Book a Week in 2015 - BW3

[Rosie_0801]

I've never read Northanger Abbey I think, I am familiair with the BBC version though.

I think needlework, french music and art was considered to be 'study' for women.

I got that impression from Agnes Grey, from the Brontes.

 

Anne from 'Persuasion' had also studied Italian.

[Nan in Mass]

loesje, I will try to find an Austen quote for you later, when I have time. Northanger Abbey has a biggish one where someone says she and her sisters didn't go to school and someone else comments that her mother must have been a slave to their education. The one I happened to be thinking of was the description in Sense and Sensibility of the family settling down to their "work", which was studying music or art.

 

Nan

 

 

I remember this one from Pride & Prejudice:

 

Lady Catherine deBourgh - "Has your governess left you?... No governess! How was that possible? Five daughters brought up at home without a governess! I never heard of such a thing. Your mother must have been quite a slave to your education."

 

(my quote thing isn't working...sorry)

That,s right. That one was Pride and Prejudice. Thank you! The Northanger Abbey bit was a description at the beginning of the heroine,s education. Reading lists and schools are mentioned in Emma (and of course governesses).

 

Rearranging the kitchen is obviously rearranging my memory as well. Ug.

 

Nan

[Pam in CT]

I'm not very far - they're still at the elder's philosophizing about religion and its place in the state. I'm reading it with a goodreads group called The Roundtable.

 

I'm pretty far behind in Ulysses, and that bothers me. I really want to give this a try, but most of my reading time so far this year has been at night. Night time is when I read something that doesn't need to be analyzed, so I haven't had much time for Ulysses. I should have some quiet reading time coming up in the next few days.

 

LOL, I hear your pain.  I have stacks around the house organized by where I'm physically most likely to be at different times of day, when I am most likely to be peppy / contemplative / engaged / winding down.  It's all about momentum!

[Jane in NC]

Time for a confession?

 

Anyone who knows me in real life would not be surprised, since those who know me in real life recognize that I live on my own planet.  Or I often feel that way.

 

Through the magic of Google, I pulled up the tune Wuthering Heights which was mentioned on the first page of the thread.  While I have heard of Kate Bush and Pat Benatar, I can't say I have heard their music--and I had definitely not heard this song.  I score about a zero on the pop culture meter (says the woman who listens to classical music or jazz).

 

Similarly there is this discussion going on about a book (Deerskin) and an author (Robin McKinley) and I'm thinking what and who?  Friend Google again helps me connect.  Stacia loves her book Beauty--I once borrowed it from the library but it got lost in the bag and then I had to return it. 

 

I want to thank Clear Creek for putting In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer by Irene Gut Opdyke on my radar.  Totally unfamiliar with this one.

 

Thank you to Kareni for the link to Historical Mysteries.  The Inspector Rutledge and Phryne Fisher books look promising--and my library has them! 

 

I have never heard of the Mordecai mysteries or their author Kyril Bonfiglioli--how did I miss these? By living on my own planet?

 

I love everyone's Zentangles!  Thank you so much for scanning these.

[Pam in CT]

re: Eliana and shukriyya's as-yet-not-overlapping Venn Diagram...

I haven't reread Deerskin in a long time, but in general I love McKinley's prose (I've used the opening of Spindle's End as part of a short story unit) and her characterizations.

 

Steerswoman's plot, for me, wasn't even predictible, it felt pointless.  The 'discovery' wasn't forwarded by the plot devices and the plot all felt contrived and unbelievable - except, oddly enough, the part I hated.  That felt as if there was the potential for something real - an unmasking of the sidekick, a chance to face the repurcussions of *evil* choices.  ...but it was treated as one more 'adventure'.  I am still not over the murder of a innocent whom they had met and known and the massacre of an entire castle full of people, or... anyway.   Without the evil, it would have been another random, bland potboiler that provided an hour or so's divertisment... I don't mind reading shallow books, though I prefer characters I can care about and believe in even there, but this...

 

Layers?  Intelligence?  A central nexus?   I wish I could have it read it with your eyes.  That is the book I wanted to read! 

 

I keep wondering where we can interesect, which books could we read and feel we both read the same book?  ...we both like Virgina Woolf, but I am beginning to suspect we're experiencing something complerely different.  This is fascinating.

 

Bujold (another author I love) talks about books as incomplete without a reader, and says that it isn't really possible for two people to really read the same book, because the 'book' is the printed material but also the interaction of reader and text.  I disagreed with her when I first read that, but am starting to think she might be right.

 

... not to crash on a fascinating dialogue, but...   :lol:

 

... I agree wholly with the bolded... that is for me why I can, myself, read the same book spaced 10+ years apart and have a completely different encounter.  The printed text obviously hasn't changed; I have.  (And there's no other experience that so sharply draws my awareness of how much and in what directions I've changed.)

