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Book a Week 2017 - BW2: Happy birthday Haruki Murakami!!!


Robin M
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This probably isn't the right thread to admit to disliking Murakami, is it ?!

 

About to start The Guineveres.  Feeling doubtful.

 

 

I hope that you enjoy them :). 

 

 

:lol: I think I tried to read one of his books a while back and I really couldn't get into it at all. I may still give him another go, but he's certainly not top on my list of books that I plan on reading. I'm sorry. Your post just has me giggling. 

 

I'm with you guys . . . I only made it through The Strange Library last January because it was so short. His books really aren't my cuppa I don't think, and Stacia's spoiler definitely didn't inspire me to want to read Kafka on the Shore! Not all authors are for everyone. The funny thing is, after listening to Murikami's running book, I think I'd really like him in real life.  I think we have a lot of personality traits in common. But the books? Not so much.

 

We saw a wonderful Stratford Festival presentation of King John at our local theater today.  Dd and I were the only ones in the theater, so it was a private showing! Very well done. I'd always heard this was a "lesser" Shakespeare play, but I we thought it was wonderful. It was so interesting how King John was seen very differently in Shakespeare's day than he is now. Now, we think of him as the villain of Robin Hood, but in Elizabethan times he was a bit of a hero, having resisted the authority of the Catholic church and standing up for secular authority - the villain of this piece was the Church rather than the king.

 

Good to hear all the plugs for The Night Circus. I'll definitely give it a try.

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I finished The Natural History of Dragons last week. I didn't get a chance to chime in on last week's thread, but I do gravitate toward male authors and male protagonists, and I figured I'd start the year out in the other direction.

 

It's part mystery/part adventure, told as a memoir of a renowned dragon expert, in an interesting setting - a Victorian-era world where dragons are mysterious wild creatures, known but yet to be studied in depth. I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure I'll get to the sequels any time soon though.

 

This week I'm still reading The Violinist's Thumb. I also started the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and will likely start The Name of the Wind if I finish that up. Norwegian Wood should be in soon.

 

I think I spoke too soon with my, "Yay less health issues and more reading time!" And all the, "If you liked 1Q84, you'll like this!" recommendations are not helping with my expectations or holds list! I loved that book.

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I want to join in, but I don't think I'll be able to keep up with the thread! 

Last week I read:

 

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto - reread it for the first time since I was about 14. It held up ok.

The People of Sparks (Book of Ember #2) - prereading because DS12 is about to do a unit on it.

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett - Didn't like this one as much I as expected. It was well written, but really just left me depressed.

 

This weekend I got started on The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, on my SIL's recommendation. I am really enjoying it so far.

 

My challenges for 2017:  I set my Goodreads challenge to 72 books. I'm doing the PopSugar challenge and the A to Z challenge.

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Checking in. I finished 2 this week: Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Gift from the Sea (thank you Robin) and the 4th Belgariad book, Castle of Wizardry by David Eddings. I read Gift from the Sea on the treadmill and thought it was a good one to read at the start of the year. Just a short book of essays she wrote while alone on an island and thinking about stages of life and marriage, particularly for a woman. It made me want to read more about her; maybe later in the year I'll look for a bio or more by her.

I read Gift from the Sea in 2016 for book club and really enjoyed it. We did an overnight trip to the beach to discuss it which was amazing! I felt like I needed longer to absorb it all though, so I'm planning to read again this year.

 

No one got me the latest Brandon Sanderson book, Arcanum Unbounded, for Christmas so I had to order it myself. It got here today (yay!) so that is what I will be reading this week. It is a collection of short works, most of which I've read before, but at least one new novella.

 

And I keep adding things to my TBR shelf!

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I read Gift from the Sea in 2016 for book club and really enjoyed it. We did an overnight trip to the beach to discuss it which was amazing! I felt like I needed longer to absorb it all though, so I'm planning to read again this year spend a week at the beach by myself this year!

 

 

This is what I thought you were going to say! I kept imagining time alone at the beach while reading it.

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Jenn, I really enjoyed your comments on Norwegian Wood in relation to the educational & work systems in Japan.

 

For about ten years (prior to having kids), I worked for Japanese companies in the R&D sections, so I worked with many Japanese co-workers (along w/ many American co-workers). The Japanese culture certainly is one of workaholism & it's definitely a case of the unit/group/company being more important than the mere individual. I actually worked with a Japanese engineer who died from overwork. :crying:

 

Did you ever read the A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki? Part of it very much goes over the competitive, bullying environment of the schools for middle- and high-schoolers in Japan. Excellent book that I think you would really enjoy if you haven't read it already, especially since your son is currently teaching over there. It's really wonderful & is one of my favorites. I read it back in 2013 &, in case you or anyone else is interested, here's what I wrote about it after reading it:

 

 

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I've not read it and will definitely look for it.

