Book a Week 2015 - BW42: poe's tell-tale heart

[Angel]

Two ebooks waiting in the wings to begin 

 

#5 in Wheels of Time -  The Fires of Heaven 

I never heard how you enjoyed #4

 

The bat stories are AWESOME!  I have none to share myself but my cousin has a similar story to Pam's Bat Story #1 only instead of being pregnant she had a newborn.  

 

I am reading Glimmerglass (Thanks, Ali, I forgot to tell you I got it in the mail :o ).  I gave up on The Supernatural Elements.  It wasn't bad.  I just wasn't in the mood!  

[Robin M]

Not sure if Robin managed to read the Wolf Gift by Anne Rice or not. I am wondering what you thought of it. Overall I liked it. One of my favourite parts was the history of the morphinkind......werewolves. This was something I really enjoyed in her vampire series, this wasn't as fascinating but still an interesting where werewolves originated story. This story felt incomplete which is my big complaint. Everything finally was put in place to tell a good story and the book was over. Since it didn't really end so on to the next one at some point. I think there may be a third one in the works......

 

 

Haven't gotten to it yet.  Started Horrorstor yesterday.  Yikes! I got to a really scary part right (Amy being attacked in the dark) before was supposed to go to bed. I had to put it down and do something else for a while so my imagination wouldn't be working on it while trying to sleep.  

 

I never heard how you enjoyed #4

 

The bat stories are AWESOME!  I have none to share myself but my cousin has a similar story to Pam's Bat Story #1 only instead of being pregnant she had a newborn.  

 

I am reading Glimmerglass (Thanks, Ali, I forgot to tell you I got it in the mail :o ).  I gave up on The Supernatural Elements.  It wasn't bad.  I just wasn't in the mood!  

 

I enjoyed The Shadow Rising! So much going on, easy to get lost.  Rand stumbling and bumbling with the female warriors, not exactly sure what he was doing.  Seemed like all the characters were sort of bumbling along, trying to figure things out.  It wasn't boring and I wanted to start the next book right away, but figured I should take a breather in between. 

[Rosyl]

I have  passed the half way mark to a book a week. 

in progress I have The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry.  I am almost done and it has become one of my favorites of all time.

 

18.  The Wager by Carolyn Brown  This author makes me laugh

19.  Victim of Grace by Robin Jones Gunn   I hesitated to read this book because I really like her fiction and wasn't sure I wanted to read her non-fiction and be disappointed.  The things that happen to us in our lives are for our benefit, and she has a gentle way of story telling  to shift  perspective from self and accentuate the positive.

20. One More Wish   Robin Jones Gunn  This is the latest  in the Christy and Todd series.  I hope it isn't the last. 

21.  Proposal at Siesta Key by Shelley Shepherd Grey

22.  Amish Promises by Leslie Gould   This is a story of Amish neighbors to a military family.  The husband has returned home wounded w/ ptsd.  well-written, honest.   My husband came home and will never be the same so it stuck a nerve with me.

 

1.  Maggie's Mistake by Carolyn Brown 

2.  Sleeping Coconut by John and Bonnie Nystrom

3.. Becoming Bea by Leslie Gould 

4Amish Baby  Kristina Ludwig

5. Amish Bakery Challenge  Kristina Ludwig

6.Amish Awakening  Kristina Ludwig

7. The Girls o Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II by Denise Kiernan  

8. Adoniram Judson by Janet and George Benge 

9.The Ladies Room by Carolyn Brown

10.  PMS club by Carolyn Brown 

11.  The Amish Clockmaker by Mindy Starns Clark and Susan Meissner. 

12.The Trouble with Patience Maggie Brendan

13.  Twice Promised Maggie Brendan

14.  Promise of Palm Grove Shelley Shepherd Grey

15.  Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

16.  Orphan Train by  Christina Baker Kline    .

17. The Photograph by Beverly Lewis 

[Pam in CT]

I had a Thought in the Night re: Folly.

 

(Spoiler in white:)

 

The book was first published in 1993, which was for South Africa a time of great turbulence and hope and anxiety -- after Mandela had been released, before the elections, the townships were burning.  Really, things could have gone a number of ways.

 

I think Father refers to Madiba, the Xhosa term for Father and the name used, first by blacks and ultimately by many, for Mandela.  In 1993, though, only by ANC/blacks.

 

Many whites, and nearly all Afrikaans specifically, were immensely fearful/suspicious of pollitical transition generally and Mandela specifically, in that time.  Like both Mr and Mrs when he first showed up.

 

But then some came around, and began to trust in him and even, kinda-sorta, in his plan for the future.  Like Mr.

 

But it took an immensely long time to get going.

 

And there was fear that it never would hold.

 

And that things would fall apart.

 

(so the "albatross" in Malga would refer to the weight of apartheid, Neiewenhuizen to the "new house" being constructed for as a new political /power sharing system, and "Father" to Madiba / Mandela)

 

 

I'm not sure if this is right - I may well have just made it all up!   but it's made me like the book a good deal more, and also feel like I get the ending better.  Now I'm less confused and very glad to have read it.

 

I'm ready to send mine along too now, so whoever wants it, send me a PM!

[Jane in NC]

I had a Thought in the Night re: Folly.

 

<snip>

 

I'm not sure if this is right - I may well have just made it all up!   but it's made me like the book a good deal more, and also feel like I get the ending better.  Now I'm less confused and very glad to have read it.

 

I'm ready to send mine along too now, so whoever wants it, send me a PM!

 

You may be on to something, Pam.  I too am glad that I read The Folly.