 

I think it's also one of the reasons why book groups with people from a wide range of different backgrounds / experiences / worldviews are more interesting... the discussions tend to bring out much more detail of what each reader is bringing to, or pulling out, of the text, than more homogenous group discussions...

 

 

[Jane in NC]

Psst to Ladydusk...

 

You "liked" a post of mine so I know that you dropped in on the thread. You are missed!  I hope all is well and that homeschooling keeping you occupied.

 

Best,

Jane

[Mom-ninja.]

 

 

Wuthering Heights: Perhaps part of the problem is that so many people consider it a romance. It's like Romeo and Juliet...it's not a romance (or it's a terrible romance). If everyone insists it is the harder it is for the rest of us to swallow as a work of literature.  

I feel the same about Twilight. I don't view that as a romance AT ALL. I put it in the same category as Wuthering Heights with exception that Wuthering Heights is literature with good writing. I can't say the same for Twilight. 

[TeacherZee]

crstarlette, you too are a zentangle wonder. You inspired me to get some black paper and white gel pens, and Stella and I have been playing around with them as well, but to nowhere near your effect. Once I find my camera (sigh) I'll put up some pictures.

 

 

 

Sadie -- your posts on the other thread got my wheels churning re: satire, but I my thoughts -- big shocker, here -- wandered so off topic that I thought they might go better on this thread :lol: since, you know, it's already riddled with rabbit trails here... and it is, more or less, reading related...

 

As a Mel Brooks, Monty Python, Jon Stewart loving girl, I got to wondering about the distinction between works of satire that I personally find funny (a large and varied list that includes a good amount of video and certainly cartoons, particularly those in the New Yorker) vs. works of satire that have affected me -- have in some way transformed or altered how I think about something (a much shorter list, and mostly comprised of works of fiction).

 

Huck Finn. Animal Farm. (Maybe) Modest Proposal. (Maybe) Master and Margarita (thanks Jane!). Book of Mormon (the musical -- and the topic about which I changed my thinking, somewhat, was not about LDS specifically, but about evangelism generally, about which I took and still take a fairly dim view, but the musical made me think about it in a more nuanced and less wholly negative way).

 

I'm not sure where such swirling thoughts are taking me, though...

Please let me know where the thoughts take you. tomorrow my seniors are going to discuss how knowing about an author can impact how we view satire. But it is also interesting to know how the difference between being amused and being changed by the satire. Do we choose satire that agrees with what we believe or do we search for satire that changes us?

[aggieamy]

 

 

Thank you to Kareni for the link to Historical Mysteries.  The Inspector Rutledge and Phryne Fisher books look promising--and my library has them! 

 

 

 

I'm a few chapters into the Inspector Rutledge book.  I like the descriptive writing and the setting.  WWI (and just after) is one of my favorite time periods. I hope the library gets you that one first so we can compare notes.  

 

 

Psst to Ladydusk...

 

You "liked" a post of mine so I know that you dropped in on the thread. You are missed!  I hope all is well and that homeschooling keeping you occupied.

 

Best,

Jane

 

 

Indeed!  The Flufferton crew misses you too.  Stop by and say hello and tell us what you've been reading.   :grouphug:

[LostSurprise]

 

Lost Surprise: "Wuthering Heights: Perhaps part of the problem is that so many people consider it a romance. It's like Romeo and Juliet...it's not a romance (or it's a terrible romance). If everyone insists it is the harder it is for the rest of us to swallow as a work of literature."

 

I spent much of last year reading Possession-A Romance, and this reminded me of the beginning quote. I can't pretend to fully understand it (no lit major here), but a Romance in literature doesn't necessarily mean "love story". Here's the quote, and, next connection, it's actually from Nathaniel Hawthorne's Preface to The House of the Seven Gables (Chrysalis Academy), which I think I read the summer of 2013.

 

"When a writer calls his work a Romance, it need hardly be observed that he wishes to claim a certain latitude, both as to its fashion and material, which he would not have felt himself entitled to assume, had he professed to be writing a Novel. The latter form of composition is presumed to aim at a very minute fidelity, not merely to the possible, but to the probable and ordinary course of a man's experience. The former--while as a work of art, it must rigidly subject itself to laws, and while it sins unpardonably so far as it may swerve aside from the truth of the human heart--has fairly a right to present that truth under circumstances, to a great extent, of the writer's own choosing or creation....The point of view in which this tale comes under the Romantic definition lies in the attempt to connect a bygone time with the very present that is flitting away from us."

 

This would be a great paper topic--in what ways are The House of the Seven Gables, Wuthering Heights, and Possession Romances? How do they fit Hawthorne's definition? Does his distinction between Romance and Novels still exist today?

