Book a Week in 2014 - BW45

[NoseInABook]

Mom-ninja, mmm, brownie cookies. I don't buy the teens being awful thing. I'm looking forward to the teenage years.

Shawneinfl, that is a good one to start with. Stardust and American Gods are good too. American Gods is the first Gaiman that I read.

Jane, I totally fantasize about homesteading. Someday, someday... I actually planted a garden this past summer so I'm making baby steps at least. Oh, and I canned peaches if that counts.

Robin, I'm excited about A Series of Unfortunate Events being a Netflix show. I hope they stay true to the books. I'm right there with you on Blood Magick. This entire triology feels like the same material that she's done a million times before but every now and then I just have to pick up a Nora Roberts book anyway.

 

Almost done with Blood Magick and I'm debating between actually reading Name Of The Wind or The Goldfinch. I try to switch between Kindle and paper books every other book or so which would mean that Name Of The Wind should be the book of choice. We'll see which one wins out or if another rises to the surface because I did tell a friend that I would read Don Quixote with her as we're both starting to go through The Well Educated Mind.

[LostSurprise]

I finally chugged through Acceptance. A lot more was explained then I thought would be. For those who started Annihilation or have been keeping track of the series the beginning of the mysterious Southern Reach is charted (at least as much as would be possible by a non-omnipotent viewpoint). He also wraps up the fates of all the major characters and a few minor ones. Because those characters meet their fates at different times the story is non-linear. It's told by 3-4 separate characters. There are so many POVs that it definitely erodes the sense of paranoia/thrill. In fact, I think that's why I was so annoyed with the first 100 pages. He was attempting to build paranoia so it could diffuse into acceptance but it felt unfocused and rehashed to me. 

 

I don't know what I feel about this series right now. This was a rough read for me. Maybe if I had more time (I had to force myself through a 14 day library borrow) or waited until a different time I would have warmed to it better. This is probably the first book where I thought that it would have been better to have all the sections together. It was different from the other books. The other books are an obvious build. This one doesn't. It doesn't leave you hanging, but the ending didn't feel cathartic or particularly meaningful (although the ending given to the Biologist and her husband did feel meaningful). It felt a bit like the ending to The Road. The darkness, the uncertainty, the acceptance, the questions about what it means to be human, the quest that doesn't end while human beings survive. 

I don't know. I liked the Biologist's story, and it was worthwhile for me to read this just to get a sense of closure on that, but I'm not sure if I can recommend the series or not.

 

I also found Before I Go to Sleep. I lost it a few months ago. My kids brought up Heroscape from the basement and it was in the Heroscape box. Ha. Finished that. It was a well done thriller, I thought, at least until the end. Like many thrillers it works best if you don't apply the ending too closely to everything that came before. 

 

 

Working on a lot of random things; Tam Lin (Pamela Dean and very good so far), Julia Child's letters, the Charles Stross short stories (almost done), and steampunk-y HG Wells-inspired sequel Morlock Night. 

[shukriyya]

 

Working on a lot of random things; Tam Lin (Pamela Dean and very good so far), Julia Child's letters, the Charles Stross short stories (almost done), and steampunk-y HG Wells-inspired sequel Morlock Night. 

 

This is close to the top of my tbr list thanks to Nan in Mass. Very tempted to buy it as the library doesn't carry it. I'll be eager to hear how you end up liking it overall.

[Mom-ninja.]

I've been chewing on some things I read in the Forever Chic book. Like I said earlier, many things don't apply to me such as getting facial treatments from a dermatologist or getting cellulite draining massages. However, she did mention one thing in particular that stayed with me. She said that French women would never dream of asking their significant other to judge them on the attractiveness scale. They would never ask, "Do these pants make my butt look big?" One woman explained the reason by asking why she would purposely point out her flaws to her husband. Husband probably doesn't notice them so she's not going to be the one to make them obvious to him. Her desire is to continue to bring attention to her assets and disguise the flaws. This makes sense to me and was a light bulb moment. When I was dating my husband I certainly didn't point out my flaws. Why would I do so now? 

