Book a Week in 2014 - BW18

[Ali in OR]

Currently trying to get through The Goldfinch (on pg 400 of 771) before it's due back at the library this Friday. It's fine, but I don't think I'm going to end up being one of the people who LOVE this book. Needs some editing in my opinion--could have been half the length. Lot's of nothing going on plot-wise, though Tartt definitely draws her characters very well. So many different types of people and I can picture them all perfectly and feel like I know them.

 

Also finished Philomena this week. I read it with interest but didn't have much empathy for the main character (who was not Philomena but her son Anthony/Michael). Also started Sue Monk Kidd's The Invention of Wings which I'm reading on the kindle while on the treadmill. This is our next book club pick which we usually require to be out in paperback but everyone agreed to go with this one--kindle is about as cheap as paperback anyway. I do like the kindle for the treadmill. And I think I'm going to enjoy this book.

 

Looking forward to being done with the rush of library hold books and get back to others that are hanging around the house.

[shukriyya]

Also started Sue Monk Kidd's The Invention of Wings which I'm reading on the kindle while on the treadmill. This is our next book club pick which we usually require to be out in paperback but everyone agreed to go with this one--kindle is about as cheap as paperback anyway. I do like the kindle for the treadmill. And I think I'm going to enjoy this book.

 

Looking forward to being done with the rush of library hold books and get back to others that are hanging around the house.

I've got this book queued up on my overdrive acct. I think I'm now something like 50 out of 150 waiting for it so it'll likely be a few weeks before it's available.

[Pam in CT]

Last week I finished Anita Diamant's Day After Night, a historical fiction piece which told the stories of five women who had made their way to a relocation center in British Mandate Palestine just after WWII -- it doesn't really have much of a plot, but is an interesting sketch of juncture in time that I don't know much about.  Also, Elizabeth Byler Younts' recounting of her grandmother's early life, Seasons: A Real Story of an Amish Girl, a sweet and sympathetic peek into another very different world.

 

And yesterday I uncovered all kinds of treasure at my library's annual book sale... so last night I stayed up late finishing this gilded 1947 edition ($2!) of Omar Khayyam's Rubaiyat, which... perhaps I was in a strange state of mind... had me laughing out loud, which was not at all what I expected.  If I were to take Eliana's advice from last week and pull together our own version of a Passover haggadah (which several of my guests also advised, though the mere thought is enough to catapult myself into the bathroom chanting "la,la,la..." with my fingers pressed firmly in my ears), I would definitely include this passage, to be read after the obligatory 4th cup of wine and its attendant and interminable debates:

 

How long, how long, in infinite pursuit

of this and that endeavor and dispute?

Better be merry with the fruitful Grape

then sadden after none, or bitter fruit.... (v. 39)

 

The Grape that can with logic absolute

the two-and-seventy jarring sects confute:

the Subtle Alchemist that in a trice

life's leaden metal into gold transmute.  (v. 43)

 

 

Still in progress are: Fault in Our Stars, which my daughter and I are both enjoying; VS Naipul's Beyond Belief: Islamic Excursions among the Converted Peoples, about Islam in non-Arab regions -- I've just started and have yet to really understand his thesis, here; Thomas Merton's Dialogues of Silence, which I also picked up at the library sale and which is peppered with his drawings, some of which are absolutely lovely -- who knew???!; and the audio version of Yasmin Crowther's Saffron Kitchen, a mother-daughter tale spanning pre-revolution Iran and modern London.  The horned Celtic monster of the Tain keeps eyeing me menacingly from the bedside table, daring me to finish before the imminent due date.  We'll see.

[Pam in CT]

Oh, and, Heather's comment re: free books jarred a question for y'all:  I cannot find one single book on the kindle lending library list this month that I have any desire to read... any suggestions?

[mumto2]

Oh, and, Heather's comment re: free books jarred a question for y'all:  I cannot find one single book on the kindle lending library list this month that I have any desire to read... any suggestions?

I always have a hard time finding a book but feel like I must each month. :lol:  I read Havana Lost a couple of months ago and rather enjoyed it.  Just checked and it still is prime.  I also have read all four of the Hangman's Daughter books which I enjoyed overall.  Right now I have a fluffy historical that I can't seem to start.  

 

Would love to hear what others have enjoyed.

[Onceuponatime]

I had Snow Flower and Secret Fan on my list, but I wasn't in any hurry to read it. Guess what I found for 58 cents at the thrift store today? I guess it gets bumped up now.

[Just Robyn]

I always have a hard time finding a book but feel like I must each month. 

 

Would love to hear what others have enjoyed.

 

There are some Vonnegut books available and Arthur C. Clarke, too. Some of the books in the Write Great Fiction series are available in the lending library. I borrowed Casino Royale, but I can't say I particularly enjoyed it.

 

I'd also like to hear what others have borrowed. I think it's difficult to find anything because you have to sift through so many books that look like they won't be any good.

[Stacia]

There are some Vonnegut books available

 

I don't have amazon prime (or whatever you're mentioning re: the free monthly download), but I do love Vonnegut. For those that have never read him, I recommend trying him at least once. Imo, he is one of the great writers of the 20th century.

[shukriyya]

Oh, and, Heather's comment re: free books jarred a question for y'all:  I cannot find one single book on the kindle lending library list this month that I have any desire to read... any suggestions?

