Book a Week 2016 - BW15: Edith Wharton

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday dear hearts!  This is the beginning of week 15 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 - Edith Wharton:  Our female author of the month is  Edith Wharton, born January 24th, 1862 in New York. She was the daughter of aristocrats and educated at home through tutors. She also learned through reading the classics from her father's large personal library.  Her mother supported her writing and had her poems published for private readings by family and friends. 

During her marriage to Edward Wharton,  her first full length work The Decoration of Houses was published through a collaboration with architect Ogden Codman.  
  
She divorced Edward in 1913 and was in Paris when World War I started.   She organized charitable institutions to help refugees and due to her work with french and Belgian refugees was decorated with the French Legion of Honor.
 
In 1921 she became the first woman to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her fictional story, The Age of Innocence.
 
In 1923 she was awarded an honorary doctorate by Yale University for her literary works and humanitarian efforts. 

 

In 1924, the American Academy for Arts and Letters awarded her the gold medal for her fiction. 

 

Over her lifetime, she wrote many novels, short stories, books of poem, as well as non fiction books about architecture, interior design, gardening and travel. 

Find out more about Edith's legacy and her home The Mount here, the Wharton scholarship through the Edith Wharton Society and check out her fiction, nonfiction and short stores on line through the Literature Network as well as Gutenberg.org

 

*****************************************************************************

 

History of the Renaissance World -- Chapters 21 and 22 

 

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What are you reading this week? 

 

 

 

 

Link to week 14 

[Robin M]

I'm diving into Jayne Castle's (aka Jayne Ann Krentz) first book in her Rainshadow series - The Lost Night.  Somehow I read the last two books, but never read the first one.  

 

Also delving into Voyage of the Beagle.

 

Still deep into Jack Hart's A Writing Coach. 

 

 

 

Jenn - I just got a post card of Santa Fe.  Did you sent it? There wasn't a signature but you said you were sending me something. Thank you so much.  Santa Fe is on my bucket list of places to travel. Hopefully sooner than later. 

 

 

Our very own Rosie received a promotion to moderator.  Congratulations my dear. Have fun battling the spammers and thank you!  

Edited April 10, 2016 by Robin M

[Hyacinth]

Love these threads!

 

I read Still Alice yesterday (a bestseller from a few years ago). It was a quick read but one that I suspect will stay with me. The fictional account of a 50-year-old woman's experience with early-onset Alzheimer's was made into a movie; did anyone see it?

 

I'm also slogging my way through Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age by Sherry Turkle. No commentary yet except that I'm a little surprised (and ashamed) to see myself in a few of the author's anecdotes regarding the lure of electronic devices over quiet, pondering time alone.

[mumto2]

Currently reading A Rather Charming Invitation by CA Belmond. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6606453-a-rather-charming-invitation?from_new_nav=true&ac=1&from_search=true. The story/series simply continues from one of last week's books. Enjoying even though the second in the series had to be skipped.

[6packofun]

Currently reading A Rather Charming Invitation by CA Belmond. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6606453-a-rather-charming-invitation?from_new_nav=true&ac=1&from_search=true. The story/series simply continues from one of last week's books. Enjoying even though the second in the series had to be skipped.

 

I looked up this series and decided to try the first one!  Thanks!

[Negin]

I read A Man Called Ove - 4 Stars - This was uplifting and sweet. The characters are all memorable. Ove made me laugh and the more I read about him, the more I loved him.

Some of my favorite quotes:

“We always think there's enough time to do things with other people. Time to say things to them. And then something happens and then we stand there holding on to words like 'if'.â€

 

“And time is a curious thing. Most of us only live for the time that lies right ahead of us. A few days, weeks, years. One of the most painful moments in a person's life probably comes with the insight that an age has been reached when there is more to look back on than ahead. And when time no longer lies ahead of one, other things have to be lived for. memories, perhaps.â€

 

“You miss the strangest things when you lose someone. Little things. Smiles. The way she turned over in her sleep. Even repainting a room for her.â€

 

and Ben and Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream and Dessert Book - 5 Stars - I bought this book when I first visited the U.S. twenty-nine years ago. At the time, the places that I happened to visit didn’t have any Ben & Jerry’s stores and I didn’t see their ice cream anywhere. Seeing this ice cream recipe book was the first time I heard about them. I read this cover-to-cover back then and had so much fun with my mom trying out many recipes in the few months that I had with my parents before returning to the U.S. to start college.

My husband just got me a fabulous new ice cream maker. So I dug this book out once again. It was pure nostalgia and fun to re-read, especially to see my notes. I haven’t yet had time to try the recipes again. I plan on doing so very soon. I remember loving every one that we tried out. The recipes are great and the book is pure pleasure and enjoyment.

 

and Theories of Everything: Selected, Collected, and Health-Inspected Cartoons, 1978-2006 – 2 Stars - Roz Chast wrote a wonderful cartoon memoir of her aging parents, an absolute must-read in my opinion, hence why I chose this book. I probably read it all wrong and should have spent more time on it, reading it slowly while reading other books. I don’t think that this collection of cartoons (400 pages) is meant to be read all at once. However, even if I had taken my time with this, I can’t imagine giving it more than 3 stars. Some of the cartoons were funny, but not particularly funny for me. I was disappointed. At least I didn’t pay full price for it and bought it used. 

 

    

 

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.

[Ali in OR]

Mumto2, I feel like a stalker, pretty much trying any book you suggest. I read The Anatomist's Wife by Anna Lee Huber this week and it fit the bill for easy-to-read historical mystery fluff.

