Book a Week 2015 - BW48: december dawdle and dabble

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday my lovelies! We are on week 48 in our quest to read 52 books. Welcome back to our regulars, anyone just joining in, and to all who follow our progress. Mr. Linky is all set up on the 52 books blog to link to your reviews. The link is in my signature.

 

52 Books Blog - December Dawdle and Dabble:  Our winter weather has finally arrived and it was a frosty thirty degrees this morning. Welcome to December - a time to dawdle and dabble.   I'm ready to curl up by a cozy fire with one of my fur babies and/or my hubby, and read.   :laugh:   Our reading year has flown by far too quickly and I don't know about y'all, but I'm ready to just relax and read whatever suits my fancy this month from my teetering book stacks.    

 

Good thing that includes Henry James since he is our author flavor of the month.   I just happen to have Partial Portraits, an older 1970's version,  with his essays about the art of fiction as well as Emerson, Eliot and De Maupassant to name a few.  I read The Portrait of the Lady a few years back for a literature class, but never got around to reading any of his other stories, short stories or non fiction.  Now seems the perfect time.  

 

While we are dawdling this month, we can't forget this month heralds the arrival of Winter as well as Christmas, Hanukkah, Ramadan, St Lucia Day, Boxing Day, and St Nicolas Day.  Plus  many other things to celebrate from the inspirational to the absurd like wear brown shoes day  to the silly like national Ding a Ling day to the optimistic with look on the bright side day.   

 

So go dawdle and dabble through your book stacks and enjoy! 

 

 

 

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History of the Medieval World

Chapter 66 -     Turn of the Wheel pp 498 - 503

Chapter 67 -     Capture of Baghdad  pp 504 - 510

Chapter 68 -     Three Kingdoms   pp 511 - 517 

 

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Secret Santa -  If you want to participate in Secret Santa, please pm me with your name, address, amazon wish list link - if you have one  - (if you don't, now's a good time to start one)  and/or Christmas bookish want list.   

 

 

What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

Link to week 47 

[Robin M]

Carry over from last week -   More brainstorming about reading goals for 2016 
 

Jane- In recent months, I volunteered to lead an E.M. Forster discussion in 2016.  February or March would be great if that suits you and the others.  I plan on rereading A Passage to India but others may be drawn to Howards End, A Room with a View, Where Angels Fear to Tread.
 
Several of us have also noted that we'll be reading The Voyage of the Beagle in the new year.  If the group is not up to Darwin, perhaps a science challenge is in order.

How about February for Forster if everyone's agreeable. I wonder if swb included beagle in the new science section of Well Educated Mind? Will soon find out as soon as it arrives. :). Beagle fits our nautical theme which I'm beginning to think will need more than one month. Thinking that since 2nd quarter armchair travels (April, May and June) will be west of the prime meridian, we could do it then. Or should our armchair travels for the year turn in sailing around the world. Something to think about. 

 

 

What did you all think of the monthly themes and author flavors? Ready for something different or more of the same? Any particular authors you would like to see highlighted besides those already mentioned. We usually start the year off with a literary read. This year we started with Murakami. Who would you all like to start the year off with? I'm considering starting off with Vikram Seth's A suitable Boy as the first quarter will be designated as East of the Prime Meridian.  It fits,  but I have several books calling my name, so open.

 

Edited November 29, 2015 by Robin M

[Robin M]

I finished Hampton Sides In the Kingdom of Ice which was quite good, very hard to put down and gut wrenching at what they went through.

 

In the late nineteenth century, people were obsessed by one of the last unmapped areas of the globe: the North Pole. No one knew what existed beyond the fortress of ice rimming the northern oceans, although theories abounded. The foremost cartographer in the world, a German named August Petermann, believed that warm currents sustained a verdant island at the top of the world. National glory would fall to whoever could plant his flag upon its shores.

 

James Gordon Bennett, the eccentric and stupendously wealthy owner of the New York Herald, had recently captured the world’s attention by dispatching Stanley to Africa to find Dr. Livingstone. Now he was keen to re-create that sensation on an even more epic scale. So he funded an official U.S. naval expedition to reach the Pole, choosing as its captain a young officer named George Washington De Long, who had gained fame for a rescue operation off the coast of Greenland. De Long led a team of 32 men deep into uncharted Arctic waters, carrying the aspirations of a young country burning to become a world power. On July 8, 1879, the USS Jeannette set sail from San Francisco to cheering crowds in the grip of “Arctic Fever.â€

 

The ship sailed into uncharted seas, but soon was trapped in pack ice. Two years into the harrowing voyage, the hull was breached. Amid the rush of water and the shrieks of breaking wooden boards, the crew abandoned the ship. Less than an hour later, the Jeannette sank to the bottom, and the men found themselves marooned a thousand miles north of Siberia with only the barest supplies. Thus began their long march across the endless ice—a frozen hell in the most lonesome corner of the world. Facing everything from snow blindness and polar bears to ferocious storms and frosty labyrinths, the expedition battled madness and starvation as they desperately strove for survival.

 

 

 

[JennW in SoCal]

No time to dawdle here. I've got a matinee performance this afternoon followed by a rehearsal, and December is chock full of music gigs -- 11 programs to be played at 17 different holiday concerts, services and parties. 

 

But I had a delightful time at my favorite independent bookstore yesterday. As part of the Small Business Saturday festivities they invited local authors to come in to help people shop -- they weren't there to promote their own books but to help people navigate through the offerings in their particular genre. I was unaware that the woman talking with me in the mystery section is a mystery author herself, so was totally uninhibited in talking about what I like and dislike. She recommended I subscribe to the Soho Press newsletter as they are a company that specializes in translating and publishing crime novels from around the world. And it turns out she herself is one of their authors!! Based on her recommendations I went home with The Secret Place by Tana French, a series about an Irish homicide squad, and Dead Soon Enough by Steph Cha, a sort of modern Raymond Chandler featuring a female Korean-American detective.  Oh, and the author who helped me shop is Lisa Brackmann, whose books will be next on my list.

 

At my next small business Saturday shopping stop at a bird seed and feeder shop, I was chatting with people in line and discovered that one of the bookstore employees was also in line.  I told him about the author helping me at his shop, and he got out of line to start quizzing me on my reading preferences and recommending other authors to try! 

 

All in all a delightful afternoon, and proof of why shopping local is so worthwhile.

[Stacia]

For my festive holiday dawdling, I'm reading Hogfather. :lol:

 

Who would want to harm Discworld's most beloved icon? Very few things are held sacred in this twisted, corrupt, heartless -- and oddly familiar -- universe, but the Hogfather is one of them. Yet here it is, Hogswatchnight, that most joyous and acquisitive of times, and the jolly old, red-suited gift-giver has vanished without a trace. And there's something shady going on involving an uncommonly psychotic member of the Assassins' Guild and certain representatives of Ankh-Morpork's rather extensive criminal element. Suddenly Discworld's entire myth system is unraveling at an alarming rate. Drastic measures must be taken, which is why Death himself is taking up the reins of the fat man's vacated sleigh . . . which, in turn, has Death's level-headed granddaughter, Susan, racing to unravel the nasty, humbuggian mess before the holiday season goes straight to hell and takes everyone along with it.

