VioletBramble's 75 in 2011

Hello. I'm back for a third year. So, I've planned 2011 as the year of the chunkster. At least 50% of my planned reads are 600-1200 pages. I expect to read less books this year than I read in the previous two years. (116 in 2009, 131 in 2010). I'm hoping to read the 40 books I've selected for my 11 in 11 challenge, but, that may not actually be achievable. I'm going to give it my best shot.
Also, I have a very important, work related exam scheduled for Feb 7th. No serious reading will occur until after that date. I haven't actually started studying yet, but I plan to ... really soon. And, I'm also applying to graduate schools. If I actually get accepted I hope to start school in the fall. That should cut into my reading time as well.
As usual, I'm hoping to get a large amount of recommendations to add to the wish list -- books and travel destinations. I can't wait to see what everyone is reading this year.
I've noticed that some people have opened their threads with gifs of paintings. I haven't mastered getting pics into threads yet, so, I'm going to post a poem instead.

OBSERVATION
by Dorothy Parker

If I don't drive around the park,
I'm pretty sure to make my mark.
If I'm in bed each night by ten,
I may get back my looks again,
If I abstain from fun and such,
I'll probably amount to much,
But I shall stay the way I am,
Because I do not give a damn.

Here are my 11 in 11 challenge categories:

1) Global Reading
2) The Man, The Myth, The Legend
3) Song..
4) ..and Dance
5) Arrivals and Departures
6) Mad Verse, Sad Verse, Glad Verse and Bad Verse
7) Just the Facts
8) Round Up the Usual Suspects
9) Still the Body, Quiet the Mind, Discover the Spirit
10) It's Bigger on the Inside
11) The Catch Basin

If any one is interested in which books I'll be reading for these categories here is a link to my 11 in 11 thread:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/105670

Glad to see you back with us again in 2011, Kelly!

Welcome back!

Thanks for the welcomes Stasia and Jim.
Just realized I forgot to add a link to my thread on the wiki. I went to add it, and it was already there. Thanks Jim.

I'm thinking about starring you. Yeah, I think I will.

I love your poem! I'm stealing it and putting it up on my refrigerator. Parker is just the greatest!

Starred! Good on you to delay the serious reading until after the exam. Serious reading is often overrated anyway ;)

Love that poem! Good luck on your exam.

#6 Dragonfreak - LOL, thanks. I actually starred your thread when I saw your user name. I love books about dragons. Looking forward to seeing what dragon books you'll read this year.

#7 Hi Terri- I wish I could post that poem at work. I don't think it would be well received.

#8 Hi Faith. Yes, only frivolous reading -- like Beowulf for the group read -- until Feb 7th. On Christmas my mother and I pay-per-viewed My Name is Khan. Mom only watched it because I forced her to watch Om Shanti Om, declaring it the best Bollywood movie ever. Anyway, it made me think of you, since you had read the Khan book.

#9 Hi Milda. Thank you. I'll need all the luck I can get. I should have been studying for months already.

Now that it's actually 2011 and I have a non work day, I'm off to read and star threads. So far behind already....

I finally finished the first book of 2011. It was actually supposed to be the last book of 2010. It took longer to read than I expected, partly because of work and partly because the book was so intense I needed to take breaks and get some distance.

1)Monsters of Men - Patrick Ness
Fiction, Series, YA, Dystopian

The third and final book in the Chaos Walking series. The book begins where The Ask and the Answer ended -- at the start of the war between The Ask, The Answer and The Spackle, and with a scout ship of Viola's people landing on the hillside. It's hard to write something that won't be a spoiler. I'll just say that Todd and Viola continue to work for peace so that the world is safe for the other. In this third book there are three narrators - Todd, Viola and a Spackle. Ness continues to utilize the themes of communication, information, control and gender politics. This book was fast paced and very intense. The ending was sad, but not unexpected. Highly recommended.

#11: I still need to read the first book in the series. Ack! I need to be triplets or cloned or something!

Ooh! How was 'My Name is Khan'? I hope to watch it someday, but I have to be in the right mood to watch a Bollywood drama. They're so heart-wrenching, I can't just pop one on like the comedies or masala films!

#11

I can't wait until I am financially viable enough to buy the next two Patrick Ness books. I've read the first after borrowing it, but not the others :)

#12 Stasia - the way you read you'll zip through these books in no time, once you actually get a chance to read them. They're very fast paced.

#13 Faith - reviews were mixed. My mother and I thought the acting was very good. The story was good, but they tried to address too many issues at once. The drama was moderately amped. I prefer Khan in comedies. I think his charm works better with that type of story.

#14 Jenny - try getting them from the library. Someone - I think it was Fliss - told me I should make sure I have all three books before I started reading since the first and second end on cliff hangers. So, I waited until the third book was released here. I actually found I needed to read a few books between these books. Just to emotionally decompress. They are intense.

FUTURE-PRESENT
by Karl Shapiro

Remember the old days when the luxury liners in narrow Manhattan
appeared piecemeal in segments at the end of east-west streets,
a black-and-white section of portholes and stripes of decks
and slowly the majesty of the great red funnel,
even the olympian basso of its homing horn?
It would take a full half hour to go past,
as if in no hurry to pass into history.

But look there at the top pane of the window!
A burnished skyliner elegantly moving north,
as proud as leviathan above the suffering Hudson,
past the unfinished cathedral, over Grant's tomb,
into the blue-grey morning of the future-present.

The above poem is in an anthology of poems about New York that I'm presently reading. I wanted to post it here because it reminded me of something that happened when I was younger (1971/'72). My family was living on Governors Island. I once woke sometime in the night to find my bedroom brightly illuminated from outside. I looked out the window to find a luxury liner passing by my building, making it's way up the Hudson. I don't remember ever seeing a liner lit that brightly - before or since. I sat on my air conditioner unit and watched it slowly make it's way up the Hudson to wherever they used to dock. That's one of my favorite childhood memories.
Now it's time for the rat house episode of Hoarders. I've been waiting half the season to see this. I expect to be completely grossed out.

Cool memory, Kelly!

Hi again, great memory and good luck with your personal chunkster challenge this year.

#17- Thanks Stasia

#18 Hi Leonie. Thanks, and, I 'll need all the luck I can get to finish my chunkster list.

Finished book two. Finally. This is just copied from my 11 in 11 thread. I'll be less lazy next time.

2) Harry Potter Film Wizardry - Brian Sibley
NonFiction, Production Design, Illustrations, TIOLI Challenge - Art/Artists

A detailed look at the production design of the Harry Potter movies. The producers, directors and actors give insight on working with special effects, costumes, make-up, prosthetics, explosives and animated characters. Members of the production design team -- sculptors, builders, graphic artists, costumers, set design - discuss their roles and show what goes into making the world of Harry Potter look real on film.
Topics covered : how they make the Quidditch players look like they're really flying, the whomping willow whomp, the Ford Anglia fly and Moaning Myrtle come twisting up out of the u-bend.
My favorite sections were on make up/ prosthetics and graphics. Did you know that they are unable to make Ralph Fiennes look like he has a snake nose with make-up and prosthetics? They have to digitally alter his nose in every one of his scenes. The amount of graphic art work, much of which will only be on screen for a second, if at all, is staggering. They've printed thousands of copies of The Quibbler, and have shown 2 or 3 on screen. Not to mention the labels, boxes, books, proclamations and wanted posters.
Which reminds me - the extras. Included in this book are a mini marauders map, a Yule Ball program, a Weasley Wizard Wheezes catalog, labels and more. I've had to fight the urge to label things in my kitchen cupboards with stickers for lacewing flies and boonslang skin.
The book is predominantly graphics; photos/stills from the films/ filming and set building, story boards, artist and costumers drawings. Recommended for fans of Harry Potter or those interested in film production design.

>15 VioletBramble:: Thanks, good to know! I prefer him in comedies too, though I did think he did an excellent job in 'Khabi Kushi Khabi Gham'. In that case, maybe I'll save 'My Name is Khan' for one of those days when I need to sit in front of the TV and mark papers or something...

ALSO...! My sister and I made a pact this past Christmas to purchase Harry Potter Film Wizardry for each other, after seeing it in the bookstore the morning we went to go see the latest film. Absolutely fascinating stuff in the book, it really makes you watch the movies with a different eye, doesn't it!

I actually have a tiny little cupboard that I've decided I'm going to buy little glass bottles for (at thrift shops and whatnot) and stick those lovely included stickers on them... and then I'll hang the cupboard in my front entrance, see if anyone notices! *claps hands with excitement*

Faith - what a great idea! I wonder what non-Harry Potter fans would make of strangely labeled bottles in your entrance way. Could be a real conversation starter.
I was thinking I could find two moderately sized apothecary type jars, label them, and use them as bookends to hold my Potter and Potter related books. Then I could get rid of my Harry and Hermione bookends - which were recalled years ago for having been painted in China with lead based paint.

How would you get rid of your bookends, if I may ask? Is the paint chipping off of them and causing concern? If they're out of reach of young children who lick everything they can, I think they might not be so dangerous. If everyone else has tossed them (all that lead going into landfills) you might be the owner of collectibles!

Mamzel, actually, when I got the recall notice, I thought to myself " Hey, they're safely behind the glass doors of my bookcase. It's not like they get near my mouth or my food. I have no children or pets to chew on them. I'm going to keep them" I will probably keep them. The company wants them to be returned to them. I have no idea what they'd do with them. As far as collectors items: I've already broken Hermione's wand. That, plus the lead paint - probably no one will want them.

Sorry about the wand. I wanted to mean that if everyone else turned in their bookends, yours would become collectors' items. (I would have kept them, too, if I had them.)

I've had to set aside Beowulf for a few days. I keep falling asleep when I try to read the book. I'm at the part where Grendel is about to attack the hall. If I can't stay awake for that I figure I'd better come back to it in a while.
I've started reading Writing Down the Bones. I'm really enjoying it so far.
I'm continuing to read Poems of New York. Here's another poem that I liked:

THE PENNYCANDYSTORE BEYOND THE EL
by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

The Pennycandystore beyond the El
is where I first
fell in love
with unreality
Jellybeans glowed in the semi-gloom
of that september afternoon
A cat upon the counter moving among
the licorice sticks
the tootsie rolls
and Oh Boy Gum

Outside the leaves were falling as they died

A wind had blown away the sun

A girl ran in
Her hair was rainy
Her breasts were breathless in the little room

Outside the leaves were falling
and they cried
Too soon! too soon!

ETA: forgot to add the name of the poet. oops.

I like the poem, Kelly. Thanks for sharing it.

3) Beowulf - translated by Seamus Heaney
Poetry, Mythology, TIOLI - Book written before the printing press, 11 in 11: The Man, the Myth, the Legend

The epic poem about the Geat hero Beowulf who traveled to Denmark and slew Grendel and Grendel's mother. Fifty years later he battled a dragon that was terrorizing the Geat countryside.
This was my first reading of Beowulf, so I can't compare Heaney's translations to previous editions. I liked the language and descriptions Heaney used when the topic was the monsters, the monsters' body parts or grieving. Other than those sections I found the book somewhat boring. I fell asleep multiple times while attempting to read the book.
I'm glad I finally read Beowulf, I just wish that I liked it more.

4) Poems of New York - Elizabeth Schmidt
Poetry, 11 in 11: Mad Verse, Sad Verse, Glad Verse and Bad Verse

An anthology of poetry about New York City written between 1859 and 2002. Poets in this anthology include: Walt Whitman, Amy Lowell, W. C. Williams, Langston Hughes, Elizabeth Bishop. This volume is a part of the Everyman's Library Pocket Books series and my favorite of the titles that I've read so far. I've already copied over 3 poems from the book into my thread (posts #1, 16, 27). Throughout the book there are poems about Sept 11, 2001. This was the one I liked the best:

I Saw You Walking
by Deborah Garrison

I saw you walking through Newark Penn Station
in your shoes of white ash. At the corner
of my nervous glance your dazed passage
first forced me away, tracing the crescent
berth you'd give a drunk, a lurcher, nuzzling
all comers with ill will and his stench, but
not this one, not today: one shirt arm's sheared
clean from the shoulder,the whole bare limb
wet with muscle and shining dimly pink,
the other full-sheathed in cotton, Brooks Bros.
type, the cuff yet buttoned at the wrist, a
parody of careful dress, preparedness -
so you had not rolled up your sleeves yet this
morning when your suit jacket (here are
the pants, dark gray, with subtle stripe, as worn
by men like you on ordinary days)
and briefcase (you've none, reverse commuter
come from the pit with nothing to carry
but your life) were torn from you, as your life
was not. Your face itself seemed to be walking,
leading your body north, through the age
of the face, blank and ashen, passing forth
and away from me, was unclear, the sandy
crown of hair powdered white like your feet, but
underneath not yet gray - forty-seven?
forty-eight? the age of someone's father -
and I trembled for your luck, for your broad,
dusted back, half shirted, walking away;
I should have dropped to my knees to thank God
you were alive, o my God, in whom I don't believe.

Really liking all of the poetry here. It's one genre that I enjoy but rarely read. Maybe I'll do a spontaneous checkout at the library later this week. :)

Hi Laura. Thanks. A few years ago I realized that I wasn't reading any poetry. I hadn't really liked poetry in school. For 2008 I challenged myself to read at least one book of poetry every month. I continued that practice in 2009 and 2010. I've come to love poetry and I enjoy discovering new poets. This year I'm reading poetry anthologies.
Do you have any favorite poets?

5) Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within - Natalie Goldberg
Writing, Reference, NonFiction, Meditation, Buddhism, 11 in 11 Challenge Category: Still the Body, Quiet the Mind, Discover the Spirit, TIOLI Book with a rating between 3.8-4.2

This book is about writing - getting started, keeping at it, breaking through writer's block. Containing many short chapters, each about some aspect of writing, advice for writers, writing exercises; laced with Buddhism. I read this book in preparation for going back to University. I've been out of school a long time and have always been self conscious about anything I write. I haven't tried any of the exercises yet - but I will. For me, the best advice in the book is to approach your writing with a positive attitude and to be kind to yourself.
Big plus: this book has introduced me to a new poet; Russell Edson. This poem, about a toilet, was included in the text:

With Sincerest Regrets
By Russell Edson

Like a white snail the toilet slides into the living room,
demanding to be loved.
It is impossible, and we tender our sincerest regrets.
In the book of the heart there is no mention of plumbing.
And though we have spent our intimacy many times with you,
you belong to an unfortunate reference,
which we would rather not embrace...
The toilet slides out of the living room like a white snail,
flushing with grief...

Hi Kelly! I can only really state some old favorites. In high school I really liked Robert Frost. In college, it was Thomas Hardy, Sylvia Plath, Arthur Rimbaud, some of the major Victorian poets, Emily Dickinson, and some Whitman. No real surprises there, I'm sure. However, I read somewhere (within the last year or so) that Eva Hoffman is supposed to be very good, but since my library doesn't have any of her work I'm waiting for it to appear on PaperbackSwap.

Who are some of your favorites? And BTW, that Harry Potter Film Wizardry set looks fantastic - I'd love to own that myself!

Happy Lunar New Year! Also, Happy Candlemas! (one day late). Spent yesterday cleaning the apartment and doing 10 loads of laundry in preparation.

January Recap:

Books read in 2011: 5
Books read in Jan: 5
Books bought in 2011: 19 (11 are cookbooks. They don't count, right?)
Books off the shelf in 2011: 5
Fiction: 1
NonFiction: 2
Poetry: 2
Female author: 2
Male author: 4

#33 Laura, actually I am surprised- I had no idea Thomas Hardy was a poet. I'm only familiar with his fiction. I've also never heard of Eva Hoffman, so they both go onto the wish list.
My all- time favorite poet is Edna St. Vincent Millay. Old favorites include Robert Frost, RL Stevenson, Marge Piercy (I like her poetry better than her fiction), DuFu. New poets that I love and highly recommend: Li-Young Lee, Cheryl Savageau, Amy Gerstler, Katha Politt, Mary Oliver.

Harry Potter Film Wizardry is a beautiful book. Expensive, but worth the $$.

#35 Kelly, you've added 9 new names to my TBR list! I've heard wonderful things about Millay, there's no good reason for me not picking her up before. And wasn't there a bio about her recently that got rave reviews? Hm. Looks like I have some investigating to do!

Thanks so much for your recs!

Aha - here you are! I love that Dorothy Parker poem, hmmm, I think I need to have a peruse when I get home...

#11 Woo for Patrick Ness!

#14 Jenny, do you want to borrow mine? I can bring them along on the 12th...

#15 (Re the Chaos Walking trilogy) Yes, I think it was me - I certainly couldn't have waited in between books 2 & 3 - the only reason I managed to survive the end of book 1 without a mad dash to find a bookshop was that I finished it in the middle of the night right before a massively busy period at work! ;o)

#16 What a lovely childhood memory. Isn't funny how certain brief moments like that stick with us forever?

#27 Loved that poem - if nothing else than for the first 4 lines!

...actually, enjoying the poetry in general - I'm not much of a poetry reader at all, so it's good to be introduced to new people.

Ohhhh, yes please to the borrowing :)

Today I took, and passed, my Pediatric Nursing certification exam. Yay me! Now I can go back to reading whatever I want.

