Book a Week 2018 - BW43: Shakespeare Week - Sonnet 43

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday and welcome to week forty-three in our Open Roads Reading Adventure. Greetings to all our readers and everyone following our progress. Mister Linky is available weekly on 52 Books in 52 Weeks  to share a link to your book reviews.

 

Sonnet 43

 by

 William Shakespeare

 

When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see,
For all the day they view things unrespected;
But when I sleep, in dreams they look on thee,
And darkly bright are bright in dark directed;
Then thou, whose shadow shadows doth make bright,
How would thy shadow's form form happy show
To the clear day with thy much clearer light,
When to unseeing eyes thy shade shines so?
How would, I say, mine eyes be blessed made
By looking on thee in the living day,
When in dead night thy fair imperfect shade
Through heavy sleep on sightless eyes doth stay?
All days are nights to see till I see thee,
And nights bright days when dreams do show thee me.

 Brit Tripping

 Our brit trip on Watling way is taking us to Warwickshire, home of a fairly well known playwright - Shakespeare.

 Rabbit trails: Warwick Castle at Halloween   Stratford Upon Avon  Kenilworth Castle

 

Kristin Lavransdatter Readalong

 

Book two – The Wife

Take this week to catch up and / or discuss characters, relationships, and actions as well as setting and historical aspects of the story.

 

What are you reading this week?

 

Link to week 42

[Robin M]

I finished  Nalini Singh's Ocean Light which is #2 in the Psy Changling Trinity series.  I've given up on Lavansdatter for now, but will  get back into it when am in the proper mind frame for it.  I'm going back to London again with Ben Aaronovitch's Midnight Riot, # 1 in his Rivers of London series.  Also dipping (or is that sipping) into a young adult dystopian story -  Paradox by A.J. Paquette. 

Edited October 21, 2018 by Robin M

[Negin]

Robin, I love both of your siggy quotes, and thank you, as always, for this wonderful thread. 

I read We Have Always Lived in the Castle - 1 Star - I'm sure that I'm the only one here who didn't care for this book at all. Oh my! I would give less than one star if I could. It's most probably not the book. It's me. I was looking forward to reading it. I mean, it’s October. I don’t usually do Halloween reads, and wow, just look at that cover! It turns out that for me the only scary thing about this book was the cover. I thought that there would be a plot, but it seemed lacking in that area. I thought that it would be horror/thriller, and it wasn't those at all. I became bored of all the silly and pointless descriptions of what everyone’s going to eat and clean. What I couldn’t believe was that it was only 146 pages, yet I got to a point where I honestly thought that the book would never end and I kept wondering if maybe I had the wrong book. It was the oddest thing. I’m usually a fast reader, but this started to feel like drudgery. I kept waiting for something to happen. I thought that it was not only boring, but also left me hanging with many unanswered questions. Definitely overrated. Again, it's probably just me. 

MY RATING SYSTEM
5 Stars
The book is fantastic. It’s not perfect, since no book is, but it’s definitely a favorite of mine. 
4 Stars
Really Good
3 Stars
Enjoyable 
2 Stars
Just Okay – nothing to write home about
1 Star
Rubbish – waste of my money and time. Few books make it to this level, since I usually give up on them if they’re that bad.

[Kareni]

Some bookish posts ~

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/personal-history/growing-up-in-the-library?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=True%20Story&utm_term=BookRiot_TrueStory_DormantSuppress   by Susan Orlean (wonderful essay concerning the author's The Library book) 

The Best Arthurian Novels for Fans of Actual History  by James Davis Nicoll  

Great Fantasy Series  by Patricia Elzie-Tuttle

 

Crime In The Land of Gods and Monsters: 8 Essential Science Fiction and Fantasy Crossover Thrillers

 

Regards,
Kareni

[Kareni]

And not so bookish, but interesting ~

Kickass Women in History: Pamela Colman Smith

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2018/10/kickass-women-in-history-pamela-colman-smith/

**

Related to the above:  A Survey of Unique Tarot Decks

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2018/10/a-survey-of-unique-tarot-decks/
**

12 Authors Write About the Libraries They Love

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/books/review/public-libraries.html?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=True%20Story&utm_term=BookRiot_TrueStory_DormantSuppress

 

Regards,
Kareni

[Violet Crown]

Warwickshire twice: Middle Girl and I have just gone through Othello scene-by-scene (but since I did a quick pre-re-reading earlier this year, I'm not counting it a second time for 2018). All done with Shakespeare for a while; ready to read The Duchess of Malfi with her.

For a book set in Warwickshire, I'm halfway through Adam Bede. Eliot sure believes in leisurely plot development. I wonder if Martin Amis may have been right in thinking Middlemarch to have been her one readable novel. Also some of LeFanu's ghost stories. What I ought to be reading is Book XIX of Civitas Dei for Middle Girl's homeschool Confirmation reading list; but I keep finding other things to do. Like clean the toilets and litter boxes. I don't know, I like Confessiones so much, but once through CD was enough for me. Middle Girl keeps not getting to it also, for the (caution: mom-brag) reason that she has this semester suddenly turned the corner to being able actually to really read Latin, and has lost patience with translations. Unfortunately she's not yet up to that much Augustine at once.

