Book a Week in 2014 - BW10

[Stacia]

Awww to the Oscar haters...! To me, the movies are visual stories. :-)

[prairiegirl]

Fan girl here watching the Oscars right now. Anyone else watching?

 

I like watching award shows  but not the Oscars.  I find them pretty boring.  I did watch a bit of the Red Carpet show but turned it off when the announcer called  Julia Roberts,  Jessica Roberts.  We watched Amazing Race instead.

[shukriyya]

I wanted to share a passage from Conference of the Birds that I'll be mulling over for some time:

 

When Malek Dar bought Joseph as a slave,

the price agreed (and which he gladly gave)

seemed far too low -- to be quite sure he made

the brothers sign a note for what he'd paid;

and when the wicked purchase was complete

he left with Joseph and the sealed receipt.

At last when Joseph ruled in Egypt's court

his brothers came to beg and little thought

to whom it was each bowed his humbled head

and as a suppliant appealed for bread.

Then Joseph held a scroll up in his hand

and said: "No courtier here can understand

these Hebrew characters -- if you can read

this note I'll give you all the bread you need."

The brothers could read Hebrew easily

and cried: "Give us the note, your majesty!"

(If any of my readers cannot find

himself in this account, the fool is blind.)

When Joseph gave them that short document

they looked -- and trembled in astonishment.

They did not read a line but in dismay

debated inwardly what they should say.

Their past sins silenced them; they were too weak

to offer an excuse or even speak.

Then Joseph said: "Why don't you read? You seem

distracted, haunted by some dreadful dream."

And they replied: "Better to hold our breath

than read and in so doing merit death."

The Conference of the Birds, by Farid ud-din Attar, translated by Afkham Darbandi and Dick Davis, pp. 217-218

There is so much in this passage that astonishes me, but the top-line is that -- and this is different from the many other parables embedded throughout the epic -- the author steps in and directly instructs us where we're meant to empathize: not with Joseph, who's either shaming or testing his brothers... but rather, we are explicitly directed to put ourselves in the sandals of the brothers. To force ourselves to acknowledge our willingness to sell our own into slavery. Our denial that we have done so. Our vigorous repression of any nagging concern about the misery for which we're responsible. Much better just to hold our breath...

... it actually connects in my mind to the endless circles I've been spinning over Cloud Atlas, and clarifies things for me a little... I love it when the dots connect like that...

I feel the mystic's voice instructing us throughout the work. And I'm nodding my head in recognition at so much of it. It's such a map with x marking the spot where the question deepens, blooms into something larger than just how much do your bones want the Divine? Who is it that is doing the wanting? Or are your nafs so tightly held, so cherished as to obscure the View completely? Slavery? Check. Denial? Check. Repression? Check. The scene describing the dervish's angst over having to give up both his faith and his blasphemy cuts to the quick. What do you cherish? It's a sobering read. There is more I could say but perhaps it's a conversation better suited to a pm.

[wendy not in HI]

It's been several weeks since I updated my reading list - whoops!  But I've been enjoying the conversation and adding books to my want to read list on goodreads.  

 

Highlights from my most recent books:

 

The Round House - an interesting look at life on a Reservation and how different laws make it really difficult to prosecute rape and other crimes.

 

Ready Player One - The internet and video games are real life for everyone in this distopian? future world.  When I saw the cover art, I thought that this book was set on an oil refinery.  I kept waiting to see how an oil refinery fit in.. it took me about half way through the book to figure out the cover shows the stacks of rv's and trailers.  I thought this was kind of fun.

 

Goldfinch - everyone here read this book last year, and I thought maybe I should try reading a non-YA book.  I found this book really interesting.  The look at art crime was fascinating.  But I am just flabbergasted by the huge amount of drug and alcohol use.  Do people really live like that?  And function at a high level?

 

Lost Lake - fun easy read.  Not my favorite by Sarah Addison Allen, but still sweet.  One of the characters talks about how you can't go back and re-read a book because the endings change.  She says that when the book ends, you have a chance to make up what happens next - that the lives of the characters sort of become yours, and when you re-read the book later, the endings have changed....  I read this book about the time there was a discussion here on WTM about JK Rowling coming out with little bits of detail about her characters.  And I think that's what bothered me - JK is messing with MY endings! 

 

2014

13. Summer of the Gypsy Moths

12. The Round House

11. Ready Player One

10. Goldfinch

9. Wonder

8. Lost Lake

7. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption - Laura Hillenbrand

6. Champion, Marie Lu

5. Prodigy, Marie Lu

4. Legend, Marie Lu

3. The Book Thief, Markus Zusak

2. Rapture, Lauren Kate

1. Code Name Verity, Elizabeth Wein

[mumto2]

Stacia -- my first response to the Oscars was my mom is watching. :lol: She loves award shows and doesn't care if she has even heard of the movie, just likes the clothing! Unless I am rooting for something to win I never watch.

 

Dh has us watching Harry Potter Chamber of Secrets for the 100th time probably. He keeps falling asleep and has never made it through a single one! Snoring now... :lol: Good thing I have a book.

[Stacia]

Mumto2, Uncle Vernon was just shown in the "in memoriam" feature. I did not realize he passed away last year...

[CAMom]

The Round House - an interesting look at life on a Reservation and how different laws make it really difficult to prosecute rape and other crimes.

 

I tried this one last year and the lack of punctuation drove. me. crazy! It was so distracting I couldn't enjoy the book. The author doesn't use quotation marks so half the time I didn't know who in the world was talking. I wanted to like it but I took it back to the library after the first 50 pages or so.

 

I wonder if that one may work for me as an audio. Maybe I could get a better flow of the story if I wasn't so annoyed with the punctuation. :lol:

[Lady Florida.]

Fan girl here watching the Oscars right now. Anyone else watching?

