Book a Week 2015 - BW26: halfway there!

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday Dear hearts:  We are on week 26 in our quest to read 52 books.  Welcome back to our regulars, anyone just joining in, and to all who follow our progress. Mr. Linky is all set up on the 52 books blog to link to your reviews. The link is also in my signature.

 

52 books blog - halfway there:  Can you believe we are halfway through the year already?  Amazing.  I am going to round out our Judicious June celebration with some legal non fiction. Once upon a time, I wanted to be a paralegal which lead to some interesting reading on ethics and law.  Heady stuff, always interesting to read, although a bit scary at times.  My studies lead me away from the legal field, however it taught to me always dig deeper and never forget to read the fine print.   Followed a few rabbit trails this week and discovered a few interesting non fiction books read by our chief justices and highlighted on the SCOTUS Blog book review.


Check out Ronald Collins book column on new and forthcoming books which is chock full of current and historical novels.

Nixon's Court

I've stumbled across quite a few fiction authors who were lawyers once upon a time and wrote about their experiences including Scott Turow on his first year in law school.

Then we have suggested reading lists for prospective and current law students which include the ever popular To Kill a Mockingbird along with Scott Turow's One L mentioned above as well as legal writing books, jurisprudence, historical and biographical.  Yes, your wishlists are going to just get bigger as you peruse these selections.  Have fun following a few rabbit trails.

 

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

 

History of the Medieval World

 Chapter 30 The Heavenly Sovereign pp 215 - 222 

 

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

 

What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

 

Link to week 25

[Loesje22000]

I'm reading the discovery of France:

http://www.amazon.com/Discovery-France-Historical-Geography/dp/0393333647/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1435509770&sr=8-1&keywords=Graham+robb

(In Dutch)

 

I totally love this book.

Did you guys know that 'French' original was the language in and around Paris?

And that only since Napoleon such a thing like France is created?

So many history facts I learned got a different perspective through this book.

I like that :)

 

Meanwhile reading a book for dd's readinglist about slavery.

[Robin M]

I'm in non fiction land this week:  The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Nonfiction as well as Wired for Story by Lisa Cron.  James and I have started Art History for Dummies.  As well as gone back to reading K12's Stories from Homer's Epics The Iliad and The Odyssey which I'm greatly enjoying. Especially since we just finished listening to all of Rick Riordan's Heroes of Olympus books and we're familiar with all the gods now. Also preparing me for reading the 'adult' version which is beyond me at the moment.

[Robin M]

I'm reading the discovery of France:

http://www.amazon.com/Discovery-France-Historical-Geography/dp/0393333647/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1435509770&sr=8-1&keywords=Graham+robb

(In Dutch)

 

I totally love this book.

Did you guys know that 'French' original was the language in and around Paris?

And that only since Napoleon such a thing like France is created?

So many history facts I learned got a different perspective through this book.

I like that :)

 

Meanwhile reading a book for dd's readinglist about slavery.

 

Discovery of France sounds really interesting. Adding it to my wishlist. Thanks.

 

[Jane in NC]

Swimming with the chunksters here, so nothing completed this week.  I read six chapters in HoMW, fourteen vignettes in The Golden Legend, and dove into Peregrine Pickle.  My copy of Smollett's classic is bound into two volumes 888 pages total.  My bookmark is at page 162.

 

The Golden Legend sent me on several rabbit trails in which I explored two heresies heretofore unknown to me despite my Catholic education:  the Cathar and the Ebionite.  Getting into the medieval mindset can be challenging.  Also, The Golden Legend is a strange compendium of saints lives and liturgical events from often conflicting sources.  To be honest, I don't think that I will ever look at Medieval Art in the same way again!

 

[Negin]

I read The Miniaturist - For most of the book, I thought that I would likely end up giving it 4 or 5 stars, that’s how much I liked it. All in all, it was a bit too enigmatic for me in certain areas. I liked it, but certainly didn’t love it. I chose to read this now, because it takes place in Amsterdam, and we’ll be heading there for a few days soon. 

 

 

MY RATING SYSTEM

5 Stars

Fantastic, couldn't put it down

4 Stars

Really Good

3 Stars

Enjoyable

2 Stars

Just Okay – nothing to write home about

1 Star

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

[Kareni]

I read an enjoyable young adult novel yesterday ~ I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios. 

 

This blurb states it well:  "*Part coming-of-age, part romance, and part war story. Demetrios' latest is remarkable. (Booklist, STARRED REVIEW)"

 

I'd certainly read more by this author.

 

"If seventeen-year-old Skylar Evans were a typical Creek View girl, her future would involve a double-wide trailer, a baby on her hip, and the graveyard shift at Taco Bell. But after graduation, the only thing standing between straightedge Skylar and art school are three minimum-wage months of summer. Skylar can taste the freedom--that is, until her mother loses her job and everything starts coming apart. Torn between her dreams and the people she loves, Skylar realizes everything she's ever worked for is on the line.

 

Nineteen-year-old Josh Mitchell had a different ticket out of Creek View: the Marines. But after his leg is blown off in Afghanistan, he returns home, a shell of the cocksure boy he used to be.

 

What brings Skylar and Josh together is working at the Paradise--a quirky motel off California's dusty Highway 99. Despite their differences, their shared isolation turns into an unexpected friendship and soon, something deeper."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Chrysalis Academy]

Well, despite the fact that I spent the better part of a day being goofy on the BaW thread last week, I did manage to finish a few books:  The Fox Inheritance - a very disappointing sequel; The Subtle Knife - my least favorite of the trilogy; Sapines: A Brief History of Humankind, which is brilliant and wonderful, and Brave New World.  That's another to add to my category of "books I first read too young to understand."  One thing I appreciated much more this go-round was all the Shakespeare allusions - I think I got most of them, and knew the plays they came from, whereas last read they mostly went over my head.  I especially like it when Mustapha Mond asks John Savage if he knows what a philosopher is, and John answers "A man who dreams of fewer things than there are in heaven and earth." I can't quite decide how I feel about the ending of this book; it's a profoundly pessimistic book, really, and John's dysfunction and lack of freedom (based on his unintentional conditioning) is as serious as the Brave New Worlders. I think that makes perfect sense given when it was written. I'm not sure how to interpet it now. I think this book is more disturbing than 1984, because I think we can see more aspects of Brave New World in our society than the 1984 society. Insidious, and thus maybe harder to notice?  I don't know.

 

I'm still working on A Dance With Dragons, starting The Amber Spyglass, and trucking along with pre-reads for next school year.  I pre-skimmed the newly published The Upright Thinkers: The Human Journey from Living in Trees to Understanding the Cosmos by physicist Leonard Mlodinow, and I think we'll add it to our read-aloud stack for next year.

 

 

Books Read in June:

93. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

92. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

91. The Subtle Knife - Philip Pullman

90. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind - Yuval Harari

89. The Fox Inheritance - Mary Pearson

88. Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? - Roz Chast

87. Age of Opportunity: Lessons from the New Science of Adolescense - Laurence Steinberg

86. The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, The Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World - Edward Dolnick

85. A Feast for Crows - GRR Martin

84. String, Straightedge and Shadow: The Story of Geometry - Julia Diggins

83. The Golden Compass - Phillip Pullman

82. The Adoration of Jenna Fox - Mary Pearson

81. Letters to a Young Scientist - E O Wilson

80. The Science of Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials - Mary Gribbin

79. From Then Till Now: A Short History of the World - Christopher Moore

78. A Storm of Swords - GRR Martin

[Robin M]

Swimming with the chunksters here, so nothing completed this week.  I read six chapters in HoMW, fourteen vignettes in The Golden Legend, and dove into Peregrine Pickle.  My copy of Smollett's classic is bound into two volumes 888 pages total.  My bookmark is at page 162.

 

The Golden Legend sent me on several rabbit trails in which I explored two heresies heretofore unknown to me despite my Catholic education:  the Cathar and the Ebionite.  Getting into the medieval mindset can be challenging.  Also, The Golden Legend is a strange compendium of saints lives and liturgical events from often conflicting sources.  To be honest, I don't think that I will ever look at Medieval Art in the same way again!

You aren't alone. Life long Catholic myself and don't remember cathar or ebionite. Off to follow a few rabbit trails.  :driving:

[Onceuponatime]

I'm reading How To Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster. It is fun for me because it brings together stuff I've only gleaned in bits and pieces through the years. Plus, it's quick and easy to read. As I try to reread Rebecca, it will give me something to think about. Is Mrs. Danvers like a vampire, or is Rebecca the real vampire? After all she becomes "undead" in a sense. She's haunting and destructive. She keeps reappearing symbolically in a creepy fashion, disturbing the lives of others.

 

I think it was mentioned in the last thread that certain books had similar themes. Mr. Foster claims all stories are connected, that in fact there is only one story. Recognizing connections certainly is fun and instructive, but I think it takes a skillful author to make it seem natural and not forced.

