Book a Week 2015: W16 - Sonnets

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday dear hearts:  We are on week 16 in our quest to read 52 books.  Welcome back to our regulars, anyone just joining in, and to all who follow our progress. Mr. Linky is all set up on the 52 books blog to link to your reviews. The link is also in my signature.

 

52 Books Blog - Sonnets:  When I think of sonnets, my mind takes me right to William Shakespeare.

William Shakespeare was born April 25, 1564 and died April 23 1616 at the age of 52.  What can I say about the bard that most of us don't already know?  My late mother in law adored him and had memorized all his plays.  Numerous sites are dedicated to him and his works may be found online here, here, here and here to name a few. He wrote many sonnets which are a poetic form.  What exactly is a sonnet?  The word comes from the italian sonetto which means little song.

According to dictionary.com

 

a poem, properly expressive of a single, complete thought, idea, or sentiment, of 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameter, with rhymes arranged according to one of certain definite schemes, being in the strict or Italian form divided into a major group of 8 lines (the octave) followed by a minor group of 6 lines (the sestet), and in a common English form into 3 quatrains followed by a couplet.

 

 

 

The Shakespearean form is slightly different:

 

Here, three quatrains and a couplet follow this rhyme scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, gg. The couplet plays a pivotal role, usually arriving in the form of a conclusion, amplification, or even refutation of the previous three stanzas, often creating an epiphanic quality to the end.

 

 

Poets of today used a modernized version of the sonnet and is only recognizable by its 14 lines and thematic qualities.  Check out this link with examples and links to various poets. Want to write a sonnet of your very own.  Check out How to Write a Sonnet offered by No Sweat Shakespeare or Sonnet Writer's instructions.

No, I won't challenge you to write a sonnet, however if you have a mind too, please share.

 

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

History of the Medieval World - Chapter 19 The High Kings pp 125 -131

 

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

 

What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

 

Link to week 15

[Robin M]

I'm in the mood to visit with Claire and Jamie and currently reading #3 in Diana Gabaldan's  Outlander Series - Voyager

 

Their passionate encounter happened long ago by whatever measurement Claire Randall took. Two decades before, she had traveled back in time and into the arms of a gallant eighteenth-century Scot named Jamie Fraser. Then she returned to her own century to bear his child, believing him dead in the tragic battle of Culloden. Yet his memory has never lessened its hold on her... and her body still cries out for him in her dreams.

Then Claire discovers that Jamie survived. Torn between returning to him and staying with their daughter in her own era, Claire must choose her destiny. And as time and space come full circle, she must find the courage to face the passion and pain awaiting her...the deadly intrigues raging in a divided Scotland... and the daring voyage into the dark unknown that can reunite—or forever doom—her timeless love.

 

 

 

 

[Negin]

I read High Fidelity - 2 or 2.5 Stars - This is a sort of coming-of-age story of a Londoner in his mid-30s. I loved the British references and those are what grabbed me initially. My main annoyance is that he doesn’t seem to mature much at all. Nothing about him changes or improves. If that were the case, I may have given the book 3 stars. He’s overly fixated on sex, dating, cheating, and his endless relationship problems. I have a feeling that the movie version of this is better. 

 

 

MY RATING SYSTEM

5 Stars

Fantastic, couldn't put it down

4 Stars

Really Good

3 Stars

Enjoyable

2 Stars

Just Okay – nothing to write home about

1 Star

Rubbish – waste of my money and time. Few books make it to this level, since I usually give up on them if they’re that bad.

[Kareni]

Since sonnets were mentioned, I'll repost this link I posted last week.

 

Jo Walton Writes Amazing Godzilla Sonnets

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Chrysalis Academy]

Shannon and I are reading Romeo & Juliet together, and I hadn't realized that it is full of spoken sonnets that the two characters create in conversation. How cool is that?  (I'm sure everybody already knew this, but the way plays are written can obscure the form. It was fun to pull it out and look at the speeches as sonnets).

 

If I profane with my unworthiest hand

This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this.

My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand

To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.

Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hands too much,

Which mannerly devotion shows in this,

For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch,

And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss.

Have not saints lips and holy palmers too?

Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer.

Oh then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do.

They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.

Saints do not move, though grant for prayers sake.

Then move not while my prayer's effect I take.

 

[Robin M]

Check out the guybrarian and orange county library staff in their video "Unread book" set to Bruno Mars Uptown.  I never can remember how to embed so if Stacia or one of you can embed to see the video that would be great.

 

 

[idnib]

I'm still plugging away at The Pilgrim's Progress and The Most Dangerous Book, plus my year long read of On Politics. I am behind on all of them and am hoping to at least finish The Most Dangerous Book while catching up on the other two by the end of the month. That will help clear the decks for Inferno and The Ocean at the End of the Lane, plus Chronicles of Narnia in May. I've been doing a lot more outdoor work than reading the past week or two.

 

Nan, smoked salt is salt that has been set over a wood fire and tastes like wood smoke. Example. The one I use is from my former CSA. I switched CSAs about 5 years ago and I still have most of a jar. A little goes a long way.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Check out the guybrarian and orange county library staff in their video "Unread book" set to Bruno Mars Uptown.  I never can remember how to embed so if Stacia or one of you can embed to see the video that would be great.