 

I didn't even realize they're on. I rarely watch awards shows. Dh and I spent the evening watching a few episodes of Game of Thrones (no, I haven't read the books) and one of The Blacklist. Now I'm going to read a bit and go to bed. Good night BaW'ers. :)

[mlbuchina]

I didn't get anything finished for Italy.  Aw well, maybe I'll do better in France.  I think I must want to stay in Japan, as I just finished reading my very first Manga novel, Boys Over Flowers Vol. 1, by Yoko Kamio.  I watched the Korean tv show based on it on Netflix, and had to check out the book.  :)  I won't be counting it in my list, as it was pretty short, but if I can find all the rest of the volumes, I might count them all together as one.

 

I read The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green, and it was meh.  I knew how it was going to end almost from the beginning.

 

Still listening to Inkspell, and reading through The Shape of Water, If on a Winter's Night a Traveler, and Inferno.

 

The Roundup:

 

1.  The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle

2.  The Winter Ghosts, by Kate Mosse (winter challenge)

3.  The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami (around the world challenge, Japan)

4.  360 Degrees Longitude, by John Higham (5/5/5 challenge, travelogue)

5.  Ring, by Koji Suzuki (around the world challenge, Japan)

6.  Spiral, by Koji Suzuki (around the world challenge, Japan)

7.  The Lunatic, by Anthony C. Winkler (around the world challenge, Jamaica)

8.  In A Sunburned Country, by Bill Bryson (5/5/5 challenge, travelogue)

9.  The Devotion of Suspect X, by Keigo Higashino (around the world challenge, Japan)

10.  Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke

11.  The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green

12.  The Rowan, Anne McCaffrey (5/5/5 challenge, old sci-fi/fantasy favorites)

[Negin]

As far as the Oscars go, I've loved two of the movies that were nominated - Captain Phillips and Philomena - but I really dislike watching the Oscars and pretty much anything like that. 

 

I read The Maze Runner - 3 Stars - dd has wanted me to read it for some time. YA book. A bit confusing at first, but then it got better. I look forward to reading more in the series. 

 

Also read The Original Beauty Bible - 4 Stars - skin care has always interested me. I used to be an esthetician. Don't really do make up, but I do try to read up on skin care and do what I can. 

 

 

 

 

 

MY RATING SYSTEM

5 Stars

Fantastic, couldn't put it down

4 Stars

Really Good

3 Stars

Enjoyable

2 Stars

Just Okay – nothing to write home about

1 Star

Rubbish – waste of my money and time. Few books make it to this level, since I usually give up on them if they’re that bad.

[Onceuponatime]

Okay, this is good to know though now I'm in a quandry as to whether to finish it or not. Is the story worth it?

 

Oh dear, I find it hard to answer that question. I slogged through the whole thing but I haven't read the sequel yet. I must have got something out of the book or I would have quit, but I don't know what to tell you. Of course, you could always come back to it another time.

 

 

----

 

We watched Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan instead of the Oscars. It was the 9yo's first time seeing it.

[nd293]

I haven't checked in for a while. Since then I've finished the following, for 6 books this year:

 

The Ramayana: A Modern Retelling of the Great Indian Epic - Ramesh Menon

Twelfth Night - William Shakespeare

Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse (Audio)

Opening the Door of Your Heart - Ajahn Brahm

 

Twelfth Night was fun. Dd13 and I each read the text while listening to Librivox's audiobook. After we'd finished we went and saw the play performed at the annual "Shakespeare in the Park" performance in our city. I also read a children's version to dd and ds7 and he's in the process of reading an "early reader" version aloud to us. Dd and I will work through the Oxford annotated version together this year, as we find spare moments. It worked very well, and I'm looking forward to doing to same later this year in preparation for the 2015 performance in the park.

 

My other three reads tie together by their spiritual nature. "The Ramayana" is one of the great Hindu epic religious works. From the text of the version I read: "It was a poem, it was a song, and it was a treatise on dharma and tapasya. It was a Purana, it was a great epic; it was a love story and a story of war; it was a work of bhakti." This pretty well sums up the epic (and roughly means something like: It was a poem, it was a song, and it was a treatise on cosmic law and meditation. It was a sacred writing, it was a great epic; it was a love story and a story of war; it was a work of devotional worship). It truly is a beautiful and inspirational work, but also highly entertaining. I initially started reading the William Buck version, but just didn't find it engaging, and am so glad I switched to the Menon version. I'd like to read the Buck version too, for comparison, but I suspect the difference is in the spiritual intentions of Menon, as well as the fact that Buck seems to fiddle about with the order of the story (he starts with the last book). Menon's introduction suggests that Buck's retelling is "a short, chatty one which takes a great deal of liberty with the actual story" - I didn't read far in enough to judge the accuracy of his opinion.

 

"Siddhartha" is a 1922 novel that follows the spiritual journey of a young man living at the same time as the founder of Buddhism. Each chapter deals with a portion of his life which teaches him something, e.g rejection of ritual, rejection of asceticism, rejection of materialism, understanding of love and the oneness of all existence. From my (admittedly limited) understanding of Buddhism, his journey strongly echoes Buddhist teachings, although the protagonist finds his own way to the same end. It was thought-provoking and very readable; well, very 'listenable', as I had the audiobook version from Librivox!

 

Finally, "Opening the Door of Your Heart" is a book of anecdotes by a Buddhist monk from our city. They're very funny and very grounded in daily realities, while illustrating Buddhist philosophical ideas.

 

 

At the moment I'm busy with three long term reads:

 

The History of the Ancient World - Susan Wise Bauer

The Penguin History of the World - J.M. Roberts and O.A. Westad

The Odyssey: A New Translation - Homer (Translated by Stephen Mitchell)

[Kim in Appalachia]

I didn't watch the Oscars last night.  I was reading a book, and then did some yoga. :)  I figured I could check who won this morning.

 

I'm reading 2 books right now, The Son, by Phillipp Meyer and What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, by Murakami, which is the first non-fiction (apart from my Bible and devotional reading) that I've read in a while.  

