Book a Week 2018 - BW4: River by Shuntaro Tanikawa

[Rachel]

Last week I read “Becoming Odessa: Epic Adventures on the Appalachian Trail†by Jennifer Pharr Davis, it was a quick read. I’ve read several tales by people hiking the AT and find they are all just a bit different. While I enjoyed this book, I think I need to be more careful about not reading memoirs written by people under age 30. I think people need to have experienced more life before writing a memoir, even if they have had an epic adventure. Pharr-Davis has other books about setting the speed record for completing the AT, I wonder if her tone is different when she is older?

 

When the boards were down last night I finished “A Walk in the Woods†by Bill Bryson. He is always good for a laugh.

 

We are still working on “The Shores of Silver Lake†as a family read aloud.

[aggieamy]

Is it too early for the reading doldrums? I feel like every book I've picked up this week has been "meh". I'm going to get a little bit further in each of them before I throw the towel in but it's possible that I'm going to abandon three books this week.

 

The Secret Keeper looks promising and like good story.  I think I actually put it on my list a couple years ago when I attempted BaW.  Sometimes in the evenings I only read for a little while and then move onto something else, but tonight the story had me wanting to just keep reading, so that's a good sign!

 

Warning ... it's a twisty turny wonderful story so you'll get to a point where you don't want to put it down. Stock up on Ramen noodles for your family to eat for dinner when that happens.

 

 

[aggieamy]

Oops. Testing and getting worse.

Edited January 24, 2018 by aggieamy

[tuesdayschild]

Both books can stand alone. However, the style of TSNotD is modeled after Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome (available on Kindle for $0.99). I don't think you would have to read all of Three Men in order to understand the style, but some scenes from it are mentioned in TSNotD.

 

Also, TSNotD is more light-hearted and humorous, while Doomsday is more serious/dramatic. I strongly recommend the audio book for TSNotD, narrated by Steven Crossley. He also narrated Three Men in a Boat.

Thank you.  

I'm going to do a copycat, listen to the audio you've mentioned, with my Dd and hopefully inject some humour into her "serious" lit selection for this year

We're au fait with Three Men in a Boat - great book!

 

I know many here are on a no-spend challenge and this next comment feels like I'm waving chocolate cake under a dieters nose.....

We made good on the sale at Audible US  and purchased a few audiobooks that we missed on their daily deal and I'd like to try.

 

**Beneath a Scarlet Sky ~ Mark Sullivan 

The Oedipus Plays (drama) 

Suggestible You ~ Erik Vance

Spaceman ~ Mike Massimino

An Accidental Death ~ Peter Grainger

 

From my location, ymmv, I noticed that it was more economical, on the titles we purchased, to buy them through Amazon Audible, as opposed to using Audible's site. 

** It was more economical to purchase the kindle edition first then buy the audiobook.

Edited January 26, 2018 by Tuesdays Child

[tuesdayschild]

They are very good books.  Not as depressing as Doomsday Book, on the whole (but then, WW2 didn't kill half the population of England, so that makes sense).

This is what is putting me off wanting to even try Doomsday Book this year: I kept seeing that comment during my reviews search.

 

ETA: sorry everyone for the serial quoting and posting, multi quote still doesn't, seem to, want to work for us  :huh:

Edited January 24, 2018 by Tuesdays Child

[Lady Florida.]

I've never read any of Le Guin's books because it's just not my genre, but I know what a blow her death is to the literary world. :( I did read her blog for a while.

[mumto2]

I've never read any of Le Guin's books because it's just not my genre, but I know what a blow her death is to the literary world. :( .

My feelings too. Dd has read and loved many of her books.

 

I have been busy quilting and listening to Charles Finch’s The Fleet Street Murders. I am enjoying it hugely as an audiobook and have spent far more time quilting then planned today.

[Critterfixer]

I finished Sleight of Hand yesterday. Lots of good stuff--I love short stories. I had planned to read another collection of Peter Beagle's short stories (The Line Between) but two writers in my group gifted me with copies of their books, and both will probably be wanting feedback next week. So I have to read like my hair is on fire this week.

I've been swamped between teaching my kids, writing my own book and two short stories, sending out to agents again and submitting to yet another writing contest, but I WILL READ THOSE BOOKS by Saturday!

[RootAnn]

Yesterday, I finished reading The Gold Bag (The Fleming Stone Mysteries) by Carolyn Wells. ("Bought" as a free ebook on Jan 1st thanks to the notification of someone in this group.)

I was also listening to Agatha Christie's The Mysterious Affair at Styles at the same time. It was an interesting juxtaposition. It reminded me of S.S. Van Dine's "Twenty Rules for Detective Fiction." (Ronald Knox has 10 Commandments for the same topic. Other people have also written lists.) I was amused at how the romantic interests finished in both of them - also providing a good compare/contrast.

 

I've restarted SWB's Rethinking School while working on what my next book will be.

[mumto2]

I finished several books in progress that are esssentially prereads for Brit Tripping. The first is the very first book in Ann Cleeves Vera series. It was good. I will admit I sort of knew but the reason why was a surprise. This one is set in Northumberland.

