mumto2 Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 Sorry but I have to moan someplace. We have a ton of activities today and it is pouring now and supposed to get much more miserable. Potential thunder and lightning, which does not happen here normally. All I want to do is stay in my nightgown under the covers and read a good book. Think of me preforming with handbells later this afternoon under a tent in pouring rain ...... handbells are the kids thing, I practice their group when an extra pair of hands is desperately needed so now I am drafted to preform. Ugggg.....the joke is I am useful because I occasionally get something right and normally, if warned can get a small portion right on. No stamina for whole songs much less whole programs. Oh, I just want to hide. At least the audience should be small. Also Dh is on his way to an organized walk (which he can't figure out how to get out of) so could be worse. Everyone in the family except me is working at a wedding today also.......feel very bad for the poor bride. Off to help Dd with the flowers in the church....the flower arrangements are actually all done by volunteer members and quite good. For years I had assumed the local florist was doing them. I supervise. ;) and Dd just works for special occasions, Pentecost. ETA Handbells are cancelled! I feel bad for the organizers but very relieved for me. Fear of getting equipment stuck on the football field did it not technically rain. Hardy bunch around here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 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. This made me teary-eyed. I just finished Helprin's Winter's Tale this morning and feel the exact same way. I searched to see if there had been discussion on this book, because I thought you all had read it, but I didn't find much. I have to retract my earlier frustration and say that I loved this book and that it now has a home on my favorites shelf. I had never heard of this book until I saw the preview for the movie this last year. I thought it looked like a charming love story from a time past and of course had to read the book first. When I started the book and was nearly halfway into it, I became so frustrated. It didn't seem to match the romantic big screen Hollywood teaser I had seen. What in the world was I reading?!? At that time, I started reading some book reviews for it and even some spoilers to see where the train was headed. With fresh eyes, I continued through the second half of the book and started a love affair with Peter Lake and Helprin's New York. Woven through the narrative were the themes of justice, good vs. evil, sacrifice, hope, and even quite a heavy dose of politics! (Somewhat reminiscent of Ayn Rand, imo.) So much there, so much to ponder. I look forward to reading it again sometime, it's the kind of book that in each read will emerge deeper layers of understanding. Sorry but I have to moan someplace. We have a ton of activities today and it is pouring now and supposed to get much more miserable. Potential thunder and lightning, which does not happen here normally. All I want to do is stay in my nightgown under the covers and read a good book. Think of me preforming with handbells later this afternoon under a tent in pouring rain ...... handbells are the kids thing, I practice their group when an extra pair of hands is desperately needed so now I am drafted to preform. Ugggg.....the joke is I am useful because I occasionally get something right and normally, if warned can get a small portion right on. No stamina for whole songs much less whole programs. Oh, I just want to hide. At least the audience should be small. Also Dh is on his way to an organized walk (which he can't figure out how to get out of) so could be worse. Everyone in the family except me is working at a wedding today also.......feel very bad for the poor bride. Off to help Dd with the flowers in the church....the flower arrangements are actually all done by volunteer members and quite good. For years I had assumed the local florist was doing them. I supervise. ;) and Dd just works for special occasions, Pentecost. ETA Handbells are cancelled! I feel bad for the organizers but very relieved for me. Fear of getting equipment stuck on the football field did it not technically rain. Hardy bunch around here. Sorry for your weather on such a busy day. Hope it all goes well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted June 7, 2014 Author Share Posted June 7, 2014 This made me teary-eyed. I just finished Helprin's Winter's Tale this morning and feel the exact same way. I searched to see if there had been discussion on this book, because I thought you all had read it, but I didn't find much. I have to retract my earlier frustration and say that I loved this book and that it now has a home on my favorites shelf. I had never heard of this book until I saw the preview for the movie this last year. I thought it looked like