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Book a Week 2017 - BW30: Bookish Notes and Birthdays


Robin M
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So bummed to hear that Logos, the venerable mostly used bookstore in Santa Cruz, is closing over the next couple of months.

 

I went to their sale yesterday and bought, well, all the books.  ALL the books.  Blush.  Then I felt like I should support the local store up the street that is staying in business, the only remaining independent around, Bookshop Santa Cruz, so I went up there and got some more.  I had decided that I need to finally read the Game of Thrones books, so I bought the first two.  They are On The List now.

 

And I am already halfway through The Revenant.  What the heck is a Revenant? I don't actually know, but the book is a good survival book based on a true story.  It has the 'feel' and pace of "The Martian", which I loved.  OTOH, it doesn't have the degree of scientific analysis, which was one of the aspects of The Martian that I enjoyed.

 

 

 

Apparently I recently finished Ann Pachett's "Commonwealth".  As is usual with her books, I enjoyed the tight editing, the clever twists and turns, and the intermittent bursts of absolutely stunning and observant prose.  But this has a dissonant section that kind of ruined it for me.  (SPOILER ALERT, do not advance if concerned.  White area included to help.)  

 

 

 

 

 

Late in the book there is this egregious section where a main character visits her grown daughter, who it turns out has joined an ashram in of all places Switzerland.  It's really jarring to me, that setting, and it felt like a gimmick.  There are tons of great places where an ashram could have been that would have fit better into the narrative--the Santa Cruz Mountains of California, India, Japan, China, Thailand, Nepal.  But Switzerland?  Also, I felt like this derailed the author from what she is really good at--writing evocative, descriptive prose.  She could have evoked ashram life beautifully, but didn't.  Ditto Swiss landscape.  Missed opportunities for her to really show her stuff abounded.  It was disappointing all around, and reminded me of the 'one book syndrome'.

 

Incidentally, by 'apparently' in the beginning of talking about this book, what I meant was that I had decided to read it, and forgot that I finished it until I picked it up again.  It was pretty forgettable, IOW.  I think that that is partly because I have been reading a lot of heavy sociological stuff, and since I was disappointed with this book anyway, it just kind of failed to leave much of an impression.

 

Edited by Carol in Cal.
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Just for fun everybody - What's the most recent book read on your read shelf this year? If you are on Goodreads then you can go to Settings and turn on "date pub" to make it easier.

Sooo, what was that quiz from Modern Mrs Darcy?  I had pooh-poohed my result of being "an Insider" as it made me sound like such a shameless fashion slut (well *book* fashion, but...), so callow and superficial and Must Be In The Know.

 

*cough* of the 42 books I have read this year, 23 have been published since 2015. :svengo:

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A one day only currently free classic for Kindle readers; I've posted this before but perhaps it's new for some here ~

 

The Lady with the Dog: And Other Stories by Anton Chekhov

 

"Nine deeply moving and exquisitely crafted tales from a master of the short story

 

 

 

I keep reading that he is the master of the short story, but I have to confess that I don't feel the Chekov love.  I've tried.

 

Was it from the early 90's? I'm just wondering if the oldest book you've read in the last four years was 25+ years old?

 

 

 

Just for fun everybody - What's the most recent book read on your read shelf this year? If you are on Goodreads then you can go to Settings and turn on "date pub" to make it easier.

 

OMG, it looks like I've read 15 books published in 2017!  But 8 of them are nonfiction.  And I've read 16 book from before 1900.  So the tails on my curve are similar, if I get to put ~2000 years of literature in the "old books" category  :001_rolleyes:

 

This is definitely a BaW/goodreads phenomena for me . . . I feel like I never used to read this much contemporary fiction. Being more clued into what's being published, I pick up a lot of things that just never would have been on my radar before, when I was mostly reading like an English major - according to Mrs Darcy at least.  I'm not near as much of an Insider as fastweedpuller . . . only about a quarter of my books this year are published since 2015  ;) .

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So bummed to hear that Logos, the venerable mostly used bookstore in Santa Cruz, is closing over the next couple of months.

