Book a Week 2019 - BW38: Proust Invokes the Past

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday and welcome to week thirty-eight in our 52 Books rambling roads reading adventure. Greetings to all our readers, welcome to all who are joining in for the first time and everyone following our progress. Visit  52 Books in 52 Weeks where you can find all the information on the annual, mini and perpetual challenges, as well as the central spot to share links to your book reviews. 

I have Marcel Proust on my mind today. (Thank you Violet Crown) A couple years ago I read Swann's Way which is the first volume of In Search For Lost Time which includes seven volumes: 

 Swann’s Way
In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower
The Guermantes Way
Sodom and Gomorrah
The Prisoner
The Fugitive
Time Regained

 I had a love/hate relationship with the story. Proust is passionate about everything and long winded; his sentences flow like a river, side streams branching out in every direction. He’s a romantic at heart, with a sense of humor, analyzing everything. Sometimes I got caught up in his whirlpools of emotion and other times, I felt like I was a leaf floating on the surface of the water, bobbing along with no direction, no purpose. His stories aren’t meant to be casually read. His words require you to immerse yourself entirely, his stories experienced and not just observed.   Check out Proust's Madeleine moment as well as Pieces of Light discussion on  Proustian Memory and the power of memory and sensory experiences.  

  “Taste and smell alone, more fragile but more enduring, more unsubstantial, more persistent, more faithful, remained poised a long time, like souls, remembering, waiting, hoping, amid the ruins of all the rest; and bear unflinchingly, in the tiny and almost impalpable drop of their essence, the vast structure of recollection.” ~Marcel Proust 

Which led me to think about my very own Madeliene moments.

It’s on the tip of my tongue, both physically, mentally and emotionally. A taste, a scent, that takes me back. But back to where? A fleeting memory of time past. So amazing how smells and flavors can catch me unaware, make me stop and reflect. There have been many times over the years when a scent wafted past my nose and took me back to high school, or an old house, a day on the lake, or a moment of grief.

Honeysuckle takes me back to my first home in Texas and sipping on a honeysuckle bush outside a friend’s house. I can see our block, our neighbors, long forgotten and pushed a bit further into the background of my conscious with each move. My dad was in the military so there were many moves over the years. Our house was the gathering spot and I remember long summer days and evenings playing hide-n-seek, head stands on the front lawn, and the boy next door teasing me.

Growing up and even into my 20’s, I couldn’t understand my parents fixation with food when we traveled. The concern of where and when we were going to stop and eat. Do we eat to live or live to eat? It wasn’t until later I realized it wasn’t the food, but the place. Food takes on a different flavor when we equate it with a place, use it as a placeholder for our memories. A favorite restaurant takes on a new meaning when it isn’t the food we are going for, but the camaraderie and a place to rest, think and talk.

When my mother died, dad insisted on going to one of their favorite restaurants. Little did I know they’d practically adopted the owner and the staff.  Surrounded by love, familiar scents and comfort food, it helped him to grieve. 

Favorite foods, recipes from the past passed on, not just because they taste good, but because also remind us of mom and grandma and of bright days cooking and puttering around the kitchen, eating and playing games.

I love how Proust poetically and philosophically leads us to the point of memory. He could have very well said – It’s on the tip of my tongue. But where is the beauty in that?



In 1886, when Proust was 14, he was asked to fill out a questionnaire regarding his writing. The original manuscript was recovered and in 2003, it was sold at auction for $120,000. Below are the questions: 

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
What is your greatest fear?
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Which living person do you most admire?
What is your greatest extravagance?
What is your current state of mind?
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
On what occasion do you lie?
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
Which living person do you most despise?
What is the quality you most like in a man?
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
When and where were you happiest?
Which talent would you most like to have?
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
Where would you most like to live?
What is your most treasured possession?
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
What is your favorite occupation?
What is your most marked characteristic?
What do you most value in your friends?
Who are your favorite writers?
Who is your hero of fiction?
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Who are your heroes in real life?
What are your favorite names?
What is it that you most dislike?
What is your greatest regret?
How would you like to die?
What is your motto?

