Book a Week in 2014 - BW5

[rwjx2khsmj]

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...

 My dd14 and I had this discussion.  We read Red Badge of Courage last year.  We both hated it.  Later in the year we read All Quiet on the Western Front and both loved it.  We agreed that it was our connection and indentification with the main character that made All Quiet better for us. 

 

This year we've read The Iliad and Agamemnon.  Dd14 made a convincing argument that the content of these classics is much like the content of her YA selections that I ask her to read in moderation.  It's difficult to defend a classic as great when you boil down the plot and get something rivaling an ABC Family series. It does beg the question what makes great literature great.

 

As for my own reading, I started the year by reading biographies and memoirs.  This week I ventured back into fiction by reading Enemy Women.  The history was interesting (Civil War Missouri).  I found the story difficult to really enjoy because the author didn't use a single quotation mark.  I find that irritating and frustrating.

 

• Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles
• Agamemnon by Aeschylus
• Practice to Deceive by Ann Rule
• Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls
• No Easy Day by Mark Owen
• All That Is Bitter and Sweet by Ashley Judd
• Always Looking Up by Michael J Fox
• Waiting to be Heard by Amanda Knox
• Lucky Man by Michael J. Fox
• A Boy Named Shel by Lisa Rogak
• We Are Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

[rwjx2khsmj]

 

 

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.

 

This was one of my favorite books from 2013.  I totally did not expect to enjoy it, but ended up loving it. 

[rwjx2khsmj]

 

 

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.

 

This was one of my favorite books from 2013.  I totally did not expect to enjoy it, but ended up loving it. 

[Violet Crown]

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.

Must keep it up if I'm to help Middle Girl with her French homework! Besides, what if President Hollande needs to warn the world that a dread eldritch being from beyond the stars is coming to spread insanity and disembowel his prey? I wouldn't want to have to stop to look up "déventrer" then.

[Stacia]

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 *love* that book (& especially the ending)! :lol: With my batting average lately, I guess you could see that one coming, huh? Just picking on your quote, Eliana, though I know others chimed in to agree w/ you on the book -- I just have to take on the whole bunch of you, I guess! (Btw, thanks for the rec of the Pamuk book. I read his book My Name is Red a couple of years ago & would like to try another of his someday....)

 

I also love the Flavia books, couldn't make it through Harold Fry (because I disliked Harold so), & didn't like The Pillars of the Earth.

 

:lol:

 

So, what other books should we discuss? ;) :p

[Violet Crown]

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

 

 

I know, right? Why were we being made to read "Le Collier" in high school when Maupassant's tale of descent into unspeakable madness was available?

[Jane in NC]

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

 

 

God of Carnage takes place in a single act (around 75 minutes or so) in a single setting, the living room of an affluent couple where they are visited by another couple. Their respective sons were in a playground scuffle (something that is not witnessed by the audience) so the couples have gotten together to discuss the matter.  What starts as a rational chat devolves into a situation in which the gloves come off and one wonders just who the adults in the room are.  

 

This is a play with a number of humorous moments, but when all is said and done there is a certain emptiness to the characters.  An unpleasant and uncomfortable emptiness. 

 

Thus my reaction.  It was easy to be sucked into the punch lines of the play and be entertained but hard to leave the theater with any warm and fuzzies after spending an evening with such despicable characters!

 

[Coffeemama]

HI! I'd like to rejoin the challenge this year. I didn't post much last year, but I enjoyed reading these weekly threads. All of you ladies have such wonderful recommendations! Last year was the first year I ever kept track of my reading. I logged 33 books, hoping to inch closer to 52 this year.

 

I'm in the middle of reading Ann Leary's The Good House. I like the voice of Hildy, the main character. Leary is slowly revealing her traits through interactions with other colorful characters in the historical, upscale Massachusetts town.

 

2014 so far...

 

4.  The Good House

3.  Killing Jesus

2.  I am Malala

1.  Inferno 

[shukriyya]

Must keep it up if I'm to help Middle Girl with her French homework! Besides, what if President Hollande needs to warn the world that a dread eldritch being from beyond the stars is coming to spread insanity and disembowel his prey? I wouldn't want to have to stop to look up "déventrer" then.

