Book a Week 2018 - BW21: Bookish Birthdays

[Kareni]

1 hour ago, tuesdayschild said:

A cat.

!!

So the count [Regarding Quiz: What Animal Would Your Fantasy Sidekick Be?  ] is now:

4 Ravens
2 Unicorns
1 Fox
1Cat

Regards,
Kareni

[Matryoshka]

24 minutes ago, Kareni said:

!!

So the count [Regarding Quiz: What Animal Would Your Fantasy Sidekick Be?  ] is now:

4 Ravens
2 Unicorns
1 Fox
1Cat

Regards,
Kareni

Y'all made me go take the quiz.  I got dragon...

[tuesdayschild]

On 5/24/2018 at 3:20 PM, mumto2 said:

So my question is do you enjoy The Cat Who.......books?  I can’t believe Amy didn’t get the cat! ?

Amy,  Royals are sort of like politics in terms of people honestly do not talk about them beyond personal stories if they have truly spoken to someone in the family.  The Queen and the corgi’s make for a good story, seriously.  They really enjoy showing off their nan’s Coronation Cup collection.............I will say both the Queen and Kate are the favorites with my friends.  I think Camilla is accepted pretty widely, at least I haven’t heard anything negative said irl, ever.

I'd never heard of those books, until Amy mentioned them quite a few threads back.  I have one on my TBR list ?

And, it should be noted I am NOT a cat fan IRL.  Even though our family has three cats I tolerate them, not love them.  My buddy is our Bichon, Leroy.... this is what he does when told to smile:

 

[LuvToRead]

7 hours ago, Kareni said:

!!

So the count [Regarding Quiz: What Animal Would Your Fantasy Sidekick Be?  ] is now:

4 Ravens
2 Unicorns
1 Fox
1Cat

Regards,
Kareni

 

6 hours ago, Matryoshka said:

Y'all made me go take the quiz.  I got dragon...

I got fox.  So I believe that brings us too:
4 Ravens
2 Unicorns
2 Foxes
1 Cat
1 Dragon

[Guest]

My DD sent me a link to a Jimmy Kimmel youtube in which they interview random “man-on-the-street” people to see if they can name A book. Any book. Just one book. It’s a little pitiful.*

 

*I say this though I am confident this does not represent every person they interviewed. They compile these things, I’m sure, in just such a manner to showcase the people who looked most foolish. 

P.S. This is how I would be if they asked me to name any one Netflix series show, or if I had to identify movie stars by photo or movie name. We can’t all be expert at everything, after all. 

P.S.S. My favorite is the man who confidently believes Moby Dick was the author of a book called, “Horse.” 

[marbel]

56 minutes ago, Quill said:

My DD sent me a link to a Jimmy Kimmel youtube in which they interview random “man-on-the-street” people to see if they can name A book. Any book. Just one book. 

<snip>

 

Like you, I am always dubious about these.  They could have come across hundreds of people who could name a book.

But I think I could be like the woman who had been a librarian.  Just blanking out. Someone walks up to me on the street, shoves a microphone at me and says "name a book" - I might look as foolish. 

I do think people read less and less though. I find it distressing, as if an important art form is dying.

[mumto2]

48 minutes ago, Quill said:

My DD sent me a link to a Jimmy Kimmel youtube in which they interview random “man-on-the-street” people to see if they can name A book. Any book. Just one book. It’s a little pitiful.

*I say this though I am confident this does not represent every person they interviewed. They compile these things, I’m sure, in just such a manner to showcase the people who looked most foolish. 

P.S. This is how I would be if they asked me to name any one Netflix series show, or if I had to identify movie stars by photo or movie name. We can’t all be expert at everything, after all. 

P.S.S. My favorite is the man who confidently believes Moby Dick was the author of a book called, “Horse.” 

Oh my,  I get they were nervous but a former librarian who couldn’t name a book shows how nervous.

I hope could come up with a book even nervous but the odds of my naming a movie star by photo are really really low at any time!  Lol

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, mumto2 said:

Oh my,  I get they were nervous but a former librarian who couldn’t name a book shows how nervous.

