Book a Week 2017 - BW9: Fairy tales aren't just for Children

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday my lovelies!  This is the beginning of week 9 in our quest to read 52 books. Welcome back to all our readers, to those just joining in and all who are following our progress. Mr. Linky is all set up on the 52 Books blog to link to your reviews. The link is also below in my signature.

 

 

52 Books Blog - Fairy Tales aren't just for Children:  I have a special guest post for you this week by Robyn (Crstarlette) to talk about Fairy tales that aren't just for children and entice us into joining her in reading From the Beast to the Blonde by Marina Warner.

 

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We all know that fairy tales are not just for children. In Once Upon a Time: A Short History of Fairy Tales, Marina Warner says of the Grimm Brothers and their tales:

 

In 1812, the first edition of their anthology, comprising eighty-six stories, came out in an edition of 600, with an apparatus of notes running to hundreds of pages. It was not really intended to be read for pleasure at all by the children and households of its title; it was a learned work setting out to reconfigure the cultural history of Germany along lines that would emancipate it from the monopoly of classical and French superiority.

 

Earlier, in the seventeenth century, upper-class women gathered in French salons and retold folk tales, each trying to make the tale sound as if the teller were just making it up in the moment and, through the tale, commenting on and critiquing their conditions. In Fairy Tale as Myth/Myth as Fairy Tale, Jack Zipes says:

 

Up through 1700, there was no literary fairy tale for children. On the contrary, children like their parents heard oral tales from their governesses, servants, and peers. The institiltionalizing of the literary fairy tale, begun in the salons during the seventeenth century, was for adults and arose out of a need by aristocratic women to elaborate and conceive other alternatives in society than those prescribed for them by men.

 

The term “fairy tale†comes from the title of a book published by one of these women of the French salons: Les Contes de Fees by Madame d’Aulnoy.

 

Zipes later says, “With regard to the origins of the fairy tale for children, it is practically impossible to give an exact date,†but importantly, though people did start writing fairy tales for children, using them for entertainment and as moral instruction, they were taken back and returned to adults, and they continue to be written, revised and retold and used as inspiration for novels and short stories in all sections of the library.

 

In addition to many retellings and fairy-tale inspired works in the children’s section, you’ll find Angela Carter and Margaret Atwood in the adult literary fiction section, Robin McKinley and Jane Yolen in the YA section and Neil Gaiman everywhere. Some of us have recently enjoyed The Bear and the Nightingale, which in my library, is in the adult SF/F section, and Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles is a SF fairy tale YA tetralogy. The magic and tone of fairy tales is carried over in the magical realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Italo Calvino.

 

The non-fiction section has more than just anthologies. There are fairy tales retold in the poems of Anne Sexton, Catherynne M. Valente and Theodora Goss. Fairy tale scholars, such as Marina Warner, Jack Zipes and Maria Tatar have given us essays, histories and interpretations. At the end of Once Upon a Time: A Short History of Fairy Tales, there is a recommended reading list 128 books long. For a literary magazine, you can subscribe to The Fairy Tale Review. And on the Internet you can read the archives of The Journal of Mythic Arts (where you will also find adult, YA, nonfiction and poetry recommended reading lists).

 

Marina Warner included her book From the Beast to the Blonde: On Fairy Tales and Their Tellers on her own recommended reading list (in Once Upon a Time), but it’s also on the nonfiction list at the JoMA site and it comes with some pretty good reviews on Goodreads, and that is what we’re beginning this week. 

 

For myself, I’m hoping to read two chapters a week to finish the book in about three months, so am planning on the introduction and chapter one this week. Others might choose a more leisurely pace.

 

 

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

 

The Story of Western Science - Chapter 5 

 

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What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

 

Link to week 8 

 

 

[Robin M]

I finished Mark Adam's Turn Right at Machu Piccu which was an interesting history about the incas, the explorer Bingham and the author's trying to recreate the original expedition to Machu Piccu.   Also read Snowed by Maria Alexander yesterday and once I started reading, couldn't put it down until the end. Awesome and unique story. Young adult horror story (more paranormalish than horror) and has been nominated for Bram Stoker Award.  Also read new to me author Rachel Grant's military romantic suspense novel Tinderbox.  

[Shawneinfl]

52 Books Blog - Fairy Tales aren't just for Children:  I have a special guest post for you this week by Robyn (Crstarlette) to talk about Fairy tales that aren't just for children and entice us into joining her in reading From the Beast to the Blonde by Marina Warner.

 

 

That was fascinating Robyn. Thanks for your great research. Now I've got to head upstairs and find my Blue Fairy Book.

[Carol in Cal.]

I reread my absolute favorite children's book this week--The Diamond In The Window.

So glad that I did.

I'll be back to write about this later on.

[Narrow Gate Academy]

I finished three books this week and made progress on others.

 

Finished This Week (reviews linked) - Books 17-19

• Getting Things Done by Allen - a reread of my favorite time management style book :thumbup:
• The Murder on the Links by Christie - book 2 of Hercules Poirot and a great way to relax for a few hours on a Friday afternoon
• The Color of Magic by Pratchett - I thoroughly enjoyed this one even though it's not supposed to be one of his better novels and already have the next book in my library crate

Long term reads:

• ESV Bible - over halfway through Deuteronomy
• History of the Ancient World - finished chapters 15 and 16 this week
• From the Beast to the Blonde by Warner - I'm going to give this read along a try.  I should be able to do two or three chapters a week

 

Current reads (always subject to change on a whim) -

• Audiobook:  I Am Half Sick of Shadows by Bradley - continuing from last week and hoping to finish
• Fiction books:
  • The Purple Pterodactyls:  The Adventures of W. Wilson Newbury by de Camp - continuing from last week and hoping to finish this this week for gemstone challenge
  • I have Riordan's The Blood of Olympus from Overdrive which dd insists I need to read before the Apollo books (I like the books from Percy's point of view better so I haven't gotten around to this one), Bishop's Vision in Silver that I want to reread, and a whole stack of library and digital titles from which to choose.  I'm not sure what I'll pick up the week.
• Nonfiction book:  Spark: the revolutionary new science of exercise and the brain by Ratey - This has been waiting patiently in my nonfiction to read stack for a few weeks since I picked it up based on recommendations from this board.  Hopefully it will help jump start my exercising.

 

Finished for the year

19.  Getting Things Done by Allen

18.  Murder on the Links by Christie

17.  The Color of Magic by Prachett (Bingo:select by friend)

16.  The Graveyard Book  by Gaiman

15.  The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Christie (Bingo: mystery)

14.  Slathbog's Gold by Forman

13.  Murder of Crows by Bishop

12.  The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Covey

11.  Samantha Watkins:  Chronicles of an Extraordinary Ordinary Life by Venem

10.  The Happiness Project by Rubin

9.  Adventures of a Vegan Vamp by Lawely

8.  The Seventh Bride by T. Kingfisher (Bingo:  prime number)

7.  A Red Herring Without Mustard by Bradley (Garnet book and bingo: female adventure)

6.  The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Adams (Bingo: outer space)

5.  Stormbreaker  by Horowitz (Bingo: one word title)

4.  Moon Dance by Rain (Bingo: flufferton)

3.  The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Doyle (Bingo: collection of short stories)

2.  The Strange Library by Murakami

1.  Written in Red by Bishop

[Faithr]

I did not finish any books this past week.  I am behind in my City of God read (sob!) so I must devote as much reading time as possible to that this week before Thursday evening.