 

I'm enjoying both books.  I was instantly drawn into The Son.  The writing is excellent and the story is so absorbing.  Murakami's book makes me think that maybe, and I mean maybe, someday I'll try a marathon (I've done half marathons, and have never felt the desire to do a whole. :D)   I'm loving his writing.  It's not his highly polished novels, but it's still his voice and perspective, which I love. 

 

Wendy, in regards to Goldfinch, I would argue that the people were not really high functioning, they were a mess. I loved that book, and I will read another one of her's this year.  My dh's cousin said her first novel was better than her second. 

[welovetoread]

Happy Monday!  This past week was another fast moving week for us.  We are still having bitterly cold days, the temp right now is -28.  One would think that would make for alot of reading time, but it has not.  My kids, especially the little boys, are going  stir crazy.  So keeping them busy and not climbing the walls has been challenging.  Today its Doctor's appointments.  My 11 year old has Reynaud's disease and needs a check up.

 

Last week, I finished "Its so easy" by Duff McKagan.  I was a huge Guns N Roses fan in middle school/high school.  I was however, totally oblivious at the problems both person and professional this band faced. Don't they all.  Anyway, its his road to recovery and has a nice, but still difficult life now. I was also listening to hedgehog again, we loved it!   I am nearly done with Inferno.....like the rest of you, I am going to need something to clean my brain.  I have a case of too many books syndrome.  I was intrigued  by the browsing the library. However, that also made my to read pile grow.  I love all that I have found and I hope I can get through it all.  Here is the line up for this week and I am going to try and be cool and link....bear with me.  haha!

 

Audio:Orphan Train : Orphan Train is a gripping story of friendship and second chances from Christina Baker Kline, author of Bird in Hand and The Way Life Should Be.

Penobscot Indian Molly Ayer is close to “aging out†out of the foster care system. A community service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping Molly out of juvie and worse...

As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly learns that she and Vivian aren’t as different as they seem to be. A young Irish immigrant orphaned in New York City, Vivian was put on a train to the Midwest with hundreds of other children whose destinies would be determined by luck and chance.

Molly discovers that she has the power to help Vivian find answers to mysteries that have haunted her for her entire life – answers that will ultimately free them both.

Rich in detail and epic in scope, Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline is a powerful novel of upheaval and resilience, of unexpected friendship, and of the secrets we carry that keep us from finding out who we are.

 

Kindle- Naked in Death, by JD Robb, The Waiting by Suzanne Woods Fischer, Game of Thrones

 

Books: The Green Mile, The Visionist, Crank and the Call of the midwife.  

 

Linking didn't work! Sorry.

 

I also wanted to mention, that my 11 year old is enjoying all things Ancient Greece and Mythology after she read Percy Jackson series.  I found the Princess series by Esther Freisner.  Love them.  Starts out with Nobody's Princess.  There are 2 books from Greece, 2 from Ancient Egypt and 2 from Ancient China.  She is reading them all. 

 

Have a wonderful day. 

[mumto2]

I was just thinking about "Siddhartha" as a possible lit book for both dc's next year. It doesn't really fit the lit plan(British for both) but ds might like it. I have read it several times and have always really enjoyed it, fascinating book.

 

"Siddhartha" is a 1922 novel that follows the spiritual journey of a young man living at the same time as the founder of Buddhism. Each chapter deals with a portion of his life which teaches him something, e.g rejection of ritual, rejection of asceticism, rejection of materialism, understanding of love and the oneness of all existence. From my (admittedly limited) understanding of Buddhism, his journey strongly echoes Buddhist teachings, although the protagonist finds his own way to the same end. It was thought-provoking and very readable; well, very 'listenable', as I had the audiobook version from Librivox!

 

The Odyssey: A New Translation - Homer (Translated by Stephen Mitchell)

[shukriyya]

I haven't checked in for a while. Since then I've finished the following, for 6 books this year:

 

The Ramayana: A Modern Retelling of the Great Indian Epic - Ramesh Menon

Twelfth Night - William Shakespeare

Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse (Audio)

Opening the Door of Your Heart - Ajahn Brahm

 

Twelfth Night was fun. Dd13 and I each read the text while listening to Librivox's audiobook. After we'd finished we went and saw the play performed at the annual "Shakespeare in the Park" performance in our city. I also read a children's version to dd and ds7 and he's in the process of reading an "early reader" version aloud to us. Dd and I will work through the Oxford annotated version together this year, as we find spare moments. It worked very well, and I'm looking forward to doing to same later this year in preparation for the 2015 performance in the park.

 

My other three reads tie together by their spiritual nature. "The Ramayana" is one of the great Hindu epic religious works. From the text of the version I read: "It was a poem, it was a song, and it was a treatise on dharma and tapasya. It was a Purana, it was a great epic; it was a love story and a story of war; it was a work of bhakti." This pretty well sums up the epic (and roughly means something like: It was a poem, it was a song, and it was a treatise on cosmic law and meditation. It was a sacred writing, it was a great epic; it was a love story and a story of war; it was a work of devotional worship). It truly is a beautiful and inspirational work, but also highly entertaining. I initially started reading the William Buck version, but just didn't find it engaging, and am so glad I switched to the Menon version. I'd like to read the Buck version too, for comparison, but I suspect the difference is in the spiritual intentions of Menon, as well as the fact that Buck seems to fiddle about with the order of the story (he starts with the last book). Menon's introduction suggests that Buck's retelling is "a short, chatty one which takes a great deal of liberty with the actual story" -

 

)

Last night I was reading while dh and ds were absorbed in the YouTube 'Ramayan'. This epic along with Mahabharat has been such a big part of ds's childhood. He and dh have read it several times, they've watched it, ds has danced it and he's got tons of the comics from Amar Chitra Katha which are Indian comics for kids of these great stories.

 

He's also a big fan of the Greek and Norse myths as well and over the years has read and reread various versions of these. And last little bit of intersection...Twelfth Night is the play the Shakespeare homeschool group is putting on. Ds plays Orsino :D

[mumto2]

 

Mumto2, Uncle Vernon was just shown in the "in memoriam" feature. I did not realize he passed away last year...

