shukriyya Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 Yep, those are the three Geraldine Brooks books I've read so far too - March, Year of Wonders, and People of the Book. I've really enjoyed all of them. I'm intrigued by this nonfiction one: Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/337615.Nine_Parts_of_Desire?from_search=true&search_version=service I read this a while back but remember being underwhelmed. The title irked me for various reasons, there's something 'other-making' about it which the world needs less of, particularly with this religious/cultural stream. I tried several times to read 'People of the Book' but couldn't get past the writing which felt...dilute. I want to like her books because i like the premises but so far I've not found my way in. Pam, welcome back! Your blog tells me you've roamed far and wide, inner and outer :D Jenn, hoping your travels unfold with ease. Rumi lovers, make sure to look for Coleman's translations. They are stellar. He's got quite a team working with him and of all the translations available these retain the mystical flavor and poetry. And if he, Zuleikha and Glen Velez ever come to your town with the Rumi Concert don't miss it! 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Nyssa Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 Working on the Odyssey and really enjoying it. Finding myself drawn to focus on the stories of the female characters: Penelope (why doesn't she send the suitors away?) Helen (did she want to stay in Troy or not? Here we see her after her return home with Menelaus) Calypso (why does she want to keep Odysseus with her, when it's clear he wants to go home and has been wanting to go home for years?) Some interesting and complicated ladies! Reading Chesterton's Club of Queer Trades with the kids- we were reading Father Brown, but after we got through the tamer ones, DC expressed that they did not want to hear any stories with murders in them, so we moved to another book. :) 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 Working on the Odyssey and really enjoying it. Finding myself drawn to focus on the stories of the female characters: Penelope (why doesn't she send the suitors away?) Helen (did she want to stay in Troy or not? Here we see her after her return home with Menelaus) Calypso (why does she want to keep Odysseus with her, when it's clear he wants to go home and has been wanting to go home for years?) Some interesting and complicated ladies! You might enjoy The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood - the story told from Penelope's point of view. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 Courtesy of BookRiot: Some truly phenomenal sand sculptures ~ A Day at the Beach: Bookish Sand Sculptures and 26 Books Every 'Spiritual But Not Religious' Seeker Should Read I'm rather surprised that I've read seven of the books on this list. Regards, Kareni 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 Working on the Odyssey and really enjoying it. Finding myself drawn to focus on the stories of the female characters: Penelope (why doesn't she send the suitors away?) Helen (did she want to stay in Troy or not? Here we see her after her return home with Menelaus) Calypso (why does she want to keep Odysseus with her, when it's clear he wants to go home and has been wanting to go home for years?) Some interesting and complicated ladies! You might enjoy The Firebrand by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Can't hyper-link on a tablet so forgive the clunky regular link :: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/193289160?book_show_action=true&from_review_page=1 It tells the tale of the Trojan War from the pov of Kassandra, Priestess and twin-sister to Paris. I read it last year for one of my 5/5 categories, novels of women in ancient history. Sigh, last year was a good reading year. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 Also Ursula LeGuin's, Lavinia, another from the 5/5 category.http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2214574.Lavinia?from_search=true&search_version=service 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 Pam, Great to have you back. We missed you! Eliana, I am so glad you are enjoying your granddaughter's visit. Jenn, Hope you made it on your plane and that we see you here later today! Welcome back, Pam! Glad I could make you giggle. You'd probably giggle if you read the book, too. Jenn, safe travels! Just for you ~ Shrek the Sheep. Regards, Kareni In honour of poor Shrek I feel the need to display some of my vast ;) sheep knowledge. I live in a village surrounded by fields of sheep and various types of grains. There are breeds of sheep where the fleece falls off (not very attractive but due to expense can be easier if you need to hire shearing) by late summer if not sheared. A good friend has a flock for fun and hates shearing them, hard work and she can only manage a few each day, she is very hands on. The fleece is no longer valuable enough to bother selling and her shed to store fleece in for future knitting projects is full. Considering that she still needs to learn how to spin the wool her supply will last quite awhile! This year she just sheared the breed where the fleece won't fall off and left the rest of her flock to mother nature. