Book a Week 2018 - BW49: Frosty December

[Violet Crown]

Well done, Tuesday! You lend me determination. I loved looking through your list of reads. Wilkie Collins is a tempting pick for Cumbria/Cumberland, rather than the 600-page alternative.

[Kareni]

12 hours ago, mumto2 said:

My good friend lived in Seoul several years ago and going to Costco was a big deal.....peanut butter among other delicacies.  Actually real good peanut butter is one of the highlights of Costco in England too.  Anyway I hope your daughter lives near enough to go regularly.  My friend lived about 90 minutes away.

I'm not quite sure how far away my daughter lives from Costco, but I believe it's far less than 90 minutes.  I should add it to my weekly list of topics to discuss.  We'd been sending peanut butter via iHerb, but then my daughter found a Korean source.  I'll have to ask if it's Costco.

Regards,
Kareni

[Lady Florida.]

12 hours ago, Æthelthryth the Texan said:

If you ever want to try them, the Saxon Stories make EXCELLENT audiobooks. Well, let me clarify. The ones narrated by Johnathan Keeble and then by Matt Bates are excellent. I love all of the books, but some of the narrators between Keeble and Bates aren't so great. Also, if you enjoy Cornwell, Gallows Thief: A Novel is fantastic as an audiobook as well. I really wish he had made that into a series. 

I might give that a try at some point. My library has most of them on Kindle and probably the whole series in print (I only look for print if I can't find a Kindle edition of a book I want to borrow). I haven't looked to see if they have any audio editions. 

[Kareni]

Currently free for Kindle readers ~

historical romance novella:   Once Upon a Winters Eve (Spindle Cove 1.5)  by Tessa Dare

contemporary romance:  Picture Imperfect  by Mary Frame

dystopian: When the Power is Gone: A Powerless World - Book 1 by  P. A. Glaspy 

for eight and up:  The Dragon Whisperer: Imagine you could talk to dragons  by Lucinda Hare

for teens: The House Next Door (3 Book Series)

Regards,
Kareni

[Robin M]

Howdy. A few internet finds today.

Brainpickings article which is timely since Cryptography is one of our 2019 Bingo categories - The Psychology of Code-Breaking

Tor's four places to start with Ray Bradbury  -- Fits in nicely with our Feed the Muse mini challenge.

For our Dr Who fans -- The Thirteenth Doctor Has a Lot in Common With a Certain Classic Doctor From the 1980s

Soho's Best of Books for 2018

Unbound Worlds is going to have a new internet home

For your hubbies who love spy nonfiction -

[Kareni]

Some more bookish posts ~

This one from the Word Wenches may be of particular interest to those of you who write:  Shorthand

All Those Books You've Bought but Haven't Read? There's a Word for That   by Kevin Mims 

These are primarily books: Gifts for Geeks: Our 2018 Nerdy Gift Guide - Unbound Worlds

10 Best Yoga and Meditation Books, According to 10 Top Yoga and MeditationTeachers

88 great books for holiday gifts in 2018, fun fiction to brain food

50 Must-Read Microhistory Books

Regards,
Kareni

[aggieamy]

9 hours ago, Kareni said:

I'm not quite sure how far away my daughter lives from Costco, but I believe it's far less than 90 minutes.  I should add it to my weekly list of topics to discuss.  We'd been sending peanut butter via iHerb, but then my daughter found a Korean source.  I'll have to ask if it's Costco.

Regards,
Kareni

Peanut butter is one of the things our exchange student "discovered" this year. It was certainly a surprise to DD who lives on the stuff that PB&J isn't a kid food the world around.

[aggieamy]

Y'all are inspiring me to get out and get my steps done. I go in spurts where it's a daily goal I look forward to and then I let it slip ... the next thing I know I'm averaging 2k a steps a day. That's basically only walking around the house a tiny bit. Horrible.

How's everyone doing on their yearly goals? I'm 14 books behind according to goodreads but I have to go through and update it. Still I'm at least ten books behind. I also about three Brit Trip counties behind. Eek. I need to catch up to a bus and quick.

[Kareni]

9 minutes ago, aggieamy said:

Peanut butter is one of the things our exchange student "discovered" this year. It was certainly a surprise to DD who lives on the stuff that PB&J isn't a kid food the world around.

