Book a Week 2017 - BW28: Octavia Butler

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday and welcome to week 28 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.

 

 

Octavia Butler, born June 22, 1947, started creating stories in her head at the age of four and by the time she turned 13, was writing stories about new worlds on her mother's Remington typewriter. After college, she earned a spot in the Screenwriters Guild Open Door Program where she captured the attention of Harlan Ellison who encouraged her to do the Clarion Science Fiction Writer's workshop, where she also met Samuel Delaney.  Crossover, her first story was published in an anthology of student work.  From there, she went on to publish twelve best-selling novels as well as numerous short stories. She won several awards and is the first and only science fiction writer to win the MacArthur 'Genius' Fellowship.   Butler passed away in February 24, 2006 at the age of 59.

 

 

 

Clockshop launched Radio Imagination in 2016 to honor Octavia on the tenth anniversary of her death with a yearlong celebration including a series of performances and literary events.  As they so eloquently state:  

 

 

"With Black female protagonists, radical notions of kinship, and a keen understanding of power dynamics, Butler’s writing revamped the conventions of the science fiction genre. Butler’s bold imagining of the future has come to inform the way we live now. 2016 marks the 10-year anniversary of Butler’s death.

 

 Exploring far-reaching issues of race, gender, power and, ultimately what it means to be human, Butler broke ground as a black woman writing science fiction—a genre dominated by white men. “I’m black, I’m solitary, I’ve always been an outsider,†The Los Angeles Times quoted Butler as saying in 1998. Her work suggested new ways of thinking and new models of working for generations of writers and artists to come."

 

Emanuela Grinberg on CNN.com talks more about Clockwork and how Los Angeles Celebrates Octavia Butler, a Visionary among Futurists

In January of this year, Abrams ComicArts released a graphic novel edition of Kindred 

 

 

"More than 35 years after its release, Kindred continues to draw in new readers with its deep exploration of the violence and loss of humanity caused by slavery in the United States, and its complex and lasting impact on the present day. Adapted by celebrated academics and comics artists Damian Duffy and John Jennings, this graphic novel powerfully renders Butler’s mysterious and moving story, which spans racial and gender divides in the antebellum South through the 20th century.

Butler’s most celebrated, critically acclaimed work tells the story of Dana, a young black woman who is suddenly and inexplicably transported from her home in 1970s California to the pre–Civil War South. As she time-travels between worlds, one in which she is a free woman and one where she is part of her own complicated familial history on a southern plantation, she becomes frighteningly entangled in the lives of Rufus, a conflicted white slaveholder and one of Dana’s own ancestors, and the many people who are enslaved by him."

 

 

She has written three different series over the years:  Patternist, Xenogenesis and Parables.  SWFA provides a excellent chronological list of how to read her books.  I currently have Dawn in my stacks waiting to be read.  Find out more about Octavia through Portalist's 15 Fascinating Facts about Octavia Butler.

 

Join me in celebrating our author of the month and reading one of her novels this year. 

 

 

 

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War and Peace:   Catch up or read ahead week -  Complete Volume One.

Quite a bit going on in the first volume as the action takes place from July through November 1805. The interrelationships and struggles between family members and friends as well as Pierre’s father passing away and his marriage to Helene, plus attitudes and actions during the war. Then there is Tolstoy’s descriptions and symbolism.  Chat about what stood out for you, thoughts on characters and motives as well as favorite quotes.

 

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Story of Western Science:  Chapter 23 with six  more chapters to go!

 

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What are you reading this week?

 

 

Link to week  27

 

Edited July 9, 2017 by Robin M

[Robin M]

I'm reading #10 in Louise Penny's Gamache series - Long Way Home as well as War and Peace.  Continuing with Fire on the Brain.  Watched Odd Thomas couple days ago and is quite close to the book and well done!

Edited July 9, 2017 by Robin M

[Chrysalis Academy]

Octavia Butler is on my list for later this year, for sure: I've read a number of her novels over the years, but plan to re-read/pre-read a bunch of them for our Dystopian Lit class. Right now, I'm stalled in the vanilla-flavored feminist dystopias of the 70s and 80s. I've found these to be rather hit-and-miss, but I am currently enjoying the second of Suzette Haden Elgin's Native Tongue series, The Judas Rose. It's about a future where women (in the 80s) were stripped of their adult rights and made permanent second-class citizens. It's also about a group of linguist families that facilitate human interaction with alien species by interfacing with aliens from birth, thus becoming native speakers of alien languages, something no other under humans can do. I studied psycholinguistics in my past, so it's interesting to me from that POV, as well as the dystopian/feminist aspect. 

 

I'm also reading Cane River, by Lalita Tademy - a fascinating exploration of the author's ancestresses, beginning with a mulatto slave in Louisiana and continuing to the author's own mother. It's a fictionalized account of 4 generations of women, very fascinating, well-researched and well-written. Reminds me a bit of Homegoing, but less brutal/gritty, and real, in the sense that the author is imagining the stories of the women who she has extensively researched and has many photos, documents, etc. about. 

 

I just finished Drown by Junot Diaz. His stories are largely autobiographical, about his family, his childhood in the Dominican Republic, his move to New Jersey and his teen years there. This is the second book of his stories I've read - I read This Is How You Lose Her several years ago, which is about his "character" Yunior's adult life and relationships with women. In both cases the stories are brutal, gritty, but just stellarly written. One of the purposes of reading is to live lives utterly foreign to your own, and this writer gives me the opportunity to inhabit a reality that is - thankfully - quite foreign to my own experience. I like how his stories embrace a shifting cast of interrelated characters, and how some of them take alternate points of view on similar events. These stories aren't for the faint-hearted, and they are rather depressing, but broadening, too.

 

Also finished this week: Vonnegut's Sirens of Titan, which I didn't much care for, Neil Gaiman's Stardust, which I loved, and Jim Butcher's Storm Front, a mildly entertaining story about a wizard detective I read because dd did.

 

 

Edited July 9, 2017 by Chrysalis Academy

[Jane in NC]

Part Three of W&P Volume One demonstrates that the Russians do not keep the stiff upper lips of their British counterparts.  Chapter VI opens with this paragraph:

 

 

For a long time the Rostovs had no news of Nikolushka; only in midwinter was the count handed a letter addressed in what he recognized as his son's handwriting. On receiving the letter, the count fearfully and hastily, trying not to be noticed, ran on tiptoe to his study, shut himself in, and began to read.  Anna Mikhailona, learning (as she knew everything that went on in the house) of the letter that had come, went into the count's study with soft steps, and found him with the letter in his hands sobbing and laughing at the same time.

 

When Nikolushka returns on leave, the hugs, the kisses, the demonstration of pure delight of his presence!  No firm handshakes here.  Even the name used--not Nikolai but the endearing "Nikolushka"--demonstrates the warm affection that his family feels.

 

Tolstoy's descriptions are so evocative for me. 

