Book a Week 2017 - BW31: Adventurous August

[Matryoshka]

I'm also finding I really do better reading W&P in the morning.  I also have the sleepy problem if I read it in the evening.

 

And after all the reading I got done last week, I feel like I'm not making much headway this week!  Of course, I did spend all day yesterday in the car, which at least got me a huge dent my audiobook,The Essex Serpent, which I just want to be over already.  This will not be a highly rated book for me.  It's dragging on and on and I just don't care.  Bla bla bla.  I expected it to go somewhere, but no.  If I'd realized earlier, I would have abandoned it, but now it's almost done, so...

Edited August 2, 2017 by Matryoshka

[mumto2]

Yes, I tend to read my more serious books in the morning. I am reading my scheduled portion of Sarum each morning because it has a waitlist behind me. In 19 days I must be done and it's 21,000+ Kindle units. I have no idea what they are called but I do know its equivalent to 4 relatively long books on my Kindle!

 

I also find I feel the urge to fall asleep when reading in the late afternoon. That's when I do audio always. I still manage my series books at night but have been watching television lately and quilting. I am literally on the last few stitches for the quilt top so the binding is it. I will have my entry and the friend who is organizing the show will be happy and I will be relieved. Seriously next spring my friends here need to make me finish something early!

 

Matryoshka, The Essex Serpent is a book I gave 4 stars to but remember feeling a bit conflicted because I liked the descriptions but thought the story was a bit slow. The church was fascinating. Real life people really liked it that I met while getting the book from an odd branch library etc so I rounded up but could easily have don a three on Goodreads.

[Ethel Mertz]

Congrats!  I want that job!

 

Jane, Penguin, Stacia:  thank you for the pub. recommendations!  (BANANA PRIDE, omgoat!  I have tomato pride right now)  For some reason multiquote is not working for me, grr.  Apropos of the Eastern European writers:  last year I read Thinking the Twentieth Century, which was an interview form between Timothy Snyder and Tony Judt, picking Judt's brain as he was sadly dying of cancer.  They both shared an abiding love of writers and the politics of that part of the world and I mention it because it was very enlightening *to me* the reasons why we, perhaps, remain clueless about it.  Judt and Snyder are, as dh laughingly would call them, "in-tuh-LEC-tchulls" of "hees-TOR-ic LEEET-rit-churrrr" and frankly I think the light of the world has dimmed now that Judt is no longer with us.  (btw, reading Snyder's On Tyranny now in snippet form for maximum effect.)

 

Mumto2 and Scoutermom, maybe it's (my) age, but I really like reading in the early morning now.  Excepting those instances of hormonally induced insomnia, I can't get much reading accomplished before bed any longer.  SIGH

 

Thanks for the Tony Judt recommendation! I read Snyder's On Tyranny last month and thought it, unfortunately, applicable to current events.

 

And ... Our offer on the house has been accepted! Now we're crossing fingers until the closing, which will be next month.

[fastweedpuller]

congrats, Ethel!!!!!!!  (ugh moving! but congrats!!!! very exciting for you!)

[ErinE]

Congratulations Ethel!

[Jane in NC]

Thanks for the Tony Judt recommendation! I read Snyder's On Tyranny last month and thought it, unfortunately, applicable to current events.

 

And ... Our offer on the house has been accepted! Now we're crossing fingers until the closing, which will be next month.

Yippee!

[mumto2]

Thanks for the Tony Judt recommendation! I read Snyder's On Tyranny last month and thought it, unfortunately, applicable to current events.

 

And ... Our offer on the house has been accepted! Now we're crossing fingers until the closing, which will be next month.

Great news!

[Mothersweets]

I'm also finding I really do better reading W&P in the morning.  I also have the sleepy problem if I read it in the evening.

 

And after all the reading I got done last week, I feel like I'm not making much headway this week!  Of course, I did spend all day yesterday in the car, which at least got me a huge dent my audiobook,The Essex Serpent, which I just want to be over already.  This will not be a highly rated book for me.  It's dragging on and on and I just don't care.  Bla bla bla.  I expected it to go somewhere, but no.  If I'd realized earlier, I would have abandoned it, but now it's almost done, so...

 

 

Maybe if you had read a hard copy you would have liked it better? I read this a few weeks ago and really liked it but I know the story would have been too slow for me if I had to listen to someone else read.   every.    single.    word.  

