Heinrich Harrer (****)

46. Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams (audiobook) (****)

45. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan (***)

 

44. A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie (***)

 

43. Hungry Monkey: A Food Loving Father’s Quest to Raise an Adventurous Eater by Matthew Amster-Burton (**)

 

42. 1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children by Thomas Phelan

 

41. After the Funeral by Agatha Christie (***)

 

40. A Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony (****)

 

Amy's Rating System:

 

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

**** - Very good

*** - Enjoyable but nothing special

** - Not recommended

* - Horrible

[ladydusk]

A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh - This was not particularly a good book.

 

LadyDusk - I'm going to attempt a few more of her books because I adore all sorts of English mysteries and Ngaio Marsh is well loved by many. I'm hoping it just took her a book or two to get good. Give me a week or two and I'll let you know if I can recommend her later books or not.

 

Thanks Amy. You know how I love your negative reviews ...I'll be watching your future Marsh reviews too :)

[Murmer]

Finished: The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, First Bites by Hilary Kimes Bernstein, The Minimalist Mom's Guide to Baby's First Year by Rachel Jonat, No Longer Strangers by Rachel Ann Nunes

 

Currently Working On:

Downstairs: Eternal Marriage by BYU

Upstairs: The Young Unicorns by Madeline L'Engle

Kindle: Crazy Little Thing by Tracy Brogan

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 Complete Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault

WTM: Don Quixote

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

Personal Enrichment: Unbound Birth by Jennifer Yarbrough

 

Total Finished in 2013: 70

[*Inna*]

Finished #42 yesterday - "Sober Mercies" by Heather Kopp. Loved it. Funny and heartbreaking at the same time. And very honest.

 

Started "Bittersweet" by Shauna Niequist. Loved her "Bread and Wine" but this one isn't tugging my heartstrings as much.

 

Rest of my books in the signature.

[mumto2]

I finished some that I haven't posted.

 

96)Locked In by Marcia Muller -- I used to love this series but have not read one for many years. I picked one that looked interesting to start with because the ebook library has most of this series too.:) Sharon McCone is shot and suffers from locked in syndrome (appears comatose but actually completely alert just trapped). I plan to continue reading the series from this point.

 

97) The Surgean (the first Rizzoli and Isles) by Tess Gerritsen.

 

98) Glittering Image by Susan Howatch. It actually turned out to be a far different book from what I was expecting when I posted yesterday. It was a very interesting read and I have already checked out the next in the series. The series is based on the Church of England and starts shortly after the abdication of the King. Purely fictional for the most part.

 

I also finished Alpha and Omega by Patricia Briggs. It is the short story (70 pages so I won't count it) that is the prequel to Cry Wolf. Things do make more sense now that I have read that. Looking forward to the series.

[Kim in Appalachia]

I listened to 2 books last week and read 2.

 

We went on vacation and we listened to Agatha Christie's The Big Four. We all enjoyed it. The whole family likes to listen to Agatha Christie on the long rides. Nothing like a mystery to make the trip seem faster.

 

On the way home I tried something different, more for the older crowd. We listened to Author C. Clarke's Childhood's End. Loved it. It was definitely over the younger two's heads, but the rest of us enjoyed it.

 

I read two books. The first was a thriller that I decided I couldn't wait to read, so I bought it for my Kindle. It was The Shining Girls; A Novel, by Lauren Beukes. It was decent. Not as good as I hoped, but it was a fun vacation read. The writing was good, and the premise was original. I gave it 3 stars on Goodreads.

 

The second book I read I got from the library. It was A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini. I'm on a long waiting list for The Kite Runner, and I saw he had a new one out, so I thought I try the one I could get. I was disappointed. While the story was engaging the writing was poor. It felt as if it were written at a 5th grade level. and It almost felt like proganada. I did finish it, and I did shed a tear (nothing like a tear jerker), so I gave it 2 stars on Goodreads.

 

There is a new book by Neil Gaiman coming out tomorrow. I may buy it (I never buy books new, this has been a big splurge month).

