Book A week 2015 - W19: Happy Mother's Day

[mumto2]

Oh Nan, I am so sorry. :grouphug:

[Jane in NC]

Nan darling,

 

May all in your clan find peace.

 

Love and hugs,

Jane

[-M-]

What archery books did you read?

 

Nan

 

â–  Shooting Arrows: Archery for Adult Beginners (Steve Ruis; 2012 124 pages. Non-fiction.)

■ Beginner’s Guide to Traditional Archery (Brian J. Sorrells; 2004 122 pages. Non-fiction.)

 

Beginner's was a reread. A few years back, Herrigel's Zen in the Art of Archery was recommended to me, so now that I've finished the compulsively readable So You've Been Publicly Shamed (Jon Ronson), I may turn to that, but Greenfield's The Subprimes is already calling to me, I have not yet finished my rereading of The Stand and Sense and Sensibility, so....

 

ETA: I am sorry for your family's loss. My thoughts are with you and your family.

[Robin M]

:grouphug: Nan.

[Halcyon]

Hugs Nan.

 

I am reading the Storied Life of AJ Fikhry in addition to everything else lol and I really like it so far. http://www.amazon.com/The-Storied-Life-A-Fikry/dp/1616204516

 

If you have Kindle Unlimited (I do) it's free.

[Kareni]

My sympathies to those who have recently lost someone they cared for (Nan, Jane, others).

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Halcyon]

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

18 Arcadia by Lauren Groff

19 We are All Completely Beside Ourselves

20 One Thousand Gifts

21 ordinary light by tracy k smith-current

22. The Storied Life of AJ Fikhry-current

 

 

[Kareni]

My husband and I just finished listening to the audio book we started while on our vacation in Arizona.  We both enjoyed it, so I recommend it highly.   It was a fun book to listen to as the author has an incredible way with language -- lots of curious turns of phrase.

 

Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard

 

Read this very entertaining review as it is what brought the book to my attention initially ~ Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard ...  This review covers material in more than the first book in the series.

 

This review is more indicative of the content of the initial book ~ Johannes Cabal Review

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

 

[Stacia]

My husband and I just finished listening to the audio book we started while on our vacation in Arizona.  We both enjoyed it, so I recommend it highly.   It was a fun book to listen to as the author has an incredible way with language -- lots of curious turns of phrase.

 

Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard

 

Read this very entertaining review as it is what brought the book to my attention initially ~ Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard ...  This review covers material in more than the first book in the series.

 

This review is more indicative of the content of the initial book ~ Johannes Cabal Review

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

Oh, this has been on my to-read list for a long time. Unfortunately, my library system has the second book, but not the first. Glad to hear it's a good one. I may just have to go ahead & purchase it.

 

[Butter]

I have an announcement to make!

 

I am HALFWAY THROUGH Les Mis.

 

Please throw a party.  Thank you.

[Stacia]

I have an announcement to make!

 

I am HALFWAY THROUGH Les Mis.

 

Please throw a party.  Thank you.

 

:lol:

 

[idnib]

It should be on one of the picture book shelves in our library... now I want to go put my hands on it and read it to my little guy.

 

Who gave it to you?  ...and I should ask my mother how she found it... 

 

I can't remember. I think it was a couple who came to our house for a dinner party and brought gifts for the children. I'll have to ask my parents when I get a chance.

[Lady Florida.]

:grouphug: Nan  :grouphug:

[aggieamy]

 

 

 

And if this works, here is an image of my middle child reading Children's Guide to Knowledge. I think that pic is twelve years old now.

 

 

ETA: Richard Scary's A Story a Day: 365 Stories and Rhymes was another important book in my early childhood.

 

Whoa.  Blast from the past.  I had that book.  I would have never remembered the title but I know that cover.  

 

My parents were engineers and didn't read to children, or indeed to themselves outside of reports and trade journals. I think I've over-compensated.  :)

 

My kids have two engineers for parents so it's a relief to know that you turned out okay.  There's hope for them.  :laugh:

 

 

Recently someone asked for suggestions on newer books about writing -- here's a site with many reviews that might prove helpful.

 

Writing Slices

Reading the Books that Teach You to Write

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

 

 

That was me!  Thank you!

