Book a Week 2016 - W1: Happy New Year!!!!

[idnib]

I'm not a snob about Oprah at all - dh and I have had several heated conversations about this :)

 

I'm all for anyone who encourages people at large to read.

 

I agree. Given how few books Americans read, anything that gets people to read is a plus in my book. Oprah is the reason I read Beloved, which is one of my favorite books. (Although I don't think that was from her book club, but an interview I read.) She also got me reading Cormac McCarthy.  :)

 

I just don't like the logo on the cover, but I'm the same way with movie posters as book covers or "Now a Major Motion Picture" stamps. 

[Kareni]

Anyway, yeah, so where does everyone get their books?

 

 

Many of the books I read (particularly the new ones) come from the library.  I belong to my local library (paid for by our taxes) and pay $120 per year (yes, that number is correct) to belong to the library in our nearest big city.  That library has a good budget and buys many of the titles that I recommend.  I definitely get my money's worth from that $120.

 

I also love to browse at thrift stores and used book stores; many more of the books that I read come from those venues.

 

I receive books as gifts for my birthday and Christmas.

 

I also have some cough, cough 2000 books on my Kindle or in the cloud.  All but about fifty of these were free Kindle books.  A good resource to look for such books is at Best sellers in Kindle e-books.   You can see books by category on the left hand side of the page.  Many of those links will show sub-categories when you click on them.  Make sure you click on the tab Top 100 Free.

 

And then there are the shelves of hundreds of yet to be read books here at home ....

 

Regards,

Kareni

[AsgardCA]

I've been cross-referencing my reading wishlist with our library catalogue, inter-library loans, and BookOutlet. Amazon is my last resort. BookOutlet is great for getting books on the cheap. They have a huge selection and I've bought a good chunk of our school books there.

 

Aside from school books and 'must haves,' I try not to buy many books at all. We don't have room, and we're moving, but our bookshelves are otherwise taken up by movies and board/video games. Maybe in the next house we'll have space for a nice library area.

 

Also, I'm on Goodreads here

Edited January 3, 2016 by AsgardCA

[Lady Florida.]

Many of the books I read (particularly the new ones) come from the library.  I belong to my local library (paid for by our taxes) and pay $120 per year (yes, that number is correct) to belong to the library in our nearest big city.  That library has a good budget and buys many of the titles that I recommend.  I definitely get my money's worth from that $120.

 

 

 

I used to pay to belong to the neighboring county library until they stopped sending the books to my local library. It wasn't worth the cost plus the half hour drive to the nearest (tiny) branch. I was sad when that ended.

[JennW in SoCal]

One of the squares on the 2016 bingo board ought to be for this first week's thread! It is very hard to keep up!

 

 

I might have the (dis)honor of being the first BaW'er to drop a book in 2016. Proust. Ugh. 

 

You are in good company as last night I almost threw a book across the room in disgust. Only I don't get the "cultural virtue points" for giving up on anything like Proust -- it was much pulpier fiction than that, lol!  The offending book was one I just bought thinking it would be a new mystery/police procedural series to try, only I discovered it is mistakenly marketed.  It is a romance!  If I wanted a romance I would have gone looking for a romance, you know?!!   It had a promising start as it is centered around a young female Detective Constable new to the homicide division. I thought that was a refreshing perspective to the genre until I realized her senior partner is a stalker in the tradition of the Twilight vampire boy (Edward?). I was ready to throw the book -- hurl it in disgust -- when they got all hot and bothered at the scene of a double homicide. Seriously? Making out in the kitchen while the CSI types do their job in the next room? That's supposed to be cute and romantic?  I read the last chapter of the book to confirm that I had indeed not missed anything by skipping 2/3 of the book, and found I had actually already figured out whodunnit.  

 

The book in question is Murder in Thrall by Anne Cleeland.  Avoid it at all cost!

 

 

Anyway, yeah, so where does everyone get their books?

 

Like everyone else I have a ridiculously long to-be-read list, making my purchase of the above mentioned book all the more maddening!  I try to keep a list with me on my phone. I keep thinking I should make use GoodReads app by keeping a TBR list on my GoodReads account, but so far haven't followed through on the idea.  

 

About a third of my books last year were audiobooks from audible.com. I've had an audible account for 10 years that gives me credits for 2 books per month, but my college boy and I share those credits. While he and I have similar tastes, we don't always listen to the same books. Love my audio books!

 

Another third came from the library, and I've had my share of fines over the years!  I try to take advantage of the on-line account services to renew my books, but am not always successful. I do keep my books in a dedicated library tote bag, so all I have to do is grab the tote when I head out the door. Granted I'm not homeschooling anymore so I only have to keep track of 2 or 3 at a time.  The library is also a great place to buy used books -- I always browse the used book store at my local branch. 

 

The last third of my reads last year were mostly kindle books which I either read on my phone or iPad. Of those kindle titles, most were bought as "daily deals", though I finally figured out how to use Overdrive to borrow ebooks from the library.  I read about 6 books that I had bought, and 3 of those were used books. I make a point of buying books 2-3 times a year through one of my favorite independent book stores, even if it is just 1 or 2 each time. And yes, I have not read all the books I bought last year!!

[Kareni]

The book in question is Murder in Thrall by Anne Cleeland.  Avoid it at all cost!

 

I have to chuckle because lately I've seen some strong recommendations for this book on some romance blogs I read.

 

I'm currently in the midst of a historical romance re-read; I'm reading the second title in this two book compilation ~

 

The Temporary Wife/A Promise of Spring by Mary Balogh.

 

"A PROMISE OF SPRING

Grace Howard has every reason to be devoted to Sir Peregrine Lampman. After all, the gallant gentleman rescued her from poverty by making her his bride. Even more nobly, he did not withdraw his affection after she confessed to a youthful folly that had compromised her virtue. But Grace did not tell the whole truth about the handsome lord who betrayed her—and now the one thing she’s kept from Perry threatens to destroy her last chance at true love."

 

It's not my favorite Mary Balogh title, but I'm enjoying revisiting it nonetheless.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Jane in NC]

One other note on the acquisition of books:  Several of us on this thread enjoy things that are being published by small, independent publishers. A number of the indies have subscriber deals in which one prepays and then receives x number of volumes for a time period, usually shipped at a substantial discount over the cover price.

 

My subscription is with Archipelago.

 

And yes to library book sales!  We bring home stacks of books from them.

 

Also, my neighborhood has a Little Free Library box, what I called "The Wee Free".  I sometimes find books that I want in the box--and of course add to the reading pleasure of others in my neighborhood by depositing things there.

 

Charity shops might be a place to look for former best sellers or thick mysteries to keep one occupied on long airplane rides.

 

Many libraries offer Overdrive so that you can borrow digital books without leaving home.

