Book a Week in 2015 - Happy New Year

[Lady Florida.]

I just went looking for that post of Violet Crown's I said I saved, on Henry James. Turns out it was a post on Hawthorne. So Violet, I still a lesson how how to read James. :D

[idnib]

My decluttering book (The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up)  arrived so I'm putting off Hard Road West to finish it first. It's a translated Japanese book and it's fun to wander into the Japanese practice of anthropomorphizing inanimate objects. It's an easy read but I need some decluttering inspiration stat because we're moving. 

 

I'm realizing Hard Road West is taking me a long time to read because of the flipping back and forth among maps and also Googling images of some of the locations discussed. It's partly turned into a planning tool for a road trip I want to take. 

[Dicentra]

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! 

 

DH has read both of those a few times as well as Berton's War of 1812 series.  Whenever he starts another reread, I ask him how the war is going this time. ;)  DH also has Berton's The Great Depression on the go.  I'll have to encourage him to join the the group! :)  He made himself a WTM forum account a few years ago but I don't think he's ever used it.

[felicity]

I'm so sorry, Fiona. 

 

 

[Stacia]

My decluttering book (The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up)  arrived so I'm putting off Hard Road West to finish it first. It's a translated Japanese book and it's fun to wander into the Japanese practice of anthropomorphizing inanimate objects. It's an easy read but I need some decluttering inspiration stat because we're moving. 

I just finished this book in December. I think that if you're serious about cleaning out, her book can be inspirational. Good luck on your decluttering before moving. You can do it (& will thank yourself for doing it)!

[Guest]

 

 

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:   I'm so sorry, sweetheart.  May there be comfort for you and all who mourn.   ...if you have any memories you'd like to share, I'd love to hear about your grandpa.

 

...and don't stress about finishing anything!  If reading is a comfort you can turn to now, that is fabulous... but sometimes grief and busy-ness make it hard to enter a reading space, hard to concentrate, because once you sit down, you're flooded with other thoughts.  Be gentle with yourself.  :grouphug:

[shukriyya]

Did you mean Pierre Berton?  One of my DH's favourite authors. :)  He's currently reading The Arctic Grail.  Says it's quite good.

 

I think the only Berton I've read is The Secret World of Og :lol:

 

I did come across a book in my library shelves today that I recall enjoying and that I think a number of BaWers would enjoy...Nan and Jane in particular. It's The Canadian Settler's Guide by Catherine Parr Traill.

[shukriyya]

Ugh, so done with the non-multi quoting. I can't quite interpret Eliana's instructions well enough to implement them so...

 

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.

 

 

That's another interesting observation. I think you're probably right though about the fact that a book of hers was made into a movie is a reason she's so known outside of Canada. I was wondering, too, if it's perhaps that her writing, from what I recall, is less regional than some of the others. But no, I don't think that's it either. Lots of non-American writers write regionally and are well known though the ones I'm thinking of have all won various prestigious literary prizes which instantly catapults an author to publicity.

[shukriyya]

Fiona, :grouphug:

[Guest]

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.

 

*********************

 

 

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.  

 

Eliana, thanks for this suggestion: 

This is going on my list for sure, although I might wait until the fall to read it.  

 

I'm glad you're here, love!  ...and don't worry about keeping up!  When you can drop in, do... when you want to share your books or get a hug or chat about reading and life and all the rabbit trails we wander off on, we'll be right here (or some assortment of us will be), but if life gets hectic and you can't make it in, or you read a few posts, but don't have time to write one, that's okay...

 

********************

 

That looks fascinating, thank you!

 

****************************

You're welcome!  I hope you enjoy it.

 

...have you seen In the Image of G-d: A Feminist Commentary on the Torah?  It doesn't reflect my hashkafa (world view) in all things, but she pulls together a number of traditional commentaries that resonated strongly for me - especially for Parshas Shelach and ... I think her Esav & Yaakov bit that I like is in Tolodos.. 

 

It is rougher than Zornberg, and has less depth, but there are bits I am very glad I read.

