Book a Week 2016 - BW48: Foodie Books

[Jane in NC]

Whatever it takes, Dawn.  I am so happy to see you chiming in.

 

I finished Tail of the Blue Bird and can definitely say it is in my top five for the year. On the one hand it is a detective story.  But it is so much more.  This is a tale of a former Ghanian society with its social order based on relations and expectations and modern Ghanian life with its social order based on very different relations and expectations.  What I loved about this book is the author's ability to sing the praises of the old and the new without judgement.  Thank you so much Stacia.

 

 

 

[Laura in CA]

Book a Weekers! We need a 2017 field trip to the British Library! Jane Austen, Harry Potter, P.G. Wodehouse--oh my!

 

http://www.bl.uk/press-releases/2016/december/2017-at-the-british-library

Thanks for the link! I hope to visit in a week or two, but looks like we'll have to go next year, too :)

Excited about the Wodehouse papers!

[Chrysalis Academy]

Hey, Dawn.  :seeya:  Good to see you popping in!

 

I'm reading another dusty from my stacks...  Sjón's The Whispering Muse. With its mix/retelling of the story of Jason & the Argonauts, I can already say that this is definitely a book Rose would enjoy reading.

 

 

 

And, I picked up a pile of books from the library today, so hopefully some good stuff lined up next....

 

I just put it on hold, thanks for the recommendation!

[Chrysalis Academy]

Whatever it takes, Dawn.  I am so happy to see you chiming in.

 

I finished Tail of the Blue Bird and can definitely say it is in my top five for the year. On the one hand it is a detective story.  But it is so much more.  This is a tale of a former Ghanian society with its social order based on relations and expectations and modern Ghanian life with its social order based on very different relations and expectations.  What I loved about this book is the author's ability to sing the praises of the old and the new without judgement.  Thank you so much Stacia.

 

This looks good, too, but my library doesn't have it.  I'm really enjoying my listen to Americanah, and I want to read the rest of Adichie's books as well. I think I will definitely be looking to read some more African writers in 2017, as well as some African history.

[Ethel Mertz]

Ahem. I have picked up HoRW often since February but I am behind.  I doubt if I'll have the book finished by year's end but maybe I should keep the faith. 

 

This brings up another question for the BaWers:  now that we have (almost) finished Susan's histories, is there another Read Through the Year in the offing?

 

 

SWB's The Story of Western Science? Not that I've read her history series yet... DS and I are part way through History of the Ancient World. I've got a really long list of other histories if folks want to do something different. I'm still working through The Firebrand and the First Lady: Portrait of a Friendship: Pauli Murray, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the Struggle for Social Justice by Patricia Bell Scott.  

[Rosie_0801]

SWB's The Story of Western Science? 

 

It's on my list of things to do.

[Jane in NC]

This looks good, too, but my library doesn't have it. I'm really enjoying my listen to Americanah, and I want to read the rest of Adichie's books as well. I think I will definitely be looking to read some more African writers in 2017, as well as some African history.

Should I mail the Tail to you?

[Jane in NC]

SWB's The Story of Western Science? Not that I've read her history series yet... DS and I are part way through History of the Ancient World. I've got a really long list of other histories if folks want to do something different. I'm still working through The Firebrand and the First Lady: Portrait of a Friendship: Pauli Murray, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the Struggle for Social Justice by Patricia Bell Scott.

The Story of Western Science works for me.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Should I mail the Tail to you?

 

That would be awesome!! Thank you.

[Mom-ninja.]

So on a whim I decided to start, Growing Up Bin Laden. I'm almost 1/2 way in and decided to look some stuff up. I didn't get many answers. However, I did read some reviews of the book, and now I'm not sure I will finish. Apparently, coming up in the book are descriptions of animal cruelty and I can't stomach that. I think I'll call it good and stop the book. I now know all I want to know about the late bin Laden. 

 

 

 

 

[Kareni]

I just finished the fantasy novel The Pages of the Mind (The Uncharted Realms)  by Jeffe Kennedy; I enjoyed it. It's a spin-off from the author's Twelve Kingdoms series, and I think a reader would find it valuable to start with those books.  It's fun to see a librarian as the heroine.

 

"An Orphan's Throne

Magic has broken free over the Twelve Kingdoms. The population is beset by shapeshifters and portents, landscapes that migrate, uncanny allies who are not quite human…and enemies eager to take advantage of the chaos.

Dafne Mailloux is no adventurer--she's a librarian. But the High Queen trusts Dafne's ability with languages, her way of winnowing the useful facts from a dusty scroll, and even more important, the subtlety and guile that three decades under the thumb of a tyrant taught her.

Dafne never thought to need those skills again. But she accepts her duty. Until her journey drops her into the arms of a barbarian king. He speaks no tongue she knows but that of power, yet he recognizes his captive as a valuable pawn. Dafne must submit to a wedding of alliance, becoming a prisoner-queen in a court she does not understand. If she is to save herself and her country, she will have to learn to read the heart of a wild stranger. And there are more secrets written there than even Dafne could suspect…"

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Stacia]

I finished Tail of the Blue Bird and can definitely say it is in my top five for the year. On the one hand it is a detective story.  But it is so much more.  This is a tale of a former Ghanian society with its social order based on relations and expectations and modern Ghanian life with its social order based on very different relations and expectations.  What I loved about this book is the author's ability to sing the praises of the old and the new without judgement.  Thank you so much Stacia.