 

So while not claiming to fully understand the Romance catagory, I don't equate it with "love story", and I think all of these books bring in fantastical elements to allow the author to explore what s/he wishes to explore.

 

Thank you for this Ali! It really got me thinking this morning. 

 

I think to Hawthorne Romance was similar to Gothic...or Fantasy..for us. Not a love story as much as a story of Fancy. And like Magical Realism, it need not be 'true' in the strictest sense, but it does need to bring a lens to reality (or create connections between realities). 

 

For me, I think the problem is that I pull back like an old mule when faced with something that does not make any sense to my experience and imagination. If the vast majority of people claim Wuthering Heights is a lovey-dovey, tragic romance (little r), then I pull back and refuse to go any further. It's not a romance and the characters are horrendous people who are a chore to follow. The prose is dull and repetitive to create a mood that makes me roll my eyes. Fie on you and your stupid tortured souls, I think.

 

Other people can really make or break a book. Not in the details. I can find a book dull or interesting, but other people can really take it down or up a notch. I didn't love House-Keeping by Marilynne Robinson until I talked through it with a similarly minded friend. It went from good to beloved. 

 

It's also fun to follow the flow of books around here. This thread is excellent for hyping up books and verbalizing things about them that we only felt before. I see things people might find just generally good suddenly hyped into greatness and I marvel at the human social animal and how our emotions and socializing reinforce and build on our original positions. Another aspect of how we view a book (in addition to age and experience mentioned earlier) differently at different times. 

[Jane in NC]

I'm a few chapters into the Inspector Rutledge book.  I like the descriptive writing and the setting.  WWI (and just after) is one of my favorite time periods. I hope the library gets you that one first so we can compare notes.  

 

 

I am third in the queue for A Test of Wills although the second book is available at the moment.  Decisions, decisions....I may just wait for the first.

[shukriyya]

 

Other people can really make or break a book. Not in the details. I can find a book dull or interesting, but other people can really take it down or up a notch. I didn't love House-Keeping by Marilynne Robinson until I talked through it with a similarly minded friend. It went from good to beloved. 

 

 

Could you say more about this? I'm intrigued.

[Stacia]

re: Wuthering Heights...

 

the characters are horrendous people who are a chore to follow. The prose is dull and repetitive to create a mood that makes me roll my eyes.

 

:iagree:  This is exactly how I feel about it. And, I don't care what category the book falls under (romance, drama, horror, whatever,...), I still feel that way about it.

 

Oh, and Jane, per your earlier post -- I've never read Beauty or the author you were mentioning. Maybe you were thinking of someone else?

 

The Mortdecai book is, so far, campy enough to remain mildly interesting. It's not quite as low-brow as Benny Hill, but not yet nearly suave enough to be James Bond. Firmly between the two, I suppose. I consider myself a fan of British humor, but this one has so many references & enough slang that I think a good amount must be flying over my head. Parts of it are sexually forward &/or heavy on innuendo -- mentioning that because I know there may be a few of you who were considering this for your pre-teens &/or teens. If that is something you scan for, you may want to pre-read it yourself first. Ymmv.

 

That said, I'm feeling restless with my reading (or lack thereof) in the past week or so. I really need something that will draw me in.

 

 

[Chrysalis Academy]

 

 

Other people can really make or break a book. Not in the details. I can find a book dull or interesting, but other people can really take it down or up a notch. I didn't love House-Keeping by Marilynne Robinson until I talked through it with a similarly minded friend. It went from good to beloved. 

 

 

 

:iagree:  I find this with my IRL book group.  They rarely convince me to like a hated book (The End of the Affair, I'm looking at you!) but the discussion we have can often take an okay book and kick it up to great, or a good book to fantastic.  I often have epiphanies during discussion - not directly based on what someone else has said, but based on thinking it triggers in me.  

 

Gotta love that whole Rhetoric Stage of reading, right?  I didn't quite get it when I first read TWEM, but I got it after joining the book group.

[aggieamy]

I am third in the queue for A Test of Wills although the second book is available at the moment.  Decisions, decisions....I may just wait for the first.

 

The Kindle version is on sale at Amazon for $1.99.  There was a long wait at my library too.

[mellifera33]

I picked up some pens for zentangling last night. Now I need a book...

 

Still trying to get into The Color of Magic. I haven't found a character I like yet. I may abandon it and go back to the witches.

 

My SIL loves Marilynne Robinson. Her books haven't appealed to me, but maybe I'll read one and then discuss it with SIL. The idea that discussion launches a book several levels up in 'belovedness" makes sense to me--some of my most loved books I read first in college lit classes.

[TeacherZee]

I picked up some pens for zentangling last night. Now I need a book...

 

Still trying to get into The Color of Magic. I haven't found a character I like yet. I may abandon it and go back to the witches.