[Kareni]

Some currently free books for Kindle readers ~

a classic:  North and South  by Elizabeth Gaskell

contemporary romance:  Cherry Girl: A Blackstone Affair Novel by Raine Miller

One Haunted Evening (Haunted Regency Series)  by Jane Charles, Jerrica Knight-Catania, and Ava Stone
 

Uncle and Ants: A Silicon Valley Mystery (Book 1)  by Marc Jedel

Regards,
Kareni

[-M-]

Hello! In the month since I last posted, I've read another ten books, including

■ The Third Hotel (Laura van den Berg; 2018. Fiction.)
■ Kristin Lavransdatter: The Wife (Sigrid Undset; 1921. (Trans. Tiina Nunnally; 1999.) Fiction.)
■ When She Woke (Hillary Jordan; 2011. Fiction.)

This puts me at 113 for a year-to-date total. Speaking of Kristin Lavransdatter, I will finish Part II of The Cross this afternoon. What a riveting story! I have active bookmarks in more books than I can list -- among them, Sirens of Titan (Vonnegut), Gorilla and the Bird (McDermott), and Walden on Wheels (Ilgunas). Advice to Future Corpses (Tisdale) just came in for me at the library, and I continue to acquire books at rate that significantly outpaces my ability to read them. But that's okay.

[Mothersweets]

Hi all! I read two books last week:

Katherine Wentworth by D. E. Stevenson - really enjoyed this one and immediately went to find the second in the trilogy. I don't see it available on the kindle, my library doesn't carry it, and it's around $20 for the cheapest used version, shoot! I'll just wait a bit, it will more than likely be on the kindle sooner than later as it seems as a lot of Stenenson's books are becoming available that way. Fingers crossed. 

Transcription by Kate Atkinson. Enjoyed this one, too, but didn't feel as invested in the main character as I expected. Lots of characters with "P" names and I had to keep double checking that I wasn't mixing them up. 

I'm at the beginning of the Erlend part of Kristin Lavransdatter. I'll pick it back up once I'm done with The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith. I'm about three quarters through it, it's a bit gory and I still don't know who did it. 

[Zebra]

This week I finished 2 books.

The Cafe By the Sea was ok.   Just a fine, fluffy book.

I also read Three Weeks in December and it was not good.   To much going on, 2 different time frames, and just weird and a bit of a mess IMHO.   I thought the ending was super bizarre.   I was trying to explain it to my DH and failed misraebly, because it's too hard to explain.   I'm sorry I kept going with this one, it wasn't worth the effort.    

This week I am listening to Hitman Anders and the Meaning of it All by Jonas Jonasson.   

[Kareni]

39 minutes ago, Mothersweets said:

...went to find the second in the trilogy. I don't see it available on the kindle, my library doesn't carry it, and it's around $20 for the cheapest used version, shoot!

Would interlibrary loan be an option?

Regards,
Kareni

[mumto2]

5 hours ago, Negin said:

Robin, I love both of your siggy quotes, and thank you, as always, for this wonderful thread. 

I read We Have Always Lived in the Castle - 1 Star - I'm sure that I'm the only one here who didn't care for this book at all. Oh my! I would give less than one star if I could. It's most probably not the book. It's me. I was looking forward to reading it. I mean, it’s October. I don’t usually do Halloween reads, and wow, just look at that cover! It turns out that for me the only scary thing about this book was the cover. I thought that there would be a plot, but it seemed lacking in that area. I thought that it would be horror/thriller, and it wasn't those at all. I became bored of all the silly and pointless descriptions of what everyone’s going to eat and clean. What I couldn’t believe was that it was only 146 pages, yet I got to a point where I honestly thought that the book would never end and I kept wondering if maybe I had the wrong book. It was the oddest thing. I’m usually a fast reader, but this started to feel like drudgery. I kept waiting for something to happen. I thought that it was not only boring, but also left me hanging with many unanswered questions. Definitely overrated. Again, it's probably just me. 

MY RATING SYSTEM
5 Stars
The book is fantastic. It’s not perfect, since no book is, but it’s definitely a favorite of mine. 
4 Stars
Really Good
3 Stars
Enjoyable 
2 Stars
Just Okay – nothing to write home about
1 Star
Rubbish – waste of my money and time. Few books make it to this level, since I usually give up on them if they’re that bad.

Your experience is exactly why I haven’t picked that particular book up.  I fear I won’t like it. I thank you for the honest review because it appears it is OK if I don’t try reading it for a few more years!  

2 hours ago, Mothersweets said:

Hi all! I read two books last week:

Katherine Wentworth by D. E. Stevenson - really enjoyed this one and immediately went to find the second in the trilogy. I don't see it available on the kindle, my library doesn't carry it, and it's around $20 for the cheapest used version, shoot! I'll just wait a bit, it will more than likely be on the kindle sooner than later as it seems as a lot of Stenenson's books are becoming available that way. Fingers crossed. 

Transcription by Kate Atkinson. Enjoyed this one, too, but didn't feel as invested in the main character as I expected. Lots of characters with "P" names and I had to keep double checking that I wasn't mixing them up. 

I'm at the beginning of the Erlend part of Kristin Lavransdatter. I'll pick it back up once I'm done with The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith. I'm about three quarters through it, it's a bit gory and I still don't know who did it. 

Every time I look there are more Stevenson’s on kindle so I suspect your patience will be rewarded.  I have Transcription on my holds list currently......

4 hours ago, Violet Crown said:

Warwickshire twice: Middle Girl and I have just gone through Othello scene-by-scene (but since I did a quick pre-re-reading earlier this year, I'm not counting it a second time for 2018). All done with Shakespeare for a while; ready to read The Duchess of Malfi with her.

