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Book a Week 2017 - BW21: Happy Birthday Ralph Waldo Emerson


Robin M
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Happy Sunday and welcome to  week 21  in our 2017 adventurous prime reading year. Greetings to all our readers and those following our progress. Mister Linky is available weekly on 52 Books in 52 Weeks  to share a link to your book reviews.

 

This week is the anniversary of Ralph Waldo Emerson's birthday so thought I'd leave you with one of his poems.  His complete works including essays and poems are available online at RWE.ORG.
 

 



The House

 

There is no architect

Can build as the muse can

She is skilful to select

Materials for her plan;

 

Slow and warily to choose

Rafters of immortal pine,

Or cedar incorruptible,

Worthy her design.

 

She threads dark Alpine forests,

Or valleys by the sea,

In many lands, with painful steps,

Ere she can find a tree.

 

She ransacks mines and ledges,

And quarries every rock,

To hew the famous adamant,

For each eternal block.

 

She lays her beams in music,

In music every one,

To the cadence of the whirling world

Which dances round the sun.

 

That so they shall not be displaced

By lapses or by wars,

But for the love of happy souls

Outlive the newest stars.

 

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

 

The Story of Western Science – Chapter 16

 

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

 

What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

Link to week 20

 

 

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What are you reading this week?

 

I'm reading Perceive by Andrea Pearson currently.  That's the third Mosaic Chronicles book.  I'll probably get through several of that series this week.

 

I'm also pre-reading Lost to the West for Cameron for school next year and if I finish that I'll work on pre-reading The Railway Children for Adrian.

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I finished Dean Koontz's From the Corner of His Eye which was a thriller with a mixture of magic and quantum mechanics thrown in.  The climax was a bit anti climatic but a good story non the less.  Not sure what reading next.  

 

 

Please hold Rose (Chrysalis Academy) and her family in your thoughts and prayers this week.

Well, my friends, I may be offline for a week or two. My father is in the hospital, my mother can't function independently, so I am going down to try and sort things out. It's a long drive, which I'll start tomorrow at the crack of dawn, so I'll probably get a few audio books listened to. I hope you all have a lovely week.

 

 

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Happy Sunday to all with a special shout out to my fellow Maugham readalong participants!

 

Our assignment for the past week was to read Parts Three and Four of The Razor's Edge.  Let's finish the book (Parts Five through Seven) this week.

 

I'm curious to hear your thoughts on the characters and the actions.  My initial comment will concern a minor aspect of the story but an opportunity to provide some historical context.

 

Fortunes are escalating in the wild market ride of the '20's.  Maugham writes about Gray Maturin and his father Henry:

 

 

Henry could deny nothing to the son whom he adored and one Christmas gave him a plantation in South Carolina so that he could get a fortnight's duck-shooting in the season.

 

Later, after all is lost, Elliot notes that Isabel and Gary still own their property in the boonies of SC, land no one would have purchased after the crash. But he can not envision them there, hence offers them his apartment in Paris.

 

Hyperbole to say that one of the financial barons of the '20's would buy an old plantation for duck hunting?  Not at all.

 

The Gullah/Geechee corridor stretches across the coastal plain and barrier islands of northern Florida to southern North Carolina along the coast.  (Map.) In colonial days, this coastal land was engineered into rice paddies farmed by enslaved people from West Africa where rice was a basic crop. Indigo and benne (sesame) were also staples in the Gullah corridor.

 

Archer and Anna Huntington scooped up four SC rice plantations after the crash.  Today these former plantations are open to the public as Brookgreen Gardens (beautiful sculpture gardens displaying Anna's work and many others), Huntington Beach State Park, etc. If you visit Brookgreen, you can take a boat ride and learn more about rice culture and the Gullah.  It is fascinating.

 

So is it only magnates of old who would make such a crazy purchase of a rice plantation for two weeks of hunting?  Nope.  In recent years, a hedge fund guy bought an old rice plantation in NC for expressly that purpose.

 

Rice has come back in a small way as a specialized crop in this part of the world.  Carolina Gold is the variety--expensive but lovely rice for risotto.

