Book a Week in 2014 - BW3

[Luckymama]

My star rating for all book genres:

 

5 stars: couldn't put it down, stayed up way too late or ignored responsibilities (lol), must own

4 stars: very good, will re-read, might own

3 stars: readable but would not re-read

2 stars: flawed in characterization or plot or editing or...

1 star: did not finish

 

According to Goodreads, most of my books are 4 stars. The second-most popular categories are 5 star and 1 star books. It's quite rare for me to have a 2 star book as those can rapidly become 1 stars!

[Mothersweets]

:iagree: I'm a few books behind you in the series, and am enjoying them immensely.  I even took my dh on a "field trip" to the Maritime museum here to visit a replica of the HMS Surprise (the actual ship used in the movie).   

 

 

Yes, I remember when you wrote about it  - sounded like an awesome field trip! I would LOVE to do that next time I'm in San Diego. I'm glad you are enjoying the series, too. I think my absolute favorite so far is Desolation Island. Have you gotten to that one yet?

[Mothersweets]

Just an FYI, I think a couple of us are going to do a read-a-long of Bauer's book(s) in April...if you get bogged down by it.

 

 

Yes, they are!!!! I'm trying to be more involved in the threads this year.

 

I'd love to join the read-a-long. I've owned the book for two years, read the first 2 chapters 3 times, and somehow never get around to picking it back up again even though I enjoy what I read. I'm finding that accountability is everything with me lately. :)

[shukriyya]

 

 

I am considering a reread of Layla and Majnun - it was referenced so often in the Ottoman Lyric Poetry that I feel I'd like to read it again, with the benefit of my new knowledge.

 

 

This is half-way between my 'to read' and 'not quite-there yet to read', the pages fluttering gently in starry space while I make up my mind though I'm sure Layla and Majnun aren't concerning themselves with my waffling :lol: so wrapped in their love are they. I did want to say that the translation you linked is, according to my dh, a good one.

 

 

[JennW in SoCal]

Yes, I remember when you wrote about it  - sounded like an awesome field trip! I would LOVE to do that next time I'm in San Diego. I'm glad you are enjoying the series, too. I think my absolute favorite so far is Desolation Island. Have you gotten to that one yet?

 

I read Desolation Island last month and really loved it.  It is a thumping good read!  I almost enjoyed the follow up, Fortune of War, as much, though it slogged a bit while they were in Boston.  

 

I'm putting off the next one for a few weeks and getting caught up on some other books.  

[ladydusk]

This is the year of Lewis in our household.  For Literature, we're going to be studying Narnia (and it's influences), so I'm immersing myself in Lewis (while I have the brain-power).  At the end of 2013, I picked up A To Z with C S Lewis by Louis Markos for free nope, paid $1 on my Kindle.  It was a perfect introduction to the man and his ideas for the beginning of the year.  I enjoyed it quite a bit.

 

I'm in the middle of Out of the Silent Planet, as well, and enjoying it very much.  (esp for a non SF reader!).  I hope to finish it this week.

 

I think I'm going to go with Alan Jacob's The Narnian for my next about Lewis book.  I picked it up cheap used from Amazon.  Love that.

[Mom-ninja.]

I started Mrs. Dalloway. Oh! The punctuation. :willy_nilly:

[Pam in CT]

<snip>

 

I am considering a reread of Layla and Majnun - it was referenced so often in the Ottoman Lyric Poetry that I feel I'd like to read it again, with the benefit of my new knowledge.

 

<snip.

 

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Murakami: After reading the reactions of those of you who have finished it, I'm bailing and moving on to Kafka on the Shore.  I'm almost a third of the way in, and the grimness of the two narrated stories was way outside my comfort zone - and both tellers seemed to be in a dissociative fugue - suffering from, understandable, PTSD.  ... but hearing such traumatic things told with so much detachment was weird, and worse, in many ways,than a more emotional description. 

 

 

Layla and Majnun looks interesting; I'll have to check for it at my library.

 

You too are bailing on WUB?!?  Oy!  I hardly have the heart even to try!

[Hoot]

Today I finished Herbal Antibiotics by Stephen Harrod Buhner.  It was a nice, short read and gave me lots of new information on herbal medicine.

 

I'm also reading Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking and I can't say that I'm overly impressed thus far.  Honestly, I really expected to like this one, but I'm finding it rather boring.

 

 

Completed So Far

 

1. The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright

2. Winnie Mandela: Life of Struggle by Jim Haskins

3. Herbal Antibiotics by Stephen Harrod Buhner

[Robin M]

This week I finished reading Surprised by Oxford by Carolyn Weber. It is basically a spiritual memoir which chronicles her conversion to Christianity while studying Romantic literature at Oxford during the 90's. It was a fun read and also made me wish that I was studying literature at Oxford! Now I am a bit nostalgic for my time as a college student.

