Book a Week 2016 - BW6: Side Trip to Burma

[Mom-ninja.]

You people know I have work to do right? Stop listing such cool books. 

 

As for the bingo.....I've totally got the "free space" done.  :hurray:  Right there with you, Stacia. 

 

 

Also, the link to the bingo pdf doesn't work. I didn't save it to my computer. 

Edited February 12, 2016 by Mom-ninja.

[Ali in OR]

 In Thing Explainer, he uses line drawings and only the thousand (or, rather, “ten hundredâ€) most common words to provide simple explanations for some of the most interesting stuff there is, including:

 

• food-heating radio boxes (microwaves)
• tall roads (bridges)
• computer buildings (datacenters)
• the shared space house (the International Space Station)
• the other worlds around the sun (the solar system)
• the big flat rocks we live on (tectonic plates)
• the pieces everything is made of (the periodic table)
• planes with turning wings (helicopters)
• boxes that make clothes smell better (washers and dryers)
• the bags of stuff inside you (cells)

 

This sounds a lot like how I talk these days! Dd and I were trying to edit an essay and we used phrases like "bad thing" until we could come up with a more academically appropriate word!

 

I am chuckling re: all the discussion of the book bingo.

 

I look at the chart & all my reading so far this year (plus what's likely to come) fits into the same few categories:

Female author

Picked by a friend

Non-fiction

Translated

Set in Another Country

 

It's likely that at some point I may read ones that fit in:

Banned

Fairy Tale Adaptation (Oyeyemi's book of short stories has some of this & that's a thing she commonly weaves into her storytelling, so maybe it would count?)

Published 2016

Picked Based on the Cover

 

And, I guess I can manage the "Free Space"! :thumbup1:

 

I'm not sure if I'll even end up with a bingo at some point. :tongue_smilie:

 

Rose, when I've picked by the cover previously, I try to make sure it is a book I have never heard of, know nothing about, & don't read any of the dust jacket blurbs or anything.

Yes, I think almost all of mine have been "set in another country"! And I was also thinking of Oyeyemi for the Fairy Tale Adaptation. I know how much you enjoyed Boy, Snow, Bird so I'm planning to get to that when the "to be read" stack goes down a bit.

[Robin M]

You people know I have work to do right? Stop listing such cool books.

 

As for the bingo.....I've totally got the "free space" done. :hurray: Right there with you, Stacia.

 

 

Also, the link to the bingo pdf doesn't work. I didn't save it to my computer.

I finally made it into a jpeg file and posted the image on 52 books blog. You should be able to copy and save as image. Let me know if it works or not.

[Kareni]

Regarding Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words:

 

This sounds a lot like how I talk these days! Dd and I were trying to edit an essay and we used phrases like "bad thing" until we could come up with a more academically appropriate word!

 

I laughed when I encountered a picture of an ice hockey rink.  A small box on one side was labeled "Box for bad people"!

 

There's a double page periodic table.  Some of the elements (remember that their names are not listed since they are not amongst the top ten hundred words in English) are described as "The stuff they put in pools so nothing bad can grow in them," "The rock most well known for killing you if you eat it," and "The part of air we don't need to breathe to stay alive."  Another box has a picture of a balloon with an arrow pointing to it.  The legend says "The air in here."

 

It's a fascinating book.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Guest]

You people know I have work to do right? Stop listing such cool books. 

 

As for the bingo.....I've totally got the "free space" done.  :hurray:  Right there with you, Stacia. 

 

 

Also, the link to the bingo pdf doesn't work. I didn't save it to my computer. 

 

Here's a link to it on Robin's blog. 

 

I'm glad we have the whole year to chip away at the bingo square - I like having the suggestions (it is one way to decide which of the absurd number of books stacked on my bedside bookshelf to pick up now), but I don't like to feel pressured.

[Guest]

Howdy! Haven't had much time to read through everyone's posts as I'm still zigging and zagging, hither and yon.  Took a break from One Hundred Years of Solitude to read a couple books in Robyn Carr's Thunderpoint series - I needed something fluffy.  Meanwhile a quick jog around the internet lead me to Okay Africa and Siyanda Mohutsiwa's article "I'm Done with African Immigrant Literature"  which in turn lead me to her blog Siyanda Writes and her youtube channel where she does book reviews among other things.  Have fun!  

 

Thank you for the links, love!

 

I found the article echoed a vague feeling I had when we did the continent challenge the other year and I ended up reading a number of African works - all by authors born or living in Africa - but I felt weird that most of them didn't live in Africa, and many hadn't for a long time.  ...and when I picked up a boxed set of new African poets' chapbooks, I was struck by the fact that not one of them lives in Africa (and most left Africa as children... and one was the child of African refugees but was born in the United States).   Not that I object to reading works by expat authors, not at all!  ...but it felt weird that so much of what I could find and (it seemed) all of the big names were expat (with the exception, now that I think of it, of South Africa).  ...I just wish the article included some suggestions for alternative choices, but, perhaps, there aren't a lot being published in English, where I could find them...

 

 

...and, Pam, shage, idnib, Rose, Stacia, & Nan: the blog has an article about colonialism which echoes some of the discussion here the other week about why focusing on intent might be less than helpful. (and a depressing, brief, satirical bit about why we grieved for Paris but not Nigeria (and, Negin, she has a quick review of a book you read last year: Infidel)

[Guest]

So, when I went to the library online catalog to put this on hold, the next book on the list was Rebecca Solnit's Men Explain Things to Me, which I have wanted to read based on the title, rather than the cover, ever since I first heard of it.  I've always wanted to explore the origins of mansplaining.  So I put that one on hold too.  :D

 

I read that last year and it was okay, but I appreciated the author enough that I want to read a longer, more in depth work of hers at some point.

 

 

It's fun, isn't it? I have something in progress or planned for every category except for Picked for Cover - I realize, I *never* pick books that way! I always pick things to read based on suggestions or because I'm following some kind of a rabbit trail.  So I've been trying - I've been scoping out the library New Release stack and picking up things with interesting-looking covers, but I haven't liked any of them!!  It's kind of a character flaw - I'm not a very visual person, I don't really care how things look (if you saw my house decor, or lack thereof, you would know I speak the truth). It's kind of a stretch to try and pick something based just on visual appeal.  But I'll keep trying!

 

Yes, it is!  I have so many books I want to read, or am planing to read, or have started reading... and some of these challenges help me have a rationale for choosing one over another.  ...and these open-ended challenges often still leave me feeling very free to follow my reading mood of the moment (which can change so rapidly!).  Thank you, again, Robin!!

 

Perhaps I cheated in checking off that square - I counted a book that I pulled off a library display shelf because the cover grabbed my eye.  I do that a lot, but very rarely end up actually checking out (let alone reading!) the book... it is certainly a method that is very unreliable for selecting books I will actually read and like (though, as it turns out, I didn't like this book, but I did finish reading it)

 

 

 

I am waiting very patiently  :) . 

