Nan in Mass Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Forgot to add: Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown I'm still at the beginning, but it seems to be about cutting out the unnecessary in life (not just stuff) and focusing on only a few things. (which I need because although I'm a minimalist in most things, I'm obviously not in my reading habits) And I know I said I wasn't going to add anymore to my list until after I finished a few :001_rolleyes:, but now I really want to add The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. No more! I need to stop reading the recommendations in this thread. Maela, no, no, I think you probably are a minimalist in your reading habits. You have a question, you get a bunch of books that look likely to answer your question, a glance at most of them shows you they will not, you look through the others until you have enough information to last you a while or to get started or to satisfy your curiosity, and then you move on. Nice and efficient grin. I do this a lot and just think of it as research. If I have read a swath of a book rather than just a few pages, I will write (some of) next to the book when I mention it here. Good job on the Spanish book! Nothing improved my French faster in less time than the first adult French book I laboriously worked through. I am trying to make it through Jack and the Beanstalk in Spanish now and you have inspired me to finish it. Nan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Is anyone interested in adopting 15 Terry Pratchett books? Free for a good home. Really, Inna? If no one else has spoken up for them, may I have them for my clan,s lending library? Nan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Ooo yes, someone do a zentangle baw please! How useful! I finished my first drawing-every-page and am mulling over the next one. Still not sure whether I picked the right work to read. Nan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Jane, cool quote! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 When people mention Canadian authors, I think of L M Montgomery. : ) Shukriyya, thank you for the poem. I think I would miss winter unbearably if I lived where there is no snow. How do you keep living without that period of stillness? L.M. Montgomery does seem to be overlooked. I might read a book of hers I have around. I know how I live without snow.....warmly. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Shukriyya, thank you for the poem. I think I would miss winter unbearably if I lived where there is no snow. How do you keep living without that period of stillness? Nan Nan, you question reveals something about your personality that I adore. You embrace the seasons. Many do not (when you consider our artificial environments, the year round supply of foods no longer tied to seasonality, etc.) Here in coastal NC, snow is an anomaly. The threat of a flake may close schools, but even a light flurry is magical to most children. Personally I love those days when it is so cold that the salt marsh freezes. I always think that the fairies have been laboring when I see ice on spartina (cord grass). Winter does bring another sort of silence in these parts--even without the snow. I have your summer friends, the loons, gannets and terns, to keep me company though and they can be a noisy lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 LM Montgomery! Totally forgot!! Yes, Americans definitely read her. Well, the girls do. (still not using my "likes," now in the name of systematic research methodologies. I'm waiting until 8:00 tomorrow, and then I will diligently count. So continue to consider yourselves warmly liked...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Nan, I have to admit I don't mind a mildly snowy winter as long as a glorious flower filled spring will follow. As someone who grew up in a place that was cold and very snowy for at least 4 months out of every year I am pretty happy to only worry about serious snow removal a couple of times each winter. I don't find wet grey sky nearly as troublesome. Xxx We have also lived in Florida. I missed my spring daffodils and tulips greatly but the azaleas did somewhat compensate. I will be honest that for residents a Florida summer actually is somewhat still during the daytime -- too hot to do much! ;) When the dc's were little we did a large part of their workbook type school each summer. The other seasons were fieldtrip filled so the opposite of life in the north. What I am trying to say is I think a season of relative stillness can be found most places, although one has to allow it to happen. In today's world it is too easy for most of us to keep frantically moving through life at a fast pace forgetting to appreciate stillness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 I just finished Kafka on the Shore a few minutes ago so am still processing. I think I liked it quite a bit. Last year's Murakami, The Wind Up Bird Chronicles, didn't really have the fascinating interrelationships that I found in 1Q84 but Kafka definitely had them. Not sure how I feel about it being a bit of a modern Oedipus. Obiviously that is the source of some of my ick scenes. Waiting for others...... The Strange Library became available this morning. Dd noticed it on her kindle as soon as she woke up! :lol: She is supposedly doing school but things are quiet..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 As previously noted, I am still wrapping up HoAW. Sitting with the volume one day, The Boy asked what I was reading. I told him and noted that the chapter with which I was currently engaged fascinated me. I had no former knowledge of the Indo-Greeks and Bactrian empire. "If you are interested..." He went to his shelves and pulled out David Anthony's The Horse, the Wheel and Language, a copy autographed to him by the author. My husband grabbed it and given my intention of wrapping up '14 and reading books from the dusty stacks, I did not argue. Here is what the Wilson Quarterly has to say about this book which does tie into the Bactrians, etc.: Thank you for this suggestion! It looks perfect for my horse-obsessed daughter who is studying Big History this year, Ancients next year. And it's just the kind of history I like to read - Question-driven, panoramic. I'm enjoying The March of Folly by Barbara Tuchman so much, and it's really helping me to articulate (at least to myself) what kind of history I do enjoy reading vs. the kinds I find a slog. I'm not so engaged by the episodic, great-men-great-battles, jumping from place to place following a chronology type history. But I love the kind of book that tries to tackle big questions and traces the evidence through time and across regions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 So, I rejected two more books last night - Z for Zachariah and The Dead of Night. I think part of what is going on is that y'all have me so excited about so many books I'm having trouble focusing! Or maybe 2015 is just the year of cutting through the dross and really sinking my teeth into good books? We'll see . . . my nonfiction cup is overflowing with wonderful things at the moment, but I need an engaging fiction book. We'll hit the library today and see if anything I've put on hold since joining this thread has come in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Thank you for this suggestion! It looks perfect for my horse-obsessed daughter who is studying Big History this year, Ancients next year. And it's just the kind of history I like to read - Question-driven, panoramic. I'm enjoying The March of Folly by Barbara Tuchman so much, and it's really helping me to articulate (at least to myself) what kind of history I do enjoy reading vs. the kinds I find