 

I rarely find anything on it but your query sent me to the Amazon lending library where I found, for free, a kindle pre-release called I am Livia by Phyllis T. Smith. From the editor ::

 

Back in the mid-’70s, I was a HUGE fan of the PBS adaption of Robert Graves’ modern classic, I, Claudius. A delicious melding of highbrow history and political intrigue, sprinkled with steamy sex (well, for 1976, anyway)—man, I just ate it up. It also initiated a lifelong love of fiction with the milieu of ancient Rome. Which is why, almost forty years later, when a manuscript entitled I Am Livia (Livia is the grande dame of I, Claudius—think Katharine Hepburn in The Lion in Winter), crossed my desk, I knew I’d take a look. What I didn’t know was how much I’d love it, and how nothing else except reading was going to get done that day.

It turns out author Phyllis Smith felt the same way I did about the PBS series and Graves’ books. In fact, they led her to take a course on ancient Roman history—and a fascination with the period was born. One thing always bothered Phyllis, though: she thought the men who wrote the history books gave Livia a raw deal, so she wanted to offer her some historical justice. Was she the sociopathic monster of popular lore, or was there another side to the story?

 

The result of Phyllis’s inquiry is a highly polished and compelling tale of ancient Rome narrated by Livia Drusilla herself, wife of Caesar Octavianus, who defeated Marc Antony and Cleopatra in the Battle of Actium. OK, maybe she did make her first husband walk her down the aisle when she left him for Caesar, and a few children she knew might have met untimely deaths, but this Livia treats herself more kindly than history has. In fact, one of the things Phyllis is most proud of (and surprised by) is how writing the book in Livia’s voice gave her a certain empathy for her protagonist that many male historians have glossed over. The story becomes a fascinating study of a woman who learns to survive—not an easy task in her era, when all the “real†power was held by men.

 

I Am Livia is many things: a sweeping, sometimes shocking immersion in an intriguing period of history; a touching love story between two people who never really stood a chance; and, most important, the debut of a major new writing talent.

 

I think someone on this thread might have mentioned this book or read it? At any rate I'm toying with the idea of an Ancients for one of my 5/5/5 and it looked an intriguing enough read so I took advantage of the freebie. Not sure why it's showing up as free for me but, hey, I'm not complaining one little bit :D So you might check that out and maybe it'll be free for you, too. 

 

[Stacia]

Sometimes I dip into books just to be able to understand what everyone else is talking about. Even starting a book and tossing it aside has value, because then I know for sure that it isn't my cup of tea, and why.

 

I love this point you make.

 

Yes, I do that too -- partially because I'm sometimes nosy about what others are reading, even if I feel pretty sure that it won't appeal to me. :lol:

[shukriyya]

I love this point you make.

 

Yes, I do that too -- partially because I'm sometimes nosy about what others are reading, even if I feel pretty sure that it won't appeal to me. :lol:

 

That's called surfing the parallel universes  :lol:

[Stacia]

That's called surfing the parallel universes  :lol:

 

Nah. I feel pretty sure my other, parallel selves wouldn't like them either. I'm pretty opinionated & I think that trait crosses universes. ;)

[shukriyya]

Nah. I feel pretty sure my other, parallel selves wouldn't like them either. I'm pretty opinionated & I think that trait crosses universes. ;)

 

 

 

 

Well, I'm not sure I agree but I like your confidence :D

[Guest]

I had Snow Flower and Secret Fan on my list, but I wasn't in any hurry to read it. Guess what I found for 58 cents at the thrift store today? I guess it gets bumped up now.

 

I hope you enjoy it. :)

 

 

I can't get past the horror of foot binding to appreciate the embroidery. I'm close minded I guess.

 

By posting that picture, I hope I didn't downplay how horrific that it was. What I found so fascinating was that these women, who endured such terrible treatment, created beauty amidst the atrocity. I thought the book demonstrated their strength in the face of adversity - they created these stunning shoes for their friends, for their family, for themselves - when I would have been broken. Granted, their choices were conform to this culture or commit suicide, but I found it tremendously telling of their inner spirit and strength. And yes, I was blown away by how intricate these designs were in a day and age before machinery - this was what came of the hands of these poor, abused women. I found these pictures to be a testimony to the greatness of women.

[Stacia]

Happy Birthday, Harper Lee!

 

Fun list: 4 Awesome Things Harper Lee Did After 'Mockingbird'

[Narrow Gate Academy]

I completed one book this past week Black Order by Rollins and reviewed it.  Decided to set aside Herodotus for now and had to return Till Then We Had Faces.  I'll have another go at them at some point in the future.  

 

To be read:

Medea to discuss with DD

feeling like I should read some non-fiction after 9 fiction books in a row, but on the other hand the girls are asking for suggestions of new books to read so I may read some YA books instead

 

In progress:

Bible - caught back up and nearing the end of 2 Kings

History of the Ancient World by Bauer - met my goal of 6 chapters finishing through chapter 40

Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane by Collins - read aloud with the boys

 

Finished:

 

25.  Black Order by Rollins (BaW, Germany/Nepal/South Africa)

24.  Michael Vey: the Prisoner of Cell 25 by Evans (USA)

23.  Urchin and the Heartstone by McAllister

22.  Gregor the Overlander by Collins

21.  The Prince of Mist by Zafon

20.  St. Peter's Fair by Peters (12th century, England)

19.  Monk's Hood by Peters (12th century, England)

18.  Map of Bones by Rollins (BaW rec, Italy/Germany/France)

17.  W.A.R.P. Book 1 The Reluctant Assassin by Colfer

16.  Getting Things Done by Allen (non-fiction 646.7)

15.  Urchin of the Riding Stars by McAllister

14.  Agamemnon by Aeschylus (ancient lit, Greece, 882)

13.  One Corpse Too Many by Peters (12th century, England)

12.  Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles (ancient lit, Greece, 882)

