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

[Lady Florida.]

I finished Ajax Penumbra 1969. If anyone would like it, along with its torn but repaired jacket, let me know and I'll send it on to you. It's a very quick read and rather enjoyable. I think it could stand alone as a - short story? novella? - I'm not sure what to call it at a brief 78 pages. Anyway it's also enjoyable as a prequel for those who read Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore.

 

I also finished Highgate Rise - #11 in the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt historical detective series.

 

Count me in as one who missed Violet Crown. About a week before Easter I wanted to start reading a Henry James novel and was trying to decide between two possibilities. I thought, "I'll ask VC on the thread", then remembered it was still Lent so she wouldn't be around. :( BTW, VC, I decided on Washington Square. It's good to have you back.

 

My two current non-fiction books are Natural Causes: Death, Lies and Politics in America's Vitamin and Herbal Supplement Industry,  and Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World. 

 

With Natural Causes, I'm sitting in the choir while the author preaches. It makes me so angry that these snake oil salesmen (and women) are not only allowed to sell their fake cures, they're actually protected by the U.S. Congress.

 

Island of the Lost is my choice for Oceania in the Around the World challenge. I also started reading Infidel, but have too many other books going right now. I want to give that one closer attention so I'll pick it back up (possibly starting over) when I don't have as many Currently Reading books on my virtual shelf.

 

I'm listening to The Iliad audio book.

 

On the abandoned books front, I gave up on Wickedly Charming. I just couldn't take it anymore and I don't force myself to finish books unless it's a classic I really want to make myself read. I like the show Grimm, so if I really feel the need to fill in the fairy tale retelling square on 52 Books Bingo I might read one of the short Grimm novellas.

 

Hey, many of you know I'm a Kindle lover and rarely read any books that aren't in ebook format anymore. I just have to tell you I've got two hardcover books by my bed - Ajax Penumbra (finished) and Natural Causes.  Neither my library nor the one I subscribe to as a non-resident had Natural Causes in ebook format but mine did have the hardcover. These old fashioned reading devices aren't too bad. I only have two complaints: 1. I can't read in bed while lying on my back because it's uncomfortable to hold the book up and hold it open. 2. Several times I found myself wanting to long press a word to pull up the definition. :D

 

Angela, I'm sorry for your loss.  :grouphug:

[Lady Florida.]

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:  Wow, that's quite long for an autobiography. I think I'll add it to my Maybe Someday list. 

 

 

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.

 

It seems a number of folks on WTM have first time voters this election, as evidenced by a thread I started which seems to have disappeared (I was going to link to it). Anyway, I too am staying away from politics, but it is an interesting time for our newly minted voters.

 

 

 

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:

 

That's such a wonderful feeling. I loved when ds asked me to read something he was enjoying. I didn't always enjoy his choices myself but I read them anyway because he asked.  :001_wub:

 

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...).

 

Haha! I did the same thing except that book is still on my Shame List. I saw the movie several times as a kid and assigned him the book. He was hating it, so I started reading it myself. I didn't like it either. That was the year I decided to give him a list of several books in each genre I wanted him to read from, and let him choose two from each list. 

 

 

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?

 

I totally get it. That happens to me often when I read a good book. 

[Stacia]

Ok, BaW friends, I need a book idea or two for my book club. The last couple of books we have read have been non-fiction (Tina Fey's & Amy Poehler's books), so I'd really prefer a fiction book this time around. But, if you feel you must recommend a non-fiction book, so be it.

 

The biggest limitation is that it needs to be easily available from the library as well as in an audio format. This is from my main library, which tends to lean heavily on bestsellers &/or chick lit for their fiction collections. Probably something that was released a year ago or more (so there aren't wait times for it). Modern or classic is fine.

 

I know I have weird taste in fiction but I'm hoping to find something in the middle that I would like. :lol:

 

All of us are hoping for something light, funny or amusing. Nothing depressing or too deep or heavy. I guess brain candy that you think I might like & might give a laugh or smile or two....

 

Help, please! Thanks!

 

ETA: After thinking & looking around for a few minutes, I'm thinking something like one of the Jasper Fforde books. Maybe The Big Over Easy or Shades of Grey. Would love to gather some more ideas too!

Edited March 30, 2016 by Stacia

[Onceuponatime]

Stacia, I loved The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. It is quirky and literary, with time travel and literal living books. 😄 Recently, I enjoyed Cold Comfort Farm which is very tongue-in-cheek wicked fun.

 

 

 

 

 

I just finished Into the Darkness by Barbara Michaels. It was a fun light read. But it would have been better if the blurb on the back cover had not told me how surprising the ending is. Consequently, I was not surprised. Next up is The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton for my next book club meeting.

