brenzi's 2013 Reading - Opening Round
This topic was continued by brenzi's 2013 Reading - February Frolics.
Talk 75 Books Challenge for 2013
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1brenzi
“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” ― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
OTS – Off the Shelf (books owned at least six months)
L - library book
NF – Non-fiction
BOOKS READ IN 2013
6. The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien - OTS - Viet Nam - 4.2 stars
5. The Line -- Olga Grushin - L - Russia - 4.4 stars
4. We Die Alone - David Howarth - NF - eBook - Norway - 3.8 stars
3. A Question of Upbringing - Anthony Powell - UK - OTS - 3.7 stars
2. The Burgess Boys - Elizabeth Strout - ER - 4.5 stars
1. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy- L - Russia - 4.9 stars
Currently Reading:
BOOKS THAT CAME INTO THE HOUSE IN JANUARY:
Curse of the Narrows: The Halifax Explosion of 1917 Laura M. Mac Donald- PBS
The Enchanted April - Elizabeth Von Armin - PBS
Cold: Adventures in the World's Frozen Places - Bill Streever - eBook
Palladian - Elizabeth Taylor - PBS
Strength in What Remains - Tracy Kidder - PBS
The Best American Short Stories 2012 - Tom Perrotta - eBook
So here’s a little project I was working on in November/December. I wanted to get all my books organized and in one spot so we painted this spare bedroom, installed new bookshelves and here is the happy result. I’ll be spending many happy hours in this retreat:-)
2brenzi
December Summary
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens – I was totally unprepared for how good this book was especially the sob-inducing ending. Everyone is at least familiar with the oft-quoted beginning (“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”) and ending lines (“It is a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done.”). For the tiny miniscule percentage of the reading population who has not read the book, what are you waiting for? It’s wonderful.
Read This! Handpicked Favorites From America's Indie Bookstores edited by Hans Weyandt – a book about books where Indie bookstore owners listed their favorite books. I was only slightly put off by the lists with little or no context but hey, who doesn’t like a book about books.
The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe - a memoir that looked at the books read by the author and his mother while they sat together as she was treated for pancreatic cancer. I know what you’re thinking…hopelessly sad and maudlin; but no, somehow hopeful and uplifting and a loving tribute from a son to his mother. MaryAnne Schwalbe led a full and active life, even after being diagnosed with Stage Four Pancreatic Cancer, and traveled the world on behalf of refugees the world over. You can tell as you read about their discussions around every kind of book from the ridiculous to the sublime, that this woman is much admired and loved by just about everyone who knows her. She’s devoted her life to helping others and her son has chosen to highlight her life through the books they read together during her last months on earth.
Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay – my first foray into the Fantasy genre (actually Historical Fantasy) but certainly not my last. At almost 700 pages, an epic novel about a people robbed of their beloved homeland by a despotic king who used sorcery and torture to achieve his ends. He even went so far as to make the name of that country anathema to be spoken or even remembered. Fast forward twenty years and a small passionate group of brave men and women initiate a treacherous campaign to take back their beloved country, Tigana. Loved it.
Mrs. Somebody Somebody by Tracy Winn – Homerun! Five stars for this brilliant short story collection! Exploring life in the mill town of Lowell, Massachusetts in the years following WWII through the present, the ten connected short stories took my breath away with their gritty, tenacious characters and the clever way the author makes the connections. The first and last stories are connected in a way I would have never imagined. After I finished the first story, the title story, I thought I had probably read the best one of the lot. Until I read the second one, that is. Then that was the best. But wait one minute…that third story was really, really good too so that must certainly be the best…But…well, you get the idea. It’s a remarkable collection, written in stunning prose that depicts a community rising and falling on the economic woes of a declining mill town.
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey - The author of this very short memoir contracts an autoimmune disease while in Europe on assignment. The severity of it leaves her bedridden for years and sometime during the early stages of the disease a friend brings her a potted violet plant to which a common garden snail (Neohelix albolabris) has attached itself. Slowly the snail emerges from the shell and the author begins to examine how it carries on its daily activity. Beautifully written, full of insight and thoughtful contemplation on what a quiet solitary life can mean I found this memoir to be poignant and charming.
The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg - Edie Middlestein has spent her entire life chasing the Big Mac. Something has been missing from her life since she was a child and she has used food to fill up the void. Now a diabetic suffering from massive complications Edie’s life is a mess. After thirty years of marriage, her husband leaves her when he determines that there's no room for both him and (well-over 300 pound) Edie’s obsession with food, in this marriage. Attenberg tells the story with humor and compassion and tackles what is a real problem in America today in a way that allows the reader to consider all the thorny questions that accompany the question of obesity today.
MY BUDDY
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens – I was totally unprepared for how good this book was especially the sob-inducing ending. Everyone is at least familiar with the oft-quoted beginning (“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”) and ending lines (“It is a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done.”). For the tiny miniscule percentage of the reading population who has not read the book, what are you waiting for? It’s wonderful.
Read This! Handpicked Favorites From America's Indie Bookstores edited by Hans Weyandt – a book about books where Indie bookstore owners listed their favorite books. I was only slightly put off by the lists with little or no context but hey, who doesn’t like a book about books.
The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe - a memoir that looked at the books read by the author and his mother while they sat together as she was treated for pancreatic cancer. I know what you’re thinking…hopelessly sad and maudlin; but no, somehow hopeful and uplifting and a loving tribute from a son to his mother. MaryAnne Schwalbe led a full and active life, even after being diagnosed with Stage Four Pancreatic Cancer, and traveled the world on behalf of refugees the world over. You can tell as you read about their discussions around every kind of book from the ridiculous to the sublime, that this woman is much admired and loved by just about everyone who knows her. She’s devoted her life to helping others and her son has chosen to highlight her life through the books they read together during her last months on earth.
Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay – my first foray into the Fantasy genre (actually Historical Fantasy) but certainly not my last. At almost 700 pages, an epic novel about a people robbed of their beloved homeland by a despotic king who used sorcery and torture to achieve his ends. He even went so far as to make the name of that country anathema to be spoken or even remembered. Fast forward twenty years and a small passionate group of brave men and women initiate a treacherous campaign to take back their beloved country, Tigana. Loved it.
Mrs. Somebody Somebody by Tracy Winn – Homerun! Five stars for this brilliant short story collection! Exploring life in the mill town of Lowell, Massachusetts in the years following WWII through the present, the ten connected short stories took my breath away with their gritty, tenacious characters and the clever way the author makes the connections. The first and last stories are connected in a way I would have never imagined. After I finished the first story, the title story, I thought I had probably read the best one of the lot. Until I read the second one, that is. Then that was the best. But wait one minute…that third story was really, really good too so that must certainly be the best…But…well, you get the idea. It’s a remarkable collection, written in stunning prose that depicts a community rising and falling on the economic woes of a declining mill town.
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey - The author of this very short memoir contracts an autoimmune disease while in Europe on assignment. The severity of it leaves her bedridden for years and sometime during the early stages of the disease a friend brings her a potted violet plant to which a common garden snail (Neohelix albolabris) has attached itself. Slowly the snail emerges from the shell and the author begins to examine how it carries on its daily activity. Beautifully written, full of insight and thoughtful contemplation on what a quiet solitary life can mean I found this memoir to be poignant and charming.
The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg - Edie Middlestein has spent her entire life chasing the Big Mac. Something has been missing from her life since she was a child and she has used food to fill up the void. Now a diabetic suffering from massive complications Edie’s life is a mess. After thirty years of marriage, her husband leaves her when he determines that there's no room for both him and (well-over 300 pound) Edie’s obsession with food, in this marriage. Attenberg tells the story with humor and compassion and tackles what is a real problem in America today in a way that allows the reader to consider all the thorny questions that accompany the question of obesity today.
MY BUDDY
3brenzi
BEST OF 2012
Fiction
Bleak House by Charles Dickens
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz
Juliet in August by Dianne Warren
In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (reread)
My Antonia by Willa Cather
Tunneling to the Center of the Earth by Kevin Wilson
Gillespie and I by Jane Harris
The Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Mrs. Somebody Somebody by Tracy Winn
Non-fiction
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
Columbine by Dave Cullen
Inferno: The World at War 1939-1945 by Max Hastings
Biggest Disappointments of 2012
The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny – say it ain’t so Louise! B-o-r-i-n-g-g-g!!
Team of Rivals by Doris Kearnes Goodwin – the longest book I’ve ever read when measured by insignificant detailed minutiae
The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon – my first (and last) Pynchon -
my own definition of post-modernism as demonstrated in this novel: if the novel makes absolutely no sense to you, if the narrative seems to follow no logical order, if you often find yourself scratching your head and wondering what in the world is going on, if the symbolism is so thick that you think that every word written stands for something else, you are most probably reading a post modern novel. If it was written in the sixties or seventies the probability that it is a post modern novel increases and if it was written by Thomas Pynchon it is almost certainly a post modern novel. He didn’t write much else.
The Year of the Short Story
Mrs. Somebody Somebody by Tracy Winn – see December Summary – in a word: sublime!
Binocular Vision by Edith Pearlman - The stories display Pearlman’s unique way of creating characters that show compassion and intelligence as they deal with the foibles of everyday life. They, for the most part, choose life, even with its tough roadblocks. Disappointment is the name of the game here. Pearlman herself describes her main theme as “accommodation.” As the stories take us to Maine, Central America, Hungary, Tsarist Russia, and the town of Godolphin, Massachusetts, we meet deftly drawn characters who display the kind of tenacity that is not uncommon in people I’ve come to know.
Tunneling to the Center of the Earth by Kevin Wilson - Part whimsy, part startling possibility and always told with a wink each story is shot through with humor and before you know it, Wilson cunningly convinces you that everything he’s telling you is certainly a possibility. Each story is a gem; most are stories of loneliness and isolation.
Surprise of the Year
I read Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio for the literature course I took and I was very surprised to learn how many writers of the 20th century were influenced by this book of short stories centered on the Ohio town and the “grotesques,” as the characters were called. This book influenced Faulkner, Hemingway and Fitzgerald. More surprising to me was the fact that, in interviews both Tracy Winn author of Mrs. Somebody Somebody and Kevin Wilson (Tunneling to the Center of the Earth) credited the Anderson book with influencing the writing of their short stories. I wasn’t crazy about Anderson’s book but I loved the Winn and Wilson book; just something I found interesting.
BOOK OF THE YEAR
BRING UP THE BODIES by Hilary Mantel - This second volume of a planned trilogy concerning Cromwell’s life is incredibly well written and really, Mantel has outdone herself in this volume which tells the ins and outs of the downfall of the king’s second wife, Anne Boleyn. But it’s Cromwell, again and again that we come back to, and although he’s aged since WH, he is actually aging (and prospering) quite nicely:
”Thomas Cromwell is now about fifty years old. He has a labourer’s body, stocky, useful, running to fat. He has black hair, greying now, and because of his pale impermeable skin, which seems designed to resist rain as well as sun, people sneer that his father was an Irishman…(Thomas) never spares himself in the king’s service, he knows his worth and merits and makes sure of his reward: offices, perquisites and title deeds, manor houses and farms. He has a way of getting his way, he has a method; he will charm a man or bribe him, coax him or threaten him, he will explain to a man where his true interests lie, and he will introduce that same man to aspects of himself he never knew existed. Every day Master Secretary deals with grandees who, if they could, would destroy him with one vindictive swipe, as if he were a fly. Knowing this, he is distinguished his courtesy, his calmness and his indefatigable attention to England’s business. He is not in the habit of explaining himself. He is not in the habit of discussing his successes. But whenever good fortune has called on him, he has been there, planted on the threshold, ready to fling open the door to her timid scratch on the wood.” (Page 6)
Fiction
Bleak House by Charles Dickens
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz
Juliet in August by Dianne Warren
In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (reread)
My Antonia by Willa Cather
Tunneling to the Center of the Earth by Kevin Wilson
Gillespie and I by Jane Harris
The Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Mrs. Somebody Somebody by Tracy Winn
Non-fiction
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
Columbine by Dave Cullen
Inferno: The World at War 1939-1945 by Max Hastings
Biggest Disappointments of 2012
The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny – say it ain’t so Louise! B-o-r-i-n-g-g-g!!
Team of Rivals by Doris Kearnes Goodwin – the longest book I’ve ever read when measured by insignificant detailed minutiae
The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon – my first (and last) Pynchon -
my own definition of post-modernism as demonstrated in this novel: if the novel makes absolutely no sense to you, if the narrative seems to follow no logical order, if you often find yourself scratching your head and wondering what in the world is going on, if the symbolism is so thick that you think that every word written stands for something else, you are most probably reading a post modern novel. If it was written in the sixties or seventies the probability that it is a post modern novel increases and if it was written by Thomas Pynchon it is almost certainly a post modern novel. He didn’t write much else.
The Year of the Short Story
Mrs. Somebody Somebody by Tracy Winn – see December Summary – in a word: sublime!
Binocular Vision by Edith Pearlman - The stories display Pearlman’s unique way of creating characters that show compassion and intelligence as they deal with the foibles of everyday life. They, for the most part, choose life, even with its tough roadblocks. Disappointment is the name of the game here. Pearlman herself describes her main theme as “accommodation.” As the stories take us to Maine, Central America, Hungary, Tsarist Russia, and the town of Godolphin, Massachusetts, we meet deftly drawn characters who display the kind of tenacity that is not uncommon in people I’ve come to know.
Tunneling to the Center of the Earth by Kevin Wilson - Part whimsy, part startling possibility and always told with a wink each story is shot through with humor and before you know it, Wilson cunningly convinces you that everything he’s telling you is certainly a possibility. Each story is a gem; most are stories of loneliness and isolation.
Surprise of the Year
I read Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio for the literature course I took and I was very surprised to learn how many writers of the 20th century were influenced by this book of short stories centered on the Ohio town and the “grotesques,” as the characters were called. This book influenced Faulkner, Hemingway and Fitzgerald. More surprising to me was the fact that, in interviews both Tracy Winn author of Mrs. Somebody Somebody and Kevin Wilson (Tunneling to the Center of the Earth) credited the Anderson book with influencing the writing of their short stories. I wasn’t crazy about Anderson’s book but I loved the Winn and Wilson book; just something I found interesting.
BOOK OF THE YEAR
BRING UP THE BODIES by Hilary Mantel - This second volume of a planned trilogy concerning Cromwell’s life is incredibly well written and really, Mantel has outdone herself in this volume which tells the ins and outs of the downfall of the king’s second wife, Anne Boleyn. But it’s Cromwell, again and again that we come back to, and although he’s aged since WH, he is actually aging (and prospering) quite nicely:
”Thomas Cromwell is now about fifty years old. He has a labourer’s body, stocky, useful, running to fat. He has black hair, greying now, and because of his pale impermeable skin, which seems designed to resist rain as well as sun, people sneer that his father was an Irishman…(Thomas) never spares himself in the king’s service, he knows his worth and merits and makes sure of his reward: offices, perquisites and title deeds, manor houses and farms. He has a way of getting his way, he has a method; he will charm a man or bribe him, coax him or threaten him, he will explain to a man where his true interests lie, and he will introduce that same man to aspects of himself he never knew existed. Every day Master Secretary deals with grandees who, if they could, would destroy him with one vindictive swipe, as if he were a fly. Knowing this, he is distinguished his courtesy, his calmness and his indefatigable attention to England’s business. He is not in the habit of explaining himself. He is not in the habit of discussing his successes. But whenever good fortune has called on him, he has been there, planted on the threshold, ready to fling open the door to her timid scratch on the wood.” (Page 6)
4richardderus
Oh goodness, my awwwwww-er broke...Buddy doesn't get less cute!
Happy reading.
Happy reading.
5brenzi
Some very general goals for 2013
Here are some of the chunksters I would like to tackle this year:
And here are some trilogies and even four volume series that I’d like to make a dent in this year too:
And these books should see me through the short story challenge that Richard started:
Enough for goals I may or may not reach!
Here are some of the chunksters I would like to tackle this year:
And here are some trilogies and even four volume series that I’d like to make a dent in this year too:
And these books should see me through the short story challenge that Richard started:
Enough for goals I may or may not reach!
7Chatterbox
Here I is, and here is my star... :-)
9Crazymamie
Dropping off a star here, Bonnie! Wishing you and yours a very Happy New Year! looking forward to following your thread in 2013!
10ffortsa
Hi Bonnie., I got hopelessly behind this past year, but hope to keep up with you for at least a little while. Happy new year!
11brenzi
>9 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie, I'll look forward to all your entertaining stories in 2013:)
>10 ffortsa: Hi Judy, I'm just getting my feet wet over here myself. happy New Year to you too!
>10 ffortsa: Hi Judy, I'm just getting my feet wet over here myself. happy New Year to you too!
12lauralkeet
Bonnie! Hello! I love your new bookshelves. My husband is building some for us and I can't wait for the day we get to organize them.
I'm always amazed at how similar our reading tastes are, your favorite books are some of mine, too. And I just picked up The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating in yesterday's Kindle daily deal.
I'm always amazed at how similar our reading tastes are, your favorite books are some of mine, too. And I just picked up The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating in yesterday's Kindle daily deal.
13brenzi
Hi Laura, if your husband is building the shelves for you they'll be a lot nicer than these, I can assure you LOL. My hubby's health doesn't permit him to do that kind of work anymore but he was certainly critical of the quality of these that I ordered from Amazon haha. But you're right about the organizing. That was great fun!
Oh I think you'll enjoy The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating. It's a lovely little book.
Oh I think you'll enjoy The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating. It's a lovely little book.
15Donna828
Bonnie, I'm so sorry... I drooled all over your pretty pictures! Color me green!!! I'm glad you posted some of them large enough to read titles. Yay for Truman, Portrait of A Lady, and Dance to the Music of Time. Did you know there is a year-long group read for Dance? I know, you will probably have it finished in January! Ooh, are those some Europa editions I see stacked up next to the Paul Scott books?
Big star affixed to the first 2013 thread I've visited! I'll start mine later tomorrow.
Big star affixed to the first 2013 thread I've visited! I'll start mine later tomorrow.
16alcottacre
Glad to see you back with us, Bonnie! Have a wonderful New Year!
17cyderry
Your sanctuary puts mine to shame...
***let's see.. how can we copy some of those design ideas..hummm***
***let's see.. how can we copy some of those design ideas..hummm***
18BLBera
Happy New Year, Bonnie. Great pics. The Jewel in the Crown is fabulous. I hope you get to it. I'd like to read Powell, too. Decisions, decisions.
I look forward to following your reading through 2013.
I look forward to following your reading through 2013.
19Berly
Don't you love bookshelves? My favorite piece of furniture. Right next to a comfy place to sit in. : ) Looks like you have lots of great reading lined up. Enjoy!
20cushlareads
Love your new bookshelves and your summary of 2012 (and your choice of book of the year!). Can't wait for you to add a big pile of books to my wishlist in 2013.
21brenzi
>14 drneutron: Thanks Jim, where would I go haha?
>15 Donna828: Ooops, that's Ok, paper towels took care of the drool;-) Thanks for the info on the GR of Dance to the Music of Time Donna, which I signed up for but IDK I've got to give it some thought. I never considered reading just one novella a month and stretching it over a whole year. And I really wanted to read the Scott books first. But OTOH it would be nice to have company. Hmmm...
