Book a Week 2016 - BW36: September Sojourns through the South

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday dear hearts!  This is the beginning of week 36 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 - September Sojourns through the South:  Welcome to September Sojourns through the South celebrating all things southern as well as our annual Banned Books Months.   We are going to stroll through the southern states with our author flavors of the month William Faulkner as well as Zora Neale Hurston.

 

William Faulkner is known for his southern literature and won a Nobel Prize in 1955 for his fictional story A Fable and posthumously in 1963 for The Reivers.  However, he is best known for As I Lay Dying and The Sound and the Fury. He set the standard for southern literature which focuses on the American South's history as well as family, community, racial tensions and social class.

 

Check out his 1965 interview in the Paris Review with Jean Stein in The Art of Fiction #12 as well as Ol' Curiosities Book Shoppe's What is Southern Literature.

 

Zora Neale Hurston is a cultural anthropologist and writer during the Harlem Renaissance and is best known for Their Eyes Were Watching God,and  wrote 4 novels as well as numerous short stories, essays and plays. After she died, Alice Walker wrote an essay about Hurston introducing her work to a new generation of readers. 

 

Check out The Power of Prose presented by PBS on African American Women as well as History.com's The Harlem Renaissance.

 

Since I think we should start celebrating the freedom to read now, September is also designated as our annual Banned Books Month. For more on  Banned Book week which runs from September 25 through October 1, check out Banned Books website to read about this year's theme on diversity.

 

 

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History of the Renaissance World  - Chapter 61 and 62 

 

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What are you reading this week? 

 

 

 

 

Link to week 35

Edited September 4, 2016 by Robin M

[SKL]

Hi!  I finished Seabiscuit finally.  Some good moments of suspense, but not the best book I've read.

 

So I was wondering what to read next.  My kids' horse riding teacher lent me The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, saying it was a really good book.  I started it yesterday.  It's OK so far.

 

We're still working through the audiobook The War that Saved my Life in the car.  (Middle school book club selection.)  It's pretty good.

 

I tried to start the Little Women read-aloud, but we kept getting interrupted.  I'm going to try again tonight.

[Kareni]

Now my overdue, ptsd inducing assignment is handed in, I can come and play here again. :)

 

Welcome back, Rosie!

**

 

I read Before the Fall  by Noah Hawley.  Since the book is described as a thriller, I had some concerns that it might contain disturbing or gory content.  Such was not the case (well, if you exclude the plane crash and what caused it!)  I recommend the book for its page turning qualities.  It's easy to imagine this being made into a movie, and I'd be interested in seeing it.

 

"From the Emmy, PEN, Peabody, Critics' Choice, and Golden Globe Award-winning creator of the TV show Fargo comes the thriller of the year.

 

On a foggy summer night, eleven people--ten privileged, one down-on-his-luck painter--depart Martha's Vineyard on a private jet headed for New York. Sixteen minutes later, the unthinkable happens: the plane plunges into the ocean. The only survivors are Scott Burroughs--the painter--and a four-year-old boy, who is now the last remaining member of an immensely wealthy and powerful media mogul's family.

 

With chapters weaving between the aftermath of the crash and the backstories of the passengers and crew members--including a Wall Street titan and his wife, a Texan-born party boy just in from London, a young woman questioning her path in life, and a career pilot--the mystery surrounding the tragedy heightens. As the passengers' intrigues unravel, odd coincidences point to a conspiracy. Was it merely by dumb chance that so many influential people perished? Or was something far more sinister at work? Events soon threaten to spiral out of control in an escalating storm of media outrage and accusations. And while Scott struggles to cope with fame that borders on notoriety, the authorities scramble to salvage the truth from the wreckage.

 

Amid pulse-quickening suspense, the fragile relationship between Scott and the young boy glows at the heart of this stunning novel, raising questions of fate, human nature, and the inextricable ties that bind us together."

**

 

I also read Overruled by Emma Chase which was a pleasant read.  (Adult content)

 

"

A Washington, DC, defense attorney, Stanton Shaw keeps his head cool, his questions sharp, and his arguments irrefutable. They don’t call him the Jury Charmer for nothing—with his southern drawl, disarming smile, and captivating green eyes, he’s a hard man to say no to. Men want to be him, and women want to be thoroughly cross examined by him.

 

Stanton’s a man with a plan. And for a while, life was going according to that plan.

 

Until the day he receives an invitation to the wedding of his high school sweetheart, the mother of his beloved ten-year-old daughter. Jenny is getting married—to someone who isn’t him.

 

That's definitely not part of the plan.

 

***

 

Sofia Santos is a city-raised, no-nonsense litigator who plans to become the most revered criminal defense attorney in the country. She doesn’t have time for relationships or distractions.

 

But when Stanton, her "friend with mind-blowing benefits," begs her for help, she finds herself out of her element, out of her depth, and obviously out of her mind. Because she agrees to go with him to The-Middle-Of-Nowhere, Mississippi, to do all she can to help Stanton win back the woman he loves. Her head tells her she's crazy...and her heart says something else entirely.

 

What happens when you mix a one-stop-light town, two professional arguers, a homecoming queen, four big brothers, some Jimmy Dean sausage, and a gun-toting Nana?

 

The Bourbon flows, passions rise, and even the best-laid plans get overruled by the desires of the heart."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Robin M]

Good Morning and Hugs to Stacia, Skinned up knees and hands and whole body aches are not fun.  

 

I'm still deep in the world of Clare and Jamie and currently reading book #6 A Breath of Snow and Ashes.  Gave up on Magnus Chase - too cheesy for me. 