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31368003-the-crow-trap

 

 

The Fleet Street Murders is the third book in a wonderful historical mystery series. I had problems finding this book a couple of years ago and am thrilled that my Overdrive appears to have the entire seres now. Set in London and Durham.

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30108119-the-fleet-street-murders

 

Carola Dunn is my official Bingo Cozy square author. I enjoy her Daisey Darlrumple series because it is so gentle. Set in Kent with a village setting. Poison pen letters lead to murder.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/293064.Styx_and_Stones?ac=1&from_search=true

 

Next books up are a Heyer, Murakami, and I am finally going to read A Test of Wills by Charles Todd.

[Ottakee]

I just finished book #6 for the Year.

 

Too Small to Ignore.  The biography and inspiration of Wes Stafford, founder of Compassion International https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/226317.Too_Small_to_Ignore  Obviously a Christian slant.  As a trigger warning, there is also mention of abuse.  I shed some tears.

I loved his comments on how we need to give opportunities to the poor and needy, not just hand outs.  A model our social services and government would be wise to follow.

[Robin M]

Now I know why my buying ban doesn't last past January.  James just reminded me of our annual super bowl trek out shopping to comic book store and Barnes and Noble and dinner.  It all started when one of our wonderful neighbors started blasting an air horn for every touch down by his favorite team a few years back.  It broke last year (YEAH!) and he didn't get it fixed (Double YEAH).    

 

I finished The Masked City by Cogman  which was non stop action with Irene running around the chaos version of Venice on a mission to find her kidnapped assistant. Then on to Rick Yancey's 2nd book The Infinite Sea in the 5th wave apocalyptic series. So good - follows 4 different characters but totally in first person but did it so that each section was in that person's pov so wasn't confusing.   Both books ended in cliff hangers so I think I know which two books I'll be picking up.  Other than that, I'll try to behave myself.    :tongue_smilie:

 

Started on dusty and chunky book that's been on my shelves since 2014 -- Mark Helprin's A Soldier of the Great War.   It was this or Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum which I'm not in the mood for yet.   :laugh:   

 

 

 

[ErinE]

I brought a phone to the Apple store to get an issue fixed and ended up chatting with the two techs about books. The possibility of finding other book lovers is one of the many reasons I haul around a physical book. I’d read most everything they talked about, but was able to offer them a few suggestions. One mentioned he liked reading Robert J. Sawyer (“Michael Crichton, but with aliensâ€). Has anyone read his books?

[Robin M]

I made it halfway through Being Mortal today, over family dinner at the in-laws we talked about their advance directives. I'm very pleased that they are making the decisions they are making, even more so after reading what I have in Gawande's book, I told dh about some of it, I hope he will read it. I really wish even more that dh's sister would read it. She thinks it is terrible that we are talking about these things at all, she's having a very hard time with it, which is understandable but we can't ignore it. 

 

I enjoyed reading everyone's reviews, I stink at writing them myself but find them very helpful. I requested Noah's autobiography, I was looking for biographies anyway and quite like him, I'm looking forward to reading it. While at the library webpage I went through the new book lists and also requested Brene Brown's Braving the Wilderness and Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative. 

 

 

I just ran across a video of Brene Brown today talking with Marie TV and now I have to read the book.  

 

"Don't walk through the world looking for evidence that you don't belong.. because you will always find it. Don't walk through the world looking for evidence that you are not enough.. because you will always find it. Our worth and our belonging are not negotiated with other people. We carry those inside of our hearts.  And so for me, I know who I am. I'm clear about that and I'm not going to negotiate that with you.  I will negotiate a contract with you. I will negotiate maybe even a topic with you. But I'm not going to negotiate who I am with you.  But then, I think this is the heart of the book. Then I may fit in for you, but I no longer belong to myself. And that is a betrayal to myself.  I not willing to betray myself anymore to fit in with you."   Brene Brown

Wow! 

Edited January 26, 2018 by Robin M

[Soror]

I got 4 books in at the library, by Grethen Reuben- Happier at Home and Better than Before; Nature Fix, and No Summit Out of Reach (for book club for ds but I'll probably read too). 

[Granny_Weatherwax]

Last week I read “Becoming Odessa: Epic Adventures on the Appalachian Trail†by Jennifer Pharr Davis, it was a quick read. I’ve read several tales by people hiking the AT and find they are all just a bit different. While I enjoyed this book, I think I need to be more careful about not reading memoirs written by people under age 30. I think people need to have experienced more life before writing a memoir, even if they have had an epic adventure. Pharr-Davis has other books about setting the speed record for completing the AT, I wonder if her tone is different when she is older?

 

When the boards were down last night I finished “A Walk in the Woods†by Bill Bryson. He is always good for a laugh.

 

We are still working on “The Shores of Silver Lake†as a family read aloud.

 

I have read multiple AT books and have had to do much more thorough reviews on the recent ones. Some are just plain bad. I think I have read so many at this point they all blend together. It seems as if nothing is new or unique.

Now I know why my buying ban doesn't last past January.  James just reminded me of our annual super bowl trek out shopping to comic book store and Barnes and Noble and dinner.  It all started when one of our wonderful neighbors started blasting an air horn for every touch down by his favorite team a few years back.  It broke last year (YEAH!) and he didn't get it fixed (Double YEAH).    