 

I was over at the Archipelago website where I found a link to a Vladislavic essay, Death at 30,000 feet. He mentions two authors who deserve more of our attention: Carson McCullers and Sherwood Anderson.  Vladislavic endeared himself to me within these few paragraphs. 

 

While Pam was contemplating The Folly, I was thinking about Tabucchi.  Last summer I read a collection of his short stories, Time Ages in a Hurry, something I really enjoyed even though I am not a huge fan of the short story. 

 

As predicted by the title of the latest Tabucchi translation that Archipelago has issued, Tristano has died.  Wow, was I dragging my feet on this one.  I read uncomfortable books so the fact that this one is uncomfortable is not sufficient reason for me to drag my feet. 

 

I think my problem with Tristano Dies is that the novel presents a dying person's narrative from a pain and drug induced state.  Tristano's ramblings offer so many variations of the same tale. What is true?  One thinks of the proverbial blind men with the elephant--each has a piece of the reality.  Do each of Tristano's recollections contain a kernel of truth?  There is also a discomfort with the larger question that Tabucchi has us examine. We fight our wars and determine our heroes.  But if the ensuing years do not bring hopes to fruition, was it worthwhile?

 

Eliana, I know that you like Tabucchi so I will send you this book with the caveat that you may not want to read it with the current stress in your family life.  Tristano will wait.

 

[Nan in Mass]

The Experiment by Jeffrey Skinner

 

I sewed my father into a specially designed, handmade bear suit. He was indistinguishable from a real bear, and yet retained the necessary functions of a human. I also provided a G.P.S. radio collar. Then I air-dropped him into a densely forested preserve. When I returned a year later I found he had mated with an Asian black bear. He and she and their two cubs lived a quiet life in a mountain cave.

 

After sharing a meal of berries and honey and wild piglets I asked to speak to my father in private. He led me on a path away from the cave to the edge of the cliff. This view of surrounding mountains and rivers and forest is magnificent... "Yes, it is," he said. "What, you can read minds now?" I said. "A small trick for a bear, as it turns out."

 

I thought this over for a moment; but it did not change my purpose. "Dad," I said, "it's time to go home. The experiment is over." He stared at me with his great, incongruous blue eyes and bear face, and said, "No." "Yes." "No." "Yes." "NO!" he said finally and swatted a nearby Douglas fir with one paw. The tree flew several yards over my head and came to rest in the snow, dirt trickling from its upended roots.

 

"It's been good to see you," I said, and rose. "Same here," he said and also stood, "but I think it best if you didn't come back." I agreed, and held wide my arms for a goodbye embrace. I could hear and feel the cracking of my ribs, which I consoled myself would heal completely in time. "Don't tell your mother," he said. "In fact, tell her I've died." "Well, you are dead, aren't you?" "Yes," he said, and scampered up the path with surprising agility, on all fours.

Thank you. Fiction as a more real way to portray nonfiction... I know people who have done this. Fathers. Children. Anthropologists. Activists. This is one of those stories that will stick with me, I think, not as a mulling over sort of thing but more as a way to label certain situations. I guess as such, I better give it to my husband to read or "That might be a bear suit" won,t mean anything.

 

  

Oldest Draft of King James Bible Discovered, Historian Says

 

Kareni

 

  

 

The KJ article was fun. Very cool to see the photos of the draft. I am a KJ translation fan.

And The Big Library Read is a cool idea. I hope it goes.

 

I am still listening to the memoir, Barbarian Days, A Surfer's Life by William Finnegan. The surfing is of course front and center in the book, and is fascinating to this non-surfer, though I am related to surfers, have had to sit in the car while they sit and study the waves at a favorite break...

 

 

 

Ooo... Me, too. I have watched many videos and surf reports with my surfer as he tried to show my how much fun surfing is and how safe he is being. I have no trouble understanding the first and all my boys are cautious, at least compared to their friends, so I believe him about the second, but if I hadn,t begun convinced, I,m not sure the videos of giant waves and epic crashes and the local surf reports with their photos of rocky shoreline would have been very convincing. I remain scared but this is only one of the multiple scary things my three are doing. And I thought the teens were scary... But anyway, do you think this would make a good Christmas present for my surfer?

 

...Both my youngest and dh took a look at the author's book list on the back and said, "Oh look, you can get Treat Your Own Knee next." And I explained that I'm not trying to complete the whole set! (no knee problems yet).

 

Lol. But seriously, I am going to keep this book in mind, having a family that uses their bodies pretty hard. Thanks.

 

Nan

[Angel]

I enjoyed The Shadow Rising! So much going on, easy to get lost.  Rand stumbling and bumbling with the female warriors, not exactly sure what he was doing.  Seemed like all the characters were sort of bumbling along, trying to figure things out.  It wasn't boring and I wanted to start the next book right away, but figured I should take a breather in between. 

 

The bolded only gets worse. I have wondered during my rereads why Jordan kept adding so many extra characters.  There are a few that I thought should not have been developed into another story line.  

[Nan in Mass]

Butter, I hope you are doing ok and reading gets you through.

 

Saplings by Noel Streatfield. It's a book about children, like all her books, but for adults. Wartime themes of separation; family, identity, the benign and malign.

 

No dancing shoes.

 

I didn,t know about the adult books. The number of times I reread Dancing Shoes...

 

  

It's culture, it is.