 

 

In the rear guard, Dokhturov and others, drawing up some battalions, fired back at the French cavalry who were pursuing our troops.  It was beginning to get dark. On the narrow dam of Augesd, on which for so many years an old miller in a cap used to sit peacefully with his fishing rods, while his grandson, his shirtsleeves rolled up, fingered the silvery, trembling fish in the watering can; on this dam over which, for so many years, Moravians in shaggy hats and blue jackets had peacefully driven in their two-horse carts laden with wheat and had driven back over the same dam all dusty with flour, their carts white--now, on this narrow dam, between wagons and cannon, under horses and between wheels, crowded men disfigured by the fear of death, crushing each other, dying, stepping over the dying, and killing each other, only to go a few steps and be themselves just the same.

 

This week I finished Rebecca Solnit's book of essays, A Field Guide to Getting Lost.  There were moments of loveliness in this book but I found the essays to be uneven.  Perhaps that is because of what I brought to the book. I particularly enjoyed her essays on deserts--but found myself shaking my head when she talked about Delta Blues and the rural South.  It was then that I felt she should stick to what she knows which is California, etc.--not the American rural South!  That said, I loved her analysis of Hitchcock's film Vertigo, one of my favorite films of all time, one set in her home of San Francisco.

[Loesje22000]

I finished Outlander #2.

My fluffy reading for this summer :)

 

I also read 'Darwin and modern view on humanity'

A bundle of essays / lectures held at a Jezuite Institute in Belgium.

Very interesting and thought provoking (to me)

 

And I read 'the country of Don Quichotte' a history about Spain written by dutch professors.

The writing was a little bit dry, but the book connected some parts of Spanish History I already knew, with what I did not know, to one whole.

 

I continued War & Peace

And started Jane & Prudence.

[mumto2]

I finished listening to a cozy mystery this morning called The Cracked Spine which I believe Jenn read a few weeks ago. Enjoyable but not fabulous is my rating. Certainly good enough that I will continue with the series. Set in Edinburgh....Amy might enjoy it.

 

Since I mentioned Jenn who kindly hinted to me to get War and Peace on audio a couple of weeks ago I have to say that for me she was right! I managed to listen for a few minutes before heading out for church and think the audio is brilliant. Fairly sure it is still Maude. I should be able to catch up this week since I have tons of work on the quilt planned!

 

I finished June's Birthstones today!!!

 

MOONSTONE.... The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

 

PEARL... The Secret Pearl by Mary Balogh

 

And by reusing some of the Alexandrite books

 

P....The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths

E....Evan and Elle by Rhys Bowen

A....All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders

R....Black Ribbon by Susan Conant

L....Lord of the Wings by Donna Andrews

 

ALEXANDRITE

 

A.....All the Birds in the Sky by Charle Jane Ansers

L.....Lord of the Wings by Donna Andrews

E.....Evan and Elle by Rhys Bowen

X.....I am Princess X by Cherie Priest

A.....About a Dog by Jenn McKinlay

N.....The Nightingale before Christmas by Donna Andrews

D.....Devil's Breath by GM Malliet

R.....Black Ribbon by Susan Conant

I.....The Ideal Wife by Mary Balogh

T.....Taken by Benedict Jacka

E.....Everything and the Moon by Julia Quinn

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I've spent the most pleasant weekend reading The Great Passage by Shion Miura. (4 out of 5 stars)

 

The book was a free Kindle First book a couple of months ago and I selected it due to my DS's interest in Japan. I am so glad I did. This little book was a joy to read (even if it is in translation). The story is about the creation of a new dictionary. That may appear to be an odd (and perhaps dry) topic for a book but the author does a wonderful job in creating realistic characters and keeping the reader engaged in the storyline. By the end, I wanted to run to the bookstore and purchase a new dictionary. The characters aren't just lovers of words (although there is a lot of word play, presentation of definitions) but lovers of language and of books. Each of the main characters are unashamed bibliophiles and lexicographers. 

 

Page 184 - " Anybody who thought about their laundry while looking at books - anybody that incapable of concentrating on what was in front of them - could never qualify as a true used book lover."

 

--

I don't know if it's the influence of this group, the books that are being offered by Amazon for the Kindle, a change in me, or some other unidentified force but I am enjoying myself immensely this year. I am selecting books to read and listen to that I would barely have glanced at in the past. Books that are heart wrenching, soul soothing, laughter inducing. Books that are easy. Books that are challenging (W&P, anyone?).  Books that I forget within days of reading. Books that are still with me months later. What joy this has been.

 

---

ETA: I received a postcard! It is quite lovely and perfect. I cried when I opened it and read the note - someone actually reads my posts and is getting to know me. I felt an overwhelming sense of connection and belonging. (Yes, I am emotional and wear my heart on my sleeve. I also haven't had any chai since June 30.)

How do I send postcards to other BAWers?

 

Edited July 9, 2017 by Scoutermom

[Lady Florida.]

I finally got my Goodreads current list up to date. I'm currently reading:
 
The Nightingale - I have a lot of problems with this novel which I'll put in a separate post. Book club meeting to discuss it is this Tuesday
War and Peace - reread, long term read
Persuasion - reread
Dead Man's Ransom - audio book, series
The Bridge of San Luis Rey - The library hold just came in late Friday. I didn't realize it's such a short book. It should be a quick read.

Floodpath: The Deadliest Man-Made Disaster of the 20th Century and the Making of Modern Los Angeles - non fiction, long term read
The Basque History of the World: The Story of a Nation - non fiction, long term read
 
I'm spending most of my reading time on The Nightingale and The Bridge of San Luis Rey because both are time sensitive (book club meeting, library lending period)
  
 

When Nikolushka returns on leave, the hugs, the kisses, the demonstration of pure delight of his presence!  No firm handshakes here.  Even the name used--not Nikolai but the endearing "Nikolushka"--demonstrates the warm affection that his family feels.

I like the Rostovs. They have their issues but they really love one another, warts and all. They're such a close, loving family and they're there for each other. Ilya Rostov (the father) reminds me of Mr. Weasley, or I suppose it's more accurate to say Arthur Weasley reminds me of Ilya Rostov. They're both loving fathers and husbands, the more permissive parent, generally optimistic, and somewhat bumbling but not stupid. 

 

Tolstoy's descriptions are so evocative for me.

But tell us how you feel about the creaking corset.  :laugh:

[Chrysalis Academy]

Ok, I made it through the Manga square! I took Stacia's dc's advice and read Death Note, Vol. 1. Manga still isn't my thing, but it was a pretty interesting story. Not that I'll be bothering with volume 2 or anything . . .  ;)

 

So, I've finally gotten two Bingos! I figured I'd report on my Bingos as soon as I got a complete row, and it's kind of weird that it's taken more than 6 months to get even one, but they will come at a faster pace now that I've gotten 3 or 4 squares on many rows. So here they are:

 

Row 16:

B: Sherlock Holmes – Mrs. Sherlock Holmes – Brad RIcca
I:  Manga – Death Note-Tsugumi Ohba
N: Book from an Africa39 author –We Should All Be Feminists - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

G: Autobiography – Cockroaches – Scholastique Mukasonga
O: Narrated from multiple viewpoints – Ghostwritten – David Mitchell

 

Row 29:

B: LBGTQ – The Fate of Gender: Nature, Nurture and the Human Future – Frank Browning

I: Free Space- Henry IV Part 2 – William Shakespeare
N: Kurt Vonnegut – Sirens of Titan

G: Free Space- Brave New World – Aldous Huxley

O: Book recommended by NPR – The Fire This Time – Jesmyn Ward

[Jane in NC]

---

ETA: I received a postcard! It is quite lovely and perfect. I cried when I opened it and read the note - someone actually reads my posts and is getting to know me. I felt an overwhelming sense of connection and belonging. (Yes, I am emotional and wear my heart on my sleeve. I also haven't had any chai since June 30.)