 

I started The Eight by Katherine Neville this week which I first read and very much enjoyed in young adulthood. It's a 500+ page old friend with a number in the title, so it could fit in several bingo squares.

 

Negin, the Ben & Jerry's book is a favorite here, usually just the plain ol' French Vanilla recipe. I was going to make some today but too many of us won't be home tonight to enjoy it, so sometime later this week I think. (I do always heat the egg mixture to 165° via multiple 1-2 min microwave cycles to remove risk of salmonella from raw eggs. I do this before adding the final cup of cream, so it cools faster after reaching 165. So I usually make the mixture at night, refrigerate overnight, then run the ice cream maker in the morning).

 

Robin, I have my mom's old Modern Library edition of Age of Innocence on my mantel--perhaps I'll read that sometime this year.

 

Happy reading week everyone. April is pretty busy around here so I haven't been keeping up with the thread all week, but I'll follow along as long as I can!

[Kareni]

Our very own Rosie received a promotion to moderator.  Congratulations my dear. Have fun battling the spammers and thank you!  

 

Congratulations, Rosie!  I noticed this last week when I was unable to 'like' any of your posts.

 

Ethel Mertz (since I'm speaking of moderators), I also enjoyed All the Light We Cannot See; it was a fascinating story.  Has anyone here read any of Anthony Doerr's other works?  I see that he has a couple of collections of stories as well as a book chronicling his year long stay in Rome with his wife and newborn twin sons ~ Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Onceuponatime]

Hey, for once I'm ahead of the game. I read Age of Innocence a week ago. I finished Rosencrantz and Guilderstern and am about halfway through the BBC version of Hamlet with Patrick Stewart and David Tennant. I like the modern setting which makes the words seem so much more alive in meaning. (To me)

 

Right now I'm reading The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler, which was brought to my attention by a friend who knows I like to read what she dubbed "meta books" --books about books, libraries, librarians, etc.

[Jane in NC]

It has been a good reading week for me.

 

I want to backtrack on something I wrote last week. Kathy had asked if order was important in the Ngaio Marsh Inspector Alleyn books. My immediate response was no but as I finished Death in a White Tie (#7 in the series), I was wishing that I had reread #6 in the series, Artists in Crime, beforehand. These might be the only two in which order does matter.

 

Mysteries offer wonderful escapes for me so after finishing Death in a White Tie, I immediately opened the cover of Silence of the Grave by Icelandic author Arnaldur Indridason. Warning! This book has episodes of domestic violence, something that is normally out of my comfort zone but I'm sticking with it since I like Inspector Erlendur.

 

Non-fiction is always slower going for me. Nonetheless I have assigned myself a chapter a day from The Voyage of the Beagle and have stuck with it. Even though I did not recognize the scientific name Rhynchops nigra or the common name "scissor-beak", I knew exactly what "extraordinary" bird Darwin was describing. He mentions a bill that is "flat and elastic as an ivory paper cutter, and the lower mandible, differing from every other bird, is an inch and a half longer than the upper." In flight these birds "kept their bills wide open, and the lower mandible half buried in the water." Anybody know it? One more clue. Darwin writes "Thus skimming the surface, they plowed it in their course." Emphasis mine for the hint. Why it is a black skimmer, of course. One of my favorite birds says she who has a "favorite bird" list so long that it is ridiculous! I just looked at the skimmer's range and realize that many of you may have never seen one of these truly extraordinary birds. They are found in the US only along the SE coast and into the mid-Atlantic coastal area seasonally.

 

There is an essay in Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson which is probably the funniest thing that I have ever read. It is her essay on flying and airports entitled "Stock Up on Snow Globes. The Zombie Apocalypse is Coming". Another warning. Lawson is not for everyone. She writes about mental illness in a way that is enlightening and humorous but her language will be highly offensive to some of our gentle readers. (Frankly I find her regular use of the f-word to be unnecessary but it is what it is.)

 

I hope everyone has a good week.

Edited April 11, 2016 by Jane in NC

[mumto2]

Mumto2, I feel like a stalker, pretty much trying any book you suggest. I read The Anatomist's Wife by Anna Lee Huber this week and it fit the bill for easy-to-read historical mystery fluff.

 

I started The Eight by Katherine Neville this week which I first read and very much enjoyed in young adulthood. It's a 500+ page old friend with a number in the title, so it could fit in several bingo squares.

 

 

 

 

You aren't stalking at all. I am just really glad to be able to occasionally be able to help someone find a book they enjoy. The Anna Lee Huber series was actually recommended to me by my best friend, who also found St. Cyr. I can't take full credit but I have enjoyed the whole series and recently discovered a new one in the series is due out soon. Can't wait!

 

Your mention of The Eight sent me searching. I am positive that I read and loved it years ago. Finally found a copy at a library. Unfortunately it's a paper copy but willing to go with that. :lol: Did you know there is a second one in the series written much later, 2007 I think? Have you read it? That one is on kindle and on my overdrive. :)

 

 

 

I looked up this series and decided to try the first one!  Thanks!

I hope you enjoy it!

[Mom-ninja.]

One more thing that I forgot to mention: I bought a non-fiction/self-help-style book several months ago and loved it. Kindle/Amazon had a limit on the number of highlights I could make  :cursing:. That drove me nuts. Seriously. I paid for it. It's mine. If I had a regular hard copy, I could do with it as I wish. My dh had to do a gazillion tricks to work around that. I wouldn't have been able to do so myself. I think that's a stupid, stupid policy. 

