Book a Week 2017 - BW14: Artistic April

[Penguin]

Thank you both.  I'm already enjoying her company!  She'll leave on the 16th at the crack of dawn; I imagine the time will fly by.

 

Regards,

Kareni

That is so exciting. I know you will cherish the time together. Ever since 2011, I usually had at least one adult kid living an ocean away from me. It is a bit strange that that chapter will soon be ending for our family, at least for now. In six more weeks, all three kids will be once again living in the USA. They will not all be in the same state, though. I don't know if that will ever happen again!

Edited April 6, 2017 by Penguin

[Jane in NC]

There is indeed much to mull over in Jamil Ahmad's novel The Wandering Falcon.  After Pam and Stacia recommended it, the book went on my rather lengthy TBR list.  So glad that I borrowed it on a recent trip to the library!

 

In some respects, The Wandering Falcon is more a series of short stories with one recurring character who does not always play a major role.  The larger theme concerns nomads, political borders and rigid tribal customs in border areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

 

These are also issues in the non-fictional book that I am reading, The Right to be Cold.  To be honest, Sheila Watt-Cloutier's memoir is a slog for me but I think I am coming to the conclusion that I really don't care for the memoir as a concept.  Yes, people should write memoirs!  But often it seems that it might be better to shelve the manuscript for a biographer to analyze when the time is right. Every once in a while, I read a memoir that truly inspires.  But otherwise...

 

Back to borders.  The Native people of the Arctic have a traditional way of life that gives them more in common with others in the Arctic circle than with their Southern countrymen.  Which brings me back to The Wandering Falcon.  A tribesperson will more closely identify with a tribe than with Pakistan or Afghanistan. Yet circumstances force that person to limit his movement not to traditional feeding grounds for livestock but to manmade borders.

 

Another perspective is seen in my audio book, The Painter of Battles by Arturo Perez-Reverte, a treatise on art and war.  Here a former war photographer is confronted by a man whose image was made famous in a photograph taken during the Balkan war.  Tito had urged unity in the former Yugoslavia.  After his death, factions regrouped.  How does a Serbian man and Croatian woman who had married fit in the devolution? 

 

These books are good reminders that political borders are manmade constructs (assisted by geographic features).  Falcons do not heed borders though.

[Mom-ninja.]

Well, I had to break from my book to fix dinner and do a bit of work. Luckily I was then able to hide in the bathroom for about 30 minutes and finish it while Kevin and John did some stuff in the garage. Great recommendation! I have already downloaded another to my kindle.  

 

 

 

 

The two I remember from our party that everyone loved was the 1918 Applesauce cake and the Hummingbird Cake. The Hummingbird Cake was complicated but the Applesauce cake went together easy and fast. It was the type of cake that would be really good toasted a day later with a bit of butter for breakfast. That is ... if you're the type of person to eat cake with a bit of butter for breakfast.  

 

Don't you hate it when life gets in the way of reading? ;)

 

I love the idea of a cake party! Alas, not for me. As for cake for breakfast, isn't that normal? 

 

 

I'm slogging through American Gods. I just do not do well with long fiction books. I have a lack of patience and want to move to the next thing. Maybe it's good for me to read longer books and work on not moving to the next thing so quickly. 

 

However, I can't just read one book so I started Bad Feminist. I've only just started but find myself agreeing with everything I've read so far. I, too, like pink. :) She discusses her perspective as an African American woman which is valuable and important. I think I will enjoy this book very much. 

[Kareni]

A one day only currently free classic for Kindle readers ~

 

One of Ours by Willa Cather

 

"Willa Cather’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel of World War I

The son of a prosperous farmer, Claude Wheeler’s future is laid out for him as clear and monotonous as the Nebraska sky—a few semesters at the local Christian college followed by marriage and a lifetime spent worrying about the price of wheat. Many young men would be happy to find themselves in Claude’s shoes, but his focus is on the horizon, and on the nagging sense that out there, past the farthest reaches of the Great Plains and beyond the boundaries of convention, his true destiny awaits. When the United States finally enters the war raging in Europe, Claude makes the first, and greatest, decision of his life: He answers the call.
 
Based on the experiences of Willa Cather’s cousin—G. P. Cather received the Distinguished Service Cross and the Silver Star for bravery in World War I—and interviews she conducted with wounded veterans, One of Ours is the indelible portrait of a man—and a nation—on the cusp of profound and irreversible change."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

I'll be curious to hear how she handles the time adjustment on such a short trip. My ds is thinking he'd like to come home at Christmas and I know he won't have much time either.

 

The jet lag for me last week was brutal, but then again I'm not a young spring chicken like our kids! I was wide awake from 1-3am for several nights running, and fighting to stay awake part of the day.

 

ETA -- have a wonderful visit!!!! And give her a warm hello from her WTM aunties who remember when she was heading to college!

 

I have passed along that warm hello, Jenn, and it was appreciated.  As regards the time adjustment, she was awake very early for a couple of hours before falling back asleep.  I suspect it will take a couple of days before she is fully adjusted.