 

How do I send postcards to other BAWers?

 

 

 

:001_wub:

 

I sent you the list in a PM.

 

[Just Robyn]

    I think is was Robyn (crstarlette) who said she likes to reread an old book between each new book. 

 

I'm actually trying to read a dusty book in between each non-dusty book (and succeeding, so far, though I am liberally counting 50-page dusty ebooks).

 

I read Eyes Like Stars, a YA fantasy book that incorporates several of Shakespeare's plays and - jeez, I'm already forgetting - but I think there were some non-Shakespeare ones in there too. Anyway, not enough world-building, too many plot points. 

 

I also read Tolkien's Tree and Leaf, which contains his essay "On Fairy-Stories," which was great reading, though I don't agree with his argument that fantasy stories are higher art than realistic stories, and a story "Leaf by Niggle," which illustrates an idea he presents in his essay, that man, being, according to him, created in the image of the Abrahamic god, should create lesser worlds - like, the Abrahamic god was creative and created a world and peopled it, so humans, being made in his image, are doing a good thing when they do the same by writing literature. It's a sweet story.

 

I also read three short ebooks on writing that have been on my kindle for years.

 

Writing Genre Fiction: Creating Imaginary Worlds: The Twelve Rules by Charles Christian - nothing new or interesting here

 

 The Pursuit of Perfection: And How it Harms Writers by Kristine Kathryn Rusch - Actually much better than I thought it would be. It talks about not getting so caught up in writing the perfect story or novel that you don't produce enough writing to earn a living, and it talks about being knowledgeable about the business side of writing. This book is a combination of three blog posts. Her blog is here.

 

Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Writing by Dean Wesley Smith - Written by the husband of Kristine Kathryn Rusch - These two are working together to teach their experience in writing for profit, which in their experience, means writing prolifically (instead of slaving over a novel for ten years - or even one year) and being knowledgeable about copyright law and the business side of writing, maybe not using an agent. His blog is here.

[Mothersweets]

Good morning everyone! 

 

I'm still working on War and Peace and am almost finished with the third Poldark book - Jeremy Poldark. I want to get caught up to the point where the Masterpiece Theater series will start up again in October. 

[mumto2]

I have several books started but started one that others might he interested in because many of us like Scandinavian fiction. I waited a really long time for Quick Sand https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30724110-quicksand which was billed as a Swedish bestseller. I waited so long I completely forgot what it was so was a bit surprised to discover it was about a school massacre. :( I am still at the horror stage but the first 50 pages have kept me engaged. It's not a traditional mystery at this stage. Totally written in the one survivor's/ killer pov so far. I need a book that starts with a Q so at least for now continuing........

[Matryoshka]

Finished two books this week - both of which I started and finished this week. The stuff I was already reading last week I think I still am...

 

70. All Our Wrong Todays - fun, fast read. Our hero, a loser in utopia, goes back in time and mucks up the past, resulting in our current reality, where he ironically is personally much happier.  But he still feels guilty.  

 

71. A Long Way Home - the book the movie Lion was made from. A boy gets lost in India, gets adopted by a Tasmanian couple, and years later manages to track down his birth family.  A heart-warming story.

 

 

Currently/still reading:

 

- The Radium Girls (ebook) - A case study on whether if we regulated business less, would they do the right thing...  Compelling reading.  

 

- The Round House (audiobook) - really enjoying this - have to finish soon - it's due back!

 

- Menschen im Hotel / Grand Hotel by Vicki Baum - been meaning to get to this for a while, and haven't read German in a bit...

 

- War and Peace - I'm all caught up!  The war parts are definitely sloggier, and I need to remember to read this earlier in the day, as in the evening I end up nodding off and having to re-read passages!  Thanks to whoever told us to read the Wiki on the Battle of Austerlitz ahead of time, that helped...

 

 

Coming Up:

 

My hold on the audio of Dune expired - I was trying to wait till I finished my previous book to download it, because Dune is long and I'll need all the time I can get.  I'm wondering if I should get audio CDs instead, as I can keep those longer...  at any rate, can't do it next anymore, so I think I'll listen to The Essex Serpent next. 

 

The Sympathizer will be my next ebook.  I have Good Women of China by Xinran out from the library, and will start that after Menschen im Hotel.

 

All Our Wrong Todays finished up my A-Z author challenge for the year; the Xinran book will finish my A-Z author challenge.  :001_cool:

 

 

I still need a Ruby book!!  :bigear:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kareni]

A one day only currently free classic for Kindle readers ~

 

The Warden (The Chronicles of Barsetshire Book 1) by Anthony Trollope

 

 

About the Author

Anthony Trollope (1815–1882) was the author of over fifty books of fiction and nonfiction and is widely regarded as one of the preeminent English novelists of the Victorian era. Uncommon in his ability to capture both a wide readership and the highest respect of his most influential critics and peers—including luminaries such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, William Thackeray, Henry James, and George Eliot—Trollope is best remembered for two great sextets, the Chronicles of Barsetshire and the Pallisers, as well as his late-career satirical masterpiece The Way We Live Now.

 

 

"A well-meaning public official finds himself embroiled in a political scandal in this acclaimed satire.

Set in an almshouse in rural England, The Warden features the realism, satire, and biting social commentary that helped establish Anthony Trollope as one of the preeminent English novelists of his day.
 
Septimus Harding is the modest and wizened warden of Hiram’s Hospital, a charitable institution funded by money bequeathed to the Diocese of Barchester. When young upstart John Bold stages a campaign that challenges the use of these charitable funds—and Harding’s seemingly exorbitant earnings—critics come out of the woodwork to question the hospital’s dealings. And making matters personal, Bold is courting Harding’s daughter, Eleanor.
 
The first installment in the Chronicles of Barsetshire, The Warden illuminates perceived Christian hypocrisies, yet strikes a light-hearted tone. A clear-eyed and humane work of satire, it brilliantly examines issues just as relevant today as in Victorian England."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

I recently finished a couple of books ~

 

Lunch with the Do-Nothings at the Tammy Dinette  by Killian B. Brewer. I enjoyed this story.

 

"When Marcus Sumter, a short-order cook with dreams of being a chef, inherits a house in small town Marathon, Georgia, he leaves his big city life behind. Marcus intends to sell the house to finance his dreams, but a group of lovable busybodies called the Do-Nothings, a new job at the local diner, the Tammy Dinette, and a handsome mechanic named Hank cause Marcus to rethink his plans. Will he return to the life he knew or will he finally put down roots?"

 

ALSO

 

A Sky Full of Stars (The Shaughnessy Brothers Book 5)  by Samantha Chase.  This was a pleasant contemporary romance, but I don't think it's a book I'll be re-reading.