 

I will say that I am too American to follow the next rule that French women follow (at least according to this book) and that is to keep an air of mystery about your beauty. Don't let your significant other see you performing personal hygiene and beauty routines. Don't let him see you in a non-presentable way ie. don't walk around in baggy sweats and messy face (like a beauty mask). Sorry, French women. No can do. I likes my lounging in comfy sweats before bed time. I brush and floss my teeth while he's present. I will say that I don't like to apply make up when he's around though. For some reason he makes me nervous. Can't explain it. But sitting on the couch, wearing my favorite sweats, with a yogurt mask smeared on my face, hair pulled into messy bun, and eating a pint of Ben & Jerry.....I totally do that in front of him. 

[prairiegirl]

We have had  sickness here--migraines for me and the flu for one kid--so I have been able to get lots of reading done.  I finished 'Astonish Me'  by Maggie Shipstead---meh.  It was predictable.   I then moved on to 'The Headmaster's Wife'  by Thomas Christopher Greene--I loved it, well-written.  This was kind of predictable, too, but for some reason it didn't bother me this time.   I am now reading Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeymi.

[Robin M]

I've been chewing on some things I read in the Forever Chic book. Like I said earlier, many things don't apply to me such as getting facial treatments from a dermatologist or getting cellulite draining massages. However, she did mention one thing in particular that stayed with me. She said that French women would never dream of asking their significant other to judge them on the attractiveness scale. They would never ask, "Do these pants make my butt look big?" One woman explained the reason by asking why she would purposely point out her flaws to her husband. Husband probably doesn't notice them so she's not going to be the one to make them obvious to him. Her desire is to continue to bring attention to her assets and disguise the flaws. This makes sense to me and was a light bulb moment. When I was dating my husband I certainly didn't point out my flaws. Why would I do so now? 

 

I will say that I am too American to follow the next rule that French women follow (at least according to this book) and that is to keep an air of mystery about your beauty. Don't let your significant other see you performing personal hygiene and beauty routines. Don't let him see you in a non-presentable way ie. don't walk around in baggy sweats and messy face (like a beauty mask). Sorry, French women. No can do. I likes my lounging in comfy sweats before bed time. I brush and floss my teeth while he's present. I will say that I don't like to apply make up when he's around though. For some reason he makes me nervous. Can't explain it. But sitting on the couch, wearing my favorite sweats, with a yogurt mask smeared on my face, hair pulled into messy bun, and eating a pint of Ben & Jerry.....I totally do that in front of him. 

 

Sounds like an interesting read.

 

Hah! To the bolded: Probably because French men as well as any man, are so typically literal, you'll get a straight answer without sugar coating. Or you'll get the evasive non answer "Do you think they are"  As an aside, I finally trained my hubby that when I'm ask his opinion of two choices, its because I want him to make the decision instead of  saying I don't know or I don't care, what do you want.  

 

Same here. My hubby sees and talks to me while I'm putting on makeup and  brushing my teeth.   All I wear at home are sweats and for some reason, my husband oddly finds sweat pants sexy.  I remember a couple comedy shows where the main female characters would  hope out of bed before their husbands, put on full make up, brush their teeth, then hop back in bed so they could be perfect when hubby woke up.  

 

[LostSurprise]

This is close to the top of my tbr list thanks to Nan in Mass. Very tempted to buy it as the library doesn't carry it. I'll be eager to hear how you end up liking it overall.

 

I haven't even reached the fairy tale angle yet, but the girls starting college and forming that group of friends and roommates is so well done. Quoting literature. Deciding majors. Liking boys. Trying to get along with people very different than you. 

 

If it keeps on track, I'll have to buy this one.

[Nan in Mass]

I've been chewing on some things I read in the Forever Chic book. Like I said earlier, many things don't apply to me such as getting facial treatments from a dermatologist or getting cellulite draining massages. However, she did mention one thing in particular that stayed with me. She said that French women would never dream of asking their significant other to judge them on the attractiveness scale. They would never ask, "Do these pants make my butt look big?" One woman explained the reason by asking why she would purposely point out her flaws to her husband. Husband probably doesn't notice them so she's not going to be the one to make them obvious to him. Her desire is to continue to bring attention to her assets and disguise the flaws. This makes sense to me and was a light bulb moment. When I was dating my husband I certainly didn't point out my flaws. Why would I do so now? 

 

I will say that I am too American to follow the next rule that French women follow (at least according to this book) and that is to keep an air of mystery about your beauty. Don't let your significant other see you performing personal hygiene and beauty routines. Don't let him see you in a non-presentable way ie. don't walk around in baggy sweats and messy face (like a beauty mask). Sorry, French women. No can do. I likes my lounging in comfy sweats before bed time. I brush and floss my teeth while he's present. I will say that I don't like to apply make up when he's around though. For some reason he makes me nervous. Can't explain it. But sitting on the couch, wearing my favorite sweats, with a yogurt mask smeared on my face, hair pulled into messy bun, and eating a pint of Ben & Jerry.....I totally do that in front of him. 