>16 alcottacre: Hi there Stasia, will you have more time for reading and LT in 2013?
>17 cyderry: Hi there Cheli, great to see you here. Copy away haha.
>18 BLBera: And Happy New Year to you too Beth. I've heard that both series are quite good so I'm looking forward to them.
>19 Berly: Hi Kim, yep bookshelves far outshine any other piece of furniture. I'm trying out three different chairs for that space; nothing new, they're already in the house in different spots. Once I decide, I'll post a picture.
>20 cushlareads: Hi Cushla, I will be happy to add to your WL, much as I'm happy to add books you recommend:)
>15 Donna828: Ooops, that's Ok, paper towels took care of the drool;-) Thanks for the info on the GR of Dance to the Music of Time Donna, which I signed up for but IDK I've got to give it some thought. I never considered reading just one novella a month and stretching it over a whole year. And I really wanted to read the Scott books first. But OTOH it would be nice to have company. Hmmm...
>16 alcottacre: Hi there Stasia, will you have more time for reading and LT in 2013?
>17 cyderry: Hi there Cheli, great to see you here. Copy away haha.
>18 BLBera: And Happy New Year to you too Beth. I've heard that both series are quite good so I'm looking forward to them.
>19 Berly: Hi Kim, yep bookshelves far outshine any other piece of furniture. I'm trying out three different chairs for that space; nothing new, they're already in the house in different spots. Once I decide, I'll post a picture.
>20 cushlareads: Hi Cushla, I will be happy to add to your WL, much as I'm happy to add books you recommend:)
22brenzi
To All My wonderful friends here on LT, my warmest wishes for the New Year. I am so glad to have found you all at this happy, happy place!
23porch_reader
Happy New Year, Bonnie! I love your new bookshelves. And I'm tempted by several of the books on your Best of 2012 list!
25LizzieD
I wish you the best year yet, Bonnie - and that includes a lot of reading! I still have A Suitable Boy yelling for reading time, but I feel compelled to say that The Quincunx turned out not to be worth the time for me. I'll be interested to see what you think. I know we'll be reading *Dance* together, but the Paul Scott is my other most, most, most favorite series, so I hope you get to it too!!!
26arubabookwoman
You have some real treats awaiting you in A Dance to the Music of Time and The Raj Quartet Bonnie. I may reread The Raj Quartet this year--for the third or 4th time--I can't remember.
27brenzi
>25 LizzieD: Hi Peggy, well you've dashed my high hopes for The Quincunx (which I still can't figure out how I ended up with the book haha). I did sign up for the GR but I don't know if I'll be able to tolerate the slow pace. We'll see.
>26 arubabookwoman: Hi there Deborah, I'm really looking forward to both of those. I'd love to see you here in Western New York anytime at all. The Adirondacks is a bit of a stretch.
>26 arubabookwoman: Hi there Deborah, I'm really looking forward to both of those. I'd love to see you here in Western New York anytime at all. The Adirondacks is a bit of a stretch.
28Nancy618
Happy New Year, Bonnie! I starred you and am looking forward to following you through 2013! I love the pictures of your new bookshelves -- and the opportunity to read some of those intriguing titles. The Warmth of Other Suns and Portrait of a Lady are both in my chunkster pile and I've been telling myself for several years that I need to get started on that Richard Ford trilogy! So, here's to 2013 and great reading with wonderful friends in the weeks and months ahead!
30brenzi
>28 Nancy618: Hi Nancy, I'm so happy to see you here, Did you take the plunge and set up a thread of your own this year? I'll look for it. Isn't this just about the best group of friends? I'd love to be able to meet up with you and Donna at one of your LT meet-ups but I don't see the Midwest in my future anytime soon:(
31brenzi
>29 lit_chick: And another long lost Nancy! I'm so happy to see you posting again! Happy New Year!
32PaulCranswick
Bonnie - love the year end summaries. Especially like your tantalising view of your planned reads in all their pulpen flesh so to speak. I do wish my shelves could be so neat but the poor buggers are shunted and packed in like sardines in Ayhab's hold.
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!
33cammykitty
!!! We almost used the same ticker - Glad I decided on the darker dog. Otherwise we'd look like twins - or the two ladies at the ball who *gasp* wore the same dress.
Love the photo-goals!
Love the photo-goals!
34TinaV95
Just linked over from your 2012 thread that I have enjoyed s much. Looking forward to following your 2013 reading as well!
36mckait
Wow! What a display here! Graphics, photos of books and pets and a great way to start the year!
。☆ 。☆。☆
★。＼｜／。★
Happy New Year!
★。／｜＼。★
。☆ 。☆。☆
★。＼｜／。★
Happy New Year!
★。／｜＼。★
37Nancy618
Don't waste time looking for my thread, Bonnie -- you won't find it! You and Donna have raised the bar so high with the time and attention you devote to your threads...the graphics, the lists, the quick replies...that I don't see myself taking that plunge anytime soon! But I do plan to continue lurking and enjoying your threads! And you're right...this is the best group of friends to hang out with! :-)
38Carmenere
Love your snowball pusher, Bonnie! Happy New Year and let me just say I've got a bad case of bookshelf envy!
39ChelleBearss
Happy New Year Bonnie & Buddy!
Love your new bookshelves!
Love your new bookshelves!
40drachenbraut23
Hi Bonnie, just marking my spot for the New Year. I love the photos of your Buddy he is absolutely cute!
Unfortunately, I can't see your bookshelves or your project photos so I can't comment on them :(.
Again, a very Happy New Year to you!
Unfortunately, I can't see your bookshelves or your project photos so I can't comment on them :(.
Again, a very Happy New Year to you!
42msf59
Happy New Year, Bonnie! One of my top pleasures, on LT, is following your reading, my friend. Your taste in books is awe-inspiring.
I love your new thread, with it's abundance of book photos. Those book-shelves are killer. Let me know when you are ready for the Sportswriter. I'll join you. I did read Independence Day a couple decades ago but now I want to read all 3. I haven't cracked A.K. yet.
Hope you enjoy Truman & Warmth. Both are excellent.
I love your new thread, with it's abundance of book photos. Those book-shelves are killer. Let me know when you are ready for the Sportswriter. I'll join you. I did read Independence Day a couple decades ago but now I want to read all 3. I haven't cracked A.K. yet.
Hope you enjoy Truman & Warmth. Both are excellent.
43RebaRelishesReading
Hi Bonnie, just found your thread, read through your lists and immediately dropped a star. Looking forward to following your reading this year.
45brenzi
>32 PaulCranswick: I do wish my shelves could be so neat but the poor buggers are shunted and packed in like sardines in Ayhab's hold. What a visual that is, Paul!! If I bought even a fraction of what you but I would have to outfit my house from stem to stern with shelves haha.
>33 cammykitty: Hi Katie, it's great to see you here. Whoa, I guess we wouldn't want to be the two old ladies at the ball. That actually happened to me back in the 80s LOL.
>34 TinaV95: Hi Tina, welcome aboard and I'm happy to have you here.
>35 wilkiec: Hi there Diana, thank you and right back at ya!
>36 mckait: Hi Kath, thank you and happy New Year to you and your family!
>37 Nancy618: Well it's Donna who sets the high bar Nancy. I just trail along behind whimpering, trying to keep up. We'll see how long I can do that w/o tearing my hair out haha.
>38 Carmenere: Hi Lynda, no need for envy. I had great fun reorganizing my books.
>39 ChelleBearss: Thanks Chelle!
>33 cammykitty: Hi Katie, it's great to see you here. Whoa, I guess we wouldn't want to be the two old ladies at the ball. That actually happened to me back in the 80s LOL.
>34 TinaV95: Hi Tina, welcome aboard and I'm happy to have you here.
>35 wilkiec: Hi there Diana, thank you and right back at ya!
>36 mckait: Hi Kath, thank you and happy New Year to you and your family!
>37 Nancy618: Well it's Donna who sets the high bar Nancy. I just trail along behind whimpering, trying to keep up. We'll see how long I can do that w/o tearing my hair out haha.
>38 Carmenere: Hi Lynda, no need for envy. I had great fun reorganizing my books.
>39 ChelleBearss: Thanks Chelle!
46brenzi
>40 drachenbraut23: Thanks Bianca, hmmm I wonder why you can't see those pictures. I don't think I can do anything about that. Maybe they will show up at some point. Happy New Year to you too.
>41 SandDune: Hi Rhian, Happy New Year to you too!
>42 msf59: Hello to my first LT friend (Mark), I don't have much of a time table for any of my reading other than AK which I'm reading right now but I would think later in the year for the Richard Ford books. AK is quite good BTW, but the pages are dense and, therefore, turning rather slowly. That may change. I'm also considering shelling out for the eBook ($15!!) because the book is really clunky. Thanks for your compliments but I really just copy you, Donna and a few others in choosing books to read:-)
>43 RebaRelishesReading: Hi Reba, welcome to the thread and I'm happy to have you here.
>44 katiekrug: Hi Katie, ogle away:-)
>41 SandDune: Hi Rhian, Happy New Year to you too!
>42 msf59: Hello to my first LT friend (Mark), I don't have much of a time table for any of my reading other than AK which I'm reading right now but I would think later in the year for the Richard Ford books. AK is quite good BTW, but the pages are dense and, therefore, turning rather slowly. That may change. I'm also considering shelling out for the eBook ($15!!) because the book is really clunky. Thanks for your compliments but I really just copy you, Donna and a few others in choosing books to read:-)
>43 RebaRelishesReading: Hi Reba, welcome to the thread and I'm happy to have you here.
>44 katiekrug: Hi Katie, ogle away:-)
47LovingLit
Love the book photos, Id be keen to get on to that Palace Walk series too this year. I sought them out at the book fairs, but was unlucky. I might have to purchase!
48maggie1944
Hi, Bonnie and Buddy! I and Greta Garbo and Benny send our best wishes to you and yours for a wonderful 2013. You are inspiring me to again try to get my books organized. They are all helter skelter since my move into this house 2.5 years ago. How slovenly of me! Been busy reading, hanging out with kids, and playing with dogs. That's my excuse.
Starred you are! Let's get it on... I've read the first 20+ pages of Anna Karénina and loving it already!
Starred you are! Let's get it on... I've read the first 20+ pages of Anna Karénina and loving it already!
50brenzi
>47 LovingLit: Hi Megan, that's the one set of books The Cairo Trilogy) on that shelf that I've actually already read. If you get to it, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
>48 maggie1944: Hello to Karen, Benny and Greta Garbo, Buddy would probably be barking his greeting if you were actually here haha. I've read about 50 pages in AK and it is very good, I agree.
>49 jadebird: Hi Ren, good to see you and Happy New Year to you too:)
>48 maggie1944: Hello to Karen, Benny and Greta Garbo, Buddy would probably be barking his greeting if you were actually here haha. I've read about 50 pages in AK and it is very good, I agree.
>49 jadebird: Hi Ren, good to see you and Happy New Year to you too:)
51tututhefirst
Stopping by to star you so I can keep track of what you're reading. Hope your New Year is starting out to be a good one.
52qebo
Admiring the organized bookshelves. The middle one seems to have acquired books between posts 1 and 5.
53Copperskye
Here you are! Happy New Year, Bonnie.
Nice new shelves!
Nice new shelves!
54Carmenere
Hope you're enjoyng AK, Bonnie. I read it a couple of years ago and it certainly left lasting images in my mind. Tolstoy is a bit long winded but so gooooood.
56tymfos
Hi! Just wandering by dropping a star. My, you have some ambitious goals this year, Bonnie!
57brenzi
>51 tututhefirst: Hi there Tina, I'm starting the New Year with Anna Karenina so things couldn't be better. I know! Where have I been??
>52 qebo: Well the middle one holds my NF books so it's certainly possible that a few have made their way onto it qebo. Hey, I'm determined to keep my books corralled w/in these shelves for the most part. We'll see.
>53 Copperskye: Thanks Joanne. happy New Year to you too:-)
>52 qebo: Well the middle one holds my NF books so it's certainly possible that a few have made their way onto it qebo. Hey, I'm determined to keep my books corralled w/in these shelves for the most part. We'll see.
>53 Copperskye: Thanks Joanne. happy New Year to you too:-)
58brenzi
>54 Carmenere: I'm already to the unputdownable stage Lynda. At this stage I'm not sure I see War and Peace in my future but I I'm certainly enjoying my introduction to Count Tolstoy.
>55 jnwelch: Thanks Joe. Happy New Year to you too.
>56 tymfos: Goals that may or may not be met Terri haha.
>55 jnwelch: Thanks Joe. Happy New Year to you too.
>56 tymfos: Goals that may or may not be met Terri haha.
59vancouverdeb
Great thread topper, Bonnie! Dropping a star and wishing you a wonderful New Year!
60msf59
Bonnie- I'm so glad you are enjoying A.K.! I read the first 12 chapters. I would LOVE to wrap up the year with War and Peace but that's doubtful. I'm nuts but not that nuts.
61brenzi
>59 vancouverdeb: Hi Deb, great to see you here. I know the threads are absolute insanity right now.
>60 msf59: Hi Mark, when I'm not reading a really long book I look longingly at my really long books longingly. When I am reading a really long book I wish I was reading a short book. Haha. I don't think I'll be reading War and Peace this year but who knows.
>60 msf59: Hi Mark, when I'm not reading a really long book I look longingly at my really long books longingly. When I am reading a really long book I wish I was reading a short book. Haha. I don't think I'll be reading War and Peace this year but who knows.
62brenzi
The latest meme making the rounds; use your books read in 2012:
Describe yourself - Mrs. Somebody Somebody
Describe where you currently live - Sugar Street
If you could go anywhere, where would you go? Winesburg, Ohio
Your favorite form of transportation? A Walk in the Woods
Your best friend is? Emma
What's the weather like? The Frozen Thames
You fear? How to Breathe Underwater
What's the best advice you have to give? Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader
Thought for the day - More Baths Less Talking
How I would like to die? Tunneling to the Center of the Earth
My soul's present condition The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
Describe yourself - Mrs. Somebody Somebody
Describe where you currently live - Sugar Street
If you could go anywhere, where would you go? Winesburg, Ohio
Your favorite form of transportation? A Walk in the Woods
Your best friend is? Emma
What's the weather like? The Frozen Thames
You fear? How to Breathe Underwater
What's the best advice you have to give? Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader
Thought for the day - More Baths Less Talking
How I would like to die? Tunneling to the Center of the Earth
My soul's present condition The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
63cbl_tn
Great meme Bonnie! I've enjoyed seeing the variety of books that are used to answer the questions.
64cameling
Your bookshelves are so tidy, Bonnie... I'm envious....*sez I as I look over and wince at the higgledy piggledy stacked books on my own shelves*
65jadebird
"What's the weather like? The Frozen Thames
You fear? How to Breathe Underwater
Thought for the day - More Baths Less Talking"
Priceless. :)
You fear? How to Breathe Underwater
Thought for the day - More Baths Less Talking"
Priceless. :)
66brenzi
>63 cbl_tn: Hi Carrie, great to see you here. I don't often complete these memes but this one was a lot of fum.
>64 cameling: higgledy piggledy stacked books on my own shelves* Well Caro I can certainly recall mine being in that condition and also spread all over the house haha. I love just looking at them now:-)
>65 jadebird: Hi Ren, Yep, those just popped out at me and kind of wrote themselves LOL.
>64 cameling: higgledy piggledy stacked books on my own shelves* Well Caro I can certainly recall mine being in that condition and also spread all over the house haha. I love just looking at them now:-)
>65 jadebird: Hi Ren, Yep, those just popped out at me and kind of wrote themselves LOL.
67Donna828
Great answers to the meme, Bonnie. I think I like your first and last answers best! I also like looking at your bookshelves. *sigh*
68madhatter22
I like the photo of your lovely new bookshelves. I was just griping to some co-workers yesterday about those horrible decorating magazine bookcases where you might get a maximum of 5 color-coordinated books sharing a shelf with a vase and a bowl of pears. Your set-up is infinitely more appealing.
69PaulCranswick
Bonnie - It is week one and I am not surprisingly struggling to keep up. Have a lovely weekend dear lady.
70cammykitty
LOL! Love you answers to the Meme.
71brenzi
>67 Donna828: That first answer spoke to me Donna haha. I have to admit, I like looking at those shelves too;-)
>68 madhatter22: Hi Shauna, oh yeah the color coded bookshelves---great as long as you don't actually want to find a specific book. I was hoping I'd actually have room for a vase but, as you can see, there's not an inch of space LOL.
>69 PaulCranswick: Well Paul, you're one of the reasons I can't keep up so I don't what to say hah. Happy weekend to you.
>70 cammykitty: Thanks Katie, it was a lot of fun!
>68 madhatter22: Hi Shauna, oh yeah the color coded bookshelves---great as long as you don't actually want to find a specific book. I was hoping I'd actually have room for a vase but, as you can see, there's not an inch of space LOL.
>69 PaulCranswick: Well Paul, you're one of the reasons I can't keep up so I don't what to say hah. Happy weekend to you.
>70 cammykitty: Thanks Katie, it was a lot of fun!
72mckait
Interesting meme.. if a little intimidating! The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down sounds wonderful....
73brenzi
>72 mckait: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down sounds wonderful.... Oh it is Kath and it reveals a little known problem in California hospitals which I'm sure is a problem with any hospital that treats immigrants.
74brenzi
Soooo....I'm about to hit the halfway point in Anna Karenina and am completely enthralled. It looks like I am going to start the year off with a five star read. The chapter at the end of Book 2, dealing with Vronsky's horse race had me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. This man could write suspense!!
75vancouverdeb
Glad you are enjoying Anna Karenina. I read it back in my twenties and enjoyed it, but I'm not much of a re- reader. Glad that you are starting off the year with a 5 star read!
76-Cee-
Hi Bonnie!
Love your nice neat, highly organized shelves! Do we get a picture 6 months from now for comparison??? LOL
I did such an excellent job organizing my books and they looked great for awhile. But it didn't take long to run out of room and things started looking messy again. So - Ron bought me a new bookcase and assembled it too :-) What a guy, huh? He did say something about it being the last one, no more room, etc... not sure I caught all that mumbling.
Looking forward to another great year of reading for all of us - for all the good books read, I get to hear about them and add them to my WL.
Love your nice neat, highly organized shelves! Do we get a picture 6 months from now for comparison??? LOL
I did such an excellent job organizing my books and they looked great for awhile. But it didn't take long to run out of room and things started looking messy again. So - Ron bought me a new bookcase and assembled it too :-) What a guy, huh? He did say something about it being the last one, no more room, etc... not sure I caught all that mumbling.
Looking forward to another great year of reading for all of us - for all the good books read, I get to hear about them and add them to my WL.
77brenzi
>75 vancouverdeb: Hi Deb, I'm not much of a rereader either although I have reread two books in the last two years so never say never. It's not really a reread if there are twenty years between reading and you can't remember anything about the book haha.
>76 -Cee-: Hi Cee, I'm determined to keep my books corralled inside the confines of those shelves because there will be no more new shelves. Not unless I want to get a divorce haha. I heard the mumbling too.
>76 -Cee-: Hi Cee, I'm determined to keep my books corralled inside the confines of those shelves because there will be no more new shelves. Not unless I want to get a divorce haha. I heard the mumbling too.
