Book a Week 2016 - BW32: bookish birthdays and news

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday dear hearts!  This is the beginning of week 32 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 - Bookish birthdays and news: Step into my parlor and join me for a cup of tea as it's time for another edition of Bookish birthdays and news.

 

Neil Gaiman on Why We Read and What Books Do for the Human Experience.

 

Nicholas Bakalar - Read Books, Live Longer?

 

The Strand's Literary Quiz - Want to Work in 18 miles of Books?  First, the Quiz

 

The Millions - A Thousand Hands will Grasp You with Warm Desire

 

 

Authors celebrating birthday this month are:

 

1  - Herman Melville

2  - James Baldwin

3  - Leon Uris

4  - William Henry Hudson

5  - Conrad Aiken

6  - Janet Asimov 

7  - Garrison Keillor

8  - Elizabeth Ann Tallent

9  - Daniel Keyes

10  - Witter Bynner 

11  - Alex Haley

12  - Mary Roberts Rinehart 

13 -  Alfred Hitchcock

14  - Russell Baker

15  - Edna Ferber

16  - Hugo Gernsback 

17  - Charlotte Lottie Forten

18  - Paula Danziger

19  - James Gould Cozzens

20  - H.P. Lovecraft

21  - Lucius Shepard

22  - Dorothy Parker and Ray Bradbury

23  - Edgar Lee Masters

24  - Mason Williams

25 -  Bret Harte

26 -  Barbara Ehrenreich

27 -  William Least Heat-Moon

28 -  Rita Dove

29 -  Oliver Wendell Holmes

30 -  Mary Shelley

31 -  Dubose Heyward

 

Have fun following rabbit trails! I did!

 

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

 

History of the Renaissance World - Chapters 55 and 56

 

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

 

What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

Link to week 31 

 

 

 

Edited August 7, 2016 by Robin M

[Robin M]

I'm still deep into Justin Cronin's The City of Mirrors.

 

 

The world we knew is gone. What world will rise in its place?

The Twelve have been destroyed and the terrifying hundred-year reign of darkness that descended upon the world has ended. The survivors are stepping outside their walls, determined to build society anew—and daring to dream of a hopeful future.

But far from them, in a dead metropolis, he waits: Zero. The First. Father of the Twelve. The anguish that shattered his human life haunts him, and the hatred spawned by his transformation burns bright. His fury will be quenched only when he destroys Amy—humanity’s only hope, the Girl from Nowhere who grew up to rise against him.

One last time light and dark will clash, and at last Amy and her friends will know their fate.

 

 

[Negin]

I read Dietland - 2 Stars - As someone who has struggled and will forever struggle in the weight department, I was excited to start this book. It started off well and I felt that I could relate to some of what the protagonist was going through. I appreciated the humor and felt sure that I would be giving this at least 4 stars. But then the story took a bizarre turn and the message became an angry and violent one. I may have appreciated this slightly had I read this when I was younger and considered myself to be a bit of a feminist. That stage didn’t last long for me at all. Now that I’m older, I’m far too skeptical to align myself with pretty much any movement. I may have also appreciated it if I was feeling anger towards those who have hurt me greatly with nasty weight comments. I’m pretty much done with that also. I won’t lie. Their rudeness still hurts and I’m usually unprepared to give witty comebacks right on the spot. While on I’m that topic, I remembered someone that I once met who told me that when she was a newlywed, her now ex-husband wrote down the measurements and weight that she “needed†to be. Not surprisingly, that marriage did not last. That sort of shallowness infuriates me to no end! Looks are nice and good, but they’re not everything.

I loved the author’s honesty with regards to weight and body image. Yet overall, the book never really came together for me and I ended up feeling disappointed. 

 

 

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.

[Ethel Mertz]

Well, I must read more Alex Haley as he is my birthday twin! Glad to have that list.

 

Last week I finished: 

 

1.     $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America – Kathryn Edin. Powerful read; highly recommend

2.     Around the World with Auntie Mame – Patrick Dennis, (Bingo Birth Year). I kept seeing Rosalind Russell on every page. What a fun read!

3.     Travels with Charley: In Search of America – John Steinbeck. Thoughtful prose, but was missing something.

4.     The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper – Phaedra Patrick. I just finished the book this morning. Charming! I hope she writes a sequel.

 

On the docket for this week: a pre-read of Wolf Hollow (Lauren Wolk), The Dry Grass of August (Anna Jean Mayhew) for a book which has the name of the month in it, and O Pioneers! (Willa Cather) from last week's thread. 

 

[Onceuponatime]

I am still reading The Murder of Mary Russell. This week I learned that some people think the Mary Russell character is a "Mary Sue." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sue

 

I didn't know what that was, so I had to go find out. Should I feel guilty about enjoying that type of character? I think Laurie King's books are more complex than just the super woman motif. She also introduces us to detailed accounts of wonderful settings around the world and immerses us in other cultures. Okay, the relationship of Holmes and Miss Russell is a little (a lot) far fetched, but there have been some darn good stories in the series.

 

This particular story has very little of Mary Russell in it. It concentrates on the back story of Mrs. Hudson, who also turns out to be quite a fascinating woman of surprising talents.

 

Am I the only one who didn't know what a Mary Sue is?