11.  Oedipus the King by Sophocles  (ancient lit, Greece, 882)

10.  The Week That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Bradley (BaW rec, England)

9.  Quiet:  The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Cain (non-fiction 155)

8.  Sandstorm by Rollins (BaW rec, Oman)

7.  The War of the Worlds by Wells (classic lit, Great Britain)

6.  A Morbid Taste for Bones by Peters (12th century, Great Britain)

5.  Anitgone by Sophocles (ancient lit, Greece, 882)

4.  Secrets of an Organized Mom  by Reich (non-fiction 648.5)

3.  Phantastes by MacDonald (classic lit)

2.  The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Bradley (BaW rec, Great Britain)

1.  The Odyssey by Homer (ancient lit, Greece 883.1)

 

 

[mumto2]

Just finished Three Silent Things: A village mystery by Margaret Mayhew. It was pretty much as advertised in the title a very competent British cozy done in a slightly more current setting than Miss Marple.  The Colonel was a good main character and the mystery so so, but I looked forward to turning the pages quite a bit so gave it 4* for that reason alone. :lol:  I definitely be reading more. The author also has some novels set in exotic places -- I looked at a WWII one in Singapore that will eventually need to be tried.  This was the random book from the library challenge so a good find!

[shukriyya]

I'm almost three quarters of the way through "The Night Circus" and loving it. That is all :D

[Murmer]

Oh, and, Heather's comment re: free books jarred a question for y'all:  I cannot find one single book on the kindle lending library list this month that I have any desire to read... any suggestions?

I just finished Meant to Be by Terri Osburn...which was my kindle lending book for this month...if you are up for cute fluffy romance (it has scenes) also as warning it does use the f word a few times in the book for those that like to avoid scenes and that word (I would say about 15 - 20 times in the book not every page).

 

Now on to reading The Fearful Rise of Markets by John Authers...this one may take me a while.

[Mom-ninja.]

I'm almost three quarters of the way through "The Night Circus" and loving it. That is all :D

 

Of course you are. Did you ever doubt us?

 

[Jane in NC]

Now that I am home from my travels, I can finish reading the library books that I abandoned in progress: This Rough Magic and The Language of Baklava.  I am also reading Miss Buncle's Book, one of those English novels with a small town setting from earlier in the 20th century.  Readers who like E.M. Delafield's Provincial Lady books would like this story by D.E. Stevenson. Another comparison might be E.F. Benson's Lucia books but they are much sillier.

 

A bit of an update on me:  After spending the Easter weekend with family and family friends, I went off to Paducah, KY, with two girlfriends. While one friend was engaged in a three day intensive course on appraising quilts, the other friend and I wandered.  The National Quilt Museum in Paducah has an amazing show called Distortion.  The entries are not the sort of quilt one would put on a bed.  I hesitate to use the term "art quilt" since quilters themselves are at odds about terminology.  But I will say that while I greatly appreciate the craft in the traditional quilt, I am blown away by some of the quilts that are like paintings made with thread on cloth.  I also had the chance to hear a lecture by Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi who curated an exhibition at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, a show entitled And Still We Rise.  Dr. Mazloomi is an engaging speaker and quilter!

 

I learned a lot and also acquired some gorgeous fabrics for my own sewing projects. 

 

It was a lot of fun to spend five nights in a cabin at a state park with girlfriends. We cooked dinners together, drank wine, solved the world's problems and giggled like high schoolers.  The girlfriends particularly needed to escape to a slightly warmer climate after the challenges of a brutal winter.  Sitting outside with coffee was pure bliss for them--and for me since I don't see my friends from other parts of the country as often as I would like.

 

The occasional wifi connection let me keep an eye on y'all to make sure you were behaving.

 

Jane (who obviously lacks a smart phone)

[CAMom]

Loved Night Circus, Unwind, The Alchemist, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. :)

 

Looking forward to a review on Unwholly!

 

So far...meh...I'm half way in.

 

It's not all that coherent in my opinion. There's the introduction of several new characters but then they get dropped for a long time and then get picked up again but with no real common thread to the rest of them. When he comes back to one of them I find myself trying to remember what was going on the last time they appeared.

 

I'm trusting they all get tied in together later. :)

[shukriyya]

Now that I am home from my travels, I can finish reading the library books that I abandoned in progress: This Rough Magic and The Language of Baklava.  I am also reading Miss Buncle's Book, one of those English novels with a small town setting from earlier in the 20th century.  Readers who like E.M. Delafield's Provincial Lady books would like this story by D.E. Stevenson. Another comparison might be E.F. Benson's Lucia books but they are much sillier.

 

A bit of an update on me:  After spending the Easter weekend with family and family friends, I went off to Paducah, KY, with two girlfriends. While one friend was engaged in a three day intensive course on appraising quilts, the other friend and I wandered.  The National Quilt Museum in Paducah has an amazing show called Distortion.  The entries are not the sort of quilt one would put on a bed.  I hesitate to use the term "art quilt" since quilters themselves are at odds about terminology.  But I will say that while I greatly appreciate the craft in the traditional quilt, I am blown away by some of the quilts that are like paintings made with thread on cloth.  I also had the chance to hear a lecture by Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi who curated an exhibition at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, a show entitled And Still We Rise.  Dr. Mazloomi is an engaging speaker and quilter!