 

They're also not good when it comes to book sharing. I've always loved sharing books with friends. Apparently now one can share with family members. Whoop de doo.  :lol:

 

Nonetheless, I love my Kindle and e-books for all the reasons that you mentioned, but certainly not for these problems. Lesson learned: If I plan on making many highlights, I'll stick to the hard copy. 

 

If I want to buy a book I will usually get the hard copy. I like to have something solid in my hands if I give out money. The exception is if the book is not available as a hard copy. I absolutely refuse to buy cookbooks as ebooks now. I made that mistake. I hate looking at recipes on my kindle or computer

[Kareni]

I stumbled across this 2011 post today on another site; it is primarily about the movie version of Edith Wharton’s Age of Innocence.  Given the week's topic, perhaps it will interest some ~

 

Finding Romance in the Classics: Edith Wharton’s Age of Innocence

 

Regards,

Kareni

[6packofun]

 

 

 

 

Your mention of The Eight sent me searching. I am positive that I read and loved it years ago. Finally found a copy at a library. Unfortunately it's a paper copy but willing to go with that. :lol: Did you know there is a second one in the series written much later, 2007 I think? Have you read it? That one is on kindle and on my overdrive. :)

 

 

 

I hope you enjoy it!

 

 

I, too, read The Eight and wondered about another book!  LOL  Thank you again.  :P

[Negin]

If I want to buy a book I will usually get the hard copy. I like to have something solid in my hands if I give out money. The exception is if the book is not available as a hard copy. I absolutely refuse to buy cookbooks as ebooks now. I made that mistake. I hate looking at recipes on my kindle or computer

I can't even imagine buying a cookbook or something of that nature as an ebook. That would drive me nuts!  :lol:

[marbel]

I loved The Age of Innocence!  And I think I liked The House of Mirth, which I believe I read in college.   I should add more of Edith's books to my list.

My big excitement is finishing Anna Karenina. I'm so glad I read it.  I had really had a poor idea of what it was about, and had never gotten far enough in it to understand.  I really feel a kinship with Levin in so many ways.  I just love him, even when he seems very dull.  :-)

 

I am planning to finish The Invention of Nature (bio of Humboldt, mentioned by Jane last week) and Great Expectations on audio, but I downloaded Montmorency today as a treat, because it's short and I love Stephen Fry's voice.   Oh, and I have homeschool books to read too. 

 

Re: stalking.  I feel like I'm stalking you all, wantonly snatching books from your Goodreads updates and from here.  I love it.

 

2016 Reading:

1.  Basin and Range, John McPhee

2.  Austenland, Shannon Hale

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

4. The Lady in the Van, Alan Bennett

5. In Suspect Terrain, John McPhee

6. Jamaica Inn, Daphne duMaurier

7. A Dangerous Mourning, Anne Perry

8. Girl in Hyacinth Blue, Susan Vreeland

9.  Defend and Betray, Anne Perry

10. Economics in One Lesson, Henry Hazlitt

11. The Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson

12. Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad

13. A Test of Wills, Charles Todd

14. The Original Miss Honeyford, Marion Chesney

15.  David Copperfield, Charles Dickens

16. What Angels Fear, C. S. Harris

17. The Curse of the Pharaohs, Elizabeth Peters

18. My Antonia, Willa Cather

19. The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins

20. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy

 

 

[Ali in OR]

Your mention of The Eight sent me searching. I am positive that I read and loved it years ago. Finally found a copy at a library. Unfortunately it's a paper copy but willing to go with that. :lol: Did you know there is a second one in the series written much later, 2007 I think? Have you read it? That one is on kindle and on my overdrive. :)

 

My library copy says, "Includes an exclusive excerpt from the thrilling sequel"--that was the first I heard of it. I'm sure I'll be checking that one out too!

[Kareni]

I started The Eight by Katherine Neville this week which I first read and very much enjoyed in young adulthood.

 

Your mention of The Eight sent me searching. I am positive that I read and loved it years ago. Finally found a copy at a library. Unfortunately it's a paper copy but willing to go with that. :lol: Did you know there is a second one in the series written much later, 2007 I think? Have you read it?

 

 

I, too, read The Eight and wondered about another book!  LOL  Thank you again.   :p

 

 

I'm another who read The Eight years ago. I'm guessing that the sequel is entitled neither The Nine nor The Seven ....

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Chrysalis Academy]

I absolutely adore The Age of Innocence and the discussion here a few months ago made me want to re-read it.  Maybe when I get something off my voluminous stack finished - so I may or may not get to it this month.  If anybody wants to try something a little different from Wharton, I discovered this last year: The Ghost Feeler, a set of really good spooky/occult short stories.  Sort of cozy horror stories, if that makes sense.

 

Jane, you will finish Voyage before we do, we're only getting through a couple of chapters a week.  But that's ok.  Let's see, I'm still reading all the same stuff from last week, with the addition of Jane Steele which came in off my hold list.  It's sort of a homage to Jane Eyre, and I'm loving it.  I'm also reading Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey, at dh's recommendation.

 

I finished another Canongate Myth book: The Lion's Honey: The Myth of Samson. It wasn't a retelling, more an exegesis of the Biblical story. I enjoyed it very much, I grew up on stories from the old testament, and was always really confused about the moral message of many of them. The Samson story is no exception.  It was nice to read a close-read explication of the story and there were some to modern Israel. I enjoyed it a lot.  I also listened to Oedipus the King. What a fabulous play that is, I'm looking forward to reading and listening to it with Shannon next year.