#36 Laura- the Millay biography is Savage Beauty. I have it on the Kindle but probably won't get to it for a while. It should be interesting, Millay was considered wild and bohemian in her day. You're welcome for the recs - I hope you enjoy those poets if/when you read their work.

#37 Hi fliss! Glad you found my thread. It's hard to find- usually on the 3rd or 4th page. There are sooo many people in this group. I have to thank you for the rec of the Ness books. They were amazing.
fliss and Jenny - have fun at your London meet-up. Take pics!!

Currently reading:
A Book of Luminous Things(poetry)
Traveling with Pomegranates (travel memoir)

to start:
A Game of Thrones for Fantasy February
The Art of Travel

Congratulations!! That is fantastic news and I'll bet you're looking forward to a wider reading genre than nursing and pediatrics. Yay you absolutely!

Congratulations, Kelly!

Congratulations!

I'm 1/3 of the way through Game of Thrones for the group read and loving it! I hope you do, too!

Good for you!

#38 Okey dokey!

#39 Glad you enjoyed them!

...and I have a similar problem keeping up - I keep losing track...

Congratulations on passing your exam - woo!

Thank you all for the congratulations. I feel like a big weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Now that I can spend time reading whatever I want I've had a headache that will not quit for 2 days. Have only managed to read 39 pages in Game of Thrones in that time. I'm hoping the HA goes away before my yoga class this evening because I missed the last two classes due to the weather.

Hope your headache went away. I was reading reviews for Game of Thrones and it sounds incredible. Another one for the wishlist.

Hi Leonie! Yes, my headache went away. Thank you for asking. I made it to my kundalini yoga class. We worked on our naval chakras. Now the entire middle section of my body is so sore I probably wouldn't even notice if I still had the headache.
I've only made it to page 48 in Game of Thrones, but, it is interesting so far. I'm waiting for the first death. I hear Martin is not shy about killing off major characters.

Hi welcome to the 75 book challenge group. I would like to read the Edna St. vincent Millay book also. I'm going to read several memoirs and biographies this year I think. Happy Valentines Day! See you soon!

I was a bit slow in the start of A Game of Thrones, but soon picked up and had a hard time putting it down. Can't wait to hear your thoughts!

#50 Aerrin99 - I'm almost finished with A Game of Thrones, less than 100 pages left to go. I should go check out the group read threads. It's been slow going.

#49 Hello mmignano11. Thanks for the welcome and the Valentine's wishes. I'll have to check out your thread and see what memoirs and biographies you're reading.

I'm neglecting my own thread. I'm at work right now. When I get home I'll post something. Maybe a poem. Maybe I'll actually finish a book in Feb.

*waving* at Kelly. Hope you are home by now!

*waving* back - Hello Stasia. I actually did make it home on time but was exhausted and just went to bed. It's always fun working short staffed on the holidays. On the plus side- had today off and finally finished A Game of Thrones.

6) Practice Questions for Pediatric Nursing Certification Review - Louise Jakubik
Test Preparation, 11 in 11 : The Catch Basin
Just a test prep book. LOTS of typos and came with a card listing all the mistakes in the questions/answers. Made me nervous, but this is the only company that does test prep for the subject I needed.

7) A Game of Thrones - George RR Martin
Fantasy, Fiction, Series, 11 in 11 Category: Song

will edit on Friday (next day off) with comments

I'm still reading A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry.
Since I read Beowulf last month I wanted to share this poem Seamus Heaney wrote about his mother:

From CLEARANCES - IN MEMORIAM M.K.H.
By Seamus Heaney

When all the others were away at Mass
I was all hers as we peeled potatoes
They broke the silence, let fall one by one
Like solder weeping off the soldering iron:
Cold comforts set between us, things to share
Gleaming in a bucket of clean water.
And again let fall. Little pleasant splashes
From each other's work would bring us to our senses.

So while the parish priest at her bedside
Went hammer and tongs at the prayers for the dying
And some were responding and some crying
I remembered her head bent towards my head,
Her breath in mine, our fluent dipping knives -
Never closer the whole rest of our lives.

I'm a little late here, but I want to add my Congrats! to the list - way to go!!

I'm about halfway through the second book in the Martin series and really enjoying it so far, but you're absolutely right that one has to steel oneself to the fact that no character is safe! It's nerve-wracking but exciting!

#55 Very evocative...

#56 Thanks Amber. I plan on starting A Clash of Kings this weekend. I have to admit that I've skimmed the chapter titles in the remaining three books for the names of my favorite characters. It appears that one doesn't make it to the third book.

#57 Hi Fliss!

Still behind on threads and reviews but have managed to finish three more books. Like many here on LT I've been in a bit of a funk. Can't wait for winter to be over.
I will comment on these later:

8) The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton
9) A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry edited by Czeslaw Milosz
10) Traveling With Pomegranates: A Mother and Daughter Journey to the Sacred Places of Greece, Turkey, and France by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor

Will be interested to read what you think about book # 8.

So, so far behind.

7) A Game of Thrones - George RR Martin
Fantasy, Song of Ice and Fire Series, 11 in 11 Category: Song...

Great start to the series. I felt pulled into the story immediately. Loved the multiple family histories and the multiple character points of view. I tried not to become too fond of any of the characters because I heard that Martin kills off major characters left and right. Unfortunately, I am fond of Jon, Arya, Dany and Tyrion.
It took me weeks to finish this book despite feeling "into it". I would read for what felt like a long time and realize I'd only read 6 pages. Very frustrating. I hope the rest of the series goes faster for me.

8) The Art of Travel - Alain de Botton
NonFiction, Travel, Philosophy, TIOLI book with an imbedded word, 11 in 11 category: Arrivals and Departures

The sole cause of man's unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room - Pascal

The above quote (taken from the final chapter) sets the tone for this book about the philosophy of travel. I was left with the impression that de Botton suffers from depression. The things I love about travel are mentioned -- seeing how people live in different cities or countries, trying new foods, learning history that is new to you, observing new flora and fauna -- but they are discussed so joylessly. What a bummer!
I did agree with two things de Botton wrote:
1) people spend too much time videotaping and photographing their entire vacation/holiday to truly enjoy and experience their new surroundings. (I do this myself)
2) people should attempt to draw what they're observing while traveling. Quoting Ruskin's The Elements of Drawing de Botton notes that drawing forces us to see things differently and remember them more accurately.
I was reading A Book of Luminous Things at the same time that I read this book. The editor of that book, Czeslaw Milosz, wrote in his introduction to the travel section:
Whatever practical reasons push people out of their homes to seek adventure, travel undoubtedly removes us from familiar sights and from everyday routine. It offers to us a pristine world seen for the first time and is a powerful means of producing wonder.
I wish Alain de Botton had read those words. He made reading about travel feel like a long weekend staying at the in-laws where you are forced to sleep on the lumpy sofa bed in the garage and you do nothing but fight the entire time.
I will give de Botton one more chance - I have The Architecture of Happiness on my reading list for later this year.

9) A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry edited by Czeslaw Milosz
Poetry, 11 in 11 category : Mad Verse, Sad Verse, Glad Verse and Bad Verse

While the book claims to be an international anthology the majority of the poets are from China, the USA, Poland, Russia and France. Milosz divides the poems into chapters about nature, travel, places, moments, history, situations, epiphanies and more. He writes an introduction to each section and to each poem. Sometimes the poem introductions speak about the poet, where he/she is from, their history and what subjects they generally write about. Sometimes he would actually explain what the poem is about. i found this last somewhat annoying, as I like to try and discover what a poem is about on my own. I started reading the poem first, and then reading the introduction.
Anyway, this collection of poetry is amazing. I have flags sticking out all over this book. I can't wait to share some of these poems. I'll try to copy over some of the poems throughout the year.
If you like poetry I highly recommend this book.

Here's a poem I liked from A Book of Luminous Things

NIGHT MUSIC
by Linda Gregg

She sits on the mountain that is her home
and the landscapes slide away. One goes down
and then up to the monastery. One drops away
to a winnowing ring and a farmhouse where a girl
and her mother are hanging the laundry.
There's a tiny port in the distance where
the shore reaches the water. She is numb
and clear because of the grieving in that world.
She thinks of the bandits and soldiers who
return to the places they have destroyed.
Who plant trees and build walls and play music
in the village square evening after evening,
believing the mothers of the boys they killed
and the women they raped will eventually come
out of the white houses in their black dresses
to sit with their children and the old.
Will listen to the music with unreadable eyes.

10) Traveling With Pomegranates: A Mother and Daughter Journey to the Sacred Places of Greece, Turkey and France by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor
NonFiction, Travel memoir, 11 in 11 category: Arrivals and Departures

Kidd and Taylor tell the story of their travels and their relationship in alternating chapters. The mother- daughter relationship in the Persephone- Demeter myth is alluded to frequently. Kidd continues her search for the sacred feminine that she started in The Dance of the Dissident Daughter. Taylor struggles to break free of depression and find her way as an adult. Along the way they visit convents, shrines, grottos, houses and other sacred sites devoted to the worship of Mary, St Ann, Joan of Arc, black madonnas and the crone.
Those who've read Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees may be interested in the story of what inspired Kidd and how the novel developed.
Recommended.

11) Among the Mad - Jacqueline Winspear
Mystery, Fiction, Series, 11 in 11 category: Round up the Usual Suspects, TIOLI book with the name of a city on page 17 (London)

The sixth book in the Maisie Dobbs series. The story centers around the forgotten WWI veterans who were left shattered, jobless and hopeless by the British government. Some one has decided to get the government to pay attention to his demands by threatening to use deadly weapons on the public.
A pretty good addition to the series.

12) Reflections Bilingual Poems for Pensive People - Haim Schneider
Poetry, Early Reviewers

A slim (95 page) volume of poetry in German and English. The German version appears on the left hand side of the page and the English version on the right hand side. There are three poems that appear without translation - two in German, one in English. Armed with two semesters of university German and an English/German dictionary I attempted to translate the two German poems. However; my grasp of German is so poor I eventually gave up. So, my review is based only on the English versions of the poems. Upon initial reading I didn't really like these poems.I found them a little dark for my taste. After reading the book through a second time I did discover a few poems that spoke to me. I esp. liked the poems Pry Open Your Eyes, Ye Semiblind and Too Late. Here is a stanza from my favorite poem in the collection; Good Reason for Continuing to Exist:

You sapient fools, don't you know
that problems exist that have no rational solution,
that nature does not operate by high school mathematics,
that it is not in her nature to patiently unravel Gordian knots,
but to cut through them in one sweep;
that nature has long been tired of us and our arrogance,
and that one fine day she will throw us off
her long suffering back, finally and irrevocably.

13) Full Body Flexibility - 2nd Edition - Jay Blahnik
Fitness, Early Reviewers, TIOLI Book that's not primarily meant for reading

In this second edition Jay Blahnik updates his three step method for increasing flexibility. The three steps: 1) maximize your range of motion, 2) minimize the difference between your active and passive flexibility and 3) equalize the range of motion in all quadrants of your body. Blahnik starts by describing stretching basics - types of stretches, how to breath, when to stretch (preferably after exercise, when your muscles are warm). In the second section he describes stretches for each region of the body and certain muscles or muscle groups. Each stretch gets a full page, illustrated with full color photographs that demonstrate positioning and when necessary, direction of movement. The photographs are large enough for you to see details without eye strain. I esp. liked the breathing instructions at the bottom of each page. Most of these stretches will be familiar to those who practice yoga or pilates. In the third section Blahnik groups various stretches into specific routines. So far I've tried the warm-up, the cool-down, both yoga routines and the stress-free neck and shoulders routine. Each routine was fairly straightforward and the instructions are very accessible.
This book is an excellent resource for stretching and flexibility exercises. I actually recommended the book to my friend's daughter; she's studying sports medicine/rehabilitation.

I meant to start re-reading A Game of Thrones for the group read last month, but now I really have to start since the next book is coming out this summer. I love the series but it is going to eat up a huge chunk of my reading time to go through all the books again.

A Book of Luminous Things sounds wonderful, but I have The Vintage Book of Contemporary World Poetry that I need to get to first. (I am not allowed to buy any more poetry collections until I read some that I already have, but I'll go ahead and add this to the wishlist ;)

Hmmm. I think I'm going to continue to steer clear of Alain de Botton - I love Czeslaw Milosz's quote.

Re the two things you agreed with - I'll tentatively go along with you there, but I'd also argue that, as long as you're not just going around with your face behind a camera (and I have to say I'm fairly anti videoing holidays for this reason) and you're actually thinking about what you're photographing, taking photos can also force you to look at things differently and more closely.

I do actually quite frequently bring a little sketch pad on holidays with me, mostly because I very much regret how out of practice I am (and, not being particularly naturally talented, practice does make all the difference). However, I've very rarely actually done anything with it - mostly as, as I say, I'm just not a very talented artist - but, for me, photos can capture a moment or a place much better than one of my own drawings could and it definitely does make me look at things differently, even if - and I'll admit this - I can be a tad camera-happy. ;o)

Having said this, if I were actually any good at drawing, I'd probably prefer to do that, it is true!

That one about taking photos struck a cord with me as well. It was an interesting book but I'm not sure I like his style overall.

Happy Spring Equinox !! (Happy Autumnal Equinox to those of you in the southern hemisphere!!) The weather is finally starting to be less depressing. Yay!
Catch up time. Have finally written a review for book #13 (post 64).

Forgot to do this for February:

Books read in 2011: 9
Books read in Feb: 4
Books of the shelf in 2011: 9
Fiction: 2
NonFiction:4
Poetry: 3
Female author: 4
Male author: 7

14) A Shilling for Candles - Josephine Tey
Mystery, Mystery March, 11 in 11 Challenge Category: Round Up the Usual Suspects, TIOLI book in which the main title words increase or decrease by 1 letter count

Inspector Alan Grant of Scotland Yard is called to investigate the drowning death of a world famous actress. Who is the murderer? Robin Tisdale? - the handsome, broke, young man she picked up on the street who has been staying with her for weeks. Her husband, Edward Champneis? Jay Harmer? - her rumored lover and composer of the songs that made her famous. Her estranged sponge of a brother, Herbert? Any number of jealous actresses or disgruntled co-workers?
Unlike other Tey mysteries that I've read, this one actually contained a small clue for the reader.Not as good as The Daughter of Time but I found it equal to Brat Farrar. Recommended.

In Tey related news: There is a book shelf in the laundry room of my building where people place books they'd like to give away. Yesterday I discovered the book Three by Tey on the shelf. It contains two new to me books: Miss Pym Disposes and The Franchise Affair. Of course I grabbed it right up.

#65 Michelle - I'm finding The Song of Ice and Fire series slow going. I'm not sure why as I am enjoying them. I asked my mother to DVR the series for me. I don't have HBO.
I'm adding The Vintage Book of World Poetry to the wish list.

#66 fliss - the mention in the book reminded me of my friend Alby who walks around with his video camera on his face taping everything he sees/does. I doubt he sees much of anything not through a lens.
I admit I feel some pressure to take photos to show to family when I get home. Most of my family has not or will not travel outside the country. They do like to see photos and hear about where I've been though. I did learn - back in the pre-digital days - to be more selective in what photos I take. In my life I've wasted so much film trying to get good angles/views.
I would love to be able to draw with even a tiny little bit of talent. I have seen photographs of travel journals where someone quickly sketched a seascape, hillside, etc. I am usually reduced to buying postcards, which are better than any photo I could take and usually have captured the best views.

#67 Leonie - I didn't really like deBotton's style either. I already own at least one - maybe two - more books by him, so I'll see if he gets better with different subject matter.

15 minutes to equinox.

Just had to say that while I don't always comment on the poetry you post here, I have been enjoying it and it must have been slowly sinking into my pysche because I just ordered a collection of Keats from the library yesterday. The world poetry collection looks interesting, will look forward to the review for that one.

15) Faery Reel: Tales From the Twilight Realm edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
Short Stories, Fantasy, 11 in 11 challenge category: It's Bigger on the Inside, TIOLI book with a type of dance in the title

In this collection:
The Boys of Goose Hill - Charles deLint - poem
Catnyp - Delia Sherman - set in the New York Public Library **
Elvenbrood - Tanith Lee **
Your Garnet Eyes - Katherine Vaz ****
Tengu Mountain - Gregory Frost ****
The Faery Handbag - Kelly Link *****
The Price of Glamour - Steve Berman ***
The Night Market - Holly Black ****
Never Never - Bruce Glassco *****
Screaming for Faeries - Ellen Steiber ***
Immersed in Matter - Nina Kiriki Hoffman ****
Undine - Patricia McKillip ****
The Oakthing - Gregory Maguire ***
Foxwife- Hiromi Goto ***
The Dream Eaters - A.M. Dellamonica *
The Faery Reel - Neil Gaiman - poem
The Shooter at the Heartrock Waterhole - Bill Congreve ***
The Annals of Eelin-OK - Jeffrey Ford *****
De La Tierra - Emma Bull ****
How to Find Faery - Nan Fry - poem

My favorite stories were:
Never, Never - Captain Hook is repeatedly brought back to life by TinkerBell at the whim of Peter Pan. The story from the other side.
The Faery Handbag - a girl's grandmother has a large handbag that holds an entire world of faeries into which humans can enter.
The Annals of Eelin-OK - the memoirs of a Twilmish. Twilmish are very small faeries who inhabit child built sandcastles. Their life span is as long as the sandcastle in which they live. This was my favorite story in the collection.