78Crazymamie
Hi Bonnie! Just making sure that I keep up with your thread. I am also enjoying Anna Karenina - it is much more gripping than I expected it to be.
80brenzi
>78 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie, Anna Karenina is so much better than I anticipated, such easy reading and just such a good story! Love it!
>79 msf59: We have to go out tonight Mark:( so the DVR will be going and I have plans for a late night of watching DA; can't wait!
>79 msf59: We have to go out tonight Mark:( so the DVR will be going and I have plans for a late night of watching DA; can't wait!
81drachenbraut23
Hi bonnie, love your book title meme and had to giggle at some of your answers :)
So glad to hear that you enjoy AK. Seeing all of you enjoing it so much. Well, maybe - if I get not distracted by too many other books - I will re-read it this year.
So glad to hear that you enjoy AK. Seeing all of you enjoing it so much. Well, maybe - if I get not distracted by too many other books - I will re-read it this year.
82vivians
Hi Bonnie - and a belated happy New Year! I finally started my own thread this year but have yet to figure out how to create a link....
I see you are reading Anna Karenina and hope that's going well. I read it in college but have few distinct recollections.
Have you ever read Stewart O'Nan? I've read a few based on NY Times reviews but just picked up an older one called A Prayer for the Dying. It's short and I read more than half last night - beautifully written, an extremely thoughtful and sympathetic narrator and a gripping story of a post-Civil War small town dealing with crisis. Just thoguht I'd pass it along!
I see you are reading Anna Karenina and hope that's going well. I read it in college but have few distinct recollections.
Have you ever read Stewart O'Nan? I've read a few based on NY Times reviews but just picked up an older one called A Prayer for the Dying. It's short and I read more than half last night - beautifully written, an extremely thoughtful and sympathetic narrator and a gripping story of a post-Civil War small town dealing with crisis. Just thoguht I'd pass it along!
83brenzi
>81 drachenbraut23: Hi Bianca, how long ago did you read AK? I'm reading the new translation and I think it's absolutely wonderful. I hope you manage to squeeze in a reread:)
>82 vivians: Yay Vivian, I will use the threadbook to find your thread and star it. i haven't read anything by Stewart O'Nan but I know he has a lot of fans on LT. I will definitely put A Prayer fro the Dying on my WL. As far as AK goes, I'm reading the new translation which I understand is much, much improved over the old translation. I am loving it! Off to find your thread...
>82 vivians: Yay Vivian, I will use the threadbook to find your thread and star it. i haven't read anything by Stewart O'Nan but I know he has a lot of fans on LT. I will definitely put A Prayer fro the Dying on my WL. As far as AK goes, I'm reading the new translation which I understand is much, much improved over the old translation. I am loving it! Off to find your thread...
87BLBera
Hi Bonnie -- Nice shelves. It would take me forever to dust these -- I'd find books that I want to read and end by rearranging, too.
88RebaRelishesReading
I'd love shelves like those and I'm sure I could manage to ignore the dust.
89brenzi
>85 Whisper1: Hi Linda, I love that color too! My daughter helped me pick it out and it's different than anything else we've ever used.
>86 qebo: Well, this is just a stab in the dark but I am guessing that the owner of those shelves has someone else to do the dusting qebo;-)
>87 BLBera: Yep, I can easily see that happening Beth.
>88 RebaRelishesReading: Of course you could Reba, and so could I. Oh i might start to dust but I don't think it would be long before I was deep into a couple of those tomes;-)
>86 qebo: Well, this is just a stab in the dark but I am guessing that the owner of those shelves has someone else to do the dusting qebo;-)
>87 BLBera: Yep, I can easily see that happening Beth.
>88 RebaRelishesReading: Of course you could Reba, and so could I. Oh i might start to dust but I don't think it would be long before I was deep into a couple of those tomes;-)
90msf59
Bonnie- Ooh, those are nice bookshelves and neat too! I'm a fan of O'Nan. Please put The Circus Fire on your WL. It's NF and it's outstanding.
Justified starts tomorrow! Yah!
Justified starts tomorrow! Yah!
91brenzi
Hi Mark, yep we are soooo looking forward to Justified. The Circus Fire is now on the list! You are my NF superstar:)
92Copperskye
Hi Bonnie - I'm also a big fan of O'Nan. I see you added A Prayer for the Dying. Great choice! Also, The Circus Fire is fascinating. Oh, and Snow Angels is another gem...I could go on and on.... :)
93brenzi
Hmmm Joanne, I'm not sure why I have never read anything by O'Nan. I will have to remedy that and soon. Thanks for adding to the list.
95maggie1944
Me, too. The phone, that is.
I have Circus Fire on my wish list, and maybe I should add more of O'Nan's...... *wanders off muttering to self*
I have Circus Fire on my wish list, and maybe I should add more of O'Nan's...... *wanders off muttering to self*
96drachenbraut23
> 83 Hi Bonnie, I never read an English translation of AK. Between 18 and 20 I was in phase, where I absolutely loved all these old costume drama movies and I read AK then, but I also swallowed books such as The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Christo, War and Peace, Gone with the Wind and the like. Some of them I re-read in my late twenties, but not since then. However, I got most of them now as English translations as well and some of them are definately due a re-read. :)
97LizzieD
>94 brenzi: Heh. Heh. Heh.
>87 BLBera:, 88 If we had shelves like those, we would also have minions to do the dusting!
Bonnie, you said, It's not really a reread if there are twenty years between reading and you can't remember anything about the book haha. Don't tell me that! It means that I've never really read the 19th century monsters: Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, etc., not to mention Cervantes. Oh NO! Maybe I'll reread or maybe not, but I'll certainly count them as rereads if I do!!!!!
>87 BLBera:, 88 If we had shelves like those, we would also have minions to do the dusting!
Bonnie, you said, It's not really a reread if there are twenty years between reading and you can't remember anything about the book haha. Don't tell me that! It means that I've never really read the 19th century monsters: Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, etc., not to mention Cervantes. Oh NO! Maybe I'll reread or maybe not, but I'll certainly count them as rereads if I do!!!!!
98cyderry
If only my ceilings were that high, I'd have shelves like that too. Guess I'll have to stick with my tiny little library and virtual shelves.
99cushlareads
Just popping in to say that I too have got the AK bug and am loving it, even more than War & Peace at this point (W&P took longer to really get into, for me anyway). I love that the chapters are so short. Am still only in Part 1.
100brenzi
>95 maggie1944: Hmmm interesting that I'm adding books to your WL that I haven't even read Karen LOL.
>96 drachenbraut23: Oh of course you didn't read an English translation Bianca; don't know what I was thinking of. Anyway, i never attempted to read the Garnett translation but this Pevear/Volononsky translation is da bomb;-)
>97 LizzieD: Oh Peggy, I didn't mean to offend with that statement. Of course you've already read them and they will count as read, forever. I'm just saying that I, personally, can't recall much of anything about books I read twenty years ago. So rereading them, while technically accurate, does not really represent what I would be doing LOL.
>96 drachenbraut23: Oh of course you didn't read an English translation Bianca; don't know what I was thinking of. Anyway, i never attempted to read the Garnett translation but this Pevear/Volononsky translation is da bomb;-)
>97 LizzieD: Oh Peggy, I didn't mean to offend with that statement. Of course you've already read them and they will count as read, forever. I'm just saying that I, personally, can't recall much of anything about books I read twenty years ago. So rereading them, while technically accurate, does not really represent what I would be doing LOL.
101brenzi
>98 cyderry: Hi Cheli, yep, not many of us have ceilings that high. And who wants the electric/gas bills to heat/cool rooms like that. I guess I'll be satisfied just ogling those shelves right here haha.
>99 cushlareads: Hi Cushla, I didn't think it would be possible but I now have my sights on W&P myself. The short chapters in AK have given me great pleasure and make me wonder why more authors don't do that. It gives you so many natural stopping point as you make your way through the 800+ page tome.
>99 cushlareads: Hi Cushla, I didn't think it would be possible but I now have my sights on W&P myself. The short chapters in AK have given me great pleasure and make me wonder why more authors don't do that. It gives you so many natural stopping point as you make your way through the 800+ page tome.
102brenzi
The following was in the Wall Street Journal today and it just proves what we all pretty much know: the physical book is not dead and e readers are being used in addition to physical books not in place of them.
Lovers of ink and paper, take heart. Reports of the death of the printed book may be exaggerated.
A 2012 survey revealed that just 16% of Americans have actually purchased an e-book.
Ever since Amazon introduced its popular Kindle e-reader five years ago, pundits have assumed that the future of book publishing is digital. Opinions about the speed of the shift from page to screen have varied. But the consensus has been that digitization, having had its way with music and photographs and maps, would in due course have its way with books as well. By 2015, one media maven predicted a few years back, traditional books would be gone.
Half a decade into the e-book revolution, though, the prognosis for traditional books is suddenly looking brighter. Hardcover books are displaying surprising resiliency. The growth in e-book sales is slowing markedly. And purchases of e-readers are actually shrinking, as consumers opt instead for multipurpose tablets. It may be that e-books, rather than replacing printed books, will ultimately serve a role more like that of audio books—a complement to traditional reading, not a substitute.
How attached are Americans to old-fashioned books? Just look at the results of a Pew Research Center survey released last month. The report showed that the percentage of adults who have read an e-book rose modestly over the past year, from 16% to 23%. But it also revealed that fully 89% of regular book readers said that they had read at least one printed book during the preceding 12 months. Only 30% reported reading even a single e-book in the past year.
What's more, the Association of American Publishers reported that the annual growth rate for e-book sales fell abruptly during 2012, to about 34%. That's still a healthy clip, but it is a sharp decline from the triple-digit growth rates of the preceding four years.
The initial e-book explosion is starting to look like an aberration. The technology's early adopters, a small but enthusiastic bunch, made the move to e-books quickly and in a concentrated period. Further converts will be harder to come by. A 2012 survey by Bowker Market Research revealed that just 16% of Americans have actually purchased an e-book and that a whopping 59% say they have "no interest" in buying one.
Meanwhile, the shift from e-readers to tablets may also be dampening e-book purchases. Sales of e-readers plunged 36% in 2012, according to estimates from IHS iSuppli, while tablet sales exploded. When forced to compete with the easy pleasures of games, videos and Facebook on devices like the iPad and the Kindle Fire, e-books lose a lot of their allure. The fact that an e-book can't be sold or given away after it's read also reduces the perceived value of the product.
Beyond the practical reasons for the decline in e-book growth, something deeper may be going on. We may have misjudged the nature of the electronic book.
From the start, e-book purchases have skewed disproportionately toward fiction, with novels representing close to two-thirds of sales. Digital best-seller lists are dominated in particular by genre novels, like thrillers and romances. Screen reading seems particularly well-suited to the kind of light entertainments that have traditionally been sold in supermarkets and airports as mass-market paperbacks.
These are, by design, the most disposable of books. We read them quickly and have no desire to hang onto them after we've turned the last page. We may even be a little embarrassed to be seen reading them, which makes anonymous digital versions all the more appealing. The "Fifty Shades of Grey" phenomenon probably wouldn't have happened if e-books didn't exist.
Readers of weightier fare, including literary fiction and narrative nonfiction, have been less inclined to go digital. They seem to prefer the heft and durability, the tactile pleasures, of what we still call "real books"—the kind you can set on a shelf.
E-books, in other words, may turn out to be just another format—an even lighter-weight, more disposable paperback. That would fit with the discovery that once people start buying digital books, they don't necessarily stop buying printed ones. In fact, according to Pew, nearly 90% of e-book readers continue to read physical volumes. The two forms seem to serve different purposes.
Having survived 500 years of technological upheaval, Gutenberg's invention may withstand the digital onslaught as well. There's something about a crisply printed, tightly bound book that we don't seem eager to let go of.
—Mr. Carr is the author of "The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains."
Lovers of ink and paper, take heart. Reports of the death of the printed book may be exaggerated.
A 2012 survey revealed that just 16% of Americans have actually purchased an e-book.
Ever since Amazon introduced its popular Kindle e-reader five years ago, pundits have assumed that the future of book publishing is digital. Opinions about the speed of the shift from page to screen have varied. But the consensus has been that digitization, having had its way with music and photographs and maps, would in due course have its way with books as well. By 2015, one media maven predicted a few years back, traditional books would be gone.
Half a decade into the e-book revolution, though, the prognosis for traditional books is suddenly looking brighter. Hardcover books are displaying surprising resiliency. The growth in e-book sales is slowing markedly. And purchases of e-readers are actually shrinking, as consumers opt instead for multipurpose tablets. It may be that e-books, rather than replacing printed books, will ultimately serve a role more like that of audio books—a complement to traditional reading, not a substitute.
How attached are Americans to old-fashioned books? Just look at the results of a Pew Research Center survey released last month. The report showed that the percentage of adults who have read an e-book rose modestly over the past year, from 16% to 23%. But it also revealed that fully 89% of regular book readers said that they had read at least one printed book during the preceding 12 months. Only 30% reported reading even a single e-book in the past year.
What's more, the Association of American Publishers reported that the annual growth rate for e-book sales fell abruptly during 2012, to about 34%. That's still a healthy clip, but it is a sharp decline from the triple-digit growth rates of the preceding four years.
The initial e-book explosion is starting to look like an aberration. The technology's early adopters, a small but enthusiastic bunch, made the move to e-books quickly and in a concentrated period. Further converts will be harder to come by. A 2012 survey by Bowker Market Research revealed that just 16% of Americans have actually purchased an e-book and that a whopping 59% say they have "no interest" in buying one.
Meanwhile, the shift from e-readers to tablets may also be dampening e-book purchases. Sales of e-readers plunged 36% in 2012, according to estimates from IHS iSuppli, while tablet sales exploded. When forced to compete with the easy pleasures of games, videos and Facebook on devices like the iPad and the Kindle Fire, e-books lose a lot of their allure. The fact that an e-book can't be sold or given away after it's read also reduces the perceived value of the product.
Beyond the practical reasons for the decline in e-book growth, something deeper may be going on. We may have misjudged the nature of the electronic book.
From the start, e-book purchases have skewed disproportionately toward fiction, with novels representing close to two-thirds of sales. Digital best-seller lists are dominated in particular by genre novels, like thrillers and romances. Screen reading seems particularly well-suited to the kind of light entertainments that have traditionally been sold in supermarkets and airports as mass-market paperbacks.
These are, by design, the most disposable of books. We read them quickly and have no desire to hang onto them after we've turned the last page. We may even be a little embarrassed to be seen reading them, which makes anonymous digital versions all the more appealing. The "Fifty Shades of Grey" phenomenon probably wouldn't have happened if e-books didn't exist.
Readers of weightier fare, including literary fiction and narrative nonfiction, have been less inclined to go digital. They seem to prefer the heft and durability, the tactile pleasures, of what we still call "real books"—the kind you can set on a shelf.
E-books, in other words, may turn out to be just another format—an even lighter-weight, more disposable paperback. That would fit with the discovery that once people start buying digital books, they don't necessarily stop buying printed ones. In fact, according to Pew, nearly 90% of e-book readers continue to read physical volumes. The two forms seem to serve different purposes.
Having survived 500 years of technological upheaval, Gutenberg's invention may withstand the digital onslaught as well. There's something about a crisply printed, tightly bound book that we don't seem eager to let go of.
—Mr. Carr is the author of "The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains."
103Donna828
I read that article, Bonnie, and applauded! I don't mind reading an occasional book on the iPad, but it would get old if I had to read them all that way. There is nothing better than settling into a comfy chair with a real book in my hands!
104Whisper1
I read your comments about The End of Your Life Book Club and they resonate with me. I'm almost finished with this book. What a wonderful tribute to his mother!
105alcottacre
#102: Great article! (although I suspect it told everyone in the 75ers things they already knew)
106brenzi
>103 Donna828: I love the way the author compared an eBook to an audio book, Donna. Just a different way of reading a book that you might use once in awhile. But REAL books are the normal mode.
>104 Whisper1: Hi Linda, I think he made his mother proud. I must say, he's like the perfect son, not that I'm dissing my own son, but I can't picture him performing in quite the same way;-) He's got his good points but reading with his mother is not among them haha.
>104 Whisper1: Hi Linda, I think he made his mother proud. I must say, he's like the perfect son, not that I'm dissing my own son, but I can't picture him performing in quite the same way;-) He's got his good points but reading with his mother is not among them haha.
107brenzi
>105 alcottacre: Oh hi Stasia, you popped in here while I was writing the other post. I thought the same thing. The 75ers already know this but I'll post it just for the one or two who are unaware;-)
108cammykitty
Hah! Dorothy certainly would've answered her phone like that, if she answered it at all.
110brenzi
Hi Katie, Dorothy did answer the phone that way. She was writing a column with the deadline looming when the phone rang. Haha she was too much.
111brenzi
>109 TinaV95: OH hi Tina, you are very welcome. Someday soon I may even finish a book LOL.
112cammykitty
@110 :) I should've known. She's also known for the famous review of Winnie the Pooh Constant weadar thwowed up. I love Pooh, but love her review too.
115brenzi
>112 cammykitty: Now you've got me Katie. I'm not at all familiar with her review of Winnie the Poo. I'll have to look for it.
>114 lit_chick: Hi Nancy, glad you liked it:)
>114 lit_chick: Hi Nancy, glad you liked it:)
116msf59
Bonnie- Thanks for sharing the article. Very interesting and very encouraging too! Did you see Justified? What did you think? I liked it. It's always been a pretty consistent show.
117mckait
I agree with the article... I believe that for now, at least. . . real books are safe.
Nice looking shelves :)
Nice looking shelves :)
118brenzi
>116 msf59: Yep we thought that was a good episode of Justified Mark, as usual. The people who predicted the end of the physical book were just as wrong as all the LTers thought they were LOL.
>117 mckait: Hi Kath, the practical book shelves or the dreamy bookshelves? haha
>117 mckait: Hi Kath, the practical book shelves or the dreamy bookshelves? haha
121brenzi
1.
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy 4.9 stars
MY REVIEW
Continuing on a quest to readall some of the classics I missed out on in my younger years, I recently finished the book that has been called, by people more learned than myself, the greatest novel ever written. I can’t say they’re wrong. I had the advantage of reading the newest translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky and the smoothness of the narrative, I believe, added to the great enjoyment obtained from the reading.
As well known as this book is, I wasn’t really aware of the story line but I won’t bore you by going into too much detail other than saying it was part love story, part family story, part adulterous affair and an emotional rollercoaster from beginning to end. Multiple storylines told by a core group of characters, pretty much all related in one way or another. This all worked well to form what I found to be a riveting narrative. And it all worked to make the book’s opening sentence, ”All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” serve as the opening salvo for everything that happens in the story. In addition, Tolstoy offers up through the narrative, the idea that we are all the victims of our choices.
Eight hundred pages is a lot of book for an author to maintain a high level of interest and my attention did flag when Tolstoy went on and on about religion and philosophy but he did it through the novel’s most charismatic and compassionate character, Levin, an autobiographical character, with whom I was alternately in love with and pounding him vicariously on the chest in frustration. It was also through Levin’s eyes that Tolstoy wrote his most beautiful passages about farming and hunting and the muzhiks in Russia.