 

Books finished in April:

67. The Children's Homer - Padraic Colum

66. Oedipus the King - Sophocles

65. Lion's Honey: The Myth of Samson - David Grossman

64. Old Man's War - John Scalzi

63. Sassafras Science Adventures Volume 1: Zoology

 

 

Edited April 12, 2016 by Chrysalis Academy

[Ellesmere]

Checking in quickly.

I think I read absolutely nothing last week. It was such a week that I don't even remember. I just know I certainly didn't finish any books. And given the way things went today, the rest of this week isn't promising. I thought February was unpleasant, March was stressful. Apparently I hadn't imagined that April could actually be more, and really, it's not even anything terrible or that bad. It's just too much while down with migraines half the week. One of the kids tried to be helpful and go through all the Amulet graphic novels, sitting in my lap and explaining it all in loooong detail, so it wasn't an entirely book-free week at least. 

Anyway, I'm glad to see The Age of Innocence mentioned and all the links. That book is an old favorite! The Ben & Jerry's book sounds fun. We got to meet Ben Cohen once and he was kind enough to chat and take a photo with one of the kids. 

 

 

[Stacia]

CaladwenEleniel, :grouphug: . Hope you feel better soon. Migraines are horrible. And hope life settles down into something pleasant for you very soon.

 

I'm in a similar boat. My life has been crazy & changing a lot in the past many months. 2016 is a huge year of change for me so far & I think that's just the tip of the iceberg for me this year. Just a humongous mixed bag of things.

 

So, my reading has been almost non-existent too. Still slowly working on Narconomics by Tom Wainwright & really enjoying it. I think I've already read more non-fiction this year than I typically read in a whole year. Lol.

 

I should be reading, but instead I'm reading all your posts ( :001_wub: ) while sipping a small glass of red wine & eating a dark chocolate salted caramel candy that my sister got me at a wonderful French chocolate shop. I'm at about my peak of functioning right now. :lol:

[mumto2]

I'm another who read The Eight years ago. I'm guessing that the sequel is entitled neither The Nine nor The Seven ....

 

Regards,

Kareni

  

 

Actually it's The Fire. The Eight is a reference to the BiG Eight accounting firms which were a huge deal back in the Eighties if you were an accounting major (I was). The sequel would need to be the Three, maybe Four. I haven't kept up were who merged with who. :lol:

 

 

 

I absolutely adore The Age of Innocence and the discussion here a few months ago made me want to re-read it.  Maybe when I get something off my voluminous stack finished - so I may or may not get to it this month.  If anybody wants to try something a little different from Wharton, I discovered this last year: The Ghost Feeler, a set of really good spooky/occult short stories.  Sort of cozy horror stories, if that makes sense.

 

Jane, you will finish Voyage before we do, we're only getting through a couple of chapters a week.  But that's ok.  Let's see, I'm still reading all the same stuff from last week, with the addition of Jane Steele which came in off my hold list.  It's sort of a homage to Jane Eyre, and I'm loving it.  I'm also reading Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey, at dh's recommendation.

 

I finished another Canongate Myth book: The Lion's Honey: The Myth of Samson. It wasn't a retelling, more an exegesis of the Biblical story. I enjoyed it very much, I grew up on stories from the old testament, and was always really confused about the moral message of many of them. The Samson story is no exception.  It was nice to read a close-read explication of the story and there were some to modern Israel. I enjoyed it a lot.  I also listened to Oedipus the King. What a fabulous play that is, I'm looking forward to reading and listening to it with Shannon next year.

 

Books finished in April:

66. Oedipus the King - Sophocles

65. Lion's Honey: The Myth of Samson - David Grossman

64. Old Man's War - John Scalzi

63. Sassafras Science Adventures Volume 1: Zoology

I keep running into Jane Steele on new book lists and have considered adding it to the stack. Glad to know you are enjoying it, maybe someday.

 

 

  

Checking in quickly.

 

I think I read absolutely nothing last week. It was such a week that I don't even remember. I just know I certainly didn't finish any books. And given the way things went today, the rest of this week isn't promising. I thought February was unpleasant, March was stressful. Apparently I hadn't imagined that April could actually be more, and really, it's not even anything terrible or that bad. It's just too much while down with migraines half the week. One of the kids tried to be helpful and go through all the Amulet graphic novels, sitting in my lap and explaining it all in loooong detail, so it wasn't an entirely book-free week at least. 

Anyway, I'm glad to see The Age of Innocence mentioned and all the links. That book is an old favorite! The Ben & Jerry's book sounds fun. We got to meet Ben Cohen once and he was kind enough to chat and take a photo with one of the kids.

 

:grouphug: I hope things start going better and the headaches go away.

[Violet Crown]

I am hiding out in the Chihuahuan desert* with no wifi & my phone which I can barely see the words on, and so will be brief. I read another Guareschi, Don Camillo and His Flock; and Penguin Island by Anatole France, a satire on French history and politics which I enjoyed much but does involve some knowledge of French history or the whole Dreyfuss Affair section (for instance) isn't going to make much sense.

 

My chief criterion for desert reading was small paperback I could fit in my pocket; thus the above; and now onto Vita Sackville-West's Challenge, also small.

 

*no rattlesnake encounters this year, so far

Edited April 11, 2016 by Violet Crown

[Just Robyn]

 I finished Rosencrantz and Guilderstern 

 

I'm about to read that one, too! It is being performed at the local community theatre this month, and since I'll be seeing Hamlet at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival in August, I thought I'd better see R&G, too - even if I'd rather see them in the other order.

 

 

 

I finished Alice LaPlante's The Making of a Story - the most thorough book I've read on writing thus far. I'd recommend this to anyone who's into writing fiction or creative nonfiction.