16) Kundalini Yoga: Unlock Your Inner Potential Through Life-Changing Exercise - Shakta Kaur Khalsa
Yoga, Fitness, TIOLI book that's not primarily meant for reading
Not just an illustrated book of yoga poses, kriyas, mudras and chakras but a guide to living a daily yoga life. Includes life style and diet tips. The life stye tips are somewhat interesting. A few have been mentioned in class by my yoga instructor - comb your hair with a wooden comb, brush your tongue when you brush your teeth to clear your throat of mucous, take cold showers in the morning. She neglected to mention the shower shorts. Yes, showers shorts. Worn to protect your femurs from the cold water.

I had initially planned to go to Fuji Five Lakes in Japan for my vacation in May. I considered going to Paris instead, so I read these two books , looking for vegetarian restaurants and places to see. I've decided to stay home and paint my apartment instead. My mother is relieved. She's worried the Libyans may retaliate against the French while I'm in Paris. I guess that could happen.

17) Sandra Gustafson's Great Eats Paris
Travel, Food and Drink

So, there are actually 4 or 5 vegetarian restaurants in Paris. Otherwise, tea shops appear to be the way to go. Will memory bank these facts for a later trip.

18) Paris Photo Guide
Travel, photos

Pretty much what it sounds like. The photos are beautiful and the maps are large enough for even a glasses wearing presbyopic like me to be able to read. This book will definitely come in handy.... some day.

The St Germain quarter is a good place to go. It's a large area full of alleyways full of street food or restaurants and the food is from all over the world and the best I had in Paris.

Thanks Leonie. I'll add that to my travel suggestions book.

Another poem from A Book of Luminous Things:

ORDINANCE ON ARRIVAL
by Naomi Lazard

Welcome to you
who have managed to get here.
It's been a terrible trip;
you should be happy you have survived it.
Statistics prove that not many do.
You should like a bath, a hot meal,
a good night's sleep. Some of you
need medical attention.
None of this is available.
These things have always been
in short supply; now
they are impossible to obtain.

This is not
a temporary situation;
it is permanent.
Our condolences on your disappointment.
It is not our responsibility
everything you have heard about this place
is false. It is not our fault
you have been deceived,
ruined your health getting here.
For reasons beyond our control
there is no vehicle out.

As I read that poem all I could see in my head was Dave Dobbyn singing the words. Sort of his style I guess.

I'd never heard of Dave Dobbyn. I had to google him. A YouTube video for a song called Welcome Home came up. Definitely in the same style as the poem. Sad and beautiful. I see there is also a coffins returning to New Zealand version. I don't think I'll watch that one while I'm at work, seems like it would be too sad.

Welcome Home was exactly the song I was thinking of. I forget that not everyone will have heard of local musicians, great to have youtube around though, brings the world closer. The coffins clip is when the bodies of the kiwi crew were returned to NZ after the aircrash in france a couple of years ago.

Not trying to catch up, Kelly, just checking in :)

Dropping by to say Hi as I've not been by in a while...

Hope you reschedule you're Paris holiday at some point - it's one of my favourite cities - I've got all sorts of recommendations if you do ;o)

(also, love the sound of Never, Never!)

#78 Leonie - yes, the internet makes the world seem so much smaller. Next time I'm downloading songs from itunes I'll make sure to check out more songs by Dave Dobbyn.

#79 Hi Stasia. Welcome back! So happy to see you back on LT.

#80 fliss - I'll get to Paris someday. You and Cait have convinced me that I should see Paris. Never, Never was good. I have to look up the author, Bruce Glassco, and see if he's written anything else I might be interested in reading.

Late as usual... March Recap:

Books read in 2011: 18
Books read in March: 9
Books off the shelf: 13
Fiction: 5
NonFiction: 9
Poetry: 4
Female author: 11
Male author: 10
Books bought in 2011: 71 (32 in March)

edited because I forgot to add books bought in 2011. Possibly I'm in denial about having already bought 4 times more books than I have read. I have no self control.

19) Jane Kenyon Collected Poems - Jane Kenyon
Poetry, 11 in 11 Category: Mad Verse, Sad Verse, Glad Verse and Bad Verse, TIOLI Book of Poetry for Poetry Month - April

This collection contains all of Kenyon's previously published poems, some unpublished poems and her translations of the poetry of Russian poet Anna Akhmatova. Kenyon's poems are straightforward and beautiful. Most of her poems are about rural living, marriage, illness, death and depression. Kenyon suffered from depression her entire life. Here is part of a multiple part poem about depression:

Having it Out with Melancholy
1. From the Nursery

When I was born, you waited
behind a pile of linen in the nursery,
and when we were alone,you lay down
on top of me, pressing
the bile of desolation into every pore.

And from that day on
everything under the sun and moon
made me sad - even the yellow
wooden beads that slid and spun
along a spindle on my crib.

You taught me to exist without gratitude.
You ruined my manners toward God:
"We're here simply to wait for death;
the pleasures of earth are overrated."

I only appeared to belong to my mother,
to live among blocks and cotton undershirts
with snaps; among red tin lunch boxes
and report cards in ugly brown slipcases.
I was already yours - the anti-urge,
the mutilator of souls.

Here's another one I liked: (peonies are my favorite flower and I'm loving the word luxuriance)

Peonies at Dusk

White peonies blossoming along the porch
send out light
while the rest of the yard grows dim.

Outrageous flowers as big as human
heads! They're staggered
by their own luxuriance: I had
to prop them with stakes and twine.

The moist air intensifies their scent,
and the moon moves around the barn
to find out what it's coming from.

In the darkening June evening
I draw a blossom near, and bending close
search it as a woman searches
a loved one's face.

Knopf is once again putting a poem-a-day on their website for April - Poetry Month. I liked today's poem by Marge Piercy.

Ideal for Friday evening and ushering in the Sabbath, this poem is classic Marge Piercy, from a new gathering of her work entitled The Hunger Moon: New and Selected Poems, 1980-2010. (The term “Shekinah” in Jewish theology refers to the visible manifestation or indwelling presence of God.)

Wellfleet Shabbat

The hawk eye of the sun slowly shuts.
The breast of the bay is softly feathered
dove grey. The sky is barred like the sand
when the tide trickles out.

The great doors of Shabbat are swinging
open over the ocean, loosing the moon
floating up slow distorted vast, a copper
balloon just sailing free.

The wind slides over the waves, patting
them with its giant hand, and the sea
stretches its muscles in the deep,
purrs and rolls over.

The sweet beeswax candles flicker
and sigh, standing between the phlox
and the roast chicken. The wine shines
its red lantern of joy.

Here on this piney sandspit, the Shekinah
comes on the short strong wings of the seaside
sparrow raising her song and bringing
down the fresh clean night.

#84: I like that one a lot. Thanks for sharing it, Kelly!

Agree, I especially like the image of the sun's hawk-eye slowly shutting each day.

Hi Stasia and Leonie. My favorite imagery from that poem is the part about the sea stretching it's muscles and rolling over. Piercy is one of my favorite poets.

20) Shannon:A Poem of the Lewis and Clark Expedition - Campbell McGrath
Poetry, TIOLI Striking Cover Art, 11 in 11 Category : Catch Basin

Who finds this body
Be it known
My name is George Shannon
& I bequeath my remains
To seed this land
With American bones

This poem tells the story of George Shannon. George Shannon was the youngest member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. He was just 19 in 1804 when he became separated from the rest of the group and wandered in the Nebraska and South Dakota territories for 16 days. He followed the Missouri River attempting to catch up with the rest of the expedition. He had actually gotten ahead of the expedition - they were detained when dealing with local tribes they met along the river. When they found him he had nearly starved to death.
Since Shannon did not keep a journal on the expedition McGrath has fictionalized his lost 16 days and included some information from the official journals of Lewis and Clark. I found the sections where Shannon was starting to hallucinate from lack of food very inventive. I liked this poem a lot - it was inventive, fun, sad and informative.
Also a big plus in my book - there was a mention of the Kickapoo Indian tribe. My maternal great grandmother was Kickapoo Indian. Mentions of the Kickapoo are rare.
Recommended

21) Thinking in Pictures - Temple Grandin
NonFiction, April is Autism Awareness Month read, 11 in 11 Category: Just the Facts

Temple Grandin is a woman with autism, a doctor of animal science, the designer of one third of all animal handling facilities in the US and a national speaker on autism.
I picked up this book after seeing the film Temple Grandin. I expected the book to be more autobiographical - like the movie. The book touches on many of the autobiographical elements that were explored in the movie. However; the book also includes a lot of scientific information about autism, medication and educational methods. Recommended.

22) The Night BookMobile - Audrey Niffenegger
Graphic Novel, Books about books, 11 in 11 Category: Catch Basin

A woman walking around the streets of Chicago in the early morning hours discovers a Winnebago that holds a collection of books. The librarian, Mr Openshaw invites her in to see the collection. The woman. Alexandra, discovers that the Night Bookmobile holds everything she's ever read - including her diary. At dawn the library closes. Alexandra searches for the Night Bookmobile often over many years. She becomes a librarian. When she finds the bookmobile again she realizes what she must do to become the librarian of a collection.
This is a thought provoking book about reading, books and all the things dedicated readers give up in order to spend their time reading.This slim, 35 page, book is slightly depressing and the first in a planned series about The Library.
I wasn't fond of the graphics. They were just okay. I prefer graphic novels that have more details in the art work.

Hi VB!

Woo for Paris convincings! ;o)

"Possibly I'm in denial about having already bought 4 times more books than I have read. I have no self control." - hmmmm. Sounds familiar...

#83 Oh, I like "On Peonies" - mostly for the phrase "Outrageous flowers as big as human
heads!". "In the Nursery" - what a very sad poem...

#84 I've been doing the Knopf thing, but I keep forgetting to check them recently - I wasn't particularly blown away by the first few that they picked. I shall have to catch up - I like that one also (and agreed with the sea's muscles!)

#88 Looking forward to your thoughts on the Niffenegger

>83 VioletBramble:: I don't think I'd read Jane Kenyon before, but I'll be looking for her now. I read these two a few days ago and "Having It Out with Melancholy" especially is sticking with me. I had to come back and read it again.

I finally finished posting descriptions/reviews of the three books in message #88.

#89 Hi Fliss! I find that I only like about 30-40% of the poems on Knopf's Poem-a -Day each April. That percentage didn't change this year. I liked the poem about Alabama (I forget the poet) that was posted right after tornados devastated that state. I wonder if it was planned and just happenstance that it was the poem for that day or if they decide as they go along. I kept forgetting to check the website daily as well. They keep them up all year round though.
I'm glad you liked the poems. Many of Kenyon's poems are very sad. I tend to like sad poems and nature poems, so, Kenyon was right up my alley (as they say).

#90 Hi Shauna! Welcome back - I saw your thread back on the first page. I'm so glad you liked the poems. A Kenyon convert - yay! I hope you do get a chance to read her poetry. What I posted was just one section of a larger poem about depression, spanning the various periods of her life.

23) Looking at Photographs: 100 Pictures From the Collection of the Museum of Modern Art - John Szarkowski
Photography, 11 in 11 category: Catch Basin, TIOLI - Library book challenge

Szarkowski discusses the various photography equipment, film developing processes, image framing, photo altering techniques and occasionally, subject selection that were used by the photographers of 100 pictures from the MOMA Collection.
I borrowed this from the library mainly to look at the photographs in the book. I was surprised to find that I enjoyed the text in the book much more than I enjoyed looking at the photographs. Recommended for photography fans.

24) A Clash of Kings- George R.R. Martin
Fiction, Fantasy, 11 in 11 Category: Song.., TIOLI challenge - book where the authors name or title contains a type of bird, Series

The second book in The Song of Ice and Fire series. Five men (and their followers) battle to become King of the Seven Kingdoms. The Stark family is scattered throughout Westernos, many dead or feared dead. The Wildlings from Beyond the Wall are assembling and marching south towards the Wall.
It took me two months to read this book. I blame the fact that at near 800 pages the book is just too large to carry around. The story remains intense - no character is safe. I'm loving this series so far. Highly recommended.

25) Owls and Other Fantasies: Poems and Essays - Mary Oliver
Poetry, Essays, 11 in 11 Category: Catch Basin, TIOLI Challenge book about wild animals

This collection contains 26 poems and 2 essays about various species of birds. I was already a fan of Oliver's nature poetry about the many bird and animal species she observes in the marshlands of Cape Cod. This was the first time I'd read any of her essays. One of the essays, titled Bird, tells the tale of an injured gull Oliver found on the beach. The gull had an injured wing and two injured feet. It couldn't fly or walk. Despite her better judgement Oliver took the gull home. The gull lived in her home for months and became a part of her life as Oliver waited for him to die. I read this essay on the train on my way to see my mother for Mother's Day. This essay was so beautiful it made me cry. I sat on a NJ Transit train sobbing over an essay about a gull. This is how Oliver described the gull: Imagine lifting the lid from a jar and finding it filled not with darkness but with light. Bird was like that. Startling, elegant, alive. I loved this entire collection, but esp the gull essay. Highly recommended.

White Owl Flies Into and Out of the Field -- Mary Oliver

Coming down
out of the freezing sky
with its depths of light,
like an angel,
or a buddha with wings,
it was beautiful
and accurate,
striking the snow and whatever was there
with a force that left the imprint
of the tips of its wings --
five feet apart -- and the grabbing
thrust of its feet,
and the indentation of what had been running
through the white valleys
of the snow --

and then it rose, gracefully,
and flew back to the frozen marshes,
to lurk there,
like a little lighthouse,
in the blue shadows --
so I thought:
maybe death
isn't darkness after all,
but so much light
wrapping itself around us --

as soft as feathers --
that we are instantly weary
of looking, and looking, and shut out eyes,
not without amazement,
and let ourselves be carried,
as through the translucence of mica,
to the river
that is without the least dapple or shadow --
that is nothing but light -- scalding, aortal light --
in which we are washed and washed
out of our bones.

#93: I like that poem, Kelly. Thanks for sharing it!

I so want to read A Game of Thrones. Until last Friday, I forced myself to wait until May 16th to order it from the library. But I don't have much self-control, so I ordered it, and I'm eagerly anticipating it.

Also, nice poem!

#94 Hi Stasia. Thanks for visiting. I like to share the poetry.

#95 Hi Nathan. I read on your thread that your library doesn't have a copy of A Game of Thrones. I'm clearing book shelves this year so I put my copy on the give-a-way shelves in my buildings laundry room after I read it. If I had known you were looking for a copy I would have sent it to you instead. Hope you get a copy soon. It's a great read.
Spent mother's day watching the first three episodes of the HBO series with my mother. (She has HBO and dvr'd them for me) They were faithful to the book, and very good. Mom thought they had a bit too much sex and gore.

I keep forgetting to do this:

April Recap:

Books read in 2011: 22
Books read in April: 4 (such a sad number)
Books off the shelf 2011: 16
Fiction: 5
NonFiction: 10
Poetry: 6
Graphic novel: 1
Female author: 14
Male author: 11
Books bought in 2011: 91 (20 in April)

I'm watching State of Play on DVD. It's brilliant. What a great cast. I'm not sure how I've managed to miss seeing it up till now.

>96 VioletBramble: The book is on the way to my library as we speak. I and nobody I know has HBO to record it for me, but there'll be DVD's eventually!

#98 - oh yes, the DVDs. Hopefully, they'll get them out quickly.

I have been slacking lately. I haven't finished a book in ages. I may actually finish These Are My Rivers tonight. I have been watching DVDs from my TBW pile. I still have some large collections to get through -- Planet Earth, The Blue Planet, Women and Spirituality: The Goddess Trilogy, Doctor Who Series 4 ( I have owned this for ages, I've even watched the DVDS of the specials and series 5 before this set. Of course I've seen each episode multiple times already so I haven't felt the need to watch it) and Shackleton. I've made some progress in my foreign language with subtitles pile; the only remaining ones are Elling and The Triplets of Belleville.
Continue to read A Storm of Swords - loving it, but I'm finding this series is taking me a long time to get through. I keep peeking ahead to see who is still alive. No one is safe. Luckily, only one of my favorite characters has been killed so far.

I want to watch the Planet Earth series too. You will have to let me know how it is, Kelly!

#100 - I'll let you know Stasia. So far I've managed to watch everything on the list except the last disc of Shackleton and the two Planet series sets. I should get to them this summer.

I've been having internet issues at home. Apparently the cable company lost the signal. It was finally fixed last night. So, I owe reviews/descriptions of the following books completed in May:
These are My Rivers
Coney Island of the Mind
A Far Rockaway of the Heart - all by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
The Evil Garden - Gorey
The Poison Diaries (not the correct touchstone)

I started to write these up twice now but was overcome with sudden extreme laziness. I'm vacationing at the Jersey shore starting next Wednesday - hopefully that will kick start my brain.

Continue to read:
A Storm of Swords - taking forever to finish - only 500 pages in after a month -but, loving it.
Chicks Dig Time Lords - commute book
The Forgotten Garden - stalled
Shooting in the Dark - stalled

Planned June reading - all TIOLI reads and all Buddhist texts:
The Stages of Meditation - The Dalai Lama (also wrong touchstone)
Guided Meditations on the Stages of the Path
Savor (wrong touchstone)

Sorry to hear about your Internet troubles, Kelly. It seems several people in the group are having that trouble.