Elaine

I read very few memoirs, maybe one a year and this one sounds really good. Added it to my wishlist

 

Question about Goodreads.  The advertisements have suddenly stopped.  I'm trying to figure out if it is a problem with the website or my computer.  Anyone else notice a change in the advertisements?

 

Also, the quote on Goodreads for today(?) is from Haruki Murakami.  Since he's been discussed quite a bit I thought you might enjoy the quote: "Whatever it is you're seeking won't come in the form you're expecting."

If you use firefox and have adblock you will never see ads.  Which is why I use firefox.   And Dolphin on ipad, they also have an adblocker.

 

 

http://youtu.be/fL4UCQS4-Gs

 

Bringing back memories. I watched Moonlighting religiously.  Loved this episode. Will have to watch it when I have time.

 

 

 

Ring is my next book for Japan for the Around the World challenge.  I have never seen the movie adaptation, The Ring, that came out quite a few years back, but from what I understand, the book is more of a murder mystery and less a horror.  Although, I don't know if I have much confidence in that description, as the author has been described as the "Stephen King of Japan."  We'll see how it goes.

I'm a wimp when it comes to horror movies so will probably never watch it. The book sounds great so added it to my wishlist.

 

 

Thich Nhat Hanh is very accessible.  LB LC is a good one to start with.  I have Merton's Seven Storey Mountain on my stack; I've done several of his shorter books and am eager to dig into this.  

 

Once I've worked off some of these chunksters... 

I started with Seven Storey Mountain and loved it.  Here's an old review I did about it back in 2009.

 

 

I just finished "Unwind" by Neal Shusterman.

 

O

M

G

 

It was so very good. Wow.

Wow is right. I just looked at the synopsis on Amazon. Added it to my wishlist.

[Rosie_0801]

Has anyone actually *enjoyed* Salman Rushdie's works? 

[Pam in CT]

 

 

I started with Seven Storey Mountain and loved it.  Here's an old review I did about it back in 2009.

 

 

Thanks for the review.  Yes, I know I will like it... I've greatly enjoyed the shorter books of his that I've read, particularly Bread in the Wilderness (on Psalms).

[Pam in CT]

Has anyone actually *enjoyed* Salman Rushdie's works? 

 

LOL!

 

Yes.  Very much, actually.  I'd recommend starting with Midnight's Children.

 

He has a facility with the English language, coupled with a (somewhat alarming!) ability to get inside the heads of monstrous characters, that reminds me of Lolita!

[Robin M]

Layla and Majnun looks interesting; I'll have to check for it at my library.

 

You too are bailing on WUB?!?  Oy!  I hardly have the heart even to try!

 

If you have it on the shelves, at least try. I didn't bail on it because the writing was compelling and hoped to find answers by the end.  It is a darker novel and not a lot of happy, happy, joy, joy in it.  Something you have to be in the mood for.  If you don't have it on the shelves, then go for 1Q84 first.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking of Marukami, check out Chasing Haruki Murakami in Asahi Shimbun AJW , the new English-language digital version of The Asahi Shimbun, Japan's leading daily newspaper.

 

 

 

 

Novelist Haruki Murakami has attracted a worldwide following of fans who eagerly await his next novel. What Murakami depicts often seems to have been inspired by things typically Japanese that he experienced during his younger days, but his works also have a universal appeal. Why? On this page, we delve into the secrets behind Murakami's success through feature articles, interviews and commentaries, which shed new light on his life and works and reveal the man behind the reclusive image.

 

 

[Jen in NY]

Finished All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren today. There have been so many confluences in the books I've been into lately.... Grapes of Wrath + This Town + All the King's Men = wow. So much to say... but I have to go out and pick my daughter up from work.

 

I highly recommend ATKM- the language is poetic (author was the country's first poet laureate and won the Pulitzer thrice) - the story is told in a spiral and keeps bringing you back around and filling in missing spaces - overall a fascinating read and pretty spot on study of the human condition.

 

Five Stars from me. :)

 

Just picked up my #3 book for the year:

 

3. Zealot by Reza Aslan

2. All the King's Men

1. Grapes of Wrath

[shukriyya]

I'm about a quarter of the way through the letters of H & E. It's a breathy ride at this point. Honestly that's how it feels, Abelard's breathless and heady account of things and the occasional interjection by Heloise which is cooler, muted and subtle. The external drama has already all happened and now what awaits is the sustaining of love itself. We'll see how it unfolds and I'm hoping to get to know Heloise a little more intimately than she's been revealed so far.

