Book a Week 2015 - BW21: g.k. chesterton

[Mom-ninja.]

Reading the CLEP study guide. That's counts for something. 

[Runningmom80]

I finished The Invention of Wings over the weekend.  It was really good!  I'm starting Girl on the Train today for a book club meeting on Thursday night. :lol: :leaving:

 

 

[Maela]

Just finished book #14 - Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. I never read it in school.

[Runningmom80]

Just finished book #14 - Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. I never read it in school.

 

I think I'll re read this!  I read it as a 17 year old on vacation, and it sticks with me to this day.

[mumto2]

Reading the CLEP study guide. That's counts for something.

Which one? We are starting to collect those too. ;)

[NoseInABook]

I keep hearing good things about A Girl On A Train from everyone! You'll have to let us know what you think, Amber.

 

Dead Heat is a much quicker read so far. I'm about halfway done with it and that's with being left alone with all 5 for the first time in a bit this morning. However, my mother in law showed up to help with the kiddies so I might actually be able to finish it and get in a nap. I feel all sorts of swimmy even skipping the pain pills so it must just be my body's response to the jaw pain. 

[Mom-ninja.]

Which one? We are starting to collect those too. ;)

Human Growth and Development

[NoseInABook]

Starting Blameless tonight. My brain is coming back! I can read! YAY! :p 

[Kareni]

Today I finished Reluctantly Charmed: A Novel by Ellie O'Neill; I enjoyed it. 

 

"In the spirit of Cecelia Ahearn and Regina McBride, a lighthearted and relatable debut novel about an advertising copywriter who upends her ordinary life and captures the attention of the world after publishing a seven-part treatise on the existence of fairies.

Kate McDaid thought that going to the reading of her great-great-aunt’s will would be just another non-event in her ordinary life. A junior copywriter at an advertising agency in Dublin, she was used to spending her days wrangling clients, over-indulging in chocolatey products, and whiling away nights at the pub with her best friends, using her trusty bicycle to get around town. Instead, Kate finds out that the will and her aunt (also known as the Red Witch of Knocknamee) dictates that Kate must publish a series of strange poems called “The Seven Steps†under her own name in order to inherit the rest of her aunt’s estate.

And those poems? They’re a mysterious treatise on the importance and existence of fairies…"

 

The book is set in Ireland, and the author is an Irish woman currently living in Australia.  Here are two reviews ~ one from an Australian site, one from an American site.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Lady Florida.]

Bon voyage friends.  I will see you guys when I return on the 11th!  

 

 

 

Have a wonderful time!

[mumto2]

I just finished Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover. I am not sure how this book ended up on my holds list, potentially a Kareni or Teacherzee recommendation. It might even be Kareni's latest unusual romance because I can't remember which one, just that I requested one. This book was good.https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17788403-maybe-someday Modern twenty somethings. Bands and music but different because it is a huge love triangle with the hero being (slight spoiler)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

unable to hear. I lost my choices like font type recently. There is actually what I consider a bigger spoiler so I think it is OK to mention that one. Overall quite a good book.

 

Noseinabook, glad you are feeling a bit better. :)

[Kareni]

I have read Maybe Someday, mumto2, so the recommendation might have come from me.  Glad to hear that you enjoyed it.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[JennW in SoCal]

Just got home last night from a fun, nostalgia filled trip to New Mexico. I attended a couple of alumni events for the youth music program that was a huge part of my teenage years, but opted out of joining the alumni orchestra to have some family fun instead. My dh and college boy and I ate lots of New Mexican food, got snowed on in the mountains, sunburned in some lava fields, took in the art at dozens of galleries, had dinner with a college friend and her family and generally drove miles and miles to take in the scenery. 

 

My other travel companion was Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop. It is a gentle book, deceptively simple yet a deeply thoughtful depiction of life in New Mexico in the mid to late 1800s, at the time of it becoming a US territory. It is an episodic book based on the life of the first Bishop in New Mexico who commissioned and supervised the building of the St. Francis cathedral that stands at the east end of the plaza in Santa Fe. I found it completely refreshing to read a book where the writing about people, both good and bad, is free from cynicism and irony, free from suggestions of hidden agendas or hypocrisy. And the description of the land!  Oh how I loved that:

 

Ever afterward the Bishop remembered his first ride to Acoma as his introduction to the mesa country.  One thing which struck him at once was that every mesa was duplicated by a cloud mesa, like a reflection, which lay motionless above it or moved slowly up from behind it.  These cloud formations seemed to be always there, however hot and blue the sky.  Sometimes they were flat terraces, ledges of vapour; sometimes they were dome shaped, or fantastic, like the tops of silvery pagodas, rising one above another, as if an oriental city lay directly behind the rock. The great tables of granite set down in an empty plain were inconceivable without the attendant clouds, which were part of them, as the smoke is part of the censer or the foam of the wave.

