Book a Week in 2014 - BW5

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday, dearhearts.  Today is the start of week 5 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 Blogs - Red Badge of Courage:  Highlighting Stephen Crane's Red Badge of Courage which is book # 16 in SWB's list of great fiction in Well Educated Mind.

 

Book News:

 

Margaret Atwood interviews Alice Munro on google hangout

 

Wife of Imprisoned Nobel Laurette speaks out through Poetry

 

Yesterday was Virginia Woolf's birthday:   On Craftsmanship-the only surviving recording of V.W.

 

and

 

The Top 10 Edith Wharton Quotes

1. Life is always either a tightrope or a feather bed. Give me the tightrope.
2. There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. 
3. Ah, good conversation - there’s nothing like it, is there? The air of ideas is the only air worth breathing.
4. We can’t behave like people in novels, though, can we?
5. Silence may be as variously shaded as speech.
6. The real marriage of true minds is for any two people to possess a sense of humour or irony pitched in exactly the same key, so that their joint glances on any subject cross like interarching searchlights.
7. Some things are best mended by a break.
8. The American landscape has no foreground and the American mind no background.
9. I had written short stories that were thought worthy of preservation! Was it the same insignificant I that I had always known?
10. After all, one knows one’s weak points so well, that it’s rather bewildering to have the critics overlook them and invent others.

 

 

MONUMENTS MEN:  Sorry for yelling. It's the Kindle Daily Deal today - GET IT! :001_tt1:

 

 

What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

Link to week 4

 

 

[CAMom]

A new reading week! :D

 

Last week I finished Code Verity, Those We Love Most by Lee Woodruff, and several great short stories.

 

I've just started The Antidote: Happiness for People who Can't Stand Positive Thinking by Oliver Burkeman.

 

I'm traveling this week so I'll pick something that's a quick read for plane travel. :-)

[Robin M]

I'm halfway through The Passage by Justin Cronin and enjoying it. Don't remember half of it. Senior brain moment? - Nope, too soon. Just the side affect of reading too many books, too fast.  I've slowed way down this year and this is my 6th books where generally by this point I would have read 10-15 books already.   I think this is going to be a year of reading deliberately and savoring books, rather than voraciously consuming them. 

[Onceuponatime]

 

I don't get what is honorable to die for nothing...

 

After reading Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain, I think there was a mindset at that time that dying in battle was a quicker, better path to heaven, and if you got to kill a few enemies (send them straight to hell) beforehand, that was even better.  I had trouble wrapping my mind around all the slaying. A good percentage of the population must have been killed in battles, or as a result of battles, if those stories are anywhere near accurate.

[SunnyDays]

Last night, I started Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah. Really enjoying it so far. I think she does a great job fleshing out her characters.

[Onceuponatime]

I'm still reading Russian Winter. It is a slow moving story and I'm assuming that it is going exactly where it appears to be going, which would make it highly predictable. It's not bad, but it doesn't feel "special."

[Just Robyn]

I finished Yvain: The Knight of the Lion, and I also read Lancelot: The Knight of the Cart. I'll probably order more Chretien de Troyes romances through ILL. They're nice to read on a Saturday or Sunday. 

 

I also finished Education of a Wandering Man by Louis L'Amour. Here is my review from GoodReads:

 

 

 At this point, I have not read a single western novel, and if I happen to be in a room with a television when someone else is watching a western movie, I don't give it much of my attention. 

In short, I am not a fan of westerns. But to be fair, I haven't really given them a chance.

I read this book as part of a string of autobiographies/memoirs written by autodidacts. (I also read The Day I Became an Autodidact, Polyglot: How I Learn Languages and The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.) And I can't believe how much I love this guy!

In this book, he talks a lot about the 20's and 30's - when he was a young adult, and he talks a lot about his love of books and learning.

"What money I earned was necessary for eating. I slept in empty boxcars, on piles of lumber, anywhere out of the rain and wind. By day, when not working, or during the evenings, I read."

L'Amour didn't just study the American old west, he was a well-read and well-traveled man. And in this book he gives us some of the interesting facts he's learned through his studies.

"Particularly fascinating to me was the study of the discoveries made by [sir Aurel] Stein along the ruins of the Great Wall of China at its farthest western extension, the fragments of poetry written on bamboo by lonely soldiers, many of whom were sent to duty in the far west of China as boys and returned only as old men no longer fit to serve."

And he didn't get all his information from reading. Wherever he went, he talked to people - or mainly listened to them tell him about that place and the people in it. And so we get to hear about the people he met.

All of this is told in kind of a long, slow style - not slow in a tedious way or long in a grueling way - but long and slow in a settle-in-and-listen-to-this-tale way. 

I would read this again. It's relaxing, endearing and enjoyable, and one could get quite the to-read list from the many books he mentions.

[Violet Crown]

I've been reading St Hildegarde's Scivias for the 12th-century challenge. Also Maupassant's "Le Horla," which, while a short story, I will beg Robin to let me count as a book because my French is so poor that it takes me at least five minutes to read a page. What do you say, Robin?