 

Those poor teachers in Japan have no control over where they teach and no guarantee they will stay at the same school from year to year --they can get reassigned and have to move to another town between school years! And my ds says they never, ever share anything about their personal life. One of the teachers in his school got married over a year ago and hadn't told anyone!  Needless to say ds hasn't had the heart or nerve to try to explain his own homeschooled education...

 

But before I return to reading about Japan I have to pick up By Gaslight at the library tomorrow as it is waiting on the holds shelf for me! 

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Happy Birthday to Rosie!!!

 

 

This week I have started Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas and The Bible Unearthed by Israel Finkelsrein and Neil Silberman. I'm expecting it to take me a couple weeks to get them done as one is kind of dry and the other is large.

I read the Bonhoeffer book last week and found it both inspiring and heart-breaking. Will be interested to see what you think.

 

 

I have surgery Thursday, and I’m a bit nervous as it’s my first surgery besides my c-sections. I’ve been stuck on the couch or in bed since Christmas so I hope by the following week, I’ll be reading less and moving more.

 

Will be thinking of you on Thursday! 

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I absolutely loved A Tale for the Time Being.....just wonderful.

 

I am another that didn't like Night Circus. I finished it because we had a read along and I thought it would get better. It didn't......

 

I really needto go to bed...

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Love hearing about all the different books people are reading.  

 

Best wishes ErinE on your surgery.  Hope your recovery is smooth.

 

Finished my fourth book and I'm just going to cut and paste the review I added to my annual review/listing I keep elsewhere.

 

The Morningside Papers ed by Peter Gzowski.  Not sure if that should be edited or compiled.  Basically a celebration of his CBC morning radio show Morningside which aired all across Canada for many years – this is the first of his compilations (I have 4 more of them – there may have been even more) of the letters, discussions and musings that both he and Canadians from all over the country and abroad contributed to the national discourse.  I read the first half aloud to the kids, in an attempt to inoculate them with Canadiana and read the last half to myself.  The subject matter ranged from memorable meals to assisted suicide, things you have learned in life, what it means to have two official languages and how it feels to live where they don’t speak your languages, unemployment, alcoholism and more.  Some of the subject matter was not really suitable for the kids and we skipped a few sections although I read them to myself.  Overall I enjoyed the book.  I still remember the last day Peter Gzowski broadcast Morningside – I was outside in the backyard of the house during our first summer there and I cried.  I loved listening to him and he was an institution on the CBC and in my Canada. 

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The Dr Zhivago audio I'm taking out goes along with the new translation.  I hope it's good.  I had to get something like 6 different narrators out of the library for Jane Eyre before I found one that wasn't like listening to someone reading the phone book.  I mean, I love this book, I know how good it is, how can someone read it and make me feel like I'm slipping into a coma?  Gah, don't read in a monotone, people!  Fortunately I finally found a good version that's been quite engaging (read by Juliet Stevenson).  

I was listening to Juliet Stevenson today but with the kids so it was one of their audiobooks (Stories From Shakespeare by David Timson). We have tons of her reading and they love her. I've been staring down her audio version of Middlemarch, trying to commit to the 35 hours it's going to take. 

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Second week here we come! Thanks, Robin.

 

I've read a couple of mysteries and am now working my way through Salley Vickers' book - Miss Garnet's Angel. So far, I love this book. Here's the blurb from the back for anyone who may be wanting to read this for the birthstone challenge.

 

"Miss Julia Garnet, prompted by the death of a friend, goes to live in an out-of-the-way corner of Venice. Here she meets Nicco, a beautiful Italian boy, Carlo, an art dealer, and the enigmatic English twins engaged in restoring the Chapel-of-the-Plague, whose mysterious history includes a lost fourteenth-century diptych. She is drawn to the paintings in the local church, which tell the story of Tobias and the Angel. The ancient tale of Tobias, who travels to Media to collect a family debt unaware that he is accompanied by the Archangel Raphael, unfolds alongside Julia Garnet's own story. As she unravels the story's history, Julia's life is thrown into a new and sometimes disturbing light."