 

That is so awesome!!!!!   :lol:

[Chrysalis Academy]

Well, I'm reading The First Men in the Moon by H.G. Wells - inspired by Lewis's dedication in Out of the Silent Planet - and really enjoying it.  I'm also - dare I confess? listening to Phantom of the Opera (the Leroux novel). The girls and I watched the 25th anniversary extravaganza of the Opera a couple of weeks ago, and they fell in love with it.  We downloaded the music to their ipods, and they walk around the house singing it constantly. I am trying to decide whether it's worth having Shannon read. I know it's often panned as lit, but I think she'd enjoy it, and it does connect thematically with stuff she's read this year - Dr. Jekyll, The Invisible man -and she so resonated with the idea of the alienated anti-hero.  And then I ran into the fanfiction book Angel of the Opera: Sherlock Homes Meets the Phantom of the Opera, and I think she'd love it! Two of her favorite fictional characters going head to head. I realize I may get banned from a Classical Education board for this, but oh well!  :lol:

 

In, ahem, more serious reading, I am also working on E O Wilson's The Meaning of Human Existence, Ellenberg's How Not to be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking, and Sue Hubbell's Shrinking the Cat: Genetic Engineering Before We Knew about Genes.

 

Books completed in April:

58. Rue du Retour - Abdellatif Laabi

57. The Magician's Book: A Skeptic's Adventures in Narnia - Laura Miller

56. That Hideous Strength - C. S. Lewis

55. I, Tituba: Black witch of Salem - Maryse Conde

54. The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym - Edgar Allen Poe

53. Perelandra - C. S. Lewis

52. Restoration Agriculture - Mark Sheppard

51. Out of the Silent Planet - C. S. Lewis

50. Carmilla - Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

[Jane in NC]

Having finished another Angela Thirkell novel with a satisfied grin, I am so tempted to remain in Barsetshire.  But a trip to the library provided new distractions--despite those living in my library book bag already.

 

A couple of recent books from indie publishers jumped off the shelf when I walked by.  The first is from the venerable New York Review of Books Classics series:  The Professor and the Siren by Guiseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (translated by Stephen Twilley).  The books in this series often have intros that help put them or their authors in context--particularly since many of their authors may not be well known in the US.  Thus I began reading the introduction by Marina Warner with interest, only to find myself agog.  For example, Warner writes:

 

Il Gattopardo (The Leopard), Lampedusa's only novel, a Stendhalian historical reconstruction of Sicilian society in the tumult of the Garibaldian revolution....

 

 

Maybe this is how English majors feel when they read math texts--unable to complete the sentence!

 

Needless to say, I put The Professor and the Siren aside for a morning when I find myself with relative clear headedness--not true every day I am afraid.

 

So I moved on to a novel on the Europa imprint, Time Present and Time Past by Irish author Deirdre Madden.  (Title taken from a line by my favorite poet, T.S. Eliot.)

 

Still reading Cape Verdean poet Corsino Fortes.  My non-fiction selection is Lentil Underground.

 

I need to pick up the pace on The Golden Legend which is bookmarked at 45 out of 182 chapters or vignettes.

 

HoMW:  bookmarked at chapter 29.

[Stacia]

Here is the video Robin linked:

 

 

(Robin, the trick is that after you copy & paste the 'share' link from Youtube, remove the 's' from 'https' at the beginning of the link so that it becomes 'http'.)

[idnib]

Books completed in April:

58. Rue du Retour - Abdellatif Laabi

57. The Magician's Book: A Skeptic's Adventures in Narnia - Laura Miller

56. That Hideous Strength - C. S. Lewis

55. I, Tituba: Black witch of Salem - Maryse Conde

54. The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym - Edgar Allen Poe

53. Perelandra - C. S. Lewis

52. Restoration Agriculture - Mark Sheppard

51. Out of the Silent Planet - C. S. Lewis

50. Carmilla - Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

 

:svengo:  You must be a really fast reader like my DH. 

 

Phantom of the Opera is coming to SF.

[Stacia]

I haven't had much reading time the past many days because, you know, I've been doing important stuff. Stuff like seeing Furious 7 (the first time I've seen one of those movies; I guess the 7th time's a charm, eh?) at the movie theater, going to see a local improv group, & finding bananas to post. :lol:

 

 

(I guess instead of fluffy reading, I do fluffy movies. :lol: )

 

Anyway, back to books...

 

Still working on both Guantánamo Diary by Mohamedou Ould Slahi and Going Postal by Terry Pratchett. Hoping to finish them both this week, but it's a super busy week for me, so I'm not sure that will happen.

 

Hope you all have a banana-rific Sunday!

 

 

[Chrysalis Academy]

:svengo:  You must be a really fast reader like my DH. 

 

Phantom of the Opera is coming to SF.

 

Yeah, well, I've had the flu for a week, which means lots of time lying on the couch reading . . . 

 

My girls want to do Phantom in SF sooooo bad - but the tickets are obscenely expensive, even for the nosebleed seats. I'm thinking about it, though . . . . 

[Stacia]

Rose, what did you think of Rue du Retour?

 

ETA: Hope you feel better soon!

 

-------------------------

2015 Books Read

5 stars:

• The Good Lord Bird by James McBride. (USA)
• The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham. (France)

4 stars:

• The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami. (Japan; BaW January author challenge.)
• Extraordinary Renditions by Andrew Ervin. (Hungary)
• Rue du Retour by Abdellatif Laâbi. (Morocco)
• Nigerians in Space by Deji Bryce Olukotum. (South Africa & Nigeria)
• The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire by Jack Weatherford. (Mongolia)
• The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. (France & Spain)
• Kismet by Jakob Arjouni. (Germany)
• Gassire’s Lute: A West African Epic, trans. & adapted by Alta Jablow. (West Africa, incl. Ghana & Burkina Faso)
• Orlando by Virginia Woolf. (England; BaW March author challenge.)
• Missing Person by Patrick Modiano. (France)
• No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. (USA)

3 stars:

• The Affinity Bridge by George Mann. (England)
• Goat Days by Benyamin. (Saudi Arabia)
• The Duppy by Anthony C. Winkler. (Jamaica)
• Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor. (Nigeria)
• Cat Out of Hell by Lynne Truss. (England)
• Under the Frangipani by Mia Couto. (Mozambique)
• Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood. (Australia)

2 stars:

• The Jerusalem File by Joel Stone. (Israel)

[Chrysalis Academy]

It was so beautifully written, like prose poetry. The point of view - 2nd person, stream of consciousness - was so unusual, too, it really pulled you in. I have to confess I was really nervous when he started describing his experience of torture, because the way the book was written everything in it was so immediate - so personal - it really feels like it is happening to you. It was difficult to read those parts. 

