Book a Week 2015 - W17: Poem in your Pocket

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday dear hearts:  We are on week 17 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 - Poem in your Pocket:  Poem in your Pocket was created by the New York Mayor's office in 2002 as part of National Poetry Month. In 2008 The Academy of American Poets spread the idea to become a worldwide activity, encouraging all to join in. April 30th is the official Poem in your Pocket day.  Carry a poem in your pocket and share it, or not.

 

Afternoon on the Hill 

 

by 

 

Edna St. Vincent Milay 

 

I will be the gladdest thing
Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
And not pick one.


I will look at cliffs and clouds
With quiet eyes,
Watch the wind bow down the grass,
And the grass rise.


And when lights begin to show
Up from the town,
I will mark which must be mine,
And then start down!

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

History of the Medieval World - Chapter 20 

End of the Roman Myth:   pp 132 - 139

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

 

What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

 

Link to week 16

[Robin M]

I'm in the midst of two fiction books - Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities and thanks to Karen, started Rock Hard last night. 

[Chrysalis Academy]

I finished The First Men in the Moon by HG Wells. I was inspired to read it by the dedication of Lewis's Out of the Silent Planet. It was an interesting companion to Lewis, but not the best Wells I've read.  I must say I read the last few chapters with some impatience.  Tedious seems to be a theme of my reading at the moment . . . 

 

Well. I started a new stack of books, hopefully they will be a bit more inspiring! Persausion, and The Phantom of Manhattan for fiction, and The End of College, How Not to Be Wrong, and The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women Across the Ancient World.  They are all interesting. 

 

Books completed in April:

64. The First Men in the Moon - HG Wells

63. The Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux

62. The Meaning of Human Existence - EO Wilson

61. Goddess of Yesterday - Carolyn Cooney

60. The Angel of the Opera - Sam Siciliano

59. Ready Player One - Ernest Cline

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]

The Professor and the Siren, a slim NYRB edition of short stories by Guiseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, may be too brief to be included in my list, but I shall nonetheless mention it as NYRB does a noteworthy job of dusting off older classics and presenting updated translations. In this case, the translation was done by Stephen Twilley. The story that gave the title to the volume was the best of the lot, but I feel that a door was barely opened into Lampedusa's world and then all too quickly shut.

 

Short stories are not really my thing.  I sometimes wonder if I have too much of a need to make emotional commitments to characters or even to places presented in books.  That said, the book that rocked my world in 2014 was a book of short stories (another NYRB volume, The Autobiography of a Corpse by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky). The BaW thread has really pushed my reading out of its comfort zone, a good thing.

 

At the moment I am reading an Archipelago volume that Stacia shared with me, White Masks by Lebanese writer Elias Khoury. 

 

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is a volume that our dear missing friend Shukriyya often recommended.  I am reading it and sending her vibes of good cheer. 

 

Have a great week everyone!

 

[JennW in SoCal]

Comfort reads were just the thing last week, what with a broken dishwasher, a broken tooth that will be getting a crown in a few days, a guest house cat, and to top it all off, 4 performances of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in which I dance and stroll my way, on stage, while still playing, through one of the songs. Last performance is this afternoon.  

 

On audio is the The Truelove, the 15th in the Master and Commander series.  I can't give an objective review of the book as it feels like I'm catching up on old friends.  And in print is another of the Inspector Rutledge novels, which will be my last.  It is fine enough for the week -- I know the author and the characters and what to expect in the book, but based on perusing reviews on Goodreads it looks as if every book in the series is going to follow the same formula.  

 

I need to update my iOS so I can use the Goodreads App and have my book wish list wherever I go.  When I was in the library mid-week I was at a total loss of what to get, hence my just grabbing an Inspector Rutledge off the shelves in the mystery section. I was thinking that I needed some kind of super power to instantly summon my BaW clan to get a recommendation for a quick comfort read!  A good app on a smart phone is the next best thing...

[Stacia]

I posted at the end of last week's thread about finishing Guantánamo Diary by Mohamedou Ould Slahi. There is one more note I meant to write about it, but forgot to put with my original post. At one point, Slahi had no access to reading materials of any kind. That was for quite awhile (I'm thinking at least a few years, but I don't exactly know). Later, he earns the privilege of getting a pillow. One of the best things about getting it? It had a tag on it -- meaning he now had something that he could read, so he read the tag over & over after having no reading materials for such a long time. Thought this might really resonate with the readers here....

 

Sometimes I start two or three books at a time, but I find that these days, I really do better to read just one at a time. So, with that, I will probably get back to reading Terry Pratchett's Going Postal this week. Not sure where my reading will go after that....

 

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

2015 Books Read:
 

15. Cat Out of Hell by Lynne Truss, pub. by Melville House. 3 stars. Europe: England. (Creepy, frivolous fun horror/mystery mash-up… and a cat who wants Daniel Craig to voice him if there’s a movie version.)

16. Under the Frangipani by Mia Couto, trans. from the Portuguese by David Bookshaw, pub. by Serpent’s Tail. 3 stars. Africa: Mozambique. (Murder mystery that ultimately examines the things that kill a people, a country, a place; told through a magical realism lens of the living & the dead, traditions vs. modern mores, colonization against freedom, & war facing off against peace.)

17. Gassire’s Lute: A West African Epic, trans. & adapted by Alta Jablow, illus. by Leo & Diane Dillon, pub. by Dutton. 4 stars. Africa: West Africa, incl. Ghana & Burkina Faso. (Children’s poetic book [part of the epic of Dausi], telling of Gassire who gives up his noble lineage & warrior life to become a bard/griot.)

18. Orlando by Virginia Woolf, pub. by Harcourt Brace & Company. 4 stars. Europe: England. BaW March author challenge. (Woolf’s love letter to Vita Sackville-West; story of man/woman Orlando spanning over 300 years of English history. Wordy but redeemed by flashes of profound beauty & brilliance.)

19. Missing Person by Patrick Modiano, trans. from the French by Daniel Weissbort, pub. by David R. Godine (a Verba Mundi Book). 4 stars. Europe: France. (After WWII, an amnesiac tries to piece together the people & events of his past. A lyrical, yet spare, examination of identity & history.)

20. No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy, pub. by Vintage International. 4 stars. North America: USA. (Spare & brutal tale of stolen drug money in Texas. Classic themes which are hard & beautifully-crafted.)