a charming love story from a time past and of course had to read the book first. When I started the book and was nearly halfway into it, I became so frustrated. It didn't seem to match the romantic big screen Hollywood teaser I had seen. What in the world was I reading?!? At that time, I started reading some book reviews for it and even some spoilers to see where the train was headed. With fresh eyes, I continued through the second half of the book and started a love affair with Peter Lake and Helprin's New York. Woven through the narrative were the themes of justice, good vs. evil, sacrifice, hope, and even quite a heavy dose of politics! (Somewhat reminiscent of Ayn Rand, imo.) So much there, so much to ponder. I look forward to reading it again sometime, it's the kind of book that in each read will emerge deeper layers of understanding. Sorry for your weather on such a busy day. Hope it all goes well! I read Winter's Tale in December. I also midpoint went on Wikipedia to read a synopsis of the story to see where it was going. Especially after Peter disappears and I wasn't sure if he was dead or what. I didn't want his part of the story to end with Beverly's death. It was hard not to get involved in the reading with virginia skating her way to New York or Meads rainbow bridge. There was just so much going on, that when the book ended, was sad to stop reading. Left me with my mind so full, it took a few days to decompress. Helprin's an excellent writer and I already have his Soldier of the Great War on my want list for this month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted June 7, 2014 Author Share Posted June 7, 2014 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. Beautifully said and you sold me. Downloaded to my ipad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 Beautifully said and you sold me. Downloaded to my ipad. Thank you, Robin. A few caveats, the eponymous story, which could be classified as a novella, is the last one in the book which is made up of four short fairytales and then the title story.The four short tales were nothing spectacular but I think they set the tone for the last tale, tuning the reader's ear towards the realm of wishes and fairies and ephemera. Also it's not plot-driven, really, and I know you said that was more your style so be prepared for a slightly different pace. That said, her writing is such a marvelous mix of erudition, rigor and whimsy one can't help but be held in thrall by her storyteller's skill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 This made me teary-eyed. I just finished Helprin's Winter's Tale this morning and feel the exact same way. Aw. In fact I'm rereading the tale so I can spend just a bit more time with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Mumto2, how did your day turn out after the rocky start? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Someone found a bundle of Terry Pratchett books at the market yesterday, and spent last night eating the trifle her brother made and reading 'Equal Rites.' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Monica, you make me want to jump into Winter's Tale! Robin, I agree with shukriyya's assessment of Byatt's book. Gorgeously-written but not super plot-driven. Rosie, what a treasure to find! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Someone found a bundle of Terry Pratchett books at the market yesterday, and spent last night eating the trifle her brother made and reading 'Equal Rites.' Was the trifle good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Was the trifle good? Yeah, both of them. I don't know why he made two! Do you guys want any? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Mumto2, how did your day turn out after the rocky start? The day turned out just fine but I am embarrassed to say that was partly because the village picnic was cancelled because of the rain and a super soggy football field -- the local farmers bring semis on with flat bed trailers for the band's to set up on. Farmers were afraid of getting stuck understandably. Yes, pretty rural where I live. The thought of sitting around under a tent in the pouring rain playing handbells (which I am miserable at) was just too much. We ended up spending a rainy day watching 6 episodes of Grimm. I made good progress on my Japanese Bag. I would be close to done but have decided it would be much better with another row of hexagon s, barely have enough fabric. Not much reading d ing happened. The wedding was very wet but went well, Dh said the bride had a positive outlook. Supposed to be lucky. Other then about an hour before no thunder or lightning so I didn't have to worry about the kids up in the tower. They sounded great. The bell team is getting pretty good. We head over in about an hour so they can ring for Sunday morning service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onceuponatime Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 