Book a Week in 2014 - BW20

[mamaraby]

Just for fun ...

 

How many books are on your TBR list? Right now. No cheating and paring it down before you post.

 

As a follow up ...

 

How many books are on your nightstand right now to be read?

Ummm....on my GR list it's somewhere around 200.

 

Nightstand - 4

[welovetoread]

Popping in again quick to give a very brief update.

I have finished The Virgin Cure (Did I mention that last week? UGH)  and The fault in our stars.  On audio I finished The Secret, by Beverly Lewis.  

This week it is The Birth house, The Missing. On audio its Night Circus and The Telling which is the last book of the Beverly Lewis series I am reading.

 

Chandi

[welovetoread]

Oh how could I forget!  S.  IT IS HERE!!  I have it and I am totally loving it.  I hope to finish it soon, because its only a 2 week loan at my library

[Just Robyn]

Just for fun ...

 

How many books are on your TBR list?  Right now.  No cheating and paring it down before you post.  

 

As a follow up ...

 

How many books are on your nightstand right now to be read?

 

My official 2014 TBR list has only 23 unread books on it (31 total - 6 read, 2 in progress). I deliberately made it a short list to make room for impulse reads, rabbit trails, books picked by my irl reading buddy, read-alongs with kids, etc. (And yet, now that we're in the fifth month of this year and I've only read 6 of them, I'm wondering how likely it is that I'll get through these.)

 

My Goodreads To-Read shelf has 11 books on it, one of which is also on my 2014 TBR list.

 

There are 49 unread books on my Kindle, 3 of which are on my 2014 TBR list.

 

I don't consider my Amazon lists actual TBR lists. They contain a lot of books that I glanced at for half a second and might consider putting on my real TBR lists if I get a chance to look into them further.

 

My book shelf is too messy to think about right now. It is currently something to clean rather than things to read.

[mumto2]

Oh, mumto2, you remind me of the main character in Bellwether who obsessively checked out library books just so they would stay in circulation. I'm sorry your efforts didn't pay off. It makes me sad to think of the future. The best moments of my life have been spent sitting on the floor in the aisles of libraries , just perusing the shelves for something that catches my interest.

 

In my area, the trend is to forgo deliberately educated librarians for part time workers.

I loved Bellwether.  Never saw her as future me when I read that book but fast forward to April of last year when my librarian hinted rather strongly that she needed volume.  I managed to keep at least 40 books running through all four cards for the remainder of the year with a pretty impressive assortment that was appropriate to all parties other than Dh --he got more than his fair share of feminine fluff. :lol:  Our family was responsible for roughly 5 percent of last year's volume per my records.  So I tried.  I suspect our branches volume was higher than some that are being left open.  Sigh

 

Around September I realized there was a good chance we couldn't save it.  I know that volunteer doesn't mean closure but I have huge concerns about the quality of the stock over time which eventually leads to ......  I have always used the next village's library which is a different system for the more educational books (i.e. they have several versions of classic books where I feel lucky if my system has one) and occasionally for myself.  I started thinking long term and decided that my long term library use ability depends on this stronger system.  Thus my role as book juggler at that branch also and plan to continue indefinitely there indefinitely.  Apparently our volunteer library will be considered a huge success on less than one third it's current volume.  I may take a vacation !

[Guest]

Argh. I had a whole post typed up and then got sidetracked looking for cheats for dd's DS game and accidentally closed my whole browser. I have to get running and get my day going, but I think this was the gist:

 

Stayed up way too late last night reading The Kite Runner. Terribly sad story, but I thought it was a great book. It was glorious to just sit and read yesterday - the weather was beautiful and I sat in the shade while the kids sold rainbow bracelets to our neighbors. :)

 

I have about 130 TBR books between my Goodreads list and my library's Overdrive list. I have 2 books that I am "technically" reading and 3 more on their way from the library. (Including Boy, Snow, Bird and The Fig Eater - both of which I am super excited to read!)

 

Keeping pace with HoAW - I really enjoyed reading about the first pyramids this last week.

 

[ElaineJ]

I've finished a number of books since last posting. I enjoyed reading Henry V with ds.( He liked reading the French dialogue out loud with a terrible accent. :) Now he is assigned to write a paper about whether or not Henry is a hero.) I also finished Run With The Horses by Eugene Peterson which I was reading with a group. It is Christian non-fiction based on the book of Jeremiah. I would give it 3 stars....The concluding chapters were much better than the beginning. Just today I finally got to the end of A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki which was fascinating and very well done. I am now doing a little research into quantum physics as a result, which is a rather interesting rabbit trail. I did find it sad though, in spite of the "happy ending". I had a difficult time reading the rape scenes. They weren't terribly graphic per se, but they were well written (as was the rest of the book) and I imagine they would be a bad trigger for someone who has experienced this kind of violence, just as a warning. I am now in the midst of Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling and it is giving me a lot to think about. I am trying to get some friends here to read it with me, as I think it demands discussion.

Elaine

[LostSurprise]

Re: Hild.  It has taken me a long time to finish this one - long enough that it had to go back to the library and then I had to wait for my turn on the hold list again... and I have finished it just in time not to have late fees on it...