 

I am in the middle of Mr. Midshipman Easy (or 52% on my kindle).  I am finding it delightful!

 

I am also in the middle of Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali on audio in my car and I am finding that gripping!  I think I am on disc 6 (out of 10 perhaps?)

 

I started reading a wonderful book that boils down the art of rhetoric to its essence and is extremely well written - The Office of Assertion.  This was in impulse read.  I am about 1/3 the way through that.

 

So hopefully, I'll catch up on City of God and then finish at least one of the other books this week.

[Chrysalis Academy]

I finished a couple of things this week, notably Katherine, a historical fiction by Anya Seton about Katherine Swynford, mistress and finally wife of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. Fans of The Sunne in Splendor would probably enjoy this book, it had a similar feel, level of historical detail that really made you feel like you were living in the medieval world, hearing the thoughts of people who inhabited it. Not quite as good as SiS, but it also didn't make me cry the last 100 pages! And not as long.  I also finished a re-read of Dragonsdawn, which is probably my favorite of the Pern novels, telling how the colonist arrived and settled, and how the technologically advanced space-travelling society began the devolution to feudalism that we read of in later (chronologically, earlier written) novels.

 

Just as I feared, my library holds are coming in fast. I added Norse Mythology, The Refugees, News of the World, and Hillbilly Elegy to my currently reading stack. I'm enjoying them all very much.  I've got a few more at the library waiting to be picked up. Not much time to read this week, I have to get my taxes finished and to my accountant by March 1!!

 

I'll post my February Gem reads, even though I'm not quite finished with two of them, but should be soon:

 

A-Cloud Atlas

M-The First 20 Minutes

E-Evicted

T-The Fire This Time

H-The Basque History of the World

Y-Half of a Yellow Sun

S-Spark

T-Sometimes We Tell the Truth

 

Finished in February - Theme = Black History Month

44. Dragonsdawn - Anne McCaffrey

43. Katherine - Anya Seton

42. Sometimes We Tell The Truth - Kim Zarins

41. Insane Clown President: Dispatches from the 2016 Media Circus - Matt Taibbi

40. A Clash of Kings - GRR Martin

39. The First 20 Minutes - Gretchen Reynolds

38. The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt

37. Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City - Matthew Desmond

36. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou

35. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell. 5 stars. Looking forward to seeing the movie and reading more books by this author

34. The View from the Oak - 4 stars. A great read aloud for animal-loving kids, not only a nice introduction to ethology, but some practical advice in how to see things from other (creatures) POV

33. Three Gothic Novels: The Castle of Otranto, Vathek, The Vampyre

32. The Fire This Time - Jesmyn Ward - 5 stars. Already reviewed here, recommended again

31. Dragonflight - Anne McCaffrey - 4 stars. A re-read of the first Dragonriders of Pern novel, all of which I read in high school. I liked it again and am enjoying seeing dd get into this series

30. The Bear and the Nightingale - Katherine Arden. 4 stars, recommended

29. Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain - 4 stars. this book helped get me off the couch and back into an exercise habit!

28. The Color Purple. 5 stars. Amethyst & Black History Month. Brilliant and beautiful book

 

 

Edited February 26, 2017 by Chrysalis Academy

[mumto2]

 

Currently read the third in the InCryptid series on my Kindle. This is a fun take on most paranormal book series because they concentrate on a mostly human family who are cryptozoologists, basically they help and study paranormal creatures who live somewhat unnoticed among humans. The first two books feature a professional dancer living in NYC. The third book is about her brother who works at the Columbus Zoo's reptile house.

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17667009-half-off-ragnarok

 

I finished another Donna Andrews in my quest to find and read/ reread the series. Six Geese a Slaying https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3222778-six-geese-a-slaying was good fun if you like cozies. The ultimate wacky small town Christmas parade where Santa ends up murdered.

 

I've read about two pages of Amethyst Dreams by Phyllis Whitney https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2721813-amethyst-dreams so plan to finish that this week.

[Matryoshka]

Finished two books this week. 

 

21. The Bear and the Nightingale.  5 stars.  I just loved this book.  I think well-retold fairy tales or fairy tale riffs are my comfort/cozy reads...  I think this will be for my Eastern Europe bingo square?

20. Doctor Zhivago - 4 stars.  I wrote about this a bit on last week's thread.  This was for the Bestseller in spouse birth year Bingo square.

 

So, that was a lot of Russia!

 

I'm still listening to A Thousand Splendid Suns.  I'd hoped to be done by now, but I guess I haven't had as much time in the car as I've needed.  It'll probably take me another couple of days at this rate.  I've got Cranford already downloaded to my Overdrive to listen to next because the hold became available, so I feel like I have to get to that one before time runs out - tick, tick!

 

I started reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X, but that's on hold for a bit while I reread El prisionero del cielo/The Prisoner of Heaven (thankfully Overdrive had this available) to remember some of the important details so I can finally dive into El laberinto de los espíritus/Labyrinth of the Spirits (Book 4 of the series).

 

And for long-term reads, I already got The Beast and the Blonde from the library - I should be able to manage 2 chapters a week, I think.  Who else is reading along?

And maaybe I can start back in on La peste bit by bit, now that I have that lovely infographic to help. :)

 

Oh, and my brother gave me a book out of the blue, The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic - and How It Changed Science, Cities and the Modern World.  He said he'd heard it was really good, and bought both himself and me a copy.  What an awesome brother. :)  I added it to my to-read list.

 

 

Edited February 26, 2017 by Matryoshka

[Just Robyn]

I finished Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I'm sure some things went over my head with that one, the most basic of those being references, only some of which I made the effort to look up, but I like how it compared the faith of the hippie movement with the faith of religions and how it compared the destructiveness of drugs to that of war. 

 

Also read:

 

A List of Cages by Robin Roe - YA novel that felt contrived

 

Wild Life by Kathy Fish - A collection of Carveresque flash fiction.

 

Currently reading:

 

An Experiment in Criticism by C.S. Lewis, which so far describes the varied experiences people have with literature, music and visual arts depending on their skill or knowledge in the area, but chapters I haven't gotten to yet have such titles as "On Myth," "The Meanings of Fantasy" and "On Realisms," and I'm hoping those will be more focused on literature than on different depths of understanding. 

 

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou - Still listening, still enjoying, almost finished.

 

From the Beast to the Blonde by Marina Warner - I have so far read the introduction. I may read chapter one today or may save it for later in the week.

 

And I hope to begin Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson soon, maybe today.

[Jane in NC]

Hello everyone!  I am just back from QuiltCon in Savannah.  Note:  I am not a quilter but I am a sewist and fiber art enthusiast. Viewing the brilliant quilts on display was a wonderful opportunity to see how members of the Modern Quilt Guild push boundaries.  My best friend is a quilter--she and I had a girlfriend weekend together in Savannah which was great.  A few years ago, the two of us and another friend attended the American Quilt Society's conference in Paducah, KY.  While I enjoyed that show and the big quilt museum there, I must say that I really loved the different feel of the MQG event.  Taking the boat across to the convention center our first morning, we found ourselves talking with two women from India and one from the UK who had traveled to the US for this event.  MQG quilts displayed amazing talent but also sensitivity to cultural and political issues.  They knocked my socks off.