 

I've had to stop listening to the INspector Gamache series because I find I need to zip through certain parts and slow down and re-read other parts. :)

[Granny_Weatherwax]

<snip>

 

Mumto2 and Scoutermom, maybe it's (my) age, but I really like reading in the early morning now.  Excepting those instances of hormonally induced insomnia, I can't get much reading accomplished before bed any longer.  SIGH

Oh no, no, no, no -  I refuse to acknowledge that age has anything to do with the ease of nighttime reading.

Age has nothing to do with the fact that my husband has found me propped up on the pillows, book resting on my lap while I sleep soundly at 9pm. Age cannot be the reason my Kindle is propped up on the night stand while I snuggle under the covers and tell myself "I'll close my eyes for just a moment." Age cannot be the culprit when I have to reread three chapters in the morning because I cannot remember a stinking thing from reading the night before.

 

Nope, not age.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I'm also finding I really do better reading W&P in the morning.  I also have the sleepy problem if I read it in the evening.

 

<snip>

Knowing that others are experiencing the same thing makes me feel so much better. It doesn't make reading W&P any easier but I feel better. :)

[Matryoshka]

Maybe if you had read a hard copy you would have liked it better? I read this a few weeks ago and really liked it but I know the story would have been too slow for me if I had to listen to someone else read. every. single. word.

 

I've had to stop listening to the INspector Gamache series because I find I need to zip through certain parts and slow down and re-read other parts. :)

In this book's case, it's true I don't think the audio is helping. I don't dislike the narrator, but, say, the voice she's chosen for Luke just bugs me no end. Cora always sounds odd because she has that mysterious speech impediment. Frankie is flat because, y'know, he's so autistic-y.

 

(anyone who wants to read this and doesn't want to hear my spoilery rant, skip ahead now ;) )

 

 

 

 

 

But also I am just really disliking how the story keeps shifting focus for no apparent reason. Is this a story about the mystery of the Essex Serpent, or group hysteria, or about the state of Victorian-era slums in London? Or about the state of surgery at the time (why a whole chapter on pioneering heart surgery)? I just finished a book that I praised for incorporating so many themes, but in that one I felt that they were skillfully interwoven into the story; in this one I feel more like a bunch of different themes have been thrown at the wall in big splotches akin to a Jackson Pollock painting.

 

And Stella and her dreamy blue death obsession is bugging the snot out of me. I've read plenty of novels with characters with consumption/tuberculosis, and I've never met one so annoying. I don't remember that totally losing your marbles is a symptom of tuberculosis. Some people lived for years and years with TB. She's like, oh, a spot of blood, time to lie down and die, and lose touch with reality while I'm at it.

 

At the beginning of the book, I was hoping for more fossil-hunting and inquiry with all the references to Mary Anning, I was thinking I might learn something about the local geology... but as soon as we get to Aldwinter all that goes away and everyone just mopes around and goes 'wooo, there could be a monster in the water' and clutches their pearls and no actual inquiry is ever put forth; Cora just gives up fossils to moon over Will.. The story switches to the townspeople's auditory hallucinations, "it's coming, ready or not". Is that supposed to build suspense?

 

Or is it a romance? I find absolutely no romance in adulterous affairs, even if the wife in question wants to willingly die and leave her husband to the other woman. I'm completely over her blue book with the blue ink. And the whole 'imp' thing is annoying as well. I find nothing about the way his character talks or acts that makes him 'impish'. It's a really bizarro description for someone who seems to a serious, intelligent, and talented surgeon, even if he's not physically attractive. And not one person in Victorian England is the least bit scandalized by Martha shacking up with some guy she just met? Really? LOL, almost all the characters are making me cranky. Except Joanna - I still like her. :)

 

And two reveals at the end? Why? They're both exactly the kind of thing I'd expect them to be, one is no more interesting than the other - so why have two? Just to drag it out even longer... because?? Guess what, there wasn't a winged dragon in the water after all, what a shocker. Totally didn't see that coming. Either time.

 

LOL, the star rating for me started out okay, but it's been losing them steadily as it goes along...

 

Ah, I feel a bit better now. :)

Edited August 3, 2017 by Matryoshka

[Matryoshka]

Oh no, no, no, no -  I refuse to acknowledge that age has anything to do with the ease of nighttime reading.