 

 

[Kareni]

So I was wondering what to read next. 

 

Can you name about five or so of your favorite books.  That will give us some ideas of what to recommend.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Robin M]

Happy Birthday Amy!!!!

 

:party:  :party:  :party:

[SKL]

Can you name about five or so of your favorite books.  That will give us some ideas of what to recommend.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

I generally enjoy a good biography of an admirable person.

 

And I like classic fiction, usually.

 

I liked The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara.  Though that was decades ago, and my tastes could have changed since then.  :)

 

I like an uplifting book about spirituality.  (Any religion.)

 

I was going to go to the basement and see what I have.  I keep telling myself I'm going to read the Lord of the Rings books my sister gave me decades ago.  I just didn't make it to the basement last week.  Pretty busy.  :)

[Negin]

I read The Hacienda - 2 Stars - If you have a problem with judgmental reviews, then please stop reading here.

 

This is a memoir and obviously Lisa is free to keep out what she wants. Yet because I felt that it was patchy in certain areas and that some parts were omitted, I did some research.

 

One realizes early on in the book that Lisa had an eccentric background. Her mother had been married four times and had four children, one from each marriage.

 

Lisa meets her husband-to-be Jaime, who’s 20 years her senior, when she’s 16 on a London street. Obviously, Lisa was probably looking for a father figure, since I don’t think she ever had much of a relationship with her own father. I’m old and jaded enough to know that huge age disparities like that, especially when one is still a teen for crying out loud, seldom succeed. I remember an acquaintance telling me how his father had told him to not marry anyone with more than five years age difference on either side. I love rules, so I remember that one. But I digress.

 

So Lisa marries Jaime at 17, going against her mother’s warnings. He’s an aristo-leftie. I’ve known several and they amuse me. Yeah, yeah, they’ve had a privileged life and own a ton of land or whatever. They manage to find the time to love the concept of communism, which isn’t that hard for them to do, since they often have plenty of time on their hands. But what amuses me is that they seldom actually practice what they think they believe. That usually remains to be seen. Now, it gets better.

 

Jaime is a wanted man! He robs banks in Europe to raise money for guerrillas in Venezuela. What a worthy cause! Lisa, as a young newly-wed appears to get involved in the bank-robbing also. They leave Europe and move to his family’s ginormous estate in Venezuela (apparently the size of Scotland). The marriage was a nightmare and didn’t last. In fact, she never seems to have cared about him much from the beginning. She spends most of the memoir focusing on avocado growing or whatever. Maybe that’s her way of dealing with the pain. I don’t know. It just felt odd.

 

Time and time again I have seen daughters repeating the same pattern of exercising poor judgment when it comes to their choices in men. Not always, but often enough. Lisa appears to have repeated her mother’s pattern of getting married a few times. Also, Lisa and Jaime’s own daughter, Iseult, married a man who was 25 years older than her when she was very young also. Go figure. The cycle keeps repeating itself! By the way, in case you may be interested, the man that she married was a movie director (“Il Postino†and “White Mischiefâ€) and that marriage failed as well. What’s interesting is Lisa’s description below of Jaime saying that he would die if she didn’t marry him, Lisa’s daughter said the exact same thing of the husband that was 25 years her senior. Yes, there is a pattern, a rather sad and pathetic one at that.

 

“He said he would die if I didn’t marry him. He said it was my destiny. I was sixteen and I didn’t know then that it was an old cliché, as though, somewhere, there is a little latino lexicon of courtship which is learnt by heart in adolescence and then regurgitated to girl after girl.â€

 

The reason that I’m giving the book 2 stars is not based on all the foolish decision-making and her personality, which I really didn’t care for. I can handle that okay. Initially, I was excited and thought that the book would focus more on her crappy marriage, an absolute sham really. Yet reading it felt weird. I felt a great deal of detachment towards every single character and I didn’t care about anyone. I felt that so much of the focus was on the farming details and the workers. That started to get extremely slow for me. This is a memoir and she really doesn’t open up much to the reader.

 

 

 

MY RATING SYSTEM

5 Stars

Fantastic, couldn't put it down

4 Stars

Really Good

3 Stars

Enjoyable

2 Stars

Just Okay – nothing to write home about

1 Star

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

[Ali in OR]

I finished the last Captain Lacey book I have on my kindle (Covent Garden something-or-other, #6). I'll buy more when I have time for fluff reading--maybe Thanksgiving or Christmas at this point!

 

I'm reading lots of different things for my girls. I'm about halfway through Caleb's Crossing but dd has been needing it to do her annotation (due Wednesday). Then I've been reading a lot of short stories for my 8th grader. We're not seriously studying the literary aspects of short stories--I'm just looking to fill in our history studies with reading that won't overwhelm her. So primarily looking at late nineteenth through 20th century works that reflect a particular time and place. So far I think I've chosen Daisy Miller for us to do as a read-aloud, two Hemingway short stories that capture aspects of WWI (Old Man at the Bridge and Soldier's Home), and for December, The Gift of the Magi (O'Henry) and Christmas Morning (Frank O'Connor). I'm so behind in my home school planning--I should have done this in early summer! I'll be reading more short works this week.