 

"The elements of this winning romance are definitely in sync." —Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW

 

"He's always looked to the stars
Now she's the brightest light in his universe.

Brilliant astrophysicist Dr. Owen Shaughnessy feels more connected to the cosmos than to people. He's great with calculations, but when he leads a team of scientists to study a famous meteor shower, he doesn't factor in his free-spirited artist assistant Brooke Matthews.

Polar opposites in personality, the friction between Owen and Brooke threatens to derail the project. But the beauty and mystery of the night sky draw them together—and she's going to surprise him in ways the stars never could."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Matryoshka]

am almost finished with the third Poldark book - Jeremy Poldark. I want to get caught up to the point where the Masterpiece Theater series will start up again in October. 

 

I was totally obsessed with the original Poldark back in the day (came out when I was a teen).  I grabbed some freebie mass-market paperbacks of the novels a long time ago, but didn't ever get around to reading them.  I just gave them away in a purge because they're now on overdrive, and I know I'll never read cramped tiny-print mass-market pbs anyway.

 

I liked the new series, but wasn't as gaga over it as the first one, but that might just be that I'm old and jaded.  I'm kind of scared to go back and watch the first series (but I still might).

 

How are the books?  

[Negin]

I read: Gunn's Golden Rules: Life's Little Lessons for Making it Work - 4 Stars - I adore Tim Gunn and really enjoyed reading this. This book is partly a memoir and partly an anecdotal guide to manners and decency.

 

Some of my favorite quotes:

 

“You can be too rich and too thin, but you can never be too well read or too curious about the world.â€

 

“I am a stickler for good manners, and I believe that treating other people well is a lost art. In the workplace, at the dinner table, and walking down the street--we are confronted with choices on how to treat people nearly every waking moment. Over time these choices define who we are and whether we have a lot of friends and allies or none.â€

 

“I don’t believe in texting while dining, sending one-word e-mails in lieu of formal thank-you cards, wearing shorts to the theater, or settling for any of the modern trends that favor comfort over politeness, ease over style. Manners are simply about asking yourself: ‘What’s the right thing to do?’â€

 

and About Alice - 1 Star - Since I was unfamiliar with the author and his wife, this book did not resonate with me at all. It’s possible that those who are familiar with the author’s writings may enjoy it. Not me. At first, I liked how much he missed and loved his wife. As the book progressed, I didn’t particularly care for the name dropping and the perfect life – perfect wife, perfect daughters, everyone’s beautiful, Ivy League, you get the idea. I’m sure that there are people like that. In fact, I’ve met a few, but it’s not exactly what I wanted to read about. I felt that this memoir didn’t have much depth. 

 

   

 

MY RATING SYSTEM

5 Stars

Fantastic, couldn't put it down

4 Stars

Really Good

3 Stars

Enjoyable

2 Stars

Just Okay – nothing to write home about

1 Star

Rubbish – waste of my money and time. Few books make it to this level, since I usually give up on them if they’re that bad.

[Angelaboord]

So as I am typing this (on my iPad mini), I am sitting upstairs in our big bonus/Lego room in a camp chair with a sleeping baby while my husband is cutting up chunks of our dining area flooring with a circular saw. My goal was to start a lighter school schedule after July 4, but obviously - since we do lots of school at our table -- that's not going to happen. I do hope to get back to reading aloud to everyone, though - soon! I haven't any read alouds to add to Goodreads in quite a while. [emoji45]

 

Last week I spent a lot of my "free" time planning school (for 5 "official" students this year), but I did manage to finish 2 books. I always get to the point with school planning where I throw up my hands and stalk off to read something totally unrelated. So I finished the new David Sedaris book Theft by Finding last week and I also read Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak.

 

Theft By Finding represents over 20 years of David Sedaris' edited diary entries, and I was so relieved when he finally gave up drinking and pot! The first half of the book is like watching a train wreck, but eventually things get better for him and at that point, his entries get funnier. (Although I did find some of the entries after he became successful to feel a little affected, like maybe he was trying too hard.). The funniest entries in the book, IMO, are the ones in which he is learning French. This one is definitely not for the gentle or easily offended reader; there's a lot of profanity and discussions about adult content. David Sedaris fans would probably like it, but writers might also be interested in how another writer keeps a diary.

 

Impossible Fortress was a Book of the Month selection back in May (I think). I have a stack of BoM books sitting unread on a shelf and I'm trying to read my way through them. I always think I am going to cancel my subscription and then I think, but ooh, this extra book looks interesting and what about that one? So I have a stack.

 

Impossible Fortress was "sweet" if you can call a plot based on 3 teenage boys trying to steal a Playb*y in 1987 "sweet". It basically felt like a bunch of 80's movies mushed together, beginning with, probably, Meatballs. (Actually, I have to admit that I have never seen the real version, just the cut one. We didn't have cable and I wasn't allowed to watch R movies!). It's a story about first love and Commodore 64s. Enjoyably geeky, good for a beach read, don't leave it lying around the house if you have young boys because there's an unfortunate ACSII illustration near the beginning, but Ready Player One and Eleanor and Park were better.

 

ETA: I think I am going to use Impossible Fortress for the Debut Author square and use Chemistry (which I mentioned last time I posted) for the One Word title square.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Edited July 9, 2017 by Angelaboord

[Narrow Gate Academy]

I had a busy start to the summer helping with VBS at church, getting state testing done with the kids, and dealing with produce from the garden so it's been a few weeks since I've checked in.

 

Books Finished

📚Grim by Eidem - despite the issues with consistent verb tense, an enjoyable romance with some adult content. A scarred, unwanted Tornian warrior suddenly finds himself with a human female and two girls to take care of. 4 stars

📚Blade Bound by Neill - The conclusion to the Chicagoland Vampires series with a wedding, a dragon, and a baby. 4 stars.

📚The Violet Countercharm by Goodfellow - Another entertaining cozy mystery of a reluctant witch and her eight immortal cats. Quite funny. 4 stars

📚Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by Rawling - Reread of the series continues. 5 stars

📚The Witch Of Bohemia by Goodfellow - book 3, 4 stars again. (I borrowed the first five books from Amazon as a set under the title The Infinity Investigates through the kindle lending library.)

📚Hammered by Hearne - Atticus must keep his promise to help kill Thor. Not quite as good as the first two, but still entertaining. 4 stars.

📚The Black Diamond Curse by Goodfellow 4 stars

📚A Spell in Mag Mell by Goodfellow - book 5, 4 stars

📚Shifting Dreams by Hunter - Free first book in a mystery series with shifters from an author I've previously enjoyed. Not quite as good as her elemental books, but still entertaining enough for 5 stars

📚Wray by Eidem - Second Tornian book. Still trouble with verb tenses, but the plot and characters make up for it. 4 stars

📚Haunted Redemption by Royce - Divorced mom takes up ghost removal to pay the bills. Lots of layers in the plot, but not sure I enjoyed the main character enough to continue. 4 stars

📚Skinwalker by Hunter - First book in the Jane Yellowrock series. Good urban fantasy although it dragged a bit at times. 4 stars

📚Glory in Death by Robb - excellent 4 stars

📚Obsidian Son by Silvers - free through Kindle Prime library. Nate Temple, the billionaire wizard, suddenly finds himself beset by dragons all wanting a book that only the Minotaur can give him. He just has to stay alive long enough to actually sell it to his client. 3 stars.