I won't be here for about a week. So, have fun y'all ( I never say y'all in real life.) I've been alternating my reading between Creative Mythology and Travels in Hyper Reality. Mr. Eco is practically easy to read after a few pages of Joseph Campbell. Robin, something is in the mail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tress Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 I haven't been much on this forum between having the migraine-from-hell (I have been having migraines for years, so you would expect me to be accustomed to it...and having four non-medicated births...I mean...it can't get worse than that, right?....well, it can and it did :glare: ) which had me in bed for almost a week including my birthday, a kidney stone attack, and a funeral (greatgrandmother), I feel I have missed a lot here! I hope to do better next week. JennW, the flat stanley / Minerva looks great! I'm not really clear on the postcard exchange, though. Did you agree on a certain theme for the postcards? I have tried to find something book /literature related, but haven't been able to find some, yet. Ali in Or & Pam in CT, thank you for your review of The Fault in Our Stars. I will stick to my decision for my dd10 to wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiegirl Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 I haven't been much on this forum between having the migraine-from-hell (I have been having migraines for years, so you would expect me to be accustomed to it...and having four non-medicated births...I mean...it can't get worse than that, right?....well, it can and it did :glare: ) which had me in bed for almost a week including my birthday, a kidney stone attack, and a funeral (greatgrandmother), I feel I have missed a lot here! I hope to do better next week. Oh, Tress, I am so sorry that you have had such a lousy week (well, except for the birthday. I am assuming that was a good part of the week.) :grouphug: I do relate to the migraine-from-hell. I have been having migraines for 40 years and have become somewhat acclimated to the pain but last week I had one that knocked my socks off. I had 4 that week. It was nasty so I do understand about the pain. The good part of the week was that even though I was in pain, I could still read. I hope that plays true for you as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tress Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 I read 14 books since I last checked in. It's so funny, last year when I joined this group in ...I think October, I had difficulty reading a book a week. Now, I have already read more than 52 books this year :hurray: . Can't really explain it, though. I read only one Dutch High School book: De Tweeling (The Twins) by Tessa de Loo. A beautiful book about two girls, twins, who are seperated from each other when they are 6 years old. One stays in Germany, the other goes to live with a family in The Netherlands. Both live through World War 2, but have - of course- very different experiences. They meet each other by accindent when they are in their seventies. I read two books in Latin: Colloquia Pensonarum (only 74 pages, but because it's in Latin I am going to count it ;) ) & Lingua Latina, Familia Romana, both by Hans Orberg. Not exactly high literature, but good to get my reading up to speed. I read several Circe-recommended books: The Intellectual Life, its Spirits, Conditions, Methods – A.G. Sertillanges, Tending the Heart of Virtue – Vigen Guroian, Beauty in the Word – Stratford Caldecott and I'm now officially Circe'd-out :lol: . These were all books I had bought over the years, started but never finished, so it feels good to now have read them. But anyone who wants me to read more of this, will have to pay me :tongue_smilie: . Especially after a book like 'Tending the Heart of Virtue'. I can't believe I read a whole book based on the idea that you read Fairy Tales and other classical children's lit to your children because you can then talk about good & bad. I mean, of course you do!?! Apart from the fact that Fairy Tales are 1) fun, 2) fun, 3) good for cultural literacy, I thought everyone read those because you can then talk about good & bad with your kids? I have been reading aloud Grimm's and Anderson's Fairy Tales for 10 years now, so maybe I wasn't really the intended audience :D. In the category SF&F: I finished book 5 of The Wheel of Time: Fires of Heaven. And I got a very nice gift for my birthday: the hardcover edition of Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold, which contains a CDrom with with all books (14, I believe!) from the series in ebook format. I had never read anything about Miles Vorkosigan before, but I'm on book 4 now. It's good. Two OOP books about homeschooling: Educating the Child at Home; Personal Training & the Work Habit (1914) and Bookless lessons for the Teacher-mother (1922) by Ella Frances Lynch. The first book was very interesting, especially