Book a Week 2016 - BW9: March Gadabout

[Lady Florida.]

Still working on Between the World and Me.  I may have time to finish it tonight - if not now, then tomorrow at the doctor's office.

 

Sigh.  I have had high blood pressure for a few years now, and it's been steadily rising so I finally decided to get something done about it.  I went last week and what they put me on hasn't helped yet, which I was expecting - while it would be great for the very first thing they tried, in the minimum dose, to work, the chances of it... :p  Yeah.  

 

So I go back in tomorrow to see what we're going to try next.  

 

I'm also thinking that maybe this month I'll tackle some hard things for me, like diet, because I'm sure that there are a few things I'm eating that are probably not the cause of my BP, but probably don't help it.  And I really don't want to.  Honestly, I'm annoyed by the thought.  I'm freaking 33, you know?  I shouldn't have to police what I eat in life (I don't think anyone should, not just me lol).  It annoys me that we as humans supposedly have to do so.  

Like, what's the point of living to be old if we can't eat good food?   :glare:

Anyway.  Ugh.  I'm in a bit of a mood.  At least about that stuff.  Trying to decide if dropping a snack will be worth it in the long run.  Bleh.  Blah.   :rolleyes:

 

I'm sorry you're dealing with this, but try to be patient. Dh had to go on BP meds starting when he was 40. Older than you, but still quite young. Unfortunately high blood pressure issues know no age boundaries. :( He tried diet changes as well as exercise, and while they helped a tiny bit they didn't make a significant difference. Sometimes you just need the meds. And yeah, you might have to try a number of different ones. I think his doctor went through at least a half dozen with him over a period of almost a year. He did finally find one that works and has been taking it for the past 10 years. Every time he goes for a checkup his BP is great. So, give it time and don't feel bad about taking medication. It's why it exists - to help you. Once upon a time there wasn't any medical treatment for high blood pressure. I'm glad we live in a time when people like my dh and you can live long, healthy lives thanks to medication. 

 

Oh, and he still eats the foods he loves, but in moderation.

 

 

On a side note, I said something to a friend about goodreads and now she's like, 'OMG this freaking goodreads thing!!  THERE ARE SO MANY BOOKS!!!  I WANT TO READ THEM ALL RIGHT NOW!!'   :lol:   :lol:  I don't have the problem with wanting to read them all now, just with adding endless numbers to my list to be read someday lol.   :)

 

I'm like your friend. Even though I might be enjoying what I'm currently reading, when I hear about a good book I want to read it RIGHT NOW. I want to read ALL THE BOOKS NOW!

[Negin]

Maybe,

Or maybe not...

 

You also want to read:

http://www.amazon.com/America-Travels-John-Steinbeck-ebook/dp/B00MWS486U/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1456690528&sr=8-4&keywords=Geert+mak

 

A dutch author makes (almost) the same travel as Steinbeck, to see what is 'left' from Steinbecks' America. This book makes me read Steinbeck :)

Thank you for this recommendation. I love the Netherlands and yes, I've heard of Geert Mak, although I haven't read anything by him yet. I've been meaning to. 

 

In  Travels with Casey, the author quoted Steinbeck's son as saying this book was fiction.  He never went anywhere with his dog, and he was in a motorhome in one spot for a few months writing it. He was on a deadline and hurried to finish it.  That may be why it seemed rushed at the finish.

All the ladies in my book club thought Steinbeck's was better than Travels With Casey.  That has made me want to read it.  Maybe sometime this year....

 

Rosyl, when looking at some reviews on Good Reads, I also read that it was not all true. My understanding is that it was not pure fiction, just parts of it, which reminds me of a quote from P.D. James: “All fiction is largely autobiographical and much autobiography is, of course, fiction.†Of all the reviews that I saw on GR, this one's definitely my favorite. 

[Soror]

It is only Tuesday and I'm already behind. I am impossibly behind on this thread and send out thanks that you guys are welcoming anyway. I've either been busy or tired from not sleeping well and I've realized that the reason I can actually read books now is that I've mostly been sleeping well. I have 3 books in from the library and 3 from Goodwill and Don Quixote and The Well-Read Mind from Amazon- so I'm impossibly behind on my TBR pile as well with a week that promises to be very full. I'm finishing Big Magic this am- despite the fact that I don't have the time because I should have finished it 2 days ago. I promise not to let myself start another because I have too much to do and not enough time to do it and I must not get sucked into a book, despite how tempting they look- especially Boy, Snow Bird

 

I apologize for whatever I've missed out on-

 

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-Bowman

10. The Wild Trees- Preston

11. The Magician's Elephant- diCamillio

12. Wild- Strayed

13. The Last Child in the Woods- Louv

14. Good Omens- Pratchett and Gaiman

15. Beauty- McKinley

16. Pride and Prejudice- Austin

17. Big Magic- Gilbert

Edited March 4, 2016 by soror

[mom22es]

I finished A Passage to India.  While, I loved Forster’s writing and the much of the story, I think this was might least favorite of his books so far.  But I’ve always wanted to read this one, so I’m thankful for the push to do so.

 

I was supposed to be reading light and fluffy and instead picked up and finished The Nightingale.  This actually turned out to be just what I needed despite the heavy themes of WWII.  I was totally immersed in the story and not in my own troubles.  I really enjoyed this read.

 

Speaking of troubles, I got some great news.  My kidney is just fine.  They said it was a shadow on the ultrasound.  It gave me such a scare, but I’m so relieved.  I am being referred to a GI doc for the other issues.  After almost 2 weeks of feeling miserable the meds have worked their magic and I’m feeling human again.

 

I started A Moveable Feast, but other than that I’m not sure what I want to read next.  I wouldn’t mind another book like the Nightingale, but maybe without the WWII theme.  I can only read WWII era books in small doses.

 

 

I'm also thinking that maybe this month I'll tackle some hard things for me, like diet, because I'm sure that there are a few things I'm eating that are probably not the cause of my BP, but probably don't help it.  And I really don't want to.  Honestly, I'm annoyed by the thought.  I'm freaking 33, you know?  I shouldn't have to police what I eat in life (I don't think anyone should, not just me lol).  It annoys me that we as humans supposedly have to do so.  

Like, what's the point of living to be old if we can't eat good food?   :glare:

Anyway.  Ugh.  I'm in a bit of a mood.  At least about that stuff.  Trying to decide if dropping a snack will be worth it in the long run.  Bleh.  Blah.   :rolleyes:

 

 

 

 

I totally commiserate with you PeacefulChaos.  I'm facing lots of dietary changes and it sucks.  I'm a bit older than you at 41, but it still seems so young to have to give up so much that I enjoy.  I live a pretty modest life, but I enjoy eating and cooking.  Yet, now my body has turned on me and seems to only want bland, white food.  I'm in a mood, too - grin.

Edited March 1, 2016 by mom22es

[Kareni]

Speaking of troubles, I got some great news.  My kidney is just fine. 

 

Yay!  That is good news.

 

I'm sending good thoughts to you and others who are facing medical or other troubling issues.

 

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

Last night I finished an enjoyable romance ~ Off the Clock: A Pleasure Principle novel by Roni Loren.  This has significant adult content.  Since I suspect that the blurb might make some of you blush, I'll not post it.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[idnib]

replying so I can come back later and find it the lazy way... :leaving:   :lol:

 

:laugh:  The other way is to use the "Go to first unread post" link next to the "Reply to this topic" button.

 

I just started Frances Mayes "Swan" which was her first (and maybe her only?) novel.  So far, it reminds me of John Berendt's "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil".

 

Ooooohh. This could be good!

[Mom-ninja.]

 

  That said, it's an enjoyable book.  I can't recall though if it would make you blush.  It's currently on sale for 99 cents for the Kindle version and is well worth that price.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

While I was reading I'd apparently have a bit of a shocked countenance or whisper a bit of an exclamation and dh would look at me and ask what I was reading and I would turn bright red.  

Edited March 1, 2016 by Mom-ninja.

[Stacia]

Speaking of troubles, I got some great news.  My kidney is just fine.  They said it was a shadow on the ultrasound.  It gave me such a scare, but I’m so relieved.  I am being referred to a GI doc for the other issues.  After almost 2 weeks of feeling miserable the meds have worked their magic and I’m feeling human again.