 

I like participating in Banned Books week and usually have no trouble selecting one that I'm interested in, but the "top ten" list for this year had so many that I just don't want to use precious reading time on. I don't really want to read violent or explicit books. A graphic novel sounded interesting, but not something I would want to leave around the house as my kids would definitely pick it up. I ended up putting a hold on John Green's Looking for Alaska--looks like complaints are more along the lines of not appropriate for age group, but I think I can handle a YA book. I hope. I had wanted to read some Faulkner this summer but I ran out of time and returned it to the library. But in honor of southern authors week, I will go ahead and finish reading his short story "A Rose for Emily" which I stopped reading when I thought it wouldn't fit dd.

 

Busy week here--public school starts Wednesday, and most home school subjects will be going by then too. Need to finish planning!

[mumto2]

Happy Birthday Amy!!!!

 

I've been quilting to another Julia Spencer Fleming called One was a Soldier

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6388272-one-was-a-soldier. This book deals with the effects of repeated deployments on the military with some pretty accurate characters. I have found it rather difficult to listen to. The romantic storyline is satisfying.

 

I am also reading the latest in the Kate Burkholder series. She is undercover in a Northern New York Amish community that is extremely strict. I like it so far.https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26031833-among-the-wicked

 

Finally my latest Donna Andrews cracked me up at the beginning. Huge nod to one of my favourite kids books Mr. Poppers Penquins. Megs father has taken over her basement to house the penquins from the local zoo because of foreclosure. He finds the body while digging a penguin pool! Obviously fluffy or perhaps feathery would be a better way to descibe this series! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/564125.The_Penguin_Who_Knew_Too_Much

[Jane in NC]

Hello to all.

 

Happy to report that Hermine was kind to coastal NC--lots of water but we are not strangers to tropical events.

 

It seemed timely in this hurricane season to pick up a book called Total Chaos, although the plot has nothing to do with weather related misery. New author for me: Jean-Claude Izzo. Total Chaos is on Europa's World Noir imprint, the first volume in Izzo's gritty Marseilles Trilogy. I really don't see myself as a fan of gritty Noir, but somehow that style seems appropriate for Marseilles. I have never read anything that was set in that city so why not?

 

I am still reading Orhan's Inheritance, a novel set amongst Turks and Armenians in 1915 and the 1990s, tragic history indeed.

[Stacia]

Thanks for the hugs, everyone. Still sore but maybe slightly less so than yesterday. A steady diet of ibuprofen has probably helped that. And I'm still trying to ice my back & neck.

 

52 Books Blog - September Sojourns through the South:  Welcome to September Sojourns through the South celebrating all things southern as well as our annual Banned Books Months.   We are going to stroll through the southern states with our author flavors of the month William Faulkner as well as Zora Neale Hurston.

 

William Faulkner is known for his southern literature and won a Nobel Prize in 1955 for his fictional story A Fable and posthumously in 1963 for The Reivers.  However, he is best known for As I Lay Dying and The Sound and the Fury. He set the standard for southern literature which focuses on the American South's history as well as family, community, racial tensions and social class.

 

<snip>

 

Since I think we should start celebrating the freedom to read now, September is also designated as our annual Banned Books Month. For more on  Banned Book week which runs from September 25 through October 1, check out Banned Books website to read about this year's theme on diversity.

 

Boy oh boy do I need to get back into a book-reading groove. I feel like I've been off in my reading for a long while now & am stalling out way too often. But Faulkner is someone I need & want to read. And, of course, everyone knows banned books are my thing! Thanks for the diversity article, Robin. Between my two library systems, all the books on the top 10 diversity list are there. 

 

Speaking of banned books.... Angel, if you're out there -- are we still doing a banned books read along this year???  :D

 

My kids' horse riding teacher lent me The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, saying it was a really good book.  I started it yesterday.  It's OK so far.

 

I am also supposed to be reading this for my book club this month. Haven't even picked up a copy yet. 

 

Re: other book suggestions for you.... Here's a random assortment:

West with the Night by Beryl Markham

The Distant Marvels by Chantel Acevedo (fiction, but I think you will like it)

Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran (fictionalized bio of Madam Tussaud -- yes, of the wax museums)

Lying Awake by Mark Salzman

Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel

Passionate Nomad by Jane Fletcher Geniesse

 

I read Before the Fall  by Noah Hawley.  Since the book is described as a thriller, I had some concerns that it might contain disturbing or gory content.  Such was not the case (well, if you exclude the plane crash and what caused it!)  I recommend the book for its page turning qualities.  It's easy to imagine this being made into a movie, and I'd be interested in seeing it.

 

Glad to see your review of this one, Kareni. I saw this mentioned in some book list & wondered about it. I don't read a lot of thrillers either but something about this makes me think I may want to give it a try.

 

I have briefly started The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe. 

[Onceuponatime]

I finished Gene Wilder's Something To Remember You By. It was a very simply written WW2 love story/drama The main characters were Jewish agents of Britain's secret service. It was a quick read.

 

Next up is Aunt Dimity and the Secret Treasure, the latest in the series.

[Stacia]

Happy Birthday, Amy!

 

[Faithr]

I have started up my theology studies for the fall term so my independent reading is going to be very light.  I've decided to go on a Psmith jag.  I finished Mike and Psmith and now am reading Leave it to Psmith.  Fun!!!  Perfect outlet for me, stress-wise.

[JennW in SoCal]

Those of you who can be overwhelmed by, or are overly sensitive to noise can understand the predicament I found myself in last night. I was sitting in my spot in the backstage pit with a half hour to kill before curtain, hoping to make a dent in the last 150 pages of my latest Mary Russell novel, The Language of Bees. But the substitute drummer was working on some of the tough licks in the show, and not one but 2 keyboard players were warming up AND the house soundtrack was also blaring a collection of popular Disney and musical songs. And I had left my ear plugs at home!! (I have a flute or piccolo in my left ear for most of the show, so wear an ear plug to protect that ear.)