 

21. Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood, pub. by Poisoned Pen Press. 3 stars. Australia. (1920s lady detective Phryne Fisher storms the Melbourne social scene with moxie while on the trail of a suspected poisoning, a back-alley abortionist, & the head of the cocaine trade.)

22. Guantánamo Diary by Mohamedou Ould Slahi, pub. by Little, Brown and Company. 5 stars. North America: USA. (Shocking diary by a never-charged Guantanamo detainee. Shines a harsh light on rendition, interrogation, torture, & US thought & policy shifts after 9/11.)

[Kareni]

I read two Courtney Milan works yesterday ~

 

Unlocked (A Turner Series) by Courtney Milan is an excellent historical romance novella; it was a re-read for me.  It deals with the topic of bullying.

 

 

"A perpetual wallflower destined for spinsterhood, Lady Elaine Warren is resigned to her position in society. So when Evan Carlton, the powerful, popular Earl of Westfeld, singles her out upon his return to England, she knows what it means. Her former tormenter is up to his old tricks, and she's his intended victim. This time, though, the earl is going to discover that wallflowers can fight back.

Evan has come to regret his cruel, callow past. At first, he only wants to make up for past wrongs. But when Elaine throws his initial apology in his face, he finds himself wanting more. And this time, what torments him might be love..."

 

 

I also enjoyed the author's first contemporary romance novel which I'd describe as a new adult novel ~

Trade Me (Cyclone Book 1) by Courtney Milan

 

The hero of the book suffered from something that I've not previously seen associated with a hero in a romance novel.

 

No, he was not a cannibal!

If you really want to know, send me a personal message.

 

 

"Tina Chen just wants a degree and a job, so her parents never have to worry about making rent again. She has no time for Blake Reynolds, the sexy billionaire who stands to inherit Cyclone Systems. But when he makes an offhand comment about what it means to be poor, she loses her cool and tells him he couldn’t last a month living her life.

To her shock, Blake offers her a trade: She’ll get his income, his house, his car. In exchange, he’ll work her hours and send money home to her family. No expectations; no future obligations.

But before long, they’re trading not just lives, but secrets, kisses, and heated nights together. No expectations might break Tina’s heart...but Blake’s secrets could ruin her life."

 

The author has a different book available free to Kindle readers which I've enjoyed in the past ~

The Duchess War (The Brothers Sinister Book 1).

 

And a novella for free in German ~

Die Gouvernante und ihr geliebtes Ungeheuer: Sonderausgabe by Courtney Milan and Ute-Christine Geiler

 

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

Kareni :lol: :lol: :lol: Yes, I couldn't resist and looked! I am next on the holds list for Trade Me and will let you know if it's a first for me.

 

 

I finally finished John Verdon's Peter Pan Must Die and really enjoyed it. His first book Pick a Number had a solution that appealed to me more for it's cleverness but this one really would have kept me turning the pages if I had the time! :lol: My uninterrupted reading time last night ended up being dinner for two with dh at a nearby carvery so finished the book this morning.

 

Not sure what I will read next but it will be fluffy. I think I might be done with historical romances for awhile. I have several ready to read and can't seem to start them. I know that I am definitely going to pass on Dante for now....I read it once in college and just not enough time right now.

[mumto2]

 

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is a volume that our dear missing friend Shukriyya often recommended. I am reading it and sending her vibes of good cheer.

 

 

I was thinking of Shukriyya earlier today. I took some photos of my garden flowers in bloom and they reminded me of her. I am sending her some positive vibes also.

 

Kareni, I just put your German Courtney Milan on dd's kindle as a bit of a laugh. Waiting for her to notice. She is taking the German SAT subject exam in a few weeks and is trying to increase her reading speed a bit using Harry Potter books. This would definately be a change of pace. ;)

[Kareni]

Kareni, I just put your German Courtney Milan on dd's kindle as a bit of a laugh. Waiting for her to notice. She is taking the German SAT subject exam in a few weeks and is trying to increase her reading speed a bit using Harry Potter books. This would definately be a change of pace. ;)

 

I figured you'd enjoy that spoiler, mumto2!

 

 

And a novella for free in German ~

Die Gouvernante und ihr geliebtes Ungeheuer: Sonderausgabe by Courtney Milan and Ute-Christine Geiler

 

 

I don't speak German, but from the names in the description it appears to be the German translation of The Governess Affair which was another of Milan's excellent novellas.

 

If she hasn't seen it already, your daughter might enjoy this Mark Twain piece (which I've posted before) ~

 

The Awful German Language by Mark Twain ~ http://www.kombu.de/twain-2.htm

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kim in Appalachia]

I decided to keep reading Kate Atkinson's, Case Histories.  I'm enjoying it so far, but the beginning was so sad, that it had me down all day after reading it.  

 

I haven't had a lot of time to read, just read the one day.  Baseball season is keeping me extra busy. 

[Butter]

I realized that I literally have a more than three year supply of books, at a rate of 2 per week, on my Kindle.  In my defense I "bought" most of them for free.  The problem?  I generally "buy" more than 2 per week so my virtual pile is going up, not down.

 

Right now I'm reading Call the Nurse.  It's good enough.  It's a memoir of a district nurse on a tiny island in the Hebrides in the 70s.  She has a tendency to ramble on.  I'd prefer more stories of dealing medically with the people on the island.  I'm almost halfway through.

 

I'm reading Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham to the little guys (bedtime story).  They are loving it.  I actually read it a few years ago myself.

 

I'm 42% of the way through Les Mis.  It's slow going, but I'm getting there.  I'm reading Anne of Green Gables and making up comprehension questions as I go along for Fritz for next year.  I have Snake Oil waiting for my next book for the little guys.  It was written by a homeschool mom and she was offering it free in order to get some honest reviews.  And my next book for me will be Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters by Shannon Hale.  I forgot that it came out last month.  I loved the first two Princess Academy books.

 

I've read 34 books so far this year.

 

April books:

Grace Space by Robin Merrill 5/5 stars

Animal Farm by George Orwell 5/5 stars

The Moffats by Eleanor Estes 5/5 stars

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe 5/5 stars

The Power of Everyday Missionaries by Clayton M. Christensen 4/5 stars

Mafia to Mormons by Mario Falcione 5/5 stars

Homer Price by Robert McCloskey 5/5 stars

The House of Whispers by William Le Queux 2/5 stars

Lisa and Lottie by Erich Kastner 5/5 stars

 

I seriously have some weirdly eclectic tastes in books!  And April had a nice run on mostly excellent books.

