Book a Week 2017 - BW1: Welcome to an adventurous prime reading new year!

[aggieamy]

Wow.  Week 1!  A whole new year of reading ahead of us.  It's exciting. 

 

My first book of the year was Amulet which I received through a dirty Santa book gift exchange that my book club does.  Everyone in my family has read it except me.  I didn't like how it ended on a cliffhanger because the library was closed and I couldn't get the second one yet.  Four stars.  A good start to the year.    

[aggieamy]

Yes, you must post a recipe of a delicious dessert.  :laugh:  Then tie it into a book discussion. We are very good at making most anything into a book discussion. 

 

This needs to be a thing.  The only thing this place is missing is more delicious dessert recipes.  :hurray:

 

 

Flufferton - Is Cranford considered Flufferton?  Austen is, right? but I've read all of those, and I'd rather try new Flufferton rather than reread - I read the thread the week this was discussed, but it's a bit hazy now...).  And Jane Eyre would not be Flufferton? (because dd and I are listening to that on audio now...)

 

I daresay that I'm starting to be a bit of a broken record around here right now but ... have you read any Georgette Heyer?  I highly recommend The Grand Sophy!  If you listen to books through audible then it's available there as an audiobook and delightful.  It would be a great one to listen to with your DD. 

[aggieamy]

A thought just struck me.  Why do so many people think that audiobooks wouldn't count for BaW?  Are they thought to be "less" than reading?  Just curious.  My family all love audiobooks and I never thought of them as anything other than a read aloud done by a professional. 

 

 

[aggieamy]

Looks like I'm just talking to myself here tonight ... did everyone go to bed early?

 

I have a favor to ask.  DD got a book from an aunt for Christmas that is Tales of Terror from Penny Dreadfuls.  The authors are well known and so are some of the stories but they are not at all my genre so I just don't know if it's appropriate or not.  What do you gals think?  My first thought is to put it away for a bit but I don't want to be too harsh with a present. 

 

Frankenstein (the 1818 edition -which is supposed to be more terrifying?!?!  I didn't even know there was more than one edition.)

The Adventure of the German Student by Washington Irving

The Wehr-Wolf by Richard Thomson

The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe

Sawney Beane: The Man Eater by Charles Whitehead

Aurelia or the Tale of a Ghoul by ETA Hoffman

Wake Not the Dead by Johann Ludwif Tieck

The Dream-Woman by Wilkie Collins

The Night in the Grave

The Case of Lady Sannox by Arthur Connan Doyle

The Diary of a Madman by Guy de Maupassant

George Dobson's Expedition to Hell by James Hogg

Strange Case of Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Setevenson

The Apparition of Lord Tyrone to Lady Beresford

Lost in a Pryarmid or The Mummy's Curse by Louisa May Alcott

In Kropsburg Keep by Ralph Adams Cram

The Buried Alive by John Galt

The Dualistist by Bram Stoker

The Executioner by William Godwin

Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street by James Malcolm Rymer

 

[Stacia]

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Edited November 2, 2017 by Stacia

[Stacia]

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Edited November 2, 2017 by Stacia

[Moonhawk]

I think I will join you all!  Or at least, aspire to :)  

 

Right now am reading/listening to Meet Me in Atlantis.

 

Overall I think my book trends this year are going to be focusing on marketing/business and organization.  I've been taking a pretty active role in my husband's freelance-turning-more and I need to brush up and really focus my brain on this area. 

[CadenceSophia]

:seeya:  Hi!  I also read in 3 languages - and am adding one book in a fourth this year (I may just read that one in bits over the whole year...).  Which languages? (I read English/German/Spanish and sometimes take a stab at French).  I wish I could say it was the foreign languages slowing me down, but honestly I don't read fast in English either.  I'm aiming for more like a book-every-other-week, but I'm hoping maybe I'll keep getting inspired here and do more. :)  I'm also just starting this year.

 

And yeah, apparently audio books count, so I should start getting more audio books!

 

 

Hey! I read in English and French right now. Most of my list is in French. I have been studying Finnish and will read be reading my first book in Finnish this year (probably just Harry Potter). Not sure if I'll make any more. I also have been learning Russian but I don't know if I will be able to read a book this year, or if I will have to save it for next year. And my Latin skills are getting really rusty so I thought perhaps I'd dust off the Aeneid and run through it again.

 

Book-a-week is really fast for me too. Most of the things I read for pleasure are quite chunky, and I read them for the pleasure of daydreaming in between the pages so they are not fast reads. 

 

FYI, I noticed a few days ago that the Whispersync deal for Audible audiobooks has some titles in German. The ones I checked were all $2.99  :)

[thessa516]

 

 

Finance - Gah, I don't wanna read about finance.  Anything readable for someone who doesn't really want to read about finance?

 

 

 

The Millionaire Next Door or one of Dave Ramsey's books? Would something like The Wolf of Wall Street or The Big Short count?  Both are popular non-fiction books where financing plays a major role.

[Robin M]

Secret on likes. Only get 50 on pc or laptop but managed 100 at one time on iPad.

 

Amy, great idea on desert recipes. I made zucchini bread for Christmas. Sweet and Yummy!!! While I was making it, me, my sister and hubby will all swiping from the bowl. 😄

 

Don't know what the deal is with audiobooks. Maybe it is because not physically reading and it's more passive. Something to listen to while doing something else. Does your son like horror or scary stories? If not, The penny dreadfuls will probably be a bit too much for your kiddo. I'd wait a few more years. Go with sci if or fantasy stories geared for his age.

 

I still haven't started reading anything new yet. Contemplating all my non fiction books that have been piling up for alpha author reads. They take so much longer to read. Heck, Bill Bryson Appalachian book lived in the bathroom and took me the whole year to read. 😃.

[Tress]

[about The Circle] I definitely recommend it. It's a chilling modern dystopia with lots of satirical elements. 

 

I read the Circle in 2015. I did finish it, but it wasn't a favorite at all, I found it very American and a bit of a slog. Now Rose mentions that there are lots of satirical elements.....it probably means I didn't pick up on those :blush: (I'm not American).