I'm not a rater so I don't have much to contribute to the rating systems y'all are discussing. There's just too big a cosmos between 3 stars and 4 stars :lol:

[Jane in NC]

Finished All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren today. There have been so many confluences in the books I've been into lately.... Grapes of Wrath + This Town + All the King's Men = wow. So much to say... but I have to go out and pick my daughter up from work.

 

I highly recommend ATKM- the language is poetic (author was the country's first poet laureate and won the Pulitzer thrice) - the story is told in a spiral and keeps bringing you back around and filling in missing spaces - overall a fascinating and pretty spot on study of the human condition.

 

Five Stars from me. :)

 

All the King's Men has been on my to-be-read list for decades.  I'm even surprised that I have not read it!

 

"This Town"?  Do you mean Our Town?

[Rosie_0801]

LOL!

 

Yes.  Very much, actually.  I'd recommend starting with Midnight's Children.

 

He has a facility with the English language, coupled with a (somewhat alarming!) ability to get inside the heads of monstrous characters, that reminds me of Lolita!

 

I've listened to a few of his as audio books and it has bewildered me how such rich language could be so damned tedious. Perhaps I've not read his best, or perhaps his endings are not so good. I found them unsatisfying, at least. Perhaps I should try him again some time.

[prairiegirl]

I read Joseph Anton: A Memoir and really liked it - 4 Stars. A brilliantly-written memoir. I've never read any of Salman Rushdie's books and now I'd very much like to. This memoir was unique in that it was written in third-person. I could barely put it down. This is the type of book that gets you thinking for a while afterwards. It was an interesting coincidence that Salman Rushdie's mother and I have the same name. I seldom see my name in print. :)

 

 

 

 

 

Negin,  I read Joseph Anton and I liked it as well.  I was  amazed, though, that a man who is so brilliant and articulate could be so dumb when it came to women.  :laugh:

This week I finished reading Surprised by Oxford by Carolyn Weber. It is basically a spiritual memoir which chronicles her conversion to Christianity while studying Romantic literature at Oxford during the 90's. It was a fun read and also made me wish that I was studying literature at Oxford! Now I am a bit nostalgic for my time as a college student. I am in the midst of reading three other as yet unfinished books: Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner, From the Holy Mountain by William Dalrymple, and Gulliver's Travels , which I am doing as a read-aloud with ds13. I am particularly impressed with Stegner's writing and will probably pick up something else by him later in the year.

Elaine

Elaine,  I tried Surprised by Oxford last year but I just couldn't get into it.  Since then I have read nothing but good reviews of it  so I think I would like to try this one again.  Weber has a new book out now called  'Holy is the Day.'   Also,  I have seen that many people are reading Stegner which makes me want to try him.  I'd be interested to hear what you thing of his book.

 

Now I am going to press send and see if the multi-quote thing will work for me.  (holding my breath)

[Mothersweets]

I read Desolation Island last month and really loved it.  It is a thumping good read!  I almost enjoyed the follow up, Fortune of War, as much, though it slogged a bit while they were in Boston.  

 

I'm putting off the next one for a few weeks and getting caught up on some other books.  

 

I'm so glad you liked it, too! I usually read a few books in between each "episode". It is making it last longer that way. :)

[Pam in CT]

I've listened to a few of his as audio books and it has bewildered me how such rich language could be so damned tedious. Perhaps I've not read his best, or perhaps his endings are not so good. I found them unsatisfying, at least. Perhaps I should try him again some time.

 

Interesting.  I listen to a lot of audio books, but I've never "heard" Rushdie.  I've enjoyed everything of his I've read except Shalimar.  That one creeped me out.  (Shudder.)

[Narrow Gate Academy]

Robin,

 

This Ellis Peters fan wants to make a suggestion for the 13th century.  Ellis Peters was the nom de plume of Edith Pargeter who wrote an amazing quartet of books on Llywelyn the Last, The Brothers of Gwynedd Quartet.  These are not mysteries like the Cadfael books but historic fiction of the highest quality.

 

More to report later!

Jane

These look interesting, and the library actually has them.  Thanks for suggesting them!  I put them on my to read list for next month.

 

 

I also finished Quiet:The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain. It took me a while not because I didn't love it but because I wanted to be focused when I read it and so often my reading takes place at the end of a long day where focus isn't a well used word :blush:

 

I've been meaning to read this.  I actually checked it out of the library once, but just didn't have the focus at the time to get very far before it had to be returned.  Thanks for reminding me about it.  

 

Just an FYI, I think a couple of us are going to do a read-a-long of Bauer's book(s) in April...if you get bogged down by it.