 

I've also started Hemingway's A Moveable Feast, in tandem with Jane & in honor of Paris.

 

Begun in the autumn of 1957 and published posthumously in 1964, Ernest Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast" captures what it meant to be young and poor and writing in Paris during the 1920s.

"You belong to me and all Paris belongs to me and I belong to this notebook and this pencil."

A correspondent for the "Toronto Star, " Hemingway arrived in Paris in 1921, three years after the trauma of the Great War and at the beginning of the transformation of Europe's cultural landscape: Braque and Picasso were experimenting with cubist forms; James Joyce, long living in self-imposed exile from his native Dublin, had just completed "Ulysses;" Gertude Stein held court at 27 rue de Fleurus, and deemed young Ernest a member of "rue generation perdue;" and T. S. Eliot was a bank clerk in London. It was during these years that the as-of-yet unpublished young writer gathered the material for his first novel, "The Sun Also Rises, " and the subsequent masterpieces that followed.

Among these small, reflective sketches are unforgettable encounters with the members of Hemingway's slightly rag-tag circle of artists and writers, some also fated to achieve fame and glory, others to fall into obscurity. Here, too, is an evocation of the Paris that Hemingway knew as a young man -- a map drawn in his distinct prose of the streets and cafes and bookshops that comprised the city in which he, as a young writer, sometimes struggling against the cold and hunger of near poverty, honed the skills of his craft.

"A Moveable Feast" is at once an elegy to the remarkable group of expatriates that gathered in Paris during the twenties and a testament to the risks and rewards of the writerly life.

 

As I started reading A Moveable Feast, it reminded me of Woody Allen's delightful movie Midnight in Paris. (If you watch Woody Allen movies & haven't seen this one, it's a wonderful one.) It would be a lovely one to watch in honor of Paris as it celebrates the beauty & magic of Paris.

 

 

 

 

 

[Onceuponatime]

Last week I read Free For All: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public library by Don Borchet. It was okay, the writing style could have been better but I sure learned about a lot of unusual stuff that happens in libraries.

 

Next up, Divergent, for my Thursday book club. It's not one I would have picked. Hopefully it has some redeeming qualities.

[Jane in NC]

VC and I are both reading The Good Soldier Å vejk by Czech author Jaroslav HaÅ¡ek, a book that is considered by many one of the greatest comic novels of all time.  Yet I am unsure how well known it is on these shores.

 

The humor in The Good Soldier Å vejk encapsulates what I personally define as the Eastern European sense of humor:  dark, self-deprecating, satirical. Comedies of errors aren't part of the Eastern European mindset as life is one error after another with which one must cope. 

 

I often think of an Eastern Europe that was subjected to two 20th century occupations:  Nazi then Soviet.  But HaÅ¡ek wrote before either of these atrocities occurred, in the early 1920s.  Prior to this time, the Czech Republic had not been a republic, of course, but under the control of the Habsburgs for centuries.  In WWI, Czech soldiers fought along side the Central Powers (Germany, the Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary) although one wonders if the average Czech felt much loyalty to members of this alliance.  After WWI, Czechoslovakia was born, a rare democracy in the time between world wars. 

 

Into this enters our hero Å vejk.  Is he cunning or dull witted?  One is not completely sure but the commentary on the politics of the time and military mindset is caustic.

 

Adding to the joy of HaÅ¡ek's writing are the delightful illustrations by Josef Lada.  The Å vejk stories were originally serialized in a newspaper and embellished with the Lada drawings, some of which I got to see in the flesh last year at the Veletržní palác, one of the museums forming the National Gallery in Prague.

 

I am certainly visiting via my reading a Europe of the past.  I am also walking the streets of Paris with a young Ernest Hemingway who paid the rent of his tiny Latin quarter apartment with free lance journalist writings.  The story of he and his first wife Hadley (along with young son John, nicknamed Bumby) as well as the Paris of the 1920s is told in A Moveable Feast. After the horrific attacks in Paris, memorials throughout the city display copies of this book which sing the praises of cafe society.  According to a recent NPR story, bookstores are sold out of A Moveable Feast as Parisians take comfort in this tale of love for their city.  It has always been one of my favorite Hemingway books.

 

[Jane in NC]

Stacia, I suspect that you are enjoying A Moveable Feast as much as I am!

 

Jenn, I have been a fan of Soho mysteries for some time now for a simple reason:  their novels are set in places other than the US, often exotic locales.  I always feel that I have a vicarious  travel thrill as well as a mystery with a Soho book.

 

How cool that you met Lisa Brackmann!  I'll look up her books.  Did you tell her our rather strong opinions on the meme of murdering a spouse to perpetuate a mystery series?

[Stacia]

Yes, Jane, I'm enjoying A Moveable Feast very much. But, I figured I would as I'm already a fan of both Hemingway & Paris.

 

Love your tale of yesterday, Jenn! Lisa Brackmann's books look pretty cool. I may have to try one too. Thought of you when I saw this headline: Here Are The 9 Books President Obama Bought On Small Business Saturday.

[Loesje22000]

I finished 'The Battle for God' from Karen Armstrong.

I started the book just before the attacks in Paris.

 

I also finished a YA book about Berlin in the DDR time.

It was a pretty mild book imo.

 

 

[Chrysalis Academy]

Boy, it feels like winter here at the moment - we just got home from our Thanksgiving travels and it was 38 deg in the house!  I guess turning off the heater when you travel in the winter is only something you can do when you live in a warm climate, right? I don't remember ever returning home on a bright sunny day to find it quite this cold inside before.  I'm all bundled up with my wool socks, waiting for it to warm up enough to type.

 

While we were gone, I finished Saramago's The Gospel According to Jesus Christ.  I mostly liked it, very much - it was a richly imagined, detailed description of what life could have been like in Roman-controlled Judea circa the BCE/CE transition. The early part of the story has no obvious supernatural aspect, although there is ambiguity. I liked this part best, it humanized the young Jesus and made him a character with very believable, understandable motivations. The part of the story where God meets up with Jesus to reveal his fate reminds me a lot of Dostoevsky's Grand Inquisitor.  Not the same, but a similar flavor.  I thought that the later parts of the book felt kind of rushed, not nearly as well-developed as the early part. Have you ever read a book where you feel like the author has a page limit he can't go over, and it feels like he just hurries up and stops? It was kind of like that.  But, I'm glad I read it. I think a re-read of Blindness is in store for 2016, as I really want to read Seeing but want to re-read Blindness first.

 

I also read The Wave.  Man, for an interesting story, that was just a terribly written book. I almost couldn't get past it, it read like a bad after-school special script.  Super fascinating and disturbing premise, though.

 

 

So I popped in to say I read Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins yesterday. 

 

If you like ecological dystopias, you'll probably enjoy the world building in this. I'm unconvinced by the ending, but the writing flows and the world is intriguing - very imaginable. 

 

Think western seaboard drought. Characters trapped in California with a Dune Sea between them and the part of the country that has water. A charismatic water-dowser, a lost child. Detention camps for those who chose to be 'rescued' and taken east.

 

A good read, if you like that sort of thing ( I do).