I hope could come up with a book even nervous but the odds of my naming a movie star by photo are really really low at any time!  Lol

Yeah, there is also some show in which the interviewer intentionally mangles the noun when asking the man-on-the-street, but people answer just as if he had said the correct thing. So, for example, if they are asking people something about the movie Star Wars: The Last Jedi, they will say “Star Fours: The Fast Weddi” or something. And then they have a laugh that the responder seemed not to notice the error. But I think part of this is explained by brain science; our brains patch up mistakes from context, often subconsciously. And some of it is explained by personality; some people are just being nice and want to let you save face. I know I do that. I might mentally think, “He said, ‘Fast Weddi,’ but I’m not going to be an ass and point out his tongue-tie on-camera.” 

[marbel]

Oh!  And re: the video of non-reading people.  Not only shoving a mic at me, but filming me too!   Total mind blackout.  

[mumto2]

10 minutes ago, Quill said:

Yeah, there is also some show in which the interviewer intentionally mangles the noun when asking the man-on-the-street, but people answer just as if he had said the correct thing. So, for example, if they are asking people something about the movie Star Wars: The Last Jedi, they will say “Star Fours: The Fast Weddi” or something. And then they have a laugh that the responder seemed not to notice the error. But I think part of this is explained by brain science; our brains patch up mistakes from context, often subconsciously. And some of it is explained by personality; some people are just being nice and want to let you save face. I know I do that. I might mentally think, “He said, ‘Fast Weddi,’ but I’m not going to be an ass and point out his tongue-tie on-camera.” 

I would never point it out if I knew what the person meant.  I have so many odd accents coming at me irl that I am frequently just pleased to be able to continue the conversation......lol

[aggieamy]

12 hours ago, Violet Crown said:

 

At a stoplight the other day I saw the man next to me immediately pick up a book, prop it on the steering wheel, and start reading. So I suppose there are others who dislike driving getting in the way of reading. I wonder if our city's hands-free law applies to books as well as phones.

Great beach photo! Was there much sign of hurricane damage in Galveston?

 

 None! I couldn't believe it. It was also very nice ... when I was in college everyone talked about how it was gross and nobody wanted to go there for the beach prefering instead South Padre. We thought it was lovely. Clean. The beach was nice. They had a great board walk. We got a hotel right across from the beach with ocean side view for something like $120 a night. It was a great experience.

Re: Reading and driving. Kevin and I once saw someone in bumper to bumper rush hour traffic doing a crossword puzzle on their steering wheel. Probably still safer than texting and driving.

10 hours ago, tuesdayschild said:

 

Well that is a pretty cute little guy!

2 hours ago, marbel said:

But I think I could be like the woman who had been a librarian.  Just blanking out. Someone walks up to me on the street, shoves a microphone at me and says "name a book" - I might look as foolish. 

 

Exactly. There is some smoke and mirrors to this type of thing to make a good "show". We play a party game with friends where you have a minute to list different things in each category (similar to Taboo). Once that timer clicks on my mind stops. I'll be looking at a blank list where I should be writing book titles and wonder if I've ever even seen a book. Car makes ... timer on ... nope, I couldn't tell you the car I currently drive!

[aggieamy]

I'm catching up to the Brit Trip bus:

Aunt Dimity Beats the Devil by Nancy Atherton - My favorite part of the Aunt Dimity books are ... Aunt Dimity and this book was light on that. There's also a really strange plot point with the FMC, who is married, being very attracted to the man of the story. It's explained somewhat but still did not work for me.(Northumbria)

The Small Bachelor by PG Wodehouse - I'm just going to make a broad blanket statement that's likely offensive. I think the PG Wodehouse books set in the USA are not nearly as good as the ones set in England. Something is lost when we cross the Atlantic.

[marbel]

13 minutes ago, aggieamy said:

<snip>

The Small Bachelor by PG Wodehouse - I'm just going to make a broad blanket statement that's likely offensive. I think the PG Wodehouse books set in the USA are not nearly as good as the ones set in England. Something is lost when we cross the Atlantic.

I have heard/read that before. I don't think I've read any set in the US, but we have watched all the Jeeves & Wooster TV series and I don't like the episodes set in the US.  

[mumto2]

27 minutes ago, aggieamy said:

I'm catching up to the Brit Trip bus:

Aunt Dimity Beats the Devil by Nancy Atherton - My favorite part of the Aunt Dimity books are ... Aunt Dimity and this book was light on that. There's also a really strange plot point with the FMC, who is married, being very attracted to the man of the story. It's explained somewhat but still did not work for me.(Northumbria)

The Small Bachelor by PG Wodehouse - I'm just going to make a broad blanket statement that's likely offensive. I think the PG Wodehouse books set in the USA are not nearly as good as the ones set in England. Something is lost when we cross the Atlantic.