 

I did see the read-a-long.  I started the first one last year, but only made it to chapter 22 or so.  I'd like to read all three this year, so I'm zipping through the chapters previously read and then I'll slow down and take notes again.  I can only read one or two chapters at a time, so I'm sure to still be working on it when April comes.

 

Heloise and Abelarde are on my 12th century list also, as well as The Song of Roland, plus Eleanor and the Four Kings.  It is amazing that these are actually available in the library. Right now, I decided to begin Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain because it is one of my "dusty" books. It's been sitting on my shelf for years. I bought it at an estate sale. Anyway, I figure I can just assign myself 1 section a day along with my other reading.

 I read Monmouth a couple of years ago with DD.  I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. 

[SunnyDays]

Hmm. I hadn't planned on any 12th century, but a few titles do look good. Perhaps While Christ and his Saints Slept,or there is one called Beloved Enemy by Jones. Pondering...

 

Last night I started Lies You Wanted to Hear by James Thomson. Still also working on Little Women.

[Rosie_0801]

Interesting.  I listen to a lot of audio books, but I've never "heard" Rushdie.  I've enjoyed everything of his I've read except Shalimar.  That one creeped me out.  (Shudder.)

 

Ha! That was one I listened to! I think we've found the problem. :lol:

[Jen in NY]

All the King's Men has been on my to-be-read list for decades.  I'm even surprised that I have not read it!

 

"This Town"?  Do you mean Our Town?

Not "Our Town"... although I do love that one.

 

"This Town":

http://www.amazon.com/This-Town-Parties-FuneralPlus-Americas/dp/0399161309/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389665365&sr=1-1&keywords=this+town

[Woodland Mist Academy]

I finished Justine by Lawrence Durrell, the first of his Alexandria Quartet. I have the whole Quartet on the Kindle, so I'll be reading them all this year, but I think I'll take a break before reading the next one. I really did enjoy this book - the language and descriptions are beautiful, and it succeeds incredibly well in evoking a tangible image of the city and the wealthy class and expats that populate the novel. Looked at objectively, the characters and their lives are certainly not to be admired, but they seem sad and lost rather than simply self-absorbed. While I was reading the book I read up a little on Durrell's life - I wish I'd left it at reading his brother's descriptions in My Family and Other Animals! The character of Justine is apparently based on Lawrence Durrell's wife Eve (ouch!) and in the book the narrator is raising his lover's child. Given accusations (or perhaps just insinuations)  by Durrell's daughter in a manuscript released after his death (she had predeceased him, committing suicide) it was hard for me not to wonder where art and life separate and join, and how much I should care about an author's life and values when I read his books. I'm looking forward to reading the other three books, which tell of the same events from different perspectives.

 

 

 

How interesting and distressing all at once. . . We are Gerald Durrell fans here--currently reading aloud Birds, Beasts and Relatives.

 

[shukriyya]

I wish I could share with y'all my latest read from 'Incarnadine' called 'How (Not) to Speak of God'. The poet has written the poem as a delicate wheel with a luminous, empty center. The spokes--of differing rays--are lovely, elegant and earthy images, and the overall effect is a dazzling and very human radiance. I tried copying and pasting, dropping it into my photo album etc but the print is too small to read on the computer so y'all are just going to have to buy the book. Some of the lines that take shape around the brilliant emptiness of the center...

who devoured the fruit of our ground, the skin of the overripe pears

who saw the world incarnadined, the current flowing

who could be a piece of flame, a piece of mind shimmering

who loves the dank earth, its wolves and tigresses

who is enough, who is more than enough

It's as if one is overhearing whispers of an intimate conversation that has neither beginning nor end. Overripe pears, skin, flame and shimmering, dank earth, wolves and tigresses...a kind of mystical generosity here. That second line sends up a flare of beauty through the red rivers of my own body. And that last line, 'who is enough, who is more than enough'...Her insistence with the repetition, doesn't that just allow you a breath or two to sink into who you might be, you without apology?!

 

You have to keep turning the page around as you read and I love the effect of this on the body, a constantly shifting perspective, the physicality of it pointing towards a much larger and unnameable truth. And yet, you, the reader always being drawn back to the very personal fact of *your* hands turning the spokes of the wheel, *your* body moving the prayer/poem around and around so that *you* become what you are reading, you become both that radiant center, that luminous and dazzling nothingness and the lush spokes that arise out of it only to return to the silence from whence they came. It's a satisfyingly incomplete, complete experience.

 

I'm reminded of a line from Eliot's 'Four Quartets'...'at the still point of the turning world...there the dance is...'

[Alice]

I tried to read1Q84 last year and it was one of the very few books I've ever given up on. It was too weird but I also thought tedious and dull.I think someone earlier mentioned Murakami's short stories and if I ever try him again I may have to go that route.

