Book a Week 2016 - BW16: following in the hms beagle's wake

[NoseInABook]

I abandoned my first book of 2016. Sorry, Stacia! I couldn't make it through Angelmaker. I wanted to love it. The story seemed like it should be fabulous but about 250 pages in, I wanted to kick the author in the teeth and gave it up. Ugh. The writing style just bugged the snot out of me and can't even pinpoint WHY. I did like Edie quite a bit but Joe made my skin crawl a bit.

 

Almost finished with Anne Bishop's Murder Of Crows. I have the 3rd and 4th in The Others series waiting as well as the latest Patricia Briggs. 

Edited April 19, 2016 by NoseInABook

[Stacia]

Oh, well, NoseInABook. I totally understand that books appeal to such individual tastes. Sorry that it didn't hit the spot for you. I think Edie was a hoot!

 

Hey, everyone, it looks like the Pulitzer Prize winners were announced:

http://www.powells.com/awards/pulitzer-prize?utm_source=specials&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=spec_pulitzer_2016&utm_content=Browse%20Titles

 

I know Jenn read the Barbarian Days book (winner for bio/autobio).

[Kareni]

Last night I read a novella by Shay Savage; it was quite unlike her novel Transcendence which I enjoyed reading some time ago.  I don't think this is a work I'll re-read; I wanted more of a happy ending than the story provided.  (Adult content)

 

Worth  by Shay Savage

 

"Lucius Aurelius Faustus is the Tribunus over Caesar’s legions in the west, fighting against the Gauls. He’s harsh, unforgiving, strategic, and deadly on the battlefield. When an enemy’s sword pierces his side, he must retreat to Mediolanum to have the wound treated. Once the medicus has done all he can, he commands Aia, a slave woman, to watch over Tribunus Faustus as he heals. As Faustus appraises the beautiful young woman, he knows she’ll be tending to more than just his wound.

 

To distract him from the pain, Aia regales him with stories of her childhood as a slave, and Faustus finds himself strangely drawn to her. When he demands further distraction, she obliges without question as a slave must. Her gentle ministrations command the attention of the Tribunus, and as he learns more of her, he sees her without the veiled eye with which a master views a servant.

Aia is only a slave, her value measured by nothing but a pair of coins. Another man already owns her, and she is far beneath one who commands Emperor Caesar’s armies. Regardless, Faustus finds her warm touch and genuine concern for his healing intriguing, and his inexplicable attraction for her deepens.

 

A man of his station can never acknowledge feelings for a slave, but during their time together, Faustus begins to understand her true worth."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Onceuponatime]

Last night I had this epiphany: Stoppard answered Beckett's question. What are we doing here? "The play's the thing." You know..."All the world's a stage, the men and women merely players." In the vernacular of the sixties, " Get with the program dude, that Shakespeare cat had it all figured out long before you arrived on the scene. Plus, he can run rings around you."

 

Ahem. Moving on. Finally.

 

I found an intriguing paperback in the thrift store this week, Murder on Safari by Elspeth Huxley. Apparently, It is the 2nd in a short series. My library has the 3rd, but not the first. I'm going to read it anyway. On the first page I had to look something up. Did you know there is a brand of cigarettes called DuMauriers, named after Daphne's father? Also, I have a new pet peeve, reviewers on Amazon and Goodreads who complain that a book written 80 years ago is "dated." Duh.

[Rosyl]

We have had a lot of sunshine this week and i have spent alot of time outside reading at soccer practice.  With taxes done, next year mostly planned, I need some relaxing reading time.

 

21.  Love Letters by Beverly Lewis 

22. A Wish on Gardenia Street by Shelley Shepard Gray

 

I am also listening to Ethan Frome with my oldest boys.  What they like is so different from me.  I tried to find some short classics that they would enjoy this year.  They read Frankenstein, Dorian Gray, Doctor Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, Fahrenheit 411 and O' Pioneers.  They both disliked them all.  I would try to do better next year, but I think they just dislike reading assigned books.  Maybe I'll just give them a book list.

 

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

 

20.  The Atonement by Beverly Lewis

19.  Big Girl Panties By Stephanie Evanovich

18.  Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold by Ellen O'Connell and a brief sequel called Rachel's Eyes.

17  Trolley Car Days by Ruth Kane 

16.  The Triumph of Wm. McKinley by Karl Rove    

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

Edited April 19, 2016 by Rosyl

[Mom-ninja.]

Would you mind to tell a bit more about Candide?

And what made you like it?

It is still on my to read list for dd's French Literature list.

But I read last year so many French books that I gave my self a break.

 

I enjoyed his satire. Nothing is safe from his critique: slavery, misogyny, class system, war, materialism, friendship, love, and religion.  He even makes fun of himself as a philosopher. He had a biting tongue for his day, and it allows us to know that there were people in his times who questioned what was considered the normal state of society and accepted it as such. I've not read anything else of his and now I do.   

[Loesje22000]

I enjoyed his satire. Nothing is safe from his critique: slavery, misogyny, class system, war, materialism, friendship, love, and religion. He even makes fun of himself as a philosopher. He had a biting tongue for his day, and it allows us to know that there were people in his times who questioned what was considered the normal state of society and accepted it as such. I've not read anything else of his and now I do.

Thank you for the vividly description!

[The Governess]

I finished Why Read? by Mark Edmundson this week.  I thought this book started off sooooo well.  I was underlining quote after quote, nodding my head in agreement on every page.  I share Edmundson's belief that we should value books not by their ability to stand up to scholarly literary criticism, but by the answers to questions such as: Is what the author is saying true?  Can I live it?  What would living this truth look like?  Does the truth communicated through this book expand me as a person in some way?  This has always been what I absolutely *love* about fiction: it's ability to transform and enlighten. 

