Book a Week 2016 - BW13: april book news and links

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday dear hearts!  This is the beginning of week 13 in our quest to read 52 books. Welcome back to all our readers, to those just joining in and all who are following our progress. Mr. Linky is all set up on the 52 Books blog to link to your reviews. The link is also below in my signature.
 
52 Books Blog - book news and links: Happy Easter to all who celebrate!  April is coming quickly and will be a full month as we sail the seas and explore with Charles Darwin in Voyage of the Beagle.  Our very own Rose (Chrysalis Academy) will be guiding our travels and will be guest posting next week.   

The blogosphere  event of the year begins on April 1: the 7th annual  Blogging from A to Z challenge.   If you have a blog and have gotten out of the habit or just need some inspiration, be sure to check it out.  I'm diving in with both feet. 

April 12 is Beverly Cleary's 99th birthday and ALA is celebrating all month long with D.E.A.R. - Drop Everything and Read Month.  

April 23rd is World Book and Copyright day created by UNESCO in honor of Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died in 1616 on this day. Eliana will be leading the charge so stay tuned for more information. 

April is also National Poetry Month  and in celebration Bill Murray contributed his favorite poems to O magazine  available in the April Issue now.

Have you found your bliss yet? Brianpickings highlights Joseph Campbell with What it Takes to Have a Fulfilling Life. 
 
"If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Wherever you are — if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you, all the time."


Book Kids Blog is celebrating National Poetry Month with 26 Inspiring Poems about the Joys and Importance of Books and Reading. 


 

I Opened a Book

By Julia Donaldson

 

I opened a book and in I strode.

Now nobody can find me.

I’ve left my chair, my house, my road,

My town and my world behind me.

 

I’m wearing the cloak, I’ve slipped on the ring,

I’ve swallowed the magic potion.

I’ve fought with a dragon, dined with a king

And dived in a bottomless ocean.

 

I opened a book and made some friends.

I shared their tears and laughter

And followed their road with its bumps and bends

To the happily ever after.

 

I finished my book and out I came.

The cloak can no longer hide me.

My chair and my house are just the same,

But I have a book inside me.

 
 
*********************************************************************
 
History of the Renaissance World - Chapters 17 and 18 
 
*********************************************************************
 
What are you reading this week? 
 
 
 
 
Link to week 12 

 

 

 

[Robin M]

Ah, the end of spring break! Wish we had another week!   :laugh:  

 

Happy Easter.  I just finished reading The Challenge of Easter by Father Martin in the Wall Street Journal about how Easter refuses to be commercialized like Christmas and he ends with 

 

"By walking out of the tomb on Easter, Jesus declared something life changing something subversive and something that cannot be overcome by commercialism. It is a message that refuses to be tamed. The resurrection says not only that Christ has the power of life over death, but something more subversive.

 

The Resurrection says, "listen."  

 

Wow, just wow. 

 

 

 

Non fiction reads this week - Crafting the Personal Essay by Dinty Moore as well as Jack Hart's A Writer's Coach: Complete Guide to Writing Strategies that work.

[Chrysalis Academy]

I finished listening to Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs.  I enjoyed it, but I only got about half of it. The sections on cosmology, the solar system, and mass extinctions, I had enough background knowledge to connect what she was saying to my existing knowledge base. That was fascinating. The parts on particle physics and dark matter and models of how dark matter affects the galaxy - not so much. I mean, it was still interesting, but I couldn't give you a coherent rundown of the content, other than that what we call "dark matter" may be as complex, and made up of particles with different properties, as is regular matter, and some of those particles may interact with gravity, and they may be the cause of a periodic 33-ish million year perturbation in the outer solar system that leads to comet/meteriods being hurled toward the inner solar system, which once in a few million blue moons may strike the earth.  Interesting and heady stuff, but a little above my pay grade.

 

I am currently listening to the Derek Jacobi reading of The Iliad, reading Necropolis (my picked based on cover book) and The Belgariad (my 500+ page book), and reading Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food.  But the most interesting book by far that I'm reading right now is Battling the Gods: Atheism in the Ancient World.  Those who were drawn to and liked, or were disappointed by, The Swerve and/or The Evolution of Everything might really enjoy this book: classics scholar Tim Whitmarsh discusses the history of thought about gods, God, and religion in the Greek and Roman worlds. It's a fascinating read with in-depth discussion of the literature, epic poetry, drama, etc. of the time.   

 

 

Books finished in March:

60. The Lily and the Lion - Maurice Druon

59. Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs: The Astounding Interconnectedness of the Universe - Lisa Randall

58. Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses - Sarah Gristwood

57. This Census-Taker - China Mieville

56. Girl Meets Boy - Ali Smith

55. Shylock is my Name - Howard Jacobson

54. The Dead Mountaineer's Inn - Strugatsky brothers

53. The She-Wolf of France - Maurice Druon

52. The Sixth Extinction - Elizabeth Kolbert

51. Ransom - David Malouf

50. Writing with a Thesis: a Rhetoric and Reader - Sarah Skwire

49. Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

48. The Merchant of Venice - William Shakespeare

47. A Short History of Myth - Karen Armstrong

46. Stoner - John Williams

45. The Wars of the Roses - Dan Jones

44. The Royal Succession - Maurice Druon

43. The Soil Will Save Us - Kristin Ohlson

42. Shroud for a Nightingale - PD James

41. Men Explain Things to Me - Rebecca Solnit

Edited March 28, 2016 by Chrysalis Academy

[Negin]

Robin, I simply love that poem. Thank you. 