 

On the drive to Savannah, I finished listening to Michael Palin's Himalaya which he reads.  Thumbs up.  Today I began listening to a biography by James McBride (deserving National Book Award winner for The Good Lord Bird).  Kill 'em and Leave: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul is more than a bio.  James Brown was a product of institutional racism in the American South and in the music/record industry. It is impossible task to write about someone who did not want personal facts of his life to be known which was the case for James Brown. So McBride, who is a musician as well as a writer, puts himself in the quest for figuring out who this man was. I was immediately drawn in.  The tale and the reader are working well together here.

 

Lots of conversation and little reading the past few evenings.  I managed a few pages in Tom Sharpe's The Wilt Alternative which I find to be amusing.  Sharpe might be offensive to some of our gentle readers though.

 

Looking forward to watching some of the Oscars tonight.  Ashamed to say I have not seen La La Land but I'll be cheering for Hidden Figures and a few others.  I'm disappointed that Loving was nominated for more. 

 

 

Edited February 26, 2017 by Jane in NC

[theelfqueen]

I finished my Disneyland history book and am currently reading Mary Poppins.

 

[Kareni]

Just as I feared, my library colds are coming in fast. ...

 

Is your library cold contagious?

 

52 Books Blog - Fairy Tales aren't just for Children:  I have a special guest post for you this week by Robyn (Crstarlette) to talk about Fairy tales that aren't just for children   ...

 

Thank you, Robyn, for a fascinating post.

 

I happened across this currently free Kindle book that seems apropos given this week's topic ~

 

The Fairytale Chicago of Francesca Finnegan by Steve Wiley; illustrated by Chris Cihon

 

Some praise:

 

"A deeply imaginative and wondrous fairytale for adults who are still young at heart."

~ Indie Reader

"There are just enough obscenities uttered to ensure this book is never shelved in the children's or even YA section. The story, though, is anything but vulgar, a sweet and uplifting tale as heartwarming as the ones it's poking fun at."

~ Kirkus Reviews

"This is a book for intelligent adult readers who love a playful escape into teenage fantasies."

~ Publishers Weekly

"There is an adventurous and unpredictable tone to every chapter of this book, making it very difficult to put down."

~ SPR Reviews

**

 

Here's a one day only currently free book by the author The Phantom of the Opera ~

 

The Perfume of the Lady in Black by Gaston Leroux

 

"The suspenseful sequel to the genre-defining The Mystery of the Yellow Room

 

Set in a medieval castle on the Côte d’Azur, this classic locked room mystery reunites journalist-turned-detective Joseph Rouletabille; Mathilde Stangerson, daughter of a famed French-American scientist; and master of disguise Frédéric Larsan.

 

Stangerson and her sweetheart Robert Darzac have just married and taken up residence in the Square Tower of the Fort of Hercules when Larsan strikes again. The attack leaves Stangerson frightened and confused, not only because she thought her nemesis dead, but also because she cannot figure out how he entered and escaped her room without notice. Only one man is capable of matching wits with Larsan, but when Rouletabille arrives in the South of France to investigate, he finds himself drawn deeper into his own past and his memories of a mysterious woman in black.

 

Best known as the creator of The Phantom of the Opera, author Gaston Leroux takes the locked room mystery to terrifying new heights in The Perfume of the Lady in Black."

**

 

and a free mystery ~

 

Take the Monkeys and Run (A Barbara Marr Murder Mystery)  by Karen Cantwell

 

“This fun if light novel’s quippy, hilarious narrator, Barbara Marr, has so much warmth and genuine gumption, you’d certainly want her on your criminal investigative team.†– Publishers Weekly

 

Semi-Finalist, 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest

"Barbara Marr is...perhaps the most hilarious amateur sleuth in literature....Cantwell handles her characters with flair and pizazz...blending page-turning action with those little tender moments that get you right in the gut..."

 

Book 1 in the bestselling Barbara Marr Murder Mystery Series

 

"Film lover Barbara Marr is a typical suburban mom living the typical suburban life in her sleepy little town of Rustic Woods, Virginia. Typical, that is until she sets out to find the missing link between a bizarre monkey sighting in her yard and the bone chilling middle-of-the-night fright fest at the strangely vacant house next door. When Barb talks her two friends into some seemingly innocent Charlie’s Angels-like sleuthing, they stumble upon way more than they bargained for and uncover a piece of neighborhood history that certain people would kill to keep on the cutting room floor."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Loesje22000]

YES!  :D  Actually, I can probably skip having to re-read with that. :)  I know what's going on, it just changes perspective every chapter, and I've been having to page back to figure out whose it is and what his role and viewpoint is.  If I'd been reading faster, it wouldn't have been so bad, but letting it sit there for a week and picking it up was not so straightforward... 

 

Thank you!!!

You're welcome!

There are a lot of info graphics on pinterest available.

 

 

I think I read Le Peste in Dutch last year.

I was able to read more often a little bit.

I wondered if younger people could imagine the isolationnes from the book in these days of over-availability through internet - social media.

 

I remember reading the book thinking: just sent an email...!!

:)

 

++++

I finished the Handmaids Tale (in Dutch)

And Virgin Blue (also in Dutch).

 

I liked the story of Virgin Blue. But the end was eh a little disturbing in my eyes.

I don't know yet at what level the end was just fiction, or was based on some truth.

 

I'm currently reading part one of the Cairo triology by Naguib Mahfouz

I'm also considering to quit reading war & peace.

[Chrysalis Academy]

 

Is your library cold contagious?

 

 

 

 

 

Oops!  :lol:

 

I finished listening to The Basque History of the World. It was interesting, some parts more than others. I loved reading about the food! And about their most ancient (known) history - from Roman and Medieval times. There was a ton of time spent on 20th century history that got a little tedious, I enjoyed the earlier parts more.  The audio version has a fascinating interview with the author as the last disc, I really enjoyed that too.

[Onceuponatime]

I'm currently reading the first Hercule Poirot mystery by Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. It is for my IRL book club. I've read it a couple of times before, but at the moment I can't remember whodunnit.

[Stacia]

.

Edited November 2, 2017 by Stacia

[mumto2]

Hello everyone!  I am just back from QuiltCon in Savannah.  Note:  I am not a quilter but I am a sewist and fiber art enthusiast. Viewing the brilliant quilts on display was a wonderful opportunity to see how members of the Modern Quilt Guild push boundaries.  My best friend is a quilter--she and I had a girlfriend weekend together in Savannah which was great.  A few years ago, the two of us and another friend attended the American Quilt Society's conference in Paducah, KY.  While I enjoyed that show and the big quilt museum there, I must say that I really loved the different feel of the MQG event.  Taking the boat across to the convention center our first morning, we found ourselves talking with two women from India and one from the UK who had traveled to the US for this event.  MQG quilts displayed amazing talent but also sensitivity to cultural and political issues.  They knocked my socks off.