[idnib]

I finished The Most Dangerous Book this morning. I had a few quotes I was going to post but DH was going to the library so I handed it over in the name of convenience. It was an excellent read. It had a mad genius of an artist, hustlers and thieves, government agents, anarchists, smugglers, and so on. Well-written and researched and it gave me good insight into Ulysses. It made me want to read it all over again but that will have to wait.

 

I've also been working away at The Pilgrim's Progress, which I was expecting not to enjoy much but which I surprisingly am. I'm not sure why I like it but I do, and it fills a missing piece for me in English works. It's also been a bit of an education in a form of Protestantism and the Bible. It's quite interesting to try and understand predetermined salvation without any reference to good works.

 

The Pope comes off rather badly:

 

 

Now I [the narrator who's dreaming the entire journey of Christian] saw in my Dream, that at the end of this Valley lay blood, bones, ashes, and mangled bodies of men, even of Pilgrims that had gone this way formerly: And while I was musing what should be the reason, I espied a little before me a Cave, where two Giants, Pope and Pagan, dwelt in old times, by whose Power and Tyranny the Men whose bones, blood ashes, &c. lay there, were cruelly put to death. But by this place Christian went without much danger, whereat I somewhat wondered; but I have learnt since, that Pagan has been dead many a day; and as for the other, though he be yet alive, he is by reason of age, and also of the many shrewd brushes that he met with in his younger dayes, grown so crazy and stiff in his joynts, that he can now do little more than sit in his Caves mouth, grinning at Pilgrims as they go by, and biting his nails, because he cannot come at them.

 

 

 

I posted at the end of last week's thread about finishing Guantánamo Diary by Mohamedou Ould Slahi. There is one more note I meant to write about it, but forgot to put with my original post. At one point, Slahi had no access to reading materials of any kind. That was for quite awhile (I'm thinking at least a few years, but I don't exactly know). Later, he earns the privilege of getting a pillow. One of the best things about getting it? It had a tag on it -- meaning he now had something that he could read, so he read the tag over & over after having no reading materials for such a long time. Thought this might really resonate with the readers here....

 

Stacia, I added this to my Amazon order. Thank you for posting about it.

[Little Nyssa]

I'm trying to read some work from a different poet each week. Some are new to me, some not. Recently I've been looking at Akhmatova, Brodsky, and Frost. This week I was inspired to look into James Dickey, who wrote a poem about cancer that was referenced in the NY Times this week. I am not sure I like Dickey, overall, even though I do find an echo of Gerard Manley Hopkins in his work. But I do like this poem, The Bee:

 

https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/bee

 

It's about how, when he had to rescue his young son from a bee, he felt the voice of his long-dead college football coach urging him to greater speed than he thought he was capable of. Enjoy!

 

I'm hoping to be able to contribute to this thread in future weeks. Thanks for starting it!

[Robin M]

Comfort reads were just the thing last week, what with a broken dishwasher, a broken tooth that will be getting a crown in a few days, a guest house cat, and to top it all off, 4 performances of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in which I dance and stroll my way, on stage, while still playing, through one of the songs. Last performance is this afternoon.  

The good hopefully outweighs the bad. Would have loved to see you dancing and strolling and playing.  Hope you had loads of fun.

 

 

I posted at the end of last week's thread about finishing Guantánamo Diary by Mohamedou Ould Slahi. There is one more note I meant to write about it, but forgot to put with my original post. At one point, Slahi had no access to reading materials of any kind. That was for quite awhile (I'm thinking at least a few years, but I don't exactly know). Later, he earns the privilege of getting a pillow. One of the best things about getting it? It had a tag on it -- meaning he now had something that he could read, so he read the tag over & over after having no reading materials for such a long time. Thought this might really resonate with the readers here....  Certainly does.

 

Sometimes I start two or three books at a time, but I find that these days, I really do better to read just one at a time. So, with that, I will probably get back to reading Terry Pratchett's Going Postal this week. Not sure where my reading will go after that....

 

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

2015 Books Read:

 

15. Cat Out of Hell by Lynne Truss, pub. by Melville House. 3 stars. Europe: England. (Creepy, frivolous fun horror/mystery mash-up… and a cat who wants Daniel Craig to voice him if there’s a movie version.)

Laughing at the Daniel Craig comment. How did I miss this before.  

 

I read two Courtney Milan works yesterday ~

 

Unlocked (A Turner Series) by Courtney Milan is an excellent historical romance novella; it was a re-read for me.  It deals with the topic of bullying.

 

 

"A perpetual wallflower destined for spinsterhood, Lady Elaine Warren is resigned to her position in society. So when Evan Carlton, the powerful, popular Earl of Westfeld, singles her out upon his return to England, she knows what it means. Her former tormenter is up to his old tricks, and she's his intended victim. This time, though, the earl is going to discover that wallflowers can fight back.

 

Evan has come to regret his cruel, callow past. At first, he only wants to make up for past wrongs. But when Elaine throws his initial apology in his face, he finds himself wanting more. And this time, what torments him might be love..."

 

 

I also enjoyed the author's first contemporary romance novel which I'd describe as a new adult novel ~

Trade Me (Cyclone Book 1) by Courtney Milan

 

The hero of the book suffered from something that I've not previously seen associated with a hero in a romance novel.

 

No, he was not a cannibal!

 

If you really want to know, send me a personal message.

 

"Tina Chen just wants a degree and a job, so her parents never have to worry about making rent again. She has no time for Blake Reynolds, the sexy billionaire who stands to inherit Cyclone Systems. But when he makes an offhand comment about what it means to be poor, she loses her cool and tells him he couldn’t last a month living her life.

 

To her shock, Blake offers her a trade: She’ll get his income, his house, his car. In exchange, he’ll work her hours and send money home to her family. No expectations; no future obligations.

 

But before long, they’re trading not just lives, but secrets, kisses, and heated nights together. No expectations might break Tina’s heart...but Blake’s secrets could ruin her life."

 

The author has a different book available free to Kindle readers which I've enjoyed in the past ~

The Duchess War (The Brothers Sinister Book 1).