 

...but I wouldn't call it heavy.. it is dense.. and slow... lots of rich descriptions, very inward... there isn't a lack of action, but with a few exceptions, even the action is paced sedately and w/ a lot of atmospheric  setting. 

 

You might consider starting it and just reading it in bits and pieces  - it seems to have, at least for me, some natural breaking points where a building action bit gets resolved and then we go back to evocative descriptions and slow building again.

 

I would be interested in how a religious Xtian responds to this depiction of the early life of a saint, and, for that matter, the early development of Xtianity in England.  It is very not religious in its tone, and I didn't see genuine religious experience or expression in anyone, which bothered me more than a little.  ...it is my perception that religion in that era, whether Xtian or not, had more to it than I saw in this book.

 

...but the flavor of day-to-day life and society is very well depicted... though it is a mosaic effect, lots and lots and lots of tiny little pieces...

 

I actually just picked this up~my time in the library line came. 

 

Based on what I've read about the author I was afraid that this would be the case when I ordered it. I'll try it, but this makes me sad. 

 

Just for fun ...

 

How many books are on your TBR list?  Right now.  No cheating and paring it down before you post.  

 

As a follow up ...

 

How many books are on your nightstand right now to be read?

 

 

*I don't keep a TBR list. 

 

*I have 20 on the nightstand, 9 on the dresser, and 3 under the bed. I do need to clean it up a bit, especially since I got several this weekend secondhand. 

 

 

Finished up Dead Mountain (the unexplained deaths of Soviet hikers in the '50s) and The Elegance of the Hedgehog. I enjoyed both of them. I was skeptical of the author's interpretation of events for Dead Mountain and I thought he interposed himself on the story too much. (Really, you have a new baby, have lived in FL most of your life, and get violently ill when you have vertigo...enough so you have been hospitalized in the past...and you think it's a good idea to ski long distances through the Ural Mts. in winter??? Dude, just don't.) This did not decrease my interest in the actual mystery and the work the author did to bring that to an English-speaking audience. He was given an incredible amount of access to diaries, the 10th hiker before he passed away, and official Soviet documents released in the '90s. It's also filled with pictures from the students cameras on the trip and you can feel how similar the hopefulness, wonder, and need for challenge is for college students everywhere. This book was worthwhile--even without the mystery--for that feeling of connection. 

 

The Elegance of the Hedgehog was charming. I enjoyed the platform to talk about life, art, friendship, and philosophy. In some ways I felt the characters were limited, but human beings are limited. I did have fun looking up vocabulary, movies, and novels mentioned. The story pulled me in and made me excited to read. 

 

I brought home a load from the library; Hild, The Grand Tour (next in the Sorcery and Cecilia series), and The Clock-Work Man (Burton and Swinburne steampunk series). Plus I'm trying to finish some of the non-fiction I've been dallying with; The Ghost Map (London's cholera outbreak and the development of epidemiology) and Dead Men Do Tell Tales (forensic anthropology tales, '70-90s). Both are very interesting so far...if you're into that kind of thing.  ;) I blame my time as a Bio major. 

Dead Men Do Tell Tales is fairly well written and accessible. Maples' undergraduate degree was in English...in the '50s...both of those things are obvious in the reading. He's both amusing and a little stuffy. His personality comes through wonderfully, and he quotes Andrew Marvell, Shakespeare puns, The Wizard of Oz. It's fun. 

 

 

 

Besides, how great is this cover photo? That kind of says it all for me. 

[Stacia]

Jane & Eliana, I enjoyed reading your comments about Hild. It's one that I think looks interesting (but my library doesn't have it).

 

 

and this strange book from the dollar shelf, called The Romance of Leonardo da Vinci, published in Russian in 1900, with nothing but five-star reviews on Amazon and a claim that Dan Brown took much of The Da Vinci Code from this book.

 

Oh, read that one! I'd love to hear some details about it & it's probably as close to a 'fluffy' book (aka, Dan Brown) as you'll ever get! :lol:

 

Back from vacation.

 

I read:

- Deconstructing Pinguins

- http://www.amazon.com/Smartest-Kids-World-They-That-ebook/dp/B0061NT61Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1399834023&sr=1-1&keywords=smartest+kids+in+the+world

- I finished: To Kill a Mockingbird

 

:seeya: , loesje! Good to see you again. What did you think of To Kill a Mockingbird?

 

I'm so mad that I won't read any more of the books.  Cozy mystery FAIL!

 

Ok, I shouldn't laugh, but your review made me laugh!

 

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr would be coming out in May. I was the first person to request that the library buy the book, so I get to be first to check it out. I started it Friday and am really enjoying it. I read 125 pages on Friday! I pick it up with pleasure and say "oh, just one more chapter" (they're short) before going to bed. Nice contrast to The Goldfinch which I had to make myself keep reading.

 

Oh, I have this one on my (staggered) library list to pick up at some point, lol. Glad to hear it's a good one! Yay.

 

• I'm deep in the Discworld series. I :001_wub:  Terry Pratchett. Utilizing the highlight feature of my Kindle to the fullest. :D

 

My son has been immersed in Discworld lately too. Lately, he's read:

 

Guards! Guards!