 

Well, she obviously hasn't tried to live for weeks at a time in a small sailboat with extremely limited water for cleaning up and way too much unfriendly water making life difficult.  Or beautiful, depending on the weather.  No way am I giving up my sponge bath in half a cup of boiling hot water every night followed by masses of baby powder.  I don't care if I have an audience of three sons, a cat, a dog, and a husband.  Somebody can get my back.  And pour for me when I want to wash my hair.  And hold a towel for me if I don't feel like salting the cabin sole after a swim.  I think if you asked my husband, he would say that life with me is complicated enough without adding in having me worried about appearances.  Of course, I might feel differently with a different husband or a different body.

 

Speaking of life being complicated, let me just say that I'm glad oldest bought that generator, and that I am glad it is so easy to get started.  I'm not the best at pull strings but this one is great.

 

Jane - How exotic all your cooking sounds!  Well, except  the shrimp.  We're having fish chowder this week.  Oldest is in what we call the chicken phase (or maybe it isn't a phase in his case) and is super excited because his chickens are actually laying now and his girlfriend is eyeing bee schools.  He left me his sourdough when he shipped out.  I'm mulling over what to do with it.  I probably should make a trip to the library for cook books.  It is that time of year. : )

 

I started listening Wodehouse's Damsel in Distress today during a three hour car ride with a four year old.  I spent the first hour retelling Three Little Pigs and The Three Bears.  I'm still just as bad at telling these as ever.  You'd think with all the practice I'd improve.  Fortunately, little one would rather have details than organization and a smooth retelling.  When he fell asleep, I had to find something "suitable" to listen to.  Librivox's Damsel in Distress is so far suitable.  It is being a typical Wodehouse.

 

I am also reading Dolciani's Algebra 2.  Not exactly what I want to be reading, but...

 

My middle one just told me why he liked his Game of Thrones series while he fixed himself supper.  Once again, I blessed TWTM/TWEM.  This is not a series I will be listening to, but I enjoyed hearing him talk about it.  Series and why they work for him or don't was part of it all.  I thought of you all. 

 

Shukriyya, your sentence about the natural world describes in such a lovely way something I take utterly for granted. : )

 

Still deciding what I'm going to read in English, as opposed to math or French.

 

Nan

[Kareni]

Nan,

 

I'm wondering if you've ever read the Don Camillo books by Giovanni Guareschi which are a light enjoyable read. It is a series of about six books about an Italian priest and his nemesis the Communist mayor set in the 1950s in Italy. The priest sometimes talks to Christ on the cross who talks back to him.

 

Start with The Little World of Don Camillo. The wikipedia entry will give you a good idea of the content of the series.

Regards,
Kareni

[Nan in Mass]

Kareni - No!  I have not even heard of them!  What fun!  I looked at Wiki and they look very attractive.  I will have to investigate.

 

Thank you!

Nan

[Kareni]

I was introduced to the Don Camillo books by my mother and have passed on the pleasure to my daughter.  So, you could say they've been a three generation hit in my family.  Perhaps your library might have them, Nan.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Nan in Mass]

I just looked.  My library doesn't, but interlibrary loan does and I have requested it.  Happily, that usually is very quick.

I wonder if my mother has read them?  I'll have to ask.

 

: )

Nancy

[TeacherZee]

Just got a £50 Amazon Gift Certificate. What do I want?!?!?!?!

[mumto2]

Just got a £50 Amazon Gift Certificate. What do I want?!?!?!?!

On the way out the door but couldn't resist giving you a few ideas....

 

Angelmakerhttp://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/feb/12/nick-harkaway-angelmaker-review. Favourite from last year.

 

Soulless series by Gail Carriger

 

Sebastian St. Cyr series by CS Harris

 

Happy shopping! Let us know what you decide on.

[Mom-ninja.]

Just got a £50 Amazon Gift Certificate. What do I want?!?!?!?!

Exercise DVDs!

[Onceuponatime]

Just got a £50 Amazon Gift Certificate. What do I want?!?!?!?!

