Robin M Posted June 13, 2021 Share Posted June 13, 2021 Since the majority of you live in areas several hours ahead of me and I’m late to bed, late to rise on Sunday, I will be posting Saturday night before I go to bed. ************************** Happy Sunday, my lovelies! It's time for another round of 52 Books Bingo and our category this week is different cultures. According to livescience.com: "Culture is the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, encompassing language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts. The Center for Advance Research on Language Acquisition goes a step further, defining culture as shared patterns of behaviors and interactions, cognitive constructs and understanding that are learned by socialization. Thus, it can be seen as the growth of a group identity fostered by social patterns unique to the group." From historical fiction to contemporary fiction to non fiction, there is a wide variety from which to choose to read and learn. As we all know, literature opens our eyes and minds to different places and times, cultures and ideals. Finding culture and identity through booksReading while Bilingual: How Translated Books Helped Shape My Cultural IdentityExperience New Things with These 21 Books About Cultures That May Not Be Your Own 10 Cross-Cultural Novels that Illuminate the World We Live InAround the World in 27 Books: Travel Writers’ RecommendationsBecome a Multiculturalist with These 11 Books About Different CulturesThere are a number of ways to go with this category and you can interpret it anyway you like, so have fun following rabbit trails and see where they lead you. Link to Week 23 Visit 52 Books in 52 Weeks where you can find all the information on the annual, mini and perpetual challenges, as well as share your book reviews with other readers around the globe. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted June 13, 2021 Author Share Posted June 13, 2021 For our 52 books bingo read, I'm currently reading The Sworn Virgin which is based off the true life sworn virgins of Albania in the early 1900's. Before I stumbled across the book, I had never heard of such a custom. I finished Stars Uncharted which was really good. The poor characters were put through the ringer as they raced across space on a quest to find a lost world and riches with the villains one step behind. Also finished Heather Graham’s Phantom Evil and thought I pretty much had it figured out by the mid point and a plot twist had me pleasantly surprised. Interesting ensemble of characters. I went on an ebook shopping spree and new acquisitions this week: The Galaxy, and the Ground Within (Wayfarers #4), Tess Gerritsen's Choose Me, and Hilary Davidson's Her Last Breath, Rachel Caine's Sword and Pen (#5 Great Library), and Patricia Brigg's Wild Sign (#6 in her Alpha and Omega series) 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted June 13, 2021 Share Posted June 13, 2021 My kids and I are listening to Of Mice and Men. We're near the end and I have no idea what the point is. I don't think this is going to be on my list of favorite books. 😛 Still very slowly working through Think Like a Monk. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted June 13, 2021 Share Posted June 13, 2021 9 hours ago, SKL said: My kids and I are listening to Of Mice and Men. We're near the end and I have no idea what the point is. I don't think this is going to be on my list of favorite books. 😛 The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden are two of my all time favorite novels but I haven't had much luck with other Steinbeck works. I read Of Mice and Men, The Winter of Our Discontent, and tried twice to read Cannery Row before abandoning it. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted June 13, 2021 Share Posted June 13, 2021 Some bookish posts ~ Jo Walton’s Reading List: April and May 2021 https://www.tor.com/2021/06/11/jo-waltons-reading-list-april-and-may-2021/ ESCAPING INTO BRITISH HUMOR IS THE PERFECT BALM https://crimereads.com/escaping-into-british-humor-is-the-perfect-balm/ From the Word Wenches, A book review that might appeal to gardeners and history lovers: Turning Over a New Leaf . . . https://wordwenches.typepad.com/word_wenches/2021/06/turning-over-a-new-leaf-.html Regards, Kareni 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted June 13, 2021 Share Posted June 13, 2021 @Robin MThanks for the great thread!❤️ I have a book that involves Bosnia high in the stack called Catch the Rabbit https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56064463-catch-the-rabbit. I haven’t read a single page but do have it in my currently reading stack on GR and I plan to dive into it later this week. I finally tried a John Dickson Carr mystery after hearing praises about his books for years. I read an early one....first published in 1931. Apparently it was a drug store mystery which meant you had a money back guarantee and could get your money back if you did not read beyond a certain point in the book which was well marked in mine......I believe sealed some way back in the day. It stopped right on a huge cliff hanger and late in the book. I doubt they got many returns at that point! The title was The Lost Gallows https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55885997-the-lost-gallows I’ll be honest and say this wasn’t a favorite in my classic dectective novel category and I suspect other books by this author are better. I have also started listening to Nora Robert’s Legacy. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted June 13, 2021 Share Posted June 13, 2021 Still working through the pile of books the library delivered all at once in early May. This week I finished Yaa Gyasi's Transcendent Kingdom which I thought was excellent. I am still working on Pachinko for book club which is also very good. Up next after that will be The House in the Cerulean Sea and The Ten Thousand Doors of January and then some Bridgerton fluff for summer reading. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted June 13, 2021 Share Posted June 13, 2021 (edited) Culture Related: Things Fall Apart Things Fall Apart https://www.amazon.com/dp/0385474547/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_K3X5JPH87M419G1DN274 (ETA the first chapters are available right there as part of the book description to help decide if you would like it. ) is interesting for being of a different culture than most of us reading this, and a different culture by time for all of us afaik as well as place, in addition it sets up two contrasting cultures that its protagonist is in within his part of Nigeria — one culture from his mother’s side and one culture from his father’s each of which are very different than each other (Eta: And if you have not read it, it is highly worth reading IMO also as literature quite aside from this week’s theme. ETA: And it has an unusual structure btw sort of circling around like the falcon in the Yeats poem that gives the book its title. ) Edited June 13, 2021 by Pen 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted June 13, 2021 Author Share Posted June 13, 2021 Welp! Well The Sworn Virgin was a completely depressing read, full of angst and family feuds and honor killings. Not a necessarily happy ending, just a moving on and hope things get better. Clearing my palate with a reread of Nora Robert's McGregor family series - Playing the Odds. Today I'm trying to reinvent the wheel and creating a graphic file for the screen print on hubby's latest amplifier We lost our screen printer person and can't find another locally at the moment. Once I've got this thing recreated, can email the file off to a printer who can create the chassis labels. They want a vector graphic file (a what?) and oh by the way, they say to use Corel draw or adobe, neither one of which I'm familiar. So working it up first in Microsoft Publisher to get all the measurements correct, then maybe I'll be able to export it into something usable for them. So much fun. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted June 13, 2021 Share Posted June 13, 2021 Now reading SJ Bolton Now You See Me 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted June 13, 2021 Share Posted June 13, 2021 I just finished Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine: A Novel by Gail Honeyman; my local book group will be discussing this on Thursday, and I'm looking forward to our meeting. I've seen this book on lists of uplifting reads [See 20 Uplifting Books That Will Improve Your Mood]; however, I found it a fairly dark read with an optimistic ending. It also has a revelation near the ending which came as a total surprise to me. "No one’s ever told Eleanor that life should be better than fine. Meet Eleanor Oliphant: She struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding social interactions, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy. But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling and deeply unhygienic IT guy from her office. When she and Raymond together save Sammy, an elderly gentleman who has fallen on the sidewalk, the three become the kinds of friends who rescue one another from the lives of isolation they have each been living. And it is Raymond’s big heart that will ultimately help Eleanor find the way to repair her own profoundly damaged one." Regards, Kareni 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 This afternoon I read a lovely graphic novel ... lovely visually and in content. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy "“What do you want to be when you grow up?” asked the mole. “Kind,” said the boy. Charlie Mackesy offers inspiration and hope in uncertain times in this beautiful book based on his famous quartet of characters. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse explores their unlikely friendship and the poignant, universal lessons they learn together. Radiant with Mackesy’s warmth and gentle wit, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse blends hand-written narrative with dozens of drawings, including some of his best-loved illustrations (including “Help,” which has been shared over one million times) and new, never-before-seen material. A modern classic in the vein of The Tao of Pooh, The Alchemist, and The Giving Tree, this charmingly designed keepsake will be treasured for generations to come." The Giving Tree?! No, thank you. Regards, Kareni 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Negin Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 On 6/13/2021 at 12:31 PM, Lady Florida. said: The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden are two of my all time favorite novels but I haven't had much luck with other Steinbeck works. I read Of Mice and Men, The Winter of Our Discontent, and tried twice to read Cannery Row before abandoning it. I have yet to read "The Grapes of Wrath", but I loved "East of Eden." 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Negin Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 I read Happiness is a Serious Problem: A Human Nature Repair Manual - 5 Stars and The Wreath - 4 Stars 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junie Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 On 6/13/2021 at 3:18 AM, SKL said: My kids and I are listening to Of Mice and Men. We're near the end and I have no idea what the point is. I don't think this is going to be on my list of favorite books. 