 

And, yes, spring chickens have a much easier time than do we.  My husband visited her in Korea last summer for ten days and had  a difficult time adjusting to the time change both coming and going.

 

That is so exciting. I know you will cherish the time together. Ever since 2011, I usually had at least one adult kid living an ocean away from me. It is a bit strange that that chapter will soon be ending for our family, at least for now. In six more weeks, all three kids will be once again living in the USA. They will not all be in the same state, though. I don't know if that will ever happen again!

 

I hope you'll enjoy having all of your children on the same continent once again.  We're not sure how long our daughter plans to be overseas; she'll soon be starting about year four in Korea and there is talk of a possible MLA program in New Zealand at some point.  Time truly will tell.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Penguin]

(snip)

 

 

I hope you'll enjoy having all of your children on the same continent once again.  We're not sure how long our daughter plans to be overseas; she'll soon be starting about year four in Korea and there is talk of a possible MLA program in New Zealand at some point.  Time truly will tell.

 

Regards,

Kareni

Kareni, I will certainly enjoy it but yes, time will truly tell how long it lasts. Living overseas seems to have bit two-thirds of them with the travel/expat bug. For that matter, I wouldn't mind doing it again myself but that is rather unlikely.

 

Happy visiting !!! :grouphug:

Edited April 6, 2017 by Penguin

[mumto2]

I have passed along that warm hello, Jenn, and it was appreciated. As regards the time adjustment, she was awake very early for a couple of hours before falling back asleep. I suspect it will take a couple of days before she is fully adjusted.

 

And, yes, spring chickens have a much easier time than do we. My husband visited her in Korea last summer for ten days and had a difficult time adjusting to the time change both coming and going.

 

 

I hope you'll enjoy having all of your children on the same continent once again. We're not sure how long our daughter plans to be overseas; she'll soon be starting about year four in Korea and there is talk of a possible MLA program in New Zealand at some point. Time truly will tell.

 

Regards,

Kareni

Wishing you a delightful couple of weeks while your daughter is home! :)

 

I have came to the conclusion I no longer adjust to time changes.....I think I live on GMT permanently wherever I may be. I drive the rest of my family a bit crazy because of this. I also fall asleep in cars quite a bit......my dh says it's his smooth driving skills! :lol:

 

I read the first in a nice cozy series this morning. Family Skeletons

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3759820-family-skeletons is the first in a series by Rhett MacPherson about a crime solving genealogist. The first one at least was a short quick read of about 180 pages. I obviously liked it because I just requested the rest of the series! :lol: I know this series made it's way onto my wish list via aWTM thread about favourite cozies. It might be a LoriD recommendation but can't remember.

[Rosie_0801]

One for Kareni!

 

I read 'Daintree' by Annie Seaton yesterday; a romance set in, you guessed it, the Daintree!

[Penguin]

Are there any Stephen King Dark Tower readers here? I am reading The Gunslinger and I am so confused. But I think that I am supposed to be confused, and I am ok with trusting the storyteller to get me where I need to be, as long as I have faith that I will get there eventually.

 

I am seeking some reassurance that all will be revealed in due time. I don't want to google much - I despise spoilers!

[aggieamy]

Are there any Stephen King Dark Tower readers here? I am reading The Gunslinger and I am so confused. But I think that I am supposed to be confused, and I am ok with trusting the storyteller to get me where I need to be, as long as I have faith that I will get there eventually.

 

I am seeking some reassurance that all will be revealed in due time. I don't want to google much - I despise spoilers!

 

My DH is a big Stephen King fan but has never liked Dark Tower ... read into that what you may.

[mumto2]

One for Kareni!

 

I read 'Daintree' by Annie Seaton yesterday; a romance set in, you guessed it, the Daintree!

I had to look up what the Daintree ishttp://www.daintreerainforestinformation.com/About_Daintree.html. I now have another place on my huge places to see list. Incredible!

[-M-]

Hello, BaWers! It's been a little while since I've posted. Spring break and other stuff followed early voting for the consolidated primary. Then I had early voting for the consolidated election. And election day. And a bit of other stuff. Today, I'm just trying to catch up.

 

Here are some passages for the commonplace book:

 

From Before the Fall (Noah Hawley; 2016. Fiction.):

 

p. 95
The machine he believed himself to be broke down. and Gus found himself immersed in an experience he had witnessed for years in his job with the NTSB, but never truly understood. Grief. Death was not an intellectual conceit. It was an existential black hole, an animal riddle, both problem and solution, and the grief it inspired could not be fixed or bypassed like a faulty relay, but only endured.

 

p. 101
Convergence. It’s one of those things that feels meaningful, but isn’t. At least he doesn’t think it is. How could it be? A batter in Boston fouling pitches into the stands while a small plan struggles through low coastal fog. How many millions of other activities begin and end at the same time? How many other “facts†converge in just the right way, creating symbolic connectivity?