 

It won't let me like your post, Ethel.  :closedeyes:

 

I picked this up from the library this week to read for the birthstone challenge. Glad to hear your are enjoying! I think it may be my next read. 

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Finished today, finally: Venetia by Georgette Heyer, e-book. This nearly defeated me, but I think maybe it was a bit of a shock to go from The Vegetarian to a Regency Romance. Still not sure what I think of Heyer. I went from completely bewildered to having a million different thoughts on it, none of which can be contained in a post. I may still try The Grand Sophy.

Getting closer to finished: Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari on audio, wish I'd gotten a print copy. Even at 1.4x speed, I am longing to pick it up and just read it. I am doing much better with audiobooks than I thought I would ever do, and actually enjoyed a couple books more as audiobooks than print, recently, but not this one.

Not counting for BaW count, but fun: Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome, abridged, read by Hugh Laurie. Thank you to whoever mentioned it last year. I read the book a few years ago and this was a fun way to revisit.

Also not counting, but just fun read alouds for little kids we did today:
Snow by Uri Shulevitz

Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman

 

On sale for Kindle is Closed Casket: A New Hercule Poirot by Sophie Hannah

 

I read her first one (The Monogram Murders) last week. As much as I like Agatha Christie, I realized a couple years ago, I read a lot but definitely not most of her books and I have to read a book many times to remember a lot. So I'm not sure if my reaction to the Monogram Murders is fair. (I was very "meh" about it.) I don't feel I know Poirot from the books enough to criticize (I watched all the Suchet episodes, though) but something seemed off. Then again, there were a few of Agatha Christie's that I disliked, too. So I'm on the fence about trying Closed Casket.

I was defeated by Dorothy Sayers last month. Tried and abandoned Whose Body? for the third time. What is it? Is it me? Did I start out with the wrong book? Is there a better one to start with? Or maybe it's just me? (More likely  :lol: )

 

 

 

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I have about 100 pages left in Life Reimagined: The Science, Art and Opportunity of Midlife. I am really enjoying it and finding all the brain research and the chapter on midlife marriages fascinating. 

 

I can tell I am going to have to just go at my pace and do my thing in this BAW endeavor. I am a person who tends to get hyper focused on a goal I have set, and I realize reading is an enjoyable activity for me. I don't want to feel panicked or a sense of dread if I don't read a book a week. I already get the tiniest bit disappointed if I don't my 250 steps/hour, so I don't need to add anything else to my, "Damn it, I didn't meet that goal" list. 

 

Happy birthday to anyone celebrating this week (Rosie and anyone else). Thinking good thoughts for those who need them this week. 

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I had some time to read today, and I finished my first book, Love Warrior. I give it four stars, mostly because I've been following the author for awhile on Facebook and it was really cool to hear her story. She's very open about mental illness, which I appreciate on a personal level.

 

I am trying to get through several books I've started this week. The Bible Tells Me So, Searching for Sunday, and Jesus Feminist have been on my kindle app for a while now.

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Hope all goes well with surgery, Erin.

Happy Birthday, dearest Rosie!!!
:party:  :001_wub:

Erin--May you have a quick recovery!

 

 

Many of us here on the BaW thread were moved by Between the World and Me.  I was very happy to pass along my copy to a recent college grad who also found it to be thought provoking.

 

Yes to following Jane Eyre with The Wide Sargasso Sea!  That is what I did.

 

Dr. Zhivago is one of my favorite books.  If you find an interesting audio version (i.e. compelling reader), let me know. 

 

And now for some non-book stuff.  My latest knitting project is a lacy cowl:  

 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/a-noble-cowl

 

I am using bunches of markers to keep track of the pattern.

 

Tonight's dessert is courtesy of a BaWer who sent a tart pan to me ( :001_wub: ) and the dear family member who has gifted me with a fruit of the month subscription.  This is what I did with Bosc Pears and the pan:

 

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Lovely dessert!

Also, I love that lacy cowl knitting pattern. Beyond my current skill and attention span but I'm going to see if I can get my mom to knit one. I am making her a shawl but hardly a fair trade since it is very basic, and I am not terrific at knitting. Luckily my mom thinks all my creations are gorgeous. :lol:

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I can tell I am going to have to just go at my pace and do my thing in this BAW endeavor. I am a person who tends to get hyper focused on a goal I have set, and I realize reading is an enjoyable activity for me. I don't want to feel panicked or a sense of dread if I don't read a book a week. I already get the tiniest bit disappointed if I don't my 250 steps/hour, so I don't need to add anything else to my, "Damn it, I didn't meet that goal" list. 