 

And here I am with a statue of the Bishop in front of the cathedral in Santa Fe:

 

I bought a few postcards of the cathedral, if any of you who have read the book would like one!  

 

Now to catch up on this thread... 

[Angel]

Bridging two of my worlds here...

 

Austen lovers

 

Shakespeare Lovers

 

 

I love these!  

 

Super foggy headed still after wisdom teeth removal. Also, a wee bit sleepy because we welcomed a 2 month old baby girl into our home on Thursday evening (yes, the day before wisdom teeth removal). I finally finished Changeless which took me for-ev-er. I just had to force myself to read it and am not pleased with how it ended. I'm starting Patricia Briggs' Dead Heat even though I didn't read the book before it.. It's late for the library so I can't wait any longer, it's read it now or check it out later. 

You are AMAZING!  Wisdom teeth extraction was one of the worst things I've ever had done.

 

Bon voyage friends.  I will see you guys when I return on the 11th!  

 

Please pray that everyone has a happy trip and that DH and I remember to pack our patience because we're traveling with an 18 month old.  I will post pics when I return!

 

*waves*

 

 

We will be in Stockholm on June 7th.  Will you be anywhere near there on the 7th?  I would be so much fun to meet you IRL.

:seeya:  Amy, I hope you just have a blast, and we'll be praying for Chews on Books to travel well  ;)

 

 We are picking her up from the exams and heading off to the Harry Potter Studios as a well deserved surprise.

Whoo Hoo!  Have a wonderful time!

 

Just got home last night from a fun, nostalgia filled trip to New Mexico. I attended a couple of alumni events for the youth music program that was a huge part of my teenage years, but opted out of joining the alumni orchestra to have some family fun instead. My dh and college boy and I ate lots of New Mexican food, got snowed on in the mountains, sunburned in some lava fields, took in the art at dozens of galleries, had dinner with a college friend and her family and generally drove miles and miles to take in the scenery. 

 

My other travel companion was Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop. It is a gentle book, deceptively simple yet a deeply thoughtful depiction of life in New Mexico in the mid to late 1800s, at the time of it becoming a US territory. It is an episodic book based on the life of the first Bishop in New Mexico who commissioned and supervised the building of the St. Francis cathedral that stands at the east end of the plaza in Santa Fe. I found it completely refreshing to read a book where the writing about people, both good and bad, is free from cynicism and irony, free from suggestions of hidden agendas or hypocrisy. And the description of the land!  Oh how I loved that:

 

Ever afterward the Bishop remembered his first ride to Acoma as his introduction to the mesa country.  One thing which struck him at once was that every mesa was duplicated by a cloud mesa, like a reflection, which lay motionless above it or moved slowly up from behind it.  These cloud formations seemed to be always there, however hot and blue the sky.  Sometimes they were flat terraces, ledges of vapour; sometimes they were dome shaped, or fantastic, like the tops of silvery pagodas, rising one above another, as if an oriental city lay directly behind the rock. The great tables of granite set down in an empty plain were inconceivable without the attendant clouds, which were part of them, as the smoke is part of the censer or the foam of the wave.

 

And here I am with a statue of the Bishop in front of the cathedral in Santa Fe:

 

I bought a few postcards of the cathedral, if any of you who have read the book would like one!  

 

Now to catch up on this thread... 

Sounds like a great trip!!  You make me want to read the book!  

[Robin M]

Just got home last night from a fun, nostalgia filled trip to New Mexico. I attended a couple of alumni events for the youth music program that was a huge part of my teenage years, but opted out of joining the alumni orchestra to have some family fun instead. My dh and college boy and I ate lots of New Mexican food, got snowed on in the mountains, sunburned in some lava fields, took in the art at dozens of galleries, had dinner with a college friend and her family and generally drove miles and miles to take in the scenery.

 

My other travel companion was Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop. It is a gentle book, deceptively simple yet a deeply thoughtful depiction of life in New Mexico in the mid to late 1800s, at the time of it becoming a US territory. It is an episodic book based on the life of the first Bishop in New Mexico who commissioned and supervised the building of the St. Francis cathedral that stands at the east end of the plaza in Santa Fe. I found it completely refreshing to read a book where the writing about people, both good and bad, is free from cynicism and irony, free from suggestions of hidden agendas or hypocrisy. And the description of the land! Oh how I loved that:

 

Ever afterward the Bishop remembered his first ride to Acoma as his introduction to the mesa country. One thing which struck him at once was that every mesa was duplicated by a cloud mesa, like a reflection, which lay motionless above it or moved slowly up from behind it. These cloud formations seemed to be always there, however hot and blue the sky. Sometimes they were flat terraces, ledges of vapour; sometimes they were dome shaped, or fantastic, like the tops of silvery pagodas, rising one above another, as if an oriental city lay directly behind the rock. The great tables of granite set down in an empty plain were inconceivable without the attendant clouds, which were part of them, as the smoke is part of the censer or the foam of the wave.