Discoveries like that are a lot of fun.  I know that I had peanut butter before arriving in the US.  My Dutch parents called it pindakaas which means peanut cheese.  I never knew, but now see on Wikipedia, that "In the Netherlands peanut butter is called pindakaas (literally "peanut cheese") rather than pindaboter ("peanut butter") because the word butter was a legally protected term for products that contain actual butter, prompting Calvé, the company which first marketed it in the country in 1948, to use kaas instead.^[34]"  So, I learned something today!

Regards,
Kareni

[Kareni]

I had heard that Stephen King's latest book (a novella to be accurate) was atypical and not scary; therefore, I decided to read it. 

Elevation  proved to be a quick and curious read.  I enjoyed it even though it left more questions than answers.

"The latest from legendary master storyteller Stephen King, a riveting, extraordinarily eerie, and moving story about a man whose mysterious affliction brings a small town together—a timely, upbeat tale about finding common ground despite deep-rooted differences.

Although Scott Carey doesn’t look any different, he’s been steadily losing weight. There are a couple of other odd things, too. He weighs the same in his clothes and out of them, no matter how heavy they are. Scott doesn’t want to be poked and prodded. He mostly just wants someone else to know, and he trusts Doctor Bob Ellis.

In the small town of Castle Rock, the setting of many of King’s most iconic stories, Scott is engaged in a low grade—but escalating—battle with the lesbians next door whose dog regularly drops his business on Scott’s lawn. One of the women is friendly; the other, cold as ice. Both are trying to launch a new restaurant, but the people of Castle Rock want no part of a gay married couple, and the place is in trouble. When Scott finally understands the prejudices they face–including his own—he tries to help. Unlikely alliances, the annual foot race, and the mystery of Scott’s affliction bring out the best in people who have indulged the worst in themselves and others."

Regards,
Kareni

[tuesdayschild]

11 hours ago, Violet Crown said:

Well done, Tuesday! You lend me determination. I loved looking through your list of reads. Wilkie Collins is a tempting pick for Cumbria/Cumberland, rather than the 600-page alternative.

 

Please refresh my memory.... what was your 600pg-er  

[tuesdayschild]

1 hour ago, Kareni said:

Discoveries like that are a lot of fun.  I know that I had peanut butter before arriving in the US.  My Dutch parents called it pindakaas which means peanut cheese.  I never knew, but now see on Wikipedia, that "In the Netherlands peanut butter is called pindakaas (literally "peanut cheese") rather than pindaboter ("peanut butter") because the word butter was a legally protected term for products that contain actual butter, prompting Calvé, the company which first marketed it in the country in 1948, to use kaas instead.^[34]"  So, I learned something today!

Regards,
Kareni

That is really interesting.   

(sorry for 2 separate posts, I was about to sign out and then read Kareni's interesting extra!)

[Matryoshka]

On 11/29/2018 at 3:06 PM, Robin M said:

More ideas for the new year which leans towards reading through our already teetering tbr piles.  Since celebrating 10th anniversary, lots of 10 themes.

Ten Chain Book Train - Each book must connect to the other either by a word in the title or author name.  For example An Artificial Night by Seanan McGuire leads to The Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier which leads to The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins and so on.  Have to be read chronologically, no skipping around and linking them up later and can only read the same author in succession twice.

Scavenger Hunt - Take the last book you read and go to page ten. Highlight every tenth word for a total of ten words.  Then find 10 books of which each has one of those words in the title. 

And of course, 10 x 10 which could be 10 books in 10 different genre or subgenres; 10 books from 10 countries, cities, states, provinces; 10 new authors, etc, etc, etc. 

Here's the New Bingo challenge for 2019 in both jpeg and pdf  - lots of open categories and open to interpretation  

❤️

2019 52 Books Bingo.pdf

 

Meant to comment on this last week - this looks like a fun Bingo!  I also like the 10-challenges and will probably try at least one - maaabye even the 10x10, but that's kinda super-ambitious...

I'm not big on spelling challenges (although I always do A-Z author and title, but that's different), and I totally didn't even attempt the Brit-tripping, although it was fun following you guys around.   Brit books - looks like out of 120+ books this year so far, only 12 so far have been set even partially in England, and of those many are in London and Oxford.  I think I'm going to end up with a Bertie.   That's less than set in the US (33), but less than how many I read set in Outer Space (16). 🚀

[Violet Crown]

40 minutes ago, tuesdayschild said:

Please refresh my memory.... what was your 600pg-er  

Mrs. Humphry Ward, Robert Elsmere

[tuesdayschild]

6 hours ago, aggieamy said:

Y'all are inspiring me to get out and get my steps done. I go in spurts where it's a daily goal I look forward to and then I let it slip ... the next thing I know I'm averaging 2k a steps a day. That's basically only walking around the house a tiny bit. Horrible.