 

I started A Moveable Feast, but other than that I’m not sure what I want to read next.  I wouldn’t mind another book like the Nightingale, but maybe without the WWII theme.  I can only read WWII era books in small doses.

 

 

I totally commiserate with you PeacefulChaos.  I'm facing lots of dietary changes and it sucks.  I'm a bit older than you at 41, but it still seems so young to have to give up so much that I enjoy.  I live a pretty modest life, but I enjoy eating and cooking.  Yet, now my body has turned on me and seems to only want bland, white food.  I'm in a mood, too - grin.

 

Yay about the kidney news! So glad it turned out ok! Hope your dad is still doing well. And, hope your GI issues are fixable in a timely manner.

 

Can't wait to hear what you think of A Moveable Feast.

 

I'm w/ you others re: dietary changes. I need to make some & I haven't yet. Blah. No fun (esp. during Girl Scout cookie season).

[JennW in SoCal]

Yesterday morning I was in London buying lattes and eclairs for breakfast; this morning I was home, walking the dog and doing laundry.  But morning here is mid afternoon there so my body is confused and my mind a bit fuzzy.....this jet lag business is really, really trippy!

 

BUT.  I am pushing through, determined to stay awake til bed time, valiantly hoping to be fully functional tomorrow afternoon for some students and a dress rehearsal!

 

While on my 10.5 hour flight yesterday I finished reading The Paris Wife, which I really loved.  I'm now looking forward to A Moveable Feast!  I also started reading a book I found on my trip, Beethoven for a Later Age, by the 1st violinist of the Takacs Quartet. I also listened to, and dozed a bit through, a Brandon Sanderson Mistborn book, Allow of Law, and watched the Tom Hanks movie, Bridge of Spies.  

 

We had a wonderful time in both Paris and London.  And we ate lots of incredibly good food!!  In London it was excellent Thai and Indian and pub grub with a couple of Italian restaurants thrown in for good measure.  In Paris, oh my, in Paris...   We had lunch at the Jules Verne restaurant, way up high in the Eiffel Tower!! A personal bucket list item of mine, and it was simply wonderful.  Foie gras, Ox cheeks (!) and chocolate desert heaven along with a few additional num nums they serve that aren't part of the menu. And dining by a window overlooking Paris.  *sigh*  We also took a food tour of the Saint Germain des Pres neighborhood, led by a woman who used to write for Gourmet magazine. We started at a bakery for bread and apple tarts, visited a chocolate shop (Patrick Rogers), then a fromagerie and a charcuterie, and then headed to a wine cellar where we sat and ate bread, 6 different cheeses, confit and other meats, our chocolates, and drank wine.  I could have wept because it was so wonderful!!  We took a bottle of wine and some cheeses back to London with us, and I've brought home some little short bread spoons to enjoy with my coffee for the next week or two!

 

I attended a small chamber concert in a Tudor-era house in London. The music at the concert was world class, and the buskers -- the musicians in the Tube stations -- were all excellent, too. Our last day was spent at Windsor Castle, and we attended an Evensong service at the St. George's chapel there. It was simply transcendent. (Mumto2, I have a question.  Does every CoE service include a prayer for the queen? Or is that just part of the service at St. George because Windsor is a royal residence??)

 

We visited museums, shopped at bookstores, and walked all over the place. My dh was a guest of a comic book convention in London, where he signed books for almost 8 hours straight, 2 days in a row!  He said everyone was so gracious, saying "lovely" or "cheers" as he signed. People had come from all over England and Europe for the convention, too. It was very, very cool.

 

I'll post a few other pictures, but here is my haul of books, a couple of which are gifts. The little stuffed figure is a George Frederick Handel Christmas ornament, the yarn is from Liberty Department store, and the Parisian cookie spoons are on the right. 

 

[Jane in NC]

Yesterday morning I was in London buying lattes and eclairs for breakfast; this morning I was home, walking the dog and doing laundry.  But morning here is mid afternoon there so my body is confused and my mind a bit fuzzy.....this jet lag business is really, really trippy!

 

BUT.  I am pushing through, determined to stay awake til bed time, valiantly hoping to be fully functional tomorrow afternoon for some students and a dress rehearsal!

 

While on my 10.5 hour flight yesterday I finished reading The Paris Wife, which I really loved.  I'm now looking forward to A Moveable Feast!  I also started reading a book I found on my trip, Beethoven for a Later Age, by the 1st violinist of the Takacs Quartet. I also listened to, and dozed a bit through, a Brandon Sanderson Mistborn book, Allow of Law, and watched the Tom Hanks movie, Bridge of Spies.  

 

We had a wonderful time in both Paris and London.  And we ate lots of incredibly good food!!  In London it was excellent Thai and Indian and pub grub with a couple of Italian restaurants thrown in for good measure.  In Paris, oh my, in Paris...   We had lunch at the Jules Verne restaurant, way up high in the Eiffel Tower!! A personal bucket list item of mine, and it was simply wonderful.  Foie gras, Ox cheeks (!) and chocolate desert heaven along with a few additional num nums they serve that aren't part of the menu. And dining by a window overlooking Paris.  *sigh*  We also took a food tour of the Saint Germain des Pres neighborhood, led by a woman who used to write for Gourmet magazine. We started at a bakery for bread and apple tarts, visited a chocolate shop (Patrick Rogers), then a fromagerie and a charcuterie, and then headed to a wine cellar where we sat and ate bread, 6 different cheeses, confit and other meats, our chocolates, and drank wine.  I could have wept because it was so wonderful!!  We took a bottle of wine and some cheeses back to London with us, and I've brought home some little short bread spoons to enjoy with my coffee for the next week or two!

 

I attended a small chamber concert in a Tudor-era house in London. The music at the concert was world class, and the buskers -- the musicians in the Tube stations -- were all excellent, too. Our last day was spent at Windsor Castle, and we attended an Evensong service at the St. George's chapel there. It was simply transcendent. (Mumto2, I have a question.  Does every CoE service include a prayer for the queen? Or is that just part of the service at St. George because Windsor is a royal residence??)

 

We visited museums, shopped at bookstores, and walked all over the place. My dh was a guest of a comic book convention in London, where he signed books for almost 8 hours straight, 2 days in a row!  He said everyone was so gracious, saying "lovely" or "cheers" as he signed. People had come from all over England and Europe for the convention, too. It was very, very cool.

 

I'll post a few other pictures, but here is my haul of books, a couple of which are gifts. The little stuffed figure is a George Frederick Handel Christmas ornament, the yarn is from Liberty Department store, and the Parisian cookie spoons are on the right. 

 

 

Oh Jenn...what a lovely trip for you and your husband!  Nice book haul, too!  I love A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian as well as Lewycka's second novel Strawberry Fields.  I need to revisit this author. 

 

The copy of A Short History that I read came by an interesting route.  A friend's ex-husband bought it at Heathrow before flying back to the States. He gave it to his daughter who passed it on to her mother (his ex) who gave it to me. I then mailed it off to friends on Cape Cod--all this before a US edition appeared.  A well read copy!

 

ETA:  And Liberty!  Heart be still!  Did you buy any fabric there?

 

Edited March 1, 2016 by Jane in NC

[JennW in SoCal]

Oh Jenn...what a lovely trip for you and your husband!  Nice book haul, too!  I love A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian as well as Lewycka's second novel Strawberry Fields.  I need to revisit this author. 

 

The copy of A Short History that I read came by an interesting route.  A friend's ex-husband bought it at Heathrow before flying back to the States. He gave it to his daughter who passed it on to her mother (his ex) who gave it to me. I then mailed it off to friends on Cape Cod--all this before a US edition appeared.  A well read copy!

 

ETA:  And Liberty!  Heart be still!  Did you buy any fabric there?

 

 

No wonder I grabbed A Short History of Tractors -- the title probably was stuck in my head from you talking about it! 

 

I did not buy any Liberty fabric, partly because of how expensive it was, partly because I had just bought a bunch of fabric at a quilt show in late January.  And I was shopping with a friend who doesn't sew, but was inspired to start crocheting again as I was looking at yarns. I intend on making socks with the multi-colored yarn  :001_smile:

 

Which reminds me, a man on the plane yesterday kept himself busy with some knitting. He was more of a rough biker type, too -- it was rather incongruous, seeing him with knitting needles, but it was also quite wonderful!