 

And here I am with a statue of the Bishop in front of the cathedral in Santa Fe:

 

I bought a few postcards of the cathedral, if any of you who have read the book would like one!

 

Now to catch up on this thread...

Glad you had such a great trip and doubles my desire to go to New Mexico. I thoroughly enjoyed Death Comes for the archbishop and completely agree, it was a refreshing read. I'd love a postcard.

[beckster]

 

My other travel companion was Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop. It is a gentle book, deceptively simple yet a deeply thoughtful depiction of life in New Mexico in the mid to late 1800s, at the time of it becoming a US territory. 

 

I really enjoyed Death Comes for the Archbishop.  You have described it beautifully!!!

[Butter]

I finished Bambi this morning.  I hate the movie.  I hate the book slightly less.

[Halcyon]

I listened to Girl on a Train Audible and enjoyed it!

 

So I finally finished Emma, and I have to say, I enjoyed it a lot less than Mansfield Park (which I loved). At a certain point, I just got fed up with all the love triangles and shenanigans and the "disapprobation" every had for everyone else LOL. It seemed to go on and on and on. I know, sacrilege. ;)

 

And I just finished Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner. Meh. I usually like her for fluff reading but this one was mediocre.

[Ali in OR]

 

My other travel companion was Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop. It is a gentle book, deceptively simple yet a deeply thoughtful depiction of life in New Mexico in the mid to late 1800s, at the time of it becoming a US territory. It is an episodic book based on the life of the first Bishop in New Mexico who commissioned and supervised the building of the St. Francis cathedral that stands at the east end of the plaza in Santa Fe. I found it completely refreshing to read a book where the writing about people, both good and bad, is free from cynicism and irony, free from suggestions of hidden agendas or hypocrisy. And the description of the land!  Oh how I loved that:

 

 

My dad sent me this book a couple of months ago--I'll probably get to it this summer. Wish it included a trip to NM!

[Halcyon]

Oh, and I just found out something wonderful--I am a member of Kindle Unlimited, and I didn't realize it, but all the Kindle Unlimited books are also available as free Audible downloads (that is, if an Audible version is available). Yay! I am now listening to Dear American Airlines. 

[Kareni]

Today I finished This Crumbling Pageant (The Fury Triad Book 1) by Patricia Burroughs.  It's described as "blend of fantasy, romance, historical fiction and mythology"  (RT Book Reviews); it's also called a dark fantasy.  It's definitely a hefty book (some 600 pages), but I found it eminently enjoyable.  Some half to two thirds of the way through the book, I was surprised by the need to re-evaluate much of what I'd thought was true in the book; suddenly tidbits of information that had been woven into the story began to reveal their importance.  (I was tempted to re-read the book to admire the author's skill.)

 

"Persephone Fury is the Dark daughter, the one they hide.

England, 1811. Few are aware of a hidden magical England, a people not ruled by poor mad George, but by the dying King Pellinore of the House of Pendragon.

The Furys are known for their music, their magic, and their historic role as kingmakers. When Fury ambitions demand a political marriage, Persephone is drugged and presented to Society—

Only to be abducted from the man she loves by the man she loathes.

But devious and ruthless, Persephone must defy ancient prophecy and seize her own fate.

Get swept away into the first book of a dark fantasy series combining swashbuckling adventure, heart-pounding romance, and plot-twisting suspense."

 

I look forward to reading the next volume in this series.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

Robin, today's book has another cover for your husband to ... admire.

 

Below the Belt (First to Fight) by Jeanette Murray

 

"Athletic trainer Marianne Cook is ready to do whatever it takes to turn the men of the Marine Corps boxing team into fighting machines. After all, her ultimate goal is to land a job training professional athletes. But when she notices a certain hard-bodied marine trying to hide an injury, Marianne realizes that she’ll have to use covert tactics to get him talking.

First Lieutenant Brad Costa has waited years for the chance to fight for a spot on the Marine Corps boxing team, knowing he has to push twice as hard to get half as far as his younger counterparts. Brad tries to downplay his injuries to the attractive trainer who has his dreams in her hands, but Marianne isn’t buying it. Maybe it’s time to deploy some targeted flattery.
 
As Brad and Marianne’s attraction turns red-hot, there’s more than one person having a hard time keeping their eyes on the prize…"

 

This is the first in a new contemporary romance series; it was an enjoyable read.

 

Regards,
Kareni

[Caroline]

I got my husband McCullough's book about the Wright Brothers for Father's Day. It would be wrong to sneak it to the pool between now and then to read before I give it to him, right? My grandmother once told me that she read Gone with the Wind during the day while my grandfather read it at night because they wanted to finish it before the movie premiered and they couldn't afford multiple copies of the book. I read that same copy many years later.

[Jane in NC]

Pym fans might be interested in Mat Johnson's new novel Loving Day. I saw a review in the Boston Globe.