 

My SIL loves Marilynne Robinson. Her books haven't appealed to me, but maybe I'll read one and then discuss it with SIL. The idea that discussion launches a book several levels up in 'belovedness" makes sense to me--some of my most loved books I read first in college lit classes.

The Colour of Magic is one of my least favorite Pratchett. Try the Death books. They are hilarious. I am a particular fan of The Death of Rats AKA The Grim Squeeker.

[Angel]

MicheleinMN: I remember this one from Pride & Prejudice:

 

Lady Catherine deBourgh - "Has your governess left you?... No governess! How was that possible? Five daughters brought up at home without a governess! I never heard of such a thing. Your mother must have been quite a slave to your education."

 

(my quote thing isn't working...sorry)

 

I thought this was from Pride and Prejudice, but I was too lazy to get up and see.  :laugh:  I sometimes get the scenes in the Sense and Sensibility movie mixed up with the book since it has been a while since I've read the book.  I do remember talk of Margaret's education, though, in S&S.  

[shukriyya]

For those who've asked whether zentangling is good to do with kids, this from my non-art loving ds. His creativity spills out in so many areas but fine arts have not traditionally been a focus of his. However...

 

[Angel]

Mum2:  I have been busy reading the first in a new to me series which I am loving so far. It is a very clever paranormal with a huge book twist called Libriomancer

 

PG-13 or R.  Sounds like something I would like!  I can handle violonce, can't handle horror.

 

Stacia: The Mortdecai book is, so far, campy enough to remain mildly interesting. It's not quite as low-brow as Benny Hill, but not yet nearly suave enough to be James Bond. Firmly between the two, I suppose. I consider myself a fan of British humor, but this one has so many references & enough slang that I think a good amount must be flying over my head. Parts of it are sexually forward &/or heavy on innuendo -- mentioning that because I know there may be a few of you who were considering this for your pre-teens &/or teens. If that is something you scan for, you may want to pre-read it yourself first. Ymmv.

 

Thanks for your review so far!

 

 

[Stacia]

The Colour of Magic is one of my least favorite Pratchett. Try the Death books. They are hilarious. I am a particular fan of The Death of Rats AKA The Grim Squeeker.

 

I agree. Since The Color of Magic is his first one, I think he hadn't really hit his Discworld stride at that point.

[Jane in NC]

 

Oh, and Jane, per your earlier post -- I've never read Beauty or the author you were mentioning. Maybe you were thinking of someone else?

 

 

Memory fails. No surprise!  (Snort!)

 

If any of my fellow readers has three minutes to spare, please watch this wonderful animation that accompanies a reading of Dylan Thomas's poem The Hunchback in the Park.  The piece is so stunningly beautiful that I cried--so moving.

 

The BBC produced this in honor of the poet's centenary.

 

 

[Angel]

I had a delightful weekend with my cousin.  We shopped a ton and scrapbooked a ton.  Scrapbooking is more a creative outlet for me than a stay caught up and current thing.  I managed to get 14 pages done, most simple, but I'm pleased.  I'm currently working on our pictures from our Universal Orlando trip 3 years ago.  I thought I should finish them before we went again this year  :lol:

 

In book news, I'm still reading The Princess Bride.  I was so excited to read this after reading As You Wish, but though it is good, I'm wishing I would have just watched the movie.  I haven't had much time to sit and read so that may be coloring my view.  It's just taking me a while to finish, which is also coloring my view after clipping along through so many reads at the end of last year.  

 

Currently reading:

The Princess Bride

Archimedes and the Door of Science

 

Aly and I are going to start A Murder for Her Majesty today for her read aloud.  We are also reading a selection of Grimm's Fairy Tales together.

 

I'm also reading 101 More Devotions for Homeschool Moms and Be Committed: Ruth & Esther with my Bible reading.

[mellifera33]

The Colour of Magic is one of my least favorite Pratchett. Try the Death books. They are hilarious. I am a particular fan of The Death of Rats AKA The Grim Squeeker.

I started with Mort, and was immediately hooked. My plan was to read the first book of each "strand" so I could get to know all of the main characters, but I'm rethinking it now.

[TeacherZee]

Memory fails. No surprise! (Snort!)

 

If any of my fellow readers has three minutes to spare, please watch this wonderful animation that accompanies a reading of Dylan Thomas's poem The Hunchback in the Park. The piece is so stunningly beautiful that I cried--so moving.

 

The BBC produced this in honor of the poet's centenary.

 

 

Beautiful. Thank you for sharing.

[LostSurprise]

Regarding House-Keeping or Marilynne Robinson or being influenced by discussion with others in general: 

 

Could you say more about this? I'm intrigued.