I have to agree about Aunt Dimity Beats the Devil,  the parts with the odd attraction were just plain weird and uncomfortable.  Definitely not my favorite Dimity.

I rarely enjoy it when a series I am reading goes to other countries.  Right now I am having a really hard time finishing The Red Velvet Turnshoe by Cassandra Clark for just that reason.....my Yorkshire based Abbess has travelled to Rome.  I bored.  I can’t remember who is who. The one new character I really like was just murdered.....lol,  yes, I may stop reading this one.

[Kareni]

A bookish post ~

Five Unforgettable Prisons in Science Fiction and Fantasy  by Corey J. White

Some currently free Kindle books ~

The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James

a young adult thriller:  A Thousand Faces: A Shapeshifter Thriller  by Janci Patterson

historical fiction:  Song at Dawn: 1150 in Provence  by Jean Gill

romantic suspense:  Cold In The Shadows   by Toni Anderson

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

My daughter has returned to Seoul after her visit.  We really enjoyed her company for some eleven days.

Some recent reads ~

Katharine Ashe's historical romance The Prince: A Devil's Duke Novel; this featured a prince in hiding and a young woman, in disguise, studying to be a surgeon.  Both characters had issues (he was missing part of his leg, she had what I think we'd now describe as anxiety and OCD).  It was an enjoyable read.  (Adult content)

Curious..Amazon says the book will be released on May 29, but I found it amongst my library holds yesterday.

"The temptation of her lips…

Libby Shaw refuses to accept society’s dictates. She’s determined to become a member of Edinburgh’s all-male Royal College of Surgeons. Disguising herself as a man, she attends the surgical theater and fools everyone—except the one man who has never forgotten the shape of her exquisitely sensual lips.

…will make a prince say yes to her every desire

Forced to leave his home as a boy, famed portraitist Ziyaeddin is secretly the exiled prince of a distant realm. When he first met Libby, he memorized every detail of her face and drew her. But her perfect lips gave him trouble—the same lips he now longs to kiss. When Libby asks his help to hide her feminine identity from the world, Ziyaeddin agrees on one condition: she must sit for him to paint—as a woman. But what begins as a daring scheme could send them both hurtling toward danger…and an unparalleled love."
**

I also re-read Lyn Gala's

Prelude to Claimings, Tails, and Other Alien Artifacts
Claimings, Tails, and Other Alien Artifacts (Claimings, #1)
Assimilation, Love, and Other Human Oddities (Claimings, #2)
Affiliations, Aliens, and Other Profitable Pursuits (Claimings, #3)

While my (adult) daughter is not in the habit of reading male/male romance (or any romance), I thought she'd enjoy the above series.  I handed her my Kindle with the Prelude and said, "Read this."  She did and went on to read the series.  (Adult content)

I also re-read (these have adult content) Cooper West's

Rescued: A “Parker’s Sanctuary” Story  (this is currently free to Kindle readers)
Parker's Sanctuary: A Guardsmen Novel
Rescued: A Parker's Sanctuary Story (Guardsmen, #1.5)

Regards,
Kareni

[mumto2]

28 minutes ago, Kareni said:

My daughter has returned to Seoul after her visit.  We really enjoyed her company for some eleven days.

Some recent reads ~

Katharine Ashe's historical romance The Prince: A Devil's Duke Novel; this featured a prince in hiding and a young woman, in disguise, studying to be a surgeon.  Both characters had issues (he was missing part of his leg, she had what I think we'd now describe as anxiety and OCD).  It was an enjoyable read.  (Adult content)

Curious..Amazon says the book will be released on May 29, but I found it amongst my library holds yesterday.

"The temptation of her lips…

Libby Shaw refuses to accept society’s dictates. She’s determined to become a member of Edinburgh’s all-male Royal College of Surgeons. Disguising herself as a man, she attends the surgical theater and fools everyone—except the one man who has never forgotten the shape of her exquisitely sensual lips.

…will make a prince say yes to her every desire

Forced to leave his home as a boy, famed portraitist Ziyaeddin is secretly the exiled prince of a distant realm. When he first met Libby, he memorized every detail of her face and drew her. But her perfect lips gave him trouble—the same lips he now longs to kiss. When Libby asks his help to hide her feminine identity from the world, Ziyaeddin agrees on one condition: she must sit for him to paint—as a woman. But what begins as a daring scheme could send them both hurtling toward danger…and an unparalleled love."
**

 

Safe  travels to your daughter.  I hope she enjoys her return to Seoul.  Is she going to continue with the same job or is she trying something new this time.