For a book set in Warwickshire, I'm halfway through Adam Bede. Eliot sure believes in leisurely plot development. I wonder if Martin Amis may have been right in thinking Middlemarch to have been her one readable novel. Also some of LeFanu's ghost stories. What I ought to be reading is Book XIX of Civitas Dei for Middle Girl's homeschool Confirmation reading list; but I keep finding other things to do. Like clean the toilets and litter boxes. I don't know, I like Confessiones so much, but once through CD was enough for me. Middle Girl keeps not getting to it also, for the (caution: mom-brag) reason that she has this semester suddenly turned the corner to being able actually to really read Latin, and has lost patience with translations. Unfortunately she's not yet up to that much Augustine at once.

Woot, to reading in Latin!  Dd had just gotten beyond Winnie the Pooh and Harry Potter to the good stuff when Latin needed to be done for her.  She never really was able to explore the way we had planned so I hope middle girl has a blast with her cool new skill!  

[Matryoshka]

Finished 3 books this week:

103. The Remarkable Life and Career of Ellen Swallow Richards by Pamela Swallow - Did really enjoy reading about the life and accomplishments of this woman - the first degreed female scientist in the US, first woman at MIT, first woman to teach there, also started the first school lunch program in Boston which then spread nationwide as well as a ton of other stuff.  One of those people that seem to have inexhaustible drive and energy. The book is short and written by her first cousin thrice removed, who was able to get access to old family letters.  3.5 stars.

104. Oreo by Fran Ross - What to say about this book?  Here's something from the Afterword: "In Oreo the Greek myth of Theseus' journey into the Labyrinth becomes a linguistically riotous feminist tall tale of a young black woman's passage from Philadelphia to New York in search of her white Jewish father."  Yep, pretty much that.  4 stars.  

105. Las cosas que perdimos en el fuego /Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enríquez (ebook) - yes, these are creepy stories.  Mysterious possibly supernatural disappearances, maybe zombies, monster children, people devolving into madness.  The stories don't have clear resolutions.  I don't usually copy blurbs, but I thought this one was good: "Mariana Enríquez brings contemporary Argentina to vibrant life as a place where shocking inequality, violence, and corruption are the law of the land, while military dictatorship and legions of desaparecidos loom large in the collective memory... But alongside the black magic and disturbing disappearances, these stories are fueled by compassion for the frightened and the lost, ultimately bringing these characters—mothers and daughters, husbands and wives—into a surprisingly familiar reality."  3.5-4 stars

Currently reading: 

- The Wife (Kristin Lavransdatter #2) - I'm partway into the section I thought I should have finished by today, but now I see I have an extra week, yay!  I'm not sure if I'll continue with the third volume in the series right now, though.  I definitely want to get to it, but other books I want to read before the end of the year are competing for my attention...

- The Woman in White (audiobook) - Much of the drama could have been avoided if the family lawyer had talked to the sister and just told them to delay the wedding 3 months till Laura was of age.  But then there would be less drama, and this is a dramatic book.  I am enjoying it, but I do have to say I can see miles ahead where some of the drama-inducing bad decisions will lead... 

- Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen by Jose Antonio Vargas (ebook)

[Violet Crown]

3 hours ago, Mothersweets said:

Katherine Wentworth by D. E. Stevenson - really enjoyed this one and immediately went to find the second in the trilogy. I don't see it available on the kindle, my library doesn't carry it, and it's around $20 for the cheapest used version, shoot! I'll just wait a bit, it will more than likely be on the kindle sooner than later as it seems as a lot of Stevenson's books are becoming available that way. Fingers crossed.

The sequel (Katherine's Marriage) shows a few used copies for $8-9 (including shipping from UK) through bookfinder.com . The US version (The Marriage of Katherine) costs more.

[Violet Crown]

50 minutes ago, mumto2 said:

Woot, to reading in Latin!  Dd had just gotten beyond Winnie the Pooh and Harry Potter to the good stuff when Latin needed to be done for her.  She never really was able to explore the way we had planned so I hope middle girl has a blast with her cool new skill!  

We were able to find a reasonably priced tutor for her when she finished grammar and the usual Caesar, a grad student who is super-excited about poetry and has started her on Lucan. I really think it's his infectious enthusiasm that's doing the trick.

[mumto2]

What am I reading this week........I am still behind in KL so am grateful for the catch up week.  I am somewhere in the middle of the second section.  I am also still reading Dracul mainly because I don’t read it during the night I am not managing to finish it.  

Lately most of my  reading time seems to be around 5am when everyone else is still sleeping and I am hoping to fall back asleep so I try for light easy books on my Kindle for that hour or two. Which leads me to my “what was I thinking book” ......  I noticed my Amish Vampire spooky is going to expire tomorrow and have now read a couple of chapters.  Plain Fear, Forsaken, by Leanna Ellis seems to be quite good so far and I think I will keep the kindle off for a couple of days while I decide.  I really needed another book I can’t read during my main block of time for reading!  Pounding head!

Warwickshire is our Brit Trip county this week which I visited at the start of these adventures with A Test of Wills by Charles Todd https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/129561.A_Test_of_Wills.  I have passed through Warwickshire a couple other times.  I hope to read the next book in a few of my ongoing cozy series for Brit Tripping which I think might give me a couple of the counties that are left undone!  Robin Paige, Carola Dunn, and Charles Finch are all in the stack along with a couple other books I am excited about.  I also have Mary Stewart’s Rose Cottage for Durham waiting for me!  ?. I love Mary Stewart!

Robin, I hope you love Rivers of London!