 

At the end, Laabi calls himself A FOOL FOR HOPE.  As somebody who sometimes finds it hard to hope, I find his attitude - given his experiences in prison - both chastening and inspiring.

 

ETA: The other aspect I was so struck by was the humanity he described among the prisoners - how they cared for each other and supported each other. After their convictions (i.e. after the initial arrests, torture, trials) they were in a "normal" prison, not a concentration camp, but the contrast between his descriptions of the prisoner's solidarity vs. something like Wiesel's description of the prisoner's inhumanity to one another was very striking. Totally different circumstances, I realize.  But this was one of the aspects of imprisonment I was interested in exploring this year in my various readings, so this was an interesting perspective.

[TeacherZee]

I love reading Sonnets but I have problems writing them (just like I do with haiku's). One of my favourite sonnets is Shakespear's sonnet 130. I find it to be a very truthful love poem.

 

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red, than her lips red:
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound:
I grant I never saw a goddess go,
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
   And yet by heaven, I think my love as rare,
   As any she belied with false compare.

 

Readingwise I am still stuck in a romance loop and I managed to find quite a few new to me books this week (apparently this was a week for M/M romances for me). I am seriously behind on my writing of reviews but I have a sneaking suspicion that I won't come close to catching up until the summer. This week I would like to finish some books I have started and try and read some non-fiction. The national test craziness has already started although English doesn't begin until May but I know this is probably one of my last calm-ish weeks I have left before the summer break so I would like to read something meaty. However, I also have 23 firsties essays to read and grade, my seniors are handing in stuff right, left and centre (including lab-rapports that might as well be written in Greek for all I understand them, I am going to need to talk to the Chemistry teacher to have him explain the lab to me), I have to read MY seniors Senior Essays and I am sure I am forgetting something that is due soon. *sigh* remind me why I like teaching again.

 

Read so far this year

1. The Child Catchers by Kathryn Joyce
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
3. The Understatement of the Year by Sarina Bowen
4. The Year We Fell Down by Sarina Bowen
5. The Year We Hid Away by Sarina Bowen
6. Blond Date by Sarina Bowen
7. A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift
8. Somewhere in France by Jennifer Robson
9. After the War is Over by Jennifer Robson
10. With Every Letter by Sarah Sundin
11. Falling from the Sky by Sarina Bowen
12. Obsession in Death by J.D. Robb
13. Murphy's Law by Rhys Bowen
14. Än finns det hopp by Karin Wahlberg
15. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
16. Shooting for the Stars by Sarina Bowen
17. The Deal by Elle Kennedy
18. Coming in from the Cold by Sarina Bowen
19. The Hook Up by Kristen Callihan

20. All Lined Up by Cora Carmack

21. All Broke Down by Cora Carmack

22. On the Fly by Catherine Gayle

23. Breakaway by Catherine Gayle

24. Taking a Shot by Cathrine Gayle

25. Light the Lamp by Catherine Gayle

26. In the Zone by Catherine Gayle

27. Delay of Game by Catherine Gayle

28. Double Major by Catherine Gayle

29. Comeback by Catherine Gayle

30. Bound by Brenda Rothert

31. The Shameless Hour by Sarina Bowen

32. Dropping Gloves by Catherine Gayle

33. Body Check by Elle Kennedy

34. Out in the Open by A.J. Truman

35. Mark Cooper Versus America by Lisa Henry & J. A. Rock

36. Brandon Mills Versus the V-Card by Lisa Henry & J. A. Rock

[TeacherZee]

Shannon and I are reading Romeo & Juliet together, and I hadn't realized that it is full of spoken sonnets that the two characters create in conversation. How cool is that?  (I'm sure everybody already knew this, but the way plays are written can obscure the form. It was fun to pull it out and look at the speeches as sonnets).

 

If I profane with my unworthiest hand

This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this.

My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand

To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.

Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hands too much,

Which mannerly devotion shows in this,

For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch,

And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss.

Have not saints lips and holy palmers too?

Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer.

Oh then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do.

They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.

Saints do not move, though grant for prayers sake.

Then move not while my prayer's effect I take.

 

I did a unit on Sonnets with last years seniors and I hadn't realized this until then either. I thought it was great and my student's and I had a great deal of fun analyzing this sonnet and watching different versions of it.

[Kareni]

 Phantom of the Opera (the Leroux novel).

 

My daughter loved the book when she was in high school.  There are also a number of spinoffs; here's a list .  One that she liked, if I'm recalling correctly, was The Phantom of Manhattan  by Frederick Forsyth. 

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Chrysalis Academy]

My daughter loved the book when she was in high school.  There are also a number of spinoffs; here's a list .  One that she liked, if I'm recalling correctly, was The Phantom of Manhattan  by Frederick Forsyth. 

