Book a Week in 2014 - BW23

[Stacia]

Finished The Miracle Cures of Dr. Aira & enjoyed it. It was a bit mind-bendy as so many South American books seem to be. 4 stars.

[Pam in CT]

Just popping in for a moment to exult:

 

I got a postcard from Jane in NC today!!!  Made my day!!

 

Thanks Jane!

 

:seeya:

[Jane in NC]

Just popping in for a moment to exult:

 

I got a postcard from Jane in NC today!!!  Made my day!!

 

Thanks Jane!

 

:seeya:

 

Oh good.  I need to send out some more! Thanks for the reminder.

[Onceuponatime]

I finished Neverwhere today. It was a good story but uncomfortable for me to read. I'll be looking for something a little more light hearted next.

[Kareni]

Last night I finished a novel that my library has cataloged as a young adult book ~

How to Love by Katie Cotugno

 

"For fans of Sarah Dessen and John Green, How to Love is a breathtaking debut about a couple who falls in love . . . twice.

 

Before: Reena Montero has loved Sawyer LeGrande for as long as she can remember. But he's never noticed that Reena even exists . . . until one day, impossibly, he does. Reena and Sawyer fall in messy, complicated love. But then Sawyer disappears without a word, leaving a devastated—and pregnant—Reena behind.

 

After: Almost three years have passed, and there's a new love in Reena's life: her daughter. Reena's gotten used to life without Sawyer, but just as suddenly as he disappeared, he turns up again. Reena wants nothing to do with him, though she'd be lying if she said his being back wasn't stirring something in her.

 

After everything that's happened, can Reena really let herself love Sawyer LeGrande again?"

 

 

I got caught up in the story as it went along; however, I don't think it's a book I'll reread.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

[LostSurprise]

For some reason I find the name Sawyer LeGrande to be really funny. 

 

Sawyer LeGrande. 

*giggles uncontrollably*

 

That is all. Nothing to see her folks. Move along. 

[Violet Crown]

I finished Neverwhere today. It was a good story but uncomfortable for me to read. I'll be looking for something a little more light hearted next.

Is that the same Neverwhere as the the BBC series dh made me watch? I actually quite liked it. Had no idea it was a book first.

[Stacia]

Looking on wikipedia, it seems that Neverwhere was a show first & later adapted to book form.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neverwhere

[Onceuponatime]

Is that the same Neverwhere as the the BBC series dh made me watch? I actually quite liked it. Had no idea it was a book first.

 

Well, well, I didn't know. Apparently Benedict Cumberbatch was the angel, too. :laugh:

 

The book was pretty gory.

 

(Perhaps I should have said very gory, it certainly wasn't pretty.)

[Violet Crown]

Well, well, I didn't know. Apparently Benedict Cumberbatch was the angel, too. :laugh:

 

The book was pretty gory.

 

(Perhaps I should have said very gory, it certainly wasn't pretty.)

The BBC series wasn't gory but was pretty disturbing. I wouldn't have younger kids watch it.

 

My favorite quote (from memory):

 

Bad Guy 1: What do you want?

Good Guy: What does anyone want?

Bad Guy 2 (thoughtfully): Dead things. (pause.) Extra teeth.

[Stacia]

My favorite quote (from memory):

 

Bad Guy 1: What do you want?

Good Guy: What does anyone want?

Bad Guy 2 (thoughtfully): Dead things. (pause.) Extra teeth.

Lol.

 

Have now started The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil by George Saunders.

[JennW in SoCal]

I clearly need to get caught up on my BBC and other geek tv watching.  I haven't watched Warehouse 13 which y'all were discussing yesterday and I haven't seen Neverwhere.  I also keep hearing rave reviews of Orphan Black.  My geek-girl cred is slipping.

 

I powered through a Peter Diamond mystery yesterday.  Bloodhounds was a kick!  It all revolved around a book club of mystery fans. There was a stolen rare stamp (flavors of Flavia's first escapade!) and a locked room mystery and red herrings galore.  Good fun and I successfully avoided doing anything useful all yesterday afternoon while I read.  

[shukriyya]

Don't worry, Jenn, you've got company in Shukriyya and she's got chocolate (which beats man candy anyday, sorry Stacia ;) ) Without a tv I'm out of the loop so I glean my strands of cultural literacy from WTM boards :lol: However I did watch the first episode in series 3 of 'Call the Midwife' on Netflix yesterday. Fun fluff with an updraft :D

[Uff Da!]