 

Let's talk.  Larry, Isabel, Elliott... I love this passage:

 

 

"Well, Larry is, I think, the only person I've ever met who's completely disinterested.  It makes his actions seem peculiar. We're not used to persons who do things simply for the love of God whom they don't believe in."

 

Suzanne stared at me.

 

"My poor friend, you've had too much to drink."

 

ETA:  different link for the map.

Edited by Jane in NC
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This week I read The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman and The Black Cat by Martha Grimes. They were both fairly entertaining. I expected The Golden Compass to be more awesome (?) because of how popular it was. I thought there was some kind of controversy around it. I guess I should go look it up. The story was a little dark because of adults misusing their power over children to their own ends, but it never felt overwhelmingly oppressive, maybe because I'm an adult and could forsee the outcome.

 

I'm currently reading Uprooted by Naomi Novik. To me, it has the characteristics of an adult disney story. The characters seem more like caricatures and there is not much complexity to the story, but it too is entertaining.

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This week I read The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman and The Black Cat by Martha Grimes. They were both fairly entertaining. I expected The Golden Compass to be more awesome (?) because of how popular it was. I thought there was some kind of controversy around it. I guess I should go look it up. The story was a little dark because of adults misusing their power over children to their own ends, but it never felt overwhelmingly oppressive, maybe because I'm an adult and could forsee the outcome.

 

I'm currently reading Uprooted by Naomi Novik. To me, it has the characteristics of an adult disney story. The characters seem more like caricatures and there is not much complexity to the story, but it too is entertaining.

 

The third book in the His Dark Materials series is the controversial one.  I think Pullman's writing is quite extraordinary among authors writing for a young audience.

 

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A one day only currently free Kindle classic ~

 

The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

 

"The landmark political treatise that refuted the so-called divine right of kings and established the principles of representative government
 
“Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.â€
 
With these stirring words, Jean-Jacques Rousseau begins The Social Contract—the first shot in a battle of ideas that would set the stage for the American War of Independence and the French Revolution. In the feverish days of the Enlightenment, Rousseau took aim squarely at the all-powerful French monarchy, proclaiming that no despot, no matter how powerful, had the right to terrorize his people. He laid out a plan for a new kind of government—an idea that was radical then, and remains so now."

 

Regards,

Kareni

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... And I'm not quite sure how to express it in terms of social contract or what, but sometimes his actions are very selfish as he is really out to please only himself. So he comes & goes, but I think remains (willfully?) ignorant of the hurt he causes by his leavings. ....

 

I read through the thread after posting about Rousseau's book above.  I was amused, Stacia, when I saw your use of the term 'social contract' right before my post.

 

Regards,

Kareni

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Rose, my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. :grouphug:

Stacia, I agree with you about Larry and was ready to say something to that effect. In a strange way, he reminds me of Sydney Carton, the wastrel in Tale of Two Cities, a drifter keeping himself distant from others. Will Larry choose to commit to something in the end? It's easy to play at being a miner or a farmer when you don't need the money or worry that a debilitating accident could mean your family starves. A similar attitude is one of the reasons I disliked Eat, Pray, Love. When you have no commitments, it's much easier to find freedom.

Books read last week:

  • Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfar. Science Fiction. A Czech astronaut returns to Earth after exploring a new cloud of space dust in the solar system.
  • Crosstalk by Connie Willis. Romance-Science Fiction. After receiving an emotional implant in the hopes of growing more connected to her boyfriend, a woman discovers unexpected side effects.
  • Scatter, Adapt, and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction by Annalee Newitz. Nonfiction-Speculative Science. A history of mass extinctions, people and species who've adapted to disruption, and practices and technologies to survive. I'd be interested to see if the author has changed some of her views since publication. In my experience, San Francisco, the book's model for future city growth, has a cost of living out of reach for most people below an upper middle class income. The author also downplays the benefit of quarantine in stopping epidemics, but the health officials fighting the spread of Ebola used quarantine as part of their control strategy.
  • Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. Classic Literature. A gentleman, enamored of chivalric romance, finds adventure with his faithful squire. I finally finished this book! While funny in parts, the lack of narrative arc made it tough for me to finish. I've spent the past few years reading a few chapters then putting the book back down. I restarted the book in April this year and made it my goal to complete it. I've read parts of two versions: the Penguin Classics and the Wordsworth Classics. If you choose to read it, I recommend the Penguin Classics version, which is also the edition recommended in the Well-Educated Mind. The phrasing and paragraphing are more modern and easier to read.