[KathyBC]

I've been so busy enjoying these threads, I haven't been posting. Yikes!

 

On the recommendations of a poster(s) here in BaW, I read Being Mortal (Gawande) a few weeks ago. What a wonderful book, and I agree with whoever said everyone should read it. I appreciated how Gawande, like Malcolm Gladwell, could take complex ideas and make them so readable.

 

Last week's book was Brave New World (Huxley). I felt the need to check off that classic dystopian title. While hard for me to get into, once the characters visited the reservation, it sailed along.

 

This week I am happily immersed in Elizabeth George's A Banquet of Consequences.

Edited March 1, 2016 by KathyBC

[KathyBC]

 

 

Ah! I've read A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian.

[Kareni]

Which reminds me, a man on the plane yesterday kept himself busy with some knitting. He was more of a rough biker type, too -- it was rather incongruous, seeing him with knitting needles, but it was also quite wonderful!

 

 

Thanks for sharing about your London and Paris travels; I enjoyed hearing of your adventures.

 

My nephew is in his upper twenties and studying computer science; he bow hunts and mushroom gathers and also crochets.  I told him about a book I'd seen which has a very clever title.  Sadly, there does not appear to be a crocheting analog.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Angel]

Life is just ... busy.   :glare:   I'm not loving busy.  I remember when I was in charge of not a single thing and just had to show up ... no planning, no extra teaching, a whole lot less responsibility. Sigh.  As I was reading through the thread, I realized it was last week's thread!  I'm so behind.

 

This past Saturday my IRL book club took a field trip to One Dollar Book Swap where every book is $1.  I didn't make it through a quarter of the place!  We had a good time, and I actually did not go over my budget!  I came home with 16 books  :hurray: and Skye 15.  I can't wait to go again!

 

Tomorrow the girls and I are going to see Emma performed by our local Shakespeare Company.  We are taking the little almost 10yo that dd babysits as well.  We have seen them perform Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility.  I'm really looking forward to it!  I had hoped to get in a reading of Emma before we went but that didn't happen. 

 

Aly is in an upcoming production of Mary Poppins with a local homeschool theater group so March & April will be crazy with practices.  I am NOT a theater mom.  I feel like Lorelai Gilmore when she has to be a "Chilton Mom" in Gilmore Girls.  Um, I don't belong!  Aly is loving it though so I'm trying to suck it up.  I guess all that rambling to say I don't know how much I'll be able to check in over the next two months.  

 

I wanted to join in on the E.M. Forster read along but didn't want to read A Passage to India. Forster has been on my TBR list for quite awhile.  I chose to read A Room with a View instead and found it enjoyable.  Forster's writing took a little getting used to.  Occasionally it was hard to keep up with the dialogue as he sometimes seemed to veer off in an odd directions or descriptions at odd times.  And the characters seemed a little underdeveloped.  Well, maybe not underdeveloped, maybe flat.  Or maybe I found Lucy to be a little flat.  There was so much emphasis on cousin Charlotte (she was well developed) that I found I was craving more depth to Lucy and George. On the other hand, the writing was beautiful.  There were numerous parts where the descriptions outshone the dialogue.  If I had more time, I would have turned around and read it again since I think that being prepared for the writing I would have enjoyed it more!  I had at least three quotes  that I wrote down but as they are not near me at the moment and I'm too lazy to get up and find them I guess I'll leave them off.

[mumto2]

Yesterday morning I was in London buying lattes and eclairs for breakfast; this morning I was home, walking the dog and doing laundry. But morning here is mid afternoon there so my body is confused and my mind a bit fuzzy.....this jet lag business is really, really trippy!

 

BUT. I am pushing through, determined to stay awake til bed time, valiantly hoping to be fully functional tomorrow afternoon for some students and a dress rehearsal!

 

While on my 10.5 hour flight yesterday I finished reading The Paris Wife, which I really loved. I'm now looking forward to A Moveable Feast! I also started reading a book I found on my trip, Beethoven for a Later Age, by the 1st violinist of the Takacs Quartet. I also listened to, and dozed a bit through, a Brandon Sanderson Mistborn book, Allow of Law, and watched the Tom Hanks movie, Bridge of Spies.

 

We had a wonderful time in both Paris and London. And we ate lots of incredibly good food!! In London it was excellent Thai and Indian and pub grub with a couple of Italian restaurants thrown in for good measure. In Paris, oh my, in Paris... We had lunch at the Jules Verne restaurant, way up high in the Eiffel Tower!! A personal bucket list item of mine, and it was simply wonderful. Foie gras, Ox cheeks (!) and chocolate desert heaven along with a few additional num nums they serve that aren't part of the menu. And dining by a window overlooking Paris. *sigh* We also took a food tour of the Saint Germain des Pres neighborhood, led by a woman who used to write for Gourmet magazine. We started at a bakery for bread and apple tarts, visited a chocolate shop (Patrick Rogers), then a fromagerie and a charcuterie, and then headed to a wine cellar where we sat and ate bread, 6 different cheeses, confit and other meats, our chocolates, and drank wine. I could have wept because it was so wonderful!! We took a bottle of wine and some cheeses back to London with us, and I've brought home some little short bread spoons to enjoy with my coffee for the next week or two!

 

I attended a small chamber concert in a Tudor-era house in London. The music at the concert was world class, and the buskers -- the musicians in the Tube stations -- were all excellent, too. Our last day was spent at Windsor Castle, and we attended an Evensong service at the St. George's chapel there. It was simply transcendent. (Mumto2, I have a question. Does every CoE service include a prayer for the queen? Or is that just part of the service at St. George because Windsor is a royal residence??)

 

We visited museums, shopped at bookstores, and walked all over the place. My dh was a guest of a comic book convention in London, where he signed books for almost 8 hours straight, 2 days in a row! He said everyone was so gracious, saying "lovely" or "cheers" as he signed. People had come from all over England and Europe for the convention, too. It was very, very cool.

 

I'll post a few other pictures, but here is my haul of books, a couple of which are gifts. The little stuffed figure is a George Frederick Handel Christmas ornament, the yarn is from Liberty Department store, and the Parisian cookie spoons are on the right.

 

We always pray for our Queen. I love Evensong and go every Sunday. I am sure it would have been a Sung Evensong at St. George's which is what we normally have. I love the organ music.

 

Glad your trip to Liberty was fruitful. I have some very similar yarn to the variegated blues and greys in my stash. I used some of it for one of my mother's chemo hats last fall. Btw she is getting around pretty well again, uses her walker because she can't risk another fall.

[Angel]

That looks like it might be fun. I saved the info to look into it later. Thanks. 

 

I love to watch Irish dancing! We know a local homeschooler who is into it. Ds plays Dungeons and Dragons with her and her brother. When her mother found out that I can sew she asked me about making her daughter's costumes. They're crazy expensive and while she would pay me, she was hoping I could do it for less. Wow! I'm good, but nowhere near that good. I politely declined and told her there's a reason why those costumes cost so much.  :lol:

Skye is sewing one of Aly's costumes for Mary Poppins.  Just that one costume was expensive to sew.  Fabric is crazy expensive!!  We put together the rest from Goodwill.  

 

And Jenn - your trip sounds so delightful!  What a wonderful experience!!  

[shage]

 

 

How'd it go?  :D  "I wanted a mission movie, and for my sins, they BaW gave me one. It was a real choice mission movie, and when I was done, I never wanted another."

 

 

 

 

Apocalypse Now:  Redux.

 

Yes, I accidentally got a longer version of the movie than the 1979 release.  Go me.

 

There was an absolutely hilarious scene in Part I where the men steal Kilgore's surfboard before taking off in the boat.  My son and I rolled with laughter.  But Part II as pretty much a gore fest.  I closed my eyes through much of it.  What I did see struck my as heavily drug influenced.  Or maybe it was just the 1970's? 

 

My verdict, idnib, is that it had some educational merit but I will likely not watch again.

[Stacia]

Jenn, love hearing more details of your trip! It sounds absolutely delightful!