 

Long Term Reads

ðŸ¢ESV Bible - currently in Proverbs

ðŸ¢The History of the Ancient World - only 4 chapters over the last few weeks, but I made it to page 500

ðŸ¢War and Peace - way behind, but will try to catch up this week

 

Currently Reading

📚Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by Rawling

📚Blood Cross by Hunter aka Jane Yellowrock #2

📚Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Sullivan - halfway through but it's only so-so, not sure I'll finish

[Ethel Mertz]

 

How nerdy is it to be planning what to read next year when next year is still half a year away? :D

 

Ha! Mere minutes before I read your post, I started a Word document entitled "2018 Reading Ideas!" I suspect that you're among like-minded nerds.

 

This week I finished Rebecca Solnit's book of essays, A Field Guide to Getting Lost.  There were moments of loveliness in this book but I found the essays to be uneven.  Perhaps that is because of what I brought to the book. I particularly enjoyed her essays on deserts--but found myself shaking my head when she talked about Delta Blues and the rural South.  It was then that I felt she should stick to what she knows which is California, etc.--not the American rural South!  That said, I loved her analysis of Hitchcock's film Vertigo, one of my favorite films of all time, one set in her home of San Francisco.

(1) I misread "deserts" as "desserts." Took me a few moments to catch on... (2) What authors from the US rural south do you recommend? 

[Ali in OR]

I also read All Our Wrong Todays this week and found it a quick and easy summer read. Great for time travel buffs. I did think it read like a YA book though it's not classified as such. Short sentences, short chapters, self-absorbed.

 

Still caught up in W&P! I can read quite a lot of the "peace" sections in a sitting. "War" goes more slowly but I still find it interesting. I think it will be interesting to see how their battle experiences change Prince Andrei and young Rostov. And I will echo the thanks for the suggestion to read up on the battle of Austerlitz--that did help (though I knew who was going to win...)

 

[Matryoshka]

Ha! Mere minutes before I read your post, I started a Word document entitled "2018 Reading Ideas!" I suspect that you're among like-minded nerds.

 

LOL, I haven't started this yet, but I've definitely been thinking about it!  With Goodreads so helpfully keeping track of things I might like to read, I have well over 400 books to sift through (and more being added all the time...)

[Lori D.]

Last year I read Butler's Dawn (first of the Xenogenesis series). Very creative and interesting world. The first half of the book was absolutely fascinating in the "first contact" with a very alien race. The second half of the book dropped so much of what was interesting in the set-up, and started a new focus, which was more about the blurred distinctions between s*x/r*pe/relationship, and humans whose choices seemed to be extremely driven by the intense s*x pleasure and connection offered by the aliens. I was not as interested in pursuing those themes, so, while I did finish the book, I did not continue with the series.

 

 

After spending the past month re-reading all 16 of the (paperback) books in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, I added #17, Precious and Grace, this week. While they are all light, fun, sweet, "popcorn" summer reads, this one seemed "stalled out" for the first half of the book. There was a nice scene of reflection on the power of (and need for) forgiveness, and a few moments of humor, but overall, this entry falls near the bottom of the series, IMO. Still, you can't go completely awry with light mysteries for summer fare reading. ;)

 

Continuing to move through the 900-page The Sunne in Splendor at a glacial pace. Just passed the 200-page mark. Still really enjoying it, esp. the politics and the massive pendulum swings in power! Yowza! And I really like that it delves into the minds and motivations of so many characters -- it's really NOT just a historical fiction biography of Richard III.

 

Would really like our own sun to not be quite so intensely splendid -- it's been 105Ëš (and often much higher!) since June 15th. I'm very tired of getting into a car with an air temperature so hot that within about 10 seconds, the metal in my necklace or earrings is so hot, that I'm having to use a free hand to keep jiggling and bouncing the jewelry off my skin to keep from getting burned, until the AC can finally cool the car down to "just hot" after 5 minutes of running at max. No exaggeration folks!   :eek:   :mad:

Edited July 12, 2017 by Lori D.

[Happy]

Good morning everyone! 

 

I'm still working on War and Peace and am almost finished with the third Poldark book - Jeremy Poldark. I want to get caught up to the point where the Masterpiece Theater series will start up again in October. 

 

Someone told me not long ago that I would love Poldark (Masterpiece Theater). On a quiet evening earlier this week, my dh & I started watching...and are hooked. We are into the second season now.

I've just put the first of the books into my Amazon cart.

 

 

My reading this week--actually since the 4th--has been a trip to the moon via Apollo 8. I was a tween girl when they did their Christmas broadcast from lunar orbit. The memory of being at my grandmother's home and hearing that lovely broadcast is a strong one. The book is written by Jeffery Kluger who also wrote Lost Moon about Apollo 13. If you like reading about the grand days of the space program, this is a good book. He has a readable, interesting writing style. I learned some things I've never heard before.

[Stacia]

.

Edited November 2, 2017 by Stacia

[Jane in NC]

Ha! Mere minutes before I read your post, I started a Word document entitled "2018 Reading Ideas!" I suspect that you're among like-minded nerds.

 

(1) I misread "deserts" as "desserts." Took me a few moments to catch on... (2) What authors from the US rural south do you recommend? 

 

On (1):  I am now envisioning a dessert tortoise! 

 

On (2):  I can't speak for the entire South.  ;)  But I can recommend a couple of books/authors that reflect my world in Eastern NC.

 

You may have already read this one:  Blood Done Sign my Name by Tim Tyson.

 

Clyde Edgerton.  He burst onto the scene with Raney which led to him losing his job at Campbell University.  He currently is on the faculty at UNC-Wilmington. (You may be interested in his Crossroads project.)

 

From Georgia, Janise Ray offers a personal love story of the pine savannas of the rural South in Ecology of a Cracker Childhood. (We wander in the local  pine savannas regularly to view insectivorous plants so I feel this is part of my world.)

 

Not just the South but it is what created James Brown.  Admittedly I have a fan girl crush on James McBride so I enjoyed his book Kill 'em and Leave  a bio of James Brown (coupled with memoir). I listened to the audio whilst driving to Saint Simons Island, GA. Perhaps that added to my enjoyment.

 

Chef Vivian Howard has a cookbook with more than recipes.  Deep Run Roots has stories of family, community, church and farms.  And if you ever have a chance, go to one of her restaurants.  Chef and the Farmer is the fancy pants dinner place; The Boiler Room is laid back. Both are in Kinston  and both are wonderful.  Or watch her PBS show A Chef's Life for a glimpse of Eastern NC.

 

I'll probably think of a few more recommendations later.

 

 

[Stacia]

.

Edited November 2, 2017 by Stacia

[mumto2]

Stacia regarding Scandinavian Mysteries......

