SqueakyChu's Attempt at 75 - Page 2

Continued from here and moving right along...







Consider this the Race of the Butterflies!

Photo courtesy turtlemom4bacon (Flickr: CC-SA, A)

My book-related plans for February: To release books with the words "heart" or "love" in the title in memory of Becky Johns (who also was an active Bookcrosser). She lost her life at the age of 9 when she was struck by a car while she was out riding her bike. Her birthday had been Valentine's Day.

February 2011 Reads
8. Zarafa - Michael Allin - TIOLI: An animal that travels
9. Valley of the Far Side - Gary Larson
10. Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science - Atul Gawande - TIOLI: Book that refers to a doctor in the title, author, or first page
11. Please Stop Laughing at Me - Jodee Blanco - TIOLI: embedded word (pleases)
12. Chicken With Plums - Marjane Satrapi
13. Bad Dogs Have More Fun - John Grogan - TIOLI: embedded word (shave)
14. If Beagles Could Fly - Charles M. Schultz
15. A Mad Desire to Dance - Elie Wiesel - TIOLI: Two previous challenges not done (Translated from French/Published after 2005 and has a title of five or more words)
16. Food rules: An Eater's Manual - Michael Pollan
17. I Shall Not Hate - Izzeldin Abuelaish - TIOLI: book about a doctor
18. Come from the four winds: The story of Youth Aliya - signed by the author Chasya Pincus - TIOLI: Two previous challenges not done (published in 1970/no reviews on LT)

Photo courtesy osde8info (Flickr: CC-SA, A)

My book-related plans for March I will be collecting and registering books to be given away for free at the BookCrossing booth at the Day of the Book Festival due to take place on April 17, 2011, in Kensington, Maryland, USA.

March 2011 Reads
19. Foreskin's Lament - Shalom Auslander - TIOLI: city on page 17
20. Look Me in the Eye - John Elder Robison - TIOLI: city on page 17
21. The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Mohsin Hamid - TIOLI: a book about the (greater) middle east (Pakistan)
22. The Story of Zahra - Hanan al-Shaykh - TIOLI: a book about the middle east (Lebanon)
23. Wedding Song - Naguib Mahfouz - TIOLI: a book about the middle east (Egypt)
24. Out Stealing Horses - Per Petterson - TIOLI: a title of seventeen letters
25. Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui - Karen Kingston - TIOLI: Book with a city on page 17
26. Lowboy - John Wray - TIOLI: book with a title containing a word that can be broken down into multiple words

Hello Madeline.

Whoop whoop... I'm the first to have found your new thread

Ooh I'm looking forward to read your review of After the Quake, Madeline.

Huh! Foiled by Linda!

whoop whoop... I'm the second to have found your new thread!

Hi Madeline! Is tea ready yet? My list of books to give away to BookMooch members is on this thread. DO send over anyone you think might be interested.

Great review of The book of Dahlia on your last thread, Madeline. Thanks!

Hello Madeline! I have been following you on Bookcrossing threads for a long time and decided to read through your 75 Books thread. It was fun to finally learn SqueakyChu's name. Now I'm off to the TIOLI page to see if there's something I'm interested in for February. I read a first in a series for January, The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan and loved it. My 7th and 5th grade students have been bugging me to read Percy Jackson. I'm glad they did.

> 4

Hi, Linda!

How're things going? Whatcha reading these days?

This week I'm using the lovely card (and envelope) that you sent me as a book mark. It works perfectly!

> 5

Hey, Caroline!

So far, I'm sorry to say, I've been a bit disappointed in 31994::After the Quake. It's not one of my favorite Murakami books. I read three "Meh" stories, really liked the one story about the frog (of course!), and have just one more story to go. I just can't seem to motivate myself to finish this book. Maybe today will be the day. We'll see.

> 7

Hi, Ilana,

I looked over your BM books but couldn't find any I want. Some I've already read, some I own unread, and the others don't interest me. Do let me know when you update this list because, I would mooch from you if I found something I wanted.

Since I have you friended on BM, I (if I think of it) can always check your current inventory there.

> 8

Thanks, Stasia.

I hope I got across in my review what a really good writer Elisa Albert is, despite the themes in the story (which might dissuade people from reading it).

Since I have you friended on BM, I (if I think of it) can always check your current inventory there.

What I can do is just leave you a message here on LT when I list books I think may be of interest to you.

> 14

What I can do is just leave you a message here on LT when I list books I think may be of interest to you.

Sounds great to me!

> 9

Hi Kate,

I just wrote a message to you but then LT threw it out when the server went down! :(

Anyway, glad to have you on board with us for the TIOLI challenges!

Hi Madeline - Just checking in. Do you have any Hebrew books for the non-English bookpile contest? I don't have enough interesting ones, and there is no Hebrew entry yet from what I can see. http://www.librarything.com/topic/107706

Hi Kerri!

No, I really don't have enough books in Hebrew to make a decent pile (other than prayer books, and I don't want to use those). I don't read novels in Hebrew. I sure wish my Hebrew was good enough to do so, though!

Madeline, I've been dying to see what you think about my challenge idea over on the TIOLI thread. Maybe you didn't have a chance to catch up with all the posts yet, so I shall wait. As patiently as I can. (sigh)

#18> I mainly have picture books and some Harry Potters but nothing particularly accessible at a moment's notice.

> 19

Ilana, I don't screen challenge ideas. You just post what you'd like your challenge to be. I would advise that you keep your challenge *very clear* and in as few words as possible. That seems to be a big issue/problem now and most likely will be an even bigger issue as we tighten up our challenges more.

My only question about your challenge would be that, if I haven't read a certain animal book yet, how would I know if the animal travels? From the book jacket or blurb on the back? If so, go with it. If not, think of how you can tighten up your challenge in a clear, concise way.

How about:
Read a book about an animal that travels

You don't have to specify how or why the animal travels. That's for the people who are choosing books to determine.

I think that would work and might be a fun challenge.

> 20

Yeah. I can think of one children's book I have in Hebrew. That won't make a book "pile" though. :)

#21 I guess I mainly wanted to have your feedback before posting it on the wiki since I'm still relatively new to TIOLI, this being my second month so far. I thought of the issue about 'how do you know if you haven't read the book', but yes, as you say, this is something that might be gleaned from the jacket. A few of the examples I gave were of books I'd already read, but others I've yet to discover and that's exactly how I discovered about the traveling. And yes, the challenge name you suggests works for me.

Thanks for your feedback!

You're welcome. I hope you gets lots of takers on it. One thing is that, if one does not know much about a book of this kind and recommendations are given, that just might end up in more book "matches". We'll see soon enough...

> 23

Ilana,

A recommendation: Have you ever read The Blue Mountain by Meir Shalev? Having grown up in Israel, you'd probably love it. It's about the pioneers on an Israeli kibbutz (Jezreel Valley, I believe), but there is a horse (I think) that flies back and forth to Russia. Magical realism and all that. Okay. That's only one scene in the book, but it sure stood out.

Another great book to read is another book by Meir Shalev called A Pigeon and A Boy. There's a lot in that book about the carrier pigeons that were used in the War of Independence. Okay. So in this book, more animals are traveling more often! :)

Your challenge is beginning to grow on me!!

ETA: More ideas:
The Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Someone to Run With - David Grossman

ETA 2: I can't think of any more. This may turn out to be an exceedingly difficult challenge...

Never read Meir Shalev. I'll have to look up your suggestions, sounds interesting!

I had other book suggestions for my challenge:
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
Timbuktu
The Master and Margarita

As I just ETA'd on the main thread, I'll start a thread for this challenge very soon to write a bunch of suggestions (including yours) and clarify any questions. I'll also look through my books to see if I can't make more suggestions.

Exceedingly difficult is good no? I started this one because I had three books that fit under those criteria, so it can't be THAT hard.

Ok, off to walk Coco and then BED!

! לילה טוב :-)

8. Zarafa – Michael Allin



This was a fascinating story. Zarafa was a female giraffe, taken when young from central Africa to be presented as a gift by Muhammad Ali, then Ottoman Viceroy of Egypt, to King Charles X of France. Nowhere near her ultimate destination, the problem was figuring out how to get this giraffe, a rather tall animal, from central Africa to Paris. By land and by sea, this was accomplished. Her journey included traveling a length of 3,500 miles down the Nile River and then across the Mediterranean Sea. She reached Marseille, France, in the fall of 1826. Then she began her 550 mile trek by land from Marseille to her final home in the Jardin des Plantes in Paris.

