Book a Week 2015 - BW29: and now for something completely different - OULIPO

[Butter]

MY KINDLE WON'T TURN ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

*curls up in ball and cries*

 

I've plugged it in to charge it and I am keeping all my fingers and toes crossed that it will be okay in the morning. Almost all my books are packed what will I do if my Kindle does not work????????!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

Yes first world problem but......

 

Mine wouldn't turn on suddenly last night.  I had used it yesterday afternoon and then nothing when I went to read before going to sleep.  I tried several times holding the on button for a bit, but the light wouldn't even come on.  After a while the screen displayed the progress bar.  It was updating.  Once it finished updating, it totally freaked out from me trying to turn it on so many times.  Once it finished turning itself off and on, it worked fine.  Hopefully it's just needing to install an update it downloaded.  It's a horrible, horrible feeling when a Kindle won't turn on!

[TeacherZee]

Mine wouldn't turn on suddenly last night. I had used it yesterday afternoon and then nothing when I went to read before going to sleep. I tried several times holding the on button for a bit, but the light wouldn't even come on. After a while the screen displayed the progress bar. It was updating. Once it finished updating, it totally freaked out from me trying to turn it on so many times. Once it finished turning itself off and on, it worked fine. Hopefully it's just needing to install an update it downloaded. It's a horrible, horrible feeling when a Kindle won't turn on!

Okay that makes me feel better. I'll try plugging it into my computer tomorrow to see if it updates then (it is wi-fi only). Thanks.

[mumto2]

Teacherzee. :grouphug: on the kindle. I suspect Butter is right about the update. If not, try doing a hard reset (dh took charge of that one). My dead kindle returned minus all the books which were safely in my account. I had been keeping way too many on my reader.

[Onceuponatime]

I finished Remarkable Creatures. It is one of my favorite books of the year.

[mumto2]

I finished remarkable creatures. It is one of my favorite books of the year.

 

I am still waiting on that one!

 

 

Stacia, I ended up giving up on Johannes Cabel The Detective. This one felt much darker to me and seemed to be rather callous regarding death. People were being killed way too frequently for my taste. It just didn't seem to be as clever as rhe first.

[Kareni]

For poetry fans, here's a very clever poem by a young woman in 11th grade ~

 

Worst Day Ever?   by Chanie Gorkin

Do be sure to follow the directions in the last two lines of the poem.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Violet Crown]

Some housekeeping: unpacked at last my list of books read on holiday, so now I have an intact list with numbering for May-July:

 

26. Jorge Luis Borges, The Book of Imaginary Beasts. I asked dh what genre he thought this might be, and he said "Borges."

 

27. Eudora Welty, Losing Battles. Not my favorite Welty, though LostSurprise has convinced me to give her another try. Some day.

 

28. Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Sunset Song. Very readable and quite a popular book in Scotland; generally recommended for those who like historical novels with strong, convincing female characters and accurate historical detail. Got the rest of the trilogy before we left and must read it soon.

 

29. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Southern Mail. As you would expect from St-Ex, brief, philosophical, and joyfully tragic.

 

30. E. F. Benson, As We Were. Memoirs of the Victorian era from the son of the Archbishop of Canterbury, whose family knew everybody who was anybody. Much more interesting than I had thought it might be.

 

31. Ian MacPherson, Wild Harbour. Scottish post-apocalyptic fiction from the 1930's, taking place during or possibly after a Second World War; the characters are pacifists hiding in the Scottish countryside, and the reader's information is as delimited as their own. Okay, but eclipsed by the fantasticness of Gillespie.

 

32. Dickens, David Copperfield. The fun part of reading this with Middle Girl is that she immediately checked out Nicholas Nickleby and the Pickwick Papers--the only other Dickens our little library had--and devoured them.

 

33. T. H. White, Farewell Victoria. The story of a country groom born in the Victorian era and his life through the social changes of the turn of the century. This is the only T. H. White I've ever read, actually.

 

34. J. McDougall Hay, Gillespie. A very strange book. I think I've already described it; it's up there with Sunset Song as highly recommended Scottish lit.

 

35. Max Beerbohm, Zuleika Dobson. This farce was Beerbohm's only novel; about a young American woman so stunningly beautiful that she causes the entire student body of Oxford to commit suicide out of unrequited love. I notice the latest NYRB has an article on Beerbohm.

