Book a Week in 2014 - BW51

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday, dear hearts!  Today is the start of week 51 in our quest to read 52 Books. Welcome back to all our readers, to all those who are just joining in and to all who are following our progress. Mr. Linky is all set up on the 52 Books blog to link to your reviews. The link is below in my signature.

 

52 Books Blog - Armchair Traveling through the 21st Century and beyond:  Our armchair travels this year have taken us around the world and through the centuries from the twelfth to the present and into the future.  My mind voyage through the years has been interesting and intriguing, although there are a few books I never quite managed to read.  Time and time again (forgive the pun) I had the "eyes are bigger than my stomach" syndrome, courtesy of the wonderful world of ebooks.  Don't know sometimes whether e-books are a pleasure or a curse, since it is so easy to impulse shop. 

My stacks, both physical and electronic,  are full of a variety of genres from historical to British mystery to classics to thrillers to paranormal, science fiction and fantasy from all time periods.  Which is why I'll probably be doing a book buying ban at the beginning of the new year and plowing through my shelves with a read my own books challenge.  That is until I get the book buying blues and race down to my local Barnes and Noble for a book fix.  *grin*

In the past 14 years, we've seen the popularity of very graphic, young adult novels such as The Hunger Games series, and Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series.   The rise of availability of translated novels thanks to such small press publishers such as Archipelago books, and the demand for comic books and graphic novels.  I've discovered quite a few new to me urban fantasy and paranormal series thanks to Literary Escapism and other book bloggers.  There has been a resurgence of interest in classic novels thanks to university presses like Harvard University Press and availability of classics through publishers such as Penguin Classics.

We have so many resources at our fingertips now, it's mind boggling.   Which is why I love Nancy Pearl and her Book Lust series - Book Lust, More Book Lust and Book Lust to Go.  And I have so much fun scouring Goodreads lists - eclectic and interesting.

Next week we'll do a wrap up of our 2014 year of reading  (remember week 52 will take us from the 21st through the 31st)  and then we'll be ready to do it all over again. I'll be posting I'm participating in 2014 mr linky in the next few days on the 52 Books blog for those who have been participating and posting reviews through the blog and are ready for another round of read 52 books in 52 weeks.

 

 

 

History of the Ancient World:  Chapter 74 - 79.  There are 13 chapters left so let's shoot to to finish by the end of the year,

 

 

What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

Link to week 50

[Robin M]

I'm still in a fluff mode for some reason and currently reading Julie Ann Walker's Hell for Leather in her Black Knight series. Although I did pull Joel Rosenberg's The Twelfth Iman off the shelf to delve into.  #8 in his apocalyptic fiction series. 

[Violet Crown]

At Middle Girl's recommendation I read this week The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard, which was very amusing and surprisingly unknown given the huge Sherlock Holmes fan base.

 

Pam, I'm glad you, um, enjoyed Bel-Ami! Right now I'm reading Henry James' The Awkward Age, which also seems to be about awful people of the nineteenth century, but more subtly than the outrageousness of Maupassant's characters.

 

Thank you for keeping Wee Girl in your hearts. Doing much better as other parts of life move forward, including the imminent and long-anticipated Return of Great Girl and the anticipation of Christmas.

[Tress]

I haven't been able to participate in this thread lately, I have been ill quite a lot (stomach flu with the whole family, the usual migraines, I'm in bed with sinusitis at the moment :glare: ), but I have tried to at least read the threads and will try to post a wrap up of the year.

 

I'm still on schedule with History of the Ancient World. If there are others interested, Robin, I would like to continue with the other books.

[Pam in CT]

I haven't been able to participate in this thread lately, I have been ill quite a lot (stomach flu with the whole family, the usual migraines, I'm in bed with sinusitis at the moment :glare: ), but I have tried to at least read the threads and will try to post a wrap up of the year.

 

I'm still on schedule with History of the Ancient World. If there are others interested, Robin, I would like to continue with the other books.

I don't want to "like" this, but  :grouphug: ... get well soon.  I get sinusitis sometimes too; it's the pits.

 

 

 

Pam, I'm glad you, um, enjoyed Bel-Ami! Right now I'm reading Henry James' The Awkward Age, which also seems to be about awful people of the nineteenth century, but more subtly than the outrageousness of Maupassant's characters.

 

Thank you for keeping Wee Girl in your hearts. Doing much better as other parts of life move forward, including the imminent and long-anticipated Return of Great Girl and the anticipation of Christmas.

I must confess, I started out under the woefully wrong impression that Bel-Ami was working toward satire.  

 

Somewhere midway I had a "wait a minute... I'm really not seeing any hints at.all that we're headed towards any kind of redemption..." moment.... but optimist that I (deep down... OK sometimes it's very deep, but still....) am, I still held out hope that there might be... I dunno... comeuppance, or something...

 

So I'm not sure "enjoyed" is quite right... glad I did; definitely looking now for Light to sustain me through the solstice...

 

____

 

Very glad to hear Wee Girl is doing better.   :grouphug:

[aggieamy]

Yay.  I'm alive.  Between work/travel/horrible bought of all aggieamy's family of the stomach bug I've been away from my computer.  