[Mom-ninja.]

Just finished another Wodehouse, A Gentleman of Leisure. I can't get enough of him.

 

 

I also finished The Self Propelled Advantage

[Kim in Appalachia]

Just finished another Wodehouse, A Gentleman of Leisure. I can't get enough of him.

 

 

I also finished The Self Propelled Advantage

 

How would Wodehouse be for kids (like 11 and 8)? I was thinking of him for our next long trip.

[Jane in NC]

Gourmet Rhapsody by Muriel Barbery offers us the final ruminations of a food critic on his death bed. Pierre Arthens is despised and feared by many--family included. In his final hours he reflects over a life centered on food, craving one last taste.

 

In one episode he remembers a simple meal served on a farm by some peasants. He describes each delicious course but particularly savors the memory of the conversation accompanying it:

 

Life exists only by virtue of the osmosis of words and facts where the former encase the latter in ceremonial dress. Thus, the words of my chance acquaintances, crowning the meal with an unprecedented grace, had almost formed the substance of my feast in spite of myself, and what I had enjoyed so merrily was the verb, not the meat.

 

To be honest, had I read Gourmet Rhapsody first, I probably would not have been inclined to read The Elegance of the Hedgehog. The writing in the former is a little disconnected. I'll still give it three stars for its delicious moments.

[Jane in NC]

 

98) Glittering Image by Susan Howatch. It actually turned out to be a far different book from what I was expecting when I posted yesterday. It was a very interesting read and I have already checked out the next in the series. The series is based on the Church of England and starts shortly after the abdication of the King. Purely fictional for the most part.

Ladydusk led me to the Howatch Starbridge series--wonderful books! Enjoy!

[ladydusk]

 

Ladydusk led me to the Howatch Starbridge series--wonderful books! Enjoy!

 

Well they're also on SWB's favorite book list ...

[Stacia]

Eiger Dreams by Jon Krakauer – There are some crazy people out there climbing mountains and doing things I have no interest in. I hope my daughter never finds one of those guys and wants to marry them. Still I had a morbid amount of fun reading the book because I felt like I was peeking into the life of people with too much free time and too much money and a complete disregard for their own safety.

 

I will have to look up this one as one of my fave non-fiction books is Krakauer's Into Thin Air. I am fascinated, absolutely riveted, by people who choose to mountain climb. I wish I were young enough, fit enough, & crazy enough to be one of them. But, since I'm not, I love reading about them. Thanks for the heads-up on the book.

[Giraffe]

Listening to "The Mists of Avalon".

Reading/Listening to "The Iliad".

 

Nothing like a little "light" reading, eh?!

[Mom-ninja.]

 

How would Wodehouse be for kids (like 11 and 8)? I was thinking of him for our next long trip.

 

Yes, he is fine for kids. At least all the ones I've read.

[Narrow Gate Academy]

I finished my 24th book this past week, How to Read a Book by Adler, and posted a review on my blog. I'm helping out with VBS this week which would normally mean not much reading will be accomplished; however, since we've been putting our new kittens in a box at night time until they are fully acclimated to our full size golden retriever, the unexpected side benefit is that they wake me up every morning at 5:30 scratching to get out and go to the litter box. Then I have at least 90 minutes of mostly uninterrupted reading time while they are romping and chasing each other around. :hurray:

 

Books to Read

Making It All Work by Adler

The Battle of the Labyrinth by Riordan

 

Books in Progress

One Year Bible

The Well-Educated Mind by Bauer

History of the Ancient World by Bauer

 

Book Finished This Year

23. The Titan's Curse by Riordan

22. The Horse and His Boy by Lewis

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

[mlbuchina]

Wow, what a crazy, but not, last three weeks! I ended up abandoning The Monstromologist. I really want to know those characters, but I must not be in the mood for that type of book right now. Ah, well, onward and upward.