 

http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2015/05/25/loving-day-mat-johnson/ugsO8LBAfkqd1PWpFC6y5O/story.html

[Jane in NC]

I got my husband McCullough's book about the Wright Brothers for Father's Day. It would be wrong to sneak it to the pool between now and then to read before I give it to him, right? My grandmother once told me that she read Gone with the Wind during the day while my grandfather read it at night because they wanted to finish it before the movie premiered and they couldn't afford multiple copies of the book. I read that same copy many years later.

There was a nice interview with McCullough on Diane Riehm recently focusing on this book. Worth a listen.

[Runningmom80]

Well, I hated The Girl on the Train.  I actually wrote hate notes for my book club tonight. :lol:

 

 

The writing came across as lazy and I figured the end out halfway through. I don't want to give spoilers so I'll leave it at that. :laugh:

[Pam in CT]

Have a wonderful trip, Amy!  I hope you and teacherzee are able to meet up -- how fun!

 

Noseinabook, enjoy that baby... and glad that you're feeling better.

 

Stacia, my daughter is finished with The Wanting, so I'll send it on your way.

 

 

 

I brought home Ella Frances Sanders' Lost in Translation: An Illustrated Compendium of Untranslatable Words from Around the World  and have been enjoying sharing parts of it with my husband.  We also had a fun discussion (via Skype) with our daughter on the one Korean word that is featured in the book since she's in South Korea studying the language as is my husband at home. 

 

This is a good book to borrow from the library as one could read it through in about half an hour.

 

 

"An artistic collection of more than 50 drawings featuring unique, funny, and poignant foreign words that have no direct translation into English.

Did you know that the Japanese language has a word to express the way sunlight filters through the leaves of trees? Or that there’s a Finnish word for the distance a reindeer can travel before needing to rest? 

Lost in Translation brings to life more than fifty words that don’t have direct English translations with charming illustrations of their tender, poignant, and humorous definitions. Often these words provide insight into the cultures they come from, such as the Brazilian Portuguese word for running your fingers through a lover’s hair, the Italian word for being moved to tears by a story, or the Swedish word for a third cup of coffee.

In this clever and beautifully rendered exploration of the subtleties of communication, you’ll find new ways to express yourself while getting lost in the artistry of imperfect translation."

 

There is a lovely review on Brain Pickings which alerted me to the fact that the book was published right before the author/illustrator turned twenty-one.  So young!

 

Regards,

Kareni

Oh, I came upon this person's blog when I was looking for the meaning of the word komorebi. One of these days I'll get this book, maybe two copies of it, one for myself and one for the family gift exchange. (Then again, I'm probably the only person in the family who would like it. Do I force it on them?)

I got this for my mother for Mother's Day after someone else posted about it here last month...  I might have maybe peeked through it before wrapping it up... Totally fun.

 

 

I finished Inferno, having read it before in high school but not remembering much of that reading. I get so much more out of books now. When I was 17, some of the things I would have regarded as facts I needed to remember for a paper I would have to write. Now, with no paper looming and more living behind me, I feel the tragedy and fear more deeply.

 

One of the things I really loved was how much art has been inspired by Commedia. Amazing pieces of art, especially by Gustav Dore´ and Dali. Looking at the art was my favorite part of the reading. I normally don't like to look at depictions while I read because they are different from what I'm imagining, but Dore´was exactly what I was thinking. Here's his (public domain) depiction of the forest at the beginning of the book:

 

 

The main thing I didn't enjoy about the book were all the references to local Italian politics. Dante placed a lot of people with whom he didn't agree into Hell. Many of them were local Florentine people who would have been know to readers at the time, and I'm sure with research I could read more about who they were and why they were included, but I didn't care, nor did I have the time.

 

Thank you for suggesting the Mandelbaum translation. Some of the language really was beautiful. I loved Dante's addresses directly to the reader and his similes and metaphors:

So funny... this is actually one of my favorite aspects of Inferno!  After I read it with my son a couple years ago, the concept entered into family lexicon... "You know, dear son, there is a special circle in hell reserved for people who take the last smidge of Nutella and then put the empty jar back in the cupboard..."  Or, when highway construction work brings Interstate 95 to a standstill, and my husband is, um, getting a bit edgy, son says "No worries Dad, there is a special circle in hell reserved for people who sneak down the shoulder pretending to exit and then muscle their way back in.."

 

 

I finished The Invention of Wings over the weekend.  It was really good!  I'm starting Girl on the Train today for a book club meeting on Thursday night. :lol: :leaving:

I've never done that.

 

 

 

 

OK, I maybe do that several times a month.  (I'm in 4 book groups.)

 

Well, I hated The Girl on the Train.  I actually wrote hate notes for my book club tonight. :lol:

 

I've never done that.

 

 

 

OK.

I've maybe done that too....

[Runningmom80]

 

 

I've never done that.

