Book a Week in 2014 - BW4

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday, dearhearts.  Today is the start of week 4 in our quest to read 52 Books.  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 - Wintertime Blues:  While most of the nation is freezing, it's a balmy 64 degrees in Northern California and our Governor has declared a drought emergency.  It's been so dry, one of my fur babies who usually suffers from asthma during the damp winter, has been quite happy.  I don't know why it is, but I've been in the mood for wintery reads.  Maybe I'm living vicariously through the characters as they pit themselves, man against nature. So much drama!   I'm just finished reading James Rollins Ice Hunt which is set in the Antarctic in which scientists found an old Russian base set inside a polar iceberg:

 

Carved into a moving island of ice twice the size of the United States, Ice Station Grendel has been abandoned for more than seventy years. The twisted brainchild of the finest minds of the former Soviet Union, it was designed to be inaccessible and virtually invisible. But an American undersea research vessel has inadvertently pulled too close--and something has been sighted moving inside the allegedly deserted facility, something whose survival defies every natural law. And now, as scientists, soldiers, intelligence operatives, and unsuspecting civilians are drawn into Grendel's lethal vortex, the most extreme measures possible will be undertaken to protect its dark mysteries--because the terrible truths locked behind submerged walls of ice and steel could end human life on Earth.

 

 

 

I love James Rollins - he has the most incredible imagination.  If you haven't read any of his stories yet, I really recommend you do.  All of them are a thrill ride. 

Since Winter began, I've been reading books with Winter or a cold word in the title, about Winter, set in the Winter season or in icy landscapes. Currently in my stacks are:  Cold Magic, Hum and the Shiver, Ice Station, Snow Crash, Storm Front and Winter Sea.   You starting to see the theme here.  *grin*

So much fun to curl up in a comfy chair, with a hot cup of tea, a warm blanket and, yes, a fur baby and delve into some winter time books.   Your task, should you choose to accept it, read a book from your stacks with Winter, Frost, Ice, Cold, or other synonyms in the title.

 

What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

 

 

link to week 3

[Robin M]

Happy Birthday to A.A. Milne (1/18/82 to 1/31/56), creator of Winnie the Pooh.

 

"Poetry and Hums aren't things which you get, they're things which get you. And all you can do is go where they can find you.
-- Pooh's Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne 

[CAMom]

I'm currently reading Code Name Verity. It's been slow going because I'm having a hard time figuring out what's going on a lot of the time. Will someone tell me if it is eventually going to make sense?

 

I've been sticking with it because of the great reviews. :-)

[Just Robyn]

I finished The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, and I'm glad I kept going. Here are my thoughts from GoodReads:

 

3.5 stars. The second half was more entertaining. Things came together in interesting ways, it seemed a bit faster paced, and I felt like I had a better handle on what was going on - rather than just faithfully reading with the hope that eventually things would become clear (which is how I spent the first good chunk). 

Murakami's detailing of mundane activities - like taking a shower, toweling off, getting dressed in green cotton pants and a yellow promotional t-shirt that came with a cassette (or something like that) - sometimes bores me and makes the story drag, but it also creates a nice contrast between the utterly mundane and the incredibly extraordinary. 

I think I liked this story a bit more than 1Q84 because it seemed more desperate.

 

 

I am currently reading Yvain: The Knight of the Lion, and after that I'm going to start in on a currently-untitled novel my cousin wrote.

[shukriyya]

Conference of the Birds aside which I'm still reading and enjoying, I've decided to take a break from fiction this week (though I'm sort of reading the first book in The #1 Ladies Detective Agency Series). Choice for the upcoming week is a book called, 'Decoding Anorexia : How Breakthroughs in Science Offer Hope for Eating Disorders' by Carrie Arnold. I'm about 10% in and it's an interesting glimpse into that world written by a woman who is both a scientist and a former sufferer. Her perspective is both intimate and factually informed. The tone is conversational, personal at times as she shares her experience but the material is grounded in some pretty detailed scientific fact. So far it's a lot of pieces of info that I'm hoping will become more organized as the book progresses.

 

Robin, I really enjoyed the article you linked last week, an interview with Jane Hirschfield. For those who don't want to read the whole interview, the first paragraph is definitely a nice meditation to take on this week...

 

One reason to write a poem is to flush from the deep thickets of the self some thought, feeling, comprehension, question, music, you didn’t know was in you, or in the world. Other forms of writing—scientific papers, political analysis, most journalism—attempt to capture and comprehend something known. Poetry is a release of something previously unknown into the visible. You write to invite that, to make of yourself a gathering of the unexpected and, with luck, of the unexpectable.

Poetry magnetizes both depth and the possible. It offers widening of aperture and increase of reach. We live so often in a damped-down condition, obscured from ourselves and others. The sequesters are social—convention, politeness—and personal: timidity, self-fear or self-blindness, fatigue. To step into a poem is to agree to risk. Writing takes down all protections, to see what steps forward. Poetry is a trick of language-legerdemain, in which the writer is both magician and audience. You reach your hand into the hat and surprise yourself with rabbit or memory. with odd verb or slant rhyme or the flashing scarf of an image. This is true for discovering some newness of the emotions, and also true of ideas. Poems foment revolutions of being. Whatever the old order was, a poem will change it.