 

However, he lost me in the last half of the book.  After making the above point so well, he just kind of rambled for the rest of the book, and ended it with a vague idea of fiction replacing religion.  I ended up finishing it but it was kind of anti-climactic. 

 

I'll leave you with a couple quotes:

 

"What's missing from the current dispensation is a sense of hope when we confront major works, the hope that they will tell us something we do not know about the world or give us an entirely fresh way to apprehend experience.  We need to learn not simply to read books, but to allow ourselves to be read by them."

 

"Proust speaks with the kind of clarity that is peculiarly his about what he hopes his work will achieve.  In particular, he reflects on the relation he wants to strike with his readers.  'It seemed to me,' he observes, 'that they would not be 'my' readers but readers of their own selves, my book being merely a sort of magnifying glass like those which the optician at Combray used to offer his customers - it would be my book but with it I would furnish them the means of reading what lay inside themselves.  So that I would not ask them to praise me or to censure me, but simply to tell me whether 'it really is like that.' I should ask whether the words that they read within themselves are the same as those which I have written.'"

[Kareni]

This evening I finished the book group book that we'll be discussing later this week.  I enjoyed it and found it an easy read.  The main character is a young teen when the story starts and about nineteen at story's end.  At times, the book had a young adult vibe but with sex and fairytales as I mentioned to a friend while reading it.

 

The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani

 

Hmm, I see the cover art is different on the paperback version.  If you'd like to see the cover on my library copy, click on hardcover.

 

From Publishers Weekly

 

"In Iranian-American Amirrezvani's lushly orchestrated debut, a comet signals misfortune to the remote 17th-century Persian village where the nameless narrator lives modestly but happily with her parents, both of whom expect to see the 14-year-old married within the year. Her fascination with rug making is a pastime they indulge only for the interim, but her father's untimely death prompts the girl to travel with her mother to the city of Isfahan, where the two live as servants in the opulent home of an uncle—a wealthy rug maker to the Shah. The only marriage proposal now in the offing is a three-month renewable contract with the son of a horse trader. Teetering on poverty and shame, the girl weaves fantasies for her temporary husband's pleasure and exchanges tales with her beleaguered mother until, having mastered the art of making and selling carpets under her uncle's tutelage, she undertakes to free her mother and herself. With journalistic clarity, Amirrezvani describes how to make a carpet knot by knot, and then sell it negotiation by negotiation, guiding readers through workshops and bazaars. Sumptuous imagery and a modern sensibility (despite a preponderance of flowery language and schematic female bonding and male bullying) make this a winning debut." (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

These fantasy books are currently free to Kindle readers and sound intriguing ~

 

A Feral Darkness by Doranna Durgin

 

"As a child, dog-loving Brenna Fallon naívely invokes an ancient Celtic deity to save her beloved hound--and inadvertently anchors the new-found power at a spring on her family's farm.

She doesn't know she's also left an opening for a far more malevolent force.

Years later, thanks to the actions of several angry young men, Brenna discovers the terrible potential of that gateway. With a devastating plague unfolding abruptly around her, she must depend on her wits, a stranger she doesn't trust, and a mysterious stray dog who becomes more than just a faithful companion as she struggles to drive back the threat of a modern Black Death.

Welded by a desperate sacrifice, woman, man, and dog face the feral darkness together."

 

***

 

Date Night on Union Station by E. M. Foner

 

"Kelly Frank is EarthCent's top diplomat on Union Station, but her job description has always been a bit vague. The pay is horrible and she's in hock up to her ears for her furniture, which is likely to end up in a corridor because she's behind on rent for her room. Sometimes she has to wonder if the career she has put ahead of her personal life for fifteen years is worth it.

When Kelly receives a gift subscription to the dating service that's rumored to be powered by the same benevolent artificial intelligence that runs the huge station, she decides to swallow her pride and give it a shot. But as her dates go from bad to worse, she can only hope that the supposedly omniscient AI is planning a happy ending."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[aggieamy]

 

I finished reading The Giver 

 

 

Had you read it before?  Last month I read it for the first time and was a little blown away by it being a children's book.  There is so much depth and so many things to think about in that story. 

 

 

 

Waiting Game and Pickpocket's Apprentice: A John Pickett Novella  both by Sherri Cobb South.

 

 

Her John PIckett series is a great cozy read.  I was just lucky enough to get an ARC of her latest book and it was just as good as the previous books!

 

Maturin has something of a following in Trad Catholic circles. In one of my own favorite moments, he looks at a rope bridge swinging high over a mountain gorge and wonders if one would have time to recite an Act of Faith on the way down; I calculated you'd need the bridge to be a little more than 1000 feet high, with air resistance providing some extra time for screaming.

 

 

Now that is a physics problem I'll have to pass on to my kids when they get to be that age. 

 

I've been immersed with my new favorite veterinary surgeon, Mr. James Herriot for the past few weeks. The first 3 books were on sale for kindle and I've been reading and reading. The 3rd is not my favorite, I feel as if he's trying a bit too hard to tie in his time with the RAF to his past veterinary escapades. I've had enough of chapters that start with "this reminds me of the time when...." but I am still enchanted and planning on finishing the series, so Mr. Herriot and I will be spending the next week together at least - looks like there are two more books. :-) 

 

Hello and welcome to party.  I adore James Herriot ever since I read his Treasury of Stories aloud to DD when she was six.  His writing just takes me to a different time and place.  It's like time traveling.  I'm sure it's white washed time traveling but it's so wonderful I don't care!