 

Mumto2, glad to hear your mom is doing well. (Keep the pizza going if it still helps! I'm a pizza fiend myself & think pizza always helps!)

 

Idnib, lol about your redo of the Apocalypse Now lines. Regardless of all the 70s & drug-era jokes, I really want to watch the movie again now!

[Stacia]

Oops. Double-post. We're having severe storms here right now & I think my computer went a little trippy. (Either that or the drug references to Apocalypse Now. :lol: )

Edited March 2, 2016 by Stacia

[Ethel Mertz]

28. Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. It took a while to get into it. The whole first part of the book I was thinking, "I'm too old for this!" As the story shifted to include the special readers, I was hooked. The ending did feel a bit forced or rushed, like the author didn't know quite how to wrap up the story line.

[Ali in OR]

Life is just ... busy.  

 

Aly is in an upcoming production of Mary Poppins with a local homeschool theater group so March & April will be crazy with practices.  I am NOT a theater mom.  I feel like Lorelai Gilmore when she has to be a "Chilton Mom" in Gilmore Girls.  Um, I don't belong!  Aly is loving it though so I'm trying to suck it up.  I guess all that rambling to say I don't know how much I'll be able to check in over the next two months.  

 

I wanted to join in on the E.M. Forster read along but didn't want to read A Passage to India. Forster has been on my TBR list for quite awhile.  I chose to read A Room with a View instead and found it enjoyable.  

 

Ditto ditto ditto!

 

My dd is dancing in her high school production of MP and having a blast. Two more weekends to go. It's a great show.

 

I also read ARwaV instead of APtI and had a similar experience to you. I think it was the right "first Foerster" for me.

[PeacefulChaos]

 

I'm sorry you're dealing with this, but try to be patient. Dh had to go on BP meds starting when he was 40. Older than you, but still quite young. Unfortunately high blood pressure issues know no age boundaries. :( He tried diet changes as well as exercise, and while they helped a tiny bit they didn't make a significant difference. Sometimes you just need the meds. And yeah, you might have to try a number of different ones. I think his doctor went through at least a half dozen with him over a period of almost a year. He did finally find one that works and has been taking it for the past 10 years. Every time he goes for a checkup his BP is great. So, give it time and don't feel bad about taking medication. It's why it exists - to help you. Once upon a time there wasn't any medical treatment for high blood pressure. I'm glad we live in a time when people like my dh and you can live long, healthy lives thanks to medication. 

 

Oh, and he still eats the foods he loves, but in moderation.

 

Thank you.  Overall the medication doesn't bother me too much lol... I think it bothers other people around me more than it bothers me.  :D  DH is, I think, worried about how much I'll have to take, and my grandparents are worried because they want to find the root cause (which I'm sure we will get to, but are concentrating on just getting it down first!), and my best friends are all concerned about the meds... and I'm just like, eh, but do I have to eat differently?  :lol:

 

On the upside, today when I went in, it was a good bit lower than last week, which means this medicine is actually doing something, at least.  :)  So the doctor upped the dosage.  

 

Of course, going along with what I said in my first paragraph here, I heard what my BP was today and was pleasantly surprised.  Like, actually, I was really happy to see it come down even 40 on both numbers, which is what it did.  I was pretty elated.  Everyone else?  :lol:  DH: 'oh no!  That's still terrible!'  grandparents: 'That bottom number, especially, needs to come down!' etc etc.  :rolleyes:  I take that back.  The more I said I was really happy just to see some progress, my grandpa got on board with me.  I always could count on him for that.  :wub:  :)  'Yes, it's dropped a fair amount for just one week!'  :D

 

 

Speaking of troubles, I got some great news.  My kidney is just fine.  They said it was a shadow on the ultrasound.  It gave me such a scare, but I’m so relieved.  I am being referred to a GI doc for the other issues.  After almost 2 weeks of feeling miserable the meds have worked their magic and I’m feeling human again.

 

 

I totally commiserate with you PeacefulChaos.  I'm facing lots of dietary changes and it sucks.  I'm a bit older than you at 41, but it still seems so young to have to give up so much that I enjoy.  I live a pretty modest life, but I enjoy eating and cooking.  Yet, now my body has turned on me and seems to only want bland, white food.  I'm in a mood, too - grin.

Glad for the good news on your kidney!!!  

 

We can be in a mood together.  I have yet to see how much dietary change may be necessary - so far the doctor hasn't said anything about it, but I've been feeling like I just need to get better control of my snacking, which is my one vice with food.  So I decided to do it.  Today they did blood sugar and cholesterol tests, and I'm hoping those come back okay so that it doesn't become something that I have to police vigilantly.  *fingers crossed*

 

 

I'm w/ you others re: dietary changes. I need to make some & I haven't yet. Blah. No fun (esp. during Girl Scout cookie season).

 

I saw this hilarious meme yesterday about girl scout cookies.  Something about being clean for almost a year, but then... :lol:

 

Yesterday morning I was in London buying lattes and eclairs for breakfast; this morning I was home, walking the dog and doing laundry.  But morning here is mid afternoon there so my body is confused and my mind a bit fuzzy.....this jet lag business is really, really trippy!

 

BUT.  I am pushing through, determined to stay awake til bed time, valiantly hoping to be fully functional tomorrow afternoon for some students and a dress rehearsal!

 

While on my 10.5 hour flight yesterday I finished reading The Paris Wife, which I really loved.  I'm now looking forward to A Moveable Feast!  I also started reading a book I found on my trip, Beethoven for a Later Age, by the 1st violinist of the Takacs Quartet. I also listened to, and dozed a bit through, a Brandon Sanderson Mistborn book, Allow of Law, and watched the Tom Hanks movie, Bridge of Spies.  

 

We had a wonderful time in both Paris and London.  And we ate lots of incredibly good food!!  In London it was excellent Thai and Indian and pub grub with a couple of Italian restaurants thrown in for good measure.  In Paris, oh my, in Paris...   We had lunch at the Jules Verne restaurant, way up high in the Eiffel Tower!! A personal bucket list item of mine, and it was simply wonderful.  Foie gras, Ox cheeks (!) and chocolate desert heaven along with a few additional num nums they serve that aren't part of the menu. And dining by a window overlooking Paris.  *sigh*  We also took a food tour of the Saint Germain des Pres neighborhood, led by a woman who used to write for Gourmet magazine. We started at a bakery for bread and apple tarts, visited a chocolate shop (Patrick Rogers), then a fromagerie and a charcuterie, and then headed to a wine cellar where we sat and ate bread, 6 different cheeses, confit and other meats, our chocolates, and drank wine.  I could have wept because it was so wonderful!!  We took a bottle of wine and some cheeses back to London with us, and I've brought home some little short bread spoons to enjoy with my coffee for the next week or two!

 

I attended a small chamber concert in a Tudor-era house in London. The music at the concert was world class, and the buskers -- the musicians in the Tube stations -- were all excellent, too. Our last day was spent at Windsor Castle, and we attended an Evensong service at the St. George's chapel there. It was simply transcendent. (Mumto2, I have a question.  Does every CoE service include a prayer for the queen? Or is that just part of the service at St. George because Windsor is a royal residence??)

 

We visited museums, shopped at bookstores, and walked all over the place. My dh was a guest of a comic book convention in London, where he signed books for almost 8 hours straight, 2 days in a row!  He said everyone was so gracious, saying "lovely" or "cheers" as he signed. People had come from all over England and Europe for the convention, too. It was very, very cool.

 

 

Your trip sounds lovely!  

 

 

 

Okay, guys.  So I finished Between the World and Me.  I will say that he ends the book less hopeless than I was feeling like it would be earlier on.  I did find it very interesting.  I don't really know how to put into words all my thoughts on the book - I plan to go back through when it was being discussed on here and see if anyone else can help me bring any of them to light.  My feelings on it, to say the least, are complicated.  

 

I'm continuing with reading one chapter of The Celebration of Discipline per month - this month is Fasting.  Originally I had tried to work out in my head some excuse for making my dietary changes part of a fast, but today that still just wasn't sitting well with me, and I think that's because I knew I wasn't actually fasting as much as trying out different things for my health.  Not that doing so is bad, by any means, but call it what it is, kwim?  So as I was reading that chapter tonight, I thought of all the pain and angst that social media has been causing me as of late (and don't get me wrong, I enjoy FB, Instagram, and Twitter and feel that all of them have good points and can be used for good purposes), and realized that what I need to be fasting is that, not trying to create some reasoning why my dietary changes were my fast.  