 

I also finished 84, Charing Cross Road. This is a charming book of letters between a writer and the workers at a bookstore from which she orders books. They became long-distance friends in addition to merchants/customer. I imagine I'll try the sequel eventually, but my library doesn't have it, so not yet

 

.My ds is reading The Book Thief for school, so I took it off the shelf and started it too. I also started in on The Voyage of the Beagle. 

[Rosie_0801]

 

Our very own Rosie received a promotion to moderator.  Congratulations my dear. Have fun battling the spammers and thank you!  

 

Lol. It's hardly a promotion. It's more like "Hey Susan, want some help with the Korean spam? I'm usually online when they hit." Maybe it's a demotion and 'moderator' is a polite word for 'dogsbody?'  :huh:

 

 

I've been mostly flat on my back since Friday, because I can't get to the chiropractor until this afternoon. I've had to swap my big, heavy, hardcover bee keeping book for more Terry Pratchett. I've not read 'Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents' before. It may not be his best ever, but it's fun. :)

[shage]

Lol. It's hardly a promotion. It's more like "Hey Susan, want some help with the Korean spam? I'm usually online when they hit." Maybe it's a demotion and 'moderator' is a polite word for 'dogsbody?' :huh:

 

 

I've been mostly flat on my back since Friday, because I can't get to the chiropractor until this afternoon. I've had to swap my big, heavy, hardcover bee keeping book for more Terry Pratchett. I've not read 'Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents' before. It may not be his best ever, but it's fun. :)

Yay for time zone diversity!

[Angelaboord]

Congratulations, Rosie! I noticed this last week when I was unable to 'like' any of your posts.

 

Ethel Mertz (since I'm speaking of moderators), I also enjoyed All the Light We Cannot See; it was a fascinating story. Has anyone here read any of Anthony Doerr's other works? I see that he has a couple of collections of stories as well as a book chronicling his year long stay in Rome with his wife and newborn twin sons ~ Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World.

 

Regards,

Kareni

I've read his book about twins and Rome! My own twins were about a year old then and I could relate to everything he said about being the parent of twins, although I was also living in upstate New York where it was probably winter and Roman vegetable markets seemed very, very far away. I guess I had forgotten he was the author, though, because I hadn't put two and two together till now. All the Light We Cannot See is on my TBR list, but now that I know he's also the author of the twin book, I'll probably move it up. [emoji5]

[Angelaboord]

Well, I was quarantined for a couple of days last week when everyone came down with a stomach virus and we were trying to keep the baby away from it. So I finished two books, seeing as how there was no TV or Internet connection in the back bedroom to distract me. I read Smarter, Faster, Better by Charles Duhigg, the author of The Power of Habit, and The Eagle Tree, which was mentioned by a couple of other people last week. I thought both were excellent. Now I am about halfway through The Rosie Project, because I needed something light. In the same spirit, I also have a Prof. Von Igelfeld book by Alexander McCall Smith next in the stack -- Unusual Uses for Olive Oil is the title. I really love the Von Igelfeld books. Von Igelfeld is a professor of Romantic philology and very German, and the plots all poke gentle fun at numerous aspects of academia while still ending up on a heartwarming note. My oldest wants to be a linguist, so we share a laugh out of these books.

 

I'm not sure how much reading I'll get done this week, though, because now I have a cold or flu. I guess we had two separate things going around the house at the same time. It's a bit worrisome because we are supposed to keep the baby away from germs, and yet our house seems to be the most dangerous place. It's our other kids who should be living in a bubble right now, not her!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[mumto2]

Angela, I hope you start feeling better soon and that your little girl manages to avoid being ill. :grouphug:

[Lady Florida.]

.

 

I want to backtrack on something I wrote last week. Kathy had asked if order was important in the Ngaio Marsh Inspector Alleyn books.  My immediate response was no but as I finished Death in a White Tie (#7 in the series), I was wishing that I had reread #6 in the series, Artists in Crime, beforehand.  These might be the only two in which order does matter.

 

 

Non-fiction is always slower going for me.  Nonetheless I have assigned myself a chapter a day from The Voyage of the Beagle and have stuck with it. Even though I did not recognize the scientific name Rhynchops nigra or the common name "scissor-beak", I knew exactly what "extraordinary" bird Darwin was describing. 

 

 

 

It will be a while before I can get to it, but I appreciate the heads up. I usually prefer to read series books in order, but there have been a few times I started with a later book then went back and read the earlier ones. Harlan Coben's Myron Bolitar series comes to mind as one I read that way. 

 

Non-fiction is slower for me too, but I'm finding Beagle to be much more readable than I expected. When I tried to read Origin of the Species it was so dry, at least at the beginning, that I think that's why I haven't been able to finish. If Darwin had written it the way he wrote Beagle it would be so much easier to read. I was reading his description of the cabbage palm and found it interesting to "see" such a familiar tree through the eyes of someone seeing it for the first time (and finding it exotic). It's Florida's and South Carolina's state tree and is quite common. We call it the Sabal Palm - I'm not sure why but maybe because it's just a nicer sounding name than cabbage palm. ;)

 

If I want to buy a book I will usually get the hard copy. I like to have something solid in my hands if I give out money. The exception is if the book is not available as a hard copy. I absolutely refuse to buy cookbooks as ebooks now. I made that mistake. I hate looking at recipes on my kindle or computer

 

Cookbooks were my holdouts until I got my tablet. I love browsing through a cookbook on a tablet. I can't imagine ever wanting to read one on an e-ink Kindle.

 

I loved The Age of Innocence!  And I think I liked The House of Mirth, which I believe I read in college.   I should add more of Edith's books to my list.