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

Nice! I'll definitely add that to my stack of guilty pleasure books!  ;)

[Nan in Mass]

I have started Dawn Treader.  And I saw The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.  We loved the first one.  The second was fun, too, we thought.

 

 

Nan, smoked salt is salt that has been set over a wood fire and tastes like wood smoke. Example. The one I use is from my former CSA. I switched CSAs about 5 years ago and I still have most of a jar. A little goes a long way.

 

Yakima...shudder...

 

The salt sounds very intriguing, though.  I wonder if I could make it?  No lack of woodsmoke around here.  I like smoky flavour and would rather have it without the pork part.

 

Nan

[Angel]

Ok, now I really AM scared! I don't think I should have reminded you of our agreement per this post & this post last year.

 

Ok, I'm giving you a banana to bribe you to be nice to me!

 

 

 

A picture is worth a thousand words & obviously we both have a lot to say. Lol.

 

 

:lol:  We do have a lot to say!  And I'll be nice... bwa ha ha....just kidding  ;)

[mumto2]

I am pretty much posting to mark the thread for tomorrow. I did finally finish Prudence by Gail Carriger. I enjoyed it in the end but it somehow was lacking something that is hard to identify.....maybe the sense of fun. Not sure what to call it in literary terms but the book wasn't as entertaining as the previous series. Imo

 

I have been reading the last book in Graces Burrow's MacGregor series today.

[idnib]

 Stuff like seeing Furious 7 (the first time I've seen one of those movies; I guess the 7th time's a charm, eh?) at the movie theater, 

 

I love those movies. The are completely ridiculous but because they are self-aware you can laugh along with the cast and crew. I saw a double feature of the first one and the seventh one on opening night and I'm not embarrassed to say it! The ticket taker did a double take, though. I was the oldest one there by 15 years, at least. I thought there might be a few other nostalgic Gen-Xers for the first showing but it too was full of kids who were too young to see it when it first came out. 

 

Yeah, well, I've had the flu for a week, which means lots of time lying on the couch reading . . . 

 

My girls want to do Phantom in SF sooooo bad - but the tickets are obscenely expensive, even for the nosebleed seats. I'm thinking about it, though . . . . 

 

Yeah, the tickets are very expensive. My parents were not big theatre goers, but they did take me to two productions and both of them dazzled me. One was Baryshnikov with the Bolshoi about 15 years after his defection, and the other was Lauren Bacall in Woman of the Year. I'll remember both of them for the rest of my life. Sometimes it's worth shelling out for an amazing production at just the right time in a child's life; Phantom may not be it.  ;)

 

The salt sounds very intriguing, though.  I wonder if I could make it?  No lack of woodsmoke around here.  I like smoky flavour and would rather have it without the pork part.

 

You can make your own but (I haven't) but based on the tutorials I've seen on the web, it seems most effective to use a smoker, a grill with a cover, or a wok, rather than an open fire. Basically get the heat going and trap the smoke with the salt in a container inside. The salt will turn brown. People also use hickory a lot. Example procedure.

[Kim in Appalachia]

I thought I would jump back in here and report on what I've read.  The past 6 weeks have been super busy, and I haven't had a whole lot of time online or even to read (or even to run or practice yoga).  I can't remember what I was reading when I last posted.

 

I had finished Trigger Warning, by Neil Gaiman.  It's a collection of short stories.  I prefer his longer stories, because I think he does better developing the characters and setting that way, but still, the stories were good. One revisited American Gods, which was probably my favorite.  

 

I also read Wild, by Cheryl Strayed.  I really enjoyed that.  I think it was well written, which was nice.  Many travel/hiking memoirs are not. I cried a lot while reading that book.  Note to self, don't spend the afternoon reading at Starbucks if the book is especially sad.  At one point, it took everything I had not to start sobbing.  

 

I read a Lenten devotional by Henri Nouwen (compiled from his writings) for Lent.  His writing is filled with such love and care, it jumps off the page and goes straight to your heart.  I am not someone easily moved (despite my wanting to sob at Starbucks).  I am a rather stoic person, but Henri Nouwen writes in a way that speaks to me.  I highly recommend him if anyone is looking for any "spirtual" reading.

 

Today, I finished, How Dante Can Save Your Life, by Rod Dreher.  Excellent book.  My plan was to read his book, then dive into the Divine Comedy.  I read the Dante when I was in 7th grade.  It was the first "real" book that I had ever read.  I loved it.  I read through the Inferno at least 3 times, then read the other 2 parts.  I'm looking forward to reading it now, as an adult, with greater understanding of it's background and life in general.  Dreher book is about how reading the poem helped change his life, and it's really a powerful testament to how a book can affect you in a profound way.   

 

I also have on my Kindle Case Histories, by Kate Atkinson.  I read through the first "case" when Dreher's book arrived.  I will get back to it, but I can't decide if I should finish it first, then hit Dante, or go straight to Dante. 

 

My weeks are still busy.  My ds13 is playing baseball with the public school and I've been running him everywhere as well as our normal stuff, plus it's the end of the semester and my kids have lots of papers and projects due for co-op (our first year doing it, so a new experience). We had a lot of company last month, and that's about to pick up again.  I also had been sick a lot, and I am still running to doctors over a couple different issues.  Fun times. :P 

 

I have been scanning the book posts, but I'll admit, lately I've been hoping that no new books catch my eye, because I'm out of time. :D

[Just Robyn]

Well, I didn't finish anything this week. I'm still working on The Jungle and various writing books. And while I wait for the library to acquire a couple of other books I want to read (Karate Chop by Dorthe Nors and Blood Lyrics by Katie Ford), I've been reading an issue of Shimmer Magazine that's been on my shelf for two or three years now. 