I have never worked with the new book preparation but have come to suspect the books arrive a week or two before release in some cases.  I wonder if you getting that book early was an oops?

Recently the newest Alan Bradley appeared in my Overdrive about a week before release.  I couldn’t access it because it was in ePub format and went to bed resolving to learn how to download ePub books.  I spent awhile researching and went into my account to get my book and it was gone.  Really glad Dd had looked at the curious appearance or I would have thought I imagined it!

[aggieamy]

@Mothersweets What did you decide to do with your Miss Silver book? Stick with #1 or try another one in the series?

[Kareni]

7 hours ago, mumto2 said:

Safe  travels to your daughter.  I hope she enjoys her return to Seoul.  Is she going to continue with the same job or is she trying something new this time.

Thank you.  She is now back in Seoul and is, I'm informed, 85% unpacked.

She is continuing on with the same company; she's now in her third year there teaching English conversation to adults.

7 hours ago, mumto2 said:

I have never worked with the new book preparation but have come to suspect the books arrive a week or two before release in some cases.  I wonder if you getting that book early was an oops?

That was my thought, too.  It was a happy oops in this case.  I hope that your Alan Bradley book will reappear soon.

Regards,
Kareni

[mumto2]

29 minutes ago, Kareni said:

 

That was my thought, too.  It was a happy oops in this case.  I hope that your Alan Bradley book will reappear soon.

Regards,
Kareni

It reappeared on the release date with Kindle format.  I do wonder what would have happened if I had been able to download.

[Mothersweets]

6 hours ago, aggieamy said:

@Mothersweets What did you decide to do with your Miss Silver book? Stick with #1 or try another one in the series?

Thanks for asking! I ended up finishing it - I figured I was already over 60% done so I forced myself. You know, I just didn't really care about the characters.The mystery was more of a criminal-type story and there was so much telling instead of showing - ugh. I think I will jump ahead to #13 when I pick up another Miss Silver book.

I just today finished something I really liked! The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert It's a newish young adult magical-realism thriller (I guess?). Not usually my genre but the writing really appealed to me. Sort of reminded me of The Bear and the Nightingale with the fairy tale-ish type of storytelling. I heard about it on the What Should I Read Next podcast and surprise! my library had a copy. ? I think some others here would probably like it, too!

[-M-]

Quiz: Fox

[Kareni]

Given Melissa's Fox, that brings us to:

4 Ravens
3 Foxes
2 Unicorns
1 Cat
1 Dragon

Regards,
Kareni

[aggieamy]

43 minutes ago, Kareni said:

Given Melissa's Fox, that brings us to:

4 Ravens
3 Foxes
2 Unicorns
1 Cat
1 Dragon

Regards,
Kareni

I don't know why I'm enjoying the quiz results so much but I am!

The last of the Penderwick books was release about a week ago. Sophia got it for her birthday tonight and is now 95% finished. She highly recommends it. I just wanted to pass that along because I know other BaW kids enjoyed that series and you might have missed that the book was finally released.

[mumto2]

7 hours ago, aggieamy said:

I don't know why I'm enjoying the quiz results so much but I am!

The last of the Penderwick books was release about a week ago. Sophia got it for her birthday tonight and is now 95% finished. She highly recommends it. I just wanted to pass that along because I know other BaW kids enjoyed that series and you might have missed that the book was finally released.

The quiz is fun.....I love seeing the results!

Happy Birthday to Sophia!

[Soror]

Book 22- Tempests and Slaughter -Tamora Pierce

I loved this book. From the description, I thought it would be a knockoff of Harry Potter. The main character is a young wizard prodigy off to a magician's school but the similarities stop there. Pierce's world is fully her own a conglomeration of various mythologies and her imagination. The story just pulled me in with just the right amount of description, the characters well-developed and likable.

Unfortunately, this is the first book in what will be a trilogy and has just been released so I'll have to wait who knows how long until the next book comes out but I did figure out that this series is a back story to one of the characters in another series so have now I've requested the first two books of that series to read. I also have my stack of non-fiction to read- I'm thinking I'll start Hillbilly Elegy first.

