Jump to content

Menu
Giving You and Your Child a Road Map to the Best Possible Education
The Well-Trained Mind Community

BW30: Bookish Miscellanea

Robin M

By Robin M,
in The Chat Board

 Share

Recommended Posts

Robin M

Robin M

Posted
Posted

Happy Sunday! Since the majority of our readers 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.  

 **************************

 

Inniskeen Road: July Evening

 by

Patrick Kavanagh 

(1904 - 1967)

 

The bicycles go by in twos and threes -

There's a dance in Billy Brennan's barn tonight,

And there's the half-talk code of mysteries

And the wink-and-elbow language of delight.

Half-past eight and there is not a spot

Upon a mile of road, no shadow thrown

That might turn out a man or woman, not

A footfall tapping secrecies of stone.

 

I have what every poet hates in spite

Of all the solemn talk of contemplation.

Oh, Alexander Selkirk knew the plight

Of being king and government and nation.

A road, a mile of kingdom. I am king

Of banks and stones and every blooming thing.

 

A few bookish birthdays

July 25:  Josephine Tey (1896), and  Robyn Carr (1951

July 26: Laurence Watt Evans (1954) and Giosuè Carducci - July 26, 1835

July 27:  Cassandra Clare (1973)

July 28:  Beatrix Potter (1866)

July 29:  Chang Rae Lee (1965)

July 30: Emily Bronte (1818) 

July 31  J. K. Rowling (1965) 

 

11 Books by Olympic Athletes

Orson Scott Card's Favorite Classic Sci-Fi Books

What To Read If You Already Breezed Through All of Virgin River's Season 3

10 Thrilling African Noir Novels

Famous Villains Who Shaped The Crime Fiction Genre

The Wheel of Time Will Premiere on Amazon in November

 

*************************

Count of Monte Cristo Readalong

 

Chapter 73. The Promise

Chapter 74. The Villefort Family Vault

Chapter 75. A Signed Statement

****************************

 

 Link to week 29

 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.

 

 

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Robin M

Robin M

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Reading Nalini Singh’s Last Guard which makes me want to go back to the beginning and read the first four books again in the psy changeling trinity series.

 “Termed merciless by some, and a robotic sociopath by others, Payal Rao is the perfect Psy: cardinal telekinetic, CEO of a major conglomerate, beautiful—and emotionless.

For Canto Mercant, family and loyalty are everything. A cardinal telepath deemed “imperfect” by his race due to a spinal injury, Canto cares for the opinions of very few—and ruthlessly protects those he claims as his own. Head of intel for the influential Mercant family, he prefers to remain a shadow in the Net, unknown and unseen. But Canto is also an anchor, part of a secretive designation whose task it is to stabilize the PsyNet. Now that critical psychic network is dying, threatening to collapse and kill the entire Psy race with it.

To save those he loves, Canto needs the help of a woman bound to him by a dark past neither has been able to forget. A woman who is the most powerful anchor of them all: Payal Rao. Neither is ready for the violent inferno about to ignite in the PsyNet . . . or the passionate madness that threatens to destroy them both.”

 

Haven’t made much progress in the 14th and last book in the Wheel of Time series, A Memory of Light which will probably take me a while since it’s a chunky book.   

 

 

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites
mumto2

mumto2

Posted
Posted

Thank you for stating us off!  @Robin M

The favorite book from my recent reading is a cozy mystery I read from the British Crime Classics series called Seven Dead. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34862888-seven-dead The opening pages of the book has a petty criminal breaking into a home going around stealing spoons and turning the key on a locked room and discovering seven dead people.........quite a tale!  I will definately be looking for more books by J. Jefferson Farjean........

I also listened to The Hiding Place by Paula Munier https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53138079-the-hiding-place which is the third book in one of the service dog series I enjoyed so much last year.  @PenNot sure if you read the series or not.