 

I read Josph Anton last year and thought it was fascinating but made me think Rushdie seemed like a really arrogant and not so pleasant man. And yes, very stupid about women. My book group did decided to read something by him and we read Midnight's Children. It was beautifully written by I didn't really enjoy the story. I thought my view was colored by seeing the main character as Rushdie, who I had developed a really string dislike for after his memoir.

 

Last week I read Two middle grade books. One recommended by my son: Joshua Dread: The Nameless Hero.it's the second in a series about a boy with superpowers but the twist is that his parents are super villains and he is working out how to use his powers. I also read Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo. I had started reading it to my 7 year old but he didn't like it so I finished it on my own. I thought it was too quirky, one of those quirky just to be quirky books. It was kind of disappointing overall.

 

I also read Someone by Alice McDermott. It's slow and much more character driven than plot but the more I read the more I liked it. It reads sort of like a memoir, with an ordinary woman telling excerpts from her life.

[Alice]

Stupid iPad and autocorrect. Please ignore all the errors.

[Julie Smith]

I'm reading a short history of private life. I'm into it and about to start the chapter n the kitchen,

[shukriyya]

 

 

I also read Someone by Alice McDermott. It's slow and much more character driven than plot but the more I read the more I liked it. It reads sort of like a memoir, with an ordinary woman telling excerpts from her life.

 

More incentive for me to read this. It's on my 'to read' list and I've not read any of her work before so I'm looking forward to it once I finish the letters of A & H and my ID mystery.

 

Btw, this group seems like it would lend itself nicely to some virtual and

[Lakeside]

So, here's what I'm working on. 

 

Started This Week

The Odyssey

Rediscover Catholicism

 

In Progress

Anne of Avonlea (Read Aloud)

The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor

 

Completed

3. A White Bird Flying by Bess Streeter Aldrich

2. Little Men by Louisa May Alcott

1. The Practice of the Presence of God With Spiritual Maxims by Brother Lawrence

[SunnyDays]

Does anyone have the "Norton Book of Classical Literature", edited by Knox??

 

http://www.amazon.com/The-Norton-Book-Classical-Literature/dp/0393034267/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389679040&sr=1-7&keywords=classic+literature

 

This looks wonderful, thinking of getting it as a resource for school and enrichment for me!

 

Oh, and you all are a bunch of temptresses.... I did get a 12th century book, "Beloved Enemy: The Passions of Eleanor of Aquitaine." ;)

[ElaineJ]

 

Elaine,  I tried Surprised by Oxford last year but I just couldn't get into it.  Since then I have read nothing but good reviews of it  so I think I would like to try this one again.  Weber has a new book out now called  'Holy is the Day.'   Also,  I have seen that many people are reading Stegner which makes me want to try him.  I'd be interested to hear what you thing of his book.

 

 

 

So far I am loving Crossing to Safety, but I'll give a better review of it after I finish reading. It is a study in friendship and marriage, really. Stegner seems to be a very good writer and I'm wondering why I am just now discovering him. So I would recommend giving it a try!

Elaine

 

[mumto2]

Guess what book comes out today?

 

I just managed to download it from the elibrary!!!! It sounds sooo good!

 

ETA: Don't click the link unless you have read the rest of the series. I would consider the description to be a serious spoiler unless you have read all the others and know what must be going to happen.

 

My big problem now is do I finish the current kindle read or dump it and read the really good book. ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley

http://bukowskiagency.com/Arches.htm

[Onceuponatime]

I finished Justine by Lawrence Durrell, the first of his Alexandria Quartet. I have the whole Quartet on the Kindle, so I'll be reading them all this year, but I think I'll take a break before reading the next one. I really did enjoy this book - the language and descriptions are beautiful, and it succeeds incredibly well in evoking a tangible image of the city and the wealthy class and expats that populate the novel. Looked at objectively, the characters and their lives are certainly not to be admired, but they seem sad and lost rather than simply self-absorbed. While I was reading the book I read up a little on Durrell's life - I wish I'd left it at reading his brother's descriptions in My Family and Other Animals! The character of Justine is apparently based on Lawrence Durrell's wife Eve (ouch!) and in the book the narrator is raising his lover's child. Given accusations (or perhaps just insinuations)  by Durrell's daughter in a manuscript released after his death (she had predeceased him, committing suicide) it was hard for me not to wonder where art and life separate and join, and how much I should care about an author's life and values when I read his books. I'm looking forward to reading the other three books, which tell of the same events from different perspectives.