 

p. 251
He breaks off, thinking, aware that he is not giving them what they wanted, but concerned that their questions are too important to answer in the moment, to define in passing, simply to meet some kind of arbitrary deadline. What was the experience like? Why did it happen? What does it mean going forward? These are the subjects for books. They are questions you meditate for years — to find the right words, to identify all the critical factors, both subjective and objective.

 

It’s unsurprising that the flow of this “thumping good read†reminds me of great television; Hawley is a television writer and producer.

 

From The Last One (Alexandra Oliva; 2016. Fiction.):

 

p. 58
This adventure I asked for, it’s not what I was expecting, not what I wanted. I thought I would feel empowered, but I’m only exhausted.

 

p. 90
For all her love of animals, for all her work with animals, she feels little remorse. She is comfortable in her knowledge that humans are omnivores and that securing reliable sources of protein is what allowed the species to evolve its current intelligence. She will not kill to kill, but she will kill to eat, and she sees little difference between the eyes of a dead fish and a live one.

 

Some reviews mentioned that the book erred in revealing its “twist†in the opening pages. They miss the point. Completely. A central conceit of a “reality†survival show is that the audience has information the participants do not. Here, the reader has knowledge the protagonist does not, so The Last One delivers its gut-punch not in a twist but rather in Mae’s eventual comprehension that what she had thought was the fakery of television is actual her new reality.

 

From The Hard Problem (Tom Stoppard; 2015. Drama.):

 

Scene Five
Hilary (roused) Being wrong about human behaviour half the time is our guiding star, Leo! It’s what’s telling us the study of the mind is not a science. We’re dealing in mind stuff that doesn’t show up in a scan — accountability, duty freewill, language, all the stuff that makes behaviour unpredictable.

 

We saw Stoppard’s latest play at the Court Theatre this past weekend. If you’re in the area, both it and TimeLine Theatre’s A Disappearing Number are must-see theater. Both run through April 9.

 

In other reading…
Election Day (April 4) was a long slog made bearable by Lucinda Rosenfeld’s Class, a book light enough that I could regularly look away but meaty enough that I didn’t feel like I had consumed the mental equivalent of Yodels.

 

Brian Wood’s The Massive is a pretty terrific post-apocalyptic tale. My daughters, both artists and readers of graphic fiction, say that I should remark on the art when I talk about graphic fiction. It’s generally all about the story for me, but in these volumes, I realized that I do know when a different artist takes over. In a medium dependent on image, why would one change artists partway through the story? Different styles change the narrative in subtle ways. Is that the point? Or is it simpler than that? Is one artist available when one issue or arc is being prepared for publication but unavailable for another? Well, in any event, Danijel Zezelj’s work in the “Sahara†arc was particularly powerful.

 

For my “Shakespeare in a Year†project, I have read through Sonnet 45 and Line 936 of Venus and Adonis, the latter of which I find the more satisfying endeavor. (No pun, Shakespearean or otherwise, intended.) Don Paterson’s commentary, however, quite nearly makes slogging through the sonnets worth it. Irreverent and insightful and highly recommended.

Since my last bookish post, I’ve also (re)read Richard II, a favorite of mine…

 

Let’s talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs;
Make dust our paper and with rainy eyes
Write sorrow on the bosom of the earth,
Let’s choose executors and talk of wills….

 

… and Romeo and Juliet. Is it old(er) age that makes me increasingly immune to this story’s appeal? I must have muttered, “Overwrought,†two dozen or more times while reading and listening. Mercutio, though. What an invention! I think it was Bloom who posited that the Mercutio passages presage the verbal antics of Hamlet. I can believe it.

 

In advance of seeing the CST’s Tug of War: Foreign Fire last year, I read Edward III, which occurs in the reading plan between Richard III and The Comedy of Errors. I simply have not been able to bring myself to reread it. Since this admission does not appear to have gotten me booted from the group, I plan to move on to A Midsummer Night’s Dream this coming weekend.

 

 

Books read in 2017

 

January
â–  Pygmalion (George Bernard Shaw; 1912. Drama.)
â–  A.D.: After Death, Book 2 (Scott Snyder; 2016. Graphic fiction.)
â–  I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives (Martin Ganda and Caitlin Alifirenka; 2016. Non-fiction.)
â–  Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis (J.D. Vance; 2016. Non-fiction.)
â–  The Selfishness of Others (Kristin Dombeck; 2016. Non-fiction.)
â–  So Long, See You Tomorrow (William Maxwell; 1980. Fiction.)
â–  King John (William Shakespeare; 1623. Drama.)
■ The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood; 1986. Fiction.)
â–  Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City (Matthew Desmond; 2016. Non-fiction.)
â–  Bird Watching (Paula McCartney; 2010. Non-fiction.)
â–  The Taming of the Shrew (William Shakespeare; 1590. Drama.)
â–  The Two Gentlemen of Verona (William Shakespeare; 1589. Drama.)
â–  Much Ado: A Summer with a Repertory Theater Company (Michael Lenehan; 2016. Non-fiction.)
â–  Henry VI, Part 1 (William Shakespeare; 1591. Drama.)