 I just got one too. I knew it was coming so I had prepared a list of out of print books I want to read that I can't find in libraries or stores. That's what I will spend most of it on. I might also get one exercise dvd. :)

[TeacherZee]

Exercise DVDs!

 

Why? I am still working my way through the Fitness Blender Workouts you tipped us to :tongue_smilie:

[Mom-ninja.]

Okay, then how about exercise equipment. Do you need dumbbells? Cause Fitness Blender uses those in a lot of videos. Physioball? Shoes? Cute workout clothes! 

 

Or my favorite drink for when I'm working out, Eco Drink. They even have a caffeine version if you need it. 

 

I guess you could get books. I mean, if you wanted to. I'll be okay with that. 

[Mom-ninja.]

I can give you a list of the books I would like to buy.....

 

The Humans Who Went Extinct

 

March of the Microbes

 

5 Elements

 

The Unfolding of Language

 

Kith

 

The Homemade Atheist 

 

The Devil's Dictionary

 

 

I have many more on my wishlist, but just throwing ideas to you

[Kareni]

Yesterday I read the book The Portrait by Megan Chance.  This is a historical romance set in the mid 1850's in New York City about which I'd heard good things.  It is unusual in that the hero suffers from what we would now call bipolar disorder.  It was a good read.

 

"The reigning master of the New York art world, Jonas Whitaker was brilliant and compelling, a man of dark passions and uncontrollable emotions. Terrified of his own dangerous nature, and scarred by the horror of his past, he hid behind his talent in a world of glittering emptiness--until Imogene Carter pushed her way into his life.

He discounted her on sight, seeing her as a colorless, fragile woman with no spirit and less talent. He could send her running with a word--and he intended to do just that.

But Imogene was not so easily frightened. She came to Jonas to learn from a master, and learn she would-everything he could teach her. She wanted his artist's secrets and his brilliant passion. She wanted to be swept up in his seductive, forbidden world.

Until she saw the terrible price he paid for his talent.

And realized it was impossible to catch a shooting star without being burned...."

 

The book was published in 1995 and the cover art on my copy is markedly different from the copy pictured above.  Ahh, you can see my cover here.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Stacia]

Hmmm, TeacherZee & OUAT, how fun! I, of course, would skip the exercise dvds & instead buy books. :laugh:  Agreeing with mumto2's recommendation of Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway. Fabulous book; a favorite of mine too.

 

A few (of the many, many) that I am currently wanting to read; maybe some of these would be of interest to you too?

 

Limonov by Emmanuel Carrère

The Duel Set (link to a different site but could order the books individually through amazon)

A Billion Lives by Jan Egeland (a book I heard about on Bob Edwards' radio show; fascinating interview)

Set of 3 Peirene Press books: Chasing the King of Hearts by Hanna Krall; Mr. Darwin’s Gardener by Kristina Carlson; and The Mussel Feast by Birgit Vanderbeke

Zone and Street of Thieves by Mathias Enard

Head in Flames by Lance Olsen 

Not a Fairytale by Shaida Kazie Ali 

Nigerians in Space by Deji Bryce Olukotun 

Congo Solo by Emily Hahn

[mumto2]

Had some time to read while we were out and finished A Bollywood Affairhttp://www.npr.org/books/titles/360191729/a-bollywood-affair#excerpt which I mentioned during one of our tangents a couple of weeks ago. ;) It was quite good. I was planning to say that it was a pretty typical romance with an unusual setting but that isn't really fair because half of the book is set at Eastern Michigan University, so pretty familiar to me! :lol: So going to revise that to say cultural setting.....very like my one Bollywood viewing experience because the book was sort of a crazy snowball, every far out, maybe possible, thing just kept happening. It was a fun read.

[Stacia]

I finished Jules Verne's The Castle in Transylvania last night.

 

Among bibliophiles, I think there are fans of the orderly, rational, logical world & there are more loosey-goosey types who are fans of the unexplained or hard to believe. I got a real taste of that last year with Verne's An Antarctic Mystery (orderly, rational, logical) vs. Poe's The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (loosey-goosey at best :lol: ).

