Tress Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Anyone use LibraryThing as opposed to Goodreads? I started putting my home library on LibraryThing a few years back and never did finish. I need to get back to that...I had been thinking of putting my home library into some kind of software for a long time and finally decided on using iBookshelf. I entered all the books from one big bookcase this weekend. Even added lots of cover pictures when the software pulled up a different cover. Felt very industrious. Then my computer-savvy dh strongly adviced me to make a backup and showed me how to do it, and managed to wipe *everything*. I have been looking at that bookcase all day..... Maybe in 2016 I'll try again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dicentra Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I bought the CueCat from LibraryThing: http://www.librarything.com/more/store/cuecat It makes things go soooooo much faster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Link I promised earlier... Judge clears release of files that may contradict facts in Capote’s In Cold Blood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Oh, a book I heard about on Bob Edwards' show this weekend seemed like it might appeal to some of the non-fiction crowd on here: Amy Stewart is not an entomologist but that hasn’t stopped her from writing Wicked Bugs: The Louse that Conquered Napoleon’s Army & Other Diabolical Insects. It’s an A to Z list of terrifying stories about the havoc those tiny creatures can cause. I will take a guess that it's a book you don't want to read when eating. We were having our leisurely Sunday brunch when this interview came on & :ack2: . :lol: I did love his last question of the interview which was along the lines of 'are you more or less likely to squish a bug now that you've researched & written this book?' (Her answer -- no dangerous bugs really where she lives, but she's more likely to squish a bug when traveling if she recognizes it & it's a dangerous one based on what she learned during the writing of the book.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted January 4, 2015 Author Share Posted January 4, 2015 Cool Beans! The first eight books in J.D. Robb's In Death series are available in Kindle Daily deals for $1.99 each. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeacherZee Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Cool Beans! The first eight books in J.D. Robb's In Death series are available in Kindle Daily deals for $1.99 each. Thanks for that! I saw it on Facebook earlier today but thought I had them all, turns out I have them on audible but not readable :tongue_smilie: Now I do :rofl: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I am making some progress on my Murakami but life has turned a bit stressful and concentration seems to be an issue. I would like to remember it ;) so read the last of Kristan Higgins Blue Heron series this morning. In Your Dreams was good. The whole series has been engaging although fluffy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Rose, I sent you a friend request on Goodreads. Did I miss anyone? Boy, Robin, you must really hate Twain. Even after my second nomination for him he did not make the Author of the Month list. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I sent you a friend request on goodreads, Rose. I know I'm friends with some of you on there. Anyone else who wants to send a request to me, here is my link. I think it's right. Mom-ninja, I don't think I have you as a friend. Or maybe I just don't remember your name. :) https://www.goodreads.com/friend/i?i=LTM1OTk5NjcyMzE6MzY1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Oh, a book I heard about on Bob Edwards' show this weekend seemed like it might appeal to some of the non-fiction crowd on here: I will take a guess that it's a book you don't want to read when eating. We were having our leisurely Sunday brunch when this interview came on & :ack2: . :lol: I did love his last question of the interview which was along the lines of 'are you more or less likely to squish a bug now that you've researched & written this book?' (Her answer -- no dangerous bugs really where she lives, but she's more likely to squish a bug when traveling if she recognizes it & it's a dangerous one based on what she learned during the writing of the book.) I ran across this book when scouting for my Harry Potter lit study. It sounded like it would fit right in. They also have a Wicked Plants, I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Clearly, I'm going to need to up my book budget. You all list way too many books that interest me! Harder than the money is the time... I'm adding books to my TBR lists so much faster than I am reading them! 2. Conan Doyle, The Adventures of Gerard. I just can't find the next book I'd started, The Foundation Pit, so I've gotten underway with Of Human Bondage and the collected stories of J. F. Powers. How is it I'd never heard of Powers? He's great. (Now everyone is going to say, What, you didn't know about J. F. Powers?) ...there's a free Kindle copy. Thank you! J.F. who? ...oh... I join you in wondering how I missed hearing about him! ...another addition to my lists! Since some of the books are being spaced over a couple of months, the pace doesn't seem to be too bad. I'm loving Gulliver's Travels but poor Descartes thinks too much. :willy_nilly: *chortle* I'm afraid I am not inspired to revisit Descartes just yet... though now I am feeling a little guilty... it has been so long since I've picked up any serious philosophy... Maybe next year. You don't have to make a list. I read by the seat of my pants. :lol: I was about to agree, and then realized I don't wear pants... and 'by the seat of my skirt' just doesn't have the same ring... I like Atwood's non-sci-fi better than her sci-fi. My DH is the other way around. :) I think my favourite of hers is Alias Grace. Alias Grace is a brilliant work. Absolutely brilliant. ...but I still don't like spending much time in Atwood's fictional worlds. The stories she is drawn to tell, and the characters who inhabit them... it isn't as strong as 'aren't good for me', though that used to be true... but I still can't spend much time there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 So, as a disclaimer. I am