[Robin M]

Here is the video Robin linked:

 

 

 

(Robin, the trick is that after you copy & paste the 'share' link from Youtube, remove the 's' from 'https' at the beginning of the link so that it becomes 'http'.)

thanks, doll. Knew you'd have the answer. :cheers2:

 

:svengo:  You must be a really fast reader like my DH. 

 

Phantom of the Opera is coming to SF.

I went back in the mid 90's and don't remember whose production it was.  I loved Michael Crawford at the time, but don't think he was in it. Fabulous.  Even in the nose bleed seats.

 

Shannon and I are reading Romeo & Juliet together, and I hadn't realized that it is full of spoken sonnets that the two characters create in conversation. How cool is that?  (I'm sure everybody already knew this, but the way plays are written can obscure the form. It was fun to pull it out and look at the speeches as sonnets).

 

If I profane with my unworthiest hand

This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this.

My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand

To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.

Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hands too much,

Which mannerly devotion shows in this,

For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch,

And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss.

Have not saints lips and holy palmers too?

Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer.

Oh then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do.

They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.

Saints do not move, though grant for prayers sake.

Then move not while my prayer's effect I take.

I didn't realize they were written in sonnets either. So now that I know the key, it probably will be a bit more fun to read.

 

 

I just have to share this because my sisters aren't happy about it, but  I am.  My dad thinks he is in love. He meet a woman through Church and she's drawn him out of his fog and grief and now he's laughing and busy and having fun.  His priest introduced them in order for Dad to help her with financial planning. No plans for the future, but he's happy!

[Guest]

I seem to be in another play reading mood...

 

5 plays:

 

The Wild Duck by Ibsen: This is the only Ibsen I can think of that doesn't imply approval of speaking out and bringing things to light - that rather highlights the damage that can cause to individuals.  A heart-breaking play.  The set-up reminded me of Miller's All My Sons, which was a little distracting, but an interesting contrast.

 

An Enemy of the People by Ibsen and An Enemy of the People by Miller: Miller did a powerful adaptation of Ibsen's play and I read them both back to back... which was fascinating. Miller's version is presents a clearer ethical contrast, and packs a stronger punch, in many ways.  Ibsen's original is a little messier, but has an extra richness to it. 

 

Mrs Warren's Profession by Shaw: Shaw is amazing even in this early play.I was struck in this play by the mixture of the overt and the understated.  The bigger picture pieces are very overt, very strongly emphasized.  ...the more personal issues are less clearly spelled out - which gives a richness to all of Shaw's plays, I think.  His characters have a complexity, even an opacity in places, that rings true to me.

 

Shipwreck by Stoppard: Part two of his Coast of Utopia trilogy.  This has a broader arc than the more single-family focused first one, and it ramps up the political and social theorizing and implications.  I was reminded strongly of Freedom and Necessity (which I love), though it's an oblique connection

 

2 Chinese-related novellas:

 

The True Story of Ah Q by Lu Xun: This reminded me a little of the Romanian Bai Ganyo, but tragicomic rather than comedic.  I'm glad it was short, because I couldn't have stuck with it for more...

 

Sea of Ink by Richard Weihe: This quiet, diffuse little book resembles the paintings whose creation it often depicts - the plain, simple components form an image, sometimes as much in the space around the words as with the words themselves.  The author is Swiss (and this was translated from the German by Peirine Press - thank you, btw, to whoever recommended them!), but the story is about a 17th (?I think) century Chinese painter...

 

2 fast-paced sff books

 

Maker's Mask and Hawkwood War by Ankaret Wells: I had so much fun with the author's Firebrand (though the romance elements were a little steamier than I usually tolerate), that I wanted to try these.  They have the same high octane pace, with even more plot elements and even more action.  The characters and world, what one can see of them as the plot zips along, are intriguing, and I kept wishing we could hold still long enough to appreciate them more.  I liked the first book better - though the action was a string of early-plot action all the way to the end.  The second book had one climactic this-feels-like-the-big-wrapup scene after another... which by halfway through the book started to get a bit wearing.  ...especially when one big plot section resolved and another leapt out of the closet it had been stored in since the previous book.  I'm not sorry I read them, and I'll probably consider trying another of hers, but I can only recommend them with caveats.

 

1 slim poetry volume:

 

Early Poems by Ezra Pound: I still love Pound's translations/adaptations of Chinese poetry and tolerate most of his other poems... except when I can't.

 

And 1 Inspirational Book:

 

Your Word Is Fire: This is a collection of semi-poetic fragments of thoughts on prayer by Chasidic teachers and leaders.  It spoke to me very strongly right now.

[Guest]

re: sonnets:

 

Two of my favorite non-Shakespearean sonnets as a teen were:

 

When I have Fears That I May Cease to Be

By John Keats

 

When I have fears that I may cease to be

   Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,

Before high-pilèd books, in charactery,

   Hold like rich garners the full ripened grain;

When I behold, upon the night’s starred face,

   Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,

And think that I may never live to trace

   Their shadows with the magic hand of chance;

And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,

   That I shall never look upon thee more,

Never have relish in the faery power

   Of unreflecting love—then on the shore

Of the wide world I stand alone, and think

Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.