 

SO. MUCH. NOISE.  

 

I had to put the book away and save those last pages for this morning! 

 

I'm glad I did -- it was a very satisfying book with a cliff hanger ending.  I hadn't realized I'd missed more than one of her books, and it is a treat knowing I have the follow up title to find without having to wait for it to be written and published! I love the character of Mary Russell, especially that she is intelligent and resourceful, and appreciate Laurie R King's research and writing. It is the perfect escapist read for me -- it is smart and interesting but not terribly taxing! 

 

I'm not taking any books along to the theater for today's matinee, but my ear plugs are already tucked into a pocket!

[Loesje22000]

I finished 'de geest uit de fles' (The ghost out of the bottle?)

A Dutch book about the Enlightenment in Europe.

As it connected so many fragmented thoughts and memories it was a joy to read.

But when I had finished the book, my first reaction was: I have to read this book again!

It is a confusing era in European History I think.

 

I'm halfway in 'George Eliot, her life and her work' from Jennifer Uglow.

I found a dutch translation of it, and consider it very enjoyable to read so far.

I'm glad it is my own now, because I think I want to reread some chapters about specific books.

 

I read the question about book organization last weekm but seems not to be able to post pictures for the moment (new device that does not recognize our Wifi :( )

 

I have different place in the house filled with bookcases, so 'homeschooling books' have a different spot then ' books we use for work' .

If I focus on fiction, we sort first by language, then by translation (dutch translations from French are not mixed with translations from German, English of Other languages) and after that sort by author / series.

 

Most books are also organized by size so I can fit more books in my bookcases.

[Stacia]

My library has one of the diversity banned books, Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out, in ebook format, so I downloaded it & just read the first section about Jessy. 

 

 

Publishers Weekly Pick & Starred Review:

In a sorely needed resource for teens and, frankly, many adults, author/photographer Kuklin shares first-person narratives from six transgender teens, drawn from interviews she conducted and shaped with input from her subjects. The six “chapters†read like personal histories, with Kuklin interjecting occasional context and helping bridge jumps in time. Readers will gain a real understanding of gender as a spectrum and a societal construct, and of the challenges that even the most well-adjusted, well-supported transgender teens face, from mockery by peers and adults alike to feelings of isolation and discomfort in their own bodies.

 

When readers meet New York City teenager Christina, she has gotten into a knock-down fight on the subway with two girls who were making fun of her; although Kuklin’s color and b&w portraits appear throughout, 19-year-old Mariah requests no photographs of her be used, confessing, “I’m not ready for people to see me.†While Kuklin’s subjects are candid about the difficulties of coming out as transgender to family and friends and the patience that transitioning often requires, their honest, humorous, and painful remarks about their relationships with gender are often downright revelatory. “Because I’m perceived as male, I get male privileges. It weirds me out a little bit,†says Cameron, whose PGP (preferred gender pronoun) is the plural “they.†Nat, who also prefers “they,†is relieved when diagnosed as intersex. “It proved what I had been feeling all along. I was not only emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually both sexes; I was physically both sexes, too. This is who I am.â€

A q&a section, author notes, glossary, and print and online resources close out the book. But its chief value isn’t just in the stories it reveals but in the way Kuklin captures these teenagers not as idealized exemplars of what it “means†to be transgender but as full, complex, and imperfect human beings. As Kuklin writes, “My subjects’ willingness to brave bullying and condemnation in order to reveal their individual selves makes it impossible to be nothing less than awestruck.†She isn’t wrong. Ages 14–up. Agent: Brianne Johnson, Writers House. (Feb.)

 

[Chrysalis Academy]

Serendipitous (or not?) that Hurston and Faulkner are author flavors of the month, as they both have books in the Top 25 Banned Classics list.  I put As I Lay Dying on hold.

 

I've read two of the 2015 books: The Holy Bible and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, and 3 from the 2014 list.  From the banned classics list, I've read 17 of the top 18 (As I Lay Dying is #19).  But I haven't read Ulysses.  Now might be a good time to take that on as I'm just finishing up a re-listen to The Odyssey?   I know some of you guys have made it through Ulysses recently.  Would it work to do an audio version? That might help me get started at least.

 

I'm reading a great book right now that will probably get challenged in schools:  The Sunlight Pilgrims.  I was drawn to it for it's sort-of postapocalyptic setting (2020, an ice age is setting in) but it's actually a fascinating story about loss and letting go and getting attached, and one of the characters is a transgender pre-teen and she's just wonderful.  It's definitely an adult book, but she's a great character.

 

I just finished Galapagos, by Kurt Vonnegut, which I did enjoy quite a lot, more so because of reading Voyage and The Beak of the Finch recently.  His premise is mostly that is what is wrong with humanity is our big brains that cause us to routinely do things that are against ours and our planet's best interests.  I can't disagree. . . 

 

I also finished Suite Francaise by Irene Nemerovsky - it was devastating and fantastic. She was a Russian Jew who emigrated to France to escape the Russian Revolution, only to be arrested and sent to Auschwitz by the Nazis just after France was occupied. This was originally going to be a 5 part book detailing the experiences of the French under German occupation, but she only had the chance to complete 2 parts, which were smuggled out by her young daughters. It's tragic on so many levels that she never had the chance to complete it. She is extremely harsh on the upper and middle classes; her characterization is just phenomenal.  

