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Book a Week 2017 - BW17: Book news and notes


Robin M
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I've been kind of casting about as to what to read next.

 

While I was figuring that out, I finished Exiles of Erin.  Worst bingo square ever.  It's a good thing I can read phonetic dialects without a lot of difficulty, but there was so.much.brogue.  Fortunately I've enjoyed all the other books I've done for bingo. :)  Speaking of which, my bingo card is almost full.  I've only got three squares left and they're all on hold with the library.  I know some of you have bigger bingo cards - do they use BaW bingo as a core and just extend, or are they totally separate?  I've been enjoying using that (and the A-Z challenges) to help pick out books, but apparently I've been reading too fast. :tongue_smilie:

 

Anyway, even though I said I'd do Grand Hotel for my next German book, I checked my order on Amazon and it's saying it won't be here till May 17th, so I picked up the next Erlendur (Todeshauch, I think it's Silence of the Grave in English?)  I also took Hidden Figures off hold on Overdrive and downloaded a short collection of short stories (Happiness Like Water by Chinelo Okparanta) to tide me over till it came in.  Of course, then it came in this morning.  I have three days to download it before it comes off my hold, though, so I think I'll try to get through most of the short stories first.  We also picked out the next two books for my SciFi book club, so also coming up are Station Eleven (which will also give me my Prime Number bingo square :) ) and Mockingbird by Walter Tevis.  I'm still getting through and enjoying Secondhand Time on Overdrive, and I've got a bunch of hopefully interesting audio books in my Overdrive queue for after that.  I'm glad someone taught me how to manipulate holds by suspending them - that will come in so helpful!

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A one day only currently free memoir for Kindle readers ~

 

Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant: Volumes One and Two by Ulysses S. Grant

 

"The celebrated remembrances of the man who led the Union to victory during the Civil War


Completed just days before his death, Grant’s Personal Memoirs is a clear and compelling account of his military career, focusing on two great conflicts: the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. Lauded for its crisp and direct prose, Grant’s autobiography offers frank insight into everything from the merits of the war with Mexico to the strategies and tactics employed by Union forces against the Confederacy to the poignancy of Grant’s meeting with General Lee at Appomattox Court House.

Beloved and bestselling since its publication in 1885, Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant is a seminal work of military history and one of the great achievements of American autobiography."
 
Regards,
Kareni
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Hello! I hope you are all doing well. Here are my reading notes:

 

â–  Monster (Walter Dean Myers; 1999. Fiction.)
Before his incarceration, sixteen-year-old Steven Harmon was a high school student who particularly enjoyed his film course. In prison, to recover his sense of self, he keeps a diary in the form of a movie script. While watching They Call Us Monsters, I wondered how familiar Ben Lear was with this contemporary young adult classic.

 

â–  Birds Life Art (Kyo Maclear; 2017. Non-fiction.)
This lovely and meditative volume yielded the following commonplace book entries:

 

p. 26
My husband is far too loyal and drowsy to doubt me. If I embark on a fantastically ill-conceived journey, I know he will be the guy throwing paper streamers in the air and hooting, “Farewell! Farewell!â€

 

This is what we do. We cheer each other on in our misadventures.

 

p. 48
Smallness did not dismay me. Big nature travel — with its extreme odysseys and summit-fixated explorers — just seemed so, well, grandiose. The drive to go bigger and farther just one more instance of the overreaching at the heart of Western culture.

 

I like smallness. I like the perverse audacity of someone aiming tiny.

 

p. 86
I was a bookish child and grew to be a bookish adult. Books gave me pleasure, but they also gave me permission to isolate myself, to turn away from the world when it bothered or frightened me. Books allowed me to hide from demands, from the day, from family and the immediate world. They provided solace and amusement in the deep night and served as surrogates for friendship when I was far away from home.

 

â–  Lincoln in the Bardo (George Saunders; 2017. Fiction.)
Whether or not you ordinarily like audiobooks, you must hear Saunders’ first novel to appreciate how original and remarkable it is. My husband and I listened during trips to and from the University and in and out of Chicago, and we are still talking about this beautiful book. (Related article here.) Neither of us were surprised to learn that it will be a film; nor were we really surprised by this bit of synchronicity.

 

â–  The Art of Practicing (Madeline Bruser; 1999. Non-fiction.)
Much of the advice seemed, well, obvious. Stretch. Be mindful. Work but not painfully. Focus. Do what you love. And so on.