[mumto2]

Stacia, my kids liked the nursery crimes series. No one here has tried the other. I will admit the Shades of Grey title always makes me think of Fifty Shades...the description sounds good.

 

I finished my Lady Emily bookhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23848104-the-adventuress. I liked this one better than the last couple in the series. They are a bit predictable, I keep thinking she really needs to learn. Going into old ruins for her means being kidnapped and tied up. A wise person would give up ruins by themselves!

[Alice]

Ok, BaW friends, I need a book idea or two for my book club. The last couple of books we have read have been non-fiction (Tina Fey's & Amy Poehler's books), so I'd really prefer a fiction book this time around. But, if you feel you must recommend a non-fiction book, so be it.

 

The biggest limitation is that it needs to be easily available from the library as well as in an audio format. This is from my main library, which tends to lean heavily on bestsellers &/or chick lit for their fiction collections. Probably something that was released a year ago or more (so there aren't wait times for it). Modern or classic is fine.

 

I know I have weird taste in fiction but I'm hoping to find something in the middle that I would like. :lol:

 

All of us are hoping for something light, funny or amusing. Nothing depressing or too deep or heavy. I guess brain candy that you think I might like & might give a laugh or smile or two....

 

Help, please! Thanks!

 

ETA: After thinking & looking around for a few minutes, I'm thinking something like one of the Jasper Fforde books. Maybe The Big Over Easy or Shades of Grey. Would love to gather some more ideas too!

 

I like the Eyre Affair by Fforde. Those are fun. 

 

Some lighter ones we've enjoyed at my book group....

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty- Very light, easy to read. About a woman who loses her memory. When she wakes up she think she is newly married and pregnant with her first child but in reality she is in the middle of a bitter divorce and has three kids. 

 

Cat Out of Hell by Lynne Truss (author of Eats, Shoots and Leaves)- it's very quirky and kind of in the horror genre so maybe not for everyone but I thought it was hilarious. 

Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher- Wickedly funny epistolary novel about a bitter professor at a small unnamed college who has to write letters of recommendation for all his students. 

 

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett- Queen Elizabeth develops a passion for reading. 

 

In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume- Based on a true event in New Jersey where three planes crashed in a town in less than a year. 

[Stacia]

Thanks, gals. I will check out all these recommendations.

 

I read The Eyre Affair years ago & loved it. I've been meaning to read the next ones forever, but haven't gotten around to it. I will have to see if the other book clubbers have read it or not. I'm open to some of his other books too. Ds enjoyed the Nursery Crimes books of his.

 

We read What Alice Forgot years ago for book club. Since it was Australian, I remember we went to eat at Outback for that meeting. :lol:

 

I read Cat Out of Hell myself & really enjoyed it. Not sure the library system carries it. (I got it from the library system the next county over.) I still chuckle over the cat wanting Daniel Craig to voice him if they did a movie version of him. :laugh:

Edited March 30, 2016 by Stacia

[Mom-ninja.]

that also gives you Good Homeschool Mom brownie points!  :lol:

these brownie points come with actual brownies, yes?

 

 

Uninterrupted time is so AWESOME!

 

 

I don't know what this is. Please explain. Says the woman who worked on her midterm while simultaneously doing math with two kids and grammar with another. 

 

 

 

I finished Ajax Penumbra 1969. If anyone would like it, along with its torn but repaired jacket, let me know and I'll send it on to you. It's a very quick read and rather enjoyable. I think it could stand alone as a - short story? novella? - I'm not sure what to call it at a brief 78 pages. Anyway it's also enjoyable as a prequel for those who read Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore.

 

Hey, many of you know I'm a Kindle lover and rarely read any books that aren't in ebook format anymore. I just have to tell you I've got two hardcover books by my bed - Ajax Penumbra (finished) and Natural Causes.  Neither my library nor the one I subscribe to as a non-resident had Natural Causes in ebook format but mine did have the hardcover. These old fashioned reading devices aren't too bad. I only have two complaints: 1. I can't read in bed while lying on my back because it's uncomfortable to hold the book up and hold it open. 2. Several times I found myself wanting to long press a word to pull up the definition. :D

 

 

I haven't read Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore yet. 

 

As for your two issues 1) I can't even hold my Kindle up for too long or I lose circulation in my hands so I still hold it like a regular book. Waiting for a device that levitates. 2) I ask my husband what words mean. He often surprises me with his vocabulary. He's handy to have next to me.

 

 

 

My latest book was a collection of essays that was discussed here, Men Explain Things to Me. For some reason I didn't realize or remember that this was a collection of essays. I was really confused the first few essays. Then I caught on. :lol:   Depressing but necessary collection. I believe I will have my teen read it, and we will discuss.   