 

President Hollande has other more pressing issues on his mind than aliens, n'est ce pas? :lol: :smilielol5:

 

This was one of my favorite books from 2013.  I totally did not expect to enjoy it, but ended up loving it. 

 

Oh goodie! This was recommended for those who enjoyed 'Major Pettigrew's Last Stand' which I thoroughly enjoyed. Hoping this is as good though I'm so immersed in 18th century Scotland right now I'm not keen to drag myself away.

 

God of Carnage takes place in a single act (around 75 minutes or so) in a single setting, the living room of an affluent couple where they are visited by another couple. Their respective sons were in a playground scuffle (something that is not witnessed by the audience) so the couples have gotten together to discuss the matter.  What starts as a rational chat devolves into a situation in which the gloves come off and one wonders just who the adults in the room are.  

 

This is a play with a number of humorous moments, but when all is said and done there is a certain emptiness to the characters.  An unpleasant and uncomfortable emptiness. 

 

Thus my reaction.  It was easy to be sucked into the punch lines of the play and be entertained but hard to leave the theater with any warm and fuzzies after spending an evening with such despicable characters!

 

And yet you came away with 'something' just not perhaps what you wanted :lol:

[shukriyya]

 

 

 

 

I *love* that book (& especially the ending)! :lol:  With my batting average lately, I guess you could see that one coming, huh? Just picking on your quote, Eliana, though I know others chimed in to agree w/ you on the book -- I just have to take on the whole bunch of you, I guess! (Btw, thanks for the rec of the Pamuk book. I read his book My Name is Red a couple of years ago & would like to try another of his someday....)

 

I also love the Flavia books, couldn't make it through Harold Frye (because I disliked Harold so), & didn't like The Pillars of the Earth.

 

:lol:

 

P.S. Wanna talk about car colors? ;)

 

 

 

 

So, what other books should we discuss? ;) :p

 

 

Stacia, I am :lol: and :smilielol5: and :rofl: right now with that combination of gifs!

 

Seriously though what I like about this group is the diversity of literary tastes. And yet we all share a love of the written word and discussing what we're reading. I think you and I probably have fairly divergent tastes (but together perhaps we make a whole :D) and yet I like reading how much you're enjoying a book and why. Same goes for everyone else. I really enjoy hearing how and why folks are enjoying a genre that is just not my cuppa.

 

 

[shukriyya]

Because what is the subtext here in this wonderful ongoing thread? Is it how we see and give meaning to our world? Where do we assign worth? Where do look for something larger than ourselves? Where do we find beauty? How comfortable are we with ambiguity? All rather heady questions and yet that's what I'm aware of when I read (and write) about what makes folks' souls sing or not sing. It's fascinating and to me it's almost as if there's a whole other ephemeral book that's being unfolded with each BaWer's post. Its singularity is as intriguing as its diversity.

[welovetoread]

A new thread every week is my nighttime reward at the end of a Sunday. Great dialogue and had me laughing more than once.

Last week, I finished The Ritual Bath and really enjoyed it. I had a beautiful picture in my mind about this book. It has been awhile since a book has done that.

This week I am reading sleep with the lights on, while I wait for a few holds from the library.

[mlbuchina]

2 pages already!  O_o

 

Can't post more than this till tomorrow, but wanted to comment so I could find it fast when I can.  Don't have too much fun without me!   :D

[6packofun]

I finished Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson.  I liked it quite a bit except for so many uses of the f-word.  I actually don't mind a few well-placed f-bombs--if they are USED as the f-bomb!  LOL  This author has the character refer to having sex as f----ing and that usage got on my nerves!!  Mix it up a little.  Have some TeA for crying out loud.  But I did like the story a lot!

 

I am now reading Night Film by Marisha Pessl.  I started reading her Special Topics in Calamity Physics a while back but put it down for something else after a short time.  I may try it again one day.

[CAMom]

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?