 

Happy Easter to all!

 

I read So Long, See You Tomorrow - 4 Stars - This is a beautifully written, rather morose book about a boy’s memory of an event that remains with him all his life and the guilt that he feels. Like “Stonerâ€and "Mrs. Bridge", both of which I've read recently, nothing much happens. All three books are the type that are subtle and that remain with you. I have to say that I enjoyed "Stoner" and "Mrs. Bridge" more than this one. The narrative here was clear and engaging for me at first, but something seemed to fizzle out a bit later. Maybe it was just me. 

 

 

MY RATING SYSTEM

5 Stars

Fantastic, couldn't put it down

4 Stars

Really Good

3 Stars

Enjoyable

2 Stars

Just Okay – nothing to write home about

1 Star

Rubbish – waste of my money and time. Few books make it to this level, since I usually give up on them if they’re that bad.

[Just Robyn]

Hey! I finished the flash fiction anthology I was reading: Flash Fiction Forward. I can't say I loved quite everything in that book, but wow! The quality of stories and variety of styles and structures made this one book that will never leave my shelves. I'll definitely be reading more of the flash anthologies edited by Shapard. 

 

[Jane in NC]

My reading has taken an allegorical turn.  The Foundation Pit by Platonov is called "an absurdist parable".  It is certainly a didactic anti-Stalinist tale although one line brought to mind American reality television:

 

He could only think with difficulty, and this greatly upset him--like it or not, all he could do was feel and be speechlessly agitated.

 

 

VC sent me this NYRB publication, a new translation of Platonov's Russian novel that was written in 1937 but not published in the Soviet Union until 1987.  Glasnost!

 

I am not sure where Antonio Moresco's novel Distant Light is going.  Another allegory it seems, a reflection on solitude.  Distant Light is translated from the Italian and is brought to us by Archipelago.

[mumto2]

Happy Easter to those who are celebrating!

 

I just finished one of my British Village Cozy reads. This is my second Patricia Harwinhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1378830.Slaying_Is_Such_Sweet_Sorrow?from_new_nav=true&ac=1&from_search=truetitled Slaying is such Sweet Sorrow. It was pretty good and flowed much better than the first in her series. When I stareted this project I originally declared I would use only British authors, ;) this one has an American but so is the main character. The first book was a bit off for me because of a couple of picky points. This one didn't have any noticeable points. I had to laugh at one of the sections where the main character asked where the bathroom was and they tried to direct her to a shower room. Getting comfortable asking where the toilet is using the word toilet can be really hard. But directions are given much quicker if you just ask for the toilet, so I learned and quit telling the kids it wasn't polite!

 

I also tried to read another cozy earlier in the week for my cozy project that I thought took place at a fish and chip in Berkshire. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23281653-fillet-of-murder?from_new_nav=true&ac=1&from_search=true. I need to read descriptions more closely. I kept thinking that the book was riddled in inaccuracies. Absolutely filled! It was driving me nuts when the setting was mentioned as Berkshires in New Hampshire, I think. Anyway I couldn't go on. Too much irritation partly because I filled up my overdrive account with a fluffy book set in the wrong country! I still need to do a return and can't via kindle.

[Onceuponatime]

Is gutenberg.org out of commission for anyone else? I keep getting an error message when I try to search the site.

Edited March 27, 2016 by Onceuponatime

[JennW in SoCal]

Yes, Happy Easter to all celebrating today.  I'm finally chilling out after a busy weekend of music ranging from Johannes Brahms to Stephen Sondheim to Hank Williams, with 4 Easter services, 1 Good Friday service and 1 rehearsal for a musical. Neither boy is home today, so dh and I just did a carb heavy brunch and I figure I'll be out cold in nap-land shortly!

 

I'm currently listening to Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, an excellent retelling of.... wait for it, you'll never guess....Hamlet!  And interestingly enough, it seems to be only available as an audio book, but it is well worth an audible credit as not only is the writing excellent, but it is read by Richard Armitage.  I'm really, really enjoying it and will be revisiting the play afterwards to compare.  I'm only an hour into it (it is 9 hours long), and Hamlet is just now seeing his father's ghost, but that hour long exposition has been rich and engrossing.  

 

I've also been reading a historical mystery, Atonement of Blood, set in Ireland in the late 600s AD.  The author, Peter Tremayne apparently knows his Celtic history, and that part of the novel is great, but goodness for such a prolific author the writing is simplistic and formulaic.  You'd think he'd get better with time -- this is the 24th in his series that feature a nun as the main sleuth (though she has left the convent and gotten married...).  It's entertaining enough, and was good fluff to pick up on busy days, but I won't be reading any more of the series.

 

 

Is gutenberg.org out of commission for anyone else? I keep getting an error message when I try to search the site.

 

It's working for me --  opens right up and is letting me search. 