[aggieamy]

Just finished A Civil Contract by Georgette Heyer.  This is a different type of romance than her normal ones.  Our couple is an arranged married and the story is just a wonderful mature telling of two people falling in love and growing together.  It's a divisive book - it seems people either love it or hate it.  I'm firmly in the LOVE it category. 

 

Now I have to decide what to listen to next ...

[Chrysalis Academy]

Just finished A Civil Contract by Georgette Heyer.  This is a different type of romance than her normal ones.  Our couple is an arranged married and the story is just a wonderful mature telling of two people falling in love and growing together.  It's a divisive book - it seems people either love it or hate it.  I'm firmly in the LOVE it category. 

 

Now I have to decide what to listen to next ...

 

 I love that one too!

[Stacia]

I meant to post something re: one of Amy's posts last week (re: Marie Kondo's tidying book)...

One of the biggest things I didn't like about first book is that there was lots of discussion like "be sure to thank your socks for good days work when you neatly fold them and put them away at night".  It was too much for me.

 

Oh I still wish we could post photos!  :svengo:  My comment will not have the same impact with just posting a link. But I must....

 

Amy, look here.

 

Now, aren't those socks you would thank for their hard work? :toetap05: I mean, seriously, they are working hard to help the man maintain his look. You know they need thanking.

 

:D

 

And, just to continue my Amy-centered post, as I'm reading Shades of Grey (which Kathy thinks may be weird, lol), I know full well that there is little overlap between Amy's & my reading. Yet, every single page of this book so far, I just keep thinking, "Amy!". There's just such British politeness & tea & sconery-ness to all of it (albeit in an extremely weird setting & storyline) that I really have to wonder if Amy would read this book. Realistically, Amy, you might hate it, but I can't help but think of you for the sheer Britishness of it all. (Mumto2, have you read this one yet?)

 

From Booklist:

*Starred Review* In Eddie Russett’s world, color is destiny. People’s perceptions of color, once tested, determine their rank in the Colortocracy, with primes ruling “bastard†colors and everyone lording it over the prole-like grays. No one can see more than their own color, and no one knows why—but there are many unknowns ever since Something Happened, followed by the deFacting and successive Great Leaps Backward. Due to an infraction against the Collective’s rule-bound bureaucracy, Eddie is sent to East Carmine, in the Outer Fringes, where manners are shockingly poor, to conduct a monthlong chair census. In short order, he falls in love, runs afoul of the local prefects, learns a terrible secret, and is eaten by a carnivorous tree. This series starter combines the dire warnings of Brave New World and 1984 with the deevolutionary visions of A Canticle for Leibowitz and Riddley Walker, but, Fforde being Fforde, his dystopia includes an abundance of tea shops and a severe shortage of jam varieties. It’s all brilliantly original. If his complex world building sometimes slows the plot and the balance of silly and serious is uneasy, we’re still completely won over. In our own willful myopia, we sorely need the laughs.

 

Also, I've started Beryl Markham's West with the Night because I left my library book (Shades of Grey) at my parents' house by accident for a few days. Ernest Hemingway wrote a glowing review of it in a letter to his friend Maxwell Perkins...

 "Did you read Beryl Markham's book, West with the Night? I knew her fairly well in Africa and never would have suspected that she could and would put pen to paper except to write in her flyer's log book. As it is, she has written so well, and marvelously well, that I was completely ashamed of myself as a writer. I felt that I was simply a carpenter with words, picking up whatever was furnished on the job and nailing them together and sometimes making an okay pig pen. But [she] can write rings around all of us who consider ourselves writers. The only parts of it that I know about personally, on account of having been there at the time and heard the other people's stories, are absolutely true . . . I wish you would get it and read it because it is really a bloody wonderful book."

 

And I've got to agree with Hemingway here. So far, her book *is* a bloody wonderful book. I love it.

 

Edited April 22, 2016 by Stacia

[mumto2]

Likes aren't working for me, so consider everyone liked.

 

I finished Harlan Coben's Fool Me Oncehttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26109394-fool-me-once this afternoon. Not sure if Kathy or anyond else has read it yet. I am curious about how others who normally read his books feel about this one. The ending felt abrupt to me, it probably had to be....anyway not my favourite of his books.

 

Eta, My likes just reappeared. Weird.

Edited April 20, 2016 by mumto2

[mumto2]

And, just to continue my Amy-centered post, as I'm reading Shades of Grey (which Kathy thinks may be weird, lol), I know full well that there is little overlap between Amy's & my reading. Yet, every single page of this book so far, I just keep thinking, "Amy!". There's just such British politeness & tea & sconery-ness to all of it (albeit in an extremely weird setting & storyline) that I really have to wonder if Amy would read this book. Realistically, Amy, you might hate it, but I can't help think of you for the sheer Britishness of it all. (Mumto2, have you read this one yet?)

 

 

I haven't. I thought about it but the title was just too similar to another book that was a bit eye burning for me! Somehow it scared me. Looking forward to your review. Can I read it without rereading Brave new world? I reread 1984 a few years ago so if it's not too detailed.

[Lady Florida.]

 

I finished Harlan Coben's Fool Me Oncehttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26109394-fool-me-once this afternoon. Not sure if Kathy or anyond else has read it yet. I am curious about how others who normally read his books feel about this one. The ending felt abrupt to me, it probably had to be....anyway not my favourite of his books.

 

 

 

I've never read any of his stand-alone books though I often meant to. I've read all of the Myron Bolitar books and one or two Mickey Bolitar.