[Guest]

Under the Net by Iris Murdoch: The plot is zany, over the top at times, but the tone is reflective and interior, and there is a philosophical strand woven through the book. I enjoyed this enormously.

 

Time Ages in a Hurry by Tabucchi (thank you, Jane!!): I'd enjoyed this Italian author's other short story collection from Archipelago (thank you again, Stacia!), and was excited to read this one.  I found I needed to read these with pauses between each one, and often some time to let them sink in and be processed.  ...and I know there are several I want to come back to again.  These are less whimsical than the other set, but the oblique finding of meaning in challenging contexts was very well suited to where I am right now.  I have added Tabucchi to my list of 'authors I must read more of'.

 

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. This was a painful read.  I'm not a complete ostrich, not at all, but I haven't looked carefully at these issues before and even just putting them all in the same place was hard to face.  The book isn't always objective, but it is eye opening and her conclusions resonated strongly with my heart.

 

Passing by Nella Larsen: This slim novel is gripping and very disturbing.  I've added Larsen's other novel to my tbr list....

 

Burial at Thebes by Heaney: I'm not sure how I missed encountering this.  Wow.  Like many of the Medeas I read (was that last year?), this is more than a translation, but less than an adaptation.  This is not just a powerful version of Antigone, it is also a stunning use of language and its rhythms.  I wouldn't read this first, or as my only version, but I do highly recommend it.

 

The Three Arrows by Iris Murdoch: This has been sitting on my shelves for a while (a random acquisition from HPB's clearance shelves), but after enjoying Under the Net so much, I wanted to try one Murdoch's two (I think?) plays.  ...and this was especially appealing since it has a samurai-ish setting.  The balancing of Murdoch's themes and some very British issues and sensibilities with some brilliant strands of Japanese history/culture/mythos was both an intellectual slight-of-hand to marvel at and very effective and reflecting on aspects of each.  It didn't quite achieve its potential, but I know I will be coming back to it again some day.

 

 

Spring Essence: translations of a Vietnamese poet from the late 18th century.  ...well, of poems attributed to her.  How many of them were hers isn't clear and the deduction of biography from the poems feels highly dubious to me.  Many of them are noted for their double entendres (VC, you might appreciate these!) and there are some that are both clever and moving.

 

I reread Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and can add it my growing list of classics I appreciate so much more now than I did on my first encounter in my early teens.

 

A new J/YA Greenglass House - an amusing preread for the twins.  

 

Rabbit HIll by Robert Lawson - a read aloud with my little guy.  Delightful, we're reading the sequel now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TeacherZee]

Well, despite the fact that I spent the better part of a day being goofy on the BaW thread last week, I did manage to finish a few books:  The Fox Inheritance - a very disappointing sequel; The Subtle Knife - my least favorite of the trilogy; Sapines: A Brief History of Humankind, which is brilliant and wonderful, and Brave New World.  That's another to add to my category of "books I first read too young to understand."  One thing I appreciated much more this go-round was all the Shakespeare allusions - I think I got most of them, and knew the plays they came from, whereas last read they mostly went over my head.  I especially like it when Mustapha Mond asks John Savage if he knows what a philosopher is, and John answers "A man who dreams of fewer things than there are in heaven and earth." I can't quite decide how I feel about the ending of this book; it's a profoundly pessimistic book, really, and John's dysfunction and lack of freedom (based on his unintentional conditioning) is as serious as the Brave New Worlders. I think that makes perfect sense given when it was written. I'm not sure how to interpet it now. I think this book is more disturbing than 1984, because I think we can see more aspects of Brave New World in our society than the 1984 society. Insidious, and thus maybe harder to notice?  I don't know.

 

Brave New World is one of those books that will forever be in my heart because it transformed the way I look at society and myself. I wrote both my high school extended essay and my grad school thesis on it. Very powerful stuff.

 

I'm having issues settling down with one book. So I am currently reading four or five books simultaneously. Also still packing away books.

[Jane in NC]

You aren't alone. Life long Catholic myself and don't remember cathar or ebionite. Off to follow a few rabbit trails. :driving:

Another interesting thing about The Golden Legend, Robin, is the reverence for saints who were shifted off the modern Catholic calendar in 1969. For some reason, I was rather intrigued by the tale of Jacobus de Voragine's contemporary, Peter of Verona or Saint Peter Martyr, who moved through the fast track when canonized (11 months after his death). I suspect that many other saints in The Golden Legend have been moved to the attic, maybe some even to the dustbin.

[mumto2]

I read a YA novel called We Were Liars byhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/children_sbookreviews/10912234/We-Were-Liars-by-E.-Lockhart-review.htmlE. Lockhart. I would recommend it even though it was another book that I put on hold for dd that we waited for so long that it ended up on my kindle by accident....my library doesn't classify it as YA. All the reviews I glanced at when picking the one I ended up linking were enthusiastic. The book has layers beyond the obvious privileged family issues. The book kept me pretty much glued to it even after I realized it was YA. It had a surprise ending that I had no idea was coming. I will check it back out for dd when it becomes available again. ;)

[Ali in OR]

I finished The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo and I have a hard time understanding why this book is so popular right now. Kondo's use of the phrase "tidying up" is really a euphemism for "throw out most of your possessions." I've always thought of tidying up as putting things away, cleaning your house, organizing things, but Kondo's "ingenious" method is to throw away everything that doesn't bring you joy. That's just not the way I go through life. My can opener doesn't bring me joy but it performs the function for which I purchased it. Same with many mundane things in my home. I'm not going to throw away books simply because I've already read them (Kondo kept 30 books I think, getting rid of even ones she enjoyed because they already served their purpose). This book was no help at all for my immediate issue of cleaning out the linen closet. Kondo would probably just have me get rid of all of the towels and sheets and not store any kleenex boxes in there.

 

I'm in the middle of The Crucible which I think is good. Dd's high school will be performing it this year; we'll go see it for sure, and maybe I'll end up reading the play with youngest in our history studies; or maybe not--still need to plan out exactly what we're doing in history. No other immediate reading plans--probably need to get that history year planned to see what other pre-reading I need to do.

[6packofun]

I'm reading the discovery of France:

http://www.amazon.com/Discovery-France-Historical-Geography/dp/0393333647/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1435509770&sr=8-1&keywords=Graham+robb

(In Dutch)

 

I totally love this book.

Did you guys know that 'French' original was the language in and around Paris?

And that only since Napoleon such a thing like France is created?

So many history facts I learned got a different perspective through this book.

I like that :)

 

Meanwhile reading a book for dd's readinglist about slavery.

 

That book looks pretty awesome!  Thanks!

 

I just finished The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye which was good.  Next is a recommendation from my mom: The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley.  I don't even know what it's about.  LOL

[Ali in OR]

Since we're at the half-way point, I'll post my 2015 reading list thus far. 34 books. I've enjoyed many/most of these; won't really call out any as "best of the year" or anything yet.

 

 

1. The Circle-Dave Eggers

2. Wuthering Heights-Emily Brontë

3. The Valley of Fear (and other MoriartyTales)-Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

4. As You Wish-Cary Elwes

5. Forgotten English-Jeffrey Kacirk

6. The Rosie Effect-Graeme Simsion

7. As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust-Alan Bradley

8. Wild-Cheryl Strayed

9. Of Mice and Men-John Steinbeck

10. Villette-Charlotte Brontë

11. Fahrenheit 451-Ray Bradbury

12. In Milady’s Chamber-Sheri Cobb South

13. The Girls of Atomic City-Denise Kiernan

14. An Unsuitable Job for a Woman-P.D. James

15. Julius Caesar-William Shakespeare

16. Being Mortal-Atul Gawande

17. A Dead Bore-Sheri Cobb South

18. Moriarty-Anthony Horowitz

19. Ten Little Indians-Agatha Christie

20. The Geography of You and Me-Jennifer E. Smith

21. Family Plot-Sheri Cobb South

22. Dodger-Terry Pratchett

23. Mort-Terry Pratchett

24. Reaper Man-Terry Pratchett

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

26. First Frost-Sarah Addison Allen

27. The Buried Giant-Kazuo Ishiguro

28. Unbroken-Laura Hillenbrand

29. The Daughter’s Walk-Jane Kirkpatrick

30. Ready Player One-Ernest Cline

31. Death Comes for the Archbishop-Willa Cather

32. The Road to Character-David Brooks

33. Things Fall Apart-Chinua Achebe

34. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up-Marie Kondo

[Stacia]

I finished Johannes Cabal The Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard this morning. Overall, I enjoyed it & it's what I would term a light read even though the material itself is quite dark. (It is necromancy after all.) I think the first half is stronger than the second & I probably liked the first half more because it was wittier & more acid, imo. By the halfway mark, it felt like the story got a little more predictable (often my problem with books that are part of a series) & I feel like there were some chapters there just to fill the 'quota' & move the story to its end, if that makes sense. I liked the ending (mostly) & it sets-up the story to roll on into the next book. Mumto2, I will be curious to hear your review of that one. I'll probably get to the second one someday, but since I rarely read series books, it's just not something I'm in a hurry to get to. Still, a mostly fun fantasy/horror book with a sinister edge.