On Stacia's recommendation, I watched ​The Godfather​ and The Godfather II​. I liked the first better than the second. Though the movies were good, the style wasn't my cup of tea, but it was fun to see Al Pacino and Robert de Niro acting before they learned to chew the scenery. Robert Duvall, James Caan, and Diane Keaton also star.

I'm reading Why Not Me?​ which seems a more poignant book than Mindy Kaling's first one, ​Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me​?​. Next up is The Day of the Jackal​ and The Forever War. I've been avoiding the library so I could work through my current stack, but as it dwindles, I'm on the lookout for more books.

Edited by ErinE
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Regarding The Razor's Edge rather quickly, I'm supposed to be cooking!

 

I now like Elliot and feel like he truly is a good guy. I also enjoyed his shopping expedition! I like the fact that he is helping Isobel and Grey by essentially giving them his Paris lifestyle including his apartment. He even found the girls a school that he felt was appropriate.

 

I'm not sure that I like Isobel always although she really hasn't done anything wrong. I feel terrible for Grey but admire that he still is trying.

 

Larry is troubled. I adored what he did for Suzanne but than he turns and does something super selfish. Not sure what I think of him.

 

My stove is calling.....

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I finished The Razor's Edge and enjoyed it quite a bit. Elliot is lots of fun. I want to be careful not to say anything about next week's sections, so I probably won't comment a lot. I never did really connect to Larry; he is too different from me. I like Maugham a lot as he has written himself into the story--the perfect confidante. Won't comment on Isabel this week!

 

Now I am  reading Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum. This was on a list of un-put-downable books someone linked weeks ago (and it has a prime number in the title). It's an easy YA read--probably more appropriate for my dd's age than mine, but I am enjoying it. But also putting it down when I need to get something else done!

 

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I'm enjoying The Razor's Edge and will probably finish this afternoon. Then I can turn on the wifi on my Kindle. :)

 

Stacia - I agree with you about Larry. He is quite selfish and the funny thing is, Maugham doesn't seem to think so - that is, Maugham as a character in his own book doesn't see it. What's worse is he often mocks Elliot's love of society and though he did say Elliot was a generous person he often buries that and highlights what he considers the shallow aspects of Elliot's personality. 

 

I don't like Isabel. Isabel does what benefits Isabel. She's as selfish as Larry though in a different way. I feel sorry for Gray. Does he know how one-sided the relationship is? Maugham doesn't say, at least so far he hasn't said. Isabel does care for Gray and she did stand by him after the crash, but I think she's waiting for them to get their former life back. To me, she's more shallow than Elliot.

 

Other current books-

  • I'm almost through the audio book version of The Sanctuary Sparrow, a Brother Cadfael book. 
  • I borrowed The Talented Mr. Ripley from the library (downloaded it only hours before The Razor's Edge loan expired a few days ago) and started reading it last night. So far I like it. I've seen the movie with Matt Damon but it's been quite a few years since I watched it. I didn't know there are several Mr. Ripley novels, so if I like this one I'll probably read the others.
  • I also started The Framely Parsonage after Robin brought up Trollope in last week's thread. I've been missing his writing.
  • My book club chose When Breath Becomes Air as the next book. I think it might have some overlap of issues with Being Mortal, which I read not long ago but that's okay. The person who chose it was trying to please everyone, and I reminded her that all of us in the club joined because we wanted to read books other than the ones we choose ourselves. I'll start it some time in the next few days. We're behind and our next meeting is the first Tuesday in June.

 

 

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I finally finished From the Beast to the Blonde. IMO, lots of interesting info and great insights, and it's a shame that these are buried in such dry, dense, verbose prose, which sometimes rambles and makes it unclear what the point is (because, I think ,there are sometimes multiple points that need to be separated). Anyway, I'm glad to have it on my shelf because, despite its faults, I'll probably end up returning to the stories half of it here and there.

 

I am still reading Great Expectations, and making decent progress with it now that I'm finished with Beast/Blonde.