 

So, in The Castle in Transylvania, we are heading into 'supernatural' territory with Jules Verne. Except, being the orderly, rational, logical author that he is, we're *not* really heading into supernatural territory at all. His characters thought they were in supernatural territory, but Verne consistently dismissed their concerns in little asides about their superstitious ways & other hints. Pshaw! Even though I'm not one to try to figure out the story ahead of time, I could see where he was going with this one from fairly early in the story. (Perhaps it helps that I live in a modern age? His scientific explanations might have been more unusual during the late 1800s, whereas they are not unusual now.) Mostly, I just had to chuckle at Verne's Felix Unger-ish, OCD-level behaviors in explaining everything through rational thought. And, as you might suspect, the story is brought to a complete, rational conclusion, with all story arcs neatly concluded at the end.

 

When I'm reading something supernatural, I guess I'm in the loosey-goosey camp. I want unbelievable things; I want the author to be fully invested in those unbelievable things; I like odd occurrences & strange happenings & things that can't easily be explained. Edgar Allan Poe does that well; Bram Stoker does that well; H.G. Wells successfully melds the scientific with the unbelievable. But, since Jules Verne doesn't seem to be a believer in the odd/unexplainable/supernatural, he's just not invested in that weird suspension of disbelief that goes along with a supernatural tale (imo). I would recommend The Castle in Transylvania for rational thinkers (perhaps Mr. Spock would be a fan ) who want a non-supernatural supernatural tale. :laugh:

 

(By the way, don't get your hopes up -- that's not really a zombie you see on the cover. If you thought it was, you must be a superstitious simpleton like me. :p :biggrinjester:)

[Mom-ninja.]

Hmmm, TeacherZee & OUAT, how fun! I, of course, would skip the exercise dvds & instead buy books. :laugh:  

If you come over then you can read aloud while I work out. 

[Stacia]

33 Books You Should Read Now, Based On Your Favourite Films

 

Fun list. They are spot-on with numbers 1 & 4, imo. I'm going to have to try numbers 2 & 10....

[Mom-ninja.]

Fun list!

[aggieamy]

33 Books You Should Read Now, Based On Your Favourite Films

 

Fun list. They are spot-on with numbers 1 & 4, imo. I'm going to have to try numbers 2 & 10....

 

 

11. If you love The Usual Suspects, try The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie.

 

The internet list speaks the truth!

[shukriyya]

33 Books You Should Read Now, Based On Your Favourite Films

 

Fun list. They are spot-on with numbers 1 & 4, imo. I'm going to have to try numbers 2 & 10....

I've come away with three tbrs based on my enjoyment of Gosford Park, Amelie and Midnight in Paris :D

 

Finished 'The Red Garden' and enjoyed it. It was a sweet, poignant glimpse into the lives of ordinary folks whose inner worlds illuminate them in a way that is anything but ordinary. With Hoffman's lovely lens the inner everyday is a magical wilderness we'll never fully understand populated by hope and dreams and bears that seem almost human and women who swim with eels, and that most fantastical of creatures, the heart.

[Stacia]

Amelie and Midnight in Paris :D

 

I enjoyed both of those too. But, even though I enjoyed Amelie, I didn't like The Elegance of the Hedgehog when I tried it. I think I'm in the minority on that one, though, as I've heard quite a few people say they loved that book.

 

[shukriyya]

I enjoyed both of those too. But, even though I enjoyed Amelie, I didn't like The Elegance of the Hedgehog when I tried it. I think I'm in the minority on that one, though, as I've heard quite a few people say they loved that book.

 

 

Actually I went back and looked at the list because I remember reading about The Elegance of the Hedgehog and thinking it wasn't for me though I did love the movie, Amelie. It was Brightstar that was the third choice, both for a book and a movie. They both look good.

 

[shukriyya]

An interesting addendum to 'The Red Garden'...at the end of the book there is an interview with the author. I found her comments on magical realism interesting and thought I'd share them in light of previous discussions of magical realism here on our thread...

 

Interviewer :: Reviewers usually mention the magical realism that permeates your work. Are you comfortable with the term "magical realism"? Does magical living exist only in fiction?

 

Alice Hoffman :: For me literature is magic, and magic is part of the original literary tradition, whether it be mythology, folk tales, fairy tales, ghost stories, the stories of Kafka or Washington Irving--all of it can be found in the greatest literature. I think of "realism" as being "imposed" on fiction--after all, this is not real life, it is art, and art consists of imagination and experience--the recipe for magic. "Magical realism" is a new term for an ancient tradition.

[Stacia]

Shukriyya, I like that description of magical realism.

 

Btw, if anyone would like my copy of the non-supernatural supernatural book :lol: , let me know & I'll put it in the mail to you.

