Book a Week 2015 - BW33: bookish birthdays and book news

[shukriyya]

Hi BaWers. I'm back from ten days of a wonderful working vacation with the family. I got nothing read as my commitments took up time and energy that might have been devoted to reading. Wouldn't change it for anything though. A fabulous time was had by all. Still on the roster, The Lost Sisterhood, The Novel Habits of Happiness, The Novice's Tale and The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate.

[mommymilkies]

Brandon Sanderson has a novella for sale on Kindle (and maybe other ebook retailers?) $.99, for those interested.  I haven't read this one, but it looks good. 

 

http://www.amazon.com/Shadows-Silence-Forests-Kindle-Cosmere-ebook/dp/B00U9T2QVI/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1440081657&sr=1-1&keywords=shadows+for+silence+in+the+forests+of+hell

[redsquirrel]

I am dawdling with "Suspended Sentences" by Modiano.  I finished the first novella in the book and am finding lots of other reasons not to sit down with it now and read the next one.  It is beautiful but absolutely not compelling in any way.  There is an almost palpable indifference from the author. I feel like every paragraph says "read me, don't read me. I don't care either way."  And then it goes off by itself and smokes a cigarette and rolls its eyes at me for being so bourgeois.  

 

So, very French then.

[-M-]

Hello, BaWers!

 

Here are the books I've finished since my last post (Week #29):

 

#83 Black Chalk (Christopher J. Yates; 2015. 352 pages. Fiction.)
#82 Cymbeline (William Shakespeare (1611?); Folger ed. 2003. 384 pages. Drama.)
#81 How to Be a Good Wife (Emma Chapman; 2013. 288 pages. Fiction.)
#80 You Should Have Known (Jean Hanff Korelitz; 2014. 448 pages. Fiction.)
#79 Wytches, Vol. 1 (Scott Snyder; 2015. 144 pages. Graphic Fiction.)
#78 The 17-Day Diet (Mike Moreno; 2013. 368 pages. Non-fiction.)
#77 Will Not Attend: Lively Stories of Detachment and Isolation (Adam Resnick; 2014. 272 pages. Non-fiction.)
#76 Afterwards (Rosamond Lupton; 2013. 415 pages. Fiction.)
#75 Me Before You (Jojo Moyes; 2012. 384 pages. Fiction.)
#74 Eat to Live: The Amazing Nutrient-Rich Program for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss (Joel Fuhrman; 2011. 400 pages. Non-fiction.)
#73 The Never List (Koethi Zan; 2013. 320 pages. Fiction.)
#72 My Wish List (Gregoire Delacourt; 2014. 176 pages. Fiction.)
#71 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll; 1865 (2008). 176 pages. Fiction.)

 

Random comments:

-- The Misses and I liked Cymbeline so much more than our prep reading led us to believe we would.

-- I didn't like Alice when I was little, nor when I reread it in college. I still don't like it.

-- Diet book: sigh.

-- The Resnick book is hi.lar.i.ous but contains language and subject matter that may offend some readers.

-- Lupton's Sister was one of the best books I read in 2012; Afterwards is even better.

-- Me Before You, on the other hand? Blergh. I do not understand the praise.

-- My Wish List was a winner for me. I know the reviews are rather split, but I liked the resolution.

-- Two decent psychological "thrillers": How to Be a Good Wife and You Should Have Known.

 

-- Since my last post we've seen three plays (Moby Dick at the Lookingglass (outstanding!), Q Gents at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival (the Q Brothers get better with each "ad-rap-tation"), and Grand Concourse at Steppenwolf (some pacing issues but fine acting and compelling material)) and an opera (Aida via Fathom Events -- popcorn and recliners are a comfy way to watch long operas, I'll tell you). We also watched the White Sox walk all over the Yankees, nursed Miss M-mv(i) though a pretty uneventful oral surgery recovery (all four wisdom teeth), and *finally* resolved the washing machine repair debacle of the century. Heh, heh, heh.

 

-- My daughters began their fall semester at the local college. Last month, the youngest learned that she had been awarded a large merit scholarship for STEM majors. Proud parent moment, to be sure. They *still* have not decided where they'd like to transfer. I'm proud and excited to hear about all of the doors flung open to them, based on their Phi Theta Kappa membership and their college performance, and I know that, technically, they have plenty of time before the deadlines, but I'd like them to choose soon.

 

Off to see what everyone else is reading!

[idnib]

There is an almost palpable indifference from the author. I feel like every paragraph says "read me, don't read me. I don't care either way."  And then it goes off by itself and smokes a cigarette and rolls its eyes at me for being so bourgeois.  

 

So, very French then.

 

I skimmed it at the bookstore and had the exact same impression.  :)

[aggieamy]

Hello friends!