How would you answer these questions?

And perhaps create your very own madeleine while doing so. 

Create a perpetual challenge for yourself or sip read and join me in reading Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time.  I'll be continuing my read with In Search of Young Girls in Flower 

 

Link to week thirty seven

[Robin M]

Good afternoon.  After a couple weeks of the Barefoot Bay series by Roxanne St. Claire, I'm ready for something more substantial.

 I have my head buried in Dan Brown's Origin which is intriguing.  Also reading Kwei Quartey's Wife of the Gods and sipping on In search of Young Girls in Flower.

[mumto2]

Robin great intro........you are so right about favorite restaurants and the comfort they bring to our lives,  which is surprising to me.  Recently one closed that Dh and I have frequented since before kids.  We knew the whole staff and were all there on the last day.  Sniff.......we all miss it and can’t find another where the food tastes as good.

Last night I read two chapters of the newly released Inspector Gamache Novel, A Better Man, and am now over 80%done and I actually went to church!  So no matter what else I say it is a page turner!

  I promised myself after the last book that I was done and I honestly thought Louise Penny was too.  @aggieamy is very wise.....she stopped a couple books back!   A Better Man takes place over a year later and I find the time line to be off which is an irritation.  It just doesn’t work for me considering how the prior book ended......I get this is the time line to make this book be............readable, acceptable, satisfying for fans......pick one.

Last week @Kareni started a thread over on the main board about which book do you recommend to all and at one point my answer would have been Inspector Gamache, now honestly, I just wouldn’t put anyone through the roller coaster this series now is......but I have recommended the series in the past because it had something that could work for many imo.  So I love the characters but do not really like them anymore.  I am on a roller coaster hoping for a happy ending to the series......and I have no idea if this is the end!  

I will post more later tonight when I am done....

[Violet Crown]

Robin,

Thank you for Proust week! I'll try to make some progress, as he counts for my Decadents/Symbolists/Surrealists 10x10 category, but my new teaching job is really eating into my reading time. I hope prep time decreases as we go into the year. 

This week I failed to make enough headway in my two chunksters, Thackeray's Vanity Fair (category Plucked From the Air) and Romano Amerio's Iota Unum (category Bad Catholic), both of which I'm enjoying but had better pick up the pace with, or I'll be reading them into December.

A brief whine: September is when I write checks for All The Things People Are Signed Up For, but also the month our dishwasher and air conditioner decided to die, and we needed to purchase a full-sized cello for Wee not-so-wee Girl. And a hard case. And a cello bow, which thin piece of wood-and-hair cost you don't want to know how much. No problem, we've already had the new car a couple of months, good time to drain the bank account. Maybe I can get into an accident while the cello is in the back.

[Kareni]

1 hour ago, Robin M said:

Check out Proust's Madeleine moment ...

I was amused that when I clicked this link, I was asked whether I accept cookies from the site. I'd be happy to accept a Madeleine or a chocolate chip cookie!

Regards,

Kareni

[Junie]

Well, it looks like I'll be adding Proust to my never-ending to-be-read list. 😉

[Kareni]

Some bookish posts ~

Top 10 culinary memoirs

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/sep/11/top-10-culinary-memoirs?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CYS - 91319&utm_term=BookRiot_CheckYourShelf_DormantSuppress

10 FANTASTICALLY FIERCE BOOKS LIKE CIRCE BY MADELINE MILLER

https://bookriot.com/2019/09/06/books-like-circe/

Malcolm Gladwell: ‘A book that changed my life? Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/sep/06/malcolm-gladwell-a-book-that-changed-my-life-agatha-christies-the-of-roger-ackroyd

Madeline Miller: ‘I’m always knocked over by how funny Moby-Dick is’

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/mar/29/books-that-made-me-madeline-miller

5 non-fiction-books that will put you in an astronauts boots

https://www.tor.com/2019/09/10/5-non-fiction-books-that-will-put-you-in-an-astronauts-boots/FROM

20 Small Press Books You Might Have Missed

https://electricliterature.com/20-small-press-books-you-might-have-missed/

Regards,

Kareni

[Liz CA]

 Robin, the list you wrote out is somewhat similar to some self-exploration exercises we do with clients. Makes you think deep and evaluate not only the what but more importantly the why.