 

 

[Ali in OR]

Not much reading over spring break, but I did just finish Murder of Crows today--enjoyed it. Have the next two Others books on hold. I have The Voyage of the Beagle out from the library right now, but it looks so daunting--not sure I'll join in. And not sure what I'll pick up while waiting for several library holds.

[Jane in NC]

Jim Harrison has died.  NYT obituary here.

[Kareni]

Jim Harrison has died.  NYT obituary here.

 

I don't think I've ever seen the phrase "... and a chaser of cocaine" before.

 

He sounds as though he had a life filled with ups and downs.  Thanks for the link, Jane.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Alice]

Robin- Thanks for the reminder about National Poetry Month. We usually do some special poetry related activities in our homeschool in celebration but somehow I hadn't realized April is right around the corner! I'll have to figure that out this week. 

 

I read 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad this week. I would give it a mixed review. It's well-written and definitely powerful and raw. The format is 13 stories about the life of one woman, Elizabeth. The stories range from her life as a teenager in a small town to being single and then married. Over the years she goes from being obese to losing the weight and being very thin but still struggling with body image issues. Elizabeth (who changes her name from Lizzie to Beth to Liz as she herself changes) is an unlikeable character. I felt like the author does a good job of making her somewhat sympathetic even as she is unlikeable. The main issue I had with the book was that there isn't really any sign of change in the character. She goes from being a fat girl who is obsessed with food and body image and tries to hard to please people to a thin girl who is obsessed with food and her body image and tries to hard to please people. At the end I was vaguely depressed to feel like I'd spent this time with this character who just stays stagnant. The book that jumped to my mind that I compared it to was Olive Kitteridge. Olive is such an unlikable person but over the course of that book we see little cracks in her armor and small changes in her perception of life and herself. 

 

I also read two Newbery books for a Newbery Through the Decades Challenge (at Hope is the Word). This month was the 1940's and I re-read The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes and read Fog Magic by Julia Sauer for the first time. 

 

I started reading In a Different Key: The Story of Autism by John Donvan and Caren Zucker this week. It's excellent so far. I'm also still reading Kipling's Kim with my seventh grader for school. 

 

 

[CindyH in NC]

Currently reading: Negroland, by Margo Jefferson and The Naked Quaker: True Crimes and Controversies from the Courts of Colonial New England by Diane Rapaport.

Currently listening to Middlemarch on audio – I’ve never read this before and am really enjoying it.  Gave up on Meet Me in Atlantis by Mark Adams on audio – it just wasn’t holding my attention.

13. Oedipus the King by Sophocles ( with my 9^th grade dd)

12. The Passenger by Lisa Lutz

11.  The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman ( YA novel set in 1812 with a sort of steampunk vibe)

10. The Good Girl by Mary Kubica ( Mystery/suspense novel.)

9.  Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith (Psychological suspense. )

8. Room by Emma Donoghue ( Enjoyed that it was told from the child’s perspective and that it showed what happened after.)

7. Gretel and the Case of the Missing Frog Prints by P. J. Brackston (Audio) (Finished listening.  Didn’t love it.) 

 

[Nan in Mass]

Alice, I loved Fog Magic, growing up!

 

Mumto2, I am laughing over your mistake. I,ve done that before, not with the Berkshires but with other places which appear in both England and New England. Are ther Berkshires in New Hampshire? I know at least part of the range is in western Mass., but my geography gets pretty fuzzy that far from the ocean so I don,t know much about them other than remembering the bear crossing sign.

 

Rosie, I loved Three Musketeers.

 

Nan

[mumto2]

Alice, I loved Fog Magic, growing up!

 

Mumto2, I am laughing over your mistake. I,ve done that before, not with the Berkshires but with other places which appear in both England and New England. Are ther Berkshires in New Hampshire? I know at least part of the range is in western Mass., but my geography gets pretty fuzzy that far from the ocean so I don,t know much about them other than remembering the bear crossing sign.

 

Rosie, I loved Three Musketeers.

 

Nan

I think the book said New Hampshire, could have been Vermont. Pretty sure not Massachusetts because I would have thought of you and remembered. I tried googling but my internet is so slow that I gave up. Did't feel like searching the book because I did read a bit further. I really wanted to like it. The book did talk about Boston at the start. I think someone was from Boston. I thought they meant Boston, England at first.

[Stacia]

Still working on The Story of My Assassins by Tarun J. Tejpal. Wil probably take me all week (or longer) to get through it as it is 500+ pages.

 

â€Clever and inventive … In the profoundest way, Tarun Tejpal writes for India.†—V. S. Naipaul
 

“[A] complex, dark, exhilarating novel … Tejpal avoids cliches to render the tragedy, comedy, colour and violence of modern India better than anything else I have read in my three years as correspondent here.†— The Guardian
 

“Tejpal writes with splendid élan: His novel is a stylish, erudite potboiler that reads like a mix of Alexandre Dumas and India’s ancient national epic, the Mahabharata … exhilarating.†— Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal
 

“Overlooked in the general rush to adore The White Tiger and Slumdog Millionaire. . . . with a much richer understanding of the politics of poverty, The Story of My Assassins deserves wider attention.†—Hari Kunzru, author of Gods Without Men, in The Guardian’s â€˜Books of the Year’
 