 

DH has read both of those a few times as well as Berton's War of 1812 series.  Whenever he starts another reread, I ask him how the war is going this time. ;)  DH also has Berton's The Great Depression on the go.  I'll have to encourage him to join the the group! :)  He made himself a WTM forum account a few years ago but I don't think he's ever used it.

 

Oooh, I read the Depression one the other year too - very, very well done.  ...since we share this enthusiasm, what are some of his other favorites? 

 

... I found Berton when we did a travel challenge here and I was struggling to find Canadian authored works to read that appealed to me. 

 

...and, as he's probably already told you, the war never goes well... it should never have happened.  ...and don't get me started on Tecumseh :(     Yes, I take history far too much to heart some days.

 

 

• 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.

 

Murakami isn't for me either, but there are lots of other months that will be a good fit!  The Frankl was a powerful read for me the other year - how did it strike you?  (And, yes, after those three, I would be turning to a lighter read too!)

 

 

 

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.

 

 

It had been a long time, and I was in just the right mood for it...

 

To Say Nothing of the Dog is also a very silly book - there's time travel and boat travel and muddles and miscommunication, but it pulls together in a way that I find very satisfying.  (Should I warn you that it contains a spoiler for Gaudy Night?  ...something else I adore about it...)

 

 

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.)

 

*giggling* I had not thought of it that way, but that is a distinct advantage, you're right. 

 

...though for many, many years, even supplied with a very wonderful husband, we still spent all our book money on things for the kids... because there wasn't very much of it and we felt they needed it more than we did.

 

[Guest]

I just went looking for that post of Violet Crown's I said I saved, on Henry James. Turns out it was a post on Hawthorne. So Violet, I still a lesson how how to read James. :D

 

Here is the one I think I was thinking of:

 

 

More thoughts on James. I sometimes worry (when I'm running low on things to worry about) that writers' works are assigned to students with an eye primarily to brevity. So Billy Budd instead of Moby Dick, Heart of Darkness instead of Lord Jim, and Turn of the Screw instead of any of James' novels. (And poor Richardson is completely gone. He should have been forward-thinking enough to write something short enough for an AP class.) I don't have to spell out the down side of this to book-loving homeschoolers. But one down side is that the shorter works end up being better-known and so more often read, even if they're not necessarily the best first exposure to a writer.

 

Turn of the Screw is actually pretty difficult. And it can sort of innoculate readers against James. I found my way to him eventually by starting with The Spoils of Poynton, one of his lesser works but quite accessible and a good read. It basically taught me how to read James. I read others of his novels, then re-read Portrait of a Lady and felt like I understood it this time, and later Turn of the Screw together with some of his other short fiction, so I had an idea of how he constructed shorter pieces. I feel safe in saying James is my favorite novelist now.

[Cleopatra]

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)

 

Three Men in a Boat is one of my all-time favourites.  Not only is his work hilarious, but he also creates wonderful descriptions of the places they visit.  I still have to read his Three Men on the Brummel.  I just finished Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow.  His introduction had me chuckling:

 

"What readers ask nowadays in a book is that it should improve, instruct, and elevate.  This book wouldn't elevate a cow.  I cannot conscientiously recommend it for any useful purpose whatever.  All I can suggest is that when you get tired of reading 'the best hundred books', you may take this up for half an hour.  

 

It will be a change."

 

:lol:

 

[Guest]

Three Men in a Boat is one of my all-time favourites.  Not only is his work hilarious, but he also creates wonderful descriptions of the places they visit.  I still have to read his Three Men on the Brummel.  I just finished Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow.  His introduction had me chuckling:

 

"What readers ask nowadays in a book is that it should improve, instruct, and elevate.  This book wouldn't elevate a cow.  I cannot conscientiously recommend it for any useful purpose whatever.  All I can suggest is that when you get tired of reading 'the best hundred books', you may take this up for half an hour.  

 

It will be a change."