  

 

Lol

 

I have also seen what an awful mess they make when they move into a historic building and cannot legally be removed. We partner with a church that has bats. Pews must be covered, really everything covered which isn't feasible. Never ending battle in a building remarkably similar to ours, style and age. Everytime my name comes up on the cleaning rota I am very grateful for no bats! Just dusting my half of the pews takes a really long time.....

My sister has a colony in her attic. The mess is amazing. My mil gave us a bat house for Christmas and my husband made me give it away because, as he put it, the bats are much happier living in your sister,s house than in the boxes she provided for them and we have a house with similarly porous walls but no attic. (I keep meaning to look at the range of bats to see if the ones in our yard live at her house.)

 

Nan

[Nan in Mass]

Pam, I love your last bat story! As New Englanders, we find mangrove swamps very cool but pretty scary. Perhaps I won,t tell my husband that giant bats can live in them lol... We go kayaking in them when we visit my mil in FL. Gutsy as she is, I think she would have agreed with your mil about the wisdom of viewing them from the car. Weren,t we just talking about identification and the high brought low possibly being the attraction in the Israeli book? Your three stories have that for me. My family does quite a lot of travelling together lol. And the cowboy boots...

 

Nan

[JennW in SoCal]

Ooo... Me, too. I have watched many videos and surf reports with my surfer as he tried to show my how much fun surfing is and how safe he is being. I have no trouble understanding the first and all my boys are cautious, at least compared to their friends, so I believe him about the second, but if I hadn,t begun convinced, I,m not sure the videos of giant waves and epic crashes and the local surf reports with their photos of rocky shoreline would have been very convincing. I remain scared but this is only one of the multiple scary things my three are doing. And I thought the teens were scary... But anyway, do you think this would make a good Christmas present for my surfer?

 

 

Barbarian Days would be an excellent present for your surfer. It's a good gift for a non-surfer, too. It's amazing how the author can take the same words and language available to the rest of us but combine it to put you on the board in the middle of the perfect wave or the worst wave. He renders the indescribable in poetic but concretely understandable prose, and sometimes with the pacing and drama of epic fiction.  I've listened to it on several long drives in the last few weeks and have found myself holding my breath as he tells of particularly harrowing escapes in the water. There is a cast of colorful surfer buddies, world travel told with a keen eye, and many adventures on gnarly waves.

[Pam in CT]

Pam, I love your last bat story! As New Englanders, we find mangrove swamps very cool but pretty scary. Perhaps I won,t tell my husband that giant bats can live in them lol... We go kayaking in them when we visit my mil in FL. Gutsy as she is, I think she would have agreed with your mil about the wisdom of viewing them from the car. Weren,t we just talking about identification and the high brought low possibly being the attraction in the Israeli book? Your three stories have that for me. My family does quite a lot of travelling together lol. And the cowboy boots...

 

Nan

 

Now you've triggered my Family Mangrove Story.  (Fear not; only one of these.)

 

 

Husband, three kids and I decided to rent a houseboat and troll the Florida coast.  Houseboat is anchored.  Husband and daughters are lounging on board.

 

 

Aforementioned spacey son (age about 8?) and I take one of the 2 seater-kayaks out to see if we can find a manatee.  (We do! How cool is that?)

 

My son tires of paddling, secures his paddle, and lays back in the kayak, trailing one arm over the edge into the water.  I carry on, leisurely following the coastline, peering into the mangroves, thoroughly enjoying the twilight-slanting-sun, speculating dreamily about what I'll do for dinner when we get back to the boat...

 

Long-legged bird.

 

Funky bleached driftwood.

 

Sandpecking birds.

 

Gnarled and twisted coconut hulls.

 

Lumbering lizard.

 

Hair-covered vines.

 

OHMYGODASEVENFOOTALLIGATOR.  Not more than six feet away, staring me right in the eye, like, here's lookin' at you, kid.

 

 

 

I say nothing -- I don't want to panic Jonah and cause the kayak to tip -- I start paddling as fast as I can -- I instantly calculate that the houseboat is way too far away for me to yell for Tom, and in any event he's on the other side of it in a deck chair, and in any event what's he going to do?  We don't even have a d@mn dinghy (yeah, don't ask, Nan).

 

My mind races: If I were a seven foot alligator, would I consider a ten foot florescent orange kayak floating atop the surface of the water to be "prey"?  Probably not, I answer myself, but Jonah's trailing one-and-a-half-foot white-flesh arm might very well approximate an underachieving prey-size fish.

 

(Paddle, paddle, paddle.  How fast does a seven foot alligator swim?  Faster than I can paddle.)

 

"Jonah, honey.  Get your arm in."

 

No response.

 

(Paddle, paddle.)

 

Hissing, now: "Jonah. Get. Your. Arm. In."

 

(Paddle, paddle.  We're now 40 yards from the shore, still miles away from the houseboat.  The alligator has not moved a muscle, but he's still staring at me, menacingly.)

 

Impossibly, Jonah edges further down the boat and puts more of his arm in the water!

 

I am beyond furious.  I am shaking with panic and rage

 

"JONAH! TAKE YOUR ARM OUT OF THE WATER AND PUT IT IN THE BOAT!"

 

He complies instantly. Then, baffled:  "I'm sorry, Mom.  I thought you meant get it in the water."

 

:lol:

[Nan in Mass]

Wow, Pam. Now THAT is why we find Florida swamps spooky... We saw a presentation on alligators when my mil first moved down there. Ever since then, whenever we find ourselves being critical of the opinions and ways of people in other parts of the country, we remind ourselves that they might be dealing with things we don,t have to worry about, like alligators in the back yard. I think you were very brave to rent that houseboat. (Notice I am tactfully not mentioning the lack of dinghey. Or the lack of an armored something with a bazillion horsepower.) That,s really funny about Jonah,s application of the word "in". English prepositions take some practice.