largely and uncomfortably pregnant and only feel like curling up with my favorites and junk food science fiction/fantasy. So that's what I'm going to log. And I am not going to feel self conscious about it, I'm going to have fun! Enjoy this season of your reading life. (and, as we say in my world: b'shaah tovah, literally 'in a good time', iow, wishing you a healthful, joyful pregnancy, a lovely birth, and looking forward to rejoicing with you when your little one arrives!) Reading serves many functions in my life, but never a chore. It gives me a haven, it stretches my brain and heart, it helps me grow... but I need to read in harmony with my self, with the growth I am ready for... and not all seasons are ones for stretching, some are times of hibernation, or to process previous experiences... Don Quixote - I count this on my "currently reading" list but I haven't opened it in over a month. Soon. Very soon. I just need to finish something else first. Vanity Fair - My current audio book. I abandoned it a while ago because I really wasn't liking it. I've seen it on several people's Best of 2014 lists so I'm giving it another chance. DQ is also, hypothetically, on my currently rereading list.... Vanity Fair: in retrospect I am surprised that I enjoyed this so much even as a young teen. I identified with Amelia, but Becky's amorality registered more like Richard III's than something that distressed me (though I've always had trouble with her as a mother)....and, like RIII, there's a way in which one roots for her... and the impact on the next generation, the often complex implications of background and experience... of pride and aspiration and family ties... Cotillion (sp?) is one of my favourites, too! Nan ...and a complete turnaround of the (vile) Devil's Cub and the others that romanticize narcissistic, rape-y, jerks... Moby Dick: It took me about 20 years to "like" Moby Dick. Proof to me that many books are just not meant for us at certain times in our lives. Oh, and I can barely remember what happens when they leave port, so I wonder if I really "like" MD at all. The beginning is really beautiful in places. "...when it is a bleak November in my soul.." and all that. I was surprised how much I loved the opening this time around... ...and I am ever more amazed at how differently I experience books at different times in my life... I'm really enjoying Hard Road West. I have always been drawn to the American West in some sort of spiritual(?) way so it's interesting to read about the geology of the region. The author does an excellent job of tying ancient forces to actual decisions made on the trail. I enjoy reading about how one particular event occurring 5 million years ago caused the emigrants to have to take the long way around a particular bend in a river. The scientific information is interspersed with well-written original source quotations of hardships and pure grit. More than once my eyes have welled up for these people and I have felt their wonder at the formations of the West when they pondered whether God simply "rent the earth asunder" or if there were scientific explanations for what they were seeing. I have failed the 'read from the shelves' challenge already. *sigh* My library has a copy, and your description has made me want to read it right this minute! (thank you!) When we drove cross-country the other year to my eldest daughter's wedding, one of the most powerful stops was at some wagon ruts... for a few minutes all the things I'd read and hear about traveling by covered wagon, coalesced in that space, looking at those ruts, and it colored my thoughts for the rest of our trip... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felicity Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I finished my first book of the week last night. Yeah, I'm a little proud of myself. Anyway, I read Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo. It's the story of families living in the Annawadi slum in Mumbai, India. I'm still processing this one. The writing flows very well. In some cases I got so caught up in the story that I forgot the book is about real people living a life I can't imagine in a real place. I almost wanted it to be dry and boring so I could put it down and tell myself it's okay, it didn't really happen like that. In the same vein, I can't really tell you my favorite character. It just seems weird to call the people in the book "characters" when they are real people. But there were some that I felt like I connected with better than others. Sunil was one of them. More than Abdul and his family, Sunil seemed young and like he needed a mother's care. Maybe that's why I connected with him. I have boys a similar age that are just starting their major growth spurts. When he realized that he was growing, I found myself tearing up. I also challenged myself to read a book a week with my 9yo dd. She doesn't love reading but does love snuggling and being the center of my attention. So I decided that we would read a book out loud together each week this year. So far we are 78 pages into Fortunately the Milk by Neil Gaiman and having a blast reading to each other. Oh, and I'm on goodreads as well, but I haven't really updated it much until now. I think this is how you find me there: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/3765674-felicity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiegirl Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 How do you keep track of your reads? Paper journal? App? I'm not a techy girl so I'm think of using a paper journal. Just wondered how others do it. :) I use a paper journal to track my reads, it's just easier that way. I recently joined GoodReads but I can't figure out how it all works (I am severely tech-illiterate.) Paper is good for me now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I must have mis-remembered when I was posting. I thought it was Adam Bede you said you didn't like; now that you posted again, I realized it was Mill on the Floss. I was thinking I'd try Adam Bede and/or Silas Marner. I did the same thing with Hemingway. I read The Paris Wife and enjoyed it. It made him seem more human. I still didn't care for the kind of human that he was, but it did make him seem less like a macho caricature. I thought it would make me better able to enjoy some of his work, but