 

I went to their sale yesterday and bought, well, all the books.  ALL the books.  Blush.  Then I felt like I should support the local store up the street that is staying in business, the only remaining independent around, Bookshop Santa Cruz, so I went up there and got some more.  I had decided that I need to finally read the Game of Thrones books, so I bought the first two.  They are On The List now.

 

And I am already halfway through The Revenant.  What the heck is a Revenant? I don't actually know, but the book is a good survival book based on a true story.  It has the 'feel' and pace of "The Martian", which I loved.  OTOH, it doesn't have the degree of scientific analysis, which was one of the aspects of The Martian that I enjoyed.

 

 

 

Apparently I recently finished Ann Pachett's "Commonwealth".  As is usual with her books, I enjoyed the tight editing, the clever twists and turns, and the intermittent bursts of absolutely stunning and observant prose.  But this has a dissonant section that kind of ruined it for me.  (SPOILER ALERT, do not advance if concerned.  White area included to help.)  

 

 

 

 

 

Late in the book there is this egregious section where a main character visits her grown daughter, who it turns out has joined an ashram in of all places Switzerland.  It's really jarring to me, that setting, and it felt like a gimmick.  There are tons of great places where an ashram could have been that would have fit better into the narrative--the Santa Cruz Mountains of California, India, Japan, China, Thailand, Nepal.  But Switzerland?  Also, I felt like this derailed the author from what she is really good at--writing evocative, descriptive prose.  She could have evoked ashram life beautifully, but didn't.  Ditto Swiss landscape.  Missed opportunities for her to really show her stuff abounded.  It was disappointing all around, and reminded me of the 'one book syndrome'.

 

Incidentally, by 'apparently' in the beginning of talking about this book, what I meant was that I had decided to read it, and forgot that I finished it until I picked it up again.  It was pretty forgettable, IOW.  I think that that is partly because I have been reading a lot of heavy sociological stuff, and since I was disappointed with this book anyway, it just kind of failed to leave much of an impression.

 

Oh no! Logos! I've spent many hours in that place - sorry to hear it is closing. Wishing I could be at the sale!

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Oh no! Logos! I've spent many hours in that place - sorry to hear it is closing. Wishing I could be at the sale!

 

I told the sales clerk I was really sorry, and we got to talking (while she checked out All The Books for me), and she basically grew up there.  Her mother worked there since she was little, and she hung out there for years before starting to work there as her first job.  So sad for her.

 

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I finished my reread of Persuasion today. I added a shelf to Goodreads for books I've reread. So far Persuasion is the only one on that shelf. When I get some free time I plan to add others I've read more than once.

 

 

 

 

 

Just for fun everybody - What's the most recent book read on your read shelf this year? If you are on Goodreads then you can go to Settings and turn on "date pub" to make it easier.

 

The Goodreads stats jumbles everything together so I looked at my current challenge list of books and hovered over each to see their publication dates.

 

I read 3 that were published in 2017: 2 non-fiction and 1 fiction. I'm currently reading The Radium Girls (the library hold came in last night), so when I finish that will make 3 non-fiction. Of those published in 2016, 1 was fiction and 5 were non-fiction. I didn't tally further back but a general look tells me most of my recent books are non-fiction. Most of my fiction reading includes books published earlier than the past 5 years. 

Edited by Lady Florida.
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I have far too many books in progress to actually finish anything! ;) A couple are moving into must finish due to due dates.....The Last Templar and Midnight Curse(Scarlett Bernard new to me series).

 

 

 

That's my problem and why I haven't finished anything lately. I finally finished Persuasion because I made it a point to not read anything else until I finished it (confession: I cheated a little but just  little). I chose that one because it's the shortest of all the books I'm currently reading and I've read it before, so it seemed the easiest to finish. 

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Was it from the early 90's? I'm just wondering if the oldest book you've read in the last four years was 25+ years old?

 

 

 

Just for fun everybody - What's the most recent book read on your read shelf this year? If you are on Goodreads then you can go to Settings and turn on "date pub" to make it easier.