“One of the most attractive Indian writers in English of his generation.†— The TLS
 

“Intrepidly conceived and ingeniously executed, The Story of My Assassins casts an intimate, often humorous, but always unflinching, eye at the squalor of modernizing India. Combining a fierce political imagination with a tender solicitude for the losers of history, it sets a new and formidably high standard in Indian writing in English.†—Pankaj Mishra, author and critic
 

“Tarun J. Tejpal is brilliant. A master storyteller, he writes with graphic detail so stunning in spots as to make the reader pause for breath.†—New York Journal of Books
 

“Tejpal’s masterful newest … is an epic tale of modern-day India.†—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

 

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.)
• The Expedition to the Baobab Tree by Wilma Stockenström, trans. from the Afrikaans by J.M. Coetzee, pub. by Archipelago Books. 4 stars. South Africa. (A haunting, stream-of-consciousness story of slavery, survival, solitude, strangeness, & strength. The language is lovely.)

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.)
• Smile as they Bow by Nu Nu Yi, trans. from the Burmese by Alfred Birnbaum & Thi Thi Aye, pub. by Hyperion East. 3 stars. Myanmar. (Fiery & feisty natkadaw [spirit wife] Daisy Bond performs during a nat festival while dealing with the wandering heart of his assistant & love Min Min.)
• A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator's Rise to Power by Paul Fischer, pub. by Flatiron Books. 4 stars. North Korea (Fascinating & sometimes depressing look at the cult of personality & power of propaganda & film in North Korea, based around the 1970s kidnappings of two of South Korea's most famous movie personalities.)

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.)
• Ajax Penumbra 1969 by Robin Sloan, pub. by Atlantic Books. 3 stars. USA. (Mini-novella prequel to Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. Pleasant, nice, light reading about tracking down the single-surviving copy of a very old book.)
• Bossypants by Tina Fey, pub. by Little, Brown and Company. 3 stars. USA. (Light & laugh-out-loud funny in places as Fey shares her life & fame. It’s easy to tell that she started as a writer -- her writing skill shines.)

[Nan in Mass]

I think the book said New Hampshire, could have been Vermont. Pretty sure not Massachusetts because I would have thought of you and remembered. I tried googling but my internet is so slow that I gave up. Did't feel like searching the book because I did read a bit further. I really wanted to like it. The book did talk about Boston at the start. I think someone was from Boston. I thought they meant Boston, England at first.

I just looked them up. Western Mass, mostly, extending a bit into SW Vermont and NW Connecticut. In New Hampshire, there are the White Mts., which are the ones I know.

 

I know what you mean about Boston. I,ve gotten that one confused before. Almost all the towns around here are English towns and we,re all told that over and over growing up, but that doesn,t make it any less confusing. And to make it worse, New England states are small and many of the town names are reused, so you,ll have two towns with the same name close to each other sometimes. That is usually easier to deal with than the country problem because everyone knows you have to specify.

 

Usually, it is reference to tools or car parts that makes me realize I,ve got the setting on the wrong side of the ocean.

 

Nan

[aggieamy]

I feel like I deserve a standing ovation.  I finally finished Agatha Christie's autobiography.  Whew.  It took me forever.  It was darn near 600 pages with no white space.  Chapter breaks didn't even start on a new page ... they just skipped a line and kept going!

 

The book was much like sitting down with an elderly woman and listening to her life story.  Some parts were sad, some parts seemed a little glossed over (understandable - I'm going to make myself sound good in my autobiography), and other parts were simply a delightful look at how life used to be. 

 

I recommend it for any AC fan.  Just don't take it to the beach expecting it to be a light read.

[Angelaboord]

I actually finished a book this week! I finished Shirt of Flame: A Year with Saint Therese of Lisieux. It only took me four years. [emoji6] Honestly I'm not really sure why I put it down in the first place, but I did find the second half of the book more meaningful than the first. Maybe I'm just reading it in a different place than I was when I picked it up four years ago, though.

 

It's been a long week. The baby had a cardiologist appointment, which was good on the whole; she's been gaining weight and symptoms related to her heart defect haven't begun to show up yet, but the hole hasn't closed any further. My college-age son stressed us all out by missing his flight home on Thursday, but he did manage to score some stand-by seats so he made it home ok. And my grandfather died on Saturday. He was 100 years old, so I guess we all knew it would happen soon but then again we didn't expect it to be now. I spent a fair amount of time the past two days avoiding Facebook and instead reading book blogs (and the BaW thread) for comfort. I'm looking for some fluff to read this week, or at least something that isn't terribly emotional.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Stacia]

Angela, :grouphug:  & my sympathies on the loss of your grandfather.

 

Wishing you a peaceful week & a little time for fluffy reading.