 

Well, she,s gone. Sniff sniff. Another elder clan member died this morning. In many ways we are very happy because she was in great pain, getting weaker every day, and hated being a burden. And it was managed so she died at my sister,s house. Bless hospice. She was such a strong lady. Iit isn't,t like this is a surprise. We,ve been expecting her to go any day. But I am going to miss her very much. I played recorder with her and we had dinner together once a week and did yoga with her twice a week... to say nothing of the numerous family events. She made a long illness look doable. My sister made her a nest in the corner of the library/dining room, and there she lay, all cuddled up under bookcases with the cat comforting her legs and a view of the lovely big trees and her garden (it used to be her house). For a lifelong book lover, it looked ideal.

Nan

 

((HUGS))  I am so so sorry.  

 

[SunnyDays]

Oh, Nan.  :grouphug:  I'm so sorry.  Blessings and comfort to you and your clan. 

 

 

I'm on a cozy mystery kick.  Barreling through the Booktown Mysteries series by Lorna Barrett, starting book 3.  I read the first few a couple years back, so re-reading those and then adding the more current titles.

 

[mumto2]

 

I'm on a cozy mystery kick. Barreling through the Booktown Mysteries series by Lorna Barrett, starting book 3. I read the first few a couple years back, so re-reading those and then adding the more current titles.

I read a few of those last year. I need to figure out where I was start again before I need to reread!

 

Yesterday I read Gideon's Sword by Preston/Childshttps://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/douglas-preston/gideons-sword/ajd ended up being really entertained. It was a good action adventure story with an accidental spy. Sort of a MacGyver main character. After planning and executing a brilliant revenge campaign against his father's enemy he is forced to work for a company doing similar work. That sentence makes this book sound a bit boring but I don't want to spoil it for anyone....fluffy spy stuff not romance, but some here would enjoy. Plan to read the rest in the series.

[Kareni]

Fans of steampunk might enjoy this article; the art is impressive ~

 

Russian Artist Creates Steampunk Animals From Old Car Parts, Watches And Electronics

 

Regards,

Kareni

[redsquirrel]

just popping in to say that I am still soldiering on with The Golden Notebook. I am NOT loving this book. I just...I just... a couple days ago I had to read pages and pages about the insufficiency of clitoral orgasms versus vaginal ones and please just shoot me. I detest, I abhor, I loathe what that time in history said about women and their bodies and their desires and their truths.  I read it while literally gritting my teeth, heck my eyes were screwed into slits.  I thought I had got through that only to then start a new part of the story and I am being treated to the character's Freudian analysis so now we are on to frigidity.  Oh joy!

 

I am treating the book as education and not edification. That said, I haven't picked it up in several days.

[Stacia]

You are persistent, redsquirrel. I tried The Golden Notebook two different times & never made it more than about 8 or 10 pages before stopping.

 

For now, I'm setting aside The Prince. Too many things going on right now & I just don't have the brain power to devote to reading it the way I want to. It remains on my to-read list & I'll get to it down the road.

 

For fun, I've started Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams.

[Violet Crown]

Hugs and condolences to you and your clan, Nan.

 

Finished Henry James, The Other House. The first book James wrote after his disastrous and personally humiliating failure at writing for the stage, the first half of The Other House really does read as if it were a script rewritten in novel form. Too much exterior, not enough interior. One can see why James would have been a terrible playwright: his characters gasp, or glance quickly at others, or just stand silently, in ways loaded with significance and unspoken mutual understandings crucial to following the action. He really needs the paragraph of allusive explication after each pregnant darted look.

 

Thomas Hardy special: courtesy of the sidebar of the Lost in Wessex blog, the Thomas Hardy Plot generator.

http://lostinwessex.blogspot.com

 

Now I should resume Dante, but homeschooling duty summons me to Dickens, alas.

 

ETA: No aspersions meant to be cast on engineers! It takes all types to make a world.

[Violet Crown]

On re-reading my above post, it sounds as if The Other House is a bad novel. To the contrary, it's quite good, if fairly unlike his later work. It's just strangely stagey in the first half.

[Runningmom80]

I started Sue Monk Kidd's newest book "The Invention of Wings." 

