Book a Week 2015 - BW22: Judicious June

[Butter]

Also, dh and I are doing this challenge for the rest of the year. I like the variety! I'm sure many have seen it:

 

 

My daughter and I are doing that challenge.  I realized it's 52 books when you count the trilogy as 3 (there's 50 categories).  I have the challenge categories written at the bottom of my running list of books I've read this year and am filling in the books that I read that apply to the challenge as I read them.

 

https://mamareader.wordpress.com/2015-2/

[Angel]

For Great Expectations, I'm listening to the Naxos Audiobooks version narrated by Anton Lesser. I think he's awesome!

 

Thanks!

 

Yeah, it's not really a show you can have on in the background. You pretty much have to follow along the whole time or you can't figure out the plan.

 

I watched Season 1 way back when the DVD first came out. Someone gave it to me as a gift and it sat around collecting dust until I was sick for a few days so laid on the sofa and binge-watched the whole thing. (This was pre-kids.) I never watched later seasons and I am now. I especially liked Season 4.

 

After watching so many seasons, I have a hard time keeping them straight!  There was a week in February where dh was home with the flu and dd was home because of snow days and we watched over a season in one week  :laugh:

[Guest]

More responses from last week - though I can't seem to copy and paste without losing the attributions.

 

I want to thank everyone who chimed in with feedback on Far From the Madding Crowd.  I think I will leave it on my to-read-very-soon pile after all - thank you for the encouragement.  

 

Jenn described it as " full of pastoral light and beauty with a strong, complex, flawed yet likeable heroine" and that is very appealing!

 

 

Laura, not light, but not as dark as other Hardy novels, is also very encouraging!  

 

Lady Florida, his prose is amazing (if you don't mind the word applied to prose rather than a book!), but that made the grimness harder for me rather than easier.  (Though, again, I could be being very unfair to Hardy, I was in my mid-teens, and a very sensitive reader.)  

 

 

  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.

 

 

Rose, thank you for sharing your reactions.  I've been thinking about revisiting Rebecca.  My vague memories are 'meh', but it hasn't stayed with me enough that I can even be sure I really read it and am not, somehow, remembering something else entirely.  

 

 

I'm about halfway through The Jungle Book.  It's the last book I need to pre-read for my middle boy.  It's random and kind of weird.

 

Butter, I'm not sure how I'd react to The Jungle Book if I were to encounter it for the first time now.  It is embedded in my subconscious in a way that defies rational analysis.  It isn't a book I loved, but it is/was one that made a weird kind of sense to me as a child (Alice in Wonderland is another), and that feeling that it holds together is still there for me now.  ...along with a nostalgic fondness, and an appreciation for some of the sections.

 

 

 

Whoever linked to Sir Arthur Rackham, thank you. I've been enjoying his illustrations today because of you. 

 

Herland (feminist utopia).

 

Some photography books. I loved Eudora Welty: Photos more than Ansel Adams: Classic Images...perhaps because it was more unexpected? Or more people/faces focused? Which reminds me of my feelings of Welty (loved beyond reason) vs. Faulkner (respected but not adored)...is it an aspect of the depth of the personal vs. high and majestic contrast? Inner-to-outward? Female vs. male POV? Fun to think about. I do love the faces though. I think Welty and I just live on a similar wavelength. It was fun to read her interview in the front of the book. 

 

 

Mmm...reading Josephine Tey's The Daughter of Time and really enjoying it. The history geek approves. And some Peter Freuchen Eskimo stuff. Best to all of you this week. Read well. 

 

Lost Surprise, I grew up with some of Rackham's fairy tale illustrations, and am very fond of them (though I am not the one who mentioned them here)

 

There's a sequel to Herland - With Her in Ourland, I think?  ....but it is more stridently soapbox-ing than Herland, so I can't really recommend it, though I remember finding it interesting to read.

 

I've never been able to put my finger on what element it is that tips the scales from liking or respect to adoring a book.  It's there, I can almost 'taste' it, but I can't articulate it.

 

I had to put my history geek on hold to enjoy Daughter of Time - partly because, despite some sympathies I'm not a Ricardian, and partly because I prefer my history more objective, and this is decidedly not... but I like what she does with it... though Brat Farrar remains my favorite of her mysteries.

 

 

 

  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.

 

Red Squirrel: Hemingway and emotion, sentence of beauty, and overwhelming sensory information don't compute for me!  ...though perhaps this is another instance of me not reading the same book other people manage to read...

 

(I am assuming this is the recent novel, not Basho, nor yet the (very weird) play by Edward Bond.  Okay, yes, you do say novel... 

 

though wondering made me try thinking of Hemingway as if it were Japanese rather than American writing, and realizing I might enjoy him more if I tried to read with that sensibility... which is very weird.)

 

[Kareni]

*What is that called? I know at the front of a book it's called Front Matter, but the back? Back Matter just sounds weird to me.  :lol:

 

Yes, it does appear to be called back matter.  See here ~ Parts of a Book.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[LostSurprise]

 

I tried some Irving in my late-teens/early twenties, but all I can remember is a vague distaste, like eating a pastry from a lousy bakery that has a filling that's started to go 'off'.  I've wondered now and again if it was just an artifact of who I was then, but haven't been able to bring myself to try again... thank you for validating my reluctance!