 

 

I've read 4 books published this year! 

 

For Deader or Worse by Sherri Cobb South

 

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

 

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

 

The Leaf Reader by Emily Arsenault - just finished this today

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I'm sorry to say that my mother fell and broke her hip yesterday.  She has had surgery and is now in the hospital recovering before moving to a rehabilitation facility.  My sister has been with her most of the time since the fall.  My husband and I already had plans to leave tomorrow for a combined trip of visiting my mother and sister along with a three day visit to Providence, Rhode Island.  (We met there in graduate school some thirty plus years ago, and I haven't been back since graduation.)  All this to say that I'll have limited internet access for the next two and a half weeks and will likely not be posting much here.

 

Regards,

Kareni

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I'm sorry to say that my mother fell and broke her hip yesterday. She has had surgery and is now in the hospital recovering before moving to a rehabilitation facility. My sister has been with her most of the time since the fall. My husband and I already had plans to leave tomorrow for a combined trip of visiting my mother and sister along with a three day visit to Providence, Rhode Island. (We met there in graduate school some thirty plus years ago, and I haven't been back since graduation.) All this to say that I'll have limited internet access for the next two and a half weeks and will likely not be posting much here.

 

Regards,

Kareni

Oh no! May she recover swiftly. We'll look forward to having you back.

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At home now, so I can find my oldest and youngest books, so far, for 2017.

 

I see that I misread my timeline and it's 7 books from the '70s, 3 from the '80s, and one from the '90s (counting all years).

 

For 2017, my youngest book was George Mackay Brown's Andrina and Other Stories, 1983 AD. The oldest was Xenophon's Anabasis, ca. 370 BC.

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I'm sorry to say that my mother fell and broke her hip yesterday.  She has had surgery and is now in the hospital recovering before moving to a rehabilitation facility.  My sister has been with her most of the time since the fall.  My husband and I already had plans to leave tomorrow for a combined trip of visiting my mother and sister along with a three day visit to Providence, Rhode Island.  (We met there in graduate school some thirty plus years ago, and I haven't been back since graduation.)  All this to say that I'll have limited internet access for the next two and a half weeks and will likely not be posting much here.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

Oh no! I hope she recovers quickly  :grouphug:  :grouphug:

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I'm sorry to say that my mother fell and broke her hip yesterday.  She has had surgery and is now in the hospital recovering before moving to a rehabilitation facility.  My sister has been with her most of the time since the fall.  My husband and I already had plans to leave tomorrow for a combined trip of visiting my mother and sister along with a three day visit to Providence, Rhode Island.  (We met there in graduate school some thirty plus years ago, and I haven't been back since graduation.)  All this to say that I'll have limited internet access for the next two and a half weeks and will likely not be posting much here.

 

Regards,

Kareni

Hugs and prayers and good thoughts for safe travels and your mom's recovery.  

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Was it from the early 90's? I'm just wondering if the oldest book you've read in the last four years was 25+ years old?

 

 

 

Just for fun everybody - What's the most recent book read on your read shelf this year? If you are on Goodreads then you can go to Settings and turn on "date pub" to make it easier.

Most recent is Roxanne St. Claire's Leader of the Pack which was just released July 20th. I unfortunately haven't updated Goodreads lately so have no idea what the spread of years is for my reads.  I do have a tendency to read more 21st century stories  than anything else.  

 

eta - I think the Wheel of time series books are close to 25+ years old. 

Edited by Robin M
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How annoying. One more reason to wait until they're safely dead.

 

:smilielol5:  

 

 

Although, I was disappointed with Mr. Clemens when I saw what he had said about Jane Austen. Not nice. 

 

 

 

I feel that way about movie stars sometimes. With the exception of some truly classic movies from the 80's - you know the kind that defined all the hopes, triumphs, and struggles of our generation like Ghostbusters and Stripes - I only really like old movies when the actors are dead. Marx brothers, Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart. Classics.

