Chrysalis Academy Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 DH does love more literary books - currently he's reading War and Peace but he also likes George RR Martin and Guy Gabriel Kay. Mixed tastes. His complaints so far: The main character is unbelievable. DH has a biology degree and an engineering degree and thought that there was no way the main character could have gotten through college let alone become an astronaut. The writing is bad. Too much f-word and yay. He said it was written like a blog by a frat boy Of course ... DH and I are known for having very moderate opinions. *sarcasm warning over* Amy, I am totally with your dh, I found the book unreadable. Blog by a frat boy all the way! 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Something bookish ~ Haruki Murakami Novels Sold in Polish Vending Machines Why not? We have vending machines here with movies for rent .... Regards, Kareni 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angelaboord Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 I discovered this group and introduced myself a long time ago (sometime toward the beginning of the year or spring, I think) and then found out I was pregnant with #9 in May and most coherent thought stopped after that. I haven't done too much real reading since - several cookbooks, which is somewhat ironic given my circumstances -- but lately I have felt a little more able to concentrate (I'm due in early February) and have been reading my way through some of the books that have been sitting on my shelves for a while. This week I'm reading The Rook, which was recommended by many in this group. I picked it up at a used bookstore this summer, and it's just been sitting there since. I had been reading Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden -- which is a fictionalized account of actual events from Godden's life, and I wish I hadn't read the preface first because it gave away too much that I would have liked to discover on my own -- but someone must have knocked it under the furniture (or somewhere) because I can't find it. Frustrating, because I was 3/4 done with the book and Godden's writing is lovely, but I am enjoying The Rook quite a bit, too. It's been a stressful week for various reasons, and The Rook has been just what I needed. So I wanted to at least pop in to say thank you! -- Angela Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Welcome, Angelaboord! I haven't read any Godden other than In This House of Brede, but I quite liked it. Maybe your book will appear soon. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Hey, Angela! Glad to hear that you're enjoying The Rook! (I thought it was quite fun.) 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 The 2015 Kirkus Prizes are listed here. No surprise to see Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates the winner for non-fiction. (And I'm glad to see The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli was a finalist! :laugh: ) The original list of all the books in the running is here. It includes some that have been read by various BaWers... The Sellout by Paul Beatty, part of the Elena Ferrante series, The Girl on the Train, a Sue Grafton book, Karl Ove Knausgaard's latest installment of his Struggle series, etc... 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 The 2015 Kirkus Prizes are listed here. No surprise to see Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates the winner for non-fiction. (And I'm glad to see The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli was a finalist! :laugh: ) The original list of all the books in the running is here. It includes some that have been read by various BaWers... The Sellout by Paul Beatty, part of the Elena Ferrante series, The Girl on the Train, a Sue Grafton book, Karl Ove Knausgaard's latest installment of his Struggle series, etc... Nice. I'm very eager to read The Invention of Nature. I've only read a few books on the list, but I really enjoyed The Sellout and The Library at Mount Char and I'm loving Ancillary Mercy. The Story of My Teeth was good - but I didn't *love* it. I just love Stacia for making me read books I'd never look at otherwise. ;) :D 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Nice. I'm very eager to read The Invention of Nature. As am I. Time for more photos. Next stop, Agua Verde where we went for a morning mule/burro ride. The rancheros sized us up visually and paired us with appropriate animals, adjusting traditional saddles. From the beach, we ascended into the hills on scree paths: Our morning ride was followed by an afternoon paddle in kayaks: Agua Verde was a visual feast! 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Jane, I hope your mule behaved. When we tried this in Bryce, my poor husband, with no riding experience, was given a horse who thought he was in The Man from Snowy River, ignoring the switchbacks and going straight down instead. He also tried to rub my husband off on any overhangs, leapt over the streams, and stopped to eat a sign. What a wild view! So different! What sort of rock was it? Nan 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Jane, I hope your mule behaved. When we tried this in Bryce, my poor husband, with no riding experience, was given a horse who thought he was in The Man from Snowy River, ignoring the switchbacks and going straight down instead. He also tried to rub my husband off on any overhangs, leapt over the streams, and stopped to eat a sign. What a wild view! So different! What sort of rock was it? Nan Volcanic. The mules handled the steep scree paths well although my mule was very irritated by another mule or perhaps its rider. We passed her early on but got behind her for the final dramatic descent on switchbacks. My mule wanted to nudge the slow poke down the cliff! 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggieamy Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Jane - I am loving all the pictures. Please share more! I'm traveling vicariously though you right now. :) 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Volcanic! Not at all what I had guessed! The tail bit reminded me that my husband,s had a similar problem. His solution was to nip the mule in front of him. Beware the first ride of the season. How warm was the water? Was it clear or full of sediment or microscopic stuff? Did the bottom drop fast? Nan 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Earlier in the evening, the cat was nestled on my lap. Not wanting to get up, I asked my dh to snag my recent library books from the edge of my desk as he went by & bring them to me. He did. And, as he handed them over, he said, "You picked this one because of the title or cover, I'm sure." Yes, he was totally right. Guess dh knows my style of choosing reading material. :lol: I found it on the Coffee House Press website a week or two ago & had requested it from the library. (I don't remember reading the book description at the time.) When I started reading, I was somewhat confused as to what or who I was reading about. Is it fiction? Truth? A memoir? Snippets? I'm at the halfway mark & still can't completely answer, though I guess the best thing is to say that it's a memoir about the author's grandmother. Memoir being a very loose term here. And a flexible term. This is the tale of Melena, five times married, mother of three, burlesque dancer, and “the toughest, hardest-assed woman to ever eat wood and bite nails.