Book a Week 2016 - BW6: Side Trip to Burma

[mumto2]

I read that in 2011.  I remember it being good, but I don't remember specifics.  I like anything about Anastasia Romanov since my daughter is named after her.

 

I finished book #13 today, True Stories from the Files of the FBI by W. Cleon Skousen.  It was good.  It covered some of the high profile cases from the 1930s FBI like the Lindbergh baby, Dillinger, and "Baby Face" Nelson.  It is told in a somewhat cold, detached way of an FBI agent.  There are a lot of names and details that are hard to keep straight in some of the stories.

I just finished Dreaming Anastasia and enjoyed it. It's fluff with a Russian folktale twist so I think I just got my fairytale Bingo square. So while I was setting it up in Goodreads I discovered it's a trilogy. I found them in overdrive and can check them out, available. My question for Heather is......Do I want to? Have you read the sequels? This is a series that could go downhill very quickly! ;)

[Butter]

I just finished Dreaming Anastasia and enjoyed it. It's fluff with a Russian folktale twist so I think I just got my fairytale Bingo square. So while I was setting it up in Goodreads I discovered it's a trilogy. I found them in overdrive and can check them out, available. My question for Heather is......Do I want to? Have you read the sequels? This is a series that could go downhill very quickly! ;)

 

I didn't know it was a trilogy.  Probably because at least one, possibly two, weren't out yet when I read the first one.  I read some reviews trying to remember what it was about.  I read it before I started my book blog in 2013 so I don't have a review of it myself.  Things are coming back to me.  Yeah, that could definitely go downhill.  The reviews sound like it goes in circles and becomes quite high school romance-ish.  I think I'd skip the other two books unless I had nothing else waiting to be read.

[Soror]

No time to read everyone yet, already 1.5 hrs behind schedule somehow.

 

Plans for this week:

Wild

The Hot Zone

The Last Child Left in the Woods

 

We'll see if I can get my brain focused anyway, not working so well now.

 

1. The Crystal Cave- Stewart

2. The Hollow Hills- Stewart

3. The Last Enchantment- Stewart

4. The Wicked Day- Stewart

5. Younger Next Year for Women

6. Very Good Lives- Rowling- very, very, extremely short

7. The Once and Future King- White

8. The Lost Art of Walking

9. Move Your DNA

10. The Wild Trees- Preston

 

[mom22es]

Just popping in for a quick update.

 

I finished Brideshead Revisited.  The writing is exquisite.  I do think I’ll have to re-read this one to fully digest all that it is trying to say to me.  At times this one reminded me a bit of Catcher in the Rye, although I can’t articulate why.  And, I agree with reviewers that you can see a lot of this book’s influence in some of Donna Tartt’s writing.  Supposedly the mini-series with Jeremy Irons based on this book is supposed to be a good one, so I think I will watch it sometime soon.

 

I am only a few chapters into A Passage to India.  Since things have calmed down with my Father and he is recovering well at home, I plan to dive in to APtI and several other books I have in my rather large tbr pile this week.

 

I have started reading Philip Larkin’s Collected Poems.  I gave up on Joseph Brodsky, I don’t think I’m quite smart enough for him just yet – maybe another day.

Edited February 8, 2016 by mom22es

[Jane in NC]

Mom22es--glad things are on the mend for your father.

 

I love Brideshead Revisited and can recommend the series with Jeremy Irons.  Glad that you are able to join us in the Forster readalong.

[Kareni]

Last night I finished a re-read which I enjoyed once more ~  Him by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy

 

"They don’t play for the same team. Or do they?

 

Jamie Canning has never been able to figure out how he lost his closest friend. Four years ago, his tattooed, wise-cracking, rule-breaking roommate cut him off without an explanation. So what if things got a little weird on the last night of hockey camp the summer they were eighteen? It was just a little drunken foolishness. Nobody died.

Ryan Wesley’s biggest regret is coaxing his very straight friend into a bet that pushed the boundaries of their relationship. Now, with their college teams set to face off at the national championship, he’ll finally get a chance to apologize. But all it takes is one look at his longtime crush, and the ache is stronger than ever.

Jamie has waited a long time for answers, but walks away with only more questions—
can one night of sex ruin a friendship? If not, how about six more weeks of it? When Wesley turns up to coach alongside Jamie for one more hot summer at camp, Jamie has a few things to discover about his old friend...and a big one to learn about himself."

 

This book does contain adult content.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Pam in CT]

Kathy,  :grouphug: .  I'm so sorry.

 

 

re Side Trip to Burma:

 

52 Books Blog - Side Trip to Burma:  As it is known to happen, I zigged, when I should have zagged, got sidetracked, took a rabbit trail and ended up in Burma.  Officially it is now called the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. General elections were held in 2015, the first since 1990, which began the transition from an authoritarian rule and a new parliament convened on February 1st.  I happened to have stumbled upon this happy little factoid, after I found Jan Phillip Sendker's A Well Tempered Heart a few days ago at Barnes and Noble.  
 

I wasn't quite paying attention to the spirited sequel part so we''ll see what happens when I start to read it as I prefer reading books with sequels in order. That in turn sent me down another rabbit trail, leading me to George Orwell's Burmese Days.
 

How could I pass it up after the comparison with E.M. Forster and Jane Austen. *grin*  And Facts and Details site with its list of folk tales, classical works and modern writers lead me on merry chase around the interwebz, as well as Sadaik, the online manuscript chest for all things literary in Myanmar, where I found a list of Burmese writers as well as literature in translation. 

Happy trails!  

...

I did an armchair side trip to Burma a few years ago, in hopes of being able to tag along on a trip Tom was taking... kid logistics ultimately kept me from going in person (some day...) but the books I got through were:

 

 

• Freedom From Fear, by Aung San Suu Kyi (Burma) – September 8, 2013.  Response here
• Everything is Broken: A Tale of Catastrophe in Burma, by Emma Larkin – September 17, 2013.  Response here
• The River of Lost Footsteps: Histories of Burma, by Thant Myint-U â€“ September 22, 2013.  Response here
• Burmese Lessons: A True Love Story, by Karen Connelly – September 24, 2014
• From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey, by Pascal Khoo Thwe – September 29, 2013.  Response here
• Burmese Days, by George Orwell – October 3, 2013.  Response here
• Harp of Burma, by Michio Takeyama – October 6, 2013.  Response here
• Smile as they Bow, by Nu Nu Yi – October 11, 2013 

re: Orwell's Burmese Days:

I've never heard of this particular Orwell book. It looks really intriguing. I worked at an academic library for a brief spell after college where my boss was an expert on Burma. I believe he had been the resident Burma expert at the Library Congress.  I spent hours and hours proofreading and editing his magnum opus, a huge bibliography on all things Burmese, and you'd think I would have learned a thing or two along the way other than realizing I never, ever wanted to become a professional academic librarian!  

Orwell is so complicated, isn't he... I actually take a lot of heart from his work-in-progress evolution-over-a-lifetime.  I definitely found Burmese Days to be worthwhile, and as you say, intriguing... I just re-read my thoughts from when I finished it and laughed, because he made distinctions between different forms/manifestations of Anglo-Indian racism that very much track to some of the reading a number of us here have been doing closer to home...