 

Dh tells me "Le Horla" was a significant influence on H.P. Lovecraft, which certainly comes through. My Google Translate history is now full of new-to-me French vocabulary like "dread," "prey," "disembowel," "insanity," and five or six synonyms for "to fear."

[Ali in OR]

I had several in progress last week that I've now finished. I've read many, many short stories this week:

 

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes--not a complete collection, just maybe 10 or so stories. I enjoyed this. We've just recently become fans of the BBC series and it is fun to see the same quirky character in print. I usually figure out who did it, but Sherlock always puts the clues together better than I do.

 

Haruki Murakami's After the Quake--glad I chose a short collection to introduce myself to this writer, rather than 1Q84 or Wind-up Bird Chronicle. I can't say I really enjoyed these, except for the very last story. Guess I'm not very post modern. Mostly I felt like I didn't get it, was bothered by things left unresolved, and that maybe I just wasn't smart enough for Murakami. His characters didn't really resonate with me for the most part. Don't know how much is a culture gap or gender gap, but I think it's mostly that Murakami just processes the world a lot differently than I do.

 

Alice Munro's Too Much Happiness is my treadmill read right now. I like her, can understand her characters and the themes she explores.

 

I also picked up Rabbit-Proof Fence from the library after seeing it mentioned on last week's thread and am about halfway through that (it's pretty short). Learning a lot about this culture--may want to see the movie too.

[Jane in NC]

The Cunning Little Vixen by Rudolf Tesnohlidek initially appears as to a fairy tale but is more of an adult satire with talking animals.  The novel consists of a series of episodes between a forester and his sparring partner, the cunning vixen. The fox was initially brought into the forester's home as a cub but eventually returns to the wild.  This upbringing gives her a unique insight into human failing.  In between fox and forester vignettes, we are treated to anthropomorphic descriptions of the natural world.  Here, for example, we see spring being greeted:

 

Not just one blackbird sang, but at least a dozen.  A tree frog croaked in a puddle, ignoring the fact that, according to the almanac, she was not yet supposed to; a corncrake called; the starling, who had been out late drinking toasts to the arrival of spring, was still up, shouting at passersby and even hurling abuse at his own family; June bugs were holding a dance on wild apple trees so covered with blossoms that the branches were invisible--one never would believe that these working-class citizens, always complaining of their poverty and low income, could carry on so.  The mosquito orchestra was tuning up.  In a word, everyone was celebrating international May Day with a general work stoppage.

 

We read of human and animal foibles, painted with pathos and humor in what I want to call an Eastern or Middle European style (but if you asked me to put my finger on what that is precisely, I don't know if I could.)  There are political and societal commentaries sprinkled throughout.  After a gossipy owl witnesses compromising behavior between our charming vixen and a male fox, she is quick to tell the jay that "there is as much immortality today as there was in Sodom."  This leads to a further theological observation from the owl.

 

"It's bad enough that people don't want to know anything about God.  They lock Him up in churches, poor thing, like a bird in a cage, Those shameless, godless creatures cut Him out of wood like He was a breadboard, or they carve Him out of stone like He was a water trough.  Fie!  And they try to make you believe man was created in His image!  Look at a human from above just once and you'll see for yourself. Is it possible, God forgive me for saying this, that He should be waddling around like a cripple, on only two legs, swinging his front ones like goose wings?  Don't give me that kind of religion!"

 

 

The Cunning Vixen was first published in a serial in a Czech newspaper in 1920.  I read a 1985 translation by Tatiana Firkusny, Maritza Morgan and Robert T. Jones.  The afterward by Mr. Jones was particularly illuminating for me as if provides the background of the story as well as the Janacek opera inspired by the tale. Translators inevitably face problems as this trio did.  Tesnoholidek's work is written in an obscure Moravian dialect that is peculiar even to the modern Czech.  Jones notes that one of the major challenges they faced was the translation of curses and expressions of anger into English, which they note is weak in maledictions when compared to that of Moravian peasants.  (Surely Shakespeare and Chaucer could parley with the best of them.  Why has English lost its color?)

 

Still plodding through McDonough and Braungart's Upcycle.

 

Last year, after revisiting Brideshead, Eliana recommended Evelyn Waugh's Scoop.  That and Alan Furst's espionage novel Red Gold are next on my list.

 

Hmmm...made an interesting discovery this morning.  I knew that I reread Brideshead Revisited around the time of my Dad's memorial service in the fall.  Somehow the novel never made it onto my reading list for 2013.  Guess I was a little distracted?

 

2014 5/5/5 Challenge:  Food Novels, Eastern/Middle European Authors, Shaw, Dorothy Dunnett, Dusty Books

 

1) The Lodger, Marie Belloc Lowndes, 1913--Dusty Book #1

2) The Blithedale Romance, Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1852--Dusty Book #2

3) Radiance of Tomorrow, Ishmael Beah, 2014

4) The Mission Song, John le Carre, 2006

5) The Debt to Pleasure, John Lanchester, 1996--Food Novel #1

6) The Cunning Little Vixen, Rudolf Tesnohlidek, 1920, 1985 translation--Dusty #3, Eastern/Middle Europe #1

[Mothersweets]

Robin, I love the Edith Wharton quotes! I just finished listening to The Age of Innocence and was so impressed by her skill as a writer.