 

I've started Glimmerglass by Marly Youmans. It is delightful so far.

 

From the linked review, a couple of quotes...

 

"... Glimmerglass’s literary concern is fairytales and myth. It’s not a reworking of any one particular fairytale, but it revels in the forms and idioms of the genre. On the surface it’s a real-world drama about a woman’s later-life discovery of adventure, love, ambition, and artistry. In light of its concerns for both coming-of-age and the real rubbing against the magical, it’s fitting that much of the work is given over to images of thresholds being crossed, of locked doors being opened, and of rivers overflowing their banks. And while it’s a literary-critical truism to remark that the source material of many fairytales is much darker than their popular Disney-fied incarnations, Glimmerglass really is an adult fantasy, not in the sense that it’s violent and sexual (though this is an aspect of the text), but in its emotional complexities, and its themes of loss and redemption. It’s brilliantly well-written, shockingly raw, and transportingly—sometimes confusingly (but not in a bad way)—weird."

<snip>

"Which all brings me, in a roundabout sort of way, back to my original point: that of stories being renewed and changed by their retelling. Glimmerglass is, at its heart, a fairytale, re-cast as a late-life coming-of-age drama. Cynthia could be Snow White or Cinderella deferred by thirty years. Through her, Marly Youmans is challenging the stereotypical fairytale narrative that adventure, magic, and wonder are experiences exclusive to youth. Cynthia is middle-aged, but she is only just realising her potential. It’s refreshing that the character who’s finding her courage, falling in love, and chasing monsters through dark woods is an older woman. Perhaps this speaks to the paucity of such characters in fantasy—and fairytales specifically—where women’s aging is so often associated with acrimony: bowed witches whose ugliness, evil, and spite is directly related to their bitterness over faded youth."

 

I have a hunch that this would be a book that would appeal to more than one BaWer....

[Just Robyn]

I finished Letters to a Young Poet by Rilke. These sentences meant the most to me:

 

 

 

And when one day you realise that their preoccupations are meagre, their professions barren and no longer connected to life, why not continue to look on them like a child, as if on something alien, drawing on the depths of your own world, on the expanse of your own solitude, which itself is work and achievement and a vocation? Why wish to exchange a child’s wise incomprehension for rejection and contempt, when incomprehension is solitude, whereas rejection and contempt are ways of participating in what, by precisely these means, you want to sever yourself from?

 

I am currently working on Jason and the Golden Fleece (The Argonautica) by Apollonius of Rhodes (Apollonius Rhodius) and Monday or Tuesday - a small book of short stories by Virginia Woolf. 

 

Here's my list so far.

 

45. Letters to a Young Poet Rainer Maria Rilke

44. Medea Euripides*

43. The Complete Poems of Sappho Sappho, Willis Barnstone

42. Karate Chop Dorthe Nors

41. Blood Lyrics Katie Ford

 

40. To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee

39. Selected Poems Corsino Fortes

38. A People’s History of the U.S. Howard Zinn*

37. Glitter in the Blood Mindy Nettifee

36. Diaries of Franz Kafka Franz Kafka*

35. Maps of the Imagination Peter Turchi

34. Sin and Syntax Constance Hale

33. Narrative Design Madison Smartt Bell

32. The Boy Who Lost Fairyland Catherynne M. Valente

31. The 2015 Rhysling Anthology various authors

 

30. Repossession (iZombie, Vol. 4) Chris Roberson

29. Purgatorio Dante Alighieri

28. Six Feet Under and Rising (iZombie, Vol. 3) Chris Roberson

27. uVampire (iZombie, Vol. 2) Chris Roberson

26. Dead to the World (iZombie, Vol.  1) Chris Roberson

25. Henry IV, Part 2 William Shakespeare

24. The Jungle Upton Sinclair

23. How to Haiku Bruce Ross

22. Lyric Poems John Keats

21. No Matter the Wreckage Sarah Kay

 

20. Bad Behavior Mary Gaitskill

19. After Midnight various authors

18. Orlando Virginia Woolf

17. The Diary of a Young Girl Anne Frank*

16. The Art of Description Mark Doty

15. Henry IV, Part 1 William Shakespeare

14. Bluets Maggie Nelson

13. Cosmicomics Italo Calvino

12. The Art of the Poetic Line James Logenbach

11. Citizen: An American Lyric Claudia Rankine

 

10. Sense and Sensibility Jane Austen

9. Dynamic Characters Nancy Kress

8. Kraken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid Wendy Williams

7. Henni Miss Lasko-Gross

6. Lyrical Ballads William Wordsworth*

5. Richard II William Shakespeare*

4. Why Read Moby-Dick? Nathaniel Philbrick

3. Kafka on the Shore Haruki Murakami

2. Crow: From the Life and Songs of the Crow Ted Hughes

1. Sonnet Lindsey Rodgers

[Jane in NC]

This does seem like a good time here in week 26 to post my list for the year so far:

 

52) The Lady who Liked Clean Restrooms, J.P. Donleavey, 1995

51) Piece of My Heart, Peter Robinson, 2007, audio

50) Departure Lounge, Chad Taylor, 2006

49) What Did It Mean?, Angela Thirkell, 1954

48) Death in the Garden, Elizabeth Ironside, 1995

47) Copenhagen, Michael Frayn, 1998

46) The Cocktail Party, T.S. Eliot, 1950

45) Dekok and Murder by Melody, A.C. Baantjer, 1983; translated by H.G. Smittenaar 2005

44) This Life, Karel Schoeman, 1993; translated by Else Silke 2005

43) Time Ages in a Hurry, Antonio Tabucchi, 2009; translated by Martha Cooley and Antonio Romani 2015

42) Guantanamo Diary, Mohamedou Ould Slahi, 2015

41) A Treatise on Shelling Beans, Wieslaw Mysliwski, 2006; translated by Bill Johnston 2013

40) Oishinbo:  The Joy of Rice, Tetsukariya and Akira Hanasaki, 2001; translated by Tetsuichiro Miyaki

39) Can We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, Roz Chast, 2014

38) White Masks, Elias Khoury, 1981; translated by Maia Tabet 2010

37) The Wee Free Men, Terry Pratchett, 2003 (audio)

36) Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Winifred Watson, 1938

35) Selected Poems, Corsino Fortes, 2001; translated by Daniel Hahn and Sean OBrien, 2015

34) The Professor and the Siren, Guiseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, stories published posthumously 1961; translated by Stephen Twilley 2014

33) Lentil Underground, Liz Carlisle, 2015

32) Time Present and Time Past, Deirdre Madden, 2014

31) Private Enterprise, Angela Thirkell, 1947

30) A Hat Full of Sky, Terry Pratchett, 2004, audio book

29) Does Santa Exist?, Eric Kaplan, 2014

28) County Chronicle, Angela Thirkell, 1950

27) Girl Meets Boy, Ali Smith, 2007

26) Bring up the Bodies, Hillary Mantel, 2012

25) The Glass Key, Dashiell Hammett, 1931, audio

24) The Strange Adventures of Mr Andrew Hawthorn & Other Stories, John Buchan, stories originally published 1896-1932

23) Sidney Chambers & the Perils of the Night, 2013

22) Every Man for Himself, Beryl Bainbridge, 1996

21) The Good Lord Bird, James McBride, 2013

20) A Shilling for Candles, Josephine Tey, 1936

19) Spies of the Balkans, Alan Furst, 2010; audio book

18) A Test of Wills, Charles Todd, 1996

17) Extraordinary Renditions, Andrew Erwin, 2010

16) The Light of Day, Eric Ambler, 1962

15) Interesting Times, Terry Pratchett, 1994; audio book
14) Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte, 1847
13) The Return of Martin Guerre, 1984, Natalie Zemon Davis
12) The Letter Killers Club, Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky, 1925 or so; translated by Joanne Turnbull, 2011
11) Murder in the Round, Dorothy Dunnett, 1970
10) The Secret Adversary, Agatha Christie, 1922
9) Twenty Thousand Saints, Fflur Dafydd, 2008
8) After Dark, Haruki Murakami, 2004; translated from the Japanese by Jay Rubin, 2007; audio book
7) A Short Walk: A Preposterous Adventure, Eric Newby, 1959
6) A Useless Man, selected stories, Sait Faik Abasiyank written in the first half of the 20th century, translated from Turkish by Alexander Dawe and Maureen Freely, 2015
5) Absolute Truths, John le Carré, 2003, audio book (leftover from 2014)
4) Lost, Stolen or Shredded: Stories of Missing Works of Art and Literature, Rick Gekoski, 2013
3) The Unicorn Hunt, Dorothy Dunnett, 1994 (leftover from 2014)
2) History of the Ancient World, Susan Wise Bauer, 2007 (leftover from 2014)
1) Women's Work: The First 20000 Years, Elizabeth Wayland Barber, 1994 (leftover from 2014)

 

*Chunksters

 

Most noteworthy from my perspective is that eleven of these books are in translation.  Thank you Archipelago!