Reaper Man

Thud!

Thief of Time

Going Postal

Unseen Academicals

Soul Music

 

and is halfway through Feet of Clay

 

[Stacia]

Kindle Fiction:

 

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

Hounded - Kevin Hearne

The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt

Moms Who Drink and Swear: True Tales of Loving My Kids While Losing My Mind - Nicole Knepper

Dead Witch Walking - Kim Harrison

Well, I've read the first 3 on your list (loved all of them), so I'm thinking I need to add the other 2 to MY list. :laugh:

So basically I have an impossible situation :lol:

Yeah, after reading everyone else's responses, I think I have a problem. :tongue_smilie: Maybe I'll chuck all my lists & enter summer w/ a blank slate.

Just in case you decide to read the stand alones Tell No One, No Second Chances, and The Woods were probably my favourites. I have read Tell No One several times, I really like that one. :)

mumto2, did you see the French film version of Tell No One? I really enjoyed that one (plus François Cluzet is some good man candy in that one too ;) ).

 

 

 

Sigh. I think I'm starting to see a trend in movies I watch. Two words. Man. Candy. :w00t: :blush: :lol:

The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady - 3 Stars - the cover is not very blue, but blue enough . This book started off as very funny and entertaining. There were parts that had me laughing and other parts that were quite disturbing with all the family dynamics/drama. I would give it 4 Stars, but the ending was very sudden, hard to believe, and I just didn’t feel that enthusiastic about it anymore.

I had forgotten about it until I read your mention of it, but I tried reading this one a few years ago. I didn't see the humor in it, though, & didn't get very far before quitting....

And, last week was really good gardening weather, so... not so good for reading. All I finished were Helen Oyeyemi's Boy, Snow, Bird , which I think Jane recommended (? see above, where my so-called "system" fails me). This was an interesting and well-written delve into issues of race, parenthood, and how the damage wreaked by violence and betrayal carries on down through the generations... it included not one, not two, but three incidents of monstrous betrayals by parents / parent figures, which made it difficult for me to read and impeded my enjoyment of it (as also happened for me with Saffron Kitchen and Night Circus -- I seem to be encountering this a lot lately!). But definitely well done.

If you like Oyeyemi's writing, I'd highly recommend her book Mr. Fox. I loved Boy, Snow, Bird, but loved Mr. Fox even more.

Oh how could I forget! S. IT IS HERE!! I have it and I am totally loving it. I hope to finish it soon, because its only a 2 week loan at my library

So jealous. This is one that is on my definitely-to-read list!

I have 2 books that I am "technically" reading and 3 more on their way from the library. (Including Boy, Snow, Bird and The Fig Eater - both of which I am super excited to read!)

Hope you like them!

Just today I finally got to the end of A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki which was fascinating and very well done. I am now doing a little research into quantum physics as a result, which is a rather interesting rabbit trail. I did find it sad though, in spite of the "happy ending". I had a difficult time reading the rape scenes. They weren't terribly graphic per se, but they were well written (as was the rest of the book) and I imagine they would be a bad trigger for someone who has experienced this kind of violence, just as a warning.

Another great book.

Finished up Dead Mountain (the unexplained deaths of Soviet hikers in the '50s)

 

<snip...>

 

I brought home a load from the library; Hild, The Grand Tour (next in the Sorcery and Cecilia series), and The Clock-Work Man (Burton and Swinburne steampunk series). Plus I'm trying to finish some of the non-fiction I've been dallying with; The Ghost Map (London's cholera outbreak and the development of epidemiology) and Dead Men Do Tell Tales (forensic anthropology tales, '70-90s). Both are very interesting so far...if you're into that kind of thing. ;) I blame my time as a Bio major.

Dead Men Do Tell Tales is fairly well written and accessible. Maples' undergraduate degree was in English...in the '50s...both of those things are obvious in the reading. He's both amusing and a little stuffy. His personality comes through wonderfully, and he quotes Andrew Marvell, Shakespeare puns, The Wizard of Oz. It's fun.

 

Besides, how great is this cover photo? That kind of says it all for me.

I'm not reading your comments on Dead Mountain. I have that one in e-book form to read soon.

 

Have you read the first Burton & Swinburne book? They work best reading them in order. (The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack is first; The Clockwork Man is second.)

 

Keep us posted on Dead Men Do Tell Tales. Sounds interesting!

[Violet Crown]

Oh, read that one! I'd love to hear some details about it & it's probably as close to a 'fluffy' book (aka, Dan Brown) as you'll ever get! :lol:

 

Well it's a very small book (one of those old Everymans), and I have to travel next week, so I'll read it then, and I think the Edda this week, since it's bulky. I'm very curious, and will report back ... but I've never read Dan Brown, so I won't be helpful in figuring out putative influences.

[Murmer]

Just for fun ...

 

How many books are on your TBR list?  Right now.  No cheating and paring it down before you post.  

 

As a follow up ...

 

How many books are on your nightstand right now to be read?

So I don't have a list...I have my kindle free books which is over 2000 titles long and I have only finished the books on the first 5 pages (from 2011).