 

I learned a lot and also acquired some gorgeous fabrics for my own sewing projects. 

 

 

Re the bolded...this makes me think of my mom. She was an amazing quilter, not in the amount she produced but in her vision. Her quilts were made of batiks, dupioni silks, lawn cotton...gorgeous works of art and very non-traditional. I have one on my bed, some of the pieces in it are from my father's lovely shirts from the seventies as well as pieces from my grandmother's table cloth and even fabric from some of the dresses she smocked for me when I was a wee thing. Lovely to have that kind of continuity wrapped around one.

 

 

It was a lot of fun to spend five nights in a cabin at a state park with girlfriends. We cooked dinners together, drank wine, solved the world's problems and giggled like high schoolers.  The girlfriends particularly needed to escape to a slightly warmer climate after the challenges of a brutal winter.  Sitting outside with coffee was pure bliss for them--and for me since I don't see my friends from other parts of the country as often as I would like.

 

The occasional wifi connection let me keep an eye on y'all to make sure you were behaving.

 

 

This sounds heavenly! And your enthusiastic description allowed me to have my own little vicarious woman's gathering :D

 

As to our behaving in your absence...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jane in NC]

 

 

As to our behaving in your absence...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And you probably ate all the chocolate while I was gone too!

 

[mumto2]

Currently 41% through Night Circus and am having a few problems keeping track of the characters myself.  I am enjoying it but not loving it right now but I think major events may be about to happen so that could change.  Trying to read paper while at home because out all day with the dc's tomorrow and think I will be able to read while they attend their math event at the University tomorrow.  To far to come home.  So planning to finish it there.

[Alice]

Mothersweets: Project Runway is also my most guilty pleasure. My excuse is that I sew.

 

 

 

I also love Project Runway. I don't sew a stitch. Dh even does the Scout patches. :) I think I like it though because I can't even begin to imagine how they do what they do. It's really pure escapism for me. 

 

Currently trying to get through The Goldfinch (on pg 400 of 771) before it's due back at the library this Friday. It's fine, but I don't think I'm going to end up being one of the people who LOVE this book. Needs some editing in my opinion--could have been half the length. Lot's of nothing going on plot-wise, though Tartt definitely draws her characters very well. So many different types of people and I can picture them all perfectly and feel like I know them.

 

 

I just finished The Goldfinch. I liked it quite a bit. I think it gets more meaty towards the end although I agree somewhat about the editing. The middle gets a bit bogged down. In the end though it's a book that I think will stick with me for awhile. 

 

I also just finished B. J. Novak's One More Thing, which is a collection of short stories/fiction. Some of it is very short, almost more jokes than a story. Some are sketches, some are more traditional stories. I liked it for the most part although he has a very cynical voice. He's smart and clever and funny but I felt a little depressed after reading the whole thing. I think it would have been better to read one or two selections every few days or so but it was due back at the library so I had to read it in a chunk which didn't work for me. To give you an idea of what it's like: one of the funnier selections is a story about Wikipedia Brown, boy detective. 

 

I have a stack of 16 books out of the library now. I'm not sure what I'm thinking. :)

 

ETA: I listened to The Night Circus a few years ago on audiobook. The narrator is Jim Dale who is excellent. If anyone is interested in it but not up for tackling it, I'd recommend the audio version. 

[shukriyya]

Currently 41% through Night Circus and am having a few problems keeping track of the characters myself.  I am enjoying it but not loving it right now but I think major events may be about to happen so that could change.  Trying to read paper while at home because out all day with the dc's tomorrow and think I will be able to read while they attend their math event at the University tomorrow.  To far to come home.  So planning to finish it there.

 

Mumto2, I'll be interested to hear how you end up feeling about the book. I'm loving it and where normally I have trouble keeping track of characters with The Night Circus, for some reason, I'm not. I find the little vignettes not only easy to hold in my mind but preferable to longer character/scene development. I feel immersed in its diaphanous, fey, magical, beautiful world. I'm slowing down my reading to make the enjoyment last because I know this'll be a tough one to follow. 

[mumto2]

 

I have a stack of 16 books out of the library now. I'm not sure what I'm thinking. :)

 

You are thinking about improving your local library's circulation numbers.;)  At least that is what I feel myself!

[Shawneinfl]

 

I rarely find anything on it but your query sent me to the Amazon lending library where I found, for free, a kindle pre-release called I am Livia by Phyllis T. Smith. From the editor ::

 

Back in the mid-’70s, I was a HUGE fan of the PBS adaption of Robert Graves’ modern classic, I, Claudius. A delicious melding of highbrow history and political intrigue, sprinkled with steamy sex (well, for 1976, anyway)—man, I just ate it up. It also initiated a lifelong love of fiction with the milieu of ancient Rome. Which is why, almost forty years later, when a manuscript entitled I Am Livia (Livia is the grande dame of I, Claudius—think Katharine Hepburn in The Lion in Winter), crossed my desk, I knew I’d take a look. What I didn’t know was how much I’d love it, and how nothing else except reading was going to get done that day.