Edited August 7, 2016 by Onceuponatime

[Ali in OR]

I finally finished A Midwife's Tale by Laura Ulrich which I've been working on since June. This is one of two dd needs to read as summer reading for her Am Lit class. It's copyright date is 1990 and it won the Pulitzer. In the book, Ulrich begins each chapter with Martha Ballard's diary entries for a particular month. The entries are interesting, but it's easy to skim them and not get a very vivid picture of life in the late 18th/early 19th century. Ulrich makes sure you get a better picture--the bulk of the chapter then goes on to explain the entries, pull in other material and paint a more vivid picture of a particular aspect of life in that time period. I'm glad dd chose this for her non-fiction book (now she gets a chance to read it!). She just finished Geraldine Brooks' Caleb's Crossing for the fiction book that everyone reads. I'll pick that up in a week or two. Her summary was something like, "Everyone dies."

 

I also finished Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I think both dds finished it the day it arrived. I don't get as much reading time so it took me two days! I think we all liked it, but don't even try to compare it to the original series. I would love to see the production. Maybe in another 20 years a touring production will come to Oregon.

 

Up this week: I'll be working on our next book club pick, Jon Krakauer's Missoula-Rape and the Justice System in a College Town. I like Krakauer a lot, but I'm guessing the subject matter will be disturbing to this mother of a high school junior. I will probably then go on to Caleb's Crossing, but I did also pick up Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom! from the library and even read the first sentence (and that's not trivial with Faulkner). All of these plans will likely be upturned by too much Olympic viewing (though I did manage to read HPatCC while watching last night).

[Ali in OR]

Am I the only one who didn't know what a Mary Sue is?

 

New to me--learned something new today!

[Chrysalis Academy]

Well, I'm listening to Moby-Dick, so that will be my author birthday celebration for the month! Cheers, Herman  :cheers2:

 

I finished Redshirts last night - it was a goofy and amusing satirical send-up of shows like Star Trek, where the poor red-shirted crew member always dies.  Totally unbelievable scientifically, but that was part of the point.  This morning I finished The Philosopher Kings, #2 of Jo Walton's Thessaly series. She almost lost me in the middle with a particularly brutal scene that seemed, and still seems, a bit egregious. But I really, really like how this story resolved and look forward to the conclusion of the trilogy.

 

I started the 2nd Adam Dalgliesh mystery, A Mind to Murder. I'm meandering back through all of PD James as the mood strikes. I also started The Essential Tales of Chekov, but won't finish them all before we leave on our trip. 

 

We watched The Secret Life of Walter Mitty last night. The whole family loved it! Thanks for the recommendation, Stacia.  We need more movies like that - things the whole family can enjoy together, but that don't involve death or suffering of animals or children.  Because I can't watch those!

 

Books completed in August:

149. The Philosopher Kings - Jo Walton

148. Redshirts - John Scalzi

147. Edward II - Christopher Marlowe

146. No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy

145. The Gospel of Loki - Joanne Harris

144. The Checklist Manifesto - Atul Gawande

143. The Willoughbys - Lois Lowry

[Violet Crown]

Needing something more modern than Virgil, after finishing the Aeneid this week I read Raymond Carver's short story collection Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? I can say I think I understood what he was doing with about half the stories. What I understood of it, I thought was very good, and I'll have to keep an eye out for his better-known books. Ricocheting back in time again, some depressing comments on another thread best unmentioned sent me back to Dom Lorenzo Scupoli's 16th-century classic The Spiritual Combat. His caution against indulging in "the feverish search for news" seems especially relevant to the 21st century.

 

Re: August writer birthdays: Just wanted to mention that I get to share a birthday with Borges. :)

Edited August 7, 2016 by Violet Crown

[Chrysalis Academy]

Happy Sunday dear hearts!  This is the beginning of week 32 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 - Bookish birthdays and news: Step into my parlor and join me for a cup of tea as it's time for another edition of Bookish birthdays and news.

 

Neil Gaiman on Why We Read and What Books Do for the Human Experience.

 

Nicholas Bakalar - Read Books, Live Longer?

 

The Strand's Literary Quiz - Want to Work in 18 miles of Books?  First, the Quiz

 

The Millions - A Thousand Hands will Grasp You with Warm Desire

 

 

 

 

 

 

I got 48/50 on the quiz. They marked me wrong for Ovid-Metamorphoses, but that's their bad, not mine!

 

I didn't know White Teeth or What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.  Still don't.  Till I look 'em up. 

[Stacia]

I guess I'd flunk the quiz that Rose just took because I don't even see the link to it. :lol: (Although I do know White Teeth & who wrote it -- just haven't read it yet.)

 

Onceuponatime, I didn't know what a "Mary Sue" is either. Thanks for the link. That will be interesting to bring up w/ my book club.

 

I'm between books right now & am trying to decide what I'm in the mood to read.

Edited August 7, 2016 by Stacia

[Violet Crown]

I got 48/50 on the quiz. They marked me wrong for Ovid-Metamorphoses, but that's their bad, not mine!

 

I didn't know White Teeth or What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. Still don't. Till I look 'em up.

What We Talk About etc. is one of the Raymond Carver books I had just been thinking this week I needed to read.