 

I'm not sure which one you want, but I'll do my best. ;) 

 

House-Keeping is an earlier, more poetic/symbolic novel of Marilynne Robinson (Gilead) which I read 10-15 years ago. (Ok, that's for all the newcomers.) When I first read the novel I was frustrated by it. It really does not have much plot and the language is so gorgeous and it's so mysterious. I liked it. I wanted to understand it better because my liking had an under-current of frustration. I read it a second time and liked it even better but still felt I was missing so much of the impact. 

 

Within a year of that I had a very interesting online discussion with a librarian friend which really opened the novel to me. Not that she told me anything new (she hadn't even read it), but describing it to her and struggling to express the book in words opened a whole new aspect of the novel to me. I've had that happen with other books on here. Just struggling to summarize the book and analyze why you feel the way you do about it draws you into a greater connection with various levels of the story. I think that kind of epiphany can increase the affection you have for something (or decrease it), even though the thing itself has not changed. 

 

A few years after that I found another person who'd read the novel and we had a deeper conversation. She preferred Gilead to House-Keeping (I felt oppositely) and the give and take, the disagreement, the intellectual struggle to put everything straight and put a light to what the other person is missing strongly connects you to how you feel about a story. 

 

Looking at this I see a few interesting things at work. Intellectually analyzing something to other people (which motivates you to push yourself and really connect and communicate) can push the boundaries of how you understand a story. It makes you think. Debating and sharing (squees and quoting are a part of this) can also re-connect you to the feelings and emotions you have about the story....deepening what was already there. 

 

We're social beings. We affect each other by being together. It's fun to wash in the ocean of this thread and feel the undercurrents of different books as they come up and then disappear. 

 

I hope I described what you were looking for without being too wordy. :)

[TeacherZee]

When I was in high school we had to read several classics and I didn't like many of them while reading. However when we discussed them in class I liked several of them, some even became favorite books of mine. I absolutely agree that reading is a social act. One of the things I love about these threads is the insights into books I gain.

[shukriyya]

Memory fails. No surprise!  (Snort!)

 

If any of my fellow readers has three minutes to spare, please watch this wonderful animation that accompanies a reading of Dylan Thomas's poem The Hunchback in the Park.  The piece is so stunningly beautiful that I cried--so moving.

 

The BBC produced this in honor of the poet's centenary.

 

 

 

Jane, this is a beautiful interpretation, a unique dance of whimsy and depth. Thank you for sharing!

 

[hjffkj]

Still working through Kafka on the Shore and really enjoying it.

 

I'm basically done as much of Kitchen Table Math that I'm going to read for awhile since I've got tons a ideas that I have been incorporating into math learning. So that one is on the back burner till we get on different topics.  So I'm going to pick up Small Steps for Catholic Mom's to replace it.

 

History of the Medieval World is going well.  I've read the first four chapters.  I think I'm going to find an interesting book that goes with that time period with a little more meat.

 

The family read aloud, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, is most likely going to be finished this week.  If I had the voice for it the kids would have me read the entire book in one day.  They are loving it, which in turn is making me love it all over again because it's fun to see their joy.

[shukriyya]

Thank you, Tam. That's what I was asking. And yes, I do know that one person's love for a book will communicate itself beyond the actual book itself such that there's a whole other narrative taking place. A kind of multi-contextual conversation between the book and the reader. I recall when dh and I were 'courting' and I had just discovered Doris Lessing's ' Canopus in Argos' series of which the first book, Shikasta, is one of the best. Dh is a sci-fi lover and I'm not so I thought this would be perfect way to intersect literarily. Alas, he disliked it, a position he still holds and I, still, am incredulous so one's book love doesn't always manage to sway another but it did inspire me to examine why I liked the book so much, what there might be about it that wouldn't appeal to him, and why it lived so deeply in me for so long. While I've forgotten many of the details of the five books involved I can still remember, almost viscerally, the feeling of heady exhiliaration and freedom and inspiration I felt while reading them. That kind of interior narrative seems to continue long after one has finished a resonant book and, like widening circles in a lake, I have the sense that it completes itself somewhere just beyond conscious thought.

 

As an aside, I have tried to no avail to like Marilyn Robinson's books because from everything I read about them it seems like she would be a perfect fit for me. But I have not been able to find my way into any of them.

[aggieamy]

I have been busy reading the first in a new to me series which I am loving so far. It is a very clever paranormal with a huge book twist called Libriomancerhttp://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/reviews/libriomancer-a-guest-review-by-carries/by Jim Hines. I keep thinking of it as a paranormal version of Inkheart with a twist. The magic is that upon reading a scene he can reach in and grab an object and use it in the real world so Lucy's bottle (Narnia) heals, Alice's (as in Wonderland) shrinks, and every weird vampire weapon ever created in Sci Fi can appear. All need to be used and returned quickly. So far loving it for what appears almost more than the story. Possibly too entertaining to read on a night when sleep is elusive......