 

Violet -  ((HUGS)) for Wee Girl.

 

Finished:

 

Kaoru Mori Anything and Something by Kaoru Mori - a manga book of short stories.  Most are quite short - only six or seven pages.  I enjoyed it.  She has a huge interest in Victorian England and many of her stories focused on that.  

[aggieamy]

We just finished decorating for Christmas and it reminds me of a funny story I want to tell y'all.

 

A few years ago DH and I were shopping in the Catholic bookstore.  The little one near where I grew up in that I went to all the time with my grandmother.  I found this lovely brass Christmas tree that had candles on it.  It was instant love.  I had come in to buy a few rosaries but left with what I was sure was going to become the coolest Christmas decoration ever.  I already had a place in mind on our mantle.  

 

This was in November so I put it away with the other decorations and patiently waited.  I don't know what made me start wondering about my little tree.  I remember taking it out once and thinking that there was something interesting about the arrangement and number of candles.  Then I was shopping in Target one day and saw some perfect replacement candles in the Hanukkah section.

 

Yep.

 

Those nice girls at the Catholic bookstore let me buy a Menorah.  A strange Christmas tree Menorah.  

 

DH and I laughed and laughed about it.  He even did a bit of research and it turns out that it was specifically designed in the 1960's for families of mixed background.  I didn't know what to do with it but finally DH told me that Jesus had a Menorah up in his living room so there was no reason we shouldn't either.  

 

 

 

Close up of the Menorah:

 

http://yumuseum.tumblr.com/post/41450824908/its-cold-as-menorah-time-it-might-be-freezing

[JennW in SoCal]

At Middle Girl's recommendation I read this week The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard, which was very amusing and surprisingly unknown given the huge Sherlock Holmes fan base.

 

Pam, I'm glad you, um, enjoyed Bel-Ami! Right now I'm reading Henry James' The Awkward Age, which also seems to be about awful people of the nineteenth century, but more subtly than the outrageousness of Maupassant's characters.

 

Thank you for keeping Wee Girl in your hearts. Doing much better as other parts of life move forward, including the imminent and long-anticipated Return of Great Girl and the anticipation of Christmas.

 

Just added Brigadier Gerard to my kindle "stack".  The only other ACD I've read was Lost World.

 

Glad to hear Wee Girl is doing better.  I was thinking of y'all and the rest of the choristers on Thursday.  Hope the concert was beautiful and uplifting.  Did you get to see any of it or were you firmly ensconced in the greenroom with squirrelly little ones?

 

I haven't been able to participate in this thread lately, I have been ill quite a lot (stomach flu with the whole family, the usual migraines, I'm in bed with sinusitis at the moment :glare: ), but I have tried to at least read the threads and will try to post a wrap up of the year.

 

 

I can't click "like" either.  Yuck!  What a rotten start to December.  Hope you are feeling better soon, able to get out and about.

 

I finished Tigerman yesterday.  Definitely a thumbs up from me.  All of you who enjoyed Angelmaker would enjoy this one, too.  

 

 

ETA:  Amy -- I love the menorah and the story!  

 

And I'm making a cross out of my two index fingers as a protective hex against the stomach flu virus going around. No, no, no, no, no!  Back, demon fiend!! 

[Stacia]

Tress & Amy, :grouphug: :grouphug:   & hoping both of you & your families are feeling better soon!

 

Violet Crown, :grouphug: .

 

I haven't had much reading time. Or much reading inclination. I do, however, continue to check out & pile up books from the library. :huh: In my wanderings of the library a few days ago (when ds was there to take his Latin midterm), I plucked a slim volume off the shelf. I think I may have found a tiny little gem here. The Painted Alphabet by Diana Darling, which is a more modern retelling of an old Balinese epic poem. Loving the few pages I've managed to read so far.

 

From Kirkus Reviews:

 

Darling, an American sculptor and ten-year resident of Bali, debuts with a charming, sometimes exquisitely detailed novel based on a Balinese Hindu epic. Villager Siladri, dismayed by the hellishness of his era, leaves home in order to study with a holy man. He swaps babies with his brother, leaving his own son behind, and sets out for the mountains with his wife and niece Kusuma Sari. But Siladri's wife dies just before arrival; the baby is raised by two foster-mothers- -a lioness and a doe; and Siladri himself becomes his teacher's spiritual heir. In the meantime, the monstrous Klinyar--conceived in a desecrated temple--finds her own foster-mother: Dayu Datu, a powerful witch. When Siladri and his family are threatened by Dayu Datu, Klinyar, and a lascivious ne'er-do-well, he and Kusuma Sari must question moral absolutes: Is it right to use violence and sorcery against their enemies? In maintaining their own purity can they redeem others? Reinforcing the timelessness of myth, Darling has taken the ancient plot and let the characters play out their Good vs. Evil destinies in the contemporary world: traditional ways coexist with tourists and cold beer; the distracted witch, seeking a professional environment, creates a crack house and a Soviet airport lounge. Throughout, Darling turns archetypes into appealing human characters; her Bali is seductive--full of love, fragrance, tinkling bells, evocative descriptions of weather, geography, and religious rites. Exemplary translation of mythic material into fiction attuned to contemporary taste.