 

Carried over from last week - Sadie, this definitely looks like my kind of book! I put it on hold, but it might be awhile, I'm #45.  But thanks for mentioning it!

 

Books Completed in November:

171. The Gospel According to Jesus Christ - Jose Saramago

170. The Wave - Morton Rhue/Todd Strasser

169. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit - Jeanette Winterson

168. Ancillary Mercy - Ann Leckie

167. The Great Disruption - Paul Gilding

166. The Gap of Time - Jeanette Winterson

165. In Cold Blood - Truman Capote

164. The Winter's Tale - William Shakespeare

163. The Sellout - Paul Beatty

162. Charles and Emma: The Darwin's Leap of Faith - Deborah Heligman

161. Loosed Upon the World: The Saga Anthology of Climate Fiction - John Joseph Adams, ed.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Mmm, I've been promising myself a Turn of the Screw re-read all year!

 

I'm up for Forster in Feb. I've been wanting to read A Passage to India for years.

 

Jane, glad you loved The Gap of Time. Wonderful, wonderful book! I recommended it to everyone at Thanksgiving.

[Mom-ninja.]

Stacia, I watched Midnight in Paris a couple months ago. I loved it. 

 

I still have an annoying cough. I will have a hard time teaching class tomorrow as I start coughing every time I talk. 

 

I am still reading P.G. Wodehouse short stories. 

[Butter]

I also read The Wave.  Man, for an interesting story, that was just a terribly written book. I almost couldn't get past it, it read like a bad after-school special script.  Super fascinating and disturbing premise, though.

 

In a way that's exactly what it was.  It was the made into a novel from the movie they made from the real story.

 

I finally was able to concentrate on reading again starting yesterday.  Today I finished Chef Maurice and the Bunny-Boiler Bake Off.  It was funny.  Nothing deep, very silly.  I liked it.  It was about as much as I can handle right now.  I keep falling asleep in the middle of reading.

[Ali in OR]

Read a couple more Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries--When Gods Die and Why Mermaids Sing and enjoyed both. I had intended to read The Gap of Time before Why Mermaids Sing, but I had some time to read before I went to the library to get TGoT, started WMS and couldn't put it down. I have just barely begun TGoT and will focus on that this very busy week.

 

I'm wondering if I can still finish trying to spell my name in books read since August, so I may choose a few specifically for that. I'm kind of hoping I already read an S book (I know I've read A, L, and O). I'll have to check my list to see.

 

Stacia, Hogfather sounds like a nice break. Maybe I'll try to find that at the library. I would also be interested in A Moveable Feast if I can fit it in. We read The Paris Wife and then The Sun Also Rises in my book club a year or two ago. We all loved the first but I can't say any of us are big Hemingway fans!

 

So many books, so little time. I would love to just curl up with some short stories or something different, but there's always another book I want to get to. Maybe "3 short stories" will end up on my own personal 2016 reading challenge next year.

[Kareni]

I'm very, very sore and very, very tired, but I'm not in pain anymore.  I actually managed to read some yesterday.  Before then I just couldn't concentrate on anything or stay awake.

 

Glad to hear that you're doing better!

 

 

Secret Santa -  If you want to participate in Secret Santa, please pm me with your name, address, amazon wish list link - if you have one  - (if you don't, now's a good time to start one)  and/or Christmas bookish want list.   

 

What are the general guidelines, Robin?

 

 

Boy, it feels like winter here at the moment - we just got home from our Thanksgiving travels and it was 38 deg in the house! 

 

And I thought the 43 degrees we came home to last night was chilly!  We did have a wonderful Thanksgiving with our distant friends though, so it was well worth the trip.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Robin M]

What are the general guidelines, Robin?

 

Regards,

Kareni

Up to $25 range, depending on finances. okay to be creative and do homemade gifts. Shoot for mailing by 18th. Edited November 30, 2015 by Robin M

[Angel]

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving!  We spent it at my parents with my cousin, her dh, and their two boys.  Lots of eating, hiking, shooting, game playing, and reading.  It was so warm Thurs and Fri that we were able to have a wiener/marshmallow roast!  We were all sad to pack up and head home today.

 

Our book reading list:

Me - The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and began Magyk 

Skye - The Fifth Wave, Black Widow Forever Red and began Six of Crows

Aly - Dracula and began Black Widow Forever Red

my nephew - Michael Vey Storm of Lightning

my cousin - began After You

dh - The Immortal Nicholas

 

We shopped at the local "junk" store on Black Friday  :lol:  and they had kid's books 20 for $1.  I didn't have time to find 20 but I picked up a few, two of which are Five in a Row books that we didn't already own.  

 

For my festive holiday dawdling, I'm reading Hogfather. :lol:

 

 

Stacia, can I read this without having read any of the other Discworld novels?

 

Next up, Divergent, for my Thursday book club. It's not one I would have picked. Hopefully it has some redeeming qualities.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this.  Skye loved it but me, not so much.  

 

I also read The Wave.  Man, for an interesting story, that was just a terribly written book. I almost couldn't get past it, it read like a bad after-school special script.  Super fascinating and disturbing premise, though.

 

 

:lol: I was being nice in saying that the writing was really simplistic.  But I've talked a lot about the book this week.

 

I still have an annoying cough. I will have a hard time teaching class tomorrow as I start coughing every time I talk. 

 

 

:grouphug:

 

Heather - so glad that you are not in pain anymore.  Praying for a speedy recovery!

[Jane in NC]

Up to $25 range, depending on finances. okay to be creative and do homemade gifts. Shoot for mailing by 18th.

Last year we said $10 to $25, including postage. I do not want anyone to feel excluded because of finances! This is intended to be a fun surprise.

 

Thanks to Robin for organizing this.

[NoseInABook]

Things have been crazy. I miss you ladies! I read Until The End Of The World today which was a Kindle freebie suggested by Kareni, I want to say. So good. I promptly downloaded the So Long, Lollipops (1.5), And After (2), and All The Stars In The Sky (3). It's exactly the kind of book I need right now as we're gearing up to say good-bye to a foster love yet again this coming week.

[Robin M]

Last year we said $10 to $25, including postage. I do not want anyone to feel excluded because of finances! This is intended to be a fun surprise.

Thanks to Robin for organizing this.

Thank you miss Jane for clarifying. Think I need a secretary or a tickler file to keep track.

[Stacia]

Heather & Mom-ninja, :grouphug: . Feel better quickly, ladies!!!

 

NoseInABook, so good to see you again. Sorry to hear you will be saying goodbye to one of your foster children this week. I know that must be awfully hard. :grouphug:

 

Stacia, can I read this without having read any of the other Discworld novels?

 

Yes, you would be fine reading it without having read other Discworld books. I love this darkly funny tale because Death (one of my favorite Pratchett characters) is just so.darn.literal & he's trying to fill-in for Santa (the Hogfather), which sets up some very funny interactions.

[Angel]

It's exactly the kind of book I need right now as we're gearing up to say good-bye to a foster love yet again this coming week.

:grouphug:  This is the part of fostering that makes you truly amazing!  I could totally take the little ones in but I couldn't let them go.