 

And finally in honor of Robin's 'Winter Theme' and A. A. Milne's birthday...

 

The more it snows ~~
tiddely pom,
The more it goes ~~
tiddely pom,
The more it goes ~~
tiddely pom
On snowing ~~

And nobody knows~~
tiddely pom ,
How cold my toes ~~
tiddely pom,
Are growing.

[ChrisB]

I'm currently reading Code Name Verity. It's been slow going because I'm having a hard time figuring out what's going on a lot of the time. Will someone tell me if it is eventually going to make sense?

 

I've been sticking with it because of the great reviews. :-)

 

I found that it made sense.  Overall, I really liked the book, but felt the ending was a bit flat.  

[Onceuponatime]

Robin, the link from last week's thread that is supposed to lead here just takes you back to week 3. :)

 

I'm currently reading in the 12th Century with Geoffrey of Monmouth. I pick up some more winter titled books at the library tomorrow.

 

ETA: Scrap above, dh told me the library is closed tomorrow. It's probably a good thing, I might actually finish The Kings of Britain.

[ChrisB]

I'm currently reading the Pink Carnation series by Lauren Willig.  I received #8 of the series for Christmas, so I MUST :Angel_anim:  :D  go back and read the prior books before I read it.  I'm now on book #4 The Seduction of the Crimson Rose.  I would label it as a light mystery romance with decent banter between the leads.

 

I'm still reading, and enjoying, The Hobbit with DD9.

 

Finished:

1. The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, Bk 1, Lauren Willig

2. The Masque of the Black Tulip, Bk 2, Lauren Willig

3. The Deception of the Emerald Ring, Bk 3, Lauren Willig

[SunnyDays]

Still at three books completed for the year.

Still reading my 12th century book, Beloved Enemy.

Still have Breakfast at Tiffany's waiting in the wings, and still have Little Women to finish at some point.

 

So, not much to report thus far! I do have Kristin Hannah's Winter Garden I could read for the week's theme, but perhaps I should focus on what I already have going this week! ;)

[Robin M]

Robin, the link from last week's thread that is supposed to lead here just takes you back to week 3. :)

 

I'm currently reading in the 12th Century with Geoffrey of Monmouth. I pick up some more winter titled books at the library tomorrow.

 

Thanks, it's fixed now.

 

[Ali in OR]

Nothing finished this week. Wait, that's not completely true--we finished All Quiet on the Western Front as a read-aloud, and that was my first time through that classic. We had to look up more on Remarque--I wanted to find out what happened to him during WWII. Probably no big surprise that his book was banned by Hitler, he had to flee Germany, and the Nazis eventually executed his sister because they couldn't get to Erich himself. It was a good book to read, but the girls are saying no more war books this year (did Red Badge of Courage too).

 

 I'm still working on Paper Towns when I'm on the treadmill. It is VERY YA. It revolves around some kids in their last few weeks of high school, told from the point of view of Quentin. The girl he has idolized since childhood (who is also his next door neighbor) takes him on a wild revenge spree to get back at her friends who have done her wrong (eg boyfriend seeing one of her other friends), and then she disappears, just runs away. She's done this before and has left little clues as to where she has gone. So it's a very long romp through trying to figure out clues while going through the final high school rites of prom, finals, graduation, etc., and I just find it a bit tedious. It feels like it's geared to the young only--I just want these kids to grow up and mature already! I've read other YA books that didn't leave me feeling this way, but this one has not been a good fit for me.

 

My other one in progress is a little collection of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and I'm enjoying them very much. Looking forward to watching Sherlock tonight (if I can stay up that late).

 

I picked up a couple at the library. In the Murakami section I picked up the relatively slim After the Quake, a collection of short stories. I'll start there to see if he's an author I want to read further. Then I noticed Alice Munro was on the shelf above and I've never read anything by her, so I picked up Too Much Happiness, another collection of stories. So between those and Sherlock Holmes, I've got lots of short stories to dive into which suits my current attention span well!

 

I was intrigued by the description of S. in last week's thread, so I placed an order with Amazon. It's out of stock right now, but hoping it will come in time to be a birthday present to myself next month.

[Mystie]

I'm reading James K.A. Smith's education book Desiring the Kingdom, a Hornblower novel, and a commentary on Ecclesiastes called A Table in the Mist.

 

Weekend Reads, on my blog (and it's also a link up), has not only what I'm reading, but also what my children are reading and a favorite quote of the week.

 

I'm a little late in joining up here, but I hope to finally break 50 books this years. :) It's been over 5 years since I have.

[Murmer]

Finished: The DNA of Relationships by Gary Smalley (I really like this especially how basically he says there are no guarantees but it will help)

Dawn’s Prelude by Tracie Peterson (cute romantic fluff)

“Profitable Blogging For Beginners†Class Workbook by Blogelina (someday I may do a fancy blog)

Matched by Ally Condie (I don't think I like dystopian love triangle books)

 

Working on:

Fiction: Choosing Mr. Right by Jennifer Stewart Griffith

Kindle: Dixie Divas by Virginia Brown

Non-fiction: Five in a Row Vol 2 by Jane Claire Lambert

Phone: Lies, Da** Lies, and Science by Sherry Seethaler

Computer: Rhythms by the Better Moms Bloggers

Well Education Mind: Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan

Angel Girl: The Aesop for Children by Aesop

Sweet Boy: Hans Christian Anderson Fairy Tales Book

Autobook: Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith

 

Total Read for 2014: 9

[Uff Da!]