Edited January 3, 2016 by Jane in NC

[marbel]

<snip>

 

Anyway, yeah, so where does everyone get their books?

 

I am a heavy library user.  I browse the shelves and will just grab stuff that looks good.  Much of it goes back unread, but it doesn't matter.  I also get email every week or so with the new titles the library's getting in, and there's always something new there.   If I'm searching the catalog, sometimes interesting-looking things come up, so I'll request those too. 

 

Then there's Goodreads.  I almost always find something when I look at updates from friends, and then see suggestions for similar books when I am looking at the book description.. 

 

Also, I'll browse at Barnes & Noble (getting to be less and less to browse, though, it seems) and get ideas for things to find at the library there. 

 

Two book catalogs come to the house:  Daedalus Books (remainders) and Bas Bleu.  If something there catches my eye I'll  look it up at the library.  If it's not at the library, I'll look up reviews on Amazon (or Goodreads) to see if it seems like a keeper, but if I end up buying the book, I buy it from the catalog in which I found it originally.   (It don't think it's fair to small booksellers to use their catalogs as resource for ordering from Amazon!)   While on Amazon, I'll browse the recommendations that always come up.

 

For Christian books (reformed Protestant flavor) I go to Westminster Bookstore.

 

We also have a lot of books at home.  We used to buy a ton of books; things changed and we are not spending our money on books so much anymore.  For example, I have the entire collection of Dickens novels which I got about 25 years ago as an incentive to join a book club - remember those?  Get 8 books free(ish), then buy some number of additional books to fulfill the obligation.  I have a few hours of reading left to do just in that set.   And you know I really mean way more than a few!

 

Also so many classics are available for free for Kindle (including all the Dickens novels!).

 

 

[Jane in NC]

One other note for those who regularly use libraries:  Don't forget to borrow on occasion old classic books!  My local library disposed of many classic children's books because they were not flying off the shelves.  What a crying shame!

[Wheres Toto]

Part of the reason I'm doing a challenge is because I fell into a rut of just rereading books I already owned.  I also get a lot of books from the library, and I get Barnes & Nobles gift cards for Christmas and my birthday every year.  I'm also signed up for two daily emails of free Kindle books.

 

What books to read for each category I found by googling.  What I found is Goodreads has a list for almost every one of the category suggestions on every reading challenge out there.  Thank you to those who have come before.  :hurray:

[Bluegoat]

Okay, now them's fighting words! I love Charles De Lint. If it were possible, I would move to Newford tomorrow. I agree that Moonheart doesn't hold up as well as some of the other stuff,and I'm discounting anything he published under a psuedonym, but all of them?!?!?!

 

That's interesting - I found the stuff set in Ottawa was (with one exception) a little stronger than some of the Newford stuff.

 

I just found, rereading them, that they were a little - shallow?  They had a magical quality that is what attracted me to them in the first place, but once the setting moved to Newford, I found they lost some of the realism that made the urban-fantasy really pop.  That contrast between realistic urban settings and fantasy elements was a big part of what made them compelling, but with Newford, I couldn't even place it in the world - was it Canadaian, American, something else?  It didn't seem quite real, and so some of the tension was lost.

 

His gritty characters I consistently found less than gritty, sometimes to the point of being unbelievable.  Even the delving into different mythic traditions felt kind of high-schoolish  - I likes the way that he wove them together, but they were, to me, missing something that would make them seem concrete and real.

 

If I think of someone like Tolkien, or Guy Gavriel Kay, they were creating what were total fantasy worlds, but they actually managed to make them seem more solid and real that what was meant to be the "real" world that we would recognize in DeLint's books. 

 

I found ultimately that some of the novelists inspired by him produced books that I found more compelling.

[wendy not in HI]

 

 

Anyway, yeah, so where does everyone get their books?

 

I'm about a half mile from our library, too, and I've never walked there... That's terrible! I should do that.  

 

I mostly get my books from Overdrive for my Kindle.  I live in Fairfax County (not in HI, it's been a while since we lived there, but I don't know how to change my user name...), so I have access to their books, and they have a lot.  BUT most of the new books that I want to read are all checked out and I'm like #6 in line.  So, I just put it on hold and eventually they will send me an email that my book is available.  

 

Sometimes I just want a book to read now, and I don't want to wait.  So then I do a google search for "best books of 2012 or 2008 or something.  Most of those books are available on Overdrive with no wait!

 

I really hate to pay for a book if I can check it out at the library.

[mumto2]

Jenn, I messed up the multiquote and lost yours. I had to laugh at you and Murder in Trall. I studied your stack photo and that was the book that I was planning to go searching for....just haven't had the chance. No need now. :lol: I like vampires but not Twilight. Good title .......

 

 

Oh, and after going through this thread I've added so many books to my 'want to read' list that I will probably never, ever get through them.  :lol:  I'm guessing that's a permanent state for everyone here?

 

A quick question, though:  Where do you guys find all your books to read?  Since this year I'm doing a lot of re-reads, I will own most, if not all, of the books I'm reading (others are ones I've ordered or that I already have but haven't read yet), but I'm assuming that most everyone, if they're reading all new books, isn't buying them all.  Or are you?  

 

Our library kind of sucks (plus I owe them an insane amount of money), so we rarely visit.  Though I keep telling myself I need to go pay my fines because Link is a voracious reader and soon our shelves won't be able to keep up with him.  The kid's reading level is higher than mine, I swear.  :lol:

Then I just have to practice actually remembering to take the books with me to return when I leave the house.  You'd think it wouldn't be that hard since it's literally a 1/2 mile away and I have to drive by it if I go anywhere.  But yeah, I never ever remember.

 

So I could potentially do the library after I pay them.  :lol:  There's also the possibility of borrowing books from friends, if they have any books I'm interested in.

 

Anyway, yeah, so where does everyone get their books?

Another library fan here. I belong to several. I have several bags for returns and renew every Sunday for the next week...everyone's card. I am not above calling and asking for an extension if a book is due and I can't physically return it for a couple of days.

 

Like Kathy I use my kindles for a great deal of my reading. One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that with Kindle/Overdrive books you don't ever get fined or go overdue. If you have you wifi on your book returns automatically....sometimes I turn my wifi off in order to finish a book. Very motivating.

 

One word of warning your Overdrive account can't be used if you have overdue physical books on that card. I learned that the hard way and lost a book that I had been waiting for.

 

 

I finished the books I had in progress at year end.

 

Manner's and Mutiny (Finishing School series) by Gail Carriger. This was probably my favourite out of the whole series. I was a bit blah about the third one and almost let it go back to overdrive when dd finished. She said I needed to read it. :lol: Gail Carriger is a favourite author of mine. Her Parasol Protectorate is a great Steampunk series and the Finishing School series is a spinoff of that for YA.