 

 

Jane, I am very much enjoying our Main Excursion into India.  I am nearly done with the Mosque section and will check in shortly...

[Pam in CT]

Re Passage to India / Part 1 Mosque:
 

I have to say, I am really enjoying A Passage to India.  When I first started reading it I thought it was all going to be a satirical send-up of British colonialism, and that while I might agree with the sentiment I wouldn't enjoy the process. But I was wrong, this is a much more interesting and thought-provoking book about the creation and interaction of culture and identity. And imagine my pleasure when I read this passage, which neatly paralleled the passage I posted from The New Jim Crow yesterday:
 
(these lines are spoken by Dr. Aziz, a Muslim Indian doctor working for the British, to his British friend Fielding):
 
"No one can ever realize how much kindness we Indians need, we do not even realize it ourselves. But we know when it has been given. We do not forget, though we may seem to. Kindness, more kindness, and even after that more kindness. I assure you it is the only hope."
....

 
Yes -- perhaps my pump was primed by the plumbs with other reading into issues of race and economic exploitation and blind spots that some of us have been doing, but I'm finding (just finished Part 1) that the "setting story" of engagement with character to culture is much more interesting to me than the "surface story" of Adela's engagement or not to the (#SorryNotSorry) just insufferable Ronny...
 
The (painful) insight that I am holding right now is the immense difficulty in truly connecting personally across the Divide -- even though both Aziz and Fielding both want to do so, and as in your quote both recognize one another's humanity and intelligence... still, one can only go so far... so in the scene in which Aziz shows Fielding the picture of his dead wife (and Fielding is culturally aware enough to recognize the depth of this gesture, as if we are brothers now, and how vulnerable it makes Aziz)... still...

 

 

Fielding sat down by the bed, flattered at the trust reposed in him, yet rather sad. He felt old.  He wished that he too could be carried away on waves of emotion.  The next time they met, Aziz might be cautious and standoffish. He realized this, and it made him sad that he should realize it.  Kindness, kindness and more kindness - yes, that he might supply, but was that really all that the queer nation needed?...

 

"I shall not really be intimate with this fellow," Fielding thought, and then, "nor with anyone." That was the corollary. And he had to confess that he really didn't mind, that he was content to help people, and like them as long as they didn't object, and if they objected pass on serenely...

 

... and then they swap notes on their divergent views on the importance of children and carrying on their respective lines, and Aziz marvels at Fielding's professed inclination to remain a bachelor and "travel light"... and when they separate,

 

 

"There goes a queer chap, I trust he won't come to grief," though Aziz, left alone.  His period of admiration was over, and he reacted towards patronage.  It was difficult for him to remain in awe of anyone who played with all his cards on the table. Fielding, he discovered on closer acquaintance, was truly warm-hearted and unconventional, but not what could be called wise...

 

But they were friends, brothers. That part was settled, their compact had been subscribed by the photography, they trusted one another, affection had triumphed for once in a way...

 

Fine line, between "kindness" and "patronage"... I'm pleased that they're reaching across the divide, but (no spoilers because I can't remember where the story is going, lol, though I ever-so-vaguely recall having once read it...) I'm not really trusting that their bond will remain strong enough to withstand any real test...

[Stacia]

Powell's bookstore just sent an email to their page: Black in America. Thought some of you might like to look through possible titles for additional reading....

 

I think that was Great Girl. :)

 

Ah, thanks for remembering for me [re: A Quaker Book of Wisdom]. Thanks, Sapienta. (Did I spell that correctly?)

 

All - I can't tell you how much I enjoyed the mandolin discussion last week.  I wondered if I didn't know what the darn thing was called and had to google it to make sure I hadn't been confused.  Thanks for laughs.

 

Me too. Like Jane, I immediately thought of the musical instrument rather than the kitchen gadget. (Even though I'm not much of a musician, I guess I'm even less of a cook. Lol.)

 

10.  The Sound of Things Falling  by Juan Gabriel Vásquez  Our library is doing the Big Read with In the Time of the Butterflies next month and I read that this was book was a good side book to read with it otherwise I wouldn't have chosen it.  I liked it. 

 

Glad you liked it. I read this as my first book in 2016. I will have to look up the other book if it is one that corresponds with the Vasquez book.

 

• Smile as they Bow, by Nu Nu Yi – October 11, 2013 

 

Pam, what did you think of this one? I saw it awhile ago on the blog of the lady who did the reading around the world. I was thinking it's one I would read. I like the idea of reading something from Burma/Myanmar because my grandfather was stationed there during WWII.

Edited February 8, 2016 by Stacia

[Tawlas]

 

No time to read everyone yet, already 1.5 hrs behind schedule somehow.

 

Plans for this week:

 

The Last Child Left in the Woods

 

 

 Oh Soror!  I love "Last Child in the Woods"  I try and reread every spring to refocus my summer plans.  Do not over-schedule and over plan!  Let them outside to be wild on the ranch :)  I shoudl dig out my copy . . . I may have loaned it out to a friend.

 

AFM:

 

I have gotten derailed over our week long school break :(  Time to get back in the saddle!  Still in progress:

 

Oliver Twist (WEM reading)

History of the Medieval World

Life at Home

What do Buddhists Believe?

Swiss Family Robinson (with my boys)

At the Sign of the Sugar Plum (with all the kids for history)

Little House on the Prairie (family-wide read-aloud)

 

Picking up Girl at War from the library tomorrow and of course have now added 3 more books to my "see if I want to add to my reading list" list lol!

[Pam in CT]

re: Smile as they Bow by Nu Nu Yi:

 

Pam, what did you think of this one? I saw it awhile ago on the blog of the lady who did the reading around the world. I was thinking it's one I would read. I like the idea of reading something from Burma/Myanmar because my grandfather was stationed there during WWII.

 

I think I still have it somewhere; I'll see if I can find it and send it along.

 

It's worth reading just because it's such an unusual peek into a group that is marginalized even by the marginalized in a society that (although making small but important tentative steps in its long lurch toward the light) is still pretty marked by a fairly coercive state.  Their existence is pretty perilous.

 

That said, the treatment was a bit thin -- more focus on really mundane details of daily life (which actually aren't so remarkably different than the daily struggles of other poor/precariously housed population) and less about either the Burmese context or the specificities of their particular challenges within it.

[Stacia]

re: Smile as they Bow by Nu Nu Yi:

 

I think I still have it somewhere; I'll see if I can find it and send it along.

 

It's worth reading just because it's such an unusual peek into a group that is marginalized even by the marginalized in a society that (although making small but important tentative steps in its long lurch toward the light) is still pretty marked by a fairly coercive state.  Their existence is pretty perilous.

 

That said, the treatment was a bit thin -- more focus on really mundane details of daily life (which actually aren't so remarkably different than the daily struggles of other poor/precariously housed population) and less about either the Burmese context or the specificities of their particular challenges within it.

 

Thanks, Pam!