 

On the drive to Savannah, I finished listening to Michael Palin's Himalaya which he reads.  Thumbs up.  Today I began listening to a biography by James McBride (deserving National Book Award winner for The Good Lord Bird).  Kill 'em and Leave: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul is more than a bio.  James Brown was a product of institutional racism in the American South and in the music/record industry. It is impossible task to write about someone who did not want personal facts of his life to be known which was the case for James Brown. So McBride, who is a musician as well as a writer, puts himself in the quest for figuring out who this man was. I was immediately drawn in.  The tale and the reader are working well together here.

 

Lots of conversation and little reading the past few evenings.  I managed a few pages in Tom Sharpe's The Wilt Alternative which I find to be amusing.  Sharpe might be offensive to some of our gentle readers though.

 

Looking forward to watching some of the Oscars tonight.  Ashamed to say I have not seen La La Land but I'll be cheering for Hidden Figures and a few others.  I'm disappointed that Loving was nominated for more.

 

Glad you had a good time. I saw the advertisements for the convention and a couple of the bloggers I follow were going. I wonder if you met any of them. ;)

 

Robyn, Thank you for the great introduction! :) I need to go back and click all of those links soon! I have From Beauty to Beast sitting beside my bed but having opened it yet.

 

After taking a couple of weeks off from quilting and knitting because of some shoulder problems I started playing with a new sampler quilt a couple of days ago. So probably a bit less reading although I may start my audiobooks again. I started a rewatch of Jeeves and Wooster yesterday but the TV series doesn't count!

[Lady Florida.]

Thank you for that guest post, Robyn. I don't really like fairy tales (even as a kid I didn't like them) yet I find their history pretty interesting.

 

Yesterday I finished the audio book, St. Peter's Fair, the 4th Brother Cadfael mystery. I'm thinking I'll listen to Naugty in Nice next, a Her Royal Spyness mystery. However, Faithr's post reminded me that I have Infidel  to finish (I own it from Audible). I put it aside when an Overdrive audio book came in, and didn't get back to it. I also have 5 Audible credits and can't decide how to use them. One possibility is to get more of the Brother Cadfael and Her Royal Sypness books, but I might look into one or two from my TR list. I need to use at least one before my March credit becomes available because 5 is the maximum I can roll over.

 

I've been bouncing around trying to decide what I want to read. I've been reading a lot of samples on my Kindle and have liked all of them, but if I move them up on the priority list I'll mess up my self-imposed schedule. 

 

Currently reading:

 

Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler - This is for book club. We meet on March 7th, and I'll finish well ahead of time. I didn't like it at first not because I wasn't liking the story, but because the writing seemed choppy. Either it got better or I got used to the style. While I can't say I'm loving it (dystopia isn't a favorite genre), I'm finding interesting enough to keep going and to find out how it ends.

 

A Burial at Sea, Charles Finch. This is #5 in an historical mystery series. I plan to count it for Seaworthy on the bingo card. 

 

Alexander Hamilton, Ron Chernow. My long term read. I've made quite a bit of progress in the last week. 

 

I'm starting to make my plans for March. I have The Draining Lake (Inspector Erlendur) on hold and am next in the queue. I plan to read it for Mystery March/Nordic Authors. Other than that I'm not sure what I'll read next. 

 

 

[Kareni]

I finished a couple of shorter works ~

 

My favorite of the two was the historical romance Wanted, A Gentleman by KJ Charles.  This was set in London in 1805 and was fairly unique (Hello, mumto2!) in that it featured a free Black man (an ex-slave) as one of its heroes; the other main lead was the owner of a matrimonial wants ads publication.  I enjoyed it and will almost certainly re-read it.  (Adult content)

 

"WANTED, A GENTLEMAN

 

Or, Virtue Over-Rated

the grand romance of

 

Mr. Martin St. Vincent . . . a Merchant with a Mission, also a Problem

Mr. Theodore Swann . . . a humble Scribbler and Advertiser for Love

 

Act the First:
the offices of the Matrimonial Advertiser, London where Lonely Hearts may seek one another for the cost of a shilling

 

Act the Second:
a Pursuit to Gretna Green (or thereabouts) featuring a speedy Carriage
sundry rustic Inns
a private Bed-chamber

 

In the course of which are presented

Romance, Revenge, and Redemption
Deceptions, Discoveries, and Desires

 

the particulars of which are too numerous to impart"

**

 

I also read Unwrapping Her Perfect Match: A London Legends Christmas Romance by Kat Latham.  I enjoyed this, but I don't think I'll be re-reading it.

 

"’Twas a week before Christmas, and at the auction house...

At six foot one, Gwen Chambers has felt like a giant her whole life. She’s a calm, capable nurse saving lives in a busy London hospital, but healthy men give her heart palpitations. When larger-than-life rugby player “Little†John Sheldon convinces her to bid on him in his team’s fundraising auction, she discovers how pleasurable heart palpitations can be.

A rugby player was stirring, with desire no one could douse...

John has wanted Gwen since he first saw her, but when he’s injured in a match just before Christmas he suddenly needs her too. Not only can the sexy nurse help him recover, but she might be able to help him look after his daughter—a shy ten-year-old who speaks only French.

But will it be a Happy Christmas for all, and for all a good night?

From decorating the Christmas tree to ice skating at the Tower of London, Gwen helps father and daughter open up and bond with each other—and she bonds right along with them. But when John's agent calls with a life-changing offer, Gwen has to decide how far she’s willing to go for her perfect match. Will their first Noël also be their last?"

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Ali in OR]

We had a ridiculously busy week with almost no reading time, but I did just finish Ali and Nino by Kurban Said today, my bingo pick for having my name in the title. I am so glad I found this book. Really enjoyed it--brought alive to me a time and place I didn't know much about (Azerbaijan 1918-1920. Well-written and fairly short--I definitely recommend it. It's got me going to Wikipedia to find out more about the book, the author, and that part of the world. Brief blurb from Amazon (Publisher's Weekly):

 

First published in 1937 and issued in the U.S. by Random House in 1970, Said's romantic tale of young love and political upheaval in Central Asia calls for violins and handkerchiefs. Set mostly in Azerbaijan during WWI and the Russian Revolution, this captivating novel is a cinematic, at times melodramatic, mix of romance and wartime adventure. Its hero, narrator Ali Khan Shirvanshir, a Tartar and Shi'ite Muslim, flouts social convention by marrying his childhood friend, Nino Kipiani, a fair-skinned Georgian Christian. Ali rebels against a tradition-bound, male-chauvinist society typified by his father's pre-wedding advice: "Do not beat her when she is pregnant." When war erupts, Nino, ensconced in a villa in Tehran, keeps her pregnancy by Ali a secret as long as she can. Their marriage is a union of Western and Eastern sensibilities. Nino is unhappy in Persia, but Ali is reluctant to accompany her to Paris, where she flees with their infant daughter as Ali marches off to defend the short-lived Azerbaijani republic against the invading Red Army. Said (1905-1942) was born Lev Naussimbaum in Baku, the son of a German governess and a Jewish businessman. He combines starkly realistic depictions of war with colorful tableaux?wild dances, an oral poetry competition, desert camels, a meddlesome eunuch. A saga of war and love and the difficult marriage of Europe and Asia in the Caucasus, this is at heart a rousing, old-fashioned, tear-jerking love story.