 

That book looks really interesting!  I was eyeballing this one, too: Shakespeare's Daughters by Sharon Hamilton. Have you seen that one?

 

I haven't ... but I just placed a hold on it!

[Melinda in VT]

It's fun, isn't it? I have something in progress or planned for every category except for Picked for Cover - I realize, I *never* pick books that way! I always pick things to read based on suggestions or because I'm following some kind of a rabbit trail. So I've been trying - I've been scoping out the library New Release stack and picking up things with interesting-looking covers, but I haven't liked any of them!! It's kind of a character flaw - I'm not a very visual person, I don't really care how things look (if you saw my house decor, or lack thereof, you would know I speak the truth). It's kind of a stretch to try and pick something based just on visual appeal. But I'll keep trying!

Yes. This is me.

 

I work with visual designers, so I'm learning to turn on some visual skills in work contexts, but haven't yet transferred that to my personal life.

[marbel]

Have you seen this one?  It came home from the library today.  It's fascinating and has a lot of humor, too; I'd describe it as a coffee table book rather than a book you're likely to read from cover to cover. 

 

Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words which is by the xkcd artist, Randall Monroe

 

<snip>

 

We have this book.  My husband and son were browsing it at B&N one day, not knowing there was a copy in an Amazon box under my bed.  I gave it to my husband but I think my son went through it first.  It was really for him, but we had plenty of gifts for him, and not very much for my husband.  (That's also why my husband received Great Courses lecture sets on black holes and the Hubble telescope one year.)

 

They also enjoyed Monroe's book What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions.

 

[Jane in NC]

Private Life was an unsatisfying book for me ultimately--but it was the author's fault.  His tale of the decline of a family of aristocrats is too vivid.  No one is likable; no one is redeemed.

 

Not much of a sales pitch, eh?  Eliana, this one will be on its way to you eventually.

[Chrysalis Academy]

This sounds a lot like how I talk these days! Dd and I were trying to edit an essay and we used phrases like "bad thing" until we could come up with a more academically appropriate word!

 

Yes, I think almost all of mine have been "set in another country"! And I was also thinking of Oyeyemi for the Fairy Tale Adaptation. I know how much you enjoyed Boy, Snow, Bird so I'm planning to get to that when the "to be read" stack goes down a bit.

 

That's the one I'm reading for my Fairy Tale Adaptation, too, because Stacia recommended it so highly, and fits in with the African American book theme some of us have been pursuing, as does The Bluest Eye for Color in the Title. Somebody mentioned this book recently, right? Or am I imagining things? It seemed like it would fit well with Boy Snow Bird.

[Onceuponatime]

I finished Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day while living in another state, at my mom's house for a week, because my bathroom was being demolished. I didn't want to be there during the destruction. It (The book) was a crazy, slapdash, 1930's screwball comedy with a nice ending. The boys and I stopped in at a thrift store near mom's yesterday, where we found books for each of us.

 

I picked up:

Our Ancestors by Italo Calvino (I have no idea what this is but a Calvino in a thrift store? Unheard of.)

Selected Short Stories by Aldous Huxley (Couldn't pass this one up. It wanted to be freed from its insipid shelf mates.)

Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett (I've never seen a Pratchett in a thrift store and had promised myself to buy any that ever appeared in one.)

 

See a pattern? I want to liberate older unappreciated books from a certain death. Hopefully, I will eventually read them all. Our hometown librarian told me she is no longer allowed to order classics and has to dump any that haven't been checked out in a few years. The book club is determined to start checking them all out, even if we don't read them at the time. I know some of you here do this as well.

 

P.S. The workers found a petrified squirrel inside my bathroom wall.

Edited February 12, 2016 by Onceuponatime

[Chrysalis Academy]

RE: Men Explain Things to Me:

 

I read that last year and it was okay, but I appreciated the author enough that I want to read a longer, more in depth work of hers at some point.

 

 

 

The only book of Solnit's I've read is Savage Dreams, which was wonderful.  Looking at what all she's written, I don't know why I haven't read more!  More for the To-Read list . . . I just added The Faraway Nearby and A Paradise Built in Hell.  See how this rabbit trail thing works? Who has time to actually look at book covers???  ;)  :D

[KathyBC]

The list of Burma books is impressive! The only book I've read set there is Amy Tan's Saving Fish from Drowning.

Edited February 12, 2016 by KathyBC

[KathyBC]

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.

My favourite Agatha Christie titles featured Hercule Poirot. Another cozy series might be the Mrs. Pollifax books.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Thank you for the links, love!

 

I found the article echoed a vague feeling I had when we did the continent challenge the other year and I ended up reading a number of African works - all by authors born or living in Africa - but I felt weird that most of them didn't live in Africa, and many hadn't for a long time.  ...and when I picked up a boxed set of new African poets' chapbooks, I was struck by the fact that not one of them lives in Africa (and most left Africa as children... and one was the child of African refugees but was born in the United States).   Not that I object to reading works by expat authors, not at all!  ...but it felt weird that so much of what I could find and (it seemed) all of the big names were expat (with the exception, now that I think of it, of South Africa).  ...I just wish the article included some suggestions for alternative choices, but, perhaps, there aren't a lot being published in English, where I could find them...

 

 

...and, Pam, shage, idnib, Rose, Stacia, & Nan: the blog has an article about colonialism which echoes some of the discussion here the other week about why focusing on intent might be less than helpful. (and a depressing, brief, satirical bit about why we grieved for Paris but not Nigeria (and, Negin, she has a quick review of a book you read last year: Infidel)

 

Thanks for posting that, Eliana. It was an interesting read. I was especially interested in this more general theme:

 

"We cannot learn from history, in any meaningful way, if we choose to view it from the good guy/bad guy narrative of popular American comic book writers. We must examine the motivation and consequences of certain economic systems objectively and open our eyes to real-life applications today."

 

It made me think of Ta-Nehisi Coates's comments about his early years at Howard, and how he went through a period of needing to believe that Africa was completely good, the cradle of civilization, and how he had to grow through that stage to be able to see a more nuanced reality. It made me think of the completely counterproductive slavery discussions I have heard:  Slavery=evil, therefore the Europeans who practice it were Bad Guys.  But wait, Africans also practiced slavery, and humans for the slave market were delivered by conquering tribes of Africans to be sold.  Ok, Ok,so what? So were those just Evil Africans?  Or is the argument that the fact that Africans participated in the slave trade make it somehow less evil, mitigate the offense of the Europeans? That just seems like such a counterproductive line of thought.