 

 

When I consider how my light is spentBy John Milton

When I consider how my light is spent,

   Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,

   And that one Talent which is death to hide

   Lodged with me useless, though my Soul more bent

To serve therewith my Maker, and present

   My true account, lest he returning chide;

   â€œDoth God exact day-labour, light denied?â€

   I fondly ask. But patience, to prevent

That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need

   Either man’s work or his own gifts; who best

   Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state

Is Kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed

   And post o’er Land and Ocean without rest:

   They also serve who only stand and wait.â€

 

and sonnet my younger kids have memorized:

 

On a Night of Snow by Elizabeth Coatsworth (best known for The Cat Who Went to Heaven)

Cat, if you go outdoors, you must walk in the snow.
You will come back with little white shoes on your feet,
little white shoes of snow that have heels of sleet.
Stay by the fire, my Cat. Lie still, do not go.
See how the flames are leaping and hissing low,
I will bring you a saucer of milk like a marguerite,
so white and so smooth, so spherical and so sweet -
stay with me, Cat. Outdoors the wild winds blow.

Outdoors the wild winds blow, Mistress, and dark is the night,
strange voices cry in the trees, intoning strange lore,
and more than cats move, lit by our eyes green light,
on silent feet where the meadow grasses hang hoar -
Mistress, there are portents abroad of magic and might,
and things that are yet to be done. Open the door!

[Kareni]

Readingwise I am still stuck in a romance loop and I managed to find quite a few new to me books this week (apparently this was a week for M/M romances for me).

 

I also read a couple of male/male romances recently.

 

K J Charles' A Case of Possession (A Charm of Magpies Book 2)  This is definitely not for the conservative reader nor for anyone who shudders at the thought of four foot long rats!  I enjoyed it in spite of the rats.  It's a historical romance with magic and other paranormal elements.  I'd suggest reading book one first.  [The author does have a free short story available to Kindle readers; it's set between books two and three ~ A Case of Spirits (A Charm of Magpies).] 

 

 

I also read Second Hand (Tucker Springs Book 2) by Heidi Cullinan and Marie Sexton which is a contemporary romance.  It was a pleasant read, but I doubt it's one I'll reread.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[idnib]

Early Poems by Ezra Pound: I still love Pound's translations/adaptations of Chinese poetry and tolerate most of his other poems... except when I can't.

 

I know what you mean. I've been reading up about Imagism, Vorticism, BLAST magazine, and Pound's assistance to James Joyce in helping him overcome censorship. The Most Dangerous Book has one of Pound's poems in it as an example of something that took him months to write as he attempted to cut out all extraneous words, including verbs. At any rate, there are only so many I can tolerate as well.

 

 

The apparition of these faces in the crowd

Petals on a wet, black bough

[Stacia]

It was so beautifully written, like prose poetry. The point of view - 2nd person, stream of consciousness - was so unusual, too, it really pulled you in. I have to confess I was really nervous when he started describing his experience of torture, because the way the book was written everything in it was so immediate - so personal - it really feels like it is happening to you. It was difficult to read those parts. 

 

At the end, Laabi calls himself A FOOL FOR HOPE.  As somebody who sometimes finds it hard to hope, I find his attitude - given his experiences in prison - both chastening and inspiring.

 

ETA: The other aspect I was so struck by was the humanity he described among the prisoners - how they cared for each other and supported each other. After their convictions (i.e. after the initial arrests, torture, trials) they were in a "normal" prison, not a concentration camp, but the contrast between his descriptions of the prisoner's solidarity vs. something like Wiesel's description of the prisoner's inhumanity to one another was very striking. Totally different circumstances, I realize.  But this was one of the aspects of imprisonment I was interested in exploring this year in my various readings, so this was an interesting perspective.

 

I love your commentary. Already, I see some interesting parallels between Rue du Retour & Guantanamo Diary. How these guys can manage to maintain hope, faith, humanity under some of the conditions they endure is a true testament to the core of a person, I think. It's a hard idea to even fathom...

 

:lol:  We do have a lot to say!  And I'll be nice... bwa ha ha....just kidding  ;)

 

Uh, so the bwa ha ha about being nice means you're going to be mean??? :bored: :crying:

 

:laugh:

 

I love those movies. The are completely ridiculous but because they are self-aware you can laugh along with the cast and crew. I saw a double feature of the first one and the seventh one on opening night and I'm not embarrassed to say it! The ticket taker did a double take, though. I was the oldest one there by 15 years, at least. I thought there might be a few other nostalgic Gen-Xers for the first showing but it too was full of kids who were too young to see it when it first came out.

 

Well, I'm a Gen-Xer, but never did see any of the movies. It was totally over the top & quite fun, imo. I like movies like that, lol.

 

I remember going to see Wayne's World in the theater the first day it came out. I think I was probably in my late 20s or early 30s then & the place was packed, just packed, with teen boys. It made for a rather hilarious (& awesome) experience watching the movie! :lol:

 

Kim, so glad you popped back in!!! :hurray:

[Nan in Mass]

I finally got around to reading my alliteration choice, some Archibald MacLeish.

 

"For all the history of grief

An empty doorway and a maple leaf.

For love

The leaning grasses and two lights above the sea--

A poem should not mean but be"

From MacLeish's Ars Poetica

 

Nan

[JennyD]

 

Negin, I saw the movie of High Fidelity years ago and loved it.  I also remember reading a very interesting interview with John Cusack about adapting the book to an American context and making the movie, but I can't for the life of me remember where I read it.  I'll keep trying to recall.

 

This week I finished The Rebbe's Army: Inside the World of Chabad-Lubavitch, by Sue Fishkoff.  The book was excellent -- really high-quality journalism --and it gave me some very valuable insight into certain dynamics I've noticed in different Jewish communities, including the one we live in now.  A few things that did not make sense to me before now make a lot more sense.  