Tolstoy claimed to have created a sympathetic character in Anna, who committed a crime that people today would find laughable (adultery) but at that time in Russia, a woman in an adulterous affair gave up any rights to her children and the option to remarry. Divorce was only possible if the husband wanted it. But I had a hard time sympathizing with a woman who abandoned one child and decided she didn’t care much for the child she had with her lover. Even at the end, when she was obviously losing her mind, I had a hard time ramping up any compassion for what was to me an unlikable character. In spite of the fact that the main protagonist was unlikable, I absolutely loved the book and highly recommend it.
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy 4.9 stars
MY REVIEW
Continuing on a quest to read
As well known as this book is, I wasn’t really aware of the story line but I won’t bore you by going into too much detail other than saying it was part love story, part family story, part adulterous affair and an emotional rollercoaster from beginning to end. Multiple storylines told by a core group of characters, pretty much all related in one way or another. This all worked well to form what I found to be a riveting narrative. And it all worked to make the book’s opening sentence, ”All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” serve as the opening salvo for everything that happens in the story. In addition, Tolstoy offers up through the narrative, the idea that we are all the victims of our choices.
Eight hundred pages is a lot of book for an author to maintain a high level of interest and my attention did flag when Tolstoy went on and on about religion and philosophy but he did it through the novel’s most charismatic and compassionate character, Levin, an autobiographical character, with whom I was alternately in love with and pounding him vicariously on the chest in frustration. It was also through Levin’s eyes that Tolstoy wrote his most beautiful passages about farming and hunting and the muzhiks in Russia.
Tolstoy claimed to have created a sympathetic character in Anna, who committed a crime that people today would find laughable (adultery) but at that time in Russia, a woman in an adulterous affair gave up any rights to her children and the option to remarry. Divorce was only possible if the husband wanted it. But I had a hard time sympathizing with a woman who abandoned one child and decided she didn’t care much for the child she had with her lover. Even at the end, when she was obviously losing her mind, I had a hard time ramping up any compassion for what was to me an unlikable character. In spite of the fact that the main protagonist was unlikable, I absolutely loved the book and highly recommend it.
122katiekrug
So was the 1/10 of a star docked because Anna herself was unlikeable?
You all are making me really want to read this one. It's on my Kindle wish list on Amazon.... one click and it could be mine....
You all are making me really want to read this one. It's on my Kindle wish list on Amazon.... one click and it could be mine....
123brenzi
No Katie I actually think an unlikeable character adds to the tension and heightens interest in a novel and that certainly could be said for Anna. The 1/10 off was for the lengthy philosophy discussion which dragged.
Ohhhhh that one click is sooooo dangerous!
Ohhhhh that one click is sooooo dangerous!
124Linda92007
Nice review of Anna Karenina, Bonnie. You made it through pretty quickly. Somehow I have ended up with several copies - paperbacks and ebooks - and some day I'll settle down to re-reading one of them. But I think I may tackle War and Peace first.
125Chatterbox
Going back to the e-book debate... that just confirmed that I'm probably an anomaly. I have zero interest in reading a book on a tablet -- it's awkward and heavy and (most important of all) it's back lit! That means that I can't read in sunlight, and I can't read for longer than an hour at a stretch. Which may be fine for many/most readers, but I'm chomping my way through books 5 hours a day or so.
I really want e-readers, as stand-alone devices, to thrive -- I don't want to have to choose between the difficulty of reading on an e-reader and the amount of space taken up by physical books. With a Kindle, I can travel with hundreds of books. (I just downloaded the pevear/volkonsky (sp) translation of W&P and will be able to pack that in a small bag, along with a few dozen mysteries and other books. My only gripe is that Amazon seems to have stopped investing in e-reader improvements to focus on the Kindle Fire with all its multi media gizmos. I understand why, but that's not why I own a book.
For me, an e-reader does NOT equate to an audiobook. When I read, I absorb words with my eyes, regardless of whether they are printed on a piece of paper or appear in e-ink on a reader. Much of the time, the device 'disappears' as I become engaged with the narrative. Listening to a book is a very different experience. I am not "seeing" the words as they create an image in my mind's eye. I am absorbing them through a different sense -- that of hearing. It's different, and has a different visceral impact. I'm more vulnerable to the skill of a particular reader -- the words he chooses of emphasize or pronounce in a certain way, the tone taken in describing a certain passage. In some ways, I'm held hostage by the POV of the narrator in a way that a narrative that I consume via reading will never affect me. There is no intermediary between the words that I read with my eyes and my brain and imagination. So while in a business sense the analogy between audio and e-books may make sense, to me at least, from the POV of an avid reader, it's a radically different experience. (Oh, one more thing - it's easier for me to read privately whereever I happen to be with an e-book. With an audiobook, I need headphones, and then risk tuning out everything around me, losing my place because I can't hit pause fast enough, etc. There is just more 'in the way' -- technology, narrator -- between me and the story.
Books as objects are lovely. But with thousands of them here, it's difficult. I can't find what I want to read, and as I discovered when I got rid of about 1,000 books last autumn, I can end up with three copies of the same book simply because after days of yanking books off shelves only to find it's not where it should be, I order a new copy in frustration. For instance, I have NO idea where my brother Cadfael mysteries may be. Haven't seen 'em in years. With the Kindle, anything I have I can open within a minute. Oh, and I don't have to pack 25 books when I go on a 3-week vacation to somewhere without bookstores, or run out of books, or....
OK, rant over! The trend can't be quarreled with, but I'm not sure a shift from e-readers to tablets is really a shift away from e-books? There's a leap in the logic here that doesn't make sense.
What I would like? A really resilient e-reader with a large memory. I've been moving books onto my Paperwhite, and I'm out of space already. That is frustrating.
ETA: For the record, I have 2,324 Kindle "items". That includes about two dozen audiobooks, a dozen games and a few miscellaneous apps that are on my Kindle Fire, But probably 2,100 are books. Some are NetGalley books delivered as PDFs, others are free or "Kindle Daily Deal" books purchased very cheaply. But imagine if I had had to find space for some 1,500 more books??
I really want e-readers, as stand-alone devices, to thrive -- I don't want to have to choose between the difficulty of reading on an e-reader and the amount of space taken up by physical books. With a Kindle, I can travel with hundreds of books. (I just downloaded the pevear/volkonsky (sp) translation of W&P and will be able to pack that in a small bag, along with a few dozen mysteries and other books. My only gripe is that Amazon seems to have stopped investing in e-reader improvements to focus on the Kindle Fire with all its multi media gizmos. I understand why, but that's not why I own a book.
For me, an e-reader does NOT equate to an audiobook. When I read, I absorb words with my eyes, regardless of whether they are printed on a piece of paper or appear in e-ink on a reader. Much of the time, the device 'disappears' as I become engaged with the narrative. Listening to a book is a very different experience. I am not "seeing" the words as they create an image in my mind's eye. I am absorbing them through a different sense -- that of hearing. It's different, and has a different visceral impact. I'm more vulnerable to the skill of a particular reader -- the words he chooses of emphasize or pronounce in a certain way, the tone taken in describing a certain passage. In some ways, I'm held hostage by the POV of the narrator in a way that a narrative that I consume via reading will never affect me. There is no intermediary between the words that I read with my eyes and my brain and imagination. So while in a business sense the analogy between audio and e-books may make sense, to me at least, from the POV of an avid reader, it's a radically different experience. (Oh, one more thing - it's easier for me to read privately whereever I happen to be with an e-book. With an audiobook, I need headphones, and then risk tuning out everything around me, losing my place because I can't hit pause fast enough, etc. There is just more 'in the way' -- technology, narrator -- between me and the story.
Books as objects are lovely. But with thousands of them here, it's difficult. I can't find what I want to read, and as I discovered when I got rid of about 1,000 books last autumn, I can end up with three copies of the same book simply because after days of yanking books off shelves only to find it's not where it should be, I order a new copy in frustration. For instance, I have NO idea where my brother Cadfael mysteries may be. Haven't seen 'em in years. With the Kindle, anything I have I can open within a minute. Oh, and I don't have to pack 25 books when I go on a 3-week vacation to somewhere without bookstores, or run out of books, or....
OK, rant over! The trend can't be quarreled with, but I'm not sure a shift from e-readers to tablets is really a shift away from e-books? There's a leap in the logic here that doesn't make sense.
What I would like? A really resilient e-reader with a large memory. I've been moving books onto my Paperwhite, and I'm out of space already. That is frustrating.
ETA: For the record, I have 2,324 Kindle "items". That includes about two dozen audiobooks, a dozen games and a few miscellaneous apps that are on my Kindle Fire, But probably 2,100 are books. Some are NetGalley books delivered as PDFs, others are free or "Kindle Daily Deal" books purchased very cheaply. But imagine if I had had to find space for some 1,500 more books??
126lauralkeet
Bonnie, you flew through AK didn't you? My daughter has that edition and is moving through it quite slowly. One of these days I will steal it from her and read it.
127msf59
Bonnie- Great review of A.K.! I love that you kept it completely spoiler free. I just started Book 5, so I have at least a week or more left.
I'm so glad you could join us. War and Peace will probably have to wait until next year but I will get to it.
What's up next?
I'm so glad you could join us. War and Peace will probably have to wait until next year but I will get to it.
What's up next?
128BLBera
Bonnie - Nice review of AK. I read and loved it in college. Maybe I'm due for a reread? Or, as you so wisely said, if it's been that long, it's hardly like a reread at all. I loved my Russians -- had several lit classes in college. The amount of reading was staggering -- none of them wrote short novels.
129Donna828
Bonnie, I'm so pleased that you liked AK. I agree that an unsympathetic character adds interest to a novel. I don't know if you have plans to read War and Peace anytime soon, bit if you do, don't expect such smooth sailing. Don't get me wrong, it was very good, just more challenging with more dry parts imo.
130brenzi
>124 Linda92007: Thanks Linda, so starting with W&P huh? I'm tempted to read it too but probably not this year. Why it took Tolstoy so many words to get his point across, I don't know LOL.
>125 Chatterbox: Hi Suzanne, obviously, I'm not juggling as many books as you by a long shot haha. But you bring up some good points. I've tried audio books and the result has always been the same---I just can't seem to focus on what's being said and in no time at all I have no idea what's going on in the book. So I can only compare the reading of an eBook to an audiobook in that they are both options to a physical book. I read on an iPad and I don't read too much outside in the sunshine so it works fine for me. I like it for long books and for the kindle deals that appeal to me. I've only paid full price for a few books. But I'm glad to have the option and since I'm reading a lot of classics, which are free, I'm happy to have the availability of eBooks. (Anna Karenina would have been a perfect book to read on the iPad but I balked at paying $15 for it when the library had if for free!)
>126 lauralkeet: Bonnie, you flew through AK didn't you? It took me 10 days to read the 817 pages Laura, so roughly a little over 80 pages a day. That wasn't hard to do because, for the most part, it was pretty much unputdownable.
>127 msf59: Thanks Mark, and thanks for giving me the nudge to read this right now. Now I'm about 50 pages into The Burgess Boys which has already hooked me:)
>125 Chatterbox: Hi Suzanne, obviously, I'm not juggling as many books as you by a long shot haha. But you bring up some good points. I've tried audio books and the result has always been the same---I just can't seem to focus on what's being said and in no time at all I have no idea what's going on in the book. So I can only compare the reading of an eBook to an audiobook in that they are both options to a physical book. I read on an iPad and I don't read too much outside in the sunshine so it works fine for me. I like it for long books and for the kindle deals that appeal to me. I've only paid full price for a few books. But I'm glad to have the option and since I'm reading a lot of classics, which are free, I'm happy to have the availability of eBooks. (Anna Karenina would have been a perfect book to read on the iPad but I balked at paying $15 for it when the library had if for free!)
>126 lauralkeet: Bonnie, you flew through AK didn't you? It took me 10 days to read the 817 pages Laura, so roughly a little over 80 pages a day. That wasn't hard to do because, for the most part, it was pretty much unputdownable.
>127 msf59: Thanks Mark, and thanks for giving me the nudge to read this right now. Now I'm about 50 pages into The Burgess Boys which has already hooked me:)
131brenzi
>128 BLBera: Thanks Beth, you sneaked in here while I was laboring over that last post haha. I have one Russian book that's not too long---Turgenev's Fathers and Sons---and there's always Chekov...he only wrote short stories I think and I have one collection. i can't imagine taking lit courses on the Russians.
>129 Donna828: Thanks Donna, dry and challenging huh? Don't worry about me reading it anytime soon. i need some shorter novels now.
>129 Donna828: Thanks Donna, dry and challenging huh? Don't worry about me reading it anytime soon. i need some shorter novels now.
132cushlareads
Mark, I just read that spoiler about Part 5! Do you think you could maybe put a spoiler announcement into your post in case anyone else from the GR pops in here? Thanks! (And thanks for organising the GR. It has been the push I needed.)
Bonnie, so glad you loved it even though I haven't read your review yet. I'm only 170 pages in so far.
Bonnie, so glad you loved it even though I haven't read your review yet. I'm only 170 pages in so far.
133brenzi
I'm sorry Cushla, I'm sure Mark totally didn't think anybody currently reading the book would stop by. I'll PM him.
134jnwelch
Sharp review of Anna Karenina, Bonnie. I'm in book 6 with a ways to go.
I didn't know Levin was autobiographical. Similar to you, I think, it's a relief for me whenever he comes back into the book. Anna is almost always in such a high-pitched emotional state that it wears on me, but Levin, for all his awkwardness and religious and philosphical questioning is rooted and solid. Loved the scene of him mowing with the peasants. Beautiful.
I didn't know Levin was autobiographical. Similar to you, I think, it's a relief for me whenever he comes back into the book. Anna is almost always in such a high-pitched emotional state that it wears on me, but Levin, for all his awkwardness and religious and philosphical questioning is rooted and solid. Loved the scene of him mowing with the peasants. Beautiful.
135cushlareads
It's ok Bonnie, it's just that since my darling husband told me 2 years ago what happens at theend (assuming I would know) I am keen to avoid learning even more of the plot before I get to it!
Levin's my favourite too.
Levin's my favourite too.
136richardderus
I'm a Vronsky man, myownself.
Thumbs-upped your terrific review!
Thumbs-upped your terrific review!
137brenzi
>134 jnwelch:. Thanks Joe, in the introduction to my book (I always read the Introduction after I finish the book because they often reveal way too much if read in the beginning.) Sophie Tolstoy revealed that Levin was based on her husband's own life. Anna did require a large investment on the reader's part. And Levin mowing with the peasants was a scene that will stay with me a long time too.
>135 cushlareads:. I know exactly what you mean by what happens in the end Cushla. I read it somewhere a few months ago and it was with me from the moment Anna was introduced. Grrrr.
>136 richardderus:. Thank you Richard. I can see why you would like Vronsky and that scene with him in the horse race will be a favorite for a long, long time.
>135 cushlareads:. I know exactly what you mean by what happens in the end Cushla. I read it somewhere a few months ago and it was with me from the moment Anna was introduced. Grrrr.
>136 richardderus:. Thank you Richard. I can see why you would like Vronsky and that scene with him in the horse race will be a favorite for a long, long time.
138PaulCranswick
The e-reader survey was interesting Bonnie and I do think I will always side with the traditionalists here - I like the feel of a book in my hands.
The Queen of the Review strikes again. 4.9 for Anna Karenina.....mmmm interesting but it is a little too unremitting for my taste.
Mr. Derus to play Vronsky in the 75ers off-Broadway production. He might have a little trouble strutting down that train platform.
Have a lovely weekend.
The Queen of the Review strikes again. 4.9 for Anna Karenina.....mmmm interesting but it is a little too unremitting for my taste.
Mr. Derus to play Vronsky in the 75ers off-Broadway production. He might have a little trouble strutting down that train platform.
Have a lovely weekend.
139Chatterbox
I think what happens to Anna is one of those literary factoids that scads of people who will never read Tolstoy end up knowing, like Madame Bovary's fate, and those famous lines from A Tale of Two Cities, and other bits and pieces of Dickens. They somehow become common currency! Which yes, would spoil it if I do delve into Anna Karenina...
141TadAD
Anna Karenina is one of the next "big" books on my list. I can only handle so many of them a year and am currently in the middle of Infinite Jest. I so loved War and Peace when I read it that AK got bumped up over a few others.
142Carmenere
Hi Bonnie, I applaud your ability to finish AK on a timely basis. It took me months to complete and although I loved it the continuity just wasn't there. So.......job well done, I think you got much more out of it than I. Have a good weekend!
143mckait
hmm. I have a nook color, a kindle fire and an iPad. I find them all to be equally as comfortable as the other to read with. No issues with back lighting here. I love the options, and the opportunity for freebies and inexpensive reads.
Speaking of applause, as Lynda has.... I too, applaud you for going back to the classics. I don't have that urge at all, just now, but I think it's a wonderful endeavor! I often think fondly of some of the characters I met in those books....
Speaking of applause, as Lynda has.... I too, applaud you for going back to the classics. I don't have that urge at all, just now, but I think it's a wonderful endeavor! I often think fondly of some of the characters I met in those books....
144brenzi
>138 PaulCranswick: I'm not sure why Richard wants to play Vronsky, the womanizer, but if that's the role for him i think he would pull it off beautifully, Paul;-) I'm not sure what you mean by "unremitting" but it takes a bit of fortitude and determination to make it to the end, as I said, the religion and philosophy is a tough go.
>139 Chatterbox: Well you're right of course Suzanne but please don't share Madame Bovary's fate as that's one bit of information that hasn't entered my brain yet or, if it did, it's since flown and I have no recollection of it. Surprisingly, although I knew Anna's fate, I knew very little about her character and was actually surprised at how she developed. I knew the last lines from A Tale of Two Cities but no context at all so that didn't spoil it for me.
>140 msf59: True Mark! Thanks for tidying that up.
>139 Chatterbox: Well you're right of course Suzanne but please don't share Madame Bovary's fate as that's one bit of information that hasn't entered my brain yet or, if it did, it's since flown and I have no recollection of it. Surprisingly, although I knew Anna's fate, I knew very little about her character and was actually surprised at how she developed. I knew the last lines from A Tale of Two Cities but no context at all so that didn't spoil it for me.
>140 msf59: True Mark! Thanks for tidying that up.
145brenzi
>141 TadAD: I'm going to be curious at how Infinite Jest works out for you Tad. The whole mammoth-ness of the book scares me a little. But Donna managed to put it away in a fairly reasonable amount of time. I kind of made an agreement with myself that I would read one door stopper a month this year so we'll see how that works out. My shelves are over-crowded with them, both fiction and NF. I'm encouraged that you enjoyed W&P so much:)
>142 Carmenere: Thanks Lynda, but I found it to be pretty much unputdownable so that contributed to the fact that I got through it in a fairly dense ten days. Also, I wasn't reading anything else at the time. happy weekend to you too.
>143 mckait: You know Kath, I enjoy the classics so much that it doesn't seem like much of a chore to me at all. I can't think of one that I've read in the last four years that I didn't enjoy, most immensely. BTW, I never read any classics before LT. That's just one more reason that I love this place:)
>142 Carmenere: Thanks Lynda, but I found it to be pretty much unputdownable so that contributed to the fact that I got through it in a fairly dense ten days. Also, I wasn't reading anything else at the time. happy weekend to you too.