 

You've got a whole year! And wouldn't be the first to binge read the last week of December to meet a goal. :lol:

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Robin, your gift to me gave me the idea to read the month's featured book as one of this year's goals. This month is One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and I will admit that I just can't do it. I will read Waldon instead as that was the book for the 4 "extra" months before Jan. That book has been on my TR list for years anyway. 

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The Gene - nonfiction
 

 

Has anyone else have trouble with The Gene because a lot of the early material is really basic Genetics anecdotes? I know not everyone majored in Biology, but it's a big book and that's a lot of pages of background. 

Perhaps I connected with his personal story in the intro., so I was disappointed in how much stuff I already knew that I had to sift through. 

I am waiting for Multitudes though, and looking forward to it. 

 

I finished Thomas Cromwell yesterday (yay!) and started Call the Midwife today. I watched the series while recovering last month and now had to read the book, which I've had since someone recommended it for my daughter here a couple of years ago. Still plugging away at Consider This and Foundation: History of England.

 

There are 3 or 4 Call the Midwife books. Did you just read the first? Are you planning on reading the rest?

I really found them interesting in 2015. Have you read Lark Rise to Candleford? It doesn't have the medical focus, but it was an interesting look at Victorian rural life and poverty vs. merchant life in the towns. I liked it very much and it also has a lovely BBC series devoted to it (quite a lot of actor crossover once you know them both). 

 

 

I finished I Married Adventure (autobiography of an early 20th century couple who did travel photography), The Wolf Road (future Western Dystopia), and Odd and the Frost Giants (youth Norse myth tale) last week. I wanted to shake the photographers for doing so many dumb things. I loved the main character from the dystopia (even though I weary of dystopias), and the Norse myth tale (complete with Thor, Loki, Odin, Freya) was sweet fun. 

 

I'm working on The Homeward Bounders by Diana Wynn Jones (weird kid quest against interdimensional beings), Lavinia by Ursula Le Guin (fiction based on the classical age), and some book about teaching word recognition. 

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Oh I don't know how to quote from one thread to the next, but was responding to the lady who is reading War and Piece.

 

I am thinking of re-reading this one. I had to read it for school back in the day and skipped all the "war" parts, bc at 15 I was only interested in the love story part.

 

I gotta see if I can find it on Amazon in Russian bc that's my native language, so it would be silly to read it in English.

I stil struggle with the war parts too.

I started the book last year when the BBC had a new edition of War and Peace on TV.

It focuses on the love story, but it helped me to get an idea of the plot.

 

I read the book in my mothertongue too :) (Dutch) but my translation does not translate the French parts of it :o

 

It would help to read it with others ...

 

 

How to quote:

When you are on the forum and read a post, in the right bottom there is a like button, beneathe that is a quote button too. Click on that and the board system creates a post with the quote in it!

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I finished up my audiobook, Circling the Sun and very much enjoyed it. I'm now reading Fudoki, a book that I found through the usual circuitous internet hyperlinking world. From the GR description,

 

"Enter the world of Kagaya-hime, a sometime woman warrior, occasional philosopher, and reluctant confidante to noblemen--who may or may not be a figment of the imagination of an aging empress who is embarking on the last journey of her life, setting aside the trappings of court life and reminiscing on the paths that lead her to death. For she is a being who started her journey on the kami, the spirit road, as a humble tortoiseshell feline."

 

The author has written a previous book called, The Fox Woman, which also looks intriguing.

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I can tell I am going to have to just go at my pace and do my thing in this BAW endeavor. I am a person who tends to get hyper focused on a goal I have set, and I realize reading is an enjoyable activity for me. I don't want to feel panicked or a sense of dread if I don't read a book a week. I already get the tiniest bit disappointed if I don't my 250 steps/hour, so I don't need to add anything else to my, "Damn it, I didn't meet that goal" list. 

 

Wise decision! It's not a race nor a competition. Reading is fun.

 

And yeah, that aweful, internal 'I didn't meet that goal'-list...we need to get that as short as possible, like....non-existant. And only keep fun lists, if at all. (Says the woman with a mile long 'I didn't meet that goal-list', so I know exactly what you mean :closedeyes: .)

 

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started Call the Midwife today. I watched the series while recovering last month and now had to read the book, which I've had since someone recommended it for my daughter here a couple of years ago.