 

 

 

OK.

I've maybe done that too....

 

I'm glad I'm not the only one.  This is actually my SIL's book club, I'm afraid I'm going to embarrass her. :laugh:

[Pam in CT]

My daughter is home from college!!   :party: So great to have her.  She'll be with us for most of June and then head to the Big City where she has an internship, but we'll still see her a lot on weekends.  Sooooo nice.

 

 

The gardening is really good just now -- I love May; a gazillion things bloom and I'm still ahead on the War of the Weeds -- so I haven't finished much, just

 

The Expanding Circle: Ethics, Evolution and Moral Progress, by Peter Singer -- both Steven Pinker and Rebecca Goldstein referenced this in recent books that I admired.  Singer is a sociobiologist, and the gist of the book (first published in the 1980s) is that our biology inclines us to value the needs/perspectives of a small circle of people -- our immediate family, followed by extended clan -- but that culture combined with our capacity for abstract reasoning and discomfort with cognitive dissonance have enabled us to gradually widen the concentric circles, enabling us to feel empathy and care for a widening circle.  (Pinker has sort of run with the rationalist/cognitive dissonance side of this argument, and Goldstein more with the empathy line -- making the three of them interesting to absorb in concert.)  All together they're helping me feel a bit more optimistic about the odds that we'll survive as a species another century or more, lol...

 

The Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian, A Jew-- Three Women Search for Understanding by Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver, and Priscilla Warner - I read this years ago when it first came out, but one of my book groups selected it so I read it again.  Three mothers coming together after 9/11, originally with the idea of writing an interfaith children's book, but it morphed into a three year interfaith odyssey.

 

Dovey Coe, by Frances O'Roark Dowell (YA) - a coming-of-age story that evokes To Kill a Mockingbird -- not that level of masterpiece or depth of theme, but similarities in voice, plot turns, courtroom drama.  I read it with Stella (she'll have TKAM next year in school) and we both enjoyed it.

[Guest]

After reading The Good Soldier the other month, I burbled here about its virtuosity, despite the distasteful subject matter and mentioned that I might rethink my determination not to read Lolita.  Rose encouraged me to try it and said it was one of her favorite books.  Being able to not just make it through, but also to appreciate Ulysses gave me the chizuk (strength/encouragement) to actually do it.

 

Wow.  On a purely prose level, it is a masterpiece - Nabokov said it could be described as his love letter to the English language.  I don't read for prose, but this prose is delectable enough that I can almost understand how someone could.  The other narrative components are equally brilliantly done - Nabokov deserves his reputation as a virtuoso... and the literature as puzzle aspects were subsidiary enough to be entertaining rather than annoying.

 

The content.  Wow in a whole different way.  Also brilliantly done - the realism is sickening, as it should be - but on a purely content level this was one of the most unpleasant reading experiences I've ever had.  ...which is, again, as it should be give the topic.

 

Rose, thank you for encouraging me to be brave!

 

 

And another Archipelago book My Kind of Girl: Four short stories connected by a brief framing narrative, each about a 'lost love' of one variety or another.  Very much from a male viewpoint, and a very interesting glimpse into Indian society.  This isn't one I'll press on everyone in sight (like Lost in a Polar Fog), but it reflects one of the aspects that keeps drawing me back to Archipelago's offerings

 

Other reading:

 

3 plays: Dido of Carthage by Marlowe (drawn strongly from Virgil, with a interesting Zeus/Ganymede opening), The Physicists by Durrenmatt (a blackly humorous German play with a serious undertone), and Proof by David Auburn (fell short of my expectations, but interesting)

 

2 J/YA books: Angus and Sadie (read aloud, younger than most of Voigt's books, a little episodic, but sweet), and Black Dove, White Raven by Wein (didn't hold together for me as well as Code Name Verity and Rose Under Fire, but well worth reading)

 

3 religious books: a commentary on Pirkei Avos by Reuven Bulka, Sefiros by R Haber, and a commentary on Megillas Rus by R' Steinberg

 

 

This has been sitting here partially done for days - I'm going to post it now so it doesn't get lost... I hope to come back and respond to some posts (including some from last week!)

 

 

 

 

[Pam in CT]

Re Lolita - agree on all levels.  The other "teachings" (???!) that have stayed with me over the years (I first encountered it in college) were the differentiation between the narrator and the author -- this is the book that taught me to distinguish between a main character doing monstrous acts vs. an author advocating or sanctioning monstrous acts.... and also, relatedly, what I've come to think of as the Freedom of Unreliable Narrators.

[Chrysalis Academy]

After reading The Good Soldier the other month, I burbled here about its virtuosity, despite the distasteful subject matter and mentioned that I might rethink my determination not to read Lolita.  Rose encouraged me to try it and said it was one of her favorite books.  Being able to not just make it through, but also to appreciate Ulysses gave me the chizuk (strength/encouragement) to actually do it.