 

:lol:

 

I have that around, but haven't read it - thank you for reminding me of it!  ...and I often find myself much in need of that sort of change... my brain gets tired and want something diverting, but just the right kind of diverting & my tried and true favorite are getting very worn...

[Guest]

Ooo just discovered that Dianna Winn Jones did a version of Tam Lin, too, called Fire and Hemlock (good old wikipaedia lol). I will have to investigate. I love her Dark Lord of Derkholm.

 

 

Nan,  I am still sad I lost the post I wrote to you about Tam Lin, but I saw this as I was looking for VC's post about Henry James, and I wanted to at least give you these scraps...

 

Perilous Gard: This is a kids' book (but I know you won't mind that!) & is set (very nicely) in Tudor England and intersects plausibly with history and folklore (at least as well as one would expect a children's book to do!)  (This is one of only two books Elizabeth Marie Pope wrote the other, Sherwood Ring, is sillier and a bit rougher, but fun and very sweet)

 

Freedom and Necessity by Emma Bull and Stephen Brust: This is a grown up book, and an epistolary novel... it isn't a pure Tam Lin, and it has masses of historical and philosophical musings... not as easy a read as some others, but I find it very worthwhile.  I've enjoyed some books by each of the author's individually, but I like this combination even better. [Hegel!  Marx! Labor struggles!  Over-thinking intellectuals struggling with life!  Strong women with agency!  Unreliable narrators!  Epistolary!  ...and then there's the Tam Lin bits too... *happy sigh*

I want more books with this rich a blend while still being lighter reading...

 

Thomas the Rhymer by Ellen Kushner (not Tam Lin, but I love this version.  I don't care for Kushner's more recent work, but this and Swordspoint (not a retelling, but with a fairy-tale informed flavor) were note perfect.

 

I had actual thoughts on Tam Lin, and its appeal and some of the different things authors do with it... but I don't think they're coming back, sorry!

 

...have you gotten a chance to read Fire and Hemlock?  Polly starts younger than Janet in Dean's Tam Lin, but both books have that piece of a person shaped by reading... Janet has a happier life, but some of Polly's interactions with the fae are more complex, for all that it's a younger book.

 

Oh, I remembered one thing (did I show you this already?)  an article Diana wrote about Fire and Hemlock... her books look so easy, but you can see here the amount of thought and scaffolding underneath them.

 

[Grr... still no likes!]

 

Okay, back to reviewing anatomical vocabulary... trying to get a little ahead of the game before the quarter starts tomorrow.

[*Inna*]

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.)

 

Rosie, I liked most of the book - history, traditions etc. It was very informative.

 

Unfortunately, the author chose to do a little "fusion cuisine" so to speak. He took the real people who were attending the sushi school in LA and tried to make some sort of drama/reality show out of it. Bad.

 

It was like a split personality writing - one as an adult scientist/historian and another as a 17 year old writer wannabee who uses bland, choppy phases, cliches and overusing such words as "gyrated". :rolleyes:

 

Borrow it from the library, don't waste your money.

[mumto2]

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

Thanks to you this series is already on my list. I had meant to tell you last month when you reviewed anothor in the series that I had already been looking at them.

 

Fiona, I am sorry. : grouphug:

[TeacherZee]

Fiona I am so sorry about your grandpa :grouphug: :grouphug:

[Jane in NC]

Fiona,  I too am sorry for the loss of your grandfather. 

[Violet Crown]

Fiona, my condolences for your loss. May he have eternal rest.

[Pod's mum]

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.)

 

You're so funny.

If memory serves me correctly, having one (husband) and getting presents may have no causal link.

[Violet Crown]

I just went looking for that post of Violet Crown's I said I saved, on Henry James. Turns out it was a post on Hawthorne. So Violet, I still a lesson how how to read James. :D

I didn't remember writing either post, and was fascinated to read--thanks to Eliana--my thoughts on James. :D

 

I blame children.

[Mom-ninja.]

Fiona, I'm sorry. 

[Openhearted]

I too am sorry for your loss.