>143 mckait: You know Kath, I enjoy the classics so much that it doesn't seem like much of a chore to me at all. I can't think of one that I've read in the last four years that I didn't enjoy, most immensely. BTW, I never read any classics before LT. That's just one more reason that I love this place:)
148richardderus
>138 PaulCranswick: I am physiologically incapable of strutting, but if 'tude counts, I'm down wit' it.
Vronsky-only-queer out.
Vronsky-only-queer out.
149phebj
Hi Bonnie. Wonderful review of Anna Karenina. Everyone seems to be loving this book. I was actually afraid to tackle another GR after failing to finish Team of Rivals and A Tale of Two Cities but I own a very nice hardcover copy of AK (the same translation you read) that I picked up at Borders going out of business sale so it's right here waiting when I get around to it.
Thanks for posting the article on the e-books and e-readers. I had no idea that the interest had died down on them.
Thanks for posting the article on the e-books and e-readers. I had no idea that the interest had died down on them.
150lit_chick
Bonnie, I've starred your FABULOUS review of Anna Karenina! Oh, you make me want to read it again! Maybe one day ...
151brenzi
>148 richardderus: OK Richard dear, we will forgo the strutting just so that we can get to appreciate the 'tude which I'm sure you do very nicely;-)
>149 phebj: Thanks Pat, you know, I was a terrible GR participant, but I kind of found out that you just read the book at your own pace, throw out a comment or two, and carry on. There's really no pressure. So no one really realizes that you did or didn't finish the book. But maybe you're more of a mood reader and would be better not to commit to something you're not really in the mood for. I could see not finishing ToR; that was just such a slog. As far as e-Readers go, I think probably the people who want them probably have them no so the market has leveled off. I'm happy with the occasional use that mine gets but I have to say it's starting to look like my real bookshelves---crammed to overflowing with books, that is.
>150 lit_chick: Thanks Nancy, Oh, you make me want to read it again! Well then, my work here is done:)
>149 phebj: Thanks Pat, you know, I was a terrible GR participant, but I kind of found out that you just read the book at your own pace, throw out a comment or two, and carry on. There's really no pressure. So no one really realizes that you did or didn't finish the book. But maybe you're more of a mood reader and would be better not to commit to something you're not really in the mood for. I could see not finishing ToR; that was just such a slog. As far as e-Readers go, I think probably the people who want them probably have them no so the market has leveled off. I'm happy with the occasional use that mine gets but I have to say it's starting to look like my real bookshelves---crammed to overflowing with books, that is.
>150 lit_chick: Thanks Nancy, Oh, you make me want to read it again! Well then, my work here is done:)
152alcottacre
Great review of Anna Karenina, Bonnie! I agree with you about the philosophical deluge :)
I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
154brenzi
Different Kinds of Readers.
The Devourer: Each book is a snack for this kind of reader--but it doesn't mean that s/he won't enjoy each book just as much.
The Lover: Books read by this kind of reader are read in hidden, stolen moments at the most unexpected times.
The Slow Dancer: Books are a treat that this kind of reader savors. Slow and steady wins this reader's race, as his/her eyes take in and taste each and every word.
The Addict:Books are a conquest to this kind of reader. S/he will buy more books than s/he can read, but s/he will ALWAYS have something to read.
The Classic: Books of the past are a gift to this reader. Prose in the style of early contemporary authors, or stories written long ago, are favorites for this reader.
The Die-Hard: Genres are a way of life for this reader. S/he finds a niche and sticks to it--veering from what s/he knows for short bursts of time.
The Advocate: This reader is a lover of books. S/he is not just a reader, but an advocate of reading--hoping that the future will contain more readers.
What kind of reader are you?
I think I am probably The Classic and I think we're all The Addict.
155lauralkeet
Not surprisingly Bonnie, I see myself as a Classic / Addict too.
157vancouverdeb
Lovely review of Anna Karenina, Bonnie! I read it back in my twenties or highschool years, I cannot remember. You are making me consider a re-read!
158brenzi
>155 lauralkeet: Somehow that doesn't surprise me much Laura;-)
>156 phebj: Dastardly addicts, all of us Pat LOL.
>158 brenzi: You are making me consider a re-read! Well then, my work here is done Deb:-)
>156 phebj: Dastardly addicts, all of us Pat LOL.
>158 brenzi: You are making me consider a re-read! Well then, my work here is done Deb:-)
159richardderus
I suspect I'm a Devourer/Addict.
161Copperskye
Hi, my name is Joanne and I am a book addict. Also a devourer/advocate.
Nice review of AK, Bonnie. I'd like to get to it this year some time...we'll see.
Nice review of AK, Bonnie. I'd like to get to it this year some time...we'll see.
164ChelleBearss
I think I would be a combination of Addict and Devourer.
165Nancy618
I'm definitely an Addict/Advocate! That's an interesting list, Bonnie -- thanks for sharing it! :-)
166brenzi
>159 richardderus: I suspect you're right Richard:-)
>160 lalbro: Hello Liz, and thank you for stopping by. I think we all probably have at least a little bit of the advocate in us.
>161 Copperskye: Hi Joanne, and I believe the first step is admitting that you have a problem so congratulations! I hope you get to AK.
>162 Donna828: Slow Dancer, eh Donna. I never would have suspected that. i guess I'm a slow dancer too but not by choice I'm afraid. I just don't read very fast.
>163 mckait: Hi Kath, yeah I like to be a devourer but it doesn't happen very often.
>164 ChelleBearss: Ok Chelle, we're all addicts so you don't even have to mention that one LOL.
>165 Nancy618: Hi Nancy, another advocate!
>160 lalbro: Hello Liz, and thank you for stopping by. I think we all probably have at least a little bit of the advocate in us.
>161 Copperskye: Hi Joanne, and I believe the first step is admitting that you have a problem so congratulations! I hope you get to AK.
>162 Donna828: Slow Dancer, eh Donna. I never would have suspected that. i guess I'm a slow dancer too but not by choice I'm afraid. I just don't read very fast.
>163 mckait: Hi Kath, yeah I like to be a devourer but it doesn't happen very often.
>164 ChelleBearss: Ok Chelle, we're all addicts so you don't even have to mention that one LOL.
>165 Nancy618: Hi Nancy, another advocate!
167brenzi
2.
The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout 4.5 stars
MY REVIEW
Elizabeth Strout has spent a lifetime looking deeply into the human soul. This woman knows people; inside out and upside down. And her depiction of ordinary, everyday people, struggling to keep their lives on an even keel always ends up reminding me of people I know. That’s right, ordinary, everyday people. Her latest offering, to be published in March, may be her best yet, no small potatoes considering she’s the author of the Pulitzer Prize winning (and entirely delectable) Olive Kitteridge.
The Burgess Boys, Jim and Bob, and their sister Susan, grew up in the rural Maine town of Shirley Falls. Their father was killed in an accident when they were quite young and they were raised by their widowed mother. Jim went on to a glorious career as a flamboyant corporate attorney while brother Bob ekes out a living as a public advocate. They both have abandoned their simple roots for the excitement of life in New York City. Meanwhile, divorced sister Susan raises her son in Shirley Falls. They are not at all close and the reasons for this are deep-seated and drawn out through the narrative.
What draws them together is a criminal act committed by Susan’s withdrawn and isolated son Zachary, and her call to her brothers for help. They return to their birthplace to find a town torn apart by racial disharmony and a house still holding the secrets of their youth. As they help their sister and Zach they also discover each other’s lives aren’t what they seem, and a secret buried years ago, reveals itself and changes their lives.
Strout is at the top of her game. Her ability to reveal and truly illuminate the things that reverberate within the human heart while, at the same time, exhibiting extraordinary storytelling skills, demonstrates that skill Highly recommended.
The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout 4.5 stars
MY REVIEW
Elizabeth Strout has spent a lifetime looking deeply into the human soul. This woman knows people; inside out and upside down. And her depiction of ordinary, everyday people, struggling to keep their lives on an even keel always ends up reminding me of people I know. That’s right, ordinary, everyday people. Her latest offering, to be published in March, may be her best yet, no small potatoes considering she’s the author of the Pulitzer Prize winning (and entirely delectable) Olive Kitteridge.
The Burgess Boys, Jim and Bob, and their sister Susan, grew up in the rural Maine town of Shirley Falls. Their father was killed in an accident when they were quite young and they were raised by their widowed mother. Jim went on to a glorious career as a flamboyant corporate attorney while brother Bob ekes out a living as a public advocate. They both have abandoned their simple roots for the excitement of life in New York City. Meanwhile, divorced sister Susan raises her son in Shirley Falls. They are not at all close and the reasons for this are deep-seated and drawn out through the narrative.
What draws them together is a criminal act committed by Susan’s withdrawn and isolated son Zachary, and her call to her brothers for help. They return to their birthplace to find a town torn apart by racial disharmony and a house still holding the secrets of their youth. As they help their sister and Zach they also discover each other’s lives aren’t what they seem, and a secret buried years ago, reveals itself and changes their lives.
Strout is at the top of her game. Her ability to reveal and truly illuminate the things that reverberate within the human heart while, at the same time, exhibiting extraordinary storytelling skills, demonstrates that skill Highly recommended.
170vancouverdeb
I think I might be a combo of the addict and the advocate. When I read a truly outstanding book, I'd like everyone to read it too! :)
Another great review - thumbs up, Bonnie!
Another great review - thumbs up, Bonnie!
171lit_chick
Bonnie, stellar review of The Burgess Boys. Both you and Donna have made this one a book not to be missed. Thumb!
172brenzi
Thanks Deb, that's a popular combination. I feel the same way. When I get to the end of a great book I just want to push it into someone's chest and say, "Read this now!" Sadly I don't know that many people who share my love of good literature and classics. That's why I come here where I know people love good literature!
174msf59
Bonnie- That's 2 glowing reviews of the Burgess Boys. Donna loved it too! I can't wait to jump into this one. I have it slated for next month.
Like Deb, I think I'm also an "addict and an a advocate".
Like Deb, I think I'm also an "addict and an a advocate".
175TinaV95
I'm also both an addict (Lisa said a hearty, "oh yeah" as I was reading that definition) and an advocate. I'm in good company!! :)
ETA: I just read your lovely review of The Burgess Boys... thumbs up from me!
ETA: I just read your lovely review of The Burgess Boys... thumbs up from me!
176porch_reader
Great review of The Burgess Boys, Bonnie! I loved it too. I want to put it in the hands of as many people as possible!
177brenzi
>174 msf59: I've got to let this one settle a bit Mark but I think it may be my favorite of all her novels.
>175 TinaV95: Thanks Tina, we're all addicts I'm afraid, enabling each other LOL.
>176 porch_reader: Thanks Amy, As I said to Mark, I think this one is my favorite Strout.
>175 TinaV95: Thanks Tina, we're all addicts I'm afraid, enabling each other LOL.
>176 porch_reader: Thanks Amy, As I said to Mark, I think this one is my favorite Strout.
180BLBera
Hi Bonnie - Another great review of The Burgess Boys. When will my library order it?? I've been trying to check frequently. As soon as it's available, I imagine there will be 50 reserves on it.
181LizzieD
Bonnie, I confess that I skipped your review of The Burgess Boys; I don't need to want one more book right now. On the other hand, I loved your review of *AK* too, and you do make me want to reread it. (And I wasn't at all offended by your post 97 a year or so ago - at least judging from the number of posts since!)
I read the article about e-readers and also disagree about the appeal of a general pad as opposed to my Kindle AND about reading weighty books on it. As you said, I love it for the biggies, and most of them are classics, and I will happily bookmark and make notes on the Kindle that I wouldn't in a paper book. So there.
And I'm an addict, classicist, advocate, lover, and sometimes even slow dancer.
I read the article about e-readers and also disagree about the appeal of a general pad as opposed to my Kindle AND about reading weighty books on it. As you said, I love it for the biggies, and most of them are classics, and I will happily bookmark and make notes on the Kindle that I wouldn't in a paper book. So there.
And I'm an addict, classicist, advocate, lover, and sometimes even slow dancer.
182RebaRelishesReading
Great review. I loved Olive and now have The Boys on my wish list.
183brenzi
>178 msf59: I just looked back Mark and, although I loved Olive I gave it only 4 stars. I gave 4 stars to Amy and Isabelle and Abide with Me also. So it appears that I liked The Burgess Boys best:)
>179 katiekrug: Thanks Katie, have you read any of her previous works?
>180 BLBera: Hi Peggy, I know what you mean about the bloated WL and trying to get some control of it which proves to be harder and harder to do, at least for me. I wish I wouldn't have been such a cheapskate and shelled out for the eBook of AK with the new translation. At 817 pages plus notes that was a big clunky book. I also like the options that eBooks present to me so I think of it as the best of both worlds:)
>181 LizzieD: Thanks Reba! Seems like Olive resonated with everyone:-)
>179 katiekrug: Thanks Katie, have you read any of her previous works?
>180 BLBera: Hi Peggy, I know what you mean about the bloated WL and trying to get some control of it which proves to be harder and harder to do, at least for me. I wish I wouldn't have been such a cheapskate and shelled out for the eBook of AK with the new translation. At 817 pages plus notes that was a big clunky book. I also like the options that eBooks present to me so I think of it as the best of both worlds:)
>181 LizzieD: Thanks Reba! Seems like Olive resonated with everyone:-)
184Donna828
Another fine review of The Burgess Boys! Bonnie, we agree on our ratings of Strout's books except for Amy and Isabelle. I only gave that one 3 stars. Minus one for the "ick" factor.
>166 brenzi:: Bonnie, I think I read at an average speed, but I do like to savor each and every word when I am in the hands of a word master. Hmmm...Robertson Davies comes to mind. I can't believe I read three books by him in a row...and I still want more? Have you read anything else by him that you can recommend?
>166 brenzi:: Bonnie, I think I read at an average speed, but I do like to savor each and every word when I am in the hands of a word master. Hmmm...Robertson Davies comes to mind. I can't believe I read three books by him in a row...and I still want more? Have you read anything else by him that you can recommend?
185brenzi
Thanks Donna, heh you had a problem with a mother being jealous of her daughter's lover, who is also her teacher?? Yes that was a stretch and I have no idea what my thinking was but there you have it. I'm afraid I have not read any other Robertson Davies works beyond The Deptford Trilogywhich I did love. I'll see what else you end up reading and then follow in your footsteps;-)
186jnwelch
Just throwing my thumb into the ring for that excellent Burgess Boys review, Bonnie. Like you, the only Robert Davies books I've read are The Deptford Trilogy, which I loved, too, so I'll join you in following Donna's progress with interest.
188cammykitty
Oooo, The Burgess Boys sounds awesome. Great review.
189-Cee-
Hi Bonnie!
Slow Dancer - definitey Slow Dancer and loving it ;-)
And Addict - definitely Addict - but some of that is your fault! LOL
Slow Dancer - definitey Slow Dancer and loving it ;-)
And Addict - definitely Addict - but some of that is your fault! LOL
190msf59
Bonnie- I started a very promising NF title, Mountains Beyond Mountains. And it's top-notch so far. Have you read Kidder?
191brenzi
>188 cammykitty: Thanks Katie!
>189 -Cee-: My fault??? How could it possibly be my fault Cee?? **bats eyes innocently**
>190 msf59: No I haven't Mark but I have two of his on my shelf including the one you're reading. If you give it a rave review maybe I'll read it soonish.
>189 -Cee-: My fault??? How could it possibly be my fault Cee?? **bats eyes innocently**
>190 msf59: No I haven't Mark but I have two of his on my shelf including the one you're reading. If you give it a rave review maybe I'll read it soonish.
192Copperskye
I'm not reading any reviews of The Burgess Boys because I have it here as an ER book, too. Can't help see those stars, though! I'm looking forward to it!
193Linda92007
Nice review of The Burgess Boys, Bonnie.
>181 LizzieD: Everyone I know that has upgraded from an e-reader to a tablet raves about it - but mainly for their email etc. capacities. No one has yet even mentioned preferring it for the reading experience and when I ask, they say the tablet is actually not as good. I'm sticking with my e-readers: 2 Kindles and a Nook. (Yes, there are actually good reasons why I need each of them!)
>181 LizzieD: Everyone I know that has upgraded from an e-reader to a tablet raves about it - but mainly for their email etc. capacities. No one has yet even mentioned preferring it for the reading experience and when I ask, they say the tablet is actually not as good. I'm sticking with my e-readers: 2 Kindles and a Nook. (Yes, there are actually good reasons why I need each of them!)
194RebaRelishesReading
I do like to read on my tablet. The lighting doesn't bother me like I feared it would. The screen is bigger and you "sweep" to turn pictures, which I like. (I should mention that my ereader is a first-generation Kindle). Only downside is that it's a bit heavier but otherwise I vote for the tablet...plus, of course, I can multitask on it and don't need to take a laptop when I travel.
195lyzard
I have vision issues and struggle with my job, which is basically eight hours of computer work a day. The last thing I want outside of work is more computer and backlighting, so there is no way I would choose a tablet over an e-reader.
I have a Sony because of the model's superior PDF support; I access quite a lot of my reading material in PDF form from the British Library via a subscription to my State library. I find e-book reading perfectly comfortable, though I do access print books for preference if they are available. However, with my interest in older material, very often they are not.
I have a Sony because of the model's superior PDF support; I access quite a lot of my reading material in PDF form from the British Library via a subscription to my State library. I find e-book reading perfectly comfortable, though I do access print books for preference if they are available. However, with my interest in older material, very often they are not.
196arubabookwoman
I already put The Burgess Boys on my wishlist after Donna's review, so I don't have to do that. If I hadn't your great review would have convinced me to do so.
Re Classics: I always tell people who are Classicsphobic: Books of the 18th and 19th Century were the entertainment of those days. They represent the TV and movies of our time. Many of them were written just to tell an entertaining story, and even those with social issues were plot heavy. I think once you get used to the prose style, almost anyone can enjoy many of the classics.
Re ereaders: I just bought myself a Kindle Paperwhite for Christmas (actually I bought it for my husband, but I appropriated it for myself and passed my old Kindle on to him). I love the night lighting and non-backlighting. My gripe is that the Kindle Paperwhite advertises an 8 week battery life (or something like that), and mine never lasts more than a few days. Is that because I am on it too much, or because it was overhyped? I already sent one back for a replacement, but I am experiencing the same with the replacement. Has anyone else had any experience with the relative battery-lifes of these devices?
Re Classics: I always tell people who are Classicsphobic: Books of the 18th and 19th Century were the entertainment of those days. They represent the TV and movies of our time. Many of them were written just to tell an entertaining story, and even those with social issues were plot heavy. I think once you get used to the prose style, almost anyone can enjoy many of the classics.
Re ereaders: I just bought myself a Kindle Paperwhite for Christmas (actually I bought it for my husband, but I appropriated it for myself and passed my old Kindle on to him). I love the night lighting and non-backlighting. My gripe is that the Kindle Paperwhite advertises an 8 week battery life (or something like that), and mine never lasts more than a few days. Is that because I am on it too much, or because it was overhyped? I already sent one back for a replacement, but I am experiencing the same with the replacement. Has anyone else had any experience with the relative battery-lifes of these devices?
197lyzard
They represent the TV and movies of our time.
Yes! I've tried to explain that too, and that books got read weekly or monthly like episodes in a drama. :)
I've never understood how battery life is measured. Constantly on, constantly in use, in sleep mode? Mine lasts quite well but I only use it spasmodically and shut it off altogether in between.