 

And a novella for free in German ~

Die Gouvernante und ihr geliebtes Ungeheuer: Sonderausgabe by Courtney Milan and Ute-Christine Geiler

 

Regards,

Kareni

I enjoyed Rock Hard.  Of course, my hubby who usually isn't curious about what I'm reading had to ask me last night of all nights.  :blushing:  

Will have to check out Trade me next.  Wonder what he'll think of that.  :lol:

 

 

 

I realized that I literally have a more than three year supply of books, at a rate of 2 per week, on my Kindle.  In my defense I "bought" most of them for free.  The problem?  I generally "buy" more than 2 per week so my virtual pile is going up, not down.

 

Right now I'm reading Call the Nurse.  It's good enough.  It's a memoir of a district nurse on a tiny island in the Hebrides in the 70s.  She has a tendency to ramble on.  I'd prefer more stories of dealing medically with the people on the island.  I'm almost halfway through.

 

I'm reading Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham to the little guys (bedtime story).  They are loving it.  I actually read it a few years ago myself.

 

I'm 42% of the way through Les Mis.  It's slow going, but I'm getting there.  I'm reading Anne of Green Gables and making up comprehension questions as I go along for Fritz for next year.  I have Snake Oil waiting for my next book for the little guys.  It was written by a homeschool mom and she was offering it free in order to get some honest reviews.  And my next book for me will be Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters by Shannon Hale.  I forgot that it came out last month.  I loved the first two Princess Academy books.

 

I've read 34 books so far this year.

 

April books:

Grace Space by Robin Merrill 5/5 stars

Animal Farm by George Orwell 5/5 stars

The Moffats by Eleanor Estes 5/5 stars

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe 5/5 stars

The Power of Everyday Missionaries by Clayton M. Christensen 4/5 stars

Mafia to Mormons by Mario Falcione 5/5 stars

Homer Price by Robert McCloskey 5/5 stars

The House of Whispers by William Le Queux 2/5 stars

Lisa and Lottie by Erich Kastner 5/5 stars

 

I seriously have some weirdly eclectic tastes in books!  And April had a nice run on mostly excellent books.

:hurray: Keep plugging away on Les Miz.  One of these days I'll try diving in.

 

I'm trying to read some work from a different poet each week. Some are new to me, some not. Recently I've been looking at Akhmatova, Brodsky, and Frost. This week I was inspired to look into James Dickey, who wrote a poem about cancer that was referenced in the NY Times this week. I am not sure I like Dickey, overall, even though I do find an echo of Gerard Manley Hopkins in his work. But I do like this poem, The Bee:

 

https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/bee

 

It's about how, when he had to rescue his young son from a bee, he felt the voice of his long-dead college football coach urging him to greater speed than he thought he was capable of. Enjoy!

 

I'm hoping to be able to contribute to this thread in future weeks. Thanks for starting it!

Hi Nyssa. Thanks for dropping by.  I  love Frost - enjoyed the link to The Bee. Interesting Poem.

[Violet Crown]

This week I finished St. Francis de Sales' classic, Introduction to the Devout Life. The modern translation by John K. Ryan captures Francis' conversational approach nicely; the spiritual advice is perennially relevant (if it's your sort of thing); and the steady flow of anecdotes and analogies drawn from questionable natural history keeps it all colorful and interesting.

 

"But when a test comes, we see how different it is. Just as in the hot summer passing showers send down great drops that fall on the earth but do not sink into it and serve only to produce mushrooms, so also these tender tears fall on a vicious heart but do not penetrate inside and are completely useless to it.... The good feelings they experience are no better than spiritual mushrooms."

 

Now to finish The Aunt's Story. And then we're on to Dante?

[Ali in OR]

April has been crazy--not much time for reading or even sleeping! Now it's 9:38 on Sunday night and there are only 16 posts before mine, so there must be other folks wrapped up in other things too. Life hopefully should be a bit calmer now--hope to get back to reading.

 

I did manage to finish Terry Pratchett's Reaper Man today. I enjoyed it and would laugh out loud at little throw-away comments here and there. But I do feel like I missed some major plot points. Never figured out how Bill Door became Death again for instance. Probably my April distractedness. Glad I'm not trying to read anything harder. I would like to finish up Out of the Silent Planet before April is over, but it takes a little more concentration than I've had recently. I need to return Sarah Addison Allen's First Frost to the library at the end of the week so that one is up next. I'm assuming that I won't have to think too hard for that one!

 

Too tired to hit quote or even like buttons tonight, but JennW--got a crown recently and was amazed by recent crown technology. No temporary and I watched the dentist "design" the crown on the computer monitor. Butter, we're going to see Les Mis next month. Would love to read it again but it probably won't happen before the show. Have a good week everyone.

[Guest]

Last week seems to have been a week of dusty Kindle books...

 

I'll list everything else below, but the highlights were:

 

Wild Life by Molly Gloss: I've been meaning to read this for ages, and now I am eager to read some of her other books as well.  The plot descriptions are very spoiler-y while managing, I think, to miss the heart of the book.  This is a feminist book, on a number of levels, but it is also an intensely realistic book with a captivating (to me at least) voice.  I found this both captivating and thought provoking.  Stacia and Pam I thought of you both while reading this.

 

The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford: I've avoided this book for years.  The plot description is squicky and has elements that usually push me right out of a story.  ...but this, unpleasant though its topic is, is a brilliant book.  I can't say I enjoyed it, but Ford'd literary repuptation is, imho, well earned even if this were his only accomplishment.  ...maybe I will actually try Lolita someday.  This is another book I can credit Julian Barnes for inspiring me to read... his essays on Ford in the essay collection I read last year, got me to load the book on my Kindle and contemplate, perhaps, reading it one day.

 

A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute: I preferred the first half of the book to the second. The second half felt like a romance novel.  A reasonably tasteful, intelligent romance novel, but that isn't a genre that excites me.  The first half was dynamite historical fiction... rather pop-fiction, and often predictable, but the voice and balance drew me right in and didnt' let me go until we entered the other stage of the story.