 

I finished The Masked City by Cogman  which was non stop action with Irene running around the chaos version of Venice on a mission to find her kidnapped assistant. Then on to Rick Yancey's 2nd book The Infinite Sea in the 5th wave apocalyptic series. So good - follows 4 different characters but totally in first person but did it so that each section was in that person's pov so wasn't confusing.   Both books ended in cliff hangers so I think I know which two books I'll be picking up.  Other than that, I'll try to behave myself.    :tongue_smilie:

 

Started on dusty and chunky book that's been on my shelves since 2014 -- Mark Helprin's A Soldier of the Great War.   It was this or Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum which I'm not in the mood for yet.   :laugh:   

Robin - let this year be the year you break the Super Bowl ritual. You can still enjoy your trek to the comic store and B&N. Instead of buying books, however, treat your self to a coffee or chai, a new book mark, or some other treat instead of a bunch of books. 

 

You can do it!

Edited January 26, 2018 by Scoutermom

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I got 4 books in at the library, by Grethen Reuben- Happier at Home and Better than Before; Nature Fix, and No Summit Out of Reach (for book club for ds but I'll probably read too). 

Nature Fix is an interesting book. I really enjoyed a couple of the chapters. I haven't finished it yet but it is in my stack of current reads.

[Robin M]

I brought a phone to the Apple store to get an issue fixed and ended up chatting with the two techs about books. The possibility of finding other book lovers is one of the many reasons I haul around a physical book. I’d read most everything they talked about, but was able to offer them a few suggestions. One mentioned he liked reading Robert J. Sawyer (“Michael Crichton, but with aliensâ€). Has anyone read his books?

 

 

 I read www.wake a while back which was really good.  Haven't had the opportunity to read the next book in the series yet. It was different which I liked 

 

Caitlin Decter is young, pretty, feisty, a genius at math — and blind. Still, she can surf the net with the best of them, following its complex paths clearly in her mind.

When a Japanese researcher develops a new signal-processing implant that might give her sight, she jumps at the chance, flying to Tokyo for the operation.

 

But Caitlin's brain long ago co-opted her primary visual cortex to help her navigate online. Once the implant is activated, instead of seeing reality, the landscape of the World Wide Web explodes into her consciousness, spreading out all around her in a riot of colors and shapes. While exploring this amazing realm, she discovers something — some other — lurking in the background. And it's getting smarter ...

 

 

[Robin M]

Tonight I picked up the next two in my pile - The Artist's Way and The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton.  I'm really looking forward to diving into TAW, though it's a library book and I'm really feeling that I want to do it all the way she lays it out by weeks in there.  So I have to figure out what to do about that.   :lol:  I'm considering doing every other week instead of every week, and then I can check it out every other week lol... I'm pretty sure they have a rule that I can't renew it more than twice.  Idk, we shall see.

The Secret Keeper looks promising and like good story.  I think I actually put it on my list a couple years ago when I attempted BaW.  Sometimes in the evenings I only read for a little while and then move onto something else, but tonight the story had me wanting to just keep reading, so that's a good sign!

I loved Artist's Way and rework my way through it every so often. It's well worth buying the book because there is much you may want to underline and then there's the reread part of it as well.  

 

 

My husband and I worked our way through The Artist's Way.  It changed our lives.  We probably would have gotten there eventually on our own but this sped up the process significantly.  Having a word for crazymakers has been useful, too.

 

Awesome.  My hubby didn't read it but I did keep reading parts of it to him, sharing quite a bit.   The bit about crazymakers and toxic people was so eye opening and yes, having a word for crazymakers, plus being able to recognize when someone is being your crazymaker.   I learned quite a bit from Cameron's books. 

Edited January 26, 2018 by Robin M

[Robin M]

 

Robin - let this year be the year you break the Super Bowl ritual. You can still enjoy your trek to the comic store and B&N. Instead of buying books, however, treat your self to a coffee or chai, a new book mark, or some other treat instead of a bunch of books. 

 

You can do it!

Hmm! You're right, there are other things there besides books.  Thanks for having my back! 

[Violet Crown]

What is this "book-buying ban" thing anyway? I just got out of our library discard store with Dylan Thomas' Quite Early One Morning and Malcolm Lowry's Under the Volcano, and if I hadn't bought them someone else would have, and then where would I be? :)

Edited January 26, 2018 by Violet Crown

[aggieamy]

What is this "book-buying ban" thing anyway? I just got out of our library discard store with Dylan Thomas' Quite Early One Morning and Malcolm Lowry's Under the Volcano, and if I hadn't bought them someone else would have, and then where would I be? :)

 

 

Frankly, I'm surprised you weren't mugged leaving the library when they knew what you managed to score!

 

How's your hand doing?

Edited January 26, 2018 by aggieamy

[aggieamy]

Everyone else is sitting around having deep philosophical discussions on literature and I'm sitting over here like, "Wait a second. Nancy Drew is a huge Mary Sue!" I don't know the exact title because I"m in bed where it's warm and my book is on the counter which would involve a trek downstairs in PJ's in front of windows where I might be seen by my neighbors who are up watching sports. Not a chance I'm willing to take. I think the title is something like Red Slipper Mystery. 