Yes! I've tried to explain that too, and that books got read weekly or monthly like episodes in a drama. :)
I've never understood how battery life is measured. Constantly on, constantly in use, in sleep mode? Mine lasts quite well but I only use it spasmodically and shut it off altogether in between.
198qebo
196: I always tell people who are Classicsphobic: Books of the 18th and 19th Century were the entertainment of those days.
Yeah, but then they entered the school system.
Yeah, but then they entered the school system.
199brenzi
Hi Joanne, Linda, Reba, Liz and Deborah. Thanks for visiting!
>192 Copperskye: And you have every right to be looking forward to it Joanne. It's certainly worth the wait.
>193 Linda92007: Thanks Linda! I'm sticking with my e-readers: 2 Kindles and a Nook. (Yes, there are actually good reasons why I need each of them! And I can't help but wonder what they are Linda. C'mon now, spill;-)
>194 RebaRelishesReading: Ohhhh I love that page turn feature on the iPad too Reba.
>195 lyzard:/197 It makes perfect sense Liz, that someone who stares at a computer screen all day wouldn't choose that method for reading.
>196 arubabookwoman: Thanks Deborah, I am so happy to have enjoyed Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Edith Wharton, Dickens, Tolstoy, Trollope, Eliot, Cather, Virginia Woolf, etc., etc., etc. over the last few years and will continue to explore the many books written many years ago that I have failed to read....until now. And you're right...anyone can enjoy them now, with so little effort.
>197 lyzard: Hi qebo, you're right, I'm sure that the classics were meant to be read by older people and not forced down the throats of angst ridden adolescents.
>192 Copperskye: And you have every right to be looking forward to it Joanne. It's certainly worth the wait.
>193 Linda92007: Thanks Linda! I'm sticking with my e-readers: 2 Kindles and a Nook. (Yes, there are actually good reasons why I need each of them! And I can't help but wonder what they are Linda. C'mon now, spill;-)
>194 RebaRelishesReading: Ohhhh I love that page turn feature on the iPad too Reba.
>195 lyzard:/197 It makes perfect sense Liz, that someone who stares at a computer screen all day wouldn't choose that method for reading.
>196 arubabookwoman: Thanks Deborah, I am so happy to have enjoyed Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Edith Wharton, Dickens, Tolstoy, Trollope, Eliot, Cather, Virginia Woolf, etc., etc., etc. over the last few years and will continue to explore the many books written many years ago that I have failed to read....until now. And you're right...anyone can enjoy them now, with so little effort.
>197 lyzard: Hi qebo, you're right, I'm sure that the classics were meant to be read by older people and not forced down the throats of angst ridden adolescents.
200brenzi
When I read an eBook, I'm reading it on an iPad with both iBooks and Kindle apps. And I only have it because my kids kept asking me if I'd like a Kindle for a Christmas present a couple years ago and I said I didn't really think I'd use it. Oila, Christmas morning I opened up an iPad which I've grown to love. Actually, grown is probably not the right word. The love was almost immediate, once I got it figured out.
But when I'm reading a book on it, I almost always wish I was reading a real book. Unless I'm reading a real chunkster, and then I am glad to have it in eBook format. It's not the fact that it's back lit---that doesn't bother me at all. It just doesn't have the feel of a real book and that's most often what I want. And the fact that I have to worry about the almighty charge. I've never run it down completely but then again, I don't want to take a chance that it will run down so I charge it every day if I'm reading a book on it. That to me is the biggest drawback to any kind of eReader. You don't have to worry about charging a real book.
But when I'm reading a book on it, I almost always wish I was reading a real book. Unless I'm reading a real chunkster, and then I am glad to have it in eBook format. It's not the fact that it's back lit---that doesn't bother me at all. It just doesn't have the feel of a real book and that's most often what I want. And the fact that I have to worry about the almighty charge. I've never run it down completely but then again, I don't want to take a chance that it will run down so I charge it every day if I'm reading a book on it. That to me is the biggest drawback to any kind of eReader. You don't have to worry about charging a real book.
201Linda92007
>193 Linda92007:, 199 Bonnie - it's pretty simple, actually. The first one I bought was the Kindle DX, which is large and only has 3G, but I still prefer it for reading at home because of the larger screen. But when our library system got e-books, I needed to have one with wi-fi and thought it would also be convenient to have a smaller, more portable one, so I bought a Kindle Touch. Then I found out that some library e-books were available only in ePub and not in Kindle versions, so I bought a basic Nook and have used it mainly for those and the very rare occasion that Barnes and Noble has something that Amazon does not, or a better price or edition. But I must say, I much prefer my Kindles over the Nook, mostly due to easier navigation on the device itself and easier book browsing at Amazon.
If I did a lot of traveling, which I don't, I would probably want a tablet also, but mostly for access to email and the web.
If I did a lot of traveling, which I don't, I would probably want a tablet also, but mostly for access to email and the web.
202BLBera
Bonnie - What you said about not having to charge a book reminds me of It's a Book by Lane Smith. It's a picture book. There's a monkey reading, and his friend donkey comes up and asks all kinds of questions: "How do you scroll down?" "I don't. I turn the page. It's a book." The book goes on with the donkey asking more questions. It's hilarious.
203brenzi
>201 Linda92007: That makes perfect sense Linda. And it sounds like you're much better prepared for the World Wide Book Famine than I am:)
>202 BLBera: It's a Book is now residing on top of the teetering tower Beth. Thanks. It sounds adorable.
>202 BLBera: It's a Book is now residing on top of the teetering tower Beth. Thanks. It sounds adorable.
204Chatterbox
I love my Kindle. I love my books. They do the same thing -- help me be a devouring book addict! (the Kindle also means that I don't lose and have to replace favorites that I want to re-read, as I have just done with two titles that I know I own but have spent two weeks looking for in vain among my 6,000 plus books...
ETA: If you're not reading on a tablet, but a dedicated e-reader, the battery life is so long that you almost never run out. I'll charge mine overnight every three days or so, but that's it. And if I turned off the wi-fi connectivity, it would last a lot longer.
ETA: If you're not reading on a tablet, but a dedicated e-reader, the battery life is so long that you almost never run out. I'll charge mine overnight every three days or so, but that's it. And if I turned off the wi-fi connectivity, it would last a lot longer.
205lit_chick
Enjoying the conversation about eReaders and tablets. I have both a Kindle and an iPad, but I tend to read more on the iPad. I love the fact that it is backlit; I do most of my pleasure reading at night and much prefer the backlight to an overhead light which I find hard on the eyes. I ALWAYS have my iPad on "sepia" theme when reading; find this makes the backlight much more subtle. That said, I also miss the feel and the smell of a "real" book. Is it weird to "smell" books, LOL? The chunksters, as others have noted, are much easier on the iPad ... something about my aging wrists.
206TadAD
I have both an iPad and a Kindle. I generally read on the iPad indoors and the Kindle outdoors...solely because of the backlighting issue.
207brenzi
>204 Chatterbox: 6,000+ books!! I have a fairly large house Suzanne, and I can't think where I would begin to store that many books. But an e reader with 6,000 books on it wouldn't take up any space at all. Good luck finding the elusive book.
>205 lit_chick: Exactly Nancy, the feel and smell of real books is totally missing from eReaders Once manufacturers figure out how to do that, the doubters will flock to the eReaders. **Note to self: figure out how to set iPad to sepia setting.
>206 TadAD: Well that sounds like the perfect solution Tad.
>205 lit_chick: Exactly Nancy, the feel and smell of real books is totally missing from eReaders Once manufacturers figure out how to do that, the doubters will flock to the eReaders. **Note to self: figure out how to set iPad to sepia setting.
>206 TadAD: Well that sounds like the perfect solution Tad.
208vancouverdeb
Hmmm I just have a kindle. I like it for the ease of " shopping for a book" and also sometimes for the good price. My kindle will usually last about 1- 2 months without a battery charge. That said, most of my reading is in physical books. I prefer to mark up my real books and be able to flip back and forth. But that is just is just me. Making notes on my kindle - well, I find it awkward. I have no compunctions about treating my books badly with markings and that sort of thing. Very bad of me!
209brenzi
3.
A Question of Upbringing by Anthony Powell 3.7 stars
This novella is the first episode in Powell's twelve volume magnus opus A Dance to the Music of Time and as such is fairly difficult to review. The way it ended left me knowing that the story would go on from there.
The writing is beautiful, poetic and absolutely flawless and drew me in from the first page. The opening page tells of some men, construction workers huddled around a small fire, trying to warm themselves in the frigid temperatures and it brings to mind the well-known painting that the books’ cover, and the stories inside, convey.
”For some reason, the sight of snow descending on fire always makes me think of the ancient world----legionaries in sheepskin warming themselves at a brazier; mountain altars where offerings glow between wintry pillars: centaurs with torches cantering beside a frozen sea---scattered, uncoordinated shapes from a fabulous past, infinitely removed from life; and yet bringing with them memories of things real and imagined. These classical projections, and something in the physical attitudes of the men themselves as they turned from the fire, suddenly suggested Poussin’s scene in which the Seasons, hand in hand and facing outward, tread in rhythm to the notes of the lyre that the winged and naked greybeard plays. The image of Time brought thoughts of mortality: of human beings, facing outward like the Seasons, moving hand in hand in intricate measure: stepping slowly, methodically, sometimes a trifle awkwardly, in evolutions that take recognizable shape: or breaking into meaningless gyrations, while partners disappear only to reappear again, once more giving pattern to the spectacle: unable to control the melody, unable, perhaps, to control the steps of the dance. (Page 2)
That would be this 18th century painting:
Each book represents one of the seasons and when the books are lined up next to each other they look like this:
But just reading that paragraph explains in great detail exactly what this series will be about and has me wondering if slow and steady will work for me. I am participating in the year long Group Read, reading one novella per month and this first one has served to be very tantalizing for me. So far, four school chums in Britain, graduate and are ready to face either university or a career and we’re along for the ride as the 1920s fade and the 1930s introduce themselves to the world. You can join in if you want. (GR thread right here.) I have a feeling it’s going to be quite a ride.
A Question of Upbringing by Anthony Powell 3.7 stars
This novella is the first episode in Powell's twelve volume magnus opus A Dance to the Music of Time and as such is fairly difficult to review. The way it ended left me knowing that the story would go on from there.
The writing is beautiful, poetic and absolutely flawless and drew me in from the first page. The opening page tells of some men, construction workers huddled around a small fire, trying to warm themselves in the frigid temperatures and it brings to mind the well-known painting that the books’ cover, and the stories inside, convey.
”For some reason, the sight of snow descending on fire always makes me think of the ancient world----legionaries in sheepskin warming themselves at a brazier; mountain altars where offerings glow between wintry pillars: centaurs with torches cantering beside a frozen sea---scattered, uncoordinated shapes from a fabulous past, infinitely removed from life; and yet bringing with them memories of things real and imagined. These classical projections, and something in the physical attitudes of the men themselves as they turned from the fire, suddenly suggested Poussin’s scene in which the Seasons, hand in hand and facing outward, tread in rhythm to the notes of the lyre that the winged and naked greybeard plays. The image of Time brought thoughts of mortality: of human beings, facing outward like the Seasons, moving hand in hand in intricate measure: stepping slowly, methodically, sometimes a trifle awkwardly, in evolutions that take recognizable shape: or breaking into meaningless gyrations, while partners disappear only to reappear again, once more giving pattern to the spectacle: unable to control the melody, unable, perhaps, to control the steps of the dance. (Page 2)
That would be this 18th century painting:
Each book represents one of the seasons and when the books are lined up next to each other they look like this:
But just reading that paragraph explains in great detail exactly what this series will be about and has me wondering if slow and steady will work for me. I am participating in the year long Group Read, reading one novella per month and this first one has served to be very tantalizing for me. So far, four school chums in Britain, graduate and are ready to face either university or a career and we’re along for the ride as the 1920s fade and the 1930s introduce themselves to the world. You can join in if you want. (GR thread right here.) I have a feeling it’s going to be quite a ride.
210brenzi
>207 brenzi: Hi Deb, I like it for the ease of " shopping for a book" Are you talking about the deadly addictive and extremely dangerous "One Click" buying?? Writing in your real books? I'm shocked, simply shocked ;-)
211Donna828
Bonnie, you and I must think alike. I was going to post that wonderful quote and picture! Now I will have to think of something else to say....something like...see Post 209 on Brenzi's thread! I hope to finish Book One tonight.
212richardderus
>209 brenzi: Upgethumbed, and you *almost* tempted me to join a group read. Astonishing feat, that.
213vancouverdeb
It's very high brow to write in your books, I'll have you know, Bonnie! ;-) It's called " marginalia" as I learned from reading my Flavia de Luce books by Alan Bradley. And yes, I even break the spines so that books will lie flat and bend over the pages for easy reference. This is how my books know that I love them. Wow! What a neat row of books. Mine dwell scattered on different shelves and piles -but I have mind like a steel trap and it's actually organized chaos.. kind of the way that I run my life .......hee hee.. shhh don't tell everyone!
Such an elegant looking thread.
Such an elegant looking thread.
214brenzi
>211 Donna828: Well Donna, you know what they say about great minds haha. That passage was a gimmee---it explains the entire epic---twelve books. How could I let that slide? You should use it too. It's good enough for any number of people to quote it. It's pretty darn brilliant:-)
>212 richardderus: Thanks Richard. C'mon, there's lots of room for you in the group. Don't be shy.
>213 vancouverdeb: Stop, stop, I can't hear you say you break the spine Deb!!Oh the agony!! Bend over the pages?? You mean purposely? A mind like a steel trap huh? Well unfortunately, my mind does not operate well in chaos. It requires organization. Something to do with my age....
>212 richardderus: Thanks Richard. C'mon, there's lots of room for you in the group. Don't be shy.
>213 vancouverdeb: Stop, stop, I can't hear you say you break the spine Deb!!Oh the agony!! Bend over the pages?? You mean purposely? A mind like a steel trap huh? Well unfortunately, my mind does not operate well in chaos. It requires organization. Something to do with my age....
215lit_chick
Oooh, another enticing review, Bonnie. Love the quote you posted from A Question of Upbringing. What lovely prose, indeed! 
216mckait
Beautiful things to look at...Interesting thing to read ...
( Burgess Boys now on my wishlist)
Good discussion about ereaders ( I have iPad, Kindle and nook and love them all)
I always enjoy visiting here, I need to get here more often!
( Burgess Boys now on my wishlist)
Good discussion about ereaders ( I have iPad, Kindle and nook and love them all)
I always enjoy visiting here, I need to get here more often!
217Linda92007
A Dance to the Music of Time is so very, very tempting, Bonnie. How will I ever be able to resist an entire year of great reviews by you and Donna and others participating in the group read?
218drachenbraut23
Hi Bonnie, brilliant review of AK. Reading all your interesting reviews I had to put AK on my reading list for this year. Especially, as my memories are very romantic in regards to the story *smile* and this time round I will read the English edition.
I very much enjoyed the e-book discussion and also I always prefer the "dead tree" versions, I have to agree with Suzanne that it is highly practical if you want to take a "larger" amount of books with you. I do own a kindle keyboard and recently got a kindle fire (from a lovely brother) and have to say that I do prefer the kindle keyboard for reading during the day, but I am fine with the kindle fire at night time.
BTW I am the Advocate/Addict :)
Wish you a lovely Friday!
I very much enjoyed the e-book discussion and also I always prefer the "dead tree" versions, I have to agree with Suzanne that it is highly practical if you want to take a "larger" amount of books with you. I do own a kindle keyboard and recently got a kindle fire (from a lovely brother) and have to say that I do prefer the kindle keyboard for reading during the day, but I am fine with the kindle fire at night time.
BTW I am the Advocate/Addict :)
Wish you a lovely Friday!
221phebj
Hi Bonnie. Thumbs for your two recent reviews! After Amy (I think) reviewed it, I pre-ordered it from Amazon. I'm pretty sure I gave Olive 5 stars so I'm so happy to see you and Amy liked it just as well, if not better. I have the first Powell book but haven't started it yet so I'll be interested to see how you like it as the year progresses.
222brenzi
>215 lit_chick: Thanks Nancy, yes the lovely prose is what is carrying it for me right now although the characters he's developing are pretty well done also.
>216 mckait: And I need to get to your thread more often too Kath. But the onslaught of threads makes it so difficult for anyone to make significant progress. Thanks for stopping:-)
>217 Linda92007: Haha you won't be able to resist Linda, so why not take it up now? There's plenty of room and plenty of time to get on board now.
>218 drachenbraut23: Thank you Bianca, I hope AK stands up to the reread, even in another language. Ahhh another Advocate/Addict...great combination. Have a lovely weekend.
>219 LizzieD: I'm trying Peggy, I'm trying:-)
>220 BLBera: Well that makes two of you Beth LOL.
>221 phebj: Thanks Pat, I think reading the Powell book, one novella per month is a pretty easy way to tackle that opus. I think you're going to like The Burgess Boys when you get to it.
>216 mckait: And I need to get to your thread more often too Kath. But the onslaught of threads makes it so difficult for anyone to make significant progress. Thanks for stopping:-)
>217 Linda92007: Haha you won't be able to resist Linda, so why not take it up now? There's plenty of room and plenty of time to get on board now.
>218 drachenbraut23: Thank you Bianca, I hope AK stands up to the reread, even in another language. Ahhh another Advocate/Addict...great combination. Have a lovely weekend.
>219 LizzieD: I'm trying Peggy, I'm trying:-)
>220 BLBera: Well that makes two of you Beth LOL.
>221 phebj: Thanks Pat, I think reading the Powell book, one novella per month is a pretty easy way to tackle that opus. I think you're going to like The Burgess Boys when you get to it.
223PaulCranswick
Bonnie - catching up; loved as always the reviews of The Burgess Boys and A Question of Upbringing. It is some time since I read the Powell books and whilst I enjoyed them and appreciated his stylistic prose I think they are a tad cold and lacking in real emotion.
Have a lovely weekend.
Have a lovely weekend.
224brenzi
Thanks Paul, well we'll see if I eventually find them cold and lacking in emotion. Much too early to come to any conclusions in that department. Have a lovely weekend yourself my friend.
225brenzi
This is the story of my life: I'm reading a book, really enjoying it, maybe even loving it, yet I'm distracted looking at, or thinking about my next book. Does that happen to you or am I just really, really odd??
226phebj
That is the story of my life at the moment!!! Before LT, I hardly had anyone in RL recommending books to me and I wasn't a big user of our library in NY. I mostly found books by reading newspaper reviews and browsing in bookstores. Now I could easily add books to my wishlist every day and then order them online from my library. I wonder how much reading I'd get done if I didn't have access to my computer for awhile?
227brenzi
>226 phebj: Hi Pat, I'm actually distracted by the books I already own to say nothing of the dozens of recommendations I get here on LT every week. It's a nice problem to have I guess.
228brenzi
4.
We Die Alone by David Howarth 3.8 stars
MY REVIEW
In this clandestine spy-mission-gone-wrong, to say the protagonist had nine lives would be a bit of an understatement. As a matter of fact, I had to confirm with some outside sources that this non-fiction account of a WWII reconnaissance was actually true because this story is just absolutely unbelievable.