 

plays: Knight of the Burning Pestle (very silly, but I enjoyed it), Man and Superman (I didn't appreciate this as much this time around, though I can't not enjoy Shaw), and Devil's Disciple (more predictable and sentimental than many Shaw plays, but I must have been in the right mood for it)

 

poetry: The Solitudes (Spanish classic, loaded with literary allusions, never says anything directly it could say with sideways references, very pretty), War is Kind & The Black Riders both by Crane.  Some of these were splendid, others painful, in a not impressive way, others meh), Poems & Ballads of Heine (also a mix, but the sentimental ones suited my mood better)

 

assorted: The Blazing World (Margaret Cavendish's work from which the modern novel took its title),  Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow (I liked 3 Men in a Boat better, but this was frequently delightful, and always diverting), and The Mermaid's Quilt (a mix of short stories and poems, I read this before the Heine and got a jolt when I kept encountering similar themes in his poetry)

 

 

[Guest]

I posted at the end of last week's thread about finishing Guantánamo Diary by Mohamedou Ould Slahi. There is one more note I meant to write about it, but forgot to put with my original post. At one point, Slahi had no access to reading materials of any kind. That was for quite awhile (I'm thinking at least a few years, but I don't exactly know). Later, he earns the privilege of getting a pillow. One of the best things about getting it? It had a tag on it -- meaning he now had something that he could read, so he read the tag over & over after having no reading materials for such a long time. Thought this might really resonate with the readers here....

 

I am not brave enough for this book right now, but it is on my list - and is something I feel I ought to read when I am able.  Thank you for drawing our attention to this.

 

...that resonates too much, love.  I will be extra aware of the richness in my life this week.

[TeacherZee]

I realized that I literally have a more than three year supply of books, at a rate of 2 per week, on my Kindle.  In my defense I "bought" most of them for free.  The problem?  I generally "buy" more than 2 per week so my virtual pile is going up, not down.

 

Right now I'm reading Call the Nurse.  It's good enough.  It's a memoir of a district nurse on a tiny island in the Hebrides in the 70s.  She has a tendency to ramble on.  I'd prefer more stories of dealing medically with the people on the island.  I'm almost halfway through.

 

Butter I recognize the Kindle "pile" problem. Although I will say that I have had my kindle since Christmas 2006 and this was the first year I had to figure out how to archive things on it.

 

I have been dipping this week. I've read favourite passages of several different books but not been able to settle down to one book. However, I think I have two books arriving on my Kindle tomorrow (I wish there was a way to see just your pre-orders on Amazon).

 

Other than that I read essays, and I will be reading essays. with 6 weeks left for Seniors to hand in assignments, 7 weeks for juniors and sophmores and national tests I am DROWNING in essays. At least the seniors are CAE prep essays and they are only 200-300 words so it should be quick, on the other hand, I need to hand them back to them by next week. I should NOT have left this for last minute. Please please please let me not have English 7 when the staffing for next year comes out later today.

[Nan in Mass]

I finished Dawn Treader, my C. S. Lewis.  It is an old friend.  I have always thought it did a good job of capturing what it feels like to be a child sailing to an unknown island and exploring it and then sailing to another and another.  For me, this is more of a childhood feeling than an adult feeling because we have been unadventurous and are still sailing in the same set of islands that I explored as a child, but I watched my children do the same thing and every year, we try to explore at least one new island, so the feeling isn't all the way gone.  Some day we will explore new seas again.  There are a few locations that we dream over. : )

 

Stacia - I am happy that you posted about the Guatanamo diary.  It is a good thing that it probably doesn't contain any information I don't already know or guess at because there is no way I could read it at this point of my life.  Knowing is one thing, living through it by reading a book is another thing altogether.  Your pillow example is appreciated.

 

The last of the snow in our yard has melted!

 

Nan

[Chrysalis Academy]

Last week seems to have been a week of dusty Kindle books...

 

I'll list everything else below, but the highlights were:

 

 

 

The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford: I've avoided this book for years.  The plot description is squicky and has elements that usually push me right out of a story.  ...but this, unpleasant though its topic is, is a brilliant book.  I can't say I enjoyed it, but Ford'd literary repuptation is, imho, well earned even if this were his only accomplishment.  ...maybe I will actually try Lolita someday.  This is another book I can credit Julian Barnes for inspiring me to read... his essays on Ford in the essay collection I read last year, got me to load the book on my Kindle and contemplate, perhaps, reading it one day.

 

 

 

I'm glad you mentioned this, it's been on my "should read" list for awhile. Maybe I will motivate to read it one day. Lolita, despite the subject matter, is one of my favorite books. It just grabbed me in the gut at an age/stage where the idea of an unreliable narrator, a completely repulsive anti-hero, could crawl into your brain and evoke - something you can't quite name. It's still one of my favorite books of all time, although I am totally unable to analyze it. My book group read it together a couple of years ago, and I don't think I've ever been so inarticulate in trying to discuss a loved book.

 

Anyway, I'll have to dust Ford off and give him a try one of these days.

[Nan in Mass]

Rose, have you read Reading Lolita in Tehran?  Did you like it? (Just curious...)

 

Nan

[Chrysalis Academy]

Rose, have you read Reading Lolita in Tehran?  Did you like it? (Just curious...)

 

Nan

 

No, I haven't read it. Should I?

[Chrysalis Academy]

Ok, here's my pocket poem - a little something for you intrepid readers of Pilgrim's Progress, a book I've never managed to read:

 

Utopia ------------------- By Wislawa Szymborska

Island where all becomes clear.

Solid ground beneath your feet.

The only roads are those that offer access.

Bushes bend beneath the weight of proofs.

The Tree of Valid Supposition grows here
with branches disentangled since time immemorial.

The Tree of Understanding, dazzlingly straight and simple,
sprouts by the spring called Now I Get It.

The thicker the woods, the faster the vista:
The Valley of Obviously.

If any doubts arise, the wind dispels them instantly.

Echoes stir unsummoned
and eagerly explain all the secrets of the worlds.

On the right a cave where Meaning lies.

On the left the Lake of Deep Conviction.
Truth breaks from the bottom and bobs to the surface.

Unshakable Confidence towers over the valley.
Its peak offers an excellent view of the Essence of Things.

For all its charms, the island is uninhabited,
and the faint footprints scattered on its beaches
turn without exception to the sea.

As if all you can do here is leave
and plunge, never to return, into the depths.

Into unfathomable life.