 

The brand new WTM arrived today, so I'll want to spend some time on that too!  The girls' room floor is being done this weekend, so I'm mostly spending time moving furniture, boxing and unboxing things, and washing bedding.  Blech.

 

ETA: forgot to add, I'm also reading Alice Munro short stories. She's great! I'd never read her before, but my MIL-ish turned me on to her when we were visiting recently.

Edited September 4, 2016 by Chrysalis Academy

[Ethel Mertz]

This week I finished 2 Leslie Meier mysteries, S.D. Smith's Ember Falls (Book II of the Green Ember) which ends with a cliff hanger, Amy Hill Hearth's Miss Dreamsville and the Collier County Women's Literary Society (loved this so much and have the sequel on hold at the library), Michael Dorris' A Yellow Raft in Blue Water (somewhat satisfactory read), and Joan Anderson's A Year By the Sea.

 

We start back with school work on Tuesday, so I am also trying to get things into some semblance of order. In the meantime, my stack of books to read is calling me....

[Butter]

So I was wondering what to read next.  My kids' horse riding teacher lent me The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, saying it was a really good book.  I started it yesterday.  It's OK so far.

 

I read that book a few years ago.  I really liked it.  I remember it being slow in some parts, but mostly rather fascinating and really brought up some interesting points in the importance of communicating with patients' families and making sure they understand what is going on.

 

Gave up on Magnus Chase - too cheesy for me. 

 

I enjoyed it.  It was typical Rick Riordan.  I'm not going to read the second book when it comes out, though.  Particularly since insanity has happened and the Kindle book is priced at $14.99.  His other series he's currently writing, the one about Apollo, had the same price for the first book when it was released a few months ago.  It's down to $12.99 now.  Still not buying it at that price.  I like Rick Riordan, but not that much!

 

I'm in the middle of a book about the Greek gods and stories related to them.  I'm pre-reading it for my 5th grader.  He started it on Friday and will be done within a couple weeks.  He reads about 35-40 minutes each school day and I clearly seriously underestimated the speed at which he reads.  He'll be done all eleven books I chose by Christmas.  One day into the heroes book and he's done 15%.  He finished the first assigned book of the year in 8 school days.

 

Next I'll be reading Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs.  Kind of a companion book to his peculiar world books.  It was released yesterday since it was Loop Day (the day that was continually repeated in Miss Peregrine).

 

I just pre-ordered Fall of Hades, the sixth Michael Vey book, by Richard Paul Evans.  I think he intends for there to be seven books total.  I love that series.  This one comes out on the 13th.

[Kareni]

Happy  birthday, Amy!!

 

I generally enjoy a good biography of an admirable person.

 

I'll recommend Classic Feynman: All the Adventures of a Curious Character  which is a compilation of two of Richard Feynman's earlier books -- "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" and "What Do You Care What Other People Think?".  The edition I've linked above is wonderful because it includes a CD of Richard Feynman telling some great stories of his time at Los Alamos.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Chrysalis Academy]

I finished The Hidden Forest: The Biography of an Ecosystem by Jon Luoma. Wonderful book, I'm inspired to try and visit the Andrews Experimental forest on our next visit to Oregon.  This will be one of Shannon's To-Read books for science this year.

[Kareni]

I just finished Nalini Singh's paranormal Allegiance of Honor (Psy/Changelings).  This is the 15th book in the series and the author uses it to catch up with many (MANY) of the characters that have peopled her previous books.  This is definitely NOT the book to read as an introduction to the author's work.  I did enjoy it, but did I mention that there were many (MANY) characters?

 

"A staggering transformation has put the Psy, humans, and changelings at a crossroads. The Trinity Accord promises a new era of cooperation between disparate races and groups. It is a beacon of hope held together by many hands: old enemies, new allies, wary loners.
 
But a century of distrust and suspicion can’t be so easily forgotten, and it threatens to shatter Trinity from within at any moment. As rival members vie for dominance, chaos and evil gather in the shadows and a kidnapped woman’s cry for help washes up in San Francisco, while the Consortium turns its murderous gaze toward a child who is the embodiment of change, of love, of piercing hope: a child who is both Psy…and changeling.
 
To find the lost and protect the vulnerable—and to save Trinity—no one can stand alone. This is a time of loyalty across divisions, of bonds woven into the heart and the soul, of heroes known and unknown standing back to back and holding the line. But is an allegiance of honor even possible with traitors lurking in their midst?"

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Lady Florida.]

I finished Silence in the Grave, which put me at 52 books. According to Goodreads I'm 2 books ahead of schedule to meet my goal of 75 books.

[Mom-ninja.]

Stacia, I'm sorry you were hurt but it's good to know that other people have pet adventures besides me. Also it makes one jealous of kids doesn't it? They mend so easily and quickly. 

 

 

Thanks Kareni! 

Edited September 5, 2016 by Mom-ninja.

[Angelaboord]

Robin - What serendipity! My oldest dd and I are going to be reading sort of geographically based literature for her senior year, and she wanted to start from home and work outward. So we're starting with the South, Flannery O'Connor first, but Faulkner is also on the list. (Hopefully, we'll be able to visit his house, which isn't far from here.) I was just going to go looking for links to share with her tomorrow, and here you've done my work for me! Thank you! [emoji5]

 

Stacia - hope you're feeling better! For some reason when I read your story I thought it might have been one of the utility workers falling in. I don't think I have much spatial sense. [emoji15] It was only after reading everyone else's reply that I realized it could have been an alligator!