 

NY Times review: http://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/22/books/demons-dangerous-when-annoyed.html

 

[aggieamy]

 

And I'm making a cross out of my two index fingers as a protective hex against the stomach flu virus going around. No, no, no, no, no!  Back, demon fiend!! 

 

That's a good plan.  DH says it's no big deal if you get it because it only lasts 24 hours.  Right.  24 hours of laying in bed moaning and throwing up.  That's like three weeks in non-sick to your stomach time.  

[Jane in NC]

Like others here, my reading time has been limited.  Sending thoughts of good health and healing to those requiring it.

 

A leftover note from last week to Eliana:  My library only has three of Dunnett's Johnson Johnson novels.  Now that I have finished Send a Fax to the Kasbah, I will see if Dolly & the Bird of Paradise is available via inter-library loan. 

 

This is the time of year I often reread Miss Read, easy fluff when occupied by the holiday hubbub.  I think I may dust off an Angela Thirkell although it would be good to reduce the to-be-read stacks by a book or two before 2015.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Just Robyn]

 

 

I might try Brooks again in another decade or so, perhaps I will have grown up some more and be able to appreciate more of her work then...

 

I 'discovered' Neruda last year and threw myself into several volumes of his poetry.  20 love poems is one of his most famous (and there was much I enjoyed there), but not my favorite... I think Hands of the Day was, though I don't know if it still would be now (which brings up again the question of how much of what I love in a book is the book itself, rather than the interaction of me-as-I-am-right-then and the book?)

 

Thanks for the recommendation. I finished Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair and really loved certain lines in each poem, but disliked other lines quite a bit so the poems were all almost amazing to me. I'll have to add Hands of the Day to my to-read list for when I'm ready to give Neruda another try.

 

I also finished Journey to the Center of the Earth, which I thought was mildly entertaining - not bad, but too simple and plotty. I'm not rushing to read more Jules Verne. I'm about a third of the way through Anna Karenina. I love it and just wish I could sit and read it all day every day until I reach the end.

 

I'm also loving, loving, loving a book of art and poetry - If the Tabloids Are True What Are You? by Matthea Harvey. I read an interview with someone from Graywolf Press and decided to look at their catalog and ask my library to buy something they published. After looking at a few poetry books I requested the Harvey book. So far I have read several prose poems about mermaids, like "The Straightforward Mermaid," an erasure made from Bradbury's "R is for Rocket," a couple of free verse poems and a sonnet. Here's an interview with the author that someone linked to in their review on GoodReads.

 

Robin - I joined Writer's Village. Haven't had time to make much use of it yet, but hope to do good work with it over the next year. Thank you for bringing it up here.

 

And finally, some Neruda.

 

Girl Lithe and Tawny

 

Girl lithe and tawny, the sun that forms

the fruits, that plumps the grains, that curls seaweeds

filled your body with joy, and your luminous eyes

and your mouth that has the smile of the water.

 

A black yearning sun is braided into the strands

of your black mane, when you stretch your arms.

You play with the sun as with a little brook

and it leaves two dark pools in your eyes.

 

Girl lithe and tawny, nothing draws me towards you.

Everything bears me farther away, as though you were noon.

You are the frenzied youth of the bee,

the drunkenness of the wave, the power of the wheat-ear.

 

My somber heart searches for you, nevertheless,

and I love your joyful body, your slender and flowing voice.

Dark butterfly, sweet and definitive

like the wheat-field and the sun, the poppy and the water.

[Loesje22000]

Continuing the history of Congo:

http://www.amazon.com/Congo-The-Epic-History-People/dp/0062200119

 

I LOVE this book.

 

I started a book called: ' Me? No Pause!' About the menopause

[shukriyya]

Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm: I've started this several times before, but had never been able to get past the center plot piece - that the entire student body of Oxford was going to commit mass suicide.  This time I could see the satire - and coming off a year with a mass of WWI reading, I got chills... a whole generation of young men marching off to die for a will-o-the-wisp fantasy of romance... it is funny, and the center piece is downright cheerful much of the time.  I wouldn't rank it as a Great Book, but, again, I'm glad I read it.

 

 

Oh my word, Eliana, you've just plunged me back four decades to our family living room with its sleek white danish modern coffee table and this book, in bright red with black lettering, sitting on its surface! I think I read it in my teens and enjoyed it but I've got no recollection of its contents.

[shukriyya]

Ds and I are about to settle in with hot drinks, chocolate and A Child's Christmas in Wales with its wonderful opening lines of Dylan Thomas's brought to life through Denholm Elliot's voice and evocative cinematography...

 

"One Christmas was so much like the other, in those years around the sea-town corner now, out of all sound except the distant speaking of the voices I sometimes hear a moment before sleep, that I can never remember whether it snowed for six days and six nights when I was twelve, or whether it snowed for twelve days and twelve nights when I was six.

 

All the Christmases roll down towards the two-tongued sea, like a cold and headlong moon bundling down the sky that was our street; and they stop at the rim of the ice-edged, fish-freezing waves, and I plunge my hands in the snow and bring out whatever I can find. In goes my hand into that wool-white bell-tongued ball of holidays resting at the rim of the carol-singing sea, and out come Mrs. Prothero and the firemen..."