 

And I'm listening to Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and Other Lessons from the CrematoryThis one is good. Memoir mixed with facts about the job, history and tales, beliefs and customs related to death. Occasionally the humor is pretty bad, like cheesy and old and not funny anymore, and you can imagine that parts of the book are very dark, making this not for everyone. But it is interesting and entertaining and it flows smoothly between the personal and the public, the familiar and the foreign, the present/recent and the historical. Clear simple prose, so it's good for listening to.

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In my re(re)-read of Anne Bishop's the Others series, I finished her Marked In Flesh (A Novel of the Others Book 4) which I enjoyed once again.  The first in the series, Written In Red: A Novel of the Others, is still on sale for $2.99; do start with this book if you decide to read the series.

**

 

I also read Half by Eli Lang which was a pleasant story.  I don't think it's a book I'll be re-reading.

 

"Living between worlds has never been comfortable, but it’s where I’ve always fit: between human and fey, illness and health, magic and reality.

I’ve spent the last six years looking for a cure for the nameless sickness eating me up. If I believed there was one out there, I would keep searching. But there isn’t, so I’ve come back home, where my past and present tangle. Come home to live . . . and to die.

But my father insists I meet Kin. He’s a healer, and determined to help, even though I’m not so hopeful anymore. But Kin isn’t what I expected, in any way. He sees me, not my illness. He reminds me of what it’s like to be alive. And I can’t help falling for him, even though I know it isn’t fair to either of us.

Kin thinks he has the cure I’ve been looking for, but it’s a cure that will change everything: me, my life, my heart. If I refuse, I could lose Kin. But if I take it, I might lose myself."

 

Regards,

Kareni

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The third book in the His Dark Materials series is the controversial one.  I think Pullman's writing is quite extraordinary among authors writing for a young audience.

 

 

:iagree: The first book is a nice story and all, but the scope of what Pullman's getting at is only really apparent after reading the full trilogy. There's much more to it than what's in the first book. I really liked the trilogy for the ideas behind it, even though I actually didn't like the main character (Lyra) very much.

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:iagree: The first book is a nice story and all, but the scope of what Pullman's getting at is only really apparent after reading the full trilogy. There's much more to it than what's in the first book. I really liked the trilogy for the ideas behind it, even though I actually didn't like the main character (Lyra) very much.

 

I rather like Lyra.  Mrs. Coulter gives me the heeby-jeebies though.

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It's interesting now that you point it out to think of both Isabel & Larry as being selfish in their own ways. I'm not sure I thought of Isabel that way, but I can see it. Maybe there were meant for each other after all -- or deserving of each other, perhaps. I also feel sorry for Grey. Does he always secretly feel like he was the back-up choice? He dotes on & adores his wife & children; I think Isabel loves him because he dotes on her, not because she loves him for himself. Surely that must eat away at Grey?

I felt that Maugham was playing the part of Larry by asking Isabel if she'd divorce Grey. She refuses, for her own reasons. Grey loves his daughters, he loves her, and he's great in bed. Grey lives for Isabel whereas Larry probably just lives for himself. She responded more to Grey's devotion than Larry's potential love.

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Only finished one book last week.

 

54. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel - I'll use this for my Prime Number bingo square. :)  A post apocalypse by pandemic book.  A virulent flu wipes out over 99% of the world's population within weeks.  Actually spends very little time on the actual pandemic, and much more on backstory of characters pre-pandemic and a group of musicians and actors 20 years later.  4.5 stars.

 

 

Currently reading:

 

- Song of the Dodo - I've read a bunch, but it's a very long book, so didn't finish that one yet. :)  I quite enjoy the author's voice; he's informative but also can be playful (one place listed a bunch of dry facts and ended the paragraph with 'if you're skimming, stop here'. )

 

- El ruido de las cosas al caer / The Sound of Things Falling - set in Colombia in the 90's to present.  Not what I expected it to be, but that means I'm enjoying it much more than I thought I would.  

 

- Pachinko (audiobook) - set in Korea and Japan through the 20th century.  I'm driving less as school winds down, so it's taking me longer to get through this...

 

- Razor's Edge - Quite enjoying this, glad we'll finish up this week so I don't have to stop again. :)  What Stacia said about Larry resonates with me.  It was a very, very good thing that Isabel didn't marry him.  What a disaster that would have been - for both of them.

