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Book a Week 2017 - BW40: Spooky and Spectacular October


Robin M
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Any books to share/recommend from your 2010 list...??? :D

 

 

Well, it was pretty much non-fiction and children's lit. I was in an Uruguay phase, thanks largely to forward Diego Forlán, lol. But I didn't read any Uruguayan lit, more articles about the history. I got very into the 1972 national rugby team's plane crash and read Alive and Miracle in the Andes.

 

Spain was in the final four (and ultimately won). Our second son was a huge Barca fan, and I hoped to go to Spain & Camp Nou on our next visit to Han's family. (Which we did, in 2012.) So I went through Robert Hughes's Barcelona in fits & starts. An uncle of Hans's who is a Barcelona native & historian recommended to me a number of books, not one of which I ever found in English translation. 

 

I'd read some Nadine Gordimer when I was younger and always meant to revisit her. Bc the tournament was in South Africa and in July, I read July's People ~ or tried to, anyway. I couldn't get into it. Anyone here a Gordimer fan or have a particular book of hers that you recommend?

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I'm thinking you have. Jane and I once bonded over our mutual annoyance at said character. Do we dare tell you who it is?!

 

The series is very good, and has been a favorite of mine, though as with most series, it is very uneven. That character, btw, is not in every book, or when in a book is not always part of the action. I felt with the most recent book that Elizabeth George had brought her series and characters back under control. I think another one is due out in January. I saw her at a book signing a few years back, and enjoyed hearing her talk about how she does her work, how she as an American, oh by the way, writes about English characters in an English institution. Does the series count as UK or American?!

 

I really tried to like that first Ann Cleeland book, but felt something about that budding romantic relationship was a little icky.

 

Elizabeth George was one of my failures when I was trying to put together my Great Village Cozy List. Although frequently listed as cozy they are just not cozy! I didn't keep good notes especially on my discards but these books were off imo, I can't remember the why's. Just not quite British and I remember being relieved to discover they weren't British. At that point I was throwing any author off the list who wasn't British. Eventually I kept some on that wrote proper cozies without glaring mistakes.... At that stage I had a real issue. ;)

 

It's hard work fitting in to a different culture says the woman who grew up between the north and south in the US.....a few months each year in both. Same schools but two each year. Now I straddle the US and British cultures. So many of the enjoyable books I have read set in exotic locations seem to be by authors no longer living there. You do become rather caught in your memories of certain places and it is very hard to stay current when you no longer live there. I always question how accurate they are if someone has moved away but is writing a setting after they moved. Earlier this year I read one book by a popular series author ( who lives there, at one point about 5miles from my old house) set where my Southern self grew up but relatively current years. I loved some of it because the settings evoked fun memories at times but the current was hard on my brain!

 

 

I hope some of this makes sense. Need to be off on errands!

 

  

Well, it was pretty much non-fiction and children's lit. I was in an Uruguay phase, thanks largely to forward Diego Forlán, lol. But I didn't read any Uruguayan lit, more articles about the history. I got very into the 1972 national rugby team's plane crash and read Alive and Miracle in the Andes.

 

Spain was in the final four (and ultimately won). Our second son was a huge Barca fan, and I hoped to go to Spain & Camp Nou on our next visit to Han's family. (Which we did, in 2012.) So I went through Robert Hughes's Barcelona in fits & starts. An uncle of Hans's who is a Barcelona native & historian recommended to me a number of books, not one of which I ever found in English translation. 

 

I'd read some Nadine Gordimer when I was younger and always meant to revisit her. Bc the tournament was in South Africa and in July, I read July's People ~ or tried to, anyway. I couldn't get into it. Anyone here a Gordimer fan or have a particular book of hers that you recommend?

I remember reading Alive back in my teens. I think it was for a modern lit class.

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Glad I didn't offend with the question! I love this space and don't want to be offensive, ever, while embracing the ethic of free inquiry and non-censorship. So I was just checking in that I hadn't stepped on toes . . . thanks for the reassurance on that question.

Well said, and I am very glad that that you raised the question. I am also glad that JennW pointed out some of the pitfalls in determining who to include.