I'm still slowly working on Don Quixote.  The quilting fervor will come to an end soon and I suspect my reading will pick up then.  I finished piecing together 18 of the 20 stars for the graduation quilt and then I'm on to my own version of embroidering the stars.  It feels good to have made some progress on that beast.  

 

We've almost finished listening to Lois Lowry's "Number The Stars".  I had almost finished the book.  Then DD joined in listening, insisted we start over at the beginning and so I'm hearing it twice. 

[mumto2]

This is so me! Reread the series in order when there is a new one. ;) The Pink Carnation series has been on my to read list for awhile.

 

 

I'm currently reading the Pink Carnation series by Lauren Willig.  I received #8 of the series for Christmas, so I MUST :Angel_anim:  :D  go back and read the prior books before I read it.  I'm now on book #4 The Seduction of the Crimson Rose.  I would label it as a light mystery romance with decent banter between the leads.

 

I'm still reading, and enjoying, The Hobbit with DD9.

 

Finished:

1. [/size]The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, Bk 1, Lauren Willig[/size]

2. The Masque of the Black Tulip, Bk 2, Lauren Willig

3. The Deception of the Emerald Ring, Bk 3, Lauren Willig

[Jane in NC]

Hello everyone.

 

I really want to like The Debt to Pleasure by John Lanchester, a weird little foody novel.  But the verbosity of the author!  The never ending chains of adjectives, adverbs, clauses, parenthetical notations. Just get on with it, man!  I can only bear a few pages at a time so why, oh why, am I sticking with this novel?  Someone just shoot me with a potato gun!

 

 

 

[Guest]

 

 

I was intrigued by the description of S. in last week's thread, so I placed an order with Amazon. It's out of stock right now, but hoping it will come in time to be a birthday present to myself next month.

 

I ordered it, also. I'm going nearly crazy that I can't actually get my hands on it, lol! (Probably more of a control issue than anything else, but I am excited to read it, too.)

 

I started Kostova's The Historian. This is a second attempt at reading it, due to the many positive reviews of it here. The first time I just couldn't get into it. I think I've made it further this time than I did last time, though, and it is holding my interest.  I also borrowed Sarah Addison Allen's Sugar Queen on my Kindle and have Steve Jobs' biography here, both of which I haven't started, but are calling my name. I'm anxious to read another Sarah Addison Allen, because she is also highly praised and I really didn't care for Garden Spells when I read that a few years back.

 

This last week, I finished and haven't posted about:

 

I, Saul by Jerry B. Jenkins - I really enjoyed this. From Goodreads: Told from the point of view of the disciple Luke, the apostle Paul and "Auggie," a modern-day scholar, I, Saul, is a fast-paced story of intrigue and mystery. Readers will be reminded of Indiana Jones and the DiVinci code as they become absorbed in this page-turner by a master storyteller. Along the way they will learn of the fictionalized but plausible story of the life of Saul who relentlessly persecuted Christ's followers prior to his conversion when he became known as Paul.

 

Three Blind Mice and Other Stories by Agatha Christie - fun, typical Agatha Christia.

 

Skyjack: The Hunt for D.B. Cooper by Geoffrey Gray - my dh has always been fascinated by the whole D.B. Cooper story, so I decided to read this. I only gave it two stars. I thought the author was very confusing and his story was very disjointed. I also wasn't sure what his purpose in writing this book was. He would introduce characters, who ended up being suspects, but then he wouldn't tell you that they were a suspect until 5 chapters later. There were a LOT of people in this book, so that quickly got confusing. I always laugh at my dh when he watches those tv shows on History or Discovery channel that make a promise to uncover the greatest secrets, but there's really no answer to the story that they promise to uncover the secret of. That was this book. We don't know, and unfortunately, after reading this book, I still don't know and didn't feel that the author really accomplished any purpose by writing this.

 

And I believe I posted in last week's thread, but I did finish Snow Falling on Cedars. I liked that one, too, minus a few scenes. I am playing that reading Bingo that Stacia posted awhile back with a friend of mine and I finished a row this week. I think she's still on her first book, so I haven't told her and I'm just going to keep on reading with her. ;)

 

Total read in 2014: 9

[Guest]

So, not much to report thus far! I do have Kristin Hannah's Winter Garden I could read for the week's theme, but perhaps I should focus on what I already have going this week! ;)

 

I missed this the first time I read through this thread - I LOVED this book. As in, it was one of my favorite books. Funny, because I haven't read another book by her that I even like. This one, though, I loved. I bought it and need to read it again. It's been a few years. I think I'm afraid that, after reading some of her other books, that I'll read it again and won't love it as much. It had me crying at the end, which I don't do often. :wub:

[mumto2]

Our weather here has been really nice too-sunny and around 50 most days. Bulbs are sprouting and flowers blooming. Not normal at all. The cold germs struck the rest of us with a vengeance. I have spent two quiet days with a stuffy head. I got some reading done but have abandoned a shocking number of books that have been in my stack for ages.