 

My big excitement is finishing Anna Karenina. I'm so glad I read it.  I had really had a poor idea of what it was about, and had never gotten far enough in it to understand.  I really feel a kinship with Levin in so many ways.  I just love him, even when he seems very dull.  :-)

 

 

 

I loved The Age of Innocence but haven't read The House of Mirth. I'm hoping to get to it sometime before April ends. 

 

Congratulations on finishing Anna Karenina! It ended up being one of my all time favorite books (I started a top 100 list for myself on Goodreads and that was one of the first books I put on the list.

Lol. It's hardly a promotion. It's more like "Hey Susan, want some help with the Korean spam? I'm usually online when they hit." Maybe it's a demotion and 'moderator' is a polite word for 'dogsbody?'  :huh:

 

 

I've been mostly flat on my back since Friday, because I can't get to the chiropractor until this afternoon. I've had to swap my big, heavy, hardcover bee keeping book for more Terry Pratchett. I've not read 'Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents' before. It may not be his best ever, but it's fun. :)

 

I really, really, want to like that first part of your post, just when your like buttons disappeared. Consider it liked. :D

 

I hope the chiro helped your back. 

 

Well, I was quarantined for a couple of days last week when everyone came down with a stomach virus and we were trying to keep the baby away from it.

 

Now I am about halfway through The Rosie Project, because I needed something light.  

 

I'm not sure how much reading I'll get done this week, though, because now I have a cold or flu. I guess we had two separate things going around the house at the same time. It's a bit worrisome because we are supposed to keep the baby away from germs, and yet our house seems to be the most dangerous place. It's our other kids who should be living in a bubble right now, not her!

 

 

 

 

Ugh! Sorry about the sicknesses floating around even if it does give you more time to read. Not the kind of trade-off anyone likes. :(

 

I thought The Rosie Project was a fun, light, story. 

 

I'm off to read and go to bed. Will update my own reading progress tomorrow.

[Kareni]

...I thought February was unpleasant, March was stressful. Apparently I hadn't imagined that April could actually be more, and really, it's not even anything terrible or that bad. It's just too much while down with migraines half the week. One of the kids tried to be helpful and go through all the Amulet graphic novels, sitting in my lap and explaining it all in loooong detail, so it wasn't an entirely book-free week at least.

 

I hope that migraine-free days are in your very near future along with stress-free days.

 

My adult daughter read the Amulet graphic novels while she was home from South Korea so clearly they have interest over a sizeable age range.

 

I'm in a similar boat. My life has been crazy & changing a lot in the past many months. 2016 is a huge year of change for me so far & I think that's just the tip of the iceberg for me this year. Just a humongous mixed bag of things.

 

I hope a goodly number of those changes will be positive, Stacia.

 

 I read another Guareschi, Don Camillo and His Flock...

 

 

*no rattlesnake encounters this year, so far

 

Glad to hear that you've been rattlesnake free thus far!  While visiting my mother, I read to her from the same Don Camillo books.  She heartily enjoyed the first four chapters when in our first reading stint.  In our second foray into the book, she fell asleep.  My sister always did say that I had a soporific voice!

 

I also finished 84, Charing Cross Road. This is a charming book of letters between a writer and the workers at a bookstore from which she orders books. They became long-distance friends in addition to merchants/customer. I imagine I'll try the sequel eventually, but my library doesn't have it, so not yet

 

I read both 84, Charing Cross Road and the sequel YEARS ago.  (We won't say how many.)  Did you know there is also a movie of the former starring Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins?

 

I've been mostly flat on my back since Friday, because I can't get to the chiropractor until this afternoon. I've had to swap my big, heavy, hardcover bee keeping book for more Terry Pratchett. I've not read 'Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents' before. It may not be his best ever, but it's fun. :)

 

I hope your back is soon better, Rosie.

 

 

Well, I was quarantined for a couple of days last week when everyone came down with a stomach virus and we were trying to keep the baby away from it.

 

Stay/keep well, Angela. 

 

Aren't we a healthy bunch?

 

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

This afternoon I finished Anne Bishop's Marked In Flesh: A Novel of the Others.  This is the fourth book in the series, and now I'm wondering if there are more to come.  Ahh, a little research found this page; so, yes, a fifth book is forthcoming.  It was also interesting to see the cover art of the books in different countries.  I enjoyed the book, but you'd definitely want to start with book one in the series.

 

Regards,
Kareni

[Momto4inSoCal]

For some reason I had 3 books from Samuel Blumenfeld on hold at the library. I returned How to Tutor. I thought it was a book with tips on tutoring and since I consider homeschooling closer to tutoring than teaching I thought it would be helpful but it was mostly lesson plans in each subject. I did read his book on homeschooling but I found it outdated and I disagreed with him on several points. I loved "Is Public Education Necessary" though. I am currently reading "Left Back: a Century of Battles Over School Reform". I think subconsciously I don't want to read it because I keep misplacing it lol. It is very informative so far and is really helping me understand education in the 20th century. One thought that keeps coming to my mind reading all these books is regardless of the debate on things we've done wrong in education we have made so many advancements in the last century. You really can't say all of that just happened. We have to have some stuff right in education even if it's not all right. You can't throw the baby out with the bath water so to speak. I only got 20 pages into Voyage of the Beagle before putting it to the side. I am too focused on trying to figure out my educational beliefs. I think once I nail that down I can expand my reading list.