Reading:

It's going rather slow but late at night I have little energy for deep stuff so I have been reading Eason's "When a secret kills" and I am still not finished. After that - and if Overdrive doesn't snatch it back before I get to it - I have another Eason book waiting.

Audiobook:

Recommended in last week's thread was "The Tenth Justice" and I am listening to it now. Very entertaining and thought provoking in a "what would I have done" kind of way.

[mumto2]

5 hours ago, Violet Crown said:

 

A brief whine: September is when I write checks for All The Things People Are Signed Up For, but also the month our dishwasher and air conditioner decided to die, and we needed to purchase a full-sized cello for Wee not-so-wee Girl. And a hard case. And a cello bow, which thin piece of wood-and-hair cost you don't want to know how much. No problem, we've already had the new car a couple of months, good time to drain the bank account. Maybe I can get into an accident while the cello is in the back.

Wee Girl will always be Wee Girl even if she requires a full size cello, which by the way is totally ouch worthy.  May the rest of the year go as planned!

I finished my Inspector Gamache.........there is every indication the series will go on although I hope to resist moving on with it. I can live with this ending and hopefully will resist the next.

So now I am onto some of the books I finished last week.....

Fred Vargas’ Have Mercy on Us All was read in honor of last months detective Jean Baptiste  Adamsberg.  It took me awhile,  I gave it a three...........It was set in France so will be used for my Brexit Express 10x10.  I have another by the author in the stack and plan to try it ......I liked the detective even if the story didn’t thrill me.

Sapphire Flames by Ilona Andrews appeared way earlier than expected in my Overdrive and I dropped everything and listened.  I loved it!

Medusa Uploaded https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36245705-medusa-uploaded is a Sci Fi book that I totally enjoyed.  I am looking forward to the next.

A Corpse in Koryo https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15307.A_Corpse_in_the_Koryo Was an audiobook for my Asian Detectives 10x10 set in North Korea.  It was interesting but a bit odd to listen to as the writing style is choppy but set in North Korea .........so I had to finish and ended up rather liking Inspector O who is the main detective.  He has high principles in a corrupt place and because of family connections is able to function with some independence.  I will probably listen to more at some point.

[Negin]

11 hours ago, Junie said:

Well, it looks like I'll be adding Proust to my never-ending to-be-read list. 😉

Me too!

I wonder if the Kindle version is any good. They sometimes mess up with classics. The Kindle version is free, so it's not like I have anything to lose. 

Edited September 16, 2019 by Negin

[Maus]

45.  "Math with Bad Drawings" by Ben Orlin.  I've seen this recommended on the board several times, checked it out one other time before and never got to it -- bad library habit I have, -- and finally read it!  I'm going to get my two high-schoolers to read it.

44.  "The Number Devil" by Hans Magnus Enzensberger.  Listened to a podcast where Kate Snow recommended this, and since my library happened to have it....!  Can one say a math book is really cute?  I've ordered my own copy.

43.  "Insights from a Prophet's Life: Russall M Nelson" by Sheri Dew (LDS).

42.  "Live Up to Our Privileges" by Wendy Ulrich (LDS).

41.  "The Knowledge Gap: The Hidden Cause of America's Broken Education System --  And How to Fix It" by Natalie Wexler.

40.  "Blood, Bullets, and Bones" by Bridget Heos.

39.  "World War I:  The Rest of the Story and How It Affects You Today" by Richard J. Maybury.

38.  "The Thousand Year War in the Mideast:  How It Affects You Today" by Richard J. Maybury.  

37.  "The Two Towers" by J.R.R. Tokien.

36.  "Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien.

35. "The Clipper Ship Strategy" by Richard J. Maybury.

34. "The Money Mystery" by Richard J. Maybury.