 

I'm fifty pages in and so far Nancy has saved the day three times and we've just discovered that she's been asked to do a solo in a ballet performance because they lost the star. But, she protests, I haven't danced in three years. It's okay, they insist, you'll be great because you're perfect at everything you do. And her boyfriend is handsome and charming and not as smart as she is. 

 

I loved these things as a kid. When I was a kid I thought that if I couldn't get a job as a Ghostbuster my back up plan was to be a detective like Nancy Drew. I suspect that I've changed and not our favorite Titan haired heroine. 

 

I don't dare reread any of The Three Investigators series for fear that they might not be as perfect as I remember either. 

[Violet Crown]

Frankly, I'm surprised you weren't mugged leaving the library when they knew what you managed to score!

 

How's your hand doing?

I know, right? Check out the cover on the Thomas: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/a1/4c/c7/a14cc7a49120c5c8f715ba990f36aaaf.jpg

Dig it, cats!

 

Hand's perfectly usable now, thanks for asking; there are scars on three fingertips but they'll fade.

[RootAnn]

I loved these things as a kid. When I was a kid I thought that if I couldn't get a job as a Ghostbuster my back up plan was to be a detective like Nancy Drew. I suspect that I've changed and not our favorite Titan haired heroine. 

I know. So terrible to grow up and realize things are not as beautiful as they seemed when we were younger. DD#1 always preferred Trixie Belden to Nancy D. She really wanted to get into crazy situations like Trixie did, but I think she always secretly wanted to be Trixie's best friend, Honey. 

 

I have my next book - The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Haven't read it in decades. DD#3 will be writing essays on it and I need to at least be able to look like I know what she's writing about . . . 

[mumto2]

Now I know why my buying ban doesn't last past January.  James just reminded me of our annual super bowl trek out shopping to comic book store and Barnes and Noble and dinner.  It all started when one of our wonderful neighbors started blasting an air horn for every touch down by his favorite team a few years back.  It broke last year (YEAH!) and he didn't get it fixed (Double YEAH).    

 

I finished The Masked City by Cogman  which was non stop action with Irene running around the chaos version of Venice on a mission to find her kidnapped assistant. Then on to Rick Yancey's 2nd book The Infinite Sea in the 5th wave apocalyptic series. So good - follows 4 different characters but totally in first person but did it so that each section was in that person's pov so wasn't confusing.   Both books ended in cliff hangers so I think I know which two books I'll be picking up.  Other than that, I'll try to behave myself.    :tongue_smilie:

 

Started on dusty and chunky book that's been on my shelves since 2014 -- Mark Helprin's A Soldier of the Great War.   It was this or Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum which I'm not in the mood for yet.   :laugh:

 

 

 

I just put the first Rick Yancy on hold. Looks good and the reviews mention a comparison to The Passage which I loved!

 

 

 

Everyone else is sitting around having deep philosophical discussions on literature and I'm sitting over here like, "Wait a second. Nancy Drew is a huge Mary Sue!" I don't know the exact title because I"m in bed where it's warm and my book is on the counter which would involve a trek downstairs in PJ's in front of windows where I might be seen by my neighbors who are up watching sports. Not a chance I'm willing to take. I think the title is something like Red Slipper Mystery. 

 

I'm fifty pages in and so far Nancy has saved the day three times and we've just discovered that she's been asked to do a solo in a ballet performance because they lost the star. But, she protests, I haven't danced in three years. It's okay, they insist, you'll be great because you're perfect at everything you do. And her boyfriend is handsome and charming and not as smart as she is. 

 

I loved these things as a kid. When I was a kid I thought that if I couldn't get a job as a Ghostbuster my back up plan was to be a detective like Nancy Drew. I suspect that I've changed and not our favorite Titan haired heroine. 

 

I don't dare reread any of The Three Investigators series for fear that they might not be as perfect as I remember either.

 

Ahhh, The Scarlet Slipper Mystery. I remember my mom buying that for me at a Kmart we visited when we were away from home. I loved that book and had been thinking about rereading it for the red shoes Bingo square.

 

Speaking of rereads from childhood while compiling my Brit Trip book lists I ran into my long lost King Arthur book which I have posted about many times. I was about 12 when I took it off my sil bookshelf and fell in love with Arthur. All I could remember was a green cover and her name was something like Lenore. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/654401.Lionors. On order, I didn't take the new book ban pledge fortunately!

 

 

  

I know, right? Check out the cover on the Thomas: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/a1/4c/c7/a14cc7a49120c5c8f715ba990f36aaaf.jpg

Dig it, cats!

Hand's perfectly usable now, thanks for asking; there are scars on three fingertips but they'll fade.

 

 

Glad your hand is doing well! I have to say that cover makes quite a statement. Amazing how much what's cool has changed.

 

 

 

I know. So terrible to grow up and realize things are not as beautiful as they seemed when we were younger. DD#1 always preferred Trixie Belden to Nancy D. She really wanted to get into crazy situations like Trixie did, but I think she always secretly wanted to be Trixie's best friend, Honey. 