I have "All Rivers Run to the Sea" by Elie Weisel started and am so far enjoying it.  I was a bit worried that the subject matter would send me lurching over the toilet but so far it's going well.  The Complete Poems and Plays of T.S. Elliot came into the library and I started that as well.  Dh asked how it was going and I replied, "I don't think T. S. Elliot is a good fit for me..." but then I looked at the page # and realized I had read 100 pages already.  Such a relief after Herodotus.  Because of the Bible Prehistory+ class, I'm booking through 2 Kings as well so I have a better idea of what that scholar is talking about.  

[Onceuponatime]

I have "All Rivers Run to the Sea" by Elie Weisel started and am so far enjoying it.  I was a bit worried that the subject matter would send me lurching over the toilet but so far it's going well.  The Complete Poems and Plays of T.S. Elliot came into the library and I started that as well.  Dh asked how it was going and I replied, "I don't think T. S. Elliot is a good fit for me..." but then I looked at the page # and realized I had read 100 pages already.  Such a relief after Herodotus.  Because of the Bible Prehistory+ class, I'm booking through 2 Kings as well so I have a better idea of what that scholar is talking about.  

 

That scholar...I keep having to go back and listen again because he is distracting.

[shukriyya]

...In the room the women come and go

Talking of Michelangelo...

[JennW in SoCal]

I grow old....I grow old....

I shall wear the bottom of my trousers rolled

[prairiegirl]

I clearly need to get caught up on my BBC and other geek tv watching.  I haven't watched Warehouse 13 which y'all were discussing yesterday and I haven't seen Neverwhere.  I also keep hearing rave reviews of Orphan Black.  My geek-girl cred is slipping.

 

 

I haven't  watched Waterhouse 13 either but I saw it in the store and the talk here about it whetted my curiosity about whether I should get it or not.   I have heard lots about Orphan Black so it is on my Amazon WishList,  just waiting.

 

Book talk--I finished Radical Hospitality  by Fr. Daniel Homan  and Lonnie Collins Pratt.  I think that I am going to buy it.  I kept wanting to underline in it.   I am now reading  A Lantern in Her Hand by Bess Streeter Aldrich.  I like the Little House in the Prairie feel to it.

[Jane in NC]

Eliot's Four Quartets have been my guiding compass since I was a teenager. 

 

 

Do not let me hear
Of the wisdom of old men, but rather of their folly,
Their fear of fear and frenzy, their fear of possession,
Of belonging to another, or to others, or to God.
The only wisdom we can hope to acquire
Is the wisdom of humility: humility is endless.

 

Not fare well,
But fare forward, voyagers.

 

 

If you came this way,
Taking any route, starting from anywhere,
At any time or at any season,
It would always be the same: you would have to put off
Sense and notion. You are not here to verify,
Instruct yourself, or inform curiosity
Or carry report. You are here to kneel
Where prayer has been valid. And prayer is more
Than an order of words, the conscious occupation
Of the praying mind, or the sound of the voice praying.
And what the dead had no speech for, when living,
They can tell you, being dead: the communication
Of the dead is tongued with fire beyond the language of the living.

 

I have always said that one of these days I'd spend some time with The Waste Land.  Winter, maybe you'll inspire me!

[Jane in NC]

I clearly need to get caught up on my BBC and other geek tv watching.  I haven't watched Warehouse 13 which y'all were discussing yesterday and I haven't seen Neverwhere.  I also keep hearing rave reviews of Orphan Black.  My geek-girl cred is slipping.

 

I powered through a Peter Diamond mystery yesterday.  Bloodhounds was a kick!  It all revolved around a book club of mystery fans. There was a stolen rare stamp (flavors of Flavia's first escapade!) and a locked room mystery and red herrings galore.  Good fun and I successfully avoided doing anything useful all yesterday afternoon while I read.  

 

Clueless Jane here.  Maybe I'm a nerd-girl as opposed to a geek-girl??

 

Don't worry, Jenn, you've got company in Shukriyya and she's got chocolate (which beats man candy anyday, sorry Stacia ;) ) Without a tv I'm out of the loop so I glean my strands of cultural literacy from WTM boards :lol: However I did watch the first episode in series 3 of 'Call the Midwife' on Netflix yesterday. Fun fluff with an updraft :D

 

Toasting you with my glass of Carmenere..