In the historical background of that time, Zarafa’s story takes us into the relationship between Egypt and France, including references to the French revolution and Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt. We also learn about those people who were most instrumental in guaranteeing this giraffe’s safe journey to what would become the world’s first zoo.

Although the book I read was an advanced, uncorrected proof, I put aside the distractions of poor quality and missing photographs as well as some out of order and redundant information. I was too enthralled with the story of Zarafa herself. I felt both amazement at the fact that this giraffe did so well on her lengthy journey and sadness that such a beautiful creature as she had been taken from the wild to live the life prescribed to her by humans.

Rating – 4 stars

Thanks, Ilana, for posting a TIOLI challenge that made me come up with such an interesting book to read!!

I'm completely shocked to learn that לילה is masculine. I don't know much Hebrew, but it just seems so strange. The cognate Arabic world is feminine. I wonder how this happened.

(I apologize to anyone who isn't interested in minute grammatical details....)

That *is* funny! I never thought about it because most words in Hebrew that end in ה are feminine. I wonder if that could be because another form of that word is ליל ?

Ilana, help us out here!

I didn't know you knew Arabic or Hebrew. That's so cool, Zoe!

Madeline

I'm so glad you liked Zarafa. Your review is wonderful!

Thanks, Linda.

What a different and interesting book! I bet I originally put that book on my wishlist because I saw that you had read it. I'm not usually that eager to read a book so heavy on history, but it seemed okay as I was reading it because Zarafa really had to fit into historical context.

I like your review Madeline. That one is definitely going on my wishlist.

#29-30 As for the mystery of the masculine 'night'... I wish I could help but I've no idea. It never even occurred to me that it was masculine, even with the 'tov', I guess because I've been saying it for most of my life and never stopped to think about it. My Hebrew grammar lessons and knowledge of root words go some thirty years back and I'm sorry to say there's not much left of them.

Yeah, I never realized it was masculine, either, until Zoe pointed it out.

ETA: I thought we had a secret language...until Zoe decoded it! ;)

Too many smarty pants around here to have a 'secret language' stay secret for very long. :-D

#27: Nice review, Madeline. I get to dodge that particular BB though since I have already read the book.

Don't worry, we've pretty much exhausted my knowledge of Hebrew now! Any more complicated messages will remain a secret ;)

> 35, 37

Any more complicated messages will remain a secret ;)

That's only if I can figure out how to toggle my keyboard back into Hebrew (which is more trouble than it's worth). Too many people here know Spanish and German. It's indeed fun to have a secret "language" in which to converse.

> 36

Thanks. So what did you think of the book, Stasia?

I'm just skimming through a few posts, and I noticed a challenge about animals that travel. The very first thing that came to mind is Travels with Charlie...

Zarafa sounds really interesting! I enjoy specific histories that contribute to an understanding of a larger history, even if it's in small ways.

About a third of this book is solely the history in which the story of the travelling giraffe takes place. It was bit heavy on history for my taste. I simply can't remember sequences of events or dates and, for that reason, never liked History as a school subject either. Terri (teelgee) is actually intending to read Travels with Charley for this challenge.

Luxx, here's the thread related to that challenge. I found it rather hard to find a book to fit it and was excited when I discovered that I had Zarafa here at home.

>2 SqueakyChu:: What a touching memorial to Becky Johns.

>27 SqueakyChu:: The story of Zarafa reminds me of The Elephant's Journey by Jose Saramago which I read and loved a few months ago. I think it is so funny to think of large animals as gifts for those who have everything. In Saramago's telling of a true story, Solomon the elephant was regifted from the King of Portugal to the Archduke of Austria as a wedding gift. I'm guessing that they didn't have gift registries in the 16th century!

I'm guessing that they didn't have gift registries in the 16th century!

Lol! Can you imagine some bride-to-be including 'An Elephant' and 'A Giraffe' on a wedding registry nowadays? You never know though... maybe some ridiculously rich oil heiress?? ;-)

Zarafa sounds interesting; it's one that I've seen a few times and haven't picked up. Maybe I should!

Zarafa sounds like a book I would really like. Thanks for the recommendation.

#42..Yes, an elephant, a giraffe AND two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.

lol :-D

Hi Madeline!

I have had a crazy week. I meant to start asking you questions, but then pulled my 6th grader out of school...

Question 1: What is the history of the kibbutzim - are they a traditional type of unit older than the modern state of Israel? What was the original purpose/idea behind them? Everything I read seems to categorize them as a combination of collective farming and the Zionist movement. Were they based on anything historically?

There is so much to tell about kibbutzim if you're not familiar with them. Since my first visit to a kibbutz in 1972 (my late aunt's kibbutz), all kibbutzim have undergone such radical changes over the years, it's hard to recognize them now as their ideology has changed so much during that time.

(Ilana, jump into this conversation, too!).

I think the original idea of kibbutzim was mostly based on the socialistic idea of the collective settlement in Russia. The idea was to pool everyone's resources, and to develop an arid, harsh land into an arable, productive settlement. A collective community provided fellowship, a means of defense, a way for all needs to be taken care of, and a way to live out the ideals of socialism - everything rolled into one. It was also a way for new Jewish immigrants to Palestine to be able to actually live in a land that was hostile to it at that time.

I found this excellent article that describes the changes of the kibbutz movement in Israel over the years. Everything that is described in this article, I've seen for myself within my own family in Israel.

My aunt Emma was a pioneer who came to Palestine in 1936 as a teenager from Yugoslavia. Her kibbutz, Shaar Haamakim, is a lovely, large kibbutz midway between Haifa and Nazareth. Emma loved to tell this story:

Once a guest came to visit the kibbutz and remarked to her how lovely the place was. The guest wanted to know how her group had chosen such a lovely place in which to settle. Her reply was that, when they arrived, "there was not even one tree".

In pictures I've seen, there indeed was only a circle of tents in a barren desert and not a tree to be seen anywhere.

ETA: Of course, now I just added Gavron's book to my wishlist! :)

Hi. Zarafa sounds like a must-read. Thank you for your review.

> 49

Zarafa was quite fun to read (except for the heavy history - not my thing, but I got through it okay, nevertheless).

> To everyone

By the way, if anyone wants my copy of Zarafa, let me know (here or by PM), and I can BookMooch it to you if you're in the United States. I must caution you, however,that this book is a very *rough* advance uncorrected proof copy with grainy pictures and some pictures missing (there is only a space for a few of the pictures). The book is simply bound with an orange cardboard cover and has no cover art. I also have a Bookcrossing label taped into the front cover. so...get it at your own risk! :D

#48 Have been away from the computer most of the day and just checking in quickly but I'll have a closer look at what you've written so far and perhaps jump in later, though reading through very quickly, it looks to me like you've pretty well got it covered!

I just happened upon that web site, Ilana, and saw that that particular author has everything nailed down exactly as I saw the changes happening over the years. I *do* have to get hold of his book. I think it would be very interesting.

I remember, years ago, when my cousin and his wife were visiting me here in Rockville, Maryland (USA). They are from Kibbutz Shaar Haamakim. My cousin's wife always thought that it was so nice that I could just walk across the hall in my home and my kids were right there. Her kids grew up in the children's house on the kibbutz. I also remember meeting my cousin's oldest child (she was then eight years old). I went with my aunt to the children's house to see her. My aunt was so proud of that children's house.

*sigh*

A lifetime of changes...

Madeline, I've just found your thread again.

One thing that I always had questions about was the concept of the children being raised (somewhat) separately from their parents on the kibbutz. I'm pretty sure I would have had a hard time accepting that, but I'm not absolutely positive. It seems so strange to me. What are your thoughts on it?

Good review of Zarafa, Madeline and what a surprise... it's made a leap onto my obese wish list.

Thanks, Caroline.