a slog. I'm not so engaged by the episodic, great-men-great-battles, jumping from place to place following a chronology type history. But I love the kind of book that tries to tackle big questions and traces the evidence through time and across regions. He admits that it is an academic read that might be dry unless one is interested. Since this is his obsession, he says the author is phenomenal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 I finished The Luminaries last night and loved it! I had about half an hour left in the book when it came time for book club, but there were no spoilers by that point. I should say that our book club is made up of people who were friends first. We've all known each other for more than a few years. Apparently we missed seeing one another over the holidays. We ate, discussed the book (great discussion), and at around 8:30 agreed we should get going. Two hours later we noticed the restaurant employees putting chairs up on the empty tables! I came home and finished reading it. :) So, I've now read 2 books in 2015. The Luminaries and Paragon Walk (historical mystery). I started The Luminaries in 2014 but will count it for this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggieamy Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 I love seeing my kids lost in a book like that... well, unless I'm trying to get them to set the table or go to bed... How did you end up liking Eight Cousins? Weren't you reading it for a book club last month? I am envious of your memory! Yes, we all read it and discussed it over breakfast. It was a hit and we were all surprised that nobody had read it before. All the ladies in my group are (and have always been) prolific readers so I don't know why it hadn't crossed anyone's bookshelf before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 I finished The Luminaries last night and loved it! I had about half an hour left in the book when it came time for book club, but there were no spoilers by that point. I should say that our book club is made up of people who were friends first. We've all known each other for more than a few years. Apparently we missed seeing one another over the holidays. We ate, discussed the book (great discussion), and at around 8:30 agreed we should get going. Two hours later we noticed the restaurant employees putting chairs up on the empty tables! I came home and finished reading it. :) So, I've now read 2 books in 2015. The Luminaries and Paragon Walk (historical mystery). I started The Luminaries in 2014 but will count it for this year. I adore my book club - it's not a group of people I "know" socially, they are mostly over 65 and some come from a pretty different place than I do in terms of religion/politics, but they are such lovely people and I'm eager to get back to the group. I took about a year off - too much going on in 2014. For books I did not initially love, I almost invariably find that I like it more after we've spent 2 hours discussing it. I'm madly trying to finish The Case of Comrade Tulayev before our next meeting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggieamy Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 I've got 30 minutes left on my Agatha Raisin audiobook and find that the last 30 minutes isn't as exciting as the first 6 hours. They're just about to reveal the murderer and I'm not motivated to turn it on. I was hoping to find a cosy mystery series that I could lose myself in for another 20 books but I don't think this is it. The place and the characters are interesting but I think I need a bit more mystery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 I also started Don Quixote. I had the translation recommended in the WEM by Penguin Classics and also the Walter Starkie, but I finally decided on a kindle version by Gerald Davis. I am going to enjoy it, I think. I have already chuckled out loud a couple of times. I don't seem to be as intimidated, but I am not sure if it is Davis's translation or if it is the kindle version and I can't see how thick the book is. :) Or maybe it is the wonderful encouragement of all you lovely people. Choosing a translation that works for you is critical... and I'm so glad you're having fun with it! DQ is a rambling, absurd, poignant, delightful book... Can books *be* clutter?? :leaving: <wrong group to ask, obviously> I read a description of a home with books behind the kitchen supplies in the cupboards, books stacked behind the toilet and under the bathroom sink, in every corner, under the dining room table, acting as end tables, lining the hallways so one had to walk sideways to get down the hall... that would be clutter for me. I need more spaciousness than that. ...but otherwise, no, I can't imagine seeing books as clutter. On the other hand, I completely agree that the things in our homes should be ones that are actively wanted and give joy. For me, that means thousands of books - but not just any books. If I had a house full of best sellers, they would be clutter... but literature, history, science, reference, etc... those are joy. I do periodically cull books that don't add value to our universe, but that doesn't result in a very large discard pile... The war never does go well, does it? Whenever he goes for another reread, I have to hear rants about what a ridiculous, pointless was it was, etc., etc. I agree with him. It would be an interesting pair of books to read for Americans who would like to see how a Canadian author treats the War of 1812, though. For anyone who might be interested, here's the first book: The Invasion of Canada: 1812-1813 by Pierre Berton And here is the second book: Flames Across the Border: 1813-1814 by Pierre Berton DH says his favourite Berton so far, Eliana, is this one: Vimy My husband, kids, mother, and parents-in-law were subjected to a number of rants (complete with pulling out my notes and reading favorite quotes)... I can see that I would still feel just as intensely about it no matter how often I reread them... I think these two should be on the reading lists of every US history student - an important shift in perspective and an illuminating glance at what happened when idealistic plans for the US system met a challenging reality... (My kids are still enormously diverted by the question 'who won the War of 1812' and the range of possible answers depending on perspective... ) Marking Vimy down on my TBR list - tell your husband 'thank you'! (any other favorite history authors?) Anyway I read The Wars in university and I was deeply moved by it. It stayed with me for a long time. And despite the fact that it's a grim book about the realities of the front lines of war I recall it being quite beautiful in parts. Looking at the description for it now it's not a book I would be moved to read so context played a huge part in my enjoyment of it. I've become such a...lightweight in what I'm able to tolerate now. Or maybe it's just this season in my life. I'm so impressed by the breadth of aperture some of you have for taking in materlal. Jane, Stacia and Pam and Eliana might like this book. I am not brave enough for it right now, but I've added it to my list. Thank you, sweetie! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tress Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Didn't catch that. Sounds good. :) Still not getting much reading done. Got a video game I've been playing too much. :p Stop playing video games! Get back to reading Rippetoe's Starting Strength, so we can chat about it. :hurray: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 I added Jo Walton, for sure - she looks fascinating! Thanks for the Jo Walton link. I first learned of her in 2014, when she was a guest author at a convention I went to at the last minute. I've since read Among Others and Tooth and Claw, and I've been wanting to read more. I may try to read all of her books this year. It sounds like a fun challenge. Jo is amazing - as a writer and (from what I've 'seen' of her online) a person. At a really, really hard time in 2013 when I couldn't read books - something that had never happened to me before - when I could hardly eat or drink or sleep... I reread her LiveJournal postings from beginning to end... and then went into a compulsive reread of her Small Change series. Her post to the person who stole her laptop is a beautiful example of taking a (relatively small) bad thing and transcending it. I love the way her books do such different things: she has a Matter of Britain duology King's Peace and King's Name which doesn't rehash the familiar, but uses those pieces to do something original and interesting and moving (the related book Prize in the Game is based on the Tain which is grim source material, but I having read PitG enabled me to see more in The Tain itself than I think I would have otherwise... (Prize in the Game is available as a free ebook, I'll try to find the link later) Tooth and Claw is one of my favorites - the premise was taking the staples of Trollope's fiction (& some strands of Victorian society) and imagining biological imperatives for them... in dragons. Even in rereads, it takes me a chapter or two to settle in, but I am always caught by it. The Small Change series is alt-history crossed with... well, Farthing, the first one, riffs off the cozy mystery, the second more on Thriller tropes and the third is harder to classify. They are set in a universe where Britain made peace with Hitler fairly early on. ...and the British 1930's continued a bit longer. She is absolutely spot on in her depictions of 1930's England - complete with Mitford derived characters. It isn't a happy world, and there are some heartwrenching bits, but it is a world where choices matter, where imperfect humans can make a difference, though often at a price. Lifelode is an odd book - it started out as a domestic book in a world with a very domestic magic use, and some really odd things about time/tense. I haven't ever reread it, and wonder how it would strike me now. Among Others is the book I couldn't properly connect to (one of those cases where I feel I somehow got a different edition than everyone else). There is much I liked - and the way an inward-focused reader shapes her ideas of the world from her reading rang very true, sometimes in very disturbing ways - but I couldn't love it the way I do many of her books. All My Children was one of my top books of last year. I have trouble even writing about it... there's the story itself, well two stories, which are very interesting (though time moves very quickly) and looking at how the same person develops on two different paths, what is similar, what different, is fascinating, but the heart of the book went much deeper than that for me, and the ending was so perfect... I still pause in stunned, shaken silence thinking of it. The books about to come out do such nifty things - the first one doesn't go as deeply into the bits that speak most strongly to me, but the heart, the integrity, the courage, and the striving... those underlie all her books and even the books that I like least are beloved for that... but they come out so strongly in this pair of books... I highly recommend them. (The Just City, the first book, is coming out this month. The Philosopher Kings,the second, is coming out later in the year) I can't wait! And how wonderful to be able to read the beta versions! :drool5: It was amazing. I beta read Sherwood Smith's King's Shield and found doing so one of the more satisfying tasks I've ever engaged in. Seeing a work in progress and getting a glimpse behind the scenes... and then where the book goes next is absolutely entrancing to me. Though, in some ways, it makes the wait for the release date much harder! (I read the first part of a work in progress by Sherwood and then waited over a decade for the book to be released (Banner of the Damned and, yes, it was worth the wait!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 We have also lived in Florida. I missed my spring daffodils and tulips greatly but the azaleas did somewhat compensate. I will be honest that for residents a Florida summer actually is somewhat still during the daytime -- too hot to do much! ;) When the dc's were little we did a large part of their workbook type school each summer. The other seasons were fieldtrip filled so the opposite of life in the north. What I am trying to say is I think a season of relative stillness can be found most places, although one has to allow it to happen. In today's world it is too easy for most of us to keep frantically moving through life at a fast pace forgetting to appreciate stillness. Thank you for saying that. The Floridian is going to speak about her love of Florida now. It has nothing to do with books. Sorry about that. ;) People say we don't have seasons here. We do. You just have to know what to look for. You have to be willing to change your idea of what a season, and seasonal change, should look like. -Smell the citrus blossoms and know that it's spring. The heady, heavy scent is a treat for the senses. -Enjoy the pink, red, and yellow flowers of the golden rain tree. Notice the deep red leaves of the Florida red maple. Feel the humidity start to drop. You know that fall is in the air. -Go out in your backyard and pick oranges (or grapefruits, tangerines, tangelos) on a crisp winter morning. -Watch and feel the awesome power of an approaching thunderstorm on a hot summer afternoon. See the steam rising from the ground when the storm passes. I've also had naturey-pagany types say you can't connect to nature here. Not so. Again it's a matter of mindset and willingness to look. If you look for the kind of nature connections from "up north" you'll always be looking and always be disappointed. If you allow yourself to see the uniqueness of Florida, you just might like it. -Go to the beach and lie on the sand. Listen to the power of the ocean. Feel the salt air on your skin*. Breathe it in. -Go to the mangroves. Notice the web of life running through its veins. Touch the gnarly bark of the trees. Take a good look at an old cypress tree and know that it was there when ancient peoples roamed the area. -Mountains are beautiful, but on the plains of Florida you can see forever. We have prairies here. These wide open spaces are just as lovely as any midwestern plains. Okay, I don't love this state or anything, do I? I'm not a native. I "used to know" White Christmases. I don't dream of them. Florida is more than The Mouse House and Miami Vice (or Burn Notice if you want to be a bit more 21st century). The Real Florida is a wonderful place, in spite of the "lack of seasons". Florida can get under your skin and make you never want to leave, but only if you let it. *Salt air it ain't thin. It can stick right to your skin and make you feel fine. Makes you feel fiiine." ~ Jimmy Buffet And now back to BAW. Thank for allowing my tangent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 This week's thread is overwhelming, but this from Nan and the subsequent responses got me to stop and think a spell. Shukriyya, thank you for the poem. I think I would miss winter unbearably if I lived where there is no snow. How do you keep living without that period of stillness? I've been pondering this for several minutes now. Is there really a season of stillness, even in this modern age? I think of the beautiful mornings when the world is covered in a fresh blanket of snow, or of an afternoon and evening of watching the big fluffy flakes fall from the sky. But the cozy solitude of it can't last long because you eventually need to scrape the ice off your car's windshields so you can get to a job, the dentist or grocery store. Or the library! The change of seasons here is indeed subtle. I used to really miss autumn, but have learned to appreciate the changes of the season, to notice the different birds and the quality of the light, to love that spring is the coldest period of the year and lasts through most of June. In a sense, my neck of California is always still as we don't get much of either wind or rain. A good, blustery winter storm is downright thrilling in contrast to the constant mellow weather. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggieamy Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 I finished The Luminaries last night and loved it! I had about half an hour left in the book when it came time for book club, but there were no spoilers by that point. I should say that our book club is made up of people who were friends first. We've all known each other for more than a few years. Apparently we missed seeing one another over the holidays. We ate, discussed the book (great discussion), and at around 8:30 agreed we should get going. Two hours later we noticed the restaurant employees putting chairs up on the empty tables! I came home and finished reading it. :) So, I've now read 2 books in 2015. The Luminaries and Paragon Walk (historical mystery). I started The Luminaries in 2014 but will count it for this year. What fun! My book club has a similar demographic ... two of the ladies in it I've known since I was in the 6th grade. The rest are a few friends we've met over the years and spouses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Jenn, I agree - you have to pay attention to really appreciate the change in seasons in CA. And it's the reverse of many places - we eagerly await the winter rains to green up the hills and bring everything back to life. It's my favorite time of year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymilkies Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Is anyone interested in adopting 15 Terry Pratchett books? Free for a good home. Oh yes, yes, yes! My daughter just had a Tiffany Aching birthday last night! getting her signed copy of Name of the Wind Feegles stealing her sheep cake: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Thank you for saying that. The Floridian is going to speak about her love of Florida now. It has nothing to do with books. Sorry about that. ;) I can recommend a book in support of your loving rant about Florida! River of Lakes: A Journey on Florida's St. Johns River by Bill Belleville is a wonderful, well written and fascinating, natural history of Florida. I bought it on one of my many trips visiting my son when he was living in Orlando, working for the mouse and going to college. One of the things I never got to do while he was down there is go kayaking on some of the clear natural springs. Or go birding. One of these days... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 I've got 30 minutes left on my Agatha Raisin audiobook and find that the last 30 minutes isn't as exciting as the first 6 hours. They're just about to reveal the murderer and I'm not motivated to turn it on. I was hoping to find a cosy mystery series that I could lose myself in for another 20 books but I don't think this is it. The place and the characters are interesting but I think I need a bit more mystery. I know we've talked mysteries in previous years' threads but can't remember if I recommended the Captain Lacey mysteries. They're historical mysteries, and while not cozy, they're pretty tame as far as murder mysteries go. They don't have to be read in order, but they're more enjoyable if you do read them that way. https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15295.Ashley_Gardner?from_search=true Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Last night I finished Radiant: Towers Trilogy Book One by Karina Sumner-Smith the fantasy novel I had started yesterday. I don't read a lot of fantasy; however, I enjoyed this work. The two main characters are both sixteen-ish though this is not marketed as a young adult book. It was unusual (though pleasant) to read a book with two female leads. The book is set on earth, but it's far into the future where a solar calculator is an artifact and where magic is everything. I hope to read the remainder of the trilogy in the future. "Xhea has no magic. Born without the power that everyone else takes for granted, Xhea is an outcast—no way to earn a living, buy food, or change the life that fate has dealt her. Yet she has a unique talent: the ability to see ghosts and the tethers that bind them to the living world, which she uses to scratch out a bare existence in the ruins beneath the City’s floating Towers.When a rich City man comes to her with a young woman’s ghost tethered to his chest, Xhea has no idea that this ghost will change everything. The ghost, Shai, is a Radiant, a rare person who generates so much power that the Towers use it to fuel their magic, heedless of the pain such use causes. Shai’s home Tower is desperate to get the ghost back and force her into a body—any body—so that it can regain its position, while the Tower’s rivals seek the ghost to use her magic for their own ends. Caught between a multitude of enemies and desperate to save Shai, Xhea thinks herself powerless—until a strange magic wakes within her. Magic dark and slow, like rising smoke, like seeping oil. A magic whose very touch brings death.With two extremely strong female protagonists, Radiant is a story of fighting for what you believe in and finding strength that you never thought you had." Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggieamy Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 I know we've talked mysteries in previous years' threads but can't remember if I recommended the Captain Lacey mysteries. They're historical mysteries, and while not cozy, they're pretty tame as far as murder mysteries go. They don't have to be read in order, but they're more enjoyable if you do read them that way. https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15295.Ashley_Gardner?from_search=true Thank you! I just downloaded the first book from audible. Unfortunately I've got a few books I have to get read before I can start on it but I'll post a review when I finish with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maela Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Maela, no, no, I think you probably are a minimalist in your reading habits. You have a question, you get a bunch of books that look likely to answer your question, a glance at most of them shows you they will not, you look through the others until you have enough information to last you a while or to get started or to satisfy your curiosity, and then you move on. Nice and efficient grin. I do this a lot and just think of it as research. If I have read a swath of a book rather than just a few pages, I will write (some of) next to the book when I mention it here. Good job on the Spanish book! Nothing improved my French faster in less time than the first adult French book I laboriously worked through. I am trying to make it through Jack and the Beanstalk in Spanish now and you have inspired me to finish it. Nan Thank you all for being so kind! :blush: I stayed up way too late last night reading! I was reading some of all three of my current books plus reading ahead in the read aloud I'm about to start with Dd - Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan. So Many Books, So Little Time reminds me a lot of reading this thread. The author reads one book a week for a year and then writes about it and her experiences during