 

Other notes…
■ After a few fits and starts, I am poised to finish Sherry Turkle’s Reclaiming Conversation this week. A thought-provoking exploration of what has been lost since people have turned away from each other to connect via phone, this book suffered the fate many of mine do: It was tossed aside, unfinished, when I, a promiscuous reader if e’er there were one, picked up another. And another. And another. And so on. (It’s embarrassing how grateful the books seem when I return to them. Have they no respect for themselves? Chuckle.) Here are two short commonplace book entries:

 

p. 54

The desire for the edited life crosses generations, but the young consider it their birthright.

 

p. 147
They decide there should be a rule: A good friend should keep you off your phone when you are together.

 

â–  My husband and I have been rereading Moby Dick; or, The Whale. It began as a desperate bid to sleep through the night but has evolved into a project that provides discussion fodder and new in-jokes. (“Queequeg, my fine friend, does this sort of thing often happen?â€) We long ago fell into the habit of leaving a muted radio set to WGN or WBEZ playing as we slumbered. Late last year, though, when frequent awakenings began to affect the quality of our rest, we realized — after changing pillows, thermostats, sheets, and alarms — that the newscasts punctuating our favorite features (and later, the topics to which our favorite features had inevitably turned) were the disturbance. What to do? Ah, an audiobook! Each night, we pick up where we left off, in an endless loop — which is really much more delightful than it sounds. We were already fans of Moby Dick, but William Hootkins’ narration makes us wonder why it is not even more widely read. I am revisiting the text itself, too, (re)marking favorite passages and making new notes. From the opening of Chapter XLIX: The Hyena:

 

There are certain queer times and occasions in this strange mixed affair we call life when a man takes this whole universe for a vast practical joke, though the wit thereof he but dimly discerns, and more than suspects that the joke is at nobody’s expense but his own. However, nothing dispirits, and nothing seems worth while disputing. He bolts down all events, all creeds, and beliefs, and persuasions, all hard things visible and invisible, never mind how knobby; as an ostrich of potent digestion gobbles down bullets and gun flints. And as for small difficulties and worryings, prospects of sudden disaster, peril of life and limb; all these, and death itself, seem to him only sly, good-natured hits, and jolly punches in the side bestowed by the unseen and unaccountable old joker. That odd sort of wayward mood I am speaking of, comes over a man only in some time of extreme tribulation; it comes in the very midst of his earnestness, so that what just before might have seemed to him a thing most momentous, now seems but a part of the general joke.

 

■ My “Shakespeare in a Year†project is going well, although I somehow fell a bit behind with the sonnets. As National Poetry Month draws to a close, though, I will finish Sonnets 49 through 54. May brings The Merchant of Venice and Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2, Sonnets 55 through 66 and The Rape of Lucrece. (I wonder if Jacobson’s Shylock Is My Name, a book I wantonly set aside last summer, will show me the same embarrassing gratitude Turkle’s Reclaiming Conversation has when I return to it next month to complement my reread of Merchant?)

 

■ Speaking of National Poetry Month, I will close with the conclusion to one of my favorite poems, Tom Hennen’s “The Life of a Day“:

 

[…] For some reason
we like to see days pass, even though most of us
claim we don’t want to reach our last one for a
long time. We examine each day before us with
barely a glance and say, no, this isn’t one I’ve been
looking for, and wait in a bored sort of way for
the next, when, we are convinced, our lives will
start for real. Meanwhile, this day is going by per-
fectly well-adjusted, as some days are, with the
right amounts of sunlight and shade, and a light
breeze scented with a perfume made from the
mixture of fallen apples, corn stubble, dry oak
leaves, and the faint odor of last night’s meander-
ing skunk.

Edited by M--
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Also currently free to Kindle readers ~

 

"When Allison is asked to play Cinderella-turned-Fianceé at a Halloween ball, the last thing she expected was to be accused of murder. She has to find the killer or she'll be put to death for the crimes she didn't commit. To make matters worse, the victims are all werewolves.

On the short list of potential victims, Allison has to act fast, or the killer will have one more body to add to his little black book of corpses.

There's only one problem: One of the deaths has struck too close to home, and Allison's desire for self-preservation may transform into a quest for vengeance..."

**

 

 

"How Much is One Life Worth?