[shukriyya]

Toasting you with my glass of Carmenere..

 

Received with much appreciation...

 

 

[Jane in NC]

 

Received with much appreciation...

 

 

 

This is the wine I am drinking--except for a different year!

 

[shukriyya]

This is the wine I am drinking--except for a different year!

 

I wondered about that as I was allowing my fingers to select just the right gif to reflect the generous oenophilean impulse from our Jane in NC...

 

Do I dare to eat a peach?

I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.

I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.

[Uff Da!]

That scholar...I keep having to go back and listen again because he is distracting.

That scholar looks disturbingly like a fellow student I traveled with once..........  Very distracting.

[Stacia]

Finished George Saunders' The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil. I'd term it political allegory 'lite' (including some thinly-veiled references to George Bush Jr.). Entertaining enough. 3 stars.

 

When on vacation seems to be the one time I indulge myself in buying books. Visited an old favorite indie bookstore on Bainbridge Island & the kids & I came out of there with new goodies. I got:

Kamchatka by Marcelo Figueras (an Argentinian book that has been on my to-read list for awhile)

Mink River by Brian Doyle (another one I had on my to-read list; since it's set in the PNW, I guess it's a 'local' book & I was able to pick up an autographed copy)

another Terry Pratchett book (for ds)

A non-fiction camping book (dd's selection)

 

After dinner on the island, we hung out in a park & I got to start Mink River while the dc ran around. Plus, the ferry ride back afforded me a little more reading time too. If I had my druthers, I would live on the island & ride the ferry back & forth for peaceful reading time. :-)

 

Already loving Mink River, btw. Shukriyya, something tells me you would like this book too.

[shukriyya]

Well, I've decided, at this late hour, that unlike Mr. Thomas Stearns, I *do* think that the mermaids will sing to me tonight...fanning out their songs across the ocean of my dreams while I eat peaches drippy with the ebb and flow of my own breathing self, moving like a celestial body, in and out of time and space...I hope the mermaids sing sweetly to you tonight, BaWers.

 

 

 

[Guest]

Minerva looks like loads of fun!

 

I finished Aurorarama earlier in the week. I have to say it wasn't my favorite. The entire time I was reading, I felt kind of like I was in an underground club where the bass was pumping and there were drugs and alcohol flowing. (Because I have SOOOO much experience in that kind of environment. Not.) Kind of gave me a headache, lol. I really was intrigued by the ending, but by the time I got there, I was already a bit disinterested in the book. I still love the way it looks and have left it on my coffee table to look at and not taken it back to the library yet, lol.

 

I have a stack a mile high from the library that I may or may not get to. My kids are doing all the summer reading challenges around town, so we've been frequenting the library. Going to the library without coming out with a stack of books...it's just not feasible. The other day I must have been hungry when we were there because I came home with books that had cupcake, pie, and kitchen in the titles.

[Kareni]

Last night I finished a collection of five romance long stories/novellas.  (What is the definition of a novella?)  Sometimes such collections are markedly uneven; however, I'd say that all the stories were good or very good.  These are rather spicy romances, so be forewarned.

 

Strangers on a Train by Meg Maguire, Samantha Hunter, Serena Bell, Donna Cummings, and Ruthie Knox 

 

"Tight Quarters
Reid isn’t happy about the mix-up that saddles him with a claustrophobic roommate on his New York train tour. Then his weekend with Brenna progresses to a weekend fling...

Ticket Home
Encountering her workaholic ex on her commuter train is the surprise of Amy’s life. Especially since Jeff seems hell-bent on winning her back.

Thank You for Riding
At the end of Caitlin’s commute, her extended flirtation with a handsome stranger finds them facing a frigid winter night locked in an unheated subway station.

Back on Track
A wine tour isn’t enough to take Matt’s mind off his baseball slump—until sexy, funny Allie plops into the adjacent seat and tells him three things about herself. One of them, she says, is a lie. Then Allie lets slip one truth too many…

Big Boy
Mandy doesn’t want romance, but monthly role-playing dates with her stranger on a train—each to a different time period—become the erotic escape she desperately needs. And a soul connection she never expected."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[LostSurprise]

Authority, book 2 in the Southern Reach trilogy, came in a few days ago so I've been reading that. The first book was called Annihilation and followed the 12th expedition into a strangely evolved section of Earth known only as Area X. Paranoia. Terror. Surrealistic horror. 