 

 

I really hated the Cider House Rules, too, for a very specific reason: I worked as a CNM for many years, and people who do OBGYN just don't talk about it in the way he does. I wondered if he did any kind of research or if he invented his character's experiences.  But I dislike an author who pretends to know about something and he really doesn't. 

 

Irving annoys me. I've tried to like him. I actually threw Cider House Rules in the trash. I was that annoyed. And Widow for One Year (roll eyes). Irving has the gumption to say he never copies from reality..everything is original. Unfortunately, his people never seem real to me, especially the women. 

 

I did bring, and read, Borges' The Book of Imaginary Beings, which was every bit as good as Borges fans might expect, with a great many literary beasts making appearances, including critters from Dante's Inferno, and a white weaselly thing from (of course) Poe's Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. My favorite was the Celestial Stag, of Chinese myth:

 

-----------

Finishing up Eudora Welty's novel Losing Battles, which is only okay but was all I had left for our first week when there were no books in English available. But that part of our journey was not unliterary, as I read a great deal of Our Athenian Cousin (thank you, Baldwin Project) to Wee Girl; and dh and Middle Girl read lines from Euripides in the very Theatre at Epidaurus, which made everyone happy with its amazing acoustics, unimpaired by the millennia.

 

The Book of Imaginary Beings is so whimsical for Borges. I enjoyed it too. 

 

Losing Battles is all over the place. Love the prose. It was hard to care about the plot. Have you read Delta Wedding? 

 

 

I've never been able to put my finger on what element it is that tips the scales from liking or respect to adoring a book.  It's there, I can almost 'taste' it, but I can't articulate it.

 

I had to put my history geek on hold to enjoy Daughter of Time - partly because, despite some sympathies I'm not a Ricardian, and partly because I prefer my history more objective, and this is decidedly not... but I like what she does with it... though Brat Farrar remains my favorite of her mysteries.

 

 :)

 

My history geek can't watch National Treasure, but I didn't mind this. Of course it was incredibly biased. I felt the author did a good job setting the narrator up as a biased person who makes snap judgments based on physiognomy. He doesn't even get to find the information himself! It's all second-third-fourthhand anyway. 

 

I enjoyed the unusual take on the mystery genre and the questioning of history...how little is available to create the historical record..how the victor determines the culture and group memory. A fun little exercise. 

[Lady Florida.]

Yes, it does appear to be called back matter.  See here ~ Parts of a Book.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

Well now I know. :D

[Kareni]

Well now I know. :D

 

As do I now!

 

 

Today I finished the contemporary romance suspense Playing Dirty: Bad Boys Undercover by HelenKay Dimon.  It was a pleasant read (with adult content), and I'll likely read the sequel(s).

 

"As an elite Alliance agent—the joint undercover operation of MI6, the British Secret Intelligence Service, and the CIA—Ford Decker lives for the adrenaline. But when he befriends sexy property manager Shay Alexander in hopes of finding her cousin, a known national security threat, Ford crosses the line, getting to know her better . . . in bed.

 

After being burned by her last relationship, Shay wants to take things slow. Yet she can't keep her hands off the drop-dead gorgeous hottie who's moved into her apartment building. So when Ford's identity as an undercover agent is exposed, his betrayal cuts deep. Shay never wants to see him again, but Ford can't let her go, not when her life is still in danger. He will sacrifice everything to protect her, then be prepared to walk away from the only woman he's ever loved, even if it breaks him."

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

[Kareni]

I just finished re-reading Loretta Chase's Lord of Scoundrels which is a historical romance.  It's one that often shows up on Best Romance lists such as this one where it's listed as number one ~

 

Top 100 Romances Poll

November 2013

 

 

"Tough minded Jessica Trent's sole intention is to free her nitwit brother from the destructive influence of Sebastian Ballister, the notorious Marquess of Diain. She never expects to desire the arrogant, amoral cad. And When Daine's reciprocal passion places them in a scandalously compromising, and public, position, Jessica is left with no choice but to seek satisfaction... Damn the minx for tempting him, kissing him...and then for forcing him to salvage reputation! Lord Dain can't wait to put the infuriating bluestocking in her place -- and in some amorous position. And if this means marriage, so be it -- though Sebastian is less than certain he can continue to remain aloof...and steal his heart to the sensuous, head strong lady's considerable charms."

 

Here's a comprehensive review from the site listed above.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[wonderchica]

I quickly sped through The Royal We, which was written by ladies who blog at Go Fug Yourself (celebrity fashion). It's essentially Kate Middleton fanfic, if she were American and had a bit more evident personality. Still, it would be a great beach read! Smart, funny, romantic, and a great cast of secondary characters. Very charming, really.

[NoseInABook]

Little Nyssa, ohhh my gosh, I just snorted coffee out of my nose over the cherry lifesaver.

