Book a Week in 2014 - BW18

[JennW in SoCal]

Kept the tv off tonight to read and managed to finish Strange Bodies.  This reviewer at Tor.com does a far, far better job explaining the book than I could ever do, and I totally agree with her on the pacing of the book.  Though she doesn't come out and say this, I think she felt the need to have a dictionary and wikipedia handy while reading.  BUT I absolutely recommend it!  

[Mom-ninja.]

:willy_nilly:  :willy_nilly:  :willy_nilly:

 

This is how I feel having just spent some time on my Amazon tbr list and my GR tbr list. Sooooo many titles and books I want to get to and my snail's pace isn't allowing for it. 

You're not the only one. A few months ago my Amazon tbr list was 7 pages. I deleted it down to 3. It's back up to 7. 

 

I wish I was a speed reader like Eliana.

 

 

I have a question: how many hours do you read per day? Aside from reading, do you maintain your other hobbies if you have any? How much time do you spend on other hobbies? Thanks!

My other hobby is exercise. If I have to choose between reading and exercise I will go with exercise. It's like air to me. I can't live without it. Of course, so is reading, and if I don't read daily I feel incomplete but not insane as when I don't exercise. Right now I have an injured knee (first real knee injury) and I'm going crazy not being bale to do my normal routine. Crazy I tell you. 

 

So to make myself feel like I'm doing something I read a fitness book! :lol:  I liked it. I learned a few things. Can't wait until I'm 100% again!

 

 

 

 

 

I remember the luxury of being able to curl up in the plum tree and read all day. Or at least until my butt got sore and I had to relocate.  :laugh:

I used to sit for hours in a tree at the park and read all day. I'd fall asleep in the tree sometimes. I feel sorry for my kids because they can not have the same experience. 

 

 

 

Along with finishing the fitness book above I also finished The Wicked Wit of Jane Austen. She seems like a very fun person. I like to think that we would have been friends if we lived in the same time and place. I hope she would have liked me.

[Onceuponatime]

Today I experienced two achronisms while reading, at least I think they are achronisms. The first was in Boneshaker. It talked about a building being built from money made from selling Smith-Corona typewriters, which didn't exist  at that time (around the Civil War). This was like seeing a Mr. Coffee coffee pot in the movie Apollo 13.

 

The second was in Call It Courage. The author calls the side of a handmade primitive polynesian canoe a gunwhale. It just sounds so incongruous. I've read the book aloud to each of my kids and never caught that before.

 

Do you remember ever encountering information in books that didn't match the time or the place?

 

 

 

My favorite place to read growing up was a tree house high up in an oak in our backyard. My mother could not tell if I was up there and she didn't climb. So I could lay flat and still when she called outside and pretend I wasn't there. My mother had definite ideas about how much reading was good for one and there was a limit.

[shukriyya]

For those who have read The Night Circus, what did you think of the ending? I feel like I missed some piece or else the author missed some piece of it. Or maybe I need to go back and reread the ending.

[shukriyya]

I have a question: how many hours do you read per day? Aside from reading, do you maintain your other hobbies if you have any? How much time do you spend on other hobbies? Thanks!

 

I don't have a set amount of time I read each day. Some days I read for a few hours and other days maybe just 20 minutes. I'm talking about sustained, uninterrupted reading. It often happens early in the morning or late at night. Other hobbies include writing, knitting, painting--mainly watercolor. My knitting is on hold partly due to the weather and partly because I've lost the impetus for the project I started several months ago. It's a lovely shawl and the pattern is fun but I can't seem to climb back on board plus with summer coming up a wool shawl isn't inspiring me. 

 

Some of us Book a Week folk, like me, are empty nesters.  I can't speak for the other empty nesters, but you'd think I'd have all this free time to be reading books and working on hobbies (quilting and knitting/crocheting) but it isn't the case.  I'm not entirely sure why.  Part of is that I am working now, part of it, I hate to confess, is frittering away far too much time on line!  

 

So how much time do I read?  I listen to audiobooks in the car and sometimes while walking the dog.  I try to read at lunch time and sometimes before bed but House Hunters is on about that time and I simply need to know which 3 bedroom ranch in Milwaukee that young couple is going to pick!!  

