Book a Week 2015 - BW49: cookish, bookish news and birthdays

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday my lovelies! We are on week 49 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 - cookish, bookish news and birthdays:  

 

 

Happy Hanukkah! 

 

 

Ready to dish and dine on delectable delights for dinner during December?  Yeah, me too. Don't you just love that chair. I seriously want one to curl up in and read to my heart's content.  It's time once again for some Cookish and bookish as well as birthday news.

December 6 

Poet William Stanley Braithwaite (1878–1962) influenced by English Romantic poets John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and William Wordsworth.

Poet Alfred Joyce Kilmer 1886–1918) influenced by the natural beauty of the world.


December 7

Willa Cather (1873 - 1947)  Novelists about frontier life on the great plains including Death Comes for the Archbishop and O Pioneers!   (author flavor in 2016)

Akiko Yosano  (1879 - 1942)  Most controversial classical woman poet in Japan.


December 8

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (1832-1910) 1903 Nobel prize winner and Norwegian poet and novelist

Richard Llewellyn (1906 - 1983) Welsh novelist best known for How Green was my Valley.


December 9

John Milton (1608 - 1674) English poet, best known for his epic Paradise Lost.

Sarah Wright (1928 - 2009)  African American writer and cofounder of Philadelphia Writers Workshop.


December 10 

Nelly Sachs (1891 - 1970)  1966 Nobel prize winner and German author.

Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)  American Poet.


December 11

Naguib Mahfouz  (1911 - 2006)  1988 Nobel prize winner and Egyptian novelist. (Author flavor in 2016) 




Cookish links:

27 favorite new cookbooks from Los Angeles Times 

Epicurious 2015 cookbook canon - 10 essential cookbooks 

and I guess it should come as no surprise that Goodreads Choice award for 2015 best cookbook goes to The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Dinnertime. 


Bookish links:


Rainer Maria Rilke (author of Letters to a Young Poet) on the rewards of rereading.

Have no idea what to do with all those books?  Check out 35 things to do with them.

Enjoy reading only woman authors -- The Norton Anthology of Literature by Women.

Need something to do with your hands while listening to those audiobooks -- Try out a coloring book for adults.     And also check out Julie Beck's  article in The Atlantic -  Zen of Adult Coloring books.

And last but not least, 

Publisher Weekly compilation of  Best Books of 2015. 

The Guardian's Best Books of 2015.

Happy reading! 

 

**************************************************************

 

History of the Medieval World 

 

Chapter 69 Kings of England  

Chapter 70 Baptism of the Rus  

Chapter 71 The Holy Roman Emperor  

 

**************************************************************

 

Deadline to be involved in Secret Santa gift exchange is Friday, Dec 11th.  Please pm me if you want to participate.

 

What are you reading this week? 

 

 

 

 

Link to week 48 

Edited December 6, 2015 by Robin M

[Robin M]

I'm halfway through Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore (hardback) and enjoying the heck out of it.  Partway through Jordan's Fires of Heaven (ebook).   Listening to Moning's Burned in the car for me as well as almost done with Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World which James and I have been listening to. 

[Loesje22000]

I LOVE that chair,I would be able to sit with DD in one chair :)

and I adore cookingbooks :001_wub:

 

DD is official in grade 9 now, so I'll have more time to read now :)

 

Now find something to read... 

[mumto2]

Loesje, Congratulations to your Dd and you. I assume that means your recent exams are complete?

 

Robin, I loved Mr. Penumbra so glad you are enjoying it. Both dc's read and enjoyed it also so your son might like it.

 

My main book this week has been 11/22/63 by Stephen King.https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10644930-11-22-63?ac=1&from_search=1. I think I first reserved it because of the spooky challenge. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it but it was chunky and proved to be a slow read. Saying that my one complaint sounds silly....the ending was rushed. At pages and pages of build up the conclusion came quickly. This wasn't really horror at all but a time travel book. Ds tried to read it but it wasn't his style. I now know why! :lol:

[Jane in NC]

Lots of book notes today but first I have an important announcement:  I finished HoMW!  :party:

 

As a companion piece to HoMW, I have also been reading about the saints in that 13th century classic The Golden Legend.  This has been slower going for me.  Roughly 600 pages down with around 200 more to go.

 

I finished reading A Moveable Feast which I enjoyed as much on this go around as with earlier readings.  One of the things that struck me this time was reading Hem's personal analysis on how he developed writing discipline. In the section called "Hunger was Good Discipline" he explains how his decision to quit journalism to focus on writing stories often left him with an empty belly in a city of delicious smells and food offerings.  Still, it was cheap for an American to live in Paris in the 20's.  As the section closes, he talks about writing his wonderful short story, Big Two-Hearted River, without mentioning the story's title:

 

I sat in a corner with the afternoon light coming in over my shoulder and wrote in the notebook.  The waiter brought me a cafe creme and I drank half of it when it cooled and left it on the table while I wrote.  When I stopped writing I did not want to leave the river where I could see the trout in the pool, its surface pushing and swelling smooth against the resistance of the log-driven piles of the bridge.  The story was about coming back from the war but there was no mention of the war in it.

 

Big Two-Hearted River is one of the Nick Adams stories.  It is a sparse and beautiful tale on how nature heals. Of course, the literally minded would see it only as a sparse description of trout fishing.  With Hemingway one must think not so much about what is said but what is undulating under the surface like trout in the pool. 

 

Thinking about Big Two-Hearted River lead me to think about trout in another context:  Trout Fishing in America, Brautigan's 1967 classic that VC mentioned a year or two ago, one that has been swimming in my unconscious since.  I read this and many other Brautigan books as a high school student.  This morning I could resist it no longer.

 

And of course I am still reading The Good Soldier Å vejk by Czech author Jaroslav HaÅ¡ek.  I am roughly a third of the way into the book which means I have another 500 pages to go or so.