 

February
â–  King Charles III (Mike Bartlett; 2014. Drama.)
â–  Henry VI, Part 2 (William Shakespeare; 1591. Drama.)
â–  Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption (Bryan Stevenson; 2014. Non-fiction.)
â–  Henry VI, Part 3 (William Shakespeare; 1591. Drama.)
â–  Richard III (William Shakespeare; 1592. Drama.)
â–  Sun Moon Star (Kurt Vonnegut; 2016. Fiction.)
â–  Titus Andronicus (William Shakespeare; 1593. Drama.)
â–  The Comedy of Errors (William Shakespeare; 1594. Drama.)
■ Love’s Labour’s Lost (William Shakespeare; 1595. Drama.)
â–  The Futures (Anna Pitoniak; 2017. Fiction.)
â–  Books for Living (Will Schwalbe; 2016. Non-fiction.)
â–  Countdown City (Ben H. Winters; 2013. Fiction.)
â–  Lights Out: A Cyberattack, A Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath (Ted Koppel; 2015. Non-fiction.)
â–  The Joy of Geocaching (Paul and Dana Gillin; 2010. Non-fiction.)
â–  Rhinoceros (Eugene Ionesco; 1959. Drama.)
â–  Small Admissions (Amy Poeppel; 2016. Fiction.)
â–  The Confession (John Grisham; 2010. Fiction.)
â–  The Changeling (Thomas Middleton and William Rowley; 1622. Drama.)
â–  The Little Book of Hygge (Meik Wiking; 2017. Non-fiction.)
â–  Outcast, Volume 4 (Robert Kirkman; 2017. Graphic fiction.)

 

March
■ No Man’s Land (Harold Pinter; 1974. Drama.)
â–  World of Trouble (Ben H. Winters; 2014. Fiction.)
â–  The Walking Dead, Volume 27: The Whisperer War (Robert Kirkman; 2017. Graphic fiction.)
â–  Security (Gina Wohlsdorf; 2016. Fiction.)
â–  Before the Fall (Noah Hawley; 2016. Fiction.)
â–  Richard II (William Shakespeare; 1595. Drama.)
â–  The Last One (Alexandra Oliva; 2016. Fiction.)
â–  The Massive, Volume 1: Black Pacific (Brian Wood; 2013. Graphic fiction.)
â–  The Massive, Volume 2: The Subcontinental (Brian Wood; 2013. Graphic fiction.)
â–  Romeo and Juliet (William Shakespeare; 1595. Drama.)
â–  The Hard Problem (Tom Stoppard; 2015. Drama.)

 

April
â–  The Massive, Volume 3: Longship (Brian Wood; 2014. Graphic fiction.)
â–  The Massive, Volume 4: Sahara (Brian Wood; 2015. Graphic fiction.)
â–  The Massive, Volume 5: Ragnarok (Brian Wood; 2015. Graphic fiction.)
â–  Class (Lucinda Rosenfeld; 2017. Fiction.)

Edited April 6, 2017 by M--

[Ethel Mertz]

I finished Dune, and The Animal Family.

 

My husband finished reading The Worry Week aloud to me.  I love this book but it might not fly unless you are familiar with the bathroom on the ferry to North Haven and have eaten mussels and other gatherables, and have dealt with the cold water, the sting of salt water in raspberry scratches, the mosquitoes, the barnacles, the rich people in motor boats, the sunburn, and all the other discomforts of that heaven called North Haven.  We are now reading The Exiles, since this sort of book seems to be working for me to go to sleep on at the moment.

 

I am listening to the first of Brandon Sanderson's Codex books and The Little Book of Hygge.  Not sure I'm going to make it through the first and rationing the second, since it is comforting to listen to.  Comforting but not enlightening.  : )  My family is really good at hygge.  There are two standing lamps by our sofa - one is the taking-out-a-splinter-or-getting-extra-daylight light and the other is the playing-cribbage-in-front-of-the-woodstove-or-curling-up-with-the-cat-and-a-book light.

 

I saw two Little Free Library boxes yesterday!!  My first!

 

Nan

I saw my first Little Free Library box in the mountains of North Carolina last weekend!

 

A one day only classic that is currently free for Kindle readers ~

 

The Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morley

 

"This classic story of romance and intrigue in a Brooklyn bookstore is one of the most beloved mysteries of all time

 

Aubrey Gilbert stops by the Haunted Bookshop hoping to sell his services as an advertising copywriter. He fails to accomplish his goal, but learns that Titania Chapman, the lovely daughter of his most important client, is a store assistant there. Aubrey returns to visit Titania and experiences a series of unusual events: He is attacked on his way home from the store, an obscure book mysteriously disappears and reappears, and two strange characters are seen skulking in a nearby alleyway. Aubrey initially suspects the bookstore’s gregarious owner, Roger Mifflin, of scheming to kidnap Titania, but the plot he eventually uncovers is far more complex and sinister than he could have ever imagined.