I liked all three of those books.  Be warned that the first one has a pretty graphic section about the life of the young prostitute.  I found it kind of fascinating on a clinical level (and Jenny definitely describes it very clinically), but I have some friends that were seriously offended by that section.  Shadows of the Workhouse, the second book, was really hard to read.  It gave a lot more information about the brother and sister who lived as husband and wife.  Personally, that book helped me understand my husband's great-grandmother better.  As a teen she was a servant to the family in charge of a workhouse.  She had issues, probably would be diagnosed with PTSD today, later in life and I have no doubt a lot of that came from what she saw there.

 

I finally finished Blue-Eyed Arabs of the North by Patricia Bjornstad!  I'm counting it as a dusty book for the dusty/chunky challenge.  I started reading it in April.  It never, ever takes me that long to read a book.  I just kept not picking it up and reading other stuff instead.  It's a book that when it is good it's good.  And when it's meandery and repetitive it can be tedious.  She had an obsession with saying what day it was, but I could never quite grasp the timeline since it went back and forward on the same page.  It is 545 pages long and it could have easily been 300 pages shorter.  But, at the same time, part of the charm of the book is the meandery-ness of it.  It's like an old woman telling you about this important time in her life - which it basically is since it's written as fiction, but it's at least somewhat autobiographical.  It's clear she's an English teacher, though, since her grammar and word usage is excellent.  At least 200 pages were devoted to whether or not she'd sleep with this guy and cheat on her husband.  Clearly it was quite an emotional affair (she fully admits that she is a "love the one you're with" type... which explains a lot since when she was married to my FIL she had a lot of trouble with the Navy wife life since he was out 6 months of the year).  The parts where she describes trying to fit in and understand Norwegian culture (she was born and raised in Tennessee and didn't marry the guy from Norway - her third husband - until her 40s) are hilarious.  Some of her husband's ways of saying things in English are darling and reminded me of a friend's husband from Romania.  So I think I liked it.  I think I liked it quite a bit.  I'm not totally sure I want to know quite so much about my FIL's ex-wife, though.

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There are 3 or 4 Call the Midwife books. Did you just read the first? Are you planning on reading the rest?

 

I really found them interesting in 2015. Have you read Lark Rise to Candleford? It doesn't have the medical focus, but it was an interesting look at Victorian rural life and poverty vs. merchant life in the towns. I liked it very much and it also has a lovely BBC series devoted to it (quite a lot of actor crossover once you know them both).

 

 

I finished I Married Adventure (autobiography of an early 20th century couple who did travel photography), The Wolf Road (future Western Dystopia), and Odd and the Frost Giants (youth Norse myth tale) last week. I wanted to shake the photographers for doing so many dumb things. I loved the main character from the dystopia (even though I weary of dystopias), and the Norse myth tale (complete with Thor, Loki, Odin, Freya) was sweet fun.

 

I'm working on The Homeward Bounders by Diana Wynn Jones (weird kid quest against interdimensional beings), Lavinia by Ursula Le Guin (fiction based on the classical age), and some book about teaching word recognition.

I've only the first so far. I had bought it a few years ago when someone here recommended it for my -at the time 11 year old- daughter at which is wasn't really the most appropriate book so I shelved it. It wasn't until I as digging around Netflix for something to watch before Christmas that people recommended it after I finished The Crown. I really enjoyed it. I finished almost half of the book yesterday. I probably will read the rest of the series, but I will space them out. Thanks for the other recs. I will check those out for sure. I'm in some sort of British phase it seems at the moment. :) Edited by texasmom33
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In this life of duty we lead, I enjoy the delicious rebelliousness of occasionally piffing a book and saying "So Ner!"

I hate that we can't like your posts anymore Rosie....yours are the best  :001_wub:

 

Ack...double post. Sorry!

 

Edited by EmmaNZ
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I have been busy trying to get my Overdrive stack returned so my new books can be checked out. I finished a couple of historical romances that were a bit blah so I won't bother with descriptions.

 

John Grisham is an author that I have read since The Firm. I no longer read every single book of his but I always look at the new ones. The Whistlerhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29354916-the-whistler because of the Florida setting with the Indian own casino corruption looked like it had the makings of an entertaining thriller so I joined a long wait list. Because this book has been clogging up my library account for quite awhile I gave it a bit more effort than normal fortunately. The book took off a page beyond where I almost gave up and was an enjoyable thriller thereafter. It had some problems with the ending a bit disconnected, not his usual runaway to a Caribbean island type that I love (I'm a romantic) but a rather bland wrap up.

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I didn't like The Night Circus either....

 

I am pretty much the book equivalent of a fussy eater, I think.