 

Swimming with trout and chunksters on this end.

[Kareni]

 Don't you just love that chair. I seriously want one to curl up in and read to my heart's content. 

 

That chair is seriously appealing!

 

Books recently finished ~

 

Art Before Breakfast: A Zillion Ways to be More Creative No Matter How Busy You Are by Danny Gregory

 

This was a quick and inspiring read; I enjoyed it as I've enjoyed the author's other books that I've read.

 

 

"Packed with the signature can-do attitude that makes beloved artist Danny Gregory a creativity guru to thousands across the globe, this unique guide serves up a hearty helping of inspiration. For aspiring artists who want to draw and paint but just can't seem to find time in the day, Gregory offers 5– to 10–minute exercises for every skill level that fit into any schedule—whether on a plane, in a meeting, or at the breakfast table—along with practical instruction on techniques and materials, plus strategies for making work that's exciting, unintimidating, and fulfilling. Filled with Gregory's encouraging words and motivating illustrations, Art Before Breakfast teaches readers how to develop a creative habit and lead a richer life through making art."

 

**

 

I read and very much enjoyed Julie Murphy's young adult novel Dumplin'.  I recommend it.

 

"For fans of John Green and Rainbow Rowell comes this powerful novel with the most fearless heroine—self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson—from Julie Murphy, the acclaimed author of Side Effects May Vary. With starry Texas nights, red candy suckers, Dolly Parton songs, and a wildly unforgettable heroine—Dumplin’ is guaranteed to steal your heart.

 

Dubbed “Dumplin’†by her former beauty queen mom, Willowdean has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American-beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked . . .  until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.  

Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Teen Blue Bonnet Pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any twiggy girl does. Along the way, she’ll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all."

 

Here are issues that conservative parents might have with the book.  Highlight to read.  One, there is some under-age drinking.  Two, there is profanity.   Three, homosexuality is accepted.

 

**

 

I also read a book that is categorized as a mystery.  I'm not sure why or when I requested it, but it showed up on my hold shelf one day.  I found it a page turner and quite enjoyed it.  While it features a young main character, it definitely is not a young adult novel.

 

The Lock Artist: A Novel by Steve Hamilton

 

""I was the Miracle Boy, once upon a time. Later on, the Milford Mute. The Golden Boy. The Young Ghost. The Kid. The Boxman. The Lock Artist. That was all me.

But you can call me Mike."

Marked by tragedy, traumatized at the age of eight, Michael, now eighteen, is no ordinary young man. Besides not uttering a single word in ten years, he discovers the one thing he can somehow do better than anyone else. Whether it's a locked door without a key, a padlock with no combination, or even an eight-hundred pound safe ... he can open them all.

 

It's an unforgivable talent. A talent that will make young Michael a hot commodity with the wrong people and, whether he likes it or not, push him ever close to a life of crime. Until he finally sees his chance to escape, and with one desperate gamble risks everything to come back home to the only person he ever loved, and to unlock the secret that has kept him silent for so long.

 

Steve Hamilton steps away from his Edgar Award-winning Alex McKnight series to introduce a unique new character, unlike anyone you've ever seen in the world of crime fiction.

 

The Lock Artist is the winner of the 2011 Edgar Award for Best Novel."

 

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Loesje22000]

Loesje, Congratulations to your Dd and you. I assume that means your recent exams are complete?

 

 

Yes.

She failed the last one though, but had enough compensation points to have completed grade 8.

Grade 10 exams are not required, so we skip those.

Grade 12 exams will be necessary to get a diploma, and a diploma is necessary to enter university or to get a job.

 

so our good intentions for 2016 are  to not attend any exams :)

(I doubt this is good English grammar, but that is a personal goal, how to express more complex thoughts in English.)

[Stacia]

Happy Hanukkah!

 

Loesje, congrats on finishing exams!

 

Heather, hoping the excursion downstairs goes well for you today! :grouphug:

 

Publisher Weekly compilation of  Best Books of 2015.

 

Hey, Jane, did you see that Imperium is on this list???  :lol:  I've had that on my to-read list ever since you mentioned it, though my to-read list is waaaaaayyyyy too long right now.

 

I pretty much did no book reading this week. None. Nada.  :tongue_smilie: Bookmarks are still in the same spots in both A Moveable Feast and Hogfather. Hopefully, this week will be a better reading week for me.

 

If any of you are doing holiday book gifting (or hoping to receive), which books are on your list (to buy or to get)? Just nosy & curious.... :D

Edited December 6, 2015 by Stacia

[Robin M]

 

If any of you are doing holiday book gifting (or hoping to receive), which books are on your list (to buy or to get)? Just nosy & curious.... :D

Good Idea, Stacia.  Yes, please do share, ladies.  

[Robin M]

Lots of book notes today but first I have an important announcement:  I finished HoMW!  :party:

 

As a companion piece to HoMW, I have also been reading about the saints in that 13th century classic The Golden Legend.  This has been slower going for me.  Roughly 600 pages down with around 200 more to go.

 

 

Swimming with trout and chunksters on this end.

Woohoo!  Congratulations Jane and kuddo's for sticking it out.  I'm still very tempted by The Golden Legend.  

Edited December 6, 2015 by Robin M

[Just Robyn]

Well, no newly finished books here, either. I read some from The Making of a Story and I read an issue of Zoetrope, but that's it. I'm hoping to begin Library of Souls soon to complete the MIss Peregrine trilogy, but I have doubts about getting to it today.

[Jane in NC]

Happy Hanukkah!

 

Loesje, congrats on finishing exams!

 

Heather, hoping the excursion downstairs goes well for you today! :grouphug:

 

 

Hey, Jane, did you see that Imperium is on this list???  :lol:  I've had that on my to-read list ever since you mentioned it, though my to-read list is waaaaaayyyyy too long right now.