 

Favorites of the year so far are A Treatise on Shelling Beans and A Useless Man.  The most fun book of this first half of the year was Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day...or maybe A Short Walk.  Both of these books were recommended by the absent and missed Shukriyya.

[-M-]

Twice inspired by Jane. First, here is my list:

 

â–  The Expendable Man (Dorothy B. Hughes; 1963 (2012). 264 pages. Fiction.)
â–  Mind of Winter (Laura Kasischke; 2014. 288 pages. Fiction.)
â–  The Inner Circle (Brad Meltzer; 2011. 464 pages. Fiction.)
â–  Half Bad (Sally Green; 2014. 416 pages. Fiction.)
â–  Private Peaceful (Michael Morpurgo; 2003. 202 pages. Fiction.)
â–  Somewhere Towards the End: A Memoir (Diane Athill; 2009. 192 pages. Non-fiction.)
â–  Parenting Out of Control: Anxious Parents in Uncertain Times (Margaret Nelson; 2010. 276 pages. Non-fiction.)
â–  The Water Knife (Paolo Bacigalupi; 2015. 384 pages. Fiction.)
â–  Silent Alarm (Jennifer Banash; 2015. 336 pages. Fiction.)
â–  Anne Boleyn (Howard Brenton; 2011. Drama.)
â–  The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere (Pico Iyer; 2014. 96 pages. Non-fiction.)
â–  The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing (Marie Kondo; 2014. 224 pages. Non-fiction.)
â–  The Psychopath Test (Jon Ronson; 2011. 288 pages. Non-fiction.)
â–  The Subprimes (Karl Taro Greenfeld; 2015. 320 pages. Fiction.)
■ So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed (Jon Ronson; 2015. 304 pages. Non-fiction.)
â–  Shooting Arrows: Archery for Adult Beginners (Steve Ruis; 2012. 124 pages. Non-fiction.)
■ Beginner’s Guide to Traditional Archery (Brian J. Sorrells; 2004. 122 pages. Non-fiction.) *
â–  The Little Foxes (Lillian Hellman; 1947. Drama.)
â–  Jean Luc Mylayne (Terrie Sultan, and more; 2007. 140 pages. Non-fiction.)
â–  Lazarus, Vol. 3: Conclave (Greg Rucka; 2015. 144 pages. Graphic Fiction.)
â–  Joe the Barbarian (Grant Morrison; 2011. 224 pages. Graphic Fiction.)
â–  All My Puny Sorrows (Miriam Toews; 2014. 330 pages. Fiction.)
â–  Container Gardening for the Midwest (William Aldrich; 2008. 208 pages. Non-fiction.)
■ How to Win at College: Surprising Secrets for Success from the Country’s Top Students (Cal Newport; 2005. 193 pages. Non-fiction.)
â–  Read This! (Hans Weyandt; 2012 200 pages. Non-fiction.)
â–  Outcast (Robert Kirkman; 2015. 152 pages. Graphic Fiction.)
â–  Birthright, Vol. 1: Homecoming (Joshua Williamson; 2015. 128 pages. Graphic Fiction.)
â–  Spread, Vol. 1: No Hope (Justin Jordan; 2015. 160 pages. Graphic Fiction.)
â–  The Woods, Vol. 1 (James Tynion; 2014. 96 pages. Graphic Fiction.)
â–  Odd Thomas (Dean Koontz; 2003. 480 pages. Fiction.)
â–  My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece (Annabel Pitcher; 2015. 224 pages. Fiction.)
â–  The Descent (Tim Johnston; 2015. 384 pages. Fiction.)
â–  The Stranger (Harlan Corben; 2015. 400 pages. Fiction.)
â–  Morning Glories, Vol. 5: For a Better Future (Nick Spencer; 2013. 136 pages. Graphic Fiction.)
â–  Morning Glories, Vol. 4: Truants (Nick Spencer; 2013. 216 pages. Graphic Fiction.)
â–  Morning Glories, Vol. 3: P.E. (Nick Spencer; 2012. 240 pages. Graphic Fiction.)
â–  Morning Glories, Vol. 2: All Will Be Free (Nick Spencer; 2011. 168 pages. Graphic Fiction.)
â–  Morning Glories, Vol. 1: For a Better Future (Nick Spencer; 2011. 192 pages. Graphic Fiction.)
â–  The Girl on the Train (Paula Hawkins; 2015. 336 pages. Fiction.)
â–  Afterparty (Daryl Gregory; 2014. 304 pages. Fiction.)
â–  Howards End Is on the Landing: A Year of Reading from Home (Susan Hill; 2009. 240 pages. Non-fiction.)
â–  Undivided (Neal Shusterman; 2014. 384 pages. Fiction.)
■ Can’t We Talk about Something More Pleasant?: A Memoir (Roz Chast; 2014. 240 pages. Graphic memoir.)
â–  The Party, After You Left (Roz Chast; 2014. 96 pages. Graphic collection.)
â–  The Days of Abandonment (Elena Ferrante; 2005. 188 pages. Fiction.)
â–  Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data (Charles Wheelan; 2013. 302 pages. Non-fiction.)
â–  The Storm in the Barn (Matt Phelan; 2009. 208 pages. Graphic fiction.)
â–  Kayak Morning: Reflections on Love, Grief, and Small Boats (Roger Rosenblatt; 2012. 160 pages. Non-fiction.)
â–  Reading as Therapy: What Contemporary Fiction Does for Middle-Class Americans (Timothy Aubry; 2011. 268 pages. Non-fiction.)
â–  Dept. of Speculation (Jenny Offill; 2014. 192 pages. Fiction.)
â–  The Paying Guests (Sarah Waters; 2014. 576 pages. Fiction.)
â–  Vodou (Mauro Peressini and Rachel Beauvoir-Dominique; 2013. 108 pages. Non-fiction.)
â–  The Unspeakable: And Other Subjects of Discussion (Meghan Daum; 2014. 256 pages. Non-fiction.)
â–  The Shining Girls (Lauren Beukes; 2013. 400 pages. Fiction.)
â–  Abroad (Katie Crouch; 2014. 304 pages. Fiction.)

 

* Denotes a reread

 

I've reached fifty-five in my quest to reach at least 104. Second, the suggestion to check out some of the NYRB titles actually served as a reminder to look over my unsettlingly large accumulation of NYRB titles. We bookish folk do need periodic reminders to read -- not just collect -- books. Ahem. Thank you, Jane. Because of you, I was enthralled by The Expendable Man.

[-M-]

I finished The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo and I have a hard time understanding why this book is so popular right now. Kondo's use of the phrase "tidying up" is really a euphemism for "throw out most of your possessions." I've always thought of tidying up as putting things away, cleaning your house, organizing things, but Kondo's "ingenious" method is to throw away everything that doesn't bring you joy. That's just not the way I go through life. My can opener doesn't bring me joy but it performs the function for which I purchased it. Same with many mundane things in my home. I'm not going to throw away books simply because I've already read them (Kondo kept 30 books I think, getting rid of even ones she enjoyed because they already served their purpose). This book was no help at all for my immediate issue of cleaning out the linen closet. Kondo would probably just have me get rid of all of the towels and sheets and not store any kleenex boxes in there.

 

The appeal of this book was lost on me, too. Thirty books? I remember thinking, looking around our home. Um, no.

[Stacia]

Since we're posting lists, here is my reading to date....

 

My favorites so far have been The Razor's Edge, The Good Lord Bird, No Country for Old Men, & Guantánamo Diary.

 

2015 Books Read:

 

Africa:

• Rue du Retour by Abdellatif Laâbi, trans. from the French by Jacqueline Kaye, pub. by Readers International. 4 stars. Morocco. (Poetic paean to political prisoners worldwide by one who was himself in prison for “crimes of opinionâ€. Explores not only incarceration but also readjusting to a ‘normal’ world after torture & release.)
• Nigerians in Space by Deji Bryce Olukotum, pub. by Unnamed Press. 4 stars. South Africa & Nigeria. (Scientists lured back home in a ‘brain gain’ plan to start up Nigerian space program. But, things go awry. Is it legit, a scam, or something more sinister?)
• Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor, pub. by Viking (Penguin Group). 3 stars. Nigeria. (YA fantasy lit in the vein of HP but with a West African base of myth & legend.)
• Under the Frangipani by Mia Couto, trans. from the Portuguese by David Bookshaw, pub. by Serpent’s Tail. 3 stars. Mozambique. (Murder mystery that ultimately examines the things that kill a people, a country, a place; told through a magical realism lens of the living & the dead, traditions vs. modern mores, colonization against freedom, & war facing off against peace.)
• Gassire’s Lute: A West African Epic, trans. & adapted by Alta Jablow, illus. by Leo & Diane Dillon, pub. by Dutton. 4 stars. West Africa, incl. Ghana & Burkina Faso. (Children’s poetic book [part of the epic of Dausi], telling of Gassire who gives up his noble lineage & warrior life to become a bard/griot.)