 

This book does not pick up with the same narrator, the Biologist, as Annihilation, but instead follows a 'Fixer' sent in from a mysterious spy agency to investigate and take over the directorship of Southern Reach, the government agency in charge of controlling and investigating Area X. While holding less threat of violence than Annihilation, it explores the secrets and paranoia of government agencies and the slow internal breakdown of everything and everyone surrounding Area X. 

 

While Vandermeer does keep the atmosphere of uncertainty and creepiness going, it's definitely less than the first book. There's simply not the same amount of physical threat to the narrator. There is an interesting disassociative bent to the narrator's thoughts as the novel continues, but that can also be mildly annoying as you experience non-linear memories without transition (although it's not too difficult to keep up most of the time) or you wonder why he's deliberately ignoring certain pieces of information that seem very important to you, the reader, but he seems to be actively ignoring them, probably for psychological or emotional reasons. 

 

As a writer I found his technique interesting, how he kept everything going. As a reader, it was a quick read but it didn't touch me too much. There was something missing, some complexity to the characters. Maybe I just wanted a bit more revealed (or less revealed but more put in context). I'll read the third in the series when it comes out late summer/early fall.

[shukriyya]

Our heroine has just been granted her first wish which she made with alarming rapidity and impressive confidence and conviction. Earlier and just moments before the djinn manifested she had emerged from her bath, swathed in Turkish towels, white as white and...

 

"...looked ruefully down at what it was better not to look at, the rolls of her midriff, the sagging muscles of her stomach. She remembered, now as she reached for her towel, how perhaps ten years ago she had looked complacently at her skin on her throat, at her solid enough breasts, and had thought herself well-preserved, unexceptionable. She had tried to imagine how this nice, taut, flexible skin would crimp and wrinkle and fall and had not been able to. It was her skin, it was herself, and there was no visible reason why it should not persist. She had known intellectually that it must, it must give way, but its liveliness then had given her the lie. And now it was all going, the eyelids had soft little folds, the edges of the lips were fuzzed, if she put on lipstick it ran in little threads into the surrounding skin."

 

Okay, I love this little foray into feminine landscape. Here we have an eminent and learned professor, someone who hasn't turned to her looks for identity, hasn't completely wedded herself to the overculture and yet....there is no escape from the female body, in the same way that there is no such thing as a life lived without pain and without beauty. I love this next description, both sensuous and stark in its depiction of the intimate and ambivalent relationship we have with our own mortality...

 

"She advanced naked towards the bathroom mirror in room 49 in the Peri Palas Hotel. The mirror was covered with shifting veils of steam, amongst which vaguely, Gillian saw her death advancing towards her, its hair streaming dark and liquid, its eyeholes dark smudges, its mouth open in its liquescent face in fear of their convergence."

 

And so our heroine wishes..."for my body to be as it was when I last really liked it, if you can do that." What an astonishing wish! Of all the possible things one could have this seems both ridiculous and brilliant. And even more peculiar given the nature of our heroine whose intellect has been her gift, her conveyance. Yet what more perfect ideal, a loved and cherished palace for the soul to reside in. I love the djinn's rather phlegmatic response..."And yet...you are well enough as you are, in my opinion. Amplitude, madam, is desirable"

 

Let me repeat that last line for its lush and generous and embracing music..."Amplitude, madam, is desirable"

[JennW in SoCal]

Shukriyya, you are an author's dream -- a reader who takes time to savor the language and meaning in each passage.  I occasionally feel a bit guilty when I plow through good literature, just pushing ahead to get to the next plot point.  I skim over the detailed descriptions of the setting or of the interior landscape of the narrator, knowing full well I'm missing out on the beauty of all those carefully chosen words.  

 

And Lost Surprise, your erudite analyses are a treat.  In contrast I feel like one of those kids giving an opinion on a new song on the old American Bandstand show "It had a good beat and I could dance to it".  That is about as deep as I'm able to go in giving my opinion! 

[Stacia]

Monica, love your description of Aurorarama. I agree. Story was ok (not a fave for me either), cover art & endpapers are gorgeous.