 

I really loved the mix of the old/traditional ways with the new/modern ways. A great story, imo.

 

I went to book club tonight. We read Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman (the author who also wrote A Man Called Ove). Everyone liked the Britt-Marie book so it was an overall thumbs-up.

 

Tonight, I finished The Whispering Muse by Sjón (an Icelandic author). I'm not super-familiar with the Jason & the Argonauts story, so I don't know how closely (or not) the author stuck to some of the mythology. It was a pleasantly entertaining tale & the ending actually made me laugh. Will be curious to hear Rose's comments. (And if you'd like my copy of the book, let me know & I'll send it on....)

 

Here's my rack of library books. Wonder which one I should read next?

 

Edited December 2, 2016 by Stacia

[Jane in NC]

I really loved the mix of the old/traditional ways with the new/modern ways. A great story, imo.

 

I went to book club tonight. We read Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman (the author who also wrote A Man Called Ove). Everyone liked the Britt-Marie book so it was an overall thumbs-up.

 

Tonight, I finished The Whispering Muse by Sjón (an Icelandic author). I'm not super-familiar with the Jason & the Argonauts story, so I don't know how closely (or not) the author stuck to some of the mythology. It was a pleasantly entertaining tale & the ending actually made me laugh. Will be curious to hear Rose's comments. (And if you'd like my copy of the book, let me know & I'll send it on....)

 

Here's my rack of library books. Wonder which one I should read next?

 

Well I am into All Things Icelandic at the moment so maybe I should add my name to this book's list after Rose reads it.

[Butter]

#121: The Mindjack Short Story Collection by Susan Kaye Quinn.  It's some novellas, short stories, and deleted scenes from the Mindjack series.  It gave more context and extra information.  I liked it.

[Chrysalis Academy]

I really loved the mix of the old/traditional ways with the new/modern ways. A great story, imo.

 

I went to book club tonight. We read Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman (the author who also wrote A Man Called Ove). Everyone liked the Britt-Marie book so it was an overall thumbs-up.

 

Tonight, I finished The Whispering Muse by Sjón (an Icelandic author). I'm not super-familiar with the Jason & the Argonauts story, so I don't know how closely (or not) the author stuck to some of the mythology. It was a pleasantly entertaining tale & the ending actually made me laugh. Will be curious to hear Rose's comments. (And if you'd like my copy of the book, let me know & I'll send it on....)

 

Here's my rack of library books. Wonder which one I should read next?

 

 

Thank you for the offer! But since Jane is interested too, and my library has a copy, I defer my "place" in line to her!

 

Edited December 2, 2016 by Chrysalis Academy

[Woodland Mist Academy]

I usually don't participate in the challenges or themes, but I thought I would take a walk on the wild side and give it a go this week....

 

I read Mon Repos by Nicholas Bevel. I'm not sure it quite fits the Foodie Book theme, but it's lived on a kitchen shelf for years, yet it's still a dusty – I needed a push to read it. I suspected it would have kitchen scenes; I was correct. Here's my defense of the book for the Foodie theme:

 

For when cooking means a good deal to you. . . when it lures you with a challenging odour . . . when the splutter of the frying-pan is the step of a young god on dry twigs . . . when the blue smoke rises like mist on a mountain, to catch you in a chef's wild dream . . .

 

Mon Repos is a parody of the Beverley Nichols home and garden books. When I was looking for more information this week, I found a newspaper article from 1934 that mentions the book and that the actual author is Maj. Yeats-Brown, but I found little else. I wish I could remember how I originally heard of the book! I have vague memories of reading about it, but I have no idea where...

 

If I ever knew the original goal of the book, I've forgotten.  To compliment? To ridicule? To tease? To mock? To scorn? To merely entertain?

 

Mon Repos does, at times, seem to verge on being cruel, but then again Nichols walked quite a fine line sometimes. (I imagine he crossed that line often in his less genteel books, which I mostly likely won't read.)

 

Whatever the author's goals for Mon Repos, it was interesting that although it started out an obvious parody of Nichols and was quite funny, it quickly went downhill and flattened off. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't all that funny either. Then, somehow, by the end the writing resembled Nichols' writing more than it parodied it.

 

After all, Nichols' books, if not exactly parodies, do poke fun at so many different personalities – including Nichols' own. How do you successfully parody a parody? Funny twice over is a difficult task...

 

Instead, Mon Repos is at its best when it is most true to the spirit of the originals. Instead of a parody of Nichols' work, it becomes almost an imitation, which, as we all know, is the sincerest form of flattery.

[Nan in Mass]

Geez. Next year seems kind of imaginary atm.  :huh:

 

I think we should all read a book about finance because I have four in my to be read pile and haven't got around to them yet.

 

I think everyone should read Terry Pratchett, because that's why I didn't get around to reading the finance books.

agree with the first and last. finance books would eventually be moved to the swop shop at the dump after not reading them, if they nade it past the door.

 

sorry about lack of caps. fell and can't lift my right arm. i've already come up with 4 inventions for holding things. and my phone was turned off by mistake so i have an iphone now and am struggling with it. not a good week.

 

jane, loved the bird update. gannets are amazing. doesn't surprise me about wright bros.