 

 

Yes, you would be fine reading it without having read other Discworld books. I love this darkly funny tale because Death (one of my favorite Pratchett characters) is just so.darn.literal & he's trying to fill-in for Santa (the Hogfather), which sets up some very funny interactions.

Thanks!  I may see if I can get it from the library!

[Angel]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever this week!  I had seen the movie a long time ago but had never read the book.  What a little treasure!  I was expecting a cute story and a couple chuckles.  I got so much more out of it than that.  True I did laugh out loud!  A lot.  But I was surprised by the little nuggets that kept popping up, the Herdman’s reaction to the Christmas story and especially about how the Herdman’s portrayal of Mary and Joseph seemed more realistic.  Truly A SWEET CHRISTMAS BOOK, one that I may make a tradition to read. 

 

Quote:  “It suddenly occurred to me that this was just the way it must have been for the real Holy Family, stuck away in a barn by people who didn’t much care what happened to them.  They couldn’t have been very neat and tidy either but more like this Mary and Joseph (Imogene’s veil was cockeyed as usual, and Ralph’s hair stuck out all around his ears).  Imogene had the baby doll but she wasn’t carrying it the way she was supposed to, cradled in her arms.  She had it slung up over her shoulder, and before she put it in the manger she thumped it twice on the back.†

[NoseInABook]

In 2015, we've said goodbye to 5 kids. It has all of the suck. :( Here's praying 2016 will bring me one who will stay. At least I have delightful books and a horde of small children who are permanent fixtures to get us through the rough times! 

[Kareni]

Up to $25 range, depending on finances. okay to be creative and do homemade gifts. Shoot for mailing by 18th.

 

 

Last year we said $10 to $25, including postage. I do not want anyone to feel excluded because of finances! This is intended to be a fun surprise.

 

Thanks to Robin for organizing this.

 

Thank you both!

 

 

Things have been crazy. I miss you ladies! I read Until The End Of The World today which was a Kindle freebie suggested by Kareni, I want to say. So good. ...

 

I see it's still free to Kindle readers.  Here's the link:

Until the End of the World (Until the End of the World, Book 1) by Sarah Lyons Fleming

 

"A story of survival, humor and true love. And zombies.

 

Cassie Forrest isn't surprised to learn that the day she’s decided to get her life together is also the day the world ends. After all, she’s been on a self-imposed losing streak since her survivalist parents died: she’s stopped painting, broken off her engagement to Adrian and dated a real jerk. Rectifying her mistakes has to wait, however, because Cassie and her friends have just enough time to escape Brooklyn for her parents’ cabin before Bornavirus LX turns them into zombies, too.

 

This is difficult enough, but Cassie’s tag along ex-boyfriend and her friend’s bratty sister have a knack for making everything, even the apocalypse, more unpleasant. When the two attract a threat as deadly as the undead to their safe haven, Cassie’s forced to see how far she’ll go to protect those she loves. And it’s a lot farther than she’d anticipated. This, coupled with Adrian’s distant voice on Safe Zone Radio and, of course, the living dead, threaten to put Cassie right back into the funk she just dragged herself out of.

 

Survival’s great and all, especially when you have leather armor, good friends and home-brewed beer, but there’s something Cassie must do besides survive: tell Adrian she still loves him. And to do that, Cassie has to find faith that she’s stronger than she thinks, she’s still a crack shot and true love never dies."

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

 

 

[Rosie_0801]

 

 

Stacia, can I read this without having read any of the other Discworld novels?

 

I recommend the Hogfather viewing for December 22nd and 23rd. :) If there's anything better fun than reading Death, it's seeing him on screen!

[Guest]

I have much to thank Stacia for from last week's reading:

 

In Red by Magdalena Tulli: I wouldn't call this magical realism - it felt more like a fairy tale.  The line between real and unreal is not just unclear, it isn't even very relevant.  ...or, perhaps, the truths being described aren't bounded by "reality".  As I try to find words to describe it I think 'cold' & 'crystalline'... I think of ice shards, the glare of light off the snow, the surreality of Poe's frozen regions in Pym... Intriguing, unsettling... fascinating and amazing.  

 

Fire This Time:The Watts Uprising and the 1960's: Although it required a similar slogging through detail in places, this is as fascinating and illuminating a work as No Cause for Indictment.  I especially appreciated the glances at the larger picture.  It isn't as intensely relevant as NCfI, more of the pieces it looks at have shifted, but I think it is at least as important in understanding a number of very current issues and dynamics.  

 

Down the Rabbit Hole by Villalobos: The very understatement of this is heartbreaking.

 

Some review snippets:

 

“Perfectly formed . . . Although easily devoured in one sitting, this clever little book is to be contemplated at length afterwards.†―The Guardian

“Showing how a child absorbs violence without awareness that something is wrong is a tricky endeavor. Mr. Villalobos nails it.†―Susannah Meadows, The New York Times

“If you're going to have an imprisoned child narrate a novel, then not so much as a word should be out of place. There are no such slips in Juan Pablo Villalobos's debut novella. We have here a control over the material which is so tight it is almost claustrophobic . . . This is a novel about failing to understand the bigger picture, and in its absence we can see it more clearly.†―Nicholas Lezard, The Guardian, Choice of the Week

 

Another top book of the week (and year) is thanks to Kareni: Zinky Boys by Svetlana Alexievich.  Kareni shared the link to the Nobel Prize in Literature announcement (and Jane mentioned that Alexievich was ironing when the prize committee called her!).  This is an amazing work of nonfiction.  It is a masterpiece... and now I want to read her book about Chernobyl (and am wishing more of her books were translated!)

 

...remainder in another post.  (Otherwise this will sit here all week waiting for me to finish it!)

 

 

[6packofun]

On the 3rd book of The Last Policeman trilogy.  It's very gripping to me, very realistic (I think) of how the world would change under such circumstances.  (An asteroid coming to plow into Earth on a set date and a known location.)

 

Next up: Beacon 23 by Hugh Howey.  I think for the rest of the year I'll be reading totally for pleasure.  lol  Too much going on in life to tackle something emotionally draining!  :)

[Kareni]

Books read since last week:

 

My husband and I listened to Ariel by Steven R. Boyett on our recent road trip.  We both agreed that it made the time pass pleasantly but that we're not driven to read more by the author.  (Interestingly, I see that this is the author's first book written when he was 19.  It was published in 1983.  He published a sequel in 2009.)  The description below sounds as though it could be a young adult novel.  Take my word for it; it is not!

 

ARIEL sparkles without need of dusting--most great books do stand up to the test of time. Post-apocalyptic fantasies are rare and wonderful, and none more wonderful than this. Wish I could have written this well when I was nineteen.
--Patricia Briggs, #1 New York Times bestselling author

 

 

"Five years ago the lights went out, cars stopped in the streets, and magical creatures began roaming the towns and countrysides of Earth.

Pete Garey, a young loner who survived the Change and the madness that followed, spent two years wandering and scavenging the near-deserted cities and towns alone -- until the day he encountered an injured unicorn. He nursed her back to health and named her Ariel, and an unlikely friendship was formed.

But unicorns are rare even in a Changed world -- and the power of their magic is highly prized. A necromancer in New York City covets that power and will stop at nothing to possess Ariel, dead or alive.