33. "Evaluating Books: What Would Thomas Jefferson Think About This" by Richard J. Maybury.

32. "Ancient Rome: How It Affects You Today" by Richard J. Maybury.

31. "Are You Liberal? Conservative? or Confusted?" by Richard J. Maybury.  Funny title, because I thought I knew what I was, but now I'm confused!

30.  "Whatever Happened to Justice?" by Richard J. Maybury.

29. " The Instant Economist: Everything You Need to Know About How the Economy Works" by Timothy Taylor. 

28. "White Like Her: My Family's Story of Race and Racial Passing" by Gail Lukasik.

27. "Personal, Career, and Financial Security" by Richard J. Maybury.

26. "Rascal" by Sterling North.

25. "Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?" by Richard J. Maybury.

24.  "Joy in the Covenant" by Julie B. Beck.  (LDS)

23. "The Essential 55" by Ron Clark.

22. "How to Tutor Your Own Child" by Marina Koestler Ruben.

21. "Faith is Not Blind" by Bruce and Marie Hafen. (LDS)

20. "Silent Souls Weeping: Depression, Sharing Stories, Finding Hope" by Jane Clayson Johnson.  (LDS)

19. "Leap of Faith" by Bob Bennett. (LDS)

18.  "Covenant Keepers" by Wendy Watson Nelson. (LDS)

17. "Manga Classics: MacBeth" adapted by Crystal S. Chan.

16. "One Dead Spy" by Nathan Hale.

15. "Stellar Science Projects About Earth's Sky" and "Wild Science Projects About Earth's Weather" by Robert Gardner.  

14. "Stuff Matters" by Mark Miodownik.  

13. "Led by Divine Design" by Ronald A. Rasband. (LDS)

12. "Forensic Science Projects with a Crime Lab" by Robert Gardner. 

11. "Manga Classics: The Jungle Book" adapted by Crystal S. Chan

10. "Donner Dinner Party" by Nathan Hale. 

9. "Manga Classics: The Stories of Edgar Allan Poe" adapted by Stacy King. 

8. "Bodies We've Buried" by Jarrett Hallcox and Amy Welch.

7. "The Forensic Casebook" by N.E. Genge.

6. "Shaken Faith Syndrome" by MIchael R. Ash. (LDS)

5. "Fingerprints: Crime-Solving Science Experiments" by Kenneth G. Rainis.

4. "Forensic Investigations" (6) by Leela Burnscott. & ("Bones Speak" by Richard Spilsbury)

3. "A Reason for Faith" edited by Laura Harris Hales.  (LDS)

2. "Left Standing" by Mason Wells, et al. (LDS)

1.  "Camino Easy" by B. G. Preston. 

•  

[Robin M]

More on Proust

In the Footsteps of Marcel Proust

Marcel Proust’s Inspiring Thoughts: Essays And Interviews

On Reading Proust: Justice Stephen Breyer, interviewed by Ioanna Kohler

 

The world of comic books - The Value of Reading Comics

Watch: David Baldacci on Writing One Good Deed

What it means to win the Hugo as a Blind person

[mumto2]

@Robin M  love the Baldacci link.  I have One Good Deed on hold and am close to next!

Before I forget I recently read a new to me author for one of my favorite genres,  Cozy Amish Mysteries, Shelly Shepherd Gray.  The book was not my favorite ever but just fine for a comfort read. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38126336-his-promise?ac=1&from_search=true.  @Junie  Not sure if you have ever read this newspaper column written by an Amish womanhttp://www.lovinasamishkitchen.com/?  It appears in my hometown newspaper and my mom used to send them to me so I was happy to discover that I can still read them via email.  They make me happy!

[Kareni]

One of my favorite books is currently on sale for 99 cents ~

Written in Red by Anne Bishop

Others here have enjoyed it, too.

Here's the blurb:

 "Enter the world of the Others in the first novel in New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop’s thrilling fantasy series: a place where unearthly entities—vampires and shape-shifters among them—rule the Earth and prey on the human race.