 

[Cinder]

I'm making decent progress on part 2 of 1Q84. I decided to put Wool into hibernation because it's not grabbing me the way 1Q84 is. Finished Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers last week. I'm always a bit sad to say goodbye to those characters until the come around again. Finished Deadly Waters as a read-aloud with dd. As I mentioned earlier this is one of the national parks mystery series by Gloria Skurzynski. Story lines are a bit contrived but still a reasonably pleasant read-aloud. Starting Penderwicks in Spring as the next read-aloud. My library *finally* got this title out; it's only been a month. :glare:  And also for me, I'm starting Pieces and Players by Blue Balliett. I like her stories and it's a nice, light read compared to the heavier 1Q84.

 

[Just Robyn]

The Professor and the Siren,

 

The Autobiography of a Corpse by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky). 

 

 

 

Thank you. I am trying to read more short stories and put both of these on my to-read list.

[Nan in Mass]

Rose - I don't know.  I haven't read Lolita, so it is hard for me to guess, even if I knew you better.  I have a feeling that RLiT might focus on an aspect of Lolita other than the one that you liked, making the two books very unrelated to each other for you?  In the book, some girls in Tehran read some Western classics, among them Lolita.  I think maybe Lolita was picked from amongst them for the title because for girls in Tehran, some of Lolita's experiences are common?  But maybe I am mistaken?  I often read books sideways (to me, the Dorothy Sayers mystery Five Red Herrings is about painting lol).  I read RLiT for the information about life in Tehran, not for the commentary on literature, and I as I said, I haven't read Lolita or some of the other classics the girls read.  So - I don't know if you want to read it or not.  It is NOT a fun read.  I didn't read it for fun.  I read it as part of my quest to find out more about women's lives in other places in the world, something I began at a time when it became obvious my life was going to be the shape of a typical traditional woman's life.  Was it you who asked how people survive bad things?  If so, this book does address that question, somewhat.  Or at least it did for me.

 

Nan

 

ETA - Thank you for posting the poem.

[Just Robyn]

I finally finished The Jungle, and thought it was much better than other books I've read that were perhaps written more with the intent of getting a message out than doing a literary thought experiment. Now I've got Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 2 sitting here, but I can't make myself start it. The formatting is so bad. Sigh. So I've just been reading writing books while avoiding Shakespeare and not allowing myself to start anything else because I think I ought to read the Shakespeare first. 

[mumto2]

As some of you already know the Cat in the Stacks mystery series is one of my favourites in the cozy genre. Well written with interesting characters, a really cool cat, and the endings actually truly make sense. You actually know the murderer as a character and are usually a bit surprised that they did it, but can believe it.

 

The author, Miranda James, has started a new series starring some reoccurring characters from his (author is a man in real life) cat in the stacks series. I just read the first one and really enjoyed it. Bless Her Dead Little Heart can stand alone.http://www.catinthestacks.com/southernladies.html

[Little Nyssa]

I have never read Lolita, or wanted to, but Reading Lolita in Tehran made me think it might be worth it. She places it within the stream of western literature in a way that made it seem interesting & valuable.

[idnib]

I've never read Lolita either but I've heard so many good things about the reading by Jeremy Irons I'll probably just do that if I get around to it. I've become aware of Nabakov's admiration for Ulysses, which I admit I've become a bit obsessed about, and that makes me want to read Nabokov more than before.

[TeacherZee]

My poem in a pocket is "Ja visst gör det ont" by Karin Boye

 

Ja visst gör det ont

Ja visst gör det ont när knoppar brister.
Varför skulle annars våren tveka?
Varför skulle all vår heta längtan
bindas i det frusna bitterbleka?
Höljet var ju knoppen hela vintern.
Vad är det för nytt, som tär och spränger?
Ja visst gör det ont när knoppar brister,
ont för det som växer
och det som stänger.

Ja nog är det svårt när droppar faller.
Skälvande av ängslan tungt de hänger,
klamrar sig vid kvisten, sväller, glider -
tyngden drar dem neråt, hur de klänger.
Svårt att vara oviss, rädd och delad,
svårt att känna djupet dra och kalla,
ändå sitta kvar och bara darra -
svårt att vilja stanna
och vilja falla.

Då, när det är värst och inget hjälper,
Brister som i jubel trädets knoppar.
Då, när ingen rädsla längre håller,
faller i ett glitter kvistens droppar
glömmer att de skrämdes av det nya
glömmer att de ängslades för färden -
känner en sekund sin största trygghet,
vilar i den tillit
som skapar världen.

 

Translated into English by David McDuff and Jenny Nunn

[Stacia]

The talk about Reading Lolita in Tehran is making me think of another book that involves reading (banned) Western classics, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie. I've never read RLiT (nor Lolita itself), so I don't know how the books compare, but the mentions of it made me think of Sijie's book, a favorite of mine.

 

Also, for those mentioning Guantanamo Diary.... It is surprisingly readable & you may be able to get through it more easily than you think you could. There are definitely things that are harsh, but the manner of the writing makes it easier to read, I think. Perhaps it is because Slahi often looks for the humanity within himself & others (even his interrogators) & leans on God. All the blacked-out words/sections (by gov't censors) also make it interesting, along with the various footnotes.

[Junie]

 

I'm reading Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham to the little guys (bedtime story).  They are loving it.  I actually read it a few years ago myself.

 

My ds14 and dd12 both really liked them.  I thought they were pretty good, too. :)

[Junie]

Gave up on The Once and Future King.  Ds said that he wasn't interested and he was the chief reason I was trying to trudge through it.  Unexpected language issues and no Marvelous Mad Madame Mim.  Apparently Disney made her up.

 

Read Dragonwings by Laurence Yep.  Dd 12 has been begging for more books to read. 

 

I am partway through the Count of Monte Cristo (more readable than I expected, but impossible to read with a headache and 6 kids rambling about the house).

 

About halfway through Spoon River Anthology.  I'm not much for poetry, but I remember enjoying this in American Lit in high school.  One of our assignments was to write our own poem in Masters' style.  I wrote my sister's epitaph; in it she was gloating about revenge she got on me and took to her grave.  I think I still have it somewhere...

 

I'm also working my way through the Old Testament.  This week is Jeremiah and maybe Lamentations.

 

Kind of eclectic reading, eh?

[Nan in Mass]

Gave up on The Once and Future King.  Ds said that he wasn't interested and he was the chief reason I was trying to trudge through it.  Unexpected language issues and no Marvelous Mad Madame Mim.  Apparently Disney made her up.