 

In my previous post, I had said that I am looking for a strong sense of place written by someone who is not an outsider. And that I didn’t want to overthink the definition of outsider because I’d know it when I saw it. I’ll eat those words now, because I am thinking plenty about it, lol.

 

Somewhere on Ann Morgan’s blog, I recall her also wresting with this question. I will see if I can find that blog post later.

 

I was thinking about Frank McCourt, since I am doing a reread of Angela’s Ashes. He was born in NYC, but the bulk of his formative years (ages 5 to 19) was spent in Ireland. The vast majority of the book is about a childhood in Ireland amongst an Irish family. And yet, his own relatives never stop considering him a Yank from America. Would rejecting him as too-outsider further the no-matter-what- you’ll-never-be-one-of-us sentiment? That is a sentiment that I chafe against, too. For a very tiny percentage of authors, maybe there is an interview that would glean something about self-identification. I think I would let self-identification prevail in those cases.

 

Regarding challenges: I like the challenge of figuring out how to slot something I already want to read into a slot. I have personal reading goals and when I can Venn Diagram a bunch of them together I get giddy :) Modern Mrs. Darcy’s quiz aptly pegged me as an explorer. The right book finds me, not the other way around.

 

Oh, and I have decided to do both the 50 states and the world. I am going to backdate the 50 states a bit and start the world list in 2018.

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Well said, and I am very glad that that you raised the question. I am also glad that JennW pointed out some of the pitfalls in determining who to include.

 

In my previous post, I had said that I am looking for a strong sense of place written by someone who is not an outsider. And that I didn’t want to overthink the definition of outsider because I’d know it when I saw it. I’ll eat those words now, because I am thinking plenty about it, lol.

 

Somewhere on Ann Morgan’s blog, I recall her also wresting with this question. I will see if I can find that blog post later.

 

I was thinking about Frank McCourt, since I am doing a reread of Angela’s Ashes. He was born in NYC, but the bulk of his formative years (ages 5 to 19) was spent in Ireland. The vast majority of the book is about a childhood in Ireland amongst an Irish family. And yet, his own relatives never stop considering him a Yank from America. Would rejecting him as too-outsider further the no-matter-what- you’ll-never-be-one-of-us sentiment? That is a sentiment that I chafe against, too. For a very tiny percentage of authors, maybe there is an interview that would glean something about self-identification. I think I would let self-identification prevail in those cases.

 

Regarding challenges: I like the challenge of figuring out how to slot something I already want to read into a slot. I have personal reading goals and when I can Venn Diagram a bunch of them together I get giddy :) Modern Mrs. Darcy’s quiz aptly pegged me as an explorer. The right book finds me, not the other way around.

 

Oh, and I have decided to do both the 50 states and the world. I am going to backdate the 50 states a bit and start the world list in 2018.

 

Yes to all of this. And the bolded, definitely! It was fun to creatively fit my To-Reads into Bingo slots for 240 Bingo, for example. Sometimes it was a square peg in a round hole, but I figure I can always bust out the virtual lathe (or whatever piece of woodworking equipment is more appropriate!)

 

I've also made a 50 states shelf and an Africa shelf to work through. I'm not committing to doing them both in their entirety next year . . . but along with my 2018 TR shelf, that is all I need for next year. Not adding a single book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

BWAHAAAHAAAHAAAHAAAHAAA!!!!! Did you buy it? Even for a second?  :biggrinjester:

Edited by Chrysalis Academy
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Knit AND weave amd crochet. And dye. And shear, skirt, scour; pick, card, and comb. It's why I can be a stickler for novels that do not get the process right. My three sheep are Knit, Purl and Stitch. Baa!

 

I love the names!!! Have a great weekend!

 

Rose, I didn't buy it for a minute!

 

BTW, sorry I have been filling the Goodreads with old books. I had a major disappointment ;) :lol: earlier this week when I discovered that I had already read a book I had been saving for spooky. If my lists had all been together in Goodreads it wouldn't haves happened. Trying to do a bit each night while watching telly.

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A one day only currently free classic for Kindle readers; I've posted this one before ~

 

The Art of Worldly Wisdom by Baltasar Gracián  

 

"Life guidance from a famed Renaissance man.