 

[Chrysalis Academy]

Re Passage to India / Part 1 Mosque:

 

 

Yes -- perhaps my pump was primed by the plumbs with other reading into issues of race and economic exploitation and blind spots that some of us have been doing, but I'm finding (just finished Part 1) that the "setting story" of engagement with character to culture is much more interesting to me than the "surface story" of Adela's engagement or not to the (#SorryNotSorry) just insufferable Ronny...

 

The (painful) insight that I am holding right now is the immense difficulty in truly connecting personally across the Divide -- even though both Aziz and Fielding both want to do so, and as in your quote both recognize one another's humanity and intelligence... still, one can only go so far... so in the scene in which Aziz shows Fielding the picture of his dead wife (and Fielding is culturally aware enough to recognize the depth of this gesture, as if we are brothers now, and how vulnerable it makes Aziz)... still...

 

 

... and then they swap notes on their divergent views on the importance of children and carrying on their respective lines, and Aziz marvels at Fielding's professed inclination to remain a bachelor and "travel light"... and when they separate,

 

 

Fine line, between "kindness" and "patronage"... I'm pleased that they're reaching across the divide, but (no spoilers because I can't remember where the story is going, lol, though I ever-so-vaguely recall having once read it...) I'm not really trusting that their bond will remain strong enough to withstand any real test...

 

Ah, well stated.  I was really pondering this passage this weekend also.  I was also curious to what extent Aziz and some of the other Indian characters "read" as real/realistic to an Indian.  Forster seems insightful - for a man of his time, race, etc. - to me, but what do I know?  I find myself really wondering where he got his insight and how he went about creating his Indian characters, and to what extent they seem patronizing to someone who knows the culture better than I do.

[Jane in NC]

Ah, well stated.  I was really pondering this passage this weekend also.  I was also curious to what extent Aziz and some of the other Indian characters "read" as real/realistic to an Indian.  Forster seems insightful - for a man of his time, race, etc. - to me, but what do I know?  I find myself really wondering where he got his insight and how he went about creating his Indian characters, and to what extent they seem patronizing to someone who knows the culture better than I do.

 

Forster's insight came in part when he served as secretary to the Maharajah of Dewas in 1912-13.  I thoroughly enjoyed his memoir The Hill of Devi about this time. You may want to read it as well.

 

[Chrysalis Academy]

Forster's insight came in part when he served as secretary to the Maharajah of Dewas in 1912-13.  I thoroughly enjoyed his memoir The Hill of Devi about this time. You may want to read it as well.

 

 

Thanks, I just requested it.  

[idnib]

Kathy, I'm sorry to hear your sad news.  :grouphug:

 

I'm off-track with reading a bit, having taken an entire weekend away from reading to spend with a friend of mine. 

 

This week I am reading A Confederacy of Dunces, House of Leaves, The Buried Book (almost done!), A Passage to India, and The Fellowship of the Ring (to the kids as well.)

 

The Buried Book has led me on all kinds of rabbit trails, most of them online as I've been looking through photographs of archeological discoveries, museum holdings, and scans of old documents. This book has the potential to spin me off into many other books, not just online research. Some of it, such as the overall between old Mesopotamian stories and the stories of more current religions, have been eye opening, to say the least. I already know of some of the overlap (flood stories) but not as much as I have been reading here. Very interesting!

 

I am not very far along in either The Fellowship of the Ring (so much discussion!) or Passage to India. I'm hoping to really dig into Passage starting tomorrow.

 

 

[Stacia]

I have started reading Good Morning Comrades by Ondjaki (pen name for Ndalu de Almeida), an Angolan writer. Interestingly enough, this is another book where there is a child narrator giving insight into a post-colonial African country (like We Need New Names, which I read recently but didn't like).

 

 

Luanda, Angola, 1990. Ndalu is a normal twelve-year old boy in an extraordinary time and place. Like his friends, he enjoys laughing at his teachers, avoiding homework and telling tall tales. But Ndalu's teachers are Cuban, his homework assignments include writing essays on the role of the workers and peasants, and the tall tales he and his friends tell are about a criminal gang called Empty Crate which specializes in attacking schools. Ndalu is mystified by the family servant, Comrade Antonio, who thinks that Angola worked better when it was a colony of Portugal, and by his Aunt Dada, who lives in Portugal and doesn't know what a ration card is. In a charming voice that is completely original, Good Morning Comrades tells the story of a group of friends who create a perfect childhood in a revolutionary socialist country fighting a bitter war. But the world is changing around these children, and like all childhood's Ndalu's cannot last. An internationally acclaimed novel, already published in half a dozen countries, Good Morning Comrades is an unforgettable work of fiction by one of Africa's most exciting young writers.

 

 

[Guest]

 

Jane - I got excited when I read a passage in A Suitable Boy and could hardly wait to tell you about it.

 

"Sandeep Lahiri sat down in the stationmaster's office and pulled out Howard's End. He was reading it when...."

 

I imagine the educated people of India at that time (just after the country's independence) had been given a British education. There are quite a few places where a character is reading a classic written by an English author. There were also likely a lot of conflicting emotions. At one point the character whose mother is trying to find her that suitable boy of the title, reads a tribute to British soldiers in a battle against Indians. It was written by Tennyson and she is disgusted that the man whose poetry she loves so much could have written that. 

 

Anyway, I thought that bit about a character reading Forster was interesting. So far, I haven't come across anyone reading A Passage to India, though I doubt I will.

 

I love the way the things I read end up in conversation with each other... sometimes literally.

 

And, Kathy, love, I am so sorry for your loss.  ...and yet glad your were able to have so many special years with Dingo... and have such supportive medical care for the ending stages.  :grouphug:

 

 

 

 

 

-Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Glad to have read it. My brain will be processing this one for awhile. Very poetic, important message, made me uncomfortable which I think was his intent. Not sure I can automatically accept everything from his point of view.

 

 

Yes, I think it is intended to be uncomfortable.. but I also think some of my discomfort was the challenge of seeing the world through very foreign to me lenses. 

...and although I don't accept his perceptions as literal truth, I do unconditionally accept that that is how he has experienced the world... that is what it looks like to him... and then I start to think about *why*?  Why does the world look so different to me?  ...and it pulls me back to the shock I felt reading No Country for Old Men... what frame of reference and experience could lead to this worldview?  ...and the preliminary hypotheses I'm, slowly, coming to, are at least as uncomfortable as the books that triggered the questions...

 

 

Well into Ivanhoe, and getting through Newman's P&P Sermons one at a time. Each one is like a little polished gem; carefully crafted around a single concept; erudite, lucid and convincing. Or, "convicting," as my Baptist friends say. I hope to spend Lent with Newman as my retreat-master. :)

 

Ivanhoe is interesting. I dislike historical fiction where the protagonist just happens to have the mores of a 21st-century American humanist and other characters serve as foils against which he or she exhibits these anachronistic views. But of course Ivanhoe himself is a 19th-century Englishman in the milieu of Robin Hood, with all those enlightened views; and yet I don't mind it at all. It feels like I'm reading a two-hundred-year-old English novel in which the characters are play-acting at Sherwood Forest. Which is surprisingly fun.

 

:)   It is fascinating the ways in which most historical fiction reflects more on the time it was written in than the time in which it is set... and I'm not sure why I perceive that as more true in that genre than in some others...