 

Read Dragonwings by Laurence Yep.  Dd 12 has been begging for more books to read. 

 

I am partway through the Count of Monte Cristo (more readable than I expected, but impossible to read with a headache and 6 kids rambling about the house).

 

About halfway through Spoon River Anthology.  I'm not much for poetry, but I remember enjoying this in American Lit in high school.  One of our assignments was to write our own poem in Masters' style.  I wrote my sister's epitaph; in it she was gloating about revenge she got on me and took to her grave.  I think I still have it somewhere...

 

I'm also working my way through the Old Testament.  This week is Jeremiah and maybe Lamentations.

 

Kind of eclectic reading, eh?

 

Eclectic is right lol.

 

I did Sword in the Stone with my children and skipped The Once and Future King.  I remember liking it when I read it in high school, but haven't tried it since so have no idea if I would still like it.  Sword in the Stone is different.  That I have read many times since.  I also love the Disney movie.  So do my boys (now adults).  They are still quoting it.  And still talking about the book. Your son might like the audio book of Sword in the Stone?  There may be no Mad Madame Mim, but there are the ants.  And there are some great quotes in the book, as well.  One bit, especially, I have kept in mind my whole life:

 

“'The best thing for being sad,' replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, 'is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails.'â€

― T.H.White

 

(I found this on the internet.  Hopefully it is quoted correctly.)

 

Nan

[Kareni]

I just finished Colleen Hoover's Confess: A Novel;  it was an enjoyable (with moments of tears) read.

 

"At age twenty-one, Auburn Reed has already lost everything important to her. In her fight to rebuild her shattered life, she has her goals in sight and there is no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry.

For once, Auburn takes a chance and puts her heart in control, only to discover that Owen is keeping a major secret from coming out. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it.

To save their relationship, all Owen needs to do is confess. But in this case, the confession could be much more destructive than the actual sin."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Stacia]

I said I was going to continue Going Postal, but I did pick up one of the books in my library pile & gave it a try. It's no secret that, somehow, French novels & I generally do not seem to click. (The exception being books by Alexandre Dumas.)

 

I found Pig Tales by Marie Darrieussecq on a list of surreal or weird books & was surprised my library had it. It's quite short & I read about a third, but am stopping. It's not my cup of tea, I'm not finding the (dark) humor funny, the satire/dystopia is not to my liking. Mentioning it because it's something I tried (& discarded), but maybe it will appeal to anyone who enjoys surreal French satire/dystopia. Apparently, it was wildly popular in France when it was published (late 1990s, I think) & was a Prix Goncourt finalist. Me -------> :confused: . 

 

:lol:

 

And I have to post these summaries because I find the comment about Jerry Lewis funny.

 

Amazon.com Review

Franz Kafka meets George Orwell in this dark, dystopian tale. Set in Paris in the near future, the story revolves around a young woman who works as a beautician and masseuse, for whom happiness is derived from perfumes, shampoos, and generally hedonistic pursuits. One day she realizes she is slowly (and quite literally) becoming a pig. Life as a neophyte porker, she discovers, isn't all that bad, though it does contain some unique dangers. She remains extremely popular with her massage customers, who take unusual glee in adopting her barnyard ways. Unfortunately, it is difficult for a pig to find true love in a human world; abandoned by her lover, her days blur into an endless stream of swine-like debauchery. Then she meets Yvan, a young corporate type who sometimes becomes a wolf. Pig Tales, a Prix Goncourt finalist and overnight sensation in France (where they believe Jerry Lewis to be a comic genius), is Marie Darrieussecq's first book.

 

From Publishers Weekly
  "I suspect that any publisher who agrees to take on this manuscript will be heading for trouble," admits the unnamed female narrator of this brash first novel, which is set in France in the not-too-distant future. The narrator works in a beauty/massage parlor and becomes distressed by her gradual transformation into a werepig. Much of this progression is documented by her increasing appetites for food and sex, but also by her ruddying complexion, narrowing eyes and the appearance of a corkscrewing tail. The world, too, seems to be transforming itself, as external events intrude on the narrator's life: revolutions, counterrevolutions, feasts, famines and epidemics. It all points, albeit vaguely, to a satire of French far-right politics. As for the protagonist, she suffers through perils but emerges, her naivete intact, essentially unbowed. The novel's 20-something author is a French schoolteacher with a sharp pen and a strong eye for quirk. Some of the ancillary characters, such as Yvan the aristocratic werewolf, pack a pizazzful punch, but Pig Tales keeps striking the same notes over and over: from the worship of flesh/meat on the bone to the constant porcine puns, this short book tires out much too fast. (May) FYI: Pig Tales is currently selling 3000 copies a day in France, and a film version, to be directed by Jean-Luc Godard, is in the works.
 

 

Blah. This one goes back in the 'return to library' pile.

[NoseInABook]

I only managed to read Tana French's In The Woods this week and I feel so let down. There weren't any ANSWERS. Come ON. I hate it when books end like that. *sighs* 

I started Patrick McGrath's Asylum. I watched the movie a month ago and wanted to see if there was more to it in the book because it was very intriguing and unsettling all at once.

[Robin M]

Interestingly enough, at the end of Rock Hard, there was a recommendation for Raising Cane by Kelli Ireland.  Check it out on amazon and downloaded. Quite good.

 

Dani Fayel’s backbreaking job as a stable hand at The Freaks’ Fair isn’t glamorous, but for someone looking to keep to the shadows? It’s perfect. Neither paranormal freaks nor human norms ever notice her. But when Dani is forced to either let a child die in order to maintain her anonymity or choose to save him and risk being discovered, she finds herself unwillingly thrust into the spotlight.

Cain, Hell’s premier assassin and a predatory incubus, is close to fulfilling his final contract and earning his freedom. Hired by the Archangel of Death to find his daughter, Cain follows her trail to the Fair. He works undercover, certain his mark is inside one of the portable canopies or traveling cages. Dead or alive, she equals his ticket to freedom.

When Cain’s objective is divulged, Dani realizes she can’t outrun her destiny. As the fabled Key—the one soul with absolute free will who is tied to the three realms of Heaven, Earth and Hell—only she is capable of opening the gates for the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Whoever frees the Horsemen allegedly commands them. Now both Heaven and Hell are vying for her allegiance, and there are no limits as to how dirty they’ll fight to obtain it. With Hell raining indiscriminate chaos as Heaven maneuvers its players around her, Dani realizes her would-be assassin may be the only man capable of helping her survive.