Age has nothing to do with the fact that my husband has found me propped up on the pillows, book resting on my lap while I sleep soundly at 9pm. Age cannot be the reason my Kindle is propped up on the night stand while I snuggle under the covers and tell myself "I'll close my eyes for just a moment." Age cannot be the culprit when I have to reread three chapters in the morning because I cannot remember a stinking thing from reading the night before.

 

Nope, not age.

 

:lol:  My kids just laugh at me.  I always used to be a night owl, and I still can't imagine gong to bed before midnight on purpose, but they keep finding me nodded off on the sofa at 10pm...

[LaughingCat]

Laughing Cat, is that a new cat in your avatar???

 

No, that pic is 4-5 years old now -- but I just love it so much I can't bring myself to change it :D

[Jane in NC]

This piece from McSweeney's on the Philosophy Helpline contains great comic relief for those needing a laugh.

[Butter]

Oh no, no, no, no -  I refuse to acknowledge that age has anything to do with the ease of nighttime reading.

Age has nothing to do with the fact that my husband has found me propped up on the pillows, book resting on my lap while I sleep soundly at 9pm. Age cannot be the reason my Kindle is propped up on the night stand while I snuggle under the covers and tell myself "I'll close my eyes for just a moment." Age cannot be the culprit when I have to reread three chapters in the morning because I cannot remember a stinking thing from reading the night before.

 

Nope, not age.

 

Everything you described is how I've been all my life so it's definitely not age for me!  It's me being a morning person and having an inability to sleep past 7 no matter what time I go to sleep the night before.

[Lady Florida.]

I finished 3 books in the last 2 days -

 

The Histories. I'm glad to have read (listened to) it, but admit it probably isn't for everyone. If you have zero interest in Greek history then you won't like it. There were pros and cons to listening to this on audio. Pros - The narrator was top notch. If anyone decides to listen to this, I highly recommend David Timson. Also, I don't think I could have made it through the boring parts in a print version. Cons - I probably missed some of the boring parts because when they came along my mind wandered in a way it wouldn't have if I was reading. Still, I doubt I missed anything important.

 

Family Plot - a John Pickett mystery

 

Radium Girls - I think I'm supposed to be inspired by the bravery of these women, and in some ways I am. Mostly though, I'm angry. Angry at what happened to them and angry that it took so long for any changes to come about and angry that industry still pi$$es on workers. It's going to take me a few days to calm down enough to write a review on Goodreads.  

 

I also finished this week's reading of W&P so I'll be ahead for next week. 

 

 

[Ethel Mertz]

This piece from McSweeney's on the Philosophy Helpline contains great comic relief for those needing a laugh.

 

Fantastic! Loved this (except for the lack of women philosophers...)

 

Thanks, all, for the house congrats. It will be a busy few months here.

 

For those who re-read books, here is a twist.

[Violet Crown]

This piece from McSweeney's on the Philosophy Helpline contains great comic relief for those needing a laugh.

This could be fun. "For Quine, please press any set of numbers, recognizing thereby the unavoidability of an ontological commitment to those and all other mathematical entities. If you choose not to make such a commitment, please press 0 to relinquish your ontological commitment to quarks and dark matter."

[Violet Crown]

Fantastic! Loved this (except for the lack of women philosophers...)

 

Here you go:

 

"For Elizabeth Anscombe, please intentionally press 1; press 2 with the intention of pressing 3; or express your intention to press 4."

 

"For Philippa Foot, please press 8 to remove one other caller from the caller queue, or refrain from pressing any number, and five other callers will be removed from the queue."

[Jane in NC]

Here you go:

 

"For Elizabeth Anscombe, please intentionally press 1; press 2 with the intention of pressing 3; or express your intention to press 4."

 

"For Philippa Foot, please press 8 to remove one other caller from the caller queue, or refrain from pressing any number, and five other callers will be removed from the queue."

 

Admittedly I had to Google Foot and the Trolley problem to understand the last one.  Brava!

[mumto2]

Fantastic! Loved this (except for the lack of women philosophers...)

 

Thanks, all, for the house congrats. It will be a busy few months here.

 

For those who re-read books, here is a twist.

Great blog! I agree! When rereads something that I loved many years ago, especially before age 30 or so I am frequently amazed by how differently I look at it. I also agreed when I read about how she felt like she was scattered all over the world. I really get that!