 

Wow.  On a purely prose level, it is a masterpiece - Nabokov said it could be described as his love letter to the English language.  I don't read for prose, but this prose is delectable enough that I can almost understand how someone could.  The other narrative components are equally brilliantly done - Nabokov deserves his reputation as a virtuoso... and the literature as puzzle aspects were subsidiary enough to be entertaining rather than annoying.

 

The content.  Wow in a whole different way.  Also brilliantly done - the realism is sickening, as it should be - but on a purely content level this was one of the most unpleasant reading experiences I've ever had.  ...which is, again, as it should be give the topic.

 

Rose, thank you for encouraging me to be brave!

 

 

 

 

 

I'm glad you're glad you read it.  Wow, brilliant, and so deeply disturbing were my reactions as well.  I always feel sheepish admitting that it is one of my favorite books of all time, given the content, but the sheer brilliance of the writing and also how he develops the story, the characters - really sets it in a class by itself.  I actually think it's more disturbing, because of how well written it is. I wouldn't be surprised to find a book with this content just being disgusting, or prurient, but it isn't: it's strangely moving.  And sticks with you.

[Kareni]

Tress, I recall you mentioning Tanith Lee in a post at one point.  You might be saddened to read this ~

 

Tanith Lee, 1947-2015

and

Tanith Lee Was An Indispensible Fantasy Author

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Nan in Mass]

I am reading a Japanese textbook, a totally idiotic thing to be spending time on at this time.  It makes me panicky just to think about the things I ought to be doing instead, but somehow...

 

Nan

[Kareni]

Flannery O'Connor to appear on new U.S. postage stamp

 

"Writer Flannery O'Connor will appear on a new postage stamp, the U.S. Postal Service announced Tuesday. On the stamp, O'Connor is flanked by peacock feathers; she raised peacocks at her family's Andalusia Farm in Georgia.

 

O'Connor's work led the field of Southern Gothic with the novels "Wise Blood" and "The Violent Bear It Away" and many works of short fiction, including the collection "Everything That Rises Must Converge." An omnibus collection, "The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor," which won the 1972 National Book Award for fiction, was named the Best of the National Book Awards, 1950-2008 by a public vote."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

Last night I finished Claire Kells' Girl Underwater.  It's a novel which I might describe as Hatchet for adults plus hmm, something else.  I enjoyed it.  Even though the subject is harrowing, I didn't find it a difficult read.  (Of course, I might feel differently the next time I go to board a plane.)

 

 

"Nineteen-year-old Avery Delacorte loves the water. Growing up in Brookline, Massachusetts, she took swim lessons at her community pool and captained the local team; in high school, she raced across bays and sprawling North American lakes. Now a sophomore on her university’s nationally ranked team, she struggles under the weight of new expectations but life is otherwise pretty good. Perfect, really.

That all changes when Avery’s red-eye home for Thanksgiving makes a ditch landing in a mountain lake in the Colorado Rockies. She is one of only five survivors, which includes three little boys and Colin Shea, who happens to be her teammate. Colin is also the only person in Avery’s college life who challenged her to swim her own events, to be her own person—something she refused to do. Instead she’s avoided him since the first day of freshman year. But now, faced with sub-zero temperatures, minimal supplies, and the dangers of a forbidding nowhere, Avery and Colin must rely on each other in ways they never could’ve imagined.

In the wilderness, the concept of survival is clear-cut. Simple. In the real world, it’s anything but."

 

I'll be interested to see what this author writes next; this is a debut novel.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Lady Florida.]

 

My other travel companion was Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop. It is a gentle book, deceptively simple yet a deeply thoughtful depiction of life in New Mexico in the mid to late 1800s, at the time of it becoming a US territory. It is an episodic book based on the life of the first Bishop in New Mexico who commissioned and supervised the building of the St. Francis cathedral that stands at the east end of the plaza in Santa Fe. I found it completely refreshing to read a book where the writing about people, both good and bad, is free from cynicism and irony, free from suggestions of hidden agendas or hypocrisy. And the description of the land!  Oh how I loved that:

 

 

 

 

 

Glad you had a good time.

 

As I mentioned before I was unable to get into Death Comes for the Archbishop but people keep posting about how much they loved it, that I want to try again. 

 

Re the bolded: I've read two other books by Willa Cather and I found them to be the same as you describe there. No judgements, just everyone is who they are and wonderful descriptions of the land.

[Angel]

Today I finished This Crumbling Pageant (The Fury Triad Book 1) by Patricia Burroughs.  It's described as "blend of fantasy, romance, historical fiction and mythology"  (RT Book Reviews); it's also called a dark fantasy.  It's definitely a hefty book (some 600 pages), but I found it eminently enjoyable.  Some half to two thirds of the way through the book, I was surprised by the need to re-evaluate much of what I'd thought was true in the book; suddenly tidbits of information that had been woven into the story began to reveal their importance.  (I was tempted to re-read the book to admire the author's skill.)