 

I'm still woefully behind.  It looks like I may have a hernia repair surgery in my future, I'm sure I'll catch up then!

[Jane in NC]

I started Sue Monk Kidd's newest book "The Invention of Wings." 

 

I'm still woefully behind.  It looks like I may have a hernia repair surgery in my future, I'm sure I'll catch up then!

 

Yikes! I "liked" your post but I am truly sorry that you require surgery.  Hugs to you.

[Kareni]

Regarding The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz ~
 

I will be curious to hear what you think of Oscar Wao. I read about half the book a couple of years ago during our house move. I set it down because I was too busy to concentrate on it and had problems getting back into it. Gave up and returned it.

 
My group met to discuss the book last night, and we had a lively discussion (one of the best we've had).
 
Some random comments ~
 
The book contains a lot of Spanish (or perhaps it's Dominican patois); I realize how accustomed I am to an author using a foreign word/phrase/sentence and then ensuring that the reader understands its meaning in the next few sentences.  Diaz does not do this.  One of our group (who has a fairly good command of Spanish) was frustrated that she did not understand more.  Another said the author made her feel ignorant.  Two of us just read on and picked up what we could.
 
The book contains many footnotes which serve to explain the historical circumstances in which the book is set.  Many are written with a goodly amount of wit.  I was the only one who read the book in a paper version, so I encountered the footnotes (and read them) as they appeared on the page.  Two of the group read the book on Kindles and so found a boatload of endnotes which they only skimmed.  Our fourth member listened to the audiobook and was unaware of the presence of footnotes at all.  She believes, but is not certain, that the reader simply read them at an appropriate time.
 
Three of the group has no interest in reading any more by Diaz.  I have no objection to doing so.
 
Overall, I found the book to be a dense read in the sense that there was a lot of meat on the page.  I was not able to read it as quickly as I generally read fiction.  (This is not a criticism of Oscar Wao but probably speaks more to the depth of those books I usually read!)  The author has written the books in sections which focus on one character at a time.  The first change was particularly jarring as all of us believed that the character being invited to investigate the lump in his mother's breast was the son rather than the daughter.  The sections also went back and forth in time as the focal characters (from different generations) varied.  I felt as though I might have benefited from taking a few notes to keep straight which events happened to which character.  All that said, I'm happy to have read the book though it's almost certain that had the book not been a book group book, I would have set it aside.

 

I'll be interested to hear if you decide to pick the book up again at some point, mumto2!

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Stacia]

Runningmom80, hope surgery goes well if you do end up needing it. Hopefully you'll find time to read for fun without having to go through surgery to get the time!

 

Were the boards down for others or was I just in the Twilight Zone for awhile last night & early this morning?

 

I started a new book this morning. It seems, unfortunately, all too timely. No Cause for Indictment: An Autopsy of Newark by Ronald Porambo.

 

"Probably the most moving and instructive book yet written on any of the bloody civil disturbances of the sixties."-The New Yorker

 

The definitive account of the buildup, chaos, and aftermath of one of the worst urban riots in US history: the 1967 Newark riots. Being re-issued on the fortieth anniversary of the devastating event, No Cause For Indictment is a must-read to understand issues still facing urban America: poverty, political corruption, and racism.

 

Forty years ago, Newark's oppressed black majority erupted in revolt and were ruthlessly put down by the police and National Guard units. When other reporters were too afraid, Ronald Porambo walked the streets of Newark and took four years to research and write the whole story. Its publication resulted in two attempts on his life.

 

This edition includes an introduction from the editor of the original manuscript about the tumult surrounding the book's publication, and an afterword interviewing the author about the struggles he faced after publication.

 

FYI, here's some overview info about the riot: On This Day: The Newark Riot.

 

On a completely different note, I looked up a movie because of the Cannes Film Festival & one looks enticing, creepy, enchanting, & disturbing (& not for kids): Tale of Tales, based on three different Neapolitan fairy/folk tales from a collection by 17th-century author Giambattista Basile. (Wondering if Violet Crown &/or any other BaW readers know his fairy tales?) The great cast is what drew me into looking it up in the first place.