[Kareni]

I finished rereading Mary Balogh's historical romance Silent Melody.  This is one of the author's Georgian romances and features a heroine who is deaf.

 

"Lady Emily Marlowe is beautiful, independent, and unspoiled. Deaf since childhood, she appreciates her family’s efforts to nurture her spirit, but the man they’ve chosen for her betrothal can never fulfill her. The only one Emily has ever desired is bold and reckless Lord Ashley Kendrick. Her childhood amour inspired her fantasies and vowed never to forget her—even as he left her for a new life in India and a new love.

Seven years and countless dreams later, Ashley has returned a desolate widower to Bowden Abbey and, true to his promise, to Emily. Yet his heedless proposal of marriage has left her unexpectedly conflicted. Though the heat of passion still burns, Emily fears that it’s only a sense of duty—not love—that has brought him to bended knee. And what is she to make of those seven lost years clouded in secrets too dark for Ashley to share?

For Emily, her greatest and only love now becomes one worth fighting for, one of startling revelations and second chances, and one, like a melody, too beautiful for words...."

 

I enjoyed revisiting this book!  It follows on the author's Heartless (which features the heroine's sister and the hero's brother); however, it can stand alone well.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Stacia]

We've missed you, Eliana! Hope you can eke out more time soon!

 

Slightly OT, but, Uff Da -- here's something on etsy that made me think of you: https://www.etsy.com/listing/194933147/swedish-dala-horse-cards-uff-da-blank?ref=sr_gallery_9&ga_search_query=dala&ga_page=4&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery :laugh:

[Angel]

Rereads:

Robin McKinley short stories: Door in the Hedge and Knot in the Grain: I can never clearly remeber which stories (other than the ones in the book titles) go with which of these anthologies... These are (mostly) riffs on fairy tales (I love the Frog Princess take-off), some more directly than others, and they all have the familiar, beloved McKinley voice... and I could read them in bits and snatches through the weeks...

 

Patricia Wrede: Mairleon the Magician and Magician's Ward (handily reissued together as A Matter of Magic).  These are a bit like the Sorcery & Cecilia books - Georgette Heyer-esque Regency with magic.

 

Heyer: Convenient Marriage: there are some bits of this I am very, very fond of, though it isn't one of Heyer's best.

 

 

 

Thank you for the Wrede and McKinley books!  I have yet to read McKinley but she is on my short list as my older dd owns Beauty (because it was recommended here  ;) ).  I love Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles as well.  These could potentially become Christmas gifts. 

 

I read Convenient Marriage this year.  It was so different from the other Heyer's I had read that I wasn't sure I liked it at first.  However, it did have some of the best laugh out loud moments with, I think it was, Horatia's brother.  Oh my  :lol:

[Jane in NC]

Despite the cooking/baking marathon that has been my life this week, I managed to finish two books.  Thanks Eliana for mentioning Dunnett's Johnson Johnson books.  The Photogenic Soprano (originally entitled Dolly and the Singing Bird) was a truly fun romp.  Nan, you might enjoy this as a read aloud with your Mom because of the Scottish islands, the songs, the sailing (through a hurricane!) It is preposterous but who cares!

 

Bitter Lemons brought tears to my eyes as I finished the memoir. Politicians and diplomats should have this one assigned as required reading.  Durrell's lush and poetic renderings of the Cypriot countryside and people touched my heart.  Cyprus has entered into my reading world through Dorothy Dunnett's historical lens (Race of Scorpions in the House of Niccolo series is set primarily in Cyprus although the Templar Knights with their Cypriot base are mentioned often in the Lymond books).  I have a vague memory of the coup there in the '70's.  My son has told me of the archaeological dig in the UN zone that some of his fellow students have worked on--and I am thinking, Wow, the UN still keeps a buffer zone there?

 

Cyprus is now on my list of places to go. 

 

But not today. Home Depot is where I am headed.  Certainly not as glamourous.

[ladydusk]

I read a bunch of Kristin Vayden (OK, but a little more explicit than I like) and Elizabeth Bailey (Georgian Era and pretty good. Believable plots but some characters are not as loveable as others.)

 

I went and dug out my copy of The Ivy Tree last night. I'm only 50 pages in, but it is much more challenging reading than the other and I love how Stewart gives so many clues to the truth of story but keeps the reader off balance so you are never really sure. Even as early as I am, and knowing the resolution, I question what is true and what isn't. Masterfully done.