 

I missed you ladies. I haven't had much time to do anything much less reading. I started Finding Fraser by kc dyer which is hilarious and fluffy. Exactly what I need as my brain has been full of weighing pros and cons so we could make a rough decision. We ended up sending our foster daughter to a different home because she wasn't meshing well with our family. It broke my heart because she's beautiful and we waited so long for a girl but it wasn't the right fit all around. Thankfully, I met her new foster family last night and they're great people who are over the moon for her so it's a lovely fit there. <3 My husband and I have decided after saying FOUR good-byes in the first half of the year, we're going to take the summer off from fostering and just focus on our biological kids right now. We finished up school and have a couple of the co-op classes left so we're going to enjoy a nice, luxurious summer full of camping adventures and stuff that won't work well with a baby in the home. 

[Lady Florida.]

:grouphug: NoseinaBook  :grouphug:  I hope this doesn't sound flippant because I really don't mean it that way, but maybe it would help to try and lose yourself for a while in a really good book..

[mumto2]

I quickly sped through The Royal We, which was written by ladies who blog at Go Fug Yourself (celebrity fashion). It's essentially Kate Middleton fanfic, if she were American and had a bit more evident personality. Still, it would be a great beach read! Smart, funny, romantic, and a great cast of secondary characters. Very charming, really.

My overdrive hold list is full but I added to my rather long wish list!

 

Speaking of overdrive they just turned sneaky on their holds list. A few days ago I was number 312 on 115 copies of the Girl on the Train. I am now number 3 for a copy. I get that it is less intimidating but I actually got a weird sense of satisfaction watching my place drop from 998.

 

I am back reading the Pink Carnation series by Lauren Willig. Here is a link to the Fantastic Fiction page for this author http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/w/lauren-willig/. If you look at the bottom of the page there are links to to similar authors and sometimes new releases. Since father's day is coming I thought someone might want to use this site for gift ideas. I used it to add several books to my wish list.

[Halcyon]

I finished Don't Lets Go to the Dogs Tonight last night--what a read. What a crazy, ridiculous, painful, amazing childhood this woman had.

 

Still listening to Dear American Airlines on Audible and it is amazing--laugh out loud funny and sad at the same time. THe author, Jonathan Miles, is something else. He is a poet disguising himself as a novelist, I think.  I started Kate Atkinson's Case Studies last night as it arrived from Overdrive. SO far, it's okay. 

 

 

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-audio

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

22 the storied life of aj fikkry by Gabrielle Zevin

23 Want not by jonathan miles

24 Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner

25 The House We Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell

26 What She Left Behind by Ellen Marie Wiseman

27 Jane Eyre-audible-current

28 Don’t Lets Go to the Dogs Tonight by A Fuller-current

29 Dear American Airlines -audible by Jonathan Miles

30 Case Studies by Kate Atkinson-current

[Jane in NC]

Hi everyone.

 

I have a bunch of stuff on my plate at the moment but am fortunately finding some reading time in a few quiet moments.

 

In need of a distraction, I turned to a police procedural by best selling author (in the Netherlands) A.C. Baantjer. DeKok and Murder by Melody is very straightforward, not a cozy but not gory. Jenn might like this. Baantjer's novels are being translated into English so there is a series involving inspector DeKok for those who like to immerse themselves into series.

 

I also read T.S. Eliot's play The Cocktail Party which as noted earlier goes from light social commentary to dark. According to the all knowing Wikipedia, elements of the play are based on Euripedes' work Alcestis. Perhaps Eliana would know more.

 

Next distraction: Death in the Garden by Elizabeth Ironside; the play Copenhagen; and Lost in Translation which Kareni suggested.

[NoseInABook]

Kathy, that's totally my plan! Books, books, and more books! How did you ever guess? Hehe! ;) 

[Halcyon]

Just downloaded a book of short stories entitled A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You from my library's overdrive. I am taking a Fiction Writing course beginning in 10 days and this is one of the recommended books. 

[JennW in SoCal]

First of all, it warms my heart to no end to see so many BaWers who are posting on Eaglei's thread about her son. What a warm and loving group of women you all are.  

 

We are officially done with 9th Grade - woot! woot!  We survived our first year of high school without any major battle scares. When we started this journey back in kindergarten, taking it one year at a time, it never crossed our minds we'd still be plugging away, but here we are. James worked hard and earned all A's.    History wasn't officially on the table this year and he dove into studying WWII for his own edification, becoming an expert on Hitler. He closed out his year with a 9 page report on the book Inside Hitler's Bunker. Considering he was having trouble putting together a 3 paragraph essay at the beginning of the year, he's grown by leaps and bounds this year.  Yes, we will be continuing through the rest of High School!  Yikes!

 

:hurray:  :hurray:  :hurray:  High school really is a whole lot of fun, watching them grow and mature by leaps and bounds.  My oldest also became a huge WWII buff during his high school years.  Hoping you all have a relaxing summer!

 

I finished The Moor this morning. It is part of Laurie R. King's Russell and Holmes series which I have been reading sporadically alongside dd. I am finally caught up to her again on this series.

I think several of you might enjoy this book which is to some degree a continuation of Hound of the Baskervilles. Admittedly I haven't read the original in years but I think some here read the original a few months ago. The parts that relied on the original seemed accurate. Basically Holmes is called back to Dartmoor because the Hound is appearing again. Here is an excerpthttp://www.laurierking.com/books/book-excerpts/the-moorfor anyone who might be interested. Even though it is part of a series this particular book was rather stand alone.