[Butter]

Book #39: Dread Mountain by Emily Rodda.  That's the fifth Deltora Quest book.  I am sad knowing there are only 3 more left of the original series.  I just love Lief, Barda, and Jasmine so much.

[Kareni]

I've recently finished a couple of books -- the first below is new to me, the other is a re-read.

 

 

Motel. Pool. by Kim Fielding

 

I enjoyed this romance which features a ghost.  The two main characters are men, and there is adult content. 

 

"In the mid-1950s, Jack Dayton flees his working-class prospects in Omaha and heads to Hollywood, convinced he’ll be the next James Dean. But sleazy casting couches don't earn him stardom, and despair leads to a series of poor decisions that ultimately find him at a cheap motel off Route 66, lifeless at the bottom of the pool.

Sixty years later, Tag Manning, feeling hopeless and empty, flees his most recent relationship mistake and takes to the open road. On a roundabout route to Las Vegas, he pulls over to rest at an isolated spot on Route 66. There’s no longer a motel or pool, but when Tag resumes his journey to Vegas, he finds he’s transporting a hitchhiking ghost. Jack and Tag come to find much-needed friends in each other, but one man is a phantom and the other is strangely cursed. Time is running out for each of them, and they must face the fact that a future together may not only be a gamble... it may not be in the cards."

 

**

 

And I re-read a favorite historical romance; this one has adult content, also. 

 

The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley

 

From Booklist

 

"Beth Ackerley knows Lord Ian Mackenzie is mad. Only a madman would give a woman he had never met before a letter warning her not to wed her fiancé and then propose to her. Beth knows Ian is bad for her. One kiss from Ian, and Beth is prepared to give up her quiet new life as a widow and indulge in a scandalous affair with the sexy Scottish nobleman. But Beth knows that Ian is not dangerous. Even if everyone else in society might believe he is connected to the murder of two different women, Beth believes Ian is innocent, even if it means risking her life to prove her faith in him. Ever-versatile Ashley begins her new Victorian Highland Pleasures series with a deliciously dark and delectably sexy story of love and romantic redemption that will captivate readers with its complex characters and suspenseful plot." --John Charles

 

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

 

[Onceuponatime]

I don't know if you all have seen this, it came through my Facebook feed this morning: Problems only book lovers would understand, with Levar Burton.

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sl-Z_HA3q4A

Edited April 21, 2016 by Onceuponatime

[PrairieSong]

Hi! I participated in these threads in January and then sort of dropped out. We've been dealing with our family business. I'm behind in my reading. Some of my recent reads include: Emma, 1984 (re-read because my son read it), A Wizard of Earthsea, Little Princes by Conor Grennan, Ancillary Justice, He Leadeth Me, and Pride and Prejudice. A couple others I didn't finish yet are The Age of Innocence and An Unquiet Mind. The latter is an autobiographical book about bipolar disorder, given to me by someone very close to me so I will be able to understand her better. It breaks my heart to read the notes she wrote in the margin. "I feel like I am reading about myself". :-( I will definitely be finishing that one.

 

Currently my son is reading Cry, the Beloved Country. I will be reading that one, too, and am now halfway through Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. What an odd book. The writing is choppy, particularly so since I just finished Pride and Prejudice! I also don't understand why he brings aliens into a story about the horrors of World War II. It's a quick read though. I will likely finish it today. Hopefully he will tie things together, or maybe I will discover that Billy Pilgrim is on an acid trip.

 

I love reading the BAW threads even though I don't post much. Such food for thought! I try not to be too intimidated.

[Ali in OR]

Stayed up until 11:45 last night finishing Anne Bishop's Vision in Silver which I checked out Monday. 400 pages in 2 days is well beyond my usual rate! And when I updated my 2016 reading list I realized I've hit the halfway point for 52 books, so I thought I would post it thus far.

 

1.     The Book of Speculation-Erika Swyler

2.     Why Kings Confess-C.S. Harris

3.     Who Buries the Dead-C.S. Harris

4.     A Moveable Feast-Ernest Hemingway

5.     Everything I Never Told You-Celeste Ng

6.     The Other Daughter-Lauren Willig

7.     Hamlet-William Shakespeare

8.     Homeward Bound-Emily Matchar

9.     Flight of the Sparrow-Amy Belding Brown

10.  Dying in the Wool-Frances Brody

11.  Berween the World and Me-Ta-Nehisi Coates

12.  A Room with a View-E.M. Forster

13.  Mansfield Park-Jane Austen

14.  Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day-Winifred Watson

15.  The New Jim Crow-Michelle Alexander

16.  A Medal for Murder-Frances Brody

17.  Hogfather-Terry Pratchett

18.  When Falcons Fall-C.S. Harris

19.  Johnny Tremain-Esther Forbes

20.  Written in Red-Anne Bishop

21.  Marked in Flesh-Anne Bishop

22.  The Skull Beneath the Skin-P.D. James

23.  The Anatomist’s Wife-Anna Lee Huber

24.  The Eight-Katherine Neville

25.  And Only to Deceive-Tasha Alexander

26.  Vision in Silver-Anne Bishop

[Jane in NC]

Hi everyone!

 

I have returned home from a trip to the Shenandoah.  We had some quality time with The Boy--who in excellent well trained, homeschooled fashion, donned his hiking kilt for a walk in the woods with his mom.