 

I also have a bookshelf full to the brim...with books stacked vertically from bottom to top on the bottom shelf...4 of them....a pile 25 books tall next to the bookshelf...then I have 5 more stacks that fill the bottom of another bookshelf...yeah not counting it might get depressing lol.

 

I did finish Up to the Challenge by Terri Osborn...it was fluffy but I didn't like the way it ended...just to sudden...thankfully I have the next book in the series that I will read soon.  

 

Finished: The Wrapping by Richard Eyre

Unknown Enemy by Karl Goodman

The Fearful Rise of the Market by John Authers

Up to the Challenge by Terry Osborn

 

Working on:

Fiction: Han Cristian Anderson Fairy Tales 

Kindle: Dancng in the Low country by James Villas

Non-fiction: Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

Phone: The Anvil of the World by Kage Baker

Computer: Spiritual Stewardship by Richard Eyre

Well Education Mind: Gulliver Travels by Johnathan Swift

Angel Girl: Water Babies by Charles Kingsley 

Audiobook: Sherlock Holmes 

 

Total Read for 2014: 63

[mumto2]

 

 

 

 

mumto2, did you see the French film version of Tell No One? I really enjoyed that one (plus François Cluzet is some good man candy in that one too ;) ).

 

 

Sigh. I think I'm starting to see a trend in movies I watch. Two words. Man. Candy. :w00t: :blush: :lol:

 

:lol: I had no clue there was a movie!  The trailer looks great and pretty accurate too.  And yes, man candy is good!  I am right we are talking subtitles so no knitting while viewing?  Anyway it is cheap used, just need to check Amazon Prime then I will order it.  Dh doesn't do subtitles normally but I can get a friend to watch it with me.

 

Brief report on my pathetic culling efforts.  They are on my night stand. Halfway through the first.  :lol: Yep, keeping to at least try.

[Stacia]

Yep, subtitles.

[Stacia]

What do you think so far?  ...I had it on my teetering stacks last year, but didn't get to it before I had maxed my renewals.

 

re: I Served the King of England

 

Really enjoying it so far. Fun, tongue-in-cheek style while making some strong political & social statements. Has some frank discussion of sex, fyi. A little more than halfway through; hoping to make more progress in a bit while I'm waiting at an orthodontist appt....

 

[Mom-ninja.]

Just for fun ...

 

How many books are on your TBR list?  Right now.  No cheating and paring it down before you post.  

 

I have 214. Maybe I should pare it down again. 

[Pam in CT]

<snip>

 

I am now in the midst of Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling and it is giving me a lot to think about. I am trying to get some friends here to read it with me, as I think it demands discussion.

Elaine

 

OK, you're my hero.  I want to tackle this; just haven't quite worked up the nerve.  Theoretically I'm doing a 5/5/5 philosophy category.  How, um, long would you estimate it took you to get through it?  LOL

 

 

<snip>

 

 

 

If you like Oyeyemi's writing, I'd highly recommend her book Mr. Fox. I loved Boy, Snow, Bird, but loved Mr. Fox even more.

 

 

Ah, so it was you, not Jane.  (Or maybe you and Jane.)  I wouldn't say I liked it, so much as respected it... I found a lot of parts pretty painful to read... but I think she's quite a good writer... I expect I'll get to Mr. Fox at some point!

 

 

So I don't have a list...I have my kindle free books which is over 2000 titles long and I have only finished the books on the first 5 pages (from 2011).

 

 

 

Wait -- so -- does this mean you read your Kindle books in the order in which you acquire them???!!

 

Wow.  You are one disciplined woman!  Me, after something has aged in a stack for 6 months or so, the odds of my ever getting around to it are slim indeed.

 

 

re: Out of Many Waters:

 

 

I think the reason some of the Jewish HF made the favorites list for my kids at that age was their Jewishness rather than their writing quality.  [sorry, I had intended to add more annotations to that list...] 

 

Yes, we enjoyed it from that perspective as well -- thank you.  Did your kids ever read Secrets in the House of Delgado?  I think I did that one with all of my kids at around this age (10-11).

[Mom-ninja.]

Oops, I forgot about my Goodreads TBR list and the unread books on my Kindle, Nook, and book shelves. :o  Let's just go ahead and say add another 50 or so to my number.

[Robin M]

Just for fun ...

 

How many books are on your TBR list?  Right now.  No cheating and paring it down before you post.  

 

As a follow up ...

 

How many books are on your nightstand right now to be read?

 

Erm, on my actual tbr list is 107 ebooks and 72 physical books, mixture of paperbacks and hard backs.  Have about 30 non fiction in my closet  and 20 on our living rooms shelves (inherited and haven't read yet) and not on any lists.  

 

How many books on my nightstand? That might be why I have such a hard time choosing because the majority of those 72 books are in,on and stacked in front of my nightstand.

[NoseInABook]

I can't even count my list of books that I don't physically have in my possession. I have wishlists in my head, on Amazon, on Goodreads, every time I read this thread I add another book... hahaha. Y'all are bad influences! My husband is already rolling his eyes over all of the books and the man is an English teacher!