Antarctica:

 

Asia:

• The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami, a Borzoi book pub. by Alfred A. Knopf.  4 stars. Japan. BaW January author challenge. (Creepy campfire style story; thought-provoking ending made me rethink the entire story.)
• The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire by Jack Weatherford, pub. by Crown Publishers. 4 stars. Mongolia. (Non-fiction. Even with gaps, fascinating pieces of lost &/or censored history.)

Caribbean:

• The Duppy by Anthony C. Winkler, pub. by Akashic Books. 3 stars. Jamaica. (A duppy [ghost] relates ribald & amusing anecdotes of Jamaican heaven.)

Europe:

• The Affinity Bridge by George Mann, a Tor book pub. by Tom Doherty Associates. 3 stars. England. (Entertaining steampunk with likeable characters.)
• Extraordinary Renditions by Andrew Ervin, pub. by Coffee House Press. 4 stars. Hungary. (Triptych of stories in Budapest touching on the Holocaust, racism, corruption, the power of music,…)
• The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, pub. by Scribner Classics. 4 stars. France & Spain. (Lost generation of post-WW1 expats living, loving, & arguing in France & Spain.)
• Kismet by Jakob Arjouni, trans. from the German by Anthea Bell, pub. by Melville House (Melville International Crime). 4 stars. Germany. (Tough Turkish-German PI in the middle of a turf war as a Croatian organized crime group tries to take over territory of Albanian & German mobs in Frankfurt. Darkly funny & nicely paced.)
• The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham, pub. by Penguin Books. 5 stars. France. (Interlinked stories of friends in post-WWI France as they move through life & each finds his or her own version of success.)
• Cat Out of Hell by Lynne Truss, pub. by Melville House. 3 stars. England. (Creepy, frivolous fun horror/mystery mash-up… and a cat who wants Daniel Craig to voice him if there’s a movie version.)
• Orlando by Virginia Woolf, pub. by Harcourt Brace & Company. 4 stars. England. BaW March author challenge. (Woolf’s love letter to Vita Sackville-West; story of man/woman Orlando spanning over 300 years of English history. Wordy but redeemed by flashes of profound beauty & brilliance.)
• Missing Person by Patrick Modiano, trans. from the French by Daniel Weissbort, pub. by David R. Godine (a Verba Mundi Book). 4 stars. France. (After WWII, an amnesiac tries to piece together the people & events of his past. A lyrical, yet spare, examination of identity & history.)
• The Dead Mountaineer’s Inn by Boris & Arkady Strugatsky, pub. by Melville House. 3 stars. Russia. (Fun sci-fi/murder mystery mash-up in a snowed-in Russian ski chalet; a zany cast of misfits.)
• The Infatuations by Javier Marías, pub. by Alfred A. Knopf. 3 stars. Spain. (A psychoanalytical exploration of identity, reality, truth, love, & death after a man is brutally murdered in a senseless crime in Madrid.)
• Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams, pub. by Gallery Books. 4 stars. England. (Fun sci-fi with ghosts, time-travel, Cambridge, & a shady detective who might just happen to save the world.)

Latin America:

 

Middle East:

• The Jerusalem File by Joel Stone, pub. by Europa editions. 2 stars. Israel. (Noir detective tale re: jealousy. Ambiguous, unsatisfactory ending.)
• Goat Days by Benyamin, trans. from Malayalam by Joseph Koyipally, pub. by Penguin Books. 3 stars. Saudi Arabia. (Simple tale of enslaved Indian forced to herd goats in the Saudi Arabian desert.)

North America:

• The Good Lord Bird by James McBride, pub. by Riverhead Books (Penguin Group). 5 stars. USA. (Sharp satire, historical fiction & folly, standing on top of heart, soul... & freedom.)
• No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy, pub. by Vintage International. 4 stars. USA. (Spare & brutal tale of stolen drug money in Texas. Classic themes which are hard & beautifully-crafted.)
• Guantánamo Diary by Mohamedou Ould Slahi, pub. by Little, Brown and Company. 5 stars. North America: USA. (Shocking diary by a never-charged Guantanamo detainee. Shines a harsh light on rendition, interrogation, torture, & US thought & policy shifts after 9/11.)
• Duplex by Kathryn Davis, pub. by Graywolf Press. 3 stars. North America: USA. (Weird & compelling, chilling & disorienting.)
• No Cause for Indictment: An Autopsy of Newark by Ronald Porambo, pub. by Melville House. 4 stars. USA. (Scathing look at racism, the Newark riots, the Mafia, crooked & militant police, corrupt politicians, feeble justice institutions, failing medical & educational systems, a meek Fourth Estate, & more….)
• Petroglyphs of Hawaii by L. R. McBride, pub. by Petroglyph Press. 3 stars. North America & Oceania: Hawaii. (Brief overview of petroglyphs of Hawaii; light on info concerning the history & meaning of the petroglyphs.)
• Yesterday in Hawai’i by Scott C. S. Stone, pub. by Island Heritage Publishing. 3 stars. North America & Oceania: Hawaii. (Magazine-like chapters present brief overviews of highlights of Hawaiian history; nice photos.)

Oceania:

• Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood, pub. by Poisoned Pen Press. 3 stars. Australia. (1920s lady detective Phyrne Fisher storms the Melbourne social scene with moxie while on the trail of a suspected poisoning, a back-alley abortionist, & the head of the cocaine trade.)
• Departure Lounge by Chad Taylor, pub. by Europa Editions. 3 stars. New Zealand. (Noir-ish mix of crime & coming-of-age with a bittersweet edge.)

Other:

• Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis, pub. by Scribner. 3 stars. Other: Malacandra. (Professor Ransom is kidnapped & taken to Malacandra, where he escapes his captors & interacts with local life on the planet.)
• Going Postal by Terry Pratchett, pub. by Corgi Books. 4 stars. Other: Ankh-Morpork. (Moist von Lipwig’s punishment for being a con artist is being put in charge of the Postal Service & getting it back into profitable shape. Witty & fun.)
• Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard, pub. by Anchor Books, a Division of Random House, Inc. 3 stars. Other: fantasy England, most likely. (Necromancer who sold his soul to the Devil wants it back & makes a second deal with the Devil. Acidly witty.)

 

[Stacia]

 Passing by Nella Larsen: This slim novel is gripping and very disturbing.  I've added Larsen's other novel to my tbr list....

 

I had planned to read this after reading Langston Hughes' The Ways of White Folks, but didn't get to it. Thanks for the reminder.

 

I reread Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and can add it my growing list of classics I appreciate so much more now than I did on my first encounter in my early teens.

 

I love this story. I may re-read it in October, along with Daniel Levine's Hyde.

 

[Chrysalis Academy]

I finished A Dance with Dragons.  Phew.  So I'm all caught up with the series and can turn my attention to other things!  It's still a compelling world, but I do feel like it just . . . sprawled, and kind of got away from him, in these last two books.  In the first three he kept the story arcs tight, focused on a few, very diverse characters, and really dug into their stories deeply.  But I feel like he's maybe trying to weave too many threads in at this point, too many for me to keep track of and too many for him to keep track of, too, perhaps! Anyway, it's been worth it. And I look forward to the next book.  Someday . . . 

 

We also finished The Wind in the Willows, Morgan and I.  When I read it to Shannon, I remember we both liked it, but Morgan didn't like it as much and I didn't either this time through.  Morgan is a much more critical reader than Shannon is, even at 9, and she kept noticing things - like how Toad combed his hair.  Hair? On a toad? and so had trouble suspending disbelief, I guess.  Anyway, she picked out Ben and Me as our next read aloud, which I've not read before, so that should be fun.  She is definitely a girl who knows her own mind when it comes to books, and everything else, and we do better when she chooses.

[Guest]

I had planned to read this after reading Langston Hughes' The Ways of White Folks, but didn't get to it. Thanks for the reminder.

 

 

I love this story. I may re-read it in October, along with Daniel Levine's Hyde.

 

re: Nella Larsen's Passing: Oh, yes.  I think you might really appreciate it.  It is taut psychological story with some aspects I think you might appreciate.  The discomforts of it are very different than in Hughes' stories, in ways that made me want to compare more samples of men's vs women's narratives in this area because I felt that some aspects could be reflective of that.  (Gaaah, mangled sentence, sorry.)  It's relatively short, but builds in layers and in ways that can cause us to revise our understandings of characters and circumstances.

 

re: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: It was your love for it that inspired me to reread it - thank you!  ...and my library has Hyde in ebook format....  You are so good for me, my dear!   :grouphug:

[Little Nyssa]

I finished The Brendan Voyage, which someone here recommended- it's about making the voyage described in St Brendan's Navigatio, in the 1970s, using only medieval boats & sailing technology, to see whether it could be true that Irish monks reached America. Very, very interesting! Reading children's version of St Brendan with my kids.

 

Just began Why Homer Matters by Adam Nicholson- by coincidence he begins by talking about sailing in a wooden boat in the same seas!