 

I have my next book - The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Haven't read it in decades. DD#3 will be writing essays on it and I need to at least be able to look like I know what she's writing about . . .

 

I loved Trixie Beldon. I read a few of both series when dd was the right age and they weren't quite as good as I remembered. ;). Dd loved both fortunately. I did end up rereading most of the Cherry Ames series which I also loved at that age. Dd didn't like them and I felt that they deserved a read since I had saved them!

[Soror]

Nature Fix is an interesting book. I really enjoyed a couple of the chapters. I haven't finished it yet but it is in my stack of current reads.

Thanks for the rec, I think I will start it next.

 

I started in on Happier at Home but am not sure if I want to continue, it is not feeling all that inspiring right now. I'll try another couple of chapters before giving up.

[RootAnn]

I loved Trixie Beldon. I read a few of both series when dd was the right age and they weren't quite as good as I remembered. ;). Dd loved both fortunately. I did end up rereading most of the Cherry Ames series which I also loved at that age. Dd didn't like them and I felt that they deserved a read since I had saved them!

My sister loved Trixie. I was definitely a Cherry Ames fan. DD#1 didn't liked them.  :svengo:

On a positive note, I still loved LM Montgomery's Pat books. Lucy Maud didn't let me down. If I need another good cry, I'll probably pick up the Emily of New Moon trilogy.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I know. So terrible to grow up and realize things are not as beautiful as they seemed when we were younger. DD#1 always preferred Trixie Belden to Nancy D. She really wanted to get into crazy situations like Trixie did, but I think she always secretly wanted to be Trixie's best friend, Honey. 

 

I have my next book - The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Haven't read it in decades. DD#3 will be writing essays on it and I need to at least be able to look like I know what she's writing about . . . 

I love Trixie B! I bought a set of TB at a thrift store when I was younger. I had saved babysitting money to pay for them. My mom got rid of them after I left for college. I had hoped to keep them.

 

There was also a sweet series about a nurse, Cherry Ames. I loved those, too. I wanted to be a nurse just like Cherry.

[Critterfixer]

I remember reading every Trixie Belden in our school library at the time. They never really engaged me. I just wanted something to read. Now, The Black Stallion books and anything by Madeline L'Engle? Those I might riot over. :laugh: And anything by Tolkien. I read Unfinished Tales so many times I broke the back of the book. 

Still like Lucy Maud Montgomery, but at the risk to my life, I don't really connect with female protagonists. Never have. :leaving:

[mumto2]

I remember reading every Trixie Belden in our school library at the time. They never really engaged me. I just wanted something to read. Now, The Black Stallion books and anything by Madeline L'Engle? Those I might riot over. :laugh: And anything by Tolkien. I read Unfinished Tales so many times I broke the back of the book.

Still like Lucy Maud Montgomery, but at the risk to my life, I don't really connect with female protagonists. Never have. :leaving:

I loved the Black Stallion books! I read all I could find and reread them with Dd. I was more of a Louisa May Alcott fan than Montgomery. I don't think my library went beyond Wrinkle in Time. Another author I was able to enjoy with the kids. ;)

[Raifta]

I brought a phone to the Apple store to get an issue fixed and ended up chatting with the two techs about books. The possibility of finding other book lovers is one of the many reasons I haul around a physical book. I’d read most everything they talked about, but was able to offer them a few suggestions. One mentioned he liked reading Robert J. Sawyer (“Michael Crichton, but with aliensâ€). Has anyone read his books?

 

 

DH is  a big Sawyer fan and buys his new stuff as soon as it comes out.  He also likes William Gibson, Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams and Ann Leckie if that gives you a better idea of the sort of books he likes (I realize that Pratchett and Adams are of a different category than Leckie/Gibson but thought I'd include them anyway).

 

 

 

I loved these things as a kid. When I was a kid I thought that if I couldn't get a job as a Ghostbuster my back up plan was to be a detective like Nancy Drew. I suspect that I've changed and not our favorite Titan haired heroine. 

 

I don't dare reread any of The Three Investigators series for fear that they might not be as perfect as I remember either. 

 

I was not a big Nancy Drew fan but when I was really young (7-8) I loved the Bobbsey Twins.  I had about 30 of them.  Read of one of them as an adult and promptly got rid of them as I didn't want my kids to read them.  I've kept my Three Investigators books and even had DS read one of them but I'm a bit afraid to read those as an adult.

 

Finished The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai.  It was meh.  I really wanted it to be either more whimsical or more action=packed but mostly I was bored.  Since the main character was a children's librarian, and it started off with references to children's books, I was hoping for more of that, but it did not provide.  And I just couldn't buy into the story of this library taking off with a kid who frequented her library and about whom she has concerns about his parents/upbringing with regards to their religious ideas.

 

I've start The Day of the Duchess by Sarah MacLean, which I found listed on some website recommending romance novels - decided to try it - am quite enjoying it so far - wish I was at the gym less and awake more so I could read more of it!  Haven't found a romance I've enjoyed for quite a few years.  My kids are making fun of me and I can't bring myself to read it on the bus but I am having a good time.