Hello. I am so very, very far behind. I'm behind by 11 reviews on my own thread and behind on others' reads by multiple threads. I stand no chance of catching up at this point, so, I will quickly add the books I've read with a little blurb and start fresh in July.

These three books were read for the TIOLI Beat author challenge. Lawrence Ferlinghetti is the co-founder of City Lights Books and Publishing in San Francisco. I hadn't read any of his poetry until earlier this year (see post # 27 for one of his poems). Ferlinghetti writes about politics, childhood, sex, human relationships, the natural world and the everyday. I wanted to copy some of his poems into my thread but he uses particular line breaks that are impossible to duplicate on LT. Between that and the lack of punctuation in his poems some of the impact of the poems is lost.
26) - These Are My Rivers: New and Selected Poems 1955-1993 - a selection of poems from his previous 12 volumes of poetry, plus 27 new poems. I enjoyed this book; the selection of poems was varied in style and tone. Recommended.
27) A Far Rockaway of the Heart - published in 1997, this book is considered a sequel to his 1958 book A Coney Island of the Mind. The poems here are about childhood and family. Ferlinghetti's father died before he was born and his mother entered an asylum shortly after that. Ferlinghetti was raised by his Aunt Emily, by strangers and sometimes in an orphanage. The poems in this book were often sad, which I usually like, but.. this was my least favorite of the three books.
28) A Coney Island of the Mind - The version I read was the 50th anniversary edition that includes an audio CD of Ferlinghetti reading 29 of the poems. The book includes all the poems from the original printing. The CD includes 7 poems with jazz accompaniment by the Cellar Jazz Quintet that appears to have been recorded in 1957. The poems are wonderful and hearing them read aloud by Ferlinghetti - who sounds like comedian George Carlen- is a treat. I highly recommend not only this 50th anniversary edition, but also any edition of the book you can find.

The printing press has made poetry too silent. I want it to be heard, to have the direct impact of speech.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti. 1958

29) The Evil Garden - Edward Gorey
Typical Gorey. Black and white, gothic illustrations that tell the story of a family that spends the afternoon in the Evil Garden. They are all eaten or killed by the plants or wildlife of the garden.
If you like Gorey, you'll like this book.

30) The Poison Diaries: From the collection of The Duchess of Northumberland.
Illustrated by Colin Stimpson
This book was recommended by Michelle/Tanglewood
This is the journal of Weed, an apprentice to an apothecary. The plants talk to Weed and tell him all their secrets.
Great story. Amazing, beautiful illustrations. Recommended, esp if you like plants, herbology.

May recap:
Books read in 2011: 30
Books read in May: 8
Books off the shelf 2011: 17
Books borrowed from the library: 1
Fiction: 8
NonFiction: 11
Poetry: 10
Graphic Novel: 1
Female author: 17
Male author: 16
Books bought in 2011: 118 (27 in May)

I read the following while on vacation down the Jersey shore:

31)Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life - Amy Krouse Rosenthal
An alphabetical encyclopedia of the every day, memories and ephemera as they pertain to the life of the author. The illustrations are very funny. I read the Kindle version; sometimes the pictures would show up 2 or 3 pages after the descriptive paragraph. The actual book version would probably be better. An entertaining read. Recommended if you're looking for something fun that requires little effort on your part.

32 )Breath - Tim Winton
This was a perfect beach read. Like all of Winton's books that I've read so far this one is about two teenage boys who live in Western Australia in the 1970s. They become friends with a champion surfer, Sandor, who turns the boys on to the thrill of risk taking. The boys challenge each other to take bigger risks. Sandor plays the boys against each other in an attempt to get them to enter into more and more dangerous situations. Highly recommended.

33) The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster
One of those classics of children's literature that I just never got around to reading. Fun, fun word play. Loved it. Also perfect to read on the beach. Also, do not recommend the Kindle version - the problem with illustrations showing up too many pages after the text continued with this book.

34) Among Others - Jo Walton
Recommended by Faith/dkphoenix.
Wonderful YA fantasy book about elves, magic, boarding school, libraries, book groups and SciFi books. Each chapter mentions multiple classics of SciFi or uses them as examples to illustrate a point. I read this on the Kindle as well - my only problem being that I wanted to mark all these book titles so I could look them up later. I didn't want to bookmark them so that they'd show up highlighted for all other Kindle readers. However; many previous readers had no qualms about that so the titles were easy to find and list once I returned from the beach. Highly recommended, esp to fans of YA, fantasy and SciFi.

35) Storm of Swords - George RR Martin
The third book in The Song of Ice and Fire series. The series keeps getting better. Each book is still taking a long time to finish. Loving this series so far.

36) Parisian Chic: A Style Guide - Ines de la Pressange with Sophie Gachet
Part of the pile of Paris books. This is part Paris shopping guide and part style guide.
What I have learned: my preference for wearing loafers with long pants and no socks - as opposed to with shorts - means I am irrevocably unfashionable. I have always suspected this.

June recap:
Books read in 2011: 36
Books read in June: 6
Books off the shelf 2011: 19
Books borrowed from the Library: 1
Fiction: 12
NonFiction: 13
Poetry: 10
Graphic Novel:1
Female author: 20
Male author: 19
Books bought in 2011: 141 (23 in June)

My 4th Thingaversary was on the 28th.
The books I bought to celebrate:
1) Muse and Reverie - Charles deLint
2) Lifelode - Jo Walton
3) Library Wars: Love & War Volume 2
4) The Moving Toyshop - Edmund Crispin
5) Journey to the West - Wu Cheng'en -- actually a four volume set, but I'm counting it as one.

I did not get any of my planned TIOLI books for June read.

Currently reading:
A Feast for Crows. A little slower than the others in the series and most of the characters are not the ones I care about, but, liking it well enough.

A poem for June... now that it's almost over.

COBALT
Rolf Jacobsen
translated from the Norwegian by Roger Greenwald

Colors are words' little sisters. They can't become soldiers.
I've loved them secretly for a long time.
They have to stay home and hang up the sheer curtains
in our ordinary bedroom, kitchen and alcove.

I'm very close to young Crimson, and brown Sienna
but even closer to thoughtful Cobalt with her distant eyes and
untrampled spirit.
We walk in dew.
The night sky and the southern oceans
are her possessions
and a tear-shaped pendant on her forehead:
the pearls of Cassiopeia.
We walk in dew on late nights.

But the others.
Meet them on a June morning at four o'clock
when they come rushing toward you,
on your way to a morning swim in the green cove's spray.
Then you can sunbathe with them on the smooth rocks.
-----Which one will you make yours?

You've had some great reads there and hit me with quite a few wishlist books. I'm especially interested in Among Others as I love all those genres and the idea really appeals. Good reviews.

Hi Leonie. Among Others is really very good. Because of it I added 5 books to the TBR pile and many, many more to the Amazon wish list. Unfortunately many of the books are out of print at present and will require a library or second hand bookshop search.

Hi VB, good to see you pop up again - I definitely sympathise, I'm hopelessly behind on absolutely everyone and everything at the moment (must go and update my own thread at some point this week!)...

Liking the sound of the Edward Gorey (but then I usually do!) and so glad you enjoyed The Phantom Tollbooth, which was one of my childhood favourites that stood up very well to rereading a few years ago (something that is always a bit risky!)

Love your comments on the Paris fashion book ;o) I'm certainly in that boat too... Having said this, I'm completely convinced that there is a massive gulf in France (and even Paris), between the fashionable and the unfashionable - I've seen plenty of VERY badly dressed French people in the past - it just depends where you go (Brittany vs Rive Gauche for example!)

37) A Feast for Crows - George RR Martin
Fantasy Fiction, 11 in 11 Challenge Category : Song

The fourth book in The Song of Ice and Fire series. A number of the characters in this book are new. Some of the returning characters are not the ones whose stories I care about. I did like the Arya chapters and enjoyed the Brienne, Jaime and Sam chapters well enough. Very little progress is made in the overall story. Everyone continues in their own separate stories. No word about the dragons and very little about the Others.
I think I will wait to read A Dance With Dragons until the paperback comes out or the Kindle price drops a bit.

Hi fliss! Thanks for stopping by.
It's good to know that even Paris has unfashionable citizens.
I have noticed that massive gulf between the fashionable and the unfashionable in certain neighborhoods here in NYC as well.
Unless I suddenly find myself in possession of a massive amount of money I doubt that I would ever change my personal "style" of casual, comfortable and affordable anyway. It's not like I have to dress up for work. In fact - just the opposite.
Are you planning any good holidays over the summer?

Hey, I would need a personal dresser as well as a massive amount of money! I've never understood why, but I can recognise what looks good on other people, but never myself. I have no style at all clothing-wise.

Hmmm, summer - not really, although I'm all lined up for my Edinburgh Fringe fest/Kircaldy mates visit at the end of August - can't wait! I've been doing a lot of brief visits to places lately, so I'm looking forward to a holiday that lasts more than a couple of days...

We have plans for a whole family Sicily holiday in October though - watch this space!

How about you - any new travel plans?!

38) The Night Tourist - Katherine Marsh
YA, Mystery, TIOLI Challenge Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery, 11 in 11 Category: The Catch Basin

Jack, a 14 year old Latin language genius, lives in New Haven with his professor father. One day Jack is hit by a car. His father sends him, on the train, by himself, to see a doctor in New York City. While in Grand Central Terminal Jack meets a girl named Euri. (Oh, I forgot to mention that Jack is translating the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, and it is sort of an obsession for him) Jack soon figures out that Euri is a ghost and together they go on a quest in the NYC underworld searching for Jack's mother. Jack's mother died in NYC years ago. As in Orpheus, there are rules - don't eat anything, don't look back -, and familiar characters - Cerberus. Jack must return from the underworld before dawn of the third day or die.
I thought the story was okay. I wouldn't read the sequel. It's a good introduction to the Orpheus myth for young readers. I did like the bits that showed hidden parts of NYC or told little known secrets of the city.

#113- fliss - of course, I'd get a personal dresser as well. I'd have a massive amount of money after all. Plus, most large stores here have a personal shopper service that will help you. Otherwise, I'd really have no clue. Except for what I don't like -- that I know.

Sicily sounds nice. Have fun at the Fringe Festival.

I have no travel plans at the moment. I am getting a little bored here, not traveling, waiting for my buildings' tenants association to finally come up with a plan where we can all buy our apartments. I've been trying to not spend large amounts of money in case I need it for real estate all of a sudden.

39)Dragon Talk - Fleur Adcock
Poetry, 11 in 11 Challenge Category: Mad verse, Sad verse, Glad verse and Bad verse

A new collection from New Zealand poet Fleur Adcock. The poems are about her family's move to England during WWII. The poems start with the family packing to leave New Zealand, their arrival in England and subsequent multiple moves to other towns and homes, their return to New Zealand after the war and poems of more recent events that evoke those times for Adcock. The poems are straightforward and some are humorous.

Illiterate
by Fleur Adcock

That gaping boredom before I learned to read -
sitting on the sheepskin rug, wailing
'Mummy, I don't know what to do!'

(The baby asleep, no one to play with,
no kindergarten until the morning,
and no idea when the afternoon would end.)

'Why don't you do some colouring in?' she'd say.
'Here are the crayons'- except I though she called them
'crowns', like what the King wore on his head.

It was sometimes hard to get a grip on words.
That snail bread, for example: I watched her slice it,
waiting for the knife to expose a shell.

There was always something new to puzzle out,
and old stuff to unlearn (the singular
of matches, it turned out, was match, not 'matcher').

Thank God Chicken Licken came along,
a year or two later, to rescue me.
Life makes a lot more sense when you can spell.

( I liked the above poem because, my parents, who have/had Philadelphia accents, pronounced the word 'crayon' as 'crown'.)

The Mill Stream
by Fleur Adcock

And what was the happiest day I remember?
It was when we went to the Mill Stream -

my sister and I and the Morris kids.
We wore our bathing-suits under our dresses

(subterfuge), crossed the live railway lines
(forbidden), and tramped through bluebell woods.

There was a bridge with green and brown shadows
to lurk among in the long afternoon.

Chest high in the stream, with pointy water-snails
as escorts, I could hardly believe my luck.

Happiness is chemical. Sunshine and water
trigger it. (And I couldn't even swim.)

Nice poems, I havent heard of her before, might check her out more. Thanks.

Hey, Kelly! Love the poetry you are sharing this year. Poetry is not really my thing and your thread helps me broaden my horizons about it a bit :)

I particularly liked the second one - how strange that her family moved to the UK from NZ during WWII (rather than away)?!

...Ah, when we're rich, how well dressed we will be ;o)

Boooo to no travel plans - on the other hand, definitely worth it if you can buy your flat at the end of it!

40) The Last Dragon - Silvana DeMari
Young Adult, Fantasy, TIOLI YA Fantasy Book for Juvenile July, 11 in 11 Challenge: Catch Basin

41) A Beginner's Guide to Acting English - Shappi Khorsandi
NonFiction, 11 in 11 Challenge: Just the Facts, Memoir, TIOLI challenge

will edit with details later.

I read The Last Dragon maybe a year or two ago, and it was good until the last pages, and then, well, the ending dissapointed me on many different levels.

Reviews ...finally

40) The Last Dragon - Silvana DeMari
Young Adult, Fantasy, TIOLI YA Fantasy Book for fantasy July, 11 in 11 Challenge: Catch Basin

The story of Yorsh, the last elf, and Ebrow , the last dragon. Together they fulfill a prophecy that stops the endless rain and flooding and saves the world. The first section, where Yorsh meets the man and the woman and discovers the prophecy was fun. The second section where Yorsh raises the baby dragon was okay. The third section, where Yorsh and Ebrow leave the mountain to find a bride for Yorsh - as prophesied- was okay. Yorsh meets Robi, the daughter of the man and the woman from section one.
I found the writing to be a little uneven and lazy. The dragon was the cause of all the rain in one chapter. In the next, oh no, he wasn't - it was just coincidence. Despite evidence to the contrary that was already presented. Maybe the author didn't want the children who read the book to be upset with the dragon for all the suffering and death he unwittingly caused. Sometimes the characters would find themselves in a bind and then suddenly, they're fine, because, all elves (or dragons) can do "whatever" (insert needed skill here). This happened a few times. The evil characters were evil in an over - the- top fashion (think Series of Unfortunate Events type villains). The ending was strange and includes the death of a major character. The only thing I liked about the ending was that Yorsh didn't know that Robi was his bride to be from the prophecy, and that she knew but had no plans to inform him.
It's an okay book. The intended age group would probably like it a lot more than I did. 3/5 stars.

41) A Beginner's Guide to Acting English - Shappi Khorsandi
NonFiction, 11 in 11 Challenge: Just the Facts, Memoir

Shappi Khorsandi moved from Tehran to London in 1976. She was 3 years old. Her father, Hadi Khorsandi, was transferred to London by the newspaper for which he worked. Hadi Khorsandi was a poet and cartoonist with a comedic political leaning. The Khorsandi family become political exiles in the UK during the Iranian revolution. This is Khorsandi's memoir of moving to a new country with a different language and very different culture. She tells of going to school, speaking no English, trying to make friends and figure out the new rules.
I heard about this book when the author, who is a stand up comic in the UK, was on The Graham Norton show. She told a number of humorous stories about her family. While there is a good portion of the book that is very funny, this is often overshadowed by the family's political situation. Hadi Khorsandi was on the Ayatollah Khomeini's hit list. The family actually went into hiding at one point (one of the funniest stories in the book). Recommended.

42) Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before - Tony Horwitz
NonFiction, Travel, History, 11 in 11 Category: Arrivals and Departures

Part history, part travel memoir. Horwitz follows the same course that British Naval Explorer, Captain James Cook took on his three expeditions to map the South Pacific, and the west coast of North America. Instead of going by ship, Horwitz goes by plane, and occasionally ferry. He goes to New Zealand, Australia, Bora Bora, Tahiti, Alaska, Hawaii and many small island nations. Horwitz sets out to see how Cook is remembered and how Cook's discovery of these remote places that were later colonized affected the indigenous cultures. Turns out that Cook is mainly remembered for bringing disease, a desire for material goods and the eventual destruction of most of the culture and customs of these lands.
Horwitz is one of my favorite authors. Like all of his books, this one is well researched, well written and funny. Recommended.

43) Eating Animals - Jonathan Safran Foer
NonFiction, Animal welfare, Vegetarian, 11 in 11 Category: Just the Facts

Upon the birth of his son the author decides to find out where his food comes from and how it is produced. He takes an in depth look at factory farming of chickens, turkeys, pigs and salmon in the USA and it's effects on the environment, the genetics of the animals, the effects that wide spread over use of antibiotics and growth hormones have on the animals and the humans that ingest them and the dehumanizing effects of working in a slaughterhouse. He also investigates the laws that cover animal cruelty and welfare and the agencies responsible for enforcing those laws. His requests to large corporations to see their operations go unanswered. He ends up sneaking into these facilities. It becomes obvious to Foer that these companies care nothing about the animals they raise or the customers who buy their product, they care only about profits.
I've been a vegetarian for over 40 years. I don't remember why I bought this book - probably the thought provoking reviews here on LT. I already knew a lot of the information provided in the book. I did learn a few scary new tidbits. Gigantic shit lagoons that leak into community water tables. The "fecal soup" that can comprise 11% of every frozen chicken. The double role of the USDA as consumer watchdog and PR for these agribusinesses.
This book jumps all over the place. It could have used a good editor or some organization. My favorite parts were the testimonials from people in the business and people in the animal rights movement. Many of these testimonials made me cry. This book is not for everyone. Avoid it if you are squeamish or overly sensitive.