I tried again and just couldn't finish. You reminded me that I copied and pasted Violet's Henry James post into a document, way back when she first posted it. I'll need to look over it again before diving into his work (if I even decide to do the challenge). Adam Bede is more nuanced, I think, and richer, but I am very fond of Silas Marner... That was exactly my reaction... perhaps I'll try again in a decade or so.... You could always read a few short stories The Real Thing is a story I used with some of my kids... March - Well, I re-read Jane Eyre last year, I still love it. I tried to listen to Villette but got bored. How is Shirley? As for the other Brontes, I also read Wuthering Heights for the first time last year, and did not love it - some of you may have seen my thread on the HS board about it! I read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall too. I may be Bronted out for this year April - C.S. Lewis. Hmm. I don't want to read his religious writings. How are his Sci Fi novels? Out of the Silent Planet? Anybody have a review? May - Dante. Woo-hoo! I've been wanting to read Purgatorio for years, and will finally do it this year! This will go nicely with the Medieval theme, as well. August - Allende. meh. I read a bunch of her stuff in college. I don't feel drawn to her at the moment. I may have mentioned not loving surrealism? Although I do love Marquez. The Sense of an Ending - Julian Barnes - I've not read it, looks interesting The Once and Future King - T. H. White. - I don't think I've ever actually read this version of the Arthurian legend, though I've read several others. I'll probably either do this as a read aloud, or have Shannon read it too and come to book group with me. It seems like the only one on the list she'd really enjoy. re: Shirley: It is often the hardest of her books to get into and appreciate (and it has a non-trivial amount of soap-boxing), but I remember it as my favorite. (but I haven't read it in so long, I'm not sure what I'd think of it now... perhaps I should pull it out for a reread) re: CS Lewis: I recently reread his Till We Have Faces, a retelling of the Cupid and Psyche story, perhaps that might appeal? I don't remember liking his sci-fi novels, but it's been ~30 years... re: Purgatorio: If you want to dabble in some fabulous annotations, I loved the Hollander commentary/translation... re: Allende: I have yet to finish one of her fictional books, but I enjoyed her My Invented Country (and Marquez's Clandestine in Chile...I've now read all his nonfiction, but none of his fiction...) Julian Barnes: His essay collection Through the Window was delightful - not only did it add a number of books to my TBR lists, it inspired a reread of Madame Bovary (his essay on translating Mme Bovary was entrancing) re: Once and Future King: the first book, Sword in the Stone, is kid friendly, but I remember some of the later ones being non-G rated, if that is a possible concern for you... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dicentra Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I use a paper journal to track my reads, it's just easier that way. I recently joined GoodReads but I can't figure out how it all works (I am severely tech-illiterate.) Paper is good for me now. It took me a long time to figure out how LibraryThing works. I don't know if I'm up for trying to figure out GoodReads, as well. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Aw, thanks, Eliana! :001_wub: I'm glad to be here too! You all are a lively bunch, and full of good book recommendations! I'm glad to meet another Shakespeare Fan. I'm slowly reading through his works and the Bard has completely surprised me. The plays I expected to like most, I like least and vice versa. So far, I think Richard II is my favourite. Go figure! Mind you, Rupert Graves' performance on the Archangel audiobook I'm sure increased my good opinion of it. :) The Pre-Printing Press Challenge is any book pre-1440. It's a nice, non-pressure challenge ..... I tend to gravitate more to those types. My most unusual challenge this year is the Deal Me In Challenge, where you are supposed to choose 52 short stories to read, list them to correspond to playing cards and then each week pick a card and read the story that corresponds. I changed the challenge a little by adding essays, poems and children's lit to the short stories. It's a great challenge because it gets me reading in areas where I always want to read, but tend never to get to, AND it doesn't take up too much time. I admire your world lit aspirations. I tried to do an Around-the-World challenge and didn't do well. Even with my European challenge, I only managed to read in 4 countries! I think I need to get through a few more mainstream classics before I start to branch out further. I did read Nadine Gordimer's July's People (South Africa), but wasn't that impressed. In any case, it's so interesting so see what everyone else is reading. I'm hope I can keep up with you all! :grouphug: My favorite as a young kid was Richard III (why, I cannot fathom...), with the other histories topping much of the list... now, it shifts each time I reread or rewatch a play... And none of them can I see objectively, they're too much a part of me. ..though I have always loathed Two Noble Kinsmen... the one 'added' work I just can't agree with (though Edward III gave me chills in places, it was so *Shakespeare*, so I'm not an unreasoning adherent to tradition!) Hearing or seeing a performance that pulls it together makes an enormous difference - I can't properly read most the plays any more, I have too many fragments of various productions that echo in my mind as I read. Those both sound like such fun challenges! ...I have so many short story collections I want to read, but I don't tend to enjoy reading them cover to cover... that might be a way to work through them in bits and pieces over a few years. Thank you! I read a bit of Gordimer's memoirs the other year, but wasn't captivated. ...but if you haven't read any of Fugard's plays, you might want to try (some day). Master Harold and the Boys is a classic, but there are many other wonderful options. I often use poetry and nonfiction as entry points into cultures I'm not familiar with... I am so used to knowing the context for the Western Lit I read, history, other lit, the culture of the country, the major references... and when I venture into a new-to-me region, I have to figure out how to get oriented, how to get enough grounding, enough of the flavor that I can really interface with the literature. ...the process itself is a delight, but a very challenging one. You don't have to keep up... you can keep up for a while, spend a few weeks where all you can mange in scanning some of the posts for that week, drop in a now and again and share a list, or chat a little... (I've done all of the above at various points as life has been life... ) ...just, please, don't feel that if you can't read every post, or make in here every week, that you need to slip away! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 re: Shirley: It is often the hardest of her books to get into and appreciate (and it has a non-trivial amount of soap-boxing), but I remember it as my favorite. (but I haven't read it in so long, I'm not sure what I'd think of it now... perhaps I should pull it out for a reread) re: CS Lewis: I recently reread his Till We Have Faces, a retelling of the Cupid and Psyche story, perhaps that might appeal? I don't remember liking his sci-fi novels, but it's been ~30 years... re: Purgatorio: If you want to dabble in some fabulous annotations, I loved the Hollander commentary/translation... re: Allende: I have yet to finish one of her fictional books, but I enjoyed her My Invented Country (and Marquez's Clandestine in Chile...I've now read all his nonfiction, but none of his fiction...) Julian Barnes: His essay collection Through the Window was delightful - not only did it add a number of books to my TBR lists, it inspired a reread of Madame Bovary (his essay on translating Mme Bovary was entrancing) re: Once and Future King: the first book, Sword in the Stone, is kid friendly, but I remember some of the later ones being non-G rated, if that is a possible concern for you... Thanks for these suggestions! Now that the author has become Austen or the Brontes, I think I will skip Shirley for now. I read 3 Bronte novels and listened to part of a 4th last year, and I think I'm ready for a break! Till We Have Faces definitely sounds appealing - that will be my Lewis read. I realized that as I haven't read Inferno yet, I should start with that - thank you for the translator/commentator suggestion. Maybe I'll read Once and Future King aloud to both girls, and let my older continue with the series if she is so inclined. I must confess to not loving the Arthurian saga, although I read the Mary Stewart series and The Mists of Avalon in my youth. But it's such a part of the culture that I know the girls need to be exposed to it. I have Steinbeck's version, and Green's, and I'm not sure which is best for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 My goal this year is to read books that will inspire my engineering students to change the world. We are looking at the Academy of Engineers grand challenge of getting clean drinking water to the whole world. It is really easy to just decide that challenge is too big for high school students. I don't want them to ever decide that something is too big a challenge. What a beautiful goal! ...and I look forward to seeing what you read. I could use more concrete inspirations for changing the world too... I'm a Canadian who dislikes Canadian literature too. I have plans to read Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's Tale as I've heard good reviews I think of Handmaid's Tale in the same space as 1984... books I know I was right to read, but can't bring myself to reenter. I read Alias Grace in 2013 and was very impressed, though I didn't enjoy being in that head space for that long. ..but I loved Atwood's Penelopiad. ...it has (to wildly oversimplify) some of the sharp edges and icky head-space I perceive in her other books... and anger... and it isn't the Odyssey I have in my head, but I found it brilliant and moving... and stirred up a lot of thoughts and reactions... and then led me back to (another) Odyssey reread... (LeGuin's Lavinia, on the other hand, was very much in harmony with my reactions to the Aeneid... and a space I was happier to be in... but I am very, very glad I read both) Women's Work: The First 20000 Years is a study of textile history. Much of it was interesting but there were a few speculative passages that raised my eyebrows. I have passed the book on to my archaeologist son for his opinion. Let me know his reactions... both the archaeological and textile pieces are so far out of any realm I know that I am totally unqualified to evaluate the accuracy/reliability of it... but I loved that it gave me my first meaningful connection to the study of textiles - which has been a completely opaque realm for me. I finished my first book of the week last night. Yeah, I'm a little proud of myself. Anyway, I read Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo. It's the story of families living in the Annawadi slum in Mumbai, India. I'm still processing this one. The writing flows very well. In some cases I got so caught up in the story that I forgot the book is about real people living a life I can't imagine in a real place. I almost wanted it to be dry and boring so I could put it down and tell myself it's okay, it didn't really happen like that. In the same vein, I can't really tell you my favorite character. It just seems weird to call the people in the book "characters" when they are real people. But there were some that I felt like I connected with better than others. Sunil was one of them. More than Abdul and his family, Sunil seemed young and like he needed a mother's care. Maybe that's why I connected with him. I have boys a similar age that are just starting their major growth spurts. When he realized that he was growing, I found myself tearing up. :hurray: Hurrah for you! I keep hearing such wonderful things about this book... and then chickening out and not actually reading it. Thank you for bringing it back to my attention, and reminding me how much it has to offer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I wonder why Margaret Atwood so consistently comes to the fore whenever Canadian authors are mentioned by non-Canadians. It's not that she's not a good writer it's just that IMO there are so many others who are equally imaginative and some who write with more subtlety, for lack of a better word. Is she perhaps more appealing to an American audience? And if so, why, I wonder? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Do you have to be a certain age to appreciate Woolf, do you think? Mrs Dalloway is another that I tried to read in college and just couldn't get into. Then my book group read it together a couple of years ago and I absolutely loved it. But I realized I would have gotten very little out of it as a 20-something. It seems to me that Woolf requires a certain amount of life experience, particularly the experience of starting on the "down hill" side of life, to fully appreciate. I don't think there is a certain age range that works - I was rather young when I read some of her books, and still enjoyed them. I think I get more out of them now, and I don't think I would have appreciated The Waves as a young person... but I read Orlando and Mrs Dalloway and A Room of One's Own before I was 21 and did get much value from them. ...I think it is very individual. There are certainly books I bounced off of as a young person that offer me so much now, but it's a very idiosyncratic assortment... ETA - 2014, not 2013! will stand out in my mind as the year I finally read To The Lighthouse. I had tried several times before and couldn't get into it, I kept falling asleep! But I did the Coursera Fiction of Relationship class - the best lit class I've done to date, BTW - and it was on the list so I was determined to get through it. I got the audiobook - to link two themes here - and by listening, finally got past my previous sticking point, and realized it was an amazing, luminous, insightful book. I listened to it, then read it, then listened to it again. I couldn't stop till I had totally absorbed it. I think I was finally ready. I've been wanting to read A Room of One's Own for awhile, I need to pull it off the shelf and add it to my stack. It's beautiful when a book 'clicks' like that... I reread A Room of One's Own the other year and didn't appreciate it as much this time - I kept thinking maybe I was too old for it... but it is something I think it is important to read... ...but Jacob's Room and The Waves were amazing... and Flush was very fun (from the point of view of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's dog) I can't do audio either! My mind wanders. I can't do audio because it clashed with my inner voice... I used to say the greatest sacrifice I made for my children was enduring audiobooks playing for years and years... I realized that as I haven't read Inferno yet, I should start with that - thank you for the translator/commentator suggestion. Maybe I'll read Once and Future King aloud to both girls, and let my older continue with the series if she is so inclined. I must confess to not loving the Arthurian saga, although I read the Mary Stewart series and The Mists of Avalon in my youth. But it's such a part of the culture that I know the girls need to be exposed to it. I have Steinbeck's version, and Green's, and I'm not sure which is best for them. I haven't read their Inferno all the way through (just Paradiso and Purgatorio). Last year I read the Ciardi translation, though my favorite before I read the Hollander was Mandelbaum. Here's Sword in the Stone - the first of the four parts of The Once and Future King.... the others get more intense, darker, and more adult (not in the content sense - nothing like Bradley!), but in the themes and focus. ...a bit like the difference between Alexander's Prydain books and his Westmark books, the latter are darker, more violent, and deal with harsher, grimmer, more complex subject matter (though White's are, imho, the better books) I've used Molly Perham's King Arthur and the Legends of Camelot as a starting place (depending on the ages of my kids, I've done some editing). It is lavishly illustrated - a bit like Sutcliff's Black Ships Before Troy. Barbara Leonie Picard has a nice retelling. Selina Hastings and Barbra Schiller have some picture books the kids have really liked... If I get a chance, I can glance over our shelves to see what else I am forgetting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dicentra Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I wonder why Margaret Atwood so consistently comes to the fore whenever Canadian authors are mentioned by non-Canadians. It's not that she's not a good writer it's just that IMO there are so many others who are equally imaginative and some who write with more subtlety, for lack of a better word. Is she perhaps more appealing to an American audience? And if so, why, I wonder? She's quite prolific. Maybe that's it? It wasn't until I started combing my shelves the other evening that I realized how many Canadian authors I have represented. So many books, so little reading time... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Boy, Robin, you must really hate Twain. Even after my second nomination for him he did not make the Author of the Month list. :lol: I'll read Twain with you sometime this year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I finished my first book of the week last night. Yeah, I'm a little proud of myself. Anyway, I read Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo. It's the story of families living in the Annawadi slum in Mumbai, India. I'm still processing this one. The writing flows very well. In some cases I got so caught up in the story that I forgot the book is about real people living a life I can't imagine in a real place. I almost wanted it to be dry and boring so I could put it down and tell myself it's okay, it didn't really happen like that. In the same vein, I can't really tell you my favorite character. It just seems weird to call the people in the book "characters" when they are real people. But there were some that I felt like I connected with better than others. Sunil was one of them. More than Abdul and his family, Sunil seemed young and like he needed a mother's care. Maybe that's why I connected with him. I have boys a similar age that are just starting their major growth spurts. When he realized that he was growing, I found myself tearing up. The National Theatre of London is doing a stage production of Behind the Beautiful Forevers which sounds