 

A charming ode to the art of bookselling wrapped inside a thrilling suspense story, The Haunted Bookshop is a must-read for bibliophiles and mystery lovers alike."

**

 

 

 

 

Foolish me!  I forgot to offer the possibility of 'other.'

 

It's been interesting to read the responses to my question.  There seems to be quite a bit of love for Candide.

 

Regards,

Kareni

Just added it! Thanks!

 

I've been off the grid for the better part of the week visiting friends-who-are-family as well as cousin-in-laws. I finished Kurban Said's Ali and Nino. Not sure I would choose to read it again as it was a bit of a slog. I also read two dystopian novels: Lights Out by David Crawford and Broken Lines by James Hunt. Crawford's book detailed what happens after an EMP and is quite detailed about how his local community pulls together to survive. The latter book by Hunt isn't really that well written and I don't recommend it. I now need to read a utopian novel.

 

Also read the first cozy in the Reverend Annabelle Dixon series by Alison Golden. Nice change of pace and I'll probably read the next installment. In the meantime, I'm surrounded by piles of books and need to get off the computer and start reading.

[Shawneinfl]

This would be a great challenge for next year. Especially since we will be doing US History again.

 

http://www.businessinsider.com/famous-book-set-in-every-state-2016-4

Edited April 6, 2017 by Shawneinfl

[ErinE]

Are there any Stephen King Dark Tower readers here? I am reading The Gunslinger and I am so confused. But I think that I am supposed to be confused, and I am ok with trusting the storyteller to get me where I need to be, as long as I have faith that I will get there eventually.

 

I am seeking some reassurance that all will be revealed in due time. I don't want to google much - I despise spoilers!

I think it's one where you need to like Stephen King and hope you'll like the story. I've read almost everything he's published. I wouldn't consider it one of the best fantasy epics, but it's probably middle of the road for his writing. Fans of King are pretty split on The Dark Tower series - some like it, some don't.

[ErinE]

Rose, you convinced me to retry Too Like the Lightning. I struggled with the heavy philosophical writing and lack of action, but the book was front and center at the library today so I picked it up.

[Narrow Gate Academy]

I finished The Obesity Code by Fung and wrote a long review. Next up for nonfiction, The Power of Habit by Duhigg which I borrowed from Amazon's Prime library.

[Robin M]

Are there any Stephen King Dark Tower readers here? I am reading The Gunslinger and I am so confused. But I think that I am supposed to be confused, and I am ok with trusting the storyteller to get me where I need to be, as long as I have faith that I will get there eventually.

 

I am seeking some reassurance that all will be revealed in due time. I don't want to google much - I despise spoilers!

Penguin,

 

I read the whole series and thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes, there will be a bit of confusion in the beginning.  I think King deliberately leaves things a bit obtuse as he reveals clues and bit and pieces as the characters quest progresses.  We know no more than the characters so yes, you just gotta have faith and go with it and see where it takes you.  If you are intrigued by the story and the writing is capturing your attention, then go for it.   

[Narrow Gate Academy]

I also finished The Big Four by Agatha Christie, which is the fifth Hercule Poirot mystery, this afternoon. I found it a bit strange with the larger conspiracy rather than a single murder, but it was still entertaining.

[ErinE]

This would be a great challenge for next year. Especially since we will be doing US History again.

 

http://www.businessinsider.com/famous-book-set-in-every-state-2016-4

I've read many of the books in the list. My only comment would be Into the Wild would not be a good book for Alaska. The book is more about the journey across the US and Chris's search for meaning in life. When I lived in Montana, mentioning the book would get you an eye roll from those who spent time in the state(as well as native Montanans). Everyone there who'd read the book thought the author glamorized the precarious nature of living "in the wild". No one I knew would enter even the local forest with just a gun and a bag of rice, let alone trying to spend weeks there.

Edited April 7, 2017 by ErinE

[Matryoshka]

Finished another two books. :)

 

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer was for my scifi book club.  Kind of a thriller kind of scifi - something weird and scary is going on, characters are trapped all alone with no way out, and no one can trust their senses.  Not really my wheelhouse.  It was a very fast read, but then it was also a short book. You don't get to find anything out about what weird sh*t is going down, for that you have to read the next two books. If you're going to break something up into a trilogy, I kinda think you should have enough book for three.  If each book is under 200 pages, maybe it would be better just to make them ... a book.  But I guess that is less $$$.  Meh.  I gave it three stars on Goodreads, 'cause it was enjoyable enough as I read it, but as I type this I think maybe I should downgrade it to two stars, because while I didn't hate it, my overall feeling really is "it was okay".  I'm not sure if I'll bother with the other two, especially since a bunch of the reviews of the third book where you supposedly finally find out what the heck is going on say "that was it?"  Not compelling...