[Stacia]

What We Talk About etc. is one of the Raymond Carver books I had just been thinking this week I needed to read.

 

Duh. <saying that to myself!>

 

I knew that one too. If nothing else, I should have remembered it from the movie Birdman!

Edited August 7, 2016 by Stacia

[Chrysalis Academy]

I guess I'd flunk the quiz that Rose just took because I don't even see the link to it. :lol: (Although I do know White Teeth & who wrote it -- just haven't read it yet.)

 

Onceuponatime, I didn't know what a "Mary Sue" is either. Thanks for the link. That will be interesting to bring up w/ my book club.

 

I'm between books right now & am trying to decide what I'm in the mood to read.

 

It's the Strand literary quiz that Robin linked in the first post.  It's a NYT article about working in a bookstore - which you might like - and the quiz is given to people who aspire to work in this particular bookstore.

 

So funny that you two immediately knew the two authors I didn't! I actually thought of you, Stacia, re: White Teeth, but that's probably an association with The Story of my Teeth.

[mumto2]

Onceuponatime, Another never heard of a Mary Sue before. After reading the description I don't agree with Mary Russell being one either. She is more a character created to complement Sherlock. I have always thought her very close to Harriet in the Sayers mysteries.

 

Ali, I have HP and the CC on the group kindle. I haven't started it yet. I suspect I will want to read the whole thing in one go and haven't had that kind of opportunity yet. Glad you enjoyed it!

 

I did read Mary Balogh's Unforgiven last night. It's part of a rerelease of one of her popular series. I loved the first but this one was a bit irritating. Will be reading the third soon.

 

I am also listening to I Am No One. Overall entertained by it and glad I am listening not reading. Over 60percent in and still no clue other than loads of background. The character and author are both duel Brit/US and whatever the problem is it stems from this. I think the guy is a bit hard on both his home countries but the comments are entertaining. This is a pick for the great cover btw https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28683055-i-am-no-one

[JennW in SoCal]

I'd heard "Mary Sue" as a label but didn't know what it meant, either, til reading the Wikipedia link. I recognize the type of character from many books I've read, and the character trope can be so very annoying, but I wouldn't lump Mary Russell in the category. I've enjoyed several of the books in that series, not all of them, but most.  I should find the most recent ones and catch up!

 

I'm still working on London Falling, the police procedural/urban fantasy mash up. The author has written some Doctor Who episodes, and it has rubbed off in the book -- it's a bit frantic at times, and a bit cryptic, but overall a very entertaining read. He didn't go as deeply into the horror angle as I had feared.

 

I've started listening to the 17th Master and Commander book, The Commodore. Hearing the narrator's familiar voice describing favorite characters is like putting on my most comfortable old clothes  -- it is both comfortable and comforting.  After this I'll only have 3 more to go.  I may spread them out and not race to end, but enjoy each as a special treat.

 

And I've been lost in the recipes, photographs and breezy snippets of stories in Ruth Reichl's My Kitchen Year. Reichl was the editor of the now defunct Gourmet magazine, and the book follows her year after losing her job as she finds comfort in the kitchen. I learned about this book while on our fabulous food tour in Paris.  The woman leading the tour had written for Gourmet, and when someone mentioned owning this book, they both started raving about it and the recipes. I love her approach to cooking -- would love for it to rub off on me!!  Jane -- had you posted about this book? It seemed like a very Jane book.  And for the BaW crowd -- there are rhubarb recipes! I've still never tasted rhubarb...

 

By the way Sense and Sensibility as a musical was fabulous!! The characters were paired down to the essential few -- no Mrs. Dashwood or Margaret, for instance. The music was contemporary Broadway style with some really good songs like Colonel Brandon's "Wrong Side of Five and Thirty".  The set was amazing in its simple and elegant design -- you can check out the gallery of images from the show here, you just have to scroll down a bit.  The best part of the night was how much my dh enjoyed the show!!  I wasn't sure how it would go over with him, but the music and acting (and my brief synopsis over dinner prior to the show) won him over.

 

[Mom-ninja.]

I read Dietland - 2 Stars - As someone who has struggled and will forever struggle in the weight department, I was excited to start this book. It started off well and I felt that I could relate to some of what the protagonist was going through. I appreciated the humor and felt sure that I would be giving this at least 4 stars. But then the story took a bizarre turn and the message became an angry and violent one. I may have appreciated this slightly had I read this when I was younger and considered myself to be a bit of a feminist. That stage didn’t last long for me at all. Now that I’m older, I’m far too skeptical to align myself with pretty much any movement. I may have also appreciated it if I was feeling anger towards those who have hurt me greatly with nasty weight comments. I’m pretty much done with that also. I won’t lie. Their rudeness still hurts and I’m usually unprepared to give witty comebacks right on the spot. While on I’m that topic, I remembered someone that I once met who told me that when she was a newlywed, her now ex-husband wrote down the measurements and weight that she “needed†to be. Not surprisingly, that marriage did not last. That sort of shallowness infuriates me to no end! Looks are nice and good, but they’re not everything.

I loved the author’s honesty with regards to weight and body image. Yet overall, the book never really came together for me and I ended up feeling disappointed. 

 

 

My sil's dh told her that it's the wife who needs to diet and exercise and stay thin not the husband. He was not joking. Um, yeah. 