[mumto2]

Just read the goodreads. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23012627-cat-out-of-hell?from_new_nav=true&ac=1&from_search=true Cat out of Hell and am off to find a copy. I also sent the description to my BF who has at least five cats currently. They find her, mainly elderly cats that we think have been abandoned, she is a bit of a magnet. They all go to the vet, shots, etc. Before moving in.

 

I also just read this article which may be of interest http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3515735/Could-HERB-secret-living-100-Diet-rich-rosemary-linked-good-health-long-life-expectancy-Italian-village.html. Over 300 people over 100 in a small village. I recently planted a new rosemary bush. I hope this one grows! Looks like I need to use more rosemary in my cooking.

[Jane in NC]

Word of the day:  dekulakization.

 

This is the subject of Andrey Platonov's The Foundation Pit, a work completed in 1930 but not published in the USSR until 1987 due to its criticisms of Stalin's program of collective farming via dekulakization.  The kulaks were agrarian people who might own land or might own five cows.  Stalin purged the countryside of kulaks in the late '20's as part of his plan of agricultural collectivization that would embrace technology.  (Ultimately this plan leads to famine, but that is another story.)

 

The Foundation Pit begins at a building site but the scene later shifts to a collective farm, initially describing a situation that led me to laugh aloud.  And then it hit me.  What Stalin did was horrible!  Why am I laughing?

 

With that sobering thought, I gulped and returned my attention to Platonov's absurdist work.  This new NYRB translation contains about fifty pages of ancillary material that you will want to read should you pick up this book.  In an appendix are some passages that Platonov edited from his manuscript.  There is one scene in which Voshchev lies down in a field of rye while asking himself about the meaning of life. It proved to me my favorite passage in the book, something I would have missed if the translators had not thought it worthy of inclusion.

 

Totally scratching my head over Moresco's Distant Light.  I need my Archipelagic pals to read this one and talk to me about the last chapter.

 

Robin--I will mail The Foundation Pit to you since you had indicated an interest.  VC sent this book to me originally. The end notes provided needed context for this reader.

 

Distant Light is quite poetic but puzzling.  Oh Crstarlette, are you interested?

 

 

[Kareni]

Some here may enjoy this article from Tor.com ~

 

Five Books About the Ancient World by Myke Cole.

 

Be sure to read the comments for additional suggestions.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

And another post that might interest some; once again, do read the comments for additional information.  Be aware that this post includes adult language.

 

Women’s History Month at the Bitchery

 

 

"March is Women’s History Month, and though it’s the last day of the month, it’s a topic that’s near and dear to our hearts. Every month Carrie tells us about a Kickass Woman in History, but here we thought we’d all take some time to tell you about historical women that are personally important to each of us. ..."

 

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

Since I'm on a roll, two more interesting bookish posts ~

 

This Vending Machine Dispenses Random Books for $2

 

"Bibliophiles with a taste for adventure and mystery will love the Biblio-Mat. Located in Monkey's Paw, a used bookstore in Toronto, Canada, the vintage-looking vending machine dispenses random old books. It was designed and built by designer/animator/director Craig Small in 2012 to get the attention of patrons who might normally ignore the selections of discount bins in a sidewalk sale...."

 

 

and

 

Classic Short Stories, Summarized By Someone Who Has Never Read Them   (Once again, do read the comments.)

 

"“There’s one,†she said, pointing.
“Where?†she said. “I don’t believe you.â€
“Right over there,†she insisted. “Look at him.â€
She looked. “Well,†she said after a moment, “I suppose you’re right.â€
“It was a little difficult to find him,†she said, not wanting to rub it in.
“A little,†she agreed.
“But the important thing is that we found him.â€
“We sure did,†she said.
– A Good Man Is Hard To Find, Flannery O’Connor"

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Chrysalis Academy]

 

 

Classic Short Stories, Summarized By Someone Who Has Never Read Them   (Once again, do read the comments.)

 

"“There’s one,†she said, pointing.

“Where?†she said. “I don’t believe you.â€

“Right over there,†she insisted. “Look at him.â€

She looked. “Well,†she said after a moment, “I suppose you’re right.â€

“It was a little difficult to find him,†she said, not wanting to rub it in.

“A little,†she agreed.

“But the important thing is that we found him.â€

“We sure did,†she said.

– A Good Man Is Hard To Find, Flannery O’Connor"

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

:lol:  :lol:  :lol:

[Robin M]

Dust off your haikus for poetry month!

 

words swift as a stream

flowing out of you and me

gentle and so free.

[Robin M]

Word of the day: dekulakization.

 

Robin--I will mail The Foundation Pit to you since you had indicated an interest. VC sent this book to me originally. The end notes provided needed context for this reader.

?

Yes please and thank you.

 

 

 

Spent the day dusting off My two blessings blog for the April A to Z challenge. Anybody want to join in?