How's everyone doing on their yearly goals? I'm 14 books behind according to goodreads but I have to go through and update it. Still I'm at least ten books behind. I also about three Brit Trip counties behind. Eek. I need to catch up to a bus and quick.

3

Hope you can nail down some quick listens, and steps!  

**

Yearly Goals:

• I was hoping to read/listen to more non-fiction this year, managed that with 43 books
• I’ve currently read/listened to 218 books total, was aiming for 175       (It doesn’t really feel that impressive, I was just killing time as I’ve lain around convalescing between surgeries.  No response required 😉 )
• Brit Trip Possibilities - 159 titles (I got to read so many detective/mystery titles thanks to the Bus Trip: Joy!)
• Listened to 166 (hmmm 🤔)

Goals I’d like to achieve before Christmas:

• I’ve only read 51 books, so I’m really wanting to complete one of the physical books I have on hand, to have read 52 in 52
• Finish off spelling Holly  (have 'o' and 'y' to go)

4 hours ago, Violet Crown said:

Mrs. Humphry Ward, Robert Elsmere

I found it free on Amazon (thank you)...... the language usage looks lovely.   Do you know if it has people "Drowning in the Floss" at the end (grr)?

[Kareni]

Those of you who live near a Barnes and Noble store might be interested in this shareable coupon for 25% off one item.  (There are some exclusions.):

Here

Regards,
Kareni

 

[Robin M]

18 hours ago, Matryoshka said:

Brit books - looks like out of 120+ books this year so far, only 12 so far have been set even partially in England, and of those many are in London and Oxford.  I think I'm going to end up with a Bertie. 

I only managed 10 this year myself so right there with you.

 

23 hours ago, Kareni said:

This one from the Word Wenches may be of particular interest to those of you who write:  Shorthand

All Those Books You've Bought but Haven't Read? There's a Word for That   by Kevin Mims 

Awesome links, Karen.

Enjoyed the article on Word wenches on description in stories.  I like shorthand because especially when it comes to character descriptions.    'He had short brown hair with intense dark eyes' or 'The kid, about one hundred pounds wet, covered in tattoos from neck to knee'  lets my imagination fill in the blanks rather than it being given to me with a description of height, weight, clothes, etc.  Although I do love Dean Koontz with how he describes settings and people.  Guess I'm 50/50. 😋

Ah, the books I haven't read.  Love the japanese term tsundoku. Yes, so much better than anti library. 

 

I pm'ed everyone with an updated 52 books address list so check your inboxes.  😋

[Robin M]

20 hours ago, aggieamy said:

Y'all are inspiring me to get out and get my steps done. I go in spurts where it's a daily goal I look forward to and then I let it slip ... the next thing I know I'm averaging 2k a steps a day. That's basically only walking around the house a tiny bit. Horrible.

How's everyone doing on their yearly goals? I'm 14 books behind according to goodreads but I have to go through and update it. Still I'm at least ten books behind. I also about three Brit Trip counties behind. Eek. I need to catch up to a bus and quick.

Yeah! Grab the kids and get a going.  I have to update my lists and see where I'm at.   I haven't updated Goodreads at all so will need to work on that.  I fell off the spelling wagon a couple months back.  However, I do know there have been lots of mentions of flowers in my stories.  And I think I need Q, X, and Z for alphabetical.  

[Matryoshka]

Just now, Robin M said:

I haven't updated Goodreads at all so will need to work on that. 

I update my Goodreads daily.  I think I may have a problem...

Quote

 And I think I need Q, X, and Z for alphabetical.  

I always have the hard letters scoped out at the beginning of the year.  The rest of the letters I have in abundance.  Last year and this I've finished the A-Z title and author challenges months in advance, and had so many left over I've half considered going one more round with either author or title.  I think I'm only 1-2 letters short for A-Z author times two, but I thought I should concentrate on other challenges instead... 

German authors are really good for finding Z's, and Q and X are common in Chinese names (much harder to find those in titles..).  I think I've had a harder time with Y authors... 

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I'm up to 45 completed!

Last week I finished - The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. It was a reread but I love it so. I also listened to Triple Homicide by James Patterson while driving to CO.

I am currently finishing Go Set  A Watchman and The Color Purple.