 

It's available on youtube in its entirety though I can't attest to the quality as we watch it on dvd.

 

 

[Jane in NC]

Ds and I are about to settle in with hot drinks, chocolate and A Child's Christmas in Wales with its wonderful opening lines of Dylan Thomas's brought to life through Denholm Elliot's voice and evocative cinematography...

 

"One Christmas was so much like the other, in those years around the sea-town corner now, out of all sound except the distant speaking of the voices I sometimes hear a moment before sleep, that I can never remember whether it snowed for six days and six nights when I was twelve, or whether it snowed for twelve days and twelve nights when I was six.

 

All the Christmases roll down towards the two-tongued sea, like a cold and headlong moon bundling down the sky that was our street; and they stop at the rim of the ice-edged, fish-freezing waves, and I plunge my hands in the snow and bring out whatever I can find. In goes my hand into that wool-white bell-tongued ball of holidays resting at the rim of the carol-singing sea, and out come Mrs. Prothero and the firemen..."

 

It's available on youtube in its entirety though I can't attest to the quality as we watch it on dvd.

 

A Child's Christmas in Wales is one of my favorite holiday read alouds.

[LostSurprise]

I hope all the sick, and their families, feel better. DS1 had the flu this weekend. I love him dearly but he is not one to go unheard about how he feels. At least it seems to be the 24hr bug so he can feel well enough to irritate his brothers today. 

 

 

Thanks for the recommendation. I finished Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair and really loved certain lines in each poem, but disliked other lines quite a bit so the poems were all almost amazing to me. I'll have to add Hands of the Day to my to-read list for when I'm ready to give Neruda another try.

 

 

I read that Neruda a month or two ago and came away with similar feelings. I couldn't really put it into words at the time so I didn't talk about it. 

There were many very fresh, very beautiful lines and images, and many which fell flat to me (but that's poetry). That doesn't usually bother me. After a month or so letting it stew around my head, I think part of my problem is that Neruda is so young when he writes this. I don't get a sense of these women (or woman) at all. While he worships them, the poems are really about him, I think. He is reveling in his sensuality. That's fine, but it makes his already uneven poetry feel more juvenile, I think. 

 

 

My stacks, both physical and electronic,  are full of a variety of genres from historical to British mystery to classics to thrillers to paranormal, science fiction and fantasy from all time periods.  Which is why I'll probably be doing a book buying ban at the beginning of the new year and plowing through my shelves with a read my own books challenge.  That is until I get the book buying blues and race down to my local Barnes and Noble for a book fix.  *grin*
 

 

Yep. 

[Onceuponatime]

I finished The Remains of the Day. This may be an odd connection to make, but the butler reminded me of the main character in The Rosie Project. This story was sad in a way that keeps growing after you close the book. It is a very uncomfortable parable of life, yet beautifully written. I don't yet know what I'll be reading this week.

[mumto2]

Just a quick note before I start working on my knitting project. The baby will be born Tusday so I need to finish because tiny size.

 

I hope everyone feels better soon. So glad Wee Girl is looking forward to her big sister coming home!

 

I did finish another book that was well in progress.https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12427899-return-to-grace. Return to Grace by Karen Harper, which is part of one of her Amish series. It was fine and I did enjoy it but she wrote an earlier Amish series which I loved that started withhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/373455.Dark_Road_Home.

[prairiegirl]

violet, I am glad that Wee Girl has some positive things to look forward to that takes her mind off the unpleasant things.  :grouphug:

 

To those who have sick people in their midst, I am sending good thoughts your way.

 

Tress,  I am sorry that you have been feeling yucky for such a long time.  :grouphug:  I hope that you start feeling better soon.

 

 

I finished 'In the Woods'  by Tana French  this afternoon and have now started  'The Dante Game by Jane  Langton.

[Ali in OR]

One more week of not-much-reading-time. I found The Stray by Andrea Host on my kindle, so that's what I'm reading on the treadmill. SF is not one of my usual genres, but I'm enjoying this. I think this was a freebie (probably recommended here)--I went ahead and ordered books two and three ($.99 each) to continue when I've finished book 1. My brain can't quite piece together a book summary. Sorry.

[Jane in NC]

 

I'm correct in remembering that you don't have a Kindle, right?  (because I could lend you the ebooks if you did)  I might have an extra copy of a couple of them floating around here - if you can't ILL loan them, let me know and I'll rummage through the boxes in the closet.

 

Thanks.  My husband has a Kindle so that is an option.  Or I suppose I could load a Kindle app on my tablet.  I prefer to try the paper route first though.  You are very kind.

[Nan in Mass]

Ds and I are about to settle in with hot drinks, chocolate and A Child's Christmas in Wales with its wonderful opening lines of Dylan Thomas's brought to life through Denholm Elliot's voice and evocative cinematography...

 

"One Christmas was so much like the other, in those years around the sea-town corner now, out of all sound except the distant speaking of the voices I sometimes hear a moment before sleep, that I can never remember whether it snowed for six days and six nights when I was twelve, or whether it snowed for twelve days and twelve nights when I was six.