 

 

 

Hmm. I found the descriptions of Lawrence in My Family and Other Animals to be unsavory and disturbing. That is why I always pass up his books whenever I see one. But I have a very sensitive radar for that kind of thing. I've found that reading a biographical description of anyone for which you've had even a slight regard  can be dissappointing. Real life almost always turns out to be very messy.

[Alice]

So far I am loving Crossing to Safety, but I'll give a better review of it after I finish reading. It is a study in friendship and marriage, really. Stegner seems to be a very good writer and I'm wondering why I am just now discovering him. So I would recommend giving it a try!

Elaine

 

This is one of my favorite books. I'm jealous you get to read it for the first time.

[Stacia]

I finished Jonathan Tropper's This Is Where I Leave You yesterday. (Guess that's the plus side of waiting on dd at the orthodontist office for hours. :tongue_smilie:)

 

I thought it was snarky, funny (a few lol moments), & bittersweet too. Seemed a little bit like David Sedaris, perhaps with more of an edge. I can totally see that this is being made into a movie -- almost seemed like I was reading a movie or tv script anyway. (Jason Bateman & Tina Fey are in the upcoming movie version & I knew immediately which characters they would be playing. Maybe because I had Jason Bateman on the mind, I kept thinking of Arrested Development when reading, the similar dysfunctional family thing going on. But, maybe more an "R" rated version of Arrested Development for the discussion of the sex lives of the characters, as well as the language.) A good beach/pool/by the fire type read.

 

 

Amazon Best of the Month, August 2009: Jonathan Tropper writes compulsively readable, laugh-out-loud funny novels, and his fifth book, This Is Where I Leave You is his best yet. Judd Foxman is oscillating between a sea of self-pity and a "snake pit of fury and resentment" in the aftermath of the explosion of his marriage, which ended "the way these things do: with paramedics and cheesecake." Foxman is jobless (after finding his wife in bed with his boss) and renting out the basement of a "crappy house" when he is called home to sit shiva for his father--who, incidentally, was an atheist. This of course means seven days in his parent's house with his exquisitely dysfunctional family, including his mom, a sexy, "I've-still-got-it" shrink fond of making horrifying TMI statements; his older sister, Wendy, and her distracted hubby and three kids; his snarky older brother, Paul, and his wife; and his youngest brother, Phillip, the "Paul McCartney of our family: better-looking than the rest of us, always facing a different direction in pictures, and occasionally rumored to be dead." Tropper is wickedly funny, a master of the cutting one-liner that makes you both cringe and crack up. But what elevates his novels and makes him a truly splendid writer is his ability to create fantastically flawed, real characters who stay with you long after the book is over. Simultaneously hilarious and hopeful, This Is Where I Leave You is as much about a family's reckoning as it is about one man's attempt to get it together. The affectionate, warts-and-all portrayal of the Foxmans will have fans wishing for a sequel (and clamoring for all things Tropper).

 

A caveat: If infertility/miscarriage topics are a trigger for you, this might not be the book for you.

[Lady Florida.]

I finished Jonathan Tropper's This Is Where I Leave You yesterday. (Guess that's the plus side of waiting on dd at the orthodontist office for hours. :tongue_smilie:)

 

I thought it was snarky, funny (a few lol moments), & a bittersweet too. Seemed a little bit like David Sedaris, perhaps with more of an edge. I can totally see that this is being made into a movie -- almost seemed like I was reading a movie or tv script anyway. (Jason Bateman & Tina Fey are in the upcoming movie version & I knew immediately which characters they would be playing. Maybe because I had Jason Bateman on the mind, I kept thinking of Arrested Development when reading, the similar dysfunctional family thing going on. But, maybe more an "R" rated version of Arrested Development for the discussion of the sex lives of the characters, as well as the language.) A good beach/pool/by the fire type read.

 

 

A caveat: If infertility/miscarriage topics are a trigger for you, this might not be the book for you.

 

That looks like a fun book. I saw where some reviewers said they thought Jason Bateman is a perfect choice and that they heard his voice when reading. Based on what I read, I think you're on to something with the Arrested Development comparison. My library has it so I put it on hold. I'm number 82 in the queue. I suspect the upcoming movie has something to do with the long waiting list.

[Woodland Mist Academy]

So far I am loving Crossing to Safety, but I'll give a better review of it after I finish reading. It is a study in friendship and marriage, really. Stegner seems to be a very good writer and I'm wondering why I am just now discovering him. So I would recommend giving it a try!

Elaine

 

 

 

This is one of my favorite books. I'm jealous you get to read it for the first time.

I already have Crossing to Safety, so it counts toward my goal of reading from my shelves! :hurray:

 

I picked it up on a whim at a library book sale quite some time ago and then promptly forgot about it. After reading these comments, I'm adding it to my books to possibly read this year.