 

I feel like I am too. I check out a ton of books that I end up sending back. First for style reasons - if it isn't really well-written (by my standards, admittedly) then i won't bother with it no matter how great the story is supposed to be. I frequently read just a few pages or the first chapter then reject.  But sometimes I will be in the middle of a book, and I'll think, "Why the hell am I reading this?" and drop it despite having invested hours in it. I'm working on getting better about doing that sooner.  :tongue_smilie:  And then sometimes the book is fine, it's just not the right thing for the mood I'm in at the moment.  I read more than 200 books last year, but I rejected over 100. It will be interesting to see what I do when I get nearer the end of this Big Bingo challenge - will I obsessively fill out each square? Or will I let some go?  I'm looking at two categories right now that I know will prove troublesome: "Man-hunk on the cover (a bodice-ripper)" and "I would be embarrassed to be seen reading this on the subway."  Because about the only thing I think I'd be embarrassed to read in public is a bodice ripper. So does that mean I have to read two things I'd never pick up voluntarily?  :scared:  ;)  :D

 

ETA: I hope that didn't insult anybody - I'm not trying to say there is anything wrong with romances or bodice-rippers! They just aren't my thing, and I especially think I'd feel uncomfortable reading one in public. 

 

In this life of duty we lead, I enjoy the delicious rebelliousness of occasionally piffing a book and saying "So Ner!"

 

I have no idea what you just said, but I think I love it  ;)  :D

Edited by Chrysalis Academy
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I am a Dorothy L. Sayers fan and I had real trouble with Gaudy Night.  I thought Busman's Honeymoon was fantastic though!  I tried to read all of the Wimsey books last year (though I choose not to reread some like Gaudy Night and Nine Tailors).

 

This week I finished 1 book:  Growing Tomorrow (and then a really, really long subtitle!).  It was a pretty breezy and easy read about organic sustainable farming in the U.S.  The author, who is also a farmer, travelled around the country interviewing 18 different small organic farmers (and 1 fisherman).  It was interesting.  Lots of recipes included.  I wrote a post about it on my blog.

 

I am still working on Waverley by Walter Scott.  Lots of a archaic language which is kind of fun (I'm weird that way!) and I am also still working on City of God (that will be a 15 week study group endeavor).

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Oooh!  Since I checked my overdrive account this morning, I've moved up on the Norwegian Wood list to #1.  So even if the new borrowee doesn't return the book when they finish, I'll get it for sure in 3 weeks.  (PSA: Always go in and manually return your loans on Overdrive if you finish them before the borrowing period expires.)

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I finished listening to A Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. (science fiction)  It's normally a book I would physically read, but because its publication date was so long ago (1959) it was only available on audio at the library.  It could be just me, but do any of you wonder how much the voice of a narrator actually influences what you think of the book?  Because I thought this book a rollicking satire, a farce, a moral tall tale...right up to the end. 

 

It's not a satire.  Sheesh, my years of reading Vonnegut, Twain and Swift have warped my mind.

 

Back to my nonfiction and biographies, where it's safe!!

 

(HBD Rosie!  Good luck with Thursday, Erin, but can I be frank and am jealous about all you got to read while resting?  And have fun with your class, Ali!  and JennW, thanks so much for your son's translation.  I figured we weren't all ready to talk about Norwegian Wood so I kept my review purposely neutral...and 1Q84 had that cram-school teacher so I can only imagine...)

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Books I'm Still Reading

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey (study with my older set of kids)

 

And the bedside stack has grown and grown this week. Norwegian Wood, By Gaslight, Spartacus. So much to read, so little time. I refuse to crack the spine on any of those books until I finish up some of the ones I have ongoing.

The book for teens looks interesting. I put it on hold for dd.

I'm with you guys . . . I only made it through The Strange Library last January because it was so short. His books really aren't my cuppa I don't think, and Stacia's spoiler definitely didn't inspire me to want to read Kafka on the Shore! Not all authors are for everyone. The funny thing is, after listening to Murikami's running book, I think I'd really like him in real life. I think we have a lot of personality traits in common. But the books? Not so much.

I haven't tried Murakami yet because of the length of his books. I' m hoping I'll enjoy The Strange Library this year. If I don't get into it maybe I'll try the running book instead.