It turns out author Phyllis Smith felt the same way I did about the PBS series and Graves’ books. In fact, they led her to take a course on ancient Roman history—and a fascination with the period was born. One thing always bothered Phyllis, though: she thought the men who wrote the history books gave Livia a raw deal, so she wanted to offer her some historical justice. Was she the sociopathic monster of popular lore, or was there another side to the story?

 

The result of Phyllis’s inquiry is a highly polished and compelling tale of ancient Rome narrated by Livia Drusilla herself, wife of Caesar Octavianus, who defeated Marc Antony and Cleopatra in the Battle of Actium. OK, maybe she did make her first husband walk her down the aisle when she left him for Caesar, and a few children she knew might have met untimely deaths, but this Livia treats herself more kindly than history has. In fact, one of the things Phyllis is most proud of (and surprised by) is how writing the book in Livia’s voice gave her a certain empathy for her protagonist that many male historians have glossed over. The story becomes a fascinating study of a woman who learns to survive—not an easy task in her era, when all the “real†power was held by men.

 

I Am Livia is many things: a sweeping, sometimes shocking immersion in an intriguing period of history; a touching love story between two people who never really stood a chance; and, most important, the debut of a major new writing talent.

 

I think someone on this thread might have mentioned this book or read it? At any rate I'm toying with the idea of an Ancients for one of my 5/5/5 and it looked an intriguing enough read so I took advantage of the freebie. Not sure why it's showing up as free for me but, hey, I'm not complaining one little bit :D So you might check that out and maybe it'll be free for you, too. 

 

I remember I, Claudius, My dad was a history prof. so we spent lots of time watching PBS. I think that show is what made me take a rash of ancient history and mythology classes in college which led to me having to graduate a semester late.

 

Now that I am home from my travels, I can finish reading the library books that I abandoned in progress: This Rough Magic and The Language of Baklava.  I am also reading Miss Buncle's Book, one of those English novels with a small town setting from earlier in the 20th century.  Readers who like E.M. Delafield's Provincial Lady books would like this story by D.E. Stevenson. Another comparison might be E.F. Benson's Lucia books but they are much sillier.

 

A bit of an update on me:  After spending the Easter weekend with family and family friends, I went off to Paducah, KY, with two girlfriends. While one friend was engaged in a three day intensive course on appraising quilts, the other friend and I wandered.  The National Quilt Museum in Paducah has an amazing show called Distortion.  The entries are not the sort of quilt one would put on a bed.  I hesitate to use the term "art quilt" since quilters themselves are at odds about terminology.  But I will say that while I greatly appreciate the craft in the traditional quilt, I am blown away by some of the quilts that are like paintings made with thread on cloth.  I also had the chance to hear a lecture by Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi who curated an exhibition at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, a show entitled And Still We Rise.  Dr. Mazloomi is an engaging speaker and quilter!

 

I learned a lot and also acquired some gorgeous fabrics for my own sewing projects. 

 

It was a lot of fun to spend five nights in a cabin at a state park with girlfriends. We cooked dinners together, drank wine, solved the world's problems and giggled like high schoolers.  The girlfriends particularly needed to escape to a slightly warmer climate after the challenges of a brutal winter.  Sitting outside with coffee was pure bliss for them--and for me since I don't see my friends from other parts of the country as often as I would like.

 

The occasional wifi connection let me keep an eye on y'all to make sure you were behaving.

 

Jane (who obviously lacks a smart phone)

I love quilt shows. I bet that was fabulous.

 

I also love Project Runway. I don't sew a stitch. Dh even does the Scout patches. :) I think I like it though because I can't even begin to imagine how they do what they do. It's really pure escapism for me. 

 

 

ETA: I listened to The Night Circus a few years ago on audiobook. The narrator is Jim Dale who is excellent. If anyone is interested in it but not up for tackling it, I'd recommend the audio version. 

I don't sew either. My mother taught me "why sew when you can staple" :laugh:  I do love to cross stitch but I never think that counts as sewing.

 

Thanks for the heads up about The Night Circus on audio. I just got a new Audible credit and I'm itching to spend it.

[shukriyya]

And you probably ate all the chocolate while I was gone too!

 

 

Managed to save you just one. It was hard, though, with this group :D

 

 

 

[shukriyya]

I remember I, Claudius, My dad was a history prof. so we spent lots of time watching PBS. I think that show is what made me take a rash of ancient history and mythology classes in college which led to me having to graduate a semester late.

 

I love quilt shows. I bet that was fabulous.

 

I don't sew either. My mother taught me "why sew when you can staple" :laugh:  I do love to cross stitch but I never think that counts as sewing.

 

Thanks for the heads up about The Night Circus on audio. I just got a new Audible credit and I'm itching to spend it.

 

I'll have to look out for that series and see if it's available on Netflix or Amazon. I remember it when it came out, my father particularly was taken with it. 

 

Re the bolded...I did too. I'm going with some more Clarissa Pinkola Estes...Mother Night : Myths, Stories and Teachings for Learning to See in the Dark is my pick for the month. She's almost better listened to than read.

[mumto2]

Shukriyya-- You might enjoy Paul Maier http://historical-fiction-review.blogspot.co.uk/2005/06/pontius-pilate-roman-perspective-of.html as part of your 5/5/5 idea.  I had a Roman reading spree a couple of years ago and his are what I remember best.  Before I kept a list so the rest are history unless I spot one on the shelf someplace. Rather sad.