 

nan 

[Nan in Mass]

This is so funny -- I was going to post the same thing about how happy I am each year when the white crowned sparrows return, but I was thinking how unsexy they are in comparison to gannets!

 

Dh and I saw Arrival the other day and also really loved it. It is definitely a movie you need to go into without any background information or spoilers. 

cough cough - compared to our sparrows, gannets are chaste

[Kareni]

sorry about lack of caps. fell and can't lift my right arm.

 

Ouch!  I hope that you and your arm are soon feeling better.

 

**

 

I went into my local used book store last week only to find out that it will be closing in the new year (Oh, no!) and that I needed to use up my accrued credit, all $175 of it, before December 31.  My sister-in-law who is usually the recipient of some used books for  Christmas and her birthday is going to VERY happy this year.  Usually I give her books I've read but decided not to keep; now I went through the store picking up copies of my absolute favorites to pass along.  Naturally, I found (ahem) a few books for me to read or re-read.

 

**

 

Last night I finished a re-read (see above) of the historical romance novella  A Matter of Class  by Mary Balogh; I enjoyed revisiting it.

 

"Reginald Masson is wealthy refined and by all accounts, a gentleman. However, he is not a gentleman by birth, a factor that pains him and his father. Bernard Mason, with the Regency society that upholds station love all else. That is, until an opportunity for social advancement arises, namely, Lady Annabelle Ashton. Daughter of the Earl of Havercroft, a neighbor and enemy of the Mason family, Annabelle finds herself disgraced by a scandal, one that has left her branded as damaged goods. Besmirched by shame, the earl is only too happy to marry Annabelle off to anyone willing to have her.

 

Though Bernard wishes to use Annabelle to propel his family up the social ladder, his son does not to marry her, preferring instead to live as the wild, single life he is accustomed to. With this, Bernard serves his son an ultimatum: marry Annabelle, or make do without family funds. Having no choice, Reginald consents and enters into a hostile engagement in which the prospective bride and groom are openly antagonistic, each one resenting the other for their current state of affairs while their respective fathers revel in their suffering.

 

So begins an intoxicating tale rife with dark secrets, deception, and the trials of love-a story in which very little is as it seems."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Angel]

 

I don't know I feel like it's my duty to convert as many people as possible to reading GH but I guess I do ...

Lol!  If they don't convert, they just don't know what they are missing!!

 

Why have I never heard of a book advent calendar?! 

Do you have a link???

 

The book-related spEEding accident actually happened to a friend. She was listening to one of the Harry Potter audio books, it got to a tense part, and she put the pedal to the metal. $200 speeding ticket... She's grounded (at the age of 72!) from listening to Harry Potter while she's driving.

 

As to book-related links... This bag and this travel mug are headed my way.

:lol:

 

Book #120: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.  I listened to it on audiobook.  I never listen to audiobooks.  I just can't focus.  Apparently, the exception is when I am doing something utterly mindless.  We've been redoing my daughter's bedroom for months and I had to fix the edges of the triangles on her wall and that took about 40 hours.  So that's why I started listening to Order of the Phoenix.  In July.  I finished it yesterday.  I'm really not a fan of audiobooks.  But I am, of course, a fan of the book.  I love Harry Potter and Order is my favorite of the series.

 

My record for most books read in a year is 126 (set last year).  I don't think I'll beat it this year.

Thant sound utterly tedious!!  I listened to an audio book while painting the grout in my tiny little downstairs bathroom.  Also a tedious job, Ugh!!

 

sorry about lack of caps. fell and can't lift my right arm. i've already come up with 4 inventions for holding things. and my phone was turned off by mistake so i have an iphone now and am struggling with it. not a good week.

 

 

nan 

:grouphug:

[Angel]

I pulled The Best Christmas Pageant Ever off the shelf to give to my Pastor's wife to read (she had never even heard of it!!), but just couldn't pass it on without rereading it myself!  I finished it last night and decided that I will read it every December!  It is so funny and sweet and poignant and makes me look at Mary and Joseph and the Wise Men with fresh eyes :)  I love the part where the mom has to tell Imogene the story of Baby Jesus' birth!  What a wonderful little book!

[Violet Crown]

Nan, sorry about your arm. Hope your week improves. Regarding sparrows: my foodie book for this week's challenge, an account of medieval food practices, mentions that sparrow's eggs were a food to be treated cautiously, as they would have an, um, sparrow-like effect on the eater. Which might or might not be desirable.

[Angel]

BaW Bingo Question --  Is the Noble Prize Author any work by that author? 

[Stacia]

Nan, :grouphug: on your arm. Hope it heals well & quickly.

 

Jane, I will get The Whispering Muse to you in the mail (someday).

 

Angel, that's what I did (one work by someone who had won the prize).

Edited December 2, 2016 by Stacia

[Angel]

 

Angel, that's what I did (one work by someone who had won the prize).

Thanks!  I'm trying to finish up my Bingo and my A-Z!  4 left on Bingo and 4 left on A-Z challenge!  That's 8 books in one month!  I don't know if I can do that!

[Jane in NC]

Nan, :grouphug: on your arm. Hope it heals well & quickly.

 

Jane, I will get The Whispering Muse to you in the mail (someday).

 

Angel, that's what I did (one work by someone who had won the prize).

Sending good thoughts to Nan.

 

Take your time, Stacia. There is no book shortage in this house!