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 26 Books Every 'Spiritual But Not Religious' Seeker Should Read I'm rather surprised that I've read seven of the books on this list. Regards, Kareni I've read 6, with another on my to-read stack. And I'm not particularly seeking. Although I suppose I might have been when I read a few of these. I remember being blown away by Alan Watts as a college student. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 Just got a fine welcome home by the internet gods -- a nice detailed post just vanished **pooof** into the ether. Gah!! But I am home -- got to the airport in plenty of time, read the first 2 hours of the flight then gazed out the window at the tops of the clouds lit up by the moon and at the spectacular lightening storm over some mountains in New Mexico or Arizona. It is STINKING HOT here, a shock after the unseasonably cool weather in the midwest. I will post more tomorrow, maybe with pictures, and a list of books bought and read and food eaten. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 Last night I finished another re-read Nora Roberts' The Witness which I enjoyed revisiting. "Daughter of a cold, controlling mother and an anonymous donor, studious, obedient Elizabeth Fitch finally let loose one night, drinking too much at a nightclub and allowing a strange man’s seductive Russian accent to lure her to a house on Lake Shore Drive.Twelve years later, the woman now known as Abigail Lowery lives alone on the outskirts of a small town in the Ozarks. A freelance security systems designer, her own protection is supplemented by a fierce dog and an assortment of firearms. She keeps to herself, saying little, revealing nothing. Unfortunately, that seems to be the quickest way to get attention in a tiny southern town.The mystery of Abigail Lowery and her sharp mind, secretive nature and unromantic viewpoint intrigues local police chief Brooks Gleason, on both a personal and professional level. And while he suspects that Abigail needs protection from something, Gleason is accustomed to two-bit troublemakers, not the powerful and dangerous men who are about to have him in their sights.And Abigail Lowery, who has built a life based on security and self-control, is at risk of losing both." Regards, Kareni 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 Kareni, I recently read The Witness also. It may have been a reread. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 I've heard good things about this currently free Kindle historical romance ~ The Secret Heart (No Better Angels Book 1) by Erin Satie You can see a review here. Regards, Kareni 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Nyssa Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 Also Ursula LeGuin's, Lavinia, another from the 5/5 category.http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2214574.Lavinia?from_search=true&search_version=service Just read it. :) 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 26 Books Every 'Spiritual But Not Religious' Seeker Should Read I'm rather surprised that I've read seven of the books on this list. Regards, Kareni Only nine of the 26 listed are women. And as they included The Phantom Tollbooth, why didn't they include The Velveteen Rabbit?? Surely that is to be considered a spiritual classic! 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 26 Books Every 'Spiritual But Not Religious' Seeker Should Read I'm rather surprised that I've read seven of the books on this list. Regards, Kareni I've only read two - Man's Search for Meaning (Ugh! Hated it.) and The Red Tent (liked it a lot). I tried to read Sophie's World for book club a while back but couldn't get through it. None of us could, not eve the person who chose it. She's also the one who chose Man's Search for Meaning and she enjoys philosophy but she still couldn't finish Sophie's World. :) I wouldn't call myself a seeker though, and am not particularly spiritual so I think that does spill over into my reading choices. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 Welcome back Pam! I missed you. :seeya: Today I finished Part one of Faust for the Classics and Western Cannon group on Goodreads. They're already on Part two but I haven't decided if I want to read it. Instead I might read Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus. Or maybe I'll skip right to The Devil and Daniel Webster or The Master and Margarita. I love book rabbit trails. I started listening to the third Song of Ice and Fire book, A Storm of Swords, but I'm not sure I can continue. The narrator seems to think if he reads in a blowhard sort of voice he'll sound medieval? large? I don't know. It just isn't working for me because I don't think I can stand that voice for the entire very long book. We do have the ebooks (dh read them all) so I might have to switch to that if I want to finish the series. I'm not actually sure if I want to finish though. I'm thinking of getting the audio book version of Ready Player One. I've heard the Wil Wheaton narration is wonderful so now I can't get the idea out of my head. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 I've only read two - Man's Search for Meaning (Ugh! Hated it.) and The Red Tent (liked it a lot). I tried to read Sophie's World for book club a while back but couldn't get through it. None of us could, not eve the person who chose it. She's also the one who chose Man's Search for Meaning and she enjoys philosophy but she still couldn't finish Sophie's World. :) I wouldn't call myself a seeker though, and am not particularly spiritual so I think that does spill over into my reading choices. Ha, I'm your inverse. I loved 'Man's Search for Meaning' but could not ever find my way into 'The Red Tent' though I tried several times. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 Only nine of the 26 listed are women. And as they included The Phantom Tollbooth, why didn't they include The Velveteen Rabbit?? Surely that is to be considered a spiritual classic! At least they didn't include Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree! That's a book I've always found painful to read. Regards, Kareni 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 I read five on the spiritual list. Out of the ones I've read, I didn't particularly care for The Red Tent & I really hated The Alchemist. The others were ok. I don't think this is really my category, lol. Kareni, I agree about The Giving Tree. I find it one of the most depressing books out there. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 Here's an interesting piece about The Giving Tree and its author that appeared in the New Yorker magazine. Some adult content. “The Giving Tree†at Fifty: Sadder Than I Remembered by Ruth Margalit Regards, Kareni 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 I've only read two - Man's Search for Meaning (Ugh! Hated it.) and The Red Tent (liked it a lot). I tried to read Sophie's World for book club a while back but couldn't get through it. None of us could, not eve the person who chose it. She's also the one who chose Man's Search for Meaning and she enjoys philosophy but she still couldn't finish Sophie's World. :) I wouldn't call myself a seeker though, and am not particularly spiritual so I think that does spill over into my reading choices. Sophie's World once came highly recommended by participants on the High School Board. I too tried to read it. Ugh--what did they see in this book? A basic Intro to Philosophy is far more interesting. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 Man, I'm so relieved I'm not the only one who found Sophie's World unreadable . . . it's been on a stack at my bedside for years. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted August 29, 2015 Author Share Posted August 29, 2015 Courtesy of BookRiot: Some truly phenomenal sand sculptures ~ A Day at the Beach: Bookish Sand Sculptures and 26 Books Every 'Spiritual But Not Religious' Seeker Should Read I'm rather surprised that I've read seven of the books on this list. Regards, Kareni I have just got to read The Dude and the Zen Master by Jeff Bridges. Who knows. It may be good. Sophie's World read years ago and don't remember a thing about it, except that I read the whole thing so it couldn't have been that bad. The Littlest Prince, yes. I don't like sad ending. The Alchemist, I actually liked it, but may have been my frame of mind at the time. My hubby loved The Prisoner and introduced me to the show a couple years ago. Quite entertaining. I got pretty damn judgey but guessed at most of them. :lol: Hi Pam and everyone else I've missed :grouphug: I've been dealing with computer issues and getting ready for 10th grade to start next week as well as doing my online classes. My love affair with Firefox has ended. The last few updates have caused too many problems including the internet cutting in and out every few seconds unless I kept the mouse moving. Nor will it work with adblocker anymore and I refuse to browse the interwebz being annoyed by ads. Chrome has finally wooed me to its side. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 Man, I'm so relieved I'm not the only one who found Sophie's World unreadable . . . it's been on a stack at my bedside for years. Sounds like it is time to find a new home for Sophie. Off the stack and into the trash, I mean world. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 Stacia, my husband says thanks for the link to the Kindle deal on The Martian. He is really enjoying it. Blissful readers here. I will report more tomorrow but for now I will say that I loved Steinbeck's rambles on microbiology and life in The Log from the Sea of Cortez. And I am completely enchanted by Karl Ove Knausgaard. So I am halfway through volume one of My Struggle (200 more pages to go) and I am finding it to be anything but banal, a term some critics have used. Life is good, people. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 Blissful reading sounds absolutely perfect, Jane! Glad you & your dh both have a happy reading groove right now. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idnib Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 I thought you guys might like this Alice in Wonderland-themed corn maze. I don't enjoy the book myself, but I'm impressed with the maze. Today I finished Part one of Faust for the Classics and Western Cannon group on Goodreads. They're already on Part two but I haven't decided if I want to read it. Instead I might read Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus. Or maybe I'll skip right to The Devil and Daniel Webster or The Master and Margarita. I love book rabbit trails. I finished Part I and am in Part II. I'm almost done with it as I've been spending extra time to get it done before our houseguests arrive tonight. I don't think I'll finish it before they arrive, but I'll be pretty close. Part II is very different. Let me know what you think. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathleen. Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 I'm on the letter T for the name challenge. I read "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson and my 9yo read "How To Speak Cat: A Guide to Decoding Cat Language" by Aline Alexander Newman. :) 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 I thought you guys might like this Alice in Wonderland-themed corn maze. I don't enjoy the book myself, but I'm impressed with the maze. That is seriously impressive! Thanks for sharing the link. I was thinking that since it's made from corn, it's a maize maze. (An a-maize-ing maze?) Regards, Kareni 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 I thought you guys might like this Alice in Wonderland-themed corn maze. I don't enjoy the book myself, but I'm impressed with the maze. This reminds me of the The Garden Maze we visited a couple of years ago. It is huge! Ds though had been reading up on the history of mazes and had learned of some scheme using the left side of the body in relation to the hedge to orient one's way through. I was astonished to find it worked. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 The 'spiritual but not religious' books reminded me that I once had a boyfriend who though Jonathon Livingstone Seagull was full of wisdom. Man, I hated that book! I'd recommend Wendell Berry and Mary Oliver for a bit of real spiritual. Binge reading Liza Marklund crime fiction. Also a new "Chronicles of St Mary's' book - time travel - idiosyncratic - random sex scenes... You sent me on a bit of a search because I normally love crime fiction (even though all I seem to read currently are romance novels) and hadn't heard of Liza Marklund. These look good. I have them on my list for the future, when I read crime fiction again. :lol: The St. Mary's Chronicles look great. I have the first one on hold, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18456025-just-one-damned-thing-after-another?from_search=true&search_version=service because it is on order it may be awhile. It apparently started as a free Kindle offer, I enjoyed the author's blog regarding that experiencehttp://www.jodi-taylor.com/?tag=the-chronicles-of-st-marys. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 The 'spiritual but not religious' books reminded me that I once had a boyfriend who though Jonathon Livingstone Seagull was full of wisdom. Man, I hated that book! I *loved* that book.....................I was twelve at the time though :lol: 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 The 'spiritual but not religious' books reminded me that I once had a boyfriend who though Jonathon Livingstone Seagull was full of wisdom. Man, I hated that book! Me too! I had a boyfriend that loved it and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Then when I had a second boyfriend who loved Zen & the Art, I decided it must be something about me. ;) :D 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 Here's a lovely story of one man making a difference ~ Colombian garbage collector rescues books for children. BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — "A second-grade education has not stopped garbage collector Jose Gutierrez from bringing the gift of reading to thousands of Colombian children. Gutierrez started rescuing books from the trash almost 20 years ago, when he was driving a garbage truck at night through the capital's wealthier neighborhoods. The discarded reading material slowly piled up, and now the ground floor of his small house is a makeshift community library stacked from floor to ceiling with some 20,000 books, ranging from chemistry textbooks to children's classics. ..." Regards, Kareni What a marvelous story! Thanks for sharing the link.. re: Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women I read this a while back but remember being underwhelmed. The title irked me for various reasons, there's something 'other-making' about