[shukriyya]

OK, you're my hero. I want to tackle this; just haven't quite worked up the nerve. Theoretically I'm doing a 5/5/5 philosophy category. How, um, long would you estimate it took you to get through it? LOL

The irony here has me chuckling...your fear and trembling over Mr. K :lol:

[6packofun]

My TBR list is compiled in 2 notebooks and I would guess that there are about 60-100 titles?  Hard to say. 

 

My nightstand has a bunch of books I've read and a few I haven't, but am meaning to.  Mostly books we own.

 

I am currently reading The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North and it is good.  The premise reminds me a bit of Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, which I *loved*, but this one seems a little more convoluted with all the history.  I'm not sure I have it figured out.  lol

 

The previous poster's book disappointment reminded me of one of my recent ones!  The Returned by Jason Mott was one of the most unsatisfying books I've ever read.  It was slow, would build a bit to end in...not much of anything.  I honestly didn't understand why it wasn't a short story.  I had not watched the tv show based upon it yet and so had no real expectations other than SOME sort of hint (or, gasp, ANSWER!!) as to why people were returning.  Nope!  I was highly annoyed.  lol

 

A current fun read was The Rosie Project which was mentioned here.  I have read the first two (only two, thus far?) books in the Finishing School series by Gail Carriger, who wrote the Parasol Protectorate series, which I loved!  The Finishing School series starts with Etiquette & Espionage and is for teens.  Good fun!

 

Next up for me (recommended by someone who also liked the Parasol Protectorate series):  Phoenix Rising (A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel...steampunk mystery)

 

Also, The Longevity Project:  Surprising Discoveries for Health and Long Life from the Eight-Decade Study

[Angel]

Just for fun ...

 

How many books are on your TBR list?  Right now.  No cheating and paring it down before you post.  

 

As a follow up ...

 

How many books are on your nightstand right now to be read?

 

5 books on the nightstand.  Though one is my Bible and one a Bible commentary.

 

59 books on my "Books of Interest" Wish List on Amazon.  All sound interesting but at a closer glance not all with get read.

 

Anne Fortier's new book, The Lost Sisterhood, is probably highest on my TBR list.  I loved her book Juliet.  I am waiting for summer down time, however, so I can fully enjoy it.  

 

I have two stacks of books on my bedroom floor and shelves of books that are waiting to be read.  I never have a specific list, just a vague idea of the books that I want to read so if the fancy strikes, or I find it at a thrift store somewhere else, I can pick it out and read it.

[Angel]

Can someone please tell me how to post a picture from my computer!  Dd has a book related photo I would like to share with you all and for the life of me I can't figure it out!  :banghead:

[Angel]

Today was my last Chronicles of Narnia Lit class at co-op.  I just had to share with some people who would understand just how fun it was to lead these kids as we explored the world of Narnia.  My class was a mixture of kids ages 7 to 18.  Their insights and revelations about the books were just so refreshing and enjoyable.  From that first magical moment when the kids stepped through the wardrobe with Lucy to the moment they arrived in New Narnia each class was an adventure for them and for me.  From each little mind just opening to the possibilities of a new literary world, to each maturing mind that was seeing the books with older eyes, what joy there was in the journey.  The more we read and the more that I let them express themselves, the more confident they became in finding their own gems to take away from each story.  Though I've taught Austen and Shakespeare, the joy of seeing such a varied group come together and share together was rewarding, especially with the younger few who are just dipping their toes into this kind of exploration for the first time.  

 

Their final projects for class today, based on all seven books, were as varied as they are with soundtracks made for the Chronicles, two different "Narniaopoly's," two acrostic poems, awards for characters of the books, character traits matched to characters in the books, a Top 10 list of favorite/least favorite characters, and a Wordle picture of main ideas/characters from the books.  They were required to list the books in order from their favorite to their least favorite.  We were all laughing that The Silver Chair was the most listed as least favorite book.

 

Thank you for letting me share. :blush:   I adore teaching Lit class (and Art class, but since this is not the "Art a Week" thread I will refrain from gushing about how much fun we had today channeling our inner Jackson Pollack by ending the year with splatter painting  :lol: ), and I figure that of all people, you all will most get how I feel about today being the end!

[Stacia]

Had enough waiting time today to finish I Served the King of England by Bohumil Hrabal.

 

I loved it completely -- the picaresque, comic, yet sharp social & political observations delivered seriously by our height-challenged, not-completely-but-almost-hapless narrator. At times it's almost silly, at other times a strange look at horrific events, yet it is all told with a levity, a belief in the ultimate goodness & hope of life (that's how it came across to me), in spite of the good or bad that has gone before. It's like looking back at a life well-lived (& not well-lived, at times), but with rose-tinted glasses & the wisdom & contentment that often come with age. A fun book.

 

Apparently Hrabal wrote this in the early '70s (during a time of censorship in Czechoslovakia) & it was formally published in the early '80s.

 

I can see how this book could lend itself very nicely to film & would like to see the movie someday.

 

Recommended.

[prairiegirl]

Just for fun ...

 

How many books are on your TBR list?  Right now.  No cheating and paring it down before you post.  

 

As a follow up ...

 

How many books are on your nightstand right now to be read?

 

I have 65 books on My BookList  list.  I also have books in boxes in my basement and scattered in piles all through the house so there is probably close to 200 altogether.

 

I only have 7 books on my nightstand.