😛 Still very slowly working through Think Like a Monk. On 6/13/2021 at 12:31 PM, Lady Florida. said: The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden are two of my all time favorite novels but I haven't had much luck with other Steinbeck works. I read Of Mice and Men, The Winter of Our Discontent, and tried twice to read Cannery Row before abandoning it. I recently read and liked Of Mice and Men and Cannery Row. I think that Steinbeck was a phenomenal wordsmith. And right now youtube has Of Mice and Men as one of its free movies. I watched it the other night and enjoyed it, although Steinbeck's language is rough. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 1 hour ago, Negin said: I read Happiness is a Serious Problem: A Human Nature Repair Manual - 5 Stars 5 stars - I agree! I read a whole bunch of “happiness” books and it was one of my keepers 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 I just finished Outlawed by Anna North which I enjoyed. I'd describe this as an alternative history feminist western. "In the year of our Lord 1894, I became an outlaw.The day of her wedding, 17 year old Ada’s life looks good; she loves her husband, and she loves working as an apprentice to her mother, a respected midwife. But after a year of marriage and no pregnancy, in a town where barren women are routinely hanged as witches, her survival depends on leaving behind everything she knows.She joins up with the notorious Hole in the Wall Gang, a band of outlaws led by a preacher-turned-robber known to all as the Kid. Charismatic, grandiose, and mercurial, the Kid is determined to create a safe haven for outcast women. But to make this dream a reality, the Gang hatches a treacherous plan that may get them all killed. And Ada must decide whether she’s willing to risk her life for the possibility of a new kind of future for them all.Featuring an irresistibly no-nonsense, courageous, and determined heroine, Outlawed dusts off the myth of the old West and reignites the glimmering promise of the frontier with an entirely new set of feminist stakes. Anna North has crafted a pulse-racing, page-turning saga about the search for hope in the wake of death, and for truth in a climate of small-mindedness and fear." Regards, Kareni 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 Currently FREE for Kindle readers ~ Night Owl (Evidence Book 4) by Rachel Grant Blarney: 12 Tales of Lies, Crime & Mystery by Steve Hockensmith The Dead-End Job Mysteries: Volume 1-7 (Dead-End Job Mystery) by Elaine Viets The Second Chance Inn: A Sweet Small Town Romance (Blue Moon Bay Book 1) by Susan Hatler Pipe and Pestle: A Sam Archer Novel PLUS Wheels Within Wheels: A Sam Archer Novel by Joseph Weinberg Regards, Kareni 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneGG Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 Currently reading The Rose Code. I’ve just started chapter 4 and I’m hooked. @Kareni I read Eleanor Oliphant last summer. I got about half way through before trying to solve the ending. Totally agree about how sad and dark it is. I was so surprised to hear it labeled as a beach read. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 7 minutes ago, AnneGG said: @Kareni I read Eleanor Oliphant last summer. I got about half way through before trying to solve the ending. Totally agree about how sad and dark it is. I was so surprised to hear it labeled as a beach read. Yes, it's not that it didn't make me smile from time to time due to the author's dry wit, but a beach read it is not! Regards, Kareni 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 I finished listening to Nora Robert’s Legacy today. Like @Robin M said previously it was quite a roller coaster of emotions but I enjoyed every minute. I thought the narrator was quite good.....January LaVoy. I don’t think I have listened to her before. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 On 6/13/2021 at 3:28 PM, Pen said: Now reading SJ Bolton Now You See Me Finished and started next one in series 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 I read the first three books in Lyn Gala's Aberrant Magic series and enjoyed them all; I would happily read on. Deductions, Derivation, and Divergence by Lyn Gala (significant adult content) Here is the blurb for the first book: "Darren is proud of his work on the FBI's magical Talent unit. However, his own lack of magic means he can never be with Supervisory Special Agent and Shaman Kavon Boucher. The shamanic magic poses a real danger to any mundane who gets too close, so Darren tries to hide his attraction and keep a professional relationship at work. That resolve begins to crumble when a new man sets his sights on Kavon and Darren can't control his resentment.Now they have a brutal new case of a suspect targeting magical adepts. Darren tries to keep focused on that crime, but when he starts to show signs of his own magic, he hopes that maybe he can not only be a more effective part of the team but also a real partner to Kavon. He might have a second chance at love if only Kavon can learn to trust his new and unpredictable magic that has changed the rules of the magical game." Regards, Kareni 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted June 20, 2021 Author Share Posted June 20, 2021 Link to week 25 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted June 20, 2021 Author Share Posted June 20, 2021 (edited) Oopsie! Edited June 20, 2021 by Robin M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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