 

I read much more during the homeschool years because I was reading while waiting for the kids at activities, reading the books I assigned so we could discuss, reading just to escape the general chaos of living 24/7 with kids.  

 

Re the bolded, I'm part of that club, too. And it's one of the reasons I joined up with the BaWers, to increase the amount of time I spend reading in an effort to balance out the encroaching screen time. No TV here though so I don't have to contend with that distraction. I'd likely be sucked into all manner of entertaining ephemera.

[shukriyya]

A question for the speed readers on this thread...Pam, Eliana, OnceUponaTime, Mumto2 and anyone else I've missed. How much time do you spend on the internet? Do you go online with intention and a time limit, with a specific quest or do you just hop on for fun or by habit? How much would you say your internet time is balanced by reading, what's the ratio? I'm really curious because I used to be quite a prodigious reader but the internet has seriously affected that. 

 

Also, just to humor me, how many here who consider themselves low-internet users are avid or enthusiastic gardeners? 

[mumto2]

For those who have read The Night Circus, what did you think of the ending? I feel like I missed some piece or else the author missed some piece of it. Or maybe I need to go back and reread the ending.

I am glad I am not the only one!  On reflection I can sort of understand it but I thought my problems were a result of being unable to keep the characters straight in a fluent manner.  I still think there are just too many and did not honestly get exactly what the game really was -- I get the basic concept but suspect I should be making a huge literary jump and can't.  

[shukriyya]

I am glad I am not the only one!  On reflection I can sort of understand it but I thought my problems were a result of being unable to keep the characters straight in a fluent manner.  I still think there are just too many and did not honestly get exactly what the game really was -- I get the basic concept but suspect I should be making a huge literary jump and can't.  

 

 

Thanks mumto2. For me it was less keeping the fluency of the characters straight and more that I felt like the author lacked color/texture/imagination right at the very end. It was almost as though the ending was like the Circus itself gradually thinning out, fading away, diminishing. Perhaps that was intentional on her part as I felt she was very aware of the actual form of her novel in relation to how things were unfolding on the pages, that the structure of her novel was an unseen character itself, kind of like the Prospero character who permeates the book with his insubstantiality. But I kind of doubt an author would go that far. 

 

I think I need to go and reread the last 30 or so pages. 

[Pam in CT]

A question for the speed readers on this thread...Pam, Eliana, OnceUponaTime, Mumto2 and anyone else I've missed. How much time do you spend on the internet? Do you go online with intention and a time limit, with a specific quest or do you just hop on for fun or by habit? How much would you say your internet time is balanced by reading, what's the ratio? I'm really curious because I used to be quite a prodigious reader but the internet has seriously affected that. 

 

Also, just to humor me, how many here who consider themselves low-internet users are avid or enthusiastic gardeners? 

 

 

 

While we're not empty nest, both my at-home kids are in brick-and-mortar school, and the eldest is off at college.  So I have a good hunk of time during most days.

 

I vary a lot in how much time I spend reading.  This week it's been a LOT - more than 3 hours a day -- because my daughter is prepping for a karate tournament and my son for a concert, both this weekend, so they've both spent long hours in distant locations practicing and I've spent much of the drive time on audio books and the wait time reading.  Also, it's been cold and rainy, so the garden hasn't beckoned.  (Dunno about avid -- I'd call myself a haphazard gardener...)

 

I don't watch TV -- we have one, but I only ever watch movies on it, and even that, perhaps once a month?  During the week, the internet is a distraction, particularly if the weather is bad and I'm not getting outside.  If I start to feel that it's too much of a vortex (like, OK, today -- I seem not to be able to stay away from the Ask A... threads) I start to set rules for myself until it dials back down.   I try to keep Friday night-Saturday night electronics free.

[Onceuponatime]

A question for the speed readers on this thread...Pam, Eliana, OnceUponaTime, Mumto2 and anyone else I've missed. How much time do you spend on the internet? Do you go online with intention and a time limit, with a specific quest or do you just hop on for fun or by habit? How much would you say your internet time is balanced by reading, what's the ratio? I'm really curious because I used to be quite a prodigious reader but the internet has seriously affected that. 