[Guest]

Today was my last Chronicles of Narnia Lit class at co-op.  I just had to share with some people who would understand just how fun it was to lead these kids as we explored the world of Narnia.  My class was a mixture of kids ages 7 to 18.  Their insights and revelations about the books were just so refreshing and enjoyable.  From that first magical moment when the kids stepped through the wardrobe with Lucy to the moment they arrived in New Narnia each class was an adventure for them and for me.  From each little mind just opening to the possibilities of a new literary world, to each maturing mind that was seeing the books with older eyes, what joy there was in the journey.  The more we read and the more that I let them express themselves, the more confident they became in finding their own gems to take away from each story.  Though I've taught Austen and Shakespeare, the joy of seeing such a varied group come together and share together was rewarding, especially with the younger few who are just dipping their toes into this kind of exploration for the first time.  

 

Their final projects for class today, based on all seven books, were as varied as they are with soundtracks made for the Chronicles, two different "Narniaopoly's," two acrostic poems, awards for characters of the books, character traits matched to characters in the books, a Top 10 list of favorite/least favorite characters, and a Wordle picture of main ideas/characters from the books.  They were required to list the books in order from their favorite to their least favorite.  We were all laughing that The Silver Chair was the most listed as least favorite book.

 

Thank you for letting me share. :blush:   I adore teaching Lit class (and Art class, but since this is not the "Art a Week" thread I will refrain from gushing about how much fun we had today channeling our inner Jackson Pollack by ending the year with splatter painting  :lol: ), and I figure that of all people, you all will most get how I feel about today being the end!

 

Oh, how I would have loved to have participated in that co-op class with you with my kiddos. I have *just* introduced them to Narnia this last week. I really wanted to wait for the right time, and I nailed it. My dd, especially, is enthralled with the book. This time of sitting and reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe with my kids hanging on my every word will forever be etched in my memory. Your co-op sounds lovely.

 

For your picture - when you are composing your reply, you can click on the Polaroid "Image" button above the text you are typing and link to an URL. If it's something on your computer, I think you can only upload it as an attachment - below the text you are typing, hit more reply options and browse  to find your file. Attach it and it should be there!

[Stacia]

Oh, I forgot to add that I've now started an Archipelago book: My Kind of Girl by Buddhadeva Bose.

[Guest]

I am enjoying reading around the world this year. Not on purpose, but I was thinking this morning that I've read a bit broader than normal this year, including books with setting-focused plots in Afghanistan, Africa, India, China, Russia, Europe (general), Alaska/Yukon, and France. I'd love to pick up something based in Australia and something in South America, too, if anyone has any suggestions! I'd like to learn about the location and its history from the book, as well. :)

[Stacia]

I am enjoying reading around the world this year. Not on purpose, but I was thinking this morning that I've read a bit broader than normal this year, including books with setting-focused plots in Afghanistan, Africa, India, China, Russia, Europe (general), Alaska/Yukon, and France. I'd love to pick up something based in Australia and something in South America, too, if anyone has any suggestions! I'd like to learn about the location and its history from the book, as well. :)

 

Yay! Do you have a handy list of your around-the-world reading to share???

 

For Australia, I've read three:

A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute (loved it)

Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay (unsettling but good)

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty (didn't like it at all)

 

And, for Australia this year, I've got Walkabout by James Vance Marshall in e-book form.

 

For South America, most of the ones on my Goodreads Latin America shelf are from SA:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/3917029-stacia?shelf=latin-america

[JennW in SoCal]

Under the heading "careful what you wish for, you just might get it"  I was wishing for an excuse to just sit and read...and....

 

I have to report to jury duty tomorrow morning at 7:30am!  Is the Golem and the Jinni a good mindless read?  Song of Achilles?  Rosie Project? These are unread but downloaded on my iPad.  I seem to remember lots of hurry up and wait with the initial jury summons.  *sigh*

[Pam in CT]

I am enjoying reading around the world this year. Not on purpose, but I was thinking this morning that I've read a bit broader than normal this year, including books with setting-focused plots in Afghanistan, Africa, India, China, Russia, Europe (general), Alaska/Yukon, and France. I'd love to pick up something based in Australia and something in South America, too, if anyone has any suggestions! I'd like to learn about the location and its history from the book, as well. :)

 

Hmm.  For Peru - anything by Mario Vargas Llosa.  For Ecuador, I really enjoyed The Mapmaker’s Wife, by Robert Whitaker, a fascinating fictionalized memoir set in the 18th c. as colonial powers were attempting to map the equator.  For Chile, Isabel Allende is... uneven imo; I did like House of Spirits very much; also Pablo Neruda if you are going for poetry.  For Columbia, Gabriel Garcia Marquez' Love in the Time of Cholera and Hundred Years of Solitude...

[Kareni]

 

I have to report to jury duty tomorrow morning at 7:30am!  Is the Golem and the Jinni a good mindless read?  Song of Achilles?  Rosie Project? These are unread but downloaded on my iPad.  I seem to remember lots of hurry up and wait with the initial jury summons.  *sigh*

 

Assuming that you're permitted to read, I vote for the Rosie Project.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

I read and enjoyed the historical romance The Countess Conspiracy by Courtney Milan.  It's the third in a series, but it stands alone well.  It had an interesting premise in that the heroine is a scientist and the hero has been, at her request, presenting her work as his own for the past x years.  It's set in England in the 1860s.