 

:grouphug: :grouphug:

[Violet Crown]

Happy Easter, friends! I've been getting in lots of reading time and have made good progress through Newman's Parochial and Plain Sermons. Also found a discarded Oxford volume of Middle English poetry, Secular Lyrics of the XIV and XV Century, which is rewarding but slow. Meanwhile, what with the nonfiction side of my reading taking care of itself but unfinished, it's been all fiction completed since I checked in last:

 

8. Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

9. Giovanni Guareschi, The Little World of Don Camillo

10. Gregor Dorfmeister, The Bridge (Die Brücke) (very depressing)

11. Maupassant, Selected Short Stories

12. P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves and the Tie That Binds (first Wodehouse!)

13. Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther (emo before emo was a thing)

14. William Gass, In the Heart of the Heart of the Country

15. Trollope, Can You Forgive Her?

16. Beaumarchais, The Barber of Seville (going to see the Rossini soon)

17. Beaumarchais, The Marriage of Figaro

 

Right now reading the second of Trollope's Palliser novels, Phineas Finn. A good choice of series for avoiding the news of the moment: all of the politics, none of the cringe.

 

"It is customary for the leader of the opposition on such occasions to express his opinion in the most courteous language, that his right honourable friend, sitting opposite to him on the Treasury bench, has been, is, and will be wrong in everything that he thinks, says, or does in public life; but that, as anything like factious opposition is never adopted on that side of the House, the Address to the Queen, in answer to that most fatuous speech which has been put into her Majesty’s gracious mouth, shall be allowed to pass unquestioned. Then the leader of the House thanks his adversary for his consideration, explains to all men how happy the country ought to be that the Government has not fallen into the disgracefully incapable hands of his right honourable friend opposite; and after that the Address is carried amidst universal serenity."

Edited March 28, 2016 by Violet Crown

[KathyBC]

Finished two books this weekend, ADHD According to Zoe (Kessler) and Practical Magic (Hoffman). Both were light. I took things away from the first, the second was alright for waiting room-type reading.

[Jane in NC]

Easter annually marks the return of VC.  Welcome back, my friend! Your sardonic wit has been missed.

 

Sending Angela all the extra hugs I can muster as you face your challenges.  Here's to fluff as life sorts itself out!

 

I am really looking forward to this week.  There is not a lot on my calendar which theoretically means that there should be plenty of time for reading, sewing and knitting. Maybe I'll pen a couple of letters too.  Sounds blissful, doesn't it?

[Kareni]

Angela,  my sympathy on the death of your grandfather.  I hope you'll find some appropriate fluff.  (What is your fluff of choice?)

 

Welcome back, Violet Crown!

 

**

 

Yesterday I finished Judy Cuevas' Dance -- it's a historical romance which I quite enjoyed.  If you're a reader of historical romance, you might know this author by her other name, Judith Ivory.  You can read some good reviews at the Amazon link to get a feel for the book:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Dance-Judy-Cuevas/dp/0515117633/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459167174&sr=8-1&keywords=judy+cuevas+dance

 

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

:Grouphug: Angela, Sending my sympathies regarding your grandfather. I am also glad to hear your precious baby is gaining weight. That is always a huge positive.

 

 

I just looked them up. Western Mass, mostly, extending a bit into SW Vermont and NW Connecticut. In New Hampshire, there are the White Mts., which are the ones I know.

I know what you mean about Boston. I,ve gotten that one confused before. Almost all the towns around here are English towns and we,re all told that over and over growing up, but that doesn,t make it any less confusing. And to make it worse, New England states are small and many of the town names are reused, so you,ll have two towns with the same name close to each other sometimes. That is usually easier to deal with than the country problem because everyone knows you have to specify.

Usually, it is reference to tools or car parts that makes me realize I,ve got the setting on the wrong side of the ocean.

Nan

 

 

In the UK village names are repeated all over the place. It makes things difficult when using sat nav to a place you don't know. Sometimes they put the county beside the name, other times a city which may not be that well known. I find it really frustrating. Dh has a bad habit of planning an outing and getting me in the car with my sat nav (one of the only pieces of tech I am in charge of, that is a clue that I am challenged but generally directions are my thing) and announcing we need to go to blank and that its north. I get 5 places, logic lets me eliminate a couple. No ability to Google because my other technology isn't that good. With dh asking which road would be best.....I sit there trying not to scream thinking you picked the destination and should have googled the basic whereabouts in the house.

 

 

I feel like I deserve a standing ovation.  I finally finished Agatha Christie's autobiography.  Whew.  It took me forever.  It was darn near 600 pages with no white space.  Chapter breaks didn't even start on a new page ... they just skipped a line and kept going!

 

The book was much like sitting down with an elderly woman and listening to her life story.  Some parts were sad, some parts seemed a little glossed over (understandable - I'm going to make myself sound good in my autobiography), and other parts were simply a delightful look at how life used to be. 

 

I recommend it for any AC fan.  Just don't take it to the beach expecting it to be a light read.

Dd has that book on her shelves. She received it as a present years ago. She reads bits of it occasionally.

[mumto2]

Easter annually marks the return of VC. Welcome back, my friend! Your sardonic wit has been missed.

 

Sending Angela all the extra hugs I can muster as you face your challenges. Here's to fluff as life sorts itself out!

 

I am really looking forward to this week. There is not a lot on my calendar which theoretically means that there should be plenty of time for reading, sewing and knitting. Maybe I'll pen a couple of letters too. Sounds blissful, doesn't it?

Welcome back to VC. It was funny that one of my thoughts opening up our Easter thread was how nice it was that VC would return this week!