 

I am interested in trying to do the challenge.

 

I have ordered The History of the Medieval World, and it should be here Friday. However I do have the kindle sample, and I think it has the first couple of chapters.

 

I also have The Strange Library on the way. After reading a few reviews I thought having the actual book would be better than the kindle version. I did start the sample of Norwegian Wood on kindle and became semi-interested in that. I may get the rest of it as an ebook, but I seem to be spending a lot on books lately.

 

I have been wanting to read the Well Educated Mind recommended books as well, and I have Don Quixote ready to go, but it intimidates me. I love to read, but it has always been fluff, so I am not a very confident in my literary abilities.

 

I am excited to begin this journey with all of you.

[Lady Florida.]

I'm so sorry for your loss Fiona.  :grouphug:

[Chrysalis Academy]

Fiona,  :grouphug:

 

This thread is so lovely, and I'm glad to have joined Goodreads, too! I woke up this morning to an email linking me to a list of all the books you ladies have added to your to-read lists in the last 24 hours - and picked up a few more for my own. I was resisting the idea of one more online thing to manage, but I realize it will be superior to my previous practice, which was putting all interesting books on hold at the library, and having an endless 20+-book tall stack teetering on my floor, most of which I don't get to before I have to return them.  Now I can check them out one at a time, maybe (or 8 at a time, I seem to have gotten myself in the fix of reading 8 books at the same time - I need to focus and finish something already!)  

 

Although, as much as I love finding new things, I do feel that this should be the year I tackle some of the unread books on my own shelves.  I'm happy that we're doing a Medieval theme, in my own efforts to read chronologicallly through history, I read a ton of Ancient stuff but then mostly leapfrogged over the Middle Ages.  It will be good to selectively revisit that era.

 

What's funny about Goodreads is that many of us have different names here and there, and I haven't put them all together yet, so I found myself thinking, Oh, that sounds like a book _____ was talking about on WTM, and then realize - why yes, because you are the same person! I'll figure it out.

[Kareni]

I found this news snippet this morning and thought others here would appreciate it.

 

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg starts reading program

 

Regards,

Kareni

[MaeFlowers]

Since I am new to this, I am not really sure if I am supposed to review the books I read as I go or do so the next week. It appears that many are reviewing as they go so I thought I would do the same. So far this week, I have read...

1. Prophesy by S.J. Parris- I liked this book. I not usually one for mystery books but felt this was well thought out and liked that there were so many characters that could have been the culprit. I was actually suprised by who the guilty party turned out to be. I think I may read more of her works down the line.

2. Hard-Boiled Wonderland & the End of the World- Haruki Marukami- When I first finished the book, I thought it was okay. I didn't feel good or bad about it. However, as it percolated, I really started to dislike the book. I felt the basic idea was interesting but not developed enough. I figured out how the two story lines meshed about 100 pages in and spent the next 200 pages waiting for the answer as to how it got that way. (Does that make sense?) It felt as though there were really only two ways it could end and that most of the last 200 pages were filler. It wasn't interesting. There were were no ups and downs, suprises, etc. The main character was likable enough but none of the characters were really well developed. Did any of the characters even have names? They were one dimensional and their blase attitudes grated on me. There was simply nothing to connect to. I simply was not impressed with Marukami's writing and am not inclined to read anything else by him.

 

Yesterday I started the Oresteia and All the LIght We Cannot See. I thought that I would work on two challanges, the A to Z challenge and the WEM as well as the monthly read alongs. I am not going to follow along with the Mediveal theme because I am prepping for ancient history next year.

[Kareni]

Those of you who enjoy science fiction, fantasy, and horror might enjoy this list:

 

MIND MELD: Best Books of 2014

 

and here's a nice piece by author Jo Walton:

 

Gods, Philosophers, and Robots

 

Regards,

Kareni

[mommymilkies]

Those of you who enjoy science fiction, fantasy, and horror might enjoy this list:

 

MIND MELD: Best Books of 2014

 

and here's a nice piece by author Jo Walton:

 

Gods, Philosophers, and Robots

 

Regards,

Kareni

Thanks!  