 

Also, just to humor me, how many here who consider themselves low-internet users are avid or enthusiastic gardeners? 

 

It's funny, I don't feel like a speed reader. I could get sooo much more done if I stayed off the internet.

I do feel like it is a bad habit. I am an avid gardener, but am going slow this year because I injured my shoulders last year from getting carried away with my shovel and hoe. :001_rolleyes:

 

The one thing in my favor is  my life is very laid back right now. My two introverted boys don't need a whole lot of help with schooling, compared to what I used do in the past. Housework doesn't take as much time with no littles.  I can't really go anywhere because dh takes my van to work and ds#2 uses his car for community college and work. So here we sit. 

 

I probably won't get much reading in this weekend. The grandson will be here. The energy level will rise. :)

[CAMom]

I'm half way into Before I go to Sleep.

 

It has me feeling very unsettled. I think I may be starting to piece it together. I guess we'll see when I get to the end. ;)

[Stacia]

Finished The Fig Eater while lingering over a cup of coffee & freshly-baked Gruyère gougères (which my dd made for her French class) today. Perfect. If you have some decadent food or wine or coffee or fruit or pastry to have with this book, all the better.

 

I absolutely loved this book. It is full of spare beauty, of opposites (the rational vs. the emotional; male vs. female; etc...), of art.

 

I'm dismayed to see the low ratings this book has received on amazon & Goodreads; I'm guessing many picked up this book thinking it is a traditional or cozy mystery or thriller, when it is really nothing, nothing of the sort (& would definitely not appeal if that is what one is seeking). The Fig Eater is an artistic, atmospheric look at Vienna in 1910, the fledgling study of crime through systematic investigative practices contrasted with the superstitions & emotions involved in crimes, in life. There's a detached, cold air around the characters, the story, but there are bold slashes where superstition or life or art come crashing through -- a frenzy in the icy snows of a Viennese winter. Cunning, folklore, passion, photography, cafés, cigarettes, balls, husbands, wives, gypsies, fire, ice, investigations, insanity, infidelity, watercolors, figs, gardens, medicine, doctors, glints, secrets, superstitions.The mystery is really the least of the story; read it for the poetry, the beauty. Really gorgeous.

[mumto2]

A question for the speed readers on this thread...Pam, Eliana, OnceUponaTime, Mumto2 and anyone else I've missed. How much time do you spend on the internet? Do you go online with intention and a time limit, with a specific quest or do you just hop on for fun or by habit? How much would you say your internet time is balanced by reading, what's the ratio? I'm really curious because I used to be quite a prodigious reader but the internet has seriously affected that. 

 

Also, just to humor me, how many here who consider themselves low-internet users are avid or enthusiastic gardeners? 

I tend to keep my fire by my side when reading, partly for convenience when I feel the need to Google ;)  and I normally check in here while doing that.  I now tend to go online when I have a few minutes to entertain myself in as opposed to reading 5 pages--generally check in here, maybe email. The amount of time I spend really has to do with how fascinating you folks are because I don't tend to get very caught up on the main board anymore -- I read the first page a couple times a day and occasionally click.  But this thread can rabbit trail me all over the place.  :lol: Probably an hour a day, guesstimate.

 

Gardens,  In my 20's and 30's I was an avid gardener spending my summer's in the garden working.  Due to back problems and fate pretty much gave it up when we moved to England.  The new house has a smallish garden that was empty (they actually took much of their landscaping with them, big surprise).  I am slowly experimenting and getting things sorted for the first year.  Planting colourful bulbs, selecting some perennials.......removing what they did leave.  Intentionally taking things slow.  The historic stone wall in front of the house does not agree with all plants, high lime concentration etc. My close friend here who died of cancer had/has a magnificent garden that is used for cancer charity events.  I have been looking at her ideas and I have some of her plants.  Her "forget me nots" are literally rather eerily taking over the back of my house........In answer to your question I am probably in the garden or shopping for said garden six hours a week.  I would imagine that will taper off soon.  