 

A review of the film here. From the review:

 

The orthodox industry view would be that this is a difficult product to sell, as it falls into no neat genre or sub-genre – even the obvious Game of Thrones parallels don’t quite get it, as that successful TV franchise is a much more self-aware, post-modern beast than Garrone’s genuine tribute to the ability of folk tales to cut to the quick of our human foibles, desires, dreams and illusions.

<snip>

As with the recently released English translation of the unadulterated first edition of Grimms’ fairy tales, Garrone’s new film reminds us that traditional fables don’t need injections of contemporary relevance to grip, stir and disturb us.

 

You can watch the trailer here. I think this is a movie I'm going to have to see.

[Stacia]

Regarding The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz ~

 

Thanks for sharing all your thoughts on this one. I've never read Oscar Wao, but I've always had it in mind as a book I might read....

 

[Jane in NC]

Thanks for sharing all your thoughts on this one. I've never read Oscar Wao, but I've always had it in mind as a book I might read....

 

 

Stacia, Oscar Wao is a book that I think is up your alley. I was impressed with it and looked forward to reading Diaz's short story collection This is How You Lose Her but unfortunately I could not make much headway into the book.  My mood?  Perhaps. Or possibly that the short story is not my favorite fictional form.  I should probably try again.

[mumto2]

Regarding The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz ~

 

 

My group met to discuss the book last night, and we had a lively discussion (one of the best we've had).

 

Some random comments ~

 

The book contains a lot of Spanish (or perhaps it's Dominican patois); I realize how accustomed I am to an author using a foreign word/phrase/sentence and then ensuring that the reader understands its meaning in the next few sentences. Diaz does not do this. One of our group (who has a fairly good command of Spanish) was frustrated that she did not understand more. Another said the author made her feel ignorant. Two of us just read on and picked up what we could.

 

The book contains many footnotes which serve to explain the historical circumstances in which the book is set. Many are written with a goodly amount of wit. I was the only one who read the book in a paper version, so I encountered the footnotes (and read them) as they appeared on the page. Two of the group read the book on Kindles and so found a boatload of endnotes which they only skimmed. Our fourth member listened to the audiobook and was unaware of the presence of footnotes at all. She believes, but is not certain, that the reader simply read them at an appropriate time.

 

Three of the group has no interest in reading any more by Diaz. I have no objection to doing so.

 

Overall, I found the book to be a dense read in the sense that there was a lot of meat on the page. I was not able to read it as quickly as I generally read fiction. (This is not a criticism of Oscar Wao but probably speaks more to the depth of those books I usually read!) The author has written the books in sections which focus on one character at a time. The first change was particularly jarring as all of us believed that the character being invited to investigate the lump in his mother's breast was the son rather than the daughter. The sections also went back and forth in time as the focal characters (from different generations) varied. I felt as though I might have benefited from taking a few notes to keep straight which events happened to which character. All that said, I'm happy to have read the book though it's almost certain that had the book not been a book group book, I would have set it aside.

 

I'll be interested to hear if you decide to pick the book up again at some point, mumto2!

 

Regards,

Kareni

Kareni, Thanks for the review. I remembered that there was some unusual behaviour in the book but couldn't remember what. I probably will go back to it because I keep running into it. Library shelves and online libraries recommend it to me frequently. It was a book I really did like although I think I did quite a bit of googling to solve some language mysteries. Found the characters interesting. Something about the sister I think? Just poor timing on my part. My concentration abilities are not the greatest right now either so it won't be anything I tackle soon. But glad for a positive review.

[Kareni]

Kareni, Thanks for the review. I remembered that there was some unusual behaviour in the book but couldn't remember what. I probably will go back to it because I keep running into it. Library shelves and online libraries recommend it to me frequently. It was a book I really did like although I think I did quite a bit of googling to solve some language mysteries. Found the characters interesting. Something about the sister I think? Just poor timing on my part. My concentration abilities are not the greatest right now either so it won't be anything I tackle soon. But glad for a positive review.

 

Yes, the characters were definitely interesting.  Be forewarned that there is a lot of violence in the book as much of it takes place during a dictatorship.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[NoseInABook]

My mom read constantly and often read to my brother and I as children. We're all voracious readers but my dad read absolutely nothing. Bizarre how that works out.