 

One book that I finished is "A Loyal Character Dancer" by Qiu Xiaolong. This was a Robin suggestion back in December. http://www.reviewingtheevidence.com/review.html?id=6153 It was very interesting and quite involved politically. I learned and thought about many things while the missing woman was being searched for. Not sure that I will read another in this series right away but it was an interesting read. I have now finished China for my geography challange!

[Robin M]

My buying ban is blown - didn't even last one month.  *sigh*

 

My son doesn't like football games, especially 49er's when our lovely neighbor likes to put off a siren at every touchdown. So we are off to the comic book store and Barnes and Noble this afternoon.  I already preordered two nonfiction writing books for pickup because I can never find them in the store myself.

 

Kindle Daily Deal:  The Golem and the Jinni for $1.99.

 

Another famous author birthday - Edgar Allan Poe. Check out Brainpickings Edgar Allan Poe on the Joy of Marginalia  or Lou Reed's Adaptation of The Raven, illustrated by Italian Artist Lorenzo Mattoti

 

And 30 signs you like books more than you like people.

[JennW in SoCal]

Before I talk books, I just have to "bond" with Robin over our California weather.  This hot, dry January was nice at first, but with the fires in LA last week and the long range forecast showing showing no rain in sight, well, it's getting old and worrisome.  Not that any of you in the rest of the cold and wintery US feel sorry for us who are suffering through another week of 80 degree weather!  

 

Back to books.

 

I am getting the biggest kick out of Ivanhoe.  It helps that I'm listening to a good reader on an Audible edition because it feels like an Errol Flynn or other cheesy old movie.  The book prompted me to read up on Sir Walter Scott, and I found an excellent website through the University of Edinburgh that listed some of the works that inspired him in writing Ivanhoe, and the references he used in researching the period.  

 

I'm also reading an Alan Furst pre-WWII thriller, Kingdom of Shadows.  I first learned of his books through this thread, no doubt, and it is great.  A good spy story, interesting and realistic characters (no James Bond types), and fascinating historical fiction about the mostly overlooked aspects of the pre-WWII geopolitics of Hungary and Czechoslovakia.

 

 

[Jane in NC]

Before I talk books, I just have to "bond" with Robin over our California weather.  This hot, dry January was nice at first, but with the fires in LA last week and the long range forecast showing showing no rain in sight, well, it's getting old and worrisome.  Not that any of you in the rest of the cold and wintery US feel sorry for us who are suffering through another week of 80 degree weather!  

 

Back to books.

 

I am getting the biggest kick out of Ivanhoe.  It helps that I'm listening to a good reader on an Audible edition because it feels like an Errol Flynn or other cheesy old movie.  The book prompted me to read up on Sir Walter Scott, and I found an excellent website through the University of Edinburgh that listed some of the works that inspired him in writing Ivanhoe, and the references he used in researching the period.  

 

I'm also reading an Alan Furst pre-WWII thriller, Kingdom of Shadows.  I first learned of his books through this thread, no doubt, and it is great.  A good spy story, interesting and realistic characters (no James Bond types), and fascinating historical fiction about the mostly overlooked aspects of the pre-WWII geopolitics of Hungary and Czechoslovakia.

 

Sending best wishes to all of my California friends.  Stay safe! 

 

I read Ivanhoe with my son when he was in 7th or 8th grade.  I really enjoyed it too.

 

Furst is yet another of my favorite authors.  In fact, I have two or three of his books that I have not read in my dusty stack. Maybe I should abandon The Debt to Adjectives Pleasure and open up a Furst. 

 

[Ali in OR]

Robin, thanks for the heads-up on the kindle deal for The Golem and the Jinni. Pass along any other good kindle deals, anyone who hears of good books at low prices--I'd like to load up several for spring break. Just got Golem for that purpose.

[CupOCoffee]

Can it really be week 4 already??  I really admire so many of you who are reading several/many books at a time!  I wish I could be like that!  I am still reading Allegiant, and trying to figure out what to read after that.  My Kindle supposedly has 350 books waiting to be read, lol, and I can't remember what half of them are!

 

I have a series of "light" reading that I want to finish, Diane Mott's culinary mystery series; I've read two or three of them in 2013, and they are cute, fast reads.  They start to get predictable, but hey, that's what "light" reading is for, right?

 

Also got my son some Patrick O'Brien books for Christmas (Master and Commander is first) that look interesting to me...sigh, so many book, so little time!  Can't decide where to go next after Allegiant.

 

~coffee~

[Kareni]

Concerning

S. by J. J. Abrams and Doug Dorst

 

And report back when you've finished the book  :001_smile:

 

 

Well, I've started the book and I'm about 50 pages in.  I've enjoyed what I've read so far, but I doubt that I'll be finishing anytime soon because:

 

1.  I promised the librarian I would have it back by the end of the month

 

2.  It's a book that requires attentive reading, and I'm currently in a "give me fluff" state of mind

 

3.  I brought home seven books each from two libraries (all purchase suggestions I'd recommended) and they are all calling to me loudly.