 

I am a bit of a "the books are better" person where Harry Potter is concerned but must admit Uncle Vernon is done wonderfully. I had forgotten that he had died until I read your post.

 

Dh and the kids are planning to visit as many film locations as possible next summer so dh really needs to manage to stay awake through these movies! We have been to a couple (Alnwick Castle and Hardwick Hall..) and it is fascinating to see the real thing and compare it to the finished product. Alnwick was used in the Sorcerers Stone for flying lessons and while smaller looks just like the movie. Hardwick is Malfoy Manor and looks pretty different in the movie imo. I can tell it is the same building but computer graphics certainly made some changes!

[shukriyya]

I also wanted to mention, that my 11 year old is enjoying all things Ancient Greece and Mythology after she read Percy Jackson series. I found the Princess series by Esther Freisner. Love them. Starts out with Nobody's Princess. There are 2 books from Greece, 2 from Ancient Egypt and 2 from Ancient China. She is reading them all.

 

Have a wonderful day.

Padraic Colum has written some wonderful retellings of the various Greek myths. If your dd is into them this author is definitely one to check out.

[shukriyya]

My other three reads tie together by their spiritual nature. "The Ramayana" is one of the great Hindu epic religious works. From the text of the version I read: "It was a poem, it was a song, and it was a treatise on dharma and tapasya. It was a Purana, it was a great epic; it was a love story and a story of war; it was a work of bhakti." This pretty well sums up the epic (and roughly means something like: It was a poem, it was a song, and it was a treatise on cosmic law and meditation. It was a sacred writing, it was a great epic; it was a love story and a story of war; it was a work of devotional worship). It truly is a beautiful and inspirational work, but also highly entertaining. I initially started reading the William Buck version, but just didn't find it engaging, and am so glad I switched to the Menon version. I'd like to read the Buck version too, for comparison, but I suspect the difference is in the spiritual intentions of Menon, as well as the fact that Buck seems to fiddle about with the order of the story (he starts with the last book). Menon's introduction suggests that Buck's retelling is "a short, chatty one which takes a great deal of liberty with the actual story" - I didn't read far in enough to judge the accuracy of his opinion.

 

 

I asked my pre-teen ds what he thought of your Buck comments since he's read several different versions as well as just the fact that they're intimately familiar and part of his day to day due to his dancing and tabla playing...he says, "Well, Buck took 36 years to write the 'Ramayan', the 'Mahabharat' and the unfinished 'Harivamsa' so I would say that even though he might have not stuck to the precise order he does give a very detailed account. He has a strange combination of going fast and then slowing down and taking a very long time to describe one thing in minute detail. I would certainly recommend the Buck version if you don't have the patience to read the whole thing" :D

[Kareni]

Last night I read Woman On The Run by Lisa Marie Rice which I enjoyed.  Be aware that there is significant adult content.

 

"Julia Devaux loves big cities. She’s partial to chic cafes and old movies and charming men. So she’s not ready to be relocated by the Witness Protection Program to a small isolated town in the middle of nowhere. But it’s either that or be whacked by the mafia don she witnessed murdering one of his minions. Simpson, Idaho doesn’t have chic cafes or cult movie theaters or even sidewalks. And it definitely doesn’t have charming men. It does have Sam Cooper, former Navy SEAL, now horse breeder, who makes her feel safe and excited at the same time. True, he doesn’t have any charming conversation in him. But conversation isn’t what Cooper does best. The gorgeous new second grade schoolteacher who just showed up one day in Simpson is a miracle in Cooper’s eyes. Beautiful and smart and kind, she has the town of Simpson wrapped around her little finger. His heart, too, though he doesn’t have the words to tell her that. But when killers come for her, Cooper doesn’t need words to show what he feels. He’s willing to lay down his life for her."

 

This is a re-issue of one of the author's books from 2005; it's my opinion that the author's writing has improved since then.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

Like Tress I decided to read "The Dinosaur Feather" by S.J. Gozan for the title. The DC'S had/have a serious love of fossils and dinosaurs. We actually had a local paleontologist as a tutor back when he was local--busy on digs for a couple of years now. I am personally a bit conflicted by the arguments and I still don't really completely believe birds are dinos but for a mystery (genre wise) this book does manage to go over with a broad brush much of that controversy.

 

The story as a whole was fast paced after the first 20% which was intro. This book is by a Danish author and set in Denmark(geography challenge). I had wondered here if Scandinavian books in general would all have characters with the harsh edges that I see in Karin Fossum's work(Norwegian) and I really didn't see many similarities. The characters were pretty damaged individuals but their actions were not as harsh.

 

I gave the book a 4* and have to say it managed to pull me away from my fixation on Sebastian St.Cyr!

[melmichigan]

My library purchased the first in this series by Marie Force which I read.  I found it a pleasant read.

Maid for Love (The McCarthys of Gansett Island Series)

 

"Maddie Chester is determined to leave her hometown of Gansett Island, a place that has brought her only bad memories and ugly rumors. Then she's knocked off her bike on the way to her housekeeping job at McCarthy's Resort Hotel by Gansett's "favorite son," Mac McCarthy. He's back in town to help his father with preparations to sell the family resort and has no intention of staying long. When Mac accidentally sends Maddie flying over the handlebars, badly injuring her, he moves in to nurse her back to health and help care for her young son. He soon realizes his plans for a hit-and-run visit to the island are in serious jeopardy, and he just may be "maid" for love."

 

 

I'll have to admit to preferring the author's Fatal Series which starts with Fatal Affair (The Fatal Series).

 

What Marie Force series do you favor, Melissa?

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

I haven't read the Fatal Series yet.  :blush:  I had it on my old kindle and forgot about it when it crashed.  I just downloaded it to my current kindle and will check it out when I finish my current read.  It looks really good.