Jenn, Glad you are enjoying Jonathan Strange. I really thought you had recommended it to me!

 

It's been several years, but I remember The Moor as being one of the better Mary Russell novels. And I am still thoroughly enjoying Jonathan Strange.  Perhaps it was my future self who recommended it to you during some breach in the space/time continuum?

 

And to this quote below from NoseInABook:

 We ended up sending our foster daughter to a different home because she wasn't meshing well with our family. It broke my heart because she's beautiful and we waited so long for a girl but it wasn't the right fit all around. Thankfully, I met her new foster family last night and they're great people who are over the moon for her so it's a lovely fit there. <3 My husband and I have decided after saying FOUR good-byes in the first half of the year, we're going to take the summer off from fostering and just focus on our biological kids right now. We finished up school and have a couple of the co-op classes left so we're going to enjoy a nice, luxurious summer full of camping adventures and stuff that won't work well with a baby in the home. 

 

 

:grouphug:  :grouphug:  Many hugs to you and my unending admiration of you and your dh for giving you hearts so selflessly to so many. Wishing you lots of good page-turning reads to help you revitalize this summer.

 

 

In need of a distraction, I turned to a police procedural by best selling author (in the Netherlands) A.C. Baantjer. DeKok and Murder by Melody is very straightforward, not a cozy but not gory. Jenn might like this. Baantjer's novels are being translated into English so there is a series involving inspector DeKok for those who like to immerse themselves into series.

 

Ahem.  Jane knows me far too well.  Adding this to my library shopping list.

 

And thanks to Kareni (I believe) who mentioned the kindle book Love at the Speed of Email. It's a fun read. I love "trying on" other people's lives, and love that the author talks about her own secret fantasies of how it would be to live a different life. 

 

 

[Butter]

Rider Strong (Shawn on Boy/Girl Meets World) and two of his friends do a Podcast a couple times a month discussing books the three of them read.  http://www.literarydisco.com/

[Mom-ninja.]

All I finished this week was my audio of Rebecca. I've started the audio of Great Expectations (that won out over Inferno) and I am loving it so much! I read the book years ago, in jr high or high school, and I liked it fine then, but I'm really loving it now. Yet another example of the enjoyment that comes with maturing as a reader.  I didn't remember how funny Dickens can be, and what brilliant satire he slips in every time you turn around.  I think listening to an audiobook of Dickens is so great because a good reader does all the voices differently, and in appropriate accents.  That might have been something Dicken's contemporary readers would have been able to "hear" as they read, but probably something most of us can't do any longer, certainly not the non-British among us.

 

I puffy heart Dickens. 

 

 

 

 

I read Relative Chaos last night. Quick read. I had the murder mystery figured out by chapter 13. So I read the rest of the book just to see how it played out. This is why I don't read mysteries often. 

[Little Nyssa]

Jane, the Cocktail Party is based on Euripides? I will have to check that out! I'm still working on the Waste Land.

 

I am reading a biography of Louisa May Alcott, by Harriet Reisen. It's very good. Reisen's style is a bit quirky but she has done a tremendous lot of research. I am interested in the question of an author's moral point of view and how it appears consciously or unconsciously in their work, so I want to know all about Alcott and the two types of literature she wrote and why.

 

While reading about the Alcott family, I am unpleasantly reminded of some families we've discussed on the WTM, who have been in the news lately, who live in wilful poverty in thrall to some kind of ideals which are not clear to anyone and which prevent them from providing proper care and food and shelter for their children. :(

[mumto2]

It's been several years, but I remember The Moor as being one of the better Mary Russell novels. And I am still thoroughly enjoying Jonathan Strange. Perhaps it was my future self who recommended it to you during some breach in the space/time continuum?

 

Snort, which reminds me, I hope that the Dr. Who fans here looked at the Dr. Who quilt that Butter has posted a picture of on a different thread. I can't link but it is really great! Dd has plans to start one as soon as the exams are done on Saturday. Her list is really long......I feel a bit guilty for letting her sign up for so many.

 

:grouphug: Noseinabook and happy reading.

[Butter]

Snort, which reminds me, I hope that the Dr. Who fans here looked at the Dr. Who quilt that Butter has posted a picture of on a different thread. I can't link but it is really great! Dd has plans to start one as soon as the exams are done on Saturday. Her list is really long......I feel a bit guilty for letting her sign up for so many.

 

Here's the link! http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/553245-my-daughters-doctor-who-quilt-just-got-more-awesome/

[Robin M]

Yep, there's a full moon and the boardies on the chat board are doing their best to rile up everyone. Sigh! So glad to step into our safe book haven. Hi! How are ya! Me, good. I'm finishing up 4 writing classes next week. Finished the books - spent the day catching up and reading the last chapters. Lots of synchronicity between them. Go me! Now to finish writing exercises and analyzing. After that, I'm taking a break. Remind me never to take 4 classes at the same time and facilitate as well, again. However it did press me to finish a short story. Yeah!