 

To Catch a Rabbit by Helen Cadbury was the winner of a Northern (England) Crime award for new authors a couple of years ago. I ran into it when looking for village cozy books. Well it definitely isn't cozy or set in a village. It was well done. The main character was community outreach officer for a midsize city, who while on patrol is shown the dead body of a prostitute by a young boy. This led him through a series of crimes that were far out of his area of expertise. Not a warm fuzzy mystery but the locations are really accurate.

 

The Keeper of Secrets by Judith Cutler. This is the first in her historical series surrounding a second son of a Duke who becomes a Vicar in the mid 19th century. Set in a small village in Warwickshire. The Vicar and the local Doctor solve a mystery involving the death of a servant at the local estate. I have the rest of these in my stack and am looking forward to them.

[Bluegoat]

Oh, and after going through this thread I've added so many books to my 'want to read' list that I will probably never, ever get through them.   :lol:  I'm guessing that's a permanent state for everyone here?

 

A quick question, though:  Where do you guys find all your books to read?  Since this year I'm doing a lot of re-reads, I will own most, if not all, of the books I'm reading (others are ones I've ordered or that I already have but haven't read yet), but I'm assuming that most everyone, if they're reading all new books, isn't buying them all.  Or are you?  

 

Our library kind of sucks (plus I owe them an insane amount of money), so we rarely visit.  Though I keep telling myself I need to go pay my fines because Link is a voracious reader and soon our shelves won't be able to keep up with him.  The kid's reading level is higher than mine, I swear.   :lol:

Then I just have to practice actually remembering to take the books with me to return when I leave the house.  You'd think it wouldn't be that hard since it's literally a 1/2 mile away and I have to drive by it if I go anywhere.  But yeah, I never ever remember.

 

So I could potentially do the library after I pay them.   :lol:  There's also the possibility of borrowing books from friends, if they have any books I'm interested in.

 

Anyway, yeah, so where does everyone get their books?

 

I get some from the library, though I also have fine issues.

 

Some I get from friends, but I get quite a lot used.  There is a good used book store around the corner from me if I am looking for something specific, but often I get them at Value Village (a thrift store) or church book sales, which are much cheaper.

[JennW in SoCal]

About that Anne Cleeland book....

 

I have to chuckle because lately I've seen some strong recommendations for this book on some romance blogs I read.

 

 

I'm not averse to romance books at all, but this one still would have annoyed me. It is just icky that the older man in a position of authority abuses his position to pursue the young, naive woman he is stalking. And it is annoying that the young, naive woman is trying so hard to improve her vocabulary just to impress the older man. (Why can't a young woman be beautiful, capable and educated?) And that they wind up married -- just, no. Not my romance cup of tea.

 

Of course I am totally guilty of enjoying a good ol' bodice ripper now and again, a genre full of icky older men and annoying young women, so there is no logic sometimes to what one enjoys!

[Robin M]

I mostly get my books from Overdrive for my Kindle.  I live in Fairfax County (not in HI, it's been a while since we lived there, but I don't know how to change my user name...), so I have access to their books, and they have a lot.  BUT most of the new books that I want to read are all checked out and I'm like #6 in line.  So, I just put it on hold and eventually they will send me an email that my book is available.  

 

 

Wendy, you can go into your profile and there is a link on the left hand side to change display name. You just need to remember what your password is, in order  to do so. 

[Angel]

One other note for those who regularly use libraries:  Don't forget to borrow on occasion old classic books!  My local library disposed of many classic children's books because they were not flying off the shelves.  What a crying shame!

 

:iagree:   I actually spoke to one of the librarians about this a couple months ago!  It is a shame!  We have a whole shelf of animae but no copies of Dracula or Death Comes for the Archbishop!  

Manner's and Mutiny (Finishing School series) by Gail Carriger. This was probably my favourite out of the whole series. I was a bit blah about the third one and almost let it go back to overdrive when dd finished. She said I needed to read it. :lol: Gail Carriger is a favourite author of mine. Her Parasol Protectorate is a great Steampunk series and the Finishing School series is a spinoff of that for YA.

 

The Keeper of Secrets by Judith Cutler. This is the first in her historical series surrounding a second son of a Duke who becomes a Vicar in the mid 19th century. Set in a small village in Warwickshire. The Vicar and the local Doctor solve a mystery involving the death of a servant at the local estate. I have the rest of these in my stack and am looking forward to them.

 

Aly got Manner's and Mutiny for Christmas.  I haven't read past book one but only because of time.  I enjoyed Etiquette and Espionage.  I enjoyed Soulless too but it was not prudish enough for me now LOL!  

 

I added The Keeper of Secrets to my TBR pile.  I made a point to order two books from the library from my Amazon TBR list this month!  Hopefully, I'll get to them.

[Woodland Mist Academy]

This year I'm planning to be more intentionally about reading for myself and I picked up The Well Educated Mind in December.  I'm 7 chapters into Don Quixote. It's more accessible than I thought but wow, it's long and I'm hoping it's not just more of the same over and over? Well I'm going to try to get into it!  

 

 

In the second half, some of the humor is meta -- jokes about the first half, which was originally published as a separate volume. But other than that - yeah, it totally is just the same thing over and over. It reminded me of SNL, which I hate. That said, I was a little sad when the book was over - so there must have been something there. Maybe it grew on me.

 

 

 

If you lose your place in Don Quixote, have no fear. Just find the starting page of any new adventure and carry on, and on, and on, and on.... Don't worry too much about the jokes referring back to earlier parts. I didn't skip anything, but sometimes I forgot and had to look back anyway.  ;)

 

If you lose your place in Don Quixote, have no fear. Just find the starting page of any new adventure and carry on, and on, and on, and on.... Don't worry too much about the jokes referring back to earlier parts. I didn't skip anything, but sometimes I forgot and had to look back anyway.  ;)

 

If you lose your place in Don Quixote, have no fear. Just find the starting page of any new adventure and carry on, and on, and on, and on.... Don't worry too much about the jokes referring back to earlier parts. I didn't skip anything, but sometimes I forgot and had to look back anyway.  ;)

 

If you lose your place in Don Quixote, have no fear. Just find the starting page of any new adventure and carry on, and on, and on, and on.... Don't worry too much about the jokes referring back to earlier parts. I didn't skip anything, but sometimes I forgot and had to look back anyway.  ;)

 

WMA posting DQ style.... ;)

 

 

[Chrysalis Academy]

I finished my 3rd book of the year, The Procedure by Harry Mulisch - translated from Dutch! So I hit another square in Bingo.  That's about all it was good for. I saw it on one of the "Best books I read this year" lists from a week or two back, and it seemed like it might fit in with Frankenstein themes (we're studying that book next) so I got it.  It was a weird book. Early parts of it I liked ok - there was a fascinating section on the creation of a golem by a rabbi in Prague in the 1500s - but overall it was unsatisfying.  The last 2/3 of the book were spent inside the head of a narcissistic man having a midlife crises - reminded me a little bit of Amsterdam or The Remains of the Day, two books I read and disliked last year.  Anyway, I guess the best I can say is that I'm glad I am finished with it.  