This influential work of philosophy by one of the great thinkers of the Renaissance era advises people of all walks of life how to approach political, professional, and personal situations in a dog-eat-dog world. Comprised of three hundred pithy aphorisms, it offers thought-provoking and accessible advice. Some subjects include “Never Compete,†“The Art of Letting Things Alone,†and “Anticipate Injuries and Turn Them into Favours.â€"

**

 

Also currently free ~

 

Division of the Marked (The Marked Series)  by March McCarron

 

The Annie Szabo Mystery series  by Meredith Blevins
 
Branded: The Sinners Series  by Abi Ketner
 

Regards,

Kareni

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A couple of bookish posts from Tor.com ~

 

Five Books That Taste Great  by Cassandra Khaw

 

"Text has texture to me. Sentences can be saline, sweet, some beautiful combination of flavor notes; a paragraph can be a course onto itself, eliciting genuine frissons of delight. My brain decodes poetry as amuse bouche, short stories as three-course meals, and novels as sprawling examples of literary cuisine.

 

Synesthesia is fun.

 

No. Really. It is. Except when you’re talking about bad books, bad writing. Fortunately, we’re not talking about bad books, but instead about excellent books. Books that feel like they were hand-prepped by Gordon Ramsay, or whichever haute chef appeals to your own particular sensibilities...."

 

 

AND 

Modern Literary Witches Go Beyond Maiden, Mother, and Crone by Natalie Zutter

 

"Partway through Deborah Harkness’ A Discovery of Witches, scholar-turned-witch Diana Bishop encounters a trio of familiar figures: a maiden, a mother, and a crone. These three archetypes are the aspects of the goddess Hecate, appearing as sisters. This triad has resurfaced in everything from Discworld to A Song of Ice and Fire, representing both one woman going through different phases of life and a functional coven of witches, each bringing a different perspective to the magic.

 

The Hecate Sisters are a useful lens through which to examine the current state of witches in literature—modern takes on a timeless figure, with witches’ conflicts and wants changing with the generations.

 

In the past few years, the young adult genre has made renewed explorations into witch stories, tapping into themes of feeling set apart from other adolescents as well as growing into your powers. It’s no surprise, then, that Blue Sargent (Maggie Stiefvater’s The Raven Boys and the entire Raven Cycle) and Nathan Byrn (Sally Green’s Half Bad) stand in for the maiden—who is also depicted as a huntress, which more matches Nathan’s place in his magical society...."

 

Regards,

Kareni

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Looking at my states - it looks like I just need to read books from 14 states to have at least one book from all 50: Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, S Carolina, S Dakota, Utah, Virgina, W Virginia, Wisconsin. So that should be doable as a challenge for next year. For African, I still have 48 countries to go, but probably won't be able to find books from all. I will chip away at that list. Then there are the almost 200 other books I really really want to read next year . . . 

 

Speaking of things I really want to read: I picked up Provenance by Ann Leckie from the library and started it last night. I was super excited about this one, I loved the Imperial Raadch trilogy. It's good so far, but not as good, I don't think. It's set in the Raadchi universe, but on planets outside of the Raach empire. Its characters have gender - in the descriptions, they are clearly identified as male and female and he and she are used. But in the character's dialogue, they use ambiguous pronouns - "e" "eir" and "em" which is interesting, but I feel like there is inconsistency in how it's applied, which is a little weird. Unless there is something incredibly sophisticated going on (i.e. it depends on which language the characters are meant to be speaking? thinking in?) it feels like bad editing. It's a little distracting at the moment but hopefully won't stay that way.

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You do become rather caught in your memories of certain places and it is very hard to stay current when you no longer live there. 

 

I think my former husband suffers from this, lol.

 

 

Oh, and I have decided to do both the 50 states and the world. I am going to backdate the 50 states a bit and start the world list in 2018.

 

Nice! Will you approach the world list geographically, or...?

 

Looking at my states - it looks like I just need to read books from 14 states to have at least one book from all 50.