As a cassandra sangue, or blood prophet, Meg Corbyn can see the future when her skin is cut—a gift that feels more like a curse. Meg’s Controller keeps her enslaved so he can have full access to her visions. But when she escapes, the only safe place Meg can hide is at the Lakeside Courtyard—a business district operated by the Others.

Shape-shifter Simon Wolfgard is reluctant to hire the stranger who inquires about the Human Liaison job. First, he senses she’s keeping a secret, and second, she doesn’t smell like human prey. Yet a stronger instinct propels him to give Meg the job. And when he learns the truth about Meg and that she’s wanted by the government, he’ll have to decide if she’s worth the fight between humans and the Others that will surely follow."

Regards,

Kareni

[Junie]

18 minutes ago, mumto2 said:

@Robin M  love the Baldacci link.  I have One Good Deed on hold and am close to next!

Before I forget I recently read a new to me author for one of my favorite genres,  Cozy Amish Mysteries, Shelly Shepherd Gray.  The book was not my favorite ever but just fine for a comfort read. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38126336-his-promise?ac=1&from_search=true.  @Junie  Not sure if you have ever read this newspaper column written by an Amish womanhttp://www.lovinasamishkitchen.com/?  It appears in my hometown newspaper and my mom used to send them to me so I was happy to discover that I can still read them via email.  They make me happy!

Thanks for the Amish link!

It is such an interesting lifestyle.  I'm not Plain, but there were Plain influences around me while I was growing up in Pennsylvania. 

[Robin M]

I finished Origin.   I love Dan Brown's books and Origin didn't disappoint. Yes, you definitely have to suspend disbelief to enjoy his stories, but that's to be expected when its fiction. Art and history, mysteries, religion, technology, all my favorite subjects mixed together for an interesting read. Once I started reading, I didn't want to put it down. Every time I read one of Brown's books I learn something new and always find plenty of rabbit trails to follow, places and people to look up.  

[Robin M]

Happy Dance!  Final inspection is scheduled for tomorrow!  Cross your fingers everything goes well.  If so, we'll start moving this Friday.   

[Penguin]

I finished three books this week. Shocking! 

Wild Things: The Joy of Reading Children's Literature as an Adult by Bruce Handy. It was just OK. I do indeed read a lot of children's literature, so I felt a bit validated by reading this book. I disagreed with some of the author's opinions, but I expect that in a book-about-books. There was something irritating about the book that I just can't quite pinpoint. My favorite parts were the biographical sketches of authors like Margaret Wise Brown. She was a very interesting woman, and I had no idea of that!

The Moviegoer by Walker Percy. It was also just OK. I like existentialism well enough, but I was just never grabbed by the characters or the story. It won the National Book Award in 1962, beating out Revolutionary Road. Now I am quite curious to read Revolutionary Road.

Travels with Charley by Steinbeck (audio). This one was great to listen to while driving. It was always entertaining and occasionally brilliant. I wanted to find out more about the history behind the events Steinbeck wrote about in New Orleans (desegregation), and I stumbled upon a book that I am not going to link here. It attempts to do a James Frey-style-takedown, but after reading a bit on this other book's website, I remain perfectly OK with Steinbeck's book. But {shrug}, I always take memoirs with a big fat grain jar of salt. 

 

Edited September 17, 2019 by Penguin

[Kareni]

My book group book also works forJudge a Book By Its Cover Week for my reading challenge from a different site:

I read This is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel for my book group. The front cover of the book shows an orange peel while the back shows a whole orange. I can only recall one mention of oranges in the book and cannot figure out the relevance of the cover to the story; nonetheless, it's an attractive cover!

This was an intriguing story about Rosie and Penn and their five sons. Claude, the youngest, likes wearing dresses. Life becomes challenging when he starts school. The family moves cross country soon after a traumatic incident, and Claude/now Poppy and family are keepers of a big secret. This is not a romance though Rosie and Penn have a romantic courtship and marriage. Life is mostly happy for them all but keeping a secret is stressful, and Poppy's secret is revealed one day. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it. In the author's note, she reveals that this book is not a memoir but that her little boy is now a little girl.