 

 

We spent three nights at the Skyland Lodge in the national park, then one night at a B&B in Staunton, home of the American Shakespeare Center.  This was the second time we have seen a play there, an experience I heartily recommend.  The theatre is a re-creation of Blackfriars and uses universal lighting, i.e. the players can see the audience throughout the performance. This is true to Shakeseare's day. Few props, no scenery. The actors carry the day. We saw Julius Caesar--essentially what was being offered on the basis of the calendar.  I was hesitant because maybe a decade ago I saw an absolutely amazing production of JC by Royal Shakespeare that I felt it could not be topped.  Yet the experience was wonderful, both productions being different types of performances and interpretations.  What a great play to see in this political season! 

 

I'll post more photos later.

[mumto2]

Jane, Love the kilt and baseball cap! :lol: ;) Looking forward to more pictures. Glad you had fun on your adventure.

[Jane in NC]

More photos for you!

 

On our first morning in the Shenandoah, we hiked the Stony Man trail combined with a trek to the Little Stony Man summit. Here is Little Stony:

 

 

And the view with an oatmeal cookie:

 

 

When we departed on Wednesday, a part of Skyline Drive and twelve miles of the Appalachian Trail in the Southern part of the park were closed because of a forest fire. Unfortunately the situation there seems to be getting worse in terms of the acreage that is burning. Skyland, where we stayed and met up with The Boy, is about 25 miles from the fire.

 

Edited April 23, 2016 by Jane in NC

[aggieamy]

I meant to post something re: one of Amy's posts last week (re: Marie Kondo's tidying book)...

 

Oh I still wish we could post photos!  :svengo:  My comment will not have the same impact with just posting a link. But I must....

 

Amy, look here.

 

Now, aren't those socks you would thank for their hard work? :toetap05: I mean, seriously, they are working hard to help the man maintain his look. You know they need thanking.

 

 

Your post has me laughing out loud.  Literally with tears running down my face after I clicked the photo link.  *rowr*  Those are some lucky sock! 

 

How do I explain my laughing to my DH?!?!?  I don't think he's understand ...  :lol:

 

 

 

And, just to continue my Amy-centered post, as I'm reading Shades of Grey (which Kathy thinks may be weird, lol), I know full well that there is little overlap between Amy's & my reading. Yet, every single page of this book so far, I just keep thinking, "Amy!". There's just such British politeness & tea & sconery-ness to all of it (albeit in an extremely weird setting & storyline) that I really have to wonder if Amy would read this book. Realistically, Amy, you might hate it, but I can't help think of you for the sheer Britishness of it all. (Mumto2, have you read this one yet?)

 

 

Oh!  That is not the book I originally thought you were talking about.  You see the name sounded familiar and then I had a moment of shock ... "Surely not.  Surely dear Stacia is not recommending Fifty Shades of Grey to me ... oh wait.  Nope.  She actually isn't."

 

That books sounds wonderful.  I have added it to my to-read list. 

 

 

Hi everyone!

 

I have returned home from a trip to the Shenandoah.  We had some quality time with The Boy--who in excellent well trained, homeschooled fashion, donned his hiking kilt for a walk in the woods with his mom.

 

 

We spent three nights at the Skyland Lodge in the national park, then one night at a B&B in Staunton, home of the American Shakespeare Center.  This was the second time we have seen a play there, an experience I heartily recommend.  The theatre is a re-creation of Blackfriars and uses universal lighting, i.e. the players can see the audience throughout the performance. This is true to Shakeseare's day. Few props, no scenery. The actors carry the day. We saw Julius Caesar--essentially what was being offered on the basis of the calendar.  I was hesitant because maybe a decade ago I saw an absolutely amazing production of JC by Royal Shakespeare that I felt it could not be topped.  Yet the experience was wonderful, both productions being different types of performances and interpretations.  What a great play to see in this political season! 

 

I'll post more photos later.

 

Looks like a wonderful trip.  I hope my son and I have an awesome relationship like you and your son do when he gets older. 

[marbel]

Oh Jane - we love Staunton and the ASC!  We've been only twice but hoping to get there to see "The Importance of Being Earnest" this spring and making it an annual trip. Just love it. 

[Stacia]

Your post has me laughing out loud.  Literally with tears running down my face after I clicked the photo link.  *rowr*  Those are some lucky sock!

 

:lol: :thumbup1:  I feel like I have done my day's work by getting to you laugh so hard you cry!

 

And, now, go thank some socks already!

 

Oh!  That is not the book I originally thought you were talking about.  You see the name sounded familiar and then I had a moment of shock ... "Surely not.  Surely dear Stacia is not recommending Fifty Shades of Grey to me ... oh wait.  Nope.  She actually isn't."

 

That books sounds wonderful.  I have added it to my to-read list. 

 

While I've never read that 'other' book, I cannot ever see myself recommending it to anyone. I've hear the grammar is atrocious, for one thing. :tongue_smilie:  Plus, that's not my style of book anyway. So, rest easy. That recommendation will not be coming from me.

 

Jasper Fforde, on the other hand, does write my style books!

 

(Boy, I'm nervous now that you're actually considering a book I've recommended!)

Edited April 22, 2016 by Stacia

[Stacia]

Jane, love your travel photos & notes as always!!!

[Chrysalis Academy]

I finished The Ghost Brigades, sequel to The Old Man's War by John Scalzi. I'm really enjoying this series. In this installment, Scalzi creates a villain whose point of view is completely understandable while his actions are completely morally reprehensible. The series continues to explore questions of identity and what it means to be human. And the strengths and weaknesses of humanity. Very enjoyable, I'm glad there are 4 more books waiting in the wings!

 

I need a history read-along book suggestion: I know several of you read Marco Polo books last year - help me pick one?  I'm looking at In the Footsteps of Marco Polo - rated highly by our own Stacia and Eliana.  Is this the best one you guys read? Any other excellent options?  Thanks!