 

All the Christmases roll down towards the two-tongued sea, like a cold and headlong moon bundling down the sky that was our street; and they stop at the rim of the ice-edged, fish-freezing waves, and I plunge my hands in the snow and bring out whatever I can find. In goes my hand into that wool-white bell-tongued ball of holidays resting at the rim of the carol-singing sea, and out come Mrs. Prothero and the firemen..."

 

It's available on youtube in its entirety though I can't attest to the quality as we watch it on dvd.

 

A clan member held a Christmas reading of A Child's Christmas in Wales.  I began going when my children were small and she joined the family.  We all took parts and read it as a play.  Is it a play?  I've only heard the adaptation so I wouldn't know.  And do you know, it just occurred to me reading your post, shukriyya, that this is not set in Maine.  On the contrary, it is set in WALES!!!  That is VERY FAR AWAY!!!  The version we read fit so perfectly with a small New England town...  I'm not sure why I thought it was Maine, since it could just as well have been my own Massachusetts town.  Something about the descriptions in it sounded like a typical salt-water farm, the ones we commonly see in Maine.  Not that we don't have them in our town, too, but they are less visible here because of the geography.  LOL

 

Nan

[6packofun]

Well, here is my highbrow contribution.  Reading the Dresden Files series.  It's OK.  Next up is some fluff, Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty who I love to read when I'm between heavier stuff.

[Kareni]

Another reread here plus a couple of books not worth mentioning.  The reread was

Serpent's Kiss (A Novel of the Elder Races) by Thea Harrison which I decided to reread as I'd been reading other books in the series. 

 

"Recently, Vampire Queen Carling's power has become erratic, forcing her followers to flee. Wyr sentinel Rune is drawn to the ailing Queen and decides to help find a cure for the serpent's kiss-the vampyric disease that's killing her. With their desire for each other escalating they will have to rely on each other if they have any hope of surviving the serpent's kiss..."

 

This series is best read in order as there is a storyline that continues through the volumes.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Nan in Mass]

Pam - Let there be light, indeed. : ) This reminds me of the women who wore head scarves in order to protect the Muslim women in their communities after 9-11.

 

To all you struggling with sickness in your families, sympathy and hugs and wishes for speedy recoveries.

 

Eliana - A Child's Christmas in Wales always strikes me as over-the-top. Maybe if the experiences being described weren't so familiar, I would like it better? Or maybe I'm just not old enough quite yet for what it describes to feel nostalgic? It sounds like the sort of thing I would love, but somehow I don't. Maybe it is the circumstances under which I experienced it? At the end of a long day with wiggly small children on my lap fragile from too much sugar and not enough of the sort of supper they could eat. And now that I think of it, I think it was A Christmas Carol that we did in parts and then someone read A Child's Christmas in Wales aloud AFTER that. The time of day probably had more to do with it than the language. Maybe I'll like it better now that I know it is set in WALES LOL.

 

Rosie - What a useful word, walkabout! We just say "missing", but that word usually sparks off a number of enquiries about whether the person wants to be missing or not.

 

Here is my musical offering:

And for Christmas, since someone asked for beloved less usual carols:

(There are probably better versions of these on youtube. These were the ones that cropped up first.)

 

Nan

[Nan in Mass]

Eliana - We were posting at the same time and then I had to do trig. As you said, SO glad I have that algebra 1 final behind me. : ) The trig is managable and we will indeed be done by Christmas! Yes,"experiences I cannot share without shattering things in myself... or drawing on reserves that I need to face my own life challenges"... that's it. Maybe I'm just not in a strong place in my life and haven't been since oldest hit 13. Don't think I'll be there for quite awhile yet. What little strength I have I have been trying to apply to non-reading witnessing. It took me a long time to recover from walking through the upstate NY nations. I deliberately traded some of my own peace for some peace for them. Despite knowing it would take magic to make it possible, I hope they received their half of the bargain because I kept my half. I was off-kilter for a year when I could have paid a lesser price for that walk. I don't know... I don't know why that was any worse than my own town's tragedies, the ones I witness every day. Maybe it was less witnessed? Even though the problems were common?

 

Nan

[Robin M]

I haven't been able to participate in this thread lately, I have been ill quite a lot (stomach flu with the whole family, the usual migraines, I'm in bed with sinusitis at the moment :glare: ), but I have tried to at least read the threads and will try to post a wrap up of the year.

 

I'm still on schedule with History of the Ancient World. If there are others interested, Robin, I would like to continue with the other books.

Sorry to hear you haven't been feeling well.  Know what sinusitis is like so can commiserate.  I'm about 75% convinced we'll be doing another round with History of the Medieval World.

 

 

We just finished decorating for Christmas and it reminds me of a funny story I want to tell y'all.

 

A few years ago DH and I were shopping in the Catholic bookstore.  The little one near where I grew up in that I went to all the time with my grandmother.  I found this lovely brass Christmas tree that had candles on it.  It was instant love.  I had come in to buy a few rosaries but left with what I was sure was going to become the coolest Christmas decoration ever.  I already had a place in mind on our mantle.  

