Jane in NC Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 I heard a wonderful interview with the author a few months ago on CBC's Writers and Company. She was humble and gracious and full of curiosity. A winning combination. Thank you, friends, for the love and warm welcome back. Though I've strayed far I've thought of many of you often over the past months. Stacia, I'm so sorry to hear about your dh's situation. I did receive your sweet Halloween card a while back, thank you. In my mind I always picture you happily sandwiched between two stormtroopers in your hometown...from a pic you posted a year or two ago when many of us did a selfie post. Hoping there are lots of troopers to help you weather the current storm :grouphug: Robin, I'm feeling the pull to join in for the upcoming year...with more modest goals than y'all though. Thanks for the warm encouragement to return. VC, tamales are a *thing* here, don'tcha know. I've been indulging regularly. Jane, Mum...knitting projects are on the go right now. Et vous? I'm currently reading a Charles Lenox mystery...and very much enjoying it. Canadian poet Gwendoly MacEwen fills my need for poetry these days. And non-fiction continues to be books on Tarot. Have recently discovered the works of Frederick Buechner. Anyone read him? He's rather inspiring. So good to have you "home" (back on the BaW thread) for the holidays, Shukriyya! I went to a town meeting this morning and accomplished quite a bit of knitting on a hat for a grand nephew. Maybe I should attend more town meetings? ;) 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathyBC Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 This week's books were Paper Towns, on dd's recommendation, and The Gap of Time, on BAW's. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 VC, tamales are a *thing* here, don'tcha know. I've been indulging regularly. Yep. Holiday time = tamale time, and I started indulging just yesterday. Have never dared to try making them, though. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 (edited) I heard a wonderful interview with the author a few months ago on CBC's Writers and Company. She was humble and gracious and full of curiosity. A winning combination. Thank you, friends, for the love and warm welcome back. Though I've strayed far I've thought of many of you often over the past months. Stacia, I'm so sorry to hear about your dh's situation. I did receive your sweet Halloween card a while back, thank you. In my mind I always picture you happily sandwiched between two stormtroopers in your hometown...from a pic you posted a year or two ago when many of us did a selfie post. Hoping there are lots of troopers to help you weather the current storm :grouphug: Robin, I'm feeling the pull to join in for the upcoming year...with more modest goals than y'all though. Thanks for the warm encouragement to return. VC, tamales are a *thing* here, don'tcha know. I've been indulging regularly. Jane, Mum...knitting projects are on the go right now. Et vous? I'm currently reading a Charles Lenox mystery...and very much enjoying it. Canadian poet Gwendoly MacEwen fills my need for poetry these days. And non-fiction continues to be books on Tarot. Have recently discovered the works of Frederick Buechner. Anyone read him? He's rather inspiring. I am quilting these days. Some of our conversations last year made me start thinking about trying new things and I thought a bit of hexagon quilting would be fun after seeing a picture of a beautiful quilt. Well, my version of the beautiful quilt is definitely queen size as opposed to wall hanging which was what I initially planned. I should have the basic top assembled in the next couple of weeks assuming our Christmas season proceeds as planned. I will post a picture when it is more or less in one piece for your viewing pleasure. :lol: Shukriyya, that's a big hint to hang out with us at least through the holidays because you know I need to get help to post a picture! We miss you! My village cozy mysteries are trickling in at the library. I have discovered several new authors. My librarian friend is threatening to reserve them all behind me so I have to read fast.....I really hope she was teasing or that quilt top won't get assembled. I have read several Tessa Dare historical novels in the last few days. They are good light entertainment. Edited December 17, 2015 by mumto2 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura in CA Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 from a recent NYT: Simon Winchester on books :) I'm excited about E. M. Forster and Steinbeck -- some of my favorite authors. Oh, and Willa Cather and Melville and Edith Wharton ... Being a geeky girl, I read, and loved, Out of Africa in high school (before any movie :) ) -- my copy (bought new) is the 1972 edition. I can see it is time to re-read it, as an adult! Right now I am reading Andrew Eames's Blue River, Black Sea -- his obsession with minor European aristocracy is tiresome, but the book is enjoyable and informative (we just returned from a trip down the Danube from Budapest to the Black Sea). Light reading will probably be the Sidney Chambers (Grantchester) cosies -- I saw the Grantchester DVDs at the library, and became intrigued by the books (about a crime-solving vicar) when I learned that the author's father was Archbishop of Canterbury. Then it will be back to GKC :) . I love these BaW threads, even if I don't post very often. So many wonderful ideas and discussions! 