 

I finished listening to A Brutal Telling by Louise Penny. Wonderful!!! Because W and P isn't available I just rolled into listening to Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny and am so glad I did because it feels like part two of A Brutal Telling.

 

 

I am mainly reading the Magpie Murders https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32075854-magpie-murders. It's going to be a favourite I suspect. Many here might really like it.

[Lady Florida.]

 

 

For those who re-read books, here is a twist.

 

I can't get over the fact that she reread Mrs. Dalloway 8 or 9 times. I barely made it through the first time, and I was well past the age of Mrs. Dalloway when I read it. :)

[fastweedpuller]

I can't get over the fact that she reread Mrs. Dalloway 8 or 9 times. I barely made it through the first time, and I was well past the age of Mrs. Dalloway when I read it. :)

I so agree.  I read the first line of the blog post and whoops *I* am 52...but of all the books to re-read in my stack I doubt I would push through Mrs Dalloway again.  (Do we get into a debate about movies-based-on-books though?  because The Hours was far more enjoyable to me...I would even watch it more than once.)

 

[Stacia]

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Edited November 2, 2017 by Stacia

[Stacia]

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Edited November 2, 2017 by Stacia

[Stacia]

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Edited November 2, 2017 by Stacia

[Matryoshka]

Radium Girls - I think I'm supposed to be inspired by the bravery of these women, and in some ways I am. Mostly though, I'm angry. Angry at what happened to them and angry that it took so long for any changes to come about and angry that industry still pi$$es on workers. It's going to take me a few days to calm down enough to write a review on Goodreads.  

 

 

It made me angry too.  And grateful for the legislative advances that their cases started, but also horrified that we seem to be heading back in the other direction lately.  

[fastweedpuller]

Stacia, I liked The Summer Book so much I read it again as soon as I finished it. And, I bought 2 copies of it for book club so nobody could complain they couldn't find it in time :)  We discuss it on the 28th.  And omgosh I forgot there was a *book* on The Hours.  I did read that...

[JennW in SoCal]

Has everyone been behaving while I was gone?!  I've been skimming the thread in fits and starts without having clicked the like button to announce my presence. 

 

I've hit the W&P doldrums, mired in the year 1812 and Tolstoy is beginning to wax philosophical about war. It hasn't pulled me back in, and I haven't had much time alone in the car to get ahead in the audio book.

 

I did get some mystery reading done. My hold on the most recent Shetland mystery, Cold Earth, came in and I devoured it.  Loved it until the last couple of chapters when the smart police woman makes a stupid choice. But overall another fine entry in the series.  I'm about 2/3 through another Ann Cleeves mystery, this time a Vera Stanhope mystery, The Moth Catcher. I really like Vera, and like the Shetland book, the whodunnit is not obvious, the police work seemingly smart, and all the characters vivid. 

 

I'm about 90 pages into the new Andy Weir book, Artemis, and I'm not liking it. Which is a huge disappointment as I loved The Martian, and I adore Andy Weir. I even bought an Artemis t-shirt!!  I think it is the main character -- he went out on a really thin limb with this one, creating a female lead -- a Saudi Arabian young woman, raised on the Moon, who is a genius and a lapsed Muslim. She is supposed to be a smart, tough and sassy female, but reads like a teen boy's fantasy of what a smart, tough and sassy female should be. (The term I want to use seems to be blocked -- kick-a**). I will probably finish it, but so far am not finding it the page turner that The Martian was.

 

 

 

Edited August 3, 2017 by JennW in SoCal

[Robin M]

Hey chicks!  I finished The Path of Daggers and then dove into Niccolo Rising.  Yes, kind of an odd segue and it took me a few pages to get into the story, but once I did, had a hard time putting it down.  Fascinating characters!

 

Found a few links in my web wanderings that will have you adding more books to your teetering wishlists.

 

Women's History in Mystery

 

Pixels in Ink Thursday free and bargain kindle deals

 

Dear Authors Daily Deals

 

Omnivoracious The Joys of Aimless Reading

 

The Millions Why We Read and Why We Write

 

Vampire Book Clubs August releases

Edited August 4, 2017 by Robin M

[Robin M]

Congratulations Ethel! Now the fun begins. We are currently picking out exterior colors, rock siding, windows,doors, lights, and figuring out signage for our new building.