 

Just want to add that much of my reading time is while my dc's are doing their school work.  They are pretty independent at this stage.  Ds works best when I am nearby but not hovering. Thus reading is perfect and not distracting to him. I also need to read, emotionally, for roughly a half hour in the morning and before bed. When I don't read in the morning my day seems to be a bit off kilter -- I have built time into my schedule for this since childhood.  Me at the breakfast table leisurely eating and reading fiction is a pretty common sight.

[mumto2]

I'm half way into Before I go to Sleep.

 

It has me feeling very unsettled. I think I may be starting to piece it together. I guess we'll see when I get to the end. ;)

I loved this book.

Finished The Fig Eater while lingering over a cup of coffee & freshly-baked Gruyère gougères (which my dd made for her French class) today. Perfect. If you have some decadent food or wine or coffee or fruit or pastry to have with this book, all the better.

 

I absolutely loved this book. It is full of spare beauty, of opposites (the rational vs. the emotional; male vs. female; etc...), of art.

 

I'm dismayed to see the low ratings this book has received on amazon & Goodreads; I'm guessing many picked up this book thinking it is a traditional or cozy mystery or thriller, when it is really nothing, nothing of the sort (& would definitely not appeal if that is what one is seeking). The Fig Eater is an artistic, atmospheric look at Vienna in 1910, the fledgling study of crime through systematic investigative practices contrasted with the superstitions & emotions involved in crimes, in life. There's a detached, cold air around the characters, the story, but there are bold slashes where superstition or life or art come crashing through -- a frenzy in the icy snows of a Viennese winter. Cunning, folklore, photography, cafés, cigarettes, balls, husbands, wives, gypsies, fire, ice, investigations, insanity, infidelity, watercolors, figs, gardens, medicine, doctors, glints, secrets.The mystery is really the least of the story; read it for the poetry, the beauty. Really gorgeous.

Beautiful artwork on the covers and sounds fascinating. I couldn't find it at my libraries unfortunately.

[Jane in NC]

Finished The Fig Eater while lingering over a cup of coffee & freshly-baked Gruyère gougères (which my dd made for her French class) today. Perfect. If you have some decadent food or wine or coffee or fruit or pastry to have with this book, all the better.

 

 

 

I absolutely loved this book. It is full of spare beauty, of opposites (the rational vs. the emotional; male vs. female; etc...), of art.

 

I'm dismayed to see the low ratings this book has received on amazon & Goodreads; I'm guessing many picked up this book thinking it is a traditional or cozy mystery or thriller, when it is really nothing, nothing of the sort (& would definitely not appeal if that is what one is seeking). The Fig Eater is an artistic, atmospheric look at Vienna in 1910, the fledgling study of crime through systematic investigative practices contrasted with the superstitions & emotions involved in crimes, in life. There's a detached, cold air around the characters, the story, but there are bold slashes where superstition or life or art come crashing through -- a frenzy in the icy snows of a Viennese winter. Cunning, folklore, passion, photography, cafés, cigarettes, balls, husbands, wives, gypsies, fire, ice, investigations, insanity, infidelity, watercolors, figs, gardens, medicine, doctors, glints, secrets, superstitions.The mystery is really the least of the story; read it for the poetry, the beauty. Really gorgeous.

Stacia, this looks like a lovely book that I suspect I should buy to share with a friend.  She and I had a grand time together in Vienna a long time ago--although not quite as far back as 1910!

[Stacia]

...

[Stacia]

Short fiction writers, you may want to check out Flavorwire's May contest:

http://flavorwire.com/454807/announcing-flavorwires-2014-short-fiction-contest

 

ETA:

 

Jane & shukriyya, a foodie book...

http://flavorwire.com/453658/bryant-terry-talks-about-his-deliciously-political-new-book-afro-vegan-shares-two-exclusive-recipes

[Jane in NC]

Short fiction writers, you may want to check out Flavorwire's May contest:

http://flavorwire.com/454807/announcing-flavorwires-2014-short-fiction-contest

 

ETA:

 

Jane & shukriyya, a foodie book...

http://flavorwire.com/453658/bryant-terry-talks-about-his-deliciously-political-new-book-afro-vegan-shares-two-exclusive-recipes

 

I attended a cooking demonstration that Bryant Terry gave and have an autographed copy of The Inspired Vegan.  After the demo, I asked him about heritage beans. He buys his from Rancho Gordo--great recipes on their website!