 

Nan

[Mom-ninja.]

I have a swamp river story....

 

 

 

We decided once to take the kids on a nice family trip and went tubing. I'm not a fan, but plastered a begrudging smile on my face for dh and kids. Our youngest was 5 at the time. He was excited. Then he saw the tube we would be basking on. He saw the river. He saw the trees and bushes surrounding the river. He looked apprehensive at best. Then after talking him gently onto the tube and pushing off the dock we were just managing to convince him that all was well. Our oldest exclaimed while pointing to a log, "Is that an alligator? Wait, no, looks like a log. There might be one underneath the log though. They can hold their breath for a long time." That was all it took. My youngest spent the rest of the 3 hour trip down river perched on the top of my dh's head. No amount of talking or bribery could get him down. 

 

At one point during the 3 hours the river's current became a smidgen stronger. We had tied my middle ds's tube to ours so he wouldn't float off. So when the current picked up he started to pull himself closer to us. It just so happened that the rope broke and pulled loose in his hands. He started to drift away. He was headed toward the bank where there was a small alcove of dirt and tree roots. He screamed in panic saying he was going to be sucked into the "cave." His older brother laughed hysterically, and did nothing to help his sibling's plight. As he drifted closer to the bank and dark recess under the tree roots his eyes became bigger and bigger. "Daddy save me! Daddy Please! Mommy, Mommy, I don't want to get sucked into a cave!" I will admit I was fighting back laughter. My dh was not very successful paddling (with hands as one does not carry paddles while tubing) over to him what with a 5 yr old wrapped around his head. I was already pretty far passed and was trying to paddle against the current and not fast enough to reach him before he was to be swallowed into the "cave." I could hear dh saying to the youngest, "Just get down for a minute so I can reach your brother. You're heavy and I can't see. Just 'ugh' get 'ugh' off 'ugh' for one second." Dh was unsuccessful in prying him off. To say that a 5 yr old, who is convinced that he will be eaten by an alligator if he is removed from his father's head, is tenacious would be quite the understatement.  The threat of his brother floating away forever was not his concern. 

 

my husband did eventually reach the rope and pulled him to "safety" but I wonder if this attributes to current sibling skirmishes. My youngest ds will still not get in a tube. Or even a canoe. 

[Kareni]

What a ... fun ... story, Pam.  (Remind me never to go on vacation with you!)

 

I attended college in Florida and am grateful that I never encountered an alligator.  Admittedly, I was not near any mangroves.  We won't talk about the palmetto bugs ....

 

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

I recall that Sadie and mumto2 both mentioned having enjoyed Jodi Taylor's St. Mary's time travel series.  I just read a book by the author under a different pseudonym.

 

A Bachelor Establishment by Isabella Barclay

 

This was an enjoyable blend of romance and mystery.  The hero was in his mid-forties and the heroine around the same; it was a pleasant change from the young heroines who so often feature in regencies.

 

"Elinor Bascombe, widowed and tied to an impoverished estate, has learned to ask little of life. With no hope of leaving, the years have passed her by. Lord Ryde, exiled abroad after a scandal, has returned to strip his estate and make a new start in America. A chance encounter changes their plans, plunging Elinor and Lord Ryde into adventure and not a little peril until, finally, they are forced to confront the mystery of what happened on That Night, all those years ago. Are they both so entangled in the riddles of the past that they are about to miss this one last opportunity for future happiness?"

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Stacia]

 He complies instantly. Then, baffled:  "I'm sorry, Mom.  I thought you meant get it in the water."

 

:lol:

 

I can understand his confusion. Lol.

 

I've lived in the South for more of my life than not & even I find the swampy areas creepy. I *know* what lives in there & I definitely don't want to be infringing on their territories. There are too many creep crawly things (+ mosquitoes) that can grow to epic proportions. <shudder>

 

Jane, re: Tabucchi -- I read his book The Flying Creatures of Fra Angelico a couple years ago & enjoyed it. If you decide to read him again, you might find this collection a bit more upbeat overall. At the time, I wrote:

An entertaining collection of snippets, ideas, short stories, writings. Humorous, bittersweet, sad, funny, intellectual, & surreal are some of the descriptions that come to mind for the various parts.

 

Too bad Tabucchi passed away in 2012; reading his writing makes me want to be pen pals with him.

 

Jenn, thanks for the mention of the surfing book. It sounds like one I would enjoy & one my ds would enjoy as well.

[Stacia]

I attended college in Florida and am grateful that I never encountered an alligator.  Admittedly, I was not near any mangroves.  We won't talk about the palmetto bugs ....

 

Yeah. Palmetto bugs. Those are just a fact of life.

 

Ick.

[idnib]

I had a Thought in the Night re: Folly.

 

(Spoiler in white:)

 

Very interesting!

 

I think my problem with Tristano Dies is that the novel presents a dying person's narrative from a pain and drug induced state.  Tristano's ramblings offer so many variations of the same tale. What is true?  One thinks of the proverbial blind men with the elephant--each has a piece of the reality.  Do each of Tristano's recollections contain a kernel of truth?  There is also a discomfort with the larger question that Tabucchi has us examine. We fight our wars and determine our heroes.  But if the ensuing years do not bring hopes to fruition, was it worthwhile?

 

I'm trying to wait to read this book but you're tempting me to add another item to my "currently reading" pile.