 

Up next: I have Terry Pratchett's Shepherd's Crown. I didn't know there was one more Tiffany Aching book until someone mentioned it here a few weeks ago. My next book club book is also waiting for me at the library.

[Lady Florida.]

 

 

Just as I feared, my library holds are coming in fast. I added Norse Mythology, The Refugees, News of the World, and Hillbilly Elegy to my currently reading stack. I'm enjoying them all very much.  I've got a few more at the library waiting to be picked up. 

 

 

I'm afraid this is going to happen to me. I'm next in line for two of my holds and not far down the line for at least one more.

[mumto2]

I finished a couple of shorter works ~

 

My favorite of the two was the historical romance Wanted, A Gentleman by KJ Charles.  This was set in London in 1805 and was fairly unique (Hello, mumto2!) in that it featured a free Black man (an ex-slave) as one of its heroes; the other main lead was the owner of a matrimonial wants ads publication.  I enjoyed it and will almost certainly re-read it.  (Adult content)

 

"WANTED, A GENTLEMAN

 

Or, Virtue Over-Rated

the grand romance of

 

Mr. Martin St. Vincent . . . a Merchant with a Mission, also a Problem

Mr. Theodore Swann . . . a humble Scribbler and Advertiser for Love

 

Act the First:

the offices of the Matrimonial Advertiser, London where Lonely Hearts may seek one another for the cost of a shilling

 

Act the Second:

a Pursuit to Gretna Green (or thereabouts) featuring a speedy Carriage

sundry rustic Inns

a private Bed-chamber

 

In the course of which are presented

Romance, Revenge, and Redemption

Deceptions, Discoveries, and Desires

 

the particulars of which are too numerous to impart"

**

 

 

Kareni

Thank You, My Overdrive has it. I have it on my wish list for now but will try and read it soon.

[Chrysalis Academy]

I'm afraid this is going to happen to me. I'm next in line for two of my holds and not far down the line for at least one more.

 

Well, I made myself a little breathing room - I decided to abandon Hillbilly Elegy - I don't really like memoirs much, and it's much more a memoir about his family life than it is about the culture, IMO.  And I started reading Norse Mythology, and thought it was fine but not stellar, but then I started listening to the audio version! Neil Gaiman is such a great reader. He sounds just like Alan Rickman. What was kind of flat and dry on the page suddenly comes to life, with all the quirky intonation and expression.  Neil Gaiman just is Loki, kind of. I highly recommend listening to this one, if anyone has it on their TR list.

 

So now I'm just actively reading 4 things: It Can't Happen Here, News of the World, The Refugees, and Half of a Yellow Sun. And two more books are sitting at the library for me, but I can't pick them up till Tuesday . . .maybe I'll even finish one of these by then. 

 

In other news, dh is sitting on the couch reading Cloud Atlas and chuckling - he's really enjoying the Timothy Cavendish sections. He likes the book as much as I do. Can't wait till he finishes it so we can watch the movie together!

[strawberries]

This week I finished Outcasts United. Then I needed to get online to see what is currently going on with the program and the people mentioned in the book. It's quite inspiring.

 

I also read To Kill A Mockingbird for the first time. This is my "book that's been on your TBR list for way too long" for the PopSugar challenge. I somehow never had to read it for school; several years ago our county picked it for a community readalong and I never got to it. Now DS is old enough that it's popping up on recommended reading lists, so it was time to familiarize myself with it. I see why it is considered such an important book, but I think he needs another couple of years' maturity before tackling it. 

 

My copy of From the Beast to The Blonde arrived! Going to give the readalong a try. I'm caught up on the The Story of Western Science.

 

 

Oh, and my brother gave me a book out of the blue, The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic - and How It Changed Science, Cities and the Modern World.  He said he'd heard it was really good, and bought both himself and me a copy.  What an awesome brother. :)  I added it to my to-read list.

I read this last year and found it fascinating. Highly recommend.

 

Currently I'm reading The Girl You Left Behind. So far it is better than Me Before You, imo, but I much prefer the wartime storyline to the modern day one. We didn't make any audiobook progress this week as we were trying to listen to some Oscar-nominated music instead. The red carpet is on TV as I type!  One last bit of bookish news: I discovered that a store selling used books by the pound has opened up about 30 minutes from me. I need to go! I mean, I really don't need to go spend hours browsing and shouldn't bring more books home but...it's my duty to support a physical bookstore, right? :) 

 

 

[Kareni]

 

 

 One last bit of bookish news: I discovered that a store selling used books by the pound has opened up about 30 minutes from me. I need to go! I mean, I really don't need to go spend hours browsing and shouldn't bring more books home but...it's my duty to support a physical bookstore, right? :)

 

Absolutely!

**

 

Those interested in Regency and Georgian era England might be interested in the book reviewed here:

 

Jane Austen’s England by Roy and Lesley Adkins

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Ali in OR]

Forgot to mention that our big annual library book sale was this weekend. I thought of you all, wishing you were walking the aisles and pointing out books to me that you had read and loved! I didn't find much this year, which was actually a good thing since the prices tripled! I was last there two years ago and the Saturday prices were $1 per paperback (Sunday prices are by the bag or box), but now it's $3 per larger sized paperback which is all the ones I'm able to read, even with reading glasses. I came out with Jar City which so many of you have enjoyed, and now I don't have to try to remember which book is first and whether my library will have them under "A" or "I". I also got a cookbook (I like to get a cookbook every year and return it the next year)--a slow cooker one since I keep checking them out of the library and don't have time to get to them. My dds have enjoyed browsing and picking their own books since about age 5 and 7 and they each got 4. I'll definitely be picking up one my history-lover got--"How Did They Die? The last days, words, afflictions, and resting places of over 300 notables throughout history" by Norman and Betty Donaldson. We had grandparents here this weekend and they enjoyed browsing through it.

Edited February 27, 2017 by Ali in OR

[AllSmiles]

Yesterday I finished the audio book, St. Peter's Fair, the 4th Brother Cadfael mystery. I'm thinking I'll listen to Naugty in Nice next, a Her Royal Spyness mystery. However, Faithr's post reminded me that I have Infidel to finish (I own it from Audible). I put it aside when an Overdrive audio book came in, and didn't get back to it. I also have 5 Audible credits and can't decide how to use them. One possibility is to get more of the Brother Cadfael and Her Royal Sypness books, but I might look into one or two from my TR list. I need to use at least one before my March credit becomes available because 5 is the maximum I can roll over.

 

I read the first three Brother Cadfael mysteries, but I think I'm going to try the fourth one as an audiobook. Does the audio version work well for this book?

 

If you are looking for votes, I vote for more Royal Spyness Books ;)

 

This week I read:

Childhood's End - An interesting take on the arrival of extra terrastrial and what it means for humanity

 

A Quiet Life in the Country - I only gave this book 2 stars, but I plan to read the next book in the series. I was listening to this one as a audiobook, and I kept getting interrupted and I had to go back over and over.