 

In the sci-fi/cyberpunk detective series, author Austin Dragon shows why you never want to meet a cyborg in a dark alley. Liquid Cool is a cross between Blade Runner and the Maltese Falcon. There is plenty of gritty action, suspense, thrills, and even a few laughs.


It’s cyberpunk reimagined—an ever-rainy world of colossal skyscrapers, hovercars, flashy neon streets, and futuristic mechanization. Metropolis isn’t a bad place, but it isn’t a good one either. Uber-governments and megacorporations fight for control of the fifty-million-plus super-city, but so does crime.


We meet Cruz, our private eye (and unlikely hero), in this super-city with a million victims and perpetrators. Watch out for tech-tricksters, analog hustlers, and digital gangsters—psychos, samurais, and cyborgs aplenty. Visitors have a way of becoming permanent attractions.


Welcome to the high-tech, low-life world of Liquid Cool."

**

 

The Lion Trees  by Owen Thomas
 

[A] cerebral page turner...a powerful and promising debut.--Kirkus Reviews "What if survival required you to unlearn who you are? How far would you fall to save yourself? Sometimes happiness is along way down.

 

The Johns family is unraveling. Hollis, a retired Ohio banker, isolates himself in esoteric hobbies and a dangerous flirtation with a colleague's daughter. Susan, his wife of forty years, risks everything for a second chance at who she might have been. David, their eldest, thrashes to stay afloat as his teaching career capsizes in a storm of accusations over a missing student and the legacy of Christopher Columbus. While Tilly, the black sheep, trades her literary promise for an improbable career as a starlet, and then struggles to define herself amidst a humiliating scandal and the judgment of an uncompromising writer."

**

 

Waiting For Prince Harry(A Dallas Demons Hockey Romance)…  by Aven Ellis
 
"Twenty-four-year-old Kylie Reed has always been a rule follower. Organized and cautious to a fault, her dreams for life are often filed away for future use—when she has a house, when she meets her future husband, when she has been at her visual display job at a chic Dallas boutique longer. Kylie always has a reason for living her life in the future, not in the present, and fears not living her life to the fullest and reaching her dream of becoming a fashion designer.

The only exception to rules, of course, would be running away with Prince Harry. But living in Dallas and not knowing Prince Harry make this a non-option.

Or does it?

Because when Kylie accidentally falls into the lap of a gorgeous ginger guy—yes, even more gorgeous than the real Prince Harry—all bets are off. Kylie’s life takes some unexpected twists and turns thanks to this encounter. Could this stranger be the one to show Kylie how to live in the present?"
**
 
 
"The last thing Nix, a Sea Nymph, wants to see behind the Dumpster near her tattoo shop is another dead mortal. She also doesn’t want to hear Hades piss and moan about how the souls of the dead aren’t making it to the Underworld. And Nix certainly doesn’t want to be attracted to supernatural police agent, Calder Quinne when he comes to investigate. All Nix really wants is to run her tattoo shop in peace and quiet. Hey, we don’t always get what we want, now do we?"
**
 
The Book of Household Management by Mrs. Isabella Mary Beeton
 
a classic
**
 
Regards,

Kareni

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Stacia and Jane, thank you for the book rec!

 

Jenn, my son strongly identified with Bartimous, too. I was afraid to read the books for fear I wouldn't like his role model and would interfere somehow. It seemed like an invasion of his privacy. He is old enough now that it wouldn't matter now, but I am still not sure I want to know. : )

 

Nan

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I CAN PAINT!! And write and type. I just can't push, pull, or lift anything heavier than a coffee cup.. And I can't eat because I had a molar out. But the painting part is good. : )

  :hurray:  and  :grouphug:

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Adding to my virtual stacks today.   Check out Simon and Schuster's after dark deals -   I couldn't resist The Sleeping Dictionary by Sujata Massey.  Love the title and the story line is intriguing.  Rabbit trails led me to  Where One Goes by B N Toler as well as Stacia Kane's Wrong Ways Down in her Downside Ghosts series and #2 in the Lilith Saintcrow's Watcher series - Storm Watcher.   Got that W theme going again telling a mini story.   :lol:

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If you haven't already purchased it, I can lend you that title, Robin. I can also lend the author's Desperately Seeking Epic.

 

Regards,

Kareni

Thanks doll. I keep forgetting about the loan thing with Kindle.  I already got it since it was only $2.99.  I may take you up on Epic at a later time. Looks like one I'd have to read with a whole box of kleenex.    