[Violet Crown]

Count me in as one who missed Violet Crown. About a week before Easter I wanted to start reading a Henry James novel and was trying to decide between two possibilities. I thought, "I'll ask VC on the thread", then remembered it was still Lent so she wouldn't be around. :( BTW, VC, I decided on Washington Square. It's good to have you back.

 

It seems a number of folks on WTM have first time voters this election, as evidenced by a thread I started which seems to have disappeared (I was going to link to it). Anyway, I too am staying away from politics, but it is an interesting time for our newly minted voters.

 

Haha! I did the same thing except that book is still on my Shame List. I saw the movie several times as a kid and assigned him the book. He was hating it, so I started reading it myself. I didn't like it either. That was the year I decided to give him a list of several books in each genre I wanted him to read from, and let him choose two from each list.

 

Re: James. What did you think of Washington Square? I recommended it recently to Middle Girl (who had picked up The American and was already finding it confusing), but she was waylaid by Pride and Prejudice instead. I think there is great appeal in the Jamesian satisfying but not conventionally "happy" ending. Maybe the test for James is whether one liked Stuart Little as a kid.

 

Re: young voters. Interesting times indeed. Not getting specifically political; but let me just say that it was pleasant to see that Great Girl was a lot more genuinely excited about her first candidate than I was about mine (cough*dukakis*cough).

 

Re: Fahrenheit 451. Truffaut > Bradbury as Coppola > Puzo.

Edited April 1, 2016 by Violet Crown

[marbel]

Just a quick note to Kareni - I really appreciate that you note books with adult content.

 

The other day I received the weekly notice of new books coming into our library.  One looked particularly interesting.  Now, I don't enjoy books with a lot of adult content, and I don't hand such off to my high schoolers*.  Anyway, I looked the book up on Amazon but it did not have a "search inside" feature which I find very helpful for rooting out key words.  :-)  It wasn't until I looked at some 1-star reviews that I learned the book contains much explicit, unnecessary, and even violent adult content.  Now, of course that is all subjective and perhaps it's not as bad as some reviews made it sound.  But it was nice to  know and I just passed that book by.  There are, after all, plenty of books to be read.

 

Anyway, it just made me appreciate Kareni and all who point out adult content.   Thank you!  It helps.

 

*I don't choose all my kids' books; they are free to find and read anything they want.  They are too old to have mommy previewing for them!  But I'm not going to suggest something that I would not read myself. 

Edited April 1, 2016 by marbel

[Chrysalis Academy]

Yes please and thank you.

 

 

 

Spent the day dusting off My two blessings blog for the April A to Z challenge. Anybody want to join in?

 

What is the A to Z challenge again?

 

I'm on my last Bingo square.  ;)

[Lady Florida.]

Re: James. What did you think of Washington Square? I recommended it recently to Middle Girl (who had picked up The American and was already finding it confusing), but she was waylaid by Pride and Prejudice instead. I think there is great appeal in the Jamesian satisfying but not conventionally "happy" ending. Maybe the test for James is whether one liked Stuart Little as a kid.

 

Re: young voters. Interesting times indeed. Not getting specifically political; but let me just say that it was pleasant to see that Great Girl was a lot more genuinely excited about her first candidate than I was about mine (cough*dukakis*cough).

 

Re: Fahrenheit 451. Truffaut > Bradbury as Coppola > Puzo.

 

James: I decided on Washington Square but didn't get far because I had two other books I was trying to finish. I started reading it in earnest yesterday and am enjoying it so far. I did read that James himself didn't care for it. The only other work of his I read was Daisy Miller. I read somewhere (or maybe you posted it at one time) that one should ease into his stuff, so that's what I'm doing. 

 

Ds is excited about his first time candidate and I was excited about mine, who was, um, Jimmy Carter (1st term). I wasn't so excited about him four years later though.

[Kareni]

Just a quick note to Kareni - I really appreciate that you note books with adult content.

 

 

You are quite welcome.  I know we have very diverse taste in books in this group which is a large part of its charm.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

Well I just finished my unusual British Village Cozy with a vampire for a main character. Part of my reason for giving it a try was the author Dean A. James also writes one of my absolutely favourite cozy series under a different pen name. Posted to Death was relatively accurate in terms of setting etc. I can't say the inhabitants of the village were a normal mix of people at all. I actually think I may have read it or another in this series several years ago. Cover art is familiar and one small snicker worthy section (which is probably repeated throughout the whole series) was really familiar. Anyway my feelings are kind of blah about these. I have the whole series sitting in my stack.....one reserved on the kindle. Not sure if I will read more or not. My stack contains more promising reads! :lol:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/297990.Posted_To_Death

[Robin M]

What is the A to Z challenge again?

 

I'm on my last Bingo square. ;)

Oops! Somebody isn't reading Sunday's post. Shame! Just kidding!