Edited by Narrow Gate Academy
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I feel like I am to. I check out a ton of books that I end up sending back. First for style reasons - if it isn't really well-written (by my standards, admittedly) then i won't bother with it no matter how great the story is supposed to be. I frequently read just a few pages or the first chapter then reject.  But sometimes I will be in the middle of a book, and I'll think, "Why the hell am I reading this?" and drop it despite having invested hours in it. I'm working on getting better about doing that sooner.  :tongue_smilie:  And then sometimes the book is fine, it's just not the right thing for the mood I'm in at the moment.  I read more than 200 books last year, but I rejected over 100. It will be interesting to see what I do when I get nearer the end of this Big Bingo challenge - will I obsessively fill out each square? Or will I let some go?  I'm looking at two categories right now that I know will prove troublesome: "Man-hunk on the cover (a bodice-ripper)" and "I would be embarrassed to be seen reading this on the subway."  Because about the only thing I think I'd be embarrassed to read in public is a bodice ripper. So does that mean I have to read two things I'd never pick up voluntarily?  :scared:  ;)  :D

 

ETA: I hope that didn't insult anybody - I'm not trying to say there is anything wrong with romances or bodice-rippers! They just aren't my thing, and I especially think I'd feel uncomfortable reading one in public. 

 

 

I have no idea what you just said, but I think I love it  ;)  :D

 

 

Yes, yes, and yes. You've succinctly summed up why I'm not filling in a Bingo reading card. I'm more of a serendipitous reader. I go through stages and themes and peaks and valleys. Sometimes half of the books I've put on hold are sent back to the library unread. Good books, just not meant for me to read them at that time.

 

No bodice rippers here, either. No Fifty Shades. I'd be embarrassed to read that on the subway.  :scared:

 

And we love Rosie!  :wub:

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I am a Dorothy L. Sayers fan and I had real trouble with Gaudy Night.  I thought Busman's Honeymoon was fantastic though!  I tried to read all of the Wimsey books last year (though I choose not to reread some like Gaudy Night and Nine Tailors).

 

This week I finished 1 book:  Growing Tomorrow (and then a really, really long subtitle!).  It was a pretty breezy and easy read about organic sustainable farming in the U.S.  The author, who is also a farmer, travelled around the country interviewing 18 different small organic farmers (and 1 fisherman).  It was interesting.  Lots of recipes included.  I wrote a post about it on my blog.

 

I am still working on Waverley by Walter Scott.  Lots of a archaic language which is kind of fun (I'm weird that way!) and I am also still working on City of God (that will be a 15 week study group endeavor).

 

Call me weird but my favorite Wimsey novel is Nine Tailors. 

 

I checked out the video link from your blog.  As a customer and advocate for small farmers, I enjoyed learning about Smith Meadows Farms. Thanks!

 

I finished listening to A Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. (science fiction)  It's normally a book I would physically read, but because its publication date was so long ago (1959) it was only available on audio at the library.  It could be just me, but do any of you wonder how much the voice of a narrator actually influences what you think of the book?  Because I thought this book a rollicking satire, a farce, a moral tall tale...right up to the end. 

 

It's not a satire.  Sheesh, my years of reading Vonnegut, Twain and Swift have warped my mind.

 

Back to my nonfiction and biographies, where it's safe!!

 

(HBD Rosie!  Good luck with Thursday, Erin, but can I be frank and am jealous about all you got to read while resting?  And have fun with your class, Ali!  and JennW, thanks so much for your son's translation.  I figured we weren't all ready to talk about Norwegian Wood so I kept my review purposely neutral...and 1Q84 had that cram-school teacher so I can only imagine...)

 

Chiming in the chorus:  Happy Birthday Rosie!! 

 

It has been an age since I read A Canticle for Leibowitz, a book that I enjoyed in my younger years despite never being a fan of science fiction.  Your comment on the voice of a narrator led me to track down other audio books by the wonderful reader of the Kim audio book, Ralph Cosham. I discovered that he has also read Inspector Gamache novels, a Jules Verne, even Paradise Lost.  I should really search more often by reader.

 

Enough!  I should be finished with my morning sewing project but I keep hitting refresh on the computer.

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I really found them interesting in 2015. Have you read Lark Rise to Candleford? It doesn't have the medical focus, but it was an interesting look at Victorian rural life and poverty vs. merchant life in the towns. I liked it very much and it also has a lovely BBC series devoted to it (quite a lot of actor crossover once you know them both). 

 

This looks great! I just added it to my ridiculously long TBR list.

 

I finished Miss Garnet's Angel! I absolutely loved this book! What a wonderful amalgamation of art history, BCE religious history (Jewish/Zoroastrianism), and growing-into-oneself story (albeit late in life). I never would have found this book if it weren't for the Birthstone Challenge. Possible trigger warning.