 

Stacia, I didn't think Mr. Wicker was terribly scary but it was interesting.

 

(((Nan)))

 

Runningmom80, praying the surgery goes smoothly.

 

In the middle of Patricia Briggs' Hunting Ground which DH brought home for me the other day. I'm not able to focus lately so here's hoping that comes back. I'm supposed to be reading a friend's book and have barely touched it. Oops. I'm hoping that once the constant ear/jaw pain goes away, the ability to focus will return. I went to the doctor because the entire right side of my face/neck is swollen and excruciatingly painful. I couldn't figure out why. The doctor found something on my ear drum and she's not even sure what it so I have a visit with an ENT on Monday. I was trying to think what else could be causing such awful pain and it popped in my head that I should call the dentist so I did... turns out that one of my wisdom teeth is not only impacted but infected too. I'll have both bottom ones removed in a week and both are impacted. Boo, hiss. Praying that the ENT can figure out what this bizarre cyst on my ear drum is all about because that one is kind of wigging me out! Funny enough, the ENT who she sent me to took my tonsils out when I was 4 and clipped my youngest's lip tie when he was a baby! 

[MrsWeasley]

I started Sue Monk Kidd's newest book "The Invention of Wings." 

 

I'm still woefully behind.  It looks like I may have a hernia repair surgery in my future, I'm sure I'll catch up then!

 

I just finished that book, and I very much enjoyed it. I don't want to spoil anything, but let me know what you think of the book, and if your edition as an author review, I definitely felt the interview in the back of my copy strongly changed my perception of the book.

 

I just binge read Still Alice and hoping to watch the movie soon. So many unresolved, dropped plot lines! So much fury at Alice's husband! Argh!!! 

 

Next up is Red Rising. My partner and I are both reading it and hopefully going to discuss it over dinner a week from tomorrow, if I can wrangle my parents into childcare. 

[mumto2]

I finished an enjoyable Paranormal book today, Hunter's Trail by Melissa https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18482782-hunter-s-trail. This is the series where the main character is a null, essentially the same thing as Soulless in Gail Carriger's series, but this character functions in our world (or at least our world with a serious paranormal population. ;) :lol: I have really enjoyed this series, read it courtesy of Amazon Prime.

 

 

Runningmom and Noseinabook :grouphug: I hope both of you are feeling much better soon!

[Violet Crown]

Stacia, I've never heard of Basile. Keep us informed.

 

Better soon I hope, RunningMom and NoseInABook!

[Little Nyssa]

Reading Hamlet: I was very surprised to realize that I've never read it straight through... it is really compelling! and so well-written! I mean, of course, it's Shakespeare!

Also surprised to recognize so many quotes I recognize from reading Dorothy Sayers, and the influence the play has on CS Lewis' The Silver Chair-- both at the beginning when Rilian is obsessed with the serpent who killed his mother, and later on when he is all in black and 'looked a little like Hamlet.'

[mumto2]

I just finished a book that looks very WTMish in terms of the kilt on the cover.https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21544875-a-highlander-s-obsession. I thought of Robin's husband when my dh was doing a double take of the cover on my kindle. :lol: Honestly it wasn't too bad. Very quick read. Heroine is an animal communicator and the hero is a bear shapeshifter, so different than my normal paranormal, more of a romance novel actually.

[redsquirrel]

Well, damn.  My loan on The Golden Notebook expired and I can't renew b/c in overdrive world that counts as a 'hold' and I have 5 holds. So, I returned it and am waiting for it to become available again. Hopefully no one had it on hold and I can get it back today or tomorrow.  If not, I need to wait three weeks. I made it halfway through that brick and I am NOT giving up now.  Even if I do have to wait, I am ok with that. I know where I am in the story and it is easily picked up again.

[Lady Florida.]

Well, damn.  My loan on The Golden Notebook expired and I can't renew b/c in overdrive world that counts as a 'hold' and I have 5 holds. So, I returned it and am waiting for it to become available again. Hopefully no one had it on hold and I can get it back today or tomorrow.  If not, I need to wait three weeks. I made it halfway through that brick and I am NOT giving up now.  Even if I do have to wait, I am ok with that. I know where I am in the story and it is easily picked up again.