 

A to Z is a blog challenge, writing everyday except Sunday, during April. I'll be posting about characters, books, flash nonfiction, etc. link to my blog is in my signature.

 

Bingo.... Awesome. Glad you are having fun with it. Hmmm, what shall her prize be????

 

Guess I need to make another one. :)

[Angel]

Spent the day dusting off My two blessings blog for the April A to Z challenge. Anybody want to join in?

I haven't touched my blog in a year but I'm thinking about this!  (If I don't forget by the end of the day).  I don't have a theme, though I thought of picking something from our many travels last year for each day (since I never blogged about them).  I also passed it along to Skye who blogs about life more frequently and really enjoys doing these kinds of things.  

 

Just a quick note to Kareni - I really appreciate that you note books with adult content.

 

The other day I received the weekly notice of new books coming into our library.  One looked particularly interesting.  Now, I don't enjoy books with a lot of adult content, and I don't hand such off to my high schoolers*.  Anyway, I looked the book up on Amazon but it did not have a "search inside" feature which I find very helpful for rooting out key words.  :-)  It wasn't until I looked at some 1-star reviews that I learned the book contains much explicit, unnecessary, and even violent adult content.  Now, of course that is all subjective and perhaps it's not as bad as some reviews made it sound.  But it was nice to  know and I just passed that book by.  There are, after all, plenty of books to be read.

 

Anyway, it just made me appreciate Kareni and all who point out adult content.   Thank you!  It helps.

 

*I don't choose all my kids' books; they are free to find and read anything they want.  They are too old to have mommy previewing for them!  But I'm not going to suggest something that I would not read myself. 

Yes and yes!

[Angel]

The onset of Spring Break enabled me to have some uninterrupted quiet time for my morning devotions.  I finished Be Joyful by Warren Wiersbe.  A devotional type book on Philippians I had been reading since January (I think).  Though I liked his Be Committed book that I read last year a little better, this was still an excellent study of Philippians and a wonderful reminder of all that we have to be joyful for.  Not only did it remind us to find our joy in Christ but also to watch out for those things that can be stealers of our joy! 

 

Quote:  "As you contemplate the day's schedule, be sure that nothing you have planned robs you of the joy God wants you to have."

 

 I seem to need this reminder  :o  I'm a very emotional person and tend to get caught up and let things bother me that really shouldn't.  The author compared the people who are a thermometer (going up and down with every situation, always letting others affect them) with people who are thermostats (those who keep steady, setting the tone for the situation and having an effect on others).  I tend to be more thermometer than thermostat, much to my shame, and would like to strive to be better.

 

I'm still trying to finish Mere Christianity, listening to Queen of Sorcery, and also reading World War Z.  The latter is not what I expected.  I really liked the movie but so far nothing is much like the movie except Israel's 10th man.  So I guess the jury's still out there.  

[Mom-ninja.]

I finished Keep Moving by Dick Van Dyke. Listened to it actually and the kids did too. What a great book for a teen and preteen to listen to. I hope they got something out of it. He has a great message. 

 

ETA: I've never seen The Dick Van Dyke show but now I'm inspired. 

Edited April 1, 2016 by Mom-ninja.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Oops! Somebody isn't reading Sunday's post. Shame! Just kidding!

 

A to Z is a blog challenge, writing everyday except Sunday, during April. I'll be posting about characters, books, flash nonfiction, etc. link to my blog is in my signature.

 

Bingo.... Awesome. Glad you are having fun with it. Hmmm, what shall her prize be????

 

Guess I need to make another one. :)

 

Oh, my bad - I do remember reading about it on the Sunday post, and moving on, as I don't blog.

 

But then today, when you mentioned a challenge . . .  ;)  :D  :001_tt2:

[Butter]

I finished Keep Moving by Dick Van Dyke. Listened to it actually and the kids did too. What a great book for a teen and preteen to listen to. I hope they got something out of it. He has a great message. 

 

ETA: I've never seen The Dick Van Dyke show but now I'm inspired. 

 

I love Dick Van Dyke.  Like totally really old guy crush.  I fell in love with him when I was a teenager watching Diagnosis: Murder.

 

I've been working on lesson plans for a couple weeks so I haven't had much reading time.  I finished those lesson plans this morning (yeah, I'm a little weird - these are the plans for next year... I always do my planning in March).  I stayed up until almost midnight reading Wednesday night and as a result finished three books that day.

 

#31. The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare.  Fritz will be reading that one next school year.  I loved it.  It's such a wonderful story of what hate and anger can do to us.

#32. Here's to the Ladies by Carla Kelly.  This is for the book club I'm part of.  We meet next Thursday to discuss it.  It's a collection of short stories about people in the frontier army during the years of the Indian Wars.  A couple stories were funny, one was quite sad, a couple were heartwarming.  I liked the book.