 

Also started What We Love by Zinzi Clemons, which has gotten good reviews and I'm enjoying the writing at a technical level but not that engaged by the story.  I think part of that is because I feel like the timeline of events is not making sense in terms of her mother's death and her family's move to the apartment and their purchase of a vacation home in South Africa.  So I keep being drawn out of the narrative by trying to understand when things are happening.

[Violet Crown]

Literary homeschooling moment while prepping Middle Girl for National Latin Exam:

 

Me: And Romulus and Remus's grandfather was ...?

MG: Numenor! No, wait.... Numitor. Numitor.

[JennW in SoCal]

I brought a phone to the Apple store to get an issue fixed and ended up chatting with the two techs about books. The possibility of finding other book lovers is one of the many reasons I haul around a physical book. I’d read most everything they talked about, but was able to offer them a few suggestions. One mentioned he liked reading Robert J. Sawyer (“Michael Crichton, but with aliensâ€). Has anyone read his books?

 

It's been awhile since I had one of those conversations. I like having a book with me so I've got something to fill time while waiting, but all too often when someone asks what I'm reading it is just a polite question, and my answer usually shuts the conversation right down! I'm never reading the latest bestsellers but something a little weird. "Why, it's a memoir about the 9 months the author spent as a gardening intern in Kyoto." Or, "War and Peace. No, really! I'm reading it for fun and really like it!"  They smile politely and change the subject. :laugh:

 

 

I never even heard of the Trixie Belden books! I read Nancy Drew and some Hardy Boys. LOVED Black Stallion (was there more than 1 book?!) and Heidi. My love of all things King Arthur started with the Mary Stewart's books. I recently reread Crystal Cave and liked it just as much as I did at 12 or 13. And I loved Tolkien. Don't think I've ever read LM Montgomery, but have Blue Castle on my list thanks to this group!

 

My second grade teacher, bless her, read to us every afternoon after lunch, and her series of choice was the Oz books. It was the best thing ever -- a teacher who knew we'd be useless in the early afternoon, and who knew the benefit of reading aloud.  

[ErinE]

It's been awhile since I had one of those conversations. I like having a book with me so I've got something to fill time while waiting, but all too often when someone asks what I'm reading it is just a polite question, and my answer usually shuts the conversation right down! I'm never reading the latest bestsellers but something a little weird. "Why, it's a memoir about the 9 months the author spent as a gardening intern in Kyoto." Or, "War and Peace. No, really! I'm reading it for fun and really like it!"  They smile politely and change the subject. :laugh:

 

 

Mine was Murakami Kafka on the Shore.

 

Me: "It's magical realism, translated from Japanese, kinda philosophical." 

 

Tech: "Oh."

 

*Silence*

 

Me, tentatively: "What books do you like to read? I'm always looking for more authors."

 

The ensuing conversation from my end: "I like that author! If you liked that you should read this. Have you read this? You have to read it! What about this? You should read that, too!"

 

The other tech jumped in and we talked Pierce Brown (Red Rising Saga in his words, Game of Thrones meets Hunger Games in outer space). 

 

A few customers were standing around and I realized I should probably leave as I was distracting them from their jobs. Still, it was nice to meet fellow bibliophiles in real life.

[mumto2]

It's been awhile since I had one of those conversations. I like having a book with me so I've got something to fill time while waiting, but all too often when someone asks what I'm reading it is just a polite question, and my answer usually shuts the conversation right down! I'm never reading the latest bestsellers but something a little weird. "Why, it's a memoir about the 9 months the author spent as a gardening intern in Kyoto." Or, "War and Peace. No, really! I'm reading it for fun and really like it!" They smile politely and change the subject. :laugh:

 

 

I never even heard of the Trixie Belden books! I read Nancy Drew and some Hardy Boys. LOVED Black Stallion (was there more than 1 book?!) and Heidi. My love of all things King Arthur started with the Mary Stewart's books. I recently reread Crystal Cave and liked it just as much as I did at 12 or 13. And I loved Tolkien. Don't think I've ever read LM Montgomery, but have Blue Castle on my list thanks to this group!

 

My second grade teacher, bless her, read to us every afternoon after lunch, and her series of choice was the Oz books. It was the best thing ever -- a teacher who knew we'd be useless in the early afternoon, and who knew the benefit of reading aloud.

Lucky you! I didn't find the Oz books until I had my kids. I read all of the original series out loud 3 times to make up for the deficit in my childhood! It's good that my kids loved them too!

 

The Black Stallion series https://www.goodreads.com/series/49696-the-black-stallion was substantial. I had a hard time getting them for dd via the library due to popularity and ended up buying the first three. Pretty box set. Managed to get a few more before we moved away. Growing up my library had most of them but they were shelved with the adult books. My mom had to be there so I could check them out. It really was a big deal......the librarians were very diligent about keeping children away from the adult books. I never figured out why they were adult books......

[Raifta]

My parents read all the Oz books and all the Black Stallion books to my brother and I as bedtime read-alouds.  Those are some of my fondest childhood memories.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I finished Hear the Wind Sing - Haruki Murakami. I think it's one of those books that I must reflect upon before I can really say anything about it. 