In 1943, a team of Norwegians are trained by British intelligence to take a fishing boat from the Shetland Islands to German-occupied Norway, where they will train the resistance. The mission is unsuccessful and all but one of the participants are killed or captured. The book documents the unlikely survival of Jan Baalsrud. He manages, with the help of many, completely selfless Norwegians from the lonely, rural Arctic North, to make his way across the frozen tundra that is Norway to freedom and safety in Sweden. The story of his journey is loaded with on the edge of your seat suspense as he fights off not only the Germans, who managed to shoot off the toes on one foot, but bone-chilling cold, snow blindness, and a 300 foot fall on a snowy plateau until he finally collapsed in a small cabin to the utter shock of the woman residing within. That’s when the brave villagers took it upon themselves to help this ex-patriot get to Sweden and safety. Before that happens, Baalsrud will spend a month outside in the elements, either in a cave or a paper hut after being hauled up the sheer cliffs from the village to the plateau. His survival is nothing short of unbelievable. Read it yourself for the thrill a minute ride and for the insight into a brave, selfless people under the yoke of Nazi occupation. Highly recommended.
We Die Alone by David Howarth 3.8 stars
MY REVIEW
In this clandestine spy-mission-gone-wrong, to say the protagonist had nine lives would be a bit of an understatement. As a matter of fact, I had to confirm with some outside sources that this non-fiction account of a WWII reconnaissance was actually true because this story is just absolutely unbelievable.
In 1943, a team of Norwegians are trained by British intelligence to take a fishing boat from the Shetland Islands to German-occupied Norway, where they will train the resistance. The mission is unsuccessful and all but one of the participants are killed or captured. The book documents the unlikely survival of Jan Baalsrud. He manages, with the help of many, completely selfless Norwegians from the lonely, rural Arctic North, to make his way across the frozen tundra that is Norway to freedom and safety in Sweden. The story of his journey is loaded with on the edge of your seat suspense as he fights off not only the Germans, who managed to shoot off the toes on one foot, but bone-chilling cold, snow blindness, and a 300 foot fall on a snowy plateau until he finally collapsed in a small cabin to the utter shock of the woman residing within. That’s when the brave villagers took it upon themselves to help this ex-patriot get to Sweden and safety. Before that happens, Baalsrud will spend a month outside in the elements, either in a cave or a paper hut after being hauled up the sheer cliffs from the village to the plateau. His survival is nothing short of unbelievable. Read it yourself for the thrill a minute ride and for the insight into a brave, selfless people under the yoke of Nazi occupation. Highly recommended.
230lauralkeet
Wow, that sounds pretty incredible.
231AnneDC
Great review of We Die Alone, Bonnie, and, no, you're not alone--I'm perpetually distracted by other books even when I'm not reading 5 at a time as I am right now.
232katiekrug
Hi Bonnie, I have We Die Alone on my Kindle. Books there seem to get overlooked a lot so I must remember this one!
233TadAD
I read We Die Alone a couple of years ago and still cannot believe what Baalsrud survived.
234BLBera
Hi Bonnie - Yes, I am always looking at my shelves of unread books, even if I'm really enjoying what I'm reading. LT hasn't helped -- I hear about so many more books now than I did before.
I gave my dad We Die Alone last year, and he keeps telling me I should read it. Great review. I guess I should listen to my father :)
I gave my dad We Die Alone last year, and he keeps telling me I should read it. Great review. I guess I should listen to my father :)
235cushlareads
Bonnie I'm forever getting distracted by other books too - books like We Die Alone, 3 copies of which are in the library!
236cammykitty
We Die Alone sounds fascinating! I know someone who was in the Norwegian Resistance. He was a cab driver during the war and hid Jews in his cab under coal. They were somehow running their cabs on coal instead of gas so he could explain the pile of coal in his trunk.
237brenzi
>229 lit_chick: Thanks Nancy, Happens to me ALL the time, LOL!! Why is that nancy? Why can't we be satisfied in the here and now? Pondering, pondering....
>230 lauralkeet: It's completely bizarre how this man survived Laura. He should have died of exposure, dehydration, infection, gangrene poisoning, starvation, the list goes on and on.
>231 AnneDC: Thanks Anne, but did you ever think maybe that's why you're reading five at one time? LOL
>232 katiekrug: Yes Katie, I picked it up as a Kindle Daily Deal. I have We Die Alone on my Kindle. Books there seem to get overlooked a lot Why do you suppose I came up with that TIOLI challenge? LOL
>233 TadAD: An incredible story, wasn't it Tad?
>234 BLBera: Thanks Beth, yes, listen to your father!
>235 cushlareads: Haha oh, well I didn't really mean to distract you Cushla.
>236 cammykitty: It was fascinating Katie, as was your story about the cab driver. I never heard anything like that.
>230 lauralkeet: It's completely bizarre how this man survived Laura. He should have died of exposure, dehydration, infection, gangrene poisoning, starvation, the list goes on and on.
>231 AnneDC: Thanks Anne, but did you ever think maybe that's why you're reading five at one time? LOL
>232 katiekrug: Yes Katie, I picked it up as a Kindle Daily Deal. I have We Die Alone on my Kindle. Books there seem to get overlooked a lot Why do you suppose I came up with that TIOLI challenge? LOL
>233 TadAD: An incredible story, wasn't it Tad?
>234 BLBera: Thanks Beth, yes, listen to your father!
>235 cushlareads: Haha oh, well I didn't really mean to distract you Cushla.
>236 cammykitty: It was fascinating Katie, as was your story about the cab driver. I never heard anything like that.
239Berly
Hi Bonnie! Loving your thread, the library pic, the button, Anna K (which I have already read), and We Die Alone (which I must now get). Hugs.
240mdoris
Hi Bonnie,
I read We Die Alone years ago and I thought it was amazing. I still can vividly remember scenes from the book.
I read We Die Alone years ago and I thought it was amazing. I still can vividly remember scenes from the book.
241cammykitty
:) I haven't had my e-reader 6 months yet though, so I couldn't do that TIOLI - but I've got soooo many books on it already. I found a $2.99 "book" that is an anthology of 50 classics like Les Miserable, Wuthering Heights etc etc. It also includes The Jungle which I won't be reading thank you very much. The 7th graders get to read a page of that. One page is enough to make everyone queasy. Not nice for the class that reads it right before lunch time.
243Linda92007
Great review of We Die Alone, Bonnie. I also have that on my TBR pile and am now very much looking forward to it. I am also easily distracted by other books. I can usually deal with it if there are only those in the house to contend with. My biggest problem is going to the library, where I inevitably find books that I cannot wait to read, but can't possibly fit in before their return dates.
244Donna828
Bonnie, I have started We Die Alone and agree that it is a remarkable story. Totally believable to me, however, as my grandparents were from Norway. Norwegians are tough people! My uncle visited our relatives in Norway a few years before he died and came back with some very interesting stories about the Norwegian resistance during WWII. I'll share my favorite one on my thread after I finish the book this week.
245kidzdoc
Nice review of We Die Alone, Bonnie!
I can definitely get distracted by new books, but I dislike having to start re-reading a book that I didn't finish.
I can definitely get distracted by new books, but I dislike having to start re-reading a book that I didn't finish.
246msf59
Bonnie- Great review of We Die Alone. That has landed immediately on my WL. I hope it's available on audio, so I can get to it sooner than later.
Did you see DA?
Did you see DA?
248brenzi
>238 BLBera: Haha you got that right Beth:-)
>239 Berly: Hi Kim, happy to oblige LOL.
>240 mdoris: Hi mdoris, and welcome! I thought it was very vividly written and I'm pretty sure it will stay with me a long time too.
>241 cammykitty: Hi Katie, oh I guess I forgot about that part of the challenge. You know, I have The Jungle on my shelf and for some reason it just sits there. I know it's about the conditions in the slaughterhouses at the beginning of the 20th century but that's about all I know. I guess if seventh graders can handle it I should be able to.
>242 richardderus: Thanks Richard, it's actually a bit better here than it was on the weekend, especially Saturday night into Sunday when the wind was gusting at about 50 mph and I thought the house was going to be blown down.
>243 Linda92007: Thanks Linda, I refuse to browse in the library for that exact reason. I've returned too many books unread so I try to just order what I'm pretty sure I will read. It's not foolproof though haha.
>244 Donna828: I guess I don't know much about Norwegians but it's not just the compassionate treatment he received at the hands of the villagers Donna, but his own ability to overcome frozen limbs, snow blindness, and horrendous conditions that I found unbelievable.
>245 kidzdoc: Thanks Darryl, yeah I don't make a habit of dropping a book and then having to reread mostly because I hate having to do that too.
>246 msf59: Thanks Mark, I have no idea whether or not it's available on audio. You're the expert in that department LOL. Yep I saw DA last night after we paused the football game. Yesterday was a day of TV I'm afraid.
>247 TinaV95: I know, me too Tina:-)
>239 Berly: Hi Kim, happy to oblige LOL.
>240 mdoris: Hi mdoris, and welcome! I thought it was very vividly written and I'm pretty sure it will stay with me a long time too.
>241 cammykitty: Hi Katie, oh I guess I forgot about that part of the challenge. You know, I have The Jungle on my shelf and for some reason it just sits there. I know it's about the conditions in the slaughterhouses at the beginning of the 20th century but that's about all I know. I guess if seventh graders can handle it I should be able to.
>242 richardderus: Thanks Richard, it's actually a bit better here than it was on the weekend, especially Saturday night into Sunday when the wind was gusting at about 50 mph and I thought the house was going to be blown down.
>243 Linda92007: Thanks Linda, I refuse to browse in the library for that exact reason. I've returned too many books unread so I try to just order what I'm pretty sure I will read. It's not foolproof though haha.
>244 Donna828: I guess I don't know much about Norwegians but it's not just the compassionate treatment he received at the hands of the villagers Donna, but his own ability to overcome frozen limbs, snow blindness, and horrendous conditions that I found unbelievable.
>245 kidzdoc: Thanks Darryl, yeah I don't make a habit of dropping a book and then having to reread mostly because I hate having to do that too.
>246 msf59: Thanks Mark, I have no idea whether or not it's available on audio. You're the expert in that department LOL. Yep I saw DA last night after we paused the football game. Yesterday was a day of TV I'm afraid.
>247 TinaV95: I know, me too Tina:-)
253vancouverdeb
Thumbs up on your review of We Die Alone. That's one for the wishlist!
I love your picture of the Lance Armstrong Library sign! Perfect!
As for libraries, I don't go often, but when I do, I really stock up -as I did today. As I see it, the books are "free' , so if I don't read them this time round, I can always re-new or get them out again.
I love your picture of the Lance Armstrong Library sign! Perfect!
As for libraries, I don't go often, but when I do, I really stock up -as I did today. As I see it, the books are "free' , so if I don't read them this time round, I can always re-new or get them out again.
254mckait
LOL @ 249 .... Our children's librarian pulled what she had about Lance and dropped it into the book sale.
I adore her! She looks so prim and proper and I can't think of anyone I have worked with that has been so much fun :)
I adore her! She looks so prim and proper and I can't think of anyone I have worked with that has been so much fun :)
255Crazymamie
I'm all caught up here, Bonnie! Loved your reviews - adding The Burgess Boys to my WL. I still have Olive Kittridge in the stacks - guess I need to pull that one out and get to it sooner rather than later, huh? And I love the Lance Armstrong library sign - too funny! Hope all is well with you - Happy Wednesday!
257brenzi
Hi there Nancy, Beth, Caro, Deb, Kath, Mamie and Kim! Glad you all enjoyed the Lance sign.
Kath - oh I like that idea, just get rid of them.
Mamie - do read Olive. You certainly won't regret it:)
Kath - oh I like that idea, just get rid of them.
Mamie - do read Olive. You certainly won't regret it:)
258brenzi
5.
The Line by Olga Grushin 4.4 stars
MY REVIEW
Olga Grushin’s sophomore effort turns out to be a transformative novel based on the lowly line which begins to form at a kiosk in Soviet Russia. People begin to queue up before they even know what is being sold. In a place used to shortages of nearly everything, it doesn’t really matter what the line is actually for, it’s bound to be something that’s needed. Soon a rumor starts that the kiosk will sell tickets to a concert by a famous exiled composer, who will return for one last performance. The people have no idea that they will wait for almost a year before the 300 tickets are actually distributed. But during that year, the line changes from a horde of unnamed faces into a unique community as the people wait and are disappointed as, day to day, the kiosk remains unmanned with signs that only serve to frustrate: Closed for Accounting, Out with the Flu, Closed will reopen on Monday, etc.
But the line is a constant, day in and day out, and the community created there meshes into an eager assemblage, all hoping to get something out of the concert that will assure them a better, improved future. But as the seasons change, the wait begins to seem interminable:
”The people of the line had grown silent, weary, casting furtive glances at the faceless officials who prowled the sidewalks, yet at the same time, Anna sensed, there had been, since the beginning of fall, since the fall of darkness, an imperceptible drawing closer, quite as if their communal, increasingly dangerous wait had rubbed their souls raw, had made their emotions transparent, had marked them all with an invisible sign of shared time, of shared expectation, so that every once in awhile they could turn to one another with a kind of heedless, naked urgency and talk as they would talk only to their families, and perhaps not even to them, united by fear and hope and trust under black, pregnant skies.” (Page 257)
Beautifully written, the line becomes a metaphor for time, memory and life itself. Very highly recommended.
The Line by Olga Grushin 4.4 stars
MY REVIEW
Olga Grushin’s sophomore effort turns out to be a transformative novel based on the lowly line which begins to form at a kiosk in Soviet Russia. People begin to queue up before they even know what is being sold. In a place used to shortages of nearly everything, it doesn’t really matter what the line is actually for, it’s bound to be something that’s needed. Soon a rumor starts that the kiosk will sell tickets to a concert by a famous exiled composer, who will return for one last performance. The people have no idea that they will wait for almost a year before the 300 tickets are actually distributed. But during that year, the line changes from a horde of unnamed faces into a unique community as the people wait and are disappointed as, day to day, the kiosk remains unmanned with signs that only serve to frustrate: Closed for Accounting, Out with the Flu, Closed will reopen on Monday, etc.
But the line is a constant, day in and day out, and the community created there meshes into an eager assemblage, all hoping to get something out of the concert that will assure them a better, improved future. But as the seasons change, the wait begins to seem interminable:
”The people of the line had grown silent, weary, casting furtive glances at the faceless officials who prowled the sidewalks, yet at the same time, Anna sensed, there had been, since the beginning of fall, since the fall of darkness, an imperceptible drawing closer, quite as if their communal, increasingly dangerous wait had rubbed their souls raw, had made their emotions transparent, had marked them all with an invisible sign of shared time, of shared expectation, so that every once in awhile they could turn to one another with a kind of heedless, naked urgency and talk as they would talk only to their families, and perhaps not even to them, united by fear and hope and trust under black, pregnant skies.” (Page 257)
Beautifully written, the line becomes a metaphor for time, memory and life itself. Very highly recommended.
259richardderus
Bleakly beautiful. Thumbs-upped the review!
260Linda92007
Great review of The Line, Bonnie. I have been seeing consistently positive reviews of this one, but the library doesn't have it and the Kindle edition is a bit too pricey. Sigh...
261lit_chick
Fab review of The Line, Bonnie. What an interesting concept: the line becomes a metaphor for time, memory and life itself. Very highly recommended. Thumb-up!
262phebj
Great review of The Line Bonnie. Like Linda, I've been seeing alot of good reviews of this book. I actually had it home from the library for awhile but just couldn't squeeze it in. But I will get back to it.
263alcottacre
Well, I went to add The Line to the BlackHole and already discovered it there. Unfortunately my local library still does not have a copy. *sigh*
Great review as always, Bonnie.
Great review as always, Bonnie.
264msf59
Hi Bonnie- Loved your review of the Line. On the list it goes. See how simple? See how dangerous? I requested the audio of We Die Alone. A good friend of mine, who loves war books, is also getting ready to read it. See, you are a trend-setter.
265cbl_tn
Bonnie, I read The Line earlier this month and liked it very much. It's a lovely book and I'm glad to see it getting more attention.
266brenzi
>259 richardderus: Thanks so much Richard!
>260 Linda92007: Thanks Linda, can you ask your library to make a purchase? Our library made that feature available a few years ago and I've managed to get them to make a few purchases:)
>261 lit_chick: Thanks Nancy, this is the kind of book where the connections abound.
>262 phebj: Thanks Pat, I have a library book too but I am going to be buying my own copy of this one:)
>263 alcottacre: Thanks Stasia, I'll ask you the same question I asked Linda---does your library take requests from patrons? If so, maybe they would purchase it.
>264 msf59: Thanks Mark, I'm glad you were able to find We Die Alone on audio. I think you'll really like it.
>265 cbl_tn: Hi Carrie, I was surprised to find it was published in 2010. I thought it was brand new. I wonder why I've never heard of it before?
>260 Linda92007: Thanks Linda, can you ask your library to make a purchase? Our library made that feature available a few years ago and I've managed to get them to make a few purchases:)
>261 lit_chick: Thanks Nancy, this is the kind of book where the connections abound.
>262 phebj: Thanks Pat, I have a library book too but I am going to be buying my own copy of this one:)
>263 alcottacre: Thanks Stasia, I'll ask you the same question I asked Linda---does your library take requests from patrons? If so, maybe they would purchase it.
>264 msf59: Thanks Mark, I'm glad you were able to find We Die Alone on audio. I think you'll really like it.
>265 cbl_tn: Hi Carrie, I was surprised to find it was published in 2010. I thought it was brand new. I wonder why I've never heard of it before?
267TadAD
Great review of The Line. It made it irresistibly attractive but, like Stasia, when I went to add it, I found it already in the Wishlist.
268LovingLit
>258 brenzi: what an idea for a story! Ive just finished Leningrad so I get the gist of the lining up.
All this talk of "We Die Alone" reminds me that I still havent got to Every Man Dies Alone, which I have been meaning to, for about an age.
All this talk of "We Die Alone" reminds me that I still havent got to Every Man Dies Alone, which I have been meaning to, for about an age.
269cushlareads
Bonnie, I loved your review of The Line. I got it out of the library when we were first home last year but it went back unopened. I'll have to try again soon.
270cameling
Bonnie, I've just read The Queue by Vladimir Sorokin and it's about people who stand in line waiting not really knowing what they're selling at the front. The format of the book is in the form of snippets of conversation between people standing in line, and their brief or maybe longer interaction with others who come in or leave the line. It's a different angle from The Line and I think you may like it.
271vancouverdeb
Great review of The Line, Bonnie. Every Man Dies Alone, which Megan mentioned, is a book I've " had in mind" for a while. So many books , not so much time!
272brenzi
>267 TadAD: Thanks Tad, I think I first hear about it when I read a review on Belletrista but I can't remember who wrote it. And I'm not even sure of that LOL. I'm usually good at keeping track of who recommends books. I do know Suzanne liked it recently.
>268 LovingLit: Oh yesssssss Megan Every Man Dies Alone is excellent but an entirely different kind of book from We Die Alone although they're both about people fighting the Nazis during WWII.
>269 cushlareads: Thanks Cushla, do take it out again. I think you'll like it.
>270 cameling: Thanks for the recommendation Caro; off to read your review.
>271 vancouverdeb: Thanks Deb, Every Man Dies Alone was one of my top reads in 2010. It's a long one though.