captivating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melmichigan Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I joined Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/38766100-melissa Now to figure out this friends thing. I like the idea of a notebook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 She's quite prolific. Maybe that's it? It wasn't until I started combing my shelves the other evening that I realized how many Canadian authors I have represented. So many books, so little reading time... Yes, perhaps that has something to do with it. As I was hiking and thinking about some of the discussion here I realized that it's not subtlety that's lacking in her work it's silence, of which subtlety is a foundling, I suppose. I often feel that Margaret Laurence's work is filled with lovely swathes of silence. And Alice Munro, too. I'm sure there are more. And though not a novelist but a poet there's the inimitable Gwendolyn MacEwen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 How do you keep track of your reads? Paper journal? App? I'm not a techy girl so I'm think of using a paper journal. Just wondered how others do it. :) I have a notebook in which I jot down reactions (some months more than others!), and at the very back I keep a list of the books I've read that year. I might have a page of challenge notes... last year I had a page for recording countries and a chart for filling in Dewey Decimal number for the 800's... and a section for recording my Z to A authors. I also enter things on Goodreads (here's my page), and try to sort them onto shelves, but the written notebooks have already become dear to me... I've started reading Extraordinary Renditions by Andrew Ervin, published by Coffee House Press. oooh. Hold placed. Thank you, love I think we understand some books more as we get older because of life's wisdom or because we are willing to try something or because we are more open to ideas. A few years back decided to finish my bachelors and took several literature classes. I would never have enjoyed or understood or appreciate Thomas Mann or Sartre or Virigina Woolf and her streams of consciousness back in my high school years. High school was just about getting it done and Jr. college was just figuring out what the professor wanted to hear. Now, with 55 years under my belt and a completely different mind frame, I'm more willing to spend time with these books. I love her essay about the art of reading and come back to it time and time again. Just found this link with all her stories and essays from Common Reader. We'll work in Virginia this go round since I also have Mrs. Dalloway in the stacks. This is a fabulous example of why I think it is so individual a process... I loved Mann and Sartre and Woolf when I was in high school, but I couldn't cope with Salinger & and Dostevsky was deeply traumatic... and regular modern fiction (other than sff) was absolutely opaque to me. (of course, the other possible conclusion is that there are 'normal' ways to do this and I'm weird... which is equally probable...) My favorite Woolf essay is Death of the Moth... I am toying with the idea of tackling The Years...and I've started a gradual nibbling at her complete letters and diaries (I read her Reader's Diary the other year and I've read selected letters, but never the complete ones.. and since several volumes are in my new treasure trove, I've indulged myself by starting...) Thank you for the Malvina Reynolds video, Shukriyya! I grew up with her songs and we sing that one here a lot! re: Atwood: She isn't a favorite writer of mine, but I don't have many Canadian works I've loved.. Marie Chapdelaine and Pierre Berton's American Invasion of Canada are the two that come to mind (and the latter I read for the first time the other year). I've read (or tried to read) quite a number, but they haven't worked for me - yet! Edited to fix typo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeker of Schole Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I managed to finish the Iliad (started last year). We have book club tomorrow night, so just in time. I also read the Scorch Trials by Dashner. The Maze Runner series is better than I expected. I'm afraid it is about to get a bit too repetitive, though. Hopefully he has a twist for the next book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I've been so busy chatting, I've forgotten to talk about the books I've read so far this year! Kaddish, Women's Voices by Michal Smart and Barbara Ashkenas: 'Kaddish' is a special prayer that is only said with a minyan, a quorum (for Orthodox Jews this is 10 post-bar mitzvah age guys). It is praises of G-d and doesn't mention death or mourning, but is traditionally said by mourners. It falls into a category of mitzvahs from which women are exempt and although there is a strong tradition for women saying it, it had been less common for some time (though that is beginning to change). This book is a compilation of reflections by women on their experiences with kaddish (including one woman who chose not to say it). Since it deals with grief and loss, it can be painful to read, but it was also uplifting to hear each woman's voice and share a little of her process. Pam, I am deeply grateful to you for recommending it - thank you!) Sunshine by Robin McKinley: This is McKinley's vampire book (written before vampires were a popular sff theme) and a comfort read for me (as is most of McKinley). This time through, the female relationships jumped out at me more - Sunshine's armed truce with her mother, her recollections of her grandmother, her bond with her best friend... but even more I was struck by how Sunshine's experience of trauma and of putting oneself back together afterwards resonated with me. Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome: This is a fun, silly book, and was just what I needed this week! ...and now I find an overwhelming need to reread Connie Willis's To Say Nothing of the Dog which riffs off Jerome's work in ways I very much enjoy. The Beginning of Desire: Reflections on Genesis by Avivah Zornberg: I last read this a very long time ago, and decided to revisit it when we started the Torah reading cycle over after the fall holidays. Zornberg brings in classical commentary, midrashim, psychological insights, and quotes from literature... and looks at these familiar narratives which I reread every year through lenses that I found moving and insightful. I think I'm going to move on to her book on Shemos/Exodus (which I'm not sure I've ever read all the way through) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dicentra Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Yes, perhaps that has something to do with it. As I was hiking and thinking about some of the discussion here I realized that it's not subtlety that's lacking in her work it's silence, of which subtlety is a foundling, I suppose. I often feel that Margaret Laurence's work is filled with lovely swathes of silence. And Alice Munro, too. I'm sure there are more. And though not a novelist but a poet there's the inimitable Gwendolyn MacEwen. I'm not familiar with Ms. MacEwen. I'll have to take a closer look. I've never been much of a reader of poetry mostly because there seems to be a blockage in my brain the doesn't allow me to understand it. :ohmy: ;) The silence in Laurence's work may be an reflection of her childhood on the prairies. There is a constant howl of wind but it becomes a white-noise version of silence after awhile. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dicentra Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 re: Atwood: She isn't a favorite writer of mine, but I don't have many Canadian works I've loved.. Marie Chapdelaine and Pierre Breton's American Invasion of Canada are the two that come to mind (and the latter I read for the first time the other year). I've read (or tried to read) quite a number, but they haven't worked for me - yet! Did you mean Pierre Berton? One of my DH's favourite authors. :) He's currently reading The Arctic Grail. Says it's quite good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 Rose, I sent you a friend request on Goodreads. Did I miss anyone? Boy, Robin, you must really hate Twain. Even after my second nomination for him he did not make the Author of the Month list. :lol: :blushing: Erm... Uh... Well.... Yeah, about that. How about during Banned Books week. Do not put off till tomorrow what can be put off till day-after-tomorrow just as well. MARK TWAIN, Mark Twain's Notebook Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I managed to finish the Iliad (started last year). We have book club tomorrow night, so just in time. I also read the Scorch Trials by Dashner. The Maze Runner series is better than I expected. I'm afraid it is about to get a bit too repetitive, though. Hopefully he has a twist for the next book. Dh and Aly just finished reading the whole series. They thought they were pretty good. Aly went on to get Dashner's new series from the library and has enjoyed that as well. The Maze Runner is her first request of the year for me to read. I'll get to it eventually :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T'smom Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 You guys are crazy intimidating, but I am in for 2015. I've been sick this weekend, so I have almost finished 2 books. Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer - this was okay The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult - I am almost finished with this one and I really like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Inna* Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Something's wrong with multi-quote feature. Eliana, thank you for mentioning this book. I used to adore Jerome K Jerome. Time to re-read. Adding To Say Nothing of the Dog to the to read list. :D Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome: This is a fun, silly book, and was just what I needed this week! ...and now I find an overwhelming need to reread Connie Willis's To Say Nothing of the Dog which riffs off Jerome's work in ways I very much enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Did you mean Pierre Berton? One of my DH's favourite authors. :) He's currently reading The Arctic Grail. Says it's quite good. Sorry - mistyped. Yes, Berton. I have his National Dream in process, with The Last Spike waiting for when I've finished, but Arctic Grail looks very appealing too... and my library has a copy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 You guys are crazy intimidating, but I am in for 2015. I've been sick this weekend, so I have almost finished 2 books. Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer - this was okay The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult - I am almost finished with this one and I really like it. There are just a lot of us, and we read all across the spectrum... but we're very friendly, really! ...and glad you are joining us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Inna* Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I don't remember if I posted my 2014 list, so here it is, just in case : https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/15771728-inna?read_at=2014&view=covers So far, I've read 3 books this year: Maus: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History (Maus #1) by At Spiegelman The Zen of Fish: The Story of Sushi, from Samurai to Supermarket by Trevor Corson Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl Started Pride and Prejudice to lighten things up. I'll try to stick with the monthly challenge Robyn posted, but going to pass Murakami. Sorry, not my cup of tea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 :blushing: Erm... Uh... Well.... Yeah, about that. How about during Banned Books week. Pssst.... Hey, mom-ninja, I think Robin's adding him to Banned Books week because she's been banning him from the thread. ;) :lol: I have a Pierre Berton (Klondike) on my shelves that I really need to get around to someday. Re: Margaret Atwood being the Canadian author most cited by Americans.... Maybe her marketing machine here in the US is better than what other Canadian authors have here? Plus, hasn't at least one of her books been made into a movie too? It's an interesting question because I would guess that a lot of Americans who can name her have not actually read one of her books. Speaking of movies, dh, ds, & I went to see The Imitation Game today. Fabulous. Inspiring & sad. Definitely recommended. (I think Jane may have also recommended this one?