 

Sometimes I get irritated by too much (any!) politics or bad behavior with actors. What I really get annoyed with is the politics of politicians too. That's the worse. :huh: :laugh:  And that's as political as I'll get anywhere. 

 

I haven't found it too much with authors yet but I purposefully avoid reading biographies of some people for that reason. I don't really want to find out PG Wodehouse was a racists. Or that Robin McKinley's been married twelve times.

 

(These are made up examples. Not trying to slander any favorite author.)

 

Yes, I love old movies. I do get shocked/angry/annoyed at times at the blatant racism and sexism in old movies though. It can be difficult to give people a cultural pass over things like that. I like to think that these issues are just common sense and human decency, but forget how culture overrides those two things. 

 

I also am leery of biographies. I have heard rumor of Cary Grant. I refuse to delve into his personal life. I want him to be the perfect man for all time. 

 

 

Was it from the early 90's? I'm just wondering if the oldest book you've read in the last four years was 25+ years old?

 

 

 

Just for fun everybody - What's the most recent book read on your read shelf this year? If you are on Goodreads then you can go to Settings and turn on "date pub" to make it easier.

 

I have read 5 books from 2016. None from 2017. 

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Kareni - Sorry to hear about your mother. Safe travels and hurry home to us!

 


 

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

 

I just put this on reserve for DD at the library.  What did you think of it?

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Kareni - Sorry to hear about your mother. Safe travels and hurry home to us!

 

 

I just put this on reserve for DD at the library.  What did you think of it?

 

I liked it! The main characters have just graduated from high school and are thinking of the next step in their lives - one is focused on finding a spouse, one is focused on a career. It was a bit different than your usual young love story and it moved along quickly. It was a fun, quick read.

 

 Is this for your 12yo? There were a situation or two in the book that I wouldn't be comfortable having my 12yo (my 16yo on up, no problem) read but I'm pretty conservative in that regard, so just a heads up. You might want to pre-read.  :) 

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I liked it! The main characters have just graduated from high school and are thinking of the next step in their lives - one is focused on finding a spouse, one is focused on a career. It was a bit different than your usual young love story and it moved along quickly. It was a fun, quick read.

 

 Is this for your 12yo? There were a situation or two in the book that I wouldn't be comfortable having my 12yo (my 16yo on up, no problem) read but I'm pretty conservative in that regard, so just a heads up. You might want to pre-read.   :)

 

Thank you. I need to update my signature ... she's 13 now. I appreciate the heads up. I tend to be more conservative on romance books with my DD so we'll wait for the time being. 

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Kareni, I'm sorry to hear about your mom. Sending good wishes for a speedy recovery.  :grouphug:

 

I won't get much reading done today, until later this evening. We're off to celebrate our youngest grandson's 3rd birthday. Hard to believe that 3 years ago we were all terrified that neither he nor ddil would make it. He's a perfectly healthy, active, three year old boy.

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Kareni, glad you were on your way to your sister's, anyway. Glad you can give her some respite and moral support. Glad you get to visit your mom, too. Broken hips are a brutal injury at that age -- I went down that path with my mom. Many hugs to you, and hope you and your dh enjoy the trip down memory lane in RI! 

 

Reading time has been quite limited recently as it seems I spend all my time herding cats!  Well, organizing string players, both students and fellow musicians, all with strong, neurotic personalities. Just like cats. So I'm escaping to a convent this weekend -- getting me to a nunnery!  It is not for any quiet spiritual contemplation, though. Nope. I'm off to a quilting retreat in wine country!!  I'm taking a few books, a bottle of wine, sewing machine and fabric. 

 

 

 

 

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Kareni, glad you were on your way to your sister's, anyway. Glad you can give her some respite and moral support. Glad you get to visit your mom, too. Broken hips are a brutal injury at that age -- I went down that path with my mom. Many hugs to you, and hope you and your dh enjoy the trip down memory lane in RI! 