 

 

 

Was very busy for a while with political stuff (volunteering to make phone calls and hang stuff on doors to make sure everyone knew when and where to caucus, had a ride, etc.) and I've also been spending time at Blogilates and Nerd Fitness. Little reading has gotten done, but I've made a bit of progress on The Fellowship of the Ring and The Language Instinct. 

 

:hurray:    You are a hero!!  I dream of 100% voting participation... and not just token either, but engaged... but that takes an insane amount of legwork... so I am so grateful to those who are part of the process, part of keeping people connected, part of getting out information... regardless of candidate or issue... because I still believe, with somewhat desperate optimism, that engagement and involvement and expression of convictions and concerns enriches us all.    Thank you, love.

 

I am still reading Queen Bees and Wannabees, slowly, because I am also reading The Martian, and somehow Mark Watney's survival on Mars depends on me finishing this book. I started A Passage to India earlier in the week, but the pages turned to dust in my hands. I think I have been carrying it around for a several light years. I managed to read a few pages before the whole thing disintegrated and before Mark Watney so desperately needed my help. I should be done with the Martian later today and will be rejoining several of you in India (on my new digital version) as well as returning to the terrifying world of teenage girls. They make Mars survival look like a cake walk. 

 

I love this.  ...and I wish I could figure out why I feel as if my reading about something, real or fictional, matters... in that weird way you are describing, as if Bilbo or Medea or the black feminist movement in the 1970's needed me to be there with them....

[Guest]

Note to Eliana and fellow Archipelago subscribers:

 

Private Life begins by following the petty lives of the dying aristocracy in early 20th century Barcelona.  Things have taken an interesting turn from my perspective.  About half way through the novel, it is 1931 and the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera is over.  We all know that the Republican government will not last and that Franco with his Falangists are around the corner somewhere. 

 

What I find to be interesting is that a number of the aristocrats are fleeing to France which is precisely what artists and musicians like Picasso and Casals do later under the Franco regime.  The role of Catholicism in Spanish national identity is part of this story too.

 

I have yet to finish this book but I wanted to comment that if you tire of the insipidness of the characters in the beginning of this tale, hang with it.  Private Life has captivated me to the point that I might forget the book sorting that I am supposed to do today and instead just read!

 

 

How fascinating! ...and I find it very powerful when I catch glimpses of larger issues in the interstices of a seemingly more surface book... and when those glimpses then expand a bit...

 

When I was doing my 1930's reading the other year, I kept meaning to come back to Spain... I kept getting interesting -looking books out of the library and planning to dive in, but never felt I had the right entry point, if that makes any sense...

 

 

 

 

I read End of Discussion -

<snip>

 

 

“If you start having a society where people are policing their own thoughts, now we’re back in Salem, Massachusetts, where literally, they didn’t do anything for fun, and then that pressure built up and they all went nuts.â€

 

 

 

I find the intersection of concerns about self-expression and consideration fascinating and very challenging.  ...and I have struggled lately as I learn more in various areas and feel I don't have even the vocabulary to discuss some things without risking hurting someone.  ...I don't ever want to hurt someone, but I do want to be able to express my real thoughts and feelings, but (on the third hand!) I want to do so constructively.  

 

...and I think talking about those challenges themselves can be important... but, again, hard to do without causing pain or misunderstanding.

 

 

 

This is on my to-read list. I recently read his book "News of a Kidnapping" about the Pablo Escobar time in Colombia. 

 

Ooh! I read that a few years ago and thought it was brilliantly done!  (I enjoyed his Clandestine in Chile even more and the Shipwrecked Sailor one less... but appreciated his storytelling skill in all three).  What did you think of it?

[Soror]

(hugs Kathy)

 Oh Soror!  I love "Last Child in the Woods"  I try and reread every spring to refocus my summer plans.  Do not over-schedule and over plan!  Let them outside to be wild on the ranch :)  I shoudl dig out my copy . . . I may have loaned it out to a friend.

 

I hope I find it as inspirational. So far it has only been so-so for me. I don't have to be convinced of the importance of being outside and my own kids have pretty free reign and lots of natural space and I've already read about such things in other places- not sure what I'm really looking for in this book.

 

Frustratingly I had little reading time and when I did end up having time I didn't have my kindle or a book- urgh. Spent too much time dealing with financial stuff in the morning. I'm hoping today is better.

Edited February 9, 2016 by soror

[Chrysalis Academy]

I read Jurassic Park (a re-read) trying to decide whether to include it in Shannon's list.  On the one hand, it fits the themes we are discussing: scientific hubris, unintended consequences, genetic engineering. And I do give the book kudos for being ahead of its time in the exploration of potential misuse of genetic engineering, chaos theory, and the commodification of science.  The thing is, I don't think it's actually a very good book.  The scenes of people being attacked & eaten by dinosaurs are distasteful, that's kind of a no-brainer, but the plot has giant holes in it, and the characters are so very flat and unsympathetic, they don't behave and interact in very believable ways. Not sure whether it's worth reading it to make a point that is much more obvious in 2016 than it was in 1990?

[Chrysalis Academy]

Book suggestion request:  Shannon finished Why Didn't They Ask Evans by Agatha Christie last night, and she loved it! She says it's just the kind of villain she likes. Since I got the suggestion for that one here, I thought I'd troll for other similar mysteries that a 13 year old might enjoy - definitely cozy, not gritty.  It doesn't have to be Dame Agatha, I just don't know what else might be appropriate in a similar genre (besides Georgette Heyer mysteries, of which I have many!) She has enjoyed Murder on the Orient Express, And Then There Were None, Towards Zero, and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.

[Negin]

I find the intersection of concerns about self-expression and consideration fascinating and very challenging.  ...and I have struggled lately as I learn more in various areas and feel I don't have even the vocabulary to discuss some things without risking hurting someone.  ...I don't ever want to hurt someone, but I do want to be able to express my real thoughts and feelings, but (on the third hand!) I want to do so constructively.  

 

...and I think talking about those challenges themselves can be important... but, again, hard to do without causing pain or misunderstanding.

You are good and have a kind heart in not wanting to hurt others. I think the key is intention. It's hard to avoid ever hurting others. Some may unfortunately feel hurt without us ever meaning to be hurtful. We may have never intended to be hurtful. Timing, misunderstandings, all that - these are all challenges. It's hard to completely avoid being hurt or hurting others. It's something we can all strive for. To try to not offend and to not be offensive. 

[LostSurprise]

I'm reading The Confessions of Felix Krull, Confidence Man (Thomas Mann) this week with side trips into Zoobiquity: What Animals Can Teach Us About Health and the Science of Healing (Horowitz) and The 100-year-old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. 

 

I picked up the Mann at a used bookstore. It's mannerly and easy to read. I've been trying to read Magic Mountain for ages and I love Mann's style, but I keep losing that book so this is a nice stand in. The themes are much lighter than Mountain. The main character is an obvious narcissist, which makes me wonder how much was understood about Narcissism at the time. I can't help but think this book was probably much more insightful in it's day because they had less clinical information about Narcissism. Mann is spot-on. It's fun. I generally don't like characters who are full of themselves but Mann is pointed enough to be humorous. It reads like Vanity Fair to me much of the time (without the sappy good characters). 