> 53

Gail,

All of my Israeli cousins were raised in a children's house. What I saw when I was there were families that were very close. Just because a child was in the children's house didn't mean the parents had no access to their kids. To the contrary. Because the families all worked on the kibbutz, the adults always made time to see their kids during the day. My cousins' kids used to not eat in the communal dining hall at night, but the whole family would eat dinner together at night in the parent's flat. At bedtime, the parents would take the kids to the children's house where they'd read them a story, then kiss them goodnight.

Here in the U.S. so many families drop off babies at day care where they stay all day until they are picked up at night by working parents. On the kibbutz, all of the caregivers are close to all of the families because they all essentially live together. You know whom you can trust and whom you can't. When I took my oldest son to Israel (at age 2 months), it was as if I had hundreds of mothers for my baby. Everyone (but everyone!) tried to give me motherly advice. It was overwhelming...but nice.

I like having my kids here in my own house. My cousin's wife told me a story of when her youngest son ran away from the children's house one night (which was especially scary because he had to pass a mean dog on the way to her flat). She felt guilty about letting her son stay in her own flat that one night. I said she did the right thing. He braved the run to get there; he deserved to stay there that one night!

Now there are no more children's houses there. The kids all live with their parents. The small flats needed to be extended to accomodate the kids. One of my cousins (with four kids) had used a closet for one son's bed just to make sure he could stay in her flat.

The children's houses traditionally were near bomb shelters and situated in the middle of the kibbutz. There would be playground equipment outside and the inside of the bomb shelters were always colorfully decorated and very inviting. You could see how this was necessary at the time of the founding of the State of Israel.

It's interesting to see what the second generation of Israeli kibbutz children do when it comes time to choose where to live. Of my one cousins, three of his four grown children have left the kibbutz. The one who has chosen to stay is married and working on his PhD in agriculture. Very different from the time of the beginning of the state of Israel!

My memories of kibbutz life are those of a child since I lived there between the ages of 7 and 8. The children's houses were organized by age groups, so that all the kids had grown up together from babyhood onward. In each children's house, there was a classroom, a kitchen and dining room, a playroom and communal bedrooms. We spent a lot of time outdoors, but the houses were little self-contained units. We slept there at night, had breakfast there in the morning, we all showered in a huge communal shower (boys and girls together), we had classes and then lunch there, and then in the afternoons went to our parent's apartments and had dinner in the big communal hall or at home. And then our parents would walk us back to the children's house to tuck us into bed and read stories, as you described Madeline.

All the boys and girls in my house were like brothers and sisters to each other. It was different in my case as a newcomer and as such, I attracted attention for what I felt were all the wrong reasons. During shower time, the boys, who never took notice of their 'sisters', taunted me mercilessly, so that I requested to take showers by myself, for which I was made fun of even more. Several times, I ran away from our bedroom at night (there were 4-5 of us to each room if my memory serves). We were on the first floor so it was just a question of slipping out the window and jumping out a short distance. A few times I went to join my father, but other times I wandered around to chase around small lizards and whatnot, and unbeknownst to me had the kibbutz guards on high alert. As young as I was then, I *knew* that if I'd grown up there like the other kids, it would all seem normal to me and not trouble me in the least.

I have to say though, as difficult as I found it sometimes, I mostly have very good memories of my time there. It was like a little piece of heaven. So many trees and flowers and wonderful smells and nature walks and good food. I feel very privileged in some ways as I think it was quite a unique experience.

Thanks for sharing your insider's story, Ilana. What a culture shock that must be for a kid - to go from living with one's parents to suddenly be thrust into living in a children's house!

> 57

It was like a little piece of heaven.

For me, too, Ilana. My "little piece of heaven" was the porch in front of my aunt's kibbutz flat. It was covered with vines and leaves and flowers. While my aunt would be working, I'd sit there (with a book, of course) and just relax. For me that was always a sort of paradise in my memory. Years later, when I went to visit my aunt who was older and frail, I went back to see my favorite porch. I don't think anyone was living in her former flat anymore, but the porch was all broken down and decrepit. I burst into tears. I was so overcome because of "very good memories of my time there".

Awww, I can imagine only too well how sad you must have felt. I would probably have reacted the same way. But the good memories never go away at least.

Madeline and Ilana - your memories are amazing. I was sad that you stopped...
That was very helpful and I appreciate it. It's an interesting concept, the communal life style there. As I am reading this book and your comments, the dominant sense I have is that everything is for the children. Keep them the safest, invest an entire community of adults into raising them - the hope of Israel as it were.

> 61

Keep them the safest

Jenn, that's so true. It really was what they believed. When my husband and I brought our two-month-old son to Israel (in 1980) and traveled throughout the whole country (even to the top of Masada!), Israelis were appalled. I guess they just thought that we were some crazy Americans because Israelis would never do that with their babies. My parents were no longer alive at the time I was in Israel. That's why I wanted to travel to my family to show off our son. People did pity our child being "shlepped" (carried) all over the country for two months! One person even came up to me and exclaimed, "Ayza miscayn!" (What an unfortunate one!).

During my last visit to Israel (in 2001), I sensed the sadness of the pioneer generation. I sat with my aunt and her elderly friends while they reminisced about their youth and the beginning of the kibbutz. They were so idealistic. The reality of decades of life in Israel never turned out to be what they envisioned. Yes, they have a state which is their homeland, but, no, it did not turn out to be eactly the vision they had in their dreams.



Kibbutz Shaar Haamakim, 2001

Love the photo! Thanks.

It's breaking my heart reading all these stories. They are all so unique. I have read so many books on the subject, but most deal with it in a sort of group way. Reading individual stories told by the survivors is so intense and personal. I remember in one of Chaim Potok's books, My Name is Asher Lev, I think, he spends more time than usual on the mother and her depression and struggles post-war. How she was alienated and withdrawn from her family even. It was hard to understand without the back story. This whole book is back story. It's incredible. I have seen some of the documentaries with the survivors telling their stories too, but just snippets, not the whole story.
The introduction was stunning. I never thought about how complicated it would be to integrate immigrants from all over, different cultures, different experiences, then add to that the Holocaust. I am amazed at the effort and commitment of the pioneer generation. It is a very good thing they were so idealistic, I think.

OK. I will stop with the thread take over.

Oh - one other thing - I just read about The Butterfly Project on a blog. Have you heard of this? http://www.hmh.org/ed_butterfly1.shtml
I think it's very cool and my kids are making butterflies. I confess I didn't think things through very clearly before saying the words "Holocaust" and "1.5 million children killed" to my 6 year old daughter. In spite of the 12 year old's very helpful "genius, Mom" we have had a conversation, limited in detail, about war and the casualties thereof.

I've did know about the Butterfly Project. Thanks for sharing that. The Holocaust Museum is quite a thought-provoking, sad, and soul-stirring place. I can reach it from where I live by Metro train. For visitors to DC, I recommend a trip there. Admission is free.

I never thought about how complicated it would be to integrate immigrants from all over

Israel still has this problem as continually Jewish immigrants are trying to make aliya (immigrate) and merge themselves into the country's culture. The conditions may not be as physically harsh as before, but many of the problems that new immigrants face are emotionally harsh. I'm sure that the last wave of Ethiopian immigrants found that becoming an Israeli was not the easy, heart-warming experience they'd always imagined when they dreamed about their return to Zion back in the days they lived in Ethiopia.

OK. I will stop with the thread take over.

There is no such thing as a take-over on my thread (unless it's a hostile takeover!). We're just talking about things that interest us.

How she was alienated and withdrawn from her family even

My parents, both Holocaust survivors (but not concentration camp inmates), never talked about any of that when I was growing up. Ever. I didn't learn about their personal history until I was an adult. Now Holocaust studies are incorporated into religious studies so this part of our most recent history is brought out into the open and learned so that it doesn't disappear. The role of the Holocaust Museum (both here in Washington, DC, and the one at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem) is to provide actual testimony to what happened in an ongoing effort to have others be aware of conditions of genocide that are still happening throughout the world and react in an appropriate manner.

By the way, Jenn, I Never Saw Another Butterfly is a book. Read it, if you haven't already.

I guess I need more coffee this morning--I read your review of Zarafa, and my first thought was, "Muhammad Ali? Ottoman Viceroy of Egypt? What?" and then I realized you were talking about a different Muhammad Ali.