 

Book wise, I'm reading Lover at Last # 11 in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Getting an unexpected graphic sex education in male relationships. :eek: You know how Laurell Hamilton kind of reeled you in one book at a time, getting a bit more graphic each time with her Anita Blake Series. Yep. Ward did the same thing. Although I'm happy for the couple since I've invested in them over the past 10 books, it's a bit TMI.

 

I'll be back around to catch up with all your posts in a bit. :grouphug:

 

Keep Eaglei and her son in your prayers. She hasn't said anything in the past 24 hours except for have mercy. I'm hoping he survives this. He knew the odds going in, but has strong faith.

 

Eta: she posted an update a bit ago.

[Violet Crown]

Losing Battles is all over the place. Love the prose. It was hard to care about the plot. Have you read Delta Wedding?

 

I have not. But I think I prefer her stories to her novels (admittedly on the strength of one novel) sufficiently that I will give it a pass. Totally agree with you about plot and prose. And frankly it was hard to get past the not very subtle "rural Mississippians aren't just inbred ignoramuses, they actually prefer inbreeding and ignorance, and further will actively destroy those who try to help them out of their mud-wallow." Welty was from Mississippi: was this her own projection? Did she see herself as the martyred Miss Julia? ... but I find myself not actually caring enough to look into it. This'll teach me to read a book from 1970, really the day before yesterday.

 

On the reading stack now, from the local bookshop:

 

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Southern Mail/Night Flight (recommended by Middle Girl)

Ernest Bramah, Kai Lung Unrolls His Mat

Ernest Bramah, The Wallet of Kai Lung

J. D. Scott, The End of an Old Song

Catherine Carswell, Open the Door

Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Sunset Song

 

Last three are my Scottish authors for a while; the Gibbon was "Voted Best Scottish Book of All Time" according to the cover. Library promises to have David Copperfield in for me shortly.

[Angel]

Here's the link! http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/553245-my-daughters-doctor-who-quilt-just-got-more-awesome/

Thanks for posting the link!  I can't wait to show dh and dd's!   That is just awesome!

 

Yep, there's a full moon and the boardies on the chat board are doing their best to rile up everyone. Sigh! So glad to step into our safe book haven.

 

 

Once again, Robin, I just want to sincerely thank you for keeping this thread a haven for those of us who have no desire to step into that mess that's outside on the chat board!

[Maus]

28. "As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust" by Alan Bradley.  You all already talked about it, but the wait list at my library was really long!!  If I can boost her reading skills a little, I think I'm going to introduce DD10 to Flavia.  I think she'd relate to the morbid interest in poisons and death!

 

27. "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan.  I can't remember where I learned about this book, other than it was on a list of books with gifted protagonists.  I really enjoyed it, staying up way past bedtime to finish.

 

26. "Temple Theology: An Introduction" by Margaret Barker.

25. "Walking With the Women of the New Testament" by Heather Farrell (LDS). 

24. "Cub Scout BEAR Handbook."

23. "How to Read Literature Like  a Professor for Kids" by Thomas C. Foster.

22.  "Women and the Priesthood" by Sheri Dew (LDS).

21. "No More Meltdowns" by Jed Baker, Ph.D. 

20. "Amazed by Grace" by Sheri Dew (LDS).

19. "Teaching from Rest: A Homeschooler's Guide to Unshakable Peace" by Sarah Mackenzie.

18. "How to Become a Straight-A Student" by Cal Newport.

17. "Eight Plus One" by Robert Cormier.

16.  "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand.

15. "How to Train Your Dragon" by Cressida Cowell.

14.  "As You Wish" by Cary Elwes.

13. "The Giver" by Lois Lowry. 

12. "My Louisiana Sky" by Kimberly Willis Holt. 

11. "Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself" by Alan Alda.  

10. "When I Was Your Age" edited by Amy Ehrlich.

9. "Freak the Mighty" by Rodman Philbrick.  

8. “Broken Things to Mend†by Jeffrey R. Holland (LDS)

7. “When You Can't Do It Alone†by Brent Top. (LDS)

6. “What to Do When You Worry Too Much†and “What to Do When Your Temper Flares†by Dawn Huebner, Ph.D.â€

5. “Tales of a Female Nomad†by Rita Golden Gelman.

4. “Heaven is for Real†by Todd Burpo.

3. "Your Happily Ever After" and "The Remarkable Soul of a Woman" by Dieter F. Uchtdorf. (LDS)

2. "Cliff-Hanger" by Gloria Skurzynski and Alane Ferguson.

1. "Rage of Fire" by Gloria Skurzynski and Alane Ferguson.

[TeacherZee]

I started the first Miss Fisher book today. I figured since I enjoyed the TV series I should try the books.

[Kareni]

This afternoon I finished the historical western romance This Gun for Hire by Jo Goodman; I enjoyed it.

 

"He’s got a job to do…

Former army cavalryman Quill McKenna takes pride in protecting the most powerful man in Stonechurch, Colorado: Mr. Ramsey Stonechurch himself. But the mine owner has enemies, and after several threats on his life, mines, and family, Quill decides to hire someone to help guard the boss’s daughter. Only problem is the uncontrollable attraction he feels toward the fiery-haired woman who takes the job. 