Even animals understand the misery of suffering as unbearable and wish to be free of it. - The Dalai Lama
(from book #44 below, which I was reading at the same time.)

44) Stages of Meditation - His Holiness the Dalai Lama
NonFiction, Meditation, Buddhism, 11 in 11 Category Still the Body, Quiet the Mind

The text of a commentary by the Dalai Lama on the classic Buddhist meditation handbook by Kamalashila. Lovely in parts, but it mostly went right over my head.

#117 Hi Megan! Thanks for visiting.

#118 Hi Stasia! I'm glad you're enjoying the poetry. I love sharing it.

#119 Hey fliss! I thought it was strange that the family moved to England during WWII. Adcock's father joined the army and her mother became an ambulance driver. I have no idea why they didn't leave the children in New Zealand with relatives.
As much as I love the Jersey shore I'm getting a little bored not taking any real vacations. The buy-out negotiations for my building have taken 7 years so far. There is still no end in sight. I have enjoyed spending vacation time visiting neighborhoods here in NYC that I hardly ever get to otherwise. And, of course, not being at work

#121 Hi Nathan- as you can see in my review I only really enjoyed the first section of The Last Dragon. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I'd read it when I was younger.

It's a nice day out today -- under 100 F degrees. Yea! Heading outside now.

#123: Horwitz is one of my favorite authors too, Kelly, and Blue Latitudes is one of my favorite books by him. I am glad to see that you enjoyed it.

I've seen Shappi Khorsandi often as a guest on The Graham Norton Show and she is very funny so I can imagine her book would be very good also. I must look out for that one. I also like the look of the Captain Cook book seeing as how he was instrumental in mapping most of New Zealand.

#126 - Leonie - I thought the New Zealand and Hawaii sections were the most interesting. Mainly because the indigenous people in both are so politically active and involved in trying to save their cultures.
Did you see the Graham Norton with Shappi Khorsandi, Toni Colette and Billie Piper? That's my favorite episode -- so funny.

I think I only caught the end of that one although we get a lot of reruns of Graham on TV here so no doubt I'll see it at one stage. I saw her with Hugh Laurie (just love him), Reese Witherspoon and Robert Patterson the other week.

I'd never heard of Tony Horwitz or Shappi Khorsandi, but I'm very interested in anything to do with Hawaii and New Zealand, and I love Graham Norton ... two more for The List.

45) The Architecture of Happiness - Alain deBotton
NonFiction, Architecture, 11 in 11 Category: Just the Facts

The philosophy of architecture and the psychology of our relationship with our environments. deBotton explains why we like the look and feel of some places while others make us uncomfortable. I enjoyed this book more than his The Art of Travel, which I read earlier this year. This book is easier to read, it's more fun, has better photographs and the prose flows. I could tell he likes architecture better than traveling - deBottons biases and moods are still evident. Some examples:

We require consistency in our buildings, for we are ourselves frequently close to disorientation and frenzy....We require that our environments act as guardians of a calmness and direction on which we have a precarious hold.

That we need art in the first place is a sign that we stand in almost permanent danger of imbalance, of failing to regulate our extremes, of losing our grip on the golden mean between life's great opposites: boredom and excitement, reason and imagination, simplicity and complexity, safety and danger, austerity and luxury.

This is my favorite passage:

When buildings talk it is never with a single voice. Buildings are choirs rather than soloists, they possess a multiple nature from which arise opportunities for beautiful consonance as well as dissension and discord.

I bought this book after seeing the movie 500 Days of Summer. The main character is reading this book in the movie. He has a job at a greeting card company, writing the sentiments inside the cards, because he's been unable to get a job as an architect. After falling apart he decides to get his act together and apply for jobs at architectural firms. In preparation he is seen drawing drafts of buildings on his chalk board apartment walls (where can I get these?), reading this book and taking in the architecture of downtown Los Angeles. In fact, the movie, while claiming to be a love story, is more a love letter to architecture. The architecture of LA specifically. Architecture saves the protagonist from the frenzy and imbalance of his life. Loved the movie, liked the book (3.5 stars) -- recommend them both.

46) Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It - edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Tara O'Shea
NonFiction, Essays, 11 in 11 Category: Just the Facts, Doctor Who

27 essays written by female Doctor Who fans about their experiences with Doctor Who fandom. Topics covered include fan fiction, fanzines, Doctor Who Magazine, conventions, cosplay, how they discovered Doctor Who, feminism in the show and favorite Doctors and companions (multiple essays about the change in Rose). Actually, a few of the essays are either interviews with or written by actresses who played roles in the television show or on the radio. The majority of the essays are written by American fans who are active in Doctor Who fandom, specifically Chicago Tardis (annual DW convention).
I learned a lot about the earlier years of Doctor Who. In the late 70's/ early 80s I had seen a few episodes with Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen, but my Who viewing in predominantly New Who.
Some essays were interesting, some informative, some rambling and boring -- a mixed bag. It's really less for fans of the show itself and more for the fan interested in fandom activities.

I'm not planning on keeping this book, so, if anyone is interested in reading it, just PM me and I'll send it out to you.

47) Tyranny Lesley Fairfield
Graphic Novel, Borrowed from Library

A small, 114 page, but powerful graphic novel about the tyranny of eating disorders. Anna panics when she enters puberty, sure that she has become huge. Added pressures from co-workers, the media, the fashion industry and imagined pressures from her boyfriend send her into the abyss of anorexia.
The author uses her own 30 year struggle with eating disorders as inspiration.
Recommended

48)Trickster: Native American Tales. A Graphic Collection
Graphic Novel, Borrowed from Library

Multiple writers and artists adapt native American tales into graphic form. A quick, fun read. I like the different artistic styles and the color palette used throughout the book. The first story of how the stars got in the night sky is my favorite.
Recommended.

July Recap:

Books read in 2011: 48
Books read in July: 12
Books off the Shelf 2011: 26
Books borrowed from Library: 3
Fiction: 15
NonFiction: 19
Poetry: 11
Graphic Novel: 3
Female author: 27
Male author: 25
Books bought in 2011: 145 (4 in July)

Reading plans for August:
Kristen Lavransdatter (1140 pages)

Since it doesn't look like we'll have Art for August as a theme, I'll do my own:
The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps 1942-1946
Alfred Stieglitz New York

TIOLI books:
A Red Herring Without Mustard - book with food in the title
The Summer Book - Tove Jansson. Author with an August birthday. I was going to pick either Ray Bradbury or Dorothy Parker - since they both share a birthday with me - and I love them both - but I don't have anything by either of them that I'm dying to read right now.

One ER book I should get to: Yoga for a Beautiful Face (my streak of winning exercise books and graphic novels continues. I have never once won a fiction book)

I continue reading -- very slooowly:
Flannery O'Connor The Complete Stories
The Forgotten Garden
Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life

#130 i found this book The Architecture of Happiness to be not quite what I expected. More about houses than philosophy. I still liked it though perhaps not as much as others of his.

I found the Architecture of Happiness book intriguing and interesting, a bit dry in places and I only ended up reading certain bits, not the whole thing. Still, it was the one of his I've most liked so far.

I already have Trickster in the BlackHole. I am glad to see that you enjoyed it, Kelly.

49) Skim - Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
Graphic Novel, Borrowed from Library

Coming of age tale about Kimberly (aka Skim - called that because she's not), a depressed overweight 10th grader. She practices witchcraft, feels alienated from her peers and suspects that everyone is watching her as a suicide risk. (her school is on teen suicide alert after the suicide of a boy from town) Skim begins a romantic relationship with her English teacher, Ms. Archer. Skim is hurt and confused when Ms Archer leaves town and the school suddenly.

50) The Complete Kitchen Garden: An Inspired Collection of Garden Designs and 100 Seasonal Recipes - Ellen Ecker Ogden
Gardens, Food & Drink, Plants, Borrowed from Library

For some reason this book was in the poetry section at my local library. I loved the pictures of the gardens, so.. I checked out the book. Directions on how to start a kitchen garden of various types - salad lover's garden, children's garden, culinary herb garden, country garden, patio garden and many more. 100 recipes are included in the book, a number of which are vegetarian and have been photocopied (but not attempted at this time).
If I ever realize my dream of living some place where I can have a garden and a dog I will buy a copy of this book. Maybe when I retire. (if retirement is still an option at that time) Recommended.

51) A Red Herring Without Mustard- Alan Bradley
Mystery, Series, TIOLI Book with a food in the title

The third book in the Flavia deLuce mystery series. This one involves the attempted murder of a gypsy fortune teller, a baby that went missing years ago and the death of a local small time thief. Once again 11 year old Flavia pedals around the town of Bishop's Lacey and it's environs on her trusty bicycle, Gladys. In this book the local police and her father finally realize that Flavia spends too much time unsupervised, roaming the countryside and getting into dangerous situations.
The mysteries in this third book were much better than in the second book. Recommended.

#124 VB, re the lack of holidays, I can definitely sympathise. I'm afraid half the reason I'm not very good at saving up (even for the big holidays) is that I cave in and go away somewhere anyway. I don't have very much willpower - although enough that I haven't touched my top 5 list of places I want to see next yet because they'd be too expensive. Of course, one of the advantages of being in Europe is that cheap holidays to other countries within Europe are an easy option (particularly if you live as close to Stansted Airport as I do)...

#127 The Graham Norton show is something I occasionally randomly come across and always enjoy, but never remember to actually watch - what a shame, because Toni Colette is one of my favourite actors (and, actually, I've got a lot of time for Billie Piper too).

#130 Huh - I also enjoyed 100 Days of Summer, but I have absolutely no recollection of that book. Sounds interesting...

The Dr Who book sounds like something that might be interesting to flick through if I happened to come across it, but I won't look out for it. The older Dr Who essays interest me particularly - it always amuses me that you can age a lot of my generation and older by which Dr Who they identify with. My Dr was Peter Davison (although I overlapped with Tom Baker before and, hmmm, Sylvester McCoy after) and for me, he will always be the true Dr Who ;o) Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant and Matt Smith are part of a completely different animal really - in many ways, it's a much better show (the special effects for starters), but in others, it just doesn't match the original (the special effects again - I have very fond memories of the polystyrene sets and the hilariously rubbish monsters!).

#132 I really do have to have a search around for Tove Jansson non-Moomin books at some point - I've a feeling we'll get along well. Any recommendations for a starting point (have I already asked this? I've been so rubbish at LTing recently, I can't remember)

52) The Love Poems of Rumi - edited by Deepak Chopra
Poetry, Borrowed from library , 11 in 11 Category: Mad verse, Sad verse, Glad verse and Bad verse

A small collection of the love poetry of the Persian poet Rumi. Recommended.

BITTERSWEET
by Rumi

In my hallucinations
I saw my beloved's flower garden
In my vertigo
In my dizziness
In my drunken haze
whirling and dancing
like a spinning wheel
I saw myself
as the source of existence

I was there in the beginning
and I was the spirit of love

Now I am sober
There is only the hangover
and the memory of love
And only the sorrow
I yearn for happiness
I ask for help
I want mercy

And my love says

Look at me and hear me
because I'm here just for that
I am your moon
and your moonlight too
I am your flower garden
and your water too
I have come all this way
eager for you
without shoes and shawl
I want you to laugh
to kill all your worries
to love you
to nourish you

O Sweet Bitterness!
I will soothe you and heal you
I will bring you roses
I too have been covered with thorns

and here's a short poem from Birdsong:

In your light I learn how to love.
In your beauty, how to make poems.

You dance inside my chest,
where no one sees you,

but sometimes I do, and that
sight becomes this art.

53) District and Circle - Seamus Heaney
Poetry, Borrowed from library, 11 in 11 Category: mad verse, sad verse, glad verse and bad verse

Not my favorite collection of poetry by Heaney. There were only 3 poems in the collection that I liked. I can't exactly put my finger on what I didn't like about the poems. They weren't bad poems, they just didn't speak to me.

54) The Summer Book - Tove Jansson
Fiction

This is a lovely little book of 22 connected short stories about a six year old girl, Sophia, and her grandmother as they spend a summer on their island in the Gulf of Finland. Sophia's father is there as well, but he is mostly in the background. In one of the earlier stories it is briefly mentioned that Sophia's mother has died. No one talks about this directly but it is always just under the surface. Whenever Sophia takes notice of death around her on the island she panics. In one story; Of Angelworms and Others, Sophia ( after accidentally cutting a worm in two) dictates a book to her grandmother. In this book she sets down her feelings about the small things - those creatures you can't avoid stepping on or hurting, that die slowly and won't let you help them. This was one of my favorite stories. Most of the stories are about everyday life on a very small island - surviving, salvaging, planting, keeping water in the well and an eye on the weather.
This is a book to be read slowly and savored. I'd recommend reading it in the summer.

Bittersweet poem = quite beautiful

Since we're not having Art for August as a monthly theme I'll do my own.

Art for August:

55) The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps 1942-1946 - Delphine Hirasuna
Art, Folk art, History

Gaman - enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity

In 1942 120,000 Japanese Americans, mostly from the west coast, were imprisoned in internment camps. These camps were in desolate, mainly dessert areas, in California, Arizona, Utah, Colorado and other western states. The internees were allowed to bring only the belongings that they could carry. They were housed in barracks of six one room units, each unit shared by two families and furnished only by cots. The internees started making needed furnishings from scrap wood and other materials found in the camps. Eventually they started making art and crafts from the different materials available in each camp: shells, slate, scrap wood, manzanita, ironwood, mesquite, onion sack string, pipe cleaners, wire, rocks, toothpicks, old clothes and electrical insulation board. They reused paper and melted down scrap metal to make scissors and chisels. The internees used arts and crafts as a way to escape from a situation that they couldn't control.
The book contains a history of the camps and many black and white photographs of life in the camps. 150 color photographs of the art and crafts are included. The art is folksy, beautiful, utilitarian, cultural. Looking at these photographs you get a sense of the spirit of a people who had had almost everything taken from them and were enduring the best that they could.
The author is third generation Japanese American whose family had been interned at Jerome, Arkansas. (before she was born) Many of the art works were collected from her family and friends' families.
My previous knowledge of the Japanese American internment camps comes from the book Farewell to Manzanar. This was a favorite book in junior high school. We never learned this part of American history in school. I feel inspired now to re-read that book ---it's been around 35 years since my last reading.
Highly recommended.

56) Alfred Stieglitz New York - Bonnie Yochelson
Art, Photography

I have had a poster of Edward Steichen's photograph of The Flatiron Building hanging on my bedroom wall since I was a teenager. Looking at this poster daily led to the development of a little obsession with the Flatiron building and any art work depicting the Flatiron building. (actual name : The Fuller Building). This obsession led me to the photography of Alfred Stieglitz.
This volume is a collection of all the New York City photographs by Stieglitz. A history of Stieglitz's life in NYC and Europe, his photography, his marriages and the galleries, magazines and photographic organizations he founded comprises the text of the book. His photography is compared to the paintings and photographs of other artists, many who inspired him, depicting the same subjects (images included in the book) and in my opinion, often found not to be as good as the work that had inspired him. It's obvious that he sometimes copied other artists styles outright. The text describes that photographers sometimes did this copying of style as a challenge among friends.
The photography is beautiful. I love Stieglitz's older NYC photos --- ground level, rain and snow covered scenes. His later photos, shot from high rise windows are not as interesting to me. I realize that they were considered ground breaking at the time because most people had not seen NYC from above.

#140 - wow Megan, that was quick. You snuck in while I was copying from my 11 in 11 thread. Rumi's poetry is beautiful. I don't think I've ever read a Rumi poem that wasn't inspiring or evocative.
I edited to fix the second, shorter poem from Birdsong -- a stanza got chopped off in the transfer from thread to thread.

#137 Hey fliss! I can see that with Europe so close and inviting it would be hard to resist going on holidays when you have the opportunity. I'm sure I wouldn't resist. And lucky you, you get to travel for work. Of course you have to work, but at least you get to see new places. I once got to go, with two co-workers, to an insulin conference in Indianapolis. (headquarters of Eli Lily). Indianapolis was a nice place but there wasn't much to do or see. The highlight of the trip was eating dinner at the Indianapolis Zoo. Eli Lily is the biggest contributor to the zoo. The zoo was opened only to our group and we got to eat dinner in the dolphin tank room. The dolphins came over to the glass and were watching us eat.
Anyway, I have no excuse for not traveling in North America. I have never been to Canada or Mexico.
You should try to catch the Graham Norton show. Even when I don't know the guests I find it funny. 90% of the time I have never even heard of the celebrities he makes fun of in the opening.
In 500 Days of Summer the architecture book wasn't mentioned. The main character is seen reading the book.

Re the Doctor Who book -- unless you plan to really get into fandom in Chicago you should skip it. I did find the chapters about Tegan, Adric and other companions I have never seen informative.
Peter Davison's Doctor is the one with the celery, right?
I remember seeing a video from some British comedy show (can't remember which one) after Tennant became The Doctor where the newer incarnations chased an older incarnation around with an aluminum foil swan or bird. It was remarked that all his monsters were made out of foil. The only episode I have any memory of is a Sarah Jane/Four ep where they find a hand in a quarry and avert a nuclear melt down. Or something like that. Hand of Doom?