*pours Carly a second cup of coffee, this one stronger*

#64: I have wanted to go to the Holocaust Museum for years. If I ever make it back to DC (my last trip there was 25+ years ago), it will be the first place I visit.

Maybe you can go to the book festival next fall, Stasia, and meet up with Madeleine!

Madeleine, I never went to the Holocaust museum when I lived in DC, but I went to Dachau in Germany. It's a terrible thing to see, but I think those museums are so important, because especially as the WWII generation dies, it is going to be easy for the Holocaust to sort of fade away as just another historical atrocity instead of, as you say, being a warning about and tool of awareness of other instances of genocide that are less publicized.

#69: I would love to do it, Carly, but unfortunately do not have the financial resources to be able to do so.

I just got word that the 2011 National Book Festival is going to be two days long this year! It will be Sat & Sun (September 24 and 25).

We'll have to do a better job meeting up this year. Any ideas?

Of course, as always, it has to conflict with the Baltimore Book Festival which runs the same weekend (Fri/Sat/Sun). I never can understand why the organizers of both events allow this conflict to occur. :(

National Book Festival

Baltimore Book Festival

Bookmark those pages, folks!

This is great news! I like to get to the Baltimore Fest early in the weekend so that I can do lots of shopping at the book stalls before all the good stuff is gone. This way there's still an opportunity to make DC on Sunday.

For those who haven't visited these events, they're a great complement. Baltimore is more street fair, with lots of opportunities to buy books cheap and DC is a great place to go listen to authors and get autographs. I'll start a meetup thread later to keep people posted and make plans for getting together.

So it looks as if Saturday would be better for Baltimore and DC would be better for Sunday. Hmmm? I'm hoping that Sunday in DC would be less crowded as well. The less people there, the better for me! :) Last year, the crowd at the National Book Festival topped one million - for one day alone! However, the festival day is so much shorter on Sunday at the National Book Festival. :(

Guess I'll just wait to see who's showing up at both of the events and on which days...

Does The Book Thing still do a booth at the Baltimore Book Fair?

The reason I couldn't meet up with everyone this year was that the designated meet-up time was exactly when my favorite author ever was speaking and signing books :-(

ETA: I think the reasoning behind having both festivals the same weekend is to make it easier for people who travel from far away. But it is a pain in the butt for those of us who live kinda close.

#70: Maybe you'll win the lottery :) Then you can hit all the book festivals across the country!

9. Valley of the Far Side - Gary Larson



I wanted a break in my reading. I seem to be reading too many books at once and not feel like really getting into them or finishing them. I figured I could get through a small book of cartoons, though. This book was in a donation pile from a used book sale destined to go out to a book fair via BookCrossing. I grabbed it for a quick read.

Gary Larson used to do a syndicated comic in The Washington Post so I was familiar with his work. In fact, one comic is the same one on a tee shirt of my husband's.

Do I still like Larson's work? It's a bit old now, but I can still enjoy most of his work. Some of the comics were amusing, a few were over my head, some took a while for me to understand, and just a tiny amount were laugh-out-loud funny. The book was just what I needed!

Rating - 3.5 stars

> 74

I think the reasoning behind having both festivals the same weekend is to make it easier for people who travel from far away.

...but running them concurrently makes people have to miss at least two days worth of book festivals. :(

Hooray!! I just finished my Dewey Decimal Challenge.

*tends one less thread now*

Whoa.....DD Challenge complete....I AM IMPRESSED. I figure I might get mine done by 2100. Congratulations! Of course I was challenging my self to read at the ten level so I have 100 + to read.

so I have 100 + to read.

Better you than me, Tina!

Congratulations, Madeline!

#9: I miss Larson's cartoons! There aren't nearly as many funny comic strips as there used to be--maybe related to the decline in print newspapers?

78>

You're finished? Congratulations, I still have hundreds left -- a couple dozen even for my more moderate "all 100 divisions" challenge which I actually have a chance of achieving.

finished?

I''m finished because I structured my challenge to read either one book in ten categories or ten books in one category. I completed 10 books in one category (the 600's).

In summary, I read a total of 43 books to complete this challenge, not knowing if the ten in one or one in ten would come first. It was a fun, less tedious way of doing the DD Challege.

Oh no! Another challenge I may be unable to resist! I think if I do it, I'll probably structure it the same way as you Madeline, otherwise I'd NEVER finish it. Congrats!

>77 SqueakyChu: Oh trust me, I agree with you. Especially since I live in Alexandria and don't have a car so the National festival is delightfully close and the Baltimore one is awkwardly-almost-far-away-but-not-really.

10. Complications - Atul Gawande



What an excellent book! Can this doctor write!! If you like non-fiction and want to read some super essays about the field of medicine, by all means jump into this book. You can read my review or you can skip the review and just take my hearty recommendation to get hold of this book for yourself. Read about fallibility in modern medicine and also about some oddball medical situations (e.g. flesh-eating bacteria, excessive blushing, morbid obesity). Each essay is fascinating!

I need to find more of this doctor's books. He not only knows how to discuss a subject, but he writes about each in such an engaging way.

Rating - 4.5 stars

84>

That's still very impressive, congratulations!

#87: I already have both of Guwande's books in the BlackHole. I am glad to see you enjoyed Complications, Madeline. Are you going to read Better too?

Are you going to read Better too?

I have to get hold of it before I can read it. LOL!I

Yes, I'm going to try to read that book as well. I was very impressed (as you can tell) with the Guwande book I just read.

#90: I have to get hold of it before I can read it.

I understand this problem all too well!

I'm taking a break to fit several small non-TIOLI books into this month's reading. Two are books of cartoons. One is a graphic novel. Perhaps those can get me up to the 75 book total for 2011.

11. Please Stop Laughing at Me - Jodee Blanco



This is a memoir about bullying told as a memoir of a successful woman's school years. It's a story that depicts the traumatic teasing and physical abuse she suffered by others from her elementary school years through high school. I go into more details and my thoughts about this book here in my review.

Rating - 2.5 stars

Just finished Come From the Four Winds. It will be on my list of memorable reads for this year. What an amazing program. I had no idea how ambitious and challenging was the integration of all the immigrants from all over to create the State of Israel. Truly amazing.

> 94

Jenn, I'm so glad you enjoyed it. Come From the Four Winds is truly an amazing book. It ranks five stars - both in my mind (and, of course, in my heart).

I'm still taking my time with this book. Every so often, I pick it up and read through another person's story.

The author must have been so gentle as she interviewed the people who were willing to share their personal stories. It was spectacular how much information she was able to elicit from them and was able to recapture in detail within the chapters of her book.

I feel honored that my cousin Robert so many years ago told me about it. I'm trying to find out from another cousin if Robert is still alive. When I was last in Israel (in 2001), I know that he was in a Jerusalem nursing home. He was very elderly, but I'm not sure of his age at that time.

My aunt told me this about Robert:
"Robert fled from Yugoslavia in 1945. At that time he was active in the theater. A former classmate who belonged to the SS told him what was about to happen & suggested he flee along with the rabbi of the community. The rabbi sent his son to Israel but refused to leave his Jewish congregants. Robert fled to Italy. Robert at that time was divorced from his first wife who was not Jewish. She and Robert had been married in a church."

Remember the Helena in the book? Robert ended up marrying her. The two had one son (and a super guy himself!) who is a psychiatrist in Israel. Helena is no longer alive. Robert also had a daughter from his marriage to his first wife.

...and so the story goes on.. :)

I think you should write a book Madeline. How neat to have such a personal connection to this book.

I am sure the author was an incredibly gentle and easy to talk to person. It seemed to me, though, that most were very willing to share their story. It was so easy to read, and I felt her connection to each story as I read it.

No books for me to write, please! I have enough writing with just two paragraphs that I have to put in my CSA newsletter each week during produce season! :)

In the meantime, I did an online search to see if I could find Robert's son. I haven't seen him since he visited us in Maryland in 1981 (or thereabouts). I found him!

Eager to read 75 books this year, I've added some smaller books to my reading list and just placed a second ticker in message #1. Go take a peek at it! :D

I like the 'Race of the Butterflies.' I have a ticker on my thread with a butterfly on it on my thread too, but I am hoping my butterfly does not beat yours - it is on the ticker for books purchased this year :)

I won't limit my book-buying in any way ever again. I did that once (kind of like the "book fast" that Darryl his gang of followers did). Not only doesn't it work, it truly took the fun out of book-buying. I'll have to go take a look at your butterfly ticker.