that year. Many books to add to my list (someday!). That's pretty much the book - I like it though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Now for an actual book post. I finished my first book of the year! The 13 Gun Salute, which is the thirteenth book in the Aubrey/Maturin, Master and Commander series. It isn't a book I'd recommend to someone wanting to get a taste of the series as the pacing was slow and many of the scenes are only worthwhile to those who have gotten to know the characters over the previous 12 books. It finished with a cliff hanger and no doubt I'll be starting the next title within the week. I've been listening to this series and as I have a hand quilting project I really want to finish, my plan is to sit, listen and quilt at least an hour a day. There was an unexpected, serendipitous connection between it and a non-fiction book I've just started, Journeys on the Silk Road. The silk road is of course land locked and the Master and Commander books based at sea, but the tie between the two books is Buddhism. Journeys on the Silk Road is about the discovery in 1900 of some of the most ancient Buddhist texts that had been left in a cave near Kashgar in the farthest west of China. In The 13 Gun Salute, the main character, Dr. Maturin, spends several days in a Buddhist monastery high in a volcanic mountain in Indonesia. Ok -- so it is the slimmest of connections between the 2 books but I was amused by it! I think I'll be spending some time on the Silk Road this year. Stacia's mention of Marco Polo brought me back to an area that long has interested me, so I intend on doing lots of arm chair traveling! Given the geo-political realities of the area, I doubt I'll ever get to actually visit Kashgar and Samarkand, so I'm going to depend on lots of books and the internet to get me as close as I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 I finished my first book of the year! The 13 Gun Salute, which is the thirteenth book in the Aubrey/Maturin, Master and Commander series. It isn't a book I'd recommend to someone wanting to get a taste of the series as the pacing was slow and many of the scenes are only worthwhile to those who have gotten to know the characters over the previous 12 books. It finished with a cliff hanger and no doubt I'll be starting the next title within the week. I've been listening to this series and as I have a hand quilting project I really want to finish, my plan is to sit, listen and quilt at least an hour a day. There was an unexpected, serendipitous connection between it and a non-fiction book I've just started, Journeys on the Silk Road. The silk road is of course land locked and the Master and Commander books based at sea, but the tie between the two books is Buddhism. Journeys on the Silk Road is about the discovery in 1900 of some of the most ancient Buddhist texts that had been left in a cave near Kashgar in the farthest west of China. In The 13 Gun Salute, the main character, Dr. Maturin, spends several days in a Buddhist monastery high in a volcanic mountain in Indonesia. Ok -- so it is the slimmest of connections between the 2 books but I was amused by it! Dh is reading Master and Commander (the first book) now, but hasn't said what he thinks of it so far. He was coming off two non-fiction reads about WWII (Unbroken and Flyboys) and wanted something else in that genre. He couldn't find anything and couldn't decide what to read instead. We already had this book, so he started it. I don't know if his attitude will color his opinion of the book. I have it on my TBR list but have not been able to get to it. I don't know if it was here in BAW or a group on goodreads, but someone has mentioned Journeys on the Silk Road before and I put it on my list. It's another one-of-these-days book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Dh is reading Master and Commander (the first book) now, but hasn't said what he thinks of it so far. He was coming off two non-fiction reads about WWII (Unbroken and Flyboys) and wanted something else in that genre. He couldn't find anything and couldn't decide what to read instead. We already had this book, so he started it. I don't know if his attitude will color his opinion of the book. I have it on my TBR list but have not been able to get to it. I don't know if it was here in BAW or a group on goodreads, but someone has mentioned Journeys on the Silk Road before and I put it on my list. It's another one-of-these-days book. I was just about to post the link to Journeys on the Silk Road which I downloaded last year but have yet to get to. If you and Jenn (and anyone else for that matter) are interested we could do a little read along at some point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Haven't checked yet if multiquote is working or not, so I'll try to go from memory here.... Mommymilkies, please, please tell us what a Tiffany Aching birthday is like! Sounds wonderful. Loving the seasonal talk. And I agree with mumto2's statement re: seasons of stillness everywhere (but sometimes it might be siesta vs. snow that brings about the silence). I've never really grown up around snow, but wish I did live somewhere with snow. Dh is a cold-weather person (hates, hates the weather here & feels too hot most of the year). As an adult, I've gone on a couple of ski trips with dh & his family (because skiing has always been a regular winter activity for them & I had never done it previously) & found I love skiing. I'm truly & extremely terrible at it. But, I love being out there in the snow. Love it. The rare times we've had snow (our measly inch or so -- but we do get stillness from it), I'll put on my snow pants & ski jacket, put coffee in my insulated mug & go climb up into the kids' treehouse & just sit & observe. Overall (probably because I"m very sensitive to sound), I think silence is an underrated virtue in today's society. Nothing is ever truly quiet or free from some mechanical/man-made noise (even if it's an airplane flying overhead). I live in busy suburbs & long for a quiet place/stillness all year, lol. Re: history from a differing viewpoint. Years ago, I bought History Lessons: How Textbooks From Around The World Portray U.S. History. I've tried reading it a couple of times over the years (including recently), but I think I've decided it's not one to read in one sitting. I think it is more a book to dip into & out of over a long period of time. So, I'm trying to remember to pull it off the shelf & read a section or two every now & then. It's not comprehensive & it's not always super-engaging (because, after all, it is paragraphs of info from textbooks & those aren't always the most interesting of books), but it can be an interesting look at how another country sees a shared history with us. Kathy, I've wanted to read The Luminaries for awhile now. I'm glad to read your good review because you & I often seem to overlap on the long books we like! I've had it on my radar ever since it was nominated for the Booker, so I do plan to read it -- hopefully this year. I just need to be in the mood to tackle a long book. I, too, gave up my irl book club in 2014. Partly it was a season of life thing (not only for me but also for a couple of other people in the group too). Seemingly, they ended up not meeting very often in 2014 anyway & now have morphed more to a get together for dinner outing & just discuss whatever you've read lately type of group. I may give it at try again this year. Or maybe not. Wish we had a BaW group here to do irl meetings! Going to a pet topic of mine -- free speech/free press/freedom from censorship.... I posted a few articles last year about various related things. Here are a couple more, if you are interested: Khaled Hosseini calls for release