†Located in history and memory, the real and the imagined, her life cracks open questions of identity at the heart of an American, immigrant, woman’s experience. You Animal Machine offers a glimpse of both the violence and the beauty of the margins, where “outskirts make their own centers.†I'm all for modern & experimental writing, yet even I'm somewhat confused. :lol: Still, it's keeping me interested enough to continue reading. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 National Book awards!! http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2015.html#.Vk1UHL-IktE Fiction: Fortune Smiles: Stories by Adam Johnson (author of Orphan Master's Son, which won the Pulitzer) Non-Fiction: Ok, say it with me now: Between the World and Me by Te-Nehisi Coats (A person who is having a Very Good Year) Poetry: Voyage of the Sable Venus by Robin Coste Lewis Young Adult: Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman If you go to their website it has long lists and short lists. I find them handy for finding new books to read 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 I just re-watched the movie Capote, a followup to reading In Cold Blood. Interesting to watch it just after reading the book. It confirms my impression that he intentionally distanced himself in the book - he is conspicuous by his absence, in fact. The movie's portrayal of him is unflattering to say the least. I wonder how accurate it is? I actually dislike this kind of biopic for just this reason: how accurate is the portrayal of the person's life? actions? thoughts? And how can we as an audience know? Is this just the director's idea of what might have happened, or is it based on notes, interviews, etc.? Anyway, my immediate impression is that I liked the book, In Cold Blood, much more than I like the author, Truman Capote. But I don't know how fair that is. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idnib Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 I discovered this group and introduced myself a long time ago (sometime toward the beginning of the year or spring, I think) and then found out I was pregnant with #9 in May and most coherent thought stopped after that. I haven't done too much real reading since - several cookbooks, which is somewhat ironic given my circumstances -- but lately I have felt a little more able to concentrate (I'm due in early February) and have been reading my way through some of the books that have been sitting on my shelves for a while. This week I'm reading The Rook, which was recommended by many in this group. I picked it up at a used bookstore this summer, and it's just been sitting there since. I had been reading Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden -- which is a fictionalized account of actual events from Godden's life, and I wish I hadn't read the preface first because it gave away too much that I would have liked to discover on my own -- but someone must have knocked it under the furniture (or somewhere) because I can't find it. Frustrating, because I was 3/4 done with the book and Godden's writing is lovely, but I am enjoying The Rook quite a bit, too. It's been a stressful week for various reasons, and The Rook has been just what I needed. So I wanted to at least pop in to say thank you! Welcome back and congratulations on your pregnancy! You reminded me I still need to read The Rook. I had forgotten it once DH used it to raise the level of his keyboard for his standing desk! 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 The 2015 Kirkus Prizes are listed here. No surprise to see Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates the winner for non-fiction. (And I'm glad to see The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli was a finalist! :laugh: ) The original list of all the books in the running is here. It includes some that have been read by various BaWers... The Sellout by Paul Beatty, part of the Elena Ferrante series, The Girl on the Train, a Sue Grafton book, Karl Ove Knausgaard's latest installment of his Struggle series, etc... Stacia and RedSquirrel thanks for the great lists. I have read a few on the lists and abandoned a few also. A couple just decorated my stacks....:lol: The Kirkus review is one I plan to go back to and do some requests. It is long with a broad spectrum of interests represented. Some of my fluffy historical romance authors are on there. I discovered this group and introduced myself a long time ago (sometime toward the beginning of the year or spring, I think) and then found out I was pregnant with #9 in May and most coherent thought stopped after that. I haven't done too much real reading since - several cookbooks, which is somewhat ironic given my circumstances -- but lately I have felt a little more able to concentrate (I'm due in early February) and have been reading my way through some of the books that have been sitting on my shelves for a while. This week I'm reading The Rook, which was recommended by many in this group. I picked it up at a used bookstore this summer, and it's just been sitting there since. I had been reading Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden -- which is a fictionalized account of actual events from Godden's life, and I wish I hadn't read the preface first because it gave away too much that I would have liked to discover on my own -- but someone must have knocked it under the furniture (or somewhere) because I can't find it. Frustrating, because I was 3/4 done with the book and Godden's writing is lovely, but I am enjoying The Rook quite a bit, too. It's been a stressful week for various reasons, and The Rook has been just what I needed. So I wanted to at least pop in to say thank you! -- Angela Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Congratulations on your pregnancy and glad to see you back here. I am another fan of The Rook. Jane and Nan, :lol: about the dh's on horseback. When we were first married I thought it wasn't a good vacation if we didn't go horseback riding, dh felt it ruined the whole trip. Dh made a ride on a peaceful beach go wild. I gave up.....went by myself once or twice. My kids like horses from the ground, take after their dad. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 More photos... Baja California is a product of the San Andreas Fault System which is pushing the peninsula away from mainland Mexico about an inch a year. What surprised me about the coastline is how similar yet different the rocks were on our various stops. A little more on our day at Agua Verde--which was more green than usual because of El Nino. The venture began with a skiff ride to the beach. A couple of sail boats were anchored in these protected waters overnight. "Trust your mule," is the motto. The ranchero said whatever you do, do not get off your mule. Or let it eat! You can see from this photo that the loose rocks fall from the cliffs. Many of the paths were compact but some had rocks that were loose. Again, trusting the mule's sure footing was what it was all about although I felt the need to pull the reins when it ventured too close to the edge! On the descent... Here are examples of what is called a "mushroom rock" for obvious reasons! 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 I discovered this group and introduced myself a long time ago (sometime toward the beginning of the year or spring, I think) ... Welcome back, Angela! Glad to hear that you're able to read once again. Jane, I'm enjoying the photos you're sharing. It looks and sounds as though you had a great trip. Yet another interesting list from the Five Books About series of posts from Tor.com. Once again, read the comments for additional suggestions ~ Five Modern Books with Bad-Ass Fairies by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley Regards, Kareni 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 And I am juggling agan, lol. A Brief History of 7 Killings just showed up and I am 30% through The Tenth of December, by George Sauders. And, wow, The Tenth of December is great. I have read Pastoralia by the same author and this feels like a more..intense work. I have to take a break after each story, much like with Alice Munroe. I sort of blasted through Pastoralia..but it was very good, don't get me wrong. But this one is different. I am gaining a much better understanding why Saunders has the reputation he has. And may I whine with a first world problem? Said in complaining voice: The e-book of this is not an ebook that i borrow from Amazon, using their format. It is an e-pub book, which means I have to read it in overdrive on my kindle. I don't like the format as much at all and it bugs me and I don't like it. And it is a huge book, 700 pages, so I've got a long time of not liking it. end whine Ok whine again: 700 pages!? Why do I do this to myself? This my 7th? 8th? huge book this year? I want to say my eyes are bigger than my stomach, but that doesn't work. My eyes are bigger than my...eyes? Ok, really done this time. I'll see myself out. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Kareni, that,s interesting. None of the scary fae books I,ve read are on the list. And now I think of it, I wasn,t brought up on the sugary faeries. I was brought up on the sort that had to be appeased by pinches of salt thrown over one,s left shoulder. Occasionally, they appeared in Disney, but my mother was pretty firm about those being modern inventions for children, not the real thing. Nan 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 I've finished two books recently ~ The first is Elizabeth Vaughan's fantasy Warprize (Chronicles of the Warlands Book 1) about which I've heard good things for quite some time. It had been sitting on my shelf for some (ahem) years, and finally it called so loudly that it got its turn. I'd be happy now to read the two sequels though sadly neither of my local libraries own them. I enjoyed it. If Honor Among Orcs (Orc Saga Book 1) had kinder gentler orcs, this book could be said to have a kinder gentler barbarian! From Booklist: "Even though she is the daughter of a king, Xylara refuses to wait idly for a marriage that will benefit the Land of Xy and so becomes an accomplished healer, a useful skill when her country is drawn into war with the Firelanders. Even though her half brother, the present king, does not want her treating the enemy, Xylara feels she must--both for the honor of Xy and for simple humanity. When her brother suddenly surrenders to the Firelander Warlord, Xylara is stripped of all her possessions and sent to the conqueror as a slave referred to as "Warprize." As Xylara learns to live with the masterful Warlord, she begins to understand the very different social structure and beliefs of those she has seen as uncivilized. Vaughan's brawny barbarian romance re-creates the delicious feeling of adventure and the thrill of exploring mysterious cultures created by Robert E. Howard in his Conan books and makes for a satisfying escapist read with its enjoyable romance between a plucky, near-naked heroine and a truly heroic hero." Diana Tixier HeraldCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved *** I also re-read with pleasure Carla Kelly's historical romance Marrying the Royal Marine which takes place during the Napoleonic war and is set in Portugal. Here's a good REVIEW: Marrying the Royal Marine by Carla Kelly from the Dear Author website. Regards, Kareni 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Does your library catalog give you other options when it finds no results for one of your searches? Both of mine do and often they are laughable. I was just searching the two catalogs to see whether either of my libraries has a book by Eliza Redgold. One catalog asked, "Did You Mean: Eliza Treadgold?" The other asked, "Did you mean liza ridiculed?" The irony is that both of these choices are linked; however, when I click them, I'm informed no such item is found. Oh, well. I guess I'll need to look for Liza Ridiculed elsewhere. ETA: Better yet, I just searched for My Lady Gloriana and was asked if I meant My Lady chlorine! Regards, Kareni 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Yeah, my library catalog does that. I've seen some weird suggestions. And, once or twice, stuff popped up that looked interesting & I ended up requesting that too. Lol. Of course, if I just make a typo & am off by one letter, it doesn't find anything (rather than suggesting what I was actually looking for in the first place). I do wish it was "smart" enough to realize typos & suggest corrected spellings. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Yeah, my library catalog does that. I've seen some weird suggestions. And, once or twice, stuff popped up that looked interesting & I ended up requesting that too. Lol. Of course, if I just make a typo & am off by one letter, it doesn't find anything (rather than suggesting what I was actually looking for in the first place). I do wish it was "smart" enough to realize typos & suggest corrected spellings. DH is a librarian and I have pointed this out to him So Many Times!!! It's a fault with the stupid date base and it should be better. I have really complained about it, lol At some point he'll bring it up to a vendor and maybe the company will do something about it. He is at a big enough library and has enough pull that there is a small chance they might address it at some point. But it appears that the libraries can't do anything about it. Believe me, I've mentioned it. It is a pet peeve of mine. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 DH is a librarian and I have pointed this out to him So Many Times!!! It's a fault with the stupid date base and it should be better. I have really complained about it, lol At some point he'll bring it up to a vendor and maybe the company will do something about it. He is at a big enough library and has enough pull that there is a small chance they might address it at some point. But it appears that the libraries can't do anything about it. Believe me, I've mentioned it. It is a pet peeve of mine. Yeah, I know. I've talked to the librarians too. I realize it's just a set software program (that does get updates once in awhile), but it's not something that the individual libraries or counties can change. I keep hoping that at least it's on the 'dream list of software fixes' that will be done down the road. No dice yet. (I know how stuff like that can go as I spent many years working in R&D departments & know that changes don't always get implemented in a timely manner. Or sometimes not at all....) It's a pet peeve of mine too. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Read Primates of Park Avenue by Wednesday Martin. It was interesting as there are not many books that look at U.S. societal groups through the lens of anthropology and primatology. I also never expected a non fiction book such as this to make me cry, but it did. A totally foreign world in which one spends over $10,000 on a purse. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 This afternoon was a re-read for me ~ Robin D. Owen's Heart Mate (Celta's HeartMates, Book 1). This is the first in a series of fourteen books, and I'm waiting for the library copy of the latest release. It was a pleasure to revisit this book. "All his life, Rand T’Ash has looked forward to meeting his HeartMate, with whom he could begin a family. Once a street tough, now a respected nobleman and artisan, he has crafted the perfect HeartGift, which, in the custom of the psychically gifted population of the planet Celta, is the way a man finds—and attracts—his wife… Danith Mallow is irresistibly drawn to the magnificent necklace on display in T’Ash’s shop, but she is wary of its creator, despite an overpowering attraction. In a world where everyone is defined by their psychic ability, Danith has little, placing her at the opposite end of the social spectrum from T’Ash. But T’Ash refuses to accept her rejection and sees it as a challenge instead. They are HeartMates, but can T’Ash persuade his beloved to accept her destiny by his side?" HeartMate seems like kind of a nice word. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 HeartMate seems like kind of a nice word. I agree. And the series also has some animals who communicate by telepathy. They are enjoyable reads. Regards, Kareni 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Stacia, I just bought that tee you linked earlier. Thanks again! Also, while browsing Etsy I found this. So stinkin cute! I would love to buy them, but I'd be afraid of ruining them due to washing/drying. I have wash all bedding/soft toys every week on super hot and dry on high heat due to dust mites. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaughingCat Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Late again -- but the discussion of racism and group think made me think of a study, in some book who's name I unfortunately do not remember, of an experiment in which the hapless subject was set unknowing amongst a set of actors, who then all proceeded to answer some simple obvious question (such as 22+12) with the same wrong answer -- and as I remember, over 80% of the subject were unable to go against 'the group' and say the correct answer but instead answered wrongly to match the others. The only upside was the % jumped dramatically if even only 1 other person spoke a different answer. Since I can't remember the non-fiction book's name -- I will offer a fiction book I enjoyed whose story is along similar lines of following the crowd-- Connie Willis' Bellwether. For this week, I read Blood of Tyrants by Naomi Novik -- she appears to basing the series on the actual Napoleonic War but set in alternate universe -- I think I would appreciate that part more if I was more of a war aficionado (like if I knew anything more than some minor references from historical romance novels) and also SWEEP IN PEACE by Ilona Andrews. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 (edited) I'm just not in the mood to read much lately. One book I've been going through is a relatively new cookbook I got at the library: Deliciously Ella. It's plant-based/gluten-free. I've seen her website before & all the photos look lovely. The recipes sound delicious. I've tried two recipes so far and... meh. I get the feeling that perhaps the amounts are off (she's British) & were not quite correctly converted over to US measurements. I wish they would have stuck to traditional metric measurements. Is a British cup different that an standard American cup? (I'm thinking a British one may be more like 6 oz & an American one 8 oz....) Just guessing. And, I think the British version of some of these foods are different than the versions you get in American stores. The editors of this book should have done a test kitchen & modified accordingly. I'm willing to try a couple more things from it, maybe tweaking as a I go. The ideas are good, the recipes seem like they would be tasty, but the execution of them seems to leave them lacking quite a bit. (I'll admit I don't like to cook but I can replicate a recipe just fine.) I notice one of the first reviewers on amazon has similar issues like I had, though she has apparently tried a lot more of the recipes. On the fence with this one. Glad I checked it out from the library rather than buying it. Edited November 20, 2015 by Stacia 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 (edited) And, ironically, while I'm griping about the cookbook, I'm sitting here enjoying some coffee & these... (My in-laws just got back from Belgium & brought us a giant box of chocolates.) Anyone want to come over & join me? :) Edited November 20, 2015 by Stacia 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Stacia, I'm on my way. Be there shortly. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Stacia, I'm on my way. Be there shortly. :thumbup1: 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idnib Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 (edited) I finally finished In Cold Blood last night, after vowing I wouldn't go to bed without finishing it a few nights ago. It was a good read, a bit Southern Gothic in feel, and it very much read like it was written by an outsider on assignment, at least to me. Capote did an excellent job of weaving together bits and pieces, such as casually mentioning an object without calling any undue attention to it at all, only to later reveal that the object was quite important. (Sorry, trying to be vague here.) I did lose some interest after the perpetrators were convicted and were awaiting punishment. It just wasn't as interesting and Capote spent too much time explaining the crimes and characteristics of others who were housed on Death Row alongside the main characters. I also found it compelling because there have been so many stories in U.S. history of pairs of people who go in killing sprees, from Bonnie and Clyde to Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate, to the main characters in this book. (There are lots more examples, but it's a disturbing search.) I always wonder how they find each other and how plans evolve and whether each person acting alone would have done the same things. It feels a bit like fate brought them together and they rolled across the American landscape and left a scar. Edited November 21, 2015 by idnib 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 re: race as the child of racism, not the father.... and racecraft, kavanah, and synonyms: FWIW, "dominate" is my word, how I understood what Coates was saying; I don't recall his using that particular word himself. That said, the two words he does use repeatedly, "plunder" and "exploit" black bodies for material gain, have I think a similar sense of active intention. (And are similarly uneasy on the ear.) My reading of his analysis is that there *is* kavanah: that the intention to exploit the unpaid/underpaid labor and extort the hard-earned pennies and enforce structural subjugation to keep the hierarchy enforced comes first; and the insecurity/fear/vulnerability that you speak of comes as a result of an only partially-acknowledged recognition of the injustice -> and resentment -> and violence such exploitation breeds. Kavanah first, domination second, fear as a result of the uneasy recognition that the domination naturally breeds consequences. That is the threat that gives rise to the insecurity and fear... I haven't read Racecraft, but from the excerpt you quoted and its initial reviews, it sounds as though its argument is based on a similar chronology: hierarchical inequality first, giving rise to an "illusion" of racial differences which are then named "racism." Hierarchical inequality is marginally easier on the ears than systemic plunder of black bodies, but I imagine the meaning is approximately synonymous? And semantics notwithstanding, in both arguments that enforced inequality is the "father" and the social constructs based on skin hue and hair texture the "child"? I think we have to look at the systemic origins separately from the origins within an individual, or even group. Since reading The New Jim Crow, I am tentatively convinced that racism in this country didn't just happen and was quite probably a.. manufactured seems a little too strong, but only a little, anyway, a manufactured wedge to divide groups that otherwise were uniting to challenge the existing social and economic structure. ...and the book on my shelf now The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism will probably further support the interpretation "systemic plunder of black bodies" ...*but* I don't see in Coates (which I devoured yesterday) or the other reading I've been doing, justification for identifying the origin of racism *in an individual* as rooted in a kavanah (intention) of plundering or domination. and, on an individual level, I see focus on intention as potentially very harmful. I do think naming the origins of our systems, seeing that, as Coates describes over and over again, my security, my life, my version of the American dream are all built on the "systemic plunder of black bodies"... and the system I live in today continues to destroy black lives. ...but that doesn't make me a racist (not that either you or Coates are saying it does). If I were to feel/think/act in a racist way it might originate in a culture that was about domination, but what (G-d forbid) might lead me to adopt and maintain that feeling/thinking/acting doesn't have to have that intention to be racist. I am in complete agreement that the *concept* of race is a social construct that is used to create and/or support systemic inequalities and I think Coates does a beautiful job of presenting that. I also love his realization that within this artificial construct a sense of peoplehood has developed and is a real and beautiful many-branched thing... [and if anyone wants to look at the book that has inspired some of this conversation and has (deservedly, I think) been making many Best of 2015 lists: Between the World and Me] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 re: difference, awareness of difference, and Us-Them thinking I go back and forth on this myself... Have you read Peter Singer's Expanding Circle? It speaks to just that image of widening concentric circles, from the nuclear family emanating out to all of humanity. It's a beautiful image. I want, deeply, to believe it represents the natural future of humanity, the moral arc of the universe is long but it bends, etc. As y'all know I'm a hopeless sucker for redemption in my narratives... I wonder though if our progression gets stalled in fairly close-hewn circles; and I wonder too how incontrovertibly social constructs such as nationalism and language and religion (including, sigh, our own) operate -- sometimes even with, as you say, kavanah -- to keep us stuck rather close to our early tribe. I cannot assert that it represents the natural future of humanity, but I do believe we can actively work to expand those circles... the way we do with our children. We help them learn to use their inborn empathy, to connect it intellectually to their observations and experiences, to *listen* to