…but she’s a piece of work. 

Calico Nash has more knowledge of scouting and shooting than cross-stitching, but she agrees to pose as Ann’s private tutor while protecting her. But between her growing attraction to Quill and the escalating threats against the Stonechurches, Calico will soon have a choice to make—hang on to her hard-won independence or put her faith in Quill to create the kind of happy ending she never imagined…"

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

I haven't read it, but this (currently) free Kindle book sounds enticing ~

 

Ghosts of Tsavo (Society for Paranormals Book 1) by Vered Ehsani

 

From an interview with the author:

 

"Could you tell us a little about your novel?"

 

"My most recent novel is the first in a series concerning dead husbands, African legends and the search for a perfect spot of tea. I wrote it for those readers who adore “Pride & Prejudice†and would love to experience “The Parasol Protectorate†set in colonial Africa. So basically I wrote it for myself."

 

 

From the Amazon link given previously:

 

"African Mythology meets Victorian Manners

 

Armed with Victorian etiquette, a fully loaded walking stick and a dead husband, Beatrice Knight arrives in colonial Kenya desperate for a pot of tea and a pinch of cinnamon. But she’ll need more than that if she’s to unravel the mystery of the Ghosts of Tsavo without being eaten in the process. All this while surviving the machinations of her best friend’s dashing godfather and the efforts of her safari guide to feed her to any lion willing to drag her away. What is a ghost-chasing widow to do?"

 

Regards,

Kareni

[NoseInABook]

Robin, my husband started reading the Anita Blake series but quit around Blue Moon. He was like, "These... these are turning into furry porn!"

 

Kareni, that one sounds interesting. Snagged it! 

[Rosie_0801]

I just finished reading 'People Like Us: How arrogance is dividing Islam and the West' by Waleed Aly. 

 

Waleed Aly is a well known figure in Australia. This book was written 10 years ago and is just as relevant today as it was then, which goes to show how many more copies he should have sold back then. Perhaps if he had, his book would be obsolete by now. I am very glad to have read this- it shows a way to further the Conversation instead of playing the same one over like a broken record as we do.

[TeacherZee]

Rosie could you recommend some good books for learning more about Australia's history please?

[Rosie_0801]

Rosie could you recommend some good books for learning more about Australia's history please?

 

DON'T DO IT TO YOURSELF!!!!!

[Rosie_0801]

Rosie could you recommend some good books for learning more about Australia's history please?

 

Which part? We've got about 40,000 years of it.

[TeacherZee]

Which part? We've got about 40,000 years of it.

 

Wait?! What?! It didn't start with the poms :lol: :tongue_smilie: ;)

 

But for now I am actually mostly interested in modern history from about 1850 or a, for Australia relevant, year in that area.

[Rosie_0801]

Good heavens. I don't know. Try Sadie.

 

From 1850, you're looking at the gold rush era. It's not very interesting. 

You might spend a few minutes on Mary Mackillop, since she's the only Australian saint, other than the St Kilda football team.

The Stolen generation- this continued for the next 100 years and it wouldn't be too far out of line to claim it hasn't really finished yet.

Ned Kelly (it is beyond me why he requires attention)

1901- Federation

The While Australia policy- another thing that never really quite finished, no matter what the history books say.

1915- There was a tremendous screw up at Gallipoli

1967- Aboriginal Australians finally count as people on the census

1992- Mabo- native title

1998- First annual Sorry Day

 

Nothing much else happened in there except the obvious wars, changes of government, some bush fires and a bit of cricket. 

 

I recommend you read Wikipedia.  :tongue_smilie:

 

(Why are you wanting to read Australian history? :confused1:  :confused1:  )

[TeacherZee]

Good heavens. I don't know. Try Sadie.

 

From 1850, you're looking at the gold rush era. It's not very interesting. 

You might spend a few minutes on Mary Mackillop, since she's the only Australian saint, other than the St Kilda football team.

The Stolen generation- this continued for the next 100 years and it wouldn't be too far out of line to claim it hasn't really finished yet.

Ned Kelly (it is beyond me why he requires attention)

1901- Federation

The While Australia policy- another thing that never really quite finished, no matter what the history books say.

1915- There was a tremendous screw up at Gallipoli

1967- Aboriginal Australians finally count as people on the census

1992- Mabo- native title

1998- First annual Sorry Day

 

Nothing much else happened in there except the obvious wars, changes of government, some bush fires and a bit of cricket. 

 

I recommend you read Wikipedia.  :tongue_smilie:

 

(Why are you wanting to read Australian history? :confused1:  :confused1:  )

 

I've been watching Miss Fisher and ANZAC Girls and I feel that I am missing out on the historical background to fully understand what is going on socially and politically :)

[Rosie_0801]

Oh, I don't watch them. I may be able to help with some details though, if you have specific questions.

[Mesamin]

I tried posting earlier today but we are having internet issues. I finished Mansfield Park this morning and appreciated that the unobtrusive, shy, modest character triumphed and that the charismatic, self promoting characters were proven to be not worthy of attention in the end.