[ErinE]

I could do a finance post. Its my field and I've read not just about the specifics of financial knowledge, but where finance went wrong (or right).

[Robin M]

All great ideas so far and sparking my imagination for various themes.  Yes, to Story of Western Science for year long readalong.  Thanks to our missing Eliana, it's been on my shelf for the better part of the year.  Has anyone heard from her?   Finance and Prime numbers are all quite intriguing and I can think of quite a few fiction reads to go along with non fiction.    I'll be sure to leave arthurian off the 2017 Bingo.  :tongue_smilie:   I have a gem of an idea that's germinating.  

 

:grouphug: Nan and hope you feel better soon!

 

Secret Santa --  PM your name and address to me.   

 

Bingo's ---

 

One Row -  Horizontal, Vertical or Diagonally 

X marks the spot - Diagonally in both directions

Square - all the outside tiles

Inner square - all the inside tiles

Forward or backwards E

Right side up or upside down T

3rd row Horizontal and Vertical 

Total Blackout 

 

 

 

Pm your name, address, and email to me along with what you accomplished. 

[ErinE]

Did I miss the details of Secret Santa? I'd love to do it, but I'd like more info before I commit.

[ErinE]

I pulled The Best Christmas Pageant Ever off the shelf to give to my Pastor's wife to read (she had never even heard of it!!), but just couldn't pass it on without rereading it myself! I finished it last night and decided that I will read it every December! It is so funny and sweet and poignant and makes me look at Mary and Joseph and the Wise Men with fresh eyes :) I love the part where the mom has to tell Imogene the story of Baby Jesus' birth! What a wonderful little book!

. I read it to my kids every December. They love it (even DS14).

[Stacia]

I started the book shukriyya recommended: Alain Mabanckou's Broken Glass.

 

Alain Mabanckou’s riotous new novel centers on the patrons of a run-down bar in the Congo. In a country that appears to have forgotten the importance of remembering, a former schoolteacher and bar regular nicknamed Broken Glass has been elected to record their stories for posterity. But Broken Glass fails spectacularly at staying out of trouble as one denizen after another wants to rewrite history in an attempt at making sure his portrayal will properly reflect their exciting and dynamic lives. Despondent over this apparent triumph of self-delusion over self-awareness, Broken Glass drowns his sorrows in red wine and riffs on the great books of Africa and the West. Brimming with life, death, and literary allusions, Broken Glass is Mabanckou’s finest novel — a mocking satire of the dangers of artistic integrity.

 

I read Mabanckou's Memoirs of a Porcupine last year.

 

 

Edited December 3, 2016 by Stacia

[Violet Crown]

Bingo's ---

 

One Row -  Horizontal, Vertical or Diagonally 

X marks the spot - Diagonally in both directions

Square - all the outside tiles

Inner square - all the inside tiles

Forward or backwards E

Right side up or upside down T

3rd row Horizontal and Vertical 

Total Blackout 

 

 

 

I think all I managed was the X. Two of the strategic squares--2016 publication date, and Fairy Tale Adaptation--eluded me completely. (In fact I'm pretty sure I've never read in its entirety a book written in the current century.) So I will call my bingo card as done as it's going to be this year.

 

“B†column

 

Female author: Carswell, The Life of Robert Burns

Historical: Shakespeare, King Henry VIII

Based on cover: Virgil, The Aeneid (trans. C. Day Lewis)

Translated: Dorfmeister, Die Brücke (The Bridge)

Epic: Trollope, [Palliser Novels]

 

“I†column

 

Published 2016:

Revisit an old friend: Stoker, Dracula

Over 500 pages: Dostoevsky, Devils

Banned: Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

Nautical: Melville, Moby Dick

 

“N†column

 

Number in the title: Secular Lyrics of the XIVth and XVth Century

Fairy Tale adaptation:

[Library Free space]

Mystery: Chandler, The Big Sleep

18th century: Allan Ramsay, Selected Poems

 

“G†column

 

Dusty: Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther

Written birth year: Gass, In the Heart of the Heart of the Country

Classic: Plato, Apology

Color in the title: Dundy, The Dud Avocado

Arthurian: Scott, Ivanhoe

 

“O†column

 

Picked by a friend: Norris, McTeague

Play: Euripides, Bacchae

Nonfiction: Graves, Goodbye to All That

Nobel Prize author: Saramago, Blindness

Set in another country: James, The Raven: A Biography of Sam Houston

Edited December 3, 2016 by Violet Crown

[Robin M]

Did I miss the details of Secret Santa? I'd love to do it, but I'd like more info before I commit.

Knew I forgot something.  Will post again on Sunday's thread but the details are 

 

 

 

 

 

Throw your name in the secret santa hat and I'll draw names who gets to be whose secret santa. Let me know by the end of next week if want to participate.  PM me with  snail mail and email address and link to amazon wishlist, good reads want to read list or other list you have for gift ideas.

 

Shoot for mailing by the 19th to get there in time for Christmas.

 

Gift range - $10 to $25 depending on your finances and homemade gifts are great as well. 

[Kareni]

Currently free to Kindle readers ~

 

this sounds out of the ordinary: The Pharaoh's Cat by Maria Lang

 

"The Pharaoh’s Cat, a tragicomic fantasy narrated in the present tense by the cat himself, tells of a free-spirited, wise-cracking stray in ancient Egypt who suddenly acquires human powers and immediately captivates the young Pharaoh, making him laugh for the first time since his parents’ death.