that still small voice of compassion. We can also teach them to suppress it (G-d forbid)... We help them realize that their sibling has feelings to and also wants that toy... and help that awareness expand beyond the family to the community - finding the shared ground while learning that there are so many ways we can express and experience the world... I don't think it is wrong that my children are more precious to me than anyone else's children... but I need to use that to see that on some level as the protagonist in Arthur MIller's amazing play says "they were all my sons". I also don't think it is intrinsically wrong that I do have a measure of tribalism - I have an intense love and loyalty for our people. But I have to use that. I have to use the horror I feel reading about people, our people, not able to get out of Nazi Germany because no one would take us as refugees, and see that in every refugee today. I have to use my grief and horror at the death of Ezra Schwartz yesterday and be able to see how those same emotions would be there for the the people of another tribe's slain teen. It doesn't happen automatically. It is *hard*, it hurts, it is scary... and I am so far from where I would like to be.... but each situation offers us the chance to actively choose to expand our horizons... to read, to think, to empathize, ..and, oh yes, there are many things, good, valuable, positive things, which can make it very easy to plateau... No, I haven't read the Singer, but it is now on my list! thank you, love. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 I'm just not in the mood to read much lately. One book I've been going through is a relatively new cookbook I got at the library: Deliciously Ella. It's plant-based/gluten-free. I've seen her website before & all the photos look lovely. The recipes sound delicious. I've tried two recipes so far and... meh. I get the feeling that perhaps the amounts are off (she's British) & were not quite correctly converted over to US measurements. I wish they would have stuck to traditional metric measurements. Is a British cup different that an standard American cup? (I'm thinking a British one may be more like 6 oz & an American one 8 oz....) Just guessing. And, I think the British version of some of these foods are different than the versions you get in American stores. The editors of this book should have done a test kitchen & modified accordingly. I'm willing to try a couple more things from it, maybe tweaking as a I go. The ideas are good, the recipes seem like they would be tasty, but the execution of them seems to leave them lacking quite a bit. (I'll admit I don't like to cook but I can replicate a recipe just fine.) I notice one of the first reviewers on amazon has similar issues like I had, though she has apparently tried a lot more of the recipes. On the fence with this one. Glad I checked it out from the library rather than buying it. British cups are more like 10 oz. but no one actually measures in cups normally. Everyone weighs and uses the gram measurements, cooking is exact. Easiest just to set your bowl on the digital scale and zero adjust between ingredients. Things like teaspoons seem to be smaller quantities than what I used to put in for success. I swear that the baking powder is more powerful for instance here, my mom thinks I just may have fresher dry ingredients because smaller packaging in general. Who knows...they really should have tested the recipes before publishing if they did a US conversation. For instance I still can't get my "special" coffee cake to work right here....it never ever failed me before the move and I made at least one a week for something. It fails pretty much every time now and I have no idea why.....the kids don't care because it still tastes right. I can't give them away because they are a mess to look at so we eat them all! :lol: Obviously I make maybe two a year now..... 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 (My in-laws just got back from Belgium & brought us a giant box of chocolates.) Anyone want to come over & join me? :) Chocolate? Did I hear chocolate? Count me in! Regards, Kareni 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 And, ironically, while I'm griping about the cookbook, I'm sitting here enjoying some coffee & these... (My in-laws just got back from Belgium & brought us a giant box of chocolates.) Anyone want to come over & join me? :) I'm there!!! 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Before I forget I started reading Carrying Albert Homehttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24585366-carrying-albert-home?ac=1&from_search=1which was a suggestion for a nonfiction book for the challenge a couple of weeks ago. It is wonderful! Three chapters in and I am totally charmed. I was busy reading it tonight to everyone in my family while we waited for our order at a restaurant tonight. They all want more details..... We made our annual trip to visit the baby seals at Donna Nook today.http://www.lincstrust.org.uk/donna-nook/about-grey-seals. They were so cute! This is the first time we went ant the sun was out. For the most part they were all napping and we learned the bulls snore loudly. :lol: For a couple of minutes all we could hear was sleepy sounds coming from over a thousand seals....wow. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 So you are saying that the reason the middle school girl cliquiness I saw crests in middle school is because it is a developmental stage? And that we are born self-centered, then expand (by nature? by nurture?) to tribal-centeredness and then (in puberty?) expand to the ability to empathize with anyone? Thinking back on my own and my sisters' growth and the growth of my children, I'm not sure this has been my experience. (Assuming middle school girl cliquiness is the same as race prejudice, just on a smaller, less entrenched scale.) In my experience, it seemed like my children empathized with anyone and everyone, once I pointed out that there was a difference between the kitty's tail and a doorknob. Their idea of alive and not alive was pretty broad and included their teddies. It was only after they had collected some experience in the world that their tribal thinking developed. That crested in college (for me too) and had a lot to do with my experiences in school. It seemed like their ability to empathize with anyone was overlaid with other programming for awhile. It didn't feel like the tribal thinking was taught to them by other tribal thinkers, but more like they fell back on tribal thinking when they found the world wasn't consistently empathic. Hmm... now I am wondering if the tribal thinking was taught to them, by me, as a means of damage control and to