 

Together Tea by Marjan Kamali.  Wow.  I loved, loved, loved this book.  As you may recall, I picked this just because it was available on Overdrive and I wanted another ebook and it looked somewhat interesting.  So good.  It's about a family that left Iran after the revolution at the beginning of the Iran/Iraq war; most of the action is in 1996, but the middle part goes back to just before they leave.  But the characters are so good, I just loved them all.  The main two are a mother who dreamed of being a great mathematician but has ended up in America as a bank clerk and channels her energy into making spreadsheets to find the perfect man (Iranian-American of course) for her daughter, the other main character who is getting her MBA in business because that's what's expected of her, but really wants to be an artist.  Mother and daughter take a trip back home to Iran. There are also lots of other great characters - the dad, the daughter's best friend back in Iran. The descriptions of place are also great.  Makes me want to take a trip to Iran, or at least eat some pomegranates ;) .  But it's hard to describe, I just really loved this one  Five stars plus.

 

And now I need another ebook. :lol:

 

I will probably finish up Homegoing on audio today (lots of driving ahead!), but I've already got my next audio lined up (News of the World).  Hope I like the narrator!

[Kareni]

A one day only currently free classic for Kindle readers ~

 

Fifty-One Tales by Lord Dunsany

 

About the Author

Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany (24 July 1878 – 25 October 1957) was an Irish writer and dramatist, notable for his work, mostly in fantasy, published under the name Lord Dunsany. More than eighty books of his work were published, and his oeuvre includes many hundreds of published short stories, as well as successful plays, novels and essays.

 

 

"A classic collection of short stories from one of the twentieth century’s most influential fantasy authors.

Irish author Lord Dunsany majorly influenced generations of writers, including J. R. R. Tolkien, H. P. Lovecraft, and many more, and his Fifty-One Tales, a collection of short stories first published in 1915, has delighted readers for more than a century. These vignettes—some no more than a few paragraphs long—offer brief glimpses into worlds of sparkling wit and imagination. By turns whimsical, satirical, and melancholic, this collection (also published under the title The Food of Death) touches on timeless themes and remains a wellspring of inspiration and pleasure."

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I finally got some reading in.

This week I finished:

 

Crimes Against A Book Club - Kathy Cooperman. This was one of the free fiction Kindle books for April. It was a quick entertaining read.

 

The Buried Book - D.M. Pulley This was another quick fiction read. I borrowed it from the Kindle Owner's Library.

[Kareni]

A couple of bookish posts ~

 

Just Add Magical Talking Cats by Tirzah Price

 

"When it comes to hand selling books, some titles need a little more help than others. A really great book oftentimes just needs a little encouragement from a bookseller in order for a reader to look past a horrible cover or a tired trope. As a bookseller, I consider it my duty and privilege to find the perfect book recommendation and pitch it in such a way that will make the customer grab it out of my hands and say, “Sold.â€

 

This is sometimes easier said than done.

 

I had been a bookseller for about two years when I obliviously stumbled into a bookselling move that has never once failed me. Its 100% success rate is downright magical, in fact. I’m almost afraid that by speaking of it, I’ll jinx it.

 

Are you ready?

 

Readers love magical talking cats...."

**

 

Space Opera Fiction Isn’t Just Back. It’s Better Than Ever  by Charlie Jane Anders

 

 

 

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

A couple of bookish posts ~

Just Add Magical Talking Cats by Tirzah Price

 

"When it comes to hand selling books, some titles need a little more help than others. A really great book oftentimes just needs a little encouragement from a bookseller in order for a reader to look past a horrible cover or a tired trope. As a bookseller, I consider it my duty and privilege to find the perfect book recommendation and pitch it in such a way that will make the customer grab it out of my hands and say, “Sold.â€

 

This is sometimes easier said than done.

 

I had been a bookseller for about two years when I obliviously stumbled into a bookselling move that has never once failed me. Its 100% success rate is downright magical, in fact. I’m almost afraid that by speaking of it, I’ll jinx it.

 

Are you ready?

 

Readers love magical talking cats...."

**

 

Space Opera Fiction Isn’t Just Back. It’s Better Than Ever by Charlie Jane Anders

 

 

 

Regards,

Kareni

:lol: I do like cats and probably would be a pretty easy sell for a talking cat book.....

 

And oddly enough I am apparently reading a Space Opera for my outer space bingo square. I have been reading a few pages a day for the past week but finally started really reading The Long Way to a Small and Angry Planet https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26042767-the-long-way-to-a-small-angry-planet earlier today. Before I read Kareni's post even. This book has been appearing all over the place for the past month or so, lots of lists. I think Goodreads even recommended it once.

[Chrysalis Academy]

A couple of bookish posts ~

 

Just Add Magical Talking Cats by Tirzah Price

 

"When it comes to hand selling books, some titles need a little more help than others. A really great book oftentimes just needs a little encouragement from a bookseller in order for a reader to look past a horrible cover or a tired trope. As a bookseller, I consider it my duty and privilege to find the perfect book recommendation and pitch it in such a way that will make the customer grab it out of my hands and say, “Sold.â€

 

This is sometimes easier said than done.