Sought by bounty hunters both human and inhuman, Pete and Ariel decide to make a stand against their enemy -- and journey to confront the dark sorcerer in the ruined heart of the city he has made his own twisted kingdom."

 

**

 

I read the second book in a series; I'd previously read and enjoyed the first.  This book could stand alone, however.  I'll be on the lookout for book three.

 

Scandal Takes the Stage: The Wicked Quills of London by Eva Leigh

 

"Together they may create a scandal worthy of the stage, but can their love last after the final curtain falls…?

 

Successful playwright Maggie Delamere has no interest in the flirtations of noblemen like Cameron, Viscount Marwood. She once paid dearly for a moment of weakness…and vows to rebuff the wildly persistent—and irritatingly handsome—scoundrel at every turn. But when pressure to deliver a new play hampers her creativity, an invitation to use his country estate as a writer’s retreat is too tempting to resist....

 

For years, Cam has admired Maggie’s brilliant work and he can’t pass up the opportunity to discover if the beautiful, mysterious playwright is as passionate and clever as the words that flow from her quill. He’s never offered a lady his bed without being in it, but if it means loosening Maggie’s pen—and her inhibitions—he’ll do exactly that.

 

But soon Cam’s plans for seduction become a fight for Maggie’s heart. He’s more than the scandalous, carefree rake society believes him to be…and she’s the only woman who has ever noticed."

 

**

 

I also read and enjoyed a romance featuring two young men; it had an unusual premise.  This one is definitely not for conservative readers.

 

Dead Ringer by Heidi Belleau and  Sam Schooler

 

"Brandon Ringer has a dead man's face. His grandfather, silver-screen heartthrob James Ringer, died tragically at twenty-one, and Brandon looks exactly like him. But that's where the resemblance ends. Brandon is unknown, unemployed, and up to his ears in bills after inheriting his grandparents' Hollywood mansion. He refuses to sell it--it's his last connection to his grandmother -- so to raise the cash he needs, he joins a celebrity look-alike escort agency.

Percy Charles is chronically ill, isolated, and lonely. His only company is his meddlesome caregiver and his collection of James Ringer memorabilia. When he finds "Jim Ringer" on Hollywood Doubles' website, he books an appointment, hoping to meet someone who shares his passion for his idol.

Brandon? Not that person.

But despite their differences, they connect, and Percy's fanboy love for James shows Brandon a side of his grandfather he never knew. Soon they want time together off the clock, but Percy is losing his battle for independence, and Brandon feels trapped in James's long shadow. Their struggle to love each other is the stuff of classic Hollywood. Too bad Brandon knows how those stories end."

 

**

 

I also recently re-read Judith Ivory's historical romance Untie My Heart.  I enjoyed it once more.

 

"Stuart Aysgarth, the new Viscount Mount Villiars, doesn't know he's playing with fire when he inadvertently runs afoul of Emma Hotchkiss. True, the exquisite Yorkshire lady is a mere sheep farmer, but she also guards a most colorful past that makes her only more appealing to the handsome, haunted lord. Emma has come to him seeking justice -- and Stuart is determined that she will not leave until she has shared her secrets ... and his bed. Her clever revenge scheme must fail in the face of his soft words and tender caress -- and then he turns the tables on his bewitching adversary, seducing her into a daring deception of his own ..."

 

**

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Guest]

I have had Cesaire's Return to My Native Land on my TBR pile for a long time, but our recent conversations caused me to be thinking of it more & then reading Altazor put me more in the mood for that flavor of poetry.

 

...and, speaking of more in the mood, I had read through most of The VIntage Book of African American Poetry in bits and pieces over a period of time, but hadn't connected with much of it.  This time through was very different.  Not every poet was exactly my sort of thing (LeRoi still hasn't grown on me), but somehow the more modern poets all made much more sense to me... gaining more context and insight does wonders.... another confirmation that when I don't appreciate something it is often a lack in me rather than the work itself.... 

 

Three plays:

 

A View from the Bridge by Miller: My least favorite Miller so far (supplanting Crucible by a hairsbreadth), but still powerful and well done.

 

West Side Story: Reading about inner city gangs, about "race" and poverty... made me feel I might be willing to read this again.  The ending still doesn't work for me, but it came much, much closer.

 

The Sandbox & The Death of Bessie Smith by Albee I didn't care for Sandbox, but the Death of Bessie Smith was powerfully unsettling... and given that it is based on a (later disproven) rumor about the death of the famous black singer of the 20's as a result of being turned away by a "whites only" hospital, it intersected painfully with recent readings... 

 

 

[Guest]

 

Carry over from last week -   More brainstorming about reading goals for 2016 

 

How about February for Forster if everyone's agreeable. I wonder if swb included beagle in the new science section of Well Educated Mind? Will soon find out as soon as it arrives. :). Beagle fits our nautical theme which I'm beginning to think will need more than one month. Thinking that since 2nd quarter armchair travels (April, May and June) will be west of the prime meridian, we could do it then. Or should our armchair travels for the year turn in sailing around the world. Something to think about. 

 

 

What did you all think of the monthly themes and author flavors? Ready for something different or more of the same? Any particular authors you would like to see highlighted besides those already mentioned. We usually start the year off with a literary read. This year we started with Murakami. Who would you all like to start the year off with? I'm considering starting off with Vikram Seth's A suitable Boy as the first quarter will be designated as East of the Prime Meridian.  It fits,  but I have several books calling my name, so open.

 

 

Forster in February sounds wonderful!

 

I wonder if we could have a yearlong nautical theme?  ...we could have the Dickinson poem "There is no frigate like a book" as our anthem... 

 

I have loved the monthly themes and author flavors. Keeping that structure sounds marvelous.

 

I'd love to reread Darwin (and it fits with my desire to be reading more science related works next year)

 

Two other ideas:

 

1) When Pam & I were talking about country challenges, I mentioned non-UN "countries" that I count & ethnic groups or regions that I also count as "countries".  And I thought it could be nice to have a month dedicated to these regions: Wales, Basque Territories, Quebec, the Xhosa tribe, various First Nations peoples around the world, etc

 

2) Jane mentions birds so often, and I loved the few books I read the other year (Moonbird, Flight of the Red Knot, Bluebird Effect, & Life Along the Delaware Bay) that I really want to read more... 

 

Oh, and another: I would love to have Turkey (the country, not the bird!) be a monthly focus... 

 

Possible authors:  Cather, Penelope Lively, Iris Murdoch, James Baldwin, Sherman Alexie, Leslie Silko, Brecht, Faulkner, Dostoevsky, Hrabal, Agnon, Amos Oz, Tatyana Tolstaya, Mahfouz, Beauvoir, Modiano, Pamuk, Solnit, Malouf, Rebecca Goldstein, AB Yehoshua, Danticat, Laxness, Rilke, Achebe, Didion, Ismail Kadare

 

...each of the above has more than one book on my list of things I'm fantasizing about reading/rereading/attempting (the latter would be the Faulkner...)

 

And yet another idea: an epistolary theme - either a novel in letters or actual letters.... 

[mumto2]

In 2015, we've said goodbye to 5 kids. It has all of the suck. :( Here's praying 2016 will bring me one who will stay. At least I have delightful books and a horde of small children who are permanent fixtures to get us through the rough times!