 

Deceptive Clarity - This is a first in a new to me, mystery series. I thought that this was a good book, but there were a couple of points at the end of the story that didn't make sense.

 

Murder in the Mulberry Bend - This is the fifth book in the gaslight mystery series. I really enjoyed this book, as well as the four that came before. This story takes place in the slums of New York during the beginning of the nineteenth century. The series highlights how bad life could be in the slums and often contrasts it to the life of the wealthy. It sounds dark, but I really enjoy this series.

 

 

In other news, it looks like Alan Bradley has another Flavia de Luce book coming out this year. Amazon didn't have any record of it, but Goodreads said it is coming out in September. It's called The Grave's a Fine and Private Place. I'm excited for this one to come out.

[Mom-ninja.]

I had a way too busy weekend and not enough reading time. 

[Violet Crown]

I read SIX - count them, six - books these last two weeks! Because I took a vacation with dh that involved (a) lots of trains and flying, and (b) leaving the children at home. Jetlagged but rested now. (Stacia, I will get by the post office tomorrow; sorry for the delay.)

 

My criterion for books was battered paperbacks from my TBR shelf that I could (and did) leave behind in various forms of transportation or hotel room for the next English-speaker.

 

Dylan Thomas, Adventures in the Skin Trade and Other Stories

Bizarre but oddly engaging - these are the first four chapters of Thomas' unfinished novel before he dropped dead of alcoholism, and experimental poetic fiction he wrote for various magazines.

 

Graham Greene, The Ministry of Fear

The usual Greene thriller. About a murderer framed for murder. Light but fun.

 

A. E. Housman, A Shropshire Lad

This one was terribly battered from repeated reading. Now I need to find another copy. So I can read it to pieces.

 

André Malraux, Man's Fate (La Condition Humaine)

1933 novel about the Shanghai Uprising and the glorious ideals of socialism, with quite a bit of philosophizing about the natures of men and women, and how one can never really know another human being, and then back to the political murdering. Very French.

 

Kingsley Amis, Ending Up

Social comedy about a small commune of annoying elderly people. Light but fun. I like Greene better though.

 

Charles Lamb, Essays of "Elia"

The famous essay collection (first of two actually) from Coleridge's less opiated friend. There's a satisfyingly trenchant essay on "gallantry" in which Lamb observes that men of his class are all about the ideal of treating women well, and yet abuse working-class women without a thought.

 

Also got halfway through my Collected Poems of Robert Frost. These are arranged chronologically, and I'd never realized that Frost's best and best-known work was all done by the end of the 1920s, even though he continued writing into the 1960s.

 

I'm caught up in homeschool stuff right now and haven't really settled on a next book. Reading The Song of Roland for teaching reasons, to be followed by Death of a Salesman for likewise. Then I'll find something I want to read.

Edited February 27, 2017 by Violet Crown

[Angelaboord]

I didn't finish anything this week. Instead I added a new book and only read half of it -- Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling. This is an Ambleside Online free read for Year 5 and I'm pre-reading for my twins. For someone who is not too keen on water, I for some reason really like nautical books. The dialect is hard for me to follow but I'm enjoying the story. Originally I had thought this might count for Bingo, but it's only 158 pages.

 

Almost all the kids came down with the respiratory virus du jour this week, so that probably had something to do with my lack of finishing. My 17 yo developed pneumonia and my 3 yo got an ear infection, but I think most everyone is on the mend now. I keep feeling like I am just about to get sick but then I don't. I'm not sure if I'm past the window of contagion or not!

 

Lent starts on Weds. and this year I think some kind of media fast is in order for me. I am going to allow myself a check-in on the BaW thread every Sunday, though. [emoji4]

 

Still reading:

 

Home (Binti #2)

The Loving Push: How Parents and Professionals Can Help Spectrum Kids Become Successful Adults

Out of the Ashes: Rebuilding American Culture

Captains Courageous.

 

I'm hoping to wrap up this reading and then start reading one of my shelves. I have one that started out as a classic fiction/ Shakespeare shelf and then became a holding tank for lots of books that didn't have a place, so I think I am going to start with that one. Like Raifta, I'm going to try to read it in order. I moved all the books I'd already read elsewhere so what's left is pure anti-library.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Edited February 27, 2017 by Angelaboord

[Violet Crown]

So hopefully, I'll catch up on City of God and then finish at least one of the other books this week.

Didn't Charlemagne have City of God carried around with him on his travels and campaigns, and read aloud to him? When I read about that, my immediate thought was, "Hey! medieval audiobook!"

[Matryoshka]

I didn't finish anything this week. Instead I added a new book and only read half of it -- Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling. This is an Ambleside Online free read for Year 5 and I'm pre-reading for my twins. For someone who is not too keen on water, I for some reason really like nautical books. The dialect is hard for me to follow but I'm enjoying the story. Originally I had thought this might count for Bingo, but it's only 158 pages.

 

The summer I was 11, I was visiting another older couple and not a lot to do, but this time it was Germany.  I have very fond memories of reading Captains Courageous and Huckleberry Finn there (these were the books I'd packed with me to read).  

 

I loved Captains Courageous!  I remember liking how Harvey had to stop being a whiny rich kid and get to work, and how much he'd changed by the end.  I read it again with my kids, and they didn't like it as much. :(   I've been trying to get one of my dd's to give it another read, since she was volunteering last summer on a period fishing schooner out of Gloucester!  (It no longer fishes; it's been restored and gives harbor tours and historical info on the Gloucester fishing fleet).

[Schadenfreude]

Thanks to Lady Florida mentioning the Cadfael books, I picked up the first one last week and finished it. I wish I had read the book before I had seen the series. The book was good but all the suspense it was trying to build was lost on me. I did really like the deeper story that the book gave.

[Lady Florida.]

I read the first three Brother Cadfael mysteries, but I think I'm going to try the fourth one as an audiobook. Does the audio version work well for this book?

 

 

 

A Quiet Life in the Country - I only gave this book 2 stars, but I plan to read the next book in the series. I was listening to this one as a audiobook, and I kept getting interrupted and I had to go back over and over.

 

 

 

I had trouble getting into the print version of Brother Cadfael but I've been enjoying the audio books. Have you seen the series? The narrator Patrick Tull sounds a bit like Derek Jacoby, the actor who played Brother Cadfael in the series. That makes them easy to to listen to. There are different narrators, so I make sure I get the ones read by Tull. 

 

I felt the same way about A Quiet Life in the Country. It wasn't bad, a nice little historical cozy but nothing special. It was a free Prime loan, and I don't think I'd spend money on the others in the series. If my library has them or if Amazon offers them free or as loans, I'll read them. If not I won't feel like I'm missing anything.

[idnib]

I finished Grisham's The Client. It was really a touching and deep book, with much more legal maneuvering than his usual books. It was well-written and made me so sympathetic for one of the main characters, even though he was a member of the KKK who participated in his younger years in various racially motivated crimes in Mississippi. Definitely my favorite of his so far.