*runs now to take a peek at it*

Linda and I are doing it together. We both have longsuffering partners, but they are beginning to become antsy about the books taking over. I have nearly 1000 unread books at my house, so in an effort to read those and not buy any more, we are attempting to read only library books or our own books this year. A scary thought. What if the WWBF sneaks up on us? I only have 2 years worth of reading at my house!

Yeah. I need to get a handle on those TBR books as well. I'm a sucker for all books, library and used. I have, besides the hundred of books I use for my Bookcrossing boo fairs, about 400+ TBR. For me, that represents way than 2 years of reading. I'm a sucker for wishlist books, though. When I see them at a good price, I can't resist them.

How did you come up with the number 10?
Does Linda have a book-buying ticker on her thread, too?

*runs to see*

No, she does not have a book-buying ticker on her thread. I think she should though :)

I know what you mean about wishlist books, but thus far this year, I have not been in a bookstore, so I am trying very hard to stay out of temptation's way.

Are you going to be doing any real life meet-ups this year? If so, that could get tricky (although I know how you guys weaseled out of that last "book fast" by buying each other "gift" books). Ha!

> 103

Yeah! Insist she use a book-buying ticker - so you can track her current book buying! :)

I have to admit, I've actually been starting to worry a bit about the WWBF after reading so many dire predictions of how ebooks will ruin the world! But I think I still have plenty of books. I could never manage a book-buying ban either, so I'm just trying to focus more on reading the books I own, not buying books that I won't read, and weeding a bit over the holidays. I figure every Book Off the Shelf is an achievement.

#104: I was not part of that weaseling I will have you know! (but only because I was not up in New England at the time)

Yes, we are doing at least the Joplin meet up this year, so I am saving all of my book buying for that meet up!

#105: I will get right on that :)

#106: I have started giving away books from my personal library as I read them if I do not think I will read them again. Thus far, I have moved about 20 or so out of my personal library. Not many, but it is a start.

> 101, 106

WWBF?

working women breakfast fair?
welter weight boy friend?
world wide book fling?

#106: Maybe other people will be getting rid of their paper books, and we can buy up all the used books for cheap :)

#109: World Wide Book Famine, Madeline.

> 110

we can buy up all the used books for cheap

Carly, I already do that! I use BookMooch and visit my local used books store too often. There paperbacks only cost between $2-3. That's a *very* dangerous price!

>110 carlym: Now there's a nice thought :)

> 111

World Wide Book Famine

Where did that term originate?

So... is that what I've unknowingly been stocking up for?

#110: I would like the idea too - if I was not on a book buying ban!

> 115

if I was not on a book buying ban!

See? There's the problem. It makes book-buying *not* fun.

There's always 2012, though...

I just have to learn how to read my books faster than I acquire them, though.

#114: I think I made it up. Either that or I was involved with several 75ers who made it up. I am not sure, lol.

#117: Yeah, me too.

12. Chicken with Plums - Marjane Satrapi



I thoroughly enjoyed this graphic novel. The best of the Satrapi graphic novels I've read, I think. More details of what I thought about this book can be found here in my review.

Rating - 4.5 stars

Go, purple butterfly, go!

LOL!!

I just have to learn how to read my books faster than I acquire them, though.

That's my wish too, but somehow I doubt it'll ever happen!

In an effort to concentrate on my TBR shelves, I joined the Books Off The Shelf Challenge group last year and I am continuing with it this year. We try to encourage each other to read our current books, but like all LT threads, it really is just another way to get book ideas from each other.

Madeline, I find your TIOLI Challenge is excellent for encouraging me to read off my shelves. I love running upstairs to my shelves and seeing if any of my books fit the challenges. I try to use only my own books for the TIOLI Challenge, or at the very least, books I was already planning on taking out of the library anyway.

The idea of the TIOLI was in part to help clear your TBR shelves. I'm glad it's working!

I have Chicken with Plums in the BlackHole already or I would add it again. Nice review, Madeline.

Thanks, Stasia. It was a very interesting (and quick to read) book. I found it in my library and couldn't resist checking it out.

13. Bad Dogs Have More Fun - John Grogan



Nice newspaper articles about various topics. The problem is, though, that they all should have remained in the newspaper, not become part of a book. My review has been posted.

Rating - 2 stars

Nice review of Complications, Madeline; I enjoyed it as well. I think you would like Better, which is about quality initiatives and improvement in outcomes in medicine. BTW, I saw Gawande speak about this book at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco several years ago, and got to speak to him for several minutes afterward. He's an excellent speaker, a very warm and likable guy, and definitely not a stereotypical surgeon. I want to be Atul Gawande when I grow up.

Thanks, Darryl. I love Dr. Gawande's writing style.

think you would like Better, which is about quality initiatives and improvement in outcomes in medicine.

I've already wishlisted that book. I'm sure I'd like it as I currently work in Quality Assurance.

You're so lucky to have met Dr. Gawande. He seems, from his writing, as if he would be such a down-to-earth likeable person. I'm glad he is so.

14. If Beagles Could Fly - Charles M. Schulz



I grabbed this book which had been donated to Bookcrossing for a future book fair. I thought I'd give it a quick read before packing it away with other books. This book was the same as all other Charlie Brown cartoons I've been reading over years. Predictable. Familiar. Comfortable. Sweet.

Rating: 3 stars

#128: I read that one a few years ago and was not any more impressed than you were, Madeline.

#128 sorry it was such a disappointment Madeline, but I'll know to stay away. I'll get my hands on Marley and Me eventually.

To whoever might be interested, I just posted my ARC of Zarafa* (now taken) to BookMooch. Here's the listing. USA only, please. Do read the condition notes!

*This book will be sent to ForeignCircus. Enjoy!

I just posted Reef by Romesh Gunesekera (now taken) to BookMooch. USA only. Again, please read the condition notes. The listing is here.

*This book will be sent to a fellow Bookcrosser/BookMoocher: robertwade. Enjoy!

Does anyone here have The New Moosewood Cookbook beside me? Cookbooker.com is having a cook-off challenge from that cookbook. Here are the details. I already reviewed one soup. :)

Hummm...I visit here and find posts listing my name and "hinting" that I should have a book buying ticker on my thread....

Ok, I'll succumb to the pressure. I've purchased four this year. If Stasia and I limit to ten, then I'm in trouble already.

Madeline, as always, I come away from your thread with additions to the tbr pile. I've added Complications to the tbr pile. Great review!

> 137

Great choice, Linda. That was a fabulous book!

15. A Mad desire to Dance - Elie Wiesel



Phew! I'm going to think twice before I pick up the next book by Elie Wiesel. They are very demanding. The book Night had been emotionally demanding. This book, A Mad Desire to Dance, really needed my mad desire to get through it. You can find more details about my response to it in my review.

If anyone else has read this book, I'd love to hear your comments about it. I almost gave up on it, but I'm glad I did not. I think that had to do with the fact that the author was Elie Wiesel and not just "any old author". I am so respectful of his sharing his lifetime experiences, even though many of them make for uncomfortable reading.

Rating- 4 stars

Nice review, Madeline. I have not read anything by Wiesel other than Night. I will have to give this book a try too.

Thanks, Stasia. If you get to it, I'd like to know your thoughts about it. It is very different than Night and a difficult read for other reasons.

thanks for the book- I only added it to my wishlist after reading about it here!

You're welcome, Colleen. I think you'll really like it.

That's a great review, Madeline ... I have only read Night and from your review, I'm not sure that I would find this one up my alley though.

A Mad desire to Dance is a tough one, Caroline. The opening 50 pages alone were enough to make me want to give up. I certainly would not suggest that anyone who wants to read works by Elie Wiesel start with this book. Those who do so may not be willling to read Wiesel's other works.

One thing I that I like about the two books that I've read by Wiesel so far is that he is willing to share, in his well-written books, his feelings about having experienced and survived the Holocaust. That's not an easy thing to do.

Another thought is that, now so many years after the war, a lot is being written about the Holocaust. Perhaps too much. However, now is the only (and last) time to save the information of those who experienced it first-hand.