 

 

I have never heard of Mary Sue. 

[Stacia]

This afternoon, I read Rashomon and Other Stories by  RyÅ«nosuke Akutagawa.

 

I found it to be an interesting mix of stories where tales are told in a straightforward style. Most have a twist or an unreliable narrator. The stories are longer than the typical ones offered by Aesop, but they reminded me of Aesop's fables in that a simple tale can provide food for thought, a trick, or a moral to ponder.

I'm glad I read it.

 

(And, no, I have never seen the movie Rashomon even though it is a very famous & very lauded version of Akutagawa's story.)

 

This fascinating collection gave birth to a new paradigm when Akira Kurosawa made famous Akutagawa's disturbing tale of seven people recounting the same incident from shockingly different perspectives.

Writing at the beginning of the twentieth century, Ryunosuke Akutagawa created disturbing stories out of Japan's cultural upheaval. Whether his fictions are set centuries past or close to the present, Akutagawa was a modernist, writing in polished, superbly nuanced prose subtly exposing human needs and flaws. "In a Grove," which was the basis for Kurosawa's classic film Rashomon, tells the chilling story of the killing of a samurai through the testimony of witnesses, including the spirit of the murdered man. The fable-like "Yam Gruel" is an account of desire and humiliation, but one in which the reader's sympathy is thoroughly unsettled. And in "The Martyr," a beloved orphan raised by Jesuit priests is exiled when he refuses to admit that he made a local girl pregnant. He regains their love and respect only at the price of his life. All six tales in the collection show Akutagawa as a master storyteller and an exciting voice of modern Japanese literature.

 

[Negin]

My sil's dh told her that it's the wife who needs to diet and exercise and stay thin not the husband. He was not joking. Um, yeah. 

 

:cursing:

Edited August 7, 2016 by Negin

[Chrysalis Academy]

I finished Why Big Fierce Animals are Rare by Paul Colvinaux. I had read the title essay before, but not the rest of the book. It's great, very readable and engaging. Shannon will be reading it this year. I made a study guide for her to use when she reads it, which enriched my reading of the book as well.

 

We didn't manage to finish Voyage of the Beagle yet, we'll finish it up in September. I'm going to read The Beak of the Finch next, not sure if that will be assigned for her, or a read aloud, or a skip-it, but it's been on my shelf for years so it seems like the time to read it is now, when we're starting the year with a Darwin & natural selection unit.

[JennW in SoCal]

The Asahi Shimbun Haikuist has gathered together a great collection of Olympic and summer themed haikus.  A few contributors have family members competing in the games!

 

We're all waiting for the trampoline competition later in the week as a neighbor girl -- a young woman now -- is competing.

 

 

[Jane in NC]

Hello everyone.

 

Stacia's recommendation of Brian Doyle's novel The Plover did not lead me astray. With 20 pages to go, I was in a quandary as I did not want the book to end. But finish it I did as I was serenaded by two Osprey overhead in the most vocal Osprey conversation I had ever heard.

 

I also finished Zinky Boys by Nobel Laureate Svetlana Alexievich. This was a very hard book to read. Zinky refers to the zinc coffins that the remains of the Soviet soldiers were sent home in from Afghanistan, the

Soviet equivalent of our Vietnam.

 

Currently reading Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio which was mentioned in our thread.

[Jane in NC]

I finished Why Big Fierce Animals are Rare by Paul Colvinaux. I had read the title essay before, but not the rest of the book. It's great, very readable and engaging. Shannon will be reading it this year. I made a study guide for her to use when she reads it, which enriched my reading of the book as well.

 

 

I was acquainted with Paul Colinvaux who was quite the character and an engaging fellow. He died earlier this year.

 

Before his health declined, he loved to tell tales of his exploits as he searched the world for fossilized pollen samples.

 

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?pid=179409593

[fastweedpuller]

Interesting discussions so far.  Negin, forgive me but until I read your description I thought Dietland was something...German! and considering the German stuff I've read (Thomas Mann/Gunter Grass mostly) your experience of things turning dark kind of underlined my misperception.  Then duh "diet" "land" :laugh: (For what it is worth I don't understand fat-shaming at all, esp. if it comes from beer-bellied men!)  And I love The Strand!  try to hit it every time I am in NYC because it's just so big (and it's near our NY office), but baggage fees have kind of nipped my buying habits. 

I had a bit of a Mary Sue character in the book I finished yesterday.  It was the love interest (a complete sacrificial lamb in my opinion) in John WIlliams's Stoner.  Thanks for mentioning the book though; as I had said before it wouldn't have ever come across my radar otherwise, nor would John McGahern, who'd done the introduction to Stoner, and whose Amongst Women was also a BaW read.  Anyway, I completely enjoyed Stoner, if I can even say that about such a tale of such stunted human beings (and as such is a good pairing with McGahern's novel).  And ick, the politics of academia...anyway, thank you all for the rec.

 

A bout of food poisoning from Saturday's bridal shower left me hammock-bound with dd yesterday...so many tomatoes to can yet too, and let's not talk about the weeds okay?  But yes the good thing (other than the headache) is she and I both finished one book and made quite a bit of headway on a second.  And a wild turkey mama and babies kept visiting the property in sight of the hammock...