[shukriyya]

Shukriyya-- You might enjoy Paul Maier http://historical-fiction-review.blogspot.co.uk/2005/06/pontius-pilate-roman-perspective-of.html as part of your 5/5/5 idea.  I had a Roman reading spree a couple of years ago and his are what I remember best.  Before I kept a list so the rest are history unless I spot one on the shelf someplace. Rather sad.

 

Thanks for the link, mumto2. It looks compelling. 

 

My 5/5/5 historical fiction has taken a few convoluted turns but I think I've settled on (mostly) 'western ancients from the woman's perspective'. I've lined up five books so far that I think will give me a different glimpse into those times and I've managed to cover a few civilizations; Roman, Greek, Egyptian, and Middle Eastern with a bit of overlap. Happy to list them if there's interest.  

[Robin M]

Halfway through Name of the Rose and just have to laugh at young monk's sinful encounter for an unknown female

 

But her head rose proudly on a neck as white as an ivory tower, her eyes were clear as the pools of Heshbon, her nose was as the tower of Lebanon, her hair like purple. Yes, her tresses seemed to me like a flock of goats, her teeth like flocks of sheep coming up from their bath, all in pairs, so that none preceded its companion.  :ohmy:

 

And he goes on to wax poetic through out the whole encounter. 

 

Which brings me to Random House's 5 Ingredients for a Good Reading Experience.

 

Since Stacia introduced me to Archipelago Book and I've since purchased a couple translated stories, (Blinding and The Great Weaver of Kashmir)have been following who won this year's Best Translated book awards.

 

World Literature Today highlights the top 10 Japanese Authors of the past decade.

 

Be sure to check out author Brenda Novak's On Line Auction for Diabetes running the whole month of May.

 

 

 

[Rosie_0801]

Not to hijack, but...   :laugh: ... in my own spiritual journey, which has been enriched and deepened by relationships with people from various traditions, formal interfaith discussion groups, and lots and lots of reading... I have very often found that "the source" is not the most accessible starting point in understanding other traditions... for me the best starting point is a friendship with a real person who lives a tradition deeply and is willing to talk (not evangelize) about it...  If that's not at hand, next best for me are those gentle interpreters/translators of the tradition, like Thich Nhat Hanh or Michael Sells, who are explicitly and intentionally writing to an audience whom they understand not to have groundwork...

 

Sure, but from my own spiritual point of view, (not the only pov I've got :p ) the original source is not important to me. I'm not in search of purity.

[Lady Florida.]

Welcome back to everyone from your lenten or traveling journeys. Have missed your smiling faces!

 

Currently reading The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco (with dictionary in hand  :laugh: ) and enjoying the story.  About a 1/3 of the way in and it's slow going.  Thankful I've been reading other historicals within the same time frame because have a better sense of what is going on with regards to conversations.  Can tell rabbit trails a plenty are going to be springing up before my eyes.

 

That one took work to get through but it was totally worth it. I read it last fall, and reading it brought quite a surprise. Dh is not a big reader, and most of the time I help him find something he would like. However he has read some pretty good books, many of them before we met. When I started reading it, he told me he read it. We had a good discussion about it after I finished. After 20 years of marriage (and 22 together) the man can still surprise me. :D

[Lady Florida.]

 

 

Gunn's Golden Rules: Life Little Lessons for Making It Work - Ok, so Project Runway is my most recent guilty pleasure. I have been getting the dvds from the library and watching each season in a few days - so far I have watched season 7 and seasons 1 through 3. I saw this book at the library and picked it up thinking it might be interesting to see what Tim thought of some of the contestants and was pleasantly surprised. Mr. Gunn is just so nice. He stresses in the book how important it is to be fair, kind, and to take the high road when dealing with difficult people. Good read!

 

 

I like watching Project Runway, too!  I sew and love to think about what I would create.  I might have to take a look at that book.  Thanks!

 

 

That show is one of my secret pleasures too. I don't like reality shows and am not into fashion at all, so I don't even know why I like it. I do like to sew but I don't think that's it. Gunn might actually be one of the reasons I like it so much.

 

I finished The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie yesterday. I adored it!    

 

I finally put this on hold at the library. I'm really in need of a light, fun mystery. 

Another week & still nothing finished.

 

I haven't read as much as I would have liked to this far into the year. I have so many books going, and finally decided to just concentrate on no more than 2 at a time (plus 1 audio book).

 

I'm 3/4 of the way through Game of Thrones and, now that I have most of the main characters down, I am hooked. 

 

Dh and I are caught up on the show, so while we're both reading the books, we're doing it from the perspective of having watched the show. He's a bit ahead of me. It's one of the books I'm going to put aside while I finish some of the others I started earlier.

 

Now that I am half-way through the 52 books challenge, I looked at my other challenge... To buy less books and use more free options. I was aiming for 50% of each. Well, so far I have bought 16 and checked out 10.

 

 

 

I try to buy very few books, at least when it comes to fiction. I get as much as possible from the library, from the Kindle First program, or the Kindle Owner's Lending Library. I don't remember - Do you read ebooks? Are you able to get them from the a U.S. library? If not, I can see why you'd need to buy most of your books. If I wasn't able to get library books, I'd spend a lot more on books than I currently do.

[Lady Florida.]

Oh, and, Heather's comment re: free books jarred a question for y'all:  I cannot find one single book on the kindle lending library list this month that I have any desire to read... any suggestions?

 

I hardly ever find anything there that I'm either interested in or haven't already read. I don't know what you would like or have read but -

 

All of the Harry Potter books are available.