 

[Guest]

I had to come on here because only you guys would commiserate with me about my experience this afternoon. I received a gift card to Walmart, where I'm not a big shopper, and thought it might be a great time to splurge on a book. I went in hoping to find The Goldfinch. I didn't see it, but an employee was stocking books, so I asked him if they carried The Goldfinch. He seriously looked at me like I had three heads and then proceeded to ask... "is that a children's book?" Oy. Vey. I guess him being in the book aisle did not make him a bibliophile.  Instead, I bought The Secret Life of Walter Mitty DVD; Stacia, I know you had recommended I see it awhile back. I saw it last weekend and loved it, so now I own that.

[Robin M]

I had to do it, just had to.... contribution to the ask me threads. 

[Stacia]

I attended a cooking demonstration that Bryant Terry gave and have an autographed copy of The Inspired Vegan.  After the demo, I asked him about heritage beans. He buys his from Rancho Gordo--great recipes on their website!

 

Very cool. Thanks for the info!

 

http://www.ranchogordo.com/html/rg_cook_index.htm

[Stacia]

I had to come on here because only you guys would commiserate with me about my experience this afternoon. I received a gift card to Walmart, where I'm not a big shopper, and thought it might be a great time to splurge on a book. I went in hoping to find The Goldfinch. I didn't see it, but an employee was stocking books, so I asked him if they carried The Goldfinch. He seriously looked at me like I had three heads and then proceeded to ask... "is that a children's book?" Oy. Vey. I guess him being in the book aisle did not make him a bibliophile.  Instead, I bought The Secret Life of Walter Mitty DVD; Stacia, I know you had recommended I see it awhile back. I saw it last weekend and loved it, so now I own that.

 

Well, that's not surprising about him not recognizing the book, unfortunately. My book story from a 'box' store: About a year ago, I was in Target & ran through the books to see if there would be something my dad would like there. I saw that one about the Navy Seal w/ the most kills (who was killed w/in a week of the book's release) & knew he would love it. At the check-out they refused to sell it to me, saying it wasn't supposed to be released until the next day. So, even though they had it out on their shelves at 2pm (& they're open until 10pm) & had no signage to indicate the book was not yet available, they wouldn't sell it. The register even 'flagged' it & a manager came over to make sure the clerk wouldn't sell it to me. :huh: Needless to say, I didn't buy the book.

 

So glad to hear that you enjoyed Walter Mitty! :hurray:

[JennW in SoCal]

I had to do it, just had to.... contribution to the ask me threads. 

 

Robin, you win the thread of the week award!  Your post and the responses cracked me up!

[Stacia]

Various fun things...

 

The Early (Not-So-Literary) Jobs of 10 Great Authors

 

5 Marvellous Literary Scenes Made Out Of Lego (#5 had me :lol: )

 

12 Tattoos Inspired by Famous Books 

 

7 Bizarre Re-Imaginings of Pride and Prejudice 

 

Book Your Trip Now: 12 Literary Pilgrimages

 

 

[shukriyya]

Various fun things...

 

 

12 Tattoos Inspired by Famous Books

 

 

 

!!!

 

8. WATERSHIP DOWN, RICHARD ADAMS

 

[Uff Da!]

I think I may give up on reading for the weekend.  I've taken the book out on walks with DS but just can't seem to read it whenever we stop some place and I don't think it's Herodotus's fault.  I've been sun struck you all.  I'm happy being still, spacey and soaking in the vitamin D.  The kids asked for "Through the Looking Glass" so perhaps I'll read that one aloud this weekend.

 

I'm in charge of the garden this year.  Last year, we tried to garden but the creeping charlie won.  

 

As for when I read, it tends to be late at night when I can't sleep and can't do anything else productive or when I'm watching the kids play outside.