 

Reading time has been quite limited recently as it seems I spend all my time herding cats!  Well, organizing string players, both students and fellow musicians, all with strong, neurotic personalities. Just like cats. So I'm escaping to a convent this weekend -- getting me to a nunnery!  It is not for any quiet spiritual contemplation, though. Nope. I'm off to a quilting retreat in wine country!!  I'm taking a few books, a bottle of wine, sewing machine and fabric. 

 

Sounds heavenly  :laugh:

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Well, I'm not convinced that I'm going to stick it out with Ready Player One. Even though the action picked up after slogging through the first 75-100 pages or so, I still feel almost no draw to actually pick up the book & read it. While I can enjoy the '80s references, there are just too many (& too many detailed explanations of what those things were). It's not fun like I thought it would be. And I don't feel very invested in characters living in a virtual world. Thinking I will probably abandon this one.

 

 

 

Oh my gosh, thank you.  Dh got this book out of the library again because we just saw the trailer for the movie.  I am trying to get into it. AGAIN.  I just cannot!  It's like the author started out with a list of 500 pop culture references and decided that they all had to go in somewhere.  Just too much.

 

Anyhow, I'm currently reading Waypoint Kangaroo by Curtis Chen.  Fun so far, definitely not heavy Sci-Fi.  lol

 

From Amazon:  Kangaroo isnĂ¢â‚¬â„¢t your typical spy. Sure, he has extensive agency training, access to bleeding-edge technology, and a ready supply of clever (to him) quips and retorts. But what sets him apart is Ă¢â‚¬Å“the pocket.Ă¢â‚¬ ItĂ¢â‚¬â„¢s a portal that opens into an empty, seemingly infinite, parallel universe, and Kangaroo is the only person in the world who can use it. But he's pretty sure the agency only keeps him around to exploit his superpower.

 

After he bungles yet another mission, Kangaroo gets sent away on a mandatory Ă¢â‚¬Å“vacation:Ă¢â‚¬ an interplanetary cruise to Mars. While he tries to make the most of his exile, two passengers are found dead, and Kangaroo has to risk blowing his cover. It turns out he isnĂ¢â‚¬â„¢t the only spy on the shipĂ¢â‚¬â€œand heĂ¢â‚¬â„¢s just starting to unravel a massive conspiracy which threatens the entire Solar System.

Now, Kangaroo has to stop a disaster which would shatter the delicate peace thatĂ¢â‚¬â„¢s existed between Earth and Mars ever since the brutal Martian Independence War. A new interplanetary conflict would be devastating for both sides. Millions of lives are at stake.

WerenĂ¢â‚¬â„¢t vacations supposed to be relaxing?

 

I'm also reading One of Us Is Lying by Karen McManus.  It's a teen selection, called "Pretty Little Liars meets Breakfast Club" which is a good description.  It saddens me that so much teen lit includes who's sleeping with who to such a huge extent.  (Nothing graphic at all, so that's good.)  Would most teens say this IS their lives or are these adult authors trying too hard?  LOL  I dunno.  When your own kids CANNOT relate to a life revolving around that stuff on a regular basis it gets annoying trying to find something current for them to read.  (They are looking for themselves mainly at this point, obviously, but we're all regularly disappointed with teen/YA books!)  This one isn't too bad, though, and I'm really hooked to see whodunit.

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Kareni, I'm sorry to hear about your mom. Sending good wishes for a speedy recovery.  :grouphug:

 

I won't get much reading done today, until later this evening. We're off to celebrate our youngest grandson's 3rd birthday. Hard to believe that 3 years ago we were all terrified that neither he nor ddil would make it. He's a perfectly healthy, active, three year old boy.

What? It's been 3 years already? Did I blink super slowly? 

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What? It's been 3 years already? Did I blink super slowly?

I was thinking the same thing!

 

I hope you have a great vacation!

 

I managed to finish a couple of books in the car today. Dh put lots of effort into planning an interesting walk for the family but tonight's rain started a bit early, 4 hours early. The good news is my foot and ankle seem to have survived walking fast over really uneven ground for 2 miles in a very gusty wet start to a rainy evening.