The cat becomes the Pharaoh’s constant companion and, at the royal palace and on a tour of Egypt, participates in the festivities, developing an insatiable appetite for good food, wine, and gossip. Gradually, he renews the Pharaoh’s ability to enjoy life and inspires him to become a stronger leader. The bond of selfless love they share will change Egypt’s destiny.

The cat has a good friend in the High Priest of the god Amun-Ra and seeks his help in solving the mystery of his human powers and the supernatural manifestations that plague him. He has a mortal enemy in the Vizier—the second most powerful man in Egypt--who hates him for his close relationship with the Pharaoh. The Vizier’s persecution of the cat ultimately results in his fleeing with the High Priest to present-day New York City, where they find an ally in an Egyptologist’s daughter."

**

 

NOT FREE, but $1.99: The Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries: Whose Body?, Clouds of Witness, and Unnatural Death.  A box set of the first 3 books in Dorothy L. Sayers' series.

 

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

 

[mumto2]

I finished my official foodie read although all those instant pot blogs should count for something! :) The City Baker's Guide to Coutry Living was simply a book not a cookbook. Only a very few recipes and lots of thoughts on the perfect apple pie! It was a nice novel about a young woman who happens to be a successful pastry chef leaving her big city job under great stress and finds herself working at a B and B/ restaurant near her best friend. It was foodie enough to make me hungry but not enough to send me to the grocery store! Enjoyable.......https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28110139-the-city-baker-s-guide-to-country-living

 

Nan, I hope your arm gets better soon!

Edited December 3, 2016 by mumto2

[Robin M]

 

 

 

I think all I managed was the X. Two of the strategic squares--2016 publication date, and Fairy Tale Adaptation--eluded me completely. (In fact I'm pretty sure I've never read in its entirety a book written in the current century.) So I will call my bingo card as done as it's going to be this year.

 

“B†column

 

Female author: Carswell, The Life of Robert Burns

Historical: Shakespeare, King Henry VIII

Based on cover: Virgil, The Aeneid (trans. C. Day Lewis)

Translated: Dorfmeister, Die Brücke (The Bridge)

Epic: Trollope, [Palliser Novels]

 

“I†column

 

Published 2016:

Revisit an old friend: Stoker, Dracula

Over 500 pages: Dostoevsky, Devils

Banned: Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

Nautical: Melville, Moby Dick

 

“N†column

 

Number in the title: Secular Lyrics of the XIVth and XVth Century

Fairy Tale adaptation:

[Library Free space]

Mystery: Chandler, The Big Sleep

18th century: Allan Ramsay, Selected Poems

 

“G†column

 

Dusty: Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther

Written birth year: Gass, In the Heart of the Heart of the Country

Classic: Plato, Apology

Color in the title: Dundy, The Dud Avocado

Arthurian: Scott, Ivanhoe

 

“O†column

 

Picked by a friend: Norris, McTeague

Play: Euripides, Bacchae

Nonfiction: Graves, Goodbye to All That

Nobel Prize author: Saramago, Blindness

Set in another country: James, The Raven: A Biography of Sam Houston

 

:hurray: You accomplished quite a lot. X and U and Vertical and Horizontal.  Pm your snail mail address to me. 

[Robin M]

I really loved the mix of the old/traditional ways with the new/modern ways. A great story, imo.

 

I went to book club tonight. We read Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman (the author who also wrote A Man Called Ove). Everyone liked the Britt-Marie book so it was an overall thumbs-up.

 

Tonight, I finished The Whispering Muse by Sjón (an Icelandic author). I'm not super-familiar with the Jason & the Argonauts story, so I don't know how closely (or not) the author stuck to some of the mythology. It was a pleasantly entertaining tale & the ending actually made me laugh. Will be curious to hear Rose's comments. (And if you'd like my copy of the book, let me know & I'll send it on....)

 

Here's my rack of library books. Wonder which one I should read next?

 

I'm thinking A Hand Full of Stars or Golden Delicious! 

[Nan in Mass]

Thank you everyone.

Robin, how about graphic novel? And scifi is good because it where both soft and hard science meet up with philosophy, and how artists/writers influence the future (for example, flip phones) because the engineers read/watch scifi.

And I have bingo in at least one direction but I am havng trouble remembering the exact names of the books.

 

Epic - Brandon Sanderson's most recent Mistborn novels as well as a reread of the three original ones. These are epic in the "sweeping saga" sense. Kingdoms fall and there are wars and heros and mystical stuff and politics and some gross scary parts that would have kept me from reading them except that they were a parting gift from my youngest when he left for college. Large swaths of them I enjoy. Good, absorbing escape, which is why my son chose them.

 

Arthurian -Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

 

Nautical - Hornblower

 

18th Century - That really early scifi Micromegas

 

Set in another country - Sense and Sensibility (and lots of others)

 

(Posting before I lose this will be back)

 

Nan

 

Eta - I also read:

 

Female Author - In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri

Translated - Ma soeur est une sorciere by Dianna Winn Jones (and I can tell you children's book is significantly more difficult than Agatha Christie)

Library - many, we'll use a Terry Pratchett - Steam

Mystery - numerous Daisy Dalrymples

Old Favourite - Artists in Crime by Ngaio Marsh

Picked by a friend - The Plover. And abunch sent to us from dear Jane : )

2016 - Shadows. Of self by Brandon Sanderson

Over 500 - surely some of the Sandersons were, or perhaps better, I am half way through The Far Pavillions and will definitely be done by Christmas

Picked for the Cover - Buddha Boy

Non-fiction - some painting books. I will be back to fill in a titleafter I get the name of one off my website

Historical - that one I read about impressionists. Something with Paris in the title. Hmmm...