 

If you want to include a re-read in your 2017 count, just make sure that the "Date I finished this book" is set to a 2017 date, and it will be automatically included.  You can also set up shelves where you shelve books completed in a specific year - "books of 2017" or some such thing. That does move it from a previously read time period to the current time period, I don't know of a way to list it in both places inside goodread's calculations, but you can always shelve it in more than one place - I have some re-reads shelved in more than one "books of 201_" shelf.

 

Likewise, if you read most of a book in 2016 and want it to show up there, just set the "Date finished" to Dec 31.  

 

Also, if you finish a book, you can give a rating and adjust bookshelves etc and there is also a box 'number of times I have read this book'. HTH.

[LaughingCat]

PS Forgot to mention what I am currently reading.  It is "Surviving Survival: The Art and Science of Resilience" by Lawrence Gonzales.  I loved his previous book, "Deep Survival:  Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why".  He looks at data and pulls it together in unusual ways, which I always enjoy a great deal.  (This is also what I love about Malcolm Gladwell, for instance.)  I'm about halfway through it, and it's really engaging.  It covers the brain chemistry and function that enables people to survive and also tends to influence how they recover from past trauma.  I think it's a good book in general about coping skills and how to encourage them, even though it's not structured or presented that way.  Resilience seems like a great thing to start a new year with!

 

DH was really into 'prepper' tv shows for a while (his main reading is post-apocalyptic fiction)  and I ended up reading a bunch of survival books like these -- about people surviving (or not) various traumatic events (boats sinking, 9/11, airplane crashes etc).   Fascinating stuff even if not anything to do with 'prepping'or apocalypses.

 

Same here. My parents did not read to me. I think my dad would read The Night Before Christmas once a year that was it. Yet, I always saw them reading. They didn't exactly read classics either. My mom only reads bodice ripper books, and my dad reads more contemporary fiction like Stephen King and such. I grew up with a book in my hand at all times. I don't remember ever not reading. 

 

I'll be the outlier here -- my parents did not read to me past toddler hood, and they did not read much at all. I don't actually remember ever seeing them reading.  And neither were either of my brothers readers.  But I have been an avid reader since 1st grade (perhaps before but 1st grade is the first books I remember reading).  On the other side, neither child is an avid reader at this point, even though I have read to them like crazy, have many books in the house, and of course, I read a lot in front of them too.  Although younger may get there as she becomes more confident in her reading ability and older did actually read all day today for the first time ever,

 

Speaking of the kids reading -- older would like to try the Bingo again this year (she managed to fill about a quarter/third of the spaces last year although no bingo's -- which was fantastic considering she is  dyslexic & reluctant reader) -- but I would like to know what you all think she could do for kids/spouse birth year?   I told her probably she could do someone in the family's birth year.

[idnib]

Bwahahahaha! :D Now I'm trying to think of what other edgy classics they could rewrite for the indigo snowflake toddler set. Tropic of Capricorn? Go Ask Alice? Fanny Hill?

 

Now I'm going to be up all night thinking! Maybe Catcher in the Rye, and the toddler is complaining that the Duplo are big fat phonies.

 

 

idnib - I'm copying the quote in your signature to add to my "Great Quotes" list - such an insidious truth.

 

Thank you! The linked excerpt has several good quotes I've captured for my own list.

 

Secret on likes. Only get 50 on pc or laptop but managed 100 at one time on iPad.

 

:svengo: This could be a game changer if I can wrestle the iPad from DS. He's been using it to work on his novel since NaNoWriMo and has become rather possessive of an iPad that doesn't actually belong to any of us!

[CadenceSophia]

A thought just struck me. Why do so many people think that audiobooks wouldn't count for BaW? Are they thought to be "less" than reading? Just curious. My family all love audiobooks and I never thought of them as anything other than a read aloud done by a professional.

Because reading is reading and listening is listening :) I don't think they are lesser, just different. All challenges have different rules and I wanted to be sure I was understanding this one. I do challenges on another board where audio books count in a separate category.

[Rosie_0801]

 

 

 

 

 

I'm going to have dd memorise that this year. Thanks!

[mumto2]

Likes.....I am also out. For those of you that have never experienced a problem with likes we all have roughly 50 (I heard 75 from someone) in a 24 hour period. Per Robin using an ipad gives you 100. For the next couple of weeks many of us on BaW are going to be running out of likes regularly. They roll for lack of a better description. If I use one now it will be available again in 24 hours. Please don't think there was something wrong with what you said or that we aren't thrilled that you want to participate. We are a really friendly group who is simply suffering from a shortage of likes. So everyone consider yourself liked!

 

Steampunk seems to be one of the Bingo squares being asked about most. We had a Steampunk weekly challenge a few years ago which sent me into loads of research trying to wrap my mind around the concept. First it's meant to be fun. People travel from all over to attend Steampunk events in Whitby (Bram Stoker fame). I just discovered an online publication they do. Here's a relevant page http://steampunkjournal.org/guidelines-of-steampunk/.

 

We had a Steampunk wedding that the dc's rang at which everyone on the church support staff still talks about because even 80 yo ladies thought it was a hoot! They even served ice cream in our cemetery to everyone involved.....so my dc's loved it! :) I was the super cool older person who knew what steampunk was thanks to BaW. ;) :lol:

 

My favourite Steampunk series is Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series starting with Soulless. The Soulless series definitely has adult content but some of our more gentle readers have made it through them happily....a few scenes require a lot of quick page turning in the second book especially. She has another series called Finishing School which is appropriate for pre teens and up.

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2891665.Gail_Carriger

 

Another great series starts with The Strange Affair of Springheeled Jack https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7293120-the-strange-affair-of-spring-heeled-jack?ac=1&from_search=true. I loved this series. It's a Stacia find I believe.

 

A couple books I plan on trying this year that I have spotted on Steampunk lists are This Monstrous Thing https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22811807-this-monstrous-thing?ac=1&from_search=true and Boneshaker.https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1137215.Boneshaker?ac=1&from_search=true

 

 

Someone up thread asked if By Gaslight is Steampunk. To the best of my knowledge no....no steampowered inventions mentioned in the description. :lol: I think it is going to be a good historical mystery/thriller. I am waiting to read it.