 

The whole idea of discussing historical actions in terms, solely, of good and evil people as instigators just feels very empty.  Now, I'm not saying evil people haven't existed, or evil things been done. But most horrific things that have happened in history are not *primarily* caused by single evil individuals, or even groups of evil individuals. Believing that lets us distances the actions from ourselves - because we're not evil, right? So how could anything we do have evil consequences? - and it prevents a deeper analysis of cause and effect in history. And in current events, which ties into the discussion we were having of The New Jim Crow.  If we think about the creation of the system of mass incarceration as the actions of a few evil people in power, does that let us off the hook for dealing with the consequences? I think it's a tempting psychological trap to fall into.

[shage]

Thanks for posting that, Eliana. It was an interesting read. I was especially interested in this more general theme:

 

"We cannot learn from history, in any meaningful way, if we choose to view it from the good guy/bad guy narrative of popular American comic book writers. We must examine the motivation and consequences of certain economic systems objectively and open our eyes to real-life applications today."

 

It made me think of Ta-Nehisi Coates's comments about his early years at Howard, and how he went through a period of needing to believe that Africa was completely good, the cradle of civilization, and how he had to grow through that stage to be able to see a more nuanced reality. It made me think of the completely counterproductive slavery discussions I have heard:  Slavery=evil, therefore the Europeans who practice it were Bad Guys.  But wait, Africans also practiced slavery, and humans for the slave market were delivered by conquering tribes of Africans to be sold.  Ok, Ok,so what? So were those just Evil Africans?  Or is the argument that the fact that Africans participated in the slave trade make it somehow less evil, mitigate the offense of the Europeans? That just seems like such a counterproductive line of thought.

 

The whole idea of discussing historical actions in terms, solely, of good and evil people as instigators just feels very empty.  Now, I'm not saying evil people haven't existed, or evil things been done. But most horrific things that have happened in history are not *primarily* caused by single evil individuals, or even groups of evil individuals. Believing that lets us distances the actions from ourselves - because we're not evil, right? So how could anything we do have evil consequences? - and it prevents a deeper analysis of cause and effect in history. And in current events, which ties into the discussion we were having of The New Jim Crow.  If we think about the creation of the system of mass incarceration as the actions of a few evil people in power, does that let us off the hook for dealing with the consequences? I think it's a tempting psychological trap to fall into.

 

I know less about colonialism than I do institutions that hold people against their will:  state mental hospitals, jails, prisons, locked memory units.  At some point there are abuses within every institution, and I agree that the paradigm of "evil people doing evil things" falls woefully flat in terms of explaining and preventing such behavior.  There are mountains of social psych research from the days immediately after World War II through the present which illustrate that most people will behave poorly given the right circumstances.  In institutional settings, it is safer when administrators understand this and build in safe guards for transparency and accountability.  Relying on goodwill is never enough. 

 

To put is another way:  I would refuse to work in an institution or organization (hospital, school, church) where it was assumed that only "evil people do evil things."  The book about the therapeutic common Therafields which I finished recently is a classic example of this.  The people honestly believed, with the best of intentions, that their ongoing therapy and thorough discussions amongst themselves of every little conflict would mean all problematic interactions would be resolved in very healthy ways.  Wrong. What they discounted were power differentials.  Not every person in that commune had the means to speak up and be heard. In the end it was the leadership and the inner circle which enacted the worse abuses because there was no one to hold them in check.  In fact, much of the commune didn't even realize what was happening.

 

All this to say, the article rang true to me.  It's complicated.

[mom22es]

 

I am so relieved things are smoother for you father.  I hope he continues to go from strength to strength! 

 

I've never tried Brodsky - and now I am intimated!   What do you think of Larkin?  He is on my ought-to-have-read-by-now list....

 

You almost make me want to try Catcher in the Rye again!  I loathed it intensely as a teen, but I bounced off most typical teen lit then, and some of it I appreciate more now. 

 

Seconding Jane in agreeing that the Jeremy Irons production is outstanding.  (And, to not leave out the other talented actor who makes the movie, Anthony Andrews is also spectacular - despite my impulse to see him always and forever as the Scarlet Pimpernel)

 

 

 

Thanks for the well wishes.  He's getting stronger each day and may be able to go back to work in a week or two.  Getting back to work is really important to him, so this is great news.

 

I've only just started Larkin, but I am enjoying him.  I've not read a lot of modern poetry and how concise his poetry is, is refreshing to me.  His poems are cleaner, often short and sometimes there's an occasional f-bomb in the mix.  Since my favorite poets are Frost and Donne this is a change for me.

[Jane in NC]

I finished Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day while living in another state, at my mom's house for a week, because my bathroom was being demolished. I didn't want to be there during the destruction. It (The book) was a crazy, slapdash, 1930's screwball comedy with a nice ending. The boys and I stopped in at a thrift store near mom's yesterday, where we found books for each of us.

 

I picked up:

Our Ancestors by Italo Calvino (I have no idea what this is but a Calvino in a thrift store? Unheard of.)

Selected Short Stories by Aldous Huxley (Couldn't pass this one up. It wanted to be freed from its insipid shelf mates.)

Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett (I've never seen a Pratchett in a thrift store and had promised myself to buy any that ever appeared in one.)

 

See a pattern? I want to liberate older unappreciated books from a certain death. Hopefully, I will eventually read them all. Our hometown librarian told me she is no longer allowed to order classics and has to dump any that haven't been checked out in a few years. The book club is determined to start checking them all out, even if we don't read them at the time. I know some of you here do this as well.

 

P.S. The workers found a petrified squirrel inside my bathroom wall.

:eek:

[LostSurprise]

Burmese Looking Glass by Edith Mirante  

 

From the book description:

 

"As captivating as the most thrilling novel, Burmese Looking Glass tells the story of tribal peoples who, though ravaged by malaria and weakened by poverty, are unforgettably brave. Author Edith Mirante first crossed illegally from Thailand into Burma in 1983. There she discovered the hidden conflict that has despoiled the country since the close of World War II. She met commandos and refugees and learned firsthand the machinations of Golden Triangle narcotics trafficking. Mirante was the first Westerner to march with the rebels from the fabled Three Pagodas Pass to the Andaman Sea; she taught karate to women soldiers, was ritually tattooed by a Shan “spirit doctor,†has lobbied successfully against U.S. government donation of Agent Orange chemicals to the dictatorship, and was deported from Thailand in 1988."

 

And I think this Library Journal review gives the caution I was trying to compose:

"Don't bother to get this book for a human rights collection, for only one small segment deals with seeing fields sprayed with 2, 4-D. And since punk artist Mirante believes in direct discovery rather than scholarly investigation, don't expect any insights into cultural diversity either. Buy this book, if you must, for its descriptive travel account of Mirante's encounters in the 1980s with the Kachin, Karen, Karenni, Mon, Palaung, Shan, and Wa people along the Thai-Burma border. Armchair travelers can revel in her joys and hardships along the frontier, but others will question her conclusions. Observing drug trafficking, teak forest plunder, and massive corruption about her, Mirante decides that these problems result from Ne Win and the Burmese government. Surely they will not disappear with a change of government. The work abruptly ends with Mirante's second deportation from Thailand in 1988 and her inability ever to return."