 

I thought about backdating the states list, which would whittle it down significantly, but I like the idea of starting fresh and there's plenty that I've not read ~ or want to reread. I read a bit of Carson McCullers back in college, for example, but I'm headed soon to her native Columbus, GA so good reason to read her again. I like to associate what I'm reading with my immediate location, the weather, my mood. Reading Southern lit while in the South is good & right. During winter in WA, I'll want to read "cold" states. I could not read about an ice storm while on a Big Island beach; and on the flip side, I can't be in a ski lodge & transport to the Everglades. Just doesn't work for me. 

 

I had a point when I started that paragraph, but I lost it. Thinking in general about the order of the books, I guess. The states list isn't an issue, but I can't decide how to approach the world list. Maybe no particular order, just go with whatever speaks to me in the moment (and is available!).  

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Rose (Chrysalis Academy), I've been meaning to tell you how much I love the quote in your signature. It's been so long since I read Love in the Time of Cholera, I don't recall that line. As well, I didn't have children when I read it, so it likely didn't make an impression on me. I'm so keenly aware now of the fact that in part bc of homeschooling, I did form a friendship with my sons while raising them. Which is lovely, and yet, hard as they grow up & away. 

 

Re the states you still need to read, there are so many great Montana choices, including of course Norman Maclean's stories and his Young Men and Fire. But I'll also recommend a book near & dear to my heart, Mildred Walker's Winter Wheat. I grant that she wasn't a Montana native, but her vivid descriptions of that landscape speak otherwise. Perhaps not award-caliber writing, but a thoughtful, lovely book. 

 

 

 

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Looking at my states - it looks like I just need to read books from 14 states to have at least one book from all 50: Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, S Carolina, S Dakota, Utah, Virgina, W Virginia, Wisconsin. So that should be doable as a challenge for next year. For African, I still have 48 countries to go, but probably won't be able to find books from all. I will chip away at that list. Then there are the almost 200 other books I really really want to read next year . . .

 

To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey is written by an author raised in Alaska and set in the nineteenth century Alaska. I thought it was a lovely read.

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Rose (Chrysalis Academy), I've been meaning to tell you how much I love the quote in your signature. It's been so long since I read Love in the Time of Cholera, I don't recall that line. As well, I didn't have children when I read it, so it likely didn't make an impression on me. I'm so keenly aware now of the fact that in part bc of homeschooling, I did form a friendship with my sons while raising them. Which is lovely, and yet, hard as they grow up & away. 

 

Re the states you still need to read, there are so many great Montana choices, including of course Norman Maclean's stories and his Young Men and Fire. But I'll also recommend a book near & dear to my heart, Mildred Walker's Winter Wheat. I grant that she wasn't a Montana native, but her vivid descriptions of that landscape speak otherwise. Perhaps not award-caliber writing, but a thoughtful, lovely book. 

 

 

To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey is written by an author raised in Alaska and set in the nineteenth century Alaska. I thought it was a lovely read.

 

Thanks, I added both the Montana and Alaska suggestions you guys made!

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To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey is written by an author raised in Alaska and set in the nineteenth century Alaska. I thought it was a lovely read.

 

Erin, have you read The Snow Child by the same author? It's suggested on one of the lists above and piqued my interest, too.

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It's my turn to apologize if I offended by saying I don't understand picking a book for a challenge. I see challenges posted in other reading groups, it isn't exclusive to our group. They just don't motivate me at all, but your rave reviews often inspire me to try something new.

 

I wasn't offended. I responded only to explain how I do the challenges. 

 

but along with my 2018 TR shelf, that is all I need for next year. Not adding a single book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

BWAHAAAHAAAHAAAHAAAHAAA!!!!! Did you buy it? Even for a second?  :biggrinjester:

 

Sure. I believe you. You won't add any books.  :laugh:

Edited by Lady Florida.
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Finally finished Somerset Maugham's The Magician, my October Halloween book. It's short and not a challenging read, but dh has been gone all week and reading just didn't get done. Not much sleeping nor housework either really.