of Azerbaijani writer Why is a Nigerian federal court blocking their ex-president’s memoirs? Melville House has The Senate Intelligence Committee Report on Torture on sale. (They have apparently created a more easily-searchable version than the government-released version.) I read somewhere that they sold out the first day (though it now seems to be available again). And, with the mention of the torture report, I have to pull in the book I started reading yesterday, Rue du Retour, whose Moroccan author was imprisoned & tortured for eight years for "crimes of opinion". He describes a lot of the torture (horrifying) & relates himself to various political prisoners around the world & through time... and reading his account will make you cry for the people who are today imprisoned & going through similar tortures. Not that anyone has probably forgotten, but it brings to the forefront how prevalent this type of behavior/imprisonment/torture is around the world, especially for political prisoners. This is a powerful book, imo. His book is well-written & has many musings not only on his incarceration & torture, his solidarity with other political prisoners around the world, the thread of hope, & the strange sensations of re-entering a 'normal' world after his surprise early release. (He had originally been sentenced to ten years.) I have to think while reading it that while we're searching the depths of the oceans & the far reaches of space, mankind also needs to remember to plunge the depths of our own hearts & psyches to find a way to live together & eliminate horrifying abuses of humans by humans. An essential quest, imo. <stepping off my soapbox now...> ETA: Sorry to see a current news flash coming out of Paris (BBC link): Charlie Hebdo: Gun attack on French magazine kills 12 ETA again: Word Nerd posted a very powerful link on the main thread about this w/ cartoonists from around the world responding: http://mashable.com/2015/01/07/cartoonists-react-hebd-massacre/?utm_cid=mash-com-fb-main-link (Per her comment, view at your own discretion.) This is all at the heart of freedom from censorship, unfortunately with deadly results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted January 7, 2015 Author Share Posted January 7, 2015 Jenn and lady Florida: I loved Journeys on the Silk Road. I read it a couple years ago and it's one of those rare nonfiction books that really captured me. Lots of rabbit trails to spin off into. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idnib Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 This thread has been so long I'm just reminding people that the Goodreads group Classics and the Western Canon is starting Ulysses today, in case you're interested in a light novel. ;) Schedule here. Week 1 discussion here. Version of text with hyperlinked help here. (Chapters are linked on the left.) I've been going back and forth but I'm going to try. I'll probably read the discussion but not participate. I'm hoping to just do a first reading and muddle through, skipping what I don't understand instead of dwelling on it. That's where I've failed in the past with this book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymilkies Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Haven't checked yet if multiquote is working or not, so I'll try to go from memory here.... Mommymilkies, please, please tell us what a Tiffany Aching birthday is like! Sounds wonderful. Re: history from a differing viewpoint. Years ago, I bought History Lessons: How Textbooks From Around The World Portray U.S. History. I've tried reading it a couple of times over the years (including recently), but I think I've decided it's not one to read in one sitting. I think it is more a book to dip into & out of over a long period of time. So, I'm trying to remember to pull it off the shelf & read a section or two every now & then. It's not comprehensive & it's not always super-engaging (because, after all, it is paragraphs of info from textbooks & those aren't always the most interesting of books), but it can be an interesting look at how another country sees a shared history with us. I painted a witch hat to look like the sky (poorly, I might add. At this time of year I could only find a cheap velour one and it was not easy to paint!). She had lots of cheese selections at dinner, with a hearty vegetable stew. I made her a sheep cake with one edible fondant feegle (Daft Wullie), and two Sculpey Feegles. Her gifts were wrapped in green outside (grass), brown inside (dirt), and black chalkboard paper inside (chalk/magic and decorated with Feegle sayings). She wore her witch hat all day, even walking the dog. She just turned 14. :) I'm not great at birthday decorations or planning, so it was just enough to call it a theme. ;) I will definitely add the History Lessons book to my queue! Sounds fascinating and perfect for my almost high schooler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 I painted a witch hat to look like the sky (poorly, I might add. At this time of year I could only find a cheap velour one and it was not easy to paint!). She had lots of cheese selections at dinner, with a hearty vegetable stew. I made her a sheep cake with one edible fondant feegle (Daft Wullie), and two Sculpey Feegles. Her gifts were wrapped in green outside (grass), brown inside (dirt), and black chalkboard paper inside (chalk/magic and decorated with Feegle sayings). She wore her witch hat all day, even walking the dog. She just turned 14. :) I'm not great at birthday decorations or planning, so it was just enough to call it a theme. ;) I will definitely add the History Lessons book to my queue! Sounds fascinating and perfect for my almost high schooler. That is just so cool! Sounds like you are great at birthday decorations & planning. I think I need to tell my family I want a Tiffany birthday for myself, lol!!! If you have any photos to share, I'd love to see them. I'm always so impressed with cool cakes & the like! I agree that History Lessons would be great for a high schooler, esp. to read pertinent sections as they go through history. It is nicely & easily arranged in chronological order by various big events in US history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 This thread has been so long I'm just reminding people that the Goodreads group Classics and the Western Canon is starting Ulysses today, in case you're interested in a light novel. ;) Schedule here. Week 1 discussion here. Version of text with hyperlinked help here. (Chapters are linked on the left.) I've been going back and forth but I'm going to try. I'll probably read the discussion but not participate. I'm hoping to just do a first reading and muddle through, skipping what I don't understand instead of dwelling on it. That's where I've failed in the past with this book. Oh, thank you for the reminder. For some reason I was thinking they're starting Monday, and I haven't been to the group in about a week. I'm glad I finished The Luminaries. I wouldn't want to be reading a chunkster while trying to tackle Ulysses. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Shukriyya, thank you for the poem. I think I would miss winter unbearably if I lived where there is no snow. How do you keep living without that period of stillness? When dh and I moved back to Texas after a few involuntary years away (including two years in upstate New York--brrrrrr), it was in August. On the first day over a hundred degrees, I stood outside, alone under a blinding cloudless sky, air shimmering over the empty street, in the utter stillness, with no noise but the ear-splitting cicada songs beating in my ears. I was overwhelmed by how much I had missed my home, and wanted to cry for happiness. I don't know if it was the same feeling you have with the snow. But I wondered how I had ever gotten by without that summer stillness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymilkies Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 That is just so cool! Sounds like you are great at birthday decorations & planning. I think I need to tell my family I want a Tiffany birthday for myself, lol!!! If you have any photos to share, I'd love to see them. I'm always so impressed with cool cakes & the like! I agree that History Lessons would be great for a high schooler, esp. to read pertinent sections as they go through history. It is nicely & easily arranged in chronological order by various big events in US history. I'm really not! My SIL is an expert party planner. I figure if a cake is decorated, that's going above and beyond. ;) Sorry these are huge. I'm having a hard time with posting pics on here. Oh, and she got some turpentine (she's learning to oil paint) and some Special Sheep Liniment (grape juice). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Shukriyya, thank you for the poem. I think I would miss winter unbearably if I lived where there is no snow. How do you keep living without that period of stillness? This is such a lovely question and I thank you for posing it. It's a poem in itself, really, and any finite attempts I might make to answer it will fall short. In some ways it's a question best left to flower and shed its petals within, like most of the really good questions. And yet something green inside me wants to send forth some kind fruiting response. The question has bobbed along with me for the past day and night, allowing my body and breath the occasional moment to sink and settle, allowing me an invitation to spaciousness. I grew up in Canada in a city that has been deemed one of the top ten coldest capital cities in the world. When I reflect on my three decades spent wintering there it's with a kind of awe now. In many ways I experienced winter as a form of exile, though exile in perhaps its most fruitful sense. Color is banished, sound is muffled, warmth has gone south, light sharpens, refracting the moment into a heady dance of reality and possibility and then there's the Cold. It's an entity unto itself to be respected, adorning oneself with the proper boots, jackets, long johns, silks, wool, down and more. In Winter one receives the world with a different kind of awareness, spare, vivid, even acute at times. There were moments of glorious cathedral stillness, yes, but also moments of slushy frustration, biting frozen cold, agitated pent-up energy in overheated schoolrooms and houses. I played the cello as a child and I still remember having to lug that behemoth through sludgy streets and onto a crowded bus in freezing temps all bundled up. Not fun but the visceral ugh has stayed with me. Skating to school on frozen, empty mornings, the vast expanse of ice before me, light almost blinding in its scintillation and the blue-winged wind in my ears as I, a small bug of a being on two small pieces of metal gliding, avian-like, within an expanse of cerulean and ivory, through the mundane-amazing day...that was lovely. What I'm trying to say is the capacity to hold this tension of opposites is something I continue to learn, sometimes clumsily, sometimes less so. Stillness feels fairly accessible to me, wintery landscapes are solidly in place within, for better or worse. I don't miss the climate I grew up in one little bit, am so grateful for where I live now. Especially when my brother texts me with things like '-35 tonight, cold warning in effect'. And yet, there is nothing like stepping into the waking world after a heavy falling of snow to smooth rough edges into grace and make all things new. Nothing like the kind of silence in which one needs not be heard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymilkies Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 This is such a lovely question and I thank you for posing it. It's a poem in itself, really, and any finite attempts I might make to answer it will fall short. In some ways it's a question best left to flower and shed its petals within, like most of the really good questions. And yet something green inside my wants to send forth some kind fruiting response. The question has bobbed along with me for the past day and night, allowing my body and breath the occasional moment to sink and settle, allowing me an invitation to spaciousness. I grew up in Canada in a city that has been deemed one of the top ten coldest capital cities in the world. When I reflect on my three decades spent wintering there it's with a kind of awe now. In many ways I experienced winter as a form of exile, though exile in perhaps its most fruitful sense. Color is banished, sound is muffled, warmth has gone south, light sharpens, refracting the moment into a heady dance of reality and possibility and then there's the Cold. It's an entity unto itself to be respected, adorning oneself with the proper boots, jackets, long johns, silks, wool, down and more. In Winter one receives the world with a different kind of awareness, spare, vivid, even acute at times. There were moments of glorious cathedral stillness, yes, but also moments of slushy frustration, biting frozen cold, agitated pent-up energy in overheated schoolrooms and houses. I played the cello as a child and I still remember having to lug that behemoth through sludgy streets and onto a crowded bus in freezing temps all bundled up. Not fun but the visceral ugh has stayed with me. Skating to school on frozen, empty mornings, the vast expanse of ice before me, light almost blinding in its scintillation and the blue-winged wind in my ears as I, a small bug of a being on two small pieces of metal gliding, avian-like, within an expanse of cerulean and ivory, through the mundane-amazing day...that was lovely. What I'm trying to say is the capacity to hold this tension of opposites is something I continue to learn, sometimes clumsily, sometimes less so. Stillness feels fairly accessible to me, wintery landscapes are solidly in place within, for better or worse. I don't miss the climate I grew up in one little bit, am so grateful for where I live now. Especially when my brother texts me with things like '-35 tonight, cold warning in effect'. And yet, there is nothing like stepping into the waking world after a heavy falling of snow to smooth rough edges into grace and make all things new. Nothing like the kind of silence in which one needs not be heard. This is beautiful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Jo is amazing - as a writer and (from what I've 'seen' of her online) a person. At a really, really hard time in 2013 when I couldn't read books - something that had never happened to me before - when I could hardly eat or drink or sleep... I reread her LiveJournal postings from beginning to end... and then went into a compulsive reread of her Small Change series. Her post to the person who stole her laptop is a beautiful example of taking a (relatively small) bad thing and transcending it. I love the way her books do such different things: she has a Matter of Britain duology King's Peace and King's Name which doesn't rehash the familiar, but uses those pieces to do something original and interesting and moving (the related book Prize in the Game is based on the Tain which is grim source material, but I having read PitG enabled me to see more in The Tain itself than I think I would have otherwise... (Prize in the Game is available as a free ebook, I'll try to find the link later) Tooth and Claw is one of my favorites - the premise was taking the staples of Trollope's fiction (& some strands of Victorian society) and imagining biological imperatives for them... in