 

I had been a bookseller for about two years when I obliviously stumbled into a bookselling move that has never once failed me. Its 100% success rate is downright magical, in fact. I’m almost afraid that by speaking of it, I’ll jinx it.

 

Are you ready?

 

Readers love magical talking cats...."

**

 

Space Opera Fiction Isn’t Just Back. It’s Better Than Ever  by Charlie Jane Anders

 

 

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

 

:lol: I do like cats and probably would be a pretty easy sell for a talking cat book.....

 

And oddly enough I am apparently reading a Space Opera for my outer space bingo square. I have been reading a few pages a day for the past week but finally started really reading The Long Way to a Small and Angry Planet https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26042767-the-long-way-to-a-small-angry-planet earlier today. Before I read Kareni's post even. This book has been appearing all over the place for the past month or so, lots of lists. I think Goodreads even recommended it once.

 

I'm cracking up, because dd's current novel features . . . a talking cat. Who later morphs into a woman, granted, but she's a great cat-character with a very snarky sense of humor. Glad to know these are popular!

 

I also just picked up Long Way to a Small Angry Planet and am looking forward to getting to it, but I am again blessed with an embarrassment of riches in the books department and very little reading time. It's raining, I hope I have time to crank through a couple of books this weekend and get to it. I'm still reading Spaceman of Bohemia, and it's an odd bird of a book, but intriguing enough to keep me reading. Since I know so many of you were eagerly awaiting my review.  ;)

[Lori D.]

 

 

...I've started another book from the same friend, which is rich and subtle in the writing, and I'm just now realizing is the first of a mystery series: The Return of Captain John Emmett (by Elizabeth Speller), first in the Laurence Bartram mystery series. Thoroughly enjoying the writing, the post-WW1 setting, and the slow build up of the world. I'm 9 chapters into the 39-chapter novel, so I'm hoping this one holds up as strongly as it has started.

 

 

Really interested in your review for this!

 

 

Just finished. Really enjoyed it. The ending gets a bit unrealistic with too many attempts at surprises pulled out of the hat that are unbelievable, but... overall, well worth the read. There are very long passages of different characters at different times just narrating their "stories", but I was okay with that. I felt that Speller did a good job of getting into the minds of these soldiers who served in WW1.

 

Lots of "threads" with lots of stories which keep opening outward in a story that starts simply enough when a woman, Mary, asks Laurence, a WW1 vet who went to school with her brother, to come and talk to her about her brother and help her understand why her brother John, a WW1 vet, shot himself. Enough layers and characters with their own stories to keep it interesting without feeling lost. Just about the time I would think "Wait! What does this mean in relation to the initial death!?", Speller was a step ahead of me, and the main character would acknowledge that, with the realization that a true investigation uncovers all kinds of things that may, or may not, be relevant... A great metaphor for the lostness and "it's not so simple" and "you can't go home again" themes of what it was like for men coming back from the war front, and coming back to a changed culture as well as being drastically changed themselves.

 

 

p. 280-281

     As they climbed on to the homeward train, Laurence said, "You know, I'm completely losing sight of what I set out to do."

     "Find out what on earth the fair Mary Emmett's brother was thinking of when he pulled the trigger," replied Charles as they were pulling out of the station in a carriage that smelled strongly of old tobacco. "All pretty straightforward when you started. What a man will do for love."

     Laurence felt tired and irritated. "I hardly knew her when I agreed to look into it," he said. "I just wanted to help her with a horrible event in her life. Tie up loose ends. I didn't know it wasn't going to be so simple. It isn't like your storybook sleuths. Everybody isn't either good or bad, with clues and a tidy solution to be unravelled. Everything here goes round in circles. There isn't going to be the clear answer she wants answered: why did John die? And if there was, it wouldn't be the sort of answer she'd understand. He died because he was born at the wrong time. Or he died because he crossed the wrong person. Bad luck. No more. For God's sake, we still don't even know there WAS a murder or a killer. Or if there was, only of a farmhand, and a policeman, both of whom might have nothing to do with anything..."

 

 

Enjoy! :)

Edited April 8, 2017 by Lori D.

[Stacia]

.

Edited November 2, 2017 by Stacia

[Onceuponatime]

I just finished The Bookshop on the Corner which should have retained its British title of The Little Shop of Happy-Ever-After. It started out at three stars for me as I read of a librarian in a city where libraries were being shut down and consolidated, rather sad and depressing. Then the book soared to four star reading as the shy librarian got up the gumption to head to Scotland to fulfill a life long dream of owning a small book shop. The descriptions of the contrast of country living to life in the city, and her struggles getting started, were inspring and fun. Then the book sank a little in my estimation as it turned its focus to the main character's romances. All in all, it was still enjoyable.