I also read Kathy Reichs latest The Bone Code which was quite good for a book that late in a popular series.  One interesting thing was it’s the first book I have read where Covid was specifically mentioned........the pandemic is totally over in the book and we are facing a new one.  Not good.😕

 I also listened The Girl Who Died by Ragner Johansson which is the largest book to be translated by my favorite Icelandic author.  It was honestly not as good as other books in his two series.  It was a stand alone that I am confident ties into one of the Dark Iceland series when Ari makes a visit to the village.......the story takes place in a very remote fishing village with a population of under 20 and  is told through the eyes of a troubled newcomer who arrives to  teach the village’s two students.

 

 

 

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Anne Elliot

Anne Elliot

Posted
Posted

Can I jump in here?

Last week I finished a reread of Dune by Frank Herbert. It still holds up, even though I've watched the movie a bazillion times. Excited for the new movie coming out soon! I put the next book in the series on hold at the library. 

I also listened to the audiobook for The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells. I really enjoyed it. HG Wells is funny! Who knew?

I'm trying to catch up on classic books I missed when I was younger. Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë is up next. 

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Robin M

Robin M

Posted
  • Author
Posted
2 hours ago, mumto2 said:

I also listened to The Hiding Place by Paula Munier https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53138079-the-hiding-place which is the third book in one of the service dog series I enjoyed so much last year.

How did I miss this series. Looks really good and just downloaded the first book to my ipad. 

 

1 hour ago, Kareni said:

COZY MYSTERY SERIES FEATURING CRIME-FIGHTING PETS

https://crimereads.com/cozy-mystery-series-featuring-crime-fighting-pets/

Love this list! Thanks!

47 minutes ago, melmichigan said:

 A Good Day for Chardonnay by Darynda Jones comes out on Tuesday

I have A Bad Day for Sunshine in my stacks. Looking forward to reading it.

 

34 minutes ago, Anne Elliot said:

Can I jump in here?

Last week I finished a reread of Dune by Frank Herbert. It still holds up, even though I've watched the movie a bazillion times. Excited for the new movie coming out soon! I put the next book in the series on hold at the library. 

Yes of course! Welcome!  It's been years since I read Dune. Loved the series and looking forward to the new movie too.  Will have to introduce my son to the old movie first. He likes to compare. 

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites
mumto2

mumto2

Posted
Posted
59 minutes ago, Anne Elliot said:

Can I jump in here?

Welcome!
 

24 minutes ago, Robin M said:

How did I miss this series. Looks really good and just downloaded the first book to my ipad. 

I hope you enjoy it!  Actually I am pretty confident you will!😉

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ali in OR

Ali in OR

Posted
Posted

I finished both of my "summer training" reads, Jo Boaler's Limitless Mind and Zaretta Hammond's Culturally Responsive Teaching & The Brain. Good stuff, some overlapping content (growth mindset). I'm teaching summer school, but I've been very successful at getting kids done, so I have some downtime but I feel like I should be using that time productively, so I got some reading in at school. Now I have both Heather McGhee's The Sum of Us and Isabel Wilkerson's The Warmth of Other Suns in progress--still near the beginning of both. I think I'll focus on The Sum of Us just because it's a library book. I have the luxury of time with The Warmth of Other Suns. And I might pick up another light read this week.

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Lady Florida.

Lady Florida.

Posted
Posted (edited)

I've finished a few books since I last posted in the weekly threads -

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World - This was my June pick from my jar but was both chunky and a bit of a slog. Not such a slog to make me give it up but enough that I often put it down for days at a time (or technically didn't open it on my Kindle). I'm glad to have finished it and found it interesting overall.

Who Speaks for the Damned - A Sebastian St. Cyr historical mystery

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - This was my pick for book club and we had the rare occurrence of all of us having enjoyed the book. I usually like to stay away from books with a lot of hype but this one was on my radar and some bookish friends I trust gave it a thumbs up.