[Guest]

2 Covers that caught my eye and have some of the intensity of their contents (both highly recommended):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[swimmermom3]

I am going to give this a whirl again.

 

I think I have shown up in January the past couple of years and have disappeared by February. I am not sure how you all do it. Even as a formerly avid reader, I've slowed down on my pleasure reading as I spend so much time with texts on material I am teaching Sailor Dude.

 

I am starting 2016 with two books that were Christmas gifts.  Dh gave me An Innocent Abroad: Life-changing Trips from 35 Great Writers, which is my first finished book for the year and I am currently reading The Woman Who Would be King by Kara Cooney, which Eldest Son gave me in honor of one of his years at home studying world history using Sonlight. It was our first year homeschooling and ds was unhappy in middle school and came home in November to join Sailor Dude. I was terrified of homeschooling and had no clue what I was doing.  It remains one of our happiest years as family. That gift made me cry and it's not a bad book either.  :D

 

I have ventured into the world of Goodreads and have no clue what I am doing, but am having a blast reading about everyone's choices.

[PrairieSong]

I have only posted in this thread a few times and have never come close to reading 52 books, but I'm going to try. I'm amazed at those of you who do it, particularly those with young children. I don't think I could have ever managed that! We have only our youngest at home now and he's 16, so no excuses for me. I'm currently reading Emma.

[PrairieSong]

I am going to give this a whirl again.

 

I think I have shown up in January the past couple of years and have disappeared by February. I am not sure how you all do it. Even as a formerly avid reader, I've slowed down on my pleasure reading as I spend so much time with texts on material I am teaching Sailor Dude.

 

I am starting 2016 with two books that were Christmas gifts. Dh gave me An Innocent Abroad: Life-changing Trips from 35 Great Writers, which is my first finished book for the year and I am currently reading The Woman Who Would be King by Kara Cooney, which Eldest Son gave me in honor of one of his years at home studying world history using Sonlight. It was our first year homeschooling and ds was unhappy in middle school and came home in November to join Sailor Dude. I was terrified of homeschooling and had no clue what I was doing. It remains one of our happiest years as family. That gift made me cry and it's not a bad book either. :D

 

I have ventured into the world of Goodreads and have no clue what I am doing, but am having a blast reading about everyone's choices.

Okay, I clicked on your Goodreads link and then on your friend and on friends of friends and...I recognized some names/faces from WTM and someone has been making...and meeting and even exceeding...a goal of reading 365 books in a year. My jaw hit the floor. How in the world...? I am really shocked. How many hours a day do you have to read to do this? Because it's not picture books. I am really not trying to put anyone on the spot but I'm very curious!

[prairiewindmomma]

I'd love to join in to 52 books this year!  

 

I finished 1. Atlantis World by A.G. Riddle. They saved the world and everyone ended up happily ever after. Things felt a bit trite, but I had hoped to finish the series and it was free on kindle.

 

This afternoon I read 2. Homeschooling Your Struggling Learner by Kathy Kuhl.  It's available on kindle unlimited. I wished I had found this book several years ago. I plan to buy paper copies to hand to friends who are embarking on homeschooling their SN child(ren).  The book not only gives an overview to the homeschooling process, but also on getting evaluations, selecting homeschool materials, and customizing material. Her recommendations for additional resources are spot on.

 

I'm starting Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton next for a book club I'm in. I'm not excited to read it.

[Angel]

and it seemed like it might fit in with Frankenstein themes (we're studying that book next) 

 

Aly and I are currently reading Frankenstein for our Worldview class in co-op.  I am finding it intriguing.

[Kareni]

Over the last two days, I read (gasp ~ a book that is not a romance!)

What We See When We Read by Peter Mendelsund.

 

It was an easy read in the sense that even though there are over 400 pages, there are many pages that contain only images.  That said, the book did not speak to me.  I think that it might appeal more to those who consider themselves visual readers; I am definitely not amongst that number.  It's erudite but also approachable.  It's possible that others here might enjoy it.

 

A San Francisco Chronicle and Kirkus Best Book of the Year

"A gorgeously unique, fully illustrated exploration into the phenomenology of reading—how we visualize images from reading works of literature, from one of our very best book jacket designers, himself a passionate reader.

What do we see when we read? Did Tolstoy really describe Anna Karenina? Did Melville ever really tell us what, exactly, Ishmael looked like? The collection of fragmented images on a page—a graceful ear there, a stray curl, a hat positioned just so—and other clues and signifiers helps us to create an image of a character. But in fact our sense that we know a character intimately has little to do with our ability to concretely picture our beloved—or reviled—literary figures. In this remarkable work of nonfiction, Knopf's Associate Art Director Peter Mendelsund combines his profession, as an award-winning designer; his first career, as a classically trained pianist; and his first love, literature—he considers himself first and foremost as a reader—into what is sure to be one of the most provocative and unusual investigations into how we understand the act of reading."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Woodland Mist Academy]

I just came across a quite unexpected Don Quixote reference...  

 

 http://www.levenger.com/agenda-planners-21699.aspx   Scroll to the bottom...

 

Cervantes once wrote, “There is a time for some things, and a time for all things; a time for great things, and a time for small things.†Perhaps if Sancho Panza had thought to bring along Levenger’s agenda planner he could have kept Don Quixote out of so much trouble. 

Edited January 4, 2016 by Woodland Mist Academy

[Pam in CT]

It is too early in the year to be out of likes already.   :toetap05:   Is all I'm saying.

 

 

re: "charity,"  "conflict resolution," and Crucial Conversations all starting at home:

I grew up with the saying and it is so ingrained I don,t even hear the words anymore, just think of it as meaning start with yourself and work outwards. It feels like a KJ Bible quote. Or Shakespeare. Or something where the meaning of the key words have morphed over time. You are quite right - conflict resolution is a much better word. In modern English, charity is something I lump in with a lot of other judgemental words and try to avoid. Although I guess I like charitable, as in assuming that somebody has a good reason for doing whatever they are doing even if I can,t imagine what it is.

Maybe I should add some negotiating/mediating/hammering-out-compromise/eliminating-misunderstanding books to my reading this year but I can only take so much rarayoucandoitseeitssimpleness. And I tend to stop reading when I get to something I,m not doing but could and work on that.