[Chrysalis Academy]

I finished A Mind to Murder. It was a little disappointing,  She usually does a good job connecting the dots about what Dalgliesh is thinking, even if the scenes from the POV of the suspects are intentionally misleading. I thought this one had a non-sequiterish gap in the middle that had me thumbing through looking for what I'd missed.   The other thing I realized, having read the 3 earliest PD James within the last 6 months, is that she had some . . . interesting stock characters in these early books. There is always a middle-aged, sexually repressed female with a little too much interest in a younger woman.  There is always a pair of sexually repressed middle aged women living together in apparently platonic domestic harmony. She has all these probably lesbian characters in her book, but they are all a little unhealthy and she dances around it in such an odd way, a product of its time no doubt but it makes these early books seem very dated. As does the what is now clearly blatant sexism. These '60s books are real period pieces, they open quite a window on life in late 50s Britain, in a certain social milieu, but I'm not sure they stand the test of time. Or maybe we aren't far enough away from that time yet? I think I'm going to keep reading through these chronologically, though, if for no other reason than to test my memory of liking the later books so much.  

 

I was trying to figure out what to pick up next, and Jane's post made me decide on The Plover.  Thanks, Jane! 

[JennW in SoCal]

Apparently we are all going to live longer, thanks to all the reading we do. Long live the BaW ladies and our weekly threads!

 

Bookworms, Rejoice: You May Live Longer

[Loesje22000]

I am almost done with 'Danubia',

it is a fun book to read and ask for more reasearch about Middle en East Europe and the year 1848.

 

I discovered I still did not get my birthdaypresent, for my birthday last month, and was wondering if anybody knows this book:

 

Is it worthwhile?

I would opt for the Dutch edition

[aggieamy]

Hello friends -

 

I've been MIA.  Sorry.  My "mid year resolution" is to keep more in touch with online friends and not spend so much time parenting or working.  :laugh:   Please tell me it gets better as the toddler gets older.  Chews-On-Books is wearing me and DH out!

 

Books - mostly fluffy.  None of special note.  Also a book on parenting a spirited child and how to potty train.  Today is Day 1 of Potty Training. 

 

I am almost done with 'Danubia',

it is a fun book to read and ask for more reasearch about Middle en East Europe and the year 1848.

 

I discovered I still did not get my birthdaypresent, for my birthday last month, and was wondering if anybody knows this book:

 

Is it worthwhile?

I would opt for the Dutch edition

 

That cover is awesome! 

[aggieamy]

I finished A Mind to Murder. It was a little disappointing,  She usually does a good job connecting the dots about what Dalgliesh is thinking, even if the scenes from the POV of the suspects are intentionally misleading. I thought this one had a non-sequiterish gap in the middle that had me thumbing through looking for what I'd missed.   The other thing I realized, having read the 3 earliest PD James within the last 6 months, is that she had some . . . interesting stock characters in these early books. There is always a middle-aged, sexually repressed female with a little too much interest in a younger woman.  There is always a pair of sexually repressed middle aged women living together in apparently platonic domestic harmony. She has all these probably lesbian characters in her book, but they are all a little unhealthy and she dances around it in such an odd way, a product of its time no doubt but it makes these early books seem very dated. As does the what is now clearly blatant sexism. These '60s books are real period pieces, they open quite a window on life in late 50s Britain, in a certain social milieu, but I'm not sure they stand the test of time. Or maybe we aren't far enough away from that time yet? I think I'm going to keep reading through these chronologically, though, if for no other reason than to test my memory of liking the later books so much.  

 

I was trying to figure out what to pick up next, and Jane's post made me decide on The Plover.  Thanks, Jane! 

 

I read all the Dalgliesh novels when I was a teenager and remember loving them.  It's probable that any references to lesbians would have gone over my head at that age and it makes me want to try rereading them just to see what I missed the first time around.  Do you find that they have similar social structures to Agatha Christie books published at the same time?  I'm wondering if PD James was doing an accurate portrayal of society at that time or not. 

[Loesje22000]

 

That cover is awesome! 

 

This is the one in Dutch:

[Chrysalis Academy]

Hello friends -

 

I've been MIA.  Sorry.  My "mid year resolution" is to keep more in touch with online friends and not spend so much time parenting or working.  :laugh:   Please tell me it gets better as the toddler gets older.  Chews-On-Books is wearing me and DH out!

 

 

 

:lol: Amy!!! You crack me up.

 

 

I read all the Dalgliesh novels when I was a teenager and remember loving them.  It's probable that any references to lesbians would have gone over my head at that age and it makes me want to try rereading them just to see what I missed the first time around.  Do you find that they have similar social structures to Agatha Christie books published at the same time?  I'm wondering if PD James was doing an accurate portrayal of society at that time or not. 

 

I think it went totally over my head when I read it many years ago, too.  Now that some of my best friends - literally -are lesbian, and my sisters-in-law, maybe I'm just more aware of how non traditional women's roles are portrayed. 

 

That's a good question about Christie. I always think of her as a pre WW2 writer, I didn't realize she was writing as late as she was.  Looking at a list of her books & publication dates, I can see that most of the ones I've read were written between the 20s and the 40s, I've only read one or two that were written later, so I can't really compare her portrayal to PD James's.  I never realized that they overlapped so much - I always thought of James as a "modern" mystery writer and AC as an old-fashioned mystery writer.  But they do overlap in PD's first ~6 books and AC's last ones.  Interesting question.