 

To say that a 5 yr old, who is convinced that he will be eaten by an alligator if he is removed from his father's head, is tenacious would be quite the understatement.  The threat of his brother floating away forever was not his concern. 

 

:lol:

[Angel]

Today I finished Glimmerglass by Marly Youmans, a book recommended here.  It was not at all what I had expected.  Instead of going back to read what made me think I’d like this book though, I continued on with the story.  It had a very unearthly feel to it making me never quite sure if I was supposed to be in the real world or if I was supposed to imagine myself in some sort of fairy land.  Maybe some would call it magical realism, but it was not the magical realism of Sarah Addison Allen or Menna Van Praag.   To me it was more confusing.  I enjoyed the journey of Cynthia as she “finds herself†again, as well as setting of Sea House and Glimmerglass itself.  I also enjoyed the mystery of the hill and Moss.  That said, the time in the hill is just too ambiguous and dreamy and insubstantial.  I enjoy magic in my stories, but I would like it to make sense.  The ending was satisfying though.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Hey guys! I was away for a long weekend, but I did get to finish two books - The Book of Chameleons, which I ended up really liking, which is kind of ironic because the one author that I find completely unreadable, despite several attempts, is Jorge Luis Borges.  I like him better as a gecko.  I wonder where he went next?

 

I also finished The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K Dick.  Another Gnostic/alien encounter book.  It seems weird to put those two things together, but I think they go.  On to Solaris, by Stanislaw Lem, which seems to be in the same category.

[Kareni]

There has been recent mention here of Shirley Jackson and her story "The Lottery."  If you enjoyed her writing and are looking for similar books, you might like this BookRiot post.

 

What To Read When You’ve Run Out of Shirley Jackson’s Books

 

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

I recall that Sadie and mumto2 both mentioned having enjoyed Jodi Taylor's St. Mary's time travel series. I just read a book by the author under a different pseudonym.

A Bachelor Establishment by Isabella Barclay

 

This was an enjoyable blend of romance and mystery. The hero was in his mid-forties and the heroine around the same; it was a pleasant change from the young heroines who so often feature in regencies.

 

"Elinor Bascombe, widowed and tied to an impoverished estate, has learned to ask little of life. With no hope of leaving, the years have passed her by. Lord Ryde, exiled abroad after a scandal, has returned to strip his estate and make a new start in America. A chance encounter changes their plans, plunging Elinor and Lord Ryde into adventure and not a little peril until, finally, they are forced to confront the mystery of what happened on That Night, all those years ago. Are they both so entangled in the riddles of the past that they are about to miss this one last opportunity for future happiness?"

 

Regards,

Kareni

Unfortunately I can't find this series anywhere. My next St. Mary's books appear to be waiting for me. Hopefully I will have a chance to pick them up later this week.

 

I actually have some of my best childhood memories centered around playing in mangroves. I have a scar on my knee to prove it from slipping and landing on an oyster shell. My father injured his back when I was little and we spent winters on a small fishing island in South Florida while my older brother looked after the family business in the North. Not a single alligator or bat among those memories. Lots of mosquitos and snakes. The mangroves are pretty much gone now replaced by houses :( . I haven't gone back in over 30 years, too sad. The palmento bugs were huge and we had black fiddler crabs on our sea wall. My brother thought the black crabs were black widows when he came to visit. :lol: I still remember him yelling at my mom for letting me play on our dock.....too funny.

 

Nan, I agree with your husband about attracting bats. Not worth it! I feel really bad for your sister. We had to sit in the choir stall at the church with bats recently because the kids were playing handbells and the clean (covered) seats were already taken. They were sort of clean but not really, an effort had definitely been made but I still had to wash everything including jackets. Yuk! I just felt lucky the service started after the bats had left for the night!

[Chrysalis Academy]

There has been recent mention here of Shirley Jackson and her story "The Lottery."  If you enjoyed her writing and are looking for similar books, you might like this BookRiot post.

 

What To Read When You’ve Run Out of Shirley Jackson’s Books

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

Nice! I'm definitely a fan.  I don't think Richard Matheson is the only one who ripped off Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House - Rose Red, anyone?  Stephen King, I'm looking at you.  At least he has the grace to admire Shirley Jackson quite openly.  I also thought We Have Always Lived at the Castle is deliciously creepy.  Two more good choices for anyone looking for a spooky, but non-gory October read.

[Stacia]

 I also thought We Have Always Lived at the Castle is deliciously creepy.  Two more good choices for anyone looking for a spooky, but non-gory October read.

 

I have seen that one recommended on many lists. Glad to hear your comments on it.

 

[Lady Florida.]

Hi all,

I only popped in a few times on last week's thread, but I have finished a few books

 

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - I agree with Stacia's comment a while back that this would probably have been fun back when no one knew the story. In some ways it was so melodramatic that it was unintentionally funny, similar to Frankenstein IMO. Still, I'm glad to have read the original.

 

The Terra Cotta Dog - the second in the Inspector Montalbano series, which I learned about here of course. :) This series can make a person hungry! I got a chuckle out of the inspector deciding he didn't like one guy's wife simply because her pasta was too mushy. 

 

Farewell to the East End - the last of the Call the Midwife books

 

and -

 

The most recent Henry James discussion made me decide to try one of his, and I went with Daisy Miller. I didn't realize it was so short! I downloaded the audio book from my library to my phone, and thought I'd have a few days of something to listen to while working around the house. I think it was done in about an hour, or not much longer. 