[Kareni]

My book group met last night and had a lively discussion on The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani.  It was an enjoyable read and also one that was quick.

 

 

 

From Publishers Weekly

 

"In Iranian-American Amirrezvani's lushly orchestrated debut, a comet signals misfortune to the remote 17th-century Persian village where the nameless narrator lives modestly but happily with her parents, both of whom expect to see the 14-year-old married within the year. Her fascination with rug making is a pastime they indulge only for the interim, but her father's untimely death prompts the girl to travel with her mother to the city of Isfahan, where the two live as servants in the opulent home of an uncle—a wealthy rug maker to the Shah. The only marriage proposal now in the offing is a three-month renewable contract with the son of a horse trader. Teetering on poverty and shame, the girl weaves fantasies for her temporary husband's pleasure and exchanges tales with her beleaguered mother until, having mastered the art of making and selling carpets under her uncle's tutelage, she undertakes to free her mother and herself. With journalistic clarity, Amirrezvani describes how to make a carpet knot by knot, and then sell it negotiation by negotiation, guiding readers through workshops and bazaars. Sumptuous imagery and a modern sensibility (despite a preponderance of flowery language and schematic female bonding and male bullying) make this a winning debut." (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

Jane, thanks for sharing your trip pictures and stories of your adventures.  I'm glad to hear that you all had a wonderful time.

 

**

 

I recently finished a historical romance set in the US in the latter 1800's; it was an enjoyable romance featuring new to me subjects such as the secret service and money counterfeiting.  The two main leads are men and there is adult content.

 

The Road to Silver Plume by Tamara Allen

 

"Secret Service operative Emlyn Strickland may be new to field work, but his talent for identifying counterfeit bank notes, honed over ten years at the Treasury, has given Sing Sing's population a respectable boost. When counterfeiter August McKee takes illegal advantage of a sinking silver market, his former confederate Darrow Gardiner shares that information with Agent Strickland so they can track down the once-friend who left Darrow to rot in prison.

Promised his freedom in return, Darrow's after something more. He wants possession of his best work, the flawless fifty dollar plates still in McKee's hands. And with a little maneuvering, he'll have the one thing a vengeful McKee may consider fair barter: the Secret Service operative whose testimony sent them both up the river.

It seems an objective within Darrow's reach after he rescues Emlyn from an assassin, earning a measure of his trust in the process. But on the cross-country journey in search of McKee, another attempt on their lives leaves operative and outlaw stranded miles from Denver, with no one to rely upon but each other. Beset by turncoat agents, angry miners, and the burgeoning threat of a wealthy and powerful McKee, Darrow and Emlyn discover that standing on opposite sides of the law doesn't safeguard them from the dangers of friendship--or a deeper attraction that may force Darrow to choose between the real and the counterfeit as he's never done before."

 

 

ETA: A different short work (about 40 pages) by the author is currently available free to Kindle readers if you'd like to sample the author's style. 

 

If It Ain't Love by Tamara Allen

 

"In the darkest days of the Great Depression, New York Times reporter Whit Stoddard has lost the heart to do his job and lives a lonely hand-to-mouth existence with little hope of recovery, until he meets Peter, a man in even greater need of new hope."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Jane in NC]

Oh Jane - we love Staunton and the ASC! We've been only twice but hoping to get there to see "The Importance of Being Earnest" this spring and making it an annual trip. Just love it.

I really wanted to see Earnest but the timing just did not work. And I see that Arms and the Man opens there at the end of the month!

 

For those of you near Staunton, the ASC is hosting a Shakespearean birthday bash tomorrow. Looks like it will be great fun.

 

One of the very cool things about ASC is the seating arrangement which includes on stage stools should you choose to reserve your place there (or, if no one has purchased that seat, you can move there as the performance begins). In front of us were a mom and eight year old boy who had the time of his life as actors included him in their conversation. And he literally had a close up view for the fight scenes. The theater is small and intimate though. I doubt if there is a bad seat in the house!

 

I told my husband that his photos were appreciated.

Edited April 23, 2016 by Jane in NC

[Kareni]

And a bookish post ~

 

 

Stacia, I'm not sure whether the man pictured with the article is wearing socks or not ....

 

Taking the knife to the budget - one book at a time by Rob Stock

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

 

[Jane in NC]

And a bookish post ~

 

 

Stacia, I'm not sure whether the man pictured with the article is wearing socks or not ....

 

Taking the knife to the budget - one book at a time by Rob Stock

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

Not sure that I care to slash the book budget although the addition of books to the household presents a storage problem.

 

The linked article reminded me of something that I know Kareni will appreciate as she too was a fan of the Common Reader book catalog.  Towards the end of its life, that company had reprinted a number of neglected books.  I found one in a used bookstore in Staunton that had to come home with me:  Edith Pargeter's The Coast of Bohemia. From the publisher:

 

 

Shortly after the conclusion of the Second World War, Edith Pargeter made her first trips to a country in whose struggles for freedom she would take a passionate interest for the rest of her life: Czechoslovakia. Deeply affected by all she saw--these sojourns "obviously changed her life," according to her biographer--Pargeter chronicled her travels in "The Coast of Bohemia," originally published in England in 1950. It is an unexpectedly fervent volume, offering intriguing perspectives both on a country newly succumbing to Soviet rule and on the normally retiring author as a citizen of the wider world, and it will appeal strongly to fans of Pargeter's many other books, including "The Brothers of Gwynned Quartet" and those written under her pen name Ellis Peters.

 

Edited April 22, 2016 by Jane in NC

[JennW in SoCal]

 

Stacia, I'm not sure whether the man pictured with the article is wearing socks or not ....