 

crstarlette, one of my boys read the Louis L'Amour book and I've been meaning to get to it, too. Thanks for posting your review - now I'll be sure to put it in my very-soon-tbr pile.

 

 

Thanks to the very interesting Laura Ingalls Wilder/ By the Shores of Silver Lake thread, I picked up A Little House Reader: A Collection of Writings by Laura Ingalls Wilder edited by William Anderson. Quick, easy read, nothing earth-shattering but I loved the included writings from LIW's family. Nice photos throughout, too.

 

[Angel]

52 Books Blogs - Red Badge of Courage:  Highlighting Stephen Crane's Red Badge of Courage which is book # 16 in SWB's list of great fiction in Well Educated Mind.

 

 

 

 

Great fiction?!?!  Maybe a reread is in order because when I read this book in high school, it was anything but.  :tongue_smilie:

[Stacia]

I'm still reading Russian Winter. It is a slow moving story and I'm assuming that it is going exactly where it appears to be going, which would make it highly predictable. It's not bad, but it doesn't feel "special."

Yeah, I think I've decided to stop Russian Winter. I was supposed to finish it by this afternoon (for my book club meeting), but I haven't, so now I don't even have a 'reason' to continue reading it. It's fine, just not uber-compelling. Too many other things I want to try reading that are calling my name instead.

 

Still working on Milan Kundera's The Joke. I do like it so far, yet after the Jamaican book (The Lunatic) I just finished, The Joke feels so heavy... I picture an ungainly, Eastern Bloc concrete building (The Joke) compared to a hammock on the beach (The Lunatic). :laugh: Still, ungainly concrete Communist-era big block buildings have their own allure ;) , so I'm continuing Kundera's book.

 

And, I suppose I need to read the latest Flavia installment, The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches, because it needs to go back to the library soon.

 

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

My Goodreads Page

My PaperbackSwap Page

 

My rating system:

5 = Love; 4 = Pretty awesome; 3 = Good; 2 = Meh; 1 = Don't bother (I shouldn't have any 1s on my list as I would ditch them before finishing)...

 

2014 Books Read:

 

01. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (5 stars). Around the World – North America (USA).

02. This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper (3 stars).

03. Aiding and Abetting by Muriel Spark (3 stars). Challenge: Around the World – Europe (England).

04. Sunjata by Bamba Suso & Banna Kanute (5 stars). Challenge: Around the World – Africa (Gambia & Mali).

05. The Lunatic by Anthony C. Winkler (4 stars). Challenge: Around the World – Caribbean (Jamaica).

[Jen in NY]

This week I have gotten a little sidetracked in my reading, but I am glad it happened. I just finished Mothering and Daughtering: Keeping Your Bond Strong Through the Teen Years http://www.amazon.com/Mothering-Daughtering-Keeping-Strong-Through/dp/1604078855/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1390765232&sr=1-1&keywords=mothering+and+daughtering+keeping+your+bond+strong+through+the+teen+years by Sil and Eliza Reynolds. I'll admit to coming to it slightly late (my girls are 18 and 16...) but there were messages there for my teenage self, my mothering self, and all of my selves in between that were very healing. If you have a preteen or teenage girl I highly recommend this book! I am purchasing copies for both of my girls.

 

Otherwise, I'm still reading Zealot by Reza Aslan, and plugging away at A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century.

 

 

4. Mothering and Daughtering

3.1 10 1/2 Things No Commencement Speaker Has Ever Said (short and sweet... resonant messages for me --- can you tell my kids are reaching the 'leaving the nest' stage?)

3. Zealot by Reza Aslan

2. All the King's Men

1. Grapes of Wrath

[Guest]

Last week was a really tough week for me personally. I didn't get much reading done. I think I am about halfway through The Historian as of this morning. I just about put it down again last week for good, but I realized I just wasn't in the mood for reading period, so I did pick it back up and I will say I am enjoying it. Not loving, but I find parts of it interesting. I thought it got a lot better once the character of Helen was introduced and I'm finally feeling like I'm able to follow who is talking. I was having trouble with that for awhile, but again, my brain wasn't fully functioning. My goal is to finish it this week!

 

Last night, I started Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah. Really enjoying it so far. I think she does a great job fleshing out her characters.

 

I hope you enjoy it, I think it only gets better the further in you get. I'm going to make it a goal to re-read in February. I hope I love it as much the second time.

 

 

MONUMENTS MEN:  Sorry for yelling. It's the Kindle Daily Deal today - GET IT! :001_tt1:

 

 

What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

Link to week 4

 

Just snagged it - thanks! I subscribe to the Amazon email with the daily deals but I haven't been reading them this week so I am so glad I saw this.

 

I'm still reading Russian Winter. It is a slow moving story and I'm assuming that it is going exactly where it appears to be going, which would make it highly predictable. It's not bad, but it doesn't feel "special."

 

I've been thinking about this book as a couple of you have started it and here's what I've decided: I didn't care for the story itself, but I did enjoy the historical aspect of it.

[Robin M]

I've been reading St Hildegarde's Scivias for the 12th-century challenge. Also Maupassant's "Le Horla," which, while a short story, I will beg Robin to let me count as a book because my French is so poor that it takes me at least five minutes to read a page. What do you say, Robin?