 

The Dinosaur Feather is one of my favourites https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/the-dinosaur-feather-by-sj-gazan-is-a-weird-and-ingenious-new-mystery/2013/12/08/e87599e6-5c21-11e3-be07-006c776266ed_story.html

 

I like James Thompson, Ragnor Jonasson, and Lotte Hammer too. :)

[Carol in Cal.]

I have been binging on current US sociology books--Evicted most recently (fantastic field work book about low income barely not homeless residents of Milwaukee, home to my ILs), and previously a glorious reread of Hillbilly Elegy for my book group--my favorite book of 2016, and an excellent one to reread.  Also Strangers in Their Own Land, pretty good, by Arlie Hochschild, whose other books I have tended to enjoy.  Now I am bogged down in What's the Matter with Kansas, and taking a break from it.

 

In progress is a novel I am loving as a fairly hefty summer read -- "Hild".  It's a historical fiction rendering of the life of St. Hilda of Whitby, someone who I had never heard of.  Quite fascinating to the history and fiber buff, both of which I am, and very entertaining.  I'm loving it.

 

I do not understand why people like Kindred.  I found it poor and contrived as science fiction and very sensationalized, didn't break any new ground, and not all that well written.  I realize that this is an uncommon view, if reviews are to be believed.  It was assigned to DD in high school and I felt that it was more of a middle school book.  Anyway, if you love this book, please help me to learn to appreciate it.  I've read it twice and I just don't get the draw.

[Matryoshka]

Continuing to move through the 900-page The Sunne in Splendor at a glacial pace. Just passed the 200-page mark. Still really enjoying it, esp. the politics and the massive pendulum swings in power! Yowza! And I really like that it delves into the minds and motivations of so many characters -- it's really NOT just a historical fiction biography of Richard III.

 

I'd probably be reading this right now, but it got pushed down my TR list because of W&P.  I can only handle one tome at a time!  But this is the book I'm planning to use for my last bingo square, so have to get to it this year (when are we finishing W&P? ;) )

 

Looking forward to hearing what you think of it!  :)

[Matryoshka]

I finally got my Goodreads current list up to date. 

 

Yay!!  ...I update my Goodreads feed nightly.  I may be addicted...

 

The Nightingale - I have a lot of problems with this novel which I'll put in a separate post. Book club meeting to discuss it is this Tuesday

 

Interested to hear what you think.  I hear a lot about this book, but I think I've seen some reviews which have kept it off my TR list for now.  (of course, now I remember nothing about what those reviews said...)

 

The Basque History of the World: The Story of a Nation - non fiction, long term read

 

 

Someone else here read this earlier this year too, yes?  Do you think I should read it - we're currently hosting our second Basque exchange student!  I currently have a couple of other possible books picked out for the Basque square - one's a thriller that take place partly there and includes the ETA; the other is the only translated Basque novel I could find - but not sure what I'll pick yet...

[Chrysalis Academy]

 

 

 

Someone else here read this earlier this year too, yes?  Do you think I should read it - we're currently hosting our second Basque exchange student!  I currently have a couple of other possible books picked out for the Basque square - one's a thriller that take place partly there and includes the ETA; the other is the only translated Basque novel I could find - but not sure what I'll pick yet...

 

Or listen to it, that's what I did. If you can get ahold of the audio version. I really enjoyed listening to it.

[Jane in NC]

Ethel inspired our dinner conversation this evening. I'd like to add recommendations from my husband:

 

• Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt (which I really should read because I love Savannah)
• Josh White: Society Blues by Elijah Wald (which my husband calls a great history of folk music and the Piedmont Blues)
• Cape Fear Rising by Philip Gerard (concerning the only coup d'etat of a legally elected governmental body in the US, the overthrow of the governing body of Wilmington, NC in 1898)

 

[Carol in Cal.]

I was totally obsessed with the original Poldark back in the day (came out when I was a teen).  I grabbed some freebie mass-market paperbacks of the novels a long time ago, but didn't ever get around to reading them.  I just gave them away in a purge because they're now on overdrive, and I know I'll never read cramped tiny-print mass-market pbs anyway.

 

I liked the new series, but wasn't as gaga over it as the first one, but that might just be that I'm old and jaded.  I'm kind of scared to go back and watch the first series (but I still might).

 

How are the books?  

 

Me, too!  My favorite picture of my husband is kind of a Poldark pose, on a bluff in a tux. 

[Ethel Mertz]

Thanks Jane and Stacia for the book suggestions! Ann B. Ross (of the Miss Julia series) lives in Hendersonville, NC and so provides a light-hearted view, but I also just discovered Wilma Dykeman's work. I'm currently reading her Family of Earth: A Southern Mountain Childhood, but am making slow progress because ... W&P ...
 
W&P snippet on the focus of a soldier going into battle from p. 300, Garnett translation.
 
"The soldier in movement is as much shut in, surrounded, drawn along by his regiment, as the sailor is by his ship. However great a distance he traverses, however strange, unknown, and dangerous the regions to which he penetrates, all about him, as the sailor has the deck and masts and rigging of his ship, he has always everywhere the same comrades, the same ranks, the same sergeant Ivan Mitritch, the same regimental dog Zhutchka, the same officers. The soldier rarely cares to know into what region his ship has sailed; but on the day of battle - God knows how or whence it comes - there may be heard in the moral world of the troops a sterner note that sounds at the approach of something grave and solemn, and rouses them to a curiosity unusual in them. On days of battle, soldiers make strenuous efforts to escape from the routine of their regiment's interests, they listen, watch intently, and greedily inquire what is being done around them."
 
And, then, earlier - a description of Rostov's almost religious ecstasy upon seeing the Emperor from pp. 272-273.
 

"By God! what would happen to me if the Emperor were to address me!" thought Rostov; "I should die of happiness."

The Tsar addressed the officers, too.

"All of you, gentlemen" (every word sounded to Rostov like heavenly music), "I thank you with all my heart."

"How happy Rostov would have been if he could have died on the spot for his Emperor.

"You have won the flags of St. George and will be worthy of them."

"Only to die, to die for him!" thought Rostov.

The Tsar said something more which Rostov did not catch, and the soldiers, straining their lungs, roared "hurrah!"

Rostov, too, bending over in his saddle, shouted with all his might, feeling he would like to do himself some injury by this shout, if only he could give full expression to his enthusiasm for the Tsar.

The Tsar stood for several seconds facing the hussars, as though he were hesitating.

"How could the Emperor hesitate?" Rostov wondered; but then, even that hesitation seemed to him majestic and enchanting, like all the Tsar did.

----------------------

Both of these passages describe the mindset of the soldiers, ranging from ecstasy (the latter quote) to a sort of dissociation from (or numbness to) what is about to happen (the former).

[Ethel Mertz]

I meant to add two W&P related books I'm reading: Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia by Orlando Figes and Andrew Kaufman's Give War & Peace a Chance. Thanks to whomever it was that suggested those titles. 

[Ethel Mertz]

For fans of Louise Penny.

[Mom-ninja.]

I read: Gunn's Golden Rules: Life's Little Lessons for Making it Work - 4 Stars - I adore Tim Gunn and really enjoyed reading this. This book is partly a memoir and partly an anecdotal guide to manners and decency.