 

The review I linked is from the same blog Kareni linked to yesterday. Click the romance covers link for a good laugh. After looking at those I really like this author.....hilarious!

 

Also at the bottom of the review the author has a short list of other fantasy books she has enjoyed recently. These all looked great and I was able to put holds on two! :)

 

This one link has been my rabbit trail for the day.  (Also I just put Libriomancer on reserve at the library.  Looks like great fun!)  

 

The side by side comparison of the women on book covers vs the men was pretty over the top.  Stupid objectification of women!  I'm glad Jim Hines and others are talking about it.  

 

Thanks for posting the link!

[mumto2]

 

Currently reading:

The Princess Bride

Archimedes and the Door of Science

 

Aly and I are going to start A Murder for Her Majesty today for her read aloud. We are also reading a selection of Grimm's Fairy Tales together.

 

I'm also reading 101 More Devotions for Homeschool Moms and Be Committed: Ruth & Esther with my Bible reading.

I love A Murder for Her Majesty.......it was one of the last read alouds we dis. :(

 

Libriomancer, I am at the halfway point so not done. Nothing overly explicit has happened so PG13. There is violence pretty frequently but so far it has been quick. There is a war with vampires happening so things could escalate beyond this level so I will report when done. I think a romantic relationship is going to happen eventually but not sure wHat level of description. I can't remember which paranormal type books we have both read to use as a comparison.

 

BTW. Out of likes again.......

[idnib]

Not right now, but earlier today. Several times in the past few weeks, I got a message saying the website is not private and might have been hacked (or something like that). It's a weird message I've never seen when trying to access any other website. I'm not sure what that's all about. If I just stop trying and wait a few hours, all seems fine. I've googled, but can't find anything about this issue.

 

Thanks LF. I also was getting a weird message, but not the one you mentioned. I can't remember it now but it was also something I had never seen before. It's working now.

[JennW in SoCal]

About the the first Inspector Rutledge title, A Test of Wills....

The Kindle version is on sale at Amazon for $1.99.  There was a long wait at my library too.

 

Bless you Amy and one-click buying at the Kindle store.  Nevermind that there are already about 6 books waiting for me on my iPad -- the BaW ladies are talking about this title so I want to read it NOW!

 

I was thinking yesterday about how discussions and friends can influence your thoughts and reactions to a book, especially as I was reading my first Georgette Heyer novel, Grand Sophy. Honestly it isn't something I would normally stick with.  I found it annoyingly overwritten and predictable, silly even, but I know so many intelligent women both IRL and here who love these books that I figured it was worth sticking with.  Of course, since I'm more or less bed bound it was the perfect read -- no complex plot to keep track of, no trippy imagery to try to understand. Maybe I'm just trying to reconcile the Eliana who recommends Heyer with the Eliana who reads mountains poetry and dramas and other dense material.  I kept thinking "if Eliana loves this, then it must be good...."  Of course I'll have to be scientific about Heyer and try another title to see how it goes.

 

My .02 cents on Terry Pratchett books -- Going Postal is my hands down all time favorite title followed by the Sam Vimes books starting with Guards!Guards!   While I was in a post anesthesia haze a few days ago it was Terry Pratchett that I wanted to listen to, so I chose one of the trippier titles in my audible library, Thief of Time. 

 

And before I go start A Test of Wills, my reading progress thus far this year:

 

Thirteen Gun Salute by Patrick O'Brian  --- really exposition for the more action filled next title:

Nutmeg of Consolation by Patrick O'Brian -- satisfying listen

Journey on the Silk Road by Joyce Morgan and Conrad Walters -- in progress; excellent

Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer ---- stupidly satisfying

 

 

 

 

 

 

[aggieamy]

About the the first Inspector Rutledge title, A Test of Wills....

 

Bless you Amy and one-click buying at the Kindle store.  Nevermind that there are already about 6 books waiting for me on my iPad -- the BaW ladies are talking about this title so I want to read it NOW!

 

I was thinking yesterday about how discussions and friends can influence your thoughts and reactions to a book, especially as I was reading my first Georgette Heyer novel, Grand Sophy. Honestly it isn't something I would normally stick with.  I found it annoyingly overwritten and predictable, silly even, but I know so many intelligent women both IRL and here who love these books that I figured it was worth sticking with.  Of course, since I'm more or less bed bound it was the perfect read -- no complex plot to keep track of, no trippy imagery to try to understand. Maybe I'm just trying to reconcile the Eliana who recommends Heyer with the Eliana who reads mountains poetry and dramas and other dense material.  I kept thinking "if Eliana loves this, then it must be good...."  Of course I'll have to be scientific about Heyer and try another title to see how it goes.