 

Hello everyone!  I am just back from QuiltCon in Savannah.  Note:  I am not a quilter but I am a sewist and fiber art enthusiast. Viewing the brilliant quilts on display was a wonderful opportunity to see how members of the Modern Quilt Guild push boundaries.  My best friend is a quilter--she and I had a girlfriend weekend together in Savannah which was great.  A few years ago, the two of us and another friend attended the American Quilt Society's conference in Paducah, KY.  While I enjoyed that show and the big quilt museum there, I must say that I really loved the different feel of the MQG event.  Taking the boat across to the convention center our first morning, we found ourselves talking with two women from India and one from the UK who had traveled to the US for this event.  MQG quilts displayed amazing talent but also sensitivity to cultural and political issues.  They knocked my socks off.

 

...

 

Looking forward to watching some of the Oscars tonight.  Ashamed to say I have not seen La La Land but I'll be cheering for Hidden Figures and a few others.  I'm disappointed that Loving was nominated for more. 

 

Well, that was some ending to the Oscars! And the quilt gathering sounds really inspiring!

 

Oops!  :lol:

 

I finished listening to The Basque History of the World. It was interesting, some parts more than others. I loved reading about the food!

 

If you ever get up towards Reno, there's a pretty good-sized Basque community there. We were there once for a conference and had wonderful Basque food.

 

Didn't Charlemagne have City of God carried around with him on his travels and campaigns, and read aloud to him? When I read about that, my immediate thought was, "Hey! medieval audiobook!"

 

 

:lol:

Edited February 27, 2017 by idnib

[Negin]

Rena's Promise has been on my wish list and the Kindle version is on sale today. 

 

[Jane in NC]

Glad you had a good time. I saw the advertisements for the convention and a couple of the bloggers I follow were going. I wonder if you met any of them. ;)

 

 

I did see some of the rock stars of the quilting world, people like Amy Butler and Tula Pink, in the halls. The woman from the UK with whom I spoke on the boat went to last year's Quiltcon too. She said that there is nothing quite like this one in the UK. The 2018 event will be in Pasadena, by the way.

 

You would have had a blast at the activity stations set up by the fabric companies at their booths. Make stuff with Cotton and Steele or Free Spirit fabrics... Great fun.

[Penguin]

Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is $1.99 on the kindle today.

https://www.amazon.com/Jonathan-Strange-Norrell-Susanna-Clarke-ebook/dp/B003RRXXMA/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Edited February 27, 2017 by Penguin

[Heatherwith4]

I finished The Bible Tells Me So by Peter Enns. Finally! :party: It was a slow go, but very good information. I also listened to Love Wins by Rob Bell. I give that one five stars, and I plan to get the hard copy and read it again.

 

I have checked out a couple books from the library, most of which I gave up on. I think it's good that I've been getting out of my comfort zone and trying books I'm not sure about, though. :)

 

This week I'm finishing up Wild Diet and working on the first book in the Outlander series. Have a great week everyone!

[Penguin]

I didn't finish anything this week. Instead I added a new book and only read half of it -- Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling. This is an Ambleside Online free read for Year 5 and I'm pre-reading for my twins. For someone who is not too keen on water, I for some reason really like nautical books. The dialect is hard for me to follow but I'm enjoying the story. Originally I had thought this might count for Bingo, but it's only 158 pages.

 

Almost all the kids came down with the respiratory virus du jour this week, so that probably had something to do with my lack of finishing. My 17 yo developed pneumonia and my 3 yo got an ear infection, but I think most everyone is on the mend now. I keep feeling like I am just about to get sick but then I don't. I'm not sure if I'm past the window of contagion or not!

 

Lent starts on Weds. and this year I think some kind of media fast is in order for me. I am going to allow myself a check-in on the BaW thread every Sunday, though. [emoji4]

 

Still reading:

 

Home (Binti #2)

The Loving Push: How Parents and Professionals Can Help Spectrum Kids Become Successful Adults

Out of the Ashes: Rebuilding American Culture

Captains Courageous.

 

I'm hoping to wrap up this reading and then start reading one of my shelves. I have one that started out as a classic fiction/ Shakespeare shelf and then became a holding tank for lots of books that didn't have a place, so I think I am going to start with that one. Like Raifta, I'm going to try to read it in order. I moved all the books I'd already read elsewhere so what's left is pure anti-library.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I hope everyone is indeed on the mend, especially the 17 yr old. Pneumonia: shudder.

[thessa516]

I had a good week of reading; I found a comfortable groove.

 

Reading This Week:

Catching up on National Geographic magazine reading. This month's cover story is on the Vikings. Fun reading - "Vikings were more Johnny Depp than Vin Diesel"... lol!

The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett - just about finished with it, and that's good because my older children are chomping at the bit to read it

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North - just started this and already having a hard time putting it down

 The snippet from Amazon:

SOME STORIES CANNOT BE TOLD IN JUST ONE LIFETIME.

 

Harry August is on his deathbed. Again.

 

No matter what he does or the decisions he makes, when death comes, Harry always returns to where he began, a child with all the knowledge of a life he has already lived a dozen times before. Nothing ever changes. 

 

Until now. 

 

As Harry nears the end of his eleventh life, a little girl appears at his bedside. "I nearly missed you, Doctor August," she says. "I need to send a message."

 

This is the story of what Harry does next, and what he did before, and how he tries to save a past he cannot change and a future he cannot allow.

 

Reading I'm Doing With the Kids:

Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Houston - read aloud with big kids - probably my favorite non-fiction read-aloud so far

The House on Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne - read aloud with the little kids - don't revoke my reading license, but I'm not feeling the Pooh love

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Coifer - nighttime family read aloud

 

Book Next to my Bed and Wondering If It Will Get Read:

From the Beast to the Blonde by Marina Warner - thank you Crstarlette for the read along

 

Books I'll Be Adding to My TR List Because the BAWers Always Recommend the Most Interesting Books:

 

Currently read the third in the InCryptid series on my Kindle. This is a fun take on most paranormal book series because they concentrate on a mostly human family who are cryptozoologists, basically they help and study paranormal creatures who live somewhat unnoticed among humans. The first two books feature a professional dancer living in NYC. The third book is about her brother who works at the Columbus Zoo's reptile house.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17667009-half-off-ragnarok

I finished another Donna Andrews in my quest to find and read/ reread the series. Six Geese a Slaying https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3222778-six-geese-a-slaying was good fun if you like cozies. The ultimate wacky small town Christmas parade where Santa ends up murdered.
 

 

 

 

 

Oh, and my brother gave me a book out of the blue, The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic - and How It Changed Science, Cities and the Modern World.  He said he'd heard it was really good, and bought both himself and me a copy.  What an awesome brother. :)  I added it to my to-read list.

 

 

Hello everyone!  I am just back from QuiltCon in Savannah.  Note:  I am not a quilter but I am a sewist and fiber art enthusiast. Viewing the brilliant quilts on display was a wonderful opportunity to see how members of the Modern Quilt Guild push boundaries.  My best friend is a quilter--she and I had a girlfriend weekend together in Savannah which was great.  A few years ago, the two of us and another friend attended the American Quilt Society's conference in Paducah, KY.  While I enjoyed that show and the big quilt museum there, I must say that I really loved the different feel of the MQG event.  Taking the boat across to the convention center our first morning, we found ourselves talking with two women from India and one from the UK who had traveled to the US for this event.  MQG quilts displayed amazing talent but also sensitivity to cultural and political issues.  They knocked my socks off.