 

I don't like Isabel. Isabel does what benefits Isabel. She's as selfish as Larry though in a different way. I feel sorry for Gray. Does he know how one-sided the relationship is? Maugham doesn't say, at least so far he hasn't said. Isabel does care for Gray and she did stand by him after the crash, but I think she's waiting for them to get their former life back. To me, she's more shallow than Elliot.

 

 

I'm not sure I agree with this.  What would you have had Isabel do?  Gray is happy with her and she says they have quite the good physical relationship. She does care about him, just not in the tipsy way she feels about Larry.  Would it have been less selfish of her to run off with Larry and break Gray's heart, or break his heart by rejecting him and then sit around waiting for someone else (who may never appear) that rings her bells the way Larry does?  Does she really love Larry, or the idea of Larry?  I think they would have made each other absolutely miserable - is that less shallow?  I'm sure she wants her former life back, but so does Gray.  She's not whining about it.  I see her more as being practical.  Marriage through most of history and most cultures has not been about romantic love, nor is it in the society and culture she has been raised in.

 

Coming up:

 

Still need to figure out an Emerald book.  :toetap05:   And Boys in the Boat finally came in on Overdrive! :D  I've had it on hold since January!

Edited by Matryoshka
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Finally started Razor's Edge this afternoon. It will take a day or two to catch up with everyone and read up on the discussion.

 

I was tickled pink to finally find a Vera Stanhope mystery on the library shelves, and it was delightful. It was everything a mystery should be with a good whodunnit, and a team of great characters trying to solve it. Vera in particular is a great character, flawed, but not because of some deep, dark secret trauma, just a flawed human being who recognizes her mistakes and shortcomings.  Wish they weren't so hard to track down in my library system.  

 

 

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Hi ladies. I haven't been able to keep up with these threads. My baby was born and suddenly he's 4 weeks old. I hope to check in a little more regularly again. Here is my super long reading update. I have a few too many books in progress this week.

 

For the kids, I am pre-reading Wildwood to decide if it is good or appropriate. I am reading The Red Pyramid by Rick Riorden to see what ds is obsessing about. Our school books are The Borrowers and Elizabeth Nesbit's The Magic World.

 

For me, I am still plodding through An Old Man's Toy by Anthony Zee. I can't stand that this book will end some day soon. I think it might be my absolute favorite book I have ever read. He goes through explanations of gravity from what we can observe on earth, what we would observe in space, some basic cosmology, etc. Most of it is familiar to me but he explains so clearly and sequentially I feel like I understand everything much more deeply than I ever have before and best of all I feel completely capable of teaching the material. I the past I have tried to explain cosmology to people and the words never came easily or clearly. I highly recommend this book to anyone who might be interested in the subject. He is a world class explainer.

 

I'm also reading La fille de papier by Guillaume Musso (English title The Girl On Paper). I read his book "Seras-tu là ?" (Will you be there?)A couple weeks ago and loved it so now I am on a quest to see if he wrote anything else as good. So far this one is not, nor is his other novel Central Park, but I have a few more coming in the mail and the quest will continue :)

 

In audio book, I am listening to Heinlein's Starman Jones. Pretty enjoyable so far. Only a couple hours to go.

 

Then, I happened to get sucked into another novel that showed up in the mail called Le Déchronologue. It's a sci-fi adventure with pirates and time travel. Trying really hard not to sink in too deep before I finish off the other books.

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Hi ladies. I haven't been able to keep up with these threads. My baby was born and suddenly he's 4 weeks old.

 

Congrats! Feel free to check in whenever you can ... we'll just be hangout out here reading.

 

Also ... BaW aunties love pictures of babies ... just saying.  :)

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I'm behind, but committed to catching up. Yay for summer reading!