 

Thanks!

[shukriyya]

I'm feeling a bit depressed by the letters of H & A at this point. All that requited unrequitedness... :willy_nilly: Conference of the Birds however is wonderful. And the 'Layla-Majnun' seed has been planted in my consciousness as well...

[Kareni]

Last night I finished Lauren Dane's Going Under the third book in her 'Bound by Magick' series.

 

"In the wake of the Magister’s rampage, chaos rules. Left reeling, the Others and the humans scramble to create some sort of unity in the face of growing unrest and violence from anti-Other hate groups—and PR guru Molly Ryan is the witch who can do it. She grew up in the human world but there’s nothing left for her there. She’s lost her PR firm and her friends, and now she’s decided to put all her fight toward aiding the Others in this dark new reality. Gage Garrity, one of the few Others who survived the massacre, fears that the crusade will expose Molly to greater dangers than ever before.

Now, together, with magick on their side, Molly and Gage are on the road in a desperate struggle to unite a torn world. From state houses to television news to legislative conference rooms across the country, they’re fighting the good fight. And it’s bringing out a passion in both of them they never expected—one as volatile, intense and all-consuming as their relentless battle for world unity. A battle that could be their undoing… "

 

I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as its two predecessors; however, it was still a sufficiently good read that I'll continue on with the series.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[JennW in SoCal]

Do any of you write in the margins of your books?  I've never had the courage, except for note taking in college days, but through my own reading and the discussion of books on this thread I'm more understanding of the impulse and benefit of doing so.  I bring this up because of 2 delightful columns about marginalia and because of a book I got my son for Christmas.  First the 2 columns.

 

Sam Anderson at The Millions just posted this very funny column about the comments he and a friend have written in the margins of Dan Brown's Inferno.  Take the time to click on the link -- even if you loved the book you'll be amused!   "Dumbest Thing Ever".   He shared more thoughtful marginalia in an earlier column in the same magazine, "A Year in Marginalia".

 

Have you all heard of the book with the simple title S., yes, just the letter S?  It is by JJ Abrams of tv's Lost and the recent Star Trek reboot, and by Doug Dorst.  It is very "meta" as my son would say, a story within a story, told through the marginalia of 2 people make in an adventure book which is bound like an early 60s library book, complete with call number and due date stamps.  There are slips of paper in the book -- theater tickets and newspaper clippings, and the comments by the 2 people span several years.  I gave it to my ds for Christmas and he loved it, taking notes and really studying each chapter to keep track of all the elements and to figure out the mystery.  But did he leave it for me to enjoy when he left to return to campus?  Oh no.  He wants to share it with his friends -- I'm left to buy another copy for myself!

 

 

[Kareni]

Have you all heard of the book with the simple title S., yes, just the letter S?  It is by JJ Abrams of tv's Lost and the recent Star Trek reboot, and by Doug Dorst.  It is very "meta" as my son would say, a story within a story, told through the marginalia of 2 people make in an adventure book which is bound like an early 60s library book, complete with call number and due date stamps.  There are slips of paper in the book -- theater tickets and newspaper clippings, and the comments by the 2 people span several years.  I gave it to my ds for Christmas and he loved it, taking notes and really studying each chapter to keep track of all the elements and to figure out the mystery.  But did he leave it for me to enjoy when he left to return to campus?  Oh no.  He wants to share it with his friends -- I'm left to buy another copy for myself!

 

I put in a purchase suggestion to my library some time ago after I heard mention of the book.  The cataloging librarian recently asked me to take it home to read it and determine if the placement of the clippings, tickets, etc., is important.  If it is and I'm guessing such is the case (could you ask you son, Jenn?), she's not quite sure what to do with the book.  I clearly cause my librarians all manner of headaches!

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Angel]

Ok, really bummed that this week the thread is on page 3! before I even get a chance to post!  Reality bites! My last four days have been busy preparing for co-op, attending an NRA class, church, preparing for co-op, and co-op.  Eek!