 

Beyond the Last Village by Alan Rabinowitz:

 

Thanks for these recommendations Eliana. My freshman roommate was a 2nd generation immigrant from the Karen people. I heard a few interesting stories about their life in Burma and I remember them fondly. Thanks. 

 

Here's a link to it on Robin's blog. 

 

I'm glad we have the whole year to chip away at the bingo square - I like having the suggestions (it is one way to decide which of the absurd number of books stacked on my bedside bookshelf to pick up now), but I don't like to feel pressured.

 

I hope Robin doesn't mind...I posted the Bingo square on Facebook and several of my friends found it a fun motivational tool. 

 

Me...I think most of the things I've read could apply but they are so random I haven't made a bingo yet! I'm enjoying my Random Reading...ooh shiny!...and this thread definitely contributes to that. 

[mumto2]

Rose, Before I forget regarding books for Shannon. By Christie, 4:50 from Paddington (Marple) is a favorite. We also enjoyed the Superintendent Battle series starting with The Secret in the Chimneys.

 

I can't remember if you have a kindle or not but Anna Katherine Green books are free on the kindle. Her Mr. Gryce series, starting with The Leavenworth Case is great. Dd loved them. Mrs. Green was supposedly Christies inspiration for Miss Marple.

 

 

 

 

One of the images I use when thinking about this group and my participation in it is that of an open house party... the "house" is open and people stream in and out and there are always a dozen or more conversations going on at once.  I don't drop in every week and sometimes I only pop in for a second and slip off again, other weeks I hang out for the whole party and try to join in some (or all!) of the conversations... or just sit in a corner (with my book!) and vaguely listen as the conversation swirls around me.

 

Some folks drop in just to give a quick note of what they've read, others hand out more, there are the crafters and cooks and the Flufferton crows and the activists and the mystery readers and the folks earning serious "cultural virtue points".  Some of us share a bit of our personal lives, others are more private...

 

And you enrich us by just being yourself and participating in the ways and at the times that feel right for you.  :grouphug:

 

...and one that looks, at least a little, at the challenge of having an English father and an Indian mother. 

 

 

Eliana, your description of our group is lovely.

 

Yes, Willig's Blood Lily had many interesting cultural observations. I personally found her descriptions of the Captain's feelings of being British but having a true connection with India rather poignant. Connecting to a place he doesn't really belong. Our annual trip accross the ocean always makes me rather emotional about this. The culture is so foreign to my children. It's hard to believe they ever lived here. Really glad they are British because it is where they feel the connection.

[LostSurprise]

Oh, and I finished Zoobiquity yesterday. It had good things and bad things. I liked her level of detail, I believe in her thesis (animal and human medical research complement each other and should cooperate and inform each other more), but frankly I'm not sure she knew what she wanted out of the book. Subjects ran from the specific and academic to the frivolous and pop biology (cancer, sex, STDs, self-harm, eating disorders). In the end I think it was a good idea, but it's a pick-and-choose research project. Some interesting excerpts but not a rush out and buy. 

 

I'm probably half way through The 100-year-old Man Who Climbed Out a Window and Disappeared and I should finish it but I'm bored. There is some humor but it's at the level of farce and the set-up has the man character much more like Forest Gump than I would prefer. Eh. I may put it down because...

 

I started Angela Carter's Burning Your Boats: the Collected Short Stories and she is far more pointed and fun. She has a fascinating way of mixing wonder and everyday earthiness. Her writing is really sharp and descriptive. Plus, she uses a lot of fairy tale motifs and set-ups and I'm not quite over my January fairy tale binge (every January I read at least 1 book of fairy tales...for me it complements the snow and the slower pace and the illustrations jumpstart my imagination for the new year). 

 

[Pam in CT]

Oh, man, I have to go out in three minutes and y'all have got my mind going all  :willy_nilly: .

 

Rose, Bluest Eye is very, very good.  If you're looking for color in the title, and you've already hit the obvious The Color Purple, I'd go for it.

 

 

Re colonialism, "inherent evil" and "strategic racism":  thank you, Eliana, for that article.  Yes, very relevant to other discussions we've had about books closer to home; and also to Passage to India, I'd say.

 

 

 

Thank you for the links, love!

 

I found the article echoed a vague feeling I had when we did the continent challenge the other year and I ended up reading a number of African works - all by authors born or living in Africa - but I felt weird that most of them didn't live in Africa, and many hadn't for a long time.  ...and when I picked up a boxed set of new African poets' chapbooks, I was struck by the fact that not one of them lives in Africa (and most left Africa as children... and one was the child of African refugees but was born in the United States).   Not that I object to reading works by expat authors, not at all!  ...but it felt weird that so much of what I could find and (it seemed) all of the big names were expat (with the exception, now that I think of it, of South Africa).  ...I just wish the article included some suggestions for alternative choices, but, perhaps, there aren't a lot being published in English, where I could find them...

 

 

...and, Pam, shage, idnib, Rose, Stacia, & Nan: the blog has an article about colonialism which echoes some of the discussion here the other week about why focusing on intent might be less than helpful. (and a depressing, brief, satirical bit about why we grieved for Paris but not Nigeria (and, Negin, she has a quick review of a book you read last year: Infidel)

 

 

I know less about colonialism than I do institutions that hold people against their will:  state mental hospitals, jails, prisons, locked memory units.  At some point there are abuses within every institution, and I agree that the paradigm of "evil people doing evil things" falls woefully flat in terms of explaining and preventing such behavior.  There are mountains of social psych research from the days immediately after World War II through the present which illustrate that most people will behave poorly given the right circumstances.  In institutional settings, it is safer when administrators understand this and build in safe guards for transparency and accountability.  Relying on goodwill is never enough. 

 

To put is another way:  I would refuse to work in an institution or organization (hospital, school, church) where it was assumed that only "evil people do evil things."  The book about the therapeutic common Therafields which I finished recently is a classic example of this.  The people honestly believed, with the best of intentions, that their ongoing therapy and thorough discussions amongst themselves of every little conflict would mean all problematic interactions would be resolved in very healthy ways.  Wrong. What they discounted were power differentials.  Not every person in that commune had the means to speak up and be heard. In the end it was the leadership and the inner circle which enacted the worse abuses because there was no one to hold them in check.  In fact, much of the commune didn't even realize what was happening.

 

All this to say, the article rang true to me.  It's complicated.