 

Jane, I started a hand piecing project last week because I was missing doing crafts. I found it in last years stack of American Patchwork magazines that I picked up at my mom's house. Not sure that I like the technique but will persist.

 

On the reading front I am still reading the latest Lady Emily mystery by Tasha Alexander, The Adventuress. I started a new to me historical by Jo Beverley on my Kindle. I also picked up a stack of Dean James British Cozies at the library on Saturday. One of the characters is a vampire so these will not be typical village cozy mysteries. :lol: I might like them but not sure about many of you. The author also writes as Miranda James so these may be great. The Cat in the Stacks books are some of my favourites.

[Chrysalis Academy]

I finished The Lily and the Lion last night.  The end made me chuckle:

 

"At this point the author, compelled by history to kill off his favourite character, with whom he has lived for six years, is moved to a sorrow comparable to that of King Edward of England; the pen, as the old chroniclers say, falls from his hand, and he has no desire to continue, at least for the present, except to inform the reader of the destinies of some of the principal characters in this story."

 

I also loved this character description, it also struck me as apt of some of our current politicians, "He was strong, vital, audacious and gay, but also very stupid. . . But stupidity is no bar to enterprise; on the contrary, it tends to conceal difficulties which an intelligent man would consider insuperable."

 

I don't know how much to credit the translator and how much is in the original, but the whole book is like that: description of historical characters and events, interspersed with pithy and scathing commentary. I've really enjoyed this series. 

 

Stacia, Shannon is reading The Dead Mountaineer's Inn and really enjoying it.  Her comment last night: "I like how the author changes his writing during the scene where the detective is drunk. It is written very fast and breathless, and you can really tell that he's in a different state of mind from normal. You can really tell he's drunk."  Hmm, nice observation, kid, and nice writing, author, because this kid hasn't even sniffed an herbal cordial, yet you made her feel what a drunk character would feel like!  Thanks, I think.  :huh:  ;)

[Angel]

It's been a long week. The baby had a cardiologist appointment, which was good on the whole; she's been gaining weight and symptoms related to her heart defect haven't begun to show up yet, but the hole hasn't closed any further. My college-age son stressed us all out by missing his flight home on Thursday, but he did manage to score some stand-by seats so he made it home ok. And my grandfather died on Saturday. He was 100 years old, so I guess we all knew it would happen soon but then again we didn't expect it to be now. I spent a fair amount of time the past two days avoiding Facebook and instead reading book blogs (and the BaW thread) for comfort. I'm looking for some fluff to read this week, or at least something that isn't terribly emotional.

 

 

:grouphug:  When my Grandad died he was almost 101!  He is still missed!  And more  :grouphug:  to sweet girl and you all!  It's so good to hear she is gaining weight!

 

My fluffy recommendation would be The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer.  Light and hilarious and properly diverting!

[Angel]

After a wonderful Easter service at church, we had a beautiful 75 degree day in which to relax and read outside!  I was able to finish Death by Darjeeling by Laura Childs.  What a fun cozy mystery!  I absolutely loved the atmosphere of historical Charleston.  All of the descriptions of the tea shop were lovely.  I found myself not only wanting to sip some tea but also to have my own tea shop!  The mystery itself was good, not great.  I was fairly sure of the murderer early on, but it didn't take away from the fun.   

 

That makes #14 for me for the year.

[Ellesmere]

I feel like I deserve a standing ovation.  I finally finished Agatha Christie's autobiography.  Whew.  It took me forever.  It was darn near 600 pages with no white space.  Chapter breaks didn't even start on a new page ... they just skipped a line and kept going!

 

The book was much like sitting down with an elderly woman and listening to her life story.  Some parts were sad, some parts seemed a little glossed over (understandable - I'm going to make myself sound good in my autobiography), and other parts were simply a delightful look at how life used to be. 

 

I recommend it for any AC fan.  Just don't take it to the beach expecting it to be a light read.

:hurray: 

 

I remember checking that out at the library I grew up using a long time ago. I don't think I ever finished it! I might someday, though.

[Ellesmere]

I actually finished a book this week! I finished Shirt of Flame: A Year with Saint Therese of Lisieux. It only took me four years. [emoji6] Honestly I'm not really sure why I put it down in the first place, but I did find the second half of the book more meaningful than the first. Maybe I'm just reading it in a different place than I was when I picked it up four years ago, though.

 

It's been a long week. The baby had a cardiologist appointment, which was good on the whole; she's been gaining weight and symptoms related to her heart defect haven't begun to show up yet, but the hole hasn't closed any further. My college-age son stressed us all out by missing his flight home on Thursday, but he did manage to score some stand-by seats so he made it home ok. And my grandfather died on Saturday. He was 100 years old, so I guess we all knew it would happen soon but then again we didn't expect it to be now. I spent a fair amount of time the past two days avoiding Facebook and instead reading book blogs (and the BaW thread) for comfort. I'm looking for some fluff to read this week, or at least something that isn't terribly emotional.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

So sorry for your loss. No matter the age, it's hard. 

 

Hoping for the best for your baby and some happy reading this week.

[Violet Crown]

Sympathies for your loss Angela. Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine; et lux perpetua luceat ei.

 

Easter annually marks the return of VC.  Welcome back, my friend! Your sardonic wit has been missed.