I am not well enough acquainted with Homer to know whether I agree with Nicholson's opinions or not- I've read the Iliad, but it did not really speak to me... I have put the Odyssey on reserve. Maybe it was the translation I used.

 

Still pondering on TS Eliot's poetry...

[Guest]

Jo Walton's My Real Children (one of my favorite books of last year) won a RUSA (subdivision of the ALA) award: Top Pick for Women's Fiction.  It was announced in February, but the award giving was today (I think?) and I found Jo's acceptance speech deeply moving and thought some here might be interested in her discussion of the genre of 'women's fiction', which is not one she writes in... its concerns, its significance, and how her book was in dialogue with the genre.  ...and in the broader idea of books, and genres, in dialogue with each other.  

 

A couple of  snippets:

 

Women's Fiction as a genre, the genre you recognise and reward every year, is focused on the importance of women's lives. It's an inherently feminist enterprise, it's saying that women's lives and concerns matter, are significant, are worth writing about and reading about.

 

 

 

We haven't seen much science fiction that's interested in the issues of women's fiction, women's lives in science fictional worlds. They're still relegated to the edges. You can have a female space explorer, but there aren't many stories about anyone, male or female, that are about the kinds of things that women's fiction is about -- marriage, children, parenting, juggling the demands of life and love and career, divorce, families, home, getting older. There could be, but there aren't. Those things aren't going to go away -- or if they are, that's interesting in itself and worth examining. But all too often SF seems to demand an adventure plot. So what we've seen is a lot of lip service to the idea of women's lives being important, while the actual message is that women's lives are only important if they become just like men's lives. There are exceptions 

 

 

 

...and, while I'm talking about books of Jo's that I love and sff books in dialogue with other genres Liz Bourke has a review on Tor.com of The Philosopher Kings (sequel to The Just City).  It has SPOILERS, but my favorite part of the review is spoiler free:

 

The Philosopher Kings is a complex novel to discuss, and I am not sure I can do so sensibly: it might well have been designed to appeal to the most childishly delightable* parts of me, the parts that fell in love with the baroque and bizarre nature of the Classical (and later) Greek world, and its peculiar excesses—philosophy not least among them. The parts that understand at least a little the Renaissance and post-Renaissance Enlightenment tendency to valorise Classical Greece and Republican Rome as golden ages for art and civilisation. The Philosopher Kings is in continual dialogue with Plato and Cicero, Marsilio Ficino and Pico della Mirandola, and even Thomas More and John Locke, Mary Wollstonecroft and John Stuart Mill, as much the tropes and tools of science fiction and fantasy—and I cannot help thinking that despite the presence of gods, including a final quasi-literal deus ex machina to resolve time-travel’s perpetual problem of paradox, this is much more work of science fiction than it is of fantasy.

But the science it deals with is moral science: it’s a science fiction of philosophy, as much argument as adventure, and its nature is such as to invite the reader to participate. That’s half the fun. More than half, over and above Walton’s agreeable prose and solidly believable characters—even Apollo is believable, and I have high standards for fictional gods, though that might be hubris. What does it mean to strive for excellence, as a person, and as a person among other people? What does it mean to be a hero, or a philosopher?

What’s just?

 

 

The Just City should probably be read first, but I came to them the other way round.  I was a beta reader for The Philosopher Kings before I read TJC, and I loved it intensely.  The finished edition is due out Tuesday (***squee***), and I am very, very eager to see the polished final product.

[Guest]

 

We also finished The Wind in the Willows, Morgan and I.  When I read it to Shannon, I remember we both liked it, but Morgan didn't like it as much and I didn't either this time through.  Morgan is a much more critical reader than Shannon is, even at 9, and she kept noticing things - like how Toad combed his hair.  Hair? On a toad? and so had trouble suspending disbelief, I guess.  Anyway, she picked out Ben and Me as our next read aloud, which I've not read before, so that should be fun.  She is definitely a girl who knows her own mind when it comes to books, and everything else, and we do better when she chooses.

 

Isn't it amazing how different a book can appear when reading it with a different child?  

 

...and with books I've read to each of my kids, I now have all these layers of 'first' readings, each a different shade or flavor.... and each in an interesting relation to the others... 

 

Given her reaction to Toad's hair combing, she might object to some of Lawson's anthropomorphisms as well.  I haven't reread Ben and Me recently, but my little guy and I have been reading Rabbit Hill and The Tough Winter and I've found a few that were grating to me (Yehuda hasn't complained at all, but he's younger (5) and anyway usually only makes such complaints when the story has more verisimilitude.)  ...not suggesting you don't read it - especially since she has such a clear sense of which stories she wants when, which is a gift to be treasured.  

[TeacherZee]

Quote

We haven't seen much science fiction that's interested in the issues of women's fiction, women's lives in science fictional worlds. They're still relegated to the edges. You can have a female space explorer, but there aren't many stories about anyone, male or female, that are about the kinds of things that women's fiction is about -- marriage, children, parenting, juggling the demands of life and love and career, divorce, families, home, getting older. There could be, but there aren't. Those things aren't going to go away -- or if they are, that's interesting in itself and worth examining. But all too often SF seems to demand an adventure plot. So what we've seen is a lot of lip service to the idea of women's lives being important, while the actual message is that women's lives are only important if they become just like men's lives. There are exceptions 

 

 

 

Oh I have to read the whole speech! This was in a way the topic of my Masters thesis. And if I ever get around to doing my PhD this is what I will write about, women in science fiction (or more specifically in dystopian fiction).

[Rosie_0801]

Thus far:

 

The Secret Garden (audio) (England)

No Sex in the City, Randa Abdel-Fattah (Australia)

I Wanna Take Me a Picture, Wendy Ewald and Alexandra Lightfoot (An "oughta") (covered places in the US, India, Mexico and South Africa)

Heroic Australian Women in War: Astonishing Tales of Bravery from Gallipoli to Kokoda, Susanna De Vries

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Judaism, by Rabbi Benjamin Blech

From Russia With Love, Ian Fleming (Turkey)

Terrier, Tamora Pierce

Bloodhound, Tamora Pierce

Mastiff, Tamora Pierce

The Winner Stands Alone, Paulo Coehlo (France)

Jingo, Terry Pratchett

A Sunday at the pool in Kigali, Gil Courtemanche (Rwanda)

The Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels

People Like Us: How arrogance is dividing Islam and the West, Waleed Aly More people should read this.

Rich Kid, Smart Kid, Robert T. Kiyosaki

Feet of Clay, Terry Pratchett

Hograther, Terry Pratchett

Eric, Terry Pratchett

Dodger, Terry Pratchett (England)

 

Read aloud:

The Wizard of Oz 

The Marvellous Land of Oz 

 Ozma of Oz

Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz 

Miranda Going Home, by Eleanor Spence (Galilee)

The Story Book of Science, by Jean Henri Fabre (France)

The Emerald City of Oz

The Wind in the Willows (An "oughta")(England)

The Willows in Winter,  (England)

Toad Triumphant, William Horwood (England)

All five volumes of the 'Tell Me the Story of the Parshah' series

The Willows and Beyond, William Horwood (England)

 

 

Abandoned:

My dustiest book- 'Such is Life' by Tom Collins

[Onceuponatime]

My mid-year list so far:

 

January:

Mansfield Park- Austen (England, classic romance, morality tale, 19th century)

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan- See (China, historical fiction, lives of women, 19th century)

The Strange Library - Murakami (surreal story of life and death)

The Night of Four Hundred Rabbits- Peters ( Mexico, mystery, drugs)

Moriarty- Horowitz (England, 19th century, Holmesian mystery)

Common Sense and Age of Reason- Thomas Paine (non-fiction, 18th century)

 

February:

Book Line and Sinker - Jenn McKinlay (mystery, librarians, Massachusetts)

Cosmos- Sagan ( Non-fiction)

Mrs. Pollifax Pursued- Dorothy Gillman (Us, Africa, intrigue)

Devil May Care- Elizabeth Peters (Virginia, Mystery)

Library: An Unquiet History- Matthew Battles (non-fiction)

Winter's Tales- Isak Dinesen- (Short stories, Denmark)

Behold, Here's Poison- Georgett Heyer (Mystery, England)

 

March:

To Kill a Mockingbird- Lee (Deep South, prejudice)

House of Silk- Horowitz (Sherlock, mystery, England, not recommended)

As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust- Bradley (Mystery, Canada, Flavia)

Death at Wentwater Court- Dunn (Mystery, England, Daisy Dalrymple)

This Rough Magic- Mary Stewart (Corfu, mystery)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button- F. Scott Fitzgerald (a backwards life)

Encore Provence- Peter Mayle (life in Provence, France)

The Tale of Hill Top Farm - Susan Wittig Albert (light mystery, Beatrix Potter, village life, England)

 

April:

A Moveable Feast- Hemingway (nonfiction, Paris)

Anthem- Ayn Rand (Dystopian)