Edited by Robin M
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If so many of you knew and read the Bartimaeus series, why did no one tell me about it? :toetap05:

My dc's liked then too. :lol: In my case I never think of them because my kid's fended for themselves and found them totally on their own. Checked them out without a ripple. :)

 

Nan, Great News!

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Thanks doll. I keep forgetting about the loan thing with Kindle.  I already got it since it was only $2.99.  I may take you up on Epic at a later time. Looks like one I'd have to read with a whole box of kleenex.    

 

Yep, tissues will definitely be in order!

 

If so many of you knew and read the Bartimaeus series, why did no one tell me about it?  :toetap05:

 

We're just mean that way.  (And we have LOTS of other secrets, too!)

 

 

Yay for you, Nan.  I'm glad you have more freedom now.

 

ETA: Those of you who enjoy Roman history might enjoy the book reviewed here:

 

REVIEW: The Confessions of Young Nero by Margaret George

 

Regards,

Kareni

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I just finished a happy re-read of Anne Bishop's Written In Red: A Novel of the Others  which I last read a few years ago.  I suspect I'll now be re-reading more of the series.

 

"As a cassandra sangue, or blood prophet, Meg Corbyn can see the future when her skin is cut—a gift that feels more like a curse. Meg’s Controller keeps her enslaved so he can have full access to her visions. But when she escapes, the only safe place Meg can hide is at the Lakeside Courtyard—a business district operated by the Others.

Shape-shifter Simon Wolfgard is reluctant to hire the stranger who inquires about the Human Liaison job. First, he senses she’s keeping a secret, and second, she doesn’t smell like human prey. Yet a stronger instinct propels him to give Meg the job. And when he learns the truth about Meg and that she’s wanted by the government, he’ll have to decide if she’s worth the fight between humans and the Others that will surely follow."

 

Regards,

Kareni

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Nan, great news for you! The painting part not the missing molar. Oh, and the ability to lift a cup of coffee. Really, what more could one need? ;)

A boat. We have had a banged up wide too-heavy dinghy upside down in the yard for over 20 years, ever since oldest was 7 and had it to get to the summer program across the lake. Oldest lent me his little electric fishing motor and voila! A boat I can handle. The dog and I can go for rides, which is awfully nice. I haven't driven since Thanksgiving.

 

Nan

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I abandoned Alexander Hamilton. It is well written history but I couldn't see myself interested enough to finish the last 500 pages. Blink of the Screen is finished. It is lovely lighthearted Pratchetty fun, interspersed with pithy insights like: “You fight a war to change the world, and it changes into a world with no place in it for you, the fighter. Those who fight for the bright future are not always, by nature, well fitted to live in it.â€

 

I picked up The Elephant's Journey and gave up on page three. The commas, oh the commas. Multiple, lengthy, run on sentences, replete with commas, And capital letters, while changing voices, mid-sentence, was enough to drive me batty.

 

I am now reading The Bear and the Nightingale.

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I abandoned Alexander Hamilton. It is well written history but I couldn't see myself interested enough to finish the last 500 pages. Blink of the Screen is finished. It is lovely lighthearted Pratchetty fun, interspersed with pithy insights like: “You fight a war to change the world, and it changes into a world with no place in it for you, the fighter. Those who fight for the bright future are not always, by nature, well fitted to live in it.â€

 

I picked up The Elephant's Journey and gave up on page three. The commas, oh the commas. Multiple, lengthy, run on sentences, replete with commas, And capital letters, while changing voices, mid-sentence, was enough to drive me batty.

 

I am now reading The Bear and the Nightingale.

I never would have read the Elephant's Journey if I had I hadn't needed the E. Cannot imagine it on paper. I kept getting lost in pages without breaks on the kindle but think in a paper book having two pages that I had to look at to figure out where I stopped would have been incredibly frustrating.

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Anyone want to help me load up my kindle for my upcoming trip to the Netherlands? We will soon be on our way to The Hague/Amsterdam/Leiden and surrounding areas.

 

Right now, I am thinking The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt and The Black Tulip by Dumas. I've already read Girl with the Pearl Earring. I am interested in Head in Flames, but I will save that until after the trip.

 

ETA: Wait, does most of The Goldfinch take place in New York? If so, I also will save that one for another time.