 

We are back home from vacations and back to school this week.  Yay.  Back to a normal schedule.

 

I'm listening to Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen.  So far I'm liking it.  It seems pretty light and silly but that's okay.  Unless the ending is crappy I'll likely try another of her books.

 

I'm starting Go Set a Watchman allegedly by Harper Lee.  I don't really want to read it because I loved TKAM and I'm afraid it will detract for my love of that book.  We'll see.  It's an assigned book for a IRL book club I'm in so I'd feel like a jerk for refusing to read it.  Has anyone here read it yet?  (Probably a silly questions!   Everyone here has probably read it.  :laugh: )

 

DD and I read Our Only May Amelia by Jennifer Holm.  I liked it okay.  I was kinda surprised by some of the adult topics in there but DD didn't seem to notice them.  I think one of the aunts was a prostitute?!?!?

 

Julia, I never welcomed you back last week so :grouphug:. I am so glad that our little part of this huge forum is a place where we can find comfort when our world becomes painful.

Dd and I have read most of the Tasha Alexander books. They vary in quality imo but are enjoyable. Some of storylines that might not be enjoyable right now. Another series you might enjoy are C.S. Harris and her Sebastian St. Cyr. Regency Mysteries. What Angels Fear is the first one. These need to be read in order, missing one would probably be O.K. as long as what you have is in order. The stories all take place in one year so they have an underlying continuing storyline. These are not fluffy but good. Goodreads kept recommending Tasha Alexander when I was reading the St. Cyr books......

 

Julie - mumto knows what she's talking about with these mysteries!  I'm going to tack on a recommendation for Kate Ross's Julian Kestrel series.  There's only four of them (I thought the last one was worth skipping personally) but they are well done. 

[mumto2]

I finished the first book in a new to me series(Edilean) that I found on one of our many lists, I think it was best romance novels with a historical type connection. These are by Jude Deverauxhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4543484-lavender-morningwho is an author I have rarely read.

 

This book was good but after glancing at the next book which goes back in time to the Scottish ancestor who built the town I think it might qualify as more of an introduction. I really liked it, good fluffy read. It had a nice mix of the present, where a young woman inherits a house from an elderly friend in a town she has never heard of, and the past, a dramatic WWII romantic story which I am hoping to learn more about in future books. :)

[Kareni]

Last night I finished the latest contemporary romance by Lisa Kleypas.  I'd been looking forward to reading this as it's the fourth book in a series whose first three books were published in 2007, 2008. and 2009.  While I enjoyed it and expect to re-read it, it didn't have quite the emotional punch that some of the earlier books had.

 

Brown-Eyed Girl by Lisa Klepas

 

"Wedding planner Avery Crosslin may be a rising star in Houston society, but she doesn't believe in love-at least not for herself. When she meets wealthy bachelor Joe Travis and mistakes him for a wedding photographer, she has no intention of letting him sweep her off her feet. But Joe is a man who goes after what he wants, and Avery can't resist the temptation of a sexy southern charmer and a hot summer evening.

 

After a one night stand, however, Avery is determined to keep it from happening again. A man like Joe can only mean trouble for a woman like her, and she can't afford distractions. She's been hired to plan the wedding of the year-a make-or-break event.

 

But complications start piling up fast, putting the wedding in jeopardy, especially when shocking secrets of the bride come to light. And as Joe makes it clear that he's not going to give up easily, Avery is forced to confront the insecurities and beliefs that stem from a past she would do anything to forget.

 

The situation reaches a breaking point, and Avery faces the toughest choice of her life. Only by putting her career on the line and risking everything-including her well-guarded heart-will she find out what matters most."

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

[Kareni]

A very useful book ~

Bug-killing book pages clean murky drinking water by Jonathan Webb

 

"A book with pages that can be torn out to filter drinking water has proved effective in its first field trials.

 

The "drinkable book" combines treated paper with printed information on how and why water should be filtered."

 

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Mom-ninja.]

Anyone here a fan of the movie The Chost and Mrs. Muir?  It's a movie that I loved years ago.  If so, you might be interested in this post which discusses both the movie and the book upon which it is based.

 

Guest Squee: The Ghost and Mrs. Muir – The Movie, the Book, and Me by Kay Layton Sisk

 

Regards,

Kareni

I love that movie! Had no idea it was a book. Swoon. 

[Stacia]

Slightly OT.

 

You all know that I sometimes post links or stories about freedom of speech, freedom of the press, etc.... Here's a related article if you are interested.

 

Media Blackout in South Sudan After Reporter's Death

[Butter]

I finished reading A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett.  As expected, I loved it!  I liked it even more than the movie and I loved the movie.