 

36. Orkneyinga Saga. It occurred to me that the extensive section on Earl Thorfinn ought to be of interest to Dorothy Dunnett fans who have read King Hereafter and are familiar therefore with the theory that Thorfinn and Macbeth were the same person.

[Just Robyn]

 

Hmm! Wonder if I could get my son interested since he writes his own stories.  We've been getting Creative Kids magazine, written by kids for kids 8 - 16.  Lots of fun stories and poems.  Not sure if James is actually reading it.  It disappears into his room and all I get is the typical teenage response how'd you like it.  

 

 

Another magazine that might interest your son is Ember: A Journal of Luminous Things. They accept submissions from both adults and children as young as 10. While I do have their first two issues sitting here waiting for me, I haven't read anything out of them yet. Beautiful art. That's all I can say for sure.

 

And more in zines...

 

I found a localish (about 30 min. away) zine library with a take one, leave one policy. My middle ds grabbed a zine about different kinds of farts, which showed him that a zine doesn't have to be something Mom would like, and now he has made two zines of his own. They're simple, nothing he worked and worked on, but I'm still feeling like Yes! He was inspired!

 

 We also found out about a local collaborative zine, and we decided we'd each create a page.

 

Here's mine. (He hasn't done his yet.)

 

 

[LaughingCat]

I've had my Kindle appear dead and turned out I had to do a hard reset, holding the power key on for an extended period (half a minute?)

[TeacherZee]

Nope. It is dead. Deceased. Gone to its maker. Not even the hard reset is working. Nor does a factory reset.

 

https://youtu.be/Oj8RIEQH7zA

[mumto2]

Nope. It is dead. Deceased. Gone to its maker. Not even the hard reset is working. Nor does a factory reset.

 

https://youtu.be/Oj8RIEQH7zA

The factory reset is what worked on mine. I am chuckling over where that link leads. ;)

 

Kareni, That poem is wonderful! :)

[TeacherZee]

It would have turned 9 at Christmas. I think I got a good run out of it. I think it might have been the longest I have had an electronic device. Now do I want a paperwhite or a regular for my next one?

[Butter]

Nope. It is dead. Deceased. Gone to its maker. Not even the hard reset is working. Nor does a factory reset.

 

https://youtu.be/Oj8RIEQH7zA

 

That is terrible news.

 

However, if mine died it would mean I'd have an excuse to get a Voyage...

[Lady Florida.]

For poetry fans, here's a very clever poem by a young woman in 11th grade ~

 

Worst Day Ever?   by Chanie Gorkin

Do be sure to follow the directions in the last two lines of the poem.

 

 

 

I loved it!

 

It would have turned 9 at Christmas. I think I got a good run out of it. I think it might have been the longest I have had an electronic device. Now do I want a paperwhite or a regular for my next one?

 

You got a good run out of it. What you replace it with depends on your preference. I have both types and I do all of my reading, except for cookbooks, on my Paperwhite. I prefer e-ink over a backlit screen. It's easier on my eyes. I use my Kindle Fire more like a tablet/large smartphone than an ereader.

[TeacherZee]

That is terrible news.

 

However, if mine died it would mean I'd have an excuse to get a Voyage...

 

See the Voyage is a bit spency for me right now.

 

Do you ladies have one with the adds or without?

[Butter]

Mine has ads.  They aren't intrusive.  I mostly just don't even "see" them.  Like my mind ignores them completely.

 

The Voyage is way too expensive for me, too, but I dream of one day owning one.

[Lady Florida.]

Oh, I forgot about the Voyage. I thought you were asking about a Paperwhite or a Fire. Looking at the specs, I can't figure out what's so special about the Voyage. Size is very close. Battery life is the same. The adaptive lighting just means you don't have to change it yourself. The page turning is different, That seems to be it. 

 

If you had a nine year old Kindle, you won't be sorry with a Paperwhite. I love mine (had the Keyboard 3rd gen until I dropped it). Are you able to buy refurbished over there? Mine is refurbished but came with the same warranty as a new one. 

 

I'm not trying to talk you out of the Voyage, just letting you know the Paperwhite is no slacker.

[Lady Florida.]

Mine has ads. They're unobtrusive and are not in the actual books. They only show up on the sleep screen, and on the very bottom of the home screen.