Here's the blurb from Amazon; and I see that the cover is now significantly different!

 "This is how a family keeps a secret…and how that secret ends up keeping them.

This is how a family lives happily ever after…until happily ever after becomes complicated.

This is how children change…and then change the world.

This is Claude. He’s five years old, the youngest of five brothers, and loves peanut butter sandwiches. He also loves wearing a dress, and dreams of being a princess.

When he grows up, Claude says, he wants to be a girl.

Rosie and Penn want Claude to be whoever Claude wants to be. They’re just not sure they’re ready to share that with the world. Soon the entire family is keeping Claude’s secret. Until one day it explodes.

Laurie Frankel's This Is How It Always Is is a novel about revelations, transformations, fairy tales, and family. And it’s about the ways this is how it always is: Change is always hard and miraculous and hard again, parenting is always a leap into the unknown with crossed fingers and full hearts, children grow but not always according to plan. And families with secrets don’t get to keep them forever. "

Regards,

Kareni

[Negin]

15 hours ago, Penguin said:

Travels with Charley by Steinbeck (audio). This one was great to listen to while driving. 

 

I loved this book and I've loved pretty much every book that I've read by him. I can't wait to read more. 

[mumto2]

16 hours ago, Robin M said:

Happy Dance!  Final inspection is scheduled for tomorrow!  Cross your fingers everything goes well.  If so, we'll start moving this Friday.   

Sending positive thoughts your way!  I know you can’t wait to move!

[Kareni]

17 hours ago, Robin M said:

Final inspection is scheduled for tomorrow!

Sending good thoughts! I hope too that you are now fully recovered from your earlier illness.

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

Some bookish posts ~

7 Books About Magic Doors for the People Narnia Left Behind

https://electricliterature.com/7-books-about-magic-doors-for-the-people-narnia-left-behind/From

10 Funny Non-Fiction Books Everyone Should Read

https://thewriterlyway.com/2018/02/13/10-funny-non-fiction-books-everyone-should-read/

IT'S TIME TO READ MORE SPY FICTION BY WOMEN, ABOUT WOMEN

https://crimereads.com/spy-fiction-by-women-about-women/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CYS - 91719&utm_term=BookRiot_CheckYourShelf_DormantSuppress

Five SFF Stories About Surviving the Dangers of Boarding School

https://www.tor.com/2019/09/13/five-sff-stories-about-surviving-the-dangers-of-boarding-school/

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

A one day only free book for Kindle readers is by a renowned American author ~

One of Ours by Willa Cather

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

I finished the new novella (but it’s 176 pages long so not really short) by Becky Chambers late last night.  To be Taught, if Fortunate https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43190272-to-be-taught-if-fortunate has a totally new mission and set of characters from the trilogy based on A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet (the first book is a  favorite of mine). To be Taught was a book that had an unusual slant on space travel and is in many ways more real in terms of actual space travel, so sort of concept filled for me.......how to allow a crew to travel on a trip that will take decades? etc.   I highly recommend it for the Sci Fi readers among us.

[Kareni]

48 minutes ago, mumto2 said:

I finished the new novella (but it’s 176 pages long so not really short) by Becky Chambers late last night.  To be Taught, if Fortunate ...   I highly recommend it for the Sci Fi readers among us.

I'm looking forward to reading this, so it's good to know that you enjoyed it, mumto2.

Regards,

Kareni

[Robin M]

We passed, we passed!!!!!   There are still a few minor things and landscaping to be done but we are so excited.  We hired movers and will be doing a three day blitz starting tomorrow.     The floors have been buffed and it's looking so pretty.  Go great to see our designs and dreams come to life for the business.   Here's a couple shots of upstairs and downstairs, all nice and shiny and new. 

  

 

[Kareni]

Ooh, what great news and wonderful photos, Robin. Onward!

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

Great news!  🥳🎊🎉

The pictures are great!

[Negin]

Robin, what wonderful news and the pictures look lovely!

[Kareni]

Last night I stayed up way too late finishing Maria Vale's Forever Wolf (The Legend of All Wolves).