 

This was in November so I put it away with the other decorations and patiently waited.  I don't know what made me start wondering about my little tree.  I remember taking it out once and thinking that there was something interesting about the arrangement and number of candles.  Then I was shopping in Target one day and saw some perfect replacement candles in the Hanukkah section.

 

Yep.

 

Those nice girls at the Catholic bookstore let me buy a Menorah.  A strange Christmas tree Menorah.  

 

DH and I laughed and laughed about it.  He even did a bit of research and it turns out that it was specifically designed in the 1960's for families of mixed background.  I didn't know what to do with it but finally DH told me that Jesus had a Menorah up in his living room so there was no reason we shouldn't either.  

 

 

 

Close up of the Menorah:

 

http://yumuseum.tumblr.com/post/41450824908/its-cold-as-menorah-time-it-might-be-freezing

 

Your Christmas menorah is beautiful.  I wouldn't mind having one myself.

 

 

 

Robin - I joined Writer's Village. Haven't had time to make much use of it yet, but hope to do good work with it over the next year. Thank you for bringing it up here.

 

And finally, some Neruda.

 

Girl Lithe and Tawny

 

Girl lithe and tawny, the sun that forms

the fruits, that plumps the grains, that curls seaweeds

filled your body with joy, and your luminous eyes

and your mouth that has the smile of the water.

 

A black yearning sun is braided into the strands

of your black mane, when you stretch your arms.

You play with the sun as with a little brook

and it leaves two dark pools in your eyes.

 

Girl lithe and tawny, nothing draws me towards you.

Everything bears me farther away, as though you were noon.

You are the frenzied youth of the bee,

the drunkenness of the wave, the power of the wheat-ear.

 

My somber heart searches for you, nevertheless,

and I love your joyful body, your slender and flowing voice.

Dark butterfly, sweet and definitive

like the wheat-field and the sun, the poppy and the water.

 

Yeah, glad to hear it and look forward to seeing you around the virtual halls of the village next year.    Thanks for the lovely poem.

 

 

 

I'm still trying to figure out my book list for Christmas as hubby said he couldn't believe I didn't want any books for Christmas.  James surprised me by actually putting books on his christmas wish list instead of just all video games and John is angling for more war books.  So.... while I'm trying to virtual Christmas shop, John has Al Hirt playing on the turntable, testing some amplifiers and interrupting me every few minutes for a dance or a kiss.  :001_wub:     As you can imagine, I'm not getting too much done. 

[mumto2]

Thought some here might enjoy this article about the origins of Gothic Literature.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30313775It is a quick one!

[Jane in NC]

Thought some here might enjoy this article about the origins of Gothic Literature.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30313775It is a quick one!

 

BBC Radio 4 Ex did a dramatization of The Castle of Otranto that aired in October.  I did not listen to it but at the same time they aired a dramatization of another early Gothic novel, the famous Mysteries of Udolpho--which was a curiosity to me because of how Jane Austen not only mentions the novel but uses it as a plot devise.

 

Examining the dusty stacks last night, I pulled out David Hosp's Among Thieves, which the back cover tells me is inspired by the Isabella Stewart Gardner art theft. I love the Gardner!  In fact, Nan and I spent a pleasant afternoon there last July.  But I should have read more carefully before opening this book.  Maybe the word "gritty" on the front cover was a clue?  Reading the prologue, it becomes clear that the "troubles" (i.e. violence) of Ireland is perhaps the real background story of this novel. Not so much politics but violence between the groups. Not my cuppa.  This one goes to the neighborhood Wee Free Library for someone else to read.

 

I am a little bored by Sharona Muir's Invisible Beasts.  It is an odd little book--a fictional non-fiction, fictional natural history.  Some of it reads like short stories, other bits like natural history essays (magical realism?)  I may finish it, I may just return it to the library.

 

Comfort reading:  Ah, Angela Thirkell.  High Rising is off the shelf. And for those of you who are wondering, High Rising is a town in the fictional Barsetshire, just down the road from Hogglestock and near Winter Overcotes.

 

[Mom-ninja.]

Eliana - We were posting at the same time and then I had to do trig. As you said, SO glad I have that algebra 1 final behind me. : ) 

I love algebra 1. My ds is doing it right now. I'm loving it. 

 

 

So I had a very busy and emotionally draining weekend. Happy events but draining. So yesterday, after coming home, I vacuumed and mopped my floors, and then sat down with a 400 pg book. I announced to everyone that I wasn't getting up for the rest of the day. I didn't. I read the entire book in about 12 hours. I did take a break to get a cup of tea. Needless to say I have no idea when I stumbled into bed, but I slept in this morning. We're taking the day off. 

 

Oh, the book was City of Women

[NoseInABook]

Amy, I just snorted water out of my nose. It's a beautiful Christmas tree menorah! 

 

Stacia, I bought 101 Two Letter Words for my mom. As an avid bookworm and a Scrabble junkie, I think she's going to love it! 

 

Eliana, I remember enjoying Picture of Dorian Grey immensely when I read it as a teen. The rest of my class was reading Lord of The Flies and I had read it four times for other classes so I asked the teacher if I could read something else. He assigned me Picture of Dorian Grey instead. I should revisit it as an adult.