 

I pretty much did no book reading this week. None. Nada.  :tongue_smilie: Bookmarks are still in the same spots in both A Moveable Feast and Hogfather. Hopefully, this week will be a better reading week for me.

 

If any of you are doing holiday book gifting (or hoping to receive), which books are on your list (to buy or to get)? Just nosy & curious.... :D

Yes, congrats to Loesje!  And sending good health vibes to Heather and all who need them!

 

Imperium will probably win my award for oddest book of the year.  For those of you who may have forgotten, Imperium is the fictionalized tale of the very real August Engelhardt who traveled to the South Seas around 1900 to form a coconut based utopia.  The book introduces the word "cocovore" into the lexicon.  Quirky and then some.

[Stacia]

Oh yeah. My dad finally read The Martian & really enjoyed it.

 

It was interesting to hear him talk about it. He was impressed with the science parts in it that related to his knowledge areas (a lot of the O2, CO2, hydrogen, & hydrazine (sp?) stuff -- my technical wording there  ;) ) because they were the same &/or very similar to what he dealt with when he was on subs. He was comparing the living environment being similar -- where you live in a closed environment surrounded by a hostile environment (non-survivable w/out proper equipment) outside your walls. He also mentioned some of the things in relation to his years of work in nuclear engineering & working w/ rocket engine companies. Prior to this conversation, I had never really thought about an astronaut living in a structure on another planet to be similar to living in a submarine far underwater, but I definitely can see similarities after talking with him. It was a fascinating & fun conversation w/ him.

 

Re: my other question... (books for giving this season)....

 

For my hubby: "Make Me" by Lee Child

 

For my daughter: a military dog training book; "Manners & Mutiny" by Gail Carriger; "The Falconer" by Elizabeth May; " Avalon Rising" by Kathryn Rose

 

For my son: " Vargic's Miscellany of Curious Maps: Mapping the Modern World" by Martin Vargic; "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown; "A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka: A Memoir" by Lev Golinkin; " Humans of New York: Stories" by Brandon Stanton; "Felines of New York" by Jim Tews

 

For my sister: Burt Reynold's autobiography; an old used book I found that has royal newspaper headlines/articles for the past 100 years or so

 

For my sister-in-law:  "Pure Vegetarian: 108 Indian-Inspired Recipes to Nourish Body and Soul" by Lakshmi Wennakoski-Bielicki

 

For my nephew: the same military dog training book that dd is getting

 

For my niece: "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing" by M. T. Anderson

 

For my dad: not sure ???

 

 

[Chrysalis Academy]

 

 

If any of you are doing holiday book gifting (or hoping to receive), which books are on your list (to buy or to get)? Just nosy & curious.... :D

 

We don't do adult gift exchanges, but I did just have a birthday! Dh gave me The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606 by James Shapiro. He was card shopping and it caught his eye as something I might like - how well he knows me!  I also asked my folks for an Amazon gift card that I'm determined to spend on books for me, no school stuff.  I know my first purchase will be The Invention of Nature, which I was super stoked to read even before it started showing up on 10 best lists!  Not sure what else I'll buy, it's such a luxury to have guilt-free book money.  It does make the issue of insufficient shelving rear its ugly head again, however . . . 

[idnib]

I'm still reading Tristano Dies and House of Leaves. This morning I started reading The Sleeper and the Spindle (thanks Rose!) to the children but then they were invited somewhere so I'll finish tonight.

 

Speaking of cookbooks, my favorite is Zuni Cafe's, which I noticed is in Robin's link to 10 essential cookbooks. I bought it when it came out and I still make recipes from it regularly, especially the roast chicken. I can't say that for too many cookbooks. We're planning to eat at Zuni next month when we go to SF for a symphony concert. Can't wait!

 

The cookbook I covet is Sundays at Lucques. Chowhound has a thread started in 2007 for people to talk about recipes from the book and that's what got me excited about it. Someday....

[Ali in OR]

Love the chair and loved the link to the cookbooks 0f 2015--think I'll see if a few are in the library. Pioneer Woman's Dinnertime is already under the tree for me--glad to see it make the list.

 

Finished The Gap of Time which I enjoyed. I probably thought a little too much about the writer's craft--how to write a cover, where to flesh out the story more, what details you add, what changes you make--interesting to me. Having more detail about Leo/Leontes doesn't make you like him any better. In fact there was so much detail that I coudn't give him any benefit of the doubt re his actions. And I couldn't believe he had reformed much at all. I also picked up the next Sebastian St. Cyr, Where Serpents Sleep, and finished that in a couple of days. Really enjoying that series.

 

Stacia linked a Best Fiction of 2015 list last week and I put a couple on hold--they're now waiting for me at the library. I suspended the rest of my hold list so I can try to get these done in the next two weeks. I have Welcome to Braggsville and Infinite Home waiting for me.

 

Keep listing your gifts, everyone. I need to come up with an Amazon package of Christmas morning fun for my dad and his wife and my in-laws. Under our tree:

youngest: the newest Rick Riordan

middle: hope to find the Hunger Games trilogy (out of stock at Amazon)

oldest: Adele 25 (she's a music girl, not a book girl)

dh: from his Amazon wishlist, some business type book about maximizing your first two hours of the day I think

me: Pioneer Woman's cookbook

[Negin]

Robin, I want that chair! :)

 

I read Things That Matter: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes, and Politics - 4 Stars - Charles Krauthammer is incredibly intelligent and articulate and I thoroughly enjoy his articles in “The Washington Postâ€, so I was eager to read this book. It’s a collection of his commentaries and essays. Reading this reminded me of another favorite of mine that I read almost two decades ago, “Think a Second Time†by Dennis Prager. Both are collections of articles that are brilliant and thought-provoking. The only reason that I’m giving it 4 stars rather than 5, is that some of the pieces are a bit dated. After all, this book is a compilation over the course of three decades. 