 

Zoobiquity is a bit dryer and more technical then I thought it would be. I support her main thesis (the study of animal medicine and human medicine would both benefit from being more intertwined) and appreciate the detailed discussions and citations she brings together. I'm not sure she knows exactly what she wants from this book. Overall an interesting book, and I hope the study of other mammals brings more data to our understanding of human biology.

 

100-year-old man is okay. Reminds me of Forrest Gump or O Brother Where Art Thou?...the Quest or Journey as a farce.

 

 2016 Finished: 

1. Call the Midwife: Farewell to the East End by Jennifer Worth~memoir, ’50s, England, medical, series.
2. Skunk Hill: a Native Ceremonial Community by Robert Birmingham~history, Native Americans.
3. Uprooted by Naomi Novik~Fantasy, Polish fairy tales, magic. *
4. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel~speculative fiction, apocalypse, Shakespeare.
5. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel~fiction, history, audiobook. 16th century, England.
6. Strange Things Still Happen edited by Angela Carter~fantasy, fairy tales, female-focus, Africa, Palestine, Norway, Hungary, Mexico, US, China.
7. Manners & Mutiny by Gail Carriger~fantasy, steampunk, series.
8. A Guide to Forgetting by Jeffrey Skinner~poetry, sonnets, free verse.
9. The Scavengers by Michael Perry~youth fiction, post-apocalypse, survival, genetic engineering

[Lady Florida.]

Book suggestion request:  Shannon finished Why Didn't They Ask Evans by Agatha Christie last night, and she loved it! She says it's just the kind of villain she likes. Since I got the suggestion for that one here, I thought I'd troll for other similar mysteries that a 13 year old might enjoy - definitely cozy, not gritty.  It doesn't have to be Dame Agatha, I just don't know what else might be appropriate in a similar genre (besides Georgette Heyer mysteries, of which I have many!) She has enjoyed Murder on the Orient Express, And Then There Were None, Towards Zero, and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.

 

Has she read any of the Flavia de Luce books? I don't remember if you said whether or not she has. The protagonist is an 11 year old girl but a lot of adults love the series (I couldn't get into it even though I like mysteries and cozies). 

 

Keeping with the Agatha Christie types, how about Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter books?

 

And then there'st Sherlock Holmes? So many young people only know Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock (though a few know Robert Downey, Jr.'s version). I don't know if I'd recommend the first one (A Study in Scarlett) for her, because of the long and rambling part about Mormons. I'd go with one of these: The Sign of the Four, The Hound of the Baskervilles, or A Scandal in Bohemia. It's been a long time, but I think those are all appropriate for a 13 yo., and they definitely are if she's seen any of the above adaptations of Holmes.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Has she read any of the Flavia de Luce books? I don't remember if you said whether or not she has. The protagonist is an 11 year old girl but a lot of adults love the series (I couldn't get into it even though I like mysteries and cozies). 

 

Keeping with the Agatha Christie types, how about Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter books?

 

And then there'st Sherlock Holmes? So many young people only know Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock (though a few know Robert Downey, Jr.'s version). I don't know if I'd recommend the first one (A Study in Scarlett) for her, because of the long and rambling part about Mormons. I'd go with one of these: The Sign of the Four, The Hound of the Baskervilles, or A Scandal in Bohemia. It's been a long time, but I think those are all appropriate for a 13 yo., and they definitely are if she's seen any of the above adaptations of Holmes.

 

Yes, we both read and liked the first Flavia book, but the second one felt totally formulaic, neither one of us could really get into it.

 

Lord Peter is a good idea! She'd probably enjoy that.

 

She loves Sherlock! We read The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Sign of Four and some of the short stories.  That's definitely the kind of mystery I'm talking about. Thanks!

[JennW in SoCal]

I had this grand plan to do a Sunday essay to introduce y'all to some of my favorite music and books on music. The centerpiece was going to be the book Longing, a historical fiction account of the lives of Robert and Clara Schumann. Their story provides rich, juicy material for books and movies. He was a bi-polar pianist and composer, she was a child prodigy pianist who performed all over Europe in the 1800s.  He was a student of her father's, who forbade them to marry. They had to sue him in court for permission to marry. She made performing without music -- by memory -- fashionable and premiered many famous works.  They were pals with Franz Liszt and Frederic Chopin.  They mentored Johannes Brahams.  If that weren't enough, Robert tried to commit suicide and was committed to a mental hospital where he died. Music scholars are divided over whether Brahams and Clara were lovers or not, whether he fathered her last (her 8th!) child.

 

Unfortunately I cannot bear to finish reading the book!  It is a little bipolar, too! There is some very lovely writing in it, and Robert's madness is perfectly captured. It is also extraordinarily pretentious. I think the author couldn't decide if he was going to write a scholarly biography or literary fiction.  The beginning chapters are especially bogged down with long footnotes where the author gets to show off his research. But, and this seems especially egregious against this scholarly backdrop, he has highly sexualized everyone -- with no footnotes to back any of it up!!!  For instance. When 11 year old Clara plays for an elderly Goethe, he offers a pillow for her to sit on after she has settled at the piano, and, when she rises for him to place the pillow -- he takes advantage of the situation to grope her!!!  Was Goethe a dirty old man? Do we know this as historical fact? 

 

And I'm just not drawn to the characters as written in this book.  I'd rather learn more about them through the Great Courses lectures by Robert Greenburg (which is on sale at the moment!).  

 

Quick story. Way, way back in the last century when I was in college (early 80s), there was a woman in our university/community orchestra who celebrated her 100th birthday.  She was still playing at 100!!  Her father had taken her to Germany to study violin with the most famous violinist of the day Joseph Joachim.  Joachim was friends with the Schumanns and Brahams, and in fact played string quartets with Brahams on Sunday afternoons. Sure enough, one weekend Joachim invited her to come by Sunday afternoon to meet Brahams!!  I knew a woman who had met Brahams!!  This same woman was presented at court to Kaiser Wilhelm. 

 

One last link.  I first "met" Clara through playing her music, specifically her G minor piano trio, a rich and dramatic work typical of German romantic music.

.

 

And, if you can find it, there is a 1947 Katherine Hepburn movie about her, Song of Love.

 

 

[Mom-ninja.]

Book suggestion request:  Shannon finished Why Didn't They Ask Evans by Agatha Christie last night, and she loved it! She says it's just the kind of villain she likes. Since I got the suggestion for that one here, I thought I'd troll for other similar mysteries that a 13 year old might enjoy - definitely cozy, not gritty.  It doesn't have to be Dame Agatha, I just don't know what else might be appropriate in a similar genre (besides Georgette Heyer mysteries, of which I have many!) She has enjoyed Murder on the Orient Express, And Then There Were None, Towards Zero, and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.

I was going to say Sherlock and see that was posted above. I'm not much of a mystery reader. How about Wilkie Collins? Father Brown stories? 