 

I'm currently reading The Bishop's Wife, by Mette Ivie Harrison, a mystery novel set in an LDS community, and The Best Food Writing 2014, edited by Holly Hughes.  Light reading, but I'm on a deadline for my own work and have been getting up at 4:30 am to write, so by the time evening rolls around I am just fried.  

[Mom-ninja.]

Check out the guybrarian and orange county library staff in their video "Unread book" set to Bruno Mars Uptown.  I never can remember how to embed so if Stacia or one of you can embed to see the video that would be great.

 

Anyone else wish Guybrarian worked in your library? We'd be regulars at Story Time.

 

Haven't started a new book yet after finishing Free Will. I wonder what Harris would say about that? Am I choosing not to make time to read, and is that choice really my choice to make?  

[Violet Crown]

All that poaching, steaming, and grilling in last week's thread was making me feel like y'all live in a different country. Fish is cooked by dipping it in beer batter and deep frying it.

 

Sonnets: I've been reading a lot of those this month, and I'll post one of Dante Gabriel Rossetti's later, but here's one Middle Girl wrote a few weeks ago.

 

One drop whirls down from a clouded sky which lowers,

Gray clouds ready to open, heavy with rain;

More drops rattle on my window pane,

Pattering on my roof, a light spring shower,

Quickly increasing with the approach of night.

Blinding sheets of water foam and crash,

White streaks the horizon; its menacing flash

Followed by roar and rumble; the fading light

And evening stillness broken by the loud

Thunder as it crashes; and the pouring

Rain, endless, tumbling, swiftly roaring

Down to flooded earth from flooded cloud.

 

Parting clouds reveal a bright blue sky;

The earth is soaking now--will soon be dry.

 

This week reading St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life (France, 1609); Patrick White, The Aunt's Story (Australia, 1948); and poems of William Morris (England, 1858). So a nice variety of time, place, and genre right now.

[Kareni]

Here's a fun posting from MentalFloss ~

11 Beautiful Bookmarks Bibliophiles Will Love

 

Regards,

Kareni

[LaughingCat]

Ok, this will probably reveal my lack of taste -- but how does smoked salt compare to liquid smoke?  I think we have some liquid smoke around here somewhere from making jerky....

[JennW in SoCal]

No new books to report, but am really enjoying Simon Winchester's The Men Who United the States. Those of you with teens might want to use it as part of a US history course as it is unusual and fascinating.  Listening to it is a treat as he is the reader, and his straightforward delivery in his British accent belies some of the very funny lines in the book.  Just as I was pulling into the driveway tonight he said of someone that "for the next 23 years he held onto that position like a limpet."  It made me laugh.

 

Maybe it isn't that funny, but at the end of a day like today I start getting punchy.  So far today...

 

Oldest ds arrived for the week.  With his cat. Frantic cat proofing of room as ds#2, who is allergic, will be in that room in 2 weeks

5 hours of rehearsals for 2 different productions

about 1.5 hours of drive time for rehearsals

the dishwasher broke -- it of course is full and now there are additional dishes stacked up, all waiting to be washed, but they'll wait.  I think there is still a clean coffee mug, which is all that matters for the morning!

 

 

 

 

[TeacherZee]

I seem to be in another play reading mood...

 

5 plays:

 

The Wild Duck by Ibsen: This is the only Ibsen I can think of that doesn't imply approval of speaking out and bringing things to light - that rather highlights the damage that can cause to individuals.  A heart-breaking play.  The set-up reminded me of Miller's All My Sons, which was a little distracting, but an interesting contrast.

 

The Wild Duck was the first play I saw at The Royal Dramatic Theater in Stockholm in high school. I really should go back and read it again, I seem to recall that it really affected me.

 

I also read a couple of male/male romances recently.

 

K J Charles' A Case of Possession (A Charm of Magpies Book 2)  This is definitely not for the conservative reader nor for anyone who shudders at the thought of four foot long rats!  I enjoyed it in spite of the rats.  It's a historical romance with magic and other paranormal elements.  I'd suggest reading book one first.  [The author does have a free short story available to Kindle readers; it's set between books two and three ~ A Case of Spirits (A Charm of Magpies).] 

 

 

I also read Second Hand (Tucker Springs Book 2) by Heidi Cullinan and Marie Sexton which is a contemporary romance.  It was a pleasant read, but I doubt it's one I'll reread.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

You had me until the rat thing. I have a recurring nightmare about rats. The climb on walls and ceilings and fall down on me in bed *shudders* I'm not much for the historical romances actually (unless they are set during the world wars for some reason).

 

 

 

Negin, I saw the movie of High Fidelity years ago and loved it.  I also remember reading a very interesting interview with John Cusack about adapting the book to an American context and making the movie, but I can't for the life of me remember where I read it.  I'll keep trying to recall.

 

This week I finished The Rebbe's Army: Inside the World of Chabad-Lubavitch, by Sue Fishkoff.  The book was excellent -- really high-quality journalism --and it gave me some very valuable insight into certain dynamics I've noticed in different Jewish communities, including the one we live in now.  A few things that did not make sense to me before now make a lot more sense.  

 

I'm currently reading The Bishop's Wife, by Mette Ivie Harrison, a mystery novel set in an LDS community, and The Best Food Writing 2014, edited by Holly Hughes.  Light reading, but I'm on a deadline for my own work and have been getting up at 4:30 am to write, so by the time evening rolls around I am just fried.  

 

 

I really should read The Rebbe's Army, it has been on my TBR pile since I read Mystics, Maverics and Merrymakers

[Uff Da!]

 

No, I won't challenge you to write a sonnet, however if you have a mind too, please share.

 

Whew!  I was worried for a moment there.