#33. Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum.  The third Oz book.  This one dragged a bit and didn't have as much wordplay as the other four or five I've read.  I still enjoyed it.

 

Now I need to read the book my FIL's ex-wife sent me.  Blue-Eyed Arabs of the North.  It's kind of intimidating.  It's over 500 pages long.

[CindyH in NC]

Classic Short Stories, Summarized By Someone Who Has Never Read Them   (Once again, do read the comments.)

 

"“There’s one,†she said, pointing.
“Where?†she said. “I don’t believe you.â€
“Right over there,†she insisted. “Look at him.â€
She looked. “Well,†she said after a moment, “I suppose you’re right.â€
“It was a little difficult to find him,†she said, not wanting to rub it in.
“A little,†she agreed.
“But the important thing is that we found him.â€
“We sure did,†she said.
– A Good Man Is Hard To Find, Flannery O’Connor"

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

Thanks for posting this.  My 15 yr old dd and I laughed together this morning over these.  We especially loved the summary of The Monkey's Paw and To Build a Fire, but some of the comments were great too.

[Rosyl]

I am not caught up on the thread, but I have read some books.

 16.  The Triumph of Wm. McKinley by Karl Rove    

  I didn't love it.  I did learn about our currency, the election process, and Ohio politics.  It was a valuable read.

 

17  Trolley Car Days by Ruth Kane 

I liked this book.  It is a nice history of a town near McKinley's birthplace and the Trolley Car Days.  I didn't plan it this way, but Trolley car days picked up where Triumph left on in regards to history.  Talked about the effect of Mckinley's assassination on the town and life in general at the turn of the century.

 

My fluff:

18.  Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold by Ellen O'Connell and a brief sequel called Rachel's Eyes.  It's too short to list separately.

19.  Big Girl Panties By Stephanie Evanovich

I really wish they would put a rating on books, kind of like movies.  The above two caught me by surprise.  OY VEY! :huh:

 

 

and I am still working on History of the Renaissance World,and Passage to India.

 

15.  Defending Jacob By Wm. Landay

14. The Decision by Wanda Brunstetter

13.  Five Miles South of Peculiar by Angela Hunt

12.  The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

11. In the Time of the Butterflies Julia Alvarez   

 

10.  The Sound of Things Falling  by Juan Gabriel Vásquez

9.  DIY Succulents:  From Placecards to Wreaths by Tawni Daigle

8.  The Scarlett Thread by Francine Rivers on audio.

7. Travels with Casey by Benoit Denizet-Lewis

6.  The Rescuer Suzanne Woods Fisher

5.  A Town Like Alice  by Nevil Shute

4.  Jackson Bog by Michael Witt.  
3.  Toward the Sunrise by Elizabeth Camden     

2.  Wonderland Creek by Lynn Austin

1.  Crucial Conversations by Patterson and Grenny

[Kareni]

...#32. Here's to the Ladies by Carla Kelly.  This is for the book club I'm part of.  We meet next Thursday to discuss it.  It's a collection of short stories about people in the frontier army during the years of the Indian Wars.  A couple stories were funny, one was quite sad, a couple were heartwarming.  I liked the book.

 

I haven't read this book, but I've read many other historical romances by Carla Kelly.  I've liked almost all of them quite a lot.  Her specialty seems to be writing about people who are NOT Dukes, exceedingly well-to-do, etc.; it makes for some out of the ordinary stories.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Nan in Mass]

I finished The Globe. If it were not a library audiobook, I would have sujected you all to quote after quote as I read. I enjoyed it very much and it is largely about storytelling, so the quotes would be especially applicable to this thread. Go here to read some of them: http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/62357-the-science-of-discworld-ii-the-globe

Two especially applicable ones:

“The anthropologists got it wrong when they named our species Homo sapiens ('wise man'). In any case it's an arrogant and bigheaded thing to say, wisdom being one of our least evident features. In reality, we are Pan narrans, the storytelling chimpanzee.â€

(The Science of Discworld II: The Globe)

And:

“There are some laws that are coded into the very nature of the universe, and one is: There Is Never Enough Shelf Space.â€

(The Science of Discworld II: The Globe)

I,ve known since I was little that people run on stories (and that animal people do too), and it was fun to read something that elaborated that idea. I was happy that the authors elaborated it without leaving out animals. It always seems wrong to me when an author goes on about how living things work and leaves out most of the living things. The minute an author says animals have no imagination, they lose all their credibility. Haven,t they ever watched animals play? Anyway, in this book, the authors avoid that problem and go on to explain why we have developed art and music and a whole bunch of other things, like the demise of elves and why elephants have trunks and why Rinsewind recieves seven shovelfuls of coal even though the othe rest of the professors at Unseen University outrank him. This is a very me-type history book. The science isn,t particularly new to me, since I fairly regularly glance through Science News, but the book is so close to how the world feels to me, university and all, that I liked it anyway.