 

 

It hits on a distinction that the Ian Haney Lopez book made in the one I spoke of upthread, between what he calls "structural racism" (which he defines mostly in terms of differential investments over time in infrastructure, both whose potholes get filled/water pipes get replaced/schools get funded/training programs get developed... and the resulting differential in human suffering and capacity today) vs. what he splices out and names as "strategic racism," by which he means simply, taking advantage of existing racism / legacy effects of racism in pursuit of money or power.  A good example of "strategic" racism is Coates' example in his reparations piece of commercial banks targeting blacks who lived in red-lined districts, who were ineligible for regular mortgages because their neighborhoods had been designated poor risk, for predatory sub-prime loans.  Were the strategic gurus in the banks who hit on such a marketing scheme "evil"?  Were the individual loan officers who pursued the strategy once developed "evil"?  Or is it just business, nothing personal, naturally you target customers who have no other option?  Colonialism can I think be thought of in similar terms...

 

 

 

One of the books I've read by an African author who actually lives there (Nigeria) that has most held me over the years is Say You're One of Them, a collection of (long) stories by Uwen Akpan, a Jesuit priest.   The stories are pretty lacerating, but I years later I find myself still thinking back on them.  Here is a review of it with NPR.  Somewhere on the Interwebs is one of the stories from the book, I think in the New Yorker, but I can't find it quickly.

 

Running off, will return.

[idnib]

...and, Pam, shage, idnib, Rose, Stacia, & Nan: the blog has an article about colonialism which echoes some of the discussion here the other week about why focusing on intent might be less than helpful. (and a depressing, brief, satirical bit about why we grieved for Paris but not Nigeria (and, Negin, she has a quick review of a book you read last year: Infidel)

 

Eliana, thanks for the link to the article. It was a good read. I agree that most people who do "evil" things are not in themselves evil. I do think we underestimate the capacity within ourselves to do evil acts, especially if one factors in group dynamics, and this underestimation is a dangerous thing.

 

Private Life was an unsatisfying book for me ultimately--but it was the author's fault.  His tale of the decline of a family of aristocrats is too vivid.  No one is likable; no one is redeemed.

 

Well I'll give it a go one of these days anyway. Although I love the theme of redemption, leaving it out is okay with me. Makes it more like real life that way, unfortunately.

 

The whole idea of discussing historical actions in terms, solely, of good and evil people as instigators just feels very empty.  Now, I'm not saying evil people haven't existed, or evil things been done. But most horrific things that have happened in history are not *primarily* caused by single evil individuals, or even groups of evil individuals. Believing that lets us distances the actions from ourselves - because we're not evil, right? So how could anything we do have evil consequences? - and it prevents a deeper analysis of cause and effect in history. And in current events, which ties into the discussion we were having of The New Jim Crow.  If we think about the creation of the system of mass incarceration as the actions of a few evil people in power, does that let us off the hook for dealing with the consequences? I think it's a tempting psychological trap to fall into.

 

I think it's very easy for some people to manipulate our primate tendency to objectify the "other" for their own purposes, and that can then extend into culture that new people are simply born into and then accept. For me, part of it is not attributing to "evil" what can easily be attributed to evolutionary "throwbacks," but for some reason people find it easier to believe evil walks among us that to examine the vestiges of biological tendencies.

[Jane in NC]

The current conversation leads me to quote a couple of passages from Passage, both from the first section of the book.

 

The author offers what I think is an illuminating comment on Adela Quested.  This comes during the tea party at Fielding's:

 

As for Miss Quested, she accepted everything Aziz said as true verbally.  In her ignorance, she regarded him as "India," and never surmised that his outlook was limited and his method inaccurate, and that no one is India.

 

 

As the first section of the novel nears its end, there is another of the author's comments which I believe illustrates what I have bolded above.

 

Hamidullah had called in on his way to a worrying committee of notables, nationalist in tendency, where Hindus, Moslems, two Sikhs, two Parsis, a Jain and a Native Christian tried to like one another more than came natural to them.  As long as someone abused the English, all went well, but nothing constructive had been achieved, and if the English were to leave India, the committee would vanish also.

 

 

As we will see in the novel, the English later will lump all--the Hindus, Moslems, Sikhs, etc.--into one group labeled by skin color, the objectified "other" as idnib writes.

[Kareni]

Yesterday I read M. L. Buchman's newest military romance By Break of Day (The Night Stalkers); I enjoyed it.

 

"NAME: Kara Moretti
RANK: Captain of the Army's stealthiest remote piloted aircraft (Don't call it a drone)
MISSION: To be the eyes of the team

 

NAME: Justin "The Cowboy" Roberts
RANK: Captain of the Army's most powerful helicopter
MISSION: To redeem the past, at any cost

 

They Put Life, Limb, and Heart on the Line

Two new captains join The Night Stalkers with two different strategies in life, love, and combat. When Brooklyn-raised Kara joins the crew, she knows one thing as an absolute truth: to stay safe, keep everything and everyone at a distance. Born in Texas, Justin knows only one honorable way to make up for losing his first crew to a suicide bomber: he flies with all his heart. When Kara and Justin collide on a top secret mission deep in the Israeli desert, then the battle truly begins."

 

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

[Robin M]

 

I hope Robin doesn't mind...I posted the Bingo square on Facebook and several of my friends found it a fun motivational tool. 

 

Me...I think most of the things I've read could apply but they are so random I haven't made a bingo yet! I'm enjoying my Random Reading...ooh shiny!...and this thread definitely contributes to that. 

 

I don't mind at all.  I put it up on pinterest so will probably start floating around the www.

[Robin M]

 

Yesterday I read M. L. Buchman's newest military romance By Break of Day (The Night Stalkers); I enjoyed it.

 

"NAME: Kara Moretti

RANK: Captain of the Army's stealthiest remote piloted aircraft (Don't call it a drone)

MISSION: To be the eyes of the team

 

NAME: Justin "The Cowboy" Roberts

RANK: Captain of the Army's most powerful helicopter

MISSION: To redeem the past, at any cost

 

They Put Life, Limb, and Heart on the Line

Two new captains join The Night Stalkers with two different strategies in life, love, and combat. When Brooklyn-raised Kara joins the crew, she knows one thing as an absolute truth: to stay safe, keep everything and everyone at a distance. Born in Texas, Justin knows only one honorable way to make up for losing his first crew to a suicide bomber: he flies with all his heart. When Kara and Justin collide on a top secret mission deep in the Israeli desert, then the battle truly begins."

 

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

I just finished it a couple days ago, which started me thinking it's time for a reread of the whole series.  

[Chrysalis Academy]

Eliana, thanks for the link to the article. It was a good read. I agree that most people who do "evil" things are not in themselves evil. I do think we underestimate the capacity within ourselves to do evil acts, especially if one factors in group dynamics, and this underestimation is a dangerous thing.