I enjoyed it. Be aware though that this is the third book in a series that should definitely be read in order. Here's the blurb:

 "Legend says his eyes portend the end of the world...or perhaps, the beginning...

Born with one blue eye and one green, Eyulf was abandoned by his pack as an infant and has never understood why, or what he is...

Varya is fiercely loyal to the Great North Pack, which took her in when she was a teenager. While out on patrol, Varya finds Eyulf wounded and starving and saves his life, at great risk to her own.

With old and new enemies threatening the Great North, Varya knows as soon as she sees his eyes that she must keep Eyulf hidden away from the superstitious wolves who would doom them both. Until the day they must fight to the death for the Pack's survival, side by side and heart to heart... "

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

6 hours ago, Kareni said:

Last night I stayed up way too late finishing Maria Vale's Forever Wolf (The Legend of All Wolves).

I enjoyed it. Be aware though that this is the third book in a series that should definitely be read in order. Here's the blurb:

 "Legend says his eyes portend the end of the world...or perhaps, the beginning...

Born with one blue eye and one green, Eyulf was abandoned by his pack as an infant and has never understood why, or what he is...

Varya is fiercely loyal to the Great North Pack, which took her in when she was a teenager. While out on patrol, Varya finds Eyulf wounded and starving and saves his life, at great risk to her own.

With old and new enemies threatening the Great North, Varya knows as soon as she sees his eyes that she must keep Eyulf hidden away from the superstitious wolves who would doom them both. Until the day they must fight to the death for the Pack's survival, side by side and heart to heart... "

Regards,

Kareni

Thanks,  just checked and my library has it on Overdrive so I requested it.

I listened to a great book on Overdrive this afternoon while sewing that I doubt from looking at the Goodreads reviews I would have enjoyed in book form.........the book is The 39 Steps by John Buchan.  I actually gave the audio 5* then discovered all the 1* ratings over on Goodreads so I recommend listening, it was short and enjoyable if you like spy/action type stories.  I am working hard to complete my 10x10’s and this one works for Scotland which makes me very happy.  I never finished watching the movie years ago when I had it on for the kids........not sure why.........but I can totally see this guy hiding in the gorse etc.  I need to find the movie because I suspect I would enjoy it now. 😂

[Kareni]

Today I finished a short romance; it was pleasant, but it's not a book I expect to reread.

The Botanist: Short Story (The Sin Bin Book 3) by Dahlia Donovan

 

 "Aled Demers prefers plants over people. He survives an attack in Anguilla alive but emotionally and physically scarred. Back home in Cardiff, he struggles with PTSD and his unraveling life.

Wyatt "Earp" Hardy lives for his SEAL brothers. Retiring from military service brings new challenges for him to face. The last thing he expects is for his next mission to involve falling for the much younger botanist.

If the botanist has the strength to heal, can Wyatt find the courage to love? "

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

A one day only free classic for Kindle readers ~

Adam Bede by George Eliot

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

Brit Tripping..........The Tarquer Murals are roughly five miles(more like a half hour by road) from my house but I had no idea that they were there until this summer or the really cute village of Clayworth where they are located until Ds started his walking project.  Clayworth is one of the places the boys thought they could cross the Chesterfield Canal so we dropped them off for the day’s walk and all went to view the murals.  These murals seem to be a local mystery as no one could tell me why a somewhat famous artist came to a really remote little village and painted some incredible murals in their church.https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/features/phoebe-anna-traquair If anyone knows a reason why please share!  I. enjoyed this blog post.  http://nottinghamshirenotes.blogspot.com/2015/06/traquair-murals-st-peters-church.html. Once again please don’t copy as I plan to remove the picture of the boys in a couple of days.

 

 

Edited September 24, 2019 by mumto2

[Kareni]

2 hours ago, mumto2 said:

Brit Tripping.........

Thanks for your latest sharing, mumto2. I'd never heard of Phoebe Anna Traquair; what a woman of many talents!

Regards,

Kareni

[Robin M]

Link to week 39