 

 

MY RATING SYSTEM

5 Stars

Fantastic, couldn't put it down

4 Stars

Really Good

3 Stars

Enjoyable

2 Stars

Just Okay – nothing to write home about

1 Star

Rubbish – waste of my money and time. Few books make it to this level, since I usually give up on them if they’re that bad.

[Rosie_0801]

And sending good health vibes to Heather and all who need them!

 

Me. I'm in court for the third time tomorrow so shall be meeting with lawyer and barrister today. So stressed I can barely eat.

[JennW in SoCal]

Instead of practicing, or sewing Christmas presents, or emptying the dishwasher or walking the dog yesterday, I sat glued to the couch and devoured the last half of The Secret Place, the Tana French crime novel I bought at last week's small business Saturday. I stayed up til midnight, even though I had to be up early to play at church this morning! What I especially loved about it was the rich and complex characters, and her twist in telling a standard police procedural.  It all takes place in one, long day, it features probably more teen angst and drama than anyone wants -- and it was a tad stereotypical -- but what a page turner. Loved it.

 

In my car I'm listening to Alexander McCall Smith's modern retelling of Emma. So far it is light and amusing -- I especially love Mr. Woodhouse being a vegan, alternative medicine nut on top of being a neurotic germ-o-phobe. The reviews of it on audible cracked me up as people who don't know the original Austen just couldn't stand the character of Emma!  Ummm, hello?? (Said in my best sarcastic teen voice). Like that was totally what Austen was going for??  Lovers of Austen are decidedly mixed in their opinions about it, some detesting it, some loving it.  As I said -- it is a light and fluffy listen while dealing with holiday traffic.

 

Holiday book buying...

 

College boy is getting Bats of the Republic and Thing Explainer, the latest title by XKCD creator Randall Munroe.

 

I am thinking of giving Barbarian Days, A Surfing Life to both my oldest brother and brother-in-law. 

 

I asked for a few mysteries as well as H is for Hawk and Jane's Osprey book Soaring with Fidel.  I also asked for a few other titles I've jotted down this year that y'all recommended, but can't remember now which ones! 

 

 

[Jane in NC]

Me. I'm in court for the third time tomorrow so shall be meeting with lawyer and barrister today. So stressed I can barely eat.

Oh Rosie...

 

I am so sorry that you are being subjected to this stress. Sending hugs...and wisdom to your legal advisor.

 

Holding you in the light,

Jane

[Kareni]

Oh yeah. My dad finally read The Martian & really enjoyed it.

 

I'm glad he enjoyed it.  And I enjoyed hearing about living on a submarine being a similar circumstance. 

 

Re: my other question... (books for giving this season)....

 

For my dad: not sure ???

 

Would he enjoy a submarine book?  (I wonder where that thought came from??)

 

 

Daves' Pick of The Best Submarine Books

© 2007

 

Essential Submarine Books

 

Best Submarine Nonfiction Books

 

 

And, speaking of The Martian, my husband and I are going to see it in a couple of hours.  This is the first movie I will be seeing in a movie theater in years.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

Me. I'm in court for the third time tomorrow so shall be meeting with lawyer and barrister today. So stressed I can barely eat.

 

Wishing you success in court and peace of mind.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

Rosie :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

[Chrysalis Academy]

My kids are getting a bunch of books under the tree.  They have the last Percy Jackson book they don't own coming, plus Shannon wanted her own copies of The Belgariad and The Mallorean, and Morgan is getting the rest of the Nanny Piggins series.

 

Reading this week: not much. I listened to Rachel Carson's The Sense of Wonder, which made me feel sad that we're not spending more time outdoors. I'm currently listening to Steven Pinker's The Sense of Style and enjoying it very much. I'm reading The Year of Lear, Dawkin's memoir Brief Candle in the Dark, and HotMW.  For fiction, I need to choose between The Turn of the Screw, Winterson's 2nd book The Passion, Valis by Philip K Dick, and Nightwood by Djuna Barnes - they all came from the library at once and I can't decide which I'm in the mood for.

[Stacia]

:grouphug: :grouphug: , Rosie. Many good thoughts flying over the lands & oceans from here to you....

 

Thanks, Kareni. I think I see at least a few on those lists that I'm pretty sure he hasn't read. Have fun at The Martian! (Can't remember offhand what they call the oxygenator machine in The Martian, but my dad said that on the sub they joked that they referred to theirs as the O2 detonator. I guess you have to have gallows humor when living & serving in an environment that is not necessarily safe. :tongue_smilie: )

Edited December 6, 2015 by Stacia

[SKL]

A couple of weeks ago, I started a Grisham novel I had lying around.  The Broker.  Based on some airline ticket stubs I found in it, I must have bought it at an airport in 2006 on the way to China.  :P  I remembered almost none of it so I don't know how far I got back then.  I guess that's the good thing about light reading - you can re-read it and feel like it's a new book all over again.  :P  So I read some on my trip to Vegas last week, but I had so much work to do that I am still only about 3/5 done with it.

 

I think I'll move onto a Robin Cook book after this.  (Hey, does that count as a cook book?)

[SKL]

I ordered a bunch of nonfiction books for my kids.  They might not care for them, but I'm actually looking forward to reading them.  Truth be told, a fair bit of my random knowledge comes from reading kids' nonfiction books.  :P  But I'm getting rusty in my old age.

[Butter]

I think I'll move onto a Robin Cook book after this.  (Hey, does that count as a cook book?)

 

Whenever I say I read a Robin Cook book, my husband says he doesn't really like Robins.

 

And just because... this is Robin Cook and me just before he signed his then-newest book, Cure (which I still haven't read lol), at the Science and Engineering Festival in DC a few years ago.  He was SO funny and fascinating in his Book Talk.  I hugged him.