 

1. I'm Judging You: The Do-Better Manual // Luvvie Ajayi


2. No-Drama Discipline // Daniel J. Siegel


3. Song of Solomon // Toni Morrison


4. Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives // Gretchen Rubin


5. Men We Reaped // Jesmyn Ward


6. Not Buying It: Stop Overspending and Start Raising Happier, Healthier, More Successful Kids // Brett Graff


7. Commonwealth // Ann Patchett

 

8. How Children Learn // John Holt

9. Born A Crime // Trevor Noah

10. The Underground Railroad // Colson Whitehead

11. The Life Changing Magic of Not Giving A F*ck // Sarah Knight

12. Upstream // Mary Oliver

13. The Handmaid's Tale // Margaret Atwood

14. Show Your Work // Austin Kleon

15. How to Raise A Wild Child // Scott D Sampson

16. A Course of Love // Alain de Botton

 

Currently reading Bird by Bird // Anne Lamott

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Heather, how is your dd?

 

She was doing pretty well.  She had some really great days.  Then the POTS reared its ugly head and she had to deal with that and got that straightened out and then she, my oldest son, and I got the flu.  She and I ended up with secondary infections and are coughing and just exhausted now (and are both on antibiotics).  I'm hopeful she'll go back to having more good days after she gets over this junk.  She was even talking about going back to training in taekwondo and taking a college class in the fall before she got sick again.

 

I finished reading the third Mosaic Chronicles book by Andrea Pearson (Perceive).  I'm really liking that series.

Edited by Butter
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Congratulations CadenceSophia!

 

Yesterday I finished listening to the Brother Cadfael book, The Sanctuary Sparrow.

 

I got sidetracked last evening so I finished The Razor's Edge this morning. I'll hold off on saying anything other than that I maintain my opinion that Isabel is even more selfish than Larry. :)

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Congratulations CandenceSophia!

 

Butter, I hope both you and your dd feel better soon!

 

I spent this morning tending my highly neglected garden. It's gorgeous out after many dull rainy days. Dh took me out for a walk in one of the local National Trust gardens this afternoon.

 

Not much reading happened. I am close to finished with my DE Stevenson book. Music in the Hills has been a perfect book for my current a few pages here and there stlye. ;)

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A one day only currently free Kindle classic ~

 

Sanders of the River (The Commissioner Sanders Stories Book 1) by Edgar Wallace

 

About the Author

Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was an English writer.

 

 

"Thrilling adventures of colonial Africa from the creator of King Kong

In the jungles of West Africa, Commissioner Sanders is the highest representative of the British crown. The health and safety of a quarter-million natives—who speak countless languages and worship untold gods—are his responsibility. Whether disciplining a boy king, expelling troublesome missionaries, or fighting to contain outbreaks of sleeping sickness and beri-beri, Sanders and his lieutenants must be quick, decisive, and fair. The fate of the empire—not to mention their lives—depends on it.
 
These rollicking escapades, based on Edgar Wallace’s travels in Africa, offer an entertaining glimpse into a world—and a mindset—long lost but endlessly intriguing."

**

 

Not free but on sale for $1.99 ~ Sunshine  by Robin McKinley.  This is a book that Eliana recommended.  Has anyone heard from Eliana?  I miss her posts.

**

 

Robin, several books by B.N. Toler are currently on sale for 99 cents.  You can see the list here.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

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A new baby!  :hurray:  Congratulations!  

 

 

 

I finished The Forgotten Garden. I liked it. I'm glad I branched out and read it. Now I am listening to 1984 as part of my personal challenge to read the classic listed for each month of my calendar (thanks again Robin). I read it years ago. Liked it then and like it now. Next up is Fahrenheit 451 which is a favorite of mine. I'm trying to decide which one to read with my oldest this year. They are both such good books.  What am I thinking?! We can read both! I'm a genius. 

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I'm not sure I agree with this.  What would you have had Isabel do?  Gray is happy with her and she says they have quite the good physical relationship. She does care about him, just not in the tipsy way she feels about Larry.  Would it have been less selfish of her to run off with Larry and break Gray's heart, or break his heart by rejecting him and then sit around waiting for someone else (who may never appear) that rings her bells the way Larry does?  Does she really love Larry, or the idea of Larry?  I think they would have made each other absolutely miserable - is that less shallow?  I'm sure she wants her former life back, but so does Gray.  She's not whining about it.  I see her more as being practical.  Marriage through most of history and most cultures has not been about romantic love, nor is it in the society and culture she has been raised in.

 

I'm agreeing with you here on Isabel. I think she's doing the best she can. 