 

Welcome back to VC. It was funny that one of my thoughts opening up our Easter thread was how nice it was that VC would return this week!

 

My blushes, ladies! I have to say, the bits of politics I got to hear in brief radio snatches these last several weeks has made me think I just may stay offline (except for this group of course) until November. It doesn't seem to be edifying Out There. At least Great Girl's first (!) opportunity to vote is a more-than-usually exciting election year.

[Robin M]

Robyn:I finished the flash fiction anthology I was reading: Flash Fiction Forward. I can't say I loved quite everything in that book, but wow! The quality of stories and variety of styles and structures made this one book that will never leave my shelves. I'll definitely be reading more of the flash anthologies edited by Shapard. 

 

Adding it to my wishlist.  I just got Judith Kitchen's In Brief with creative nonfiction shorts.  Love that the one short hubby picked out randomly referenced Proust's Swann's Way and his tea and Madeleine's.  Made for an interesting discussion.

 

 

 

Jane:  My reading has taken an allegorical turn.  The Foundation Pit by Platonov is called "an absurdist parable".  It is certainly a didactic anti-Stalinist tale

 

Checked it out on Amazon and intrigued. Added to my wishist. 

 

 

Alice: Robin- Thanks for the reminder about National Poetry Month. We usually do some special poetry related activities in our homeschool in celebration but somehow I hadn't realized April is right around the corner! I'll have to figure that out this week. 

 

Yes, April snuck up on us once again. Hubby and I were just discussing this morning.  

 

I  started reading In a Different Key: The Story of Autism by John Donvan and Caren Zucker this week. It's excellent so far.

 

Sounds like an interesting book and one I definitely need to read. 

 

 

AggieAmy: I feel like I deserve a standing ovation.  I finally finished Agatha Christie's autobiography.  Whew.  It took me forever.  It was darn near 600 pages with no white space.  Chapter breaks didn't even start on a new page ... they just skipped a line and kept going!

 

:hurray:  :hurray:  :hurray:  :cheers2: 

 

 

 

 

[Robin M]

I actually finished a book this week! I finished Shirt of Flame: A Year with Saint Therese of Lisieux. It only took me four years. [emoji6] Honestly I'm not really sure why I put it down in the first place, but I did find the second half of the book more meaningful than the first. Maybe I'm just reading it in a different place than I was when I picked it up four years ago, though.

 

It's been a long week. The baby had a cardiologist appointment, which was good on the whole; she's been gaining weight and symptoms related to her heart defect haven't begun to show up yet, but the hole hasn't closed any further. My college-age son stressed us all out by missing his flight home on Thursday, but he did manage to score some stand-by seats so he made it home ok. And my grandfather died on Saturday. He was 100 years old, so I guess we all knew it would happen soon but then again we didn't expect it to be now. I spent a fair amount of time the past two days avoiding Facebook and instead reading book blogs (and the BaW thread) for comfort. I'm looking for some fluff to read this week, or at least something that isn't terribly emotional.

 

Hugs to you and your family and hope you find some light reading to release the stress.  

[Minerva]

I barely read anything this week as my mom came to visit and every spare minute was taken up with blabbing. We did spend an awful lot of time talking about books. I showed her BaW and she cannot believe this little piece of the internet exists. She told me I have, "Such nice and well read friends."

 

I am still reading The Beast: Riding the Rails and Dodging Narcos on the Migrant Trail. It is gritty, powerful and complex. I am so impressed with the brave and tenacious author. Hopefully I will have time to finish it this week. 

 

I am almost done reading Esperanza Rising to my kids. The story of a Mexican girl and her mother who leave Mexico, after the death of the father, to live in a migrant farming camp in the 1920's. I hadn't intended to read something that dovetails so well with my other book. We are enjoying it and the good conversations it has inspired.

 

I have also started The Giver. My dd asked me if I would read it since she just finished it and needs to talk about it. This is the first time she has ever asked me to read one of the books she has read.  :wub:

 

 

 

 

[Chrysalis Academy]

I barely read anything this week as my mom came to visit and every spare minute was taken up with blabbing. We did spend an awful lot of time talking about books. I showed her BaW and she cannot believe this little piece of the internet exists. She told me I have, "Such nice and well read friends."

 

I am still reading The Beast: Riding the Rails and Dodging Narcos on the Migrant Trail. It is gritty, powerful and complex. I am so impressed with the brave and tenacious author. Hopefully I will have time to finish it this week. 

 

I am almost done reading Esperanza Rising to my kids. The story of a Mexican girl and her mother who leave Mexico, after the death of the father, to live in a migrant farming camp in the 1920's. I hadn't intended to read something that dovetails so well with my other book. We are enjoying it and the good conversations it has inspired.

 

I have also started The Giver. My dd asked me if I would read it since she just finished it and needs to talk about it. This is the first time she has ever asked me to read one of the books she has read.  :wub:

 

I love that! My dds both make book recommendations to me, and I do my best to read most of the books the girls suggest that I'd really like. After all, they read so many of my suggestions! Willingly or otherwise.  My dd9 just decided that she wants me to read aloud Alice and Through the Looking Glass, so we started today.  It's so fun to read something they've requested that also gives you Good Homeschool Mom brownie points!  :lol:

[Jane in NC]

Jane:  My reading has taken an allegorical turn.  The Foundation Pit by Platonov is called "an absurdist parable".  It is certainly a didactic anti-Stalinist tale

 

Checked it out on Amazon and intrigued. Added to my wishist. 