 

My .02 cents on Terry Pratchett books -- Going Postal is my hands down all time favorite title followed by the Sam Vimes books starting with Guards!Guards!   While I was in a post anesthesia haze a few days ago it was Terry Pratchett that I wanted to listen to, so I chose one of the trippier titles in my audible library, Thief of Time. 

 

And before I go start A Test of Wills, my reading progress thus far this year:

 

Thirteen Gun Salute by Patrick O'Brian  --- really exposition for the more action filled next title:

Nutmeg of Consolation by Patrick O'Brian -- satisfying listen

Journey on the Silk Road by Joyce Morgan and Conrad Walters -- in progress; excellent

Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer ---- stupidly satisfying

 

The first Heyer I read was Frederica because it was recommended here.  I remember being pretty unmoved by it and I found it so wordy that it was hard for me to read.  I don't know why I decided to read another one but I did.  I think that there's a learning curve with Heyer books because I liked the second one a great deal more and then onto a third one and now I'm hooked.  Even on the ones that aren't really that good.  

 

Yay.  I'm glad you'll be reading the Inspector Rutledge book also.  It's like a mini impromptu-read along!  

[Just Robyn]

This would be a great paper topic--in what ways are The House of the Seven Gables, Wuthering Heights, and Possession Romances? How do they fit Hawthorne's definition? Does his distinction between Romance and Novels still exist today?

 

 

 

 

 

I think to Hawthorne Romance was similar to Gothic...or Fantasy..for us. Not a love story as much as a story of Fancy. And like Magical Realism, it need not be 'true' in the strictest sense, but it does need to bring a lens to reality (or create connections between realities). 

 

 

 

I remember reading about the distinction between a romance and a novel when I was doing Intro. to Lit. Studies on Saylor.org and my thought was that the distinction does still exist but with different terminology. What in the past people called a romance or a novel, we call a genre novel or a literary novel. I'd be happy to hear others's thoughts on it.

[Lady Florida.]

I'm a few chapters into the Inspector Rutledge book.  I like the descriptive writing and the setting.  WWI (and just after) is one of my favorite time periods. I hope the library gets you that one first so we can compare notes.  

 

 

 

 

I put the Kindle version of first one on hold. I did see (as you pointed out in a later post) that the Kindle version is only $1.99, but I'm number one in the queue. If I was far down the holds list, I'd probably go for it, but I'll wait. It's not as though I don't have anything else to read while I wait for it. :lol: 

 

If I end up liking it, I might buy others in the series if I wind up on a long list.

[Lady Florida.]

 

That said, I'm feeling restless with my reading (or lack thereof) in the past week or so. I really need something that will draw me in.

 

There seems to be a lot of Restless Reading Syndrome going around lately. :)

[Lady Florida.]

 

 

In book news, I'm still reading The Princess Bride.  I was so excited to read this after reading As You Wish, but though it is good, I'm wishing I would have just watched the movie. 

 

While the book is well loved, including by many of the stars of the movie, I've often heard this is one of those rare instances where the movie is better. I've never tried to read the book, so I don't know how true that is. 

[NoseInABook]

I finished The Golem and The Jinni! I FINISHED IIITTTT!! AHAHAHA! YAY! I really enjoyed the first 250 or 300 pages. Then the last 200 pages. But in the middle there was 150 or 200 pages of OH MY GOSH JUST EDIT THIS OUT ALREADY! I also read chapter 3 in HotMW and a few chapters on Don Quixote. At the risk of sounding old, the font in the book is kiillng my eyes. It's this tiny, smudgey mess and I always end up with a headache reading it. I've been forcing myself to read a couple chapters at least once a week but bleh.

 

I'm still trying to get through Jen Hatmaker's 7 and 10 Ways To Destroy The Imagination Of Your Child. I'm quickly getting bored of non-fiction again because I tend to jump to it, roll around it in for a while, and then get ridiculously tired of it. Sadly, I have one sitting on my end table and one in the mail right now so this isn't a good thing. 

[ChrisB]

Jane in NC, how about a Kingfisher zentangle?   :thumbup1:  Kids and I were working on zentangles this morning.  This one is mine.

 

 

[Stacia]

I finished The Golem and The Jinni! I FINISHED IIITTTT!! AHAHAHA! YAY! I really enjoyed the first 250 or 300 pages. Then the last 200 pages. But in the middle there was 150 or 200 pages of OH MY GOSH JUST EDIT THIS OUT ALREADY!

 

:smilielol5:

 

I know it has gotten quite a few rave reviews. But, I tried (very briefly) to read it last year. I felt the way you did (OH MY GOSH JUST EDIT THIS OUT ALREADY!) by the end of the second chapter.  :lol:  Golem = made from mud & this book, to me, felt like a slog in the mud. I'm just not a mud-slogging type of gal.... Needless to say, I turned it back into the library with the rest unread.