 

The McCarthys of Gansett Island are pleasant HEA reads when I need an escape.  I also enjoyed the first book in The Green Mountain Series.  We'll have to see where that goes, it has the potential to be better than Gansett Island.  I liked the first book in the Treading Water series, but that series quickly went off track for me with the second book.

[Angel]

Fan girl here watching the Oscars right now. Anyone else watching?

 

:hurray:  The girls and I were!!  It's tradition here even if I don't agree with all of Hollywood and their worldview.  We love seeing the dresses and the celebrities.  Last night dd's were very excited to see "Let it Go" performed (and that it and "Frozen" won).  Usually dd19 has a friend join us but the weather was bad here and she was prevented from joining us.  Dh humors us.  It is one of the only nights of the year where he is in bed before me! 

[marbel]

I'm sitting at the rock climbing gym, being a bad mom and not watching my kids like the others.  I have seen them climb and expect to again.  Finished The School of Essential Ingredients.  Such a charming book, for the most part.  It is really a series of vignettes about the students in a rather magical cooking class.  Some of them were more engaging than others.  The food talk was divine and making me ever-so-slightly ashamed of the dinner simmering in the crockpot right now.  My cooking has slipped badly.  Maybe this and a few more food novels will help me get my cooking mojo back.

[mommymilkies]

I carry the large basket you see below and it waxes and wanes in weight depending on how long we'll be out. On days we leave early in the morning and breakfast is eaten on the road I take two thermoses, one for breakfast coffee and one for afternoon tea along with a pretty porcelain mug to complete the experience as I can't abide drinking from the plastic cup that comes with most thermoses. Chocolate is ubiquitous :D and necessary. Along with thermoses, standard take-alongs these days are my kindle, my current knitting project, breakfast if we'll be out early, lunch if we'll be out long, my phone plus a water bottle. Sometimes I take along a hard copy book if I think I'll want to dip into it and occasionally my laptop if there's a comfortable wifi situation.

I love this!  Thanks for sharing

 

This turned out to be a pretty good reading week for me.  I finished 3 books - two that had been in process for a while, and one novel - The Raphael Affair - that I snuck in.  That was a pleasant enough novel, though it took me nearly the half of it to really get engaged!  By the end I was thinking I would pick up more by this author after all.  I had to struggle to finish Amazing Grace, about which I'd heard such raves.  I would have given up if I wasn't leading a discussion on it for our church book group on Tuesday.  I have no idea what to say, other than that I'm ready to read a real biography of William Wilberforce.

 

I loved the movie.  I'd like to hear if you find a better biography on Wilberforce. 

 

 

"Siddhartha" is a 1922 novel that follows the spiritual journey of a young man living at the same time as the founder of Buddhism. Each chapter deals with a portion of his life which teaches him something, e.g rejection of ritual, rejection of asceticism, rejection of materialism, understanding of love and the oneness of all existence. From my (admittedly limited) understanding of Buddhism, his journey strongly echoes Buddhist teachings, although the protagonist finds his own way to the same end. It was thought-provoking and very readable; well, very 'listenable', as I had the audiobook version from Librivox!

Hesse is one of my very favorite authors.  If you liked Siddhartha, I highly suggest you search out a copy of his Poems.  So, so lovely.  

One of my favorite Hesse passages (from Farm):

 

"I wish I could be a giant, then I could lie with my head near the snows on one of the Alps, lie there among the goats, with my toes splashing below in the deep lake. So I would lie there and never get up again, between my fingers the bushes would grow, and the wild roses of the Alps in my hair, my knees would be alpine foothills, and vineyards would stand on my body, and houses, and chapels. And so for ten thousand years I lie there, and gaze into the heavens, and gaze into the lake. When I sneeze, there's a thunderstorm. When I breathe, the snow melts, and the waterfalls dance. When I die, the whole world dies. Then I journey across the world's ocean, to bring back a new sun.

 

Where am I going to sleep tonight? Who cares! What is the world doing? Have new gods been discovered, new laws, new freedoms? Who cares! But up here a primrose is blossoming and bearing silver fuzz on its leaves, and the light sweet wind is singing below me in the poplars, and between my eyes and heaven a dark golden bee is hovering and humming --- I care about that. lt is humming the song of happiness, humming the song of eternity. Its song is my history of the world."

http://www.gss.ucsb.edu/projects/hesse/farm.html

 

I'm behind on catching up.  I spent the last few days completely immersed in Elantris.  I couldn't put it down.  I'm rather surprised to find two new favorite books in one week.  It got better as it went along and was entirely engrossing.  I'm very pleased and I was extra pleased to find out he has more planned for a series on Elantris.  

 

I picked Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan back up after a long break.  I'm giving it another try, but I admit I'm a little confused since it's been a few months.  I'm hoping it comes back to me.  

[shukriyya]

I'm sitting at the rock climbing gym, being a bad mom and not watching my kids like the others. I have seen them climb and expect to again. Finished The school of Essential Ingredients. Such a charming book, for the most part. It is really a series of vignettes about the students in a rather magical cooking class. Some of them were more engaging than others. The food talk was divine and making me ever-so-slightly ashamed of the dinner simmering in the crockpot right now. My cooking has slipped badly. Maybe this and a few more food novels will help me get my cooking mojo back.

Too bad we couldn't all coordinate driving/class time waiting with some kind of time travel option to a central location. I'm in the car listening to NPR, drinking tea and eating chocolate while ds is at nature class. Posting from the phone otherwise I'd post a view pic :D

[Stacia]

See, the Oscars & books do intersect... (from an email from Europa publishers today):

Europa Editions wins an Academy Award! Ok, not exactly.

BUT Europa Editions author Paolo Sorrentino did take home the Oscar for Best Foriegn Language Film for his picture, The Great Beauty, last night. Italy is rejoicing today on its first Academy Award win in 15 years, and you can share in the celebration by checking out Sorrentino's debut novel, Everybody's Right, from Europa Editions and letting everyone know how much you love it on Goodreads.