 

Tam, love the cover art you posted (though I'm not sure I would like the story).

[shukriyya]

Further musings...To view the female body in terms of amplitude is such a lovely and generous lens with its intimations of physics and astronomy and math and music all at once...such that the female body, in its largesse, becomes not something to veil with irritation but rather a glorious oscillation, a vibration measured from the position of equilibrium. Amplitude renders it a celestial object whose distance, that is to say its ability to take up space in relation to 'other', is measured from the true east or west point of the horizon at a rising or setting. It becomes a surging and a falling not a stasis. Amplitude shimmers the body with movement and symmetry and vitality enfolding in it all these complexities and refinements.

 

I have not thought of the body in these terms before, at least not so intentionally, and Ms. Byatt is certainly taking me on a rather fascinating journey with her erudtion and imagination, her ability to plant seeds with an image, a classical allusion or even, as is the case here, a single word...Because really what could be more eloquent than intimating the generous female body is in essence a vibration measured from a position of equilibrium...how replete this is with suggestions of grace, of dancing, of a turning world with its still point to bring our Mr. Eliot back into the conversation though I'm not sure what he'd make of my reveries...

 

 

[shukriyya]

Already loving Mink River, btw. Shukriyya, something tells me you would like this book too.

 

Brian Doyle is someone I read when I was in my twenties as he's a well-known Canadian author and is from my hometown. Thanks for the suggestion. :)

 

  In contrast I feel like one of those kids giving an opinion on a new song on the old American Bandstand show "It had a good beat and I could dance to it".  That is about as deep as I'm able to go in giving my opinion! 

 

"It had a good beat and I could dance to it" has a certain snappy wit to it that is as compelling as its counterpart, waxing poetic. Sometimes succinct is just the thing, you know?! :thumbup:

[Jane in NC]

My reading this week is taking me on a nostalgic walk through France.

 

David McCullough's examination of Americans in Paris, The Greater Journey, begins in the 1830's when artists, writers and intellectuals were braving the treacherous Atlantic for the sake of enlightenment and curiosity.  I never move quickly through non-fiction so I expect to carry this book with me for several weeks. 

 

It took almost thirty years for a few of Pierre Magnan's mysteries to be translated from French into English. He was a prolific writer in his later years with more than 30 novels to his credit. His obituary in the Telegraph (2012) is rather fascinating.

 

Death in the Truffle Wood paints a colorful picture of the Provencal countryside including a truffle hunting pig.  It is a very different world near the Montagne de Lure in the 1970's with the peasant economy revolving around truffles and lavender while the hippies parade on through. 

 

I liked the French aspects of the book more than the mystery it contained.

 

This week I also listened to a little book on CD, something I enjoyed in audio format, but a book that I might have thrown across the room if I were reading the paper version.  Grayson by long distance channel swimmer Lynne Cox recalls the encounter she had with a gray whale calf that was temporarily separated from its mother.  Cox has such a love of the creatures in the Pacific waters near were she grew up.  I loved her vivid descriptions of the aquatic community but her anthropomorphizing drove me nuts.

 

That said, Grayson reminded me of a lovely afternoon spent with a friend and my son at Point Reyes, north of San Francisco.  From the cliffs we saw a mother gray whale and her calf making the migration north.  A magical moment for me.

 

[Robin M]

Shukriyya, you are an author's dream -- a reader who takes time to savor the language and meaning in each passage.  I occasionally feel a bit guilty when I plow through good literature, just pushing ahead to get to the next plot point.  I skim over the detailed descriptions of the setting or of the interior landscape of the narrator, knowing full well I'm missing out on the beauty of all those carefully chosen words.  

 

And Lost Surprise, your erudite analyses are a treat.  In contrast I feel like one of those kids giving an opinion on a new song on the old American Bandstand show "It had a good beat and I could dance to it".  That is about as deep as I'm able to go in giving my opinion!

I'm right there with you Jenn. It goes into my brain and stays there and I may mull it over it, think about it, but sometimes all I can say is "it was exciting, okay, eh...." So now when my son gives me the same answers, I'll read between the lines and completely get it.

 

Finished Spring Heeled Jack and it was not scary creepy good, just creepy! Started new to me author Ian tregillis noir angel detective story! Something more Than Night. Now off to the comic book store with James. Ttfn!