 

_______

 

....If you are reading to learn how to do something, are you better off reading one book, practising it awhile, then reading another? Or are you better off reading widely at the beginning? Or is this a stupid question because the answer depends on what type of learner you are and what you are learning? I,ve taught myself painting from books (or tried anyway). I worked through a Reader,s Digest book first, then read widely. After the first book (which like this one was a gift, not a deliberate choice), I couldn,t do everything in the book well, but I had enough experience that the rest of the books were useful. Maybe this is not like painting, though? And reading more earlier would be better? And if so, what should I read? (The book was given to us by one family member to help us, the bridge in this situation, deal with another member, although that sounds more judgemental than it actually was. The situation just made it obvious to us all that life is going to require more negotiating skills now that we are older. I have no idea how they picked it.)
...

:lol: re: rarayoucandoitseeitssimpleness. This is one of the things that irritate me about the Covey books, even though they too have their pearls of wisdom.

 

______

 

I was thinking throughout our drive back from Boston today about your question re: learning a new field by reading one book and Practicing, v. hoovering up the library... And -- shocker, this'll be -- although in practice I tend to hoover up a Great Pile of Books and swallow them whole whenever I'm trying to tackle anything new, in theory I believe that a good-enough idea *actually executed* is immensely more effective than a brilliant complex plan that I roll out with fervor and enthusiasm and shortly thereafter abandon because I've taken on more than I can handle.  Which, er, happens rather regularly.

 

And Conversations definitely has enough good-enough ideas to be getting on with.  In a prior life I did several workshops with Roger Fisher and William Ury's group so I'm most comfortable with their (originally corporate- and inter-national) constructs; and subsequently I've dipped a tiny bit into Quaker-led conflict resolution techniques which tend to be more grass roots oriented (and perhaps more your style?).  There are good ideas in all kinds of places, but the Conversations chapters on Learn to Look and Make it Safe are IMO as good a place as any to launch a Just Do It practice.  

 

Sorry that you face such issues within your extended family.  That is rough.   

 

 

re: abandoning ships sinking in streams of consciousness:

I might have the (dis)honor of being the first BaW'er to drop a book in 2016. Proust. Ugh. Stream of consciousness. It's why I can't handle Woolf or Faulkner, and certainly not Joyce. Swann's Way is somewhat less annoying than the others, but I don't know how much farther I can go. I'm going to try a little longer but I won't torture myself, and will just abandon it before I start hating it. 

 

I get enough stream of consciousness in my own head. I don't need it in my books.  :lol:

:lol: I put so much into Ulysses last year, but in the event I just could not do it for just this reason.  Eliana, naturally, made it all the way to the finish line...

 

 

 

Returning for the new year! Maybe this semester I'll have enough time to stick it out when classes start.

 

And my first book for the new year is:

 

1. A Quaker Book of Wisdom (Robert Lawrence Smith)

 

I really liked this one! It's pretty short, but it was a slow read, because I kept wanting to stop and think over what had been said. The author wrote it mainly for his grandchildren, so it has a very gentle, loving tone. Smith, although a serious Quaker, fought in WWII, so his reflections on pacifism are particularly interesting. He also has thoughts on education which remind me a great deal of my own parents' educational philosophy from my homeschooling days. And his discussion of silence as an integral part of Quaker life is particularly compelling....

This looks fascinating -- thank you.

 

 

 

re: where the books come from:

I get some from the library, though I also have fine issues.

 

Some I get from friends, but I get quite a lot used.  There is a good used book store around the corner from me if I am looking for something specific, but often I get them at Value Village (a thrift store) or church book sales, which are much cheaper.

:lol:

 

Our library is truly FANTASTIC, but my "fine issues" with IRL books materially changes the cost-benefit calculation.  I do far better with the Kindle and audio books, which just POOF! back to them once they're due (although I can hang on to them until I'm done so long as I keep my Kindle or old ipod on airplane mode).

 

And the others just sort of accumulate -- the fantastic library has fantastic library sales, I buy a lot used on Better World Books (which in addition to having good prices also plows a % back to several worthy non-profits), my parents live in a university town with fantastic used book stores, BAW and other friends pass them on, they reproduce in the shelves...

 

[Robin M]

Have barely cracked A Suitable boy (on page 59) and can already see it will be leading me on rabbit trails.  Never heard of James Elroy Flecker nor Tagore.  Love this quote:

 

"Please do not misunderstand me, Professor Mishra," he said, "but that line of argument may be taken by those of us not well versed in the finer forms of parliamentary byplay to be a species of quibbling." 

Edited January 4, 2016 by Robin M

[Mesamin]

Starting of the year with Mansfield Park.  :)

[marbel]

 

I'm starting Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton next for a book club I'm in. I'm not excited to read it.

 

Oh!  That's a great book!   I hope you can get excited about it. 

 

[Nan in Mass]

Returning for the new year! Maybe this semester I'll have enough time to stick it out when classes start.

 

And my first book for the new year is:

 

1. A Quaker Book of Wisdom (Robert Lawrence Smith)

 

I really liked this one! It's pretty short, but it was a slow read, because I kept wanting to stop and think over what had been said. The author wrote it mainly for his grandchildren, so it has a very gentle, loving tone. Smith, although a serious Quaker, fought in WWII, so his reflections on pacifism are particularly interesting. He also has thoughts on education which remind me a great deal of my own parents' educational philosophy from my homeschooling days. And his discussion of silence as an integral part of Quaker life is particularly compelling.

 

From the author's reflections on World War II:

This sounds like something I am going to have to track down. Thanks! And welcome!

 

Nan

[Nan in Mass]

Starting of the year with Mansfield Park. :)

Ooo I love Mansfield Park. : )

 

Nan

[swimmermom3]

It's not really about Oprah but more about celebrity endorsements in general, I think.  I also prefer books that don't say "now a major motion picture" on the cover.  Just an odd quirk, I guess.  :-)

 

I don't want actors on the cover of my books. While I think Daniel Radcliff did a great job, I have my own idea of what HP looks like in my head. I agree about Oprah and getting people to read, it's just that I keep favorite books for a long time.  My kids have read paperback copies of classics from my college days. "Oprah who?" in twenty years?

[Nan in Mass]

I tend to borrow most of my books from family or the library. When I buy, it tends to be something I,ve read before and want to own. I reread a lot. Most of the wallspace in our tiny house is already bookcases, most filled double deep with books stacked sideways on top, and I am cautious about adding new books. I buy used if possible, usually from Alibris, sometimes from the library or from a used book store.

 

Nan

[Guest]

Still working on my round-up....  (this is the bit I already did & then the computer crashed & I lost it all.  *sigh*)

 

 

Share your top 5 (or more) favorite books. 