 

I have a long drive today, so I'm hoping to finish most of American Gods on audio today. 

[Stacia]

Rose (& others new to Goodreads), you can change your settings so you won't be innundated with emails or notifications. I'm sure you probably know that already, but wanted to mention it just in case. I used to get a lot more emails from GR, but it got overwhelming, so I changed my settings to get email for just a minimum of items. Instead, I tend to pop over there daily & can take a quick look at things w/out my email inbox filling up.

 

I finished the second story/section of Extraordinary Renditions. It's quite different from the first & is a raw & gritty account of a black US soldier stationed in Hungary. It overlaps with the first story a bit & I like seeing the shifting perspectives. It's timely in light of our current race issues. And I like the understated way the author is weaving in the insidious nature of intolerance & racial divide or hate.

[Openhearted]

I found this news snippet this morning and thought others here would appreciate it.

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg starts reading program

 

Regards,

Kareni

I seen a piece about that on Good Morning America this morning, and they reported Amazon is sold out of the book he is recommending.

[Openhearted]

Sorry, but I accidentally voted this thread 3 stars. I loved this thread I bet 50 of the views are from me. Touch screens can be ridiculously sensitive when you don't want them to be.:(

[Stacia]

Once again, welcome to all the new folks (& lurkers) on the thread.  :seeya:  Please don't feel intimidated or overwhelmed! The first few threads of the year always seem to be the busiest & sometimes the threads get long. Whether you're posting just a reading list or waxing poetic about a favorite book you just read, we love that you're joining us here. :grouphug:  There's no wrong or right way to do posts in this thread -- we're a very diverse group who champion the cause of reading -- anything from heavy, educational tomes to futuristic sci-fi, from fluffy romance to post-modern lit, from biographies to recipe books, from old works to infinity & beyond (if I may quote Buzz Lightyear there ;) :laugh: ).

 

Welcome.

[TeacherZee]

I finished my first book of the year: The Child Catchers by Kathryn Joyce. She raises some very interesting points about adoption but I also think that she doesn't always give a nuanced view of adoption.

[Stacia]

Sorry, but I accidentally voted this thread 3 stars. I loved this thread I bet 50 of the views are from me. Touch screens can be ridiculously sensitive when you don't want them to be. :(

 

It happens. No worries!

[Stacia]

How can I already be out of likes for the day???? :willy_nilly:

 

Harumph!

[shukriyya]

A poem for us all from a new-to-me poet...perfect for this wintry day at the beginning of the year...

 

The Winter of Listening

No one but me by the fire,
my hands burning
red in the palms while
the night wind carries
everything away outside.

All this petty worry
while the great cloak
of the sky grows dark
and intense
round every living thing.

What is precious
inside us does not
care to be known
by the mind
in ways that diminish
its presence.

What we strive for
in perfection
is not what turns us
into the lit angel
we desire.

What disturbs
and then nourishes
has everything
we need.

What we hate
in ourselves
is what we cannot know
in ourselves but
what is true to the pattern
does not need
to be explained.

Inside everyone
is a great shout of joy
waiting to be born.

Even with summer
so far off
I feel it grown in me
now and ready
to arrive in the world.

All those years
listening to those
who had
nothing to say.

All those years
forgetting
how everything
has its own voice
to make
itself heard.

All those years
forgetting
how easily
you can belong
to everything
simply by listening.

And the slow
difficulty
of remembering
how everything
is born from
an opposite
and miraculous
otherness.

Silence and winter
have led me to that
otherness.

So let this winter
of listening
be enough
for the new life
I must call my own.

We speak
only with the voices of those
we can hear ourselves
and the body has a voice
only for the portion
of the body of the world
it has learned to perceive.