[mumto2]

Kareni,  I just started the first short story in my Patricia Briggs reread using the list you kindly postedhttp://patriciabriggs.com/books/timeline.shtml .  Having problems sourcing the second one, Homecoming,  a graphic novel.  Have you read it?   I was hoping to get it from my overdrive because they own a most of Patricia Briggs both in book and audio format.  They also own a substantial number of graphic novels so I thought it would be there.  I can’t seem to find it to request purchase of either.  

This isn’t a huge big deal.  More of frustration because I can’t figure the puzzle out!  Lol. I do know I can skip it especially since I have my graphic novel for Bingo all picked out thanks to Jenn!

 

[Kareni]

1 hour ago, mumto2 said:

Kareni,  I just started the first short story in my Patricia Briggs reread using the list you kindly postedhttp://patriciabriggs.com/books/timeline.shtml .  Having problems sourcing the second one, Homecoming,  a graphic novel.  Have you read it?   I was hoping to get it from my overdrive because they own a most of Patricia Briggs both in book and audio format.  They also own a substantial number of graphic novels so I thought it would be there.  I can’t seem to find it to request purchase of either.  

I read my library's copy some years ago. (Curiously, they no longer have it in the collection.  Perhaps it was damaged.)  I liked it more than the author's Hopcross Jilly which I read recently after posting the link above.

I couldn't find the title  in my Overdrive collection either.  Here's an Amazon link in case it is helpful ~ Homecoming, Volumes 1 to 4

Regards,
Kareni

[Kareni]

Late last night I finished Elizabeth Moon's Once A Hero  which I quite enjoyed.  According to Amazon, this falls into the category of military science fiction.  Trigger warning for

 

memories of rape of a child.

I would read more by this author.

"TRUE GRIT

Esmay Suiza wasn't a member of a great Navy family like the Serranos. She'd had to make her way on grit alone, which meant it wasn't likely she'd ever make admiral and ''hoist her own flag.'' Well, that was fine with her: all Esmay wanted was a secure berth where she could be part of something greater than herself and otherwise just live her life in peace.

But what we want or think we want from life and what we get are seldom the same—and one day Esmay found herself in the middle of a space battle, and the senior surviving officer in a mutiny against a traitorous captain. Suddenly she has no choice: she must take command and win—and thereby become both the youngest and lowest ranking member of Fleet ever to win a major battle.

While Esmay may not want to be a hero, it looks like she just can't help it, because Once A Hero,..."
**

And a currently free book for Kindle readers ~

The Dead Letter   by  Seeley Regester

"A love triangle turns deadly in the first full-length detective novel by an American author

Published a decade prior to Anna Katharine Green’s The Leavenworth Case (1878), The Dead Letter concerns the murder of Henry Moreland, whose body is found just a few steps from the home of John Argyll, Esq. Moreland was engaged to Argyll’s daughter, Eleanor, and suspicion soon falls upon the lawyer’s protégé, Richard Redfield. Desperate to clear his name, Redfield seeks the help of Mr. Burton, a famous New York City detective—but the case has more twists and turns than either of the two men could possibly imagine.
 
Set against the political turmoil of the Reconstruction Era, The Dead Letter is a fascinating historical document, a pioneering work of genre fiction, and a mystery with a cleverly satisfying conclusion."

ALSO 

The Florentine Cypher: Kate Benedict Paranormal Mystery #3 (The Kate Benedict Series)  by Carrie Bedford

The Unusual Second Life of Thomas Weaver (Middle Falls Time Travel Series Book 1)  by Shawn Inmon

Regards,
Kareni

[mumto2]

38 minutes ago, Kareni said:

I read my library's copy some years ago. (Curiously, they no longer have it in the collection.  Perhaps it was damaged.)  I liked it more than the author's Hopcross Jilly which I read recently after posting the link above.

I couldn't find the title  in my Overdrive collection either.  Here's an Amazon link in case it is helpful ~ Homecoming, Volumes 1 to 4

Regards,
Kareni

Thank you!  The amazon link was really helpful. ? I tried again in Overdrive using Mercy Thompson as my keywords and still no luck.  Completely puzzled as it is on Kindle.  I did find a paper copy at the library so I put a hold on it.  

Also thanks for the freebie links!  Today I “bought” the time travel one,  The Unusual Life of Thomas Weaver as it looks like it might be able to stand alone.  