Edited April 11, 2016 by Momto4inSoCal

[Loesje22000]

Last week I read:

http://www.amazon.com/Spark-exercise-improve-performance-brain-ebook/dp/B009S8HE2C/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1460356033&sr=1-1&keywords=Spark+Ratey

 

And now we are trying to move more as a family.

So far my body doesn't say 'thank you!' nor I got a marvellous functioning brain.

Dd likes the walks and exercises and doesn't understand why I have muscular pain...

[Just Robyn]

I read both 84, Charing Cross Road and the sequel YEARS ago.  (We won't say how many.)  Did you know there is also a movie of the former starring Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins?

 

 

Yes! I haven't watched it yet, though. I'm afraid I'll pay the $2 to rent it, then just fall asleep, as I pretty much always do when I try to watch a movie at home. Maybe if I get myself sugared up first...

[Ethel Mertz]

Lol. It's hardly a promotion. It's more like "Hey Susan, want some help with the Korean spam? I'm usually online when they hit." Maybe it's a demotion and 'moderator' is a polite word for 'dogsbody?'  :huh:

 

 

I've been mostly flat on my back since Friday, because I can't get to the chiropractor until this afternoon. I've had to swap my big, heavy, hardcover bee keeping book for more Terry Pratchett. I've not read 'Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents' before. It may not be his best ever, but it's fun. :)

 

Rosie - You are too, too funny! As I've said before, having you in a different time zone is an enormous help with the Korean (and now Chinese as well) spam. Hope your back feels better soon!

[mumto2]

Rosie, I also want to thank you for you new moderator role. I suspect I am one of the people who will benefit from your work the most. I hope your visit to the chiro has brought some relief! :grouphug:

 

Now to my Countryhouse loving friends.....I just signed up for thishttps://www.futurelearn.com/courses/country-house-literaturecourse on futurelearn (it is the UK's version of Coursera and very popular among the home ed people). Not sure how much of the reading I will actually do but am looking forward to the videos. The course description one was filmed at some of the country houses I know best Brodsworth Hall and Hardwick mainly. I also signed up for the Shakespeare one starting next week......

[Kareni]

For those who like fashion and coloring books,

Introducing the First-Ever Vogue Coloring Book

 

**

 

I read this enjoyable post on urban fantasy author Barb Taub (with whom I'm totally unfamiliar) ~

Weekly Feature: Round Trip Fare by Barb Taub

 

Becoming interested in sampling her writing, I found that her first book in the Null City series is currently free to Kindle readers:

 

 

One Way Fare (Null City Book 1) by Barb Taub and Hannah Taub

 

"Superpowers suck. If you just want to live a normal life, Null City is only a Metro ride away. After one day there, imps become baristas, and hellhounds become poodles. Demons settle down, become parents, join the PTA, and worry about their taxes.

Null City is the only sanctuary for Gaby Parker and Leila Rice, two young women confronting cataclysmic forces waging an unseen war between Heaven and Hell. Gaby and her younger brother and sister are already targets in the war that cost their parents' lives. Should they forsake the powers that complete their souls and flee to Null City? Meanwhile, Leila has inherited a French chateau, a mysterious legacy, and a prophecy that she will end the world. Gaby and Leila become catalysts for the founding and survival of Null City. 

 

It just would have been nice if someone told them the angels were all on the other side."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[JennW in SoCal]

I finished Sue Grafton's X, the first title in her series where the letter isn't followed by "is for _________".  Yet another good entry in the series, and it is still set the late 1980s with telephone books, and microfiche, and card catalogs, and answering machines with a few people starting to have home computers.  I love her private detective, love that the books aren't formulaic murder whodunnits, but run the gamut of insurance fraud and missing persons and sometimes murder, with each entry sprinkled with a great cast of criminal characters.

 

Still listening to the outstanding novelization of Hamlet, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. I am bemused by all the background being added to each character, background that is making me wonder how much nuance I've missed in the play and how much is the author's poetic license and vivid imagination.  I'm going to have to read visit the play and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, too.  I've got a long commute for a show I'm in, but since I'm carpooling I'm losing out on that listening time!!

 

By the way, where is Eliana these days? Has anyone checked in with her?

 

 

[NoseInABook]

(((CaladwenEleniel))) Migraines are the worst.

 

Angela, hope that health finds its way to you and your home quickly!

 

I've noticed Eliana is missing too... hope all is well. 

 

I'm almost halfway through Angelmaker and thoroughly enjoying the character of Edie. Joe is meh for me but Edie is a blast.

 

I read Written In Red yesterday and it was really good. I'm not used to werewolves actually feeling slightly scary... so it's interesting to see what Anne Bishop is doing with this  and exploring her own world. 

 

I just put Fire Touched and two of the Others series in hold. Stinky library only lets us put 3 on hold at once or I'd have put Marked In Flesh on hold too... If only that were our "home" library. It has the most selection and is easiest to get to as the husband works right next door and I send him to fetch reading material for me! 

 

[Rosie_0801]

Rosie, I also want to thank you for you new moderator role. I suspect I am one of the people who will benefit from your work the most. 

 

Yeah! You're always one of the last standing when I'm heading for bed. :)

[Mom-ninja.]

Last week I read:

http://www.amazon.com/Spark-exercise-improve-performance-brain-ebook/dp/B009S8HE2C/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1460356033&sr=1-1&keywords=Spark+Ratey

 

And now we are trying to move more as a family.

So far my body doesn't say 'thank you!' nor I got a marvellous functioning brain.

Dd likes the walks and exercises and doesn't understand why I have muscular pain...

Thanks for this. I try to read at least one exercise book a year, and I was wondering what this year's book should be. 