Edited by Penguin
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Nan, great news for you! The painting part not the missing molar. Oh, and the ability to lift a cup of coffee. Really, what more could one need? ;)

A boat. We have had a banged up wide too-heavy dinghy upside down in the yard for over 20 years, ever since oldest was 7 and had it to get to the summer program across the lake. Oldest lent me his little electric fishing motor and voila! A boat I can handle. The dog and I can go for rides, which is awfully nice. I haven't driven since Thanksgiving.

 

Nan

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 Blink of the Screen is finished. It is lovely lighthearted Pratchetty fun, interspersed with pithy insights like: “You fight a war to change the world, and it changes into a world with no place in it for you, the fighter. Those who fight for the bright future are not always, by nature, well fitted to live in it.â€

 

Listening to the oral histories of a bunch of Soviets and their experiences during and after the 2nd world war and looking back from the present post-communist era (Secondhand Time), I think Pratchett may be on to something with that quote.  They talk about how they were always preparing for war, even decades after the war proper was finished.  They did not know how to live in a society that was not preparing for war (and roundly disparage the current generation - so many "we were a GREAT country")

 

I picked up The Elephant's Journey and gave up on page three. The commas, oh the commas. Multiple, lengthy, run on sentences, replete with commas, And capital letters, while changing voices, mid-sentence, was enough to drive me batty.

 

 

LOL, I was just going to say that I've just finished a book that was punctuated just like that - Blindness by José Saramago.  Then I looked up who wrote The Elephant's Journey. :lol:  Apparently he really has a thing against paragraphing and quotation marks!

 

 

I am now reading The Bear and the Nightingale.

 

 

 

:wub:

Edited by Matryoshka
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I CAN PAINT!! And write and type. I just can't push, pull, or lift anything heavier than a coffee cup.. And I can't eat because I had a molar out. But the painting part is good. : )

 

:hurray:  Yay for progress and being able to paint! And write. And type. 

 

We're heading to the doctor's office shortly for dh to get his stitches out. His physical therapist said he's coming along nicely. I'll have to update him on your progress.

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I never would have read the Elephant's Journey if I had I hadn't needed the E. Cannot imagine it on paper. I kept getting lost in pages without breaks on the kindle but think in a paper book having two pages that I had to look at to figure out where I stopped would have been incredibly frustrating.

 

I found Saramago's style to be weird, but I was able to parse it and keep track of who was talking if I just kept on reading.  BUT I'm not sure it added anything, though.  Why not use paragraphs and quotation marks?  I smacks a bit of "I'm so clever!  Look at my style."  <- Look, I used quotation marks. :D  Take that, José.

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.

 

ETA: Wait, does most of The Goldfinch take place in New York? If so, I also will save that one for another time.

 

 

Yes. It's New York - Las Vegas - New York, and he's just in Amsterdam briefly (well, briefly for that book - it's still a chunk of chapters)  near the end. I definitely wouldn't consider it "set" in Amsterdam.

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Yes. It's New York - Las Vegas - New York, and he's just in Amsterdam briefly (well, briefly for that book - it's still a chunk of chapters)  near the end. I definitely wouldn't consider it "set" in Amsterdam.

Thanks, CA. OK, I think I will swap that for The Miniaturist.

Edited by Penguin
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A one day only currently free mystery for Kindle readers ~

 

The Leavenworth Case by Anna Katharine Green

 

"This classic mystery by one of the first female authors of detective novels has influenced the writing of Agatha Christie and thrilled generations of avid readers

Everett Raymond is a junior partner in the firm of Veeley, Carr & Raymond, attorneys and counselors at law. When Mr. Horatio Leavenworth, a very old and wealthy client, is found murdered, Everett finds himself entangled in the case. Leavenworth has been inexplicably shot while sitting at his own library table at night, all the doors in the house locked and untampered with. Suicide is quickly ruled out. Was the killer someone inside the house? Suspects abound: Thomas, the butler; Harwell, the private secretary and amanuensis to Mr. Leavenworth; and Mary and Eleanore Leavenworth, the two lady nieces, one of whom has been left out of her uncle’s will. Everett dives in as right-hand man to the inscrutable police detective Ebenezer Gryce, a brilliant investigator on the New York Metropolitan Police Force.
 