[Stacia]

I am dawdling with "Suspended Sentences" by Modiano.  I finished the first novella in the book and am finding lots of other reasons not to sit down with it now and read the next one.  It is beautiful but absolutely not compelling in any way.  There is an almost palpable indifference from the author. I feel like every paragraph says "read me, don't read me. I don't care either way."  And then it goes off by itself and smokes a cigarette and rolls its eyes at me for being so bourgeois.  

 

So, very French then.

 

:thumbup1:

 

:lol:

 

Amy, good to see you again! I haven't read Go Set a Watchman, but I plan to (at some point). At least a few BaWers have read it though...

 

Shukriyya, sounds like a great vacation. Glad to see you're back too.

 

M-mv, it's always fun to read your lists of books. (Adding more titles to my list as I go...)

 

[aggieamy]

I finished reading A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett.  As expected, I loved it!  I liked it even more than the movie and I loved the movie.

 

I adore The Secret Garden but have never read A Little Princess.  It's one of those books that I'm surprised I never read as a child  I have an irrational and explainable fear that it won't be as good as I'm expecting and will cause me to like TSG less.  Kinda like Men in Black 2 was so bad that I liked Men in Black 1 less after having watched it.  

 

C'mon.  I admitted it was irrational.  

 

:huh:

[Jane in NC]

Nice to have you back, Amy. 

 

I am usually not a whiner but today this girl is gonna whine!  Summer's heat has really beaten me down this year.  It was lovely to escape for a while so I should not complain since I had the opportunity to leave.  Further, it hasn't been as bad heat-wise as it was in late June/early July--killer temperatures and high humidity.

 

Another thing that happens to me annually is that I start craving the autumn menu, having grown tired of our summer meals. Waiting for this year's crop of sweet potatoes to cure--and lower temps so that I can bake them.

 

Grump, grump, grump.  Doesn't help that I have a lingering cold picked up from my recent air travels.

 

Someone needs to give me a pep talk.

 

 

[Butter]

I adore The Secret Garden but have never read A Little Princess.  It's one of those books that I'm surprised I never read as a child  I have an irrational and explainable fear that it won't be as good as I'm expecting and will cause me to like TSG less.  Kinda like Men in Black 2 was so bad that I liked Men in Black 1 less after having watched it.  

 

C'mon.  I admitted it was irrational.  

 

:huh:

 

I love The Secret Garden, too.  A Little Princess totally lived up to my expectations!

[idnib]

Nice to have you back, Amy. 

 

I am usually not a whiner but today this girl is gonna whine!  Summer's heat has really beaten me down this year.  It was lovely to escape for a while so I should not complain since I had the opportunity to leave.  Further, it hasn't been as bad heat-wise as it was in late June/early July--killer temperatures and high humidity.

 

Another thing that happens to me annually is that I start craving the autumn menu, having grown tired of our summer meals. Waiting for this year's crop of sweet potatoes to cure--and lower temps so that I can bake them.

 

Grump, grump, grump.  Doesn't help that I have a lingering cold picked up from my recent air travels.

 

Someone needs to give me a pep talk.

 

:grouphug:

 

I hope you feel better soon!

 

Cool crisp weather is just around the corner.

 

It's always darkest warmest before the dawn fall.

[Kareni]

Regarding The Ghost and Mrs. Muir:

 

I love that movie! Had no idea it was a book. Swoon. 

 

I hadn't known either.  If you end up reading the book, I'd love to hear your impressions.

 

 

I read a very enjoyable young adult novel yesterday ~  Because You'll Never Meet Me by Leah Thomas.

 

It's an epistolary novel.  The letter writers are two teens, 14 and 16, who can never meet.  One is allergic to electricity and the other wears a pacemaker.  

 

I enjoyed the fact that I was familiar with a passage quoted in the book.  It was from Frank Wedekind's 1906 Spring Awakening: A Play which was the basis of the very edgy musical Spring Awakening.

 

I would definitely read more by this author.

 

 

Note:  If you find physical differences troubling, this is not the book for you.

 

 

"Ollie and Moritz are best friends, but they can never meet. Ollie has a life-threatening allergy to electricity, and Moritz's weak heart requires a pacemaker. If they ever did meet, they could both die. Living as recluses from society, the boys develop a fierce bond through letters that become a lifeline during dark times-as Ollie loses his only friend, Liz, to the normalcy of high school and Moritz deals with a bully set on destroying him. But when Moritz reveals the key to their shared, sinister past that began years ago in a mysterious German laboratory, their friendship faces a test neither one of them expected.

Narrated in letter form by Ollie and Moritz-two extraordinary new voices-this story of impossible friendship and hope under strange circumstances blends elements of science fiction with coming of age themes, in a humorous, dark, and ultimately inspiring tale is completely unforgettable."