 

Midnight Curse by Melissa F. Olson https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31352753-midnight-curse was very good. I have been reading these for free thanks to Prime. This is the first book in the second series featuring Scarlett Bernard who is a null......supernatural beings lose their power when she is near.

 

I also read the Withdrawing Room by Charlotte MacLeod https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18912302-the-withdrawing-room. It's part of a great cozy series which is a new find for me although it was originally published in 1980.

 

Hopefully I can finish a few more of my books in progress this weekend. My stack is filled with things I really am looking forward to and I keep reading just a couple of pages which turns into chapters. Eek, at least I seem to be picking different types and settings.

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I am reading a delicious gem I purchased. It's for my friend I am meeting on vacation. Women Who Read Are Dangerous 

 

I couldn't resist reading it myself. I'm only up to pg 29 and wanted to share this, "New canons were rapidly established, based on what was considered acceptable literature, so that women, whose exuberant powers of the imagination are sufficiently well known, should not endanger themselves and their husbands as a result of a pernicious mania for reading." 

 

I think I fall into the category of having "a pernicious mania for reading."  :lol:

 

On the previous page, it says that even in 1800, a new book cost as much as feeding a family for up to two weeks. :svengo:    Makes me think twice about cringing at the cost of books I buy.* Of course, there are parts of the world in which a book I buy could feed a family for a week. However, the author is saying that books were that expensive for even upper-class families. 

 

 

*Except for college textbooks. I just had to buy my ds's books for fall. Ouch, ouch, ouch. It's the darn access codes everyone has to have for classes now.  :glare:   Do you know how much I hate paying $125 for a textbook to be used for 16 weeks and then never again? He's taking 4 classes. :scared:  Because of the access codes, you can't even sell the books later as buying an access code alone costs just about as much as buying it in a package with the new book. Unless someone has any secret place they can buy books with access codes cheaper?  

 

 

 

Edited by Mom-ninja.
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Reading time has been quite limited recently as it seems I spend all my time herding cats! Well, organizing string players, both students and fellow musicians, all with strong, neurotic personalities. Just like cats. So I'm escaping to a convent this weekend -- getting me to a nunnery! It is not for any quiet spiritual contemplation, though. Nope. I'm off to a quilting retreat in wine country!! I'm taking a few books, a bottle of wine, sewing machine and fabric.

I'm spending this week being herded, along with musicians, string students, and other string parents, all of us insecure, demanding, and anxious. Wish I could join you in a conventual weekend.

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What? It's been 3 years already? Did I blink super slowly? 

 

 

I was thinking the same thing!

 

 

Crazy isn't it? Kids certainly have a way of showing us just how time flies, simply by growing up. If anyone is interested here are a few photos. There aren't too many of the adults because it was a pool party and no one wanted their swimsuit photos posted. After everyone got dressed it was harder to get them in one place for photos. In the one where the candles are being lit, that's dss lighting them and ds behind him. And no, dss doesn't normally wear hats or visors backwards. He was being a goofy dad and making the 5yo laugh.

 

ETA: The 5yo made a cake and decorated it. He even colored the icing. :)

 

You don't need to be on facebook to view them.

 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10158950112910447.1073741836.716370446&type=1&l=335ccfea67

Edited by Lady Florida.
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Wonderful pictures, Kathy!

 

Have fun Jenn and hopefully you'll have cooler weather than us. Heading into a couple weeks of triple digit temps. Oy!

 

 

I finished reading Octavia Butler's Dawn which was excellent. An alien race has saved humans from extinction, keeping them asleep until they were ready to accept possible changes to coexist and repopulate earth.

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I ran out of likes about halfway through the third page.  Always happens when I wait so long to post in here.

 

I finished Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution. I tried hard to understand all of it. I think I did. ;)

 

This week I read The Origins of Everything in 100 Pages (More or Less) by David Bercovici.  I was pre-reading it for Cameron for next school year.  It seriously made my head hurt sometimes, but I got a lot out of it and it was quite interesting.  So I get the trying hard to understand all of it.  Once, I was reading and my daughter said, "You're reading that book, aren't you?" and I asked her how she knew and she said, "The look on your face.  You kind of look like you are in pain."