And
here
in the tumult
of the night
I hear the walnut
above the child's swing
swaying
its dark limbs
in the wind
and the rain now
come to
beat against my window
and somewhere
in this cold night
of wind and stars
the first whispered
opening of
those hidden
and invisible springs
that uncoil
in the still summer air
each yet
to be imagined
rose.

 

David Whyte

[Kareni]

Yesterday I read and enjoyed the young adult book

The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith; it was a charming read.

 

"Lucy lives on the twenty-fourth floor. Owen lives in the basement. It's fitting, then, that they meet in the middle -- stuck between two floors of a New York City apartment building, on an elevator rendered useless by a citywide blackout. After they're rescued, Lucy and Owen spend the night wandering the darkened streets and marveling at the rare appearance of stars above Manhattan. But once the power is back, so is reality. Lucy soon moves abroad with her parents, while Owen heads out west with his father.

The brief time they spend together leaves a mark. And as their lives take them to Edinburgh and to San Francisco, to Prague and to Portland, Lucy and Owen stay in touch through postcards, occasional e-mails, and phone calls. But can they -- despite the odds -- find a way to reunite?

Smartly observed and wonderfully romantic, Jennifer E. Smith's new novel shows that the center of the world isn't necessarily a place. Sometimes, it can be a person."

 

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Tress]

Those of you who enjoy science fiction, fantasy, and horror might enjoy this list:

MIND MELD: Best Books of 2014

 

and here's a nice piece by author Jo Walton:

Gods, Philosophers, and Robots

 

Regards,

Kareni

Thanks for mentioning that Jo Walton article!

 

From the article:

 

"The Just City is a fantasy novel about a group of classicists and philosophers from across all of time setting up Plato’s Republic on Atlantis, with the help of some Greek gods, ten thousand Greek-speaking ten-year-olds they bought in the slave markets of antiquity, and some construction robots from our near future. What could possibly go wrong?"

 

What could possibly go wrong? :lol:

 

Ohhhhhhh, I want that! Too bad her books aren't in any Dutch library, and I'm still waiting for the paperback version of her last novel......

[NoseInABook]

Fiona, I'm so sorry to hear that. 

 

Felicity, we love Fortunately The Milk! 2014 was my Year of Gaiman where I read a bajillionty of his novels and it all started with Fortunately The Milk. ;)

 

Re: Handmaid's Tale, I've read it several times. I know a lot of college professors ask you to read it, so maybe that's part of her popularity in America? It was a basic lit class requirement in at least two of the colleges I went to. One in Arizona, one in Michigan. 

 

Eliana, I read Sunshine years ago and remember enjoying it too. It made me want to eat a lot of baked goods. :p

 

Dawn, I'm going through WEM and going to start Don Quixote too. It's on my end table right next to me as we speak... I just haven't picked it up. ;)

 

TeacherZee, I read The Child Catchers last year and had to stop a lot to catch my breath again. It was a rough one to get through, especially knowing that I used to support the Campbells. Uuugh. Regret. 

 

Look what came in the mail! WEEEE!

 

[Lady Florida.]

Rose (& others new to Goodreads), you can change your settings so you won't be innundated with emails or notifications. I'm sure you probably know that already, but wanted to mention it just in case. I used to get a lot more emails from GR, but it got overwhelming, so I changed my settings to get email for just a minimum of items. Instead, I tend to pop over there daily & can take a quick look at things w/out my email inbox filling up.

 

 

I tried getting emails, but it was a bit too much. I too go to GR several times a day. At least one or two of those times, I check friends' pages to see what they're reading, reviewing, want to read, etc.

[TeacherZee]

NoseInABook I think that the key in your sentence is "used to". Nothing wrong in supporting something and then stopping when you realise that it isn't something for you.

 

My biggest issue I think is that she didn't balance with positive stories. I know adult adoptees who have no negativity around their adoptions. This isn't saying that there isn't abuse and issues but...it's a complicated issue and I do think it is good that the book was written because it needs to be talked about but...