 

 

For sheer pleasure: Philosopher Kings (SFF sequel to the also wonderful Just City) [runner up: Ancillary Mercy]

Poetry: Shake Loose My Skin [runner up: Selected Later Poems]

Play: The Oresteia by Icke  [runner up: Copenhagen]

Memoir: Rue du Retour [runner up: Between the World and Me]

Philosophy: Timeaus [runner up: Derrida's Khora]

BaW gifts: Treatise on Shelling Beans [runner up: The Folly]

Jewish/Religious: R' Pincus's Tisha B'Av book [runner up Kaddish: Women's Voices]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Which books or authors you thought you'd never read and were pleasantly surprised to like them? 

 

Ulysses: This is one of the few books I've felt deeply intimidated by, but it is also one I did not expect to enjoy, even if I could make sense of it.  ...and it wasn't exactly a pleasure read, not in the way I usually read.  ...but it was an exhilarating experience, and the rush of satisfaction, even joy, I got from the different ways it played with language, with layers of reference, with ideas and images surprised me.  

 

Lolita: I only read this because readers here encouraged me.... and, again, the intense joy & delight of the prose surprised me.  And the content - as disturbing as I'd expected but in such a different way.  Not comfortable, not at all, but very real and very powerful, and brilliantly, brilliantly done.

 

The Good Soldier: Reading the plot description still triggers distaste, but the reading experience itself was not that way at all.  The prose (again!), the unreliable narrator, the sheer brilliance of the work... (this is what made me consider even thinking about trying Lolita!).

 

No Country for Old Men: This book is so far outside my comfort zone I still can't believe I started, let alone finished, it.  ...but it was impossible to put down.  And its grim echoes of Yeat's Second Coming will haunt my nightmares for many years to come.  ...but it started me reading and thinking about life there in the border zone, about cartels and violence and the wages of inequality.... what soul-deep damage are we creating? 

 

...and I would not have expected to find myself reading so much Penelope Fitzgerald.  Her bittersweet, often ambiguously understated books have a prose and a quiet insight I am not surprised to find delightful, but although her Beginning of Spring remains my stand-out favorite, every one I have read has left me wanting to read more.

 

 

 

One book that touched you - made you laugh, cry, sing or dance! 

 

Zinky Boys was devastating and amazing.

 

 

 

 

Share your most favorite character, covers and/or quotes? 

 

One book you thought you'd love but didn't? 

 

Station Eleven.  I didn't *dislike* it, but there was so much more I wanted from it... and especially so much more I wanted from the Shakespeare.  I wanted to **see* it as transcendent and transformative rather than being told it was.  ...and I wanted more depth to the world and the characters.  It felt like a theater set... and I wanted a real world.

 

What books would you recommend everybody read? 

 

The Story of Western Science

Voices from Chernobyl

Guantanamo Diary

Between the World and Me

 

 

 

What was your favorite part of the challenge?

 

The complete freedom (no assigned reading!) with the choices of possible structure and the way that ends up shaping our conversations - we range around the world, onto rabbit trails, into philosophy, off into Star Wars... we (collectively) draw, knit, cook, bird watch, travel, tend little ones, laugh, struggle, grieve, and rejoice... and yet there is a boundary to our space, somehow, which while allowing all that ranging, brings us together on overlapping reading and/or topics and shelters us.

 

I love the way this space and the tapestries we weave with our words and our caring have expanded not just my reading, but my experiences as a reader.

 

Thank you.

 

 

[Nan in Mass]

It is too early in the year to be out of likes already. :toetap05: Is all I'm saying.

 

 

re: "charity," "conflict resolution," and Crucial Conversations all starting at home:

:lol: re: rarayoucandoitseeitssimpleness. This is one of the things that irritate me about the Covey books, even though they too have their pearls of wisdom.

 

______

 

I was thinking throughout our drive back from Boston today about your question re: learning a new field by reading one book and Practicing, v. hoovering up the library... And -- shocker, this'll be -- although in practice I tend to hoover up a Great Pile of Books and swallow them whole whenever I'm trying to tackle anything new, in theory I believe that a good-enough idea *actually executed* is immensely more effective than a brilliant complex plan that I roll out with fervor and enthusiasm and shortly thereafter abandon because I've taken on more than I can handle. Which, er, happens rather regularly.

 

And Conversations definitely has enough good-enough ideas to be getting on with. In a prior life I did several workshops with Roger Fisher and William Ury's group so I'm most comfortable with their (originally corporate- and inter-national) constructs; and subsequently I've dipped a tiny bit into Quaker-led conflict resolution techniques which tend to be more grass roots oriented (and perhaps more your style?). There are good ideas in all kinds of places, but the Conversations chapters on Learn to Look and Make it Safe are IMO as good a place as any to launch a Just Do It practice.

 

Sorry that you face such issues within your extended family. That is rough.

...

 

Eiyuh. I have my share of abandonned hoovered plans, too. Part of me thinks there is value in this approach. I like to have an overview then fill in the details. Much more efficient and it makes it easier to remember the pieces. But part of me is tired of being well read on a subject but amazingly inept at the doing part. I,m ok with doing things I enjoy badly just for fun, but so many things aren,t fun, no matter how good at them you are, and many things are exponentially more fun the better you get at them. If I had lots of time and energy, I would combine the two approaches, I guess? But I don,t. Which I guess leaves me trying to remember to think before I speak. Thanks. : )

 

Nan

[shage]

My first effort to stretch myself--don't laugh--was to select a murder mystery.  I have a complicated relationship to the genre.  Because my professional world involves working with violence and the aftermath, I struggle with murder-as-entertainment. Where other people find escapism and the ultimate triumph of justice, I usually see sadness.
 

But, I am trying to lighten up.

 

1.  Inspector Singh Investigates:  A Most Peculiar Malaysian Mystery by Shamini Flint. Inspector Singh doesn't quite fit in with Singaporean police culture, and thus gets shipped around the region on overseas cases.  The premise is flimsy, but the character sufficiently quirky that it works.  He is rotund, wheezy, food obsessed and wears white sneakers.  It is jarring that the certainty of death by hanging for a murder conviction would be a plot device, as it the interplay between Syariah law and civil law within Malaysia. The publisher is Felony & Mayhem, and there are some interesting nook and crannies on their website.

 

2. Since Christmas I have mostly finished A Book of Common Prayer, though it will stay with me through the year.  I do not come from a liturgical background but have developed a fondness for (and collection of) various prayer books.  My limited theological impression:  it rings of both humility and empire. 

 

[Violet Crown]

A bit from Samuel Pepys' Diary, where he makes a New Year's resolution to cut down on his book buying:

------------

January 10th. Thence to my new bookseller's, Martin's. The truth is, I have bought a great many books lately to a great value; but I think to buy no more till Christmas next, and those that I have will so fill my two presses that I must be forced to give away some to make room for them, it being my design to have no more at any time for my proper library than to fill them.