Edited January 3, 2017 by mumto2

[sewingmama]

Seriously people..its only January 3 and people have already finished books😳 Where do you find the time to read? My kids arent especially young but older kids doesnt have seemed to equal more time around here. I'm on Chapter 4 of my book..3 days to get there. I mostly read at night before bed but reading is like a sleeping pill to me...3 pages in and I'm asleep...doesnt matter the time of day.

 

I took my book to the pool today but I read none of it as I had to keep a proper eye on my non swimmer kids. Plus I cant concentrate with people chatting all around anyway. Tried to read a chapter when I got home and kids were playing...and I fell asleep 2 pages in 😂

 

I think audio books may be the way to go for me..I can do something else at the same time to keep me awake.

 

I'll be lucky to read one book a month 🙄 and thats after I got all excited because I'm not doing Uni this year and would actualy have time to read something other then textbooks and assigned reading.

 

Plus I started with a boring book...trying to branch out but apparently Vampire novels are not my thing even if they come highly recommended.

[Loesje22000]

Seriously people..its only January 3 and people have already finished books😳 Where do you find the time to read? My kids arent especially young but older kids doesnt have seemed to equal more time around here. I'm on Chapter 4 of my book..3 days to get there. I mostly read at night before bed but reading is like a sleeping pill to me...3 pages in and I'm asleep...doesnt matter the time of day.

 

I took my book to the pool today but I read none of it as I had to keep a proper eye on my non swimmer kids. Plus I cant concentrate with people chatting all around anyway. Tried to read a chapter when I got home and kids were playing...and I fell asleep 2 pages in 😂

 

I think audio books may be the way to go for me..I can do something else at the same time to keep me awake.

 

I'll be lucky to read one book a month 🙄 and thats after I got all excited because I'm not doing Uni this year and would actualy have time to read something other then textbooks and assigned reading.

 

Plus I started with a boring book...trying to branch out but apparently Vampire novels are not my thing even if they come highly recommended.

I just count on sunday what I read last week.

With January 1st on sunday, it is the reading of the last week of 2016, I've been ill so more time to read, and several of us have no small children.

 

One book per month is a good place to start!

[DawnM]

https://www.buzzfeed.com/lincolnthompson/53-books-you-wont-be-able-to-put-down?utm_term=.vuM2b5r70W#.rsE4wGZNK1

 

 

Any of these truly, "Can't put down" books?

 

I have only read Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, and I plan to try to read it again this year.

 

Recommend any of them?

 

PS:  Oh, I read about 1/2 of The Timetraveler's Wife but it wasn't my thing.

 

Edited January 3, 2017 by DawnM

[Rosie_0801]

Seriously people..its only January 3 and people have already finished books😳 Where do you find the time to read? 

 

I count some of the books I read aloud to dd too. If I can count Terry Pratchett when I read it to myself, I can count it when I read it to dd. :lol:

And anyone who reads nonsense like 'Alice in Wonderland' deserves to have it count too.  :toetap05:

[mumto2]

Many of us have truly older kids. Mine are both at home but completely outsourced online. I feed and do their laundry. Give occasional rides. My dh is actually more time consuming then they are these days because he works from home and I'm available as an assistant. :lol:

[Angelaboord]

Outer Space - Amish Vampires in Space - lol, this one has been on my mental list since someone mentioned it here on the Hive. Somehow it has really good reviews on Amazon (and Goodreads), so I've got give it a go...

 

Local Author - In the Heart of the Sea: the Tragedy of the Whale Ship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick

 

Eastern Europe - Oh, heck. War and Peace is on my list, but my book count could go way down if I tackle that... Would The Metamorphosis count? Kafka lived in Prague... How about Roadside Picnic - sci fi, but written by Russians???

 

Collection of Short Stories - Stories of Your Life and Others or What is Not Yours is Not Yours

 

Free Space - I can just stick whatever here?

 

Finance - Gah, I don't wanna read about finance. Anything readable for someone who doesn't really want to read about finance?

 

...

Wait - Amish Vampires in Space is a thing? [emoji23]

 

Not outer space related, but I recently saw a friend on Goodreads had a book called Dracula Versus Hitler. Apparently Van Helsing calls on Dracula to help fight the Nazis. I think that one may be going on my Spooky October list. [emoji6]

 

As for Finance books, I've got a couple by Michael Lewis on my list. My dh works in finance and that's practically all he reads. (Finance as a genre, I mean, not Michael Lewis.) So I have shelves and shelves of books to choose from, but Michael Lewis' The Big Short and Boomerang looked like the most interesting to me and dh recommended them as being particularly accessible to a non-finance person.

 

I'm happy to report that dh is much better and Abby just seems to have a mild cold at the moment on the tail end of colds that started making the rounds before Christmas. [emoji846] Thanks for all the well-wishes!

 

--Angela

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[DawnM]

Seriously people..its only January 3 and people have already finished books😳 Where do you find the time to read? My kids arent especially young but older kids doesnt have seemed to equal more time around here. I'm on Chapter 4 of my book..3 days to get there. I mostly read at night before bed but reading is like a sleeping pill to me...3 pages in and I'm asleep...doesnt matter the time of day.

 

I took my book to the pool today but I read none of it as I had to keep a proper eye on my non swimmer kids. Plus I cant concentrate with people chatting all around anyway. Tried to read a chapter when I got home and kids were playing...and I fell asleep 2 pages in 😂

 

I think audio books may be the way to go for me..I can do something else at the same time to keep me awake.

 

I'll be lucky to read one book a month 🙄 and thats after I got all excited because I'm not doing Uni this year and would actualy have time to read something other then textbooks and assigned reading.

 

Plus I started with a boring book...trying to branch out but apparently Vampire novels are not my thing even if they come highly recommended.

 

I am shooting for one book per month.  And I am doing mostly audiobooks as I can do those much easier.  I can listen on the way to and from work, and during any breaks I might have.