 

I keep hearing about Tana French. Might be time to look her up. I think I am going to read more poetry in 2015. I barely touch it lately though I was a fan of terrible, terrible poetry as a teenager. Y'all should throw suggestions my way.

 

I took a Kindle break and started Asylum in paperback. I'm almost done with it and I started it last night. Yay for paper books and for a little YA fluff. I also picked up Sanctum because you just can't buy one book in a series. That's just crazy. :p I'll go back to The Golem and The Jinni after the paper book break. 

[Nan in Mass]

It wasn't so much the algebra 1 part as the finals part that was the problem. I like algebra 2 better than algebra 1 (more interesting), but I don't mind 1. It's just that I prefer my algebra a few hours at a time, not in 8 hour whacks, and I prefer to do it at 6 or 7 rather than at midnight. : ) Extra kid did great, though.

 

Nan

[Angel]

Probably because they focused on analyzing it rather than first experiencing it...

 

...and often the poetry selections are skewed by the preferences of the teacher, and students don't get to encounter whichever kind of poetry will 'spark' for them...

 

...once we get that connection, and the feel of reading poetry, other types of poetry can become more accessible, to a greater or lesser degree... but it's a different way of experiencing, of encountering, and we have to have it work to know what 'working' feels like...

 

YES!  I wish more people would realize this when working with kids of any age and poetry (or literature for that matter)!!!  

 

A few ideas for themes/mini-challenges...

 

Pick a book by its cover (one of my faves)

Book w/ spin-offs (could be an original fairy tale + a modern retelling, something like Poe's Pym novel w/ its various spawn by other authors, etc...)

Flufferton February, lol

I love all these ideas!  Especially Flufferton February  :001_wub:  :lol:   Pick a book by its cover is another one of my favorites.

 

Thought some here might enjoy this article about the origins of Gothic Literature.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30313775It is a quick one!

I enjoyed reading through this.  I've often meant to read The Mysteries of Udolpho because of Northanger Abbey but haven't got around to it yet.  I liked this quote by Walpole, "History is a romance that is believed; romance, a history that is not believed."

 

Thank you to whomever posted that the new Flavia book is coming out  :hurray: 

 

I'm reading The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  It was one of the books that I had wanted to read from that big list we all talked about last month.  Umm.  It's interesting.  Not sure if I am liking it or not.

 

All the Christmas parties are now done (4 last week!).  We had a house showing yesterday so the house is clean.  Nothing left to do but read, laundry, and finish buying presents.  Looking forward to a more relaxed week!

[NoseInABook]

I may have just gotten  101 Two Letter Words in the mail and read it in 20 minutes. Very cute and it made me laugh out loud with a few of the poems. Shh, don't tell my mom I read it first. ;) 

[shukriyya]

It is pouring buckets and buckets here. Ds's nature immersion day was not cancelled so we arrived to see many brightly clad waterproofed children running through the woods in torrential rain. Rain, woods, games, likely a fire in the shelter...a child's dream come true :D

 

Pup and I are refuged in the car with hot drinks, kibble, books, antler chews and chocolate. I'll leave it to y'all to figure out which items serve the pup's needs and which serve mine ;)

 

The sound of the heavy rain on the roof of the car is rather nice. It's going to be a long day though. Extra chocolate might need to be applied to the situation.

[Mom-ninja.]

Let's see how about "Mark Twain March"? Yes, I realize that Twain does not begin with M for March, but Mark does. ;)

[mumto2]

BBC Radio 4 Ex did a dramatization of The Castle of Otranto that aired in October.  I did not listen to it but at the same time they aired a dramatization of another early Gothic novel, the famous Mysteries of Udolpho--which was a curiosity to me because of how Jane Austen not only mentions the novel but uses it as a plot devise.

 

Examining the dusty stacks last night, I pulled out David Hosp's Among Thieves, which fort reading:  Ah, Angela Thirkell.  High Rising is off the shelf. And for those of you who are wondering, High Rising is a town in the fictional Barsetshire, just down the road from Hogglestock and near Winter Overcotes.

 

I remember BBC4 doing Castle.....the sad thing is I think you told me! ;)

 

Snort at your geography lesson. I think some upper and lower/ north and souths need to be added. Dh and I have lived in the same place for 7 years and spent 5 minutes trying to remember which nearby village beginning with Sta...... has free parking at the station per a friend. No not a memory loss issue we just don't use the train system much and tons of Sta places with common endings. The sad thing is we gave up, will catch the train from the mall if we go. So many unusual names to be confused with similar names that all go back to the Vikings, Saxons, and Romans.

[Mom-ninja.]

Pup and I are refuged in the car with hot drinks, kibble, books, antler chews and chocolate. I'll leave it to y'all to figure out which items serve the pup's needs and which serve mine ;)

 

 

I don't know about you, but I do enjoy a good antler chew every now and then.  

[Nan in Mass]

... 

Priscilla Herdman's Quiet Faith of Man and Walls and Windows ...well most of that album Darkness into Light, might speak to you.

 

I can't find Judy Small's Until on YouTube (no relation to Fred Small), but you can hear a snippet of it on Amazon, my kids find her One Voice in the Crowd inspiring...