 

I think it's very easy for some people to manipulate our primate tendency to objectify the "other" for their own purposes, and that can then extend into culture that new people are simply born into and then accept. For me, part of it is not attributing to "evil" what can easily be attributed to evolutionary "throwbacks," but for some reason people find it easier to believe evil walks among us that to examine the vestiges of biological tendencies.

 

I started listening to Neil Gaiman's Good Omens last night - it is totally cracking me up, love it so far - and this morning heard a line that is apropos - something along the lines of, we think most of the good and evil that happens in the world is due to people being good or evil. When really much of it is due to people being people.

 

BTW, I wanted to tell you that I got about halfway through my listen of The Swerve, and then I bailed on it.  It was actually pretty dull to listen to, and kind of disorganized. I'm not entirely clear what he was trying to do.  Much of the book covered the life of one man Poggio, a 15th century book hunter who found a copy of Lucretius' manuscript in a monastery library.  But it is kind of rambling and circuitous, and I think he oversells his case, which seems to want to be that medieval Christianity was all about a reaction to Epicurianism.  And I think he gives too much credit to a few individual humanists in 14th & 15th century Italy, and ignores things like the role of Muslim scholars in keeping Aristotle, and other Ancient manuscripts, alive through the whole period of the European dark ages.  Anyway, it just wasn't grabbing me so I let it go.  I got about halfway through it.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Speaking of Forster, did someone already post this essay about him & Howard's End from last Sunday NYT Book Review?

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/14/books/review/song-of-inexperience.html?emc=edit_bk_20160212&nl=bookreview&nlid=72406955&ref=headline&_r=0

[Jane in NC]

Speaking of Forster, did someone already post this essay about him & Howard's End from last Sunday NYT Book Review?

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/14/books/review/song-of-inexperience.html?emc=edit_bk_20160212&nl=bookreview&nlid=72406955&ref=headline&_r=0

 

I had not seen this so I thank you for the link even though I find myself disagreeing with the writer who seems to use her 21st century lens to place demands and expect certain reactions from the characters in Howards End.  Yes plot turns may be improbable but--good grief!--how many novels rely on an improbable moment of serendipity?

 

Howards End remains a book I love.

[idnib]

BTW, I wanted to tell you that I got about halfway through my listen of The Swerve, and then I bailed on it.  It was actually pretty dull to listen to, and kind of disorganized. I'm not entirely clear what he was trying to do.  Much of the book covered the life of one man Poggio, a 15th century book hunter who found a copy of Lucretius' manuscript in a monastery library.  But it is kind of rambling and circuitous, and I think he oversells his case, which seems to want to be that medieval Christianity was all about a reaction to Epicurianism.  And I think he gives too much credit to a few individual humanists in 14th & 15th century Italy, and ignores things like the role of Muslim scholars in keeping Aristotle, and other Ancient manuscripts, alive through the whole period of the European dark ages.  Anyway, it just wasn't grabbing me so I let it go.  I got about halfway through it.

 

Thanks for the heads up. I already bought it so I'll give it a whirl and see how it goes. I like the concept of how an important ancient manuscript is kept live throughout history until I can read it on a computer from the comfort of my sofa, so I'm a bit sad if certain aspects of the work that contributed to that conveyance are glossed over, but perhaps not surprised.

[Jane in NC]

Well I liked The Swerve and found Poggio's story to be fascinating.  Perhaps it was one of those books that found its way into my hands at the right time... :leaving:

 

ETA:  the bits on Jan Hus were also of interest to me.

Edited February 12, 2016 by Jane in NC

[Chrysalis Academy]

Thanks for the heads up. I already bought it so I'll give it a whirl and see how it goes. I like the concept of how an important ancient manuscript is kept live throughout history until I can read it on a computer from the comfort of my sofa, so I'm a bit sad if certain aspects of the work that contributed to that conveyance are glossed over, but perhaps not surprised.

 

 

Well I liked The Swerve and found Poggio's story to be fascinating.  Perhaps it was one of those books that found its way into my hands at the right time... :leaving:

 

ETA:  the bits on Jan Hus were also of interest to me.

 

 

I'm not trying to say it's a bad book! I think that it wasn't a good book to try and listen to.  Because he jumped around in the story between Poggio's narrative and other aspects, I found myself getting kind of lost (and wondering if my audio player was accidentally shuffling tracks. Which has happened before!  :001_rolleyes: ).  I think I would have done much better actually reading the book than trying to listen to it, where I could flip back and forth and keep better track of the timeline. Some books are like that.  It also suffered a bit by comparison to Aristotle's Children in leaving out any influence of the Muslim world (at least in the half I listened to).

 

 And I think I'm being influenced by the idea in HotRW: that the seeds of the Renaissance were actually sown much earlier than the time period that we traditionally associate with that title.  This is a new and exciting idea to me, so the fact that Greenblatt seemed to be squarely in the "The Renaissance started in 14th century Italy with Petrarch et al" camp was less appealing at the moment.

 

I may revisit the print book at some point.  It's simply been abandoned for now, not thrown across the room!  :D

Edited February 12, 2016 by Chrysalis Academy

[PeacefulChaos]

Finished up the Enola Holmes pre-read (for Link) this evening.  I'm behind on the books I was actually planning on reading, but once I finish Woman of Influence, the next book on my list is another Peretti reread, so I should be able to knock that one out in just a few days and, hopefully, catch back up.

 

I'm trying to decide whether or not to count little miss Enola as one of my official books.  Technically it's a kids book, and an easy read.  But there are books written for adults that are just as easy lol.  So... yeah.  I guess I'll count it.  :D :lol:  

 

 

[MaeFlowers]

I haven't read through all the responses this week. I don't think I even posted last week. My brain power has gone for the day. I have been fighting some bug and I have just been worn out. I haven't even felt much like reading but I am slowly working my way through A Passage to India and HotAW. (For some reason my editing tools are blurred out and I can't underline or italicize anything.) When I have time or think to do it, I have also started reading through the writings of the Church Fathers online.

 

I am having a hard time with A Passage to India. I think it might be an overload of Indian culture since I just finished A Suitable Boy. Also, the book moves slowly and it has taken quite a bit of time for it to get rolling. I am only just starting part II and am hoping it will pick up some speed.

 

I think what stands out in the book for me is the relationship between the English and Indian people and, as an aside, the relationship between the Indian people themselves. Aziz and his friends seem bothered by the way they are treated by the English but in turn are no better towards the Hindus in their country. The argument is that the conflict relates to culture but I'm not sure that it is not more influenced by their religious backgrounds. Or, more specifically, it makes me think about how religion and culture are intertwined and how each influences the other. I spent a bit of time one night reading about Islam in India. From the perspective of the book, the Moslem people are of higher class/caste but this seems to be untrue of modern India. I guess maybe I have thought about this quite a bit in my own life. Being transplanted to the deep south, I have wondered about how southern culture has developed and how influenced it has been by fundamental/evangelical Christianity. I think I might be rambling at this point.