 

"Sebastian Malheur is the most dangerous sort of rake: an educated one. When he’s not scandalizing ladies in the bedchamber, he’s outraging proper society with his scientific theories. He’s desired, reviled, acclaimed, and despised—and he laughs through it all. Violet Waterfield, the widowed Countess of Cambury, on the other hand, is entirely respectable, and she’d like to stay that way. But Violet has a secret that is beyond ruinous, one that ties her irrevocably to England’s most infamous scoundrel: Sebastian’s theories aren’t his. They’re hers. So when Sebastian threatens to dissolve their years-long conspiracy, she’ll do anything to save their partnership...even if it means opening her vulnerable heart to the rake who could destroy it for good."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

Under the heading "careful what you wish for, you just might get it"  I was wishing for an excuse to just sit and read...and....

 

I have to report to jury duty tomorrow morning at 7:30am!  Is the Golem and the Jinni a good mindless read?  Song of Achilles?  Rosie Project? These are unread but downloaded on my iPad.  I seem to remember lots of hurry up and wait with the initial jury summons.  *sigh*

I agree with Kareni, Rosie Project is a fun easy read.  The Golem and the Jinni was a book I loved and is a pretty easy read. I would probably need to read the first 20 or so pages in peace before taking it on the road....the Golem was created in these pages which I enjoyed greatly.  Wouldn't want to miss those bits by being distracted. After that part no problem reading it anywhere.

 

Pam, forgot to quote but I requested most of you South American suggestions.  Put them with the  actually hope to read category!  :lol:

 

I did finish two books yesterday.  Silence in the Sanctuary by Deanna Raybourne was a slow building historical mystery which is very series driven.  Definitely need to be read in order but I plan to continue.  Already have the next one.  ;)  Also read a Phyllis A Whitney, The Golden Unicorn.  Not sure if I read that one in my teens,  no memory twinges , but loved it.  Totally teen girl appropriate and a pretty good gothic story too.  Lots of seaside atmosphere!  Sand dunes, No cliffs.  :(  ;) :lol:

[Uff Da!]

Hello!  I hope everyone had a great mother's day.

 

I have four books floating around the house right now.  They don't stay on the night stand.  There are a 152 TBR that I can tally up on the computer but that doesn't include the massive Amazon reading list, nook list and random books I've purchased and have sitting on the bookshelf.

 

I finished Heaven is For Real over the weekend.  It's a very easy read written by a pastor who's son had a near death experience.  I still have Herodotus's Histories to work through and have a lot on my plate this week.  We will see what I'm able to accomplish.

 

Best wishes to everyone!
Winter

[Mom-ninja.]

I am woefully behind in my Bible reading schedule. I really should catch up but other books keep calling me.

[ElaineJ]

OK, you're my hero.  I want to tackle this; just haven't quite worked up the nerve.  Theoretically I'm doing a 5/5/5 philosophy category.  How, um, long would you estimate it took you to get through it?  LOL

 

 

 

 

Pam, I am still in the middle of it and I've already decided that I'm going to have to read through it again right away when I finish! Not an easy read, that's for sure, but intriguing. I feel like every page gives me lots to think about, which is one reason I am wanting to discuss it with some friends. If you already have a philosophy challenge going, I would recommend putting it on your list.

Elaine

 

[NoseInABook]

Mom-ninja, that always happens to me too and then I feel all guilty that the Bible isn't my number 1 reading priority so I catch up in one fell swoop. ;) 

[MicheleinMN]

Triple Witch: A Home Repair Is Homicide Mystery.  I have no motivation to read anything of substance.  Just started The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag - Flavia de Luce

 

Some day I will find my way back to the classics, but I just can't do it right now.

 

 

[Violet Crown]

I am enjoying reading around the world this year. Not on purpose, but I was thinking this morning that I've read a bit broader than normal this year, including books with setting-focused plots in Afghanistan, Africa, India, China, Russia, Europe (general), Alaska/Yukon, and France. I'd love to pick up something based in Australia and something in South America, too, if anyone has any suggestions! I'd like to learn about the location and its history from the book, as well. :)

I've got a 1940 Australian book called The Man Who Loved Children sitting around, supposedly a classic. You could read it first and tell me if I should bother.

[Guest]

Hmm.  For Peru - anything by Mario Vargas Llosa.  For Ecuador, I really enjoyed The Mapmaker’s Wife, by Robert Whitaker, a fascinating fictionalized memoir set in the 18th c. as colonial powers were attempting to map the equator.  For Chile, Isabel Allende is... uneven imo; I did like House of Spirits very much; also Pablo Neruda if you are going for poetry.  For Columbia, Gabriel Garcia Marquez' Love in the Time of Cholera and Hundred Years of Solitude...

 

I want to read The Mapmaker's Wife and it isn't available through my library! Totally bummed and intrigued enough that I might buy it! Thank you for these suggestions!

 

Yay! Do you have a handy list of your around-the-world reading to share???