 

Next up: Pinball by HM

 

 

[Penguin]

I have started Kirsten Lavransdatter.  Hence you will not be hearing from me for quite a while.  #fattestbookever  #Russiannovelesque

 

Well, at least you can legitimately count it as three books! The trilogy was published as three separate volumes, one per year.

 

And that would fill three bingo squares: Written or set in the 14th century, Translated, and Nobel Prize Winner. I just started a reread of the trilogy, and that is my plan :) I consider Kristen Lavransdatter one of my all-time favorite reads, but it has been at least 15 years since I read it. I hope I still love it.

 

I just came across a recent article about Undset in Slate: Why this Norwegian novelist should be the next Elena Ferrante. Warning: article has spoilers.  

 

Funny, I just read the first Ferrante book a couple of weeks ago. Right now my plan is to alternate Undset and Ferrante until I finish both series.

 

For anyone interested, I suggest the Tiina Nunnaly translation over the Charles Archer.

 

--

 

I finished two books this week. One was a reread of a childhood favorite: The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip. All I remembered was that I loved the book - I had no recall of the story. Well, it 100% delivered. It is a stand-alone high fantasy, and I enjoyed every page. McKillip writes beautifully. Her prose is poetic and magical without being overdone. Sybel is a strong protagonist who can be selfish and vengeful, but she is never petty or dishonorable. And the book is CLEAN - no s*x, no bad language, no gore. I don't mind those things in my books but I point this out because it CAN be hard to find books like that. I think I was a tween when I read it, but it isn't really considered a children's book.

 

Also finished my first Danish book of the year: Min Historie. It is described as a fictional account based on real events by an author who chooses to remain anonymous. Zilan is a young girl forced from her homeland (an unidentified Middle Eastern country) by war. She arrives in Denmark as a refugee and is living in an asylum center. Thumbs up.

Edited January 26, 2018 by Penguin

[Carol in Cal.]

I have started Kirsten Lavransdatter.  Hence you will not be hearing from me for quite a while.  #fattestbookever  #Russiannovelesque

Update:  Have been reading steadily.  Good book.  Not even halfway through it yet.  Good gosh, what a tome.

[Carol in Cal.]

 

 

   

I loved Trixie Beldon. I read a few of both series when dd was the right age and they weren't quite as good as I remembered. ;). Dd loved both fortunately. I did end up rereading most of the Cherry Ames series which I also loved at that age. Dd didn't like them and I felt that they deserved a read since I had saved them!

I read voraciously as a kid, and lots of the series books were mysteries--Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Judy Bolton.  Of those, Judy Bolton ones were the most interesting because they were less formulaic than the rest.

 

Other series' that I liked:

The 'shoes' books

The Black Stallion books

Dorothy Dainty (I think that was from my grandmother's childhood)

Maida (LOVED these)

Oz was OK, but I really only enjoyed the first few

 

Almost a series, but not really books were usually better.

My Friend Flicka and the 2 sequels

Little Women and the several sequels 

The Saturdays and the several sequels

The Diamond in the Window had 5-6 sequels, one of which won a big prize, but I thought that the original far outshined the rest.

The Black Cauldron and the sequels

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and the sequels

 

There was a kids' Christian mystery series that I liked later on by the author of This Present Darkness--Frank Peretti

[marbel]

Oh, I am already having trouble keeping up with the thread! 

 

Count me in as a Nancy Drew fan.  Also, Bobbsey Twins and - not a series - The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew.

 

I read some Hardy Boys to my kids. My son enjoyed them for a while but when I said I wasn't going to read any more aloud, he didn't carry on reading on his own.  He did pick up an odd thing though.  In one of the books someone was said to have "hooted with laughter."  So sometimes when my boy found something funny, he would say "Hoot hoot!"  It took a little while to get him to quit that.  

 

We also loved the Chronicles of Narnia, and I still find it odd that as a kid I never heard about them. I didn't discover them till I had my own kids.  I'm old, but not that old!

 

As for my own reading...

 

I'm ahead of my reading goal only because I am reading mostly fluffy mysteries and listening to same/similar as audiobooks. I'm also not really taking any risks so not discarding anything. I'm keeping on track with War and Peace in a year (a chapter a day, give or take); I got ahead of myself in the first part of the books, when it's all family and social stuff, but now in a section of battle scene chapters I'm finding it difficult.  I did forget to read yesterday, but can read two chapters tonight.  I had also decided to commit to a chapter a day of the Bible, rather than try to read the whole thing in a year, and just reading through rather than following a complicated plan, and that's going well.  

 

So, for this year so far:

 

A Christmas Party, Georgette Heyer

Closed Casket, Sophie Hannah

No Wind of Blame, Heyer

The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri (audio)

The Convenient Mariage, Heyer (audio)

Claire of the Sea Light, Edwidge Danticat 

Quick Service, P. G. Wodehouse (audio)

Footsteps in the Dark, Heyer

 

 

[Violet Crown]

Somehow I never read a single Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Three Investigators, Secret Seven, or Cherry Ames book as a child.