While on my trip away from civilization (aka the internet and cell service), I was able to read The Memory Keeper's Daughter and begin The Peach Keeper. I got both of these titles from last year's Book a Week challenge. I just loved The Memory Keeper's Daughter. I enjoyed the story, and was almost immediately pulled into the lives of the characters. I loved the way the author wrote. It was so smooth, I felt like I was floating along a lazy river. I love just meandering around on those lazy river rides at water parks, and that calm, relaxing, carefree feeling was one I had through the whole book.

The Peach Keeper was just a peach of a book. ( I crack me up, sometimes.) It was just a light and enjoyable little read; perfect for summer. I have visited my library and got all the books by these two authors that they had: The Lake of Dreams (Kim Edwards), Garden Spells, The Sugar Queen, and The Girl Who Chased the Moon (Sarah Addison Allen). Now I just need to decide which one I want to read next, although Chocolat is sitting here beckoning me, as well as another book I found while at the library. This one is going to be my Book by It's Cover pick:

[edited to remove picture]

I don't know anything about it, and I am going to try and not read the copy on the flap.

While we were on the road, we also listened to quite a few audio books. I don't know that I will put them in my list, though, as they were mostly children's books: The A to Z Mysteries (three books), the first three books in the Bunicula series (Bunicula, Howliday Inn, and The Celery Stalks at Midnight), and all the American Girls books for "Kirsten".


The Round Up

36. The Peach Keeper
35. The Memory Keeper's Daughter
34. The First Four Years
33. These Happy Golden Years
32. Little Town on the Prairie
31. Amglish, in Like, Ten Easy Lessons: A Celebration of the New World Lingo
30. The Call of the Wild
29. By the Shores of Silver Lake
28. Pippi Longstocking
27. On the Banks of Plum Creek
26. Hiroshima
25. Farmer Boy
24. 1984
23. This Book is Full of Spiders
22. Little House on the Prairie
21. Evolutionism and Creationism
20. John Dies at the End
19. Much Ado About Nothing
18. Little House in the Big Woods
17. Hooked
16. Anne of the Island
15. Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen
14. Anne of Avonlea
13. Anne of Green Gables
12. The Invention of Hugo Cabret
11. The Swiss Family Robinson
10. Little Women
9. How We Get Fat
8. The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye
7. Outlander
6. The New Atkins for a New You
5. A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows
4. Liberty and Tyranny
3. Corelli's Mandolin
2. The Neverending Story
1. The Hobbit

[Onceuponatime]

I just finished The London Eye Mystery, juvenile fiction written from the point of view of a boy with Asperger's syndrome. A quick light read, but I enjoyed it.

[aggieamy]

 

How would Wodehouse be for kids (like 11 and 8)? I was thinking of him for our next long trip.

There's nothing questionable in his books but I don't know that children that age would be able to appreciate the humor in them. DD doesn't quite get it yet and frankly neither does my DH and he's a lot older than your kids!

[Mom-ninja.]

Today I finished Classics in the Classroom by MCT.

[Mothersweets]

Still working on My Family and Other Animals. I've also started Major Pettigrew's last stand. So far it is just making me feel sad for the main characters, I hope there is a hopeful ending.

 

 

I read Major Pettigrew's Last Stand a couple years ago and had the same thoughts at the beginning. I hope it isn't giving too much away to say...

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.I ended up liking it. :) ..

[Negin]

Gourmet Rhapsody by Muriel Barbery offers us the final ruminations of a food critic on his death bed.

Added this to my wish list. :)

 

I just finished The London Eye Mystery, juvenile fiction written from the point of view of a boy with Asperger's syndrome. A quick light read, but I enjoyed it.

We read this and liked it also.

[Onceuponatime]

I read Major Pettigrew's Last Stand a couple years ago and had the same thoughts at the beginning. I hope it isn't giving too much away to say...

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.I ended up liking it. :) ..

 

 

:) I finished it quickly and resisted the temptation to peek at the end. Even almost to the end, I couldn't be sure how things were going to work out.

[Robin M]

nm