[Jane in NC]

Regarding books for gifts:

 

Thanks to Rose for mentioning Roadside Picnic by Arkady Strugatsky which I ordered for my husband's stocking.  It has a forward by Ursula Leguin who is one of his favorite writers.

 

I am giving the adorable picture book Brief Thief to a grand nephew.

 

And I should have requested the Seamwork Annual sewing book from Colette Patterns for myself.  But I think Santa may deliver it nonetheless.. ;)

 

No comments on Spike Lee's new film, Chi-Raq, a riff on Lysistrata?  Stacia, this looks like something you might attend.

 

And speaking of Christmas gifts, don't forget the card game Sleeping Queens (now in a 10th anniversary tin), a game created by a home schooler!

 

 

 

 

[Lady Florida.]

Congratulations Jane and loesje. (((hugs))) Rosie.

 

Not much new in my world of reading. I finished listening to Silas Marner. That was a lovely little story. Now I'm listening to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I re-activated my Audible subscription just so I can get those audio books. One down, six to go. My next credit will be available the 21st of this month.

[Butter]

I finished reading Baby Shark by Robert Fate.  It's a thriller set in 1950s Texas.  It's told from the point of view of a girl (17-20) who witnesses her father's murder in a pool hall (he was a hustler) and is brutally gang raped and beaten by the murderers and left for dead when the pool hall is torched.  She ends up obsessed with avenging that night and killing the four gang members who were there.  It was very fast paced and that didn't end until literally the last page.  I read it on my Kindle and the author was one of those annoying ones who want to control the font style and size.  The setting for what I normally read at made the print tiny so it was a bit irritating going between books since I'd have to change the font size or the other books would be huge.  I hate when authors do that.

[Guest]

Three books recommended here (and which I strongly recommend):

 

A Treatise on Shelling Beans:  Thank you, Jane for the recommendation, and Pam for the book itself... I have been reading this slowly over a number of months now.  I'm not sure why - I am much more prone to devouring books - but this one I wanted to savor, to dip into for a chapter and then step away again.  It is a quiet masterpiece of a book, with resonant silences and a pointillist narrative with absorbing minutia  and (seeming) rabbit trails that coalesce into a shimmering sense of a still imperfectly glimpsed story.

 

The Sellout: Thank you, Rose for your thoughtful review (and forewarning that this was not for the faint of heart).  This bitterly satirical novel comfirms my belief that there are insights that can only be found in fiction.  Some of the early bits were very hard going for me, but the pay off was worth it... and the unsettling questions it raises will haunt me.

 

Detroit: Jane read this last month and I was was intrigued.  It contrasted strongly with No Cause for Indictment, which was also subtitled 'an autopsy'.  NCfI not only has a wealth of detailed evidence and data, it also looks at causes and connections. The Fire This Time, while not claiming to be an autopsy, has an even greater amount of data and a fair bit of analysis.  Detroit lacks both data and analysis while reading a bit like a Hammet novel - punchy and hardboilied.  ...but this is a very different type of 'autopsy', a messy one, without any real analysis or systematic examination... a series of impressionistic responses and anecdotes... and a great deal of very personal reflections... the author's own history and current day life are part of the mess that is Detroit.  I do recommend it (and, for very different reasons the other two), but with a caveat: if you don't find the author's voice engaging right away, if you don't want to keep reading, then send it back to the library and move on.

 

Otherwise, I completed two poetry books & two plays:

 

Poetry:

 

Shake Loose My Skin: New and Selected Poetry by Sonia Sanchez: Sanchez was mentioned (and at least one of her poems quoted) in Between the World and Me & I very much wanted to read more by her.  These are powerful, intense, emotional poems that drew me and led me to read this collection in a single sitting (I had just opened it to read a poem or two!).  I've put her on my list to read more of for next year...

 

If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho translated by Anne Carson: The best Sappho translations I've seen... and with fabulous notes!

 

Plays:

 

Rabbit Hole: This play deals with the aftermath of a child's accidental death in ways that feel very real... and it is the very lack of melodrama, the lack of easy answers - even the lack of anyone disintegrating from the pressures - that gives it such power.  I was shaking when I reached the end because I recognized the fear, the stumbling attempts to move forward, the misfitting coping techiniques within a marriage and the other deftly sketched challenges of moving forward once a crisis is over. 

 

Driving Miss Daisy: I'm not sure why, but this play didn't reach me as much as it has before. 

 

[mumto2]

Congratulations Jane! I never even managed to start the middle ages or my chosen religious history books. Hopefully next year.....

 

All this talk about the Pioneer Woman made me go searching my overdrive library for one of her cookbooks. Before last week when another thread linked one of her recipes I really hadn't been exposed (thought she was similar to the tightwad gazette lady ;) :lol: ). Remember I live in England.....anyway I was able to check out the first cookbook. Just finished skimming through it. I am not vegetarian by any means but that was tons of meat and potatoes and calories. I now know why my potato skin attempts have always failed :lol: She is fun to read.....

[Onceuponatime]

Hope all goes well Rosie.

 

 

 

Last week I read Divergent. I liked it better than the Hunger Games. The spare language seemed to fit the story, but I really hated reading about the kids beating each other up. I was disappointed that the story had no ending. I'm not sure I'll ever read the other books.

 

I've started on The Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula LeGuin. So far, so good.

[Guest]

Not much new in my world of reading. I finished listening to Silas Marner. That was a lovely little story. .

 

I am intensely fond of Silas Marner...  every time I reread it or Middlemarch I wonder if I should give Mill on the Floss another chance... and then I remember how intensely I hated MotF and decide not to...

 

I ordered a bunch of nonfiction books for my kids.  They might not care for them, but I'm actually looking forward to reading them.  Truth be told, a fair bit of my random knowledge comes from reading kids' nonfiction books.  :p  But I'm getting rusty in my old age.