keep them safe... which sounds uncannily like what the civil war slave owners probably did with their own children, but in my case, what people actually looked like or did in this world had nothing to do with it... and they probably didn't keep repeating that although it was probably wise not to put yourself in any vulnerable positions and yes, what those classmates did was wrong, at the same time, you couldn't judge them because you hadn't walked three miles in their moccasins. So... ???... Maybe I think that our capacity to divide the world into them and us is an inborn survival thing, a way to divide up scarce resources and make sure your family group survives. In the modern world, in my own life, it was the only way I could figure out how to transmit my culture to my children without making them into judgemental, narrow-minded people. Even at the time, I thought there must be a better way, but I couldn't figure one out and just fell back on making sure they were exposed to other cultures. I think my timing could have been better, but there were other parameters to be considered. I don't think we learn empathy. I think that is something we are born with. All my experience, including my experience with the animals I live with, makes me think this. Which is why I think tribal thinking makes a better original sin than lack of ability to empathize. I'm not sure logically, what I am saying makes sense. Hmm... I guess I think we are born with a good thing (empathic ability) and a bad thing (tribal thinking) and developmentally, we need to learn to extend the good thing past the bad thing. It's not very linear so it isn't easy for me to explain. As far as race being a natural dividing line for that tribal thinking, I think physical characteristics have always been an easy line to draw between "us" and "them". In this country, most of us are still drawing one between two-legged animals with opposable thumbs and four-legged animals with hooves, allowing "us" to kill and eat "them". I don't think it is inevitable that either the line between skin colours, etc., or the line between bipedal and quadraped be drawn. I guess I took that for granted. But again, that is probably because I grew up where race wasn't an issue, in a place where what little poverty there was had nothing to do with culture or skin colour. My cousins, growing up in Texas, were a totally different story. More or less the same family culture as mine, but their experience and their external culture taught them to draw that line and be wary. Nan ETA - For what it's worth, I am absolutely convinced that my cat and dog were born with the same empathic and us/them abilities. I'm not so sure about my son's chickens. That last was a joke. Sort of. Ug. I think middle school girls tend to form cliques because part of their work is figuring out social patterns and interactions and they are rarely given an good support/guidance for how to do that in a ind, constructive way. (My twins are in a small Jewish day school in a mixed age class which spans the middle school years & watching the impact of intentional guidance and conversation has been amazing. The girls are still middle grade girls, they are still figuring a lot of things out, and they are sensitive and, some of them, easily hurt, but I see them working things through in a very beautiful way when other groups of middle grade kids, also all great girls individually, slipped into queen bee modes.) I do not think middle grade cliquishness is the same as racism only writ larger, but I do think the same vulnerabilities in our psyches can be contributing factors for both. I do think tribalism is not an intrinsically harmful tendency, but I do think it has to be stretched beyond. ...and that stretching isn't a natural developmental shift, it goes against our drive for security. When we teach our kids to protect themselves but look with compassion at those who mistreat them, we are teaching them a less comfortable approach, a less secure approach... when we can see the world in stark blacks and whites (literally or figuratively) there's a certainty there... and on a larger scale, if we see the people who kill our children as faceless evil monsters whom we can hate, revile, and try to obliterate we have more certainty than if we look at the complexities. I tried today to imagine being the mother of Slahi (author of Guantanamo Diary), to imagine having my son kidnapped and held without trial... my innocent son. ..and how it would feel to be part of a world and culture where that vulnerability was widespread. Might I view the attacks in Paris differently from that lens than I do being from a culture where children (and others) are the victims of such terrorist attacks? I can't imagine being a person who would murder a fellow human, but I can imagine having some fairly complicated feelings about an attack on a power that had bombed areas my friends and family were in, for example. I think one of the ways to expand those circles for our children, is to provide them with a wide range of reading material.... and to talk and talk and talk... about the books, about the world, about the humans we encounter... and to strive for compassion, to strive to see other viewpoints, other worlds, and to help them share our striving. ...and when we can see more, care more, share more, I believe a wider range of possible solutions to our problems becomes visible... and maybe even achievable. Sorry, love, there is so much, much more I want to say... but it is almost Shabbos so I am going to post this as is... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 Chocolate? Did I hear chocolate? Count me in! Regards, Kareni You guys can have the chocolate - I want to browse the bookshelves and just be in the same room with you all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted November 21, 2015 Author Share Posted November 21, 2015 I started typing up ideas for next year and got partway through them before running out of time... so here is what I got typed. I love the ideas suggested last week! A few others that came to mind: *African American literature, history, etc (inspired in part by the reading many of us have been doing lately) *Native American literature, history, etc (inspired by my mile long TBR list in this area) *a poetry focus for national poetry month - perhaps with a different theme or region for each week *I love the Moby Dick theme, but wondered about combining it with a broader ocean theme, to include perhaps a week of ocean related nonfiction (Cousteau, Safina, etc). I have been neglecting some of my nonfiction reading these past few years... *related: perhaps a few other regions could be done similarly - I felt the geographic setting was large part