Book #54 The Summer Book is the first Tove Jansson book that I have ever read. I never even heard of the Moomin Trolls before LT. (or those Asterisk books either). I would recommend starting with that book. It's a short book, slow paced and lovely.

#136: I have got to find a copy of The Complete Kitchen Garden. Thanks for the mention of that one, Kelly!

Congratulations on passing 50 books for the year!

#142 good timing! I might have to google Rumi, I need some more good poetry in my life.

#143 Thanks Stasia. I didn't think I'd reach 50 books this year with my chunkster challenge. But I have, uh, slacked off a little on the big books. Presently I'm finishing up a bunch of small books while I ignore Kristen Lavransdatter.
I hope you're able to find the garden book. I've been mentally thanking whoever mis-shelved it (or perhaps hid it) in the poetry section.

Inspired by the delicious and juicy plums I got at the farmers market this morning, I wanted to share these two poems by William Carlos Williams.

This is Just to Say

I have eaten
the plums
that were
in the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold.

To A Poor Old Woman

munching a plum on
the street a paper bag
of them in her hand

They taste good to her
They taste good
to her. They taste
good to her

You can see it by
the way she gives herself
to the one half
sucked out in her hand

Comforted
a solace of ripe plums
seeming to fill the air
They taste good to her

And now I want some plums!

>124 VioletBramble: Yes, I 110% agree with that review. The first part was the best, then the sense of..."OK-i-ness" and "Really? Serious?" I'm thumbing that review. Of course I would if you did put it in the works page.

#147 LOL Stasia!

#148 Thanks Nathan. I have added my review to the work page. It should show up soon.

I thumbed it!

Did you feel the erthquake today? Only 1km deep? Wow that is shallow, hope the nerves are holding up.

No, I didn't. At the time I was up in the air on the Roosevelt Island tram. The tram ride isn't that steady on a normal day so, an earthquake could have gone unnoticed by us riders. People at work said they saw the patient beds moving and shaking. It seems like it was a spotty earthquake -- my mother was in her yard and didn't feel the earthquake, but my niece, who was maybe 10 feet away in the house felt it. We are now on aftershock watch.
My nerves are fine at the moment. If I happen to experience any after shocks it could be a different story. My mother is a little freaked out. Before the earthquake she was thinking about how the weather today (gorgeous) was just like on Sept 11, 2001. Then to see on the television news the buildings in downtown NYC being evacuated and the tunnels closed - brought up bad memories for her.

Oh dear, that is scary (what your mum was thinking)
It's hard not to fall back on superstitions at crazy times.

On Hurricane Irene watch here in NY. Got my "go-bag" and emergency supplies ready, just in case. A co-worker said I could crash on her floor if the island gets evacuated. I live on the 13th floor so hopefully I will be safe from (potential)12 foot water surges and have enough food to last until they return to normal.
Will edit some time later with reviews for:

57) Yoga for a Beautiful Face: Easy Exercises to Help You Look Young Again - Lourdes Julian Cabuk

58) Wicked Autumn: A Max Tudor Novel - G.M. Malliet

59) Flotsam- David Wiesner

60) Drinking at the Movies - Julia Wertz

61) Black and White - David Macauley

62) The Little Book of Hindu Deities - Sanjay Patel

Stay safe, Kelly!

#155 Thanks Stasia.

poem for today:

THE HURRICANE
William Carlos Williams

The tree lays down
on the garage roof
and stretches. You
have your heaven
it said, go to it.

Any trees still standing about your place?

Hi Megan. When I went outside this afternoon all the trees were still standing. Some had caution tape or orange cones placed around them. I think they were the trees that were dropping large branches. My mother is worried about the trees at her house but because of the flood waters can't get close enough to see if there was any damage. Still waiting to hear if family and friends in New Jersey are okay.
Well, off to bed to catch up on lost sleep.

Any more news? Hope everything is okay!

Hi Laura! Everybody is okay.Thanks for asking. All is fine here. My mother was finally able to reach her house yesterday afternoon. Her basement had flooded and she had to throw out a bunch of stuff. Mostly what she threw out were tools and other things that had belonged to my father that she has been meaning to throw out since he died (5 1/2 years ago). Unfortunately her storage freezer that was in the basement died during the flood and all the food had to be thrown out. (mostly stockpiled Jenny Craig stuff) There are towns in her part of Jersey that are still flooded so she was lucky to be able to reach her house. I'm going in this weekend to help her clean up and bleach the basement floor. Work-wise, spent Monday sending all the patients evacuated to us from other hospitals back to where they belonged. Not soon enough for us on pediatrics, as, apparently the police had to be called in on Sunday to remove a father. I'm so glad I had the weekend off.

Hopefully after work tomorrow I will have time to write reviews for the 6 un-reviewed books - or at least the ER books- and re-cap August.

Glad to hear your area wasn't too badly damaged. It must have been eerie....

#161 - Thanks Megan.

Spent the weekend at my mother's house, cleaning the basement and yard and pulling her lawn furniture out of the shed. You can tell from the bushes and trees (mud covered) that the flood waters were about 5 feet above street level. The playground behind my moms house looks like it is covered in lava from the mud pushed out of the creek. It was creepy.

I still have to give reviews for the books up thread. I may have time Wednesday.

Recap for August:
Books read in 2011: 62
Books read in August: 14
Books off the shelf 2011: 28
Borrowed from library: 7
Fiction: 20
NonFiction: 24
Poetry: 13
Graphic Novel: 5
Female author: 35
Male author: 32
Books bought in 2011: 166 (21 in August)

Hi Kelly, glad to hear you came through Irene okay although your mums place sounds like it got hit hard with flooding. I am doing a massive double-take at the books bought in 2011 total. I would love to say the same so am quite jealous.

57) Yoga for a Beautiful Face - Lourdes Julian Cabuk
Yoga, Exercise, 11 in 11 Category: Catch Basin, Early Reviewers

The subtitle of this book is Easy Exercises to Help You Look Young Again. Judging by the photographs, the author, Lourdes Julian Cabuk, is either blessed with good genetics or these facial exercises are indeed effective. The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 explains the 17 facial exercises. The descriptions are accessible and the photographs of each exercise are large and easy to see. The color palate of the photographs in this section - mainly pink and chartreuse - is calming. These exercises can be done alone or added onto your usual yoga practice. Part 2 focuses on yoga poses for the abdomen and spine, many incorporating the use of a chair, and breathing exercises. I particularly liked the section on internal and external cleansing that is part of the daily exercise program. The majority of this section will be familiar to those who already practice yoga. Part 3 outlines a daily ( actually 6 days a week) program of basic yoga, meditation, mudras ( an extensive listing) and nutrition. There is a chart of Healthy and Unhealthy Food Combinations. My only problem with this book is in regard to this chart. The chart gives the combination of cheese and dairy products a 1. 1 being a perfect combination of food. Two pages prior to the chart the author stated that cheese and ice cream (a dairy product) are the two most fattening foods. Since cheese, milk, yogurt and butter are each listed separately on the chart I can only assume that the category dairy products consists of ice cream and other creams. Anyway, I didn't understand how this food combination could be considered perfect. Beyond that issue I found the book informative and have already started incorporating the facial exercises and cleansing into my daily routine. Only time will tell if they will make me beautiful.

58)Wicked Autumn: A Max Tudor Novel by G.M. Malliet
Mystery, Early Reviewers, 11 in 11 Category: Round up the Usual Suspects

The first book in the Max Tudor Mystery series. Max Tudor is the Anglican priest for the village of Nether Monkslip. He is also a former MI5 agent. Nether Monkslip is shaken - sorta - by the murder of Wanda Batton-Smythe, head of the Women's Institute. Wanda was murdered during the Harvest Fayre. Wanda was running the farye with all the diplomatic skills of a Latin American dictator and was known to have had run -ins with numerous inhabitants of the village. The entire village is suspect in her murder. The local police ask Max to help them out. I had figured out fairly early the identity of the person that wanted Wanda dead, but not how it was accomplished.
This is the first cozy mystery I have ever read. Because it's the first book in a planned series a lot of time is spent introducing the village and many of it's inhabitants. In some sections of the book there was paragraph after paragraph of character introduction. It was a bit too much at times. I would be interested in reading the second book in the series to see how some of the characters -- Max, Awena and Lily--- develop.

60) Drinking at the Movies - Julia Wertz
Graphic Novel, Memoir, Borrowed from library

This graphic novel/ collection of comic strips is Julia Wertz's memoir of the year after she graduated from college, broke up with her boyfriend and moved to Brooklyn without a job plan. She chronicles all the dead end jobs, bad dates, various apartments and many, many bottles of beer and whiskey. She examines her binge drinking and compares it to her brothers' drug addiction. (her brother ODs and enters rehab twice during this year) Wertz shows us her life, warts and all. Except for the drawings of the exteriors and interiors of her apartments - which take up two full pages each - each page has 6 to 8 small panels, in black and white. I like her drawing style- simple, but detailed when the story requires.

59) Flotsam - David Wiesner
61) Black and White - David Macauley
Children's Literature, Picture book, Illustrations, Borrowed from library

Flotsam tells the story of a boy who finds an underwater camera washed up onto the beach. He develops the film in the camera and discovers an amazing world. The illustrations of the beach, the sea and the sea creatures are gorgeous. This is a beautiful book and a lovely story. Highly recommended.

Black and White tells 4 different stories on each page. Or are they parts of the same story? A really fun book. Recommended.

I checked these two books out of the library after reading about them on Amber's thread. Flotsam sounded like the perfect book to buy for a co-worker's upcoming baby shower. (She grew up in a house on the beach and her husband is a marine biologist) I loved the book so much that I'll be buying two copies - one for the baby and one to add to my picture book collection.

62 )The Little Book of Hindu Deities: From the Goddess of Wealth to the Sacred Cow - Sanjay Patel
Religion, Illustrations

An introductory book of Hindu deities (Gods, Goddesses and animals) for children. The illustrations are cute; I've seen them described as Hello Kitty-ish, but they reminded me of a much prettier version of South Park (everyone is sort of round). If I had owned this book as a child I would have ripped out the page on Mahadevi (Mother Goddess) in her beautiful green sari with the lotuses and hung it on my bedroom wall.

I am now caught up for August.
Sept reading so far:
63) Klezmer: Tales of the Wild East
64) Reuben Sachs
65)When You Are Engulfed in Flames

will review soon and actually catch up on threads

#164 Hi Leonie! I am horrified that I have bought so many books this year. I blame Borders for going out of business. I have managed to stock up on books, multiple times, at each of my three local Borders. Plus, went to the Borders near my mother last weekend and pretty much cleaned out their poetry section. I feel like a book vulture. And, I had to buy two new book shelves to hold all these books. Ugh!

You're the United Nations!

Most people think you're ineffective, but you are trying to
completely save the world from itself, so there's always going to be a long
way to go.  You're always the one trying to get friends to talk to each
other, enemies to talk to each other, anyone who can to just talk instead of
beating each other about the head and torso.  Sometimes it works and sometimes
it doesn't, and you get very schizophrenic as a result.  But your heart
is in the right place, and sometimes also in New York.


Take the Country Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid

My answer to the current quiz making the rounds. Strangely, this is very accurate.

63) Klezmer: Tales of the Wild East - Joann Sfar
Graphic Novel, Judaism, TIOLI challenge book with a Jewish main character

The first book in a planned series about a Klezmer band in Russia in the days prior to WWII. The book starts with the massacre of one klezmer band by another klezmer band. They were afraid of the competition in their little village. The only survivor of this massacre is The Baron, aka Noah Davidovich. We get the stories of 5 different characters as they meet each other. The Baron and Chava form a act that sings Jewish folk songs. Yaacov, Vincenzo and Tshokola form a klezmer band. At the end of the story Vincenzo's band barges on stage to join The Baron and Chava and they all, after some fighting, become a klezmer band. Judaism and Yeshiva life are the topics of conversation among these characters in their travels.
The story was okay. I don't think I'll be looking for more titles in this series. I may change my mind - I do like klezmer music and I'm interested n the history of Jewish folk songs. The illustrations, to quote the book endnotes: a startling, loose watercolor style. I loved the story in Sfar's The Rabbi's Cat, but didn't really like his illustrations. In comparison I like those illustrations much more than the ones in this book. I couldn't get used to this style or the color palate.

64) Reuben Sachs - Amy Levy
Fiction, Persephone Books, TIOLI challenge book with a Jewish main character

The story of two cousins who live in an Anglo-Jewish community in London in the 1880's. Reuben and his cousin Judith have secretly been in love with each other for years. His family is not so subtly trying to keep them apart. Reuben has a possibility of becoming the Conservative MP for St. Baldwins. He needs a wife with money and social connections. Judith is a poor relation with bleak prospects. Although it's only 148 pages long, not much seems to happen until the very end of the story. We meet the extended family, they have a few dinners together and attend a dance. Along the way we learn the social and material expectations for each character. You know the entire time that it will not end well. Recommended.

65) When You Are Engulfed in Flames - Davis Sedaris
Essays, Humor, Borrowed from library

Pretty much more of the same from Sedaris - stories of life in France with Hugh, cultural misunderstandings, Sedaris family hi-jinks, and a long section on why he moved to Japan for three months to quit smoking. I laughed out loud a few times, but overall, not as funny as Me Talk Pretty One Day.

almost finished with When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit.

>170 VioletBramble: Hm. I got Vatican City and my description is mostly off-base:

You're pretty sure that you're infallible in all that you do or say, and it's hard to say whether you're right. You have a lot of followers, most of whom will do whatever you say without question, or line up to see you ride around in your spiffy car. Religious and reserved, you have some wisdom, but also a bit much contempt for everyone around you. You're also fabulously wealthy, no matter what you say to the contrary.

Glad to see you enjoyed Flotsam! I was introduced to it when I was taking a Children's Lit class, and thought it was fabulous.

#172 - bell7. Oh, the Vatican City one is horrible. I think their biases are showing in that one. Besides, what can they know about people from those random 6 questions. I think they must rotate through a random database and assign a country that way. For me though, this one came closer to how I am than they usually get.

ETA: I just retook the test. I got different questions this time and was Germany. Did not match with me at all.

66)When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit - Judith Kerr
Historical fiction, Autobiographical, WWII, TIOLI challenge book with a Jewish main character

A fictional novel based on the real story of how Kerr's family escaped Germany just prior to the Nazi Party gaining power. Kerr's father, Arthur Kerr, was a well known drama critic, journalist and author who was openly critical of Hitler and the Nazi party. The family was Jewish by blood but actually didn't celebrate the Jewish holidays. (In the book they are shown celebrating Easter and Christmas) The family got out of Germany just two days prior to the Nazi party winning the elections. They moved first to Switzerland, them France and finally settled in England.
The main character is Anna, based on Judith Kerr. Anna is young, early primary school, at the start of the book. The book deals more with Anna and her brother Michael - plus their parents- dealing with moving from country to country, being broke, going to schools where everyone speaks a language you don't , than with the events of the emerging Nazi party, increasing anti-senitism in Europe or the events leading up to WW II. Recommended.

hmm, I took it three times and had the same questions each time and depending on how I answer the Nixon villain question, I am either Chile or Cambodia..

From your reviews I've actually added the Sedaris title Me Talk Pretty One Day as one to try from this author. The Amy Levy book I'm not so sure about. I read a similar book recently, short and with nothing much happening until right at the end and this style didn't really agree with me too well. I read so slowly, I guess I am impatient for action in my books.

There's a Nixon question?? I didn't get that. Both times I got _ quality of life, preferred climate, do you ski and do you fight over little things. If I answer no to Q4 I get : are you passive or aggressive and do you let people walk all over you. If I answer yes to Q4 i get: are you blonde or other, and have you ever gotten back together with an ex.

I'm going to go play around with the quiz and see what questions I get.

The Sedaris book is very funny. I think his story Jesus Shaves may be one of the funniest things I have ever read.

67) The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics - Alan Aldridge
Borrowed from library, Music, Illustrations, Photography

I saw this book on the poetry shelf at my local library. Flipped through it and immediately recognized much of the art work. I remember checking this book out of the library in 1978. (Not this exact copy, this one is a reprint) I even copied some of the art work onto my school notebooks back in the day. This book contains the lyrics to all of the Beatles songs, some songs written by Lennon and/or McCartney for other artists and songs from John Lennon's first two solo albums. There are quotes from each of the Beatles and various managers, producers and lawyers. The author seems to be a big John Lennon fan given the addition of post Beatles Lennon songs and that Lennon is quoted more than the other guys. Poor George Harrison only has 5 quotes in the entire book. The highlight of the book for me is the art work and photography from various artists and fans.

68) T.S. Eliot The Complete Poems and Plays 1909-1950 - T.S. Eliot
Borrowed from library, Poetry, Play, TIOLI author born in September

This collection, of course, includes his most famous poems; The Waste Land, Four Quartets and Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. I won't even pretend to understand The Waste Land. I've had The Golden Bough by James George Frazer on my shelves for over a decade now. Apparently, if I had bothered to read it I might be able to understand the poem as Eliot cites it as his primary reference. The plays were interesting.