[mumto2]

I am still working my way through the huge variety of spooky book series I requested last month. I have always loved Carolyn Hart's Death on Demand series so decided to give the Bailey Ruth series another try. I read the first one quite a while ago and liked it but had no access to the rest but thanks to overdrive........

 

I read the second in the series Merry, Merry, Ghost this afternoon. It was sweet, if a murder mystery with a ghost can be considered sweet. ;) https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/carolyn-hart/merry-merry-ghost/

[shukriyya]

I started Ursula LeGuin's 'Lavinia' yesterday...

 

In a richly imagined, beautiful new novel, an acclaimed writer gives an epic heroine her voice

In The Aeneid, Vergil’s hero fights to claim the king’s daughter, Lavinia, with whom he is destined to found an empire. Lavinia herself never speaks a word. Now, Ursula K. Le Guin gives Lavinia a voice in a novel that takes us to the half-wild world of ancient Italy, when Rome was a muddy village near seven hills.

Lavinia grows up knowing nothing but peace and freedom, until suitors come. Her mother wants her to marry handsome, ambitious Turnus. But omens and prophecies spoken by the sacred springs say she must marry a foreigner—that she will be the cause of a bitter war—and that her husband will not live long. When a fleet of Trojan ships sails up the Tiber, Lavinia decides to take her destiny into her own hands. And so she tells us what Vergil did not: the story of her life, and of the love of her life.

Lavinia is a book of passion and war, generous and austerely beautiful, from a writer working at the height of her powers.

[Kareni]

I haven't read it, but those who like inspirational romances might enjoy this free Kindle book which won the following awards:

 

2013 RITA Winner for Inspirational Romance
2013 Christy Award Winner for Historical Romance
2013 Daphne du Maurier Award Winner for Inspirational Romantic Mystery/Suspense

 

Against the Tide by Elizabeth Camden

"After a childhood rampant with uncertainty, Lydia Pallas has carved out a perfect life for herself. She spends her days within sight of the bustling Boston Harbor, where her skill with languages has landed her an enviable position as a translator for the U.S. Navy.

Lydia's talents bring her to the attention of Alexander Banebridge, a mysterious man in need of a translator. Driven by a campaign to end the opium trade, Bane is coolly analytical and relentless in his quest. He cannot afford to fall for Lydia and must fight the bittersweet love growing between them.

When Bane's enemies gain the upper hand, he is forced to turn to Lydia for help. Determined to prove her worth, Lydia soon discovers that carrying out Bane's mission will test her wits and her courage to the very limits."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

I haven't read it, but those who like inspirational romances might enjoy this free Kindle book which won the following awards:

 

2013 RITA Winner for Inspirational Romance

2013 Christy Award Winner for Historical Romance

2013 Daphne du Maurier Award Winner for Inspirational Romantic Mystery/Suspense

Against the Tide by Elizabeth Camden

"After a childhood rampant with uncertainty, Lydia Pallas has carved out a perfect life for herself. She spends her days within sight of the bustling Boston Harbor, where her skill with languages has landed her an enviable position as a translator for the U.S. Navy.

 

Lydia's talents bring her to the attention of Alexander Banebridge, a mysterious man in need of a translator. Driven by a campaign to end the opium trade, Bane is coolly analytical and relentless in his quest. He cannot afford to fall for Lydia and must fight the bittersweet love growing between them.

 

When Bane's enemies gain the upper hand, he is forced to turn to Lydia for help. Determined to prove her worth, Lydia soon discovers that carrying out Bane's mission will test her wits and her courage to the very limits."

 

Regards,

Kareni

I haven't read it but Bf loved it so much that she mailed dd and I a copy. In the stack......

[Nan in Mass]

I am reading A Door into Ocean.  And finding it hard to remember to keep breathing.

[Shawneinfl]

I just finished John Grisham's Gray Mountain which I won from Goodreads as a preview novel. It wasn't one of his best, I would give it three stars. To me it was a combo issue/romance novel using his typical "young and inexperienced lawyer takes on the big time" formula. I still think I preferred The Firm and The Pelican Brief, two of his earliest books. Since then, all his story lines seem to run together. I do make an exception for Skipping Christmas, probably my all-time favorite Grisham novel.

[Robin M]

Link to week 46 - please continue conversation in new thread