The Hunger Games series

The Hangman's Daughter series (I've read all but the last one)

As was mentioned, many Vonnegut books

In addition to Casino Royale, I think a number of other James Bond books are in the lending library

 

I rarely find anything on it but your query sent me to the Amazon lending library where I found, for free, a kindle pre-release called I am Livia by Phyllis T. Smith. From the editor ::

I picked this up through the Kindle First program, after someone here mentioned it. I haven't started it yet but it looks interesting. It's in the lending library.

[Lady Florida.]

I recently finished Telex from Cuba, by Rachel Kushner. I read The Flamethrowers last year, and while I liked the story in Telex better, I thought The Flamethrowers writing was better.

 

I also finished Hitler's Furies: German Women in the Nazi Killing Fields. It was a difficult read in that some descriptions were graphic, but I'm glad I read it. We have a lot of misconceptions about what women are capable of. Many of the women named in the book didn't have to commit murder. They weren't soldiers following orders. They were mostly wives, girlfriends (often mistresses), and secretaries. Their accusers often were quoted as saying they could not believe a woman capable of such evil acts. The passage below really stood out to me.

 

"To assume that violence is not a feminine characteristic and that women are not capable of mass murder has obvious appeal: it allows for hope that at least half of the human race will not devour the other, that it will protect the children and so safeguard the future. But minimizing the violent behavior of women creates a false shield against a more direct confrontation with genocide and its disconcerting realities."

 

Many of the women accused of war crimes were acquitted, especially in West Germany. The author points to gender bias as the reason. More were convicted in East Germany, but even there many of them were also either acquitted or received lesser punishment than their male counterparts. 

 

So yeah. I need something light and fluffy to read next.

[Jane in NC]

 

I love quilt shows. I bet that was fabulous.

 

I don't sew either. My mother taught me "why sew when you can staple" :laugh:  I do love to cross stitch but I never think that counts as sewing.

 

 

The American Quilt Society (AQS) sponsors shows across the country. Even non-quilters could enjoy a morning perusing the quilts that are entered into competition. Egyptian Tent Makers are at some of the shows demonstrating their traditional applique work that was becoming a lost art.  Great fun to watch their flying hands!

 

So I finished Miss Buncle's Book (which I bought for travel) and am happy to report that my library has the sequel, Miss Buncle Married. Although a glance at the growing stacks near my bedside led to a little chat with myself this morning on the need to return to the Dusty Book challenge. Sigh.

 

Strawberry scones are about to come out of the oven and coffee is on!  Come on over y'all!

[Stacia]

Finished Rivka Galchen's Atmospheric Disturbances. I enjoed it & loved how she portrayed a cracking mind, fracturing reality. There's an overall coolness & distance that sets the tone very well. Definitely recommended for some, though I suspect quite a few would not like this story.

 

Will have to post more later. My thoughts feel very disjointed as I've just gotten over 36 hours of food poisoning & i now have a tremendous headache.

[Jane in NC]

Finished Rivka Galchen's Atmospheric Disturbances. I enjoed it & loved how she portrayed a cracking mind, fracturing reality. There's an overall coolness & distance that sets the tone very well. Definitely recommended for some, though I suspect quite a few would not like this story.

 

Will have to post more later. My thoughts feel very disjointed as I've just gotten over 36 hours of food poisoning & i now have a tremendous headache.

 

Stacia! Food poisoning is rotten (no pun intended).  Hoping you feel better soon.

[Uff Da!]

Now that I am home from my travels, I can finish reading the library books that I abandoned in progress: This Rough Magic and The Language of Baklava.  I am also reading Miss Buncle's Book, one of those English novels with a small town setting from earlier in the 20th century.  Readers who like E.M. Delafield's Provincial Lady books would like this story by D.E. Stevenson. Another comparison might be E.F. Benson's Lucia books but they are much sillier.

 

A bit of an update on me:  After spending the Easter weekend with family and family friends, I went off to Paducah, KY, with two girlfriends. While one friend was engaged in a three day intensive course on appraising quilts, the other friend and I wandered.  The National Quilt Museum in Paducah has an amazing show called Distortion.  The entries are not the sort of quilt one would put on a bed.  I hesitate to use the term "art quilt" since quilters themselves are at odds about terminology.  But I will say that while I greatly appreciate the craft in the traditional quilt, I am blown away by some of the quilts that are like paintings made with thread on cloth.  I also had the chance to hear a lecture by Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi who curated an exhibition at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, a show entitled And Still We Rise.  Dr. Mazloomi is an engaging speaker and quilter!

 

I learned a lot and also acquired some gorgeous fabrics for my own sewing projects. 

 

It was a lot of fun to spend five nights in a cabin at a state park with girlfriends. We cooked dinners together, drank wine, solved the world's problems and giggled like high schoolers.  The girlfriends particularly needed to escape to a slightly warmer climate after the challenges of a brutal winter.  Sitting outside with coffee was pure bliss for them--and for me since I don't see my friends from other parts of the country as often as I would like.

 

The occasional wifi connection let me keep an eye on y'all to make sure you were behaving.

 

Jane (who obviously lacks a smart phone)

My art mentor was a textile artist as were a lot of the women who were part of my artist group way back when (before kids).  They would make the most beautiful, crazy quilts using mesh, metallics and things I would never think of for quilting.