 

January 18th. At the office all the morning busy sitting. At noon home to dinner, where Betty Turner dined with us, and after dinner carried my wife, her and Deb. to the 'Change, where they bought some things, while I bought "The Mayden Queene," a play newly printed, which I like at the King's house so well, of Mr. Dryden's, which he himself, in his preface, seems to brag of, and indeed is a good play.

 

February 8th. Away to the Strand, to my bookseller’s, and there staid an hour, and bought the idle, rogueish book, “L’escholle des filles;†which I have bought in plain binding, avoiding the buying of it better bound, because I resolve, as soon as I have read it, to burn it, that it may not stand in the list of books, nor among them, to disgrace them if it should be found.

 

February 9th. Up, and at my chamber all the morning and the office doing business, and also reading a little of “L’escholle des filles,†which is a mighty lewd book, but yet not amiss for a sober man once to read over to inform himself in the villainy of the world.

----------

Pepys frequently resolves to drink less, to not buy so many books, to not go so often to the theater, and to stop womanizing; and promptly and completely fails in his resolutions. A very human diary.

[Stacia]

My first effort to stretch myself--don't laugh--was to select a murder mystery.  I have a complicated relationship to the genre.  Because my professional world involves working with violence and the aftermath, I struggle with murder-as-entertainment. Where other people find escapism and the ultimate triumph of justice, I usually see sadness.

 

That must be hard.

 

I don't read much of the murder mystery genre in general. But, I'm wondering if you've read The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino? It's a Japanese murder mystery & quite unlike a 'typical' murder mystery in that you know whodunit from the beginning of the story. The story revolves more around whether or not the investigators will be able to uncover the truth or not. It's not a 'feel-good' murder mystery (seems strange to even type that), but you might appreciate reading one approaching murder from that angle rather than the typical way (if you're interested in reading other murder mysteries).

 

[HRAAB]

I think I would like to join in this year. Last year my dd and I had a competition between the two of us which she won with 57 to my 54.

 

So far this year I've read two books, Village Centenary and Mrs. Pringle by Miss Read, which were perfect choices while I sat by the fire drinking tea and trying to stay warm. I finished last year with Dead Mountain by Donnie Eichar about nine young Russian hikers who all tragically died in February 1959 which didn't do much to help me feel warm.

 

Since I've exhausted everything from Josephine Tey my library has to offer, I'm trying Margery Allingham next with The Black Dudley Murder. I tend to get into a rut and read one author so a personal goal for myself is to read a wider from a wider variety this year including more non-fiction.

 

Also, I want to read the Bible this year although I'm three days late getting started.

[swimmermom3]

I have a question about Goodreads.  I was playing with it this evening and put it my one book I have read and the one I am reading right now for 2016. Then I saw the nifty deal that allows you to add your previous Amazon purchases and began merrily adding.  Is there a way to separate out the active list (2016) from what I own and have already read?  I deleted everything except the two books.  

[Robin M]

What was your favorite part of the challenge?

 

The complete freedom (no assigned reading!) with the choices of possible structure and the way that ends up shaping our conversations - we range around the world, onto rabbit trails, into philosophy, off into Star Wars... we (collectively) draw, knit, cook, bird watch, travel, tend little ones, laugh, struggle, grieve, and rejoice... and yet there is a boundary to our space, somehow, which while allowing all that ranging, brings us together on overlapping reading and/or topics and shelters us.

 

I love the way this space and the tapestries we weave with our words and our caring have expanded not just my reading, but my experiences as a reader.

 

Thank you.

:001_wub: and :grouphug:

[Guest]

Shukrriya!  I am so happy to see you here again!

 

Mesamin: re: Mansfield Park: I am very fond of MP... it is a quieter book than its more famous siblings (with a much quieter heroine, too), but I like the integrity, the finding one's voice, the insights on how one is shaped by environment and influences, and the finding of various kinds of love... while looking at some of what love isn't....

 

Negin: re: Power of Habit: I, too, don't care for most self-help books, so I think one of the things I loved about this is that it is, as you note, about understanding habit formation and alteration, rather than a 10 steps to better habit forming or some such silliness... and you've reminded me that I meant to suggest this to one of my teens.  She would, It think, find it fascinating.

 

 

Kareni: re: What We See When We Read: That looks fascinating... but I am decidedly *not* a visual reader...

 

Prariewindmomma re: Age of Innocence:  I was very, very unappreciative of AoI for many years... I felt so suffocated & I fought the book.

 

My most recent read (perhaps 2 years ago?), I finally connected with its amazing-ness - watching the muddled choices, the courage, the vividly depiction of a world, a culture, and some very human people within it.

 

 

PrairieSong: re: reading 365+ books/year: I do that.  I average a book a day & have for most of my reading life.  At hard times, those books are more likely to be escape reading, but I could do without oxygen only slightly more easily than without reading.

 

I'm a fast reader, and always have been.  My mother would give us new books for our cross-country drive & I would finish mine before we were two hours from home.  (I wasn't, and am not now, trying to rush, it is just my natural reading pace.)

 

...and I don't have a television or any other hobbies.

 

Jenny in Florida: re: Heinlein: I read all of Heinlein when I was a teen.  He frequently infuriated me, but I found him immensely readable... and then I tried as an adult and cannot get through even a chapter with pleasure... and when I've pushed myself through a book I end up wanting to form a (metaphorical) lynch mob... ymmv

[shage]

That must be hard.

 

I don't read much of the murder mystery genre in general. But, I'm wondering if you've read The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino? It's a Japanese murder mystery & quite unlike a 'typical' murder mystery in that you know whodunit from the beginning of the story. The story revolves more around whether or not the investigators will be able to uncover the truth or not. It's not a 'feel-good' murder mystery (seems strange to even type that), but you might appreciate reading one approaching murder from that angle rather than the typical way (if you're interested in reading other murder mysteries).

 

Ooh. You mean it won't be so terrible to read the last page first? I will check it out.

[Guest]

 

re: abandoning ships sinking in streams of consciousness:

:lol: I put so much into Ulysses last year, but in the event I just could not do it for just this reason.  Eliana, naturally, made it all the way to the finish line...

 

 

Uhm... not naturally.  Ulysses didn't come even close to naturally for me... it stretched me as a reader in ways I've never stretched before, and couldn't have done before last year.  I didn't have the right tools or headspace to get any joy from it before then even if I had forced myself through it.