[NoseInABook]

Jennifer, the mere mention of rhubarb has me craving a rhubarb crumble. Mmm. S&S; The Musical sounds amazing!

 

Mom-ninja, then your SIL kicked him in the face, yes? Please tell me she did.

 

Fastweedpuller, oh no, not food poisoning. Blaargh! 

 

aggieamy, you're a brave, brave woman. Good luck with the potty training! I'm still slightly traumatized from potty training.

 

I'm reading For Better or For Kids by Patrick and Ruth Schwenk, Karen Andreola's Charlotte Mason Companion, Karen Glass' Consider This:  Charlotte Mason and The Classical Tradition, J.R. Rain Moon Dance, and Ransom Riggs' Hollow City is sitting half read and with dust piling onto it... I'm not finishing much because I keep jumping around. I did just finish John Green's An Abundance Of Katherines though which was so-so. Not bad but nothing that I'd rave about either. It brought me up to 50 books this year. My book counter on Goodreads says that I am 10 books behind schedule. Oops. Blame the babies!

 

I'm also trying to talk myself out of going to order 50,000 books from the AmblesideOnline curriculum lists because I've already purchased the curriculum for the coming year and need to plan. Not buy more. Ha. I blame the Charlotte Mason Companion and Consider This for that... Cindy Rollins probably isn't going to help tamp down that desire once I get my hands on Mere Motherhood either. 

[Stacia]

We watched The Secret Life of Walter Mitty last night. The whole family loved it! Thanks for the recommendation, Stacia.  We need more movies like that - things the whole family can enjoy together, but that don't involve death or suffering of animals or children.  Because I can't watch those!

 

Glad to hear you guys loved it!

 

Well, I must read more Alex Haley as he is my birthday twin!

 

Re: August writer birthdays: Just wanted to mention that I get to share a birthday with Borges. :)

 

That's neat for both of you. I don't have an August birthday, but the two of you posting made me go see if there were any authors who share my birthday. I found that Ian McEwan does. (I've never read any of his books. Hmmmm.)

 

I actually thought of you, Stacia, re: White Teeth, but that's probably an association with The Story of my Teeth.

 

 

Stacia's recommendation of Brian Doyle's novel The Plover did not lead me astray. With 20 pages to go, I was in a quandary as I did not want the book to end. But finish it I did as I was serenaded by two Osprey overhead in the most vocal Osprey conversation I had ever heard.

 

I also finished Zinky Boys by Nobel Laureate Svetlana Alexievich. This was a very hard book to read. Zinky refers to the zinc coffins that the remains of the Soviet soldiers were sent home in from Afghanistan, the

Soviet equivalent of our Vietnam.

 

Currently reading Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio which was mentioned in our thread.

 

I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Jane. Somehow loud Ospreys seem like the perfect accompaniment to the book.

 

I have Zinky Boys on my TBR list, but don't want to tackle it right now.

 

Will be curious of your thoughts on Clash of Civlizations.

 

A bout of food poisoning from Saturday's bridal shower left me hammock-bound with dd yesterday...

 

Oh no! Hope you're feeling better by now.

 

I was trying to figure out what to pick up next, and Jane's post made me decide on The Plover.  Thanks, Jane! 

 

:thumbup1:

 

Hello friends -

 

I've been MIA.  Sorry.  My "mid year resolution" is to keep more in touch with online friends and not spend so much time parenting or working.  :laugh:   Please tell me it gets better as the toddler gets older.  Chews-On-Books is wearing me and DH out!

 

Books - mostly fluffy.  None of special note.  Also a book on parenting a spirited child and how to potty train.  Today is Day 1 of Potty Training.

 

:lol:  Ah! Toddlers!

 

Good luck with potty training. I had the hardest time w/ dd. I just had to keep telling myself that she would figure it out/learn before she was high-school age, at any rate. (And she is. She's housebroken now. ;) She did it in one day once she made up her mind to do it.) True to form w/ the life of a second child, I don't even really remember going through potty training w/ my ds. Second kids get the short end of the stick (& of mom's memory cells).

 

NoseInABook, good to see you popping in too!

Edited August 9, 2016 by Stacia

[SKL]

I'm still working on Seabiscuit.  It's kind of slow going and frankly not the best read.  I don't think I like this author very much.  Though some of the historical information is interesting, such as the way the jockeys kept their weight down.  Sounds like the models of more modern times.

 

I want to put in a plug for the Rush Revere series that my kids and I are listening to in the car.  We're just finishing Rush Revere and the Star-Spangled Banner.  I know Rush is controversial, and I was skeptical at first, but this is a really good choice for school-aged kids.  Very informative and interesting and well-written.  For my fellow skeptics with similar-aged kids, I say be brave and give it a try.  :)

 

Still working on Understood Betsy as our read-aloud.  We are all enjoying it and I think the kids are really getting the point.

 

That's about it for now.  We are wrapping up a very busy summer.  Maybe I'll have more time for reading in the fall ....