 

 

:grouphug: You are my hero! I love babies and can't imagine letting them go. Praying that 2016 will bring one that can stay......

 

On a bookish note I downloaded the Kareni freebie that you enjoyed so much.

 

 

I recommend the Hogfather viewing for December 22nd and 23rd. :) If there's anything better fun than reading Death, it's seeing him on screen![/size]

 

 

Hogfather, the movie, used to be a bit of a tradition for the dc's with their godmother, who happens to be my best friend. I have never watched the whole thing....they enjoyed it with her while I was doing preparations. Not sure where the dvd is but next time I see it I will watch it.

 

 

No time to dawdle here. I've got a matinee performance this afternoon followed by a rehearsal, and December is chock full of music gigs -- 11 programs to be played at 17 different holiday concerts, services and parties. 

 

But I had a delightful time at my favorite independent bookstore yesterday. As part of the Small Business Saturday festivities they invited local authors to come in to help people shop -- they weren't there to promote their own books but to help people navigate through the offerings in their particular genre. I was unaware that the woman talking with me in the mystery section is a mystery author herself, so was totally uninhibited in talking about what I like and dislike. She recommended I subscribe to the Soho Press newsletter as they are a company that specializes in translating and publishing crime novels from around the world. And it turns out she herself is one of their authors!! Based on her recommendations I went home with The Secret Place by Tana French, a series about an Irish homicide squad, and Dead Soon Enough by Steph Cha, a sort of modern Raymond Chandler featuring a female Korean-American detective.  Oh, and the author who helped me shop is Lisa Brackmann, whose books will be next on my list.

 

At my next small business Saturday shopping stop at a bird seed and feeder shop, I was chatting with people in line and discovered that one of the bookstore employees was also in line.  I told him about the author helping me at his shop, and he got out of line to start quizzing me on my reading preferences and recommending other authors to try! 

 

All in all a delightful afternoon, and proof of why shopping local is so worthwhile.

I wish I was going to be there for one of your music gigs.

 

I do think you will enjoy the Tana French book. I have read the whole series except for The Secret Place, which is technically the last in the series. These books are not a typical series...New main characters every book and very little overlap. Interesting setting....we have visited Dublin for a brief overview. These books put my real life exposure into an interesting context. Dh and I keep saying we need to go back but the trip never seems to get planned.

 

The other recommended authors look interesting also. The books are available on my overdrive so I may try them.

 

 

 

  

Carry over from last week -   More brainstorming about reading goals for 2016 

 

 

How about February for Forster if everyone's agreeable. I wonder if swb included beagle in the new science section of Well Educated Mind? Will soon find out as soon as it arrives. :). Beagle fits our nautical theme which I'm beginning to think will need more than one month. Thinking that since 2nd quarter armchair travels (April, May and June) will be west of the prime meridian, we could do it then. Or should our armchair travels for the year turn in sailing around the world. Something to think about. 

 

 

What did you all think of the monthly themes and author flavors? Ready for something different or more of the same? Any particular authors you would like to see highlighted besides those already mentioned. We usually start the year off with a literary read. This year we started with Murakami. Who would you all like to start the year off with? I'm considering starting off with Vikram Seth's A suitable Boy as the first quarter will be designated as East of the Prime Meridian.  It fits,  but I have several books calling my name, so open.

 

I have been looking for A Suitable Boy and can't seem to locate a copy of it. Not sure if I am up for it or not since I think I would need to read a hard copy and potentially travel with it. Too chunky. Maybe we can come up with a kindle available alternative. It reminded me of a Shukriyya recommendation that I know I bookmarked and now can't find. I have been searching......I think it was chunky, a saga type of romance, probably set in India, with a pretty cover. :lol: I am sure everyone can understand why I can't seem to find that book in my 20 page list. Planning to look through some of my other lists as time permits.

[Jane in NC]

2) Jane mentions birds so often, and I loved the few books I read the other year (Moonbird, Flight of the Red Knot, Bluebird Effect, & Life Along the Delaware Bay) that I really want to read more... 

 

 

 

You knew that you were opening a door with that comment!  Let me share the latest photos from our tiny corner of the world.

 

Among my many favorite birds is the gannet. Two are currently in residence at the shelter.  The mature one has a cut on its leg and cannot be released until it heals; the immature one was released but was back at the shelter within a day.  It needs some guidance in finding other gannets, i.e. it needs the mature bird to help it along. 

 

Mature:

 

Immature:

 

 

Yesterday, when strolling past the shelter, I stopped in to chat with one of the volunteers.  We have a policy of not naming birds that are to be released in the wild; only educational birds (birds with physical issues that prevent release) are named.  So yesterday the mature gannet was waddling around the yard. Without thinking, I said "Hello Sweet Pea."  The eyes of the volunteer who had been helping assist in rebandaging the gannet's leg widened.  "Did you just call that bird Sweet Pea?"  Gannets aren't very nice in general and this one is particularly nasty.  The volunteers thought the name suited the bird in an ironic way--an attack gannet called Sweet Pea?

 

On the beach we saw a Plover convention:

 

 

On the topic of books, I should probably read H is for Hawk.

[mumto2]

Beautiful photos Jane

 

Since many of us don't make it over to the main board very often I thought this thread should probably be linked here http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/576249-well-educated-mind-new-editionhelp-requested/. Many here have read the Well Educated Mind and SWB needs us.

 

Unfortunately I haven't read it in it's entirety......but I know some of you have!

[mumto2]

Double Post

 

So...... Currently reading a book that Kareni found for me by one of my favorite author's.https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15701533-the-ashford-affair?from_search=true&search_version=service. Willig is switching between past and present again in this book. So far it is an interesting read.

Edited November 30, 2015 by mumto2

[Kim in Appalachia]

I haven't been reading much, but on my recent trip we listened to China Mieville's Railsea.  I will say that it is well written, with beautiful descriptions and well developed characters. It was also boring.  I got it for my boys, thinking that at least 2 of them would enjoy it, as well as myself.  I do like his books.  But it put my boys to sleep, and it didn't help the long drive go by faster.  I couldn't wait until it was done.  If I taught Middle School English I would assign the book.  It would be more enjoyable than Moby Dick, (it was a steampunk, modern tale based on Moby Dick).  

 

FYI:  Amazon has a bunch of books on sale today as a part of their Cyber Monday.  

[Kareni]

I don't tend to participate in the monthly or author themes though I enjoy reading the comments from those who do.  In fact, the only challenge I can recall doing was this year's spell your name challenge.

 

This suggestion though ~

 

... an epistolary theme - either a novel in letters or actual letters.... 

 

I do like!

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Stacia]

Forster in February sounds wonderful!

 

I wonder if we could have a yearlong nautical theme?  ...we could have the Dickinson poem "There is no frigate like a book" as our anthem... 

 

I have loved the monthly themes and author flavors. Keeping that structure sounds marvelous.