[Mothersweets]

Thanks, everyone, for the bookfinding suggestions! I finished another D. E. Stevenson book this morning (Vittoria Cottage) on my kindle and lo and behold, up popped Katherine's Marriage as a suggestion. I can even borrow it for free! Not sure how I missed seeing it before? 

mum, Mary Stewart is a favorite of mine, too!

[mumto2]

1 hour ago, Mothersweets said:

Thanks, everyone, for the bookfinding suggestions! I finished another D. E. Stevenson book this morning (Vittoria Cottage) on my kindle and lo and behold, up popped Katherine's Marriage as a suggestion. I can even borrow it for free! Not sure how I missed seeing it before? 

mum, Mary Stewart is a favorite of mine, too!

Well, I missed it on my quick search last night too!  So glad that you can get it the easy cheap way.  How did you like Victoria Cottage?  It was one of the first Stevenson’s I read and I loved it!

[Violet Crown]

1 hour ago, Mothersweets said:

Thanks, everyone, for the bookfinding suggestions! I finished another D. E. Stevenson book this morning (Vittoria Cottage) on my kindle and lo and behold, up popped Katherine's Marriage as a suggestion. I can even borrow it for free! Not sure how I missed seeing it before? 

Awesome!

Bookfinder.com (an aggregator search site) is always my first place to go for dead-tree books: it shows me if the book has a different title in the UK, and I can re-run a search using the ISBN, sometimes picking up otherwise unlisted copies. (I have second, third, and fourth places to go after that.)

[JennW in SoCal]

Happy Monday everyone!

I am struggling to pick up Kristin Lavansdatter again. I finished the first section of The Wife, put it aside, and just am not ready to go back. Part of it is having a stupid head cold that required comfort reads, mainly re-reads.

The one new book I'm working on is something that my fellow fantasy readers may enjoy. City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett has one of the most interesting settings I've come across in fantasy in some time. At its heart it is a murder mystery, but it is set in a country where the local culture and gods were wiped out by a conquering and occupying force...and the gods are making a come back. The characters are interesting and there are none of the eye-rolling magic tropes all too common in fantasy these days. My 23yo ds is also currently listening to it and agrees that the setting alone is very compelling. There are a few clunky chapters necessary for exposition, but overall is quite good.

Otherwise I've been listening to favorite audible books during those nights of insomnia that I get with colds, books like Pratchett's Going Postal, or the recent stand alone fantasy Goblin Emperor. And large chunks of Bill Bryson's Short History of Nearly Everything.

About We Have Always Lived in the Castle. I read in the last two years and liked it well enough. It is evocative, a bit gothic, and I like how the story unfolded. But it isn't a favorite, and I wonder if it is one of those books beloved by people who read it first at a younger age. One book that is always listed as a dearly loved favorite is Rebecca, but I HATED it! Abandoned it with disgust. I'm convinced you have to have read it as a teen to love it. It is sooo predictable, and the characters are just caricatures. But I know some of you dearly, dearly love it, so forgive me for my harsh critique of it!

. 

[Mothersweets]

mum, I liked it quite a bit! It is a classic Stevenson - gentle storyline, beautiful descriptions of the English countryside, and a teensy bit of romance. It did end rather abruptly but I figure it will pick it right up in the next book.   

Violet, thanks for the heads up! I will try Bookfinder next time I'm looking for a certain book!

And Jenn, it's ok about you not liking Rebecca - we can still be friends, lol. ? 

[Violet Crown]

Thank you, Jenn! I feel much better about hating Rebecca now. I was tricked into reading it by Alfred Hitchcock, who made a proverbial silk purse out of it. 

(Teenage Middle Girl hated it, too.)

ETA: And she disliked (hated is a little strong for both books) We Have Always Lived in the Castle; went right back to Maugham and Faulkner.

Edited October 22, 2018 by Violet Crown

[JennW in SoCal]

LOL, Texas Mom. I also listened to Rebecca and bailed when I realized just how many hours of her angst I had to endure. I read the synopsis and called it done. AND, I too devoured Gone With the Wind in my teens -- just loved the book and the movie, but now can't see what I loved about them. 

I've listened to the Goblin Emperor 3 times since January -- I think I kind of like it! My 23yo ds also liked it, and I know Kareni enjoyed it as well. 

I could totally see buying a book with the title "Because I come from a crazy family" after a few margaritas!! Dh and I used to spend time in the bookstores before going home when the kids were little and we had a sitter. We'd look at our watches, consider that the little dears might not be asleep yet, and head to Borders.

[Teaching3bears]

Shakespeare: We are currently reading his Henry VIII for homeschooling.

We finished The Alchemyst   by Michael Scott and we started The Magician and I am realizing that there are four more books in the series.  Anyone know if they are all as good?

 

[mumto2]

16 minutes ago, Teaching3bears said:

Shakespeare: We are currently reading his Henry VIII for homeschooling.

We finished The Alchemyst   by Michael Scott and we started The Magician and I am realizing that there are four more books in the series.  Anyone know if they are all as good?

 

No personal experience but Dd read the whole Alchemyst series at around 14yo and adored it.  I know the father of one of her friend’s was buying them for his daughter so he could read them!  

I don’t think I ever read Rebecca as a teen but I am certain I watched the Hitchcock movie more than once!