Once again I am unable to sleep. I need to give some serious consideration to switching back to the night shift. At least I finished two books.

>173 VioletBramble: The truth is, I was a little hesitant to say how much I liked Flotsam given my test results that I always think I'm right. :) It's true that I like to know the answer to a question, but I'm pretty good about admitting when I was wrong.

The variety of questions is interesting. I just assumed it would be the same set... the only one I really remember was the last one, do you relate more to Catholicism or Judaism. Between the two, I picked the former, but I'm kind of curious what the result would be had I chosen Judaism.

>177 VioletBramble: I shall have to take a look at the Beatles book if I can find it. It sounds like something one of my brothers would enjoy.

#178 bell7 - LOL, I would never have made that connection. Plus, I agree that Flotsam is fabulous.
I took that test multiple times, answering randomly and I never got the Nixon question or one about Catholicism or Judaism. I guess that's good since I don't relate to either of them.

In book news, I am almost done with:
The Complete Book of Incense, Oils and Brews (OMG!! The touch stone calls Scott Cunningham a scurvy dog. I thought someone actually added that. Then I realized we're on pirate speak again)
Poetry Speaks Expanded
about 1/3 of the way through The Bone People

69) Poetry Speaks Expanded: Poets Read Their Own Work From Tennyson to Plath
Poetry, Borrowed from library

This book contains three CDs of poets reading their poems. The oldest recordings are of Alfred, Lord Tennyson reading The Charge of the Light Brigade in the 1880s. This collection includes the works of 47 poets, some very well known and some I had never heard of before. There is a short biography for each poet, what their work was about or which "movement" they were involved with, plus a few poems from each poet, not just those on the CDs. The best part was hearing the poets read their work - the rhythm they used, the words they stressed. Some of the poets spoke a bit before the reading of the poems. Recommended.

Cantico Del Sole from Instigations
Ezra Pound

The thought of what America would be like
If the Classics had a wide circulation
Troubles my sleep
The thought of what America,
The thought of what America,
The thought of what America would be like
If the Classics had a wide circulation
Troubles my sleep
Nunc dimittis, now lettest thou thy servant,
Now lettest thou thy servant
Depart in peace
The thought of what America,
The thought of what America,
The thought of what America would be like
If the classics had a wide circulation...
Oh well!
It troubles my sleep.

A Song in the Front Yard
Gwendolyn Brooks

I've stayed in the front yard all my life
I want a peek at the back
Where it's rough and untended and hungry weed grows
A girl gets sick of a rose

I want to go in the back yard now
And maybe down the alley
To where the charity children play
I want a good time today

They do some wonderful things
They have some wonderful fun
My mother sneers, but I say it's fine
How they don't have to go in at a quarter to nine
My mother, she tells me that Johnnie Mae
Will grow up to be a bad woman
That George'll be taken to Jail soon or late
(On account of last winter he stole our back gate)

But I say it's fine. Honest, I do
And I'd like to be a bad woman, too,
And wear the brave stockings of night-black lace
And strut down the streets with paint on my face.

70)The Complete Book of Incense, OIls and Brews - Scott Cunningham
Ritual, TIOLI book for Mid-Autumn Festival

One of the books in Scott Cunningham's magical series for Llewellyn. In this book he covers the process of making your own incense, oils, ointments, inks, tinctures, herb baths, bath salts, brews, soaps, sachets and powders for ritual or magical purposes. Cunningham takes you through each process step by step. There is also a large section on magical substitutions for hard to find (or poisonous) ingredients. Each section includes multiple recipes. I'm actually considering making the Witches Love Honey because it's edible and sounds delicious. Some of the recipes are a little scary; an incense to make apparitions appear - no thanks. There are numerous recipes for exorcism if you should need that sort of help. I think I will stick with protection powders and purification oil. I'm looking forward to making an asperger (sprig of fresh herbs used for sprinkling liquids). The book is thorough and informative. Recommended.

I really like the sound of The Beatles book and the poetry CD's. I guess that second one is one book where print version just doesn't work at all.

#182 Leonie, the poetry book is a print book, ~500 pages, it just includes 3 CDs of poets reading their poems. I think it's a series but I haven't looked for other volumes yet.

Poets reading their own poems, that is a great idea!

#184 - Megan, the readings were very nice. Some of the recordings were very old and there was a lot of hissing, clicking and popping.

I'm finally nearing the end of The Bone People. The book is very good but at the point I'm up to it is so depressing I find myself avoiding the ending.

71) The Bone People - Keri Hulme
Fiction, TIOLI challenge book set in Australia or New Zealand

More than two months after reading this book I'm still not sure how to write a review that will make sense without giving anything away. This is the story of three damaged people - a woman, a man, and a child. These three people come together to make a sort of family. There is alcoholism, child neglect and horrific child abuse. The ending made me so angry.
I did like Hulme's unique use of language. The book is really well written and the story, while it felt long, held my interest. I wanted to live in a tower and be off the grid like one of the main characters.
In a nutshell- very good, well written book, but emotionally draining. Recommended.

Recap for September:

Books read in 2011: 71
Books read in Sept: 9
Books off the shelf 2011: 32
Borrowed from library 2011: 12
Fiction: 23
NonFiction: 27
Poetry: 15
Graphic novel:6
Female author: 39
Male author: 38
Books bought in 2011: 196 ( 30 in Sept)

Planned reading for October: (all TIOLI challenge books as I've abandoned my 11 in 11 challenge at this point)

The Secret Life of Bees - Ch#1 book for English class - completed
My Reading Life - Ch#2 - Characteristic book - completed
Here Comes the Sun: The Spiritual and Musical Journey of George Harrison - Ch#3 Life of artist - completed
The October Country - Ch#5 - book with scary cover - completed
Eat, Pray , Love - Ch# 10 random book browse book - completed
Guided Meditations on the Stages of the Path - Ch# 11 - author with same number of letters in first and last name
Frankenstein - Ch# 12 - book with monster - abandoned
Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life - Ch# 19 - book you tried to read for two previous challenges - completed

I've read nothing from your October list so I'll just be waiting to read what you think of them, especially Frankenstein. I'm also looking forward to you review of The Bone People, I haven't read it yet but I've heard it can be quite full-on.

Hi Leonie. I'm having a difficult time with the review for The Bone People. It was a difficult book to read for many reasons, but well worth it. I'm still not sure about the ending. I'll have to think about it a bit more before I write the review.

Any Graham Norton fans around? Last night I attended the taping of the new Graham Norton show for the Ministry of Laughs; Would You Rather. I saw two episodes taped, one with Whoopi Goldberg and one with Judah Friedlander (there were others on the panel but I didn't know who they were). Not as funny as his talk show. I have no idea why he's taping in NYC.

Oh, I LOVE Graham Norton! How exciting that you got to see him live and in person! Weird that he's taping in NYC, but how fun!!!!!!

>186 VioletBramble: I just bought a second hand copy of the Bone People and am wondering when/where Ill read it. I should take it on holiday with me at Christmas as the place we are going is where the author lives! That would be fitting!

The Graham Norton Show is really funny. That sounds very cool that you got to see him taping a couple of shows.

#191,193 - I wish I had been able to see Graham Norton taping his talk show instead of this show. He'd ask stuff like 'would you rather have a dinner party with all your exes or have last meal with 5 death row inmates?" The panel would answer, all jokey, then he would pick the funniest answer. I'm not sure if the show is only for BBC-America or will be seen on the BBC as well. I had to look up who Janet Varney (panelist) was. I can't imagine she's known outside US basic cable. I think celebrity guests are hard to come by in NY. This was the first time I've been to the taping of a tv show. It was interesting. They taped the audience laughing before the show. I guess they plug in the laughter during editing.

#192 Megan -- were you planning on being depressed during Christmas? The Bone People can be a very depressing book. Plus, 9 days after finishing the book, I'm still upset about the ending. Not to dissuade you, it's a very good book, just probably not good Christmas reading.

72) Here Comes the Sun: The Spiritual and Musical Journey of George Harrison - Joshua M Greene
NonFiction, Biography, TIOLI Challenge book about an artist for National Arts and Humanities Month

The story of how musician George Harrison became involved with Eastern religions and with the Radha Krishna Temple in London. The author knew Harrison when he was a member of the temple and a performer on the Harrison produced recording of Hare Krishna. (Greene played the harmonium on the recording)
I bought this book after seeing the author at a reading at The Open Center here in NYC. Greene read from his book and showed photographs obtained from Harrisons' friends and family. Accompanied by a guitarist (a really well known NYC session guitarist whose name I do know, but can't remember at the moment). Greene led the crowd in singing all of George Harrison's best known songs, esp the spiritual songs. It was a joyous evening. Reading the book brought back memories from that evening. Recommended for fans of George Harrison.

73) My Reading Life -Pat Conroy
NonFiction, Essays, Books about books, TIOLI challenge Characteristic work for the 75 Books Challenge Group

Conroy writes about the books that influenced him, the books that he has written and the people that influenced his reading and writing. This is the first time I've read anything by Conroy. I will definitely be looking for his books and many of the other books he discussed. This book will add many titles to your wish list/ TBR pile.

74) The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd
Fiction, Spirituality, TIOLI challenge novel assigned in an English class

Really enjoyable read. I read this after Traveling with Pomegranates in which Kidd describes how she got her ideas for this book.

75) Savor; Mindful Eating, MIndful LIfe - Thich Nhat Hanh
NonFiction, Spirituality, Diet and exercise, Buddhism, TIOLI challenge book that was attempted for at least two other challenges

76) The October Country - Ray Bradbury
Fiction, Gothic, Short stories, TIOLI challenge book with scary cover

Short stories, some based around Halloween or Dia de los Muertas (I hope I spelled that right - Day of the Dead). A few of the stories were good in a very creepy/scary way, while most were just okay.

77) Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert
NonFiction, Travel, Spirituality, TIOLI challenge surprise book browse book

I actually liked this book. It was better - and less cheesy - than I had been led to believe it would be.

Two books I'm not counting in the numbers because they were just copies of posters:
David Lance Goines Posters 1970-1994
The Big Poster Book of Hindu Deities - Sanjay Patel

First book abandoned in 2011 - Frankenstein. I gave it 66 pages. I found it boring and just couldn't get into the story.
I'm also going to stop reading Flannery O'Connor The Complete Stories. I'll resume reading it sometime later. Every story is filled with bleakness and meanness. I'm about 1/3 of the way through this large collection of all O'Connor's short works. The stories are very well written, but, I've just had my fill of depressing things right now.

Poem for Autumn: ( autumnal and Buddhist)

From "The City of the Moon"
by Kenneth Rexroth

Buddha took some autumn leaves
In his hand and asked
Ananda if these were all
The red leaves there were.
Ananda answered that it
Was autumn and leaves
Were falling all about them,
More than could ever
Be numbered. So Buddha said,
"I have given you
A handful of truths. Besides
These there are many
Thousands of other truths, more
Than can ever be numbered.

Hopefully I'll have time to review the above books on Monday.

78) The Witches' Kitchen - Allen Williams
Young adult, TIOLI challenge book with monster in title

A fun and unique fantasy. The main character is a toad who suddenly finds herself trapped in the ever changing kitchen belonging to two sister witches. I'd read more in this series.

79) Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle..and other modern verse - edited by Stephen Dunning, Edward Lueders, Hugh Smith
Poetry

This was a favorite poetry book in junior high school. I saw it on the shelf at Borders and had to buy it. Strangely, I actually remembered at least half of these poems.

Fortune
Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Fortune
has its cookies to give out
which is a good thing
since it's been a long time since
that summer in Brooklyn
when they closed off the street
one hot day
and the
FIREMEN
turned on their hoses
and all the kids ran out in it
in the middle of the street
and there were
maybe a couple dozen of us
out there
with the water squirting up
to the
sky
and all over
us
there was maybe only six of us
kids altogether
running around in our
barefeet and birthday
suits
and I remember Molly but then
the firemen stopped squirting their hoses
all of a sudden and went
back in
their firehouse
and
started playing pinochle again
just as if nothing
had ever
happened
while I remember Molly
looked at me and
ran in
because I guess really we were the only ones there.

>194 VioletBramble: yes, I'd heard it was very sad now that I think about it. My friend read it (The Bone People) while living in the UK and she cried all through the first half for homesickness and the for days afterwards from the ending! Maybe Ill re-think it as my Christmas reading....

ETA will read the poetry later and comment, hooning past now....

80) Guided Meditations on The Stages of the Path - Thubten Chodron
NonFiction, Meditation, Buddhism, TIOLI challenge author with same number of letters in first and last name
Includes a CD with >14 lunacat: hours of guided meditation to which I have not yet listened.

Recap for October:

Books read in 2011: 80
Books read in October: 9
Books off the shelf 2011: 36
Borrowed from library: 12
Fiction: 26
NonFiction: 32
Poetry: 16
Graphic Novel: 6
Female author: 43
Male author: 44
Books bought in 2011: 209 (13 in October)

Planned reading for November:

TIOLI challenges:
The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern --#1 animal on page 50 - completed
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - Sherman Alexie --#2 book by Native American author - completed
Wonderstruck - Brian Selznick --#8 author you've previously read only one book - completed
Jar City - Arnaldur Indridason (Icelandic) ---#10 book in a non lingua franca language - completed
Fair Play - Tove Jansson (Swedish) (wrong touchstone) - completed
How to See Yourself as You Really Are - His Holiness the Dalai Lama (Tibetan) - reading

if time allows :
A Monster Calls -Patrick Ness - book with chapter titles not numbers - completed

non-TIOLI books:
George Harrison: Living in the Material World - Olivia Harrison
I Am Half Sick of Shadows - Alan Bradley - completed
Habibi -Craig Thompson (wrong touchstone) - completed

Wow, I just noticed the number sixteen next to your poetry readings. That is impressive! I'm not a huge fan of poetry and I blame the fact that I'm just too impatient most of the time to try to figure out what the authors are alluding to, but I'm always in admiration of those who enjoy and understand poetry. :)

Looks like you have a great November lined up as well. I'l be curious to see what you think of The Night Circus, Wonderstruck, and Habibi.

Hi Valerie! Thanks. In 2008 I challenged myself to read a book of poetry a month. Turned out that I really enjoyed reading poetry, so, I've kept it up. As for understanding what the poems are about...most of the time it's obvious or doesn't even really matter, you decide what the poem is about for yourself. However; I read some T.S. Eliot poetry in Sept and it went right over my head. LOL.
Almost finished with Wonderstruck -- enjoying it very much so far.

81) Fair Play - Tove Jansson
Fiction, Creativity, TIOLI challenge book in a Non lingua franca language (Swedish)

Lovely, quiet, barely disguised autobiography about creativity. Recommended.

82) Wonderstruck - Brian Selznick
Graphic novel, Fiction, Illustrations, TIOLI challenge author you've read only one other book

Two intertwined stories, decades apart, told partly in illustrations. Set in museums in NYC. Lovely story, beautiful illustrations. I didn't like this as much as I liked The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Recommended.

83)Jar City - Arnaldur Indridason
Mystery, TIOLI challenge book in a non lingua franca language (Icelandic)

First in a series. Very good mystery. Be warned - there is a lot of sexual violence. Recommended.

84) The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - Sherman Alexie
Fiction, Illustrations, TIOLI challenge book written by a Native American author

VERY funny , VERY sad book about a young American Indian boy who decides to go to high school off the reservation. Highly recommended.

>199 VioletBramble: I like that one, love the way it "sounds" when I read it in my head. Good rhythm.

#205 Hi Megan - Ferlinghetti would probably like your statement. He believed that all poetry should be read out loud, to hear the rhythm.

85) I Am Half-Sick of Shadows - Alan Bradley
Fiction, Series, TIOLI challenge next in series

Fourth in the Flavia deLuce mystery series. A movie production company is shooting at Buckland. The entire village and production crew get snowed in during a blizzard. A murder is discovered the morning after the blizzard.

***Spoiler Alert **** Spoiler Alert****
It really bugged me that Flavia was able to recognize a member of the production crew as a former actress from old celebrity magazines. We're supposed to believe that people who worked with her as an actress don't recognize her because she has a different hair style. Really??
*** End Spoiler Alert *****

86) A Monster Calls - Patrick Ness
Fiction, TIOLI chalenge book with titled chapters
* Recommended by fliss. Thanks fliss

Conor's mother is dying from cancer. Every night at the same time a monster comes to him and tells him stories and demands to hear Conor's story in return.
An amazing book. So beautifully told. It made me cry. The best book of the year so far. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

87) In Mad Love and War - Joy Harjo
Poetry, TIOLI challenge Native American author

While I fairly enjoyed this small book of poetry I didn't like it enough to seek out other books by the author or share any of the poems.

88) The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern
Fiction, TIOLI challenge book with an animal on page 50

I enjoyed this well written story about two magical challengers in a bizarre magical duel to the death. Celia and Marco are bound to this challenge when they are very young. They both work at the same magical circus. The descriptions of the circus, the various tents, the midnight dinner parties, the clocks and the clothing are wonderful and compelling.
I judge fantasy books on whether or not I'd want to live in that world. The best fantasy books, for me, are ones that I'd want to inhabit - to live and work in that world ---Harry Potter, Lirael and Little, Big. While reading Night Circus I often thought things such as "Ooo, that sounds pretty, I'd like to see that", but I never really wanted the circus to be real. Because of that it gets only 4/5 stars from me.
One big plus for me: My favorite tent was Widget's tent filled with containers of scent memories. While reading that section I thought how these scent memories reminded me of the perfumes from CB I hate perfume and The Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs. I was happy to see Morgenstern mention in the Afterword that she used BPAL perfume as inspiration for that tent.