 

I'd love to reread Darwin (and it fits with my desire to be reading more science related works next year)

 

Two other ideas:

 

1) When Pam & I were talking about country challenges, I mentioned non-UN "countries" that I count & ethnic groups or regions that I also count as "countries".  And I thought it could be nice to have a month dedicated to these regions: Wales, Basque Territories, Quebec, the Xhosa tribe, various First Nations peoples around the world, etc

 

2) Jane mentions birds so often, and I loved the few books I read the other year (Moonbird, Flight of the Red Knot, Bluebird Effect, & Life Along the Delaware Bay) that I really want to read more... 

 

Oh, and another: I would love to have Turkey (the country, not the bird!) be a monthly focus... 

 

Possible authors:  Cather, Penelope Lively, Iris Murdoch, James Baldwin, Sherman Alexie, Leslie Silko, Brecht, Faulkner, Dostoevsky, Hrabal, Agnon, Amos Oz, Tatyana Tolstaya, Mahfouz, Beauvoir, Modiano, Pamuk, Solnit, Malouf, Rebecca Goldstein, AB Yehoshua, Danticat, Laxness, Rilke, Achebe, Didion, Ismail Kadare

 

...each of the above has more than one book on my list of things I'm fantasizing about reading/rereading/attempting (the latter would be the Faulkner...)

 

And yet another idea: an epistolary theme - either a novel in letters or actual letters.... 

 

I would love the ethnic groups/regions reading.

 

Might participate in an epistolary reading too. (I have a great one to recommend: Nick & Jake -- it's what led me to read The Sun Also Rises and The Razor's Edge.)

 

Like the idea of a Faulkner author theme.

 

[Just Robyn]

Hi all! I didn't manage to post last week, but I did finish Henry V a couple weeks ago and then last week I finished Hollow CIty. I had started reading Hollow City to my kids, but they just weren't into it, so I finished up solo.

 

I do have a question about it, in case anyone here knows. In the first book, I was under the impression that they were in a time loop in which they repeated the same day over and over, and if they left their loop they would be in the present and age forward. Then their loop was destroyed, so they must not be in their loop anymore, so how are they in 1940 still instead of the present? Don't know if I missed something... Either way, I went with it, and it was a fun book.

 

And Stacia, I put You Animal Machine in as a request for my library. I'll take a look if they get it; maybe I'll just buy a used copy if they don't. Thanks for the rec!

[Stacia]

 

On the beach we saw a Plover convention:

 

 

On the topic of books, I should probably read H is for Hawk.

 

Lovely photos, as always, Jane!

 

Yes, please read H is for Hawk. I've been wanting someone else to read it & review it for me!  :tongue_smilie:  (I can't tell if it's something I would like or not, but I keep seeing it pop up on various lists recommending it, so....)

 

I haven't been reading much, but on my recent trip we listened to China Mieville's Railsea.  I will say that it is well written, with beautiful descriptions and well developed characters. It was also boring.  I got it for my boys, thinking that at least 2 of them would enjoy it, as well as myself.  I do like his books.  But it put my boys to sleep, and it didn't help the long drive go by faster.  I couldn't wait until it was done.  If I taught Middle School English I would assign the book.  It would be more enjoyable than Moby Dick, (it was a steampunk, modern tale based on Moby Dick).  

 

Ruh-roh! That does NOT bode well for me as I approach Moby Dick next year.... :wacko:

 

Kim, always so good to see you when you can pop in!

 

And Stacia, I put You Animal Machine in as a request for my library. I'll take a look if they get it; maybe I'll just buy a used copy if they don't. Thanks for the rec!

 

I hope it works out for you & that you like it. I really do think you would enjoy it!

[Jane in NC]

 

Yes, please read H is for Hawk. I've been wanting someone else to read it & review it for me!  :tongue_smilie:  (I can't tell if it's something I would like or not, but I keep seeing it pop up on various lists recommending it, so....)

 

 

Your wish is my command!  Just put my name on the list for it at the library, Stacia. 

 

[Chrysalis Academy]

A couple of other Voyaging/world travel related boooks on my TR stack I'll throw out there:

 

Wild Thoughts from Wild Places - David Quammen (an author I have come to really enjoy)

anything by Simon Winchester - I own The River at the Center of the World, and I've been wanting to read The Map that Changed the World. I now have my eye on both Atlantic and Pacific.

The Fourth Part of the World - Toby Lester

1491 & 1493 - Charles Mann

 

Edited November 30, 2015 by Chrysalis Academy

[Butter]

I do have a question about it, in case anyone here knows. In the first book, I was under the impression that they were in a time loop in which they repeated the same day over and over, and if they left their loop they would be in the present and age forward. Then their loop was destroyed, so they must not be in their loop anymore, so how are they in 1940 still instead of the present? Don't know if I missed something... Either way, I went with it, and it was a fun book.

 

As long as they are in any loop 1940 or earlier they will not age forward.  They also don't age forward if they are in the present for just a couple or three days.  Time has to catch up with them.  The animal loop is pre-1940.  Basically, the book happens fast enough that they are in the modern world only short amounts of time.  It seems that when they return to a pre-their time loop the time resets so to speak so they have an additional couple or three days before they'd begin to age forward in post-1940 again.

[Kareni]

I finished two more books that I've been working on for a time.

 

The first is quite an enjoyable fantasy.  I'd say it's appropriate for teens as well as adults; I don't recall any troubling content. 

 

The Midnight Queen: A Noctis Magicae Novel by Sylvia Izzo Hunter

 

"In the hallowed halls of Oxford’s Merlin College, the most talented—and highest born—sons of the Kingdom of Britain are taught the intricacies of magickal theory. But what dazzles can also destroy, as Gray Marshall is about to discover…
 
Gray’s deep talent for magick has won him a place at Merlin College. But when he accompanies four fellow students on a mysterious midnight errand that ends in disaster and death, he is sent away in disgrace—and without a trace of his power. He must spend the summer under the watchful eye of his domineering professor, Appius Callender, working in the gardens of Callender’s country estate and hoping to recover his abilities. And it is there, toiling away on a summer afternoon, that he meets the professor’s daughter.
 
Even though she has no talent of her own, Sophie Callender longs to be educated in the lore of magick. Her father has kept her isolated at the estate and forbidden her interest; everyone knows that teaching arcane magickal theory to women is the height of impropriety. But against her father’s wishes, Sophie has studied his ancient volumes on the subject. And in the tall, stammering, yet oddly charming Gray, she finally finds someone who encourages her interest and awakens new ideas and feelings.
 
Sophie and Gray’s meeting touches off a series of events that begins to unravel secrets about each of them. And after the king’s closest advisor pays the professor a closed-door visit, they begin to wonder if what Gray witnessed in Oxford might be even more sinister than it seemed. They are determined to find out, no matter the cost…"

 

I see that a sequel was recently published.  I've put in a purchase suggestion as I'm interested in reading more.

 

**

 

The second book was a re-read; it's a collection of novellas and a short story by Thea Harrison, a favorite author of mine.  I enjoyed revisiting the book; however, I think it would best be read after reading other of the author's Elder Races novels.

 

A Dragon's Family Album: A Collection of the Elder Races

 

**

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

[Just Robyn]

As long as they are in any loop 1940 or earlier they will not age forward.  They also don't age forward if they are in the present for just a couple or three days.  Time has to catch up with them.  The animal loop is pre-1940.  Basically, the book happens fast enough that they are in the modern world only short amounts of time.  It seems that when they return to a pre-their time loop the time resets so to speak so they have an additional couple or three days before they'd begin to age forward in post-1940 again.