 

Let's see. I read serious books all throughout the day and my hubby has turned me into a night owl. We generally don't go to bed until 12:30 - 1:00 ish. Neither one of us reads in bed but hubby is prone to falling asleep on the couch while we're reading. Which is usually an indication its time to stop reading and actually go to bed. :laugh:

 

Thanks for the links to McSweeney's and Lit hub. Love both!

 

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

Edited August 4, 2017 by Robin M

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I listened to an hour and a half of W&P. I discovered I wasn't pronouncing the names correctly but I seem to follow the storyline better. I started from the beginning of the audiobook and I think it helps that this is the second time through.

 

:)

[Loesje22000]

For those who read radium girls, would it be appropiate for my 14 almost 15 yo daughter?

Is it worthwhile to buy the book?

[Lady Florida.]

For those who read radium girls, would it be appropiate for my 14 almost 15 yo daughter?

Is it worthwhile to buy the book?

 

I'm not sure and I guess I'd say it depends on how sensitive she is. The descriptions of radiation sickness are pretty graphic, as are some of the death descriptions. I cried a few times, but I cry easily anyway. ETA: At the least, I'd recommend pre-reading it unless you already know how she would handle such things.

Edited August 4, 2017 by Lady Florida.

[Loesje22000]

I'm not sure and I guess I'd say it depends on how sensitive she is. The descriptions of radiation sickness are pretty graphic, as are some of the death descriptions. I cried a few times, but I cry easily anyway. ETA: At the least, I'd recommend pre-reading it unless you already know how she would handle such things.

She is very into health, sickness descriptions, much more then myself.

As my prereading / prewatching list is on the long side. I will wait with the book I suppose :)

[Lady Florida.]

She is very into health, sickness descriptions, much more then myself.

 

 

She might be fine with it then. Many of the women were so young when they started getting sick. It's hard for me to say if something is appropriate because with ds I rarely kept him from reading things. He couldn't take it if children or pets died, but then he read The Hunger Games trilogy at around 14 or 15.

Edited August 4, 2017 by Lady Florida.

[Loesje22000]

She might be fine with it then. Many of the women were so young when they started getting sick. It's hard for me to say if something is appropriate because with ds I rarely kept him from reading things. He couldn't take it if children or pets died, but then he read The Hunger Games trilogy at around 14 or 15.

Then it will become an 'afternoon' book.

Some books I don't want her to read just before sleeping.

 

Thanks!

[Butter]

Last night I finished There I Go Again by William Daniels.  He was a child actor (radio/stage) and stayed on the stage for a long time while doing various screen bits as TV became a thing (he's 90, born in 1927).  He played John Adams on stage in 1776 for 2 1/2 years, almost 1,000 performances, and then he played the part in the movie version (he actually also played John Quincy Adams and Samuel Adams in other things so he pretty much hit the entire male part of the Adams family).  He played a doctor on St. Elsewhere and was the voice of KITT on Knight Rider.  But, the most important part he played to me, is Mr. Feeny on Boy/Girl Meets World.  I'm 39 so I grew up watching TGIF and Mr. Feeny was so wise and amazing.  I own every episode of both of those shows.  So this book is his autobiography and I enjoyed every word of it.  He and his wife have been married 66 years (his wife, Bonnie Bartlett, is an actress and they played a husband and wife in many shows including St. Elsewhere and Boy Meets World).

[Matryoshka]

For those who read radium girls, would it be appropiate for my 14 almost 15 yo daughter?

Is it worthwhile to buy the book?

 

She is very into health, sickness descriptions, much more then myself.

As my prereading / prewatching list is on the long side. I will wait with the book I suppose :)

 

If your dd is into those kinds of things, she might very well really like it.  My dd was fascinated with Marie Curie as early as middle school, and I remember she did some kind of visual report which included pictures of some of the radium girls and their injuries; I think it was the first time I'd really heard of them - in fact, I think it was partly dd's interest that made me want to read the book.  My brother (a biology teacher) also gave her the book Stiff as a present when she was 14/15, which she absolutely loved; I'm guessing Radium Girls is way less intense than that.  It has descriptions of what's happening to them, but it's clinical and matter-of-fact, not sensationalized.