 

For Australia, I've read three:

A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute (loved it)

Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay (unsettling but good)

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty (didn't like it at all)

 

And, for Australia this year, I've got Walkabout by James Vance Marshall in e-book form.

 

For South America, most of the ones on my Goodreads Latin America shelf are from SA:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/3917029-stacia?shelf=latin-america

I put A Town Like Alice on my TBR list. Thank you!

 

I know I've shared most of them here, so nothing earth shattering, but the books I've read this year that seem very location-driven:

 

The Kite Runner - Afghanistan in the 80's and 90's and the arrival of the Taliban

The Floor of Heaven: A True Tale of the Last Frontier and the Yukon Gold Rush - Alaska/Yukon

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - nineteenth century China, culture

Cutting for Stone - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity - India

Winter Garden - Russia, Siege of Leningrad

Fall of Giants - WWI, general Europe

Sarah's Key - France, less setting-driven

Dante's Inferno - Hell :tongue_smilie:

 

I've read a lot of missionary stories with the kiddos this year in school, so I feel that's contributed.

[Stacia]

Winter Garden - Russia, Siege of Leningrad

 

If you want another one in this setting, I highly recommend City of Thieves by David Benioff.

 

Starred Review. Author and screenwriter Benioff follows up The 25th Hour with this hard-to-put-down novel based on his grandfather's stories about surviving WWII in Russia. Having elected to stay in Leningrad during the siege, 17-year-old Lev Beniov is caught looting a German paratrooper's corpse. The penalty for this infraction (and many others) is execution. But when Colonel Grechko confronts Lev and Kolya, a Russian army deserter also facing execution, he spares them on the condition that they acquire a dozen eggs for the colonel's daughter's wedding cake. Their mission exposes them to the most ghoulish acts of the starved populace and takes them behind enemy lines to the Russian countryside. There, Lev and Kolya take on an even more daring objective: to kill the commander of the local occupying German forces. A wry and sympathetic observer of the devastation around him, Lev is an engaging and self-deprecating narrator who finds unexpected reserves of courage at the crucial moment and forms an unlikely friendship with Kolya, a flamboyant ladies' man who is coolly reckless in the face of danger. Benioff blends tense adventure, a bittersweet coming-of-age and an oddly touching buddy narrative to craft a smart crowd-pleaser.

[Mom-ninja.]

Stacia, I'm going to block you so I can't see any more of your book suggestions. :sneaky2:  You are an enabler.

 

 

 

Mom-ninja, that always happens to me too and then I feel all guilty that the Bible isn't my number 1 reading priority so I catch up in one fell swoop. ;)

The only goal I set for this year was to read the Bible. The whole thing. Since it's my only set goal I'm going to do it. Yes, I will. Other people are doing 5/5/5 challenges. I have one. I just need to catch up. Putting myself on probation until I do.

[Stacia]

Stacia, I'm going to block you so I can't see any more of your book suggestions. :sneaky2:  You are an enabler.

 

:blush:

 

Yes, I have a book problem. And I spread it around to others.... :leaving:

 

P.S. Go read your Bible! (Does that help?)

[Violet Crown]

Reading through the Poetic Edda now. In translation, of course; and if I find out that Eliana has already read it in high school in the original Icelandic, I'm just going to pack it in and give up reading for Netflix. ;) It's a collection of Old Norse poems written down in the thirteenth century, but from pre-Christian oral sources going back an unknown number of centuries beforehand.

 

The first poem, the Voluspo, includes a list of dwarfs from which Tolkien famously got all his dwarf names, plus Gandalf. The second poem, the Hovamol, is kind of a Book of Proverbs or Poor Richard's Almanack for Vikings. My favorite stanza, a version of "Early to bed, early to rise":

 

He must early go forth who fain the blood

Or the goods of another would get;

The wolf that lies idle shall win little meat,

Or the sleeping man success.

[shukriyya]

I don't enjoy magical realism, but some of the big name Latin American authors have written works of non-fiction which I loved:  Marquez: Clandestine in Chile (which reads like a gripping novel) was my favorite

 

Eliana, could you comment on your dislike of magical realism. Your lens seems both deep and wide and the fantasy genre seems like a huge love of yours so what is it about magical realism that you dislike? I've rediscovered it having immersed myself in it in my twenties and thirties. Fantasy not so much, I don't slip willingly into that realm. Curious to hear your process around it.

[shukriyya]

Popping in again quick to give a very brief update.

I have finished The Virgin Cure (Did I mention that last week? UGH)  and The fault in our stars.  On audio I finished The Secret, by Beverly Lewis.  

This week it is The Birth house, The Missing. On audio its Night Circus and The Telling which is the last book of the Beverly Lewis series I am reading.

 

Chandi

 

The Virgin Cure is next on my list if I skip my overdrive book that I'm having a hard time getting into. Read The Birth House and *loved* it so I have high hopes for TVC. I'm assuming your 'UGH' is the subject material?

 

[Angel]

Courtesy of my dd19  ;)  

 

I couldn't attach a picture because it said "I have exceeded my allotted disk space for attachments."  What the heck does that mean?!?!  Anyway, I therefore pulled the picture from her blog!