So Idk how long I'll be off of those.  I took them off my phone for the time being.  I'll check FB once per night for notifications, since I am a group admin and I do a lot of planning over there.  But no more than that.  And it's not like anything great big or bad has happened or anyone is doing anything wrong.  I've just been feeling a bit... icky.  Idk.  Just feeling like my brain needs a reset.  

 

Let's see, did I mention that I deleted The Power of a Praying Wife from my phone?  I may have said that last night... if so, sorry to repeat myself.  But yeah.  So not worth the space.  

 

As far as next books, I'm going to start up The Scarlet Letter for real this time.  And I refer back to The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up here and there, as I'm working on trying to KonMari my house lol.  I sort of stalled after doing my clothes - I need to take the time to go finish up my jewelry and try to do some stuff in the kids' rooms.  I know that there I won't be able to do it to the extent I did myself, but I can try to guide them along in getting rid of things, because the boys, especially, have too much and even they know it.  I think they're just overwhelmed at the prospect of going through it to discard.

 

So far this year:

 

1. This Present Darkness (Peretti)

2. Captivating (Eldredge)

3. The Heavenly Man (Yun)

4. The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up (Kondo)

5. The Missing Marquess/Enola Holmes (Springer)

6. Woman of Influence (Farrel)

7. Piercing the Darkness (Peretti)

8. Between the World and Me (Coates)

[Ali in OR]

  I have yet to see how much dietary change may be necessary - so far the doctor hasn't said anything about it, but I've been feeling like I just need to get better control of my snacking, which is my one vice with food.  So I decided to do it.  Today they did blood sugar and cholesterol tests, and I'm hoping those come back okay so that it doesn't become something that I have to police vigilantly.  *fingers crossed*

 

Just want to say that if the primary dietary change is to lower sodium, it's not so bad! We've done that for different health issues and we eat quite well at home. Many restaurants are problematic, and if you're attached to processed food it might be painful, but you can still cook wonderful things without much salt. I'm glad this is our restriction instead of gluten--that would be really hard for me to give up!

[Stacia]

I finished An Exaggerated Murder: A Novel by Josh Cook.

 

I'd describe it as a super-fun mash-up that might be best imagined as if Thomas Pynchon met Sherlock Holmes & they had a few too many beers while sparring with Edgar Allan Poe & James Joyce. An entertaining, untraditional, & modern noir detective romp with excessive usage of nicotine patches. Thumbs-up.

 

ETA: For all our BaW knitters, this book has a knitting butler. Just in case that would sway you to read the book.... (There's even reference to a Mary Tudor.) :laugh:

 

2016 Books Read:

Africa:

• We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo, pub. by Reagan Arthur Books/Little, Brown and Company. 2 stars. Zimbabwe. (Child’s-eye view of life in post-colonial Zimbabwe & as a teen immigrant to the US. Choppy & hard to connect with the characters. Disappointed.)
• Good Morning Comrades by Ondjaki, trans. from the Portuguese by Stephen Henighan, pub. by Biblioasis. 4 stars. Angola. (Simple & charming child’s-eye view of life in Angola during revolutionary changes & civil war in the 1990s. Semi-autobiographical.)

Asia:

• North to the Orient by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, pub. by Harvest/Harcourt Brace & Co. 3 stars. Various countries. (A.M. Lindbergh served as her husband’s radio operator during their trek to try mapping new air routes to Asia by travelling north. Diary-like observations of some stops.)

Europe:

• Gnarr! How I Became Mayor of a Large City in Iceland and Changed the World by Jón Gnarr, trans. by Andrew Brown, pub. by Melville House. 3 stars. Iceland. (A quick, easy, fun, & inspiring read with an emphasis on being nice & promoting peace. Just what I needed this week.)
• What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi, pub. by Riverhead Books. 5 stars. Various countries. (Exotic, surreal, & magical collection of slightly interlinked short stories. Slightly sinister, fun, compelling, & completely delightful.)

Latin America:

• The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel Vásquez, trans. from the Spanish by Anne McLean, pub. by Riverhead Books. 4 stars. Columbia. (Brilliant & bittersweet story showing the impact of the rise of the Colombian drug cartels on an entire generation of people growing up during the violent & uncertain times of the drug wars.)
• The Three Trials of Manirema by José J. Veiga, trans. from the Portuguese by Pamela G. Bird, pub. by Alfred A. Knopf. 3 stars. Brazil. (A mix of rural-life naturalism & the Kafkaesque in an allegory of life under [brazilian] military rule; captures the underlying fear & dread of a town. A serendipitous find.)

Middle East:

• Necropolis by Santiago Gamboa, trans. from the Spanish by Howard Curtis, pub. by Europa editions. 3 stars. Israel. (Chorus of stories, mainly based around an author attending a conference in Jerusalem. One attendee commits suicide. Or did he?)

North America:

• The Beast: Riding the Rails and Dodging Narcos on the Migrant Trail by Óscar Martínez, trans. from the Spanish by Daniela Maria Ugaz & John Washington, pub. by Verso. 5 stars. Mexico. (Front-line reporting of the dangers migrants face – from physical challenges, terrain, kidnappings, robberies, murders, rapes, & more – when crossing Mexico while trying to reach the US. Required reading.)
• A Quaker Book of Wisdom by Robert Lawrence Smith, pub. by Eagle Brook/William Morrow and Company. 3 stars. USA. (A quiet & inspiring look at basic tenets of living a life of love & service. Nice little book with valuable & thoughtful ideas for today's world.)
• An Exaggerated Murder by Josh Cook, pub. by Melville House. 4 stars. USA. (Super-fun mash-up as if Pynchon met Sherlock Holmes & they had a few too many beers while sparring with Poe & Joyce. Entertaining, untraditional, modern noir detective romp.)

Edited March 2, 2016 by Stacia

[Mom-ninja.]

 I'm glad this is our restriction instead of gluten--that would be really hard for me to give up!

 

Trust me if gluten made you as sick as having norovirus and then a whole host of other symptoms that last for a few months like hair loss, ulcers in your mouth and nose, joints that feel like they are under a fire torch, + more debilitating problems you would not have the slightest problem giving up gluten. Not one teeny tiny bit of a problem. You would never ever EVER even be tempted to sneak a little bite. When I see a Krispy Kreme donut or nice flaky croissant, my brain recognizes it is a "delicious looking" item made out of rat poison. I can appreciate food for how it looks and smells and get all the satisfaction I need. I never want to actually taste it. If someone help out a muffin made and told you it was injected with dysentery germs there is no way you'd eat it. You wouldn't even want to. :)

 

With that mental image I will now go and finish my hot chocolate. ;)

 

As for salt I have to actually make myself eat it. I'm not a big salt fan, but I have low BP at times and I'm supposed to increase salt. Good thing I like popcorn.  

 

It's only when restricted food doesn't actually make you suffer horribly that one finds it hard to give up and change diet. 

[Butter]

Trust me if gluten made you as sick as having norovirus and then a whole host of other symptoms that last for a few months like hair loss, ulcers in your mouth and nose, joints that feel like they are under a fire torch, + more debilitating problems you would not have the slightest problem giving up gluten. Not one teeny tiny bit of a problem. You would never ever EVER even be tempted to sneak a little bite. When I see a Krispy Kreme donut or nice flaky croissant, my brain recognizes it is a "delicious looking" item made out of rat poison. I can appreciate food for how it looks and smells and get all the satisfaction I need. I never want to actually taste it. If someone help out a muffin made and told you it was injected with dysentery germs there is no way you'd eat it. You wouldn't even want to. :)

 

Yup.  This.  Exactly.

 

Even my 7 year old is so incredibly good about not touching gluten.  He questions whether things are okay if someone gives him something.  He asks for things to be googled if the person isn't sure.  He has passed up cookies, candy, etc.  Things he loves and surprise people he has the willpower to resist.  The thing is, he's very well aware of how much those things make him hurt.  He knows he will be in the bathroom soon after eating it with his insides on fire.  He knows he will feel bad for a while after eating it even after the intestinal problems resolve.  He doesn't want to be in pain so it's easy to pass those things up.