Currently reading - 

Leonard and Hungry Paul - I've been at this one for a while. While I love the slow meandering style about everyday people's everyday lives, it's not the one I open when I want a page turner. I'm slowly enjoying it. Since it's an Overdrive loan I had to renew it but fortunately there were no holds so I was able to get it back right away.

The Pagan Lord - Number 7 in The Saxon Tales (aka The Last Kingdom)

The Girl with the Louding Voice - August book club book. Our meeting is a week from tomorrow.

I'm still listening to the biography of U.S. Grant and have about 5 hours left. It's not the book making me take so long to finish but the fact that I don't seem to have as much audio book time as I once did. 

Finally, my nonfiction pick after finishing the Genghis Khan book is Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language. I thought it would be a lighthearted but informative look at internet speak but it's much more academic, at least so far. The author is a linguist and though I'm early in the book so far she's talking about how language changes and how the internet is causing changes to happen faster than ever. As a word nerd, once I realized it's not what I thought it was, I started getting more interested.

I'm woefully behind on The Count of Monte Cristo. When we started I was keeping up and some weeks I was ahead. I plan to try and catch up this week.

If any of you are Goodreads friends I should say that I'm way behind on listing my books read for the year. Updating it is on my list of to-do's for the week.

Edited by Lady Florida.
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Lady Florida.

Lady Florida.

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Anne Elliot said:

Can I jump in here?

Last week I finished a reread of Dune by Frank Herbert. It still holds up, even though I've watched the movie a bazillion times. Excited for the new movie coming out soon! I put the next book in the series on hold at the library. 

 

I'm trying to catch up on classic books I missed when I was younger. Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë is up next. 

Welcome!

I've never read Dune or watched the older movie but it's one of dh's favorite books. I'm sure he's going to be interested in the new movie.

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is on my to-read list this year and I hope to get to it fairly soon.

4 hours ago, mumto2 said:

I also listened to The Hiding Place by Paula Munier https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53138079-the-hiding-place which is the third book in one of the service dog series I enjoyed so much last year.

Thanks @mumto2. This series looks interesting.

  • Like 3
  • Sad 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mothersweets

Mothersweets

Posted
Posted

I'm very behind on The Count of Monte Cristo. I tried to do some catching up (I'm listening to it) but I couldn't remember who in the world they were talking about so I guess I'll have to backtrack even more.

Also have three or four books on my nightstand and have been falling asleep during the first few pages of each one! I really should start reading during the day. 

Thanks for the thread Robin!

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Pen

Pen

Posted
Posted (edited)
7 hours ago, mumto2 said:

Thank you for stating us off!  @Robin M

The favorite book from my recent reading is a cozy mystery I read from the British Crime Classics series called Seven Dead. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34862888-seven-dead The opening pages of the book has a petty criminal breaking into a home going around stealing spoons and turning the key on a locked room and discovering seven dead people.........quite a tale!  I will definately be looking for more books by J. Jefferson Farjean........

I also listened to The Hiding Place by Paula Munier https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53138079-the-hiding-place which is the third book in one of the service dog series I enjoyed so much last year.  @PenNot sure if you read the series or not.

No - had not heard of it - Thsnk you!

Both might interest me.

 

eta: I decided to start with first mercy and Elvis book in series

 

im currently going back into Agatha Christie. Currently  Passenger to Frankfurt  

 

7 hours ago, mumto2 said:

I also read Kathy Reichs latest The Bone Code which was quite good for a book that late in a popular series.  One interesting thing was it’s the first book I have read where Covid was specifically mentioned........the pandemic is totally over in the book and we are facing a new one.  Not good.😕

 

 


 

I also listened The Girl Who Died by Ragner Johansson which is the largest book to be translated by my favorite Icelandic author.  It was honestly not as good as other books in his two series.  It was a stand alone that I am confident ties into one of the Dark Iceland series when Ari makes a visit to the village.......the story takes place in a very remote fishing village with a population of under 20 and  is told through the eyes of a troubled newcomer who arrives to  teach the village’s two students.