From a vanished servant to a secret marriage, from a shadowy mustached man to a forged confession, this swiftly plotted Victorian-era mystery, full of twists and turns and devastating cliffhangers, will keep you guessing until the very last page. Influential in the development of the modern suspense novel and a huge bestseller when it was first published, The Leavenworth Case is a groundbreaking tale not to be missed."

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

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A one day only currently free mystery for Kindle readers ~

 

The Leavenworth Case by Anna Katharine Green

 

"This classic mystery by one of the first female authors of detective novels has influenced the writing of Agatha Christie and thrilled generations of avid readers

 

Everett Raymond is a junior partner in the firm of Veeley, Carr & Raymond, attorneys and counselors at law. When Mr. Horatio Leavenworth, a very old and wealthy client, is found murdered, Everett finds himself entangled in the case. Leavenworth has been inexplicably shot while sitting at his own library table at night, all the doors in the house locked and untampered with. Suicide is quickly ruled out. Was the killer someone inside the house? Suspects abound: Thomas, the butler; Harwell, the private secretary and amanuensis to Mr. Leavenworth; and Mary and Eleanore Leavenworth, the two lady nieces, one of whom has been left out of her uncle’s will. Everett dives in as right-hand man to the inscrutable police detective Ebenezer Gryce, a brilliant investigator on the New York Metropolitan Police Force.

 

From a vanished servant to a secret marriage, from a shadowy mustached man to a forged confession, this swiftly plotted Victorian-era mystery, full of twists and turns and devastating cliffhangers, will keep you guessing until the very last page. Influential in the development of the modern suspense novel and a huge bestseller when it was first published, The Leavenworth Case is a groundbreaking tale not to be missed."

 

Regards,

Kareni

Anne Katherine Green's mysteries seem to be quite good and as a bonus I would say more gentle than Christie in terms of preteen readers but it's been awhile. ;) When dd was that age many were free on the kindle and she read several including this one but I don't think I read it. Inspector Gryce was a favourite of hers.

 

I finished the latest book in the China Bayles series by Susan Wittig Albert. The Last Chance Olive Ranch was enjoyable and I learned quite a bit about Olive trees and oil. I also read about huge groups of huge feral pigs in Texas..... tell me that isn't true!

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:hurray: Yay for progress and being able to paint! And write. And type.

 

We're heading to the doctor's office shortly for dh to get his stitches out. His physical therapist said he's coming along nicely. I'll have to update him on your progress.

: ) Tell him that I am starting on strengthening now, with teeny tiny weights. And that about 2 weeks ago, suddenly life got easier. I think it had to do with being more stretched out and being able to move that arm more normally, even if I wasn't allowed to do anything with it. Last week I began sleeping on my side again, which was pure heaven. Best of luck to him!

 

Nan

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Anyone want to help me load up my kindle for my upcoming trip to the Netherlands? We will soon be on our way to The Hague/Amsterdam/Leiden and surrounding areas.

 

Right now, I am thinking The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt and The Black Tulip by Dumas. I've already read Girl with the Pearl Earring. I am interested in Head in Flames, but I will save that until after the trip.

 

ETA: Wait, does most of The Goldfinch take place in New York? If so, I also will save that one for another time.

Couperus will normally be set in Indonesia or the Hague.

Eline Vere is a the Hague book,

As is from old people and things that pass.

 

I will think further about it.

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Hey Loesje,

 

I see on Goodreads you've put Born a Crime on your to-read list.  Such a fantastic book - you'll love it!  But speaking of translation choices, I see they've translated the title in Dutch to "Colorblind" - what an awful choice!  Totally contrary to what' the book is about.  Apartheid was, well, NOT Colorblind.  And TN has a few rants within the book about how even if you think you're colorblind, at some point it's just not possible, because society forces you not to be (especially the one he's writing about).  

 

What a bizarre choice to pick for the title of this book...  (Sorry, total tangential observation, but you know how this stuff fascinates me... ;) )  Actually, one of the many things I loved about the book was his talking about multilingualism - the man can speak a ton of languages!

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Hey Loesje,

 

I see on Goodreads you've put Born a Crime on your to-read list. Such a fantastic book - you'll love it! But speaking of translation choices, I see they've translated the title in Dutch to "Colorblind" - what an awful choice! Totally contrary to what' the book is about. Apartheid was, well, NOT Colorblind. And TN has a few rants within the book about how even if you think you're colorblind, at some point it's just not possible, because society forces you not to be (especially the one he's writing about).