her ideas for integrating all LA skills into poetry study, the second book contained a lot of parenting advice that made me uncomfortable (lot's of 'switching' and let's-make-a-lefthanded-child-properly-righthanded). I read and plan on re-reading The Little Oratory by David Clayton and Leila Marie Lawler. A beautifully designed book with lots of great advice on developing a family prayer life. Today I also finished Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel, which was the May challenge for this group, I believe. I'm really thankful for the recommendation to read this. It was fascinating to read about an aspect of the War, I had never heard of before. I knew that the nazi's looted art and that they were very systematic about it, but I had no idea the Allies actively tried to preserve monuments and how much work it was to retrieve all (most of) the stolen art. It's definitely going on my 'High School History reading list' for my kids. Something else I realized, I learnt at school that the Russians used the tactic of 'scorched earth' when the Germans attacked Russia. And I learnt that the Germans did the same when they were driven from the occupied countries and while they were fighting in Germany itself. I think, I just assumed that that was 'standard practice' during a war. I never realised it was a choice! Therefor it surprised me when I read that the Allies were suprised to see the Germans do this, how they had expected the Germans to capitulate much earlier and that there was disagreement between high nazi officers about this practice. Think about the lifes which could have been saved, during the fights and in the aftermath, if they had decided differently! ---- 56. De kunstbrigade (Monuments Men) – Robert M. Edsel (BaW recommendation, chunky) (N) 55. The Warrior’s Apprentice – Lois McMaster Bujold 54. De Tweeling (The Twins) – Tessa de Loo (Dutch N3) (N) 53. The Little Oratory – David Clayton & Leila Marie Lawler 52. Lingua Latina, Familia Romana – Hans Orberg (Latin, 304p) 51. Bookless lessons for the Teacher-mother (1922) – Ella Frances Lynch 50. Educating the Child at Home; Personal Training & the Work Habit (1914) – Ella Frances Lynch 49. Barrayar – Lois McMaster Bujold 48. Beauty in the Word – Stratford Caldecott (Circe recommendation) 47. Shards of Honor – Lois McMaster Bujold 46. Colloquia Personarum – Hans Orberg (Latin, 74p) 45. Tending the Heart of Virtue – Vigen Guroian (Circe recommendation) 44. The Fires of Heaven – Robert Jordan (WoT5, chunky) 43. The Intellectual Life, its Spirits, Conditions, Methods – A.G. Sertillanges, O.P. (Circe recommendation) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tress Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Oh, Tress, I am so sorry that you have had such a lousy week (well, except for the birthday. I am assuming that was a good part of the week.) :grouphug: I do relate to the migraine-from-hell. I have been having migraines for 40 years and have become somewhat acclimated to the pain but last week I had one that knocked my socks off. I had 4 that week. It was nasty so I do understand about the pain. The good part of the week was that even though I was in pain, I could still read. I hope that plays true for you as well. Thanks for the hug! No, my birthday was the day after the 4-day migraine-from-hell :thumbdown: , so I didn't exactly celebrate it, but I was very grateful that the pain was finally over! One thing good came from it, the restrictions my doctor had given me, of not using more than 2 triptan tablets a month, have been lifted. I now have a stack of tablets in the home, so I hopefully have never to go through this again. Even typing this, makes me teary eyed, it was that bad. Oh, but thinking of my birthday and my book-present, I remember the book of poetry I received for Mother's Day, which has such a beautiful cover, I just have to show it to you all :D. <image removed> The title is 'Lees maar lang en wees gelukkig', which translates into 'Read for a long time and be happy'. It contains 500 poems and every page has been designed by a different designer/artist, you can see samples here. It's a really beautiful (small) book. And the thought of me getting a poetry book (I ordered it myself, so it's not a mistake) makes me want to go :smilielol5: . How far have I come in a few years :D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Yeah, both of them. I don't know why he made two! Do you guys want any? From Rosie? Sure! Haven't had it in many decades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Tress, :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Tress :grouphug: Glad to see you back. Great job on all the books! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted June 8, 2014 Author Share Posted June 8, 2014 Link to week 24 - please continue conversation in new thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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