Play - Art, the play about the white painting that I'm the wrong culture to understand

Nobel prize author - Kim

Fairytale adaptation - a Mercedy Lackey that I think was called Beauty

 

What was the dusty supposed to be? Everything in my house is dusty.

Edited December 4, 2016 by Nan in Mass

[JennW in SoCal]

My BINGO card is still missing 3 spots. This is the first year I've taken the time to fill it in, and the first time I've looked for books specifically to fill the BINGO card. The key word there is look -- I only read one book specifically for BINGO!

 

"B"

female author: Laurie R King (among many others)

historical: The Janissary Tree

chose from cover: Aeronaut’s Windlass by 

translated: Jar City 

epic:  Under Heaven 

 

published 2016:  Dream quest of Vellitt Boe

revisit an old friend: My family and Other Animals

over 500 pages: Dawn of Wonder

banned author: Rudyard Kipling

nautical: Wine Dark Sea 

 

number in title:  Ajax Penumbra 1969

fairy tale adaptation: Uprooted

free space: 

mystery: X by Sue Grafton

18th century ???

 

dusty: Sandman: Preludes and Nocturns

written in birth year: Trustee from the Toolroom 

classic: Sense and Sensibility 

color in title:  yellow admiral

arthurian ???

 

picked by a friend: Rivers of London

play ???

nonfiction: Dispatches from Pluto

noble prize author: Ernest Hemingway

set in another country: Remains of the Day

 

 

[Ethel Mertz]

I think I have a Bingo Black Out.

 

B Column

Female Author - The Revolt by Susan Wise Bauer

Historical - Jane Addams: Spirit in Action by Louise Knight

Based on Cover - Latitudes of Melt by Joan Clark

Translated - Butterflies in November by Ava Auor Olafsdottir

Epic - Watership Down - Richard Adams 

 

I Column

Published 2016 - The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047 by Lionel Shriver

Revisit an Old Friend - Patterns of Grace by Tom F. Driver

Over 500 pages - Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas

Banned - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

Nautical - Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

 

N Column

Number in the Title - The $64 Tomato by William Alexander

Fairy Tale Adaptation - Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Library Free Space - A Cafecito Story: El Cuento de Cafecito by Julia Alvarez

Mystery - A Siege of Bitterns: A Birder Murder Mystery by Steve Burrows

18th Century - Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft (published 1790)

 

G Column

Dusty - The Magnificent Spinster by May Sarton

Birth Year - Around the World with Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis

Classic - O Pioneers! by Willa Cather

Color in the Title - A Yellow Raft in Blue Water by Michael Dorris

Arthurian - Sword of the Rightful King by Jane Yolen

 

O Column

Picked by a friend - Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver

Play - Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

Nonfiction - $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America by Kathryn Edin

Nobel Prize Author - Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck

Set in Another Country - All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doer 

[aggieamy]

It's been so long since I read most of them it wouldn't be fair to pick. I remember previously classing the really early ones in sort of an interesting background/that's where the cats came from category. Currently discovering they are REALLY GOOD and don't deserve the background label.

 

Do you have a favorite?

 

It's probably not the best of the series but my personal favorite is The Cat Who Lived High.  I love it when he goes back to see how everyone down below is doing.  That's always fun to me! 

 

I would group the books in a few rating categories:

• I love the books when he's with Polly with the exception of the last five or so which I didn't like much at all
• My second favorite are the ones she wrote in the sixties (the really early ones you are referring too)
• I like when he first moves to Moose County but can't really stand Melinda Goodwinter so those I rate the lowest

 

I really loved the mix of the old/traditional ways with the new/modern ways. A great story, imo.

 

I went to book club tonight. We read Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman (the author who also wrote A Man Called Ove). Everyone liked the Britt-Marie book so it was an overall thumbs-up.

 

Tonight, I finished The Whispering Muse by Sjón (an Icelandic author). I'm not super-familiar with the Jason & the Argonauts story, so I don't know how closely (or not) the author stuck to some of the mythology. It was a pleasantly entertaining tale & the ending actually made me laugh. Will be curious to hear Rose's comments. (And if you'd like my copy of the book, let me know & I'll send it on....)

 

Here's my rack of library books. Wonder which one I should read next?

 

 

 

I don't have a book to recommend from those options but I must say that the shelf looks very Stacia-esque.  Cool quirky decorations, artsy modern bookends, and neatly arranged library books. 

 

agree with the first and last. finance books would eventually be moved to the swop shop at the dump after not reading them, if they nade it past the door.

 

sorry about lack of caps. fell and can't lift my right arm. i've already come up with 4 inventions for holding things. and my phone was turned off by mistake so i have an iphone now and am struggling with it. not a good week.

 

jane, loved the bird update. gannets are amazing. doesn't surprise me about wright bros.

 

nan 

 

Hope you get better soon!