 

"Persephone Fury is the Dark daughter, the one they hide.

 

England, 1811. Few are aware of a hidden magical England, a people not ruled by poor mad George, but by the dying King Pellinore of the House of Pendragon.

 

The Furys are known for their music, their magic, and their historic role as kingmakers. When Fury ambitions demand a political marriage, Persephone is drugged and presented to Society—

 

Only to be abducted from the man she loves by the man she loathes.

 

But devious and ruthless, Persephone must defy ancient prophecy and seize her own fate.

 

Get swept away into the first book of a dark fantasy series combining swashbuckling adventure, heart-pounding romance, and plot-twisting suspense."

 

I look forward to reading the next volume in this series.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

Karen, that sounds good!  Bodice ripper?

[Angel]

So funny... this is actually one of my favorite aspects of Inferno!  After I read it with my son a couple years ago, the concept entered into family lexicon... "You know, dear son, there is a special circle in hell reserved for people who take the last smidge of Nutella and then put the empty jar back in the cupboard..."  Or, when highway construction work brings Interstate 95 to a standstill, and my husband is, um, getting a bit edgy, son says "No worries Dad, there is a special circle in hell reserved for people who sneak down the shoulder pretending to exit and then muscle their way back in.."

 

 

 

:lol:  :lol:  Awesome!

[Kareni]

Karen, that sounds good!  Bodice ripper?

 

No, it's not.  However, there are portions that some readers might find troubling. 

 

Two spoilers: Girls are killed and their ova harvested to prolong the life of an evil character.

Also, as it's a fantasy, non Judeo-Christian gods are worshipped.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

[Angel]

 

No, it's not.  However, there are portions that some readers might find troubling. 

 

Two spoilers: Girls are killed and their ova harvested to prolong the life of an evil character.

Also, as it's a fantasy, non Judeo-Christian gods are worshipped.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

Thanks  ;)

[Robin M]

This month passed way too fast. How did your inferno or purgatoria read go? Are you still plugging away, never started or finished? I got 1/3 of the way through Swann's Way and got derailed by writing classes.

 

Judicious June's author flavor of the month is Alexander Dumas. I have yet to read any of his books. :svengo: Yes, I know. Thoughts on a read along - three musketeers, count of monte cristo or Man in the Iron Mask or one of his Less well known (at least to me) ??? Talk amongst yourselves, I'm going back to work. :tongue_smilie:

[TeacherZee]

I listened to Girl on a Train Audible and enjoyed it!

 

So I finally finished Emma, and I have to say, I enjoyed it a lot less than Mansfield Park (which I loved). At a certain point, I just got fed up with all the love triangles and shenanigans and the "disapprobation" every had for everyone else LOL. It seemed to go on and on and on. I know, sacrilege. ;)

 

And I just finished Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner. Meh. I usually like her for fluff reading but this one was mediocre.

 

No sacrilege on my part as I feel exactly the same way. I like Emma the mini-series but I cannot stand the book

[redsquirrel]

I hope this is not redundant, but I wanted to share this delicious article written by Hilary Mantel about creating plays out of her novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/31/theater/hilary-mantel-on-taking-her-wolf-hall-novels-to-the-stage.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&region=CColumn&module=MostEmailed&version=Full&src=me&WT.nav=MostEmailed

 

I have put The Golden Notebook aside for a bit, we needed a break from each other, and that's ok.  I am plowing through The Narrow Road to the Deep North. I keep thinking it reminds me of....Hemingway? I'm no expert on Hemingway so I could be off my rocker. And I am not a fan of Hemingway either, but I am liking this book very much. The Golden Notebook is very much a novel about ideas, very intellectual, and almost staged in its presentation. But this novel has a tremendous amount of emotion, sentences of real beauty and almost overwhelming with sensory information.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Well, I have to confess that reading the Game of Thrones series is shooting my nonfiction reading all to hell. I have barely touched anything else this week in the limited reading time I've had.  I did finish listening to the audiobook of Rebecca.  I had read the book when I was in high school and really enjoyed it, but it was so long ago that I didn't remember the details.  I think I may have liked it less this time?  The first half dragged, and I found myself so impatient with the narrator, wanting to shake her and get her to speak up and be more confident! And I wanted to slap Maxim too, what a bad husband he was.  I think this is the voice of age & experience speaking! I'm sure I felt differently when I was a teenager.  However, the second half held up - the climax/denoument/plot twists were excellent.  The ending was terribly abrupt, though.  I found it solid and enjoyable, but not earthshaking.  Which kind of surprised me, because in my ancient memory this was one of my favorite books.

[Lady Florida.]