[Loesje22000]

If your dd is into those kinds of things, she might very well really like it. My dd was fascinated with Marie Curie as early as middle school, and I remember she did some kind of visual report which included pictures of some of the radium girls and their injuries; I think it was the first time I'd really heard of them - in fact, I think it was partly dd's interest that made me want to read the book. My brother (a biology teacher) also gave her the book Stiff as a present when she was 14/15, which she absolutely loved; I'm guessing Radium Girls is way less intense than that. It has descriptions of what's happening to them, but it's clinical and matter-of-fact, not sensationalized.

Clinical and matter-of-fact sounds perfect!

I will take a look at Stiff.

 

Thank you too!

[Ethel Mertz]

Here you go:

 

"For Elizabeth Anscombe, please intentionally press 1; press 2 with the intention of pressing 3; or express your intention to press 4."

 

"For Philippa Foot, please press 8 to remove one other caller from the caller queue, or refrain from pressing any number, and five other callers will be removed from the queue."

Perfect!

 

I can't get over the fact that she reread Mrs. Dalloway 8 or 9 times. I barely made it through the first time, and I was well past the age of Mrs. Dalloway when I read it. :)

That struck me too.

 

A couple of quotes I enjoyed from The Summer Book:

 

 

and

How did I mess up that quote? At any rate, loved the delayed rebellion quote! I aspire to be that 85 year old!

[Penguin]

Had some downtime yesterday, so I finished The Little World of Don Camillo. My mind was very distracted, so I found myself sometimes having to re-read paragraphs more than once. Even so, it was light & sweet & humorous, so it was an excellent fit for my day. Thanks, VC, for sending me a copy & thanks, Kareni, for recommending it to me. (Kareni, :grouphug: . How is your mom doing?)

 

I was also able to read The Summer Book by Tove Jansson. Really a delightful little book too. Deceptively simple yet deep too. Another very good choice for my day. Who recommended this one to me??? Thank you!

 

ETA: I think my dad will be reading The Little World of Don Camillo (I've already passed the book on to him) & my dd will be reading The Summer Book.

It might have been Rose or someone else who recommended The Summer Book to you, but I am one of its ardent fans. I am always overjoyed to see that someone else discovered its charms. Edited August 4, 2017 by Penguin

[Jane in NC]

It might have been Rose or someone else who recommended The Summer Book to you, but I am one of its ardent fans. I am always overjoyed to see that someone else discovered its charms.

 

Added to my list.

 

I have been trying to whittle down the dusty stacks and the library lists but you guys!!!

 

[Chrysalis Academy]

I am tackling Bingo in a more systematic manner, and was searching for a "Woman with Heels on the Cover" book. As always, mild OCD kicked in and I decided that the heels had to actually be visible on the book cover, not just implied by the type of dress the woman was wearing. I had a hard time finding anything my library had a copy of, so I was inspired to check my GH stash, and sure enough:

 

 

This was a re-read, but it had been many years and I didn't remember "who done it" and even by the end I wasn't sure which of the two obvious possibilities it would be. I enjoyed it, good characters and witty dialogue as always. But when I thought about it afterward, I realized it was a pretty bad mystery, with plenty of random non sequiturs, like the stocks, which were totally irrelevant to the rest of the story. Do you ever find that you can really enjoy a book until you actually think about it analytically? This happens to me with movies all the time, but I guess I'm less likely to tolerate it in books so I normally abandon them when this starts to happen. It's the ultimate suspension of disbelief, I guess. I am often less willing to do it with books because of the time commitment, but this was such a quick read I didn't even have time to really think about it before it was over.  I think it might be a common necessity for enjoying cozy mysteries?

Edited August 4, 2017 by Chrysalis Academy

[JennW in SoCal]

Last night I finished There I Go Again by William Daniels.  He was a child actor (radio/stage) and stayed on the stage for a long time while doing various screen bits as TV became a thing (he's 90, born in 1927).  He played John Adams on stage in 1776 for 2 1/2 years, almost 1,000 performances, and then he played the part in the movie version (he actually also played John Quincy Adams and Samuel Adams in other things so he pretty much hit the entire male part of the Adams family).  He played a doctor on St. Elsewhere and was the voice of KITT on Knight Rider.  But, the most important part he played to me, is Mr. Feeny on Boy/Girl Meets World.  I'm 39 so I grew up watching TGIF and Mr. Feeny was so wise and amazing.  I own every episode of both of those shows.  So this book is his autobiography and I enjoyed every word of it.  He and his wife have been married 66 years (his wife, Bonnie Bartlett, is an actress and they played a husband and wife in many shows including St. Elsewhere and Boy Meets World).