 

I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations for websites/books on organization. Lately, I have been exhausted and feeling like I'm running around like a chicken with its head cut off. I can organize stuff. It's me that needs help. I feel like I'm in a fog and can't stay on track with anything. Lists don't seem to be working and I am lacking in self-discipline. I don't know if I need something psychological or practical. Or maybe both or maybe something else altogether.

 

My reading so far this year:

 

5. Return of the King

4. The Two Towers

3. A Suitable Boy

2. A Pilgrims' Progress

1. Fellowship of the Ring

[Jane in NC]

 

I am having a hard time with A Passage to India. I think it might be an overload of Indian culture since I just finished A Suitable Boy. Also, the book moves slowly and it has taken quite a bit of time for it to get rolling. I am only just starting part II and am hoping it will pick up some speed.

 

I think what stands out in the book for me is the relationship between the English and Indian people and, as an aside, the relationship between the Indian people themselves. Aziz and his friends seem bothered by the way they are treated by the English but in turn are no better towards the Hindus in their country. The argument is that the conflict relates to culture but I'm not sure that it is not more influenced by their religious backgrounds. Or, more specifically, it makes me think about how religion and culture are intertwined and how each influences the other. I spent a bit of time one night reading about Islam in India. From the perspective of the book, the Moslem people are of higher class/caste but this seems to be untrue of modern India. I guess maybe I have thought about this quite a bit in my own life. Being transplanted to the deep south, I have wondered about how southern culture has developed and how influenced it has been by fundamental/evangelical Christianity. I think I might be rambling at this point.

 

 

Bear in mind that Forster wrote before the partition.  Forster's "India" was later divided into what we now call India as well as the Muslim state of Pakistan.  This division uprooted the population and changed the political dynamics of the region.

 

[Kareni]

Regarding the latest book by M. L. Buchman:

 

I just finished it a couple days ago, which started me thinking it's time for a reread of the whole series.  

 

I've enjoyed revisiting a few of the books.  If you do choose to reread the series, I might have to reread a few, too.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[MaeFlowers]

Bear in mind that Forster wrote before the partition.  Forster's "India" was later divided into what we now call India as well as the Muslim state of Pakistan.  This division uprooted the population and changed the political dynamics of the region.

Thank you for reminding me. I believe A Suitable Boy was set in the 50's and definitely after the partition. In either book, there was quite a bit of contempt between the Muslim and Hindu characters. I just don't like the way that the Muslim characters speak about the Hindu (the are nothing, they are worthless) as I don't like how the English characters speak about the Indians.

 

I have to be honest, these books have not left a positive impression on me in terms of Indian culture. I am thinking that being part of Western civilization that is so influenced by Christianity creates a wall to understanding an Eastern culture so influenced by a multitude of faiths. That was more my line of thinking and I guess it really is outside the book itself.

[Onceuponatime]

Yesterday, I read Night by Elie Wiesel for the first time. I was grateful it was short.

[idnib]

The "India" in Passage to India seems to me to be a state of mind, and not a country. Characters seem to want to meet Indians while surrounded by them, and want to see "the real India" when they're living in it. The "passage" seems to be a metaphorical one of understanding and exposure, rather than one of geography, at least so far. Having never read the book before, based upon the title I thought someone would be traveling to India, but they're already there!

 

I have to be honest, these books have not left a positive impression on me in terms of Indian culture. I am thinking that being part of Western civilization that is so influenced by Christianity creates a wall to understanding an Eastern culture so influenced by a multitude of faiths. That was more my line of thinking and I guess it really is outside the book itself.

 

This is interesting. Can you elaborate?

Edited February 13, 2016 by idnib

[Ethel Mertz]

I thought you all might be interested in this brief article on "Books by Black Authors to Look Forward to in 2016."

 

My problem is that I am reading too many books at once (some are homeschool related) and I am not finishing books very often. This week's finished book was The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - a re-read for discussion with DS.

 

Books I've got going outside of must-reads for homeschool include:

 

1. A Pitying of Doves by Steve Burrows (#2 in the Birder Murder mysteries)

2. Learning to Walk in the Dark by Barbara Brown Taylor - excellent, so far. She explores the roots of the equation of "dark" to things that are scary, evil, bad (including the racial implications). I'm eager to see what she does with all of this.

 

[Kareni]

Yesterday I finished two historical romances, and I only just realized that they both feature marquesses.  I see too according to Wiktionary that the word marquess is 'very rare in the English language in that it ends in -ess but is a masculine term.'  Interesting!  I'd been pronouncing the word as though it ended in -key; however, I see the correct pronunciation is more along the lines of -kwis.

 

Once Upon a Marquess (Worth Saga) by Courtney Milan

This is the start of a new series which I enjoyed.  The storyline is out of the ordinary and raises some interesting questions about the right thing to do.  I'm interested in reading more.

 

"The last man Judith Worth wants to see again is Christian Trent, the Marquess of Ashford—the man who spent summers at her family home, who kissed her one magical night…and then heartlessly ruined her father. But when a tricky business matter arises, he’s the only one she can ask for help. With any luck, he’ll engage a servant to take care of the matter, and she won’t even have to talk with him. But Ashford has never forgotten Judith. He knows she will never forgive him for what he’s done, but when offered the chance to assist her, he arrives in person. His memory of Judith may have haunted him, but it pales in comparison to the reality of the vivacious, beautiful woman he rediscovers. Throughout his life, he has always done what is correct. But now, he finds himself doing something utterly wrong…falling in love with the one woman he can never have."

 

**

 

The second book was a re-read of Loretta Chase's Lord of Scoundrels; I enjoyed revisiting it.  This is one of my two favorite books by this author.

 

"Tough minded Jessica Trent's sole intention is to free her nitwit brother from the destructive influence of Sebastian Ballister, the notorious Marquess of Diain. She never expects to desire the arrogant, amoral cad. And When Daine's reciprocal passion places them in a scandalously compromising, and public, position, Jessica is left with no choice but to seek satisfaction... Damn the minx for tempting him, kissing him...and then for forcing him to salvage reputation! Lord Dain can't wait to put the infuriating bluestocking in her place -- and in some amorous position. And if this means marriage, so be it -- though Sebastian is less than certain he can continue to remain aloof...and steal his heart to the sensuous, head strong lady's considerable charms."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Chrysalis Academy]

The "India" in Passage to India seems to me to be a state of mind, and not a country. Characters seem to want to meet Indians while surrounded by them, and want to see "the real India" when they're living in it. The "passage" seems to be a metaphorical one of understanding and exposure, rather than one of geography, at least so far. Having never read the book before, based upon the title I thought someone would be traveling to India, but they're already there!

 

 

This is helpful and insightful, thank you for sharing. It seems that the more some character travel - metaphorically - the further they get from "the real India."