 

Dh tells me "Le Horla" was a significant influence on H.P. Lovecraft, which certainly comes through. My Google Translate history is now full of new-to-me French vocabulary like "dread," "prey," "disembowel," "insanity," and five or six synonyms for "to fear."

Honey, if you are reading Le Horla (english version) in french, count away.  What made you decide to read the french version?  I can barely remember anything from when I took french back in high school.

[Stacia]

At this point, I have not read a single western novel,

I haven't ever read a traditional western novel either. However, a couple of years ago, I did read The Sisters Brothers (maybe a noir style of a traditional western?) & totally enjoyed it. I think you would like it.

[LostSurprise]

Finished two this week, but not the two I expected. I returned Vampires in the Lemon Grove without finishing it. There were 2 depressing stories in a row and I'm just not up for that right now. I do think it would be an interesting October read. The title story and the last one I read (which was like Flannery O'Connor wrote a horrific version of Laura Ingalls Wilder) really stuck with me but I just couldn't start the next story. Let someone else enjoy the doom and gloom for a bit. 

 

 

 

Instead I picked up Daniel Woodrell's new novel The Maid's Version from the library. Woodrell wrote the novel Winter's Bone. I saw that movie and enjoyed it, but I've never read anything of his. I'm still not sure I can describe how I feel about him. The characterization was bold and interesting. The plots revolve around the mystery surrounding the 1929 dance hall fire, but it's really about economic caste, the influence of perspective on memory, and how knowledge of an event can be shared among a group with each individual knowing only a scrap of the whole. I had a lot of respect for this author and what he accomplished. I also think that there were a ton of characters and it was often hard to remember if you'd seen someone before. The author did not make this easier, IMO, quite the opposite. In one chapter he introduced what I now think was a completely new character with "for the second time..." ! I found myself flogging my brain and flipping through the book trying to figure out where this guy had been before! He's one of the secondary characters that only come to life in other's stories. There were many of those. Individuals who do nothing but weave another line into the tapestry of the story. I found myself both frustrated and exhilarated. Anyway, very short novel and I'll be reading something of Woodrell's in the future. 

 

"Have to read a whole goddam novel about baseball, only it's not really about baseball, see, it's about sad-assed stuff I already know all I need to know about, but there will be a test."

 

"At the Work Farm she fell more deeply into the hole, the blue hole that beckons beneath our feet when lost for direction or motive for moving at all, the comforting plummet past common concerns and sensate days, down the blue gaping to the easy blue chair that becomes ruinous for its comforts provided in that retreated space, and it takes from years to forever to garner enough replenished zip for the stalled occupant to merely stand from the soft blue avoidance, let alone walk back to the hole and climb toward those known perils of the sunlit world."

 

I also finished Still Life, an Inspector Armand Gamanche mystery, set in Quebec. Lots of interesting details and characters, but they seemed to reflect the author more than the individuals she was writing. Wisconsin Public Radio is doing a Chapter a Day version of one of this series so I thought I would test it out and see what I thought. I would read another, but not overly excited about it. 

 

Best Book of the Year **

10 Best Books *

 

8. Still Life by Louise Penny~mystery, Inspector Gamanche series, Quebec. 

7. The Maid's Version by Daniel Woodrell~literary fiction, mystery, multiple narrators.

6. The Master Butcher's Singing Club by Louise Erdrich~fiction, northern plains, WWI/WWII, relationships, Finally Finished!/Dusty Book. *

5. Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger~youth fiction, boarding school, spies, steampunk. 

4. Cinnamon and Gunpowder by Eli Brown~fiction, pirates, food, colonialism.

3. The Man of Numbers: Fibonacci's Arithmetic Revolution by Keith Devlin~non-fiction, Mathematics, 13th century, Indian-Persian numbers.

2. The Door in the Wall by Marguerite De Angeli~youth fiction, 13th century, disability, read-aloud.

1. Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki~fiction, story within a story, Japan/Canada, Zen. *

 

Working on: 

Code Name Verity

Labyrinths (Borges)

The Lives of the Heart (Hirschfield)

and a bit of Auden

[LostSurprise]

52 Books Blogs - Red Badge of Courage:  Highlighting Stephen Crane's Red Badge of Courage which is book # 16 in SWB's list of great fiction in Well Educated Mind.

 

Great fiction?!?!  Maybe a reread is in order because when I read this book in high school, it was anything but.  :tongue_smilie:

 

:lol:

 

 

I've despised that book since Middle School. I've given it 4 or 5 shots. It's just not a very good (IMO). 

 

And "The Open Boat" wasn't that good either.  :laugh:

[Murmer]

Finished:

Choosing Mr. Right by Jennifer Steward Griffith (fluffy),

Dixie Divas by Virginia Brown (fluffy mystery),

Only You by Deborah Grace Stewart (really enjoyed this fluffy romantic fiction), 

Rhythms by the Better Moms Bloggers (interesting put in my implement file for someday lol),

Company of Swans by Eva Ibbotson (I love love love these romantic historical fictions by Eva Ibbotson and this one had dancing)

 

Working on:

Fiction: Surrounded by Strangers by Josi Kilpatrick 

Kindle: Rain Song by Alice J Wisler

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

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

Computer: ????