 

 

I am also loving Elliott as a character. I laughed at his mental gymnastics to justify the underwear. (I don't want to brag about my title, so I'll just go with the monogrammed underwear.  :lol: ) Yes he's a bit of a snob, but still a very nice guy. 

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Stacia, I agree with you about Larry and was ready to say something to that effect. In a strange way, he reminds me of Sydney Carton, the wastrel in Tale of Two Cities, a drifter keeping himself distant from others. Will Larry choose to commit to something in the end? It's easy to play at being a miner or a farmer when you don't need the money or worry that a debilitating accident could mean your family starves. A similar attitude is one of the reasons I disliked Eat, Pray, Love. When you have no commitments, it's much easier to find freedom.

 

 

:iagree: Larry is very privileged to spend 10 years of his life "finding himself". I hope he eventually starts thinking about other people. It doesn't seem like a very fulfilling life. 

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Free Kindle ebook with a main character named Emerald. I have not read it but there is a cat on the cover! Always a good sign.

 

 
"Emerald O'Brien is the owner of the Chintz 'n China Tea Room where guests are served the perfect blend of teas and tarot readings. She never set out to be a detective, but once word gets out that she can communicate with the dead, there's no turning back... When the ghost of Susan Mitchell asks for Emerald's help in convicting her own murderer, Emerald can't refuse. Along with her friends-an ex-supermodel and a cop-and her new love interest, Emerald must search for clues to put the killer behind bars, and Susan's tortured soul to rest."
 
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I have read two great Flufferton books in the past two weeks! One is actually billed as a YA, Duels and Deception by Cindy Anstey. Predictable but that didn't bother my enjoyment of the story. The other was a free Kindle book I had downloaded awhile ago, maybe on someone's suggestion here. Falling for Chloe by Diane Farr was just sweet Regency fluff.

 

I also read Remote Contol: The Power of Hollywood on Today's Culture by Carl Kerby.

 

I was looking at the Bingo but I don't think I'll make it this year as I've had a large proportion of rereads already.

 

I'm still plugging away at Hidden Figures, which is written in too disjointed of a fashion for me to enjoy.

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I started listening to Some Danger Involved.  It was the Audible Daily Deal yesterday, so for $3.95 I took a chance. It's four chapters in and the assistant is still getting set up in his new job. No mystery at all yet. Not even a hint of one. Back story is taking too long and it's getting boring. I'll give it some more time, but so far it's tedious.

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Free Kindle ebook with a main character named Emerald. I have not read it but there is a cat on the cover! Always a good sign.

 

Ghost of a Chance (Chintz 'n China Book 1) by Yasmine Galenorn

 

"Emerald O'Brien is the owner of the Chintz 'n China Tea Room where guests are served the perfect blend of teas and tarot readings. She never set out to be a detective, but once word gets out that she can communicate with the dead, there's no turning back... When the ghost of Susan Mitchell asks for Emerald's help in convicting her own murderer, Emerald can't refuse. Along with her friends-an ex-supermodel and a cop-and her new love interest, Emerald must search for clues to put the killer behind bars, and Susan's tortured soul to rest."

Yes a cat on the cover is a good thing! :lol: Thanks, I did download it because I am not at all sure about my current Emerald book, which is number 4. Maybe a cat on the cover would help, seriously. I have given up on many books this month.....

 

So far I have managed to spell and read a related book each month. I really want to finish the challenge. One more book (Lee Childs so I should like it) and I will have Emerald spelled so I just need my gemstone book.

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From the Tor.com site ~

 

Five Books That Make Epic Drama Out of Space-Faring History by Jeffrey Kluger

 

"Space travel has always been an operatic exercise. Igniting millions of pounds of explosive fuel inside a machine carrying a crew of human beings and flinging rocket and living payload into the void at thousands of miles per hour is not the stuff of chamber music. It’s a big, crashing, multi-part symphony of noise and light and life and drama. Some books, however, capture that power more than others. It was the narrative pyrotechnics of space that drew me to write Apollo 13 with astronaut Jim Lovell and, now, to return to that great trove of space tales with Apollo 8. I can, of course, hardly be objective about the five books that best turn space history into dramas. So leaving it to others to judge my own, here are the five that have thrilled me most...."