 

I am still processing I think

[Tress]

I read the first chapter of HotMW, 200 pages in Kafka on the Shore, the Martian (really nice!, thank you to several posters who mentioned it!), a Dutch book about becoming mortgage-free (apparently it's very easy .......when you are double-income-no-kids......so not helpful) and book 11 of J.D. Robb's In Death series.

[Lady Florida.]

 

 

 

Re: Handmaid's Tale, I've read it several times. I know a lot of college professors ask you to read it, so maybe that's part of her popularity in America? It was a basic lit class requirement in at least two of the colleges I went to. One in Arizona, one in Michigan. 

 

 

 

 

 

I read it years ago and loved it. My book club read it last August and I was excited about rereading it, but ended up disappointed. It was a completely different book for me the second time, and not in a good way. :(

 

The only other Atwood I read was Oryx and Crake, not long after I first read The Handmaid's Tale, and I didn't care for it. I never bothered with the rest of the series. 

[Tress]

:grouphug: I'm so sorry for your loss, Fiona.

[NoseInABook]

TeacherZee, I  completely agree, there are positive adoption stories and she could have focused more on them. I think a lot of people don't realize just how corrupt adoption practices can be and she was trying to bring that into the open. However, not all adoption = corrupt and unethical. There are ways to have an ethical adoption for sure. Sorry, I'm 1 handed typing while feeding the baby. One we hope to adopt if needed funny enough. ;) Anyway, it took a while for me to process that one too.

[Robin M]

Tickled pink  -   52 Books made it on to Bookriot's Top 5 2015 Reading Challenge Round Up.

[Violet Crown]

Since I am new to this, I am not really sure if I am supposed to review the books I read as I go or do so the next week. It appears that many are reviewing as they go so I thought I would do the same.

Some people do one, some the other. Generally folks save their Friday and Saturday posts in expectation of the new thread Sunday (not a rule, just an observation). Some people review, some just report, some discuss, some summarize. I like to give an interesting and/or representative snippet of the book, as I find that gives me the most useful idea about it. But Robin is very tolerant of our multifarious ways.

[aggieamy]

Hello all -

 

I'm back and have survived the holidays.  They were wonderful.  We had lots of friends over for parties and games.  My parents were in town for a week and now  DS is completely spoiled - they pretty much spent a week following him around and clapping.  LOL!  I've eaten an indecent amount of sweets and am looking forward to lots of vegetables.

 

My multi-quote is also broken and my LIKE THIS is only working sporadically.  So this might be a bit of a mess ...

 

Games -  Loving all the game reviews people have played.  I have one that I'm going to HIGHLY recommend.  Concept. Has anyone played it yet?  We've played at least six times in the last month with all sorts of groups and it's been so much fun.  Great for all ages and non-games alike!  

 

New readers -  Welcome!  You'll love it here.

 

My personal challenges - Read a few books that's are not mysteries or a Flufferton Abbey this year.   :ph34r:

[Robin M]

I too am sorry for your loss.

 

I am interested in trying to do the challenge.

 

I have ordered The History of the Medieval World, and it should be here Friday. However I do have the kindle sample, and I think it has the first couple of chapters.

 

I also have The Strange Library on the way. After reading a few reviews I thought having the actual book would be better than the kindle version. I did start the sample of Norwegian Wood on kindle and became semi-interested in that. I may get the rest of it as an ebook, but I seem to be spending a lot on books lately.

 

I have been wanting to read the Well Educated Mind recommended books as well, and I have Don Quixote ready to go, but it intimidates me. I love to read, but it has always been fluff, so I am not a very confident in my literary abilities.

 

I am excited to begin this journey with all of you.

Welcome Aboard.  Don't be too intimidated by Don Quixote. It actually has quite a bit of humor in it. The first half reads much faster than the 2nd.  I tried following SWB's suggestions - reading one, then reading twice with notes and all that.  It didn't work for me.  That method works great for non fiction, but when I read fiction, I'd rather read it once, then later after giving it some time  and when I'm in the mood for that particular book, go back and read it again.  Look forward to hearing your thoughts as you make your way through the story.