 

Eliana, your Quiet Faith of Man song reminds me of one my family grew up with - Gordon Bok's Turning Towards the Morning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQbYNZ5wHgc

I sang lots of Gordon Bok songs to my children when they were small.  One of the few things my husband ever sang them was the Isle au Haut lullabye, despite doubts about the wooden part.  (We prefer the comparitively low maintenance fiberglass hulls lol).  We sail around Isle au Haut in the summer.  It tends to mean underwater rocks, difficult anchoring, dead seals, and a gorgeous view to us more than yellow fields, but our children have played in those yellow fields on other, nearby islands, and I have never heard them laugh as much as among the islands.   I sang Brandy Tree more than the Isle au Haut lullaby.  We're all still singing Old Fat Boat.

 

My family has acd we put on when we need cheering up: Bourne and MacLeod's Dance and Celebrate.  I couldn't find samples of the songs I wanted on youtube, so I will leave it to your imagination.  My sister describes them as a raggae bagpipe band.

 

My sisters and I are currently learning Arlington, by the Wailing Jennys, which is beautiful but devastating.  We fell in love with it when we all went to one of their concerts recently. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvDr3oN0zrs

 

This is the Wailing Jennys song we are learning next, which is much more inspiring : ) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bc6HloRYZGc

 

How do you get your links to come out just as links and not embedded videos?  I'd rather not make it so people who don't want to investigate have to scroll through miles of them.

 

Are you a singing family?  Do you know the round Be Like a Bird?  I find that one inspiring, in a more personal way.  My sisters know a bunch of inspiring rounds.  I somehow missed learning them, probably when I was pregnant lol.

 

Do they make books of rounds?  I would love to give a few of those for Christmas.

 

Nan

[Nan in Mass]

Ooo nice.  They didn't embed as videos, just as links. : )

[MicheleinMN]

I finished:

 

Blood Price by Tanya Huff -  okay, but not great

and 

 

Still Life by Louise Penny - very good (It reminds me a lot of where I live, and I may have fallen in love with Chief Inspector Gamanche.)

[Stacia]

Melville House to publish Senate torture report

 

 

[Stacia]

Richard Flanagan donates book prize winnings to charity

 

A few choice snippets from the article:

 

In October, Australian author Richard Flanagan was named the winner of the Man Booker Prize for fiction

Earlier this week, he also won the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for fiction in Australia, for the same novel, The Narrow Road to the Deep North,

In his speech accepting the Prime Minister’s award (transcribed by The Guardian), Flanagan announced that he would be donating the AUD$40,000 prize to charity, to wit, the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, which provides books and literacy programs to Australia’s indigenous peoples.

Flanagan attributes his success, in part, to “the power of literacy to change lives,†with the personal example of his own grandparents being illiterate, and the huge impact that “two generations of free state education and literacy†has had on his career. In a statement about Flanagan’s donation on the ILF’s website, executive director Karen Williams says that “the Foundation was deeply honoured to receive such a generous donation,†and that it “will go to ensure literacy programs in remote communities across Australia in 2015.â€

 

[Stacia]

In Defense of Seeing the Movie Before You Read the Book

 

:laugh:

 

Had to link this article because 1. you all know I love books & movie adaptations and 2. the article starts out in relation to seeing Inherent Vice, the adaptation of Thomas Pynchon's novel of the same name. I did actually read the book first, but only because I saw the trailer & knew it was a movie I would see. I don't think the movie will be out in theaters around me until January, though.

 

 

(From the preview alone, it seems like it will be a fun adaptation that keeps the zany fun/nuttiness of the book.)

[prairiegirl]

I have been stockpiling/hoarding library books because the library will be closed 2 weeks for the holidays.  The thought of being without a book during those 2 weeks instills fear so I went to the library again today and took out still more books.  I now have 19 library books to do me until Jan. 5th.    I think I'm good now.

[Kareni]

 

Do they make books of rounds?  I would love to give a few of those for Christmas.

 

I found a few books that might be of interest:

 

The Round Book: Rounds Kids Love to Sing by Margaret Read MacDonald

 

The King's Singers Book of Rounds, Canons and Partsongs (King's Singer's Choral) by The King's Singers

 

 

Best of Canons and Rounds: From the 13th Century to the Present Day by Barrie Carson Turner

 

 

150 Rounds for Singing and Teaching

 

 

Bumblebee!: Rounds & Warm-ups for Choirs by Michael Griffin

 

 

This website features a book called Rounds Galore and some sequels.  It also has a list of resources to investigate.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[shukriyya]

 

 

All the Christmas parties are now done (4 last week!).  We had a house showing yesterday so the house is clean.  Nothing left to do but read, laundry, and finish buying presents.  Looking forward to a more relaxed week!

 

!!!

[Rosie_0801]

 I'm about 75% convinced we'll be doing another round with History of the Medieval World.

 

I'm 100% convinced I am since I ordered a copy this morning! I wanted to make sure I had it (inc. international postage) in time.

[shukriyya]

"There was no possibility of taking a walk that day."

 

One of the best opening lines of a novel! Okay, BaWers a little trivia fun...without googling which book begins with this line?