[aggieamy]

That's a good question about Christie. I always think of her as a pre WW2 writer, I didn't realize she was writing as late as she was.  Looking at a list of her books & publication dates, I can see that most of the ones I've read were written between the 20s and the 40s, I've only read one or two that were written later, so I can't really compare her portrayal to PD James's.  I never realized that they overlapped so much - I always thought of James as a "modern" mystery writer and AC as an old-fashioned mystery writer.  But they do overlap in PD's first ~6 books and AC's last ones.  Interesting question.

 

I have this controversial theory to why you have mostly read AC pre-WWII mysteries and that is because they are so much better.  I can still read and enjoy her early to mid-50's novels but after that they start to become unreadable even for a star-eyed fan like me.  She seemed to be saddened by the changes in society and there seems to be a pervasive feeling of an old man waving a stick and yelling "Get a haircut you hippie!"  in her later books. 

 

 

Still working on Understood Betsy as our read-aloud.  We are all enjoying it and I think the kids are really getting the point.

 

 

 

One of my favorite read alouds!

[Jane in NC]

Made a rhubarb crumble for dessert tonight which I brought to friends who had me over for lobster.

 

I finished reading a graphic memoir, Hyperbole and a Half, by Allie Brosh, which was placed in my hands by a 19 year old friend. She loves this book and I was more curious to read it to learn about my friend than the author. The name "Allie Brosh" meant nothing to me but the meme that started with her drawing and quote "Clean all the things" was certainly on my radar.

[mumto2]

I have this controversial theory to why you have mostly read AC pre-WWII mysteries and that is because they are so much better. I can still read and enjoy her early to mid-50's novels but after that they start to become unreadable even for a star-eyed fan like me. She seemed to be saddened by the changes in society and there seems to be a pervasive feeling of an old man waving a stick and yelling "Get a haircut you hippie!" in her later books.

 

 

I have had Christie's The Clocks sitting on my Kindle for quite awhile. It's supposed to be my Bingo Birth Year Square.. ;) Your discussion prompted me to read a few pages of it, better than anticipated. I will read it because I can't find any others for my birth year at a library that I want go read.

 

I finished listening to I Am No One. It was interesting but a huge big brother tale. In short, it is the story of a Professor who dines with the wrong faculty members, becomes too involved with controversial students, and has a family that is a bit too influential. Somewhere within that mix something may have made him someone. The main point is personal privacy no longer exists if you become someone. What makes you someone? Not a bad tale.

[Lady Florida.]

Good to see you back Amy. Sorry you've had to spend so much time doing silly things like, you know, taking care of your family.  :001_tt2:

 

Seriously, I hope you can get back to us now and then. No pressure - just pop in when you can. Good luck with the potty training.

 

I too prefer the earlier Christie novels and short stories. Pre-war and maybe just after, but by the 1950s her stuff was going downhill.

 

Also, I've never tasted rhubarb in any form, not even pie. i have no idea why not.

 

 

[Lady Florida.]

I'm starting to wonder if listening the audio version of The Things They Carried was a good choice. It's an excellent book and this in no way says I think I shouldn't have read it. It's just that Bryan Cranston is doing almost too good a job as narrator. When he reads some of the more graphic scenes I find myself cringing. I know that's a good thing. In the novel Tim O'Brien, the author said,

 

"If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie."

 

I only have a few chapters left and while I will definitely recommend this novel, I don't think I'd recommend it as an audio book.

[JennW in SoCal]

I'm starting to wonder if listening the audio version of The Things They Carried was a good choice. It's an excellent book and this in no way says I think I shouldn't have read it. It's just that Bryan Cranston is doing almost too good a job as narrator. When he reads some of the more graphic scenes I find myself cringing. I know that's a good thing. In the novel Tim O'Brien, the author said,

 

"If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie."

 

I only have a few chapters left and while I will definitely recommend this novel, I don't think I'd recommend it as an audio book.

 

The Things They Carried is an amazing book, one I assigned my youngest to read in high school. I can't imagine listening to it on audio, though. The problem with an audio book is you can't just lift your eyes off the page to quickly take yourself out of a passage that's too powerful or graphic. You can't skim ahead to a paragraph where it is once again safe.  

 

Call the Midwife was the book I couldn't handle on audio -- that bright and chirpy British voice describing gory details that made me squirm and say "ewwwww".  I hit the off button when she was exceptionally perky in announcing the chapter title "Preeclampsia", and never went back.  I otherwise enjoyed it, and have thought I should try the print version instead.

[Mom-ninja.]

 

 

 

Mom-ninja, then your SIL kicked him in the face, yes? Please tell me she did.

 

 

 

 

 

No, I'm sorry to say she did not. She's of the "do not contradict the head of household" flavor. I know. Baffling. Not just baffling. Demeaning. 

 

 

 

 

fastweedpuller, food poisoning is awful. Hope you feel better

 

aggieamy, by the time I got to my 3rd kid I didn't bother to potty train. I just waited until he decided he wanted to be a big boy and use the potty. He was 4. It was the easiest, smoothest transition. My mom was horrified. "He's too old to wear diapers. You need to do your job and train him." Sorry, mom. I was busy homeschooling older kids, and spending the enormous amount of time watching/training a toddler to potty was not my priority. Funny enough, he is now 7 and does not wear diapers and there was zero effort on my part. I wish I had gone that route with the first two. Potty training them was exhausting. Third kid = easy peasy and way more relaxed mom. 