Born on the streets and born singing, Tony Pagoda has had his day. But what a day it was!

He had fame, money, women, and talent. He spent his golden years entertaining a flourishing and garishly happy Italy. His success stretched over borders and across the seas. But somewhere things began to go awry, the public’s tastes in music first and foremost. His band is now a shadow of its former self and his life is fraught with mundane but infuriating complications. It’s time to make a clean break with the past. Following a brief tour in Brazil, Tony decides to decamp and make a life for himself in South America. Here, his hyper-developed and very peculiar vision of the world, irreversibly shaped by those years in which he hobnobbed with Sinatra and enjoyed the adoration of audiences the world over, is under assault. Now that he has abandoned music the world strikes him as a barren place that is completely at odds with his understanding of it. Tony’s story is the story of a worldwizened but yet strangely naive man forced to reconcile with life or lose

himself entirely.

 

Told in a breathless, irreverent first person voice that is as original as any in contemporary literature, Everybody’s Right is the debut novel from one of Italy’s most compelling and singular creative minds. Paolo Sorrentino, known principally as the director of movies considered to be among the finest examples of cinematic art by any Italian filmmaker in recent decades, here proves himself to be an equally formidable novelist.

[CAMom]

Finished The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time last night. I really loved it. I was very satisfied with the ending. I'm trying to talk my Asperger's kid into reading it to tell me if that is how his brain works at all.

 

Dd 17 came to me with a book of short stories today by Dostoyevsky and asked me to read The Dream of a Ridiculous Man. So, I read that this afternoon and feel redeemed from any and all twaddle I may have read recently. ;)

 

Currently reading Hollow City by Ransom Riggs. I must finish it since it's on hold at the library and I cannot renew it.

[Kim in Appalachia]

This afternoon I was able to finish Murakami's, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.  It was good.  I gave it 4 stars.  It was a short book, and after reading it I have the strong urge to sign up for race in the fall. :)

[melmichigan]

I finished The Blood Gospel by James Rollins.  It is supposed to be a trilogy, and that fact was reinforced by the ending, which really wasn't an ending but a stop point in the story.   ;)  This is a sure step away from the sigma series, or even the individual titles that I have read by Rollins.  In this one we have archeology, religious history, the nazis, vampires, and the living dead that border on that from a horror story.  We have humans and Sanguinists vying to fulfill an ancient prophecy and save the world. It was a good read and I'll probably continue with book two at some point.

 

 

[shukriyya]

Well, I'm definitely the tortoise in this group...My day looked like this...

 

 

 

Got my WIP shawl, my thermos, mug, my pretty purple kindle, basket, lunch container...all nicely contained in my home away from home :D

[Stacia]

Oh, shukriyya's post reminded me that I was going to post about my insulated thermoses (thermii ??? :laugh: ) I love when I have to trek around....

 

Thermos one I love -- great to haul around, esp. love the little flippy lock thingy so you can toss it into a backpack or bag of books & feel safe that your drink won't leak.

 

Kleen Kanteen w/ the Cafe Lid (for coffee) -- note, this one is *not* leak proof w/ the cafe lid, so you need a cup holder or something for this when driving

 

Both are great for hot or cold drinks. And, I especially love that all parts go in the dishwasher (even though many insulated things say they need to be hand-washed).

 

P.S. shukriyya, you will have to post a photo when you finish the shawl -- it looks so pretty!

[Woodland Mist Academy]

Oh, shukriyya's post reminded me that I was going to post about my insulated thermoses (thermii ??? :laugh: ) I love when have to trek around....

 

 

 I was going to give you one more day before I asked if you had forgotten. :toetap05:  

 

;)

 

Thanks!

[Woodland Mist Academy]

Well, I'm definitely the tortoise in this group...My day looked like this...

 

knitting2.jpg

 

Got my WIP shawl, my thermos, mug, my pretty purple kindle, basket, lunch container...all nicely contained in my home away from home :D

 

Is the striped bag on the passenger seat your lunch container?

[LostSurprise]

I read Maugham's The Painted Veil this week, partly because I watched and enjoyed the movie last year. It's interesting when a book and movie can be different, but you enjoy the incarnations of each for different reasons. The movie was much more romantic and straightforward. The book was very cynical. I found the weak female lead of the novel surprisingly interesting, although I didn't feel like her change was documented very well. It felt like all the external factors were there but it wasn't very well explained or internalized. And Maugham obviously thinks sex and attraction completely trumps intelligence and judgement. I think that's the moral stamped on everyone in this story. Interesting. I don't always like Maugham but I did like this one. 

 

Where the Red Fern Grows. So fun to read aloud. So sad. I'd forgotten some of the side plots and violence against another boy. Yowza. But the boys loved it here. Ate up every word. Were deeply sad at the end and we all got up and had a snack afterward. 

 

Harry Potter 6. Keeping ahead of the boys. I enjoyed this one and the last one, but I'm afraid I will never like Rowling's writing. The plot jogs forward winningly, but every so often I cringe. 

 

Best Book of the Year **

10 Best Books *

 

19. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by JK Rowling~youth fiction, fantasy, wizards. *

18. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls~youth fiction, dogs, hunting, read aloud.

17. The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham~fiction, classic, China, male-female roles. *

16. Replay by Ken Grimwood~speculative fiction, time travel, multiple lives.  Finally Finished/Dusty Book

15. Home Cooking: a Writer in the Kitchen by Laurie Colwin~ memoir, cooking, recipes, essays, humorous. 

14. Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan~fiction, mystery, cults, printing, Google.

13. By Nature's Design by Pat Murphy and William Neill~non-fiction, natural patterns, science, Exploratorium series. *

12. The Lives of the Heart by Jane Hirschfield~poetry, relationships, 1990s. *

11.  The Titian Committee by Iain Pears~mystery, Venice, Art History, Argyll series. 

10. Mort by Terry Pratchett~fantasy, Disc world series, Death.

9. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein~youth fiction, WWII, female pilots and spies.