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, work is exciting today. Just a block away we have cops surrounding a house where a man is holed up after shooting his wife/girlfriend? Swat and Sirens and helicopters. Intersection blocked off. The guy has been shooting at the police.  Having to tell customers they may want to wait awhile since side streets are crazy with traffic. Plus the police are asking people to stay away from the area. We are fine. A whole strip mall on the other side of the street between us and the house.

[mumto2]

Robin, I know you are fine but if you could check in from home tonight that would be great. ;) I just like excitement in my books not real life!

[Violet Crown]

I am not enjoying Patrick White so much as I had hoped.

 

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

 

"You would not know," said the General. "It takes a lifetime to unravel the history of such impostors. And you have arrived by the morning train."

 

She began to feel this without the telling. But it was something she had suspected all her life. Now she knew. She walked with her hat in her hands, the big straw with the unfortunate sallow ribbons, she walked to where her mother sat, saying in her small, horn, interminable voice: Here is Theodora, we were discussing whether, but of course Theodora would not know, Theodora has just arrived.

 

"It is often a virtue," the General said quickly.

 

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

 

Now Theodora, our protagonist, did not actually walk to where her mother was sitting. Her mother died in the first section of the book, freeing Theodora to leave the Australian countryside, which is why she's now in a French pension talking to a Russian general. In fact, Theodora didn't walk anywhere in this scene; she's (probably) still sitting in the dining room listening to the General. Whether she's actually got a hat with her is unclear.

 

White likes to do this sort of thing rather a lot, sometimes for a few pages, often to the great confusion of this reader who is trying to follow along between lessons and with frequent interruptions, and I find myself perpetually unsure of where and when Theodora is doing whatever she's doing, or possibly not actually doing, and bewildered. And I'm not sure this book is good enough to justify the amount of sustained attention it's asking of me.

 

On the other hand, I'm learning lots of Australian. Jackeroo, sawny, slommacky, brumbies!

[Rosie_0801]

On the other hand, I'm learning lots of Australian. Jackeroo, sawny, slommacky, brumbies!

 

We do actually use the bolded. The other two are archaic and I've never heard them.

 

A female jackaroo is, as I'm sure you'd guess, a jillaroo!

[idnib]

My pocket poem:

 

 

I Am Vertical

 

by Sylvia Plath

 

But I would rather be horizontal.

I am not a tree with my root in the soil

Sucking up minerals and motherly love

So that each March I may gleam into leaf,

Nor am I the beauty of a garden bed

Attracting my share of Ahs and spectacularly painted,

Unknowing I must soon unpetal.

Compared with me, a tree is immortal

And a flower-head not tall, but more startling,

And I want the one's longevity and the other's daring.

 

Tonight, in the infinitesimallight of the stars,

The trees and the flowers have been strewing their cool odors.

I walk among them, but none of them are noticing.

Sometimes I think that when I am sleeping

I must most perfectly resemble them--

Thoughts gone dim.

It is more natural to me, lying down.

Then the sky and I are in open conversation,

And I shall be useful when I lie down finally:

Then the trees may touch me for once, and the flowers have time for me.

[Robin M]

Robin, I know you are fine but if you could check in from home tonight that would be great. ;) I just like excitement in my books not real life!

 

:grouphug:

 

 

 

The man finally gave up and surrendered.  No one else got hurt thankfully.  We just got the all clear about 1/2 hour ago.

[Stacia]

:grouphug:

 

 

 

The man finally gave up and surrendered.  No one else got hurt thankfully.  We just got the all clear about 1/2 hour ago.

 

Glad you checked back in, Robin, & that all is safe.

[Angel]

 

 The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women Across the Ancient World.  They are all interesting. 

 

 

I'll be waiting to hear how this book turns out.  After reading The Lost Sisterhood by Anne Fortier last year, I admit to being curious about the Amazons.  

 

Short stories are not really my thing.  I sometimes wonder if I have too much of a need to make emotional commitments to characters or even to places presented in books.  

:iagree:  I enjoyed the Sherlock Holmes stories this year but I did want, more, I guess.  I just don't pick up short stories, or even novellas for that matter.  

 

 

 And my next book for me will be Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters by Shannon Hale.  I forgot that it came out last month.  I loved the first two Princess Academy books.

 

 

Dd's love the Princess Academy books.  Have you read The Goose Girl series by Shannon Hale?  They are also favorites.

 

I finished Dawn Treader, my C. S. Lewis.  It is an old friend.  I have always thought it did a good job of capturing what it feels like to be a child sailing to an unknown island and exploring it and then sailing to another and another.  For me, this is more of a childhood feeling than an adult feeling because we have been unadventurous and are still sailing in the same set of islands that I explored as a child, but I watched my children do the same thing and every year, we try to explore at least one new island, so the feeling isn't all the way gone.  Some day we will explore new seas again.  There are a few locations that we dream over. : )

 

The last of the snow in our yard has melted!

 

Nan

I love your description of how The Voyage of the Dawn Treader makes you feel!

 

And EEK!  to the last of the snow melting!  I'm glad it's gone!

 

 

Meanwhile, work is exciting today. Just a block away we have cops surrounding a house where a man is holed up after shooting his wife/girlfriend? Swat and Sirens and helicopters. Intersection blocked off. The guy has been shooting at the police.  Having to tell customers they may want to wait awhile since side streets are crazy with traffic. Plus the police are asking people to stay away from the area. We are fine. A whole strip mall on the other side of the street between us and the house.

Wow! that's crazy!

[Chrysalis Academy]

I'll be waiting to hear how this book turns out.  After reading The Lost Sisterhood by Anne Fortier last year, I admit to being curious about the Amazons.  

 

 

 

Oh, how was that?

[Jane in NC]

A pocket poem that no one who knows me will be surprised by:

 

in Just-

spring          when the world is mud-

luscious the little

lame balloonman

whistles          far          and wee

and eddieandbill come

running from marbles and

piracies and it's

spring

when the world is puddle-wonderful

the queer

old balloonman whistles

far          and             wee

and bettyandisbel come dancing

from hop-scotch and jump-rope and

it's

spring

and

         the

                  goat-footed

balloonMan          whistles

far

and

wee

 

--e.e. cummings