 

 

I picked up After Alice by Maguire at the library, but it doesn't have very good reviews. Not sure if I will read it or not. Has anyone read it? 

[aggieamy]

Book suggestion request:  Shannon finished Why Didn't They Ask Evans by Agatha Christie last night, and she loved it! She says it's just the kind of villain she likes. Since I got the suggestion for that one here, I thought I'd troll for other similar mysteries that a 13 year old might enjoy - definitely cozy, not gritty.  It doesn't have to be Dame Agatha, I just don't know what else might be appropriate in a similar genre (besides Georgette Heyer mysteries, of which I have many!) She has enjoyed Murder on the Orient Express, And Then There Were None, Towards Zero, and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.

 

Another Agatha book that DD (11 yo) and I loved is Death on the Nile.  The Cat Who series is a fun one ... The Cat Who Could Read Backwards. 

[aggieamy]

 

 

Quick story. Way, way back in the last century when I was in college (early 80s), there was a woman in our university/community orchestra who celebrated her 100th birthday.  She was still playing at 100!!  Her father had taken her to Germany to study violin with the most famous violinist of the day Joseph Joachim.  Joachim was friends with the Schumanns and Brahams, and in fact played string quartets with Brahams on Sunday afternoons. Sure enough, one weekend Joachim invited her to come by Sunday afternoon to meet Brahams!!  I knew a woman who had met Brahams!!  This same woman was presented at court to Kaiser Wilhelm. 

 

One last link.  I first "met" Clara through playing her music, specifically her G minor piano trio, a rich and dramatic work typical of German romantic music.

.

 

And, if you can find it, there is a 1947 Katherine Hepburn movie about her, Song of Love.

 

That's an impressive history! 

[marbel]

Uh oh; I think I'm at the point I was two years ago when I realized I could not keep up with the conversation here.  I have nothing to contribute to any of the conversations going right now!  :-)

 

I did start A Passage to India last night, but I think I was just too tired because I picked it up this morning and am confused by the characters (who's who).  So I will have to restart!  But I did finish two books this week:

 

Economics in One Lesson, which I was reading along with my son for part of his Economics work.  It was as interesting as an Economics book can be to me, and helpful. 

 

Defend and Betray, the third of the William Monk series by Anne Perry.  At about the halfway point I was thinking "this is the best of the books so far" but by the end I was tired and frustrated by it.  Overall it was interesting though quite sordid and disturbing. 

 

I've started listening to The Nightingale (by Kristen Hannah) in the car.  Several friends have recommended it to me; it's WWII fiction.  I've listened to about an hour (of the 17.5 or so hours) and so far it's... fine.    :-)

 

Hope to have more time to converse or at least read the thread more deeply as the week goes on...

 

1.   Basin and Range, John McPhee

2.   Austenland, Shannon Hale

3.  The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry, Gabrielle Zevin

4.  The Lady in the Van, Alan Bennett

5.  In Suspect Terrain, John McPhee

6.  Jamaica Inn, Daphne duMaurier

7.   A Dangerous Mourning, Anne Perry

8.  Girl in Hyacinth Blue, Susan Vreeland

9.  Defend and Betray, Anne Perry
10. Economics in One Lesson, Henry Hazlitt

 

 

 

 

Edited February 9, 2016 by marbel

[Bluegoat]

I'm still plugging through Small Is Beautiful.  There is a whole chapter about forcasting and predicting, and I'm not sure yet where it is going in relation to the rest of the book.  One of the things he seems interested in is the question, or hope, that computers will be able to provide accurate predictions of the future.  He doesn't put much stock in this idea - he thinks that any patterns that are too subtle for humans to pick out are not strong enough to assure a particular outcome - human free-will or other unpredictable elements could upset them.  Computers were of course not as developed then as today, but he makes some comments on the difference between wisdom and copious amounts of information which, I think, still hold true when we look at how people think computers can affect knowledge. 

 

He also emphasizes that it is important in making predictions or forecasts to know what it is one is trying to accomplish.  He seems on the other hand to think it might be a good think, when thinking about economic development in poor economies, to actually have a go at calculating out what would be necessary, in terms of things like energy or resources, to accomplish the goals being set.  On the other hand, he thinks it is a bad thing to be too specific about assumed data and come out with very detailed predictions about things which cannot really be known, as it tends to mislead people.

 

 

I picked up St Urbain's Horseman Sunday from the book sale table at church, so I will have to add that to my list.

Edited February 9, 2016 by Bluegoat

[LostSurprise]

Book suggestion request:  Shannon finished Why Didn't They Ask Evans by Agatha Christie last night, and she loved it! She says it's just the kind of villain she likes. Since I got the suggestion for that one here, I thought I'd troll for other similar mysteries that a 13 year old might enjoy - definitely cozy, not gritty.

 

The Beekeeper's Apprentice (Laurie King)?

No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency?

The Moonstone (Collins)?

the Enola Holmes series (Springer)?

The Wollstencraft Detective Agency?

 

I enjoyed Christie's Tommy and Tuppence series, Sherlock Holmes, and Isaac Asimov's Tales of the Black Widowers in early high school. 

[Jane in NC]

Uh oh; I think I'm at the point I was two years ago when I realized I could not keep up with the conversation here.  I have nothing to contribute to any of the conversations going right now!  :-)

 

 

Don't worry!  We are not always reading the same books so any and all random book thoughts appreciated. 

 

I'm still plugging through Small Is Beautiful.  There is a whole chapter about forcasting and predicting, and I'm not sure yet where it is going in relation to the rest of the book.  One of the things he seems interested in is the question, or hope, that computers will be able to provide accurate predictions of the future.  He doesn't put much stock in this idea - he thinks that any patterns that are too subtle for humans to pick out are not strong enough to assure a particular outcome - human free-will or other unpredictable elements could upset them.  Computers were of course not as developed then as today, but he makes some comments on the difference between wisdom and copious amounts of information which, I think, still hold true when we look at how people think computers can affect knowledge. 

 

He also emphasizes that it is important in making predictions or forecasts to know what it is one is trying to accomplish.  He seems on the other hand to think it might be a good think, when thinking about economic development in poor economies, to actually have a go at calculating out what would be necessary, in terms of things like energy or resources, to accomplish the goals being set.  On the other hand, he thinks it is a bad thing to be too specific about assumed data and come out with very detailed predictions about things which cannot really be known, as it tends to mislead people.

 

 

Since Small is Beautiful was written, I think that culturally we have become obsessed with data for the sake of data.  I am seeing that with one of my community advisory boards.  There is a subcommittee that loves to gather and refine data--which would be fine if it weren't so expensive.  The town manager is asking them to develop some pro-active projects that they can monitor. That way they'll still get some data but hopefully something positive will be done in the process.

 

Computer modeling was new but still a significant part of the discussion when Small was written.  Limits to Growth from the Meadows Group at MIT was published about the same time.  I remember studying population and natural resource models in that book.

 

I think that people involved in NGOs still look to Schumacher.