 

I'm still reading Flannery O'Connor in bits. I abandoned The Little Paris Bookshop. Apparently this was a bestseller, but after about 40 pages, I just couldn't drag myself through the rest. I think the story was meant to be rather sentimental, but the characters were all very flat and there wasn't much of a story. It was translated from the French, so maybe if I was French, I would have understood the point, or lack of one.

 

This week I am going to try to wean myself away from reading ABOUT books more than I actually read books. I've fallen into a bad habit of substituting book surfing online for reading time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Violet Crown]

Happy birthday, Amy! Many happy returns!

 

Stacia, hope you're healing up. I wonder if our four-legged friends are surprised that we two-leg walkers don't tumble more often.

 

Thanks to everyone for describing your book organization! Middle Girl and I have been imposing some order on the chaos by consolidating all the poetry; and there's a lot more of it than I realized. Next, drama.

 

Nearing the end of The Prime Minister and Treasure Island both.

[Mom-ninja.]

Didn't read but watched Hamlet yesterday. We watched the "modern" version with Patrick Stewart and David Tennant. I didn't know if I'd like because I tend to not like Shakespeare made modern, but I loved it. 

[Jane in NC]

Happy Belated Birthday, Amy!

 

Anyone else share my love of the television program The Prisoner? Here is a BBC article marking the 50th anniversary of the day cameras began rolling in Portmeirion.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-37232329

[Chrysalis Academy]

Didn't read but watched Hamlet yesterday. We watched the "modern" version with Patrick Stewart and David Tennant. I didn't know if I'd like because I tend to not like Shakespeare made modern, but I loved it. 

 

We absolutely loved this version too. I was a bit skeptical before we watched it but David Tennant is now my new favorite Hamlet.  I've discovered an excellent fact: my dds, even dd10, are much more likely to watch a Shakespeare film version from start to finish if they love the actor.  We have The Hollow Crown with Tom Hiddleston lined up for later this year.  It's a funny midlife transition, realizing that Kenneth Branaugh and Ian McKellan are no longer the cat's pajamas when it comes to Shakespeare protagonists. I'm a little young to have been enamored of Laurence Olivier, and I don't like the style of his productions near as much as I do modern ones, but I imagine people went through a similar mental transition as I'm going through now.  Young whippersnappers!  But they are very good.  ;)  :D

[Violet Crown]

Happy Belated Birthday, Amy!

 

Anyone else share my love of the television program The Prisoner? Here is a BBC article marking the 50th anniversary of the day cameras began rolling in Portmeirion.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-37232329

Patrick McGoohan! Wee Girl has a big soft rubber therapy ball that we call "Rover."

 

I am not a number! I am a free man!

[Kareni]

Anyone else share my love of the television program The Prisoner? Here is a BBC article marking the 50th anniversary of the day cameras began rolling in Portmeirion.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-37232329

 

My husband and daughter are both fans of The Prisoner, so I've forwarded them the link.  Thank you, Jane!

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Stacia]

Well, I've been doing a lot of virtual book cleaning-out. 

 

I deleted all my amazon wish lists & things in my cart (about 20 pages worth of stuff, mostly books), as well as deleting tons of kindle books I had. (So now I'm below 50 on kindle books which seems about right since I rarely read ebooks anyway.)

 

I also deleted all of my "to-read" list on Goodreads. 

 

I like having a clean (imaginary) slate to work with....

[mumto2]

We all love the Prisoner!

 

This is a first...I have finished my banned book and I'm even early!

 

When I clicked on Robin's Link yesterday the first book on the Frequently Banned List was by John Green. I read and enjoyed Paper Towns a couple of years ago and have planned to read more of his books because one of dd's friends really likes his books. Looking For Alaska (the banned book) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/99561.Looking_for_Alaska?ac=1&from_search=true was availiable for check out on overdrive so I put it on my kindle. I read it in the car today on our outing. Not sure why it was banned when I compare it to other YA books. According to the website sexual content and inappropriate language were the reason. Not sure that it was any more explicit than the Judy Blumes that were so popular back in my youth. Anyone else read Forever? It did have some heavy other themes going on but they were dealt with pretty well and it's a bit of a trigger area for me. Anyway I wouldn't hand the book to my homeschooled 13 yo but I might if they were in public school because I encountered that stuff at that age. Slightly older no huge problem.

[Ethel Mertz]

It's a great day for reading! We're getting the remnants of Hermine (I want to pronounce it "Hermione"), with high winds, lots of rain, rip currents, and high surf (not that I'd go swimming right now...). Just rescued a knocked over tomato plant. 

[Kareni]

Here's a currently free Kindle book that has a blurb by Dorothy Sawyers ~

 

There's a Reason for Everything: A Bobby Owen Mystery  by E.R. Punshon

 

“What is distinction? … in the works of Mr. E.R. Punshon we salute it every time.†Dorothy L. Sayers

 

“No fictional policeman deserves professional advancement more than solid, intelligent Bobby Owen. It’s gratifying to learn he’s now deputy chief constable of Wychshire and equally gratifying to know that his promotion doesn’t keep him from investigating such absorbing problems as this. …†San Francisco Chronicle

 

“A splendid riddle, partly plush and partly modern jigsaw, in Mr. Punshon’s top vein. Your money’s worth of real British detection and trimmings to match.†New York Times Book Review

 

 

"With a slow gesture of one lifted hand, Bobby pointed. There, in a space between the prostrate stag and posturing goddess, was a human leg, a twisted, motionless leg in a strained, unnatural position.