[Violet Crown]

I count some of the books I read aloud to dd too. If I can count Terry Pratchett when I read it to myself, I can count it when I read it to dd. :lol:

And anyone who reads nonsense like 'Alice in Wonderland' deserves to have it count too. :toetap05:

As a child, Flannery O'Connor wrote in the margin of her copy of Alice in Wonderland, "Awful. I wouldn't read this book."

[xixstar]

This is going to be more complicated than I thought. I read a book yesterday, a random one I found on Amazon Read (is that what's it's called?) and now realizing I will really have to be selective in what I choose. It wasn't a bad book just very generic. But now at least I have meet this weeks goal and an well set to start next weeks which I hear is a much longer book.

 

I just realized yesterday that I can use my kids kindles to read on!

[Violet Crown]

Woke up early, finished my first book of the year, ran 5K as the sun rose and the city started moving around me. [/smug]

 

From St. Teresa:

While the soul is in this condition, and interiorly burning, it often happens that a mere fleeting thought of some kind ... deals it, as it were, a blow, or, as one might say, wounds it with an arrow of fire.... It passes as quickly as a flash of lightning and leaves everything in our nature that is earthly reduced to powder.

On to volume 2 of Hakluyt.

 

Name Spelling (personal) Challenge:

1. Voyages, Richard Hakluyt

2. The Interior Castle, Teresa of Avila

[Butter]

Dystopian - I really like dystopian fiction, but none of it was on my current list, so ???  I've read most of the more obvious choices...  I'd love to reread The Dispossessed, but that's really more utopian than dystopian, and in outer space...?

The 100 series is good (and not at all like the TV show... in fact I watched the first episode and yelled at it the whole time because it was just so not based on the books (it was created from a synopsis of the first book which explains that).  The Emerge series by Heather Sunseri is a really excellent dystopian trilogy.  She's one of those amazing self-published authors so the books are cheap on Kindle (and the first one in the series is free).  If you haven't read past The Giver (or haven't read The Giver) by Lois Lowry, those are really good, too.  The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch is a good one and a one-off rather than a series.

 

https://www.buzzfeed.com/lincolnthompson/53-books-you-wont-be-able-to-put-down?utm_term=.vuM2b5r70W#.rsE4wGZNK1

 

 

Any of these truly, "Can't put down" books?

 

I have only read Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, and I plan to try to read it again this year.

 

Recommend any of them?

 

PS:  Oh, I read about 1/2 of The Timetraveler's Wife but it wasn't my thing.

 

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher.  I literally couldn't put it down and read it all in one day.

 

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell I liked a lot, too.  I even mentioned in my review that I could hardly put it down, though I only gave it 4 stars because of bad language (worse at the beginning), words used were modern rather than 1986 when the book is set, and a couple puzzling plot holes.

 

That's all I've read from that list...

[Wheres Toto]

My first two books were disappointing.

 

 I read The Devouring as recommended by someone else (my oldest daughter).   It was not awful but the writing wasn't that good and I kept getting pulled out of the story by the awkward writing.  I couldn't get into the story and was too aware that I was reading, if that makes sense.  I'm not going to bother reading the sequels.

 

Then I read Tuck Everlasting as a book that was made into a Disney movie.  Good story but very short and easy to read.  Which I should have known, I guess.  I may read another one for that category later in the year. 

 

Right now I'm working through books I have in the house, or can get free or cheap on Kindle or Prime Reading.   I'll be working on two or more at a time, which I don't usually do, but I'm reading The Einstein Prophesy on my computer Kindle for PC which is hooked into my daughters Amazon Prime account.  I'll need another book that's either a hard copy or from my Kindle account to read when we're away from the house.  My Kindle account is on my phone and my Fire tablet. 

 

As for turning kids into readers - I grew up with no tv until I was 13 (financial reasons not philosophical) so we did a lot of reading in our house.  My mother is a big reader still.   My oldest is a big reader but didn't start until she was 13 or so, despite seeing me read all the time and getting read to a lot.  Her dad was not a reader at all.

 

My younger two are big readers but will watch videos first given the choice.  So, for at least part of everyday, they have no choice.  They read an hour of assigned reading for school, then can read in bed at night after screen time is over.   My son will chose to read over screens if he's into a good series (he did this with Harry Potter, Mysterious Benedict Society, and Gregor the Overlander), and he often is reading comic books while also having videos playing.   

[Matryoshka]

I daresay that I'm starting to be a bit of a broken record around here right now but ... have you read any Georgette Heyer?  I highly recommend The Grand Sophy!  If you listen to books through audible then it's available there as an audiobook and delightful.  It would be a great one to listen to with your DD. 

 

Before BaW, I'd never even heard of Georgette Heyer, but I am really hearing the love!  I'll add that one to my to-read list. :)

[Matryoshka]

Also, if you finish a book, you can give a rating and adjust bookshelves etc and there is also a box 'number of times I have read this book'. HTH.

 

Is there any way to adjust this on old books you have already marked as read?  I'm not figuring out how to do this... 

[Butter]

Not book related.  Just really sad.  Prayers and good thoughts requested.

 

You might have seen on the news about the tragic accident at a ski resort in Colorado.  A mother and her two girls fell about 25 feet from a ski lift chair.  The mother died.  The 12 year old was treated and released.  The 9 year old as far as we know is still in the hospital.  There's no news on her condition currently.

 

The younger girl is one of the students at the taekwondo at the studio we go to.  My daughter is an assistant program director/junior instructor there and she is just beside herself because she loves all "her kids" so much.  The studio is sending flowers for the family.  I suggested get well cards from however many students/parents want to make/buy them for Taylor.  9 year olds love mail, right?