 

Oh no! Those are some of the disadvantages to Overdrive. 

 

I forget what device you use. If it's a Kindle you can (in the future) just not turn wifi on until you're ready to send the book back. On the bright side, in the past when I had to let a book go back, I found that it remembered my place when I checked it out again.

[Lady Florida.]

Changes, changes. 

 

I realized that while The Good Earth is going to be a good read, it wasn't right for our book club at this time. I asked on our group's facebook page and no one had started it yet (or even bought it or borrowed it), so they didn't mind if I switched. I decided we'll read The Invention of Wings instead.  This time of year we usually choose a quick read. It doesn't necessarily have to be short, but quick, if that makes sense. While the page count is similar on both books, The Good Earth seems to mosey along while The Invention of Wings takes off from the beginning (no pun intended but I'll take it. ;) ).

 

I also started the next Charlotte and Thomas Pitt book (author Anne Perry), Rutland Place, and am just over halfway through the audiobook version of Wolf Hall.

 

My current non-fiction is The Portable Atheist. It's actually a collection of essays by various people, each with an introduction by Christopher Hitchens. Some are engaging, but others are rather boring. The good thing is, since it's just a collection I can pick and choose which selections I want to read.

 

I dropped Lamb. It started out fun and funny, but after a while I felt like I was reading something written by a junior high school boy. I get it already. You (the narrator) have all the usual boy yearnings while your pal Jesus doesn't. And you both love Mary Magdalene each in your own way. I don't need to be hit over the head with it every few pages. It's possible it will get better so I'm not completely abandoning it, but I'm just not in the mood for that kind of humor right now. Maybe I can tap into my inner 7th grade boy another time. :D

[SunnyDays]

Kathy, you're brave... I'm not sure I still have a 7th grade boy in my head to tap into, LOL!!  (Although I do live with one if that counts.)

 

Hope everyone is feeling better soon... it's never fun to be under the weather, but I always find it harder at this time of year when you just want to get out and about!

 

I have been continuing to plow through cozy mysteries.  When I'm in a series of them, I tend to barely finish one and pick the next one right up, so I've upped my numbers considerably this week!!  Still reading the Booktown Mysteries and I'm now on Sentenced to Death.  I like the stories, but have determined I *really* don't care for the protagonist.  She is prim and self righteous, takes offense to everything, and constantly oversteps bounds.  I keep reading for the other characters, and in the hopes that she will show some growth.

 

[Lady Florida.]

Kathy, you're brave... I'm not sure I still have a 7th grade boy in my head to tap into, LOL!!  (Although I do live with one if that counts.)

 

 

 

 

I have been continuing to plow through cozy mysteries.  When I'm in a series of them, I tend to barely finish one and pick the next one right up, so I've upped my numbers considerably this week!!  Still reading the Booktown Mysteries and I'm now on Sentenced to Death.  I like the stories, but have determined I *really* don't care for the protagonist.  She is prim and self righteous, takes offense to everything, and constantly oversteps bounds.  I keep reading for the other characters, and in the hopes that she will show some growth.

 

LOL! Having watched a brother and two sons go through that age probably helped.

 

I sometimes get to the point where I no longer like the protagonist in a cozy series, which is a shame because I love cozies. 

[mumto2]

Well, damn. My loan on The Golden Notebook expired and I can't renew b/c in overdrive world that counts as a 'hold' and I have 5 holds. So, I returned it and am waiting for it to become available again. Hopefully no one had it on hold and I can get it back today or tomorrow. If not, I need to wait three weeks. I made it halfway through that brick and I am NOT giving up now. Even if I do have to wait, I am ok with that. I know where I am in the story and it is easily picked up again.

Another trick is to put a reserve on the book using your dh's library card. As soon as overdrive takes it back from one account the other account checks the book out again. It seems to work better than the renewal process for me with the kindle.

[Butter]

Today I finished Dangerous by Shannon Hale.  LOVED it!  I love Shannon Hale's books so much.  She can write so many genres.  This one is sci-fi (which is one of the few genres I almost never read).  So well done.  I really loved it!