 

On the Really Long Classics front, I'm 2/3 of the way through Wives and Daughters. I do know that Gaskell died before finishing it, but don't know where it ended (or more accurately didn't end). I've seen the BBC mini series and am a bit anxious to find out where the book actually stops. I'm also making progress on War and Peace and am finding it surprisingly readable. I have the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation. Of course I'm not even 1/4 of the way into it, and have not reached the philosophizing chapters yet, so I'll let you know if I still find it readable when I get there.  :)

 

I'm trying to read Slaughterhouse Five but really dislike the writing style. I'm not ready to give up yet, but so far I think if I finish it, it will be because I want to understand why it's held up as a great book for so long.

 

Another one I'm having trouble with is The Man in the Brown Suit. I wanted to read it when it was suggested, but was on a waiting list at the library. It finally came in but I can't get into it. I like the Poirot stories but so far have not cared for any other Christie. I wasn't even able to finish a Tommy and Tuppance story, and gave up on Miss Marple after two of those. I think I'll stick to the little Belgian. :)

 

My current fluff book is the second Shetland Island mystery, White Nights.

[Kareni]

Here's a currently free Kindle book that might interest some.  It's a mere 561 pages; you have been warned! 

 

Dangerous Reflections: A Historical Fantasy through Time by Karla Tipton

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

Reposting this for those who might have missed it when I posted it two weeks ago.

 

 

Some might be interested in this free Audible offering; especially if you have 13 hours and 26 minutes at your disposal!

 

 

FREE: Locke & Key by Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez, Haley Joel Osment and Tatiana Maslany (Oct 5, 2015) - Original recording

 

Based on the best-selling, award-winning graphic novel series Locke & Key - written by acclaimed suspense novelist Joe Hill (NOS4A2, Horns) and illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez - this multicast, fully dramatized audio production brings the images and words to life.

 

A brutal and tragic event drives the Locke family from their home in California to the relative safety of their ancestral estate in Lovecraft, Massachusetts, an old house with powerful keys and fantastic doors that transform all who dare to walk through them. As siblings Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode Locke discover the secrets of the old house, they also find that it's home to a hate-filled and relentless creature that will not rest until it forces open the most terrible door of them all....

 

Featuring performances by Haley Joel Osment (Entourage, The Sixth Sense), Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black), Kate Mulgrew (Orange Is the New Black, Star Trek: Voyager), Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez, and Stephen King (The Stand, 11-22-63), as well as a cast of more than 50 voice actors, this audio production preserves the heart-stopping impact of the graphic novel's astounding artwork through the use of richly imagined sound design and a powerful original score.

 

Locke & Key is FREE until November 4, 2015.

 

*Locke & Key contains explicit language and adult situations.

 

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Angel]

 

I'm trying to read Slaughterhouse Five but really dislike the writing style. I'm not ready to give up yet, but so far I think if I finish it, it will be because I want to understand why it's held up as a great book for so long.

 

 

 

I'm still waiting for the answer to that question  :lol:  Along with Brave New World and Red Badge of Courage  :ack2:   Slaughterhouse Five is better than both of those, however.  

 

Maybe it's kind of like the Oscar's.  They rarely pick movies that are liked and enjoyed by the masses, instead opting to choose weird and perplexing movies to give the award to.  There are many movies/actors that have deserved Oscar nods for their roles but would not receive them because it was in a "popular" movie.  So maybe the elusive people who have hailed and picked these "classic" books that "every teenager whether appropriate or capable of comprehending it all or not" should read have picked the truly weird and perplexing (and downright horrid) books because they couldn't pick the most popular books of the time.   :001_tt2:  :rofl:  :leaving:

[Jane in NC]

I'm still waiting for the answer to that question  :lol:  Along with Brave New World and Red Badge of Courage  :ack2:   Slaughterhouse Five is better than both of those, however.  

 

Maybe it's kind of like the Oscar's.  They rarely pick movies that are liked and enjoyed by the masses, instead opting to choose weird and perplexing movies to give the award to.  There are many movies/actors that have deserved Oscar nods for their roles but would not receive them because it was in a "popular" movie.  So maybe the elusive people who have hailed and picked these "classic" books that "every teenager whether appropriate or capable of comprehending it all or not" should read have picked the truly weird and perplexing (and downright horrid) books because they couldn't pick the most popular books of the time.   :001_tt2:  :rofl:  :leaving:

 

I am currently revisiting BNW decades later from my first introduction to the book. I'll have more to say about that one later.  Nor can I comment on Slaughterhouse Five given that many decades have past since I have read the book.  But I do want to repeat my comment on Red Badge from 2014:

 

 

Because I Am Insane, I listened to The Red Badge of Courage on I-95.  My first thought was "Why was I assigned this in 8th grade?"  Of course, I was taught by people who were profoundly influenced by WWII and many of my peers had family members or neighbors in Vietnam at the time.  So perhaps this was the backdrop.

 

Having finished the audiobook today, I find the novel to be interesting beyond the war story.  Like the Finnish/Estonian novel Purge, Red Badge is about self preservation.  Frankly I think that most people become quite high and mighty about the lines they would draw in the sand, but when situations happen, lines are hard to draw.  There are rarely only two sides to a story because of the dynamical flow of life. Both Purge and the Red Badge describe the complexity of decisions and outcomes.  Nothing is simple.

 

That said, I do think it is a mistake to assign Red Badge to 8th graders who are often literal in their thinking and have yet to understand that life is not a dichotomy.  Or perhaps that is a reason to assign books like Red Badge.  Discomfort can help us grow into more empathetic beings.