My daughters just pulled a favorite nonfiction picture book off the shelf when they got to the gentic unit in their bio program... Gregor Mendel: The Friar Who Grew Peas.  (And there is (finally!) a paperback edition!)

 

 

 

Me. I'm in court for the third time tomorrow so shall be meeting with lawyer and barrister today. So stressed I can barely eat.

 

:grouphug:   Oh, love.  When life hangs by a strand and there is so little you can do it influence it... it is hard to breathe let alone eat or sleep.  :grouphug:

...but do keep trying.  A few bites here and there (junk food, if that is easier), and a few sips now and again (smoothies?), and keep breathing.  Try to not even think about tomorrow, just think about right now this second... and keep breathing. 

 

I wish I could be there to hold your hand in court, to push bits of food on you, for you to snap at, to hear you talk through your fears, to keep telling you I love you and to keep holding on with you to the hope/belief that sanity and justice will prevail... somehow, really.  :grouphug:

 

...and to keep reminding you to concentrate on breathing... oxygen in, carbon dioxide out... live one breath at a time. 

 

You are in my heart, love, hang in there. 

[Butter]

Last week I read Divergent. I liked it better than the Hunger Games. The spare language seemed to fit the story, but I really hated reading about the kids beating each other up. I was disappointed that the story had no ending. I'm not sure I'll ever read the other books.

 

It's a typical dystopian trilogy.  You don't get a real ending until the end of the trilogy.  And the middle book is almost never as good as the first and third.  Of course the Divergent series and the way the author ended it was so unexpected and so not typical.  It seems most people either loved it or hated it with very little in between.  I go back and forth.  It's been over two years since I read it and I still haven't decided if I love or hate the ending.  I have a specific issue with it, but it's not enough to make me hate it for sure.  It did get the author some serious death threats.  Some people are just plain obnoxious.  I know it's usually people on-line just venting, but it only takes one crazy person.  Especially around the time a popular author's book is released, their whereabouts are pretty well known as they go to book signings.  Speaking of death threats, John Green received one especially disturbing death threat about a year or so ago which included a picture of his house with his little boy's bedroom window circled.  That's so over the top creepy that needless to say he passed that on to the police right away.  Anyway, the third in the Divergent trilogy definitely didn't go where I (or pretty much anyone) expected.  And it definitely looks like the movies are going in a completely different direction.  Insurgent the movie was very different from Insurgent the book.  I have to admit... I liked the movie version better.

[Jane in NC]

Three books recommended here (and which I strongly recommend):

 

A Treatise on Shelling Beans:  Thank you, Jane for the recommendation, and Pam for the book itself... I have been reading this slowly over a number of months now.  I'm not sure why - I am much more prone to devouring books - but this one I wanted to savor, to dip into for a chapter and then step away again.  It is a quiet masterpiece of a book, with resonant silences and a pointillist narrative with absorbing minutia  and (seeming) rabbit trails that coalesce into a shimmering sense of a still imperfectly glimpsed story.

 

The Sellout: Thank you, Rose for your thoughtful review (and forewarning that this was not for the faint of heart).  This bitterly satirical novel comfirms my belief that there are insights that can only be found in fiction.  Some of the early bits were very hard going for me, but the pay off was worth it... and the unsettling questions it raises will haunt me.

 

Detroit: Jane read this last month and I was was intrigued.  It contrasted strongly with No Cause for Indictment, which was also subtitled 'an autopsy'.  NCfI not only has a wealth of detailed evidence and data, it also looks at causes and connections. The Fire This Time, while not claiming to be an autopsy, has an even greater amount of data and a fair bit of analysis.  Detroit lacks both data and analysis while reading a bit like a Hammet novel - punchy and hardboilied.  ...but this is a very different type of 'autopsy', a messy one, without any real analysis or systematic examination... a series of impressionistic responses and anecdotes... and a great deal of very personal reflections... the author's own history and current day life are part of the mess that is Detroit.  I do recommend it (and, for very different reasons the other two), but with a caveat: if you don't find the author's voice engaging right away, if you don't want to keep reading, then send it back to the library and move on.

 

Otherwise, I completed two poetry books & two plays:

 

Poetry:

 

Shake Loose My Skin: New and Selected Poetry by Sonia Sanchez: Sanchez was mentioned (and at least one of her poems quoted) in Between the World and Me & I very much wanted to read more by her.  These are powerful, intense, emotional poems that drew me and led me to read this collection in a single sitting (I had just opened it to read a poem or two!).  I've put her on my list to read more of for next year...

 

If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho translated by Anne Carson: The best Sappho translations I've seen... and with fabulous notes!

 

Plays:

 

Rabbit Hole: This play deals with the aftermath of a child's accidental death in ways that feel very real... and it is the very lack of melodrama, the lack of easy answers - even the lack of anyone disintegrating from the pressures - that gives it such power.  I was shaking when I reached the end because I recognized the fear, the stumbling attempts to move forward, the misfitting coping techiniques within a marriage and the other deftly sketched challenges of moving forward once a crisis is over. 

 

Driving Miss Daisy: I'm not sure why, but this play didn't reach me as much as it has before. 

 

Eliana, I am so glad that you read A Treatise on Shelling Beans and so grateful to Pam for her generosity in sharing books.  MyÅ›liwski's novel will certainly receive my award for the book that impacted me most this year.  I truly loved it.

 

Yeah, LeDuff's Detroit is not for everyone but given how he is a product of the city, his voice seems to speak louder than statistics in telling the tale of the demise of a once vibrant place. 

 

And now a recommendation from my library bag although I have only dipped my toe in.  The Frozen Thames by Canadian author Helen Humphreys consists of imagined tales rooted in history.  Her writing is poetic.  Just lovely.

 

[Nan in Mass]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1hzITuN4fMg

 

Nan

[idnib]

Lots of book notes today but first I have an important announcement:  I finished HoMW!  :party:

 

Jane, that's fantastic! Congrats!