[Mom-ninja.]

Finished Emma: A Modern Retelling 

 

It was okay. Nothing to write home about. Didn't really capture the essence of the original, and made me dislike Emma even more so than the Austen version. 

[Halcyon]

I am really enjoying the audible version of Emma. The voice of Mrs. Elton is just so spot-on, and Miss Bates is hysterically read. I want to read Pride and Prejudice next...although I have so many on the docket. 

[Kathleen.]

I read "The Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder" by Joanne Fluke. The covers look so yummy. My 8yo read three picture books about Mary Anning.

:)

[beckster]

 

 

I can't recall my mother reading to me/us when we were growing up, but I distinctly remember my grandmother (Oma) doing so.  One book that had a powerful impact was Anne Holm's I Am David (also sometimes titled North to Freedom).

 

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

DS still talks about I am David.  It is one of the first books that he really thoroughly enjoyed and started him on his love of reading.  Powerful book!

 

I forgot to post about my mom reading to me.  She didn't, not much anyway.  Some Dr. Seuss and early readers, but nothing beyond that.  My mom hates reading.  She thinks it's a waste of time, and books take up space and collect dust.   :ohmy:  :tongue_smilie:  But she did always encourage me to read. :)  My mom is an amazing person, but she is incapable of sitting still.  She always has to be busy doing something with her hands.  I got her a fitbit for Christmas.  We never left the house and she logged over 10,000 steps before dinner time.  

 

My mom, too!  She never read to me, because she could never sit down long enough!!

 

Well, she,s gone. Sniff sniff. Another elder clan member died this morning. In many ways we are very happy because she was in great pain, getting weaker every day, and hated being a burden. And it was managed so she died at my sister,s house. Bless hospice. She was such a strong lady. Iit isn't,t like this is a surprise. We,ve been expecting her to go any day. But I am going to miss her very much. I played recorder with her and we had dinner together once a week and did yoga with her twice a week... to say nothing of the numerous family events. She made a long illness look doable. My sister made her a nest in the corner of the library/dining room, and there she lay, all cuddled up under bookcases with the cat comforting her legs and a view of the lovely big trees and her garden (it used to be her house). For a lifelong book lover, it looked ideal.

 

Nan

 

Oh, Nan, I am so sorry.  It is never easy.

[beckster]

I have not posted in awhile.  I have been reading everyone's posts, but haven't chimed in.  It has been a busy few weeks.  DD turned 18, then took (and passed!) her driver's test.  We got her registered for classes for her first semester of college this fall.  DH is still job hunting.  Lots of interest, and some interviews, but no offer yet.  We are learning patience!!  I also went through food allergy skin testing.  There are now 12 foods I have eliminated from my diet for the next 2 months, then I can test them one at a time for reactions.  Learning more patience!!

 

books finished since last check in

48.  Mindset

49.  Land of my Heart

50.  A Heart Divided

51.  Some Wildflower in my Heart

52.  Make it Stick

53.  Radical Simplicity

54.  The Elimination Diet

55.  The Autoimmune Solution

56.  The Midwife

 

currently reading

History of the Ancient World

History of the Medieval World

Longbourn

Jude the Obscure

Moby Dick

[Halcyon]

I am really enjoying the audible version of Emma. The voice of Mrs. Elton is just so spot-on, and Miss Bates is hysterically read. I want to read Pride and Prejudice next...although I have so many on the docket. 

[Halcyon]

Finished The Storied Life of AJ Fikry last night--i didn't love the ending but overall enjoyed the book. It was sweet,engaging and cozy.

 

Just began Want Not by Jonathan Miles. Only about 25 pages in but so far I love it. He's a wonderful writer.

 

Up next: another book by Lauren Groff, since I enjoyed Arcadia so much--The Monsters of Templeton. Also on the docket: The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler and some Kate Atkinson books (Case Histories, to start). 

 

I have heard mixed reviews of The Jane Austen Book Club--has anyone here read it? Thoughts?

[Violet Crown]

Atlantic article on Herman Wouk's war novels. I haven't (yet) read The Caine Mutiny.

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/05/herman-wouk-at-100-one-of-the-greatest-american-war-novelists/393203/