 

[shukriyya]

ChrisB, lovely! And for the second time this morning the word 'whimsy' fits perfectly.

[shukriyya]

:smilielol5:

 

I know it has gotten quite a few rave reviews. But, I tried (very briefly) to read it last year. I felt the way you did (OH MY GOSH JUST EDIT THIS OUT ALREADY!) by the end of the second chapter. :lol: Golem = made from mud & this book, to me, felt like a slog in the mud. I'm just not a mud-slogging type of gal.... Needless to say, I turned it back into the library with the rest unread.

 

And yet this was one of my top five. I loved it and couldn't put it down, finishing it in a few days. We are a varied bunch, aren't we? :D

[Jane in NC]

Jane in NC, how about a Kingfisher zentangle?   :thumbup1:  Kids and I were working on zentangles this morning.  This ones mine.

 

Love, love, love this and am envisioning it as an embroidery pattern adorning a simple wrap skirt.  I can't wait to show your Zentangle to my husband.

[ChrisB]

shukriyya:  I love whimsy.  There are some great children's books whose illustrators have a whimsical sense about their art, and I'm very attracted to it.  Like this one.

 

 

Love, love, love this and am envisioning it as an embroidery pattern adorning a simple wrap skirt.  I can't wait to show your Zentangle to my husband.

 

I'm honored.  The picture you posted inspired me this morning.  I felt it needed a blue colored background, and since I don't have a white gel pen, I used a sparkly silver gel pen.  We have plenty of sparkly things sitting around since we have 4 girls.

[Nan in Mass]

ChisB, lovely kingfisher!

 

LostSurprise and others, about book conversations, TWEM talks about this and suggests for your reading partner, finding someone unlike yourself because you will learn more this way,both by having access to other views and by having to examine your own views more carefully in order to explain them.

 

I finished Fire and Hemlock. Parts of it were hard for me to get through. DWJ does children so very well... I,ve had this problem before with her books. I have never made it further than a few pages into either The Cart and the Cwidder or Drowned Ammet. Her lighter books I love.

 

I still think you zentanglers should look here for inspiration:

 

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrBT9G6tL5UbGwADR_BGOd_?p=folktales+of+the+amur&fr=ipad&fr2=piv-web

[guilfordlake]

On last week's thread someone mentioned A Walk in the Woods.  Read it, loved it, thank you for bringing it to my attention!

 

I'm stuck on Chap 6 of HotMW.  I've read it 4 times now and find myself losing focus every single time.  Haven't decided if I should try yet again or just give up and move on to the next chapter.

 

Ok, I've promised myself that after I finish chores and schoolwork, I can sit down with coffee and read through the Week 3 thread. :)

[Alice]

Wow, I cannot keep up with this thread. I think I've decided that if I want to participate this year I just have to jump in and post and not worry about whether or not I read all the pages before me. I love that you all have this great book conversation going on but I think for now I'll just have to kind of eavesdrop. 

 

Since I last posted I've read: 

 

Being Mortal by Atal Gawande. Excellent. Really, really excellent. I think I would read Gawande write about dust bunnies, I'm sure he'd make it interesting. This one is about end of life care and decision making and how we as doctors and society can do it better. Highly recommended. 

 

The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher by Hilary Mantel. Short stories. Also very good. I haven't been much of a short story fan in the past but in the past year I've read a lot more. I recently read Margaret Atwood's latest collection and this somewhat reminded me of those. There are definitely some overlying dark themes and hints of the supernatural. Often even creepier for being just hints in the middle of a seemingly ordinary story. Not a feel good book but beautifully written and often thought-provoking. 

 

[Robin M]

I have now completed 10 books this year.  I am thinking I need to up my challenge:  I think my goal should be to read 52 substantive books, and then another 20+, or however many, that count as light reading - things my 12 year old suggests I read, or that I read aloud to the girls, or beach reads.  It's not that those aren't important and meaningful, it's just that I want to challenge myself to read at least 52 books that will stretch me, while allowing myself as much mind candy as I need.  Does that make sense?

Yes, it does make sense.  You are probably like me in that the more substantive stories  have the tendency to fill up our brains  We basically need time to decompress afterwards.  Mindy candy helps with that.  

 

I find it very hard to read mind candy alone or substantive reads alone.  In my case, my brain is ready for the more substantive this year, while having the task of making sure the substantive doesn't overwhelm my brain and take away from my writing time.  If I spend too much time thinking about someone else's story, I spend less time being creative. A catch 22.    I added in a new goal this year to read more non fiction which has the affect of slowing down my reading because it takes more time to absorb.