 

I'm half way in and loving it so far! It resonates so well with my non perfectionist self. ;-)

 

If you have read and liked Eric Weiner's Geography of Bliss and/or Man Seeks God: My Flirtations with the Divine, I think you would like this.

[JennW in SoCal]

I doubt I will be able to make the drive to Los Angeles just to see this, but I am mightily tempted.  Christopher Plummer, aka Captain Von Trapp, has a one man show about his reading life...

 

Christopher Plummer, A Word or Two

[Stacia]

.

[Negin]

 

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

 

 

Can't wait to read this. All the positive talk stuff can annoy me sometimes.  :lol: 

 

 

Last week was a really tough week for me personally. 

 

:grouphug: 

 

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.  

 

Your baby is absolutely precious! 

Yes, I was also annoyed by the Flavia book trying too hard to be British. It's really and truly one of my pet peeves. The Outlander book was really bad that way also. I only read a little bit of it before I threw it away. Drove me out of my mind.

 

In the end I read "The Pillars of the Earth" and it was so good.

Read this a few years ago and it's one of my favorites. 

 

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

 

 

Don't like Downton Abbey either, but loved Fall of Giants. 

[Negin]

nm

 

 

 

[Negin]

nm

[mumto2]

Yes, I was also annoyed by the Flavia book trying too hard to be British. It's really and truly one of my pet peeves. The Outlander book was really bad that way also. I only read a little bit of it before I threw it away. Drove me out of my mind.

 

I didn't care for the Outlander series either. Since others love it I keep thinking about trying again but can't get motivated.

 

Did you read the sort of sequel to Pillars, World without End"? I am on the wait list and rather curious if I will like it as well.

 

One of the articles about Alan Bradley(Flavia's author) said he has never been to the England. I think that is why some of his descriptions are a bit long winded. He obviously loves his research and shares it. Dd an I learned tons about pipe organs in one. Our good friend is the organist at our church and was quite shocked when we wanted to know how to se the real inside after reading the one where the body was truly inside the organ. Not very accessible at our church. ;)

[mumto2]

LostSurprise -- I have also been trying to understand the Inspector Gamache series. I have finished two and they are fairly good on their own. Lots of odd bits of backstory that has me hooked. I keep waiting to understand...currently reading number three. Really hope a few of my questions get answered.

[swellmomma]

Well last week I finally finished The Husband by Dean Koontz and that same day House of Hades came in at the library so that is my new read this week.  It's only my 4th book so I am already feeling behind but it is what it is.  I used to read in bed before falling asleep, only now I am so tired when I get into bed I am asleep almost instantly without reading.  I need to find a way to get some more reading time in my day.

[Rosie_0801]

I read Sense and Sensibility - 2 Stars - I tried so hard to enjoy this, but classics don't seem to be my thing these days. I had a hard time focusing and even when I did manage to do so. I did not like it nearly as much as Pride and Prejudice, which I read about ten years ago when I was going through a classics phase. I know that this book deserves a far higher rating, it just wasn't doing much for me at this point in my life. 

 

 

Don't read Jane Austen. Listen to her downloaded from Librivox by Karen Savage. I have such a fangirl crush on her she almost has me convinced I like Emma! I hate Emma. Why does my favourite Austen hero have to be in that stupid story? He's perfect except for his predilection (new favourite word) for silly young women.

[Jane in NC]

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

 

Thank you for posting this.  I enjoyed reading it.

 

Did you see the link at the top of the Gaiman page connecting to a Susan Cooper essay?  I particularly liked this piece but then I've got this thing about libraries, books and salt marshes.

 

[Pam in CT]

 

Whenever an author is writing characters that are real people rather than cardboard cutouts, gender doesn't seem to make as much of a difference... I mean there are the real parameters of time and place and culture, but those impact how personality get expressed, but the vibrancy or spunkiness of the person him/herself. 

 

One of my kids had a teacher who was convinced that Shakespeare is sexist and that his female characters are oppressed, brow-beaten, agency-less wimps... and she held on to this viewpoint despite actually reading a few of the plays.... and ever since I've had that much more awareness of just how strong his female characters really are... not in a 2D, proto modern feminist way, but strong, vibrant, imperfect human beings... with far more agency than that teacher gave them credit for... and I cheer them on a bit to make up for her overlooking them...