 

4.  And, back to S., while I enjoy the marginalia written by the grad student and the undergrad, I'm less interested in the text that they are annotating (I guess marginalizing isn't the word to use here!) or the mystery that they are attempting to solve. 

 

But, someday (because there is something almost titillating/voyeuristic about the S. experience!) ....  (Hmm, and 'S. ex' looks very like something else again.)

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

[Kareni]

 

 

And 30 signs you like books more than you like people.

 

That was entertaining!  Thanks for the link, Robin.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Alice]

I'm currently reading Code Name Verity. It's been slow going because I'm having a hard time figuring out what's going on a lot of the time. Will someone tell me if it is eventually going to make sense?

 

I've been sticking with it because of the great reviews. :-)

 

It will make sense. :) I loved it and would also highly recommend Rose Under Fire, the companion book. It’s more straight-forward of a story. It’s also very sad but beautifully written with great characters. 

 

 

 

I am getting the biggest kick out of Ivanhoe.  It helps that I'm listening to a good reader on an Audible edition because it feels like an Errol Flynn or other cheesy old movie.  The book prompted me to read up on Sir Walter Scott, and I found an excellent website through the University of Edinburgh that listed some of the works that inspired him in writing Ivanhoe, and the references he used in researching the period.  

 

 

 

I’ve been thinking about reading Ivanhoe, either alone or out loud to my oldest. I’m reading my middle son Knight’s Castle by Edward Eager, which is all about Ivanhoe and it’s reminding me again that I’ve never read it. 

 

I’m almost finished with Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright. It’s fantastic. Mind-blowing and really disturbing. 

[Jane in NC]

I’m almost finished with Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright. It’s fantastic. Mind-blowing and really disturbing. 

Thanks for the reminder.  I have been meaning to put this on my library list.  I am now tenth in the queue (which is a whole lot better than being 61st for The Goldfinch).

[Onceuponatime]

I missed this the first time I read through this thread - I LOVED this book. As in, it was one of my favorite books. Funny, because I haven't read another book by her that I even like. This one, though, I loved. I bought it and need to read it again. It's been a few years. I think I'm afraid that, after reading some of her other books, that I'll read it again and won't love it as much. It had me crying at the end, which I don't do often. :wub:

 

Is that happy crying or sad crying? I've been wondering if I should put this on my list.

[marbel]

I'm joining in for the first time, though I don't read a book a week.  Maybe a book's worth of pages, but not all in one book.

 

I did finish Till We Have Faces for a women's book discussion group at my church. The first time I read it was 25 years ago as an English major, and so much of it baffled me.  I fared a little better this time around.  Good book, very interesting, and makes for good discussion!

 

I've been reading The Civilization of the Middle Ages by Norman Cantor as part of our homeschooling for months now; almost finished with that.   I may also finish The Middle Ages by Morris Bishop this week. 

 

 

 

 

[Paisley Hedgehog]

.

[mlbuchina]

I was able to finish two books this week.

 

360 Degrees Longitude, by John Higham was wonderful.  It was exactly like I hoped it would be, worts and all.  I loved every minute of reading it, and was so sad when it was time to go home and get back to the real world.  I would love to do even a small fraction of the adventures that they were able to do in their year abroad.  I have been thinking about smaller excursions closer to home that we could do, as reading this book has really fanned the flame of my wanderlust.  Definite 5 stars and a  :001_wub: .

 

Ring, by Koji Suzuki, was, um, interesting.  I know nothing about the movies based on it, except for the commercials I remember when the American version came out, and that they are supposed to be horror films.  The description of the book sounded more like a murder mystery, and not horror, so I thought I would give it a shot.  I actually really like the story.  The premise is interesting, and doesn't even come to full fruition until the very end of the book.  It's really rather a cool little book.  However.  The writing is stilted at best.  I don't know if it is the way the author writes, or the way the translator translated the story, but the choppy sentences really were very distracting for me.  I just never could get completely lost in the story, but I knew the potential was there for me to.  That was a bit of a letdown.  Having said that, it hasn't stopped me from rushing to the library today to get the other two books in the series.  LOL  The first book ends on a major cliffhanger, and by golly, I'm going to find out how it ends!   :lol:   Oh, and, nope, it isn't horror at all, but more like a paranormal mystery.

 

As I hate the winter, I have only read one winter book.  That is enough for me.  I have An Embarrassment of Mangoes, by Ann Vanderhoof, that I have started, and A Trip to the Beach, by Melinda and Robert Blanchard, in my TBR pile to help ward off the cold.   :laugh:  Both are about people taking nice long trips to the Caribbean.  Which is where I wish I was right about now.  My happy place:

 

[edited to remove picture]

 

I'm also still listening to In a Sunburned Country, by Bill Bryson.  It makes me want to hop a plane to Australia.   :thumbup1:

 

The Roundup:

 

1.  The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

2.  The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse

3.  The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

4.  360 Degrees Longitude by John Higham

5.  Ring by Koji Suzuki

[Robin M]

I'm joining in for the first time, though I don't read a book a week.  Maybe a book's worth of pages, but not all in one book.