 

Some of my favorite quotes:

 

“You can be too rich and too thin, but you can never be too well read or too curious about the world.â€

 

“I am a stickler for good manners, and I believe that treating other people well is a lost art. In the workplace, at the dinner table, and walking down the street--we are confronted with choices on how to treat people nearly every waking moment. Over time these choices define who we are and whether we have a lot of friends and allies or none.â€

 

“I don’t believe in texting while dining, sending one-word e-mails in lieu of formal thank-you cards, wearing shorts to the theater, or settling for any of the modern trends that favor comfort over politeness, ease over style. Manners are simply about asking yourself: ‘What’s the right thing to do?’â€

 

 

 

   

 

MY RATING SYSTEM

5 Stars

Fantastic, couldn't put it down

4 Stars

Really Good

3 Stars

Enjoyable

2 Stars

Just Okay – nothing to write home about

1 Star

Rubbish – waste of my money and time. Few books make it to this level, since I usually give up on them if they’re that bad.

 

I read that a few years back. I also love Gunn. 

[Mothersweets]

I was totally obsessed with the original Poldark back in the day (came out when I was a teen).  I grabbed some freebie mass-market paperbacks of the novels a long time ago, but didn't ever get around to reading them.  I just gave them away in a purge because they're now on overdrive, and I know I'll never read cramped tiny-print mass-market pbs anyway.

 

I liked the new series, but wasn't as gaga over it as the first one, but that might just be that I'm old and jaded.  I'm kind of scared to go back and watch the first series (but I still might).

 

How are the books?  

 

I like the books more than the tv series. I think it is because the tv series makes the stories feel more soap opera-y. :) . Don't get me wrong - I do like the series (Aiden Turner!) but sometimes it all feels a bit over the top so I just comfort myself with knowing that the books are good and the creators of the tv version are not doing it right. ;) or maybe I'm just a snob about books being turned into movies/tv, haha.

[Mothersweets]

For fans of Louise Penny.

 

Thank you for this!

[Mothersweets]

I read: Gunn's Golden Rules: Life's Little Lessons for Making it Work - 4 Stars - I adore Tim Gunn and really enjoyed reading this. This book is partly a memoir and partly an anecdotal guide to manners and decency.

 

Some of my favorite quotes:

 

“You can be too rich and too thin, but you can never be too well read or too curious about the world.â€

 

“I am a stickler for good manners, and I believe that treating other people well is a lost art. In the workplace, at the dinner table, and walking down the street--we are confronted with choices on how to treat people nearly every waking moment. Over time these choices define who we are and whether we have a lot of friends and allies or none.â€

 

“I don’t believe in texting while dining, sending one-word e-mails in lieu of formal thank-you cards, wearing shorts to the theater, or settling for any of the modern trends that favor comfort over politeness, ease over style. Manners are simply about asking yourself: ‘What’s the right thing to do?’â€

 

   

 

MY RATING SYSTEM

5 Stars

Fantastic, couldn't put it down

4 Stars

Really Good

3 Stars

Enjoyable

2 Stars

Just Okay – nothing to write home about

1 Star

Rubbish – waste of my money and time. Few books make it to this level, since I usually give up on them if they’re that bad.

 

I've gotten all my dds to love Project Runway and we all love Tim Gunn. I read this a few years ago and admire him - he seems like such a good person. 

[SimonJoshep]

Octavia Butler is on my list for later this year, for sure: I've read a number of her novels over the years, but plan to re-read/pre-read a bunch of them for our Dystopian Lit class. Right now, I'm stalled in the vanilla-flavored feminist dystopias of the 70s and 80s. I've found these to be rather hit-and-miss, but I am currently enjoying the second of Suzette Haden Elgin's Native Tongue series, The Judas Rose. It's about a future where women (in the 80s) were stripped of their adult rights and made permanent second-class citizens. It's also about a group of linguist families that facilitate human interaction with alien species by interfacing with aliens from birth, thus becoming native speakers of alien languages, something no other under humans can do. I studied psycholinguistics in my past, so it's interesting to me from that POV, as well as the dystopian/feminist aspect. 

 

I'm also reading Cane River, by Lalita Tademy - a fascinating exploration of the author's ancestresses, beginning with a mulatto slave in Louisiana and continuing to the author's own mother. It's a fictionalized account of 4 generations of women, very fascinating, well-researched and well-written. Reminds me a bit of Homegoing, but less brutal/gritty, and real, in the sense that the author is imagining the stories of the women who she has extensively researched and has many photos, documents, etc. about. 

 

I just finished Drown by Junot Diaz. His stories are largely autobiographical, about his family, his childhood in the Dominican Republic, his move to New Jersey and his teen years there. This is the second book of his stories I've read - I read This Is How You Lose Her several years ago, which is about his "character" Yunior's adult life and relationships with women. In both cases the stories are brutal, gritty, but just stellarly written. One of the purposes of reading is to live lives utterly foreign to your own, and this writer gives me the opportunity to inhabit a reality that is - thankfully - quite foreign to my own experience. I like how his stories embrace a shifting cast of interrelated characters, and how some of them take alternate points of view on similar events. These stories aren't for the faint-hearted, and they are rather depressing, but broadening, too.

 

Also finished this week: Vonnegut's Sirens of Titan, which I didn't much care for, Neil Gaiman's Stardust, which I loved, and Jim Butcher's Storm Front, a mildly entertaining story about a wizard detective I read because dd did.

Thanks for the detailed reply. Its worth it. 

[Butter]

Yesterday I finished reading Ultraviolet by RJ Anderson.  Parts of it were interesting since my daughter has synesthesia, but the whole book really went off the rails.  I just kept picturing that dude from the History Channel saying, "Aliens!"  I felt like the book was trying to be way too many things at once and became a mess.

 

What are you reading this week?

 

I'm reading "You Look Like That Girl..." by Lisa Jakub.  Next is My Name Used to Be Muhammad by Tito Momen.  It's our book club book this month.  My daughter is reading it, too.  In our church, the age for moving up from young women into Relief Society isn't set in stone.  For most girls, it's some time after they graduate from high school when they feel ready to be in with the "old ladies."  Ani's 17 (birthday in February), but she finished high school this spring, works almost full time managing a taekwondo studio, and there's a relationship starting to happen between her and a young man I just adore who happens to already be 20.  So her world is so much different than even the girls her own age who have one more year of high school.  So she agonized over the decision and finally this week decided it was time to move up.  Since the book club is a small group activity for the Relief Society women, that means she gets to join us.  The funny thing is three of the women who do the book group every month are women she was taught by in young women so she'll be very comfortable with us old people lol

[Violet Crown]

Suzuki camp is at last over, leaving, I hope, more time for reading. I will be just as happy not to hear small stringed instruments being scraped on, not to eat another greasy free hotel breakfast, and not to drive another mile on a hot Texas highway for a very long time. Only about 200 pages further through War and Peace than last week.

[fastweedpuller]

I have been binging on current US sociology books--Evicted most recently (fantastic field work book about low income barely not homeless residents of Milwaukee, home to my ILs), and previously a glorious reread of Hillbilly Elegy for my book group--my favorite book of 2016, and an excellent one to reread.  Also Strangers in Their Own Land, pretty good, by Arlie Hochschild, whose other books I have tended to enjoy.  Now I am bogged down in What's the Matter with Kansas, and taking a break from it.