 

Yes... I am weird.  *sigh*

 

 

Totally agree with this... My 19 year old went through a lamentable phase in which she inhaled these ghastly dreadful books with young hip urban female protagonists who did all sorts of modern things... but their concerns were totally driven by social imperatives to be thin, attractive, glamorous, wearing Prada etc... their lives looked "liberated," but the characters were so thin that they actually lacked true agency... 

 

I've noticed that the more my daughters read well written older books, set in more gender-constrained circumstances but with female characters of depth and vibrancy, the better they're able to discern the difference.

[Onceuponatime]

I've been thinking about what makes a book "good" for me, by comparing my favorite books of this month with favorites of the past. I do see a little bit of a formula: Beautiful descriptions of natural settings, a little bit of mysticism (not too much), a sense of the unknown that will be revealed, a story that allows me to be part of it and does not keep me at a distance,   a feeling that I have learned something that I didn't know before or that I have been challenged to examine myself, a strong finish that gives a  glimpse into the future or satisfies my need for closure.

 

Plus, now that I am older, it seems more important than before that I carry away at least one pleasant thought from what I read. I no longer have the tolerance for unrelieved angst and depression that I used to. Perhaps because I have plumbed the depths of those feelings in my own life and do not have a desire to revisit them. 

[Pam in CT]

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

 

Thanks for this.  LOL at "Fiction has two uses. First, it's a gateway drug to reading..."  

 

And then, seriously: "The second thing fiction does is to build empathy.  When you watch TV or see a film, you are looking at things happening to other people.  Prose fiction is something you build up from 26 letters and a handful of punctuation marks, and you, and you alone, using your imagination, create a world... You're being someone else, and when you return to your own world, you're going to be slightly changed."

 

 

Because what is the subtext here in this wonderful ongoing thread? Is it how we see and give meaning to our world? Where do we assign worth? Where do look for something larger than ourselves? Where do we find beauty? How comfortable are we with ambiguity? All rather heady questions and yet that's what I'm aware of when I read (and write) about what makes folks' souls sing or not sing. It's fascinating and to me it's almost as if there's a whole other ephemeral book that's being unfolded with each BaWer's post. Its singularity is as intriguing as its diversity.

 

Yes.

 

I'm half way in and loving it so far! It resonates so well with my non perfectionist self. ;-)

 

If you have read and liked Eric Weiner's Geography of Bliss and/or Man Seeks God: My Flirtations with the Divine, I think you would like this.

 

Another well developed non perfectionist here, tee her... Enjoyed Geography of Bliss several years ago; and was not aware that he'd done Man Seeks God -- I'll look for it.  Thanks!

[Pam in CT]

Last week I finished Chinua Achebe's Man of the People, which I found more accessible than Things Fall Apart, though (because?) it was also far less innovative in terms of literary structure and voice... I'm looking for Nigeria books, if anyone has suggestions.

 

Also read Susan Sonnenberg's She Matters, a memoir about women's friendship.  Disappointing - she's a very good writer, but so narcissistic and obviously ungifted at friendship that what emerges is a case study of an unreliable narrator, which is not what I generally want in a memoir...

 

... and then my happy surprise of the week, You Know When the Men are Gone, by Siobhan Fallon, interlinked short stories about women left behind on an army base in Texas when their husbands are deployed in Iraq.  This was a beautiful testimony to the power and complexity of women's friendships.  I didn't know anything about it and just pulled it from the audio shelf... highly recommended.

 

Also read Thomas Merton's Reading the Bible... a delight and inspiration, as he always is.

 

My 10 yo daughter and I got to the climax scene in Code Name Verity last night (.......), and will finish it tonight.  So, so, so good.

 

 

 

For this week, I'm working on Adin Steinsaltz' The Thirteen Petalled Rose: A Discourse on the Essence of Jewish Existence and Belief (very hard); and (drumroll) Murakami's The Wind Up Bird Chronicles (200 pages in... very weird); and on audio a re-read (re-listen?) of Faulkner's Light in August.  Once I get through any of those I'll take on the Rosie Project!