I have read Rebecca 3 times in the past decade.  Once for me and I loved it,  once as a preread for Dd who really enjoyed it,  and once more recently when I was attempting to read all the author’s  books.  The last time I read it I found the first 100 to 150 pages slow and irritating,  I still liked the last part. ?.  I totally understand it ‘s dragging and doubt it would be an audio book I would enjoy.  Have you tried speeding it up?  I frequently listen at 1.5 speed......I tend to read fast so consider listening fast to be totally acceptable!

I had to abandon Plain Fear, my Amish Vampire spooky book.  It becoming a really bad horror movie.........I started the new Anthony Horowitz, The Word is Murder, and am totally entertained.  Still reading Dracul.......

 

[Kareni]

1 hour ago, JennW in SoCal said:

I've listened to the Goblin Emperor 3 times since January -- I think I kind of like it! My 23yo ds also liked it, and I know Kareni enjoyed it as well.  

Ahem, it's possible that I was taking The Goblin Emperor back to the library today and started re- re-reading it on the bus.  It's a good thing that my library has two copies as I brought that second copy home with me. 

Regards,
Kareni

[Miss Tick]

Ok, I'm sold. I put Goblin Emperor on hold, but suspended it until Thanksgiving week. Hoping to get through some of my tbr stack first. As I was doing that I noticed I have two other suspended holds between now and then, hahaha. We'll see if I can keep up, or if I will have to just add to my "check out again later" post-it. Maybe over Thanksgiving i should spend some time getting acquainted with Goodreads. It would simplify my lists, if nothing else.

[Matryoshka]

52 minutes ago, SusanC said:

Ok, I'm sold. I put Goblin Emperor on hold, but suspended it until Thanksgiving week. Hoping to get through some of my tbr stack first. As I was doing that I noticed I have two other suspended holds between now and then, hahaha. We'll see if I can keep up, or if I will have to just add to my "check out again later" post-it. Maybe over Thanksgiving i should spend some time getting acquainted with Goodreads. It would simplify my lists, if nothing else.

 

Quote

Finished Let’s Pretend this Never Happened and downloaded The Goblin Emperor on Audible. 

About Goblin Emperor - which I also heartily recommend, 5+ stars! - someone else that read it a while back said they would have enjoyed it even more if they'd had a glossary of characters and some idea of the language that is sometimes used - then got to the back of the book and found out it was there the whole time.  

I read it as an ePub book (don't have a kindle), and with that you can flip to the back with a bit of clunkiness, hardcopy would be even easier.  I don't tend to have a problem with lots of characters and enjoyed deconstructing the language (it's mostly in honorifics), but geeked out a bit when I got back there.  But it's nice to know it's there ahead of time if you want to reference it.  And as an audio you wouldn't have that available, so just fyi.

Edited October 23, 2018 by Matryoshka

[mumto2]

1 hour ago, texasmom33 said:

I usually reserve speeding them up for books I’ve almost finished and then need to plow through. Yes, Chef was the last one for me- it just went on too long but I only had a few chapters left so I did 1.5x. Speeding it up takes the enjoyment out of the books for me though. I wish I could without it bothering me- dh does it all the time- he’ll listen to podcasts at 2x- but it stresses me out! 

Dracul is on my to read list. Waiting to hear what you think! 

Frequently I listen without headphones if I get to have a room to myself and the men in my family comment about my chipmunk books.  I go as high as 1.75 depending on the narrator.  Going at recorded speed bores me.  Dd keeps her headphones on an I suspect she is speeding through her podcasts.  ?

[Nan in Mass]

I am still working my way through the Honor Harrington series, and relistening to things when I do audiobooks.  My reading time has been reduced recently because my car time needs to be spent on the phone with lonely relatives instead of listening to audiobooks, and my before-bed reading time is spent drawing for inktober.

Does anyone have any good advice for making it all the way through NaNoMo?  A young friend is doing it.  It needs to be brief advice because he is young. : )

Nan

[Kareni]

13 minutes ago, Nan in Mass said:

Does anyone have any good advice for making it all the way through NaNoMo?  A young friend is doing it.  It needs to be brief advice because he is young. : )

I've never done NaNoWriMo, so this is totally tongue in cheek.

Brief advice: Write

Slightly lengthier advice: Persevere.

Regards,
Kareni

[aggieamy]

On 10/21/2018 at 1:55 PM, Negin said:

Robin, I love both of your siggy quotes, and thank you, as always, for this wonderful thread. 

I read We Have Always Lived in the Castle - 1 Star - I'm sure that I'm the only one here who didn't care for this book at all. Oh my! I would give less than one star if I could. It's most probably not the book. It's me. I was looking forward to reading it. I mean, it’s October. I don’t usually do Halloween reads, and wow, just look at that cover! It turns out that for me the only scary thing about this book was the cover. I thought that there would be a plot, but it seemed lacking in that area. I thought that it would be horror/thriller, and it wasn't those at all. I became bored of all the silly and pointless descriptions of what everyone’s going to eat and clean. What I couldn’t believe was that it was only 146 pages, yet I got to a point where I honestly thought that the book would never end and I kept wondering if maybe I had the wrong book. It was the oddest thing. I’m usually a fast reader, but this started to feel like drudgery. I kept waiting for something to happen. I thought that it was not only boring, but also left me hanging with many unanswered questions. Definitely overrated. Again, it's probably just me.

This is a really interesting discussion because I wonder if you would have felt different if you had gone in with a different expectation as far as genre. I liked it (had to check goodreads to make sure I was remembering correctly) but I would not classify it as horror at all. Creepy. Maybe gothic. I don't really know.

