Sunday Salon – What I’ve Been Reading

Good Sunday to you.  The camping trip was a success and all I brought back was this nasty cold!  I guess I’ve been lucky this year as many of my colleagues have been out sick for days with a cold that turns into a cough and lasts for weeks.  By staying in (except for a bit of gardening) and resting this weekend I hope to have it licked for the final few weeks of school…knock wood.  And luckily a friend told me about this.   I have taken care of Mr. G’s next birthday present!

I have just finished two books and hope to review them soon, but there are many books I’ve read over the past couple of months that I know I will never review.  So here are a few of them, with brief comments.

The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers.  I read this because it was on the 2011 Booker longlist and sounded interesting.  Then it actually won the Arthur C. Clarke award.  It didn’t thrill me, I felt no real connection to the characters and was actually quite appalled by the outcome.  I really didn’t buy Jessie’s reasoning.   Then again she’s sixteen,  I remember what it is like being sixteen.  The only other 2012 Clarke nominee I’ve read is Embassytown.  Maybe the committee didn’t feel they could give China Miéville another award…

The Broken Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin.  The second novel in Jemisin’s Inheritance Trilogy.  It’s been ten years since The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and godlings are free to roam the streets of Sky.  The only problem is that someone is killing them.  Another fun read from this author.  She has just publish the first book in a new trilogy.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness from an idea by Siobhan Dowd.  This is a wonderful fulfillment of  another author’s idea.  Siobhan Dowd, author of Bog Child and several other young adult novels, died from breast cancer at the age of 47.  Ness, the author of the Chaos Walking trilogy, was invited to complete her final novel, and he has shown great skill and compassion in doing so.

Through late winter and early spring I also read books for sheer entertainment, including Blackmoor,  Dark Matter,  1222 and An American Spy, all of which were great fun.  Sometime I read for the joy of it,  books I don’t have to “think” too much about.  How about you?  What do you read when you just want to get lost in a book?

Sunday Salon is a way for book people to share what they have been up to through the week and to share their thoughts about books and reading.  There is  now a Facebook group.

Sunday Salon – It’s Been Awhile

Good Sunday to you.  It feels like months since I’ve written a Sunday Salon post.  Things have been chaotic around here.  Lots of nasty germs at school so I would find myself fighting off illness on the weekends, with enough energy to go to my exercise class, tidy the house a bit and spent some time reading.

And  my elementary class has been getting ready for the  annual camping trip, which means they do all the planning, with a great deal of support from adults.  This means making sure all the logistics are covered, all the food is purchased and we have enough sun screen, just in case the sun decides to make an appearance.  The trip is great fun, but often has us adults waking up in the middle of the night sure that something has been forgotten.

I’ve also been getting ready for the summer Beach Naturalist program, organized and run by the Seattle Aquarium.  We had our final training day today.  Glorious weather,  lots of new naturalists and some wonderful animals.  This weekend’s amazing full moon helps give us really good low tides through the middle of the week.

And I have been reading, honest.  The problem is I’m having a hard time sitting down at the computer and writing about what I’m reading!  Hopefully this dry spell will be over by the time I finish this and this.

I am also still taking part in the group read of Midnight’s Children, have more books to read for Once Upon A Time and plan to join in on Beryl Bainbridge Reading Week in June.

So, what are you reading this week?  Have you made any summer reading plans?

Sunday Salon – The TBR Double Dare

Happy April Fool’s.  It has been some time since I wrote a Sunday Salon post but I wanted to write today to thank James at Ready When You Are, C.B.  for organizing The TBR Double Dare.

Not counting a couple of picture books I read for the monthly poetry post, I managed to stick to the Dare from January through March.  According to my count I read 25 books, 15 from my TBR pile and 10 from my library hold list.  I also started a TBR book for a four month read-along, abandoned two books from my TBR pile and started a book that I sat down after realizing I had to reread this first.  I culled another ten books from my TBR shelf, knowing I would never actually read them.  Not bad for three months.  My intention is to keep reading books from my TBR shelves, along with library books.  That said I know there are three books that will arrive here mid- April via the Book Depository.  Damn those British publishers…

It’s spring and that mean it’s time for Once Upon A Time.  I love this challenge and have already finished one book and started two others, though I seem to be unable to sit at the computer and write my thoughts on what I’ve read.  Could it be the sun?  Or is it the fact that I can’t put down one book long enough to gather my thoughts before picking up the other?  Happy reading!

Sunday Salon – Generosity

Good Sunday to you.  I saw this TEDx presentation and so enjoyed it I just had to past it along.

Nipun Mehta is the founder of ServiceSpace.

Have a wonderful week.

Sunday Salon – Reading a body of work…

Good Sunday to you.  I hope you had a lovely week.  Mr G and I spent 3 days house bound due to snow, then ice, then icy slush.   It’s pretty much gone now.  Weather in our part of the world can be very dramatic, particularly when two systems bash into each other.  Seattle is a city of hills,  we live on a very steep one so, even though main arterials may be clear, in can be hard to get in and out of certain neighborhoods.  We had plenty of warning, laid in supplies and stayed warm and well fed and I got some serious reading done.