[Jane in NC]

Last week I finished Chinua Achebe's Man of the People, which I found more accessible than Things Fall Apart, though (because?) it was also far less innovative in terms of literary structure and voice... I'm looking for Nigeria books, if anyone has suggestions.

 

 

It has been a while since I have read Amos Tutuola's The Palm-Wine Drinkard but I recall really liking it.  Mythical and fun.

 

Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka is prolific.  I have not read any of his plays or poetry but can recommend one of his memoirs, Ake: The Years of Childhood.  Beautiful book.

 

[Uff Da!]

 Our good friend is the organist at our church and was quite shocked when we wanted to know how to se the real inside after reading the one where the body was truly inside the organ. Not very accessible at our church. ;)

 

Thanks for the laugh this morning.   :lol:   

 

I'm still reading Don Quixote.  I didn't realize what I've been carrying around was originally two books that are now in one volume.  I knew there was a sequel and was impressed that there was more to write seeing how long DQ is.  Imagine my confusion when I reached all the "Approvals" in the middle of the book.  So I'm still reading DQ and hope to finish before March at this point.  :)

 

For audio books we have on the menu:  Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry which I was supposed to read when I was a kid and never did for some reason.  I also finished reading Arabian Nights to the kids and want get the Jim Weiss version from the library for when we drive around town.   I'm not sure the kids hear much of what I'm saying these days.  Cabin fever to the extreme......

[melmichigan]

I'm a little behind on posting this year, I will try to do better.  :blushing:

 

I think I ran into Diana Rowland on one of these threads, so a big thank you to whomever might have mentioned her!  I finished the Kara Gillian series which begins with The Mark of the Demon.  

 

"When Homicide Detective Kara Gillian finds traces of arcane power on a body, she quickly realizes that this is no ordinary murder. The serial killer known as the Symbol Man is a nightmare that Beaulac, Louisiana thought had ended three years ago, but now he's back for an encore and leaving every indication on the flesh of his victims that he is well-versed in demonic lore.

 

However, Kara is a Summoner of Demons, and may be the only cop on the city's small force who can stop the killer. Able to see and interact with a world most people can't, Kara must draw on her skills as a police officer and master of the arcane to stop the Symbol Man from killing again and possibly summoning something even she can't control.

But with a demonic lord of unearthly beauty and power haunting her dreams, and a handsome yet disapproving FBI agent dogging her waking footsteps, she may be in way over her head...."

 

Book five, Touch of a Demon, threw me for a loop.  It has a very different feel to it than the other books, but I'm glad I stuck with it because it was necessary world building and book six was more like the rest of the series.  To bad the author only releases one book in this series each year...

 

I just started working on a second Robyn Carr series, Thunder Point.  Currently I'm at about 70% through The Wanderer. Then I'll either move on to the second book, or go back to James Rollins.  I have The Devil Colony out from the library.  

 

Tomorrow is the day for many new releases for those who follow some of my favorite authors. The much awaited Up from the Grave (Night Huntress) by Jeanine Frost comes out.  I've also been waiting for Forged in Ash by Trish McCallan for quite a while so I'll have to go back and review the first book so I can remember why. :)

[shukriyya]

A wee bit of poetry to send us each into our weeks with. This one by Ursula Le Guin. I came across it in Orion a wonderful magazine and the only mag, at this point, that I subscribe to. The writing in Orion is stellar as are the art and the themes. Highly recommended! For example, here is a lovely correspondence between two writers on their gardens.

Anyway the poem...so accessible to each soul's own blaze and flame, to the interdependent Mystery that wants knowing in and as us. A brightness to set us all forwards on our way on this Monday morning...

Kinship

Very slowly burning, the big forest tree
stands in the slight hollow of the snow
melted around it by the mild, long
heat of its being and its will to be
root, trunk, branch, leaf, and know
earth dark, sun light, wind touch, bird song.

Rootless and restless and warmblooded, we
blaze in the flare that blinds us to that slow,
tall, fraternal fire of life as strong
now as in the seedling two centuries ago.