 

[Jane in NC]

Note to VC:  We had planned on reading HaÅ¡ek's classic, The Good Soldier Å vejk, this year.  It has been gathering dust on my husband's bedside table, but I can steal it from him.

 

Before year's end I also want to read Josef Skvorecky's novel The Miracle Game with the plan of sending it to VC's husband who apparently shares my fascination with Eastern European literature.  For VC I may recommend another of Skvorecky's books, The Bride of Texas, based on documented lives of Czech soldiers who fought in the American Civil War. I have not read this one but I know of your fondness for Texas history.

[Nan in Mass]

I have a swamp river story....

.

.

.

My youngest ds will still not get in a tube. Or even a canoe.

Mom-ninja, I loved your story. Another one to read aloud to various family members. And think about when I visiting in the south... Thanks for telling iy. : )

 

Nan

[Nan in Mass]

Eliana, I hope things are going ok. If you get a chance, you might like to read Pam,s 3 bat stories and mangrove story, and Mom-ninja,s swamp story. I laughed very much over them. Some are in this thread and some in last week,s thread. Hugs, Nan

[MIch elle]

melbotoast posted this in a thread on the General Discussion board ~

 

Big Library Read: October 7 – 21, 2015

 

http://biglibraryread.com/

 

Here’s how it works: Program sponsor, OverDrive, teams with noted eBook publishers to make two popular eBooks available to public libraries and schools for lending. During the two-week program, the Big Library Read titles are available to borrow through participating libraries and schools. It’s free and there’s never a waiting list during the program. All you need is a library card or student ID to get started reading in this international eBook club.

 

The titles are The Door in the Hedge by Robin McKinley and In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

I read the last adult (I think) big library read and it was EXCELLENT - Shakespeare Saved My Life by Laura Bates.

 

I downloaded In the Shadow of Blackbirds but haven't read it yet.

 

Just finished reading The Fifth Gospel.  I enjoyed it. It follows the latest in historical literary Christian Biblical theology which I agree with.

 

[Lady Florida.]

I've shied away from the Big Library Read since I read one, Eyes on You. I was disappointed that such a poorly written book (more like a made-for-tv movie script than a novel) would be promoted by libraries around the world. I know I shouldn't judge all of the choices by that one, but it left a bad taste in my mouth.

[Kareni]

Last night I finished  Melissa F. Olson's urban fantasy novel Trail of Dead (Scarlett Bernard).  It's the second in the series following Dead Spots  which I recommend reading first.  I enjoyed it quite a bit and will likely re-read this at some point.  I'm happy I have the next book sitting in my library pile.

 

 

"Book 2 of the Scarlett Bernard series

 

As a null, Scarlett Bernard possesses a rare ability to counteract the supernatural by instantly neutralizing spells and magical forces. For years she has used her gift to scrub crime scenes of any magical traces, helping the powerful paranormal communities of Los Angeles stay hidden. But after LAPD detective Jesse Cruz discovered Scarlett’s secret, he made a bargain with her: solve a particularly grisly murder case, and he would stay silent about the city’s unearthly underworld.

 

Now two dead witches are found a few days before Christmas, and Scarlett is once again strong-armed into assisting the investigation. She soon finds a connection between the murders and her own former mentor, Olivia, a null who mysteriously turned into a vampire and who harbors her own sinister agenda. Now Scarlett must revisit her painful past to find Olivia—unless the blood-drenched present claims her life first."

 

ETA: Hmm, I just noticed an error in the blurb; the dead witches are actually found a few days before Solstice.  I'm sure this is VERY important to you!

 

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

[Stacia]

Europa Editions has revamped their website (it was needed, imo) & it's much nicer. You might want to pop over & take a look.

 

One new thing they've added is a world map; you can click on the regions of the world to see the list of books they publish from those areas. Very nice feature if you're looking for around the world reading.

 

http://www.europaeditions.com/

[Lady Florida.]

Europa Editions has revamped their website (it was needed, imo) & it's much nicer. You might want to pop over & take a look.

 

One new thing they've added is a world map; you can click on the regions of the world to see the list of books they publish from those areas. Very nice feature if you're looking for around the world reading.

 

http://www.europaeditions.com/

 

Oh, I mentally added My Brilliant Friend to my TBR list after listening to a piece about that series on NPR. I had forgotten about it, but they have the books featured on the home page. Thanks for this post, which reminded me about Ferrrante's books.

[Stacia]

I'm still waiting for the answer to that question  :lol:  Along with Brave New World and Red Badge of Courage  :ack2:   Slaughterhouse Five is better than both of those, however.  

 

We all know that Angel SECRETLY loves Slaughterhouse-Five. I mean, she keeps posting about how it is better than other books. :hurray:

 

;)

 

:laugh:

 

I find Vonnegut an amazing writer because his work is almost surprisingly simple to read, so succinct -- a master of ironic understatement. Yet his observations are profound, his satire razor sharp. I think he's one of America's great contemporary writers and someone that everyone should read at least once (even if he's not your normal cup of tea).

[Stacia]

I had a Thought in the Night re: Folly.

 

Great thoughts, Pam!

 

(Couldn't you have worked a bat into the interpretation, though? Surely there must be some bat connection here, right? :lol: )

 

Ok, BaWers... :toetap05:  Nobody has piped up wanting a copy of The Folly. Whether you want to read it because it's published by Archipelago, because you want to read a piece of South African literature, because a few of us have already read it, because one can never have too many books, or because you want to see if Pam can come up with a bat connection for the story, let me know. I have to go to the post office in a day or two anyway, so it will be easy for me to drop it in the mail to you!