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: 15

[PollyOR]

If I read all of the BAW threads this year can I count them as a book?   ;) jk

 

Yes, I'm slow :) .  I finally made the connection that The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is part of a series and then I remembered that we had it in the house.

 

I enjoyed it though I think I would have gotten more out of it if I had slowed down long enough to use a dictionary and google images.  I'm a very visual person and being more familiar with some of the English vocabulary would have helped me see the story more fully.

 

Loved the part about the lipstick.  I had to read it aloud to DH who is very sensitive to the plant she used.  I think it scared him when I laughed and said he should be thankful we don't have a lab. ;)

 

 

edited to add book list:

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Alan Bradley)

The Fourth Bear (Jasper Fforde)

Dolores Claiborne (Stephen King)

 

[Angel]

:lol:

 

 

I've despised that book since Middle School. I've given it 4 or 5 shots. It's just not a very good (IMO). 

 

 

 

Whew!  Glad it isn't just me!  I have to admit it is the only book in high school that I skimmed instead of read.  I just could not see the point.  

 

I'm sorry, I just don't agree with someone else's view of "great" literature.  Over half of the "greats" are not great at all.  Just who is it that decides on the greatness?!  Reading is an individual experience.  You, the reader, are the only one who can decide what is "great" fiction.  

 

Sorry, rant over. :leaving:  Back to our regularly scheduled programming...

[Kareni]

Last night I started and put aside Melinda Leigh's She Can Run (She Can Series).  It sounded promising and, if there weren't other more enticing books calling my name, I'd probably finish it; however, ....  I can best describe it as being too busy -- woman on the run from abusive husband, said husband is a politician the heroine witnessed doing something criminal, ex-special forces uncle who has precognition, ex-cop hero suffering from career ending injury.  Oh, and did I mention the serial killer?

 

 

"Elizabeth was a young widow with two small children when she met Congressman Richard Baker. Handsome and wealthy, with a sparkling public image, Richard seemed like the perfect man to provide the security that Beth and her kids were craving. But when she uncovers a dangerous secret about her new husband, Beth realizes he will go to any lengths—even murder—to keep it. After barely escaping with her life, she and her children flee. They eventually make their way to a secluded estate in the Pennsylvania countryside, where Beth dares to hope she has found a safe place at last…

 

Forced into retirement by an unexpected injury, Philadelphia homicide detective Jack O’Malley is mourning the loss of his career when his uncle abruptly dies, leaving Jack to dispose of his crumbling country house. Unbeknownst to him, his uncle engaged a caretaker just before his death, a mysterious woman with two children and a beautiful face that haunts his dreams. Determined to know her, Jack begins an investigation into Beth’s past. When he uncovers the shocking truth, and a local woman is viciously murdered, Jack puts his own life on the line to keep Beth and her children safe.

 

A 2012 International Thriller Award nominee for Best First Novel, She Can Run is a sexy, satisfying debut from award-winning author Melinda Leigh, packed with enough suspense and romance to get even the tamest heart racing!"

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

[Mom-ninja.]

I've been wanting to read The Moonstone for awhile as well as The Woman in White. Onto the tbr list with the both of them :D

 

I enjoyed The Moonstone more. I had The Woman in White figured out quickly and the some of characters annoyed me. 

[LostSurprise]

I love both The Moonstone and The Woman in White, but I don't really think of WiW as a mystery. I just loved Marian Halcombe, one of the best Victorian female characters, and Count Fosco was amusing too. The Moonstone is much more succinct and funny. 

 

I'd love to go to a costume party as Marian Halcombe, but that's the kind of costume no one really understands and when you try to explain it people decide it's time to talk to someone else. 

 

[aggieamy]

Hi!  Anyone here remember me? 

 

:laugh:

 

Everyone in my house including baby have been sick so I've got a bit of reading in this week while hiding in bed.  

 

Finished:

 

The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy Sayers - Loved it.  Lord Peter is always my hero.

The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer - A reread and one of my all time favorites.

 

Working on:

 

Smart but Scattered by Peg Dawson.  DD is struggling with a few school things she shouldn't be struggling with and I'm hoping this will have a few suggestions for me.

Venetia by Georgette Heyer

 

 

Angel -  I have owed you a picture of my new arrival for about five threads.  Terribly sorry friend for taking so long.  

 

This is him at three hours old when we first got him:

 

 

This is him and Little Librarian at Christmas:

 

 

This is him a few days ago:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rosie_0801]

We finished listening to 'Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm' in the car :)

[Jane in NC]

Amy, he is perfect!  Thank you for sharing the photos.

[marbel]

<snip>

 

Yes, I'm slow :) .  I finally made the connection that The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is part of a series and then I remembered that we had it in the house.

 

<snip>

 

I'm slow too, but in a different way.  I had thought that The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie was a heartwarming Southern family novel. (I can just hear my south Georgia MIL saying it.)  I also somehow missed the fact that the heroine is 11 years old, till it was mentioned in the story.  (Not sure how I missed that fact.)