 

I loved him on St. Elsewhere! Didn't know he was the voice of KITT  :laugh:

 

It might have been Rose or someone else who recommended The Summer Book to you, but I am one of its ardent fans. I am always overjoyed to see that someone else discovered its charms.

 

It sounds like the perfect book with the weather we've had. It isn't the heat but the humidity that gets this girl from the desert SW. It has felt like Florida for several days now and it just needs to stop!  (The title The Summer Book makes me want to sit a spell and read with a cool drink by my side.)

 

 

I have been trying to whittle down the dusty stacks and the library lists but you guys!!!

 

 

Yep. 

[Matryoshka]

I just finished Deadeye Dick - wasn't sure how I'd like it based on the name and the blurb but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I'd forgotten how much I like Vonnegut; it's been a while.

 

I'm also making steady progress in Del amor y otros demonios / Of Love and Other Demons, and I'm happy to say that I'm liking it more as it goes along, even though I'm still wading through lots of García Márquez's arcane vocabulary - so happy that Google translate has added a Spanish/Spanish dictionary for words that have no English translation, like "a cylindrical cabin with vertical divisions in the hole of a wall, which when turned allows objects to be exchanged between persons without their seeing each other, used in cloistered convents", (not to mention another word that describes the nun who watches over said door),  "a type of cornbread, more salty than sweet, cooked in the oven and served with aguapanela (which would require another lengthy explanation)", "an ugly or mannish female servant." 

 

And now I know the words for 'sorrel' and 'halberd'. :D

 

But oops, I haven't touched W&P this week, must get to that...

 

 

And The Summer Book has been on my TR list fora while, but I've been prioritizing my Bingo reads...  I love Tove Jansson; you all are tempting me!

Edited August 4, 2017 by Matryoshka

[Lady Florida.]

 

 But when I thought about it afterward, I realized it was a pretty bad mystery, with plenty of random non sequiturs, like the stocks, which were totally irrelevant to the rest of the story. Do you ever find that you can really enjoy a book until you actually think about it analytically? This happens to me with movies all the time, but I guess I'm less likely to tolerate it in books so I normally abandon them when this starts to happen. It's the ultimate suspension of disbelief, I guess. I am often less willing to do it with books because of the time commitment, but this was such a quick read I didn't even have time to really think about it before it was over.  I think it might be a common necessity for enjoying cozy mysteries?

 

I do think you have to be able to really suspend disbelief in order to read cozy mysteries, but there's a line they shouldn't cross. If it becomes glaringly unbelievable I abandon the book. If the author does a good job with the characters and other aspects of the story I find it easier to suspend disbelief than in a poorly written story. 

[Matryoshka]

And I had meant to add... I seem to be avoiding getting into the Warriors book for 'younger dd recommends' square.   It's the only one I have left to finish that row, so I really should read it.  I read the first chapter.  I find Imitation of Christ more readable and engaging.  Ugh, I don't wanna.  

 

Has anyone read any of the Warriors books themselves, and will I be able to get through it without my brain oozing out my ears?  At least it's fairly short??

 

And dd is sooooo happy I'm going to read her favorite book! 

Edited August 4, 2017 by Matryoshka

[Loesje22000]

And I had meant to add... I seem to be avoiding getting into the Warriors book for 'younger dd recommends' square. It's the only one I have left to finish that row, so I really should read it. I read the first chapter. I find Imitation of Christ more readable and engaging. Ugh, I don't wanna.

 

Has anyone read any of the Warriors books themselves, and will I be able to get through it without my brain oozing out my ears? At least it's fairly short??

 

And dd is sooooo happy I'm going to read her favorite book!

Do you mean the Warrior Cats?

I tried that one but could not finish: I am not that a great cat lover (although we have 2 cats)

And the writing was very YA

[Matryoshka]

Do you mean the Warrior Cats?

I tried that one but could not finish: I am not that a great cat lover (although we have 2 cats)

And the writing was very YA

 

Yes, the ones about the cats.  I actually love cats (we have three :) ), but I don't think the books are in any way even remotely related to how cats interact with each other.  And all the stupid names - Kittypaw and such.  Uggggh.

Edited August 4, 2017 by Matryoshka