 

I think I'm beginning to see a pattern in what I gives me the most reading enjoyment recently: country life and descriptions of natural landscapes, humorous sketches and personalities, and an element of nostalgia. Yesterday, I grabbed a book off the library's new arrival shelf that looks like it will fill that need, My Italian Bulldozer by Alexander Mccall Smith.

 

Right now I'm rereading The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart.

Edited April 8, 2017 by Onceuponatime

[Jane in NC]

 

I think I'm beginning to see a pattern in what I gives me the most reading enjoyment recently: country life and descriptions of natural landscapes, humorous sketches and personalities, and an element of nostalgia. Yesterday, I grabbed a book off the library's new arrival shelf that looks like it will fill that need, My Italian Bulldozer by Alexander Mccall Smith.

 

Right now I'm rereading The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart.

 

Have you ever read any Miss Read (pen name of Dora Saint)?  She has two series, the Fairacre books about the school mistress Miss Read and the Thrush Green series. They are lovely, comforting books.

 

Ms. Saint's obituary from The Guardian offers some insight:

 

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/apr/12/miss-read

 

[Mothersweets]

Have you ever read any Miss Read (pen name of Dora Saint)?  She has two series, the Fairacre books about the school mistress Miss Read and the Thrush Green series. They are lovely, comforting books.

 

Ms. Saint's obituary from The Guardian offers some insight:

 

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/apr/12/miss-read

 

 

What a lovely obit! I've read the first two or three of the Fairacre books and they're delightful. 

[Onceuponatime]

Have you ever read any Miss Read (pen name of Dora Saint)? She has two series, the Fairacre books about the school mistress Miss Read and the Thrush Green series. They are lovely, comforting books.

 

Ms. Saint's obituary from The Guardian offers some insight:

 

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/apr/12/miss-read

 

I don't think I have. I'll have to look into them. Thanks for the recommendation.

[Kareni]

A one day only currently free classic mystery for Kindle readers ~

 

At the Villa Rose by A. E. W. Mason

 

About the Author

A. E. W. Mason (1865–1948) was a bestselling author of mystery and adventure fiction. He is best remembered for the novel The Four Feathers and for his series of mysteries featuring Inspector Hanaud of the Paris Sûreté.

 

"The debut of Inspector Hanaud, France’s most dazzling deductive mind

Aix-les-Bains is a gorgeous place to spend a vacation, and Harry Wethermill is happy to be on its lake, enjoying his time away from it all. Just when it seems life could not get any better, he meets Celia Harland, the stunning companion to the wealthy Madame Dauvray, and falls for the girl immediately. Harry’s courtship soon takes a dark turn, however, when Madame Dauvray turns up gruesomely murdered, a fortune’s worth of jewels missing from her room, and Celia nowhere to be found.

Fortunately for Harry, he has connections to the brilliant Inspector Hanaud, a detective from the Paris Sûreté. Soon the stout sleuth is on the case, vowing to follow the truth no matter where it leads. Is Celia as innocent as Harry believes? Or does her beautiful face mask the black heart of a killer? Nothing will escape the grasp of Inspector Hanaud, one of the mystery genre’s most distinctive heroes and an inspiration for Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Maus]

11.  "Wonkenstein: The Creature from my Closet" by Obert Skye.  I was given a copy of this by the author's father at a reunion I recently attended.  Turns out I know Obert, but if he's not publishing his real name, I'm not telling either.  The author's father told us that he recognizes himself and his late wife in the character's mother and father.  It was cute, and it was fun watching for the bits he drew from life.  DD12 loved it, and she is not a reader, so that's pretty high praise.

 

10. "Cub Scout Wolf Handbook".  Because after eight years of being the Bear leader, after a brief six month period of no cub scouts, I'm going back in, but as a Wolf leader.

 

9. "A Little Princess" by Frances Hodgson Burnett.  Happened across an online version, remembered loving it as a child, so I reread it.  Hope at least one of my kids ends up liking some of my old favorites.  So far, they have very different tastes.

 

8. "A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy" by Sue Klebold

7. "Columbine" by Dave Cullen.

6. "Changed through His Grace" by Brad Wilcox (LDS)>

5. "The Reason I Jump" by Naoki Higashida.

4. "No Doubt About It" by Sheri Dew.

3. "Amazed by Grace" by Sheri Dew.

2. "The Gifts of Imperfection" by Brene Brown.

1. "Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake" by Frank W. Abagnale.

[Butter]

I finished The Fever Code by James Dashner.  I started it in January because my daughter begged me to read it and then I kind of forgot about it.  I was only about 1/10 of the way through it when I went back to it the other day.  It actually ended up being the best of the entire Maze Runner series.  The epilogue is a bit shocking, but I can't say I am surprised because there was always something off to me about a certain character that I just couldn't put my finger on.  Lots of questions about the entire series are answered in this book.

[Robin M]

Link to week 15 - please continue conversation in new thread