 

I did finish Till We Have Faces for a women's book discussion group at my church. The first time I read it was 25 years ago as an English major, and so much of it baffled me.  I fared a little better this time around.  Good book, very interesting, and makes for good discussion!

 

I've been reading The Civilization of the Middle Ages by Norman Cantor as part of our homeschooling for months now; almost finished with that.   I may also finish The Middle Ages by Morris Bishop this week. 

 

Welcome! 

 

[mlbuchina]

Because the Patrick O'Brian series keeps coming up, I decided to look for it in the books my dh gave me for my Kindle.  (He's in the Navy, and Kindle books get shared like crazy during a 6-9 month cruise.)  The whole series is in the list!!  I am so excited!  Just had to share.   :D

[Tullia]

I started the year with Every Living Thing (James Herriot) which was a re-read and a Kindle deal.  Real Food (Nina Planck) was a double hit for me; she confirms my own opinions, and reading her personal history of food has been fascinating.  After agonizing over reviews and downloading several samples, I decided to try 1Q84. Thanks to the reviews here I didn't falter part way through. Reading it while the moon was at and near full last week was kind of creepy.  We've had no clouds, and so on my walks I kept peeking at the moon.  I am relieved to report that I never saw more than one moon!

 

For this week's reading I want to take things easier with The Good Knight (Sarah Woodbury).

[-M-]

Hello! Stopping in while it's somewhat quiet. *smile* My plan to read from the shelves (i.e., what I owned prior to January 1) is going much better than I expected -- perhaps because so many unread books call my library and Kindle home. Heh, heh, heh. Anyway, I've completed the following:

 

â–  Henry V (William Shakespeare (1599); Folger ed. 2004. 294 pages. Drama.)
â–  Henry IV, Part II (William Shakespeare (1599); Folger ed. 2006. 400 pages. Drama.)
â–  Henry IV, Part I (William Shakespeare (1597); Folger ed. 2005. 336 pages. Drama.)
â–  The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum; 1895 / 2008. 224 pages. Juvenile fiction.)
â–  Cartwheel (Jennifer duBois; 2013. 384 pages. Fiction.)
â–  The Wicked Girls(Alex Marwood; 2013. 384 pages. Fiction.)

 

NOTES:

We reread / revisited the Henry plays this month to prepare for an upcoming behind-the-scenes event at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST). The plays were on our list for later this spring, when Henry V opens at the CST, but we had no problem shuffling the schedule when we received the invitation. The Misses read Richard II for the first time this fall, so they now have the Henriad under their readerly belts. This was actually their second time reading Henry IV, Parts I and II, though (and my third), and their third reading Henry V (and my fifth), so you can imagine what remarkable conversations we had as we re-encountered the text together. What great observations! Good stuff all around.

 

Having seen Wicked twice now, the Misses determined to read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and to see The Wizard of Oz over winter break (we began our spring semester on Monday, January 6) and to read Wicked (Gregory Maguire) this summer. I could not remember reading Baum's novel as child and was delighted to join them. I did remember the film well, though, and was surprised by how well it endures. This assertion comes on the heels of having just seen Gone with the Wind for the first time in many years and realizing that I disagree with the critics: I don't think it's "timeless," at all. It feels dated and trite when it isn't patently insulting and wrongheaded. Age distorts our perceptions, I suppose, and I grow old... I grow old....

 

Speaking of (mis)perceptions... Cartwheel (and perhaps The Wicked Girls, to a certain extent) is one of those books that I hesistate to recommend, simply because its content is sordid. Loosely inspired by the Amanda Knox case, duBois' second novel is less a narrative of a headline-grabbing crime and more an exploration of how utterly and completely people misunderstand each other and the world around them.

 

Two quotes:

 

p. 13

This was painful for Andrew, because he understood what the Kellerses were going through; he knew that losing a child was the single worst experience that life had to offer. Andrew did not know, of course, which way was harder -- whether it was worse to lose a child when she was far away and you were sleeping, or when you were cupping her tiny head and feeling her delicate pulse go quiet. Not that Andrew had ever given up on working through the hierarchies of pain, teasing out the taxonomies of grief; he scorned people who were untouched by death, and he loathed people who shared experiences about their dying parents when he spoke of Janie (Who cares? he wanted to shout. This is the way of things!) The only people he truly respected were those whose pain was objectively, empirically, worse than his.

 

p. 177

That's all anybody wanted anyone to know about them -- how hard it all had been, how valiantly they had tried, had much unseen credit they were due.

 

The second assertion is that of a young man who lost both of his parents. How two such opposite and, yes, true thoughts can provoke readerly sympathy because of when they occur in the novel and why, well, to me, that's the definition of a "thumpin' good read," but this may not be a book for everyone.