 

I'm still reading Searoad and have a ton of overdue stuff to return to the library.  I'm swamped with work that needs to get done ASAP and so it looks like, for the next two months, I won't be doing much reading.

 

On the upside, the green is taking over and it's not just a world of messy stirred up mud outside.  Happy spring everyone!

[Chrysalis Academy]

I love your commentary. Already, I see some interesting parallels between Rue du Retour & Guantanamo Diary. How these guys can manage to maintain hope, faith, humanity under some of the conditions they endure is a true testament to the core of a person, I think. It's a hard idea to even fathom...

 

 

 

 

 

I was trying to remember if I've ever read another novel written entirely in the 2nd person.  Well, besides Choose Your Own Adventure books,  :lol:  Can anybody think of novels written this way? I'm drawing a blank.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Did anybody see this?  a list of the 24 books that inspired Gabriel Garcia Marquez. With commentary. I need to add a few to my to-read list!

 

http://www.brainpickings.org/2015/04/06/marquez-favorite-books/

[Halcyon]

Finished the Girl on the Train audio today. It was good for about 70% and then started to get tedious. 

 

 

2015 Book List

 

1 The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty

2 The Motivation Manifesto by Burchard

3 The Magic Art of Tidying

4 The One and Only by Giffin

5 One Way Love: Inexhaustible Grace for an Exhausted World

6 Not that Kind of Girl by Dunham

7 The Search for Significance by McGee

8 10% Happier

9 To Kill A Mockingbird--audio book.

10 Unbroken with DS-audio

11 Mastering Tung's Acupuncture--for work

12 You Are A Badass

12 Coming up for Air by George Orwell

13. The Westing Game-audio

14. The Hole in our Holiness by Kevin DeYoung

15. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen-audio

16. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson-audio

17. The Girl on the Train-audio

17. Emma by Jane Austen-current

18. Ender’s Game-audio-current

19. Prayer by Timothy Keller-current

 

Next

 

Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell--upcoming

Gilead by Marilynn Robinson--upcoming

 

[LostSurprise]

 

When I consider how my light is spent By John Milton

When I consider how my light is spent,

   Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,

   And that one Talent which is death to hide

   Lodged with me useless, though my Soul more bent

To serve therewith my Maker, and present

   My true account, lest he returning chide;

   â€œDoth God exact day-labour, light denied?â€

   I fondly ask. But patience, to prevent

That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need

   Either man’s work or his own gifts; who best

   Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state

Is Kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed

   And post o’er Land and Ocean without rest:

   They also serve who only stand and wait.â€

 

 

I love that Milton! I don't remember what I thought of it when I read it first in college, but I read it a few years ago and I found it deeply moving. It gives me patience. 

 

 

I'm not doing much reading. I finished The Moon-Spinners and it was okay. Very fast-paced but the romance made me roll my eyes. I did enjoy her vocabulary and description. Statistics Without Tears was succinct but very dense. I had to force myself through a lot of it. I did enjoy his use of logic to make people think through the implications. 

 

I'm still reading The Innovators to dh in the car and really enjoying it. That's the one on the history of digital computers from Babbage and Lovelace through the Internet. It's all about the engineers, the inventors, the visionaries, and the dreamers. Dh is reading Charles Portis' short stories to me from Escape Velocity in bed at night. Portis' humor is so perfectly backhanded and subtle. I'm looking forward to this collection because some of his novels wander bemusedly and short stories have to stay sharp. 

 

 

 

I'm trying to chose between Prudence (Carriger, came through ILL, so far not as charming as the other series), something by Novalis (Hymn to the Night? or something), some poetry by Jorie Graham (Dream of the Unified Field, I think), and a children's book called Shoebag about a cockroach who turns into a boy, kind of a Metamorphosis turned on its head for the mid-elementary set. 

 

Shoebag, right? That's the kind of mood I'm in. 

[redsquirrel]

I was trying to remember if I've ever read another novel written entirely in the 2nd person.  Well, besides Choose Your Own Adventure books,  :lol:  Can anybody think of novels written this way? I'm drawing a blank.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Then-We-Came-End-Novel-ebook/dp/B000Q80T02/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1429541390&sr=1-1&keywords=and+then+we+came+to+the+end

 

I have read it and it is excellent, especially if you have worked in an office.

 

eta:

Oh wait, I just remembered that it is NOT in second person, but first person PLURAL.

 

Well, that's very different.

 

Never mind

[idnib]

Ok, this will probably reveal my lack of taste -- but how does smoked salt compare to liquid smoke?  I think we have some liquid smoke around here somewhere from making jerky....

 

Giving away my 1970s upbringing, I would say liquid smoke tastes more acrid and artificial and the smoked salt tastes more subtle and natural. Of course it adds salt to the dish, so you have to account for that.

[idnib]

I was trying to remember if I've ever read another novel written entirely in the 2nd person.  Well, besides Choose Your Own Adventure books,  :lol:  Can anybody think of novels written this way? I'm drawing a blank.

 

I'm also drawing a blank, although I have the feeling I have read a few at some point. Here's a list of popular 2nd person novels, according to Goodreads. I see a Lord Peter Whimsey story, which is strange as I think I've read most of them but don't remember any 2nd person ones.

[Robin M]

I was trying to remember if I've ever read another novel written entirely in the 2nd person. Well, besides Choose Your Own Adventure books, :lol: Can anybody think of novels written this way? I'm drawing a blank.

Italo Calvino if on a winters night a traveler is written in 2nd person. Quite good.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Italo Calvino if on a winters night a traveler is written in 2nd person. Quite good.

 

Oh yeah. I read that lo, these many years ago, and barely remember it - it's probably due for a re-read.