[Ottakee]

Somehow I never read a single Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Three Investigators, Secret Seven, or Cherry Ames book as a child.

Me either. But I did read a lot of Bobsey twins books.

[Nan in Mass]

My Friend Flicka!!! I read that series over and over. And then I had a son just like Ken.

 

Nan

[PeacefulChaos]

I seriously LOVED Nancy Drew when I was in about 5th grade.  Before that I was really into The Baby Sitters Club lol... and then in middle school I read all sorts of other stuff.  Never read any Bobbsey Twins (though I think I've heard of it?) or much of anything that's 'good' from a literary standpoint lol.  (ETA to clarify I'm not saying the Bobbsey Twins are good from a literary standpoint.  I'm counting them as two totally separate things lol!)

Never read a lot of what I give my kids to read til I was reading them a few years ago and was like THESE ARE SO GOOD.  Black Beauty, The Secret Garden, others I can't think of atm.  

I was reading V.C. Andrews for awhile, then I got into all the Frank Peretti books.  

 

I was all over the place lol.... :D :lol:

Edited January 27, 2018 by PeacefulChaos

[TravelingChris]

Enjoying the discussions about children's book series.  I read Nancy Drew, some Hardy Boys (probably about 8), a few Bobbsy Twins, some Trixie Belden and some Cherry Ames.  I didn't read more Trixie Belden or Cherry Ames because I couldn't find more.  I think I got some of the books in thrift stores and second hand sales.  

 

So far this month, I have read:

 

1.  M C Beaton  The Witches Tree- (Agatha Raisin series).  This one was especially a good one to be reading now.  So much tied into some of the discussions we have been having on this board about hook-up society, new and old feminism, etc/  ****

2. Susan Wittig Albert - The Last Chance Olive Ranch- (China Bayles series)   I didn't find this one quite as enjoyable as some of her others.  But still a good read so I give it ***.

 

I am currently John Le Carre's A Legacy of Spies in which Peter Guillam (played by Benedict Cumberland in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy  movie of a few years ago) is an old man recalled to Circus about a case from the 1960s.  George Smiley makes an appearance too, I guess, from Wikipedia, but he hasn't so far.

 

Also am still reading the book about Spy locations in Washington DC

[aggieamy]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that has thrust a well loved series into my child's hand only to have them be less than impressed. I have about ten antique (1930's) Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew's on my shelves and DD has read maybe one of them. One Christmas I hunted her down three Cherry Ames books. She read one of them.

 

Luckily she loved The Secret Garden or I would've had to pack her off to military school.

 

Somehow I never read a single Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Three Investigators, Secret Seven, or Cherry Ames book as a child.

 

So what books did you read with a flashlight after bedtime as a kid?

 

I'd bet good money you're not going to say Sweet Valley High ...

Edited January 27, 2018 by aggieamy

[Violet Crown]

So what books did you read with a flashlight after bedtime as a kid?

.

I didn't, much. I was an early and hungry reader, but my parents weren't readers, and my reading choices in elementary school were (a) issues of Psychology Today and Journal of the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers (I read the former cover to cover); (b) my older brother's science fiction paperbacks, which I was threatened with death for touching (I sneaked them anyway, finding only the Bradbury tolerable); (c ) two books each time from the Scholastic catalog when we got those in school, which were inevitably too low-level; and (d) books given me by the sympathetic school librarian, which unfortunately were mostly fantasy, and I learned to hate that genre as well.

 

The situation improved in middle and high school as far as quality, though not quantity. I'm still making up for lost time.

Edited January 27, 2018 by Violet Crown

[mumto2]

Enjoying the discussions about children's book series. I read Nancy Drew, some Hardy Boys (probably about 8), a few Bobbsy Twins, some Trixie Belden and some Cherry Ames. I didn't read more Trixie Belden or Cherry Ames because I couldn't find more. I think I got some of the books in thrift stores and second hand sales.

 

So far this month, I have read:

 

1. M C Beaton The Witches Tree- (Agatha Raisin series). This one was especially a good one to be reading now. So much tied into some of the discussions we have been having on this board about hook-up society, new and old feminism, etc/ ****

2. Susan Wittig Albert - The Last Chance Olive Ranch- (China Bayles series) I didn't find this one quite as enjoyable as some of her others. But still a good read so I give it ***.

 

 

I never had a chance to read the Bobbsey Twin books because they never appeared in the second hand bookstore I frequented with my mom. I bought the first few for my kids as reprints and neither child was enthusiastic. I did manage to collect 30 or so Nancy Drew's and a majority of the Trixie

Beldon\_Cherry Ames series so it really was an awesome bookstore.

 

Someone upthread mentioned Judy Bolton. Those were wonderful but I only had 3 or 4.

 

I recently read both The Witches Tree and the Olive Ranch. I enjoyed both and was happy that Agatha is finally being portrayed as a more realistic 50 something. When I turned 50 I started having issues with that series and didn't enjoy it as much. Desperate Agatha made me sad. They seem to be more in balance now. I think I have been reading Agatha Raison's since the first one was published. Pretty much since the beginning for China Bayle's too.