 

I find it weird to see Joyce, Faulkner, and Woolf grouped together - I can sort of see it, but Woolf lights up my mind and heart, Joyce sent my mind whirling and had some pieces that touched me, and Faulkner I've just completely bounced off of (though I am planning to try again this year)... they have, for me, wildly different flavors... no, not just flavors. they are entirely different food types as well as flavors.  ...using a similar cooking technique (like sauteeing...)

 

I haven't read Proust yet (on this year's optimistic list!), but Robin's description of how she read Proust with enjoyment matches how I read Woolf - not in bits and snatches, but only when I could let myself become immersed in the rhythm of the prose...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And my first book for the new year is:

 

1. A Quaker Book of Wisdom (Robert Lawrence Smith)

 

I really liked this one! It's pretty short, but it was a slow read, because I kept wanting to stop and think over what had been said. The author wrote it mainly for his grandchildren, so it has a very gentle, loving tone. Smith, although a serious Quaker, fought in WWII, so his reflections on pacifism are particularly interesting. He also has thoughts on education which remind me a great deal of my own parents' educational philosophy from my homeschooling days. And his discussion of silence as an integral part of Quaker life is particularly compelling.

 

 

 

I am very interested in this.  I spent so many of my younger years trying to believe I could be a pacifist...  I still believe there is incredible transformative power in that hashkafa (philosophy), but the price, however great the rewards, is more than I can in truthfulness with myself advocate.... though I still have wistful moments when I wish I could be that person... mostly, though, I am at peace with trying to find the next steps that come out of the person I am...

 

...but I am struggling.  I am having trouble seeing how to be my deepest self within the parameters (health and family) I have... and this is the first time I have ever felt this...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

... and Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When the Stakes are High, by Kerry Paterson and Joseph Grenny.  Nan, I do believe that you recommended this in furtherance of Peace On Earth, lol, and though that perhaps may set expectations a bit high, I enjoyed it.  Sadie, I wonder if you might like it -- if you PM me your address I'll send it along.

 

... and a strangely affecting coffee memoir by Julia Alvarez (of Dominican descent, and Garcia Girls and Butterflies fame) and her farmer husband Bill Eichner, A Cafecito Story: El Cuento Del Cafecito.  Amazon blurbs it as: "a story of love, coffee, birds and hope... Based on her and her husband's experiences trying to reclaim a small coffee farm in her native Dominican Republic, A Cafecito Story shows how the return to the traditional methods of shade-grown coffee can rehabilitate and rejuvenate the landscape and human culture, while at the same time preserving vital winter habitat for threatened songbirds.Not a political or environmental polemic, A Cafecito Story is instead a poetic, modern fable about human beings at their best."

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've placed a library hold on Crucial Conversations & have added the Alvarez to my TBR list.  Her prose is a little unsatisfying, but I have still loved the books of hers I have read....

(re: your 2015 wrap-up: How is it I managed to miss so many titles I want to read?  ...and the Sacks book is high on this year's TBR list.... )

 

 

 

 

 

 

A quick question, though:  Where do you guys find all your books to read?  Since this year I'm doing a lot of re-reads, I will own most, if not all, of the books I'm reading (others are ones I've ordered or that I already have but haven't read yet), but I'm assuming that most everyone, if they're reading all new books, isn't buying them all.  Or are you? 

 

 

We have a personal library that I could probably read from for the rest of my life without getting bored.

We buy primarily from library booksales, the Half Price Book clearance racks, thrift stores, and Amazon Marketplace.

 

I do use the two library systems in our area, but I prefer to own books - I reread, it might be ten years later, but I can't count on the library still having the book, and I read most happily without pressure - my current Don Quixote reread has been going on for over a year, not for any lack of love for DQ, but because that has been how I have wanted to read it this time.  ...and when I read the (amazing) Treatise on Shelling Beans, I spend several months... it needed, for me, right now, to be a gradual read, one I could absorb into myself... and White Masks and Tristano Dies (thank you, Pam and Jane!) are sitting on my shelf waiting for their time to be ripe - for me to be in just the right space to get the most out of them...

 

...and when our kids are interested in something, or a conversation sparks rabbit trails, being able to pull a bunch of relevant books off the shelves and share snippets, or press them on someone works well for our family.

 

To find titles, I read reviews, I look at Goodreads lists, I read books about books... Julian Barnes inspired me to reread Madame Bovary, to try The Good Soldier, and to finally pick up a Penelope Fitzgerald book....

 

 

 

Sadie: I'm copying Rose, too!  My dh gifted me with a copy of The Forest Unseen & I am looking forward to a yearlong read that will help me keep my science reading goals more front and center...

I read the Maxwell (last year? the year before?) and was also amazed by his prose and the quiet poignancy... I have another book of his on my shelves, I should try to get to it soon!

...and I am on the hold list for Neurotribes - I am relieved to be hearing so many positive reactions!  (and thank you for the content warning - it is *very* helpful to know what I'm heading into)

 

 

[Stacia]

Since I sometimes post articles related to freedom of speech & of the press...

 

BBC story: Missing Hong Kong bookseller 'in Chinese detention'

Time story: Missing Bookseller Raises Fears for the Future of Hong Kong’s Legal Autonomy From China

[SEGway]

Agatha Christie goes quickly for me, so I almost always start a new year with a few I haven't read (or haven't read for a while).

 

Death on the Nile (new to me; I didn't guess; enjoyably convoluted)

 

and

 

Five Little Pigs (reread that I remembered the setup, but not the resolution; not my favorite; super unsympathetic characters)

 

Both Poirot.

 

Huzzah for a running start! :)

Edited January 4, 2016 by SEGway

[Jane in NC]

Sip coffee...type a few words...erase...sip coffee...

 

I struggle this morning with how to articulate my thoughts on To Siberia.  The novel immediately captivated me and held my interest.  The ending was less than satisfying though which seems to bring the entire reading experience down a notch or so.  Nonetheless I plan on borrowing Out Stealing Horses from my library at some point in the future.  Petterson's prose is lovely.

 

Melinda--are you still interested in the book?  Send me a PM if you want it.

[mumto2]

I think I would like to join in this year. Last year my dd and I had a competition between the two of us which she won with 57 to my 54.

So far this year I've read two books, Village Centenary and Mrs. Pringle by Miss Read, which were perfect choices while I sat by the fire drinking tea and trying to stay warm. I finished last year with Dead Mountain by Donnie Eichar about nine young Russian hikers who all tragically died in February 1959 which didn't do much to help me feel warm.

Since I've exhausted everything from Josephine Tey my library has to offer, I'm trying Margery Allingham next with The Black Dudley Murder. I tend to get into a rut and read one author so a personal goal for myself is to read a wider from a wider variety this year including more non-fiction.

Also, I want to read the Bible this year although I'm three days late getting started.

Margery Allingham and The Black Dudley Murder are already in my stack. Looking forward to comparing.