 

Taking the knife to the budget - one book at a time by Rob Stock

 

 

From the linked article: 

 

"Like a squirrel gathering nuts for future consumption, I find it hard to walk past a book I will one day want to read, even though I reckon I've already got years of virgin reading material in my house."

 

And this is a problem?! 

 

Not sure that I care to slash the book budget although the addition of books to the household presents a storage problem.

 

The linked article reminded me of something that I know Kareni will appreciate as she too was a fan of the Common Reader book catalog.  Towards the end of its life, that company had reprinted a number of neglected books.  I found one in a used bookstore in Staunton that had to come home with me:  Edith Pargeter's The Coast of Bohemia. From the publisher:

 

Count me among those missing the Common Reader catalog.  Your used bookstore find sounds wonderful, Jane!

 

By the way, I wanted to comment about the photos you posted. My first reaction was that it looked nothing like the lush, verdant Shenandoah of my mind, but I suppose spring hasn't quite yet sprung in the higher elevations back East. Between the brown land and the deep blue sky it looks as if you were out West in my neck of the woods, and the presence of a fire only cements that impression!!  

[marbel]

I also have very fond memories of the Common Reader catalog.  Still miss it.

[Jane in NC]

From the linked article: 

 

"Like a squirrel gathering nuts for future consumption, I find it hard to walk past a book I will one day want to read, even though I reckon I've already got years of virgin reading material in my house."

 

And this is a problem?! 

 

 

Count me among those missing the Common Reader catalog.  Your used bookstore find sounds wonderful, Jane!

 

By the way, I wanted to comment about the photos you posted. My first reaction was that it looked nothing like the lush, verdant Shenandoah of my mind, but I suppose spring hasn't quite yet sprung in the higher elevations back East. Between the brown land and the deep blue sky it looks as if you were out West in my neck of the woods, and the presence of a fire only cements that impression!!  

 

The valleys were in full spring mode but that was not the case at the higher elevations despite warm temperatures.  So many buds on trees are just ready to burst.  I think that temperatures in the low twenties/high teens just two weekends ago slowed down the process a bit. 

 

Apparently it has been a dry spring in the Blue Ridge.  I think they may have gotten some rain today in VA which I hope will help put out the fire.  Yesterday I read that smoke from it is traveling as far as DC!

[Kareni]

The linked article reminded me of something that I know Kareni will appreciate as she too was a fan of the Common Reader book catalog.  Towards the end of its life, that company had reprinted a number of neglected books. 

 

 

Thanks, Jane; that was a neat list to peruse.  I know that as a result of the Common Reader, I read several of the Barbara Holland titles that were on that list.  It was also due to the Common Reader catalog that I first heard mention of the Aubrey/Maturin books by Patrick O'Brian which were discussed in last week's thread.  I thought they might appeal to my husband (who only rarely read/s fiction) and they did.  He's been through the entire series at least two and a half times; since he started reading the series in the early nineties, he had to wait for the last half dozen to be published.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Violet Crown]

Oo, Jane, that's the same troupe I saw performing Marlowe's Doctor Faustus last year at Big State U.! It was especially marvellous since touring artists usually pass us by for Dallas or Houston or San Antonio.

 

Love your photos! What a fun time y'all are having.

Edited April 23, 2016 by Violet Crown

[Lady Florida.]

Wonderful photos Jane; Thanks for sharing. That Shakespeare troupe sounds awesome. I'm glad you had a good time with your son.

 

 

I finished Behind the Beautiful Forevers today. I'm not sure what to think but it was certainly a good choice for book club. I think we'll have a great discussion. 

[Ethel Mertz]

I've finished several books this week:

 

1.      The Thoughts and Happenings of Wilfred Price, Purveyor of Superior Funerals – (Wilfred Price, #1) – Wendy Jones. It was slow going at first; however, by the end I had fallen in love with the characters. I'm reading the sequel now.

2.      The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring – Richard Preston. Fascinating book. The writing style was a bit unorganized, but I learned a lot about trees and, for that reason alone, it was a worthwhile read.

3.      A Murder is Announced (Miss Marple #5) – Agatha Christie. Vintage Christie. I'm slowly working my way through the Miss Marple series and am enjoying the journey.

4.      Trick or Treat Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery, #3) – Leslie Meier. Another mystery writer whose series I am reading through. Totally unexpected ending.

5.      Bread and Roses, Too – Katherine Patterson. I pre-read this one for DS and enjoyed reading about the Lawrence Mill strike.

[Onceuponatime]

I finished Murder on Safari and picked up Don't Look Now, a collection of short stories by Daphne DuMaurier that I had never read before. I was avoiding starting on Catcher in the Rye, my next book club book. Now I remember why I don't read DuMaurier's books much any more, they are usually psychologically depressing and don't have nice happy endings.

 

P.S. Is anyone interested in Dead Men Don't Ski and/or Murder on Safari?

Edited April 23, 2016 by Onceuponatime

[PrairieSong]

I finished Slaughterhouse Five this week. So depressing. That's the point suppose. Billy Pilgrim is like a leaf tossed on the wind. He is convinced he cannot change anything that happens. The past, present, and future are set in stone. He even marries a woman he doesn't really want to marry. War is hell and millions of innocent people are killed. Soldiers come home broken, and there's nothing we can do about any of it. Life is absurd and meaningless.

 

One of the best parts of the book IMHO was where Billy, a time traveller of sorts, watches a war movie backwards. Planes fly backwards over German cities, lifting bombs back into their holds. They fly backwards to England. The bombs are shipped back to American factories where they are disassembled. The minerals are put back into the ground where they can't hurt anyone.