 

 

Edited by Pen
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Kareni

Kareni

Posted
Posted

This evening I finished Meet Me in Another Life: A Novel by Catriona Silvey; this was definitely an intriguing story that surprised me.

"Thora and Santi have met before.

Two strangers in a foreign city, Thora and Santi meet in a chance encounter. At once, they recognize in each other a kindred spirit—someone who is longing for more in life than the cards they’ve been dealt. Before their friendship can blossom, though, a tragic accident cuts their story short.

They will meet again.

But this is only one of the many connections they share. Like satellites trapped in orbit around each other, Thora and Santi will find each other again: as husband and wife; teacher and student; caretaker and patient; cynic and believer. In recurring lifetimes they become friends, partners, lovers, and enemies.

Only they can make sure it’s not for the last time.

As strange patterns and blurred memories compound, Thora and Santi come to a shocking revelation. They must work together to discover the true reason behind their repeating realities . . . before their many lives come to one, final end."

Regards,

Kareni

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Kareni

Kareni

Posted
Posted

I recently reread Royally Screwed (The Royally Series Book 1) by Emma Chase; this happened to be a reread of convenience rather than design. (Copious adult content)

"Nicholas Arthur Frederick Edward Pembrook, Crowned Prince of Wessco, aka “His Royal Hotness,” is wickedly charming, devastatingly handsome, and unabashedly arrogant―hard not to be when people are constantly bowing down to you.

Then, one snowy night in Manhattan, the prince meets a dark haired beauty who doesn’t bow down. Instead, she throws a pie in his face.

Nicholas wants to find out if she tastes as good as her pie, and this heir apparent is used to getting what he wants.

Dating a prince isn’t what waitress Olivia Hammond ever imagined it would be.There’s a disapproving queen, a wildly inappropriate spare heir, relentless paparazzi, and brutal public scrutiny. While they’ve traded in horse drawn carriages for Rolls Royces and haven’t chopped anyone’s head off lately―the royals are far from accepting of this commoner.

But to Olivia―Nicholas is worth it.

Nicholas grew up with the whole world watching, and now Marriage Watch is in full force. In the end, Nicholas has to decide who he is and, more importantly, who he wants to be: a King... or the man who gets to love Olivia forever."

Regards,

Kareni

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Granny_Weatherwax

Granny_Weatherwax

Posted
Posted

Good morning, everyone!

My Reading Challenge for July was 15 min a day on The Count of Monte Cristo. Well, I became so intrigued with the storyline, I had to finish it. I was going to stop when I was caught up with the read-a-long, but then I thought "Just a couple of more chapters. Well, that lead to about 100 more pages and by that time I had to know how it ended so I just kept going. I spent all day Saturday in jammies, moving from the shade covered deck with ambient garden sounds to the air conditioned couch with Olympics on low volume. I think I dressed about 7pm so I could finally take the dogs on their walk. They were so well behaved and let me read all day; which is good because with humidity the temp was 100 degrees.

It was an intense month of reading for me so I gave myself permission to take a few days off from reading.

I have a stack of TBRs and have pulled a couple from there. Soldiers of Peace will be my next non-fiction and Snakehead by Anthony Horowitz will be my guilty pleasure. A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie will be my next audiobook for driving.

I have been released for activity and began easing myself back in to tennis on Sunday. In my usual style, 'easing' meant 2.5 hours but I did take a couple of breaks and did mostly forehands and cardio drills. It felt wonderful to be physically active. It was the first time in months (even pre-accident) that I felt like myself.

Robin - When my DS finished the Wheel of Time series, he said he needed a break from reading. He said he struggled with a couple of books but really enjoyed the series.