[Stacia]

Jane, I didn't realize Lynne Cox wrote other books. I read her book Swimming to Antarctica a few years ago.

 

Shukriyya, your posts from Byatt's book now bring to mind some of what Cox said in her book. At times, she was ridiculed for being chunky. But, apparently, she has the perfect body fat ratio to allow her to do long-distance swimming in cold water, making her body perfect for doing the thing she most enjoys doing.

[Pam in CT]

And you, my dear, are gifted in the compliment department!

 

Shukriyya, you are an author's dream -- a reader who takes time to savor the language and meaning in each passage.  I occasionally feel a bit guilty when I plow through good literature, just pushing ahead to get to the next plot point.  I skim over the detailed descriptions of the setting or of the interior landscape of the narrator, knowing full well I'm missing out on the beauty of all those carefully chosen words.  

 

And Lost Surprise, your erudite analyses are a treat.  In contrast I feel like one of those kids giving an opinion on a new song on the old American Bandstand show "It had a good beat and I could dance to it".  That is about as deep as I'm able to go in giving my opinion! 

 

[shukriyya]

Jane, I didn't realize Lynne Cox wrote other books. I read her book Swimming to Antarctica a few years ago.

 

Shukriyya, your posts from Byatt's book now bring to mind some of what Cox said in her book. At times, she was ridiculed for being chunky. But, apparently, she has the perfect body fat ratio to allow her to do long-distance swimming in cold water, making her body perfect for doing the thing she most enjoys doing.

 

I read 'Swimming to Antarctica' a few years ago, too. And last year ds and I read 'Grayson'. I enjoyed them both. And  the other thing about Lynne Cox is that her body temperature runs a degree or two lower than most folks which I guess allows her to sustain some of those extreme conditions. Tending to run cold I shuddered at the passages describing her entering some of those Arctic waters. Stacia, something tells me you might enjoy Gretel Erhlich's, This Cold Heaven : Seven Seasons in Greenland. I seem to recall linking it here before.

 

And you, my dear, are gifted in the compliment department!

 

Yes, she is! This is a very generous group, indeed!

[Jane in NC]

Stacia, something tells me you might enjoy Gretel Erhlich's, This Cold Heaven : Seven Seasons in Greenland. I seem to recall linking it here before.

 

 

 

Another book goes on the library list...

 

[Robin M]

Yes, she is! This is a very generous group, indeed!

 

Which always makes me happy!

 

 

Here's something that will make Stacia happy regarding banned books:  Why Cory Doctorow is sending 200 copies of his book to a pensacola highschool.

 

Plus

 

Cartoonist Bob Eckstein's view of new york bookstores.

 

Check out Harper Perennial's ebooks on sale for $1.99

 

Tea Time:

 

 

[shukriyya]

Another book goes on the library list...

 

 

Oh fun! Dare I say it's one of the best books I've read in the last 5 years? Yes, I think I do dare say.

[prairiegirl]

Shukriyya, you are an author's dream -- a reader who takes time to savor the language and meaning in each passage.  I occasionally feel a bit guilty when I plow through good literature, just pushing ahead to get to the next plot point.  I skim over the detailed descriptions of the setting or of the interior landscape of the narrator, knowing full well I'm missing out on the beauty of all those carefully chosen words.  

 

 

Jenn,  I am this kind of reader as well.  I have been lamenting this as of late. When I read Goldfinch, I loved it but I loved the story. Afterwards, I kept reading other people talk about Tartt's writing ability and how she painted pictures with her words--that was totally lost on me.   I am a plot reader but I would love to be a deeper reader.  This is extremely hard to change, though.

[mumto2]

I finished a couple that have been in progress for awhile.  First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones was a good start to a new paranormal series.  Someone here (maybe Melmichigan) read the whole series recently and enjoyed it.   I plan to continue with the series so that is a reasonable compliment.  I did end up giving it a three so not fabulous just good. :lol:

 

I also finished The Medici Secret by Michael White.  Once again a decently done book that could have been better.  The subject matter reminded me of something by James Rollins without the page turning frenzy. Several times while reading I found myself wishing it was by Rollins.  I did learn that the main character in my SJ Parrish series, Giordano Bruno, really existed.  Now that tidbit made the whole book worth it.   ;)

 

ETA fixed an autocorret problem

 

[Robin M]

Jenn,  I am this kind of reader as well.  I have been lamenting this as of late. When I read Goldfinch, I loved it but I loved the story. Afterwards, I kept reading other people talk about Tartt's writing ability and how she painted pictures with her words--that was totally lost on me.   I am a plot reader but I would love to be a deeper reader.  This is extremely hard to change, though.