 

Book #23: The Yearling.  Long.  Boring.  Way too fast of a wrap-up after the long, boring book.  Parts were interesting.  Mostly it was just long and boring.

[Chrysalis Academy]

I finished reading Men Explain Things to Me, actually the night before last, I've been to busy to post and barely keeping up with other posts.  I really liked this collection of essays by Rebecca Solnit. In fact I suggested that dh read the title essay - I think it explains the experience young women have launching their educational/professional lives very well.  In fact, we went to the oral surgeon the other day for a consult and got the heck mansplained out of us.  Um, no thanks. We're going to a different oral surgeon. I'm getting less and less tolerant of being patronized the older I get, which sounds nicer than saying I'm getting crankier.  And I don't want my dds to think that it's normal to be condescended to, especially when they are making decisions about their bodies and their health.

 

I'll share a couple of my favorite quotes, these are both from the essay "Woolf's Darkness" and aren't particularly about feminism, but they struck me and are relevant to some of the discussions about social change we've had here recently.

 

"To me, the grounds for hope are simply that we don't know what will happen next, and that the unlikely and the unimaginable transpire quite regularly . . . Despair is a form of certainty, certainty that the future will be a lot like the present, or will decline from it; . . . Optimism is similarly confident about what will happen. Both are grounds for not acting. Hope can be the knowledge that we don't have that memory and that reality doesn't necessarily match our plans."

 

"Ultimately the destruction of the earth is due in part, perhaps in large part, to a failure of the imagination or to its eclipse by systems of accounting that can't count what matters. The revolt against this destruction is a revolt of the imagination, in favor of subtleties, of pleasures money can't buy and corporations can't command, of being producers rather than consumers of meaning, of the slow, the meandering, the digressive, the exploratory, the numinous, the uncertain." 

[Kareni]

While I've dipped into a few books, I've not been compelled to finish anything other than a re-read.

 

The Mistake (Off-Campus Book 2) by Elle Kennedy

 

This is a new adult romance which I enjoyed revisiting.  (Adult content.)

 

 

"He’s a player in more ways than one…
 
College junior John Logan can get any girl he wants. For this hockey star, life is a parade of parties and hook-ups, but behind his killer grins and easygoing charm, he hides growing despair about the dead-end road he’ll be forced to walk after graduation. A sexy encounter with freshman Grace Ivers is just the distraction he needs, but when a thoughtless mistake pushes her away, Logan plans to spend his final year proving to her that he’s worth a second chance.

Now he’s going to need to up his game…
 
After a less than stellar freshman year, Grace is back at Briar University, older, wiser, and so over the arrogant hockey player she nearly handed her V-card to. She’s not a charity case, and she’s not the quiet butterfly she was when they first hooked up. If Logan expects her to roll over and beg like all his other puck bunnies, he can think again. He wants her back? He’ll have to work for it. This time around, she’ll be the one in the driver’s seat…and she plans on driving him wild."

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

 

 

[Stacia]

Since Myanmar (Burma) was the topic a week or two ago, I've started Smile as they Bow by Nu Nu Yi. (Thanks, Pam, for sending this to me!) I'm already a third of the way through as it's a pretty short & quick read; it seems as if there are descriptions, but not huge amounts of depth here. I did have to chuckle as to how Daisy Bond got his/her name (&, yes, it does have to do with James Bond).

 

As the weeklong Taungbyon Festival draws near, thousands of villagers from all regions of Burma descend upon a tiny hamlet near Mandalay to pay respect to the spirits, known as nats, which are central to Burmese tradition. At the heart of these festivities is Daisy Bond, a gay, transvestite spiritual medium in his fifties. With his sharp tongue and vivid performances, he has long been revered as one of the festival's most illustrious natkadaws. At his side is Min Min, his young assistant and lover, who endures unyielding taunts and abuse from his fiery boss. But when a young beggar girl named Pan Nyo threatens to steal Min Min's heart, the outrageous Daisy finds himself face-to-face with his worst fears. Written in lyrical, intoxicating prose, Smile as They Bow is, like the works of Arundhati Roy and Ha Jin, an unexpectedly whimsical, illuminating, and above all revealing portrayal of a culture few Westerners have ever witnessed. Over the past twenty years, Nu Nu Yi has become one of Burma's most acclaimed authors--and in 2007, she became the first person living in Burma to be nominated for an international literary award. Smile as They Bow was censored for more than twelve years by the Burmese government. It is fitting, then, that this is her American debut.

 

After I started reading, I was curious about the nats & the natkadaws. I found a short snippet (about 10 minutes) of a documentary video that you can watch here. (Click on "watch a preview".) I found this clip really informative & it gave me a good foundation for better understanding the book, as well as the main character (Daisy).

 

And here is a 1.5 hour documentary on YouTube that covers the festival in Taungbyon. I haven't watched the entire video yet, but the parts I did watch really showcased the sights & sounds of life in the village during the festival.

https://youtu.be/zCqBnKJJ3IY 

 

And, one more video -- a drama adaptation of the book. It is about 30 minutes. (I also have not watched this one in its entirety.)

 

[Chris in VA]

Just popping in because I haven't posted in a little bit here.

 

I finished The Color Purple a couple of days ago. It's the second book I've read that has also been a movie I've seen. I can see how the movie detoured a bit, and ended up saying quite different things, spiritually. It was a very easy read, and I was able to pull a few things out to talk about in my weekly "Holy Conversation" meeting with a couple of friends. (We meet in our church's colonial sanctuary, with only the altar lights on--box pews, and we pull up the extra kneeler cushions for our butts and backs! lol! It's actually a very reflective and meaningful place to talk about Things that Matter.)

 

I skipped a few chapters out of impatience in My Antonia, which used to be a habit, so I have to go back and read a little more in that one to feel officially and "honestly" done.

 

I started Pay it Forward, but I'm not going to finish it.

 

I also started All the Light We Cannot See and I can tell it's going to be a good one. Lovely language, story that grabs you immediately---loving it so far.

 

Lastly, I only got a few chapters into the book about the Palestinian orchestra starter, Children of the Stone.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Well, I've learned one thing: 1971 was not a good year for book publications.  Maybe the whole decade was not so great? In any event, I kissed a lot of frogs in trying to find something to read written in that year. I finally fell back on an old favorite: Shroud for a Nightingale, the 4th Adam Dalgliesh murder mystery by PD James.  I had read it in the past, but more than 25 years ago, so I didn't really remember the details.  But ahh, I had forgotten how much I like these mysteries, and how much I like Dalgliesh as a protagonist.  It's not just that he's a handsome, intellectual, intelligent poet who also solves murder mysteries.  It's him, his whole character: he is detached yet empathetic. He is fundamentally pessimistic about human nature: nothing can surprise him, yet he doesn't devolve into cynicism either. I actually really relate to that, I'm kind of the same way - intuitive about people and empathetic, yet very, very detached and self-sufficient.   And, James's books are all about psychology - the psychology of individuals, of groups, the oddity of a bunch of people thrown together yet not forming a community. Psychology has always been a first love of mine, though I've strayed far from it professionally.  I'm so satisfied right now! I will have to keep more PD James on tap as comfort reads.

 

So I'm down to 3 bingo squares left: Revisit an old friend - in progress, Over 500 pages - in progress, and my final nemesis catoegory, pick a book based on the cover. Thanks to Stacia, I have Necropolis in line for that one.  But I feel quite a sense of accomplishment about the birth year square!   :rolleyes:

Edited March 2, 2016 by Chrysalis Academy

[Ali in OR]

Trust me if gluten made you as sick as having norovirus and then a whole host of other symptoms that last for a few months like hair loss, ulcers in your mouth and nose, joints that feel like they are under a fire torch, + more debilitating problems you would not have the slightest problem giving up gluten. 

 

But since it doesn't do this to me, it would be hard to give it up because it's in most everything I love! A friend dropped it when he noticed a link to his migraines, and I know it's hard for him because he still likes the taste of gluten-full food. So sometimes he thinks, "well, maybe it won't hurt this once." But I agree--if it was obvious that gluten made me feel horrible it would not be so appealing. I think it's just hard when there is a change--you could once eat it but now you can't.