[Stacia]

Butter & Eliana, sending :grouphug:  today.

 

 

For both of you, I hope everything is going as well as it can be given the circumstances.

[idnib]

I find Vonnegut an amazing writer because his work is almost surprisingly simple to read, so succinct 

 

That's just what I was thinking last night about Cormac McCarthy. Re-reading No Country for Old Men reminded me again of how much he conveys with such simple writing. It's astounding, really.

[Stacia]

That's just what I was thinking last night about Cormac McCarthy. Re-reading No Country for Old Men reminded me again of how much he conveys with such simple writing. It's astounding, really.

 

I agree. I think No Country for Old Men is beautifully written.

 

Writing with fewer words takes incredible skill. Not many writers can pull it off successfully. Hemingway, Vonnegut, & McCarthy certainly do, though, imo.

[Lady Florida.]

I didn't check email or Amazon yesterday so I didn't know that my pre-order of the latest Cormoran Strike (JK Rowling writing as Robert Galbraith) novel is available. Happy Dance!

 

Career of Evil

 

 

[Pam in CT]

Great thoughts, Pam!

 

(Couldn't you have worked a bat into the interpretation, though? Surely there must be some bat connection here, right? :lol: )

 

Ok, BaWers... :toetap05:  Nobody has piped up wanting a copy of The Folly. Whether you want to read it because it's published by Archipelago, because you want to read a piece of South African literature, because a few of us have already read it, because one can never have too many books, or because you want to see if Pam can come up with a bat connection for the story, let me know. I have to go to the post office in a day or two anyway, so it will be easy for me to drop it in the mail to you!

 

... and I have another copy I can also send off, so a pair of you ladies can step up and do it together!

[MIch elle]

I've shied away from the Big Library Read since I read one, Eyes on You. I was disappointed that such a poorly written book (more like a made-for-tv movie script than a novel) would be promoted by libraries around the world. I know I shouldn't judge all of the choices by that one, but it left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

 

Wow, what a disappointment! 

I forgot, I did download that one and started it, but it wasn't my cuppa right off the bat.  So I didn't get very far.  Now, I'm glad I didn't read it. 

[Tress]

That's just what I was thinking last night about Cormac McCarthy. Re-reading No Country for Old Men reminded me again of how much he conveys with such simple writing. It's astounding, really.

Is it as depressing as The Road? I just finished reading The Road, which wasn't such a good idea to read during my autumn break. I don't think I can handle another book like that.

[idnib]

Is it as depressing as The Road? I just finished reading The Road, which wasn't such a good idea to read during my autumn break. I don't think I can handle another book like that.

 

I don't think it's as depressing but it's more violent and suspenseful. The writing style (colloquialisms, lack of quotation marks, etc) is the same.

 

I like it much better than The Road. 

[Pam in CT]

... no more bats, here are books:

 

The Brothers, by Asko Sahlberg - Eliana's recommendation for F for Finland as I plug away at Reading Round the World.  Set during the Finnish War (1808-9, which actually was fought -- who knew? -- between the Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire.  The brothers of the title fought on opposite sides before the novel opens, and the story covers the return of the later-returning son.  Made me cold to read, lol -- weather is a character.  And there turns out even to be a plot, though the book was 2/3 over before I cottoned on to that.  Recommended.

 

Home, by Toni Morrison  - My son read this for school and recommended it to me - Another homecoming-from-war story, this one of a black man who fought in Korea and made the journey back -- with a whole lot of racially-based and PTSD difficulties -- back to the fragile sister he'd left behind in Georgia.  Eye opening and beautiful.

 

The Folly, by Ivan Vladislavik - Archipelago book, set in transition-era South Africa and, um, extensively discussed upthread already.... (again: speak up if you want it!)

 

Homoeroticism in the Biblical World, A Historical Perspective, by Martti Nissinen. Coincidentally, the author is another Finn.  This was for my interfaith book group - an analysis of homoeroticism in the Hebrew Bible, Christian Bible, Epic of Gilgamesh, and selected Greco-Roman literature.  While the "contemporary" bits are rather dated (first published in 1998), and that to some degree affects the lens, this was still very interesting.  My group will meet tomorrow and I am looking forward to the discussion.  My own takeaway, which maybe takes away a little farther than the author meant, is that the whole idea of individual "consent" is a rather modern idea, and looking at sexuality of any form through that perspective considerably changes the thing.  The author persuasively argues that virtually all ancient examples of homoeroticism illustrate a significant dominant/subordinate power component (many are outright rape or slavery).

 

 

Stella and I are about halfway through Magnus Chase and having good fun with it.

[NoseInABook]

YAY! I can finally get back on the boards. My computer keeps saying that there's a virus and shutting down WTM for me. I finished Kim Harrison's A Perfect Blood and am in the middle of Ever After. Only 2 more books in the Rachel Morgan Hallows series after this one. Now I really want to read Shirley Jackson though... darn it! 

[Kareni]

 

Great thoughts, Pam!

 

(Couldn't you have worked a bat into the interpretation, though? Surely there must be some bat connection here, right? :lol: )

 

 

 

Wow, what a disappointment! 

I forgot, I did download that one and started it, but it wasn't my cuppa right off the bat.  So I didn't get very far.  Now, I'm glad I didn't read it. 

 

 

Well, Pam may have fallen short in carrying on the bat conversation, but I'm happy to see that Mich elle has come through.

 

Regards,

Kareni