Tuesday,  I keep forgetting to quote you until too late so I haven’t commented on how cute your pup is......absolutely adorable!  ?. Also I think you will enjoy the Cat Who books so glad you are trying them.  Which one?  Several places to start on this series........They are great comfort reads,  pretty sure Amy will agree with me on this!

[marbel]

Remember a couple weeks ago we were talking about Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle?  I was one of those few remaining people on earth who had never read it. Well, the last two days I listened to it.  Wow, what a story!  I won't be forgetting this book for a long time.  The narrator (Bernadette Dunne) had just the right voice, too. 

 

[Kareni]

6 hours ago, mumto2 said:

Also thanks for the freebie links!  Today I “bought” the time travel one,  The Unusual Life of Thomas Weaver as it looks like it might be able to stand alone.  

You are quite welcome!

Here's another time travel story that is currently free:    Crossing In Time  by D.L. Orton

and a bookish post ~

5 Speculative Fiction Takes on Sherlock Holmes  by Alex Acks

Regards,
Kareni

 

[Robin M]

Howdy! I got off the bus and stayed for a while in the (fictional I'm sure) town of Ridinghouse Bay off the coast of Yorkshire as well as spent a bit of time in London with I found You by Lisa Jewell.  Two timelines in which the lives of everybody merged to one. Quite a mystery with flawed characters. Well done! 

"In the windswept British seaside town of Ridinghouse Bay, single mom Alice Lake finds a man sitting on a beach outside her house. He has no name, no jacket, and no idea how he got there. Against her better judgment, she invites him inside.

Meanwhile, in a suburb of London, newlywed Lily Monrose grows anxious when her husband fails to return home from work one night. Soon, she receives even worse news: according to the police, the man she married never even existed.

Twenty-three years earlier, Gray and Kirsty Ross are teenagers on a summer holiday with their parents. The annual trip to Ridinghouse Bay is uneventful, until an enigmatic young man starts paying extra attention to Kirsty. Something about him makes Gray uncomfortable—and it’s not just because he’s a protective older brother.

Who is the man on the beach? Where is Lily’s missing husband? And what ever happened to the man who made such a lasting and disturbing impression on Gray?"

 

Jumped back into October Daye's world with Brightest Fell after rereading the first book in the series Rosemary and Rue. Forgot much so glad to revisit! 

 

[Penguin]

My quiz result was dragon.

Currently reading: 

Ferrante’s Neopolitan Novels are the best realistic fiction that I have read in a long, long time. 

Steadily working on The Last Castle by Denise Kiernan. The story behind the Biltmore House in North Carolina, it is for my micro history Bingo Square. I have a high interest in the topic but the book is adequate rather than compelling.

[madteaparty]

1 hour ago, Penguin said:

My quiz result was dragon.

Currently reading: 

Ferrante’s Neopolitan Novels are the best realistic fiction that I have read in a long, long time. 

Ferrante is having a moment but I don’t know, towards the end of that series it came unraveled a bit more than preferable  I thought. Anyway I prefer her earlier books like Days of Abandonement for example.

I’m reading Song of Achilles and it’s the first book I’ve actually enjoyed reading for a long time.

also re reading Tale of two cities (bc DS is reading), and some Eastern European stuff (same reason and ties into our travels).

i’m trying to make my way through Jerusalem-the biography but it’s basically a world history and so I’m a bit overwhelmed with it...

[Penguin]

1 hour ago, madteaparty said:

Ferrante is having a moment but I don’t know, towards the end of that series it came unraveled a bit more than preferable  I thought. Anyway I prefer her earlier books like Days of Abandonement for example.

I’m reading Song of Achilles and it’s the first book I’ve actually enjoyed reading for a long time.

also re reading Tale of two cities (bc DS is reading), and some Eastern European stuff (same reason and ties into our travels).

i’m trying to make my way through Jerusalem-the biography but it’s basically a world history and so I’m a bit overwhelmed with it...

Ferrante: I am only midway through Book 2 so we’ll see if my gushing sustains to the end of the quartet. That being said, lots of other writers are currently popular that don’t resonate with me at all. I have been disappointed by the bulk of the contemporary realistic fiction I have recently read. Which is why I don’t read much of it any more. 

[madteaparty]

7 minutes ago, Penguin said:

Ferrante: I am only midway through Book 2 so we’ll see if my gushing sustains to the end of the quartet. That being said, lots of other writers are currently popular that don’t resonate with me at all. I have been disappointed by the bulk of the contemporary realistic fiction I have recently read. Which is why I don’t read much of it any more. 