[HRAAB]

I seem to be having issues with actually finishing a book.  I re-read/skimmed Of Mice and Men and The Old Man and the Sea with my daughter.  Neither are favorites; I had to force myself to look at them.  Thankfully, they are both very short.  She has now picked up Lord of the Flies.  I told her she was on her own with that one.  Enough.

 

I'm still working my way through the Dalemark Quartet by Dianna Wynne Jones and am ready to start the last one, The Crown of Dalemark.  The Portrait of a Lady is sitting on the floor at my feet reminding me I haven't touched it for over a week.

 

I did pick up All the Light We Cannot See at the library and noticed that I accidentally got the large print edition.  Hate to admit it, but it does seem to be easier on my eyes.  I usually take my glasses off to read (bought a granny chain so I'm not constantly losing them since I'm too blind to see where I put them).  Just this morning my dd asked me to read over her history paper. Her laptop was on the kitchen table, and I couldn't seem to find a good position from where I could read clearly.  If I sat up straight, I needed my glasses; if I leaned over the table, I could take my glasses off.  Either way, my eyes were hurting.  I made it to page 7 and told her she was going to have to print it for me to read.  Lack of sleep?  Old age? Just need to always get large print editions?  It made me grumpy.  :lol:

[Lady Florida.]

I finished The Fleet Street Murders today. It's #3 in the Charles Lenox mysteries. I enjoyed it, and it was a nice break from some of the deep/long books I've been reading so far this year. 

 

My IRL book club met last night to discuss The Moor's Account. All of us really liked it. One thing that came up in the questions was the idea of the narrator being unreliable. None of us thought of him as unreliable until we started discussing it and then it somewhat made sense. That's one thing I like about book clubs whether they're online or in person - discussing a book makes you think about it in different ways (another is reading books outside of my comfort zone).

 

Also, have you ever read a historical book, either fiction or non-fiction and hoped for a different outcome?  Except that it's actual history so you know the ending? That was The Moor's Account for me. Maybe the Spanish conquistadors won't be such jerks. Maybe the Native American tribes won't get wiped out. That part was a bit stressful because I grew to like some characters only to have them show their a$$es or get killed. And I knew it would happen, because history. It was still a good read though.

 

I have no idea what I want to read next. It's not that I'm not motivated, but I have several I really want to read and just can't pick one or more over the others. I might have to browse through the first chapter of a few of the ones I want to read, and see which one calls me back to read the next chapter. I also need to leave time open for the next book club book, which hasn't been announced yet.

 

 

So I'm down to 3 bingo squares left: Revisit an old friend - in progress, Over 500 pages - in progress, and my final nemesis catoegory, pick a book based on the cover. Thanks to Stacia, I have Necropolis in line for that one.  But I feel quite a sense of accomplishment about the birth year square!   :rolleyes:

 

 Congratulations! I too have trouble with picking a book based on the cover, as I say below.

 

There are 3 squares that will give me a hard time and possibly keep me from filling the whole card.

 

-Choose a book by its cover. I've never done that. I'm not even sure I know how. And now that I read on my e-ink Kindle covers matter even less to me.

 

- Arthurian -  :ack2:

 

-Fairy Tale adaptation -  :ack2:

 

Both of those last two not only don't appeal to me, I actually dislike them. I don't like fairy tales, so I can't imagine liking an adaptation. I find Arthurian stories really, really, REALLY  boring.

 

Finally, I have a question about the bingo card, that we probably discussed but I don't remember. Are we allowing ourselves to count a book for more than one square?

 

Oh, two questions actually. Does the historical square mean historical fiction, actual history. or choose for yourself?

Edited March 2, 2016 by Lady Florida

[Melinda in VT]

Well, I've learned one thing: 1971 was not a good year for book publications. Maybe the whole decade was not so great? In any event, I kissed a lot of frogs in trying to find something to read written in that year. :

Uh oh. Guess what year I was born?

[JennW in SoCal]

 

I did pick up All the Light We Cannot See at the library and noticed that I accidentally got the large print edition.  Hate to admit it, but it does seem to be easier on my eyes.  I usually take my glasses off to read (bought a granny chain so I'm not constantly losing them since I'm too blind to see where I put them).  Just this morning my dd asked me to read over her history paper. Her laptop was on the kitchen table, and I couldn't seem to find a good position from where I could read clearly.  If I sat up straight, I needed my glasses; if I leaned over the table, I could take my glasses off.  Either way, my eyes were hurting.  I made it to page 7 and told her she was going to have to print it for me to read.  Lack of sleep?  Old age? Just need to always get large print editions?  It made me grumpy.  :lol:

 

Perhaps a better book would be All the Words You Cannot See  :laugh:

 

But old 4 eyes here is laughing with you in this case.

 

I am playing a gig this weekend with a bunch of young 20something whipper snappers. I feel extra old around them cause I have special glasses just for reading music AND a nice, bright stand light.  One of the youngsters fussed last gig that my stand light was too bright and I had to keep it on the dimmer setting for her!!

[SEGway]

I finished Ancillary Sword. It made me think. I know it gets knocked for lack of action, but I really enjoyed it. I think these books make good followups to Coates' Between the World and Me. I shall have to wait on ILL for Mercy.

 

ETA: This amazon review of Sword made me snicker.  

 

It was a week for kid-lit, too, apparently. I listened to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It's a multiple-times re-read, but I hadn't ever hear the whole audio before. Jim Dale is pretty good at voices. I also read Diana Wynne Jones' Castle in the Air (which I didn't like as much as Howl, but it was entertaining), and Artemis Fowl: Artctic Adventure (trying to keep up with the dd10). The storyline in AF wasn't nearly as obnoxious as I assumed it would be based on the hype. I may even read some more. :)

 

I started A Room with a View, because I could find it free for kindle, and you all made me interested in trying Forster, again. (Wasn't a huge fan of Howard's End, but other people's comments make me think I might not have seem some of the....subtilties.)

 

There's not much time for keeping up with these threads, but even reading/responding in snippets has spurred me to read a lot more consistently and more ambitiously than I usually do. 

Pretty sweet!

Edited March 2, 2016 by SEGway

[Chris in VA]

I seem to be having issues with actually finishing a book. I re-read/skimmed Of Mice and Men and The Old Man and the Sea with my daughter. Neither are favorites; I had to force myself to look at them. Thankfully, they are both very short. She has now picked up Lord of the Flies. I told her she was on her own with that one. Enough.

 

I'm still working my way through the Dalemark Quartet by Dianna Wynne Jones and am ready to start the last one, The Crown of Dalemark. The Portrait of a Lady is sitting on the floor at my feet reminding me I haven't touched it for over a week.

 

I did pick up All the Light We Cannot See at the library and noticed that I accidentally got the large print edition. Hate to admit it, but it does seem to be easier on my eyes. I usually take my glasses off to read (bought a granny chain so I'm not constantly losing them since I'm too blind to see where I put them). Just this morning my dd asked me to read over her history paper. Her laptop was on the kitchen table, and I couldn't seem to find a good position from where I could read clearly. If I sat up straight, I needed my glasses; if I leaned over the table, I could take my glasses off. Either way, my eyes were hurting. I made it to page 7 and told her she was going to have to print it for me to read. Lack of sleep? Old age? Just need to always get large print editions? It made me grumpy. :lol:

So funny-- I picked up a large print edition book two weeks ago, and I couldn't figure out why reading it was bugging the snot out of me. Seems it triggered my sensory issues!So I could see it fine, I justcouldn't read it fine. Sheesh.

 

Oh, and LotF is one of my favorite books. I saw part of the old Enlish movie as a young teen and was intrigued by the story. Read it later; it was just so different than my other reading materials at the time! We used it with ds in 12th grade homeschool and I couldn't wait to share it.

 

Perhaps this would be a fun link for you or yours.https://www.brainpop.com/games/lordoftheflies/

[Chrysalis Academy]

Uh oh. Guess what year I was born?

 

:lol:  May I recommend Shroud for a Nightingale?  If you like murder mysteries.

[Chrysalis Academy]

 

 

 Congratulations! I too have trouble with picking a book based on the cover, as I say below.