On 10/21/2018 at 4:52 PM, Mothersweets said:

Hi all! I read two books last week:

Katherine Wentworth by D. E. Stevenson - really enjoyed this one and immediately went to find the second in the trilogy. I don't see it available on the kindle, my library doesn't carry it, and it's around $20 for the cheapest used version, shoot! I'll just wait a bit, it will more than likely be on the kindle sooner than later as it seems as a lot of Stenenson's books are becoming available that way. Fingers crossed. 

 

Sometime it's easier to find her books on audible then anywhere else. I do't know why that is though. Seems like it should be really easy to make an ebook.

18 hours ago, texasmom33 said:

You have no idea how HAPPY I am to see your post. I am reading, or rather listening to on Audible, Rebecca right now and I'm really conflicted over the book. On one hand, I am enjoying the writing style and the character development. On the other hand, there is so much about this book that is irking me. I'm eight chapters in, but I'm starting to have the same feelings for her (which the fact that she has no name is one of the irks) that I had towards Scarlett O'Hara when I reread Gone with the Wind in my 30's. I could not agree more with the "you have to have read it as a teen". I thought GWTW was the be all end all as a teenager and read it so many times the covers fell off and I had to buy a second copy. Then I took a 15 year break and read it again and wanted to shake the snot out of Scarlett. I'm pretty much feeling this way about Mrs. DeWinter II right now. I'm on the fence of whether or not to continue. If the whole book is nothing but her angsting over the dead wife and how awesome she was while being cowed by Mrs. Danvers I think it's going to have to bail, because I can't handle 11 more hours of being irritated. I need to go read the synopsis. I avoided it because of spoilers, but at this point I simply need to know. I could be listening to another Uhtred right now, after all.....  ?

 

I think you've already bailed on Rebecca but in case you decide to pick it back up I would recommend reading it as a book so you can just power through the first 50% and get to the good part. Although after reading some reviews here I'm beginning to think that Mumto2, Laura, and I are the only ones that think there was a good part ... *eek*

6 minutes ago, Nan in Mass said:

I am still working my way through the Honor Harrington series, and relistening to things when I do audiobooks.  My reading time has been reduced recently because my car time needs to be spent on the phone with lonely relatives instead of listening to audiobooks, and my before-bed reading time is spent drawing for inktober.

Does anyone have any good advice for making it all the way through NaNoMo?  A young friend is doing it.  It needs to be brief advice because he is young. : )

Nan

Is your friend going to attempt the full 50k words? My suggestion is to try to get ahead early in the month so if you have to miss a day or two you aren't behind. It feels impossible to come back from behind!

[aggieamy]

Finished: A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd. Everyone's seen the discussion Mum and I have had on the Ian Rutledge series so I won't recap that but I will say that this was better. The writing was as good but it wasn't as negative as the other series. I recommend it for a WWI-era mystery and plan to read more in the series.

 

[aggieamy]

We had a bit of a crazy week last week so I finished one book and re-listened to some audio books. Early last week my car died and to make a long long story short John and I ended up abandoning Kevin and the girls at home while we flew to Charlotte and drove a new (used) car home. It was seventeen hours in the car over two days. Then we almost hit a deer about an hour from home. And we listened to Curious George and the Firefighters ... I don't know ... something like seventy billion times.

[Violet Crown]

3 hours ago, aggieamy said:

I think you've already bailed on Rebecca but in case you decide to pick it back up I would recommend reading it as a book so you can just power through the first 50% and get to the good part. Although after reading some reviews here I'm beginning to think that Mumto2, Laura, and I are the only ones that think there was a good part ... *eek*

We love you anyway.

[mumto2]

I finished Dracul!  A bit of power reading today because it returns tomorrow.  Overall I liked it, but don’t feel the urge to now read Dracula to see how well they match up but think they will if you don’t get too obsessive about it.  As I said before Bram had the spookiest nanny ever.  There were a couple of ick bits but much of the book was actually rather sweet.  Not Dracula but others ?.  I gave it a four star but please remember I am a Dracula fan and I also really like vampire books......The Historian is much better but this was pretty good.  

Brit Tripping.....I did finally make it to London!  It went very quickly through Liverpool(Mercyside) and Manchester on the way to Whitby, Yorkshire.  A majority is set in Dublin.

[JennW in SoCal]

I forgot to write about another delightful and fascinating book that I read recently. The memoir Famous Father Girl by Jamie Bernstein, daughter of Leonard Bernstein, is really good. Never boring, no bashing of parents -- no curtains pulled back to reveal some horror. It is a loving tribute of growing up in loving family, of what it is to be in the shadow of a famous or successful parent. I should have jotted down her comment about not practicing piano -- something about it being SO hard to put in the tedious and menial work when you are surrounded by great, accomplished musicians who have already mastered their instruments and music.  (I'm assuming you all know who Leonard Bernstein is, but a few people have given me blank looks when I talk about the book.)

[Negin]

Kindle book on sale today

. 

[Kareni]

Some recent reads here ~

I quite enjoyed Idyll Fears: A Thomas Lynch Novel  and  Idyll Hands: A Thomas Lynch Novel  which are the second and third books in a mystery series by Stephanie Gayle.  (You could begin the series here but you'd be better served to begin with the first book, Idyll Threats: A Thomas Lynch Novel.)  Here is the blurb for Idyll Fears:

"Police Chief Thomas Lynch investigates the disappearance of a six-year-old boy with a serious medical condition while coping with disrespect from townspeople and colleagues who don't like the fact that he's gay.