 

I started "I know why the caged bird sings" by Maya Angelou.

 

Please excuse any typos as I'm on my phone.

[Lady Florida.]

DON'T DO IT TO YOURSELF!!!!!

 

 

Good heavens. I don't know. Try Sadie.

 

From 1850, you're looking at the gold rush era. It's not very interesting. 

.

The Stolen generation- this continued for the next 100 years and it wouldn't be too far out of line to claim it hasn't really finished yet.

 

 

 

 

Nothing much else happened in there except the obvious wars, changes of government, some bush fires and a bit of cricket. 

 

 

 

 

Rosie, this isn't the first time you tried to talk someone out of learning Australian history or reading Australian literature. I think you either sell your country's interesting history short, don't really like history, or don't know how fascinating Australia actually is to most of us who have never been there. :)

 

While I was reading The Luminaries for book club, I ended up doing some searches and learned about Australia's Gold Rush. It is interesting. 

 

The Stolen Generation and the stories of the British orphans sent there (and to Canada, and New Zealand) are at once fascinating and horrifying. 

 

A lot happened. Australia has been a major player around the globe and especially in its own part of the world for generations, as well as having had a huge part in the WWI and WWII. 

 

Then again, I'm a history nerd and have rarely found any history of any country to be boring. I love the story of people everywhere, what they did and why they did it. 

[Lady Florida.]

I've been watching Miss Fisher and ANZAC Girls and I feel that I am missing out on the historical background to fully understand what is going on socially and politically :)

 

I watched all of the Miss Fisher episodes available on ACORN and then read the first book. I haven't heard of ANZAC Girls, but am now going to have to go looking. The impression I got from the MIss Fisher stories is that Australia paid dearly after WWI and had a Lost Generation of its own because of it.

[Rosie_0801]

Rosie, this isn't the first time you tried to talk someone out of learning Australian history or reading Australian literature. I think you either sell your country's interesting history short, don't really like history, or don't know how fascinating Australia actually is to most of us who have never been there. :)

 

None of the above! I had the most miserably, awful Australian history teachers in the history of Australian history teaching.

[Butter]

I finished reading Legends of the Martial Arts Masters by Susan Lynn Peterson.  It was a bunch of short stories, some known to be true, some probably just legends from long ago.  They were interesting and fun to read for anyone into martial arts.  4/5 stars.

[LostSurprise]

I have not. But I think I prefer her stories to her novels (admittedly on the strength of one novel) sufficiently that I will give it a pass. Totally agree with you about plot and prose. And frankly it was hard to get past the not very subtle "rural Mississippians aren't just inbred ignoramuses, they actually prefer inbreeding and ignorance, and further will actively destroy those who try to help them out of their mud-wallow." Welty was from Mississippi: was this her own projection? Did she see herself as the martyred Miss Julia? ... but I find myself not actually caring enough to look into it. This'll teach me to read a book from 1970, really the day before yesterday.

 

 

<Raised eyebrows to deciding the efficacy of someone's genre output based on one novel...but you realize what you're saying.> ;)

 

Delta Wedding is better, simpler, although they both follow an extended family gathering. Losing Battles is more of a farce IMO. I'm not really a fan of farce, but I rated it a bit higher then you did. Probably because I didn't see the clan's life as a mud-wallow, but an equally-valid, very human, lifestyle. 

 

Think of the Miss Julia section as being one of the reaches of that farce. It winks at you, definitely. Welty isn't down on backwoods' folk. There's a lot of love in her descriptions. She loves people. But people are ridiculous, even the progressive, upright ones like Miss Julia and most definitely the rest when we're ignorant or clannish. What I enjoyed about that section was how equally she projected the two sides' ignorance of each other. Miss Julia, we feel for her, but she did not understand the people of the county. She came to save them, and most of the time people do not want to be saved. They resent it. Miss Julia never became one of them because she was too busy telling them what to do. Not that the local clans let anyone in easily. Watching orphaned outsider Gloria maneuver after marrying in to this family is painful, but it's also obvious that she wants to belong and if nothing else a clan makes you a part of something. 

 

Eudora Welty was a city kid from Jackson, MS with some extended family ties in the country. She's more like Gloria or Laura in Delta Wedding. She belongs, but is the outsider. She loves it, but she sees its ridiculousness.

 

Off topic, but Welty has some excellent biographical stories. I think we had to read parts of One Writer's Beginnings in high school. I love her description of childhood and books and the library. 

 

"Long before I wrote stories, I listened for stories. Listening for them is something more acute than listening to them. I suppose it’s an early form of participation in what goes on. Listening children know stories are there. When their elders sit and begin, children are just waiting and hoping for one to come out, like a mouse from its hole.†

 

~Eudora Welty, One Writer's Beginnings

[Kareni]

Rosie could you recommend some good books for learning more about Australia's history please?

 

I'm clearly not Rosie; however, has that ever stopped me?