- Ursula K. Le Guin

[ElaineJ]

 

 

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.

 

 

 

I thought Scoop was hilarious when I read it a couple of years ago. Enjoy!

Elaine

 

[Kareni]

Did you see the link at the top of the Gaiman page connecting to a Susan Cooper essay?  I particularly liked this piece but then I've got this thing about libraries, books and salt marshes.

 

What an excellent essay, Jane!  Thank you for linking it.  (There was a lot of meat in there, but on a more frivolous note I have to admit to liking/wanting the t-shirt she was given whose legend says, "Don't judge a book by its movie.")

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Pam in CT]

It has been a while since I have read Amos Tutuola's The Palm-Wine Drinkard but I recall really liking it.  Mythical and fun.

 

Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka is prolific.  I have not read any of his plays or poetry but can recommend one of his memoirs, Ake: The Years of Childhood.  Beautiful book.

 

 

Thank you.  I will look for the Palm Wine Drunkard.

 

My Most Excellent Library has about a million Soyinka volumes, and I must have pulled the wrong one, a non-fiction promisingly entitled The Open Sore of a Continent: A Personal Narrative of the Nigerian Crisis, which I thought would give me a good overview of relatively-recent history.  I found it overly erudite -- pompous, really... but perhaps I'll give one of his many others a try.

[CAMom]

Interesting that after I read the Edith Wharton quotes Robin posted yesterday morning, I ran into this one in The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking:

 

"There are a lot of ways of being miserable but there's only one way of being comfortable, and that is to stop running around after happiness." (attributed to a character in one of her short stories)

[Luckymama]

Last week I read three nonfiction books (posted in the old thread) and felt quite accomplished.

 

Since then I've fallen into the pit of the Black Dagger Brotherhood books. Oh the angst! Oh the not-accomplishing-anything-important-because-I'm-too-busy-reading!

 

Just started book 6. I love my library :D

[Kareni]

Since then I've fallen into the pit of the Black Dagger Brotherhood books. Oh the angst! Oh the not-accomplishing-anything-important-because-I'm-too-busy-reading!

 

That should probably be "Oh, the Ahngst!"

 

ETA: For those unfamiliar with the series, the characters have names such as

 

Rhage, son of Tohrture

Zsadist, son of Aghony

Vishous

Phury

Rehvenge

Tohrment

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

I just finished a pleasant historical romance ~  When The Marquess Met His Match: An American Heiress in London by Laura Lee Guhrke.

 

"She's the matchmaker . . .

 

Lady Belinda Featherstone's job is to guide American heiresses to matrimony, and away from men like Nicholas, Marquess of Trubridge. But the charming, disreputable marquess needs a wealthy bride, and he hires Belinda to help him find one. Her task seems easy: find that scoundrel the sort of wife he so richly deserves. But Nicholas's hot, searing kiss soon proves her task will be anything but easy.

 

He's the perfect match . . .

 

Nicholas plans to wed a rich, pretty young darling to restore his fortune, and he's happy to pay a marriage broker to help him. But one taste of Belinda's lips and Nicholas's sensible scheme to marry for money goes awry, and he yearns to show his beautiful matchmaker he's the perfect match . . . for her."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

Since then I've fallen into the pit of the Black Dagger Brotherhood books. Oh the angst! Oh the not-accomplishing-anything-important-because-I'm-too-busy-reading!

 

Just started book 6. I love my library :D

I just looked at the ebook library and these are there. :) The first four in one book was available so I now have them on my kindle without messing with the cable. This is another series that I had looked at but was too much work to download!

[welovetoread]

I will come back later to savor the rest of the posts today, but I have discovered I've read 2 books that I 've tried to read.  Apparently, I read them in my pre-good reads life.

 

[JuanitaL]

I was sick all last week, that made it too hard to focus on anything other than "The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag" and "I am Half Sick of Shadows". Both by Alan Bradley. Engaging enough for laying on the couch for long stretches at a time.

 

 

[prairiegirl]

 

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.