 

I know my first purchase will be The Invention of Nature, which I was super stoked to read even before it started showing up on 10 best lists! 

 

My copy is supposed to arrive tomorrow!

 

Me. I'm in court for the third time tomorrow so shall be meeting with lawyer and barrister today. So stressed I can barely eat.

 

:grouphug:  :grouphug:  :grouphug:

 

 

 

Jane, I can't get this to quote, somehow:

 

No comments on Spike Lee's new film, Chi-Raq, a riff on Lysistrata?  Stacia, this looks like something you might attend.

 

We almost went today as the kids were elsewhere for most of the afternoon, but we decided to hike instead. Do you have plans to see it?

 

Edited December 7, 2015 by idnib

[Jane in NC]

Jane, I can't get this to quote, somehow:

 

No comments on Spike Lee's new film, Chi-Raq, a riff on Lysistrata? Stacia, this looks like something you might attend.

 

We almost went today as the kids were elsewhere for most of the afternoon, but we decided to hike instead. Do you have plans to see it?

Limited release so it is not available in my world. At least for now.

[idnib]

Limited release so it is not available in my world. At least for now.

 

Hopefully soon, then. Somehow I missed that it was limited release.

[Stacia]

Happy belated St. Niklaas Day! Hope it was fun for those who celebrate.

 

Jane, congrats on finishing HotMW. That's an accomplishment!! Also, thanks for the mention of The Frozen Thames. I'll have to look that one up & see if my library has it. It makes me think of one of the scenes in Virginia Woolf's Orlando....

 

No, didn't really know much about the Spike Lee movie until you mentioned it. Looked it up & it is playing around here. May have to go.... Thanks for pointing it out to me.

 

A bookish friend & I went to see a comedienne tonight & it was extra fun because she (the comedienne) actually is apparently a reader & had some funny, book-ish humor & jokes in her routine. My friend & I both thought that was pretty cool.

 

Sadie, that book looks good. I read Colum McCann's "Dancer" years ago & loved it. I later tried "Let the Great World Spin" but couldn't get into it & didn't finish it.

 

Does anyone notice that so many more books today seem to be short story collections &/or essays? Or is that just my skewed perception? Are there more out there? Is it becoming a more popular form of literature these days?

 

Jenn, I should be getting Bats of the Republic as a gift under the tree. Your post reminded me. (I ordered it & gave it to dh so he could give it to me. :lol: )

 

Rose, enjoy spending your amazon gift cards on your own books! We'll definitely be waiting to hear what you pick.

 

Ali, I think I feel like you did about Leo in The Gap of Time. I realize both Shakespeare's & Winterson's versions are ultimately about forgiveness & moving on, but I find it hard to forgive Leo myself & I don't feel entirely sure that he has reformed -- rather that those around him are 'bigger' people & willing to forgive & looking forward & not back. I don't know; I just felt very mixed & confused & upset by him as a character, esp. in Winterson's version (maybe because her version seemed more 'modern' & closer to true-to-life perhaps?).... I mean, I can see some of the healing in the story (& time heals all wounds, eventually, as the saying goes) but....

 

I need to get back to reading. I have plenty of books on request & they're coming in so my piles are growing. Need to finish my in-progress books first!

 

Edited December 7, 2015 by Stacia

[aggieamy]

I'm reading through a fascinating book on everyday life in Victorian times.  I don't remember the name as it's on my bedside table but I'll make a point of remembering it in the morning and reporting back. 

 

Super excited about reading cookbooks this month.  One of my favorite genres!  Anyone have any interesting or quirky cookbooks to recommend?

 

Rosie - ((HUGS))

 

Congratulations Jane! I never even managed to start the middle ages or my chosen religious history books. Hopefully next year.....

All this talk about the Pioneer Woman made me go searching my overdrive library for one of her cookbooks. Before last week when another thread linked one of her recipes I really hadn't been exposed (thought she was similar to the tightwad gazette lady ;) :lol: ). Remember I live in England.....anyway I was able to check out the first cookbook. Just finished skimming through it. I am not vegetarian by any means but that was tons of meat and potatoes and calories. I now know why my potato skin attempts have always failed :lol: She is fun to read.....

 

Pioneer Woman used to be a member of WTM from what I remember because she's also a homeschooler.  I like reading through her cookbooks because they are so well done and interesting but I hardly ever make one of her recipes.  Not my cooking style. 

[KathyBC]

Well, no Cultural Virtue Points for me this week; I just finished Career of Evil (Galbraith).

[idnib]

A Japanese newspaper has released some library records belonging to Murakami when he was a boy, librarians are upset. What do you guys think? In the public interest or violation of privacy? I'll keep my opinion to myself and see what others have to say first.

[mumto2]

I think it might be fun if we all share our favourite cookbook(s). Mine is one that my aunt, who is almost 100, gave to everyone except me as a wedding present( a vase ;( ????? ). I was soooooo disappointed, my sil scrambled to get me my own copy! It is called Little Rock Cooks by the Junior League of Little Rock. It isn't a cookbook book to read but lots of great recipes that always seem to work....published in 1972 so definitely not low fat! They stopped publishing it for years and my book is held together with rubberbands. It is back apparentlyhttp://www.amazon.com/Little-Rock-Cooks-Junior-League/dp/0960672400.

 

Since Little Rock cooks isn't going to provide much in the way of browsing another favourite is Estefan Cooks. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3026713-estefan-kitchenIt is one I enjoy paging through. Dd and I have made a few of the recipes. Yum!

 

British Bakeoff also publishes enjoyable cookbooks. Here is an article with great pictures and I think it linkshttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/recipes/11768515/The-Great-British-Bake-Off-our-favourite-recipes.html. Mary Berry has lots of great recipes that can be googled.