 

It's just so sad :(

[Chrysalis Academy]

A few ideas for you: 

 

Aaaah!  You guys all read waaaay too fast!  I spent half the day yesterday just finding a book to read - all the books I had lying about were from my recent foreign language bookstore junket and one non-fiction book.  I've just read a lot in those categories and wanted to read something a bit lighter and faster to get me off on a good start, so I thought I'd raid my kids' rooms - I had hoped to find a Dorothy Sayers mystery I'd bought one of my dds, but couldn't find it anywhere.  Ended up with Hollow City, the second book in the Miss Peregrine series, which was also AWOL - for the longest time I could only find Book 3.   :glare:

 

But instead of reading my book all day today, I may have spent a bunch of time reading this thread and playing with Goodreads.  And I finally went over to the blog and figured out the Bingo thing and even though at this pace there seems but a slim chance that I'll make any Bingos, I nevertheless tried to think of books on my to-read list that might fit the categories. :tongue_smilie:  You know, just in case. :D

Oh, and am I understanding correctly that I can't double-dip in Bingo?  Like, a 500+ page book set in Eastern Europe only counts for one category or the other?  I've got lots of stuff that could fit 2-3 categories...

 

So, here's what I've got so far...

 

Prime Number - got nothing.  None of my books have numbers in them right now, no less primes... ???

 

Science Fiction - Embassytown by Miéville

 

Western - Okay, I've never read a single Western, not really my thing.  Any awesome recommendations? - No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy - it's brutal but absolutely fantastic - one of my all time favorite books

 

Translated - Ein Mann namens Ove/A man called Ove (translated from Swedish)

 

Over 500 pages - El laberinto de los espíritus - Carlos Ruiz Zafón

 

Flufferton - Is Cranford considered Flufferton?  Austen is, right? but I've read all of those, and I'd rather try new Flufferton rather than reread - I read the thread the week this was discussed, but it's a bit hazy now...).  And Jane Eyre would not be Flufferton? (because dd and I are listening to that on audio now...) Seconding the suggestion to try Georgette Heyer The Grand Sophy is a great place to start. She's delightful!

 

Your Name in the Title - so I checked the library to see if anything existed.  I found a collection of 19th century Irish-American Literature that even got good reviews (guess my real name!)

 

Ancient up to 500AD - ???

 

Outer Space - Amish Vampires in Space - lol, this one has been on my mental list since someone mentioned it here on the Hive.  Somehow it has really good reviews on Amazon (and Goodreads), so I've got give it a go...

 

Local Author - In the Heart of the Sea: the Tragedy of the Whale Ship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick

 

Eastern Europe - Oh, heck.  War and Peace is on my list, but my book count could go way down if I tackle that... Would The Metamorphosis count?  Kafka lived in Prague...  How about Roadside Picnic - sci fi, but written by Russians??? - Any of those would work - I enjoyed Roadside Picnic. I may try War and Peace.  Russia counts, though.

 

Collection of Short Stories - Stories of Your Life and Others or What is Not Yours is Not Yours

 

Free Space - I can just stick whatever here? Yep! as long as it's 200+ pages and not a re-read (per Robin's Rules of Bingo)

 

Finance - Gah, I don't wanna read about finance.  Anything readable for someone who doesn't really want to read about finance? - Freakonomics? Or a book about behavioral economics? I'm going to read Evicted

 

Female Adventure - I decided that Miss Garnet book looked interesting, so I thought I'd give it a go.  Next month is my birthstone, so I think I could last that long... :)  So, would Miss Garnet's storyline in Venice be considered a female adventure? 

 

Bestseller written in Child or Spouse birth year - either Winter Solstice by Pilcher (2000) or Dr. Zhivago (1959).  1998 would also have been an option, but nothing struck my fancy.

 

Seaworthy - Wide Sargasso Sea (would that count?) or The Plover (since everyone seems to love it!) The Plover is so good!!

 

Dystopian - I really like dystopian fiction, but none of it was on my current list, so ???  I've read most of the more obvious choices...  I'd love to reread The Dispossessed, but that's really more utopian than dystopian, and in outer space...? 

 

Classic - Would either Age of Innocence or Far from the Madding Crowd count? Either! Age of Innocence is another of my all-time favorites

 

Steampunk - I think the only Steampunky thing I've read is His Dark Materials series.  Any good recommendations?  By Gaslight (is that steampunk) looks good but it's yet another chunky one.  Soulless is the one I'm going to try. Steampunk really isn't my thing, but it gets good reviews from Those Who Know

 

Middle Ages - such rave reviews about Sunne in Splendour, now I want to read it. - Lovely book. But another chunkster! 900+ pages

 

Mystery - hit me with your favorite Arnaldur Indridason - which one should I start with?  Or I may try an interesting looking Dutch mystery author I found (Maarten 't Hart - any of the Dutch readers know him?)

 

Debut Author - Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi Wonderful book!

 

Selected by a Friend - A friend is starting a scifi book club, and I'm thinking of joining if it ends up meeting at a time I can make it.  Their first book is Ancillary Justice, so I'll put that one here...

 

 

Seriously people..its only January 3 and people have already finished books😳 Where do you find the time to read? My kids arent especially young but older kids doesnt have seemed to equal more time around here. I'm on Chapter 4 of my book..3 days to get there. I mostly read at night before bed but reading is like a sleeping pill to me...3 pages in and I'm asleep...doesnt matter the time of day.

I took my book to the pool today but I read none of it as I had to keep a proper eye on my non swimmer kids. Plus I cant concentrate with people chatting all around anyway. Tried to read a chapter when I got home and kids were playing...and I fell asleep 2 pages in 😂

I think audio books may be the way to go for me..I can do something else at the same time to keep me awake.

I'll be lucky to read one book a month 🙄 and thats after I got all excited because I'm not doing Uni this year and would actualy have time to read something other then textbooks and assigned reading.

Plus I started with a boring book...trying to branch out but apparently Vampire novels are not my thing even if they come highly recommended.

 

Well, for one thing, a lot of us finished books we'd been reading on in December.  I also intentionally picked a few short books to start the year off with a bang! It's good psychology. So yes, I finished 4 books, but 3 are really short and one I mostly read in December.  So that's how! You'll be ahead of the game next January, too.  :)

 

Second, yes you do so have young kids!! I didn't read near so much or so seriously when my kids were those ages, and I only have 2.  It gets easier! Now I don't have to watch them at the pool, they sleep in so I have reading time in the morning, and they put themselves to bed. It's a whole new world, and you'll get there!  :)

[Chrysalis Academy]

Not book related.  Just really sad.  Prayers and good thoughts requested.