He took a solo road trip earlier this month and scratched something off his bucket list. He drove to the redwood forest in CA, took a book from his TBR, and sat under the redwoods reading. He was there for 5 hours. This is my kid who (pre-e reader) would stick books in plastic bags and take them into the shower with his so he wouldn't lose reading time.

I must say, even though I pop in and out and struggle to comment (I do read your posts, really I do), this thread has been a godsend for many years. Knowing you are all out there is a simple comfort and joy. 

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Kareni

Kareni

Posted
Posted

I just finished Leonard (My Life as a Cat) by Carlie Sorosiak; this was a charming science fiction book intended for children which I liked (despite being well over the target age range!).

"The cat that Olive rescues from a flood has a secret: he’s not really a cat at all, but an alien who crashed to Earth on a beam of light. The cat, whom Olive names Leonard, was prepared to visit the planet as a human—but something went wrong. Now Leonard may never know what it’s like to hold an umbrella, go bowling, or host a dinner party. (And his human jokes still need some work: Knock, knock. Who’s there? Just Leonard. It is me.) While Olive worries about whether she will have to move after her mom and her new boyfriend get back from their summer vacation, Leonard tries to figure out how to get from South Carolina to Yellowstone National Park, because if he’s not there at the end of the month, he’ll miss his ride home. But as Olive teaches Leonard about the beautiful and confusing world of humans, he starts to realize how much he cares about this particular one. A sweet and dryly funny story about what it means to be human—and what it means to be home."

Regards,

Kareni

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Kareni

Kareni

Posted
Posted

And this evening I finished Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley.  I enjoyed this book. @Robin M and @mumto2, are you still reading dragon books? If so, you might consider this one.

"Think of yourself out of your comfy chair and your nice house with the roads and the streetlights outside—and the ceiling overhead low enough that a fifty-foot dragon can’t stand on her hind legs and not bump her head—and think yourself into a cavern full of dragons. Go on. Try.

Jake lives with his scientist father at the Makepeace Institute of Integrated Dragon Studies in Smokehill National Park. Smokehill is home to about two hundred of the few remaining Draco australiensis, which is extinct in the wild.

There are five million acres of the Smokehill wilderness and the dragons rarely show themselves. Jack’s never seen one except deep in the park and at a distance. They stay away from the Institute—and the tourists. But dragon conservation is controversial. Detractors say dragons are much too dangerous and much too expensive, and should be destroyed. Supporters say there is no record of their doing anything more threatening than eating sheep, there are only a few hundred of them left at best and they must be protected.

But they are up to eighty feet long (plus tail) and breathe fire.

On Jake’s first overnight solo in the park, he meets a dragon—the thing that he would have said he wanted above everything else in the world. But this dragon is dying—dying next to the human she has killed. Jake knowns this news could destroy Smokehill. The dead man is clearly a poacher who attacked first, but that will be lost in the outcry against dragons. But then Jake notices something even more urgent: the dragon has just given birth, and one of the babies is still alive…"

Regards,

Kareni

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
mumto2

mumto2

Posted
Posted

@Kareni I am still tracking my dragon reads but they didn’t make it on to my final list of 10’s this time.  My progress on my 10’s is not great........I am enjoying my reading and hopefully sometime this fall will manage to organize a year end that includes finishing my challenges.  My monthly Librarian spelling challenges and my book chains are entertaining me right now.  So no that you know more about my read life than you wanted to,  Dragonhaven looks great.  My library has it on audio and I put a hold on it. Thank you!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
mumto2

mumto2

Posted
Posted

@KareniI just found a few more books thanks to the laugh out loud mysteries link!  When you add that to all the Historical Romance authors I seem to be discovering as I read A Midsummer’s Nights Romance https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53456439-a-midsummer-night-s-romance?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=d8w6TOj1Dh&rank=1. I checked it out because of the Grace Burrows novella but seem to be halfway through and haven’t skipped a single story.😂. I need to start skipping as it’s over a thousand pages and due in two days!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...