89) Habibi - Craig Thompson
Graphic Novel, Mythology, TIOLI challenge book with titled chapters

Dodola is a 9 year old girl sold into marriage by her father. Her husband, a scribe, tells her stories and teaches her how to read and write. When Dodola is 12 she is stolen from her husband and branded as a slave. She manages to escape from the slave market with a 3 year old orphan boy, Cham. (Dodola calls him Zam) Dodola and Zam live in an abandoned boat in the dessert. Dodola raises Zam as if he were her child, she shares her stories with him, and teaches him to read and write. Dodola uses her body to trade for food from the men in the passing caravans. When Dodola is 21 and Zam is 12 they become separated. After many years apart and many struggles they are reunited and eventually form a different relationship. Although the story is often bleak and violent (mainly sexual violence) the ultimate message is positive.
Thompson uses stories from Islam and Christianity, weaving them together, in narrative as well as in the illustrations. This is a gorgeous book. Thompson utilizes the Arabic alphabet, alchemical symbols and arabesque design motifs as borders, chapter and endpapers and background design elements. Some of the art panels are stunning. One of my favorite panels shows the two main characters standing with their arms wrapped around each other in a hug with rain pouring down. In this panel the rain is depicted as the words of a poem in Arabic. (An excerpt from the poem is below).
An amazing book. Highly recommended.

excerpt from Rain Song by Badr Shakir al-Sayyab
Translated from Arabic by Lena Jayyusi and Christopher Middleton

It is as if archways of mist drank the clouds
And drop by drop dissolved in the rain...
As if children snickered in the vineyard towers,
The song of the rain
Rippled the silence of birds in the trees...
Drip, drop, the rain...
Drip...
Drop...the rain

Evening yawned, from low clouds
Heavy tears are streaming still.
It is as if a child before sleep were rambling on
About his mother ( a year ago he went to wake her, did not find her,
Then was told, for he kept on asking,
"After tomorrow, she'll come back again...")

That she must come back again,
Yet his playmates whisper that she is there
In the hillside, sleeping her death forever,
Eating the earth around her, drinking the rain;
As if a forlorn fisherman gathering nets
Cursed the waters and fate
And scattered a song at moonset,
Drip, drop, the rain...
Drip, drop, the rain...

Do you know what sorrows the rain can inspire?
Do you know how gutters weep when it pours down?
Do you know how lost a solitary person feels in the rain?
Endless, like spilt blood, like hungry people, like love,
Like children, like the dead, endless the rain.

90) How to See Yourself as You Really Are - His Holiness the Dalai Lama
NonFiction, Spirituality, Buddhism, TIOLI challenge Non lingua franca book (Tibetan)

91) The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks - E. Lockhart
Fiction, Young adult, TIOLI challenge book with titled chapters

Loved this book, A quick , fun read with lots of word play. Set in a boarding school with a secret society that Frankie tries to infiltrate. Highly recommended.

92) The Way of the Buddha: The Illustrated Dhammapada (Gift Book)
Sacred Buddhist text translated from Pali by F Max Muller
Illustrated by the Rubin Museum of Art

93) Tapping the Power Within: The Path to Self-empowerment for Women (20th Anniversary Edition)- Lyanla Vanzant
Ritual, Spirituality

I'm not likely to finish another book between now and midnight tomrrow, so..

Recap for November:

Books read in 2011: 93
Books read in Nov: 13
Books off the shelf 2011: 40
Borrowed from library: 12
Fiction: 34
NonFiction: 36
Poetry: 17
Graphic novel: 8
Female author: 48
Male author: 51
Books bought in 2011: 225 (16 in Nov)

The Night Circus has a huge waiting list at my library, there must be a buzz about it somewhere!
I cant dedicate the appropriate time to read the poem yet, but will come back when there is more silence around me :)

Yeah, me too. I'm still at number 65 in line a month after requesting Night Circus.

I really enjoyed The Night Circus, far more than Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children which is just peculiar with weird photographs.
I have Habibi home from the library so looking forward to reading it, I've only dipped into the first few pages so far.

Hi Megan and Jim -- I hope your wait for The Night Circus ends soon. Although, I think that you'll find it was worth the wait. It's really very good.
Hi Kerry - I've never heard of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Should I avoid it? I hope you're enjoying Habibi. I know that there is some controversy here at LT over some of the content. I bought it mainly for the illustrations - so gorgeous - and because Thompson is one of my favorite authors.

I am on vacation starting today. Once I finish cleaning the apartment (desperately needed) and doing many loads of laundry, I should have time to work on the reviews I owe since September.

Planned reading for December:

TIOLI reads:
Start Something that Matters - #1, stepped author name
The Experience of Insight - #18 11 in 11 challenge book
Booked to Die - #9 book about books

already completed:
Green Angel -#8 word from nativity story
George Harrison: Living in the Material World -# 15 book with 5 or fewer reviews
A Contract with God - #2 gods, deities, celestial beings

if time allows:
My Dog Tulip -#10 human-animal bond
Book Lust to Go #19 ER book you did not win

non-TIOLI reading : (unless I get lucky and can squeeze then into the stepped author challenge)
Chakra Balancing
Chains

94) Green Angel -Alice Hoffman
Fiction, Fantasy, Young adult, TIOLI challenge book with a word from the nativity story

A short, dark fairy tale of a story. A tale of survival and starting over after great loss. Recommended.

95) George Harrison: Living in the Material World - Olivia Harrison
Biography, Music, Photographs, TIOLI challenge book with 5 or fewer reviews

Companion book to the recent HBO movie by Martin Scorsese. This book is complied by Harrison's widow Olivia Harrison. It mainly consists of photographs taken throughout the life of musician (ex-Beatle) George Harrison. The photos are interspersed with stories by family, friends, and fellow musicians about Harrison. Olivia Harrison has stated that she chose to have the book be primarily photographs because George was always into photography and videotaping. Previously unseen photographs taken by Harrison while on tour with the Beatles are included. What I liked most about this book was getting a look at Harrison's private life with his wife, son and his gardens.
Unfortunately my book is missing some pages -- the whole Dark Horse era is missing - while the end pages are repeated where those pages should be. I noticed on Amazon.com that others have had this same issue. So beware if you are looking to buy this book. This gives me an excuse to buy another copy when (if) the book is released n paperback. (I will check the pages first)
Highly recommended for fans of George Harrison, The Beatles or 60's music.

96) A Contract with God- Will Eisner
Graphic novel, TIOLI challenge book with God, deities, celestial beings

The further adventures of the tenants of Droopsie Avenue in the Bronx.

Just catching up, saying Hi! and enjoy your time off.

Oooh, a nice time of year to have off too, you've plenty of shopping time if it's needed, and plenty of time to lay around and watch movies and read books too! Have a great time!

#217 - Hi Leonie - nice to see you back on LT. I will pop by your thread later today.

#218 Hi Laura. Well, I have managed to clean the entire apartment and do 9 loads of laundry. But I've only completed one book my entire vacation. I am finished all my holiday shopping though. I just need to wrap stuff, which I'll probably get to tomorrow. Then back to work on Monday. The only DVDs I managed to watch were The Tree of Life (stunning cinematography) and The Red Riding Trilogy -- both of which left me confused and will need to be re-watched.

...

Also, I FINALLY have managed to eek out meager reviews or descriptions of various books in above posts:

The Bone People in post # 186 and The Night Circus in #207 with random ones in between. Most recent books in #216 also reviewed.

I have to go get in the shower soon because I am going to a Vegetarian Party this evening. When I get back I will review my most recently finished book (an ER book): Start Something That Matters. Then I will visit other peoples threads and catch up on what's happening here at LT. Tomorrow I am going to see Eric Weiner, author of Geography of Bliss talk about happiness for three hours. Should be interesting.

Just came back to read the poem in #209, lovely (and sad). I love watching rain though, and sadness has its place.

9 loads of washing!?? Wow, that's a long day ;)

The review of The Bone People is a good one. I just realised I have had absolutely NO IDEA what that book is about, but when people talk about it they certainly talk about it with passion. So it's good to have a clue now what I'm about to face next year when I finally get to it.

Hi Kelly,
I still haven't managed to pick up Habibi, maybe this week now that I've finished my 11in11 challenge. I liked reading your thoughts on The Bone People, it's a real experience reading that and hard to express how you feel. I loved the idea of the tower too.
You should take a look inside a copy of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, if the photographs intrigue you then you'll probably enjoy the story. One of those fantasy books where you don't want to say too much, well I can say there will be a sequel and not a place you'd want to live in.

I see you watched The Red Riding Trilogy, I watched those earlier this year, the first one was brutal. Are you going to read the books?

#220 Hi Megan - luckily my building has a laundry room with multiple machines and I can usually get a few washers at a time. It probably took only 2 1/2 hours to get all 9 loads of laundry washed. dried, folded and put away.
I also had no idea what The Bone People was about before I read the book. There was all this buzz about this great book from New Zealand. My previous NZ reading was limited to The Whale Rider, so, I decided to expand my reading horizons. I'm sure when you get to read The Bone People next year that you'll have a strong reaction to it as well. Esp. since you're the parent of young children.

#221 Hi Kerry - I finally noticed Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children in the book stores. It looks like something my youngest sister would enjoy. I'll add it to the wish list. And, I'll make sure I get the actual paper version.
I may have to read The Red Riding Trilogy books, just so that I finally know what was going on. I was so confused by the end of the 3rd movie. I plan to watch them all again on the bedroom television (it has closed captioning/subtitles) because some of the actors not only had such thick Yorkshire accents, but were really mumbly in their speech. Sometimes I had no idea what they'd actually said. I thought the 1st and 3rd parts were brutal. The 3rd part because we're actually shown things that happened to children. I'm not actually looking forward to re-watching but I do want to have a better idea of what happened. Have you read the books?

97) Start Something That Matters - Blake Mycoskie
NonFiction, Early Reviewer, TIOLI stepped book challenge, business, charity

Blake Mycoskie first came to my attention when he and his sister Paige were contestants on the reality television show The Amazing Race. Years later I saw him in an AT&T commercial talking about his company; Toms Shoes. At Toms when you purchase a pair of shoes a second pair of shoes is given to a child in need of shoes. I hadn't heard of Toms prior to this commercial. I went on line, checked them out and now own a few pairs of Toms vegan slip-on shoes. I'm a big fan of Toms shoes. So, of course, when this book appeared on the list of Early Reviewers books, I had to request it.
Mycoskie tells the story of his inspiration for Toms (short for Tomorrow's shoes), how he got started and the business principles he utilizes. He uses his own experiences and the experiences of other entrepreneurs to illustrate these principles. He gives advice for those looking to start a business around a cause or charity. Much of Mycoskie's advice centers on his belief that we are in this life to help each other and to improve the lives of others.
Now, I'm most likely never going to start a business. However; I was still able to find advice in this book that would help me at work. I think this is a pretty good entry level business book, with a focus on charitable or cause based businesses.

98) Chains - Laurie Halse Anderson
Young adult, Historical fiction, War, USA

The story of a young slave girl, Isabel, who is owned by a Loyalist family in New York City during the American Revolutionary war. When her 5 year old sister Ruth is sold by the family, Isabel attempts to run away to find her. She is captured, placed in the stocks and branded on her face. She becomes a spy for the Rebels, passing notes and feeding the starving rebel soldiers in the jail. Isabel continues to look for a way to escape.
Interesting history of the period. First in a series of three. Recommended.

As a kiwi I always feel guilty when I read someone else has read The Bone People and I still haven't!

LOL Leonie. I feel the same way when I find out someone who's not American has read Gone With the Wind, and I haven't. I've never even seen the movie.

99)A Child's Christmas in Wales - Dylan Thomas
Illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman
TIOLI Christmas challenge

A re-read for me. Favorite parts: Miss Prothero, who always says the right thing, asking the firemen who've just put out her house fire: "Would you like anything to read?", and, the crocheted nose bag.
The illustrations in the edition I have are just gorgeous. Recommended.

100) My Dog Tulip - J R Ackerly
NonFiction, TIOLI challenge book with human- animal bond

Ackerly' memoir of his Alsatian (German Shepherd) bitch, Tulip. It started off really cute - how devoted she was to him, what they spent time doing together. Then he goes into her problems stooling and her difficulties with her anal glands. After that, 3/4 of the book is about Tulip in heat, looking for a suitable mate (or husband in Ackerly's terms), her sexual difficulties, her pregnancy and her puppies. It was a good book, but, I'd recommend it only to those people that are really into dogs. Actually I think this book is for those people who are obsessed with their own dogs and would like to read about a man obsessed with his dog.

Kelly congratulations on reaching a hundred books!

Happy christmas and a prosperous and peaceful new year to you and yours from sunny Malaysia. Look forward to keeping up more in 2012.

Thank you Paul. And thanks for the holiday wishes.
I have your 12 in 12 Challenge thread starred. I think I stand a better chance of keeping up with threads in that group -- way less traffic.

101) The Experience of Insight - Joseph Goldstein
Buddhism, NonFiction, TIOLI challenge book from 11 in 11 challenge

A classic in Buddhist literature. This guide to Buddhist meditation is broken down into 30 chapters. One lesson a day during the course of a 30 day retreat. Each chapter is on a different aspect of Buddhism or meditation and has a question and answer section on that topic. The writing is clear and concise. The examples used are easily applicable to modern life. Well written and never boring. Recommended.

102) Time and the Tilting Earth: Poems - Miller Williams
Poetry, TIOLI challenge book that mentions time

103) Book Lust to Go: Recommended Reading for Travelers, Vagabonds, and Dreamers - Nancy Pearl
Books about books, travel, TIOLI Challenge Early Reviewers book you did not win

The fourth book in Nancy Pearl's Book Lust series. This book is about books, fiction and nonfiction, that give the reader a sense of what it's like to travel to or live in the cities or countries mentioned. Some areas are over represented and some, esp the areas she covered in the first two books, are under represented.
As usual after reading a Pearl book I added dozens of titles to my wish list and immediately added 9 books to my kindle.

104)Chakra Balancing: A Guide to Healing and Awakening Your Energy Body - Anodea Juduth
Body work, exercise, yoga

A workbook and CD set for progressively working out your chakra issues. Includes a different sun salutation for each of the 7 chakras. The authors voice on the CD is very soothing, Although I've finished reading the book it will probably be many months before I make any progress in chakra balancing.

The Alphabet as Part of What We Are
by Miller Williams from Time and the Tilting Earth: Poems

Some of whom we came from came for a chance.
Others came indentured, others in chains,
to these potential, then united, states,
except for those who crossed the Bering Straits,
but they were immigrants, too, although they came
before there was a colony to name.
We're still astounded to find ourselves here,
children of brave and slave and musketeer,
coolie and buccaneer and wetback,
what we call white and yellow, red and black,
believing in living together and learning to.

Knowing how flesh can fail, minds misconstrue,
we have to wonder how we came this far
toward what we want to be, being what we are.

Part of what keeps us restless and dreaming ahead
is paper printed with ink, words to be read,
thoughts to be spread about, newspapers and books,
journals and magazines - for lingering looks,
on slow strolls in the garden called the brain,
at long impressions where a truth has lain.

Recap for 2011

Books read in 2011: 105
Books read in Nov: 12
Books off the shelf 2011: 47
Borrowed from the library: 13
Fiction: 37
NonFiction: 43
Poetry: 18
Graphic Novels: 9
Female author: 54
Male author: 57
Books bought in 2011: 244 (19 in Dec)
(plus 11 other books that found their way into my apartment = 255 new books waiting to be read)

I managed to fit 61 of the 104 books read into TIOLI categories.

105) Paris, My Sweet: A Year in the City of Light (and Dark Chocolate) - Amy Thomas
NonFiction, Travel, Food, Paris, New York City, Early Reviewers

Amy Thomas was living in New York City, working for an advertising agency, writing a blog and a newspaper column for The Metro (one of NYCs free morning newspapers that is handed to people when they leave their subway stations on their way to work). Her blog and column were about the many bakeries, chocolate shops, cookie and cupcake places and desert bars in NYC that she would visit to sample their wares. Her job transfers her to Paris to write copy for their Louis Vuitton ad campaign. She will be working out of the Louis Vuitton offices.Thomas had been in love with Paris since her junior year semester abroad that she spent there. She decides that she will spend her free time in Paris biking to as many patiseries and chocolate shops as she possibly can. Between descriptions of mouth watering desserts and chocolates Thomas complains about being lonely, being single, going through early menopause and being unable to afford the 3,500 Euro Louis Vuitton bag she wants (because she doesn't get an LV discount).
Thomas compares the pastry and chocolate shops of Paris to their NYC counterparts. The best part of the book is the list of shops in Paris (where I plan to visit) and NYC (where I live). I've lived in NYC most of my life and have only heard of 20% of the places discussed in the book. I'm definitely going to be checking out some of these shops (if they're still in business). The Paris list will come in handy when traveling to that city.
Recommended for the food parts of the book.

Happy New Year Kelly! I also read 105 books for 2011, we must read at a similar pace. Looking forward to catching up with you on the 2012 group.