 

There is a mention of possible pedophilia, which is neither confirmed nor denied. One of the characters also believed she was molested by her father. This turns out not to be true; rather it is a theory planted by an unscrupulous therapist. Unfortunately, the accusation prompts the person's father to commit suicide. None of the above is a major facet of the book, and is, in fact, quite peripheral to the main story. Overall, this book was an enchanting, lovely read.

 

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Finished today, finally: Venetia by Georgette Heyer, e-book. This nearly defeated me, but I think maybe it was a bit of a shock to go from The Vegetarian to a Regency Romance. Still not sure what I think of Heyer. I went from completely bewildered to having a million different thoughts on it, none of which can be contained in a post. I may still try The Grand Sophy.

 

 

 

I was defeated by Dorothy Sayers last month. Tried and abandoned Whose Body? for the third time. What is it? Is it me? Did I start out with the wrong book? Is there a better one to start with? Or maybe it's just me? (More likely  :lol: )

 

I had to read a few Georgette Heyer's before I was comfortable with the language and her style - all that Regency slang! One that I really enjoyed (and found easily understandable) was Frederica. I know so many here love The Grand Sophy but   Sophy just irritated the life out of me!

 

And I've done the same thing with Whose Body? !  I just can't seem to get it going! Maybe I need to see the movie first? :) Is there a movie? There must be a movie, right?

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I was listening to Juliet Stevenson today but with the kids so it was one of their audiobooks (Stories From Shakespeare by David Timson). We have tons of her reading and they love her. I've been staring down her audio version of Middlemarch, trying to commit to the 35 hours it's going to take. 

 

Juliet Stevenson is a wonderful reader! You won't be disappointed with her narration of Middlemarch - it's totally worth the time. (although I might be a little bit biased as it is probably my favorite book:) )

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I hope all goes well with your surgery, Erin.

 

 

Finished today, finally: Venetia by Georgette Heyer, e-book. This nearly defeated me, but I think maybe it was a bit of a shock to go from The Vegetarian to a Regency Romance. Still not sure what I think of Heyer. I went from completely bewildered to having a million different thoughts on it, none of which can be contained in a post. I may still try The Grand Sophy.

Getting closer to finished: Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari on audio, wish I'd gotten a print copy. Even at 1.4x speed, I am longing to pick it up and just read it. I am doing much better with audiobooks than I thought I would ever do, and actually enjoyed a couple books more as audiobooks than print, recently, but not this one.
 

 

I was defeated by Dorothy Sayers last month. Tried and abandoned Whose Body? for the third time. What is it? Is it me? Did I start out with the wrong book? Is there a better one to start with? Or maybe it's just me? (More likely  :lol: )

 

I finished Cotillion last night, and read The Grand Sophy at the end of last year. I wouldn't have read either one if Aggieamy hadn't sent them to me as a gift. The Grand Sophy pulled me in right away. It took longer for Cotillion - about 100 pages - but then it got going and I ended up enjoying it. Heyer's genre is not my style, but I might actually try a few more of her books, which will make Amy quite happy. :D

 

I really wanted to read Sapiens - it seems like the kind of book I'd find interesting - but I was bored. I tried both the audio book and the Kindle version. In both cases, I let them go back to the library unfinished at the end of the loan period. I don't know why I couldn't get into it.

 

I tried Whose Body? twice then gave up. I like detective fiction, including the Golden Age of detective fiction. I enjoy Agatha Christie, so I don't know why I couldn't read Sayers. I also tried P.D. James' Cover her Face and gave up on that one too.

 

 

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I do like Sayers and love Lord Peter in general, but I thought Whose Body was horrible. I think that was the first one she wrote--she got a lot better! I liked Gaudy Night and The Nine Tailors. One of the dusties I hope to get to this year is a book I picked up at the library book sale a few years ago that has all of the Lord Peter works--short stories and full length I believe.

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  I read more than 200 books last year, but I rejected over 100.

 

I'm in awe :lol: . After several discussions here, I'm much better at abandoning books than I used to be. Last year, I abandoned 10 (TEN!) books, I'm so proud of myself. I even made a list! :D

 

I am also still working on City of God (that will be a 15 week study group endeavor).

 

That's the study group on Twitter, right? I'm still wondering how people have study groups on Twitter. All in 140 characters?

City of God is on my list this year, but I want to read Peter Brown's Augustine biography first.

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