  I did finish listening to the audiobook of Rebecca.  I had read the book when I was in high school and really enjoyed it, but it was so long ago that I didn't remember the details.  I think I may have liked it less this time?  The first half dragged, and I found myself so impatient with the narrator, wanting to shake her and get her to speak up and be more confident! And I wanted to slap Maxim too, what a bad husband he was.  I think this is the voice of age & experience speaking! I'm sure I felt differently when I was a teenager.  However, the second half held up - the climax/denoument/plot twists were excellent.  The ending was terribly abrupt, though.  I found it solid and enjoyable, but not earthshaking.  Which kind of surprised me, because in my ancient memory this was one of my favorite books.

 

I had the same experience with Rebecca. It was once one of my all time favorite books. I've read it several times and liked it less each time. The first time that happened it made me sad because I was so excited to reread a book I (thought I) loved.

[Kareni]

Last night I finished Shana Galen's Earls Just Want to Have Fun (Covent Garden Cubs).  (Clearly someone had fun with this title!)  It is a historical romance, and I enjoyed it. (Some adult content.)

 

"His heart may be the last thing she ever steals...

 

Marlowe is a pickpocket, a housebreaker-and a better actress than any professional on the stage. She runs with the Covent Garden Cubs, a gang of thieves living in the slums of London's Seven Dials. It's a fierce life, and Marlowe has a hard outer shell. But when she's alone, she allows herself to think of a time before-a dimly remembered life when she was called Elizabeth.

 

Maxwell, Lord Dane, is intrigued when his brother, a hired investigator, ropes him into his investigation of the fiercely beautiful hellion. He teaches her to navigate the social morass of the ton, but Marlowe will not escape so easily. Instead, Dane is drawn into her dangerous world, where the student becomes the teacher and love is the greatest risk of all."

 

The hero is very much a man of his time and class; his thoughts concerning the lower classes change a lot during the course of the book.  It made for an interesting/fun read.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Lady Florida.]

Last night I finished Shana Galen's Earls Just Want to Have Fun (Covent Garden Cubs).  (Clearly someone had fun with this title!)  It is a historical romance, and I enjoyed it. (Some adult content.)

 

 

 

I don't like romance stories, but I love that title! :D

[TeacherZee]

Since I know we have some Dorothy Sayers fans here I thought I would alert everyone to the fact that the first three Lord Peter Mysteries are on sale for kindle right now http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Wimsey-Mysteries-Volumes-through-ebook/dp/B00GH2G8YM?_bbid=1094133&tag=bookbubemailc-20

[Guest]

Eliana dear, I have another book for you. Time Ages in a Hurry is a short story collection by Italian writer Antonio Tabucchi, yet another interesting translation brought to us by Archipelago books. I loved the story Clouds. More in an online review I found:

 

http://www.consequencemagazine.org/book-reviews/now-everything-is-clear/

 

Anyone familiar with the Portuguese poet Pessoa who Tabucchi translated into Italian?

 

Thank you, love.  I've added it to my tbr lists.

 

I've never read any Pessoa, but I've been meaning to for several years now.... 

 

 

 Now I'm starting Giant by Edna Ferber for my book club.

 

 

 

I haven't read any Ferber in about 15-20 years...  So Big was the book of hers that has stayed with me, though I know I read Giant and several others.  

 

 

 

 

 

 I could not at all get into Murder in the Cathedral, but the play The Cocktail Party was interesting and a little weird. I enjoyed it but I'm not sure what to make of it!

 

 

I'm not fond of MitC, but I am intrigued by Cocktail Party - thank you for mentioning it.  

 

 

 

 

 

Bon voyage friends.  I will see you guys when I return on the 11th!  

 

 

 

 

 

:seeya:   Have a wonderful trip, sweetheart!  

 

 

. My brain is coming back! I can read! YAY! :p

 

:hurray:   Isn't that a wonderful feeling?  I hope you are feeling 100% yourself asap.   :grouphug:

 

 

I finished Bambi this morning.  I hate the movie.  I hate the book slightly less.

 

I've never seen the movie (though I have been shown clips as an adult), but I was somewhat fond of the book when I was younger.  It dragged for me the last time I tried to reread it - I get impatient with soapbox-ing in my fiction... whether I agree with it or not (though the 'not' is harder to take.... Heinlein comes to mind here...)

 

 

My daughter is home from college!!   :party: So great to have her.  She'll be with us for most of June and then head to the Big City where she has an internship, but we'll still see her a lot on weekends.  Sooooo nice.

 

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

 

 

The Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian, A Jew-- Three Women Search for Understanding by Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver, and Priscilla Warner - I read this years ago when it first came out, but one of my book groups selected it so I read it again.  Three mothers coming together after 9/11, originally with the idea of writing an interfaith children's book, but it morphed into a three year interfaith odyssey.

 

 

 

Hurrah!!!   I am so happy for you!

 

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

 

What did you think of this?  I've been put off by my impression that they weren't very involved in their faiths to start with - which, for me, takes away from the challenges and potentials of the project.