[Heather in Neverland]

Started reading:

The School Revolution: A New Answer for our Broken Education System by Ron Paul

 

Still reading:

The Rage Against God: How Atheism Led Me to Faith by Peter Hitchens

 

Finished reading:

1. The Curiosity by Stephen Kiernan (AVERAGE)

2. The Last Time I Saw Paris by Lynn Sheene (GOOD)

3. Unwind by Neal Shusterman (EXCELLENT)

4. The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty (EXCELLENT)

[mumto2]

Jenn and Jane -- I can't resist giving a bit of an Ivanhoe location lesson. I read it shortly after moving to England and visited a couple of places where Scott wrote it and used settings. The first is The Boat inn near Doncaster. The early part of the book was set near there if my memory is right. It is a nice pub where he stayed for several weeks while writing it. No great link but this was the only one of interest I could find. http://www.vintageinn.co.uk/theboatinnsprotbrough/gallery/

 

The second is Ashley de la Zouch Castle. Pretty much a ruin but we have had a couple of lovely picnics on the lawn. The town is quite nice too.

 

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/ashby-de-la-zouch-castle/

[mlbuchina]

I started the year with Every Living Thing (James Herriot) which was a re-read and a Kindle deal.  Real Food (Nina Planck) was a double hit for me; she confirms my own opinions, and reading her personal history of food has been fascinating.  After agonizing over reviews and downloading several samples, I decided to try 1Q84. Thanks to the reviews here I didn't falter part way through. Reading it while the moon was at and near full last week was kind of creepy.  We've had no clouds, and so on my walks I kept peeking at the moon.  I am relieved to report that I never saw more than one moon!

 

For this week's reading I want to take things easier with The Good Knight (Sarah Woodbury).

 

Here ya go Tullia!   :lol:

 

[edited to remove picture]

 

 

I have The Good Knight on my Kindle, and completely forgot about it.  Let me know what you think of it.  If it's good, maybe I'll remember it's there.  LOL

[eaglei]

Stacia - Thank you so much for keeping my ds and my family in your thoughts and keeping the BaW-ers updated, too!  The thoughts, prayers, well-wishes, etc., are definitely helping us.  Just briefly, ds opted out of the blood work last week because the four sites from which they choose for drawing blood were not healed up sufficiently, and, he was feeling overall improved and felt he could postpone for a week.  The doctors were fine with that because they know he does not make haphazard decisions.  So, he goes this week for the next follow-up CBC's.  We are expecting good results.

 

I have not posted on the BaW threads since the first week!  (I spent the last hour trying to catch up with all the posting you all did)!  Too much emotional stuff and I have been so tired.  Also, I thankfully got some extra hours at work so I've come home elated with that work but exhausted before I even begin the *home* work.  Even with dh and ds helping, I can't seem to get caught up . . .

 

I've had more days than I care to think of these past few weeks when I got zero reading done.  Zero.  That hurts!

 

Here is what I've managed so far:

 

1 - Venetia, by Georgette Heyer.  Loved it.  Have yet to be disappointed with Heyer.  She is becoming a go-to author.

2 - Healed of Cancer, by Dodie Osteen.  Encouraging.

3 - The Circle Maker:  Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears, by  Mark Batterson.  Encouraging.

 

Currently reading (at dh's request):

 

4 - Four Blood Moons:  Something is About to Change, by John Hagee

 

 

 

 

[Julie Smith]

Ice hunt sounds neat. I'm to lazy to read it so I tired to google a complete plot summary and came up with nothing. 

 

I'm still trying to read, "A short history of personal life". I think I'm in the cellar. :p 

 

I am working on dragging my boys through, "The Wind in the Willows". It will be a difficult drag, but I think I'm up for it. After I'm leaning towards the Lord of the Rings. I found the audio book online. (I use the term book, but I know it is all one book, and the first book is acutally the first two parts. -- if that makes any sense)

[Rosie_0801]

Who was it reading 'The Rosie Project?' I'm too lazy to search last week's thread, but I wasn't too lazy to drive to Shepparton to buy you a postcard, lol.

[prairiegirl]

I finished  'Loving Frank'  by Nancy Horan  this week.  It is a fictional account of the love affair between Mamah Borthwick and Frank Lloyd Wright, both of them married to other people when they meet.  This story  has wormed its way inside of me.  I have been deeply moved by Mamah's struggle with wanting to stay with Wright and the guilt she feels in leaving her children.  The ending  also struck deep. 

 

I have moved on to Neil Gaiman's  'The Ocean at the End of the Lane.'  I am in the middle of it  and am not too sure what I think of it.  The genre is not my cup of tea but I am finding  the story interesting.  One of the sentences has found its way  into my commonplace book--  'Books were safer than other people anyway.'   I have had a rough week--oh snap!  who am I kidding?  the last three months have been rough---and this quote brought me to tears because I am right there.  I have been burying myself in fiction lately because it is safer and more comforting than what is happening irl.   I think that this book is going to make it on this year's  Top 10 list solely because of this quote. 

[Onceuponatime]

Who was it reading 'The Rosie Project?' I'm too lazy to search last week's thread, but I wasn't too lazy to drive to Shepparton to buy you a postcard, lol.

 It was MelAR05

[prairiegirl]

 

 

I love James Rollins - he has the most incredible imagination.  If you haven't read any of his stories yet, I really recommend you do.  All of them are a thrill ride. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

link to week 3

I had never heard of James Rollins until a few months ago and now I hear about his books all of the time.  I have him on my ever-so-long TBR list.

 

Can it really be week 4 already??  I really admire so many of you who are reading several/many books at a time!  I wish I could be like that!  I am still reading Allegiant, and trying to figure out what to read after that.  My Kindle supposedly has 350 books waiting to be read, lol, and I can't remember what half of them are!