 

I was happy to find out it was actually a mystery set in England, but I felt it was a little gimmicky to have an 11-year-old as the sleuth who figures things out before the police.  Even if she'd been, say, 16 or 17, it would have been better for me.   So I was a little up-and-down with this one.  Overall I did enjoy it, and passed it off to my daughter for a change of pace from the YA novels she inhales.   Not sure when I'll be getting the next installment, but I'm pretty sure I will next time I need something light and fun. 

 

Still working on a couple of medieval history books for our homeschool, and plugging away at The Count of Monte Cristo, which I've been going at, off and on, for months now.  I had never read it, and decided to start right off reading it unabridged.  Last year I read the complete Les Miserables after reading several abridged versions, and I loved it so much.  This is taking a bit longer.

 

Oh, and I picked up A Circle of Quiet by Madeleine L'Engle after years of recommendations for it.   Have His Carcase (Dorothy Sayers) is on its way to my library branch, so I will probably put that above all else on the pile for next week.

 

Robin, thanks for the link to Monuments Men.  Not my typical cup of tea but it looks good and I'm pretty sure my son will enjoy it even if I don't ever get to it.

 

[aggieamy]

I'm slow too, but in a different way.  I had thought that The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie was a heartwarming Southern family novel. (I can just hear my south Georgia MIL saying it.)  I also somehow missed the fact that the heroine is 11 years old, till it was mentioned in the story.  (Not sure how I missed that fact.)

 

I was happy to find out it was actually a mystery set in England, but I felt it was a little gimmicky to have an 11-year-old as the sleuth who figures things out before the police.  Even if she'd been, say, 16 or 17, it would have been better for me.   So I was a little up-and-down with this one.  Overall I did enjoy it, and passed it off to my daughter for a change of pace from the YA novels she inhales.   Not sure when I'll be getting the next installment, but I'm pretty sure I will next time I need something light and fun. 

 

 

 

That was much what I thought too.  Child detectives are hit and miss with me.  Flavia was a miss.  I can't explain exactly why but it felt like it was trying to hard overall to be British and a mystery and believable.  

[Pam in CT]

A new reading week! :D

 

Last week I finished Code Verity, Those We Love Most by Lee Woodruff, and several great short stories.

 

I've just started The Antidote: Happiness for People who Can't Stand Positive Thinking by Oliver Burkeman.

 

I'm traveling this week so I'll pick something that's a quick read for pl

 

 

Have not heard of  Antidote, but I love the title; and also a line from the first Amazon review: "I abhor positive thinking, preferring reality instead" !!!  :lol:  What did you think of it?

[mumto2]

I haven't had a chance to read much of this thread yet. I just finished my twelfth century challenge and gave it 5 stars. In the end I read "The Pillars of the Earth" and it was so good. It was by Ken Follett. I tried to watch the miniseries and did not make it through the first episode,can't remember what I watched but I can't believe it followed the book very well. This book spanned most of the huge British historical events of the century and was chunky. It strung the real events together following the lives of a few main, all somewhat flawed characters.

 

In the background was the building of the fictional Kingsbridge Cathedral. The book had been recommended to me during a tour of another 12th century church as a easy way to get a feel for what it was like to build a large church at that time. It did do that but it honestly didn't take things to the level I was expecting from the glowing recommendation. It was a really good story set in a fascinating timeframe.

[The Governess]

I read some fluff this weekend - Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare. It was a quick, fun read and I just ordered the last book in the trilogy to read next weekend. :D. I am enjoying the steampunk London setting of this series and the mystery surrounding the main character's true identity. Just wish there wasn't a love triangle.....

[Heather in Neverland]

Started reading:

Champion by Marie Lu

 

Still reading:

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

 

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)

5. The Rage Against God: How Atheism Led Me to Faith by Peter Hitchens (AMAZING)

[JennW in SoCal]

Amy, he is perfect!  Thank you for sharing the photos.

 

Amy, he really is perfect!  Those cheeks!!  That hair!  I'll chime in with Jane - thank you for sharing!

 

I also finished Education of a Wandering Man by Louis L'Amour. Here is my review from GoodReads:

 

I would read this again. It's relaxing, endearing and enjoyable, and one could get quite the to-read list from the many books he mentions.

 

I had no idea about Louis L'Amour!!  I'd always heard his westerns were good reads, but this looks like a wonderful starting place in getting to know the author.  Adding this to my long BaW list of recommended books.

 

 

 

Still working on a couple of medieval history books for our homeschool, and plugging away at The Count of Monte Cristo, which I've been going at, off and on, for months now.  

 

The Count of Monte Cristo will really pick up about half way through the book.  It is fabulous how Dumas ties all the pieces together and finishes all the stories in the most unexpected ways.  

 

Forgot to add a multi-quote on the Woman in White vs Moonstone conversation.  I loved both books but Moonstone is indeed the better mystery of the two.  

 

 

Now as to my own reading.  I finished the Alan Furst thriller, Kingdom of Shadows.  I liked it although wished he would spell a few things out more specifically rather than alluding to what become of one character or another. It left me feeling rather dense at times.    

 

I'm still getting a kick out of Ivanhoe and am so impressed with the moxie of the female characters, especially as it was written by a man 200 years ago!  