[TeacherZee]

No I am choosing between the Paperwhite and the $79 one. The dead one was a 3rd gen Keyboard. I don't need the fire as I have an iPad air. I want the Kindle just for reading. When I am on the iPad I tend to get distracted by the shiny (aka fb, pintrest, the board etc.). I like the kindle because of the non glare. It sounds like the paperwhite with ads is the way to go.

[Butter]

There's actually three types of 6" eink Kindles right now.  Voyage is top of the line.  Then there's the Paperwhite.  And then there's the basic Kindles.

 

My kids have basic Kindles.  They are fine.  They are barebones Kindles, and they are a little slower at page turning than my Keyboard, but they are also cheap which is nice.

[mumto2]

We have several basic kindles with the keyboard (2nd generation and up) and all have been great workhorses. :lol: I have wanted a paperwhite for awhile but haven't been able to justify the need for one. Since we are discussing them, Can a paperwhite be read in the dark? I have been assuming they can't. That would probably be the only reason I would switch without needing to. I love my fires for that but would be happy to stop being tempted to browse other things!

 

Fyi...Refurbished kindles are available in the UK at least. We have bought a couple of them....I can't remember which ones so obviously it hasn't been an issue usage wise. ;)

[6packofun]

I finished Remarkable Creatures. It is one of my favorite books of the year.

 

I really enjoyed that one!

 

This week I finished Fahrenheit 451.  Can you believe I started it and never finished??  I never had to read it in high school, either.  Loved it!

Now I'm reading Landline by Rainbow Rowell.  After that, The Rosie Effect.  

 

By then, my pre-order of J. Warner Wallace's God's Crime Scene: A Cold-Case Detective Examines the Evidence for a Divinely Created Universe.  (His Cold-Case Christianity is really good!  It tackles the claims of the gospels.)  I'll be hosting a book study of God's Crime Scene so I'll be light on the fiction for a bit.

[Kareni]

Nope. It is dead. Deceased. Gone to its maker. Not even the hard reset is working. Nor does a factory reset.

 

I'm sorry to hear that, TeacherZee.

 

 

... Can a paperwhite be read in the dark? ...

 

I have a Paperwhite.  I'd say it can be read in the dark. 

 

I've no experience with any other e-readers, but I'm content with my Kindle Paperwhite.  (Though I think it's fair to say I still prefer paper!)  Mine has ads, but they don't seem intrusive.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Lady Florida.]

No I am choosing between the Paperwhite and the $79 one. 

 

If you can swing the extra money, I'd recommend the Paperwhite. The light makes it worth it.

 

 Since we are discussing them, Can a paperwhite be read in the dark? I have been assuming they can't. That would probably be the only reason I would switch without needing to. 

 

Yes it can, and it's not backlit. That's the beauty of it. You turn the light down in darker rooms and up when it's bright. That sounds counterintuitive but it works. 

 

 

BTW, I wonder why counterintuitive gets the red squiggly line. I checked the spelling, and checked to make sure it's one word, but I still get the squiggles. Squiggly and squiggles OTOH, are perfectly fine.  :lol:

[TeacherZee]

Yeah it looks like a Paperwhite is the best option for me. Although it is pricier than the basic model it is still within my reach (I'll have to prioritize it over other "fun" stuff). I really want to have a kindle since I will have a commute for the new job and I don't want to tote my iPad every day on the trolley.

[Lady Florida.]

We have several basic kindles with the keyboard (2nd generation and up) and all have been great workhorses. :lol: I have wanted a paperwhite for awhile but haven't been able to justify the need for one. 

 

I was happy with my 3rd generation Kindle Keyboard, though I was salivating over the Paperwhite. I didn't keep it in a case and one time it slipped out of my hands in such a way that the screen hit the corner of the table. The screen itself didn't crack, but something underneath did. Dh tried to help me revive it, but no luck. That's when I bought the refurbished Paperwhite and fell in love with it right away. I keep it in a case now, unless I'm reading in bed where it's perfectly safe. :)

 

All three of us have refurbished. They don't seem any different from brand new, and since they come with the same warranty we wouldn't have to worry if there was a problem. FTR, I got them all directly from Amazon, not a third party seller. 

 

Back on topic - I downloaded How the Light Gets In on audio book from my library. I've been putting off reading the rest (so far) in the series because I really disliked The Beautiful Mystery, the one right before this one. I'm hoping that listening instead of reading will make me fall in love with Three Pines again.

[TeacherZee]

Thanks for the help everyone!