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 (edited) If anyone is on the bubble about Franzen's Purity, I say you go for it. And if you haven't read any Franzen I think this is a good one to try...at least so far, lol. I am feeling so engrossed in this book, it's such a good feeling. At first I felt grumpy b/c one thing I liked about A Brief History of Seven Killings was that it was short chapters. It was a rotating narration, almost round robin style, but the chapters were short and intense. Well, Franzen is the opposite. He writes long chapters that stay with a single character over a period of time. Then he may or may not come back to that character. It was the same way with The Corrections, the last one of his books I read. At first I was in mourning for my short intense chapters, it made that long book feel like it flew by, but now I am enjoying these long chapters. I find them so engrossing that I don't want them to end. I am loving the world he is writing about, I love how I don't see all of it at once, I love how he shows me thing, doesn't tell me. And like The Corrections, I always appreciate how, even when a character makes a 'bad' choice, or a choice that could be judged harshly, they always make sense in the head of the character. Leaving a husband, not speaking to parents..oh, of course you did that, why wouldn't you? Even when the character knows they are doing a crap thing, you see how smoothly they went from point a to point b. At the same time, I am waiting for the Other Shoe to drop. Franzen almost always says things that piss me off...so I am waiting for it to happen. My guess is that it will have to do with women. He constantly shoots himself in the foot on that front. Edited December 18, 2015 by redsquirrel 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 I never shared my treasured Comic-con purchase from last summer and am finally doing so now in the spirit of holiday procrastination. It is an 8.5 X 11 print that is going up on the wall of my office/music/craft room. The artist takes original Victorian era illustrations and puts in his own odd little word balloons to tell his own stories. I spent quite some time looking through books and prints at his booth, but this of course, spoke to me. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 Welcome back! I've thought about you and wondered how you were doing. I'm currently reading a Charles Lenox mystery...and very much enjoying it. Ooh! A new historical mystery series to try. My library has some, and the first one was available. I downloaded it so I can read a bit before bed and see what i think. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 I just finished reading Terry Pratchett's last. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 I never shared my treasured Comic-con purchase from last summer and am finally doing so now in the spirit of holiday procrastination. It is an 8.5 X 11 print that is going up on the wall of my office/music/craft room. The artist takes original Victorian era illustrations and puts in his own odd little word balloons to tell his own stories. I spent quite some time looking through books and prints at his booth, but this of course, spoke to me. I love this! Whenever we visit a historic house we always spend a really long time looking at the books in the library to find out what the people who lived there were really like. Did they fancy birds? Speak French fluently......read romances. Last summer we were at a house with a huge library. As we studied the shelves we discovered that a large amount of the books were in an unknown language (for dd who dabbles in languages that doesn't normally happen). The dc's decided similar to Finnish but not Icelandic, I think ;). We found the docent with the fact book to find out what the language was and why so many books. We figured the family had been ambassadors.....No, the books had been sold before the house had been acquired and these books had been bought at auction to fill the shelves. Pretty bindings. Never figured out what language. Now we ask if the books belong with the property.....first. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 It's pretty routine to treat the shelves of those historical houses as 'set decoration' and just use 'filler' books. It's standard for decorators to buy books in bulk to fill the shelves of non-historical houses as well. I have family who do it, they don't actually read the books, just buy cheap old ones for the shelves because they look nice. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 My book group had a lively discussion last night when we met to talk about The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion: A Novel by Fannie Flagg. We also enjoyed some Polish foods -- golabki and pierogi -- that a couple of our members had brought. Yum! After getting home, I read the free novella I had posted recently. I enjoyed it. A Midnight Clear (A Fly Me to the Moon Holiday Novella) "Annapolis, Maryland, 1948Frances Dumfries is the perfect admiral's daughter. She runs the household, hosts the parties, and never falls for the midshipmen surrounding her. Having fun or putting herself first is definitely not on her schedule. And she doesn't want anyone—particularly not a man too handsome and kind for his own good—to point that out.Midshipman Joe Reynolds sympathizes: Ever since he tumbled headlong into love with Frances, life hasn't been much fun. With only so much time until he ships out from the Naval Academy, he’s racing the clock, and her refusal to give him a second look, to secure her affection. But this sailor isn’t surrendering in the campaign to win her heart.Torn between duty and selfishness, it will take a Christmas miracle to show Frances and Joe that love is rare, precious… and worth fighting for." Regards, Kareni 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 I missed a few weeks earlier in the year, but was The Nightingale discussed here? Several friends whose book choices are similar to mine are either reading it or have it on their to-read list. I don't like romances, but is there more to this book than a war time romance? I can't decide if I should give it a try. I'll probably download the sample, but I also trust you ladies. :) 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted December 19, 2015 Author Share Posted December 19, 2015 Stumbled across this article The History of a Socialist Utopia written by this year's nobel prize winner Svetlana Alexievich. Now I want to read her books. Sarah Bannan in the Irish Times - Sometimes it pays to judge a book by its cover Author Declan Burke favors irish authors when it comes to The Best Crime Fiction of 2015 The Sahita-Akademi indian literature awards and Ashok Vajpeyi Why we returned Awards. Amazon dipping its toes into translating books -- How Amazon came to dominate fiction in translation 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted December 19, 2015 Author Share Posted December 19, 2015 Also, Sci-Fi/Fantasy Christmas Books That Are Naughty…and Nice Regards, Kareni Great list, thank you! I missed a few weeks earlier in the year, but was The Nightingale discussed here? Several friends whose book choices are similar to mine are either reading it or have it on their to-read list. I don't like romances, but is there more to this book than a war time romance? I can't decide if I should give it a try. I'll probably download the sample, but I also trust you ladies. :) I just got the book myself but don't know exactly when I'll be giving it a go. Probably sooner than later. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idnib Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 I missed a few weeks earlier in the year, but was The Nightingale discussed here? Several friends whose book choices are similar to mine are either reading it or have it on their to-read list. I just got the book myself but don't know exactly when I'll be giving it a go. Probably sooner than later. I will probably read it soon because I sent it to my MIL as her Christmas gift and we like to discuss books. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathleen. Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 I read "The Quartet" by Joseph Ellis and my 9yo read "Westly: A Spider's Tale" by Bryan Beus. :) 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 Stacia, :grouphug: . What dreadful news at the worst possible time. Holding you and your husband in the light. Rose, thanks for the high praise for Being Mortal. Adding to TBR stack and will keep it near the top... mortality is on my mind, these days... Love the 2017 Story of Science plan. So excited about the 2016 plan, even though I'm a hopeless slacker re: sticking to plans. Better to aim high and fail to meet the mark, than not have standards at all, that's my motto and I'm sticking with it... Here's what I've come up for 2016. Let me know if you have any additions or suggestions or alternates. Plenty of opportunities for cultural virtue points. :thumbup1: I'm probably going to milk that for a while. The Prime Meridian (Longitude = 0°) passes through the following countries: United Kingdom, France, Spain, Algeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Ghana, Antarctica. East of the Prime Meridian January Junket - Vikram Seth – A Suitable Boy / Arundhati Roy (india) Eliana Jan 17 – MLK Week February Safari - - E.M. Forster – A Passage to India / isak dinenson (Karen Blixen)Out of Africa Jane – forster readalong and discussion Valentine’s Week 14th – 20 romance (Karen?) March gadabout–David Malouf (Australia) / Joan