 

 

 

I try to read several at once  but after awhile I neglect the others and can only focus on one at a time  so I have gone back to reading only one. 

I'm joining in for the first time, though I don't read a book a week.  Maybe a book's worth of pages, but not all in one book.

 

 

Welcome, Marbel!   It does not matter how many books you read, only that you read and enjoy. 

[Mom-ninja.]

Happy Birthday to A.A. Milne (1/18/82 to 1/31/56), creator of Winnie the Pooh.

 

"Poetry and Hums aren't things which you get, they're things which get you. And all you can do is go where they can find you.

-- Pooh's Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne 

I just read that quote yesterday. I finished The Complete Works of Winnie the Pooh yesterday. Boys loved it. My teen loved it most. :D He's now a Milne fan.

 

Still reading Mrs Dalloway.

[Narrow Gate Academy]

52 Books Blog - Wintertime Blues:  I'm just finished reading James Rollins Ice Hunt which is set in the Antarctic in which scientists found an old Russian base set inside a polar iceberg:

 

 

Carved into a moving island of ice twice the size of the United States, Ice Station Grendel has been abandoned for more than seventy years. The twisted brainchild of the finest minds of the former Soviet Union, it was designed to be inaccessible and virtually invisible. But an American undersea research vessel has inadvertently pulled too close--and something has been sighted moving inside the allegedly deserted facility, something whose survival defies every natural law. And now, as scientists, soldiers, intelligence operatives, and unsuspecting civilians are drawn into Grendel's lethal vortex, the most extreme measures possible will be undertaken to protect its dark mysteries--because the terrible truths locked behind submerged walls of ice and steel could end human life on Earth.

I love James Rollins - he has the most incredible imagination.  If you haven't read any of his stories yet, I really recommend you do.  All of them are a thrill ride. 

 

 

I just picked up Rollins' Sandstorm at the library on Saturday.  After all the recommendations, I'm excited to read it.

And 30 signs you like books more than you like people.

 

Thanks for the laugh!

 

I am getting the biggest kick out of Ivanhoe.  It helps that I'm listening to a good reader on an Audible edition because it feels like an Errol Flynn or other cheesy old movie.  The book prompted me to read up on Sir Walter Scott, and I found an excellent website through the University of Edinburgh that listed some of the works that inspired him in writing Ivanhoe, and the references he used in researching the period.  

 

 I loved Ivanhoe when I read it last year.  I also enjoyed Rob Roy even though the Scottish dialect was a bit challenging. 

[Narrow Gate Academy]

I finished my 3rd book for the year Phantastes by MacDonald and reviewed it on my blog.  I have too many good books in my library crate to decide which to read first:  Sandstorm by Rollins, The Sunday Philosopher Club  by Smith, two more Flavia de Luce on my Kindle... and at least half a dozen others I can't think of of the top of my head.  I will try hard not to add to my want to read list this week :drool5:  while I make a dent in the current stack.

 

To read:

I haven't read any non-fiction yet, so I'll try to start either one of the organization books or Smart but Scattered

Sophocles plays to discuss with DD (hopefully the first one)

A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis for the 12th century challenge

 

In progress:

Bible - I've finished Genesis and made it 6 chapters into Exodus.  Still on track so far.

History of the Ancient World - 5 chapters finished this past week

 

Completed:

3.  Phantastes by MacDonald

2.  The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Bradley

1.  The Odyssey by Homer

[CAMom]

I found that it made sense.  Overall, I really liked the book, but felt the ending was a bit flat.  

 

OK. I will persist. :-)

 

It will make sense. :) I loved it and would also highly recommend Rose Under Fire, the companion book. It’s more straight-forward of a story. It’s also very sad but beautifully written with great characters. 

 

 

Thanks, Alice! I just keep thinking, "Why are all of these random scenes just thrown together. Nothing is coherent." I'm assuming there's a purpose to it and I will get there.

 

I've finished:

 

1. Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick
2. Echoes by Maeve Binchy
3. Prodigy by Marie LU

[Robin M]

Because the Patrick O'Brian series keeps coming up, I decided to look for it in the books my dh gave me for my Kindle.  (He's in the Navy, and Kindle books get shared like crazy during a 6-9 month cruise.)  The whole series is in the list!!  I am so excited!  Just had to share.   :D

I've moved it up in the stacks to read sooner than later. May just make Master and Commander my C book for A to Z challenge

 

Ice hunt sounds neat. I'm to lazy to read it so I tired to google a complete plot summary and came up with nothing. 

 

I'm still trying to read, "A short history of personal life". I think I'm in the cellar. :p

 

I am working on dragging my boys through, "The Wind in the Willows". It will be a difficult drag, but I think I'm up for it. After I'm leaning towards the Lord of the Rings. I found the audio book online. (I use the term book, but I know it is all one book, and the first book is acutally the first two parts. -- if that makes any sense)

Here's an excerpt from his website

 

I just picked up Rollins' Sandstorm at the library on Saturday.  After all the recommendations, I'm excited to read it.

Enjoy! It's the start of the Sigma series. After this one, you'll be hooked. (I hope....)