[Kareni]

BTW, I wonder why counterintuitive gets the red squiggly line. I checked the spelling, and checked to make sure it's one word, but I still get the squiggles. Squiggly and squiggles OTOH, are perfectly fine. :lol:

 

It is curious. I've noticed that the board here seems to be set to favor British English. So, for example, these words get the red squiggle

 

favor

harbor

center

 

while these words do not

 

favour

harbour

centre

 

 

Counterintuitive (squiggle) seems to be the American version while counter-intuitive (no squiggle) is, I believe, the British version.

 

And the more I write the word squiggle the less and less correct it looks!

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Butter]

Favor Favour

 

counterintuitive counter-intuitive

 

center centre

 

For me favour and centre and counterintuitive all got squigglies (as did squigglies), but favor, counter-intuitive, and center did not.

[Kareni]

For me favour and centre and counterintuitive all got squigglies (as did squigglies), but favor, counter-intuitive, and center did not.

 

That is curious!  Clearly the board gremlins have decided that I'm British, and you're not.  Now I want to know what it has determined for others. 

 

I took a look at my settings page, but I don't see anything there that would seem to make an impact as regards this issue.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Butter]

That is curious! 

 

Very curious indeed!

 

My daughter insists that spelling is genetic.  She puts the u's in words and just generally uses British spellings.  She says this is totally because her grandmother is British.

[Stacia]

Favor Favour

 

counterintuitive counter-intuitive

 

center centre

 

For me favour and centre and counterintuitive all got squigglies (as did squigglies), but favor, counter-intuitive, and center did not.

 

Exactly the same results for me...

 

[mumto2]

I feel left out because I don't get squiggles on the WTM board. Now you know another reason why I make some interesting errors. :lol: I only post off my fires purchased on both sides of the Atlantic, btw. They all live on EST because it is an easy way for me to keep track of the time and my mom so it has nothing to do with the clock function. All my kindles spell British so I think someone (most likely my son) did that for (to) me. They also spell British no matter where I am physically. I have allowed it to continue because it is easier to get in the habit of British spellings for my life in general.

[-M-]

Late to the party. Again. *wry grin* I hope all of the BaWers are doing well. Here are the last five books I've read:

 

#70 The Death Class: A True Story About Life (Erika Hiyasaki; 2014. 288 pages. Non-fiction.)
#69 Primates of Park Avenue: A Memoir (Wednesday Martin; 2015. 256 pages. Non-fiction.)
#68 Letter 44, Vol. 1: Escape Velocity (Charles Soule; 2015. 144 pages. Graphic Fiction.)
#67The Witch of Hebron: A World Made by Hand Novel (James Howard Kunstler; 2010. 336 pages. Fiction.)
#66 Moon Tiger (Penelope Lively; 1987. 208 pages. Fiction.)

 

Moon Tiger was a reread and was even better nearly three decades later. Because I'm a fan of Kunstler, I made apologies for his clunkily written but compellingly conceived A World Made by Hand. Well, his fiction-writing skills have improved vastly since that first go-round, if Witch is any indication. If you're looking for in-a-whimper-not-a-bang dystopia, you should check out his series. The Death Class began as one sort of book and ended as another. Meh on that one and Primates. Any graphic fiction fans out there? Letter 44 is a little jumpy but pretty cool, no?

 

Related (sort of): We caught the Writers Theatre production of The Diary of Anne Frank. If you've seen the excellent reviews, you can believe them. The Writers Theatre is wringing all of the intimacy it can from its tiny venues while the new theatre is being built. Doubt at a nearby church. Dance of Death, Isaac's Eye, and now The Diary of Anne Frank in its birthplace, the bookstore on Vernon. The set actually puts the audience in the annex with the families. Groups of ten are ushered through a door behind a bookcase, along a narrow hallway, and up a flight of stairs. The set is as much a character as Anne herself. Good, good stuff.

 

Next up for my group is the Lookingglass production of Moby Dick. Some of you may remember that 2013 was the year of Moby Dick for the family-centered learning project. Naturally, we're pretty stoked about the play.

 

Unrelated: Did I mention that I nailed that long étude to close out my studies in the Rubank Elementary? *tiny bow* I got it in one, folks. So now I'm in the Intermediate book. Yay to me! And my return to Spanish is going well. I do not know where it will lead, but right now, I'm enjoying the challenge, and I think the ESL students I tutor will appreciate the empathy I bring to our class meetings.