 

Bobby Owen, now Deputy Chief Constable of Wychshire, finds himself taking part in a ghost hunt at legendary haunted mansion Nonpareil. What he discovers is the very real corpse of a paranormal investigator. It seems that among the phantoms there are fakes – but will that end up including a priceless painting by Vermeer? 

 

There’s a Reason for Everything was first published in 1945, the twenty-first of the Bobby Owen mysteries, a series eventually including thirty-five novels. This edition features a new introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Chrysalis Academy]

I finished reading The Sunlight Pilgrims today.  I was a little worried about how she was going to pull off an ending, it seemed like a situation that did not lend itself to a clear resolution.  I don't want to do any spoilers, so I will just say, it was well done.  Very satisfying and psychologically plausible story.

[Kareni]

Yesterday I read Laura Brown's contemporary romance Signs of Attraction;  I enjoyed it.  The book featured a Deaf hero and a heroine who was Hard of Hearing.   There were a couple of things that strained credulity and the heroine did something at one point that had me shaking my head; however, I'd happily recommend it. 

 

 

"Do you know what hearing loss sounds like? I do.

All my life I've tried to be like you. I've failed.

So I keep it hidden.

But on the day my world crashed down around me, Reed was there.

He showed me just how loud and vibrant silence can be, even when I struggled to understand.

He's unlike anyone I've ever known. His soulful eyes and strong hands pulled me in before I knew what was happening.

And as I saw those hands sign, felt them sparking on me, I knew: imperfect could be perfect.

Reed makes me feel things I've never felt. It's exciting...and terrifying.

Because he sees me like no one else has, and I'm afraid of what he'll find if he looks too closely.

The only thing that scares me more than being with him? Letting him go."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Stacia]

I finished Beyond Magenta today, a book on the ALA's list of most challenged books of 2015.

 

I think it's a needed book (especially for teen audiences) and, otoh, I wanted to like it more than I did.

 

What I liked:

-- the bravery of these teens to live their lives how they want & need to, often in the face of opposition

-- the willingness to share their struggles & stories so that others may learn

-- nice photography of the teens who were willing to be pictured

-- the author's lists of resources for support groups, etc....

 

What I liked less:

-- the book focuses on six teens, so it's a somewhat narrow focus

-- it reads almost like a diary format (& while reading teen diaries can make for emotional & heartfelt reading, it can also be angsty/immature & is not nesessarily literature; yes, I feel completely petty pointing that out considering the obstacles these teens have faced)

 

I am at a loss to figure out why this particular book has been challenged so much. Overall, a quick & worthwhile read.

[Chrysalis Academy]

So, I read The Mandibles. Has anyone else here read it ? I found it interesting, but it left me feeling icky. Like someone had just spent 402 pages telling me that Ayn Rand wasn't all bad...

 

:lol:  I'm still waiting for it to come in from the library. You make it sound so appealing!  :laugh:

[Chrysalis Academy]

Dd and I read it a few months ago; wasn't it just wonderful ?The ending was very well done.

 

I thought of you as somebody who might enjoy this book! Glad to hear you and dd liked it.   Yes, as I've complained before, I often enjoy a book until the end, and am disappointed by the wrap-up. That was not the case here.

[Ethel Mertz]

So, I read The Mandibles. Has anyone else here read it ? I found it interesting, but it left me feeling icky. Like someone had just spent 402 pages telling me that Ayn Rand wasn't all bad...

 

 

:lol:  I'm still waiting for it to come in from the library. You make it sound so appealing!  :laugh:

 

I actually really liked it. Granted, the setting was a bit dire, but for dystopian fiction, it was well done. It was less violent than Kunstler's World Made By Hand series (currently reading the 3rd book in that series).

[Kareni]

Earlier today I finished Please Release Me by Rhoda Baxter.  This was an enjoyable book that took a paranormal turn midway through the story.  (I'll admit that I like the publisher's name Choc Lit.  I also like the name of an educational publisher whose specialty ought to be cooking books, Garlic Press.)

 

"What if you could only watch as your bright future slipped away from you?

Sally Cummings has had it tougher than most but, if nothing else, it’s taught her to grab opportunity with both hands. And, when she stands looking into the eyes of her new husband Peter on her perfect wedding day, it seems her life is finally on the up.

That is until the car crash that puts her in a coma and throws her entire future into question.

In the following months, a small part of Sally’s consciousness begins to return, allowing her to listen in on the world around her – although she has no way to communicate.

But Sally was never going to let a little thing like a coma get in the way of her happily ever after …"

 

Regards,

Kareni

[-M-]

 

"What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stop and stare?"

 

It absolutely delights me that the MOOC I've anticipated all summer uses the W.H. Davies poem "Leisure," the source of the opening quote, to make several points about mindfulness, the healing power of literature, and our need to clear a mental corner for contemplation. Said MOOC accounts for three of the books on this weekend's pile: Some of My Best Friends Are Books, How to Read a Poem, and Stressed, Unstressed.

 

Liney's Into the Fire is the second book in a trilogy, the first of which I read on vacation two years ago. I remember The Detainee as a gripping story that suffered from uneven writing. In the end, though, story won. I have, however, contemplated flinging the follow-up across the room, it's that badly written. Is it vacation nostalgia that keeps me reading?

 

The Idealist ended up in the pile when I heard Rick Kogan's interview with author Justin Powers two weekends ago. The book began as a long Slate profile of Aaron Swartz.