I like to read Holocaust literature, but not back to back. I like to dip into it from time to time so it will be part of who I am (as it really is frommy own family history). What I've learned about the Holocaust has not been from my family. That is one part of their history that they've kept well hidden from me as a child. Presently, with me approaching my golden years (!), my parents and their siblings (as well as all of the spouses) are all longer alive.

When I was in middle school my history teacher made our class sit in the dark with our eyes closed and listen to the audiobook of Night. It was a really interesting experience.

I have read Night many times, but I have not read anything else of his.

> 146

When I was in middle school my history teacher made our class sit in the dark with our eyes closed and listen to the audiobook of Night.

Wasn't that bit frightening?!

>147 SqueakyChu: Well, it was "school" dark, so it wasn't really dark-dark. Mostly, keeping our eyes closed made us focus on what was being said.

That's for sure. Being distracted would really take away from the impact of that book. Great idea on your teacher's part.

Oh, I'd let your thread "pile up" and I just found time to catch up on your reading and other fine times. Thank you for "hosting" a quick discussion on the 2011 National Book Festival because I discovered it is coincidental with the Peace Corps 50 Year reunion, also in Wash. D.C. and I am planning on being in D.C. for that. I definitely will squeeze in some NBF time! Woo hoo! Has Dr. Newt started a "meet-up" thread? or anyone else? I can not read all the threads by all the interesting folks here on LT or I'd never ever read any of my TBR books, or my Wishlist books, or get the books that are still in cartons in the garage out of there!

ETA: I snagged the picture of the library from your photos as my new "profile" picture. I'm very attracted to that look and will be using it to inspire some reshuffling I am doing in my home. Thanks for posting it.

> 150

Hi Karen,

I'm delighted you're using my library photo! That's an actual library at Aspenwood, an assisted living facility in Silver Spring, Maryland.

There will definitely by a meet-up for LT at the NBF. Details have not yet been arranged. I'm thinking that this year, I would not like to do it jointly with the Bookcrossers. I'll have to see what Dr. "Newt" is planning, and we'll let you know in plenty of time! Here is where Jim lists plannned meet-ups.

I'm shipping out two more books tomorrow for Operation Paperback.

The small number of books I ship out periodically is because they're going out by special request (i.e. troops ask for specific books, authors, or types of books).

I was just on Mark's (msf59) thread a little while ago, where he was recommending Maus II. I said I remember when both books came out and I was interested because they were by Art Spiegelman, but I stayed away because at the time I couldn't deal with anything to do with the Holocaust at all.

I was exposed to lots of real footage, photos and artifacts as a kid and when I was living in Israel, and it was very traumatic to me. I had several conversations with a woman I was acquainted with who was the daughter of camp survivors and also happened to be a psychologist a couple of years back. She was one very screwed up, though highly insightful lady and she said that in many cases, children who witness abuse indirectly often develop symptoms of PTSD from early exposure to traumatizing events, even if they hadn't actually experienced them firsthand.

I brought my dad to see Roberto Benigni's La vita è bella (Life is Beautiful) when it came out at the cinema, and although it was such a lovely movie, he had to leave halfway through. To this day he can't deal with the War at all. But as you mentioned, there's so much being written about it nowadays that it's hard to avoid running into it. I've been somewhat desensitized over the years since there's so much coverage of horrors the media, so I guess I've become a little better at dealing with the Holocaust over time, though I still have to choose my moments.

In any case, I saw that Maus I and II are both available at the library here, so I'll probably take them out sometime this year to see what I've been missing out on.

Sorry for the long rant. Too tired to even attempt pithiness.

I would recommend Maus I and II - if you think you can handle them. The way they are done is brilliant. The characters are animals rather than people. That alone makes it less brutal in a way. It is also the son (Art Speigelman) interviewing his father about the atrocities, much of which his father is reticent to relay.

If I were you, I'd get hold of the books and start reading them. If they makes you feel uneasy at all, simply return them with the rest being unread.

I liked the books very, very much. It reminded me of the relationship I had with my dad. It shows the difference between the Holocaust survivors themselves and the following generation.

If you do read them, read both (if it's not too painful). I'd also like to know what you think of them when you finish them.

Here was my personal review of Maus I.

> 153

My mom, who lost her parents during the war, would never watch anything on televion related to the war. I wanted her to watch "Diary of Anne Frank" on television with me when I was a kid, but she refused. I never understood why until years later.

How was your dad personally affected by the Holocaust?

Yes, I'll reserve Maus I and II at the library. I've been meaning to read them since they came out, so it's long overdue. I read Ann Frank's Diary when I myself was a young girl and it was terrifying reading the words of a girl just a few years older than me.

My father, who was born in Russia to Polish parents in 1940 lost ants and uncles and cousins who were living in Poland. One of his uncles I used to love very much (deceased for over 20 years now) was a camp survivor and came to live here in Montreal. He was a successful furrier and an incredibly kind man. My dad and his immediate family emigrated to Israel along with a huge wave of immigrants, many of whom had been in the camps. As you know I'm sure, most Jewish people who were from Europe or had family there lost loved ones, and that alone must be traumatic enough. I guess I should ask him more about it, but it's painful for me to even write this at the moment and I'm not sure how I would even bring it up.

What I learned about my mother's family's history was mostly through my aunt Emma in Israel. She very much wanted to share family history with me and was always the link in keeping our family together. She translated from Serbo-Croatian into English all of the letters she got from her parents in Yuglosalvia before they perished in Auschwitz. She wanted to leave me with the knowledge. Sad as the history is, I'm glad she did so as she died in 2006, and now I would have no other way of retrieving the information she gave me.

16. Food rules: An Eater's Manual - Michael Pollan



I received this book this afternoon and finished it by nightfall. It's quick and cute but not worth reading if you've already read Pollan's wonderful book The Omnivore's Dilemma. I want a real book next time! More here.

Rating - 2.5 stars

“It is entirely possible to eat healthily without knowing what an antioxidant is.”

From: Food Rules by Michael Pollan

It is also entirely possible to know what an antioxidant is and still eat unhealthily, alas! :)

> 160

LOL!!

You mean those Frito's brand spiral barbecue chips that my husband buys (and I end up eating) have no antioxidants in them? Horrors!!

I can't wait for CSA season to begin again in May, though.

MMMmmm, Fritos . . .

I was so obsessed with food/diet/nutrition the better part of my life that I don't think I can read another book on the topic for a while to come. But I WAS intrigued by The Omnivore and had it on a WL at some point.

For anyone interested, I posted 31994::After the Quake here on BookMooch. US only, please.

ETA: This book has been mooched and is no longer available.

17. I Shall Not Hate - Izzeldin Abuelaish



An incredibly moving book. More of my thoughts about it can be found in my review (Warning: It's a long review!)

Rating - 4.5 stars

New BookMooch posting (USA only):
1. Food Rules - Michael Pollan (taken)
2. Rommel Drives on Deep into Egypt - Richard Brautigan (taken)

ETA: Both books have now been mooched.

18. Come From the Four Winds - Chasya Pincus



This is a very special book to me. It's signed by the author. I've had this book for many, many years - saving it, not even reading it. I finally did read it now. It has a chapter about a family member who was very special to me. Read more about this book in my review.

Rating 4.5 stars

The Kensington Patch did a nice article about BookCrossing. The pictures were mine. I took them at the 2008 and 2010 book festivals in Kensington, Maryland where my BookCrossing group manned a tent to give away free books.

19. Foreskin's Lament - Shalom Auslander



Be aware ahead of time that this book is totally blasphemous. If you want to read more about it and my reaction to it, here's my review. It's unlike any other book I've read.

Rating - 4 stars

Hmmm?! My last three reviews were kind of lengthy, weren't they? I usually can't think of anything to say in a book review, but these last three books all evoked strong emotions in me.

A wonderful review of Foreskin's Lament, Madeline. It was a Hot Review last night! And the review of Come from the Four Winds is excellent as well. I enjoy your explorations of the books you read; they're not too long, just right.

I've been moved by your revelations about Holocaust literature and how it resonates with you and with survivors. Discovering the events and the horror was life changing for me as a young teen. It was as though my entire world perspective had been turned upside down. If I feel that way as a gentile, I can barely imagine what it must be like to be Jewish and to try to deal with it. My heart is and will always remain with all of you.