 

I pulled The Best Christmas Pageant Ever off the shelf to give to my Pastor's wife to read (she had never even heard of it!!), but just couldn't pass it on without rereading it myself!  I finished it last night and decided that I will read it every December!  It is so funny and sweet and poignant and makes me look at Mary and Joseph and the Wise Men with fresh eyes :)  I love the part where the mom has to tell Imogene the story of Baby Jesus' birth!  What a wonderful little book!

 

I read it every year and it hasn't lost any of it's charm.  It really stands the test of time. 

[Robin M]

I think I have a Bingo Black Out.

 

B Column

Female Author - The Revolt by Susan Wise Bauer

Historical - Jane Addams: Spirit in Action by Louise Knight

Based on Cover - Latitudes of Melt by Joan Clark

Translated - Butterflies in November by Ava Auor Olafsdottir

Epic - Watership Down - Richard Adams 

 

I Column

Published 2016 - The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047 by Lionel Shriver

Revisit an Old Friend - Patterns of Grace by Tom F. Driver

Over 500 pages - Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas

Banned - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

Nautical - Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

 

N Column

Number in the Title - The $64 Tomato by William Alexander

Fairy Tale Adaptation - Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Library Free Space - A Cafecito Story: El Cuento de Cafecito by Julia Alvarez

Mystery - A Siege of Bitterns: A Birder Murder Mystery by Steve Burrows

18th Century - Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft (published 1790)

 

G Column

Dusty - The Magnificent Spinster by May Sarton

Birth Year - Around the World with Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis

Classic - O Pioneers! by Willa Cather

Color in the Title - A Yellow Raft in Blue Water by Michael Dorris

Arthurian - Sword of the Rightful King by Jane Yolen

 

O Column

Picked by a friend - Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver

Play - Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

Nonfiction - $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America by Kathryn Edin

Nobel Prize Author - Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck

Set in Another Country - All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doer 

:hurray:  Woot! Woot!   Pm your email and snail mail address for bingo prezzies!

 

Edited December 4, 2016 by Robin M

[Robin M]

Thank you everyone.

Robin, how about graphic novel? And scifi is good because it where both soft and hard science meet up with philosophy, and how artists/writers influence the future (for example, flip phones) because the engineers read/watch scifi.

And I have bingo in at least one direction but I am havng trouble remembering the exact names of the books.

 

Epic - Brandon Sanderson's most recent Mistborn novels as well as a reread of the three original ones. These are epic in the "sweeping saga" sense. Kingdoms fall and there are wars and heros and mystical stuff and politics and some gross scary parts that would have kept me from reading them except that they were a parting gift from my youngest when he left for college. Large swaths of them I enjoy. Good, absorbing escape, which is why my son chose them.

 

Arthurian -Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

 

Nautical - Hornblower

 

18th Century - That really early scifi Micromegas

 

Set in another country - Sense and Sensibility (and lots of others)

 

(Posting before I lose this will be back)

 

Nan

 

Eta - I also read:

 

Female Author - In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri

Translated - Ma soeur est une sorciere by Dianna Winn Jones (and I can tell you children's book is significantly more difficult than Agatha Christie)

Library - many, we'll use a Terry Pratchett - Steam

Mystery - numerous Daisy Dalrymples

Old Favourite - Artists in Crime by Ngaio Marsh

Picked by a friend - The Plover. And abunch sent to us from dear Jane : )

2016 - Shadows. Of self by Brandon Sanderson

Over 500 - surely some of the Sandersons were, or perhaps better, I am half way through The Far Pavillions and will definitely be done by Christmas

Picked for the Cover - Buddha Boy

Non-fiction - some painting books. I will be back to fill in a titleafter I get the name of one off my website

Historical - that one I read about impressionists. Something with Paris in the title. Hmmm...

Play - Art, the play about the white painting that I'm the wrong culture to understand

Nobel prize author - Kim

Fairytale adaptation - a Mercedy Lackey that I think was called Beauty

 

What was the dusty supposed to be? Everything in my house is dusty.

:lol:   A  dusty book is one that has been sitting unread on your shelves for a year or more. Keep those titles coming.  PM your address to me for bingo prezzies! 

[Stacia]

 

For Ethel Mertz, Violet Crown, & Jenn (re: your bingo cards).

 

ETA: Nan too!

Edited December 4, 2016 by Stacia

[Robin M]

My BINGO card is still missing 3 spots. This is the first year I've taken the time to fill it in, and the first time I've looked for books specifically to fill the BINGO card. The key word there is look -- I only read one book specifically for BINGO!

 

"B"

female author: Laurie R King (among many others)

historical: The Janissary Tree

chose from cover: Aeronaut’s Windlass by 

translated: Jar City 

epic:  Under Heaven 

 

published 2016:  Dream quest of Vellitt Boe

revisit an old friend: My family and Other Animals

over 500 pages: Dawn of Wonder

banned author: Rudyard Kipling

nautical: Wine Dark Sea 

 

number in title:  Ajax Penumbra 1969

fairy tale adaptation: Uprooted

free space: 

mystery: X by Sue Grafton

18th century ???

 

dusty: Sandman: Preludes and Nocturns

written in birth year: Trustee from the Toolroom 

classic: Sense and Sensibility 

color in title:  yellow admiral

arthurian ???

 

picked by a friend: Rivers of London

play ???

nonfiction: Dispatches from Pluto

noble prize author: Ernest Hemingway

set in another country: Remains of the Day

Another wowzer!  Three more books and you'll have a blackout! 