 

In progress is a novel I am loving as a fairly hefty summer read -- "Hild".  It's a historical fiction rendering of the life of St. Hilda of Whitby, someone who I had never heard of.  Quite fascinating to the history and fiber buff, both of which I am, and very entertaining.  I'm loving it.

Carol, your reading was my deep obsession last year.  I recommend $2 a Day too, and White Trash.  I am still laboring through Arlie Hochschild's book though.  Just can't come back to it somehow.  But thank you for Hild!  right up my alley

 

Thanks Jane and Stacia for the book suggestions! Ann B. Ross (of the Miss Julia series) lives in Hendersonville, NC and so provides a light-hearted view, but I also just discovered Wilma Dykeman's work. I'm currently reading her Family of Earth: A Southern Mountain Childhood, but am making slow progress because ... W&P ...

Similar to that vein of biography/sociology etc. I have been trying to get my mitts on Family of Earth but no library in Michigan carries it! horrors.  It seems that that book, and any Octavia Butler books, are just in the deep beyond for me unless I, you know, opened my pocketbook and spent actual money on my reading :sleep:

 

Lori D, I was one of many on here who fell quite deeply for Dickon and his family, it was with sadness that I finally finished it.

 

Speaking of reading, I finished Middlemarch last night.  And sigh sniff sigh.  Like War and Peace, it gets me right in the solar plexus.  Am enjoying your reviews and thoughts of W&P!

 

Also, I finished 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus.  Wow do I wish I had read this book before I started teaching homeschool history.  So many myths busted, so much new (to me) information.  I thought the author could be sometimes annoyingly equivocal in his giving voice to all points of a theory, but...if you have any interest at all in pre-European America, this is your book.  Considering how many new revelations have been made since its writing (e.g., the beginning of the Anthropocene and perhaps the Little Ice Age being direct results of contact) makes me want to pick up the author's follow-up:  1493:  Uncovering the New World Columbus Created. 

 

But this will have to wait.  It was with great! effort!  that I *only* read those two books.  I need to exercise some discipline and finish my half-read pile before I take on anything new.  Dinner before dessert and all that.  :)

 

ETA:  NPR's Morning Edition had a piece on Octavia Butler this morning, heard it on my drive to work, thought of all of you

Edited July 10, 2017 by fastweedpuller

[Kareni]

A one day only currently free classic for Kindle readers ~

 

The Triumphs of Eugene Valmont by Robert Barr  

 

About the Author

Robert Barr (1850-1912) moved with his family from Scotland to Ontario when he was four years old and spent his formative years there. He moved to the United States in 1876 and was on the staff of the Detroit Free Press. In 1881 he moved to England and was co-editor until 1911 with Jerome K. Jerome of the The Idler. Although they have become relatively unfamiliar to contemporary students of Canadian literature, Barr's novels, short stories, and articles were well known and read in the latter nineteenth century, in Canada and elsewhere.

 

 

 

"Can Paris’s most interesting detective make it in London?

Eugène Valmont was once considered one of Paris’s top detectives. But a high-profile failure to recover the jewels of Marie Antoinette made him the laughingstock of the city, and in turn caused him to flee to the last place any self-respecting Parisian would ever want to be: London. Despite the stiffness of his English contemporaries and the red tape of their legal system, however, Valmont continues to try to solve crimes. Going toe-to-toe with the likes of his crime-fighting rival, Sherlock Holmes, Valmont will break any rule necessary to catch his man—no matter what the stakes."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Carol in Cal.]

Carol, your reading was my deep obsession last year.  I recommend $2 a Day too, and White Trash.  I am still laboring through Arlie Hochschild's book though.  Just can't come back to it somehow.  But thank you for Hild!  right up my alley

 

 

I think I have read White Trash, but not $2 a Day.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Nickel and Dimed kind of fits into that genre, and I thought it was excellent when I read it a few years back.

 

Arlie's book annoyed me a lot at first.  For about the first third I felt like she was missing the point, pretty much entirely, and sounded fairly condescending, which I really hate.  But later on when she started to really figure things out it got better.  It does demonstrate the deep cultural divide between, say, Berkeley and the Bayou, which is interesting.  

 

In that regard it kind of reminded me of an unrelated book that I adore, "Plain and Simple".  In that memoir, a woman with a very busy, modern, brittle life as an artist becomes obsessed with Amish quilts and over a period of time arranges to go live with the Amish for a while several times, and then writes about it.  It's well-done, and I've read it over and over and really enjoyed it.  But there are these big honking blind spots in it--for instance, she cites the Amish calling themselves 'a peculiar people' and completely misses the Biblical reference in that quote as well as the non-standard meaning of the word 'peculiar' in that context.  While well-meaning and very observant, she can't quite bridge the entire divide, even while recording words that she thinks she understands.  That's how much of Arlie's book seems to me.

 

But I love Arlie's other work, and I persevered.  Glad I did.

[Kareni]

For those of you who like books about books and reading, I have a recommendation.  This was an enjoyable memoir that had me chuckling from time to time and sharing passages with my husband.

 

My Life with Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues  by Pamela Paul

 

"Imagine keeping a record of every book you’ve ever read. What would this reading trajectory say about you? With passion, humor, and insight, the editor of The New York Times Book Review shares the stories that have shaped her life.

 

Pamela Paul has kept a single book by her side for twenty-eight years – carried throughout high school and college, hauled from Paris to London to Thailand, from job to job, safely packed away and then carefully removed from apartment to house to its current perch on a shelf over her desk – reliable if frayed, anonymous-looking yet deeply personal. This book has a name: Bob.

 

Bob is Paul’s Book of Books, a journal that records every book she’s ever read, from Sweet Valley High to Anna Karenina, from Catch-22 to Swimming to Cambodia, a journey in reading that reflects her inner life – her fantasies and hopes, her mistakes and missteps, her dreams and her ideas, both half-baked and wholehearted. Her life, in turn, influences the books she chooses, whether for solace or escape, information or sheer entertainment.

 

But My Life with Bob isn’t really about those books. It’s about the deep and powerful relationship between book and reader. It’s about the way books provide each of us the perspective, courage, companionship, and imperfect self-knowledge to forge our own path. It’s about why we read what we read and how those choices make us who we are. It’s about how we make our own stories."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

Some currently free books for Kindle readers ~

 

travel ~

My Grape Year  by Laura Bradbury

 

sailing ~ 

Bumfuzzle by Patrick Schulte

 

romance ~ 

First Comes Love (New Castle Book 1)  by Lydia Michaels

 

paranormal ~

Bite The Dust (Blood and Moonlight Book 1)  by Cynthia Eden

 

mystery ~

Carrots: A Shelby Nichols Adventure  by Colleen Helme

 

urban fantasy ~

The Change (Unbounded Series Book 1)  by Teyla Branton

 

LGBT anthology ~

7&7  by Sean Michael and others

 

LGBT fantasy ~

The Lodestar of Ys (The Stories of Ys Book 1)  by Amy Rae Durreson

 

Regards,

Kareni