It’s two weeks before Christmas 1997, and Chief Thomas Lynch faces a crisis when Cody Forrand, a six-year-old with a life-threatening medical condition, goes missing during a blizzard. The confusing case shines a national spotlight on the small, sleepy town of Idyll, Connecticut, where small-time crime is already on the rise and the police seem to be making mistakes left and right. Further complicating matters, Lynch, still new to town, finds himself the target of prank calls and hate speech that he worries is the work of a colleague, someone struggling to accept working with a gay chief of police. 

With time ticking away, Lynch is beginning to doubt whether he’ll be able to bring Cody home safely . . . and whether Idyll could ever really be home."
**

I also read Empire of Bones (Book 1 of The Empire of Bones Saga)  by Terry Mixon.  (If you happen to have Amazon Prime, this is in their library of books.)  I'm a bit surprised to see that the rating on Amazon for this book is about 4.5 out of 5.0, as I was not overly impressed. 

"After a terrible war almost extinguished humanity, the New Terran Empire rises from its own ashes.

Sent on an exploratory mission to the dead worlds of the Old Empire, Commander Jared Mertz sets off into the unknown.

Only the Old Empire isn’t quite dead after all. Evil lurks in the dark.

With everything he holds dear at stake, Jared must fight like never before. Victory means life. Defeat means death. Or worse."
**

As mentioned above, I re-read Katherine Addison's The Goblin Emperor.  I also re-read S.K. Dunstall's Linesman trilogy.

Regards,
Kareni

[Kareni]

On 10/21/2018 at 12:15 PM, Violet Crown said:

Middle Girl ...  has this semester suddenly turned the corner to being able actually to really read Latin

Kudos to her!

Regards,
Kareni

[mumto2]

10 minutes ago, Kareni said:

Some recent reads here ~

I quite enjoyed Idyll Fears: A Thomas Lynch Novel  and  Idyll Hands: A Thomas Lynch Novel  which are the second and third books in a mystery series by Stephanie Gayle.  (You could begin the series here but you'd be better served to begin with the first book, Idyll Threats: A Thomas Lynch Novel.)  Here is the blurb for Idyll Fears:

"Police Chief Thomas Lynch investigates the disappearance of a six-year-old boy with a serious medical condition while coping with disrespect from townspeople and colleagues who don't like the fact that he's gay.

It’s two weeks before Christmas 1997, and Chief Thomas Lynch faces a crisis when Cody Forrand, a six-year-old with a life-threatening medical condition, goes missing during a blizzard. The confusing case shines a national spotlight on the small, sleepy town of Idyll, Connecticut, where small-time crime is already on the rise and the police seem to be making mistakes left and right. Further complicating matters, Lynch, still new to town, finds himself the target of prank calls and hate speech that he worries is the work of a colleague, someone struggling to accept working with a gay chief of police. 

With time ticking away, Lynch is beginning to doubt whether he’ll be able to bring Cody home safely . . . and whether Idyll could ever really be home."
**

I also read Empire of Bones (Book 1 of The Empire of Bones Saga)  by Terry Mixon.  (If you happen to have Amazon Prime, this is in their library of books.)  I'm a bit surprised to see that the rating on Amazon for this book is about 4.5 out of 5.0, as I was not overly impressed. 

"After a terrible war almost extinguished humanity, the New Terran Empire rises from its own ashes.

Sent on an exploratory mission to the dead worlds of the Old Empire, Commander Jared Mertz sets off into the unknown.

Only the Old Empire isn’t quite dead after all. Evil lurks in the dark.

With everything he holds dear at stake, Jared must fight like never before. Victory means life. Defeat means death. Or worse."
**

As mentioned above, I re-read Katherine Addison's The Goblin Emperor.  I also re-read S.K. Dunstall's Linesman trilogy.

Regards,
Kareni

Thanks for the review of the Idyll series.  I discovered it a couple of weeks ago and marked it as something I wanted to try.  Looking forward to it now I know it is good!

 

2 hours ago, texasmom33 said:

I went online to try and find a list of characters and it turns out there is this whole role playing world for Goblin Emperor. Who knew?!? 

Also, the narrator for the book on Audible sounds uncannily  like Robin Leach from Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, except in a higher register. I keep expecting to hear him say "champagne wishes and caviar dreams" but I'm going to only mention this in a really small font so y'all don't ban me from the thread. ?

My library only has the Goblin Emperor in audio format.  Now that I know about the narrator I doubt I will be able to resist for long but I do wonder how he will sound really fast! ?

[Kareni]

Some bookish posts ~ 

Five Spooky Books Set in Real Places  by Alyssa Palombo
**

6 Not-So-Spooky Books to Enjoy This October  by   by Jess Carbert

Also by Jess Carbert:  Please Stop Trying To Lend Me Your Books

**
 

For Brit trippers, from Carrie S on SBTB:   Romance Wanderlust: The Forest Side
** 

50 of the Best Nonfiction Books  by Rebecca Hussey

**

A young adult list by Kelly Jensen: 

25+ New Collective Biographies of Rad Women Through History

Regards,
Kareni

 

[Penguin]

I finished To The Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey this morning. I liked this book plenty, but it did not move me as much as The Snow Child did. There is a bit of magical realism in the narrative. Four stars. Cartography Bingo Square. That puts my Bingo Card at 20/25.

The setting is 19th century Alaska. The Colonel's task is to navigate and map the Wolverine River. His wife, who is an amateur ornithologist, remains at the barracks. They both write diaries, and the story alternates their point of view. There is also a modern letter-writing correspondence going on between an elderly man who is one of the Colonel's ancestors and a young museum curator in Alaska.