[LaughingCat]

I think I read somewhere that the paperwhite does not have the ability to do audiobooks?  That would be the biggest downside to me.

 

 

 

 

[Robin M]

Nope. It is dead. Deceased. Gone to its maker. Not even the hard reset is working. Nor does a factory reset.

 

https://youtu.be/Oj8RIEQH7zA

   You sure it isn't just resting.  :lol:   Love Monty Python.

 

 

Hmmm?

 

Favor Favour

 

counterintuitive counter-intuitive

 

center centre

 

The only one that got the squiggles is counterintuitive for me, so what does that mean?  

 

 

My two cents on the Kindle - I can't stand ads, refuse to have anything that forces me to have ads and go out of my way to find any adblocker possible including all the crap I don't want to see on facebook  (thank you facebook purity)   I just read on the Ipad.  But yes, agree the internet and email and everything else can pose a distraction. Sometimes, maybe, many times, never. I'm sorry. What was the subject?  :leaving:

[Robin M]

Unrelated: Did I mention that I nailed that long étude to close out my studies in the Rubank Elementary? *tiny bow* I got it in one, folks. So now I'm in the Intermediate book. Yay to me!

:hurray: :hurray: :hurray: Brava, darlin'

 

 

 

[shukriyya]

I have a paperwhite and a fire. I like both of them a lot! The PW is strictly an e-reader, no audiobooks, and it's what I use for all my reading. One of its uses is for in-the-dark reading and you can dim the screen according to the brightness or darkness of the room. The fire is my portable computer. I use it almost more than my laptop. For an extra $15 you can opt out of ads anytime which is what I did.

 

As to the favour/favor etc debate...growing up in Canada with a British father and many British relatives that was the way we spelled things. Since moving to the US I find the American way of spelling has taken over...check for cheque, gray for grey etc. But every time I spell a word the American way I'm aware of it. The editor here on WTM is showing red squiggles for favour and cheque. The others pass the test :blink:

 

In book-related matters I'm really enjoying 'Under an English Heaven'.

[Kareni]

  

Favor Favour

 

counterintuitive counter-intuitive

 

center centre

 

The only one that got the squiggles is counterintuitive for me, so what does that mean?  :leaving:

 

You are clearly a woman of distinction! 

 

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

In book-related matters I'm really enjoying 'Under an English Heaven'.

I never go a chance to respond earlier this week...I read the post while out and couldn't post then. I did look for Under an English Heaven but couldn't find it. It does look like my type of book. I am glad you are enjoying it. Hopefully it will appear in one of my libraries soon. :)

[Kathleen.]

There are so many great books read this week.  My holds list at our library is getting long.

Well, this week I read "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw and my 9yo read "The Book of Wizard Craft" by Janice Kilby,

:)

[Kareni]

My holds list at our library is getting long.

 

That is a danger of this thread.  (But it's a nice problem to have!) 

 

Regards,

Kareni

[TeacherZee]

I listen to my audiobooks on my iPhone (yes I have WAY to may electronics why do you ask) so that isn't a problem. My dad needed a new kindle as well so he ordered refurbished PW for us today. They wouldn't ship here but we had them shipped to my aunt and she'll ship them on to us.

[Ausmumof3]

I finished go set a watchman. I'm not sure what I think yet. The writing was good, clean crisp and interesting in parts. Other bits seemed a bit like they weren't quite grown up yet. It was thought provoking. It adds perspective to the original book. I actually wonder if it's been played with since she wrote it or something. Some of the themes are... Idk... I need to re read the ending. Interested in perspectives if anyone has read it. Don't want to spoil it for those who haven't though.

[mumto2]

Supplementing the intensity of 'Catherine the Great' with a lighthearted mystery. Under an English Heaven by Alice Boatwright is a book that might appeal to several BaWers here. Mumto2, have you read this?

 

On another note, the final Isabel Dalhousie mystery is out, entitled, The Novel Habits of Happiness. Uncharacteristically I have read all the previous books in this series and very much enjoyed them. This last one gets decent reviews. The question is, loan or buy?

I went searching for Under an English Heaven again and found it. It is out there for free as an ebook for Prime and kindle unlimited members. I have a prime book waiting to be read, The Pines.....first book from that Wayward Pines tv show. I couldn't watch it but saw loads of ads so thought I would try the book.

[Robin M]

Link to week 30 - please continue conversation in new thread