 

What a bizarre choice to pick for the title of this book... (Sorry, total tangential observation, but you know how this stuff fascinates me... ;) ) Actually, one of the many things I loved about the book was his talking about multilingualism - the man can speak a ton of languages!

 

Dutch books often rename a book instead of translating the title.

It is weird though.

The book is not available in my own library, so I'll have to get it through IBL.

Glad you recommend it!

I saw it in the memorable book thread :)

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Couperus will normally be set in Indonesia or the Hague.

Eline Vere is a the Hague book,

As is from old people and things that pass.

 

I will think further about it.

https://www.amazon.com/Assault-Harry-Mulisch-ebook/dp/B005FH04AY/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1493401646&sr=1-2&keywords=mulisch

 

Couperus & Mulish are considered ' Literature' here.

 

Much lighter is:

https://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Blue-Simone-van-Vlugt-ebook/dp/B01M2YEQFQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1493401756&sr=1-1&keywords=simone+van+der+vlugt

She is comparable with Tracy Chevalier I suppose.

I can't find translations easily,

It seems they translate her historical fiction less.

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Anyone want to help me load up my kindle for my upcoming trip to the Netherlands? We will soon be on our way to The Hague/Amsterdam/Leiden and surrounding areas.

 

Right now, I am thinking The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt and The Black Tulip by Dumas. I've already read Girl with the Pearl Earring. I am interested in Head in Flames, but I will save that until after the trip.

 

ETA: Wait, does most of The Goldfinch take place in New York? If so, I also will save that one for another time.

 

What about Janwillem van de Wetering's wonderful Grijpstra and de Geir mysteries?  Set in and around Amsterdam, these books feature a little jazz, a little Zen Buddism, and of course an interesting mystery.  Why am I not rereading these books?

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Dutch books often rename a book instead of translating the title.

It is weird though.

The book is not available in my own library, so I'll have to get it through IBL.

Glad you recommend it!

I saw it in the memorable book thread :)

I think it's one of my favorite books this year!

 

I think they do the renaming rather than translating titles in English as lot too. Certainly the Erlendur mystery titles in English bear no relation to the originals. The German titles seem much more like an attempt at translation; I'm not sure if Germans are less likely to take liberties with titles or its just true for this series. ..

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Hey Loesje,

 

I see on Goodreads you've put Born a Crime on your to-read list.  Such a fantastic book - you'll love it!  But speaking of translation choices, I see they've translated the title in Dutch to "Colorblind" - what an awful choice!  Totally contrary to what' the book is about.  Apartheid was, well, NOT Colorblind.  And TN has a few rants within the book about how even if you think you're colorblind, at some point it's just not possible, because society forces you not to be (especially the one he's writing about).  

 

What a bizarre choice to pick for the title of this book...  (Sorry, total tangential observation, but you know how this stuff fascinates me... ;) )  Actually, one of the many things I loved about the book was his talking about multilingualism - the man can speak a ton of languages!

 

That's such an interesting observation about the title in Dutch - thanks for sharing. I took the advice of some who posted here and waited for the Audio version of the book and am listening to it now. I'm so glad I'm listening rather than reading! Not only does he speak a lot of languages, but he does all the different South African accents. It really adds to the book to hear him speaking the words of different people in their own accent/language. It's the same feeling I have with Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie - I get so much more from her books when I listen rather than read, because the different accents/dialects of English spoken by the different characters are actually critical to understanding the cultures being described, and their interactions.

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https://www.amazon.com/Assault-Harry-Mulisch-ebook/dp/B005FH04AY/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1493401646&sr=1-2&keywords=mulisch

 

Couperus & Mulish are considered ' Literature' here.

 

Much lighter is:

https://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Blue-Simone-van-Vlugt-ebook/dp/B01M2YEQFQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1493401756&sr=1-1&keywords=simone+van+der+vlugt

She is comparable with Tracy Chevalier I suppose.

I can't find translations easily,

It seems they translate her historical fiction less.

loesje, any comment on Cees Nooteboom? I read In the Dutch Mountains (In Nederland) and liked it quite much. Too bad that Rituals (Ritualen) is not available on kindle, or I would pick that. 

 

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I see that author Robert Pirsig has died.  Who else read Zen And The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance in college or elsewhere?