 

Nan

Edited April 2, 2016 by Nan in Mass

[Ethel Mertz]

I finished another four books this week.

1.     Saltbound: A Block Island Winter – Chilton Williamson. I finally got through this! It was hard going, though written in a journal like style. The author jumped around a lot, subject-wise, and his writing was choppy at best. I hung in because of my familiarity with the place.

2.      How to Read the Bible – Harvey Cox. The author is a liberal/progressive theologian and this book is accessible to those who have no academic knowledge of biblical studies.

3.      The Violets of March – Sara Jio. Lovely, lovely read. 4.5 stars

4.      The Bark of the Bog Owl - Jonathan Rogers. I pre-read this for DS and enjoyed the book. I've requested the next in the series from the library.

 

I'm currently reading:

Two mysteries - The Moving Finger (Miss Marple #4) – Agatha Christie (L) and Murder on Cape Cod: A Jane Adams Mystery – B.H. Gates

 

I'm also re-reading a friend's book: Keep Your Courage – Carter Heyward

 

[Ellesmere]

I finally finished something that had been on my "currently reading" list since I started my Goodreads acct. For some reason I had made it halfway through Fire in the Hole:Stories by Elmore Leonard and forgot about it. Finished that up early this week and haven't had much time to read since then. 

I still have 14 books I'm currently reading but at least half are browsing books. One is a  huge Calvin and Hobbes collection we've all been taking turns with, another is  a volume of ten plays by Agatha Christie. Two of them are about words, easy to pick up and put down, but I've been getting through them a bit more as I listen to a lecture on words that I got with an Audible credit.

I'll be in a waiting room at an activity for the kids for awhile this weekend and am going to bring either the plays (easy to put down since I have read them before) or something I grabbed off the library display: It's Not About the Broccoli by Dina Rose. I didn't have a good week with food so it might not be the best choice. But I had looked at the author's website and seen a nice response to someone who asked about a particular eating disorder so I know I should give it a try.

[marbel]

<snip>

4.      The Bark of the Bog Owl - Jonathan Rogers. I pre-read this for DS and enjoyed the book. I've requested the next in the series from the library.

 

<snip>

 

My kids and I have fond memories of these books!  Fun to see the name again.

 

 

I was on a good roll for a while, but haven't finished anything this week.  I realized I am way behind the curve on finishing Anna Karenina by April 19 book club meeting. So I am trying to power through that.  I had wanted to do a more "academic" reading (for lack of a better term), listing the characters, making notes, etc.  But... no time for that now!   I am doing a combination of reading and listening.  I've decided that chunkster books are not a good bet for me when a deadline is involved. 

 

[Robin M]

I haven't touched my blog in a year but I'm thinking about this!  (If I don't forget by the end of the day).  I don't have a theme, though I thought of picking something from our many travels last year for each day (since I never blogged about them).  I also passed it along to Skye who blogs about life more frequently and really enjoys doing these kinds of things.  

 

 

Awesome.  Let me know if / when you do.  Skye too.  It's really stimulated my brain and getting my creativity cooking again.  

[Lady Florida.]

I finished Washington Square by Henry James earlier today and I liked it a lot. While I certainly wouldn't call it a happy ending, at least it wasn't Thomas Hardy style depressing. I've read where James has been compared to Austen and I have to say that saw some of Fanny Price's wimpishness in the main character Catherine. Also, I thought Mrs. Norris was horrible until I met Aunt Lavinia/Mrs. Penniman!
 

I've only read 15 books so far this year. According to Goodreads I'm three books behind schedule to meet my goal for 2016. If I were to go by pages I'm about at the right number if I end up reading as many as I usually do. My stats show I tend to read slightly more than 20,000 pages a year, and I've read 5200 in the first quarter of this year.

Edited April 2, 2016 by Lady Florida

[Kareni]

I recently finished  Broken Heart Syndrome and Sticks and Stones, two contemporary romances by Susie Tate.  Overall, I enjoyed them; however, the characters were all too human and did some less than heroic things during the course of both stories.  The stories contain a smattering of Welsh terms which are translated at the end of each chapter.  Some adult content.

 

Broken Heart Syndrome:

 

"Shy, reclusive Frankie and her best friend Lou obsess over Thomas G. Longley, as they reverently refer to him, for their entire first two years of medical school. So when he publicly humiliates her at the student bar she is devastated.

Ten years later, Frankie has to work in the testosterone driven environment of Cardiology before she can start her palliative care training and, to her dismay, Tom is her boss.