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: 

 

The Labyrinths (Borges)

When I was a Child I Read Books (Robinson)

Zoo in my Luggage (Durrell)

The Language of Baklava

Bread Givers

Omelet and a Glass of Wine (David)

[shukriyya]

Is the striped bag on the passenger seat your lunch container?

 

Yes, it's one of them. I have several to keep things interesting :D

 

Here's another one I like.

 

Current favorite water bottle...

 

Current favorite mug to use in place of paper if I go to a coffee house. Otherwise a smaller one (no handles) from my little collection comes with me and the thermos.

 

Current favorite thermos...this is so great I'm going to get another to replace my coffee thermos.

 

In order to salvage this post from non-bookishness...Umberto Eco fans, this article on the greatest maps of imaginary places and why they appeal to us. I'm thinking of some of the maps from books I've read and loved...The Hundred Acre Wood, Narnia, LOTR books...something about poring over the map *after* the book has been completed is so expansive, reliving the

adventures.

[shukriyya]

 

I read Maugham's The Painted Veil this week, partly because I watched and enjoyed the movie last year. It's interesting when a book and movie can be different, but you enjoy the incarnations of each for different reasons. The movie was much more romantic and straightforward. The book was very cynical. I found the weak female lead of the novel surprisingly interesting, although I didn't feel like her change was documented very well. It felt like all the external factors were there but it wasn't very well explained or internalized. And Maugham obviously thinks sex and attraction completely trumps intelligence and judgement. I think that's the moral stamped on everyone in this story. Interesting. I don't always like Maugham but I did like this one. 

 

 

I recall enjoying Maugham a lot in college. I wonder if I'd feel similarly now? Hmm, perhaps a little trip down memory lane is required...

 

 

 

Where the Red Fern Grows. So fun to read aloud. So sad. I'd forgotten some of the side plots and violence against another boy. Yowza. But the boys loved it here. Ate up every word. Were deeply sad at the end and we all got up and had a snack afterward. 

 

 

 

I remember *sobbing* through the movie version of this and embarrassing my little brothers tremendously.  :lol:

 

 

Working on: 

 

The Labyrinths (Borges)

When I was a Child I Read Books (Robinson)

Zoo in my Luggage (Durrell)

The Language of Baklava

Bread Givers

Omelet and a Glass of Wine (David)

 

 

I'll be interested to hear how you like Elizabeth David's book. I love her stuff! And that very book is one of my 5/5/5.

[shukriyya]

Oh, shukriyya's post reminded me that I was going to post about my insulated thermoses (thermii ??? :laugh: ) I love when I have to trek around....

 

Thermos one I love -- great to haul around, esp. love the little flippy lock thingy so you can toss it into a backpack or bag of books & feel safe that your drink won't leak.

 

Kleen Kanteen w/ the Cafe Lid (for coffee) -- note, this one is *not* leak proof w/ the cafe lid, so you need a cup holder or something for this when driving

 

Both are great for hot or cold drinks. And, I especially love that all parts go in the dishwasher (even though many insulated things say they need to be hand-washed).

 

P.S. shukriyya, you will have to post a photo when you finish the shawl -- it looks so pretty!

 

Thermos land weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...

 

Well, posting a pic will be inspiration to finish up sooner rather than later. I have tended to pick this up and put it down rather a lot, you know, a kind of fits and starts project. I *love* the yarn though, it's soft, subtle and very nice to work with. The pattern is fun too. Are you a knitter?

 

[Stacia]

 

In case anyone needs a few laughs... :lol:

 

32 Books Guaranteed to Make You Laugh Out Loud

 

Librarian Shaming

 

22 Book Lovers Who Are Doing It Right

 

Which Classic Author is Your Soulmate?

 

(Note... Here's mine...

Which Classic Author Is Your Soulmate?

• You got: Henry David Thoreau

  You want a man who’s simple, self-sufficient, and hardworking. A man who loves nature and flouts public opinion to create his own movement. A man who doesn’t even have a Twitter or Facebook. The two of you can live together, out in the tranquility of the woods, with no Wi-Fi, no electricity, no human contact whatsoever…actually, maybe you should retake this quiz.

:smilielol5:

 

ETA: Since it told me to retake the quiz, I did. Here's my new guy...

 

• You got: Langston Hughes

  You and Langston are both sophisticated, politically conscious, sensitive souls, who draw strength from being on the forefront of progressive movements, but who also appreciate life’s simple pleasures: eating, sleeping, drinking, and being in love.

[shukriyya]

I got Anton Chekov :w00t:

 

1. You got: Anton Chekhov
   Via commons.wikimedia.org
   Calm and contemplative, you need someone who shares your desire to lie in a hammock in the Russian countryside, drink champagne, and think about the meaning of life. Both of you know that love, alas, is a fickle emotion, so you must cherish it for the fleeting moment in which it graces you.

The thought of lying in a hammock makes me feel profoundly dizzy, add champagne to the mix and, well, you've got this... :lol:

 

 

[shukriyya]

Having now come to terms with the fact that a champagne-induced hammock-haze will not work for me I did the next best thing and went straight to Amazon to download several free kindle works by my designated soul mate. That seemed the most sensible course of action :smilielol5:

[Negin]

I got Ernest Hemingway. 

 

 

 

 

You need a manly man. A man who doesn’t mince his words. A man who knows that love that is true and real creates a respite from death. You’ll need to keep an eye out for him because he’s pretty popular with the ladies, but you understand that his wandering eye just comes from a fear of rejection.

 

Okay, I really don't care for the fact that he has a wandering eye (not my cup of tea at all), so I'll retake it. 

 

Now, I got Jane Austen  :lol: .

 

 

[Kareni]

 

22 Book Lovers Who Are Doing It Right

 

That was fun!  Thanks for the laugh, Stacia.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

[Kareni]

I haven't read the Fatal Series yet.  :blush:  I had it on my old kindle and forgot about it when it crashed.  I just downloaded it to my current kindle and will check it out when I finish my current read.  It looks really good.