My TBR pile has grown due to multiple recommendations from new friends (made during a coaching conference). I doubt I can reach 52 at this point in the year but I am going to keep on keeping on and will try to finish 50.

I found a neat reading journal on Amazon and bought one as a gift and one for myself. It tracks 100 books and has lines for all sorts of information. I'm not counting it against my non-spend reading challenge since it's not a book to read.  🙂  I'm going to buy a book, bookmark, nice pen, tea mug, and a nice tea to include with the gift. 

[Kareni]

4 minutes ago, The Accidental Coach said:

I found a neat reading journal on Amazon and bought one as a gift and one for myself. It tracks 100 books and has lines for all sorts of information. I'm not counting it against my non-spend reading challenge since it's not a book to read.  🙂  I'm going to buy a book, bookmark, nice pen, tea mug, and a nice tea to include with the gift.  

This sounds like a lovely gift.  Do you have a link to the reading journal?

Regards,
Kareni

[Granny_Weatherwax]

46 minutes ago, Kareni said:

This sounds like a lovely gift.  Do you have a link to the reading journal?

Regards,
Kareni

https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Log-Softback-Spacious-Journals/dp/1519531540/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=BFTTVX6ME0F7Z4NA7XVD

Edited December 7, 2018 by The Accidental Coach

[Robin M]

20 minutes ago, The Accidental Coach said:

https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Log-Softback-Spacious-Journals/dp/1519531540/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=BFTTVX6ME0F7Z4NA7XVD

Oh,that is perfect. I like how it's laid out and the diary page which would prompt me to write down what thought about book and what it inspired.  Adding to my Christmas wish list.

😘

[Violet Crown]

17 hours ago, tuesdayschild said:

I found it free on Amazon (thank you)...... the language usage looks lovely.   Do you know if it has people "Drowning in the Floss" at the end (grr)?

No idea. Though I always enjoy major characters meeting their doom in the denouement, so I'm not a reliable guide. The drownings at the end of The Return of the Native were quite satisfying.

[Kareni]

1 hour ago, The Accidental Coach said:

https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Log-Softback-Spacious-Journals/dp/1519531540/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=BFTTVX6ME0F7Z4NA7XVD

That is quite lovely, TAC.  I have to admit that I just spent some happy minutes perusing Customers who bought this item also bought ....

Regards,
Kareni

[mumto2]

I don't have the energy to sort my Goodreads categories out (short stories, audio,  and  books) but a huge majority of my reading has been set in England.  Lol  I have been a bit osessed........

Ummmmm, I update Goodreads daily too............  😉

[Kareni]

Some bookish posts ~

7 Indie Horror, Mystery, and Crime Novels for Music Lovers  by Matt Coleman

“Reading, on the other hand, is essential” Diane Setterfield On Reading, Writing, and Her New Novel  by Sarah Ullery

Here's What College Freshmen Are Reading

 

Celebrating the Liberating Weirdness of Madeleine L’Engle  by Leah Schnelbach

Regards,
Kareni

[Kareni]

I've finished two more books recently.

I quite enjoyed N.R. Walker's  novella A Soldier's Wish (The Christmas Angel Book 5) which takes place in the late sixties, early seventies. It's one of a series of stories that all feature an angel ornament.  (Adult content)

"The year is 1969…

Gary Fairchild is proud to be a hippie college student, and he protests the Vietnam War because he believes in love and peace. To him, it isn’t just a counterculture movement—it’s a way of life. When tickets to the Aquarium Exposition—3 Days of Peace & Music, or Woodstock, as it was better known, go on sale, there’s no way he isn’t going.

Richard Ronsman is a sheltered farm boy who lives in the shadow of his overbearing father. He’s hidden his darkest secret to earn his father’s love, but nothing is ever good enough—not even volunteering for the Vietnam War. And with just a few days left before he’s deployed, he’s invited by a striking hippie to join him at a music festival.

Three days of music, drugs, rain, mud, and love forged a bond between these two very different men that would shape the rest of their lives. They share dreams and fears, and when Richard is shipped off to war, they share letters and love. For Richard’s first Christmas home, he is gifted a special angel ornament that just might make a soldier’s wish come true."
**

I just completed Elizabeth Moon's  Cold Welcome (Vatta's Peace Book 1).  While this is the first book in a series, it follows on a five book series that  would have been valuable to read.  I felt as though I was missing a lot of backstory.

"After nearly a decade away, Nebula Award–winning author Elizabeth Moon makes a triumphant return to science fiction with this installment in a thrilling new series featuring the daring hero of her acclaimed Vatta’s War sequence.