 

Here's my list:

 1)      The Pilgrim’s Progress ***

2)     Tonight No Poetry Will Serve by Adrienne Rich ****

Burn me some music  There’s a tune

“Neglect of Sorrowâ€

I’ve heard it hummed or strummed

My whole life long

In many a corridor

Waiting for tomorrow

Long after tomorrow should’ve come

            On many an ear it should have fallen

            But the bands were playing so loud

                        (excerpt from Waiting for Rain and Music)

 

3)   She Stoops To Conquer

Paraphrase:      “All the ladies at the church seem to think you have spoiled me Mother.  And now it is time that you partake of the fruit.â€

 

4)   Don Quixote **** and **

                              “For, what greater sign of disorder, said he to himself, can there be, than for a man to clap on a helmet full of curds, and then take it into his head, that some magician had liquefied his skull, and what more certain proof of fool-hardiness and wild madness, than for a person, in spite of all that can be said to him, to resolve to engage lions.†Pg 538

 

                             

5)  Shakespeare’s Sonnets

      XXVII                        Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed

                              The dear repose for limbs with travel tir’d

                              But then begins a journey in my head,

                              To work my mind, when body’s work’s expir’d;

                              For then my thoughts, from far where I abide,

                              Intend zealous pilgrimage to thee,

                              And keep my drooping eyelids open wide,

                              Looking on darkness which the blind do see:

                              Save that my soul’s imaginary sight

                              Presents thy shadow to my sightless view,

                              Which, like a jewel hung in ghastly night,

                              Makes black night beauteous and her old face new.

                              Lo!  Thus, by day my limbs, by night my mind,

                              For thee and for myself no quiet find.

6)  Psalms  (these are still in progress):

30:11 You have turned my mourning into dancing for me.
You have removed my sackcloth, and clothed me with gladness,
30:12 To the end that my heart may sing praise to you, and not be silent.
Yahweh my God, I will give thanks to you forever

7)  The Secret Garden ****

                              “Where you tend a rose, my lad, a thistle can not grow.â€

8)    Number the Stars by Lois Lowry *****      

 

9)    The Alexander Technique by Richard Brennan

John Dewey, “The real opposition is not between reason and habit, but between routine and unintelligent habit and intelligent habit or art.  Old habits need modification no matter how good they have been.  It is the function of intelligence to determine where changes should be made.â€

 

10)   The Trumpet of the Swan *****

11)       Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry ***** An unflinching look through a child’s eyes at the South pre-civil rights.

12)  Jane Eyre

13) The Confessions by St. Augustine**

14)  For the Children’s Sake****

15)  Gulliver’s Travels***

16) Sir Gawain and the Green Knight****

17)  The Language of Baklava *****

            "The sidewalks are not like the orderly, straight-line sidewalks of our old neighborhood.  Here, they wind around and roam this way and that, as if they've decided to go where they pleased."

 

"I have never seen a sleeping street before, never known what secret intimacy could rise from the pavement like steam."

[Jane in NC]

Here is a lovely Saturday morning thought for my fellow readers:  the Book Barge, a bookstore on a canal boat in London.

 

 

 

And if seeing a photo fails to satisfy your bibliophile soul, you can read about the store in The Bookshop that Floated Away.

[Murmer]

I get a lot of books read during the year...I am an avid TV watcher (2 hours a day usually) and spend way to much time on my computer...basically I have a personal rule to read 1 chapter of my book after each internet time frame/tv show.  I also read for about an hour on the weekends and I read whenever I can.  Some weeks I don't finish a book but some weeks I finish 4 or five...it all depends on the week.  I am quick reader and I do a lot of fluff...I don't really think about/analyze books very much.

[Guest]

Last night I finished The Floor of Heaven: A True Tale of the Last Frontier and Yukon Gold Rush by Howard Blum. I gave it 3 stars. I felt like there was some good history in there, but I didn't care for the storytelling. There were only 3 main characters and I was getting their stories mixed up for at least half of the 420 pages. :glare: Also, gold wasn't discovered until I was 65% done with the book. So, although I did learn a thing or two, it wasn't really what I was expecting; not my favorite.

 

I started The Night Circus again last night so I could be one of the cool kids. :cool: You know how you always worry when you love a book once if you'll love it as much the second time around? Well, I only got a little into it last night, but it was one of those times where you close the book with a huge happy sigh. I can't wait to experience it again.

 

[Robin M]

I have a question: how many hours do you read per day? Aside from reading, do you maintain your other hobbies if you have any? How much time do you spend on other hobbies? Thanks!