 

You might have seen on the news about the tragic accident at a ski resort in Colorado.  A mother and her two girls fell about 25 feet from a ski lift chair.  The mother died.  The 12 year old was treated and released.  The 9 year old as far as we know is still in the hospital.  There's no news on her condition currently.

 

The younger girl is one of the students at the taekwondo at the studio we go to.  My daughter is an assistant program director/junior instructor there and she is just beside herself because she loves all "her kids" so much.  The studio is sending flowers for the family.  I suggested get well cards from however many students/parents want to make/buy them for Taylor.  9 year olds love mail, right?

 

It's just so sad :(

 

 

:grouphug: Oh Butter, I'm so sorry for your community's loss.  That is so sad.

[Jane in NC]

Sending hugs to you and your daughter, Heather. How sad for your dance community.

[Carol in Cal.]

I'm going to take the plunge this year! Starting off with a challenge I saw on Facebook.

 

First up: A book being made into a movie this year. I picked The Circle by Dave Eggers -- just finished this afternoon! Looking forward to the movie (but probably will have to wait for it to come out On Demand...)

 

I got my bookgroup to read The Circle right after it came out in paperback, not because I loved it (I thought it was really overdone) but because I wanted to talk about (I thought it made some excellent points very well, and also that it was chillingly possible, and also since we are in Silicon Valley we pretty much recognized all the places and aspects of the companies mentioned.)

 

I hadn't heard that it was being made into a movie.  It's going to be interesting to see whether it would be exaggerated enough to make the book's points or not.  Not all that easy to move into a visual presentation, I think.

 

There is a decided lack of art that reflects or focusses on technology that is NOT dystopian, which The Circle is.  

 

I would like to see more focus on this.

 

The exceptions I have noted over the years are:

"The First $25 Million Is Always The Hardest" (this is a book that I read over and over)

and the play:

"Pick Up Ax", which refers to one of the very first computer games, 'Adventure' I believe, all text, no pictures, no instructions.  

 

Both of those works are about tech startups, and they are fantastic.  

[Chrysalis Academy]

I got my bookgroup to read The Circle right after it came out in paperback, not because I loved it (I thought it was really overdone) but because I wanted to talk about (I thought it made some excellent points very well, and also that it was chillingly possible, and also since we are in Silicon Valley we pretty much recognized all the places and aspects of the companies mentioned.)

 

I hadn't heard that it was being made into a movie.  It's going to be interesting to see whether it would be exaggerated enough to make the book's points or not.  Not all that easy to move into a visual presentation, I think.

 

There is a decided lack of art that reflects or focusses on technology that is NOT dystopian, which The Circle is.  

 

I would like to see more focus on this.

 

The exceptions I have noted over the years are:

"The First $25 Million Is Always The Hardest" (this is a book that I read over and over)

and the play:

"Pick Up Ax", which refers to one of the very first computer games, 'Adventure' I believe, all text, no pictures, no instructions.  

 

Both of those works are about tech startups, and they are fantastic.  

 

I agree with your assessment of The Circle - not great literature, but important ideas that I always want to talk about, and yes, chilling was exactly the word I used to describe it. I had my dd14 read it and we had some great discussions about issues of privacy and sharing and authenticity in relationships.  Also, having grown up in a cult, I found the manipulative techniques particularly chilling. I'm also curious how they are going to pull of the movie, and I'm especially concerned that they will Hollywoodize the ending, which would be a shame.

 

ETA: I'm also temporarily out of likes. And I just woke up! So it must be the 24-hour thing and I'll get a few back here in a while.

Edited January 3, 2017 by Chrysalis Academy

[Carol in Cal.]

https://www.buzzfeed.com/lincolnthompson/53-books-you-wont-be-able-to-put-down?utm_term=.vuM2b5r70W#.rsE4wGZNK1

 

 

Any of these truly, "Can't put down" books?

 

I have only read Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, and I plan to try to read it again this year.

 

Recommend any of them?

 

PS:  Oh, I read about 1/2 of The Timetraveler's Wife but it wasn't my thing.

I will NEVER understand the wild acclaim for 'Kindred'.  It didn't work well as sci fi, and it was full of purple prose.  Stupid plot, too.

 

But, All The Light We Cannot See was excellent.  I found it very slow-starting but persevered because my book club was reading it, and I'm really glad I did.  Once I really engaged with it I thought it was fabulously well-written.

 

Never Let Me Go is excellent but rather depressing.  

 

I like Terry McMillan and hadn't realized that she had another book out, so I'll probably read Who Asked You? sometime this year.

 

Native Son is fantastic and not overly long.

 

Heart of Darkness I studied in high school, and just reread within the last year or so, mostly because I've learned so much more about history that I thought I might get more out of it.  Our English teacher was very Freudian in his approach to literature, and so we psychoanalyzed Kurtz six ways from Sunday but never really put the book into context.  "King Leopold's Ghost" is a very well-written history book that gives the background for that period/location--some of the most rapacious colonialism of modern times.  If you're thinking of rereading HOD, I strongly recommend KLG beforehand.  That enriched my understanding this second go round tremendously.  

 

I studied Crime and Punishment under the same teacher, and I think that there the psychological approach really fit the work well.  I should read it again.  

 

The Mountain Story looks good--I've added it to my Amazon wishlist.

[Carol in Cal.]

OK, I'm setting up my own challenge.

 

One book that I read long ago that influenced me

One book that I "should" read but haven't

One book that has influenced people I respect

One book about Silicon Valley or at least taking place there

One book about San Francisco or at least taking place there

One book about the Sierras or at least taking place there

One book about with a woman STEM character

One book about or heavily alluding to chemistry

One book with strong Lutheran or similar characters (ideas anyone?)

One book involving choral singing

One book involving hiking

One book involving knitting, weaving, or other fiber arts

[scrapbookbuzz]

 

Does anyone want a copy of The Golden Legend?  I read this over the course of 2015 and had thought I might pass it on to my son but he has declined. Time to let it go.

I'm always receptive to receiving books! I'll gladly take it if it hasn't already been claimed!