Hi Gail!
owway.

Thanks for your thoughts about the Holocaust. The more general message, though, is that genocide is still occurring in today's world to other peoples. We just have to make ourselves see where it's happening and take a vocal stand aginst it.

Auslander's book is interesting in that it rejects everything that has anything to do with Judaism (a reaction formation to a very restrictive upbringing by what seems to be - from his account, anyway - very harsh and negative parents. I thought that book was psychologically fascinating, although quite sad.

To all: I'm passing my copy of I Shall Not Hate along to Eva (bookoholic13). Of course, my copy of Come From the Four Winds stays with me!

ETA: Sorry! The following book is now taken. It is reserved for and will be mooched by bohemima: I'd be happy to pass along my copy of Foreskin's Lament via BookMooch to anyone in the US. Be aware, though, that it is *highly* stickered with all kinds of Bookcrosing labels (inside and out). That does not interfere with reading this book. Beware of blasphemy, though. If you're sensitive to negative references to God, this is *not* the book for you! If you're interested in mooching it, just send me a private mesaage and I'll reserve it for you. It's a trade paperback that I received as a RABCK (random act of BookCrossing kindness) from a fellow Bookcrosser.

20. Look Me in the Eye - John Elder Robison



This book is a memoir about Asperger's syndrome, a topic on which I've been doing a bit of reading lately. This book, authored by the brother of Augusten Burroughs, sheds some light on this subject, but I'm guessing that Robison's next book will prove to be even better. He has a new book, also about Asperger's syndrome coming out at the end of this month. In the meantime, Here's my review of this book.

Rating - 4 stars

` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
I'm really on a roll! I'm trying to get through 75 books this year - for real!

Great review of Look Me in the Eye, Madeline. I read it a few years ago and loved it. I'm also so humbled that both he and Augusten Burroughs have both managed to handle their challenges so admirably. Makes my complaints seem so petty in comparison.

Thanks, Carolyn. My husband has joined me in reading several books about Asperger's and autism. He's now reading Mozart and the Whale but likes it much better than I did.

Just an FYI to say that I Shall not Hate (a book I liked very much) is being offered as an Early Reviewer book again for this coming month. Try for it!

HI Madeline, I stopped by to catch up on your thread and wow! I missed a lot - I've gotten very behind both on my starred threads and to an extent on my reading as well. Thanks for the updates on area festivals too - I'm marking the dates and hope to be able to meet up with you at one of them!

It would be fun to meet you at one of the festivals, Mary Lynne. I'm not going to be at the Kensington Book Festival this year, though.

I'm giving up my read of Georg Letham; Physician and Murderer. It's too long and I'm losing interest in it. I loved the part about the rats, but I have the flavor of this book after about 300 pages and think that's enough for me.

In the meantime, I'm thoroughly engaged in the odd stories of Blood and Water and Other Tales for now. I still don't want to get back to those ER books I've abandoned, either. There are two of them as well as a huge one I haven't even started. Too bad I can't tell the length of a book before I request it. I'm not interested in chunksters (nor am I interested in particularly thin books, either). Oh, well.

*sigh*

I am trying to be very careful when requesting ER books. I only request when I really, really want to read. I did get a chunkster in January but I knew I wanted to read it so that was OK. Isn't it funny how the delight in free books can change into dread of having to read and write a review for a book that you really would rather not read at all!

I'm sorry you're giving up on Georg Letham, Madeline. I thought it was a really compelling read myself ... but I HATED the part about the rats. It is a long read though. Still, if you're losing interest, there's always other books waiting for you. Hope your next read's a more engaging one for you.

> 181

I'm sorry you're giving up on Georg Letham

Yeah. I feel bad about it, but I'm already well into The Reluctant Fundamentalist and enjoying it more. The other book was just too long. I felt as if I wanted to move along on to something else. I'm not good with chunksters (unless it's Duma Key or something like that).

>180 DeltaQueen50:

I am trying to be very careful when requesting ER books

Sometimes it's hard to tell, though. I always pick at least one ER book I think I'd like. I can't resist that. The problem with the books that are so-so is that I start them and lose interest in finishing them. Then, when I think about going back to finish them, I can't remember what I've already read so I'd have to start over.

YEY - I found your thread. I'm really rubbish at the Wiki-thing, aren't I?!

Loads of good stuff here! Too bad you didn't like the Auslander-book. I listened to the audio and found it really funny.

You know how "good" my latest ER-book was so I'm getting more and more careful with my requests. I've not requested any in the last two rounds and it doesn't look like I'll ask for any from the current one either. There are already so many book in my Mt. TBR and then there are so many LT-ers who keep recommending books... :)

Too bad you didn't like the Auslander-book.

Eva, I liked the book. I just didn't think it was funny. Do you know what? I also never thought that David Sedaris was funny because his material is also offensive. However, listening to David Sedaris deliver his essays on air (I heard him on NPR) made them funny. I wonder if the issue with both of the writers is in the method of delivery?

You know how "good" my latest ER-book was so I'm getting more and more careful with my requests.

LOL!! Sorry about that! I only requested one ER this round - the one of essays by Arabs. That looked interesting.

Oy vey! I'm so behind on your thread! I had Look Me in the Eye on a wishlist at some point. Not sure where it went to, but I'll add it back there again.

You are waaaaay behind, Ilana. Now my husband and I *both* have already read Look Me in the Eye! :)

21. The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Mohsin Hamid



Great book! This is a fast, engaging read, and one that will give you insight into intercultural relationships yet leave you wondering about the impressions that one country might leave on another through use of power. Read more in my review.

Rating - 4 stars

@184

Very good point - some of Auslander's stories had me in absolute stitches, but he has a very tart way of presenting his own idiosyncrasies, which makes it obvious he's aware of how nutty he is. That might not come across properly in a straight text.

I have now heard a few of Sedaris' stories in audio and they are so much better than the written ones! Still not as hilarious as they are "supposed" to be, but OK. :)

However, listening to David Sedaris deliver his essays on air (I heard him on NPR) made them funny.

Okay...well...sort of funny, anyway. I think it's really Sedaris's squeaky voice and way of speaking his lines that's so entertaining. His material continues to be offensive - even when spoken.

LOL! You mean laughing at him, not with him. Gotcha. :) I found neither of them offensive, though, but I'm not easily offended. If someone's out to offend, I'll hardly be upset. :)

22. The Story of Zahra - Hanan al-Shaykh



I just finished this book for the TIOLI challenge to read a book about the mideast. I'm pretty hung up on this challenge as such books are a personal favorite of mine, though I often tend to lean more toward books based in Israel. This book had no previous review on LT so I took particular care to write a more detailed account of what I thought about this book. I don't really know why my more recent reviews have gotten to be so lengthy! Here's my review of this book.

Rating - 3 stars

At this rate, you'll hit 75 books in September!

I'm glad you're enjoying the mideast challenge.

Excellent review of The Story of Zahra, Madeline. A definite thumb!

> 193

Thanks, Gail!

> 192

...and thanks for the mideast challenge, Zoe!

Seconding - excellent review! I especially like when people review books that have none here on LT yet, so double thanks for that!

Thanks, Eva!

Guess what horrible discovery I made? I did win that book Israel for Beginners. It just hasn't been sent to me yet! :)

I still have three other as yet unreviewed ER books. :(

Oh noes!!!!!!!! Well, at least it can only be better than you expect. LOL! Ever before wished for an ER-book never to reach you?

I have to read my ER books as soon as I get them, otherwise they sit there and stare at me! But I think I've heard you say before that you prefer to pick up whatever strikes you once you finish one book, and the ER-book might not arrive when you have a hankering for that particular book. That's a dilemma! :) Weren't you getting Yael Hedaya's Eden? Is that one in the pile or am I remembering wrong?

Ever before wished for an ER-book never to reach you?

LOL!! No, never!

There were two ER books that I started and put down because they were boring. I never picked them up again. Eden seemed soooooo long that I never even started it. I've been in the mood to read quick books. Maybe I'll do it for the mideast challenge, but I've really been other than Israel this month because it's so rare when others (besides Darryl) do read those kind of books.