[JennW in SoCal]

 

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress: This book I wanted to throw across the room when I reached the climax.  I was *furious* with it.  I hadn't been thriled up until then, but the glimmers of the transformative power of literature that showed though every now and again kept me reading.   ...and when the narrator reads one book and starts seeing himself and his life a little differently, thinking about contributing to the greater good, I thought I might end up liking the story afterall... but when the young seamstress shows us what she's drawn from all these stories, I was so angry.  I won't say more and spoil the ending.

 

Oh my goodness.  You've piqued my curiosity now and I'm going to have to read it!!!

[amyco]

Chugging along...this week I finished The Reserve by Russell Banks.  Not sure what to make of it...I think I didn't like it.  It was well-written but I didn't like the characters...

 

So after a couple disappointments, I am back to The Two Towers.  Still waiting for the Wind-up Bird Chronicle, it's inter-library loan and taking a while. 

 

And...I just requested Monuments Men from the library...will probably take a while to get that, too.  Figures it is a popular book, I just saw the movie trailer with George Clooney.

[Onceuponatime]

 

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress: This book I wanted to throw across the room when I reached the climax.  I was *furious* with it.  I hadn't been thriled up until then, but the glimmers of the transformative power of literature that showed though every now and again kept me reading.   ...and when the narrator reads one book and starts seeing himself and his life a little differently, thinking about contributing to the greater good, I thought I might end up liking the story afterall... but when the young seamstress shows us what she's drawn from all these stories, I was so angry.  I won't say more and spoil the ending.

 

 

This is pretty much how I felt too, except more disappointed than furious.

[Angel]

 

The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer - A reread and one of my all time favorites.

 

Working on:

 

 

Venetia by Georgette Heyer

 

 

Angel -  I have owed you a picture of my new arrival for about five threads.  Terribly sorry friend for taking so long.  

 

This is him at three hours old when we first got him:

 

 

Oh my giddy aunt!  Look at all that hair!!  He's just adorable, and his big sis' too!  You get the "Too Much Cuteness" Post Award  :wub:   Thank you so much for sharing!  

 

I am currently the only person in my house completely healthy.  I hope you all get well soon!! I'm certainly hoping I don't catch it.

 

I read Venetia two years ago and loved it!  The Grand Sophy is on my list to read next month.

[prairiegirl]

• I finished  'The Signature of All Things' by Elizabeth Gilbert an hour ago.   I like this book; I like her writing and parts of the story but there were some sections that were just icky and I don't really know why she put them in there.   Now I am moving on to 'The Gift of an Ordinary Day'  by Katrina Kennison.

 

 

Here are my January reads:

 

1)  The Aviator's  Wife by Melanie Benjamin

2)  Mr. Churchill's Secretary  by Susan Elia MacNeal

3)  Loving Frank by Nancy Horan

4)  The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

5)  The Signature of all Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

[Robin M]

Hi!  Anyone here remember me? 

 

:laugh:

 

Everyone in my house including baby have been sick so I've got a bit of reading in this week while hiding in bed.  

 

Finished:

 

The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy Sayers - Loved it.  Lord Peter is always my hero.

The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer - A reread and one of my all time favorites.

 

Working on:

 

Smart but Scattered by Peg Dawson.  DD is struggling with a few school things she shouldn't be struggling with and I'm hoping this will have a few suggestions for me.

Venetia by Georgette Heyer

 

 

Angel -  I have owed you a picture of my new arrival for about five threads.  Terribly sorry friend for taking so long.  

 

This is him at three hours old when we first got him:

 

 

This is him and Little Librarian at Christmas:

 

 

This is him a few days ago:

 

 

AW!  He is so adorable!   The Little Librarian too!  Love the pictures - Thank you!

 

[Kareni]

I came across this Neil Gaiman piece from October of last year.  It's well worth the read.  And my apologies if it has already been posted.

 

Neil Gaiman: Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming

 

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

I came across this Neil Gaiman piece from October of last year.  It's well worth the read.  And my apologies if it has already been posted.

 

Neil Gaiman: Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming

 

Regards,

Kareni

Great stuff!!! Thank you.

[Mom-ninja.]

I have felt this way about some books. In fact, I believe I have actually thrown a book before.

 

 

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress: This book I wanted to throw across the room when I reached the climax.  I was *furious* with it.

 

[Jane in NC]

I also finished Education of a Wandering Man by Louis L'Amour.

 

 

 At this point, I have not read a single western novel, and if I happen to be in a room with a television when someone else is watching a western movie, I don't give it much of my attention. 

In short, I am not a fan of westerns. But to be fair, I haven't really given them a chance.

 

Stacia wrote about The Sisters Brothers a couple of years ago and that sent me to the library shelves.  The book was misfiled so a librarian assisted me ("The computer claims it is here, but...").  She and I ended up having a conversation about westerns, a new genre for me and one with a dedicated following. Who knew?  Not that I read any other westerns after The Sisters Brothers, but I did enjoy it.

 

 

Also Maupassant's "Le Horla," which, while a short story, I will beg Robin to let me count as a book because my French is so poor that it takes me at least five minutes to read a page. What do you say, Robin?