 

Hi, Everyone! Thought I'd join the fun! 

 

I am currently reading The Battle at Hackham Heath by John Flanagan.

It's a YA action/adventure, prequel to the Ranger's Apprentice Series.

That's my fun read which I will definitely finish by month's end.

This week, I will also start reading ahead in some of my dcs' reading assignments.

I'll update when I can!

[Faithr]

So how is it that Elizabeth Gaskell, Jane Austen or Georgette Heyer considered flufferton?  I guess I am taking my cue from the 'fluff' in flufferton and I object!  LOL!  Gaskell and Austen were great women writers who did not write fluff at all.  And Georgette Heyer wrote admirable accurate historical fiction with great characters, lots of references to Shakespeare, and wonderful dialogue.  Granted she was rather formulaic so I won't put her into the category of truly great, but she is way better than other stuff I'd considered 'fluff.'  My inner feminist is rebelling against calling these authors fluffertons.  Is it because they are women writers and have an element of romance in many of their books?

 

But maybe I don't know the history of the term, having never heard it before I saw the 52 Reads bingo card.  Don't want to jump to conclusions.  Someone enlighten me!

Edited January 3, 2017 by Faithr

[Violet Crown]

 

"Pick Up Ax", which refers to one of the very first computer games, 'Adventure' I believe, all text, no pictures, no instructions.  

 

Cave Adventure!!! I played that as a little kid. It became Zork, if I remember right, and launched the Infocom series of text-based adventure games.

 

"You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike."

[Carol in Cal.]

Cave Adventure!!! I played that as a little kid. It became Zork, if I remember right, and launched the Infocom series of text-based adventure games.

 

"You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike."

...all printed in Odd Ogg green on a grey background screen.

 

This program was deep in the computer at my first job.  It was unlocked for Christmas Eve, and that's how I got to try it.

[Lady Florida.]

I

 

I'm moving on to my second book, a free Kindle First book.  Nothing jumped out at me this month so I selected The Night Bird by Brian Freeman.

Does anyone else take advantage of the Kindle First books?

 

 

 

 

I choose one nearly every month, but I haven't read all of them. There have been a few months recently where none of the books looked good to me. 

 

When I got my first Kindle 5 years ago, I went crazy with free books. I soon learned that many of them weren't worth the "price" and I stopped gobbling up free ebooks (except for classics). I'm much more selective now, even with programs like Kindle First.

 

1. Aaaah!  You guys all read waaaay too fast!  

 

 

2. Oh, and am I understanding correctly that I can't double-dip in Bingo?  Like, a 500+ page book set in Eastern Europe only counts for one category or the other?  I've got lots of stuff that could fit 2-3 categories...

 

 

3. Western - Okay, I've never read a single Western, not really my thing.  Any awesome recommendations?

 

 

4. Flufferton - Is Cranford considered Flufferton?  Austen is, right? but I've read all of those, and I'd rather try new Flufferton rather than reread - I read the thread the week this was discussed, but it's a bit hazy now...).  And Jane Eyre would not be Flufferton? (because dd and I are listening to that on audio now...)

 

 

5. Free Space - I can just stick whatever here?

 

 

6. Classic - Would either Age of Innocence or Far from the Madding Crowd count?

 

 

 

1. It's okay. Breathe. :D People really do read at their own pace here. 

2. Yes, sorry. That's pretty much been the bingo rule, unless I misunderstood it.

3. I'm not a fan of westerns but am going to try True Grit.

4. Flufferton is in the mind of the reader. My flufferton is the cozy mystery. I would think Cranford fits. However, Amy (aggieamy) got me to read and actually enjoy a Georgette Heyer by sending me two of her books. She's sneaky that way. ;) I'm still reading the second one, but if you are interested I'd be happy to send you The Grand Sophy. I'm a firm believer in books are meant to be shared. If you want to pm me your address, I'll drop it in the mail when I get a chance.

5. Just free. You don't need to fill it. At least I think that's how it works.

6. Those would definitely count!

 

 

 

Book-a-week is really fast for me too. Most of the things I read for pleasure are quite chunky, and I read them for the pleasure of daydreaming in between the pages so they are not fast reads. 

 

 

 

There are weeks where someone (ahem) will post "still working on <title of same book she's been reading for 3 weeks>"

 

 

 

I'll be the outlier here -- my parents did not read to me past toddler hood, and they did not read much at all. I don't actually remember ever seeing them reading.  And neither were either of my brothers readers.  But I have been an avid reader since 1st grade (perhaps before but 1st grade is the first books I remember reading).  On the other side, neither child is an avid reader at this point, even though I have read to them like crazy, have many books in the house, and of course, I read a lot in front of them too.  Although younger may get there as she becomes more confident in her reading ability and older did actually read all day today for the first time ever,

 

 

 

I don't remember my mother reading to me. She said she did, but by the time I was old enough to remember things, she was already working and often worked nights (as a waitress). However, I can't remember not being a reader. My mother said I more or less taught myself and could read before I started school (I don't remember that either). 

 

I read to my brother because was usually babysitting him while our mother worked nights. (Please don't pick Green Eggs and Ham AGAIN!). He's not a reader.

 

Ds read a lot when he was younger and into his early teens. He stopped around 16 when he discovered online games. :( I hope he'll eventually go back to reading. 

 

Secret on likes. Only get 50 on pc or laptop but managed 100 at one time on iPad.

 

 

 

I wonder if it's the same with other tablets? I alternate between reading these threads on my laptop and on my tablet. I might have to test it one day soon. :)

 

Seriously people..its only January 3 and people have already finished books

 

It will slow down. Some here read really fast. Some who were here in 2016 finished a book in 2017 that we were already reading. I posted yesterday that I finished a book, but the truth is I only had 2 chapters left in it. So I didn't already read a book - I just finished one that was in progress. I'm probably not the only one.

 

https://www.buzzfeed.com/lincolnthompson/53-books-you-wont-be-able-to-put-down?utm_term=.vuM2b5r70W#.rsE4wGZNK1

 

 

Any of these truly, "Can't put down" books?