Thankfully the subject of her long-term crush doesn't seem to remember her and, given her ability to blend into the background, she’s not really surprised. What does surprise her is how cruel he is. Sure he squished her self esteem like a bug at Uni, but the Tom she spent many a pointless lunch break or library session covertly watching seemed easy going and quick to smile; not an uptight, overly critical bully.

Between passing out in theatre and being covered head to foot in the bloody vomit of ‘Scary Glenda’ (A&E’s most frequent, frequent flyer), she can’t wait to get through the six months.

Although she’s too timid to tell Tom to jog on when she is his only target, when it’s her patients that he starts trampling she decides to grow a backbone, and Tom begins to see that she is not the cold, aloof woman he once thought.

As the misunderstandings of the past come to light, Tom realizes that the ‘complete-bastard’ routine he has been clinging to out of hurt pride might not have been his most stellar idea. He has a fight on his hands to win Frankie over and, unfortunately, it's not just his past behaviour he's fighting against. You see, Frankie knows all about being pushed around. She’s dealt with enough verbal and even physical abuse before to last a lifetime and she’s not going to be fooled into thinking that this ruthless alpha male has turned over a new leaf.

Even if he could convince her that he's not really the bully he projected before, her low self-esteem would never allow her to believe that a man like Tom could really be into a boring, bland, nondescript girl like her.

Luckily for Frankie, Tom is used to getting what he wants. He’s determined to make her see herself clearly for the first time in her life and he's just arrogant enough to believe that he can break through her defences.

But Frankie's past is not ready to let her go quite yet. There's a reason that she spends next to no money but is always skint: a reason that she keeps her flat door open: a reason that she holds herself back from him. Maybe he won't manage to convince her and he'll allow her to push him away. Or maybe (as Lou rightly puts it) he should 'stop being a pussy and man up already.'"

 

and Sticks and Stones:

 

"For Lou it was always Dylan.
She loved him from the moment they first met across a cadaver in the dissection room at medical school. The most gorgeous man she’d ever laid eyes on, with more Welsh charm than you could shake a stick at; she was a goner.

But Lou, despite her beauty, was just too extrovert to interest Dylan, who was convinced that a quiet, shy girl, like Lou’s best friend Frankie, was much more his style.

‘Have at it mate but I’ve got two words for you: high maintenance.’
‘Don’t think I’d mind putting in the hard yards maintaining that piece of arse,’ one of Dylan’s more disgusting rugby mates replied.
‘Well good luck to you,’ Dylan returned, looking completely relaxed now that they were discussing Lou and not his precious Frankie. ‘I like mine heavy on the sweet and light on the ball-breaking bitch, but each to his own.’

After overhearing that exchange, Lou buries her pain and pines for him in private, but she can't give up their friendship. One night, eleven years later, she finally gets what she has been longing for, but the next morning realizes he was too drunk to even remember.

For Dylan it was always anyone but Lou.
A born surgeon, Dylan resents having to down his orthopaedic power tools for a six-month spell in Elderly Care. He thought that at least working with Lou would make his skiving easier; after all she’s always helped him out before. And so what if he’s been having these weird dreams about her since he woke up in her flat? It’s not like he’d ever actually go there.

So when he mistakenly believes that she’s put his career in jeopardy he loses control and his vicious insults, publicly made, cut Lou to the bone. It’s only after he loses Lou’s warm smiles, dry wit, boundless energy and outrageous banter from his life that he realizes the extent of his stupidity.

Maybe sticks and stones can break bones, and that’s something Dylan’s surgical skills can deal with. But when it’s a heart he’s broken…"

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Chrysalis Academy]

I'm reading Necropolis right now, my "Pick book based on the cover" kindly sent to me by Stacia, and I just have to pause and ask, what is it with South American writers and the comma splice?   :lol:  I'm all mentally breathless with these sentences that go on and on, page after page, without a period in sight.  At least Gamboa does capitalize the first word of the sentence, when you finally get to a new one.  When I read Saramago I literally had to stop reading to breath sometimes.  Yeah, I know this shouldn't matter when you aren't reading aloud, but somehow it does - I can't think of a better way to describe the phenomena other than, reading these authors leaves me breathless! Though not for the reasons you might think.  ;)  :D

[Ethel Mertz]

Snow and high winds here this morning and I am reading Rosamunde Pilcher's Snow in April. I knew you all would appreciate the synchronicity.

[Jane in NC]

Snow and high winds here this morning and I am reading Rosamunde Pilcher's Snow in April. I knew you all would appreciate the synchronicity.

 

You need a "like" button for posts like these!

 

[Kathleen.]

I read 'Chasing Vermeer" by Blue Balliett and my 9yo read "Echo Echo" by Marilyn Singer.

:)

[Robin M]

Link to week 14 - please continue conversation in new thread