of No Country for Old Men, for example, and since we're looking at combining a major literary work with its setting, perhaps we could come up with a few more. *Handcrafts: textiles, pottery, woodwork etc: I read Women's Work: The First 2000 Years - Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times and Interwoven Globe: The Worldwide Textile Trade 1500-1800 the other year when Jane was talking about textiles and I realized how little knowledge or connection I have to craft work. ...and both of these helped me see how intrinsic cloth is to understanding some areas of history, economics, sociology, etc. ( a few books on my TBR list: The Age of Homespun, Empire of Cotton (which ties right in to some of the AA books on my lists), Cloth and Human Experience) ...and I still have the book Jane recommended a few years ago Red Brick, Black Mountain, White Clay on my TBR lists - and a desire to look more at pottery... which, of course, is closely tied to archaeology... And then there's Shop Class as Soul Craft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work & Why We Make Things and Why it Matters & Craftsmanship & Michael Pollan's A Place of My Own & The Real Thing: Essays on Making in the Modern World all, in various ways, look at these topics from a broader perspective. *Women's literature: I want to extend this year's attempts, and encourage others to join me! *Epics: there are so many, from so many countries and time periods, that I want to read or revisit (including a new translation of the Iliad, the only non-Lattimore translation I've been able to read more than a small amount of without great distress!) *Pairing of a work and adaptations: since I was just looking at the new translation of the Iliad there are a number of Iliad related books, plays, and poems that come to mind (some I've read, some on my TBR list): Cassandra, All Day Permanent Red, Ransom, War and the Iliad, War Music, Memorial, Achilles in Vietnam, Our Ajax, The Theater of War, War that Killed Achilles, Troilus and Cressida (by Chaucer and/or Shakespeare), Barrico's An Iliad, Dismissal of the Grecian Envoys, File on H, Songs of the Kings. ...and then there are the plays... Yes, yes, and Yes and you are amazing as always. And since I hit the wrong key on my keyboard and lost all I just thought about and typed about your ideas, I'll just say they are lovely and will work them all in. A year with Shakespeare and/or a year of women's studies --- All about Her, and/or The Iliad Quest or a more broad - Epic Quest??? Keep the ideas coming. :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted November 21, 2015 Author Share Posted November 21, 2015 Kareni - Thanks for the link to Heartmate - downloaded it to read. Books that restore your faith in humanity -- interesting,intriguing. Life of Pi,not so sure about that one. Five books with bad-ass fairie - don't know how I missed De Lint's The Wild Wood. Love, love,love his books. Added to my wishlist! Jane - Awesome pictures and looks like a really fun trip.The picture of the planets in alignment is amazing. Hi 3sapphires - Welcome and glad you are diving in. Pam - I've been very remiss in not telling you how much I enjoy reading your blog and your thoughts. Makes me stop and ponder things for a while. Something I need do more of. Violet Crown - Congrats on reaching 52! :hurray: Welcome back Angela. The Rook is still waiting in my mountainous pile of books. Glad to hear you liked it. More incentive for me to read it sooner, rather than later. Just ran out of likes for the day. :toetap05: 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted November 21, 2015 Author Share Posted November 21, 2015 Chocolate!!!!!! :party: 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 Last night's book group was small and somewhat somber as one of my group is grieving the death and brutal beating of family friends who were attacked by their adult son with a mental illness. I think that friends, book talk, good food, wine, and brownies helped her heal a little. We did all read the book -- the Princess Bride -- and discussed it. I was a little surprised that only half of the group had seen the movie. Regards,Kareni 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 A currently free offer for Kindle readers ~ Future Visions: Original Science Fiction Inspired by Microsoftthis has some well known authors -- Future Visions features contributions from:Elizabeth BearGreg BearDavid BrinNancy KressAnn LeckieJack McDevittSeanan McGuireRobert J. Sawyer…along with a short graphic novel by Blue Delliquanti and Michele Rosenthal, plus original illustrations by Joey Camacho. *** And another. This currently free work (it's called a novel but is only 77 pages) has some high praise: Walls of Wind: Part 1: (A Science Fiction Novel) by J. A. McLachlan "Look out, C. J. Cherryh! Step aside, Hal Clement! There's a new master of truly alien SF, and her name is J. A. McLachlan. THE WALLS OF WIND is doubtless THE debut novel of the year."-- Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning science fiction author "In ways SF readers can favorably compare with icons of the genre, such as Ursula K. Le Guin, James Tiptree Jr. and Robert J. Sawyer, WALLS OF WIND boldly weaves anthropology, psychology, drama, future history, even meteorology, into a tapestry of viewpoints and epiphanies that propel McLachlan's characters toward a necessary and illuminating change in their collective relationship. ... If you read no other "alien" authors this year, don't miss WALLS OF WIND."- Bookreporter "What if males and females were completely different species from each other?WALLS OF WIND explores this question and its ramifications on an alien world in which males and females are two equally intelligent sentient species: Ghen and Bria. They are interdependent and reproductively symbiotic, although physically, emotionally and mentally they have little in common. Or so they believe, until their city-state is threatened by increasing internal conflict and a terrifying external predator that has invaded the forests just beyond their walls. A handful of Ghen and Bria struggle desperately to find a solution before their civilization is destroyed.WALLS OF WIND combines anthropological speculation and the tragedy, suspense and triumph of individual characters who struggle to overcome external threats as well as their own internal fears and prejudices." Regards, Kareni 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 (edited) Robin!!! (I think I'm posting a little early for CA time, but it's your birthday already here on the east coast!) Edited November 21, 2015 by Stacia 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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