 

But why are they in 1940 after leaving their loop and before getting to the animal loop, and also between the animal loop the carnival loop rather than being in the present? ETA: Okay, I missed a loop in there. But ykwim. In between loops, why is it still 1940 if their loop is destroyed?

Edited November 30, 2015 by crstarlette

[Stacia]

Better World Books is offering 30% off on 5+ used books that ship from their warehouse: http://www.betterworldbooks.com/go/cybermonday

(Great time to stock up if you often buy used books.)

 

New York Review Books has free shipping today for orders of $30+. Plus, quite a few of their titles are on sale (including Stoner, which was widely discussed & recommended on here).

[6packofun]

I haven't been reading much, but on my recent trip we listened to China Mieville's Railsea.  I will say that it is well written, with beautiful descriptions and well developed characters. It was also boring.  

 

I'm glad to hear someone else say this.  LOL  I think his new one, The Census-Taker, looks interesting, but has the potential to be a bit boring as well.  I may have to be in a certain frame of mind to try it.

[mumto2]

I finished two more books that I've been working on for a time.

 

The first is quite an enjoyable fantasy. I'd say it's appropriate for teens as well as adults; I don't recall any troubling content.

The Midnight Queen: A Noctis Magicae Novel by Sylvia Izzo Hunter

 

"In the hallowed halls of Oxford’s Merlin College, the most talented—and highest born—sons of the Kingdom of Britain are taught the intricacies of magickal theory. But what dazzles can also destroy, as Gray Marshall is about to discover…

 

Gray’s deep talent for magick has won him a place at Merlin College. But when he accompanies four fellow students on a mysterious midnight errand that ends in disaster and death, he is sent away in disgrace—and without a trace of his power. He must spend the summer under the watchful eye of his domineering professor, Appius Callender, working in the gardens of Callender’s country estate and hoping to recover his abilities. And it is there, toiling away on a summer afternoon, that he meets the professor’s daughter.

 

Even though she has no talent of her own, Sophie Callender longs to be educated in the lore of magick. Her father has kept her isolated at the estate and forbidden her interest; everyone knows that teaching arcane magickal theory to women is the height of impropriety. But against her father’s wishes, Sophie has studied his ancient volumes on the subject. And in the tall, stammering, yet oddly charming Gray, she finally finds someone who encourages her interest and awakens new ideas and feelings.

 

Sophie and Gray’s meeting touches off a series of events that begins to unravel secrets about each of them. And after the king’s closest advisor pays the professor a closed-door visit, they begin to wonder if what Gray witnessed in Oxford might be even more sinister than it seemed. They are determined to find out, no matter the cost…"

 

I see that a sequel was recently published. I've put in a purchase suggestion as I'm interested in reading more.

 

**

 

The second book was a re-read; it's a collection of novellas and a short story by Thea Harrison, a favorite author of mine. I enjoyed revisiting the book; however, I think it would best be read after reading other of the author's Elder Races novels.

A Dragon's Family Album: A Collection of the Elder Races

 

**

 

Regards,

Kareni

Thanks, I just downloaded the Midnight Queen for Dd. It sounds like something she will enjoy!

[Robin M]

Hey dolls,  Amazon's cyber monday kindle sale includes a few Georgette Heyer and Dorothy Sayer books. 800 books with 85% off.  I saw a couple Sherman Alexie on there as well.   Have fun!  I stayed up way too late last night perusing all the titles. 

 

 

Forster in February sounds wonderful!

 

I wonder if we could have a yearlong nautical theme?  ...we could have the Dickinson poem "There is no frigate like a book" as our anthem... 

 

I have loved the monthly themes and author flavors. Keeping that structure sounds marvelous.

 

I'd love to reread Darwin (and it fits with my desire to be reading more science related works next year)

 

Two other ideas:

 

1) When Pam & I were talking about country challenges, I mentioned non-UN "countries" that I count & ethnic groups or regions that I also count as "countries".  And I thought it could be nice to have a month dedicated to these regions: Wales, Basque Territories, Quebec, the Xhosa tribe, various First Nations peoples around the world, etc

 

2) Jane mentions birds so often, and I loved the few books I read the other year (Moonbird, Flight of the Red Knot, Bluebird Effect, & Life Along the Delaware Bay) that I really want to read more... 

 

Oh, and another: I would love to have Turkey (the country, not the bird!) be a monthly focus... 

 

Possible authors:  Cather, Penelope Lively, Iris Murdoch, James Baldwin, Sherman Alexie, Leslie Silko, Brecht, Faulkner, Dostoevsky, Hrabal, Agnon, Amos Oz, Tatyana Tolstaya, Mahfouz, Beauvoir, Modiano, Pamuk, Solnit, Malouf, Rebecca Goldstein, AB Yehoshua, Danticat, Laxness, Rilke, Achebe, Didion, Ismail Kadare

 

...each of the above has more than one book on my list of things I'm fantasizing about reading/rereading/attempting (the latter would be the Faulkner...)

 

And yet another idea: an epistolary theme - either a novel in letters or actual letters.... 

Eliana - You are awesome and I think I'm sold on the year long nautical theme since previous years we spent landlocked, backpacking around the continents, through the centuries and modern times.  Love the list of authors - quite a few I want to pursue.   

 

 
 

I have been looking for A Suitable Boy and can't seem to locate a copy of it. Not sure if I am up for it or not since I think I would need to read a hard copy and potentially travel with it. Too chunky. Maybe we can come up with a kindle available alternative. It reminded me of a Shukriyya recommendation that I know I bookmarked and now can't find. I have been searching......I think it was chunky, a saga type of romance, probably set in India, with a pretty cover. :lol: I am sure everyone can understand why I can't seem to find that book in my 20 page list. Planning to look through some of my other lists as time permits.

It is a chunkster at just over 1000 pages and it doesn't look like he offers any of his book in ebook form.   We can look for some alternatives set in India, but you don't necessarily have to stick with India.  We're going East of the Prime Meridian first so have a wide range.   Let me know if you find the chunky romantic saga with the pretty cover.   :laugh:

 

 

Beautiful photos Jane

Since many of us don't make it over to the main board very often I thought this thread should probably be linked here http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/576249-well-educated-mind-new-editionhelp-requested/. Many here have read the Well Educated Mind and SWB needs us.

Unfortunately I haven't read it in it's entirety......but I know some of you have!

Thanks mum. I just received my copy and will be reading. I've been working through the books quite slowly so it will be interesting to compare and see what the differences are.  

 

I would love the ethnic groups/regions reading.

 

Might participate in an epistolary reading too. (I have a great one to recommend: Nick & Jake -- it's what led me to read The Sun Also Rises and The Razor's Edge.)

 

Like the idea of a Faulkner author theme.
 

Will work in epistolary reads - Nick and Jake sounds interesting. Good think I have the Sun Also Rises in my stacks.  Will make sure Faulkner is included in our author themes.  Will try to work in one male and one female author for each month.  

 

 

 

And yes, we will be working on Dante's third novel in inferno series - Paradiso - at some point.