dragons. Even in rereads, it takes me a chapter or two to settle in, but I am always caught by it. The Small Change series is alt-history crossed with... well, Farthing, the first one, riffs off the cozy mystery, the second more on Thriller tropes and the third is harder to classify. They are set in a universe where Britain made peace with Hitler fairly early on. ...and the British 1930's continued a bit longer. She is absolutely spot on in her depictions of 1930's England - complete with Mitford derived characters. It isn't a happy world, and there are some heartwrenching bits, but it is a world where choices matter, where imperfect humans can make a difference, though often at a price. Lifelode is an odd book - it started out as a domestic book in a world with a very domestic magic use, and some really odd things about time/tense. I haven't ever reread it, and wonder how it would strike me now. Among Others is the book I couldn't properly connect to (one of those cases where I feel I somehow got a different edition than everyone else). There is much I liked - and the way an inward-focused reader shapes her ideas of the world from her reading rang very true, sometimes in very disturbing ways - but I couldn't love it the way I do many of her books. All My Children was one of my top books of last year. I have trouble even writing about it... there's the story itself, well two stories, which are very interesting (though time moves very quickly) and looking at how the same person develops on two different paths, what is similar, what different, is fascinating, but the heart of the book went much deeper than that for me, and the ending was so perfect... I still pause in stunned, shaken silence thinking of it. The books about to come out do such nifty things - the first one doesn't go as deeply into the bits that speak most strongly to me, but the heart, the integrity, the courage, and the striving... those underlie all her books and even the books that I like least are beloved for that... but they come out so strongly in this pair of books... I highly recommend them. (The Just City, the first book, is coming out this month. The Philosopher Kings,the second, is coming out later in the year) Unlike some of the other BaWers I haven't figured out Eliana's way around multi-quoting so please bear with my multiple posts... Eliana, Deerskin, yes puppies have appeared and you're right the tone changes considerably. Gone is the calcified characterization and atmosphere. And perhaps that's the point as Deerskin begins to reclaim herself. Still not loving it but it's better. Re Jo Walton, I looked her up after you or someone linked her a few days ago and characteristically the only book that appealed is 'Among Others' ;) It's on my tbr list but that doesn't mean much more than intention has been tethered by the click of a key. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 I'm really not! My SIL is an expert party planner. I figure if a cake is decorated, that's going above and beyond. ;) Sorry these are huge. I'm having a hard time with posting pics on here. Oh, and she got some turpentine (she's learning to oil paint) and some Special Sheep Liniment (grape juice). :w00t: Wow! You are most super-awesome mom, mommymilkies! The hat, cake, & Feegles look amazing. Just showed my ds (a huge fan of Tiffany & the Feegles) & he now wants a Wee Free Men party, lol! (Are you available for hire?) Happy birthday to your dd! What a lovely lady celebrating a very cool 14th! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Also about Jo Walton. So far I prefer her writing when she is writing about books. I have bookmarked her series of blog posts on Tor about rereading the Master and Commander series, and I enjoy reading what she has to say about the title I just finished. I loved her book What Makes This Book so Great (which is a collection of her blog posts about sci fi and fantasy books). Her fiction I've read so far, Farthing, Ha'Penny and the third in the series, were just o.k. Pleasant enough but nothing that's made me hurry back to find more. Definitely someone I will read again, but as of yet, not an all-time favorite author. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymilkies Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 :w00t: Wow! You are most super-awesome mom, mommymilkies! The hat, cake, & Feegles look amazing. Just showed my ds (a huge fan of Tiffany & the Feegles) & he now wants a Wee Free Men party, lol! (Are you available for hire?) Happy birthday to your dd! What a lovely lady celebrating a very cool 14th! :o Thanks. The Feegles weren't too hard to make if you're not adverse to hot glue. ;) I had to make the body parts separately and glue them together as without a proper wire frame, they were too bendy to stand or support weight. So I used lots of E6000 and hot glue. Right now the Feegles are off eating my sheep figures around my house, go figure. I'd make you some but they're really not professionally good. Lots of glue, like I said. ;) And I'm still a bit weepy about her getting so big. *sniff* I am nowhere near finished with American Gods. I could've sworn I was, but I still have 10 hours of listening! But I'm also done with I Shall Wear Midnight. After that, I have Firefight on the queue, and Timebound 2 (I forget the title). I started reading The Wee Free Men aloud to the whole family last night in honor of my daughter's birthday. They consider it hilarious, so that's another book for me to read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Awesome party, mommymilkies! Aly is 14, too, and I love it that she is not too grown up to enjoy fun stuff like you just did for your dd! I need to get her to read The Wee Free Men this year! I listened to it on audio last year and it was hilarious! The Nac Mac Feegles were on my favorite characters list. I love summer! I love being warm - which I am NOT right now as the wind chills are below zero today and it will be even colder tomorrow :glare: Green is my favorite color and I think it might be partly because I associate it with the full bloom of summer, the green grass and the green trees. Ah, bliss! That said I do like to see the seasons change. I love fall clothes! I love fall and spring smells and watching the death and birth. I even enjoy the beauty of the falling snow and the quiet days at home they bring, but only for a short time. I love the warmth of the sun and feeling my body soaking up all that good vit D! My ideal seasons would something like this... January - Spring February through September - Summer October and November - Fall December - Snow :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Inna* Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Really, Inna? If no one else has spoken up for them, may I have them for my clan,s lending library? Nan Nan I have 4 books left: Pyramids Eric The Fifth Elephant Hogsfather Unseen Academicals The Last Continent Carpe Jugulum Guards!Guards! The Light Fantastic ETA: Nan, your inbox is full Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Inna* Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Mommymilkies, That is an AWESOME cake! What a great idea for a party and your daughter is beautiful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymilkies Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Awesome party, mommymilkies! Aly is 14, too, and I love it that she is not too grown up to enjoy fun stuff like you just did for your dd! I need to get her to read The Wee Free Men this year! I listened to it on audio last year and it was hilarious! The Nac Mac Feegles were on my favorite characters list. Mine, too. I love the Feegles! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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