'Zen And The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' Author Robert M. Pirsig Dies At 88

 

"Robert M. Pirsig, who inspired generations to road trip across America with his "novelistic autobigraphy," Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, died Monday at the age of 88.

 

His publisher William Morrow & Company said in a statement that Pirsig died at his home in South Berwick, Maine, "after a period of failing health."

 

Pirsig wrote just two books: Zen (subtitled "An Inquiry Into Values") and Lila: An Inquiry into Morals.

 

Zen was published in 1974, after being rejected by 121 publishing houses. "The book is brilliant beyond belief," wrote Morrow editor James Landis before publication. "It is probably a work of genius and will, I'll wager, attain classic status."..."

 

Regards,

Kareni

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:seeya: Oh yeah, I read it. Influenced to do so by a boyfriend, in college. Said boyfriend thought it was the most brilliant book he ever read.  Come to think of it, I dated several guys for whom that book was the bible! Not sure if that says something about me, or about the time - early 90s.  A lot of these guys probably first heard about the book from their dads, who were part of Pirsig's generation.

Edited by Chrysalis Academy
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Has anyone come across any picture books they've just loved lately? I feel like DS and I are reading the same ones over and over again. 

 

 

Kareni - I think a few weeks ago you posted the link to all the cool cookbooks? I'm really excited! The Nordic one arrived today at the library and I"m going to bed with it right now. I'll post a good recipe from it tomorrow. 

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Kareni - I think a few weeks ago you posted the link to all the cool cookbooks? I'm really excited! The Nordic one arrived today at the library and I"m going to bed with it right now. I'll post a good recipe from it tomorrow. 

 

I'll look forward to seeing the recipe!

**

 

I've posted this favorite historical romance novella before, but it's currently free again ~ 

 

The Governess Affair (The Brothers Sinister)  by Courtney Milan 

 

"The start of a critically acclaimed historical romance series by New York Times bestselling author Courtney Milan...

 

Hugo Marshall earned the nickname "the Wolf of Clermont" for his ruthless ambition--a characteristic that has served him well, elevating the coal miner's son to the right hand man of a duke. When he's ordered to get rid of a pestering governess by fair means or foul, it's just another day at work.

 

But after everything Miss Serena Barton has been through at the hands of his employer, she is determined to make him pay. She won't let anyone stop her--not even the man that all of London fears. They might call Hugo Marshall the Wolf of Clermont, but even wolves can be brought to heel..."

 

Regards,

Kareni

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Has anyone come across any picture books they've just loved lately? I feel like DS and I are reading the same ones over and over again.

 

 

Kareni - I think a few weeks ago you posted the link to all the cool cookbooks? I'm really excited! The Nordic one arrived today at the library and I"m going to bed with it right now. I'll post a good recipe from it tomorrow.

Looking forward to recipes......

 

 

These aren't new but Commotion in the Ocean and Rumble in the Jungle, a couple of favourites from the dc's reappeared in term of being the free book in the borough's library bag that every little person is given if they visit their local library and get a card.

 

For new to you.....maybe Winnie the Witch? https://www.waterstones.com/product/winnie-the-witch/valerie-thomas/korky-paul/9780192793072. We loved these! I was able to buy them at Borders many years ago.........

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I finished Death in Yellowstone by Lee H. Whittlesey last night.  It was okay.  He jumped around time back and forth.  One paragraph would be about a death in the 1800s, the next in the 2000s, then back to the very early 1900s.  He somehow made stories about murders not even remotely exciting (except one so I know he could make them interesting).  The takeaway is follow the rules and you probably won't die at Yellowstone.

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A one day only currently free piece of nature writing for Kindle readers ~

 

 

The Land of Little Rain by Mary Austin

 

"A stirring tribute to the unique beauty of theAmerican Southwest
 
In the region stretching from the High Sierras south of Yosemite to the Mojave Desert, water is scarce and empty riverbeds hint at a lush landscape that has long since vanished. But the desert is far from lifeless. For those who know where to look, the “land of little rain†is awash in wonders.
 
In this exquisite meditation on the people, flora, and fauna of the American desert, Mary Austin introduces readers to the secret treasures of the landscape she loved above all others. Her lyrical essays profoundly influenced the work of nature writers and conservationists, among them Edward Abbey and Terry Tempest Williams, and have inspired generations of readers to visit some of the country’s most stunning national parks, including Death Valley and Joshua Tree."

 

Regards,

Kareni

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