**

 

A currently free book that looks intriguing ~ Crossing In Time: An Edgy Sci-Fi Love Story (Between Two Evils Book 1)  by D. L. Orton

 

"Engaging, Funny, Romantic, and Harrowing"

Publishers Weekly â­ï¸ Starred Review
 
"Well Written and Deftly Crafted" 
Midwest Book Review Featured Pick
 

"The Best of the Best"

Publishers Weekly Great Indie Star of 2015 (1 of only 12 Selected)
**
 
AND 
Highland Pursuits  by Emmanuelle de Maupassant

 

"1920s debutante Lady Ophelia Finchingfield is banished to wildest Scotland to come to her senses, having refused a marriage proposal from the Earl of Woldershire. In the care of her eccentric grandmother, Ophelia is soon caught between rugged widower Hamish and the villainous Comte de Montefiore.

She’s ready to play with fire, but will she burn more than her fingers?

A riotous romp, inspired by the work of Nancy Mitford, PG Wodehouse and Stella Gibbons.

Featuring a treasure chest of characters, 'Highland Pursuits' is a wickedly naughty comedy of manners."

**

 

Regards,

Kareni

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Congratulations, CadenceSophia! I am impressed that you can read in French while caring for a newborn!

 

Abby update: She's doing well! She's 15 months and has learned to do an army crawl so she can steal her 4 yo brother's toy Tyrannosaurus, of which she seems particularly fond. The average age at which children with Down Syndrome learn to walk is 2, so I think she's making good progress, especially considering that she didn't start PT until about 8 mos because of her heart issues! Speech is going to be harder -- no babbling yet, just a gargly noise she likes to make to get your attention -- but she's found ways to start communicating what she wants (or doesn't!)

 

She did well on our big trip to D.C. but by the end of it, she was not really thrilled about anything with buckles.

 

I finished 2 books on the trip -- Being Mortal and My Man Jeeves (kind of polar opposites) -- but no audio books. Alas, I think we have somehow moved beyond the days when everybody happily listened to the same audio book. My husband wanted to listen to talk radio and even my little kids had brought tablets so they could listen to the Little House books again (my dh has been reading them aloud at bedtime for the past year, I think, but he's almost done with These Happy Golden Years now.). So I gave up. I did download Carry On, Jeeves, with the idea that I might be able to listen while I make dinner.

 

I'm also nearly done with Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym. This is my first Barbara Pym novel, and I have to say that I'm enjoying it more than I thought I would at first. There's so very little plot in this book, but that doesn't seem to matter because it's the character development that's generating the suspense. And the quiet, sly humor doesn't hurt. Jane and Prudence are friends who met at Oxford, though Jane is 45 and the wife of a vicar now, and Prudence is only about 30 and unmarried. Jane is struggling valiantly to fit into a role she is wholly unfit for (she's more at home with 17th century poets) and Prudence seems to be making a career of being unhappy. I'm glad I picked this up wherever it was I saw it - maybe Bookbub? My little description is not doing it justice. Barbara Pym reminds me a little of Jane Austen, and a little of Mark Twain, in that she paints people's characters so well with just a little bit of tongue in cheek.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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An article that might be of interest to Dracula fans as well as those with an interest in Iceland ~

 

ON DRACULA’S LOST ICELANDIC SISTER TEXT

 

"For nearly 120 years, Bram Stoker’s Dracula has been constantly in print. The official publication date, May 26, 1897, is celebrated annually as World Dracula Day by fans and scholars of Gothic literature alike. One would think that every background detail, every interpretation, every incident of its publication history would’ve been discovered and written about by now, but tantalizingly, new insights about its sources, its meaning, and its many metamorphoses pop up now and then.

 

Certainly the most surprising and intriguing Dracula-related discovery of this still-young century is the unearthing of the novel’s Icelandic sister. Its title, Makt Myrkranna (Powers of Darkness), has been known to Dracula experts since 1986, when literary researcher Richard Dalby reported on the 1901 Icelandic edition and on its preface, apparently written specifically for it by Stoker himself. Ever since Dalby published an English translation of this foreword, it has been the subject of literary speculation, as it mentions the Ripper Murders—although Jack the Ripper was never described in the 1897 English edition of Dracula...."

 

Regards,

Kareni

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