 

 

 

 

[Stacia]

I don't have a book to recommend from those options but I must say that the shelf looks very Stacia-esque.  Cool quirky decorations, artsy modern bookends, and neatly arranged library books. 

 

I know you gals think my zebra is a Photoshop fail, but he's a toy from when my kids were young & one of his legs fell off. So, I have a 3-legged zebra who hangs out with my books. :lol:  (The others are my little critters collected during travels.)

 

The bookend/book holder thing is actually one piece & the metal ends just unroll more as you add books. It's something my mom had back in the '50s.

 

[Stacia]

So, is anyone giving books for gifts this holiday season? If so, what? (Or what books are you asking for for yourself?)

 

Some books that my dc will be getting (from various relatives & friends)...

 

Dd:

A Shadow Bright and Burning by Jessica Cluess

Raven Tales by Dennis Walker

Heroes and Heroines: Tlingit Haida Legend by Mary Giraudo Beck

Swords by Ben Boos

Warriors of the Storm by Bernard Cornwell

The Far Traveler: Voyages of a Viking Woman by Nancy Marie Brown

Native American Horse Gear by E. Helene Sage

Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan (yes, even though she's 18, she still likes these)

 

Ds:

Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd by Alan Bradley

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson

The Android's Dream by John Scalzi

Mogworld by Yahtzee Croshaw

How to Fight Presidents: Defending Yourself Against the Badasses Who Ran This Country by Daniel O'Brien

 

I still need to come up with some odd book for my sister. I always give her a completely-off-the-wall book at Xmas. Any suggestions welcome. (You think my reading tastes are weird. My sister likes stuff about serial killers, cults, old etiquette books, etc.... I've also given her stuff about Elvis & Liberace before. She adores Billy Idol.) And, I need to find a book for my dad. I haven't asked for any specific books for myself, just my usual $ for my annual membership to the neighboring library system.

 

[aggieamy]

I still need to come up with some odd book for my sister. I always give her a completely-off-the-wall book at Xmas. Any suggestions welcome. (You think my reading tastes are weird. My sister likes stuff about serial killers, cults, old etiquette books, etc.... I've also given her stuff about Elvis & Liberace before. She adores Billy Idol.) And, I need to find a book for my dad. I haven't asked for any specific books for myself, just my usual $ for my annual membership to the neighboring library system.

 

Oh I have just the perfect book recommendations. 

 

Entertaining is Easy by Dorothy Draper - It's a bit hard to find but if you can find it then it's just an absolute delightful "how to entertain" book set in the 30's and 40's.  It offers helpful advice on throwing a costume party at Christmas and how to host a party to listen to the boxing match on the radio.  Wonderful!

[Kathleen.]

I read "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart and my 10yo read "Cranberry Thanksgiving" by Harry Devlin.

☺

[Angelaboord]

Ok, I'm calling my Bingo card done, too. I have 4 bingos in no particular letter pattern. Thought I was going to be able to go for the blackout, but my current TBR pile is full of books about special needs so I don't think I'm going to have time for the other 5 spots before the end of the year.

 

(Abby is doing very well, by the way. It's just the year of special needs as I have 2 other kids in speech and OT as well as her stuff. Seems like all I do is drive to therapy appointments anymore, but it's all good.)

 

I have a Bingo across the first horizontal row, and then through some maneuvering of books, across the fourth horizontal row, and down the I and O rows.

 

B

Female Author - Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie

Historical - Crooked Heart, Lissa Evans

Book based on cover -

Translated - The Little World of Don Camillo

Epic - Fool's Assassin, Robin Hobb

 

I

Published 2016 - The Woman in Cabin 10, Ruth Ware

Revisit an Old Friend - A Little Way of Homeschooling, Suzie Andres

Over 500 Pages - Fool's Quest, Robin Hobb

Banned- To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

Nautical - The Cruise of the Arctic Star, Scott O'Dell

 

N

Number in the Title - 84, Charing Cross Road, Helen Hanff

Fairy Tale Adaptation -

Library Free Space - Life Among Savages, Shirley Jackson

Mystery - Still Life, Louise Penny

18th Century -

 

G

Dusty - Shirt of Flame: A Year with St. Therese of Lisieux, Heather King

Written Birth Year -

Classic - Sonnets From the Portuguese, Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Color in the Title - Blackout: Remembering The Things I Drank to Forget, Sarah Hepola

Arthurian -

 

O

Picked by a Friend - Gifts: Mothers Reflect on How Children with Down Syndrome Enrich Their Lives

Play - She Stoops to Conquer, William Goldsmith

Nonfiction - The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, Sidhartha Mukerjee

Nobel Prize Author - Pygmalion, George Bernard Shaw

Set in Another Country - Circling the Sun, Paula McLain

 

And in other news, I finished Last Testament, the book of interviews with Pope Benedict, and The Brain That Changes Itself. And I, too, abandoned Nicotine. It was my Book of the Month choice for November, but the first chapter was so distasteful I just couldn't get past it. Blech.

 

I thought I was going to cancel my subscription but I didn't realize you had to actually call them to cancel (clever on their part) and it automatically renewed. Fortunately December's books (some of them) look better, but I still find myself liking their "extra" picks more than their main ones. I wish I could just pick the extras!

 

--Angela

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Edited December 4, 2016 by Angelaboord