 

Just for fun everybody - What's the most recent book read on your read shelf this year? If you are on Goodreads then you can go to Settings and turn on "date pub" to make it easier.

 

I don't even have to look this up.  I read Withhold by Andrea Pearson on the day it came out which was 10 days ago on July 19th.

 

I'm sorry to say that my mother fell and broke her hip yesterday. 

 

So sorry!  I hope she recovers quickly and well.

 

In addition to the Origins of Everything book, I read two other books this week.

 

I pre-read Son of Charlemagne by Barbara Willard for Fritz for next school year.  I really liked it.  It was told from the point of view of Carl (Charles the Younger) who became king after Charlemagne became Holy Roman Emporer.  It starts when Carl was a boy and continues through King Charles's reign through being crowned emperor.

 

I finished reading Frankie Dupont and the Science Fair Sabotage by Julie Anne Grasso to the boys (bedtime story).  It was a silly little book, but fun to follow along with the clues and try to solve the mystery.  They haven't enjoyed the last couple bedtime stories they've picked, but did like this one.

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I ran out of likes about halfway through the third page. Always happens when I wait so long to post in here.

 

 

This week I read The Origins of Everything in 100 Pages (More or Less) by David Bercovici. I was pre-reading it for Cameron for next school year. It seriously made my head hurt sometimes, but I got a lot out of it and it was quite interesting. So I get the trying hard to understand all of it. Once, I was reading and my daughter said, "You're reading that book, aren't you?" and I asked her how she knew and she said, "The look on your face. You kind of look like you are in pain."

 

 

I don't even have to look this up. I read Withhold by Andrea Pearson on the day it came out which was 10 days ago on July 19th.

 

 

So sorry! I hope she recovers quickly and well.

 

In addition to the Origins of Everything book, I read two other books this week.

 

I pre-read Son of Charlemagne by Barbara Willard for Fritz for next school year. I really liked it. It was told from the point of view of Carl (Charles the Younger) who became king after Charlemagne became Holy Roman Emporer. It starts when Carl was a boy and continues through King Charles's reign through being crowned emperor.

 

I finished reading Frankie Dupont and the Science Fair Sabotage by Julie Anne Grasso to the boys (bedtime story). It was a silly little book, but fun to follow along with the clues and try to solve the mystery. They haven't enjoyed the last couple bedtime stories they've picked, but did like this one.

I loved Son of Charlemagne. One of the best read alouds we did and its proven useful because we actually refer back to it on occasion still. I think it's because it was a common experience in our family.

 

I finished Julia Quinn audio book and am very grateful I figured out how to increase the speed the book is being read at! Now listening to Louise Penny. I am quilting very productively with 6 more hexagons to finish. I keep thinking of Jenn. I hope she is having a wonderful quilting holiday.....I feel like I'm at work to be honest.

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Wow, Goodreads really needs to figure out what's going on with its recommendation algorithm.

 

It just told me that because I was currently reading Imitation of Christ, a 15th century Christian devotional, I might also like a collection of SciFi short stories from the 1980's and '90's  Because those are so similar....   :confused1:

 

I'm still trying to decide whether to finish Imitation of Christ, which I was about 1/3 of the way through with anyway, or jump ship to the essays on Mysticism.  The book finally came in, so I'm going to have a look.  But meanwhile, Kempis has been mentioned in TWO of the books I'm reading this week (W&P and River of Doubt), so that might be a sign to stick with it...

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Yesterday I read two kid's books that aren't counted in my numbers for the year.  I was pre-reading both for Adrian for next school year.

 

Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess by Richard Platt.  Very cute diary format of a young boy going to his aunt and uncle's castle to be a page.  The end included facts about castles and the feudal system and knights.

 

Genghis Khan: 13th Century Mongolian Tyrant by Enid A. Goldberg.  This book was crammed with information about Genghis Khan from before his birth on through his death.  I was actually impressed with how much information was in there without it being too much for an elementary schooler.

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