I just started The Kurdish Bike by Alesa Lightbourne. Middle-aged American woman picks up and moves to Kurdistan to teach in the international school. I like it so far. Indie Book Bingo Square.

We Have Always Lived In The Castle: I just read it this month, and I really liked it. And I am not-at-all young, lol. But, shrug, I have often felt unimpressed by books that everyone seems to love. When I read Murder on The Orient Express last year, I was left scratching my head wondering what all the fuss is about...

Latin: I am really liking my Latin class. The pace is just right for me - enough to keep moving forward without being burdensome. It has mostly been review for me so far, but that is just as well as we have been in the midst of the college application madness.

 

[mumto2]

Thanks to Kareni’s lists I have just put a really odd graphic novel on hold.  The title is My Boyfriend is a Bear, and they mean a bear not a werebear.  Since the library has it I couldn’t resist!  Thanks!  I also increased my holds list with a few others.

I also finished Horowitz’s The Word is Murder and loved it!  At first I thought it was strange and way too much about Horowitz but when it all came together it was 5 stars.  I frequently give books five stars on Goodreads that I want to remember in my best books lists at the end of the year.  I think Magpie Murders made last year’s list.........

[Kareni]

6 hours ago, mumto2 said:

Thanks for the review of the Idyll series.  I discovered it a couple of weeks ago and marked it as something I wanted to try.  Looking forward to it now I know it is good!

I hope you'll find the series enjoyable, mumto2.

2 hours ago, mumto2 said:

Thanks to Kareni’s lists I have just put a really odd graphic novel on hold.  The title is My Boyfriend is a Bear, and they mean a bear not a werebear.  Since the library has it I couldn’t resist!  Thanks!  I also increased my holds list with a few others.

I'm always happy to help grow someone else's hold list.  I look forward to hearing your thoughts on My Boyfriend is a Bear.
**

I just finished Tessa Dare's enjoyable historical romance  The Governess Game which was an entertaining read.  (Some adult content)

"The accidental governess

After her livelihood slips through her fingers, Alexandra Mountbatten takes on an impossible post: transforming a pair of wild orphans into proper young ladies. However, the girls don’t need discipline. They need a loving home. Try telling that to their guardian, Chase Reynaud: duke’s heir in the streets and devil in the sheets. The ladies of London have tried—and failed—to make him settle down. Somehow, Alexandra must reach his heart . . . without risking her own.

The infamous rake

Like any self-respecting libertine, Chase lives by one rule: no attachments. When a stubborn little governess tries to reform him, he decides to give her an education—in pleasure. That should prove he can’t be tamed. But Alexandra is more than he bargained for: clever, perceptive, passionate. She refuses to see him as a lost cause. Soon the walls around Chase’s heart are crumbling . . . and he’s in danger of falling, hard."

Regards,
Kareni

[Negin]

Free Kindle book today (autobiography/memoir/holocaust)

 

[Kareni]

This might interest some:

Free Science Fiction & Fantasy Ebooks to Download This Month

Also currently free:

Frozen Hearts: The Ionia Chronicles: Book One

Zero Echo Shadow Prime

Ready to Fumble (The Worst Detective Ever, book 1)  by Christy Barritt
 

Blind: A Memoir  by Belo Cipriani

Regards,
Kareni

[Kareni]

31 minutes ago, texasmom33 said:

I’m struggling with the names in Goblin Emperor ...

There is indeed a large cast of characters and many challenging names.

[I recall years ago my daughter telling me that she frequently renamed characters when reading books so that complex name Bobxyzsyzmdm might become Bob and complex name Marayzlmmjxa might become Mary.  It works for her!]

I just found this Reddit discussion: Did anyone else have a really difficult time with The Goblin Emperor?  which discusses your point.

Regards,
Kareni

[Kareni]

Some bookish posts ~ 

The Fantastical Food of Fantasy: Magic Made Real  by Beth Cato

Which leads me to ask:  Have you eaten Turkish Delight?
** 

From a WTMer:  Five Reasons You Should Try Bookish Thrifting by Nicole Mulhausen

Which makes me wonder:  Do you enjoy thrift store shopping?  Have you ever spotted miscategorized books?  (I have.)
**

Five Books Featuring Women in Love with Women   by Kate Heartfield  

11 Introspective Essay Collections That Are Perfect For Fall Reading  by Kerri Jarema

Regards,
Kareni

[mumto2]

3 hours ago, Kareni said:

Some bookish posts ~ 

The Fantastical Food of Fantasy: Magic Made Real  by Beth Cato

Which leads me to ask:  Have you eaten Turkish Delight?
** 

From a WTMer:  Five Reasons You Should Try Bookish Thrifting by Nicole Mulhausen

Which makes me wonder:  Do you enjoy thrift store shopping?  Have you ever spotted miscategorized books?  (I have.)
**

Five Books Featuring Women in Love with Women   by Kate Heartfield  

11 Introspective Essay Collections That Are Perfect For Fall Reading  by Kerri Jarema

Regards,
Kareni

Great links!

Yes, we have tried Turkish Delight from a few different sources and really don't like it.  My kids decided Edmund deserved it all for liking something so icky!  I wonder if that was the point?

I now know I will not be listening to The Goblin Emperor.  Maybe I will try the book eventually but similar names drive me nuts!

Currently happily reading Carola  Dunn's A Mourning Wedding which is nice and fluffy. Btw, set in Cambridgeshire.......