[Jane in NC]

A Japanese newspaper has released some library records belonging to Murakami when he was a boy, librarians are upset. What do you guys think? In the public interest or violation of privacy? I'll keep my opinion to myself and see what others have to say first.

 

Violation in my opinion.  I understand why the records may be important to biographers or scholars analyzing Murakami's work, but it seems that the man himself or his family (after he dies) should give the nod to those wanting to publish the records.

 

The need for sunshine laws is critical.  However, I see sunshine laws applying to public meetings or emails--not library records.  One could imagine a recurrence of McCarthy-like hearings:  "Politician X borrowed Das Kapital from the library. We knew she was a communist!"

 

I think it might be fun if we all share our favourite cookbook(s). Mine is one that my aunt, who is almost 100, gave to everyone except me as a wedding present( a vase ;( ????? ). I was soooooo disappointed, my sil scrambled to get me my own copy! It is called Little Rock Cooks by the Junior League of Little Rock. It isn't a cookbook book to read but lots of great recipes that always seem to work....published in 1972 so definitely not low fat! They stopped publishing it for years and my book is held together with rubberbands. It is back apparentlyhttp://www.amazon.com/Little-Rock-Cooks-Junior-League/dp/0960672400.

 

Since Little Rock cooks isn't going to provide much in the way of browsing another favourite is Estefan Cooks. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3026713-estefan-kitchenIt is one I enjoy paging through. Dd and I have made a few of the recipes. Yum!

 

British Bakeoff also publishes enjoyable cookbooks. Here is an article with great pictures and I think it linkshttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/recipes/11768515/The-Great-British-Bake-Off-our-favourite-recipes.html. Mary Berry has lots of great recipes that can be googled.

 

Great idea!  First thanks for the GBBO recipe links.  Inspiring but over the top?

 

My most loved cookbook is probably Moosewood (the original) although I have several other Moosewood/Molly Katzen books that I use regularly too.  All around cookbooks like Julia and Joy are on the shelves.  Our copy of Florence Lin's Complete Book of Chinese Noodles, Dumplings and Breads is in sections--the binding failed long ago.  Another book that is held together with a rubber band is Our Michigan:  Ethnic Tales and Recipes (Carole Eberly).  It is a tribute to immigrants and the recipes they brought with them. Another favorite is a King Arthur flour baking book.

 

Oh the irony!  The French cookbook Goosefat & Garlic resides next to the Lowfat Moosewood. How did that happen?

[Onceuponatime]

A Japanese newspaper has released some library records belonging to Murakami when he was a boy, librarians are upset. What do you guys think? In the public interest or violation of privacy? I'll keep my opinion to myself and see what others have to say first.

Violation. I recently wrote a persuasive essay for my public speaking class on public libraries and democracy in America. I have no idea what privacy policies Japanese librarians have in place, but here in the US, there is a librarian's code of ethics which prohibits sharing information about the reading material of patrons. This policy is to insure the free dissemination of knowledge. People should be free to explore ideas without fear or shame. The U.S. government has tried to get librarians to share patron information a few times. There has usually been librarian revolt in response, with good cause in my opinion. For a modern example, what if I want to educate myself about terrorists and terrorism, war and weaponry.(I don't) Would the public, or the government be able to see that it was just the intellectual curiosity of a short, skinny, nerdy, 51 yo, white woman?

 

I think the fact that Murakami is a well known author does not mean that he, or any other author, should not have the same rights to privacy as the general populace. From the article, it seems he has given no response, which I can understand if he doesn't want it to become a thing out of proportion. But still, the principle of it makes me angry on his behalf.

 

Can you imagine thinking," I shouldn't check this book out because I may be famous one day."

Edited December 7, 2015 by Onceuponatime

[Jane in NC]

Ali, I think I feel like you did about Leo in The Gap of Time. I realize both Shakespeare's & Winterson's versions are ultimately about forgiveness & moving on, but I find it hard to forgive Leo myself & I don't feel entirely sure that he has reformed -- rather that those around him are 'bigger' people & willing to forgive & looking forward & not back. I don't know; I just felt very mixed & confused & upset by him as a character, esp. in Winterson's version (maybe because her version seemed more 'modern' & closer to true-to-life perhaps?).... I mean, I can see some of the healing in the story (& time heals all wounds, eventually, as the saying goes) but....

 

 

Leo/Leontes is a puzzle to me with his manic behavior. I too would have a hard time forgiving the jerk.  But if we see the character as a representation of a tyrant in general perhaps his behavior does not require explanation. 

 

This theme is echoed in Susan Howatch's novel The Rich are Different (oh Ladydusk, where are you? I miss you on these threads!) although the female characters in A Winter's Tale and The Gap of Time are more virtuous.  Power and money have allowed tyrants to behave as they see fit so as disturbing as it is to our modern sensibilities, I doubt if the behavior will disappear from the real or literary landscape.

 

 

[mumto2]

Leo/Leontes is a puzzle to me with his manic behavior. I too would have a hard time forgiving the jerk.  But if we see the character as a representation of a tyrant in general perhaps his behavior does not require explanation. 

 

This theme is echoed in Susan Howatch's novel The Rich are Different (oh Ladydusk, where are you? I miss you on these threads!) although the female characters in A Winter's Tale and The Gap of Time are more virtuous.  Power and money have allowed tyrants to behave as they see fit so as disturbing as it is to our modern sensibilities, I doubt if the behavior will disappear from the real or literary landscape.

I miss Ladydusk also. Howatch is an author I really want to go back to......keep reminding me, please!

 

I managed to find Moosewood's 40th anniversary edition in my overdrive library. I am looking forward to it.

 

Christmas books.....dh just ordered a copy of Little Rock Cooks for me. I can't wait to have one that I can touch without damaging it more! I haven't done the dc's book shopping yet. I tend to buy reference books or something not at the library for them.