[Pam in CT]

Reading:

 

 

Dog Whistle Politics: How Coded Racial Appeals Have Reinvented Racism and Wrecked the Middle Class, by Ian Haney Lopez.  Eliana, was this among your MLK Long List? I thought it was (and am not sure how else it might have appeared on my stack?) but nothing came up when I searched.  Anyway, much of its two pronged thesis is embedded its title.  The first prong, the Reinvention of Racism part, uses key turning points in electoral history to analyze the emergence of what Lopez calls "code", with which racial messages are communicated without racial words being used.  This part follows usefully from Coates' and particularly Alexander's books, getting into the "how" of what those authors described, happened. Special shoutout to idnib: Lopez does speak extensively to the different experiences of Latinos / Muslims / other minorities, and how both the coded language and the "line of whiteness" have evolved over time.  I found this part quite illuminating.

 

The second prong of his thesis speaks to how the emergence of such code (and how it's been harnessed to specific corporate and high-income interests) has had the effect of gutting the middle class, and in so doing harming millions of white people as well.  I tend to react pretty reflexively against any kind of argument that smacks of false consciousness, and this part of his argument IMO does... so I struggled, still am struggling, with this bit.

 

 

Race and Economic Jeopardy for All: A Framing Paper for Defeating Dog Whistle Politics, by Ian Haney Lopez - so then this is a policy paper that the same author did for the AFL/CIO, which spends a little time upfront laying out the reinvention-of-racism part of the book, but mostly amplifies on the economic effects part, particularly from the union lens.

 

 

Shake Loose My Skin: New and Selected Poems, by Sonia Sanchez.  These are very powerful, some of them overwhelming really.  Amy: this woman packs more into a haiku than I think I've ever seen!  Highly recommended, for a day you're feeling strong...  Here are excerpts from her eulogy for Vaclav Havel, Poem for July 4, 1994, which is among the most redemptive and hopeful of the (very often pretty bleak) bund:

 

 

I.

 

It is essential that Summer be grafted to

bones marrow earth clouds blood the

eyes of our ancestors.

It is essential to smell the beginning

words where Washington, Madison, Hamilton,

Adams, Jefferson assembled amid cries of:

 

“The people lack of informationâ€

“We grow more and more skepticalâ€

“This Constitution is a triple-headed monsterâ€

“Blacks are propertyâ€....

 

2.

 

“Let us go into the fields†one

brother told the other brother. And

the sound of exact death

raising tombs across the centuries.

Across the oceans. Across the land.

 

3.

 

It is essential that we finally understand:

this is the time for the creative

human being

the human being who decides

to walk upright in a human

fasion in order to save this

earth from extinction.

 

This is the time for the creative

Man. Woman. Who must decide

that She. He. Can live in peace.

Racial and sexual justice on

this earth....

 

For we the people will always be arriving

a ceremony of thunder

waking up the earth

opening our eyes to human

monuments.

And it’ll get better

it’ll get better

if we the people work, organize, resist,

come together for peace, racial, social

and sexual justice

it’ll get better

it’ll get better.

 

 

 

[Stacia]

I finished Good Morning Comrades by Ondjaki. It is a simple & charming child's-eye view of life in Angola during revolutionary changes & civil war in the 1990s.

 

The Afterword provides a lot of good historical context about Angola's history, as well as the various changes that were going on in the 1990s. Even though the book is fiction, the author has said that it is semi-autobiographical, based on his own childhood in 1990s Angola.

 

Recommended, especially for those who enjoy books from around the world.

 

Read an excerpt here.

[PeacefulChaos]

I've been neglecting my reading and haven't finished a book this past week.  :leaving:  :D

 

I'm still working on Woman of Influence, a reread from a women's group at church several years ago - it's not too bad.  There are some mild things that could be interpreted as something I don't agree with, but they aren't the focus of the book, so I'll probably keep this one around.

I started The Case of the Missing Marquess (Enola Holmes) as a pre-read for Link.  He's going to be participating (or at least trying out) a book club with some other boys his age and I wanted to read the book, too, as I hadn't heard of it before and me reading it would give him a sounding board on it before going to discuss it with others.  It's fine.  I will say I'm kind of like :blink: about a couple things in the foreword, but since then it's been nbd.  I hope he doesn't just want to immediately drop it because of the whole female protagonist thing, though.

I also begin reading The Power of a Praying Wife and this woman had me thinking she's completely insane in the first chapter.  I'm not sure I can stick with a book in which the author insists that it's a woman's duty to her husband to be all sorts of things.  That really rubs me the wrong way.  So.  I may jut toss that one out.  We'll see.  :glare:

Aside from those, over the course of the year I'll be working on Knowing God (with my Bible study group) and The Celebration of Discipline (an old favorite from college that I'm going to focus on one chapter/month at a time).  

 

And of course, as always, I'm continually adding books to my 'Want-to-Read' list on Goodreads.  :lol:  Usually there are tons on here, and then this past weekend I attended an IF:Local (IF:Gathering = Christian women's conference), and added more then, too.  

 

One day I'll get to them.  :D  :lol:

 

Oh, and in other news: I went through all of my clothes and discarded FIVE TRASH BAGS WORTH!!!  :D  I took them to the donation bin today.  Woot woot!!  I wish I could go through things quicker, but alas, real life doesn't allow it.  Just that much, though, is pretty awesome, and just that much space is already making me feel happy.  :D

 

 

 

So far this year:

 

1. This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti

2. Captivating by John & Stasi Eldredge

3. The Heavenly Man by Brother Yun

4. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

[Violet Crown]

Today I ran into a young friend whom I'm tutoring in English who asked what my book was about. I told her it was about a young knight fresh from the Crusades and his lady-love, that Robin Hood was an important character, and that I was pretty sure the mysterious Black Knight was King Richard in disguise. She thought it was hilarious that I was reading a book for little kids. :D

 

I'm hoping to get much reading besides Ivanhoe done in the next few weeks. My little Oxford War and Peace being irretrievably lost, dh ordered me a Like New replacement, due to arrive Valentine's Day. Perfect. :) So those and the Newman and who knows what else by Easter?

 

Until then, stay warm, friends!

[Jane in NC]

Goodbye VC!  I always missing you during your Lenten fast from the Internet. 

[Stacia]

I've now started another book translated from the Portuguese, this time from Brazil: The Three Trials of Manirema by José J. Veiga.

 

 

In this novel – a mysterious puzzling tale, perfectly told –, a small town is stricken by the strangest of plagues: the sudden visitation, nearby, of silent, self-sufficient men. No one knows who the strangers are, where they came from, or what they want. But with every passing day something unaccountable happens. The once-carefree town is overcome with tension as the carter, the storekeeper, the blacksmith, a courting couple, among others, are victimized. Confused and frightened, some people become secretive, some taciturn. A few stand their ground in the face of pressure and provocation, but most bend or reverse their values. Then, from the stranger’s campsite, packs of howling dogs spread through the streets and gardens, invading houses, chasing down inhabitants. They bark, snarl, and whine for days. When, as if by magic, the dogs disappear, hundreds of plundering oxen descend upon the town. Houses are besieged, residents corralled, the land and air poisoned with excrement. Suddenly – as if obeying a silent order â€“ they disappear. Dogs, oxen, the townspeople’s self-destructive reaction: Are the mysterious strangers responsible? Are the animal invaders mere instruments of oppression or are they the men themselves in another guise? No one knows, and no one knows why the visitors themselves leave as suddenly and unpredictably as they arrived. A novel or an apologue? The reader must decide.