 

 

I'll be happy to mail the book to you when I am finished, Robin.

 

I barely read anything this week as my mom came to visit and every spare minute was taken up with blabbing. We did spend an awful lot of time talking about books. I showed her BaW and she cannot believe this little piece of the internet exists. She told me I have, "Such nice and well read friends."

 

 

May I officially invite your mom to join our group? All readers are welcome!  But she'll need to watch out. If she hangs out here for a bit, she may receive snail mail postcards or even letters.  :svengo:

[Stacia]

I barely read anything this week as my mom came to visit and every spare minute was taken up with blabbing. We did spend an awful lot of time talking about books. I showed her BaW and she cannot believe this little piece of the internet exists. She told me I have, "Such nice and well read friends."

 

I totally love that we got the 'mom' seal of approval!

 

Robin should make a logo of that (Official Seal of Approval from Minerva's Mom!) so then everyone can see that we're a great group! :D :thumbup1:

 

(And, Minerva, I echo Jane in extending an invite to your mom!)

 

[MaeFlowers]

First, Angela, to you and your family, many :grouphug: s. I'm sorry for your loss.

 

Wow! It's been a few weeks since I checked in. It looks like everyone has been busy reading, reading, reading. I haven't had much time lately but the kids are gone for the week and I'm hoping to get some reading done. Last night I finished Gulliver's Travels and this afternoon I finished Wonders and Miracles by Eric Kimmel. It was on ds' reading list for TOG and I started it last fall. I'm hoping to finish a few books this week that have been started but not finished. I do need to get some spring cleaning done and am also thinking about building a bookshelf for the living room.

Uninterrupted time is so AWESOME! :party:

 

So far this year...

9. Wonders and Miracles

8. Gulliver’s Travels

7. Welcome to Night Vale

6. A Passage to India

5. Return of the King

4. The Two Towers

3. A Suitable Boy

2. A Pilgrim's Progress

1. Fellowship of the Ring

[Violet Crown]

Somehow I missed one of my recent reads: 16. Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451. This was another book off my Shame List; several people expressed incredulity that I hadn't read it before (including Great Girl: "But you assigned it to me! How could you not have read it?" Um, I saw the Truffaut movie...).

[Stacia]

Since ds enjoyed Ready Player One so much, do you gals have any other recs of books to toss his way?

[Stacia]

VC, nice to see you again!

[Violet Crown]

VC, nice to see you again!

likewise! Chocolated up and ready to go.

[Nan in Mass]

Hugs, Angela. Much sympathy.

Until people began addressing you as Angela, I had been reading your name as Angel Aboard (like having an angel on board). : )

 

Nan

[Hyacinth]

I don't post here much, but the threads always inspire me to read more. Thank you!

 

Yesterday I finished Doerr's All the Light We Cannot See. (I know. Everyone else read this a year or two ago, right? I'm usually late to the party.)

 

I typically prefer a linear, chronological, beginning-to-end, no-jumping-around-to-different-characters-or-times stories. Maybe because the chapters were so very short it didn't bother me as much in this book. Plus, I love Doerr's masterful sentence construction; he seems to use the fewest words to perfectly convey meaning.

 

I can't get Werner out my mind, and I don't really want to.

 

I'm heading to the library today, but I feel like it's too soon to pick up something new after such a fantastic book. That sounds a little weird, I suppose, but maybe someone can relate?

[Kareni]

Since ds enjoyed Ready Player One so much, do you gals have any other recs of books to toss his way?

 

Some links of interest ~

 

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/828213-books-similar-to-ready-player-one

 

 

http://ippl.info/books-movies-more/book/1382-all-time-faves-if-you-liked-ready-player-one-try-these

 

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/scifi/comments/30otes/are_there_more_books_like_ready_player_one/  (adult language)

 

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Chrysalis Academy]

Since ds enjoyed Ready Player One so much, do you gals have any other recs of books to toss his way?

 

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow, and its sequel Homeland comes to mind. Great books.

[Nan in Mass]

Hyacinth - I definitely can relate. : ) it happens to me every time I read a fantastic book. If I can,t find something similar by the same author, I usually try to pick a reread with a similar setting so I can linger a little longer.

 

I am currently listening to Terry Pratchett,s The Globe. So many good quotes flying by! I was savouring Wintersmith and had to return it before I was finished. Now I am 4th in line. I was keeping it to read during my new, no self-discipline needed excersize program, when I could really vanish into the story, and it took too long.

 

Nan

[NoseInABook]

I finished Timeless which remained a meh but I'm glad I saw the series through. PIcked up C.S. Lewis' The Abolition Of Man last night and finished that quickly. I'm reading a Kindle freebie called Raspberry Kisses by Cecelia Dowdy. It's about a woman who meets a pastor and falls in lurve. Definitely cheesy but it's something to read while I'm waiting on my husband to retrieve my books from the library.

Edited March 29, 2016 by NoseInABook