The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza- Block (mystery, ex-burglar book seller, New York)

Freakonomics- (nonfiction, economics)

Mr. Campion's Farewell-Ripley (Albert Campion, mystery, England)

Messenger of Truth- Winspear (Maisie Dobbs mystery, England)

 

May:

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court- Twain (Satire, England, historical fiction)

Sharyn McCrumb- If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him (mystery, US)

The Ladies of Missalonghi- McCullough (Australia, fiction, light romance)

Jacques the Fatalist and His Master-Diderot (classic)

Hatchett- Paulson (Canada, survival, YA)

The End of Faith- Harris (non-fiction)

Darwin's Ghosts- Stott (non-fiction, history of evolutionary thought)

 

June:

Giant- Edna Ferber (Texas, fiction)

The Escher Twist- Langton (labrynthine Homer Kelly murder mystery featuring the art of Escher)

The Ocean at the End of The Lane- Gaiman (fantasy, England)

River Out of Eden- Dawkins ( non-fiction, evolution)

Gourmet Rhapsody- Barberry (Paris, food, fictional biography of master food critic)

Dead as a Dodo- Langton (Oxford, Homer Kelly mystery, Darwin based intrigue)

The Pluto Files- Tyson (Historical chronicle of Pluto debate and demotion)

The Stormy Petrel- Stewart ( Scottish Isle, light mystery, praise of nature)

 

I'm glad this thread has encouraged me to maintain a list over the last few years. It has come in handy. Plus, it helps me see that I actually am getting somewhere when it feels like the ocean of things I haven't read will overwhelm me.

[Pink and Green Mom]

Trying to catch up, I finished numbers 21 and 22 last week.  First was The Old Man and the Sea, which I had read in high school and was pre-reading it for my rising 8th grader's summer reading.  I remember picking it up in high school one Saturday morning (probably having a huge paper due for it on Monday) and thinking "I'll just get started reading the first chapter" and realizing half way through that there are no chapters.   But as I re-read the story came back to me. 

 

I also finished The Rise and Fall of Great Powers, by Tom Rachman.  I enjoyed the book for the most part but the ending was a little too cutesy for me. 

 

I am now about a third of the way through Code Name Verity, which is classified as Young Adult.  I hate YA fiction and started this without realizing it was YA.  However I must say I am really enjoying the book so far.  It is about a young girl who is a British Special Agent during WWII and gets captured by Nazis in France while flying in on a secret mission.  They give her 2 weeks to live if she will write out everything she knows about the British war effort.

[NoseInABook]

Still reading Girl On A Train. It's not bad but the main characters are so. dang. depressing. I haven't had much of a chance to pick it up as we were super busy this weekend with taking the kids camping for the first time ever. They did surprisingly well so we'll take them again! 

[JennW in SoCal]

I broke my momentum reading Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and it is a hard one to pick back up.  The book is short enough to make a perfect airplane book, and its collection of quirky characters lost in a delightfully absurd plot would make for a great light read when you're strapped in an airline seat.  But I found that once I'm out of that world it takes a few pages to reenter, and I've not always got the time or mental energy to fully re-immerse myself in its world.  So, ridiculously enough, it will be another week before I finish it!

 

I did manage to read a new-to-me police procedural mystery from start to finish over the weekend. Red Bones by Ann Cleeves is the 3rd in her Shetland Quartet -- the other Shetland books in the greater San Diego area seem to be all checked out. Apparently I'm not the only one who became enthralled by the series based on these books on our local PBS station. It took me a few episodes to be able to understand the accent, then I got totally fascinated by the islands themselves and figured I should just find the books.  It is really quite good, a nice find after stumbling about with the Charles Todd series about the WWI vet/detective inspector, and a few others.  Of course while looking into the books I learned the author kills a major character in order to have our hero be conflicted and emotionally wounded.  Series authors should be required to take a class entitled "character development can happen without the woman being raped or the man loosing the love of his life".  UGH!  

 

Stacia, my ds and I are going to start the Necromancer book via audible this week -- it will be one of the books we get with our July credits. In the meantime I'm enjoying a re-listen of The Martian.

 

I've read 35 books so far this year. My favorites are Death Comes for the Archbishop, Far from the Madding Crowd and Jonathan Strange.

 

1.  The Thirteen Gun Salute by Patrick O’Brian

2.  The Nutmeg of Consolation by Patrick O’Brian

3.  Journeys on the Silk Road

4.  Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer

5.  A Test of Wills by Charles Todd

6.  As You Wish by Carey Ewles

7.  False Colours by Georgette Heyer

8.  Shroud for a Nightingale by PD James

9.  Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett

10.Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett

 

11. Cashelmara by Susan Howich

12. False Scent by Ngaio Marsh

13. Black Dog by Stephen Booth

14. Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

15. Chinese Cooking for Diamond Thieves

16. Moriarity by Anthony Horowitz

17. In the Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides

18. Desert Heat by JA Jance

19. Wings of Fire by Charles Todd

20. Under the Wide and Starry Sky by Nancy Horan

 

21. The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey

22. Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

23. The Men Who United the States by Simon Winchester

24. Witnes of Time by Charles Todd

25. The Truelove by Patrick O’Brian

26. Cosi Fan Tutti by Michael Dibden

27. Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

28. Extraordinary Renditions

29. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather

30. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

 

31. Love at the Speed of Email

32. Cocaine Blues

33. Murder on the Menu by Baantjer

34. Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency  by Douglas Adams

35. Red Bones by Ann Cleeves

[Stacia]

I broke my momentum reading Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and it is a hard one to pick back up.  The book is short enough to make a perfect airplane book, and its collection of quirky characters lost in a delightfully absurd plot would make for a great light read when you're strapped in an airline seat.  But I found that once I'm out of that world it takes a few pages to reenter, and I've not always got the time or mental energy to fully re-immerse myself in its world.  So, ridiculously enough, it will be another week before I finish it!

 

<snip>

 

Stacia, my ds and I are going to start the Necromancer book via audible this week -- it will be one of the books we get with our July credits. In the meantime I'm enjoying a re-listen of The Martian.

 

I've read 35 books so far this year. My favorites are Death Comes for the Archbishop, Far from the Madding Crowd and Jonathan Strange.

 

Yeah, since I had a two week vacation plus 'lost' my copy of Dirk Gently for a few more weeks on top of that, it was weird to immerse myself back in it when I started it again. I agree that it's a perfect one to read in a sitting (or maybe two). Hang in there; it's worth it, imo. Did your son finally finish it? Did he like it?

 

Hope you guys enjoy Johannes Cabal. I think you'll really enjoy the humor. (I hope you will!)

 

I still need to read Jonathan Strange.

[Butter]

I tried listing the 52 books I've read so far, but it kept telling me I couldn't use that image extension on this board.  So here's a link https://mamareader.wordpress.com/2015-2/

 

I'm reading Bubba and the Dead Woman.  It's odd.  It's light.  It's silly.  It's what I needed after Les Mis.

[TeacherZee]

And my list of books read this year. I reached my goal of 52 books several weeks ago.

1. The Child Catchers by Kathryn Joyce
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
3. The Understatement of the Year by Sarina Bowen
4. The Year We Fell Down by Sarina Bowen
5. The Year We Hid Away by Sarina Bowen
6. Blond Date by Sarina Bowen
7. A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift
8. Somewhere in France by Jennifer Robson
9. After the War is Over by Jennifer Robson
10. With Every Letter by Sarah Sundin
11. Falling from the Sky by Sarina Bowen
12. Obsession in Death by J.D. Robb
13. Murphy's Law by Rhys Bowen
14. Än Finns Det Hopp by Karin Wahlberg
15. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
16. Shooting for the Stars by Sarina Bowen
17. The Deal by Elle Kennedy
18. Coming in from the Cold by Sarina Bowen
19. The Hook Up by Kristen Callihan
20. All Lined Up by Cara Cormack
21. All Broke Down by Cara Cormack
22. On the Fly by Catherine Gayle
23. Breakaway by Catherine Gayle
24. Taking a Shot by Catherine Gayle
25. Lighting the Lamp by Catherine Gayle

26. In the Zone by Catherine Gayle

27. Delay of Game by Catherine Gayle

28. Double Major by Cathrine Gayle

29. Comeback by Cathrine Gayle

30. Bound by Brenda Rothert

31. The Shameless Hour by Sarina Bowen

32. Dropping Gloves by Cathrine Gayle

33. Body Check by Elle Kennedy

34. Mark Cooper Versus America by Lisa Hendry & J.A. Rock

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

36. Brandon Mills Versus the V-Card

37. The Mistake by Elle Kennedy

38. Hold Me by Susan Mallery

39. The Friend Zone by Kristen Callihan

40. The Truth As He Knows It by A.M. Arthur

41. Cost of Repairs by A.M. Arthur

42. Acts of Faith by A.M. Arthur

43. Foundation of Trust by A.M. Arthur

44. Weight of Silence by A.M. Arthur

45. Color of Grace by A.M. Arthur

46. All Played Out by Cora Carmack

47. Party Favours by A.M. Arthur

48. En Av Oss by Ã…sne Seiersted

49. Getting it Right by A.M. Arthur

50. No Such Thing by A.M. Arthur

51. Maybe This Time by A.M. Arthur

52. Stand By You by A.M. Arthur

53. Trust the Focus by Megan Erickson

54. A Hidden Secret by Linda Castillo

55. Unearthing Cole by A.M. Arthur

56. Understanding Jeremy by A.M. Arthur

57. Miss Phryne Fisher Investigates (Cocaine Blues) by Kerry Greenwood

58. Wild Pitch by Sloan Johnson

 

Phew

[Kareni]

 

I'm reading Bubba and the Dead Woman.  It's odd.  It's light.  It's silly.  It's what I needed after Les Mis.