Which brings me to an idea and a question.

While reading The Savage Detectives it occurred to me that, while I have problems with some of Bolano’s ramblings,  I love what he does with language, with history, with thought, humor and emotion.  I realized that I want to read all his work, or as much as I can get my hands on.  Then I started thinking about other authors whose writing has had a similar effect on me.  I am making a list and creating  a personal reading project.  This is not a challenge, there is no time line, and no particular order.  This project will not interfere with other challenges and reading events.  It’s just something I’d like to do.

My question?  Are there any authors you feel this way about?  Have you read or are you reading an author’s complete body of work?

Sunday Salon – Announcing A Monthly Poetry Event

Good Sunday to you. I hope you all had a wonderful week.  I finished my first books of 2012, posted one review and have another on the way.  I have some exciting news I wanted to pass along.

As 2011 drew to a close and 2012 opened before me I made a promise to myself to read poetry and blog about poetry.  Several bloggers had written about the same intention and now Kelly and Lu have opened up a world of possibilities.  A monthly Poetry Meme they hope will get bloggers writing about and maybe even reading more poetry.  The idea is to have people post about poetry on the last Tuesday of the month.  If you are curious or want to sign up visit Lu’s post for more information.

Here are the dates for the Poetry Event:

Poetry: Read More/Blog More – A Monthly Event!

January 30th
February 28th
March 27th
April 23rd
May 29th
June 26th
July 31st
August 28th
September 25th
October 30th
November 27th
December 18th

Welcome 2012 and my favorite books of 2011

Welcome to 2012 and a good Sunday to you all!

I am grateful for what I have, for the company of Mr. G and the lovely Cassandra, for friends and family and for those who visit Page247.  I am also grateful for the wonderful community of book lovers out there who share their thoughts, start important conversations about books and literature , and introduce me to new authors and new books.

I managed to read 128 books in 2011 and reviewed 77 of them.  There were fewer 5-star reads in 2011.   I’m not sure why that happened.  Maybe I’m becoming pickier as I age.

Plans for 2012 include the TBR Double Dare,  Orange January/July  and the 2012 Speculative Fiction Challenge, along with some read-alongs and seasonal events.  I’d like to read some Dickens and read and write about poetry.   We’ll see if that happens.

Here are reviews of my favorite books  from 2011.  Thanks for stopping by!

Annabel by Kathleen Winter

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin

Agaat by Marlene Van Niekerk

Kamchatka by Marcelo Figueras

The Disappeared by Kim Echlin

The Anthologist by Nicolas Baker

The Birthday Boys by Meryl Bainbridge

Stone Arabia by Dana Spiotta

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

The Sojourn by Andrew Krivak

Bohemian Girl by Terese Svoboda

And to make it and baker’s  dozen I finally read the whole of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.  The translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky is brilliant, dense and rich.  I loved it.

Sunday Salon – December 18th?

Good Sunday to you.  I cannot believe it is almost the end of the year.  I hope to get a post up revisiting my favorite books by the 31st.  We’ll see if that happens.

I have a confession to make.  I tried reading Murakami’s 1Q84, I gave it over 100 pages,  the writing is wonderful,  the story strange and odd, but I found I could not connect with the characters.  They seemed removed, distant, and I just couldn’t give myself over to the book.  I had to set it aside.

This is sad. Maybe it’s the timing.  Maybe the length felt daunting.  There are so many of my favorite bloggers who love Murakami and I want to love him too.  If you have a suggestion for another of his books I should try please leave a comment.

Today I am making Dorrie Greenspan’s Swedish Visiting Cake to bring to a friend’s house on Monday and then plan on getting back to reading Bohemian Girl by Terese Svoboda.  I am loving it.  How about you, what are you reading today?

Sunday Salon..Orange January

How did this happen?  It is December, the year has flown by and it is almost time for Orange January! This event invites you to read books that have been nominated for, or that have won, the Orange Prize for fiction.Organized by Jill at The Magic Lasso, all the information you need is here, including book lists and prize information.  Why not join in?

I am slowly getting over that nasty cold and plan on spending some time this Sunday writing a short review,  visiting blogs and finishing River of Smoke.  What about you?  What are you up to today?

Join Sunday Salon, share your thoughts on reading and your favorite books.   The Facebook group is here.

Sunday Salon…Wonderous

A good Sunday to you!  Every once in a while someone sends me a link to something that fills me with wonder.  This short video certainly did.

The last couple of months had me going through a reading slump but I am finally over it.  I am finding that I’m not interested in writing about every book I finish so my blog posts have slowed down a bit.   From what I can tell I will finish my reading goal for the year and that makes me happy.

Right now I am reading Once Upon A River by Bobbie Jo Campbell and enjoying it.  What are you reading today?