Summoned to the home planet of her family’s business empire, space-fleet commander Kylara Vatta is told to expect a hero’s welcome. But instead she is thrown into danger unlike any other she has faced and finds herself isolated, unable to communicate with the outside world, commanding a motley group of unfamiliar troops, and struggling day by day to survive in a deadly environment with sabotaged gear. Only her undeniable talent for command can give her ragtag band a fighting chance.

Yet even as Ky leads her team from one crisis to another, her family and friends refuse to give up hope, endeavoring to mount a rescue from halfway around the planet—a task that is complicated as Ky and her supporters find secrets others will kill to protect: a conspiracy infecting both government and military that threatens not only her own group’s survival but her entire home planet."

Regards,
Kareni

[tuesdayschild]

2 hours ago, Violet Crown said:

No idea. Though I always enjoy major characters meeting their doom in the denouement, so I'm not a reliable guide. The drownings at the end of The Return of the Native were quite satisfying.

 

Grinning, no probably not then (my dd wonders what I'm laughing at).  I do like some level of hope n happiness at the end of my fiction reads.  

[Kareni]

Some more bookish posts ~

From the Word Wenches site:  What We Are Reading!

Library Journal Best Books 2018

 

35 Books Librarians Have Recently Loved

 

The Best History Books 2018

 

Regards,
Kareni

[Robin M]

On 12/6/2018 at 3:07 PM, Matryoshka said:

I update my Goodreads daily.  I think I may have a problem...

I always have the hard letters scoped out at the beginning of the year.  The rest of the letters I have in abundance.  Last year and this I've finished the A-Z title and author challenges months in advance, and had so many left over I've half considered going one more round with either author or title.  I think I'm only 1-2 letters short for A-Z author times two, but I thought I should concentrate on other challenges instead... 

German authors are really good for finding Z's, and Q and X are common in Chinese names (much harder to find those in titles..).  I think I've had a harder time with Y authors... 

What a good idea. Don't know why I never thought of starting with Z and the other more difficult letters first. 

 

I'm still meandering along with Half of a Yellow Sun.  Keep following rabbit trails and looking up the history of the Nigerian coup and the Igbo culture.  

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I finished A Color Purple by Alice Walker this morning while enjoying a cup of chai before work. I don't know why I have never read it but admit that it wasn't what I thought it would be. I was a bit surprised by marriage for convenience's sake, paramours during marriage, bisexuality, and a number of other topics that I had no idea were in the book. It was definitely a book that made me think and that, for me, is a benchmark for good literature.

I also finished Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee today while driving to my DGD's Christmas concert. How I chose ACP and GSAW to be read at the same time I don't know. It made for a bit of heavy reading for the past week. 

--

I have Animal Farm by George Orwell as my next audiobook. It's only 3 hours. 

 

[Loesje22000]

On 12/7/2018 at 12:07 AM, Matryoshka said:

I update my Goodreads daily.  I think I may have a problem...

I always have the hard letters scoped out at the beginning of the year.  The rest of the letters I have in abundance.  Last year and this I've finished the A-Z title and author challenges months in advance, and had so many left over I've half considered going one more round with either author or title.  I think I'm only 1-2 letters short for A-Z author times two, but I thought I should concentrate on other challenges instead... 

German authors are really good for finding Z's, and Q and X are common in Chinese names (much harder to find those in titles..).  I think I've had a harder time with Y authors... 

 

Irvin Yalom is an author I like to read: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/909675.Irvin_D_Yalom

And in Dutch quite some books are called 'Yemma', as that seems to be the word Maroccan authors use for their (older) mother. How that has been translated, and if Maroccan authors in other countries do the same I don't know.

[Violet Crown]

On 12/6/2018 at 5:07 PM, Matryoshka said:

I think I've had a harder time with Y authors.

You can't go wrong with W. B. Yeats. He was recently the cause of a spirited discussion at our dinner table regarding the number of syllables in "Byzantium." If you don't care for his poetry 😧 he also wrote plays and (with Lady Augusta Gregory) wrote/anthologized Irish folklore.

Also French writer Marguerite Yourcenar is worth attention.

How pleasant that Xenophon wrote so many things, and that such good translations are now available.

And now I'm reminded that I have Arthur Quiller-Couch's Cambridge Lectures buried in my tbr shelf.

[Robin M]

Link to week 50 - please continue conversation in new thread