 

 It sounds like you had so much fun. I'm going to have to look into this. 

 

 

In other news, dh is sitting on the couch reading Cloud Atlas and chuckling - he's really enjoying the Timothy Cavendish sections. He likes the book as much as I do. Can't wait till he finishes it so we can watch the movie together!

 

 

 

 

Currently I'm reading The Girl You Left Behind. So far it is better than Me Before You, imo, but I much prefer the wartime storyline to the modern day one. We didn't make any audiobook progress this week as we were trying to listen to some Oscar-nominated music instead. The red carpet is on TV as I type!  One last bit of bookish news: I discovered that a store selling used books by the pound has opened up about 30 minutes from me. I need to go! I mean, I really don't need to go spend hours browsing and shouldn't bring more books home but...it's my duty to support a physical bookstore, right? :)

Yes, you have to check out the Books By The Pound store and report back to us!

 

 

The summer I was 11, I was visiting another older couple and not a lot to do, but this time it was Germany.  I have very fond memories of reading Captains Courageous and Huckleberry Finn there (these were the books I'd packed with me to read).  

 

I loved Captains Courageous!  I remember liking how Harvey had to stop being a whiny rich kid and get to work, and how much he'd changed by the end.  I read it again with my kids, and they didn't like it as much. :(   I've been trying to get one of my dd's to give it another read, since she was volunteering last summer on a period fishing schooner out of Gloucester!  (It no longer fishes; it's been restored and gives harbor tours and historical info on the Gloucester fishing fleet).

 

I somehow missed Captains Courageous. Adding it to the list based on your sweet memory.

 

 

[ErinE]

.

Edited February 19, 2018 by ErinE

[melbotoast]

My criterion for books was battered paperbacks from my TBR shelf that I could (and did) leave behind in various forms of transportation or hotel room for the next English-speaker.

 

 

 

What a great idea!

 

**

 

Those interested in Regency and Georgian era England might be interested in the book reviewed here:

 

 

Jane Austen’s England by Roy and Lesley Adkins

 

Regards,

Kareni

This sounds really interesting! I own Georgette Heyer's Regency World by Jennifer Kloester which is similar and have enjoyed having it to refer to when reading. It focuses more on upper-class society so I'd love to read more about the nitty-gritty details of how everyone else lived.

[Lady Florida.]

I don't care much for science fiction novels. I'm not a fan of short stories. And yet...

 

I'm loving Stories of Your Life and Others

[Lady Florida.]

I don't care much for science fiction novels. I'm not a fan of short stories. And yet...

 

I'm loving Stories of Your Life and Others

[melbotoast]

I am still reading Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, but the end is in sight! My kindle copy was sucked back into the abyss for a while, but I was able to check it out again from a different library.

 

I also read Venetia by Georgette Heyer. I didn't really enjoy this one, but she has plenty to choose from :D

 

I reread Jane Austen’s Lady Susan. My DH bought me the Love and Friendship movie that came out recently, but I think I will get rid of it. It doesn't really work as a movie for me.

[Penguin]

I finished Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I'm sure some things went over my head with that one, the most basic of those being references, only some of which I made the effort to look up, but I like how it compared the faith of the hippie movement with the faith of religions and how it compared the destructiveness of drugs to that of war. 

 

Also read:

 

A List of Cages by Robin Roe - YA novel that felt contrived

 

Wild Life by Kathy Fish - A collection of Carveresque flash fiction.

 

Currently reading:

 

An Experiment in Criticism by C.S. Lewis, which so far describes the varied experiences people have with literature, music and visual arts depending on their skill or knowledge in the area, but chapters I haven't gotten to yet have such titles as "On Myth," "The Meanings of Fantasy" and "On Realisms," and I'm hoping those will be more focused on literature than on different depths of understanding. 

 

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou - Still listening, still enjoying, almost finished.

 

From the Beast to the Blonde by Marina Warner - I have so far read the introduction. I may read chapter one today or may save it for later in the week.

 

And I hope to begin Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson soon, maybe today.

Thanks for the awesome guest post about Fairy Tales, and I plan to read From the Beast to the Blonde on the schedule you proposed. A special thanks for the link to the Once Upon a Time suggested reading list. I currently have Once Upon a Time out from the library, but alas it has been sitting here unread and may have to go back soon.

Edited February 27, 2017 by Penguin

[Kareni]

Here's a one day only currently free classic ~

 

Ivanhoe by Walter Scott

 

"A young Saxon knight proves his worth in Sir Walter Scott’s immortal classic blending history and romance

In the twelfth century, England is in ruins. The tension between the Saxons and Normans are at an all-time high. While King Richard the Lion Heart is away, his brother Prince John sits on the throne, allowing the Norman nobles to ravage the Saxon countryside further. There is no one to protect them. Their land is repossessed. They are made to flee into the forests as outlaws, leaving behind the stand-in king who has forsaken them.

Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe, disowned by his father after pledging allegiance to King Richard, has returned from the Crusades eager to win the love of Lady Rowena. The young knight, eager to prove himself worthy of her affections, sets out to demonstrate his merit—fighting his enemies with aid from the likes of Robin Hood.

A classic of historical fiction, Sir Walter Scott’s masterpiece brims with romance, adventure, and action."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

I just finished a book that might interest some others here.

 

It has ~

 

-- magical realism as a character sees words (names, dates, stories) written on the faces and bodies of others

 

-- an Eastern European connection as part of the story (a small part, admittedly) takes place in Lithuania

 

-- a mystery (not a who done it? but rather a what really happened?)

 

-- a pilgrimage

 

-- a young man who reads Latin

 

-- a pair of red shoes

 

-- blurbs by some big names such as Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, and Gail Godwin, three-time National Book Award finalist

 

It was an excellent read, and I recommend it.

 

Indelible  by Adelia Saunders

 

"A masterful, enthralling debut novel about fate, family secrets, and the stories our bodies tell.

 

Magdalena has an unsettling gift. She sees the truth about people written on their skin--names, dates, details both banal and profound--and her only relief from the onslaught of information is to take off her glasses and let the world recede. Mercifully, her own skin is blank.

 

When she meets Neil, she is intrigued to see her name on his cheek. He's in Paris for the summer, studying a medieval pilgrimage to the coast of Spain, where the body of Saint Jacques is said to have washed ashore, covered in scallop shells. Magdalena, desperate to make things right after her best friend dies--a tragedy she might have prevented--embarks on her own pilgrimage, but not before Neil falls for her, captivated by her pale eyes, charming Eastern European accent, and aura of heartbreak.

 

Neil's father, Richard, is also in Paris, searching for the truth about his late mother, a famous expatriate American novelist who abandoned him at birth. All his life Richard has clung to a single memory of his mother--her red shoes--which her biographers agree he never could have seen.

 

In Adelia Saunders' arresting debut, secrets are revealed among forgotten texts in the old archives of Paris, on a dusty cattle ranch in the American West, along ancient pilgrim paths, and in a run-down apartment in post-Soviet Lithuania. By chance, or perhaps by fate, the novel's unforgettable characters converge, and Magdalena's uncanny ability may be the key to their happiness."

 

Regards,

Kareni