 

About the author:

 

(1915-1999) Brazilian writer, closely associated with Magic Realism and the fantastic.

 

<snip>

 

His first novel, an immediate success, was A Hora dos Ruminantes (1966; trans Pamela G Bird as The Three Trials of Manirema 1970 US), in which a small village is taken over by strange men before being invaded by dogs and then cattle.

 

<snip>

 

Veiga's stories are a clever mix of rural-life naturalism and the Kafkaesque, in which many critics see allegories of Brazil under military rule.

 

Edited February 10, 2016 by Stacia

[Stacia]

VC, looking forward to seeing you again once Easter is here. Have a lovely Lenten season!

[Mom-ninja.]

Uh oh; I think I'm at the point I was two years ago when I realized I could not keep up with the conversation here.  I have nothing to contribute to any of the conversations going right now!  :-)

 

 

Hope to have more time to converse or at least read the thread more deeply as the week goes on...

 

 

No worries. Not all of us are so verbose about each and every topic. I'm more of a quick pop in for a few snazzy one liners and announcement of having finished a book. 

[idnib]

Special shoutout to idnib: Lopez does speak extensively to the different experiences of Latinos / Muslims / other minorities, and how both the coded language and the "line of whiteness" have evolved over time.  I found this part quite illuminating.

 

 

Thanks Pam, I'll check it out!

[Chrysalis Academy]

I finished The Strangled Queen, book 2 of The Accursed Kings series, about the French royal family at the end of the reign of the Capetian kings.  I will totally confess that this series came to my attention last year when Game of Thrones went off the air - one of those chatty and bright posts saying "If you loved GoT you will love . . . "  This is a series written by a French author in the 1950s, but it has gained a new cachet and has been republished with a quote from GRR Martin saying "This is the original Game of Thrones."  What is really interesting to me, wallowing in medieval European history, is just how many periods/dynasties/royal families could claim that distinction.  When I read the GoT series, I kept thinking how absolutely over the top it was. But reading real history, or  historical novels, I'm thinking . . . not so much.

 

Anyway, I really enjoyed it, even more than the first book, perhaps because I'm more immersed in the period now? I'm going to read the next one. There are 7 altogether, and I reserve the right to stop at any time, but it is nice to have a new series capture my interest. 

[Kareni]

Some books I've recently finished ~

 

His Road Home by Anna Richland

 

This was quite good; I'll definitely be re-reading this at some point.  And, it's currently 99cents for Kindle readers.

 

 

"Winner of Romance Writers of America's 2015 RITA® Award for Best Romance Novella "Richland packs a novel's worth of plot and characterization into this tantalizing novella. " —Publishers Weekly, starred review

Special Forces medic Rey Cruz needs to find a fiancée, fast, or he'll end up in a marriage orchestrated by an Afghan warlord. Finding a picture online of a girl he barely knew back home, he fakes an engagement photo, thinking no one else will see it. But when Rey loses both legs and the ability to speak while rescuing a local boy, the image goes viral.

Seattle marine biologist Grace Kim is shocked to find out she's engaged. When she's offered a plane ticket to visit her "fiancé," she takes it, looking for the answer to one question: Why did he lie? Touched by Rey's funny texts and the determination she sees in him, Grace offers her friendship—a big step for someone who prefers whales to most company.

And when Rey is finally sent home, Grace agrees to help him drive his classic car cross-country over Thanksgiving—a once-in-a-lifetime road trip that leads to what feels like real love. In front of his friends and family, she plays the caring fianc‚e, but what place will Grace have in Rey's new life once he's ready to be on his own again?"

 

**

 

I also read these contemporary male/male romances by Amy Jo Cousins; I enjoyed them all.  They do have adult content.

 

Off Campus (Bend or Break Book 1)

 

Nothing Like Paris (Bend or Break)

 

Level Hands (Bend or Break)

 

Full Exposure: A Don't Read in the Closet Novella (this novella is currently free to Kindle readers)

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

 

[Kareni]

I also read with pleasure The Beauty of Zentangle: Inspirational Examples from 137 Tangle Artists Worldwide  which was a lovely book.  It's a showcase of Zentangle works from artists around the world; it's an impressive collection.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

 

[Robin M]

 

 

Plugging away with One Hundred Years of Solitude. Remember now, I actually didn't like it the first time and a second reading isn't changing my mind. Too bad I'm running the class and committed to finishing. Erk!

[Robin M]

Uh oh; I think I'm at the point I was two years ago when I realized I could not keep up with the conversation here. I have nothing to contribute to any of the conversations

Stick around, honey and enjoy yourself. The conversations ebb and flow from the serious to the silly. If you enjoy being a fly on the wall, like me, or read fluffier books, like me, or just need a friend to lend a friendly ear, like all of us, then stick around. Hugs!

[Robin M]

I'll post book related stuff in a separate post.

 

Yesterday was a sad day in our household. I had made an appointment (THE appointment) for our dog for Tuesday, but he was in such bad shape Friday night that we knew it wasn't fair to make him wait that long. We had hoped for a few more days to say goodbye, but we feel we made the right decision. Fortunately our vet has half day hours on Saturday, so when I called in the morning they said we could bring him in. They were very caring and understanding and let us have as much time as we needed before actually doing anything.

 

Ds' girlfriend came over early in the morning, went to the vet with us, and stayed most of the day and a good part of the evening. I was grateful to her, and I think her presence really helped him deal with his sadness. Of course our grieving is not over, but yesterday was the hardest and I'm glad she was able to be here to help him through it. She volunteers at an animal rescue thrift shop on Saturdays, but when she called and told them why she couldn't come in, they completely understood.

 

As I mentioned, my heart is breaking from missing the dog, but also for my son, who grew up with him. They were the poster for "A boy and his dog." I don't want to end this post on such a sad note, so I want to share a message sent to me by a friend. It was in response to a comment I made about seeing my big 18 year old man fall apart over the loss of his childhood pet. I though it was a wonderful sentiment.

 

This is so so SO hard. The thing is...Dingo left Dennis with a gift he will carry with him his whole life: compassion, and the ability to love and look after a creature put under his care. This, in some way, is Dingo's legacy: he left behind a boy, a young man in pain, but who is a better person for it.

Hugs and kisses and good thoughts. So hard when we lose one of our fur babies, since they are part of our families and life. Beautiful quote from your friend! Edited February 10, 2016 by Robin M

[Pam in CT]

I also read with pleasure The Beauty of Zentangle: Inspirational Examples from 137 Tangle Artists Worldwide  which was a lovely book.  It's a showcase of Zentangle works from artists around the world; it's an impressive collection.

 

Regards,

Kareni

Oh that looks lovely.  Zentangles are awesome.  One of my daughters' friends in enduring an extended hospitalization, and Stella sent her Zentangle supplies early on in the ordeal, and she had gotten really absorbed with it and it's really helped her pass the time.  I'll look for that one -- *excellent* gift idea.