 

And I see that it's currently available free to Kindle readers ~

 

Bubba and the Dead Woman by C. L. Bevill.

 

I noticed that the author has some additional free novels and novellas.  Here are a couple ~

 

Veiled Eyes (Lake People Book 1) by C.L. Bevill

 

Sea of Dreams by C.L. Bevill

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Butter]

And I see that it's currently available free to Kindle readers ~

 

Bubba and the Dead Woman by C. L. Bevill.

 

I got it free back in 2011 lol

[beckster]

My mid-year list so far:

 

 

 

I'm glad this thread has encouraged me to maintain a list over the last few years. It has come in handy. Plus, it helps me see that I actually am getting somewhere when it feels like the ocean of things I haven't read will overwhelm me.

 

Yes!!!!  This!!!!

[mumto2]

I got it free back in 2011 lol

So did I and at some point I remember reading it. The fact I remember it means it was pretty good! :lol:

[Jane in NC]

MMV mentioned The Expendable Man which looks like my cuppa.  From the NYRB website:

 

 

“It was surprising what old experiences remembered could do to a presumably educated, civilized man.†And Hugh Denismore, a young doctor driving his mother’s Cadillac from Los Angeles to Phoenix, is eminently educated and civilized. He is privileged, would seem to have the world at his feet, even. Then why does the sight of a few redneck teenagers disconcert him? Why is he reluctant to pick up a disheveled girl hitchhiking along the desert highway? And why is he the first person the police suspect when she is found dead in Arizona a few days later?

 

Dorothy B. Hughes ranks with Raymond Chandler and Patricia Highsmith as a master of mid-century noir. In books like In a Lonely Place and Ride the Pink Horse she exposed a seething discontent underneath the veneer of twentieth-century prosperity. With The Expendable Man, first published in 1963, Hughes upends the conventions of the wrong-man narrative to deliver a story that engages readers even as it implicates them in the greatest of all American crimes.

 

Also, Mat Johnson, the author of Pym (which several of us here have read) is the guest on today's Fresh Air program (NPR).

[Kareni]

Some interesting finds I've stumbled on today ~

 

Ten Great Writers Nobody Reads by Stephen Sparks  

 

While I haven't read any of the ten, I've at least heard of a couple --  Marguerite Young and Jane Bowle.  I could be interested in reading some more short fiction by Augusto Monterroso.  "The Guatemalan writer Augusto Monterroso is the author of one of the world’s shortest stories, presented to you here in full [spoiler alert!]: “When he awoke, the dinosaur was still there.â€"

 

 

This piece was entertaining ~

 

The Emotional Phases of Re-Reading The Indian in the Cupboard by Jessica Woodbury

 

 

 

Fans of Sherlock Holmes will probably enjoy this piece ~

 

Sherlock Holmes: examining the evidence – in charts by Adam Frost and Jim Kynvin

 

 

 

Those who enjoy books on books might like the following ~

 

The Best Books About Books: Reading About Reading is Sometimes Better Than Reading by Jonathan Russell Clark

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

[Violet Crown]

Posting from my phone in technologicslly unfavorable conditions so this will be short. Read T. H. White, Farewell Victoria; observations on the social changes from 19th to 20th centuries, through vehicle of the life of a country groom who lives out and reflects on them. Very good. Must read more White. Halfway through 1914 Scottish novel Gillespie, about which more later excrpt to say engaging and a page turner though often turning pages to glossary of Scots in appendix. Nowhere near 52 books at half year point though list is at home so maybe not too far.

 

Och Dhia, as they say in Gillespie, this post took half an hour. Moar in aboot a fourtnicht, I'm gey thrang an cannae be fashed tae deel wi fushionless wi-fi.

[mumto2]

MMV mentioned The Expendable Man which looks like my cuppa.

The Expendable Man made my 10 best list for 2013, I think. I loved this book. I have read some the author's other books and they are good, not as good as the Expendable Man.

 

Jenn, I haven't read Ann Cleeve's Shetland Series because I can never get the first book, I have issues. Glad to know you enjoyed it out of order, maybe I will try.... Dd and I did go to a murder mystery tea which she wrote based on that series. Good fun but we both got it wrong!

I have read at least one of her other mysteries and really enjoyed it. I needed to read one before the event or I feel like a fraud! :)

[JennW in SoCal]

 

Some interesting finds I've stumbled on today ~

 

Ten Great Writers Nobody Reads by Stephen Sparks  

 

While I haven't read any of the ten, I've at least heard of a couple --  Marguerite Young and Jane Bowle.  I could be interested in reading some more short fiction by Augusto Monterroso.  "The Guatemalan writer Augusto Monterroso is the author of one of the world’s shortest stories, presented to you here in full [spoiler alert!]: “When he awoke, the dinosaur was still there.â€"

 

 

This piece was entertaining ~

 

The Emotional Phases of Re-Reading The Indian in the Cupboard by Jessica Woodbury

 

 

 

Fans of Sherlock Holmes will probably enjoy this piece ~

 

Sherlock Holmes: examining the evidence – in charts by Adam Frost and Jim Kynvin

 

 

 

Those who enjoy books on books might like the following ~

 

The Best Books About Books: Reading About Reading is Sometimes Better Than Reading by Jonathan Russell Clark

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

 

Interesting links as usual, Kareni.  I did especially love the Sherlock Holmes graphics!

 

Och Dhia, as they say in Gillespie, this post took half an hour. Moar in aboot a fourtnicht, I'm gey thrang an cannae be fashed tae deel wi fushionless wi-fi.

 

:lol: I just commented to my ds that the brilliant thing about reading the Shetland mysteries instead of watching them on tv is that I can understand what the characters are saying!  I'd be sunk with Gillespie.

 

Jenn, I haven't read Ann Cleeve's Shetland Series because I can never get the first book, I have issues. Glad to know you enjoyed it out of order, maybe I will try.... Dd and I did go to a murder mystery tea which she wrote based on that series. Good fun but we both got it wrong!

I have read at least one of her other mysteries and really enjoyed it. I needed to read one before the event or I feel like a fraud! :)

 

The books aren't available on over drive, the first is about $10 on amazon, and there is a wait list for holds on the first title in the series so I just grabbed the first title I found on a shelf! I figured since I'd been introduced to the series via the tv show I could just jump into the middle.  My dh is like you -- MUST start at the beginning! I recently learned his only exception to that rule is for zombie movies, when he can happily just watch the last 20 minutes.   :laugh:

[Jane in NC]

 

Ten Great Writers Nobody Reads by Stephen Sparks  

 

One of the authors on the list is hiding in my dusty stacks where he remains, ahem, unread.  That would be Driss Ben Hamed Chardahi, the author of A Life Full of Holes.

 

[Chrysalis Academy]

I just finished speak by Laurie Halse Anderson.  Wow.  That was a powerful and important book. I really want to share it with my dd12, and talk about it with her, but I'm kind of afraid it will freak her out. Maybe it's too soon. Ach, tough call. She's at a tough age to judge, 12 1/2 going on 16, so mature in some ways but fairly sheltered, by virtue of the fact that she doesn't have to deal with the tween rat-race on a daily basis.  She loved The Outsiders, that's probably the most mature-themed book that she has read, but this is different, I think, in that the violence is of a type she would find more upsetting, since she would relate to the heroine more.

 

How do you guys decide when your kid is ready for a book that you feel is powerful and important, but you know they will find disturbing?

[Kareni]

Today I read  A Lifetime of Fiction: The 500 Most Recommended Reads for Ages 2 to 102 by William Patrick Martin. 

 

"The book is organized into five age group lists of 100 books – preschoolers (ages 2-5), early readers (ages 4-8), middle readers (ages 9-12), young adults (ages 13-17), and adults (ages 18+)..."  and the recommendations come from a compilation of "noteworthy book award lists, best book publications, and recommended reading lists from leading libraries, schools, and parenting organizations from across the country."

 

It was enjoyable to read through the lists and see what books I know and what books are new to me.  A good percentage of the books in the first three age categories I've either read to my daughter or I'm familiar with from reading occasionally with my great-nephew. 

 

I don't think this is a book I would want to own, but it was fun to go through the library copy. 

 

Regards,

Kareni