 

 

 

I read the following for book club:

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Salvage the Bones

 

While neither were "can't put down", they both did keep me reading past the time I should have stopped. Okay, that's can't put down, right.  :lol:They aren't great literature, but they did keep me wanting to find out what happens next.

 

Another good one is All the Light We Cannot See.

 

I read several others on that list, and while liked most (didn't like The Time Traveler's Wife - another book club book), I was able to put them down.

 

 

This is going to be more complicated than I thought. I read a book yesterday, a random one I found on Amazon Read (is that what's it's called?) and now realizing I will really have to be selective in what I choose. It wasn't a bad book just very generic. But now at least I have meet this weeks goal and an well set to start next weeks which I hear is a much longer book.

 

 

 

I'm selective too, and would rather miss a goal than read just to meet a number. I tried reading a bingo square book (your name in the title) but the writing put me off. I hope I'll find another one for that category, but if I don't that's okay. 

[Lady Florida.]

Not book related.  Just really sad.  Prayers and good thoughts requested.

 

You might have seen on the news about the tragic accident at a ski resort in Colorado.  A mother and her two girls fell about 25 feet from a ski lift chair.  The mother died.  The 12 year old was treated and released.  The 9 year old as far as we know is still in the hospital.  There's no news on her condition currently.

 

The younger girl is one of the students at the taekwondo at the studio we go to.  My daughter is an assistant program director/junior instructor there and she is just beside herself because she loves all "her kids" so much.  The studio is sending flowers for the family.  I suggested get well cards from however many students/parents want to make/buy them for Taylor.  9 year olds love mail, right?

 

It's just so sad :(

 

Oh Butter, that's so sad.  :grouphug:

[Loesje22000]

OK, I'm setting up my own challenge.

 

One book that I read long ago that influenced me

One book that I "should" read but haven't

One book that has influenced people I respect

One book about Silicon Valley or at least taking place there

One book about San Francisco or at least taking place there

One book about the Sierras or at least taking place there

One book about with a woman STEM character

One book about or heavily alluding to chemistry

One book with strong Lutheran or similar characters (ideas anyone?)

One book involving choral singing

One book involving hiking

One book involving knitting, weaving, or other fiber arts

I like your challenge!

 

I know movies like 'As it is in Heaven' and 'Les Choristes' about choral singing, but I don't know any books. Would you mind to share? We love the BBC Gareth Malone series here :)

 

I don't remember the author right now, but there is a 'quilting club' serie about a 'castle' (manor?) that change in to a quilting centre.

 

I will think about the Lutheran book: fiction or biographic? (With 500 year reformation festivities something must be published...)

[Lady Florida.]

I'm not big on science fiction, but The Circle looks like something I could read. Goodreads and Wikipedia list it as sci-fi, Amazon doesn't. 

 

Steampunk and dystopian are also going to be hard for me. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was called steampunk in a previous thread and I think I can read that one. Dystopian is the only one I'll have to work hard at finding a title. (I already read The Road, Station Eleven, The Hunger Games series, The Handmaid's Tale, Oryx and Crake, and Stephen King's original The Stand).

[Chrysalis Academy]

https://www.buzzfeed.com/lincolnthompson/53-books-you-wont-be-able-to-put-down?utm_term=.vuM2b5r70W#.rsE4wGZNK1

 

 

Any of these truly, "Can't put down" books?

 

I have only read Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, and I plan to try to read it again this year.

 

Recommend any of them?

 

PS:  Oh, I read about 1/2 of The Timetraveler's Wife but it wasn't my thing.

 

Thanks for posting! I found a bunch on here for my BigBingo challenge.

 

Ones I read that I liked:

Never Let Me Go

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Ready Player One

Kindred

Rosemary's Baby

The Secret History

And Then There Were None

Crime & Punishment

 

but I wouldn't call them un-putdownable, except maybe And Then There Were None and Rosemary's Baby

 

 

Ones I read or tried that I didn't care for (or didn't finish):

The Time Traveler's Wife

Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Heart of Darkness (I know it's a classic, but so incredibly racist it's hard to read)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (too violent for me)

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August (didn't hold my interest)

Shantaram

The Name of the Wind

[Chrysalis Academy]

I'm not big on science fiction, but The Circle looks like something I could read. Goodreads and Wikipedia list it as sci-fi, Amazon doesn't. 

 

Steampunk and dystopian are also going to be hard for me. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was called steampunk in a previous thread and I think I can read that one. Dystopian is the only one I'll have to work hard at finding a title. (I already read The Road, Station Eleven, The Hunger Games series, The Handmaid's Tale, Oryx and Crake, and Stephen King's original The Stand).

 

I'd say The Circle is Dystopian, but certainly not sci-fi. Or at least, only a very broad definition of sci fi.

 

ETA: Not that you can't count it for that square!!! It just struck me as an odd classification. And since you said dystopian would be hard for you, you could definitely use The Circle for that square.

Edited January 3, 2017 by Chrysalis Academy

[Schadenfreude]

Last night I created an account on goodreads. My children decided to mess around in it for a bit since none of us has ever heard of it before. This morning I woke up to an e-mail that I won a book. Awesome, I love books. Then I see the right up and it's not my normal cup of tea. My oldest laughed that he registered as a joke. I told him it was ok and he will read it with me. Nothing like expanding your horizons in the new year. The book is The Very Best Case Scenario: The Five Steps to Envisioning with Your Higher Self and it will be my book selected by a friend.

[Carol in Cal.]

I'm not big on science fiction, but The Circle looks like something I could read. Goodreads and Wikipedia list it as sci-fi, Amazon doesn't. 

 

Steampunk and dystopian are also going to be hard for me. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was called steampunk in a previous thread and I think I can read that one. Dystopian is the only one I'll have to work hard at finding a title. (I already read The Road, Station Eleven, The Hunger Games series, The Handmaid's Tale, Oryx and Crake, and Stephen King's original The Stand).

I consider "The Circle" to be dystopian more so than sci fi.

So there you go!

 

Then for your sci fi book, may I suggest "Childhood's End" by Arthur Clarke?  It's one of my alltime favorite sci fi books.