 

I disliked the book until I decided to not think about its being by Maugham and then it was reasonably enjoyable. The prose is florid, the plot predictable, but it's not lacking in bright spots. There's a lot of this kind of thing:

 

They found themselves in a dirty little tent, ill-lit by two smoking lamps; a dozen stools were placed in a circle on the bare ground. In one corner sat a fellah woman, motionless in ample robes of dingy black. Her face was hidden by a long veil, which was held in place by a queer ornament of brass in the middle of the forehead, between the eyes. These alone were visible, large and sombre, and the lashes were darkened with kohl; her fingers were brightly stained with henna. She moved slightly as the visitors entered, and the man gave her his drum. She began to rub it with her hands, curiously, and made a droning sound, which was odd and mysterious. There was a peculiar odour in the place, so that Dr Porhoet was for a moment transported to the evil-smelling streets of Cairo. It was an acrid mixture of incense, of attar of roses, with every imaginable putrescence.

 

 

Paging Edward Said....

 

Anyhow Middle Girl thinks she prefers not to read it, so I'm going to send it on.

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I read this in college for an honors seminar, so it was funny to see it listed today.  Sadly, my memory is such that I recall little of the book beyond its cover.

 

A one day only currently free work for Kindle readers ~ 

 

Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda 

 

"The remarkable life story of Paramhansa Yogananda is the groundbreaking work that introduced millions of Westerners to the practices of meditation and Kriya Yoga. Yogananda tells of his childhood in Gorakhpur, India, with his Bengali family, and his quest to find a guru who could satiate his desire for wisdom. After becoming a monk, he began his teachings of Kriya Yoga. But when he accepted an invitation to speak at a religious congress in Boston in 1920, his knowledge found an entirely new audience, as he then traveled across America lecturing and finally establishing the Self-Realization Fellowship in Los Angeles, where he was able to complete this classic work of spiritual expression.
 
Autobiography of a Yogi has been in print for over seventy years, sold over four million copies, and been translated into forty-six languages, spreading the wisdom of one of the most highly revered teachers of the Hindu religion and philosophy."

**

 

Also currently free ~

 

The Fourth Law of Kanaloa by Johan Twiss.  I haven't read this shorter work (77 pages), but I very much enjoyed the author's 4 Years Trapped in My Mind Palace.

 

"THE WWII MERMAN STORY YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!

Running from her past, a jazz singer finds refuge on the island paradise around Pearl Harbor, but her world is forever changed when Japanese fighters attack and a mysterious figure emerges from the sea to save her life."

**

 

The Lost Knight  by Candy Atkins  (fantasy for younger readers)

**

 

Mastiffs, Mystery, and Murder (A Dog Detective Series Novel Book 1)  by Sandra Baublitz

**

 

 

"Bates' approach to the story is surprisingly restrained, cultivating impressive frights in the unnerving environment...Makes for an understated horror story that will remind readers what chattering teeth sound like." - Kirkus Reviews

**

 

Candide  by Voltaire
 
Regards,
Kareni
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I finished reading Moving the Palace by Charif Majdalani,  Apropos of our discussion this week: "Charif Majdalani, born in Lebanon in 1960, is often likened to a Lebanese Proust. Majdalani lived in France from 1980 to 1993 and now teaches French literature at the Université Saint-Joseph in Beirut. The original French version of his novel Moving the Palace won the 2008 François Mauriac Prize from the Académie Française as well as the Prix Tropiques."  

 

Lebanese Writer? French writer? In any event, this was a delightful book, shades of The Odyssey. I think several of you would like it, definitely Jane, Stacia, and both Erins.  :) 

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I finished reading Moving the Palace by Charif Majdalani,  Apropos of our discussion this week: "Charif Majdalani, born in Lebanon in 1960, is often likened to a Lebanese Proust. Majdalani lived in France from 1980 to 1993 and now teaches French literature at the Université Saint-Joseph in Beirut. The original French version of his novel Moving the Palace won the 2008 François Mauriac Prize from the Académie Française as well as the Prix Tropiques."  

 

Lebanese Writer? French writer? In any event, this was a delightful book, shades of The Odyssey. I think several of you would like it, definitely Jane, Stacia, and both Erins.  :) 

 

I would say Lebanese.  A number of people escaped the Lebanese Civil War (1975 - 1990) by living abroad.

 

That does look interesting!

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