[Butter]

I tested my middle son tonight (DORA).  He's 9, 4th grade.  His reading comprehension is now late 11th grade level and his lexile level is 1200.  This is quite a jump from last year.  Last year his reading comprehension was late 7th grade and lexile was 850.  For the last year all he's done for literature in school is read some of the passages in Writing With Ease 3 are taken from (so far this year: Homer Price by Robert McCloskey, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis, The Moffats by Eleanor Estes, Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery, The Black Stallion by Walter Farley, and King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green).  He has read every Diary of a Wimpy Kid book at least a dozen times.  He's almost done Chamber of Secrets and he's read the first Artemis Fowl book.  He's read random other books and I still read to him every day.  And somehow his reading has just improved naturally... by reading.

 

His response to what his results were was to ask if he could read The Hobbit now lol

[Loesje22000]

Thanks for this. I try to read at least one exercise book a year, and I was wondering what this year's book should be.

You're welcome!

 

The book itself doesn't contain exercises but discuss / proofs the chemistry of moving for your brains.

We increased our moving to a short activity before breakfast, a walk after lunch, and a dvd workout in the evening. So far it seems to work well for dh & dd. They do the more complex tasks close after the moving now and seem to have more energy.

[Negin]

I think I read absolutely nothing last week. It was such a week that I don't even remember. I just know I certainly didn't finish any books. And given the way things went today, the rest of this week isn't promising. I

:grouphug:  :grouphug:   :grouphug:

 

I hope that things ease up soon and that your migraines go away. 

 

I'm in a similar boat. My life has been crazy & changing a lot in the past many months. 2016 is a huge year of change for me so far & I think that's just the tip of the iceberg for me this year. Just a humongous mixed bag of things.

:grouphug:   :grouphug:   :grouphug:

 

Thinking of you lots dear Stacia and hope that life becomes less stressful and more enjoyable very soon. 

Edited April 12, 2016 by Negin

[Chrysalis Academy]

I finished Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food. It served the purpose I read it for, so I really appreciated it.  It addressed most of my issues of concern with GE in a very scientific, sensitive, even-handed way. I could relate to Pam, the author, who is a plant geneticist at UC Davis married to an organic farmer and active in the sustainable farming community. She handles people's concerns with dignity, tact, and respect.  If you have an interest in this subject or live in a place where GE bans are under discussion (or already exist, like Marin County or Europe!), I highly recommend this book.

Edited April 12, 2016 by Chrysalis Academy

[Maus]

I've fallen behind.  Ebbs and flows in life, but might be a "good" thing, because it means I haven't sat in as many doctor's waiting rooms this last month! 

 

 

12. "Writing From Personal Experience" by Nancy Davidoff Kelton.

 

11. "Writing the Memoir" by Judith Barrington.

 

10.  "Boys Adrift" by Leonard Sax.

9. "Girls on the Edge" by Leonard Sax.  

8. "Christ and the Inner Life" by Truman G. Madsen. (LDS)  

7. "Gaze into Heaven" by Marlene Bateman Sullivan. (LDS)

6. "To Heaven and Back" by Mary C. Neal, MD.

5. "When Will the Heaven Begin?" by Ally Breedlove.

4. "Four" by Virginia Roth.

3. "Allegiant" by Virgina Roth.

2. " Insurgent" by Virginia Roth.

1. "Divergent" by Virginia Roth.

[Lady Florida.]

Hugs to all of our BaWers who are not feeling well, either physically or emotionally.  :grouphug:

[Kareni]

Yesterday I read an enjoyable contemporary novel; it won't be for all readers here as it does have adult content.  It has a bit of everything -- life, death, growth, seeking forgiveness, and humor.  It was a rare read in that it had me wondering how the situation would resolve itself for the main characters; it's quite likely a book that I'll re-read at some point.  I also see that it's book one in a series; I'm wondering if book two will deal with these characters or different ones.

 

Rock N Soul by Lauren Sattersby

 

"I’m Tyler Lindsey, and until recently, I had an okay apartment, an okay girlfriend, and an okay job as a bellboy at a respectable Boston hotel. Then rock star Chris Raiden died right before I brought his room service—stiffing me on the tip, by the way—and my life went to hell. My fifteen minutes of fame was more like five seconds, and my girlfriend left me in disgust.

 

But even worse—Chris is haunting me. Not the room where he died, like a normal ghost. No, somehow he’s stuck to me and is insisting on taking care of a bunch of unfinished business in California. So now I have to traipse across the country with the world’s most narcissistic ghost.

 

But . . . I keep having these weird thoughts. Thoughts about how much I like the way he makes me laugh. Thoughts where I kind of want to kiss the emo-narcissist, even though he’s a ghost and an asshole and I can’t touch him anyway. And even if I could, what will happen when he finishes his business and nothing’s keeping him here anymore?"

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Stacia]

Angela, hope you feel better quickly & that your wee one avoids illness altogether.

 

Maus, always good to see you when you pop in. Glad to hear there has been less time spent in dr. waiting rooms lately!

 

Heather, how are you doing? And how's your dad?

 

Mumto2, how's your mom?

 

Kareni, how's your mom?

 

VC, wishing you rattlesnake-free days in the desert. <shudder>.

 

Eliana & Pam, where are you??? Missing seeing you here & hoping all is well.

 

Huzzah for our BaW dogsbodies Ethel Mertz & Rosie. I guess we could make up some Korean spam since we don't have a "like" button for either of you. ;-)

 

My dad is having surgery for prostate cancer tomorrow, so any good thoughts or prayers you want to send his way would be most appreciated! Thanks!