 

 

and From School Library Journal

 

Gr 9 Up— "Ollie and Moritz are at the center of a unique and oddly compelling friendship in this epistolary debut. Ollie has a form of epilepsy that renders him "allergic to electricity," while Moritz, born without eyes, has a pacemaker to help control his cardiomyopathy. Both boys live in reclusive isolation, but when they begin to exchange letters, they find an unexpected opportunity to share their hopes, challenges, sorrows, and the tragic secrets that unite them. Ollie and Moritz are memorable characters with engaging and often humorous voices, and the dual narration creates tension as they reveal more of their lives to one another—including their struggles with loneliness, self-acceptance, brutal tormentors, first love, and the weight of the past. The story flirts with several genres before settling into science fiction by its close. Coupled with the questionable reliability of its narrators, this lends it a quirky, almost whimsical feel even as Thomas grounds it in heartfelt and often painful emotion. VERDICT Despite shades of melodrama and a few plot contrivances, this will intrigue readers with its unusual premise." —Lauren Strohecker, McKinley Elementary School, Abington School District, PA

 

Regards,

Kareni

[aggieamy]

 

Nice to have you back, Amy. 

 

 

 

Thanks!  I missed you people!

 

Someone needs to give me a pep talk.

 

I'm not much on pep talks but I do have a surefire "pick you up" suggestion.  Grab a favorite book and a little snack (I recommend an awesome cheese and cracker combo).  Open the book to a random page and get lost in it for a bit.  This only works with favorite much read and much loved books.  Hope you get feeling better.  

[Jane in NC]

A postcard from Mumto2 raised my spirits today.  Love my BaW friends!

 

And I am currently imbibing in what I consider a fancy pants cocktail, an Aperol Negroni. My husband is grilling fish for fish tacos, having made a grilled tomatillo/pepper salsa. Dessert is homemade peach cobbler.  Yummo.

 

Are you all familiar with Banksy?  I am a huge fan and was thus delighted to read about his Dystoptian bemusement park, Dismaland:

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/dismaland-banksys-bemusement-park-is-deeply-unsettling-but-bizarrely-entertaining-10465485.html

 

http://www.dismaland.co.uk/

 

Some of you may not be sufficiently cynical to enjoy those links.  You have been warned!

[Little Nyssa]

Reading these lately:

Lavinia by UK Le Guin

The Art of Comforting

Prose on Poetry by Hass (this is hard going but it was highly recommended so I'll keep trying)

Still working on Shakespeare's Sonnets..,

[shukriyya]

A postcard from Mumto2 raised my spirits today.  Love my BaW friends!

 

And I am currently imbibing in what I consider a fancy pants cocktail, an Aperol Negroni. My husband is grilling fish for fish tacos, having made a grilled tomatillo/pepper salsa. Dessert is homemade peach cobbler.  Yummo.

 

Re the bolded, same here!! :001_wub:

 

I'm in for dinner chez Jane. Sounds delish from start to finish :drool5: (a rather revolting smilie but it gets the point across ;) )

 

Reading these lately:

Lavinia by UK Le Guin

The Art of Comforting

Prose on Poetry by Hass (this is hard going but it was highly recommended so I'll keep trying)

Still working on Shakespeare's Sonnets..,

 

I read Lavinia last year and quite enjoyed it.

[shukriyya]

Forgot to add 'A Beautiful Blue Death' to the round-up of current reading material. I started that a couple of weeks ago and am still enjoying it despite the plodding pace my reading is taking this year :blush:

 

:seeya: thanks for the welcome back, Stacia.

[Jane in NC]

Forgot to add 'A Beautiful Blue Death' to the round-up of current reading material. I started that a couple of weeks ago and am still enjoying it despite the plodding pace my reading is taking this year :blush:

 

:seeya: thanks for the welcome back, Stacia.

Added A Beautiful Blue Death to my list. Looks like a pleasant distraction.

[Maela]

Finished book #19 - Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll.  I've been on the hold waitlist for it at our library forever and finally got it on Monday.  Very happy to see that a movie is being made.  

[idnib]

Are you all familiar with Banksy?  I am a huge fan and was thus delighted to read about his Dystoptian bemusement park, Dismaland:

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/dismaland-banksys-bemusement-park-is-deeply-unsettling-but-bizarrely-entertaining-10465485.html

 

http://www.dismaland.co.uk/

 

Some of you may not be sufficiently cynical to enjoy those links.  You have been warned!

 

Thanks for the links. I like Banksy too and I had heard about this project but hadn' had time to follow up on its status.

[Kathleen.]

I read "Archimedes and the Door of Science" by Jeanne Bendick. What a great little book packed with tons of information. My 9yo read "Beezus and Ramona" by Beverly Cleary.

:)

[Robin M]

Link to week 34 - please continue conversation in new thread