Druett (new Zealand) Spring April navigations - (naturalists) Charles Darwin Voyage of the Beagle / Edith Wharton World Book day 4/23 – celebrate with world book week 24th – 30th May Mediterranean Medley (too many countries to pick author flavor) Med countries – Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia,Cyprus,Israel,Lebanon,Syria, Albania, Bosnia, Herzegovinian, Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Monaco,Montenegro, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey. Mum – British Cozies set in Villages Philosophical June Dante- Paradiso / George Eliot Middlemarch and female philosophers Iris Murdoch/Simone Beauvoir/Rebecca Goldstein Summer West of the Prime Meridian Maritime July – Herman Melville - Moby Dick / Sena Jeter Naslund Nautical alternates, adaptations and nonfiction August Peregrinations - John Steinbeck / Willa Cather September sojourns through the South ( Southern Literature) William Faulkner / Zora Neale Hurston Banned Books 9/25 to 10/1 Fall October Spooktacular - Edgar Allan Poe / Shirley Jackson November notions- Julio Cortazar / Laura Esquivel (surrealism vs magical realism) December Delectables Winter Eliana – Ancient lit/history plus MLK week Jan 14 / Indigenous peoples Oct Amy – Historical or detective Fiction Jane – E.M. Forster discussion and Eastern European writers Pam – Science and Spirit Stacia – translated works/banned fiction Karen – Paranormal and Romance Rose (modern/classic pairings) Mum – British cozies set in Villages Kareni, re: February Safari, have you read any of Peter Allison's books? He's my top favorite safari guide author ever. Too, too funny on top of seriously informative re: animals and habitats and insightful re: conservation / development / impact on local communities. :seeya: :hurray: :seeya: :hurray: :seeya: Welcome back! I missed a few weeks earlier in the year, but was The Nightingale discussed here? Several friends whose book choices are similar to mine are either reading it or have it on their to-read list. I don't like romances, but is there more to this book than a war time romance? I can't decide if I should give it a try. I'll probably download the sample, but I also trust you ladies. :) It's the January pick for one of my IRL book groups, so I'll be getting to it shortly... 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 So excited about the 2016 plan, even though I'm a hopeless slacker re: sticking to plans. Better to aim high and fail to meet the mark, than not have standards at all, that's my motto and I'm sticking with it... :iagree: I might only read a few of the planned group reads, or I might be behind (I just finished The Turn of the Screw audio book), but at least I'll have something to aim for. I have my own personal lists but I try to leave room for group reads as well as new discoveries. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 Being Mortal inspired me to read The Death of Ivan Ilyich, so that might be my last "serious" read of 2015. I did a quick break-read of Agatha Christie's Why Didn't They Ask Evans, which was fun, but predictable. I guess I've read too many ACs at this point - there is always an obvious villain, who is just a red herring, and then the real villain turns out to be either the most unlikely person. So I had this one pegged early on, but I still had fun reading it! I do want to start a discussion of The Turn of the Screw! but maybe I will wait for the new week's thread so it doesn't get lost. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 I do want to start a discussion of The Turn of the Screw! but maybe I will wait for the new week's thread so it doesn't get lost. That's probably a good idea. I'm pretty sure Robin will post the new link soon and this thread will be over. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 Kareni, re: February Safari, have you read any of Peter Allison's books? He's my top favorite safari guide author ever. Too, too funny on top of seriously informative re: animals and habitats and insightful re: conservation / development / impact on local communities. While the book sounds interesting, I think your comment is actually intended for Jane as she's in charge, I think, of Forster and Karen Blixen. Now if the animals are being romantic .... Regards, Kareni 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loesje22000 Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 I finished four books this week. The Corinne Hofmann books: http://www.amazon.com/Corinne-Hofmann/e/B001IO9IIC/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1450635726&sr=8-1 And a book that is called in Dutch:'Daughter of Iran'. And I sung 2 christmas concerts; one last weekend, one this weekend. One in Baroque style, one more modern style. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted December 20, 2015 Author Share Posted December 20, 2015 Link to week 51 - please continue conversation in new thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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