It's a good read, but it is long and a bit slow. And, her other books are better. I'm really making you want to pick it up, aren't I? :)

Uh, no. :D

23. Wedding Song - Naguib Mahfouz



I liked this little book. Its special appeal is in the way the book is plotted. Read more in my review.

Rating 3.5 stars

I loved The Cairo Trilogy by Mahfouz and still have his Children of the Alley sitting on my shelves, but have added Wedding Song to my wishlist from the library. Sounds really interesting.

I've read 2 1/2 books of The Cairo Trilogy a long time ago. I'm not sure why I never finished the last book. I have another Mahfouz book here at home but I don't like to read books by the same author back to back. I'll have to find it, though, and keep it on hand to read sooner rather than later.

I really liked how Wedding Song was written. Some readers found it confusing. I'd say to read it and not worry too much about any of the characters other than the main ones. That's all you really need. Since you're reading about the same people from different perspectives, at some point, any confusion will simply disappear. :)

I'm not sure why I never finished the last book

I don't know if that was the case for you, but I liked the first book best, then the second a little bit less, and the third a little bit less than that still. But in retrospect I'm glad I finished the trilogy. I feel like it's given me a good understanding of Egypt and the various mentalities in that period.

24. Out Stealing Horses - Per Petterson



I was really disappointed in this book. The hype about how good this book was supposed to be now has me now feeling guilty about not liking it. I'm just not a person who enjoys a slow-moving novel in which not much happens...even if the writing is lyrical and the settings are lush. You can find more of my thoughts about this book here in my review.

Rating - 2.5 stars

Sorry you didn't enjoy that one Madeline. It's been on my shelves for a while now so I look forward to getting to it eventually.

Earlier this year, I read To Siberia, also a book by Per Petterson. That was a book I won through LT's Early Reviewer program. There was something about that book that definitely struck a chord with me. I liked that book very much. Go figure.

Dropping in to say hello. The plot of Out stealing horses doesn't tempt me as much as the title does. I haven't been doing the Middle East reading this time round, so great to see that you have been caught up in it. I must try to read at least the first book of Mahfouz's Cairo Trilogy at some point.

I have Out Stealing Horses on my bookshelf as well, but haven't gotten around to it. I've been told that I need to be in the right mood to read it, so I'll just wait until it strikes. :)

Thanks for the warning on Out Stealing Horses. It's on my TBR and I like to know if something might be slow.

Thanks for the heads-up on the Petterson, and more especially, for the review of the Mahfouz. I've got the first volume of the trilogy here on the shelf, but this one looks very intriguing...

> 208, 209, 210, 211

I'm thinking that, had I started out reading Out Stealing Horses first, I probably would not have requested To Siberia from LT's ER program. I only requested it because I'd heard such good things about Out Stealing Horses. Of course, if you like slow reading, perhaps you'd like Out Stealing Horses. It's always interesting to see which books appeal to which people.

I'm not sure it was even the slow reading that bothered me so much. It was more that the story seemed undeveloped to me. There were so many fuzzy edges. By that I mean that the story could have gone on to something more interesting but just swung back into the doldrums over and over again. :(

As for Naguib Mahfouz's Cairo trilogy, read at least the first book. You'll get a good flavor of the best writing of this Nobel prize-winning author. I only read the first two books to completion, but others have told me that the story gets less interesting as it moves toward the completion of the trilogy anyway.

I don't care much for trilogies usually, however I might make an exception for Irish author Roddy Doyle's trilogy as I've been mighty impressed with his A Star Called Henry and Oh Play That Thing - the latter of of which many people didn't care for. I'd be willing to give the last book a try. Henry Smart is quite a character!

> 208

The plot of Out Stealing Horses doesn't tempt me as much as the title does.

It was the cover art which hooked me!

Judging books by their covers may be wrong, but it's oh so much fun :-)

I am completely shameless on judging books by their covers! I love browsing in bookstores for just that reason. On line shopping just does not give the same pleasure, does it?

25. Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui - Karen Kingston



This is a book that's both easy to read and practical. Learn about clearing clutter and feng shui at the same time. More here on my review.

Rating: 3.5 stars

26. Lowboy - John Wray



This was a book not so much liked by others. I got it from Patrick (pbadeer) with the caution that he did not care for it. I, however, found it to be an intriguing read. It's a novel about a 16-year-old paranoid schizophrenic boy who stops taking his meds and breaks out of a psychiatric facility. He travels the subway system of New York City while his mom and a New York City police officer try to locate him. Read more more of my thoughts about this novel on my review.

Rating - 4 stars

You sold me! Great review and I'm going to be on the lookout for Lowboy. His is a problem I'm personally acquainted with (not me but someone close) and the story sounds well written enough to be worth spending some time with.

Thanks, Tina. I'm only sorry that not more people liked it. It had been an Early Reviewer book which several people pooh-poohed with only a few words. To me, that's not fair either to the author or to the publisher.

Perhaps it was the writing style that people disliked. The author tries to take readers down that same slippery slope as the protagonist's psyche. It's not always an easy ride.

I found this book so sad. I've come from reading quite a few books about autism and autism spectrum disorders. It's tough to try to relate to people whose thoughts and thought processes we cannot even begin to grasp.

I'd really like to know your reaction to the book after you read it. I'd like for more people to like it! :)

Madeline....I agree that sometimes the subject matter can be off-putting in a book, but at the same time it's important enough to read what needs to be said. I'm currently putting off reading an ARC Strange Relation: A Memoir of Marriage, Dementia and Poetry ( dang I hate it when Touchstones don't work!!) I owe the publisher a review, but after reading a couple others on the subject, and several about widows dealing with the loss of a spouse, my psyche just isn't ready to be ripped again. Hopefully, I be able to get to it soon.

I'm currently putting off reading an ARC

I have three ER books that I just can't seem to get to. I'm simply not in the mood. I started two of them, and they bored me so much that I stopped in the middle. I now can't remember anything about the books so I'll have to start all over again when I do get into the mood. :(

Oddly enough, this situation has not stopped me from winning any more ER books. I've written tons of ER reviews already so perhaps having done that helps. Who knows what the almighty algorithm thinks? :)

> 220

...and I do agree with you that's important to gauge your mood when you're trying to tackle books about difficult subjects.

I also have three ER books I just can't seem to find time to review them, or even find them, right now. Dang!

Just waving hello, Madeline!

>221 SqueakyChu:: Who knows what the almighty algorithm thinks?

All I can say is that I like the new algorithm (well, year old) better than the old one. The latter would give me 5 or 6 in a row and then nothing for a year. The new one gives me periodic gifts.

I know they give you quite a bit of grace on 1 but I'm surprised about 3. Since the comments talk about it so much, I thought not providing reviews was the only real no-no. However, as you say, if you've done a lot, they may be cutting some slack.

> 224

Hi, Stasia!

Boy did I miss you. It's so quiet here on the threads without you. So glad you're back!!

> 225

However, as you say, if you've done a lot, they may be cutting some slack.

...which goes to show you can't figure out all that goes into the algorithm.

Tad, I thought that my not writing three reviews would put some sort of a "hold" on ER books sent to me until I got those done. It did not...at least so far. Now what happens is that the newest ER book always looks the best of them all and *that's* the one I feel like reading and reviewing. The other three just sit at my bedside and glare at me! :)

In addition, I very, very carefully choose books I request for ER now. It's usually only one or two that I like the most. That cuts down on the chance that I might not like the book. My very last book was the best one ever: I Shall Not Hate by Izelldin Abuelaish. What an extraordinary book that was! I went on to encourage other LTers to read it right away. I see it's back on the ER list again. That's pretty unuusal to have the same book back in different months, isn't it? Nevertheless, it was an amazing read.

>226 SqueakyChu:: My last book...or the one coming from Amazon via Prime 2-Day...always seems the most attractive. So, I understand your dilemma completely.

Edit: horrible typos

My last book...or the one coming from Amazon via Prime 2-Day...always seems the most attractive

LOL!!

Madeline, I heard so many wonderful things about I Shall Not Hate that I broke my ER "fast" and requested it the second time it was listed. Yay for me. It's on its way, and I'll be sure to read it pronto!

Continuing my April and May reads on this thread.