I read Harold last month and he struck deep.  I hope you enjoy it.

 

HI! I'd like to rejoin the challenge this year. I didn't post much last year, but I enjoyed reading these weekly threads. All of you ladies have such wonderful recommendations! Last year was the first year I ever kept track of my reading. I logged 33 books, hoping to inch closer to 52 this year.

 

 

 

Welcome back!   33 books read is a fine number. Congratulations!  You are off to a fine start already this year.

 

 

I am now reading Night Film by Marisha Pessl.  I started reading her Special Topics in Calamity Physics a while back but put it down for something else after a short time.  I may try it again one day.

I tried to read Night Film  a few months ago.  It was a bizarre read for me.  I got halfway through but decided to let it go.  I might try again later on.  Hope you have better luck with it.

[Guest]

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. 

 

I enjoyed The Woman in White but I have not read The Moonstone. My sister says I have to read The Moonstone, so I had better add it to my list!

 

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.

 

 

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. 

 

I have a couple of Follett's books on my TBR list, one of my goals this year is to read something of his. I'm glad to hear positive reviews!

[aggieamy]

I have to jump in on this Moonstone vs Woman in White conversation.  I enjoyed both.  I did think Woman in White was better though because it was so tense and I loved the characters.

[welovetoread]

Oh dear, i could imagine being very nervous visiting the mikvah after reading that book.  You are brave to have read it :)

 

Reading the second in the Decker/Lazarus series and Confessions of a midwife :)

[shukriyya]

I have to jump in on this Moonstone vs Woman in White conversation.  I enjoyed both.  I did think Woman in White was better though because it was so tense and I loved the characters.

 

Thanks for this. I'm going to put both on my tbr list as my curiosity has been piqued by the differing opinions. And as an aside thanks for sharing those adorable pics :D

[Negin]

Did you read the sort of sequel to Pillars, World without End"? I am on the wait list and rather curious if I will like it as well.

 

One of the articles about Alan Bradley(Flavia's author) said he has never been to the England. I think that is why some of his descriptions are a bit long winded. He obviously loves his research and shares it. Dd an I learned tons about pipe organs in one. Our good friend is the organist at our church and was quite shocked when we wanted to know how to se the real inside after reading the one where the body was truly inside the organ. Not very accessible at our church. ;)

Yes, I read the sequel and remember liking it very much. I read it right after it came out, so it's been a few years. As with most sequels (most, not all), I prefer to wait a bit before reading them back-to-back. With some books, I just need some breathing space and a change, if you know what I mean. :)

 

No wonder about Alan Bradley and him not having even visited Britain. I think that the Outlander author just visited briefly or was only there for a short time. It's not the same as living there over a long period of time. I can almost always tell when it doesn't seem very genuine, especially since I grew up there. One of my pet peeves ;). 

 

 

Don't read Jane Austen. Listen to her downloaded from Librivox by Karen Savage. I have such a fangirl crush on her she almost has me convinced I like Emma! I hate Emma. Why does my favourite Austen hero have to be in that stupid story? He's perfect except for his predilection (new favourite word) for silly young women.

Rosie, I'm terrible at audio books. I might be better if I drove for extended periods of time, but most drives here are no longer than 20 minutes  :lol:. We have most of the Austen stuff on DVD. Dh says I should just simplify matters and watch them. Now to find the time. 

[mumto2]

No wonder about Alan Bradley and him not having even visited Britain. I think that the Outlander author just visited briefly or was only there for a short time. It's not the same as living there over a long period of time. I can almost always tell when it doesn't seem very genuine, especially since I grew up there. One of my pet peeves ;).

I know exactly what you mean. I find it to be really distracting because my mind keeps telling me little side comments about how things could never work like that when an author uses a setting I know well and they obviously don't. I also find the American author writing main British characters hard to read and the reverse unless they have lived in the other country for years the character ends up being really unbelievable.

 

I happen to love Flavia and am really grateful the setting is long before my time here and far enough away from where I live that I don't find it too distracting. I do distinctly remember trying to figure out while reading the first one where the setting was supposed to be and being confused between Canada and UK.