 

 

I hope you'll enjoy them.

 

 

I also enjoyed the first book in The Green Mountain Series.  We'll have to see where that goes, it has the potential to be better than Gansett Island.  I liked the first book in the Treading Water series, but that series quickly went off track for me with the second book.

 

I'll see if I can get ahold of those.  Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Melissa.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

[shukriyya]

 

ETA: Since it told me to retake the quiz, I did. Here's my new guy...

 

 

1. You got: Langston Hughes
   Via Flickr: speakingoffaith
   You and Langston are both sophisticated, politically conscious, sensitive souls, who draw strength from being on the forefront of progressive movements, but who also appreciate life’s simple pleasures: eating, sleeping, drinking, and being in love.

 

 

 

I got Ernest Hemingway. 

 

 

Okay, I really don't care for the fact that he has a wandering eye (not my cup of tea at all), so I'll retake it. 

 

Now, I got Jane Austen  :lol: .

 

 

Okay, well, since retaking the quiz seems to be a theme and there were a couple of questions that I couldn't decide on...I got Virginia Woolf the second time round :D

[Kareni]

I recently finished Jill Sorenson's romantic suspense novel Badlands  which I enjoyed.  It's the third book in a linked series which starts with Aftershock  and the main characters are introduced there.  I recommend starting with that book.  Here is the blurb for Badlands:

 

"Love is the most dangerous territory of all 

Every day, bodyguard Owen Jackson puts his life on the line—and keeps his feelings for Penny Sandoval locked away. Assigned to protect Penny's father, a presidential candidate, Owen can't get emotionally involved. That is, until Penny and her young son, Cruz, are abducted and taken deep into the California badlands. 

Owen knows the bleak territory from his childhood. Worse, he knows the gang leader making ransom demands—his own brother, Shane. When a terrified Penny escapes into the desert with Cruz, Owen has to save her: from the elements and from the gang in close pursuit. Owen has hidden the darkness in his past from Penny. Now his only chance of keeping her alive is to let her see the man he really is—even if it means losing the only woman he'll ever want."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Pam in CT]

Finished The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time last night. I really loved it. I was very satisfied with the ending. I'm trying to talk my Asperger's kid into reading it to tell me if that is how his brain works at all.

 

Dd 17 came to me with a book of short stories today by Dostoyevsky and asked me to read The Dream of a Ridiculous Man. So, I read that this afternoon and feel redeemed from any and all twaddle I may have read recently. ;)

 

 

My son and I read The London Eye Mystery, by Siobhan Dowd, a few years ago -- also a mystery told from the perspective of, and in that case substantively solved for the police (it was an apparent kidnapping of a minor) by a youngster on the spectrum because of his movie-making visual memory.  If you haven't come across it, I'd recommend that one too  The voice there was also very good and an eye-opening peek into a very different type of mind, although I think Curious Incident was ultimately better (because it provided insight as well into the toll on other family members of having constantly to adapt, without much give-and-take).

 

No twaddle guilt.   Ever.  Woman cannot live on Dostoyevsky alone!

[Jane in NC]

The soul mate quiz gave me Virginia Woolf.

 

 

 

You’re not daunted by women who are brilliant but emotionally fragile. On the contrary, you’re selfless and kind enough to want to really nurture someone and support their illustrious career. Yours is a truly deep love because it is a love of the mind, and it will surpass all the hours.

 

After yesterday's discussion of the Ramayana, I was delighted to see that BBC Radio 4 is doing a modern retelling in two hour long episodes.   

[Onceuponatime]

Which Classic Author Is Your Soulmate?

 

1. You got: Anton Chekhov
   Via commons.wikimedia.org
    
   Calm and contemplative, you need someone who shares your desire to lie in a hammock in the Russian countryside, drink champagne, and think about the meaning of life. Both of you know that love, alas, is a fickle emotion, so you must cherish it for the fleeting moment in which it graces you.

I did this quiz a couple of weeks ago on Facebook. Chekov is one Russian author I've not read yet. I've decided to give him a go. He can't be worse than any of the others. Plus, he's quite attractive. :blushing:

 

____

 

I'm still going strong with The Angel's Game. The only thing I can figure out is that the last time I read it must have been when I was in a distracted state during the time of preparation for my son's wedding. I obviously didn't engage with the story then. This book is producing the weird effect of giving me literary dreams. Elements of my life are mixed up with Jane Austen dialog and Edwardian dress, reading descriptions of "damascene women" aloud, and railing against the anti-feminine dialog in a book that appears to be entirely in heiroglyphics, which I have no trouble reading.

[Pam in CT]

 

In case anyone needs a few laughs... :lol:

 

32 Books Guaranteed to Make You Laugh Out Loud

 

Librarian Shaming

 

22 Book Lovers Who Are Doing It Right

 

Which Classic Author is Your Soulmate?

 

(Note... Here's mine...

Which Classic Author Is Your Soulmate?

1. You got: Henry David Thoreau
   Via en.wikipedia.org
   You want a man who’s simple, self-sufficient, and hardworking. A man who loves nature and flouts public opinion to create his own movement. A man who doesn’t even have a Twitter or Facebook. The two of you can live together, out in the tranquility of the woods, with no Wi-Fi, no electricity, no human contact whatsoever…actually, maybe you should retake this quiz.

:smilielol5:

 

ETA: Since it told me to retake the quiz, I did. Here's my new guy...

 

1. You got: Langston Hughes
   Via Flickr: speakingoffaith
   You and Langston are both sophisticated, politically conscious, sensitive souls, who draw strength from being on the forefront of progressive movements, but who also appreciate life’s simple pleasures: eating, sleeping, drinking, and being in love.

 

 

Er.  

 

I got....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Virginia Woolf.

 

:huh:

 

 

 

ETA: Well, I see now I'm in good company!