it which the world needs less of, particularly with this religious/cultural stream. I tried several times to read 'People of the Book' but couldn't get past the writing which felt...dilute. I want to like her books because i like the premises but so far I've not found my way in. Pam, welcome back! Your blog tells me you've roamed far and wide, inner and outer :D :iagree: Yeah, that title really is awful, isn't it. I'm going to go with the idea that the publisher's marketing team insisted on it back before Brooks had authorial veto power, and take a look despite it. Rose, I forgot that I read Caleb's Crossing years ago; that too I enjoyed very much. Working on the Odyssey and really enjoying it. Finding myself drawn to focus on the stories of the female characters: Penelope (why doesn't she send the suitors away?) Helen (did she want to stay in Troy or not? Here we see her after her return home with Menelaus) Calypso (why does she want to keep Odysseus with her, when it's clear he wants to go home and has been wanting to go home for years?) Some interesting and complicated ladies! How 'bout this: I'll do Penelopeaid if you'll do it with me! At least they didn't include Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree! That's a book I've always found painful to read. Here's an interesting piece about The Giving Tree and its author that appeared in the New Yorker magazine. Some adult content. “The Giving Tree†at Fifty: Sadder Than I Remembered by Ruth Margalit I read that @XD$$@&^*$!!! book with each of my kids in turn, at about age 10, as a springboard for a discussion of what love DIDN'T look like and how the word "happy" does not necessarily mean what it might look like it means.... Thanks for the article. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 I read this a while back but remember being underwhelmed. The title irked me for various reasons, there's something 'other-making' about it which the world needs less of, particularly with this religious/cultural stream. I tried several times to read 'People of the Book' but couldn't get past the writing which felt...dilute. I want to like her books because i like the premises but so far I've not found my way in. You know, I wasn't grabbed by People of the Book when I tried to read it, either, but I got the audio book and listened for a solid hour while I was driving, and then I was sold. I think - again- it had to do with the voices. The reader was Australian (I assume), the main character was Australian, at least, and the reader's voice sounded exactly the way her voice "should" sound. But then she did the accents - eastern European, medieval spanish, American, modern Israeli, and others so well - it really helped keep you track on who was speaking and what era you were in. The accents got a little distracting at times, but for the most part it was a very skillful use of voice and accent that really made the book come to life for me. It's funny, just by chance I realize that all 3 Brooks books I've "read" were audio books. I wonder if that has anything to do with my liking of them? I don't usually do all audios for a single author. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymilkies Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 The 'spiritual but not religious' books reminded me that I once had a boyfriend who though Jonathon Livingstone Seagull was full of wisdom. Man, I hated that book! Shhhhh! My Mom thinks the same thing but I've never told her I don't agree. Me too! I had a boyfriend that loved it and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Then when I had a second boyfriend who loved Zen & the Art, I decided it must be something about me. ;) :D I <3 Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. That and The Dancing Wu Li Masters totally blew my Middle School mind. I've only read three of the books on the Spiritual list, but I've started and flunked out of several others. :coolgleamA: I have my own list of books I consider secularly spiritual to myself that I reread like some people read their Bibles. Honestly most are fantasy novels with amazing inner mythology and stories within stories. Lord of the Rings, obviously, The Name of the Wind (his beautiful prose and rhyme is something to be savored like the Psalms, IMHO), Women Who Run With the Wolves, Wandering by Herman Hesse, The Slow Regard of Silent Things, anything by Robert Fulghum, American Gods, and Les Mis. I know those aren't the same as what is on the list, but to me those are the ones that are like a deep spiritual breath of fresh air that I read and re-read for my mind's sake. I'm reading The Reapers are the Angels. Such an odd book. No true dialogue, for one. It did make me rather uneasy before bed, which is hard to do. I'm curious as to where this is going. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted August 30, 2015 Author Share Posted August 30, 2015 Link to week 35 - please continue conversation in new thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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