 

There are 3 squares that will give me a hard time and possibly keep me from filling the whole card.

 

-Choose a book by its cover. I've never done that. I'm not even sure I know how. And now that I read on my e-ink Kindle covers matter even less to me.

 

- Arthurian -  :ack2:

 

-Fairy Tale adaptation -  :ack2:

 

Both of those last two not only don't appeal to me, I actually dislike them. I don't like fairy tales, so I can't imagine liking an adaptation. I find Arthurian stories really, really, REALLY  boring.

 

Finally, I have a question about the bingo card, that we probably discussed but I don't remember. Are we allowing ourselves to count a book for more than one square?

 

Oh, two questions actually. Does the historical square mean historical fiction, actual history. or choose for yourself?

 

Yep, Arthurian was a tough one for me too - I finally decided to count something I read at dd's request that had Arthur in it as a character as my Arthurian book, after trying and rejecting a few others.  I did enjoy Boy Snow Bird and counted that as my Fairy Tale adaptation, even though it was loose - it didn't depend on the fairy tale at all for its appeal. 

[Stacia]

I am :laugh: at all you go-getter Bingo gals!

 

I think we need an alternative way to play. Rather than making a row or shape or filling the entire thing, can we just stack books on top of each square? I'd be able to build a couple of skyscrapers that way since my books seem to fall into the same few categories. :lol:

 

And, Kathy, for fairy tale adaptation, I'd highly, highly suggest Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeyemi for you. It's an adaptation but with lots of other stuff in there, so even though there are references (Bluebeard, Reynard the Fox), they are from some (imo) lesser-known fairy tales & it doesn't feel fairy-tale-ish. Plus, I think the story is just fun because a male author's muse (female, of course) "comes to life" & reams him out because he's always killing off his female characters & she says he's a murderer. The book is really a showdown of their challenges & stories to each other. It's a really unique book that might let you fill that Bingo spot without too much angst.

[Stacia]

Yep, Arthurian was a tough one for me too - I finally decided to count something I read at dd's request that had Arthur in it as a character as my Arthurian book, after trying and rejecting a few others.

 

I'm not sure I'll even get close to any kind of bingo on the board.

 

But, for Arthurian, can't we just watch Monty Python & call it good?

 

[mumto2]

Perhaps a better book would be All the Words You Cannot See  :laugh:

 

But old 4 eyes here is laughing with you in this case.

 

I am playing a gig this weekend with a bunch of young 20something whipper snappers. I feel extra old around them cause I have special glasses just for reading music AND a nice, bright stand light.  One of the youngsters fussed last gig that my stand light was too bright and I had to keep it on the dimmer setting for her!!

 

 

For years I requested the large print version because I preferred them on car trips (I thought there was a correlation between print size and car sickness) but my kindle has phased that excuse out. Now I just get them because they are easier. ;)

 

 

I finished The Fleet Street Murders today. It's #3 in the Charles Lenox mysteries. I enjoyed it, and it was a nice break from some of the deep/long books I've been reading so far this year. 

 

My IRL book club met last night to discuss The Moor's Account. All of us really liked it. One thing that came up in the questions was the idea of the narrator being unreliable. None of us thought of him as unreliable until we started discussing it and then it somewhat made sense. That's one thing I like about book clubs whether they're online or in person - discussing a book makes you think about it in different ways (another is reading books outside of my comfort zone).

 

Also, have you ever read a historical book, either fiction or non-fiction and hoped for a different outcome?  Except that it's actual history so you know the ending? That was The Moor's Account for me. Maybe the Spanish conquistadors won't be such jerks. Maybe the Native American tribes won't get wiped out. That part was a bit stressful because I grew to like some characters only to have them show their a$$es or get killed. And I knew it would happen, because history. It was still a good read though.

 

I have no idea what I want to read next. It's not that I'm not motivated, but I have several I really want to read and just can't pick one or more over the others. I might have to browse through the first chapter of a few of the ones I want to read, and see which one calls me back to read the next chapter. I also need to leave time open for the next book club book, which hasn't been announced yet.

 

 

 

 Congratulations! I too have trouble with picking a book based on the cover, as I say below.

 

There are 3 squares that will give me a hard time and possibly keep me from filling the whole card.

 

-Choose a book by its cover. I've never done that. I'm not even sure I know how. And now that I read on my e-ink Kindle covers matter even less to me.

 

- Arthurian -  :ack2:

 

-Fairy Tale adaptation -  :ack2:

 

Both of those last two not only don't appeal to me, I actually dislike them. I don't like fairy tales, so I can't imagine liking an adaptation. I find Arthurian stories really, really, REALLY  boring.

 

Finally, I have a question about the bingo card, that we probably discussed but I don't remember. Are we allowing ourselves to count a book for more than one square?

 

Oh, two questions actually. Does the historical square mean historical fiction, actual history. or choose for yourself?

I wonder about the more than one square too. Several of my books could be more than one. For a couple I have just used a weaker choice for the other square.

 

I pick most of my non series books by their cover if not recommended by people here. There is a reason I return stacks of books! So for that one I just counted the first book of the year where I started reading it without reading the description. It felt wrong after the times Robin has posted several odd covers but so far I have used the first mystery, historical(I used a romance) etc. So my list isn't particularly thoughtful or clever.

 

I don't think these romances will appeal to you at all but years ago I got a kindle freebie titled Wickedly Charming by Kristen Graysonhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9633279-wickedly-charming. It was hilarious about rather dissatisfied fairy tale characters living in our world because their fairy tale had gone bad. This one centers on Cinderella's Prince Charming meeting her Wicked Stepmother. The behind-the-scenes observations regarding the fairy tale were snarky snicker worthy. This was a book that I happened to click on during a really sad week that made me lol. Anyway several in this series are available on overdrive and I have wondering if they would qualify. I am planning to read them this year but a bingo square would be nice too. :)

[Kareni]

I just finished re-reading a romance novella which I enjoyed ~

Blue By You (A Military Men Novella) by Rachel Gibson

 

It's only now that I realize the wittiness of the title given that the story is set in Louisiana.  (Say it out loud.)

 

"They say you never forget your first time, but there's nothing Blue Butler and Kasper Pennington would rather forget than their brief but fiery teenage love affair. Yeah, it was hot while it lasted, but then he went off to join the Marines, leaving Blue in New Orleans. She's tried to block him from her mind for good, but nothing can really erase the feeling she had when she was with him.

 

And now he's got the nerve to return—leaner, meaner, and strong enough to pull her into his arms and kiss her senseless. Blue's a successful businesswoman now, with no time to figure out what went wrong all those years ago. But Kasper knows she's the one woman for him … and now he's got to prove it to her all over again."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Chrysalis Academy]

I'm not sure I'll even get close to any kind of bingo on the board.

 

But, for Arthurian, can't we just watch Monty Python & call it good?

 

 

 

Works for me!!!  

 

I'm so glad you posted that - Morgan is playing a snooty French maitre d' in her next show, and she's been trolling for good (bad) French accents. I'll have to show her that clip!  

 

I just went to the library, and Stoner finally came in!! I've had it on hold for months and months. I'm excited to read it.

[Melinda in VT]

:lol: May I recommend Shroud for a Nightingale? If you like murder mysteries.

You may, and I do, and my library has it!

[Kareni]

Something bookish ~

 

Old Books Find New Life in the Form of 3D Artwork

 

Regards,

Kareni

[6packofun]

I finished The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell after years on my to-read list.  I thought it was amazing.  It's one of those stories that stays with you long after you've finished.  I just loved how the characters were written in a way that it was natural for them to ask some of the major questions about God, theology, love, family, and purpose that so many of us have--believers or not!  It could have been totally forced in the hands of an amateur.  Just excellent.  Here is one short passage that I thought was beautiful:

 

She had meant to keep this one region of her past behind its old defensive walls, but the last barrier between them had come down.  When he heard it all, Jimmy thought his heart would break for her but he only sat and held her, long arms and endless legs enfolding her like a nestling, and waited for her to quiet.  Then he smiled into her eyes and asked, in the dry academic tones of an astronomer discussing a theoretical point with a colleague, "How long do you suppose I can go on loving you more every day?"  And he devised for her a calculus of love, which approached infinity as a limit, and made her smile again.