Yes I have the same problem. It’s a bit of a cult/unclothed emperor thing. It’s hard for me to even pick a book now as clearly the critics’ judgement doesn’t match my own. I specifically avoid winners of a particular award, for example ?. I read an article recently about an author who was surprised her books were as popular as they were, and I thought, ah you too?!?

I am happy to say I knew about Ferrante before the surprise hit of the napoli novels (and this because she has been famous in Italy for a long time), so I’m chuckling a little at the fact that what she is famous for in the US is my least favorite writing of her (still great writing. Basically the same story over 15 different ways but the writing makes up for it). 

which is why this Song of Achilles book which had been recomended to me (even here, I’m sure) and I resisted is surprising. Finally, a vacation read. Everything else is school or boring or both. I’m also looking over the Mediterranean reading it so you know, it’s all coming together for me in a way that almost never does ?

[marbel]

Yesterday I had to abandon both my Berkshire books!  (The Killings at Badger's Drift and A Talent for Murder).  Killings was one I had started before, abandoned, and then forgot about.  I remembered it almost immediately and thought I'd try again; I got further along this time, but lost interest once more.  As for Talent, the narrator just annoyed me from the start; I don't know why!  

Last night I started a reread of Tana French's In The Woods, which is set in Dublin so way off the bus.  Well, not as far as it could be.   I have been looking at Song of Achilles, thanks to some posts here.  It also keeps popping up as "featured" in Overdrive and Hoopla, not sure why.  In any case, it seems to be placing itself in my path right now.  :-) 

I'm looking forward to a re-read of The Importance of Being Earnest for Hertfordshire!

ETA: starting a re-read of a book as if it's new to me is one of the ways I'm turning into my mother! She used to buy books at the thrift store and realize that she'd read it before, and perhaps had even donated it to that store, only to buy it back some time later.  :-)  

[Penguin]

Here is a little more S. Undset yumminess for you before the thread flips to next week:

Return to the Future is my vintage copy of Undset's memoir. The copy of Kristin Lavrandatter is my Danish copy that I have not yet tackled.

 

[Penguin]

Sorry for making two posts in rapid succession...

1 hour ago, madteaparty said:

Yes I have the same problem. It’s a bit of a cult/unclothed emperor thing. It’s hard for me to even pick a book now as clearly the critics’ judgement doesn’t match my own. I specifically avoid winners of a particular award, for example ?. I read an article recently about an author who was surprised her books were as popular as they were, and I thought, ah you too?!?

I am happy to say I knew about Ferrante before the surprise hit of the napoli novels (and this because she has been famous in Italy for a long time), so I’m chuckling a little at the fact that what she is famous for in the US is my least favorite writing of her (still great writing. Basically the same story over 15 different ways but the writing makes up for it). 

which is why this Song of Achilles book which had been recomended to me (even here, I’m sure) and I resisted is surprising. Finally, a vacation read. Everything else is school or boring or both. I’m also looking over the Mediterranean reading it so you know, it’s all coming together for me in a way that almost never does ?

Yes, but this is why I am so excited to be loving Ferrante. I am finally reading some contemporary realistic fiction that truly excites me. That has not happened for a long time. I don't care if it is popular or not. I'm just tired of feeling meh about realistic fiction. But it might just be that my tastes have changed. There are plenty of modern books that I love in the other genres.  Speculative fiction and nonfiction come immediately to mind.

[Matryoshka]

4 hours ago, Penguin said:

My quiz result was dragon.

Yay, a fellow dragon! ?

Quote

Currently reading: 
Ferrante’s Neopolitan Novels are the best realistic fiction that I have read in a long, long time. 

 

2 hours ago, madteaparty said:

Ferrante is having a moment but I don’t know, towards the end of that series it came unraveled a bit more than preferable  I thought. Anyway I prefer her earlier books like Days of Abandonement for example.

 

Quote

Ferrante: I am only midway through Book 2 so we’ll see if my gushing sustains to the end of the quartet. That being said, lots of other writers are currently popular that don’t resonate with me at all. I have been disappointed by the bulk of the contemporary realistic fiction I have recently read. Which is why I don’t read much of it any more. 