 

I'm trying to hold off on my comments until we're allowed to talk about The Caves! The first section seemed very profound and beautiful to me. I'm having some issues with the 2nd section.

[Chrysalis Academy]

I thought you all might be interested in this brief article on "Books by Black Authors to Look Forward to in 2016."

 

My problem is that I am reading too many books at once (some are homeschool related) and I am not finishing books very often. This week's finished book was The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - a re-read for discussion with DS.

 

 

 

I'm having the same problem! As my interesting holds come in, or Amazon packages arrive, I am adding them to the currently-reading stack, instead of the to-read stack. As a consequence I'm not making much progress with anything. Very un-self-disciplined! I need to buckle down and focus and finish a couple of things this weekend. Clear out the chaos.

[Butter]

#15: The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis.  It was... odd.  From start to finish it was odd.  I didn't dislike it, but I didn't love it either.  It was just odd.

[Kareni]

A one day only free Kindle book ~

 

The Desirable Duchess (The Dukes and Desires Series Book 1)  by M. C. Beaton

 

"Lovely Alice Lacey was a true Incomparable, and her marriage to the Duke of Ferrant was the event of the Season. But almost none realized, however, that Alice was secretly in love with someone else - or that she had confided her feelings to a clever talking mynah bird who determined to announce these intimacies at the moment of the couple's wedding!

Now the gossip mongers were relentless. Alice's marriage had started out and remained cold and impersonal, and her new husband was already rumored to be taken with another woman.

Before she even realized what was happening, Alice found herself in world of opposites: she found out that the man she had thought she loved was something other than what he seemed, and the man she had married was something far more than she'd hoped. Her last hope and redemption had to be convincing the man she had wed that they were in love."

 

***

 

and this book is currently free again; it's one I've enjoyed ~

 

Artistic License  by Elle Pierson

 

""Picasso would have loved his face."

 

When of the world’s prestigious art collections comes to the resort town of Queenstown, New Zealand, shy art student Sophy James is immediately drawn to the pieces on display – and to the massive, silent, sexy presence keeping watch over them. She’s completely fascinated and attracted by the striking planes and angles of his unusual face, and can’t resist sneaking out her pencil when he’s not looking.

 

Security consultant Mick Hollister is used to women looking at his ugly mug – but not with the genuine pleasure he sees in the face of the girl with the charcoal-smudged fingers and terrible skills at covert surveillance. A security breach brings the two into fast and furious collision, and an unlikely friendship begins to blossom. And an even more unlikely – and very reluctant – love.

 

Introvert Sophy is content with her independence and solitude. She’s never looked for a long-term relationship, and isn’t sure she wants one now. Mick, apparently born with a face that not even a mother could love, has given up all hope of having one.

 

They have nothing in common. They shouldn’t even like each other. And they can’t stay away from one another."

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

 

[idnib]

I'm having the same problem! As my interesting holds come in, or Amazon packages arrive, I am adding them to the currently-reading stack, instead of the to-read stack. As a consequence I'm not making much progress with anything. Very un-self-disciplined! I need to buckle down and focus and finish a couple of things this weekend. Clear out the chaos.

 

Same problem here. I'm partway through so many books I should just finish them all.

 

I'm supposed to be starting The Histories (Herodotus) on March 2 and I really have to get some books cleared out by then. I bought a lovely version (Landmark) but it's really large.

 

 Aren't you leading the Voyage of the Beagle discussion? I can't remember. If so (or even if not) do you know when that is? I purchased a nice version for that too but again, it's large.

 

 

#15: The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis.  It was... odd.  From start to finish it was odd.  I didn't dislike it, but I didn't love it either.  It was just odd.

 

I've completely fallen off the wagon with these. I started last March, figured they would be fun and somewhat easy, yet I've finished more difficult books rather than these. They're just not resonating with me, except the first.

[Robin M]

I finished listening to Brotherhood in Death, J.D. Robb's latest in Death addition.  I enjoyed it.  I'm listening to Pandora's Star, which is not my usual genre.  I'm not sure if I will get through all 37 hours.  It's so much harder to listen when I could read them so much faster!  I have a real problem with series that I have been reading, because I just don't think of the characters the same way as they are performed, nothing against the narrator.  

I read it and now am listening to the audiobook.  The conversation about the dolls was so hilarious, 

 

One of the images I use when thinking about this group and my participation in it is that of an open house party... the "house" is open and people stream in and out and there are always a dozen or more conversations going on at once.  I don't drop in every week and sometimes I only pop in for a second and slip off again, other weeks I hang out for the whole party and try to join in some (or all!) of the conversations... or just sit in a corner (with my book!) and vaguely listen as the conversation swirls around me.

 

Some folks drop in just to give a quick note of what they've read, others hand out more, there are the crafters and cooks and the Flufferton crows and the activists and the mystery readers and the folks earning serious "cultural virtue points".  Some of us share a bit of our personal lives, others are more private...

 

And you enrich us by just being yourself and participating in the ways and at the times that feel right for you.  :grouphug:

 

 

I love, love, love your imagery.  I'll definitely remember it and am so happy we've been able to foster the openness of our house of books through the years.   :wub:

 

 

BINGO update (I finally sat down with my list of books read and figured out which ones enable to check off which squares):

 

Diagonal (Left to right): 

                Female Author: Mirrors of our Lives by Holly Pavlov (Jewish, religious)

                Revisit old friend: Blood Spirits by Sherwood Smith (SFF)

                Free: Native Guard (poetry)

                Color in Title: Black Unicorn by Audre Lorde (poetry)

                Set in Another Country: Shards of Memory (India)

 

Row N:

              Picked for cover: Orphan Train

              Over 500 pages: History of the Medieval World

              Free: Native Guard

              Classic: Lucretius

              Nonfiction: Being Mortal

 

 

I need : an epic, a banned book, a mystery, a fairytale adaptation, something by a Nobel prize author, an Arthur book, a nautical book, an 18th century book, and one picked by a friend....

             

 

Thank you for setting this up, Robin!

Cool beans and glad everyone is enjoying finding books for all the squares. 

Edited February 13, 2016 by Robin M

[Chrysalis Academy]

Same problem here. I'm partway through so many books I should just finish them all.

 

I'm supposed to be starting The Histories (Herodotus) on March 2 and I really have to get some books cleared out by then. I bought a lovely version (Landmark) but it's really large.

 

 Aren't you leading the Voyage of the Beagle discussion? I can't remember. If so (or even if not) do you know when that is? I purchased a nice version for that too but again, it's large.

 

 

 

I've completely fallen off the wagon with these. I started last March, figured they would be fun and somewhat easy, yet I've finished more difficult books rather than these. They're just not resonating with me, except the first.

 

I am on tap for talking about Darwin - in March, I think? Or April? I bet Robin will remind me . . .  :)