 

I finished The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis last Friday in preparation for my Narnia class at co-op.  We are reading the Chronicles of Narnia in the order they were written (the only true order in my not so humble opinion  :tongue_smilie: ) so this is the 4th book.  I have read all of them before, a few of them many, many times.  Of the first four books, The Silver Chair is my least favorite so far.  I find Jill Pole annoying and feel that after his experiences in Narnia on the Dawn Treader, Eustace should have had a better handle on his attitude and actions in this book.  I mean you see the change in Edmund from LW&W to Prince Caspian.  I felt that there should have been more of that from Eustace.  Poor Puddleglum had to carry the load!  Because I'm reading this for a class, I'm reading with more of a critical eye.  I have never been one to really look for the allegory in the Chronicles, more just enjoying them for the lovely fantasy series they are.  However, reading with a mind to discussion has brought out how much allegory there really is in the books. And usually, my older kids have come up with more than I've found. What is so much fun is seeing what my class comes up with!  My Narnia class is made up of 2nd graders to 12th graders.  I keep all of them together for about 30 or 40 minutes and then we split, and I keep the 7th graders and up.  It is so much fun to hear such a wide age group discuss the book.  Every time they are to tell me their favorite part/quote and why.  They come up with the most amazing answers lol!  My little ADHD 2nd grader who can't literally sit through the discussion had his favorite part as Aslan saying that he has eaten little girls before, and realms, and kings, etc. (not a direct quote). I'm like where did that come from?!  Which spawned a discussion, in which all participated, about how Aslan had done that.  So strange, but so exciting!!  Of course said 2nd grader is still put out that all four Pevensies are not in EVERY book.   :lol:  and lets me know it every time.  I love my class!  Overall I would give it 3 stars.  I did like the last few chapters a great deal.

 

My favorite quote is from Puddleglum (the true hero IMO) 

"But there's one more thing to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things-trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that's a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We're just babies making up a game, if you're right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That's why I'm going to stand by the play world. I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia." 

 

So I have finished:

3. The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis

2. Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans

1. The Women of Christmas by Liz Curtis Higgs

 

I will be starting the 2nd in the Michael Vey series today while trying to decide on a 12th century read.  I love historical fiction!  Other than fantasy, it is my favorite, I think.

[Kareni]

 

Sam Anderson at The Millions just posted this very funny column about the comments he and a friend have written in the margins of Dan Brown's Inferno.  Take the time to click on the link -- even if you loved the book you'll be amused!   "Dumbest Thing Ever".   He shared more thoughtful marginalia in an earlier column in the same magazine, "A Year in Marginalia".

 

 

The Amis quote (in the second column) amused me!  I suspect I'll look at question and exclamation marks in a whole new way now.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[shukriyya]

Do any of you write in the margins of your books?  I've never had the courage, except for note taking in college days, but through my own reading and the discussion of books on this thread I'm more understanding of the impulse and benefit of doing so.  I bring this up because of 2 delightful columns about marginalia and because of a book I got my son for Christmas.  First the 2 columns.

 

 

The poet in me is riffing on the word 'marginalia'...though it's a very official sounding word for what are essentially scribblings, the caprices and impulses of interest and curiosity. I think scribblings is a more apt word for such felicity :lol:

[Stacia]

I have now started Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay, both for my book club & because it fits the category of 'winter' reading.

[Mom-ninja.]

My hesitation about writing in books is that I then feel funny if I lend the book to someone. I feel weird about someone reading my thoughts.

[Stacia]

Do any of you write in the margins of your books?  I've never had the courage, except for note taking in college days, but through my own reading and the discussion of books on this thread I'm more understanding of the impulse and benefit of doing so.  I bring this up because of 2 delightful columns about marginalia and because of a book I got my son for Christmas.  First the 2 columns.

 

Sam Anderson at The Millions just posted this very funny column about the comments he and a friend have written in the margins of Dan Brown's Inferno.  Take the time to click on the link -- even if you loved the book you'll be amused!   "Dumbest Thing Ever".   He shared more thoughtful marginalia in an earlier column in the same magazine, "A Year in Marginalia".

 

Have you all heard of the book with the simple title S., yes, just the letter S?  It is by JJ Abrams of tv's Lost and the recent Star Trek reboot, and by Doug Dorst.  It is very "meta" as my son would say, a story within a story, told through the marginalia of 2 people make in an adventure book which is bound like an early 60s library book, complete with call number and due date stamps.  There are slips of paper in the book -- theater tickets and newspaper clippings, and the comments by the 2 people span several years.  I gave it to my ds for Christmas and he loved it, taking notes and really studying each chapter to keep track of all the elements and to figure out the mystery.  But did he leave it for me to enjoy when he left to return to campus?  Oh no.  He wants to share it with his friends -- I'm left to buy another copy for myself!

 

Thanks for the mention of S. I had never heard of it & it sounds like something I'd love! (I have read the book C. LOL. I wonder if there's a single letter book out there somewhere for every letter of the alphabet?) The mention of marginalia makes me think of the book The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet (a dusty book on my shelf that I need to read).

 

As to your first question, no, I pretty much never write in my books. I can appreciate the idea of it, but I think that I'm so visual, I don't like having various extra stuff on the page, distracting from the layout/design (unless, of course, it's a book lik S where the marginalia have been incorporated as part of the design).