[Mom-ninja.]

Oh, books.  I will admit that I had never been a fan of Leah Remini. She always came across as crass and rude. Well, her book is really giving me a different view of her. I've come round and my opinion has changed. Still have half the book left. She confirmed for me what I already knew. A certain very famous actor is crazy. Not fun crazy. Flat out insane and not a nice person. 

Edited August 9, 2016 by Mom-ninja.

[NoseInABook]

I finished Moon Dance which surprised me. My Kindle was telling me I was 25% into the book then I realized, "Oh, it's a collection of like 4 books so each book is 25% of the whole shebang." It was cute, good fluff that I can read before drifting off to sleep and it requires 0 brain power. 

[Lady Florida.]

The Things They Carried is an amazing book, one I assigned my youngest to read in high school. I can't imagine listening to it on audio, though. The problem with an audio book is you can't just lift your eyes off the page to quickly take yourself out of a passage that's too powerful or graphic. You can't skim ahead to a paragraph where it is once again safe.

Yes, that's exactly it. Thank you for putting it into words. If I was reading it I'd see what was coming and could choose to skim it. Not so when listening.

 

Call the Midwife was the book I couldn't handle on audio -- that bright and chirpy British voice describing gory details that made me squirm and say "ewwwww".  I hit the off button when she was exceptionally perky in announcing the chapter title "Preeclampsia", and never went back.  I otherwise enjoyed it, and have thought I should try the print version instead.

 

I can imagine this is another one it's better not to listen to. I read all of the books and loved them. I'm not sure I could have handled listening to some of the stories.

[Stacia]

Mom-ninja, I think my sis read the Rimini book. (She has always been fascinated by the psychology of cults, etc....)

 

The Things They Carried has been on my TBR list since my dd had to read it in high school. Sounds like a great book.

 

I have no idea what I'm in the mood to read these days.

[Ethel Mertz]

Made a rhubarb crumble for dessert tonight which I brought to friends who had me over for lobster.

 

Heading out to the Farmers' Market in a bit to see who has rhubarb and have been inspired to head over to the fish market to get lobster. Perfect summer day for it too! Thanks for the inspiration.

 

Now back to reading The Dry Grass of August, which sort of resembles our lawn.

[Chrysalis Academy]

OMG, The Plover is amazing!!! I don't want to stop reading it.  Thanks, Stacia and Jane.

[6packofun]

I read Dark Matter by Blake Crouch (Wayward Pines trilogy) and was highly disappointed.  I feel he simplified the multiverse aspect of the story so much that it was ridiculous and the writing was very amateurish.  SO many 5-10 word sentences, one upon another...ugh.  I read a review on NPR's site that said to stick with it for a twist, but it turned out exactly as I predicted.

 

Almost done with The Burning by Jane Casey, the first of a series about DC Maeve Kerrigan.  Her subsequent novels get higher ratings than this first one so I will stick with them to see where the series goes.  :)

You all inspired me to read War and Peace so I chose a translation, reserved a copy at my library, and when it arrived, though undaunted by its size (I've read and loved Kristin Lavransdatter, please. lol), found the TYPE to be so teeny tiny that I decided to buy a copy after finding a good, readable one.  Any recommendations?  lol

 

Next up on my pile:

The Other Widow by Susan Crawford

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

and the next "Midnight, Texas" book by Charlaine Harris, Day Shift.  (I was a bit disappointed to see an image from the TV series that's going to be on NBC this fall based on these books because it gives a SPOILER to two characters!  I had my suspicsions, but sheesh.)

[Stacia]

I was looking at my list of books I've read this year (46 so far).

 

From those:

30 were library books

16 were books that I had (either they were given to me by others or they were ones I bought). Of the 16, I have passed on 14 of them to others or have donated them to the library.

 

So, I've kept two. I may give one of them away. Maybe both. In the meantime, I bought one that I originally read as a library check-out. (Guess which one... The Plover. I just had to have a copy for my own shelves because I loved it & found it beautiful. :D )

 

I like to keep my bookcases moving, I guess (which is partly why I use the library so much). Part stems from the fact that I don't often re-read books (so I don't feel as much need to hang onto them if they are just going to sit forever) & part stems from the fact that I like to share the book love with others. Kind of interesting to do a self-check shelf-check once in awhile.

 

OMG, The Plover is amazing!!! I don't want to stop reading it.  Thanks, Stacia and Jane.

 

:)
 

Edited August 10, 2016 by Stacia

[mumto2]

I just finished a book that I found pretty riveting. After the Crash by Michel Bussi. It was featured on one of recent lists, maybe summer reads. It was originally wriiten in French and feels rather French, I had to laugh because it had an unusually short person involved in the storyline which reminded me of Lemaitre's series, https://www.goodreads.com/series/97992-camille-verh-ven, which some here have read.

 

A plane crashes into a mountain, a baby girl is found with no other survivors. Two infants of almost identical description boarded the plane. The story occurs before DNA testing and is essentially the story of the infant's identity. Lots of red herrings. I found it to be a page turner! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24862192-after-the-crash