I also don't read a lot of contemporary realistic fiction, or if I do it's often about people of other cultures (I guess Italian would qualify for that, though?).  The first Neapolitan book just showed up in my Overdrive in Spanish translation, and I've been thinking of trying the first book in Spanish translation rather than English (Spanish is closer to Italian than English, I figure?)  I'm happy to have the recommendation for this series from someone else who isn't a contemporary realistic fiction lover. ?

Quote

I’m reading Song of Achilles and it’s the first book I’ve actually enjoyed reading for a long time.

Speaking of Overdrive, just put Miller's Circe on hold. ☺️

20 minutes ago, Penguin said:

Here is a little more S. Undset yumminess for you before the thread flips to next week:

Return to the Future is my vintage copy of Undset's memoir. The copy of Kristin Lavrandatter is my Danish copy that I have not yet tackled.

I've been pondering whether to read Kristin Lavransdatter in German or English translation (since I often read Scandinavian books in German)... on this one I'm leaning toward English, though, since there appears to be a well-regarded new translation.  There seems to be only an older German one, and it's not clear how good it is.  Danish is pretty close to Norwegian, no?

[Penguin]

5 minutes ago, Matryoshka said:

I've been pondering whether to read Kristin Lavransdatter in German or English translation (since I often read Scandinavian books in German)... on this one I'm leaning toward English, though, since there appears to be a well-regarded new translation.  There seems to be only an older German one, and it's not clear how good it is.  Danish is pretty close to Norwegian, no?

Written Danish and written Norwegian are very, very close. I can read Norwegian almost as easily as Danish. Pronunciation is a different story. ETA, I actually have a vintage copy of the first volume of KL written in Norwegian - but in a box that I can't access. Otherwise, I would have given y'all of photo of it, too.

[madteaparty]

18 minutes ago, Matryoshka said:

Yay, a fellow dragon! ?

 

 

I also don't read a lot of contemporary realistic fiction, or if I do it's often about people of other cultures (I guess Italian would qualify for that, though?).  The first Neapolitan book just showed up in my Overdrive in Spanish translation, and I've been thinking of trying the first book in Spanish translation rather than English (Spanish is closer to Italian than English, I figure?)  I'm happy to have the recommendation for this series from someone else who isn't a contemporary realistic fiction lover. ?

Speaking of Overdrive, just put Miller's Circe on hold. ☺️

I've been pondering whether to read Kristin Lavransdatter in German or English translation (since I often read Scandinavian books in German)... on this one I'm leaning toward English, though, since there appears to be a well-regarded new translation.  There seems to be only an older German one, and it's not clear how good it is.  Danish is pretty close to Norwegian, no?

I used to be fluent in Italian but I can’t really read anything more than a newspaper article in it anymore. So I did not try the Neapolitan ones in Italian. I don’t remember what I read her shorter stuff in. I think they’re probably totally different books in English than Italian but that’s always the case. The author DS reads now is translated twice over so I’ve been thinking about the translation thing. 

[Kareni]

8 hours ago, Penguin said:

My quiz result was dragon.

One begins to wonder if there are penguin sidekicks .

So the current count [Regarding Quiz: What Animal Would Your Fantasy Sidekick Be?  ] is now:

4 Ravens
3 Foxes
2 Unicorns
2 Dragons
1 Cat

4 hours ago, marbel said:

ETA: starting a re-read of a book as if it's new to me is one of the ways I'm turning into my mother! She used to buy books at the thrift store and realize that she'd read it before, and perhaps had even donated it to that store, only to buy it back some time later.  ?

Ah, clearly your mother and I share a few traits.  I bought one used book at least three times, and it wasn't intentional.

Regards,
Kareni

[Kareni]

Some currently free books for Kindle readers ~

a classic:   On Liberty  by John Stuart Mill

I've enjoyed another book by this author; contemporary romance:  Showmance  by L.H. Cosway

LGBT fiction dealing with depression:   Finding A Tomorrow  by Kathleen Kerridge

Regards,
Kareni

 

 

[Robin M]

5 hours ago, Kareni said:

So the current count [Regarding Quiz: What Animal Would Your Fantasy Sidekick Be?  ] is now:

4 Ravens
3 Foxes
2 Unicorns
2 Dragons
1 Cat

Regards,
Kareni

All which makes me think of an interesting side mini challenge.  Read a book with or about your fantasy sidekick!  My current read includes a fox, a cat, and a raven.  ?

[Robin M]

link to week 22 - please continue conversation in new thread