 

 

A couple of books that might be of interest:

 

The Fatal Shore: The epic of Australia's founding by Robert Hughes

 

From Library Journal

For 80 years between 1788 and 1868 England transported its convicts to Australia. This punishment provided the first immigrants and the work force to build the colony. Using diaries, letters, and original sources, Hughes meticulously documents this history. All sides of the story are told: the political and social reasoning behind the Transportation System, the viewpoint of the captains who had the difficult job of governing and developing the colonies, and of course the dilemma of the prisoners. This is a very thorough and accurate history of Australian colonization written by the author of the book and BBC/Time-Life TV series The Shock of the New . A definitive work that is an essential purchase for both public and academic libraries. BOMC and History Book Club main selections. Judith Nixon, Purdue Univ. Libs., W. Lafayette, Ind.

Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

 

 

AND

 

In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson

 

Amazon.com Review

Bill Bryson follows his Appalachian amble, A Walk in the Woods, with the story of his exploits in Australia, where A-bombs go off unnoticed, prime ministers disappear into the surf, and cheery citizens coexist with the world's deadliest creatures: toxic caterpillars, aggressive seashells, crocodiles, sharks, snakes, and the deadliest of them all, the dreaded box jellyfish. And that's just the beginning, as Bryson treks through sunbaked deserts and up endless coastlines, crisscrossing the "under-discovered" Down Under in search of all things interesting.

 

Bryson, who could make a pile of dirt compelling--and yes, Australia is mostly dirt--finds no shortage of curiosities. When he isn't dodging Portuguese man-of-wars or considering the virtues of the remarkable platypus, he visits southwest Gippsland, home of the world's largest earthworms (up to 12 feet in length). He discovers that Australia, which began nationhood as a prison, contains the longest straight stretch of railroad track in the world (297 miles), as well as the world's largest monolith (the majestic Uluru) and largest living thing (the Great Barrier Reef). He finds ridiculous place names: "Mullumbimby Ewylamartup, Jiggalong, and the supremely satisfying Tittybong," and manages to catch a cricket game on the radio, which is like  "listening to two men sitting in a rowboat on a large, placid lake on a day when the fish aren't biting; it's like having a nap without losing consciousness. It actually helps not to know quite what's going on. In such a rarefied world of contentment and inactivity, comprehension would become a distraction."

 

"You see," Bryson observes, "Australia is an interesting place. It truly is. And that really is all I'm saying." Of course, Bryson--who is as much a travel writer here as a humorist, naturalist, and historian--says much more, and does so with generous amounts of wit and hilarity. Australia may be "mostly empty and a long way away," but it's a little closer now. --Rob McDonald

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Stacia]

Hey gals!

 

Will have to catch up as I've been away about two weeks. Can you guess where I've been? A couple of clues....

 

 

[JennW in SoCal]

Hey gals!

 

Will have to catch up as I've been away about two weeks. Can you guess where I've been? A couple of clues....

 

 

 

We were there over Christmas!!  Is the lava actually pooling so you can see it?  About a month ago it was bubbling and threatening to overflow.

[Lady Florida.]

None of the above! I had the most miserably, awful Australian history teachers in the history of Australian history teaching.

 

Aw, that's too bad. I tend to think great history teachers who themselves loved history are partly responsible for my love of that subject. Still, you do live in an interesting country with a colorful history. Maybe one day you'll get the bug and want to find out more about it on your own, crappy teachers be damned.

[Stacia]

We were there over Christmas!!  Is the lava actually pooling so you can see it?  About a month ago it was bubbling and threatening to overflow.

 

No, there was no active lava flow where it was accessible for viewing. The caldera did overflow, but that was a week or two before we arrived. We just got to see the 'pit of hell' look, but not active lava. ;) :laugh:  (I've seen active lava there in the past -- many years ago -- and was disappointed that my dc didn't get to see any as it was their first time there.) (Guess this would have fit in perfectly with the Inferno read-along last month!)

 

Now that Jenn has guessed where I was, I guess I can reveal that the only book I read while traveling was Petroglyphs of Hawaii by L. R. McBride. I love seeing petroglyphs & this was my first time seeing some in Hawaii. I was hoping the book would reveal more about the history of the ones there, but it didn't add much info from what I had already learned from posted signs. I think there hasn't been extensive study/knowledge available about the background/meanings of the petroglyphs.

 

Green sea turtles resting on Punalu'u black sand beach:

 

Green sand at Papakolea Beach (only one of four green sand beaches in the world, according to Wikipedia):

 

Hiking back up the cliff from the green sand beach:

 

At the Arizona Memorial (which we were lucky to visit as it shut a day or two afterward due to pier damage from a boat hitting it):

 

The standard "Hawaii is beautiful" shot (which shows where we did paddleboarding):

 

And a photo more truly indicative of our trip.... :lol:  (FYI, Taz is at the southernmost point of the U.S.):

[Rosie_0801]

Aw, that's too bad. I tend to think great history teachers who themselves loved history are partly responsible for my love of that subject. Still, you do live in an interesting country with a colorful history. Maybe one day you'll get the bug and want to find out more about it on your own, crappy teachers be damned.

 

I majored in history at uni. :D

 

 

This included telling off a history tutor for picking on the first year students. His specialty was Australian history, would you believe?  :laugh:

 

 

I did actually do one Australian history subject, but only because it was marketed as Women's history. One of those was enough too.