 

Really depends on the day and the book.  Some days I can read for several hours.   Some days I  barely have time to read for more than an hour.  We don't watch too much TV. We dvr 3 or 4 shows and watch them at our leisure.  I'll probably do a hour or so of writing when I should be spending so much more time, but kind of in between stories at the moment and procrastinating on editing.  Otherwise I spend a heck of a lot of time on the internet, especially on days that I'm just plain pooped, then the next day feel guilty for accomplishing nothing.   Though when I spend the day reading, I don't feel guilty or left feeling like have accomplished nothing. Wonder why that is?

 

 

 

 

All this talk about Night Circus is making me want to read it again, sooner rather than later.  Going to resist the urge for a while since have several other books calling my name right now.

 

 

[shukriyya]

Well, I went back and reread the last 50 pages of The Night Circus so bothered was I with the lack of resolution I was feeling with how it all played out. I have more of a sense of closure with it now having reread the last bit and the raveling up of the stray threads feels more coherent now. All in all a wonderfully imaginative story with many layers and textures. I had the sense of the story as one of a Victorian women's attire, lots of outerwear, lots of under wear and the final few layers of of inner wear, all very detailed and beautifully made with so much attention to tiny details, sprays of seed pearls, silk stitches, gold wire for crinolines, lace gloves, velvet ribbons, satin bows, crystal drop earring, ruby pendants, peacock hat feathers, finely crafted leather boots with innumerable laces...those are the images that arise for me in relation to the way the book was constructed. 

 

[Stacia]

Having a hard time settling on a book. Like I said, it's hard to jump into another one after reading one you love....

 

I've made a dent in 3 that I may not continue:

Passing by Nella Larsen (it's ok, but not really drawing me in)

The Frozen Rabbi by Steve Stern (just not in the mood for the style of this one)

The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana by Umberto Eco (I want to like this, but it's just ok & I feel pretty 'meh' about it after 70 pages; I did like that Arthur Gordon Pym was mentioned on the first page, though, lol!)

 

Am now starting Broken Verses by Kamila Shamsie & am hoping this is my next book!

 

From Publishers Weekly:

Turbulent Karachi is the backdrop for this intriguing, shimmeringly intelligent fourth novel by Shamsie (Kartography), which tells the story of progressive, overeducated Aasmaani Inqalab, the utterly likable 31-year-old daughter of fiery feminist icon Samina Akram. Since the age of 17, Aasmaani has been haunted by the brutal murder of her mother's lover—known simply as "the Poet"—and by her mother's disappearance two years later. As she eloquently puts it, "every prayer of mine for the last fourteen years had been one single word: Mama." Aasmaani takes a job as a quiz show researcher where she falls for the "dazzling" television producer Mir Adnan Akbar, who goes by "Ed." Ed is himself the child of a larger-than-life mother, the retired Pakistani actress Shehnaz Saeed, who happens to be Samina Akram's former confidante. Shehnaz's eagerly anticipated return to acting brings her into contact with Aasmaani. When she receives a cryptic letter, Shehnaz delivers it to Aasmaani knowing that Aasmaani's mother and the Poet developed a secret code to communicate with each other. As more letters arrive courtesy of Ed, Aasmaani convinces herself that the Poet is alive, held captive by a group he calls "the Minions." Although Aasmaani's interiority occasionally overwhelms the otherwise well-paced narrative, her characterization is Shamsie's crowning triumph. Wry, fetching and too clever for her own good, she is a captivating, unexpected heroine.

P.S. The link I gave for Broken Verses is to the Kirkus website. I noticed the header on the page was touting the latest issue which interviews Rivka Galchen about her most recent book of short stories, American Innovations. Galchen is the author who wrote the book Atmospheric Disturbances, which was my random pick from the library & one I finished earlier this week. I'm not a huge fan of short stories, but this collection's description on amazon sounds absolutely delightful & like something I'd love. May have to check it out!

[Stacia]

Too fun:

 

Clever Bookmarks Customized Specially For Iconic Stories

 

(I want the 1984 one.)

[Robin M]

Link to week 19 - please continue conversation in new thread