Same here, plus I'm trying to improve upon my writing. Which is why The Great Courses sale prompted me to get Analysis and Critique: How to engage and Write about Anything and Building Better Sentences.  Now can get the dvd or audio versions plus streaming to your ipad or iphone.  So cool.

[Stacia]

Here's something that will make Stacia happy regarding banned books: Why Cory Doctorow is sending 200 copies of his book to a pensacola high school.

 

Great article & video, Robin. Thanks so much for linking it. Btw, if you watch the video, he mentions where you can download free copies of his banned book:

http://craphound.com/littlebrother/download/

 

Enjoy!

[Uff Da!]

Eliot's Four Quartets have been my guiding compass since I was a teenager. 

 

 

 

 

I have always said that one of these days I'd spend some time with The Waste Land.  Winter, maybe you'll inspire me!

 

I just made it to The Quartets.  Between Eli Wiesel, Eliot's choruses for "The Rock", 2 Kings and finishing Psalms, I've been immersed in theology, religious texts, and such.  Eliot asked, "Who is this that cometh from Edom?" and for a brief moment I thought "Oh good more on the Edom thing"  But then he went on to say "He has trodden the wine-press alone."  That was it and I was left empty handed.  I like Wiesel's statement that "The victims alone were worthy of my devotion." when explaining why he never became a Nazi hunter and his imagery of God weeping and asking "What have you done with my work?" 

 

Quartets are next and for you Jane, I will do my best to attend to them when I read them. :thumbup1: 

 

 

 

shukriyya

Hive Mind Level 5 Worker: Forager Bee

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Posted Today, 01:02 PM

Our heroine has just been granted her first wish which she made with alarming rapidity and impressive confidence and conviction. Earlier and just moments before the djinn manifested she had emerged from her bath, swathed in Turkish towels, white as white and...

 

"...looked ruefully down at what it was better not to look at, the rolls of her midriff, the sagging muscles of her stomach. She remembered, now as she reached for her towel, how perhaps ten years ago she had looked complacently at her skin on her throat, at her solid enough breasts, and had thought herself well-preserved, unexceptionable. She had tried to imagine how this nice, taut, flexible skin would crimp and wrinkle and fall and had not been able to. It was her skin, it was herself, and there was no visible reason why it should not persist. She had known intellectually that it must, it must give way, but its liveliness then had given her the lie. And now it was all going, the eyelids had soft little folds, the edges of the lips were fuzzed, if she put on lipstick it ran in little threads into the surrounding skin."

 

And so our heroine wishes..."for my body to be as it was when I last really liked it, if you can do that." What an astonishing wish! Of all the possible things one could have this seems both ridiculous and brilliant. And even more peculiar given the nature of our heroine whose intellect has been her gift, her conveyance. Yet what more perfect ideal, a loved and cherished palace for the soul to reside in. I love the djinn's rather phlegmatic response..."And yet...you are well enough as you are, in my opinion. Amplitude, madam, is desirable"

 

Let me repeat that last line for its lush and generous and embracing music..."Amplitude, madam, is desirable"

This is beautiful.  

[shukriyya]

 Eliot asked, "Who is this that cometh from Edom?" and for a brief moment I thought "Oh good more on the Edom thing"  But then he went on to say "He has trodden the wine-press alone."  That was it and I was left empty handed.

 

This is beautiful.  

 

Well, the juxtaposition of Eliot's line with your response is a poem in itself...

[shukriyya]

VC, if you're still in the land of Loch Lomond please take a moment to sit yourself down and have a good, strong cuppa and some buttery shortbread for us, pretty please with Dundee marmelade on top :D And none of that namby pamby tea, something strong and serious with bones to it, you know, to cut the delectable richness of the shortbread...


 

[shukriyya]

Well, I have bid the lovely Djinn goodbye and our heroine, too. They took me on an expansive journey of heart and possibility. Yet just as I was beginning to see them in all their subtle complexity they vanished, one back into the diminishing mists of time and the other fluttering into the pages of another story to live out her life there, quietly, unseen.