 

Finished Rivka Galchen's Atmospheric Disturbances. I enjoed it & loved how she portrayed a cracking mind, fracturing reality. There's an overall coolness & distance that sets the tone very well. Definitely recommended for some, though I suspect quite a few would not like this story.

 

Will have to post more later. My thoughts feel very disjointed as I've just gotten over 36 hours of food poisoning & i now have a tremendous headache.

 

 

Hope you are feeling better today Stacia.

 

The Histories are slow going.  I think I'm going to need some light poetry or something to balance out my reading.

[Shawneinfl]

Finished Rivka Galchen's Atmospheric Disturbances. I enjoed it & loved how she portrayed a cracking mind, fracturing reality. There's an overall coolness & distance that sets the tone very well. Definitely recommended for some, though I suspect quite a few would not like this story.

 

Will have to post more later. My thoughts feel very disjointed as I've just gotten over 36 hours of food poisoning & i now have a tremendous headache.

 

Stacia, I hope you feel better soon. Food poisoning is the worst. I have almost a phobic fear of it.

 

[Mom-ninja.]

Stacia, hope you recover quickly.

[Pam in CT]

 

I hardly ever find anything there that I'm either interested in or haven't already read. I don't know what you would like or have read but -

 

All of the Harry Potter books are available.

The Hunger Games series

The Hangman's Daughter series (I've read all but the last one)

As was mentioned, many Vonnegut books

In addition to Casino Royale, I think a number of other James Bond books are in the lending library

 

 

I picked this up through the Kindle First program, after someone here mentioned it. I haven't started it yet but it looks interesting. It's in the lending library.

 

Thanks.  I had such high hopes for KLL but thus far it's been disappointing.  I don't want to spend as much time as I do trawling for something good -- I want an easy-to-search list.  And I'd like more "mainstream" books, not so many older series / backlists etc.  I would think it would be in Amazon's interest to rotate in a few new-ish title to drum up interest / create a marketing buzz; but they don't seem to think of it as that kind of tool.  Sigh.

 

 

I recently finished Telex from Cuba, by Rachel Kushner. I read The Flamethrowers last year, and while I liked the story in Telex better, I thought The Flamethrowers writing was better.

 

I also finished Hitler's Furies: German Women in the Nazi Killing Fields. It was a difficult read in that some descriptions were graphic, but I'm glad I read it. We have a lot of misconceptions about what women are capable of. Many of the women named in the book didn't have to commit murder. They weren't soldiers following orders. They were mostly wives, girlfriends (often mistresses), and secretaries. Their accusers often were quoted as saying they could not believe a woman capable of such evil acts. The passage below really stood out to me.

 

"To assume that violence is not a feminine characteristic and that women are not capable of mass murder has obvious appeal: it allows for hope that at least half of the human race will not devour the other, that it will protect the children and so safeguard the future. But minimizing the violent behavior of women creates a false shield against a more direct confrontation with genocide and its disconcerting realities."

 

Many of the women accused of war crimes were acquitted, especially in West Germany. The author points to gender bias as the reason. More were convicted in East Germany, but even there many of them were also either acquitted or received lesser punishment than their male counterparts. 

 

So yeah. I need something light and fluffy to read next.

 

I'm waiting on this on my Excellent Library's e-book waitlist at your recommendation - thanks for this.

 

 

 

 

Jane - strawberry scones ??!!!  You.are.my.hero.

 

 

 

Will have to post more later. My thoughts feel very disjointed as I've just gotten over 36 hours of food poisoning & i now have a tremendous headache.

 

 

:grouphug:   Aww, honey... that is the worst.  Hope you feel better soon.

[shukriyya]

The American Quilt Society (AQS) sponsors shows across the country. Even non-quilters could enjoy a morning perusing the quilts that are entered into competition. Egyptian Tent Makers are at some of the shows demonstrating their traditional applique work that was becoming a lost art. Great fun to watch their flying hands!

 

So I finished Miss Buncle's Book (which I bought for travel) and am happy to report that my library has the sequel, Miss Buncle Married. Although a glance at the growing stacks near my bedside led to a little chat with myself this morning on the need to return to the Dusty Book challenge. Sigh.

 

Strawberry scones are about to come out of the oven and coffee is on! Come on over y'all!

Re the bolded, I am in!!

[shukriyya]

 

Will have to post more later. My thoughts feel very disjointed as I've just gotten over 36 hours of food poisoning & i now have a tremendous headache.

Posting from my tablet so no smilies. Just imagine a lot of group hugs. I hope you feel better and better and that you have someone to tend to you. I'm making you a virtual cup of peppermint tea in a pretty china cup to soothe your tum and lift your spirits :D

[Onceuponatime]

I think we need a recipe for strawberry scones. :drool5:

 

Hope you feel better quick Stacia.

 

I've started Boneshaker by Cherie Priest. This is one of those "just try it you might like it" attempts. So far it's not too bad. I reserve the right to quit at any time, though.

[Jane in NC]

I think we need a recipe for strawberry scones. :drool5:

 

The recipe I use can be found here.  I increase the chopped strawberries to at least a cup. Also I use either plain yogurt or buttermilk--whatever is on hand.  No frosting on scones for me but before baking I may sprinkle them with a bit of vanilla sugar or demerara sugar.

 

On another note, I just finished listening to Agatha Christie's Postern of Fate, a Tommy and Tuppence mystery.  I am unacquainted with the Tommy and Tuppence books so perhaps I should not have started with the last one.  Should I read the others?  Frankly I was a little disappointed.