 

Dh tells me "Le Horla" was a significant influence on H.P. Lovecraft, which certainly comes through. My Google Translate history is now full of new-to-me French vocabulary like "dread," "prey," "disembowel," "insanity," and five or six synonyms for "to fear."

Wish I had known this when my son was studying French.

 

 

Eliana wrote:

2 Disappointments:

 

God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza: This little play has an interesting premise  - two sets of parents get together to discuss a physical altercation between their sons at the park, and it ends up revealing a lot about all four of them, and their marriages.  ...but none of the revelations are novel or moving or even particularly interesting... perhaps it would be better in French... or in performance... or maybe I was just in the wrong space...

 

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress: This book I wanted to throw across the room when I reached the climax.  I was *furious* with it.  I hadn't been thriled up until then, but the glimmers of the transformative power of literature that showed though every now and again kept me reading.   ...and when the narrator reads one book and starts seeing himself and his life a little differently, thinking about contributing to the greater good, I thought I might end up liking the story afterall... but when the young seamstress shows us what she's drawn from all these stories, I was so angry.  I won't say more and spoil the ending.

 

I saw a stage production of God of Carnage that was riveting in the moment because of the acting but when it was over there was not much of a take-away.

 

After reading Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress last year, I wrote:

 

 

The story of "re-education" in the countryside during Mao's Cultural Revolution is compelling but I think I might have enjoyed reading more about the countryside and the peasants. Of course, the narrator and his best friend are teens so perhaps it would have been unnatural for the storyline to veer outside of their teen consciousness.

I wanted more of a story than I received in this slim volume, but I did not feel inclined to toss it across the room!

 

[Robin M]

nm

[Murmer]

 

 

I was happy to find out it was actually a mystery set in England, but I felt it was a little gimmicky to have an 11-year-old as the sleuth who figures things out before the police.  Even if she'd been, say, 16 or 17, it would have been better for me.   So I was a little up-and-down with this one.  Overall I did enjoy it, and passed it off to my daughter for a change of pace from the YA novels she inhales.   Not sure when I'll be getting the next installment, but I'm pretty sure I will next time I need something light and fun. 

 

 

So I looked up the author why I was reading this book last year. From what I remember reading the reason he picked 11 was because he felt like an 11 could hide more efficiently out in the open because people don't pay attention to children whereas if she was older it would be harder for her to be in the places she was...I don't know if it actually works but that was his reasoning.

[Kim in Appalachia]

I'm 70% through Fall of Giants, by Ken Follett.  It's a huge book, but it's an easy read.  The story is very engaging.  It's funny, because I do not care for Downton Abby, but I'm loving this book.  :D

 

I should finish it this week, then I'll have to see if the library has the next one. 

[marbel]

<snip>

 

I also finished Education of a Wandering Man by Louis L'Amour. Here is my review from GoodReads:

 

<snip>

 

This sounds great!  I have read one Louis L'Amour novel: Down the Long Hills.  I actually read it to my children several years ago, and my son re-read it this year.  I recommend it.  And now I'm wondering why I never read another of his books!

 

[shukriyya]

I love hearing about what everyone is reading! I'm 2/3 of the way through 'Winter Sea' and am still enjoying it though now there are intimations of an unhappy outcome for two of the lovers and I can feel myself resisting that a bit. Nonetheless it is proving to be a good read and I'm actually enjoying the complicated Scottish history which makes up a large part of the book.

 

Happy Sunday, dearhearts.  Today is the start of week 5 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.

 

Margaret Atwood interviews Alice Munro

 

On Craftsmanship-the only surviving recording of V.W.

 

MONUMENTS MEN:  Sorry for yelling. It's the Kindle Daily Deal today - GET IT! :001_tt1:

 

 

I loved those two links, Robin. I was born and raised in Canada so Margaret Atwood and Alice Munro played a significant part in my literary education along with Margaret Laurence and Robertson Davies. Stacia, I think you'd enjoy his Deptford Trilogy

 

And that kindle deal of the day...I couldn't resist the price since the book is on my tbr list and will appear later in our BaW focus. It's not a favorite era of mine to explore at this point. I spent my 20s and 30s reading more about it. Still I'm intrigued by the art angle so I'll be giving it a try. Thanks for the link, Robin! Are you on some kind of daily deals kindle list? That could be dangerous :)
 

 

I love both The Moonstone and The Woman in White, but I don't really think of WiW as a mystery. I just loved Marian Halcombe, one of the best Victorian female characters, and Count Fosco was amusing too. The Moonstone is much more succinct and funny. 

 

I'd love to go to a costume party as Marian Halcombe, but that's the kind of costume no one really understands and when you try to explain it people decide it's time to talk to someone else. 

 

Thanks, everyone for the advice and info about the two Wilkie Collins books. The consensus seems to be to start with The Moonstone.

 

I saw a stage production of God of Carnage that was riveting in the moment because of the acting but when it was over there was not much of a take-away.

 

 

Jane, I find this a rather fascinating response to a performance. Would you care to say more?

 

And finally, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Frye just came in through the library so after I finish 'Winter Sea' that will be next on my list.