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mnemosyne Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 http://www.evernote.com/l/AAfhpyid4r9AKbuW7hQ-n5OsFJY-UEXcRdU/ Didn't finish any books this week. It's been busy, grandpa died, just didn't have a lot of time for reading. Will try to finish some of these next week if I can, but it may be slow going with all the stuff going on right now. I am really enjoying The 10X Rule, which has been my main read. The others are good as well, of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennyD Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Hello all. Every year I think about joining this thread and then I do not, although I lurk from time to time to steal reading ideas. This year, no more free riding! I will do my best to keep up. However, could someone possibly point me towards directions about how to create a proper link in these forums? I see the "link" button but cannot figure out how to insert my own text. I have searched for instructions but to no avail -- they must be somewhere? I am currently reading: The Newlyweds, by Nell Freudenberger. Contemporary novel about a Internet bride from Bangladesh who marries a man in Rochester, NY. It seemed like a promising premise, and I have an inexplicable soft spot for South Asian diaspora stories, but this one is turning out to be rather disappointing. Very choppy and seriously underdeveloped characters. How to Read the Bible, by James Kugel. This is a partial reread, but I had not previously read the book in its entirety. The author is a former chaired professor of Hebrew at Harvard and the book is an extended grappling with the challenge that modern biblical scholarship poses to traditional interpretation of the Jewish Bible. Kugel is Orthodox Jewish, so for him this is not simply a scholarly dilemma, it is an intensely personal one as well. The book is terrific, very lively, and one of the most intellectually honest things I've read in years. Ali and Chrysalis, I read The Circle last year. I thought the first half was fantastic, the second half disappointing. And Eliana, thanks for this suggestion: The Beginning of Desire: Reflections on Genesis by Avivah Zornberg: I last read this a very long time ago, and decided to revisit it when we started the Torah reading cycle over after the fall holidays. Zornberg brings in classical commentary, midrashim, psychological insights, and quotes from literature... and looks at these familiar narratives which I reread every year through lenses that I found moving and insightful. I think I'm going to move on to her book on Shemos/Exodus (which I'm not sure I've ever read all the way through) This is going on my list for sure, although I might wait until the fall to read it. x-posted: Fiona, so sorry to hear about your grandfather. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MicheleinMN Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Cool Beans! The first eight books in J.D. Robb's In Death series are available in Kindle Daily deals for $1.99 each. Thank you!!! :hurray: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Fiona, :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Inna* Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Sorry about your grandpa, Fiona. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 My sympathies on the death of your grandfather, Fiona. I just finished a historical romance which I very much enjoyed; it's by one of my favorite authors -- Joanna Bourne. Rogue Spy ~Chosen as one of Library Journal's Best Romances of 2014~ "For years he’d lived a lie. It was time to tell the truth . . . even if it cost him the woman he loved. Ten years ago he was a boy, given the name Thomas Paxton and sent by Revolutionary France to infiltrate the British Intelligence Service. Now his sense of honor brings him back to London, alone and unarmed, to confess. But instead of facing the gallows, he’s given one last impossible assignment to prove his loyalty.Lovely, lying, former French spy Camille Leyland is dragged from her safe rural obscurity by threats and blackmail. Dusting off her spy skills, she sets out to track down a ruthless French fanatic and rescue the innocent victim he’s holding—only to find an old colleague already on the case. Pax.Old friendship turns to new love, and as Pax and Camille’s dark secrets loom up from the past, Pax is left with a choice—go rogue from the Service or lose Camille forever…" While one could read this as a stand alone, I recommend starting with the author's earlier book The Spymaster's Lady (The Spymaster Series). Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mnemosyne Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Hello all. Every year I think about joining this thread and then I do not, although I lurk from time to time to steal reading ideas. This year, no more free riding! I will do my best to keep up. However, could someone possibly point me towards directions about how to create a proper link in these forums? I see the "link" button but cannot figure out how to insert my own text. I have searched for instructions but to no avail -- they must be somewhere? [ url=http://www.link.com]text here[/url ] No spaces. :) And thanks, all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 http://www.evernote.com/l/AAfhpyid4r9AKbuW7hQ-n5OsFJY-UEXcRdU/ Didn't finish any books this week. It's been busy, grandpa died, just didn't have a lot of time for reading. Will try to finish some of these next week if I can, but it may be slow going with all the stuff going on right now. . Hugs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennyD Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 [ url=http://www.link.com]text here[/url ] No spaces. :) THANK YOU! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 The Zen of Fish: The Story of Sushi, from Samurai to Supermarket by Trevor Corson What was that like? That's the funnest sounding title ever! (I need a husband so there will be someone obligated to buy presents for me, since I'm obligated to spend most of my book money on dd.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Didn't finish any books this week. It's been busy, grandpa died, just didn't have a lot of time for reading. Will try to finish some of these next week if I can, but it may be slow going with all the stuff going on right now. :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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