 

Maybe I shouldn't have read this book immediately after finishing Pride and Prejudice, but am I missing something here? Most likely I am. Every book doesn't have to be a fun romp but this one was just so dark and hopeless.

[Jane in NC]

Thanks, Jane; that was a neat list to peruse.  I know that as a result of the Common Reader, I read several of the Barbara Holland titles that were on that list.  It was also due to the Common Reader catalog that I first heard mention of the Aubrey/Maturin books by Patrick O'Brian which were discussed in last week's thread.  I thought they might appeal to my husband (who only rarely read/s fiction) and they did.  He's been through the entire series at least two and a half times; since he started reading the series in the early nineties, he had to wait for the last half dozen to be published.

 

 

It is a neat list, isn't it?  As though I need more books..

 

My husband discovered the Aubrey/Maturin books through the Common Reader too. The Barbara Holland titles look delightful.

 

Oo, Jane, that's the same troupe I saw performing Marlowe's Doctor Faustus last year at Big State U.! It was especially marvellous since touring artists usually pass us by for Dallas or Houston or San Antonio.

 

Love your photos! What a fun time y'all are having.

 

It surprises me that touring artists pass your Very Cool City with Big State U by! 

 

I've finished several books this week:

 

1.      The Thoughts and Happenings of Wilfred Price, Purveyor of Superior Funerals – (Wilfred Price, #1) – Wendy Jones. It was slow going at first; however, by the end I had fallen in love with the characters. I'm reading the sequel now.

 

 

Thank you for reminding me that Wilfred Price lives in the dusty stacks.

 

I finished Murder on Safari and picked up Don't Look Now, a collection of short stories by Daphne DuMaurier that I had never read before. I was avoiding starting on Catcher in the Rye, my next book club book. Now I remember why I don't read DuMaurier's books much any more, they are usually psychologically depressing and don't have nice happy endings.

 

P.S. Is anyone interested in Dead Men Don't Ski and/or Murder on Safari?

 

Murder on Safari is by Elspeth Huxley, right?  I would like this one but considering the size of my dusty stacks, feel free to pass it along to another reader who chimes in.

[Jane in NC]

I finished Slaughterhouse Five this week. So depressing. That's the point suppose. Billy Pilgrim is like a leaf tossed on the wind. He is convinced he cannot change anything that happens. The past, present, and future are set in stone. He even marries a woman he doesn't really want to marry. War is hell and millions of innocent people are killed. Soldiers come home broken, and there's nothing we can do about any of it. Life is absurd and meaningless.

 

One of the best parts of the book IMHO was where Billy, a time traveller of sorts, watches a war movie backwards. Planes fly backwards over German cities, lifting bombs back into their holds. They fly backwards to England. The bombs are shipped back to American factories where they are disassembled. The minerals are put back into the ground where they can't hurt anyone.

 

Maybe I shouldn't have read this book immediately after finishing Pride and Prejudice, but am I missing something here? Most likely I am. Every book doesn't have to be a fun romp but this one was just so dark and hopeless.

 

Nope, I think you got it:  War is Hell.  And quite frankly I think we all need to be reminded of this sometimes since we keep repeating the experience.

 

Now speaking of Pride and Prejudice:  did anyone else hear the interview on Diane Rehm with the author who has rewritten an updated P&P?  It sounds very fun.

 

ETA:  Ouch.  Ursula LeGuin doesn't think much of the latter (Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld). You can read her review that was published in the Guardian.

 

Edited April 23, 2016 by Jane in NC

[Lady Florida.]

I've finished several books this week:

 

 

3.      A Murder is Announced (Miss Marple #5) – Agatha Christie. Vintage Christie. I'm slowly working my way through the Miss Marple series and am enjoying the journey.

 

 

I'm doing the same with Hercule Poirot. Miss Marple will be next. 

 

I finished Slaughterhouse Five this week. So depressing. That's the point suppose. Billy Pilgrim is like a leaf tossed on the wind. He is convinced he cannot change anything that happens. The past, present, and future are set in stone. He even marries a woman he doesn't really want to marry. War is hell and millions of innocent people are killed. Soldiers come home broken, and there's nothing we can do about any of it. Life is absurd and meaningless.

 

One of the best parts of the book IMHO was where Billy, a time traveller of sorts, watches a war movie backwards. Planes fly backwards over German cities, lifting bombs back into their holds. They fly backwards to England. The bombs are shipped back to American factories where they are disassembled. The minerals are put back into the ground where they can't hurt anyone.

 

Maybe I shouldn't have read this book immediately after finishing Pride and Prejudice, but am I missing something here? Most likely I am. Every book doesn't have to be a fun romp but this one was just so dark and hopeless.

 

I found it very depressing and I wasn't crazy about the writing style either, but I'm still glad I read it (just last year). I'm glad to have read it for the cultural literacy, but also because the message is important even if I didn't care for the way it was delivered.

[Kathleen.]

I reread "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in honor of Shakespeare's birthday and anniversary and my 10yo read the same play by Shakespeare for Young People.

 

:)

[PrairieSong]

I reread "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in honor of Shakespeare's birthday and anniversary and my 10yo read the same play by Shakespeare for Young People.

 

:)

We recently watched one of our daughters in A Midsummer Night's Dream and enjoyed it so much! They even performed it in the round. Our dd played Helena.

[Butter]

Book #40: The Eagle by Rosemary Sutcliff.  Pre-reading it for Fritz for next year.  I didn't enjoy it very much.  It had good parts, but mostly it was slow and boring.  And there are two more in the trilogy to pre-read.  Yay.