 

We visited our daughters this holiday weekend, which gave us time to listen to NPR and P.G. Wodehouse's The Code of the Woosters, every other sentence of which I could press into my commonplace book. We also took two bike rides, the first of which was the most memorable: At the turnaround point, we paused for water, coffee, and some nuts. Swallows swooped and darted overhead. Prairie grasses and flowers bent in the breeze. The trees and underbrush thrummed with the sounds of animals and birds making the most of summer's end. We had no choice. We simply stopped and stared.

[-M-]

M - I must ask, what kind of bookcases are they? Custom-built, IKEA, or?? I'm trying to convince my husband that we can do something similar, but I don't know if our hallway is wide enough! I might just have to settle for the TV wall. [emoji4]

 

 

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Bringing this over from the last thread... It delighted my husband that you, too, thought they might be custom-built. *smile* They are simply the Billy collection from IKEA. They have the extra shelf on top of each unit, and all of the assembling, cornering, and anchoring were completed by my husband and my younger daughter. The library was the first thing moved into the "forever home" after the floors and interior painting were finished.

[-M-]

Welcome to September Sojourns through the South celebrating all things southern as well as our annual Banned Books Months.   We are going to stroll through the southern states with our author flavors of the month William Faulkner as well as Zora Neale Hurston.

 

[snip]

 

 

Since I think we should start celebrating the freedom to read now, September is also designated as our annual Banned Books Month. For more on  Banned Book week which runs from September 25 through October 1, check out Banned Books website to read about this year's theme on diversity.

For Banned Books Week, I was thinking of rereading Slaughter-House Five. I may "Sojourn through the South," too. I cannot believe I've never read Their Eyes Were Watching God.

 

As always, Robin, thank you for maintaining this corner of the virtual livingroom.

[Chrysalis Academy]

 

"What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stop and stare?"

 

It absolutely delights me that the MOOC I've anticipated all summer uses the W.H. Davies poem "Leisure," the source of the opening quote, to make several points about mindfulness, the healing power of literature, and our need to clear a mental corner for contemplation. Said MOOC accounts for three of the books on this weekend's pile: Some of My Best Friends Are Books, How to Read a Poem, and Stressed, Unstressed.

 

 

 

Which MOOC? Enquiring minds want to know!! 

[fastweedpuller]

Wow it's only Tuesday and you folks are up to two pages!  busy-busy-busy.

 

I've made my Faulkner love known here, and Their Eyes were Watching God still reverberates in my brain.  And I did a little look-see on the Banned Books lists and I have read all but 3 on that Classics list so obviously, and unknowingly, I use that list as must-read list, hah.  Looking at the trends over the last dozen plus years, seems people have lots of problems with sexuality in general, and lately, transsexualism in particular.  A pity.  I find the addition of the Bible puzzling though.

 

Sadie, I haven't read The Mandibles but scratched it off the list of consideration because it seemed to me post-apocalypse plus dysfunction, and I am like "pick one already"

 

I finished two this week:  The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan.  I'd put it down for a while as I had "had it" with WWII books this summer.  It was gruesome (POW camp mistreatment) but it spotlighted a section of the war I knew little about.  It was also beautifully written, and the tale unwound without a happy tied-up ending, a plus in my book.  The title comes from a Basho poem, and we'd studied haiku a bit last spring, fortuitous. 

 

The other book was Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance.  This is in the category of memoir-plus, that is, it's ostensibly the story of someone's life but has lots of psychological/social/economic detours, so it can read more like the narrative nonfiction I tend to like.  I am co-reading it with White Trash:  the 400 Year Untold History of Class in America.  It was a quick read; there was a lot of new-to-me information in it.

 

I have no idea where I am in the BaW count.  (I have tried to keep Goodreads up to date but goodness it sometimes shelves books 2x so I obviously am doing something wrong (operator error!) and I should keep my maintenance to one device only; going thru phone/computer/kindle is not simplifying my life at all!  And that I keep it to just-for-me books...perhaps that's a problem too.)  School starts up next Mon. and there're a lot of books I have read in preparation for it that have not made any list at all.  Ah well, it'll all come out in the wash.

 

ETA:  I think I'll reread Lolita for the ick factor (i.e. my daughter is 12.5)

Edited September 6, 2016 by fastweedpuller

[Kareni]

 As always, Robin, thank you for maintaining this corner of the virtual livingroom.

 

Hear, hear!

 

**

A bookish post on a topic that has been discussed here in the past ~

 

What Do You See When You Read?  by James Wallace Harris

 

"When you’re reading, and your eyes are following the words, what do you see in your mind’s eye? Many readers claim they visualize characters, setting, and action â€“ some even claim they can imagine sounds, smells, tastes and textures. Recently, I discovered that most people can recall visual memories. That was shocking, because I can’t. Nor do I see anything when I read. I learned I had a condition called aphantasia, which is sometimes call mind blindness. I had no idea until recently that people all around me could see things when they closed their eyes, or see things when they read books. Like a person blind from birth, I struggle to imagine what this inner sighted world must be like. I do have vivid dreams at night, so that conveys some, but it’s a struggle to imagine how most people can read and internally VR the story. That boggles my mind. Looking back, this revelation explains so much...."

 

**

Jane posted yesterday about the fifty year anniversary of The Prisoner.  The original Star Trek series aired fifty years ago on September 8, 1966. 

 

The Best Star Trek Books (for the 50th Anniversary) by Kristen McQuinn

 

I've posted my favorites in the comments section.

**

Peripheral Intimacy in Neil Gaiman’s THE VIEW FROM THE CHEAP SEATS  by Andy Browers

 

I'm now tempted to read the book!

 

Regards,

Kareni