>268 LovingLit: Oh yesssssss Megan Every Man Dies Alone is excellent but an entirely different kind of book from We Die Alone although they're both about people fighting the Nazis during WWII.
>269 cushlareads: Thanks Cushla, do take it out again. I think you'll like it.
>270 cameling: Thanks for the recommendation Caro; off to read your review.
>271 vancouverdeb: Thanks Deb, Every Man Dies Alone was one of my top reads in 2010. It's a long one though.
274brenzi
>273 BLBera: Thanks Beth. It certainly could be described as a winner.
275msf59
I have to chime in about Every Man Dies Alone. It is excellent and was one of my top reads of '09. READ IT! NOW!
Hiya Bonnie- Hope the day went well. Have you read anything else by Fallada?
Hiya Bonnie- Hope the day went well. Have you read anything else by Fallada?
276brenzi
>275 msf59: Have you read anything else by Fallada? No I haven't Mark but I have Wolf Among Wolves sitting on my shelf.
277womansheart
Dear Bonnie -
I am slowly beginning to post again on LibraryThing. I have missed you and the many, many other wonderful friends that I have made here on this wonderful website.
I quickly zipped through the many posts on your current thread and Dorothy Parker's name caught my eye. You may be interested in reading Farewell, Dorothy Parker written by Ellen Meister. I laughed out loud while reading it in bed and scared the bejeezuz out of my husband. (It wasn't that late, and he was a good sport about it). It will be published soon and I was fortunate enough to get a copy though our wonderful Early Reviewers book giveaway. Can't wait to review it.
Will return many times to see what you have been reading and what you are currently reading also.
Love, Ruth
I am slowly beginning to post again on LibraryThing. I have missed you and the many, many other wonderful friends that I have made here on this wonderful website.
I quickly zipped through the many posts on your current thread and Dorothy Parker's name caught my eye. You may be interested in reading Farewell, Dorothy Parker written by Ellen Meister. I laughed out loud while reading it in bed and scared the bejeezuz out of my husband. (It wasn't that late, and he was a good sport about it). It will be published soon and I was fortunate enough to get a copy though our wonderful Early Reviewers book giveaway. Can't wait to review it.
Will return many times to see what you have been reading and what you are currently reading also.
Love, Ruth
278cammykitty
re the Jungle - 7th graders can handle only one page of it! Do pearl rule that one! We owe The Jungle a debt of gratitude, but that doesn't mean we need to read it all the way through!
Great review of The Line. It's been on my WL for awhile> Hopefully I'll get to it sometime this year.
Great review of The Line. It's been on my WL for awhile> Hopefully I'll get to it sometime this year.
279RebaRelishesReading
Excellent review of The Line. I've put it on my wish list.
280brenzi
>277 womansheart: Well look who is making an appearance! Hi Ruth, good to see you here. Hope to see you posting more this year. I'm a huge Dorothy Parker fan and somehow missed the ER offering but I will certainly be looking for it when it's published. I think you can count on laughing out loud when reading anything to do with DP. She was a hoot.
>278 cammykitty: Wait---Pearl Rule, before I open it? Wow that bad huh? I've heard it's not for the squeamish Katie and I don't see myself reading it anytime soon.
>279 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks Reba, I hope you enjoy it:-)
>278 cammykitty: Wait---Pearl Rule, before I open it? Wow that bad huh? I've heard it's not for the squeamish Katie and I don't see myself reading it anytime soon.
>279 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks Reba, I hope you enjoy it:-)
282lit_chick
LOL, that is PRICELESS, Bonnie! Thanks for posting. I'm going to pass it on to some RL friends!
284RebaRelishesReading
I sent the cartoon to my husband -- it's us precisely -- fortunately he was able to laugh :-)
285LovingLit
>275 msf59: uh oh, now Mark is telling me off on other peoples threads about not getting to the good ones quickly enough ;)
Hi Mark!! (((hugs)))
>281 brenzi: yup! I hear you, what a ridiculous notion- to get rid of books just to make room for more. lol. I have found that more will always fit- always.
Hi Mark!! (((hugs)))
>281 brenzi: yup! I hear you, what a ridiculous notion- to get rid of books just to make room for more. lol. I have found that more will always fit- always.
286brenzi
>282 lit_chick: I'm glad you have some RL friends who can appreciate the humor, Nancy :-)
>283 phebj: I hear you, Pat:-)
>284 RebaRelishesReading: I'm glad you have a husband with a good sense of humor Reba:)
>285 LovingLit: Yeah but Megan what happens with all those unshelvable books? Under the bed, in closets, in the back seat of the car hahaha. That's where my extras are anyway.
>283 phebj: I hear you, Pat:-)
>284 RebaRelishesReading: I'm glad you have a husband with a good sense of humor Reba:)
>285 LovingLit: Yeah but Megan what happens with all those unshelvable books? Under the bed, in closets, in the back seat of the car hahaha. That's where my extras are anyway.
287brenzi
6.
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien 4.4 stars
MY REVIEW
”The thing about a story is that you dream it as you tell it, hoping that others might then dream along with you, and in this way memory and imagination and language combine to make spirits in the head. There is the illusion of aliveness.” (Page 230)
Tim O’Brien is quite a storyteller. Here’s what I felt while I was reading: it was twilight on a hot summer evening. The crickets were chirping as I sat on the porch swing, gently moving it back and forth, while I listened to these stories of this author’s time in Viet Nam. He had me mesmerized from the first page. But wait a minute, what the heck was I reading? When I looked at the LT tags, before I read the book, I saw---memoir, short stories, fiction, historical fiction---memoir and fiction? How is that possible? Further investigation, after I finished the book, revealed that the work is something called metafiction, a term I was unfamiliar with. According to what I gleaned, although the author and the main character in the stories share the same name, age, and experience in Viet Nam, the book is a work of fiction, something the author reiterated many times throughout the narrative. Another thing that helps to define metafiction is the author telling about the writing of the book which happens in the story entitled How to Tell a True War Story.” So apparently this is not memoir but fiction. Why he didn’t make it clear by giving the character a name other than his own is puzzling.
The stories are heartbreaking and reveal the depth of despair that one of the worst times in our country’s history brought about. It should be required reading for all those who serve as president or congressional member, those people who make the decisions to send boys to war; those who choose to put lives on the line while they rest comfortably at home. The stories also reveal the camaraderie apparent in the relationships between these brave soldiers. If we can’t learn from these experiences we’re bound to make the same mistakes, over and over.
The characters are all well-drawn and show great depth and the almost two dozen interrelated and interwoven stories that comprise this book, are incredibly well done. Some will tear your heart out. Some will make you smile. Some will fill you with amazement and wonder. And anger. The first (and title) story The Things They Carriedhad enormous impact and set the stage for what was to come and introduced, intimately, the characters:
”The things they carried were largely determined by necessity. Among the necessities or near-necessities were P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes. Military Payment Certificates, C rations…Most of them were common grunts and carried the standard M-16 gas-operated assault rifle which weighed 23 pounds unloaded, but which was always loaded.” (Page 4)
As you turn the pages and get to know the members of Alpha Company, you realize you are in the hands of a master storyteller and for him it’s all about the story:
”Forty-three years old, and the war occurred half a lifetime ago, and yet the remembering makes it now. And sometimes remembering will lead to a story, which makes it forever. That’s what stories are for. Stories are for joining the past to the future. Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can’t remember how you got from where you were to where you are. Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story.” (Page 38)
And as a reader, what more could you want? Very highly recommended.
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien 4.4 stars
MY REVIEW
”The thing about a story is that you dream it as you tell it, hoping that others might then dream along with you, and in this way memory and imagination and language combine to make spirits in the head. There is the illusion of aliveness.” (Page 230)
Tim O’Brien is quite a storyteller. Here’s what I felt while I was reading: it was twilight on a hot summer evening. The crickets were chirping as I sat on the porch swing, gently moving it back and forth, while I listened to these stories of this author’s time in Viet Nam. He had me mesmerized from the first page. But wait a minute, what the heck was I reading? When I looked at the LT tags, before I read the book, I saw---memoir, short stories, fiction, historical fiction---memoir and fiction? How is that possible? Further investigation, after I finished the book, revealed that the work is something called metafiction, a term I was unfamiliar with. According to what I gleaned, although the author and the main character in the stories share the same name, age, and experience in Viet Nam, the book is a work of fiction, something the author reiterated many times throughout the narrative. Another thing that helps to define metafiction is the author telling about the writing of the book which happens in the story entitled How to Tell a True War Story.” So apparently this is not memoir but fiction. Why he didn’t make it clear by giving the character a name other than his own is puzzling.
The stories are heartbreaking and reveal the depth of despair that one of the worst times in our country’s history brought about. It should be required reading for all those who serve as president or congressional member, those people who make the decisions to send boys to war; those who choose to put lives on the line while they rest comfortably at home. The stories also reveal the camaraderie apparent in the relationships between these brave soldiers. If we can’t learn from these experiences we’re bound to make the same mistakes, over and over.
The characters are all well-drawn and show great depth and the almost two dozen interrelated and interwoven stories that comprise this book, are incredibly well done. Some will tear your heart out. Some will make you smile. Some will fill you with amazement and wonder. And anger. The first (and title) story The Things They Carriedhad enormous impact and set the stage for what was to come and introduced, intimately, the characters:
”The things they carried were largely determined by necessity. Among the necessities or near-necessities were P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes. Military Payment Certificates, C rations…Most of them were common grunts and carried the standard M-16 gas-operated assault rifle which weighed 23 pounds unloaded, but which was always loaded.” (Page 4)
As you turn the pages and get to know the members of Alpha Company, you realize you are in the hands of a master storyteller and for him it’s all about the story:
”Forty-three years old, and the war occurred half a lifetime ago, and yet the remembering makes it now. And sometimes remembering will lead to a story, which makes it forever. That’s what stories are for. Stories are for joining the past to the future. Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can’t remember how you got from where you were to where you are. Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story.” (Page 38)
And as a reader, what more could you want? Very highly recommended.
288phebj
That's an excellent review of The Things They Carried Bonnie. I read it ages ago and it probably deserves a reread.
I just read a book about the Iraq War (What Was Asked of Us: An Oral History of the Iraq War by the Soldiers Who Fought It) which I also found heartbreaking. The author wrote it at the behest of Bobby Muller, a Vietnam War vet and advocate for war veterans in general.
I just read a book about the Iraq War (What Was Asked of Us: An Oral History of the Iraq War by the Soldiers Who Fought It) which I also found heartbreaking. The author wrote it at the behest of Bobby Muller, a Vietnam War vet and advocate for war veterans in general.
289ursula
Very nice review of The Things They Carried, which is quite possibly my favorite book of all time. I have so much love for "How To Tell a True War Story." Truth or fiction are irrelevant in the telling, really - does it feel true to the listener? Does it stay true to the feeling of the events, even if it's not true to the events themselves? Some people will believe a story must be true as told, and some will believe it must be fiction - the main character being Tim O'Brien just leaves that judgment up to the reader.
290msf59
Bonnie- I did not realize you were reading The Things They Carried. Great review! I was a huge fan of this book. My daughter had to read it in high school and I read along with her. How about that ending? Wasn't he just driving around that lake?
I NEED to get to more O'Brien. I have 2 or 3 in the stacks.
I NEED to get to more O'Brien. I have 2 or 3 in the stacks.
291phebj
Bonnie, if you haven't read it, I would also recommend O'Brien's book In the Lake of the Woods. It's a mystery novel and the main character is a Vietnam vet.
292brenzi
>288 phebj: Thanks Pat, What Was Asked of Us: An Oral History of the Iraq War by the Soldiers Who Fought It sounds very powerful and a book I will definitely check out. I can see the O'Brien book is one I will want to reread.
>289 ursula: Hello Ursula and thanks for visiting. Yes I agree that it doesn't really matter whether the story is true or not. I just found it puzzling that he would name the character after himself when the book is fiction (or so he says). Doesn't matter; still a wonderful read.
>290 msf59: Thanks Mark, it was a spur of the moment read. I'm trying to do more of that this year instead of having every book planned for in advance. It's going to add to the fun I hope. There is a story where one of the members of Alpha Company is driving around a lake, ruminating, after the war. The last story is about his childhood friend when he was nine years old.
>291 phebj: You sneaked in while I was writing that last post Pat. I happen to have In the Lake of the Woods on my shelf so I should get to it at some point.
>289 ursula: Hello Ursula and thanks for visiting. Yes I agree that it doesn't really matter whether the story is true or not. I just found it puzzling that he would name the character after himself when the book is fiction (or so he says). Doesn't matter; still a wonderful read.
>290 msf59: Thanks Mark, it was a spur of the moment read. I'm trying to do more of that this year instead of having every book planned for in advance. It's going to add to the fun I hope. There is a story where one of the members of Alpha Company is driving around a lake, ruminating, after the war. The last story is about his childhood friend when he was nine years old.
>291 phebj: You sneaked in while I was writing that last post Pat. I happen to have In the Lake of the Woods on my shelf so I should get to it at some point.
293BLBera
Bonnie - Very nice review of The Things They Carried; it just might be one of my favorite books. I've taught it several times, and students tend to like it, too. I wish I could read it again for the first time. You've read so many great things this year, lucky you.
294ursula
It is him, except when it isn't. ;) I guess that it's a route that other writers of memoirs might have found useful to avoid future debunking of what they wrote, haha.
I drove through his hometown and sat on the shore of the lake there. I was sad I didn't have the book with me to read some of the appropriate parts, but I'm pretty sure my kids wouldn't have wanted to wait around for me to read there anyway!
I drove through his hometown and sat on the shore of the lake there. I was sad I didn't have the book with me to read some of the appropriate parts, but I'm pretty sure my kids wouldn't have wanted to wait around for me to read there anyway!
295lit_chick
As always, enticing review of The Things They Carried, Bonnie. I was also not familiar with "metafiction" so your notes were informative. Love this: memory and imagination and language combine to make spirits in the head. There is the illusion of aliveness. ... how perfect is that?
296brenzi
>293 BLBera: Thanks Beth, yes I got off to a running start this year. It's pretty hard not to with all the great recommendations we get here on LT LOL.
>294 ursula: Yes good ol' James Frey. At the time I couldn't figure out why he didn't just call the book fiction. Who would have cared? And the same goes here. Why give the character your own name? I understand that he wanted to make sure there was no question that it was fiction. I have to wonder if this book was published around the same time the Frey thing was blowing up. Interesting.
>295 lit_chick: Thanks Nancy, there are so many quotable passages in this book!
>294 ursula: Yes good ol' James Frey. At the time I couldn't figure out why he didn't just call the book fiction. Who would have cared? And the same goes here. Why give the character your own name? I understand that he wanted to make sure there was no question that it was fiction. I have to wonder if this book was published around the same time the Frey thing was blowing up. Interesting.
>295 lit_chick: Thanks Nancy, there are so many quotable passages in this book!
297alcottacre
Great review of The Things They Carried, Bonnie! I get to miss that particular BB since I have already read the book. I thought it was excellent too.
Back to your question earlier, as far as I know my local library does not take patron requests to stock a book. A shame really because I could give them a huge list of books that they really should have :)
Back to your question earlier, as far as I know my local library does not take patron requests to stock a book. A shame really because I could give them a huge list of books that they really should have :)
298cammykitty
Great cartoon! & well, yes I'd open it before you Pearl rule it! and, yes it is that bad ad in stomach churning unpleasant, at least the parts I've seen. One of my friends was going into epidemiology and she was given a project where she had to come up with 10 health code violations from The Jungle. Most of her class read almost all of it and complained loudly all the while. She opened it up randomly and found her 10 violations on two pages and was very happy to be done with it. I've only made it about two pages too.
It looks like The Things they Carried is beautifully written. Wishlist!
It looks like The Things they Carried is beautifully written. Wishlist!
299LizzieD
I'm trying to catch up and see that you're doing your usual good reading and good reviewing. I have only skimmed The Things They Carried in order to read students' book reports, but I've always known that it deserved more time. I'll get there eventually!
300vancouverdeb
Great review of The Things They Carried.
301mckait
Love the cartoon.. lol And I have put The Things They Carried, on my must investigate list.
302RebaRelishesReading
Good morning -- happy weekend!
303richardderus
>287 brenzi: Oh my. Yes, that book did things to my perceptions when I first read it. I'm most impressed by your review, and have applied an upright digit unto the aforementioned.
304brenzi
>297 alcottacre: Thanks Stasia, oh yes, I imagine you could provide them with quite a list LOL.
>298 cammykitty: Gee Katie, you're really making me curious. I may just have to read some of The Jungle haha. I feel like I have something explosive on my shelf.
>299 LizzieD: Oh it certainly deserves to be read Peggy. But so do the hundreds, no thousands of books I never get to every year LOL.
>300 vancouverdeb: Thanks Deb!
>301 mckait: Must investigate, hmmm, that's a category I haven't used before Kath. Maybe I need to add that.
>302 RebaRelishesReading: Thank you Reba, happy weekend to you too.
>303 richardderus: Thanks Richard. I know I'm one of the few who waited over twenty years to read it. I guess I was waiting to see if the reviews bore out a good read LOL.
>298 cammykitty: Gee Katie, you're really making me curious. I may just have to read some of The Jungle haha. I feel like I have something explosive on my shelf.
>299 LizzieD: Oh it certainly deserves to be read Peggy. But so do the hundreds, no thousands of books I never get to every year LOL.
>300 vancouverdeb: Thanks Deb!
>301 mckait: Must investigate, hmmm, that's a category I haven't used before Kath. Maybe I need to add that.
>302 RebaRelishesReading: Thank you Reba, happy weekend to you too.
>303 richardderus: Thanks Richard. I know I'm one of the few who waited over twenty years to read it. I guess I was waiting to see if the reviews bore out a good read LOL.
305Carmenere
Hi Bonnie, I've been a slagger on the threads lately so I'm playing catchup as is most everyone .
I'd categorize myself as The Addicted, Slow-Dancing Lover.
I'm happy to say I own The Things They Carried and I look forward to reading this one. You're review is top-notch and enticing. Have a good Sunday
I'd categorize myself as The Addicted, Slow-Dancing Lover.
I'm happy to say I own The Things They Carried and I look forward to reading this one. You're review is top-notch and enticing. Have a good Sunday
306lyzard
I have The Jungle on The List and do intend to read the whole thing :) - though I expect it to be very hard going. I read Sinclair's The Wet Parade (about the Prohibition movement) a couple of years ago and found it a fascinating snapshot of the era; from, granted, a particular political perspective.
307kidzdoc
Nice reviews of The Line and The Things They Carried, Bonnie. I read The Line in 2011, I think, but I believe that janeajones from Club Read was the first LTer who read it; she reviewed it in Belletrista in 2010.
309brenzi
>305 Carmenere: Thanks Lynda, I hope you manage to squeeze in The Things They Carried. You don't have to explain to me the problem of trying to keep up. I'm hopelessly behind everyone's thread and don't see that changing any time soon.
>306 lyzard: Hi Liz, yes, I know the reputation The Jungle has but I always thought I would read it. Otherwise, it wouldn't be sitting on my shelf haha. The Wet Parade sounds interesting too.
>307 kidzdoc: Thanks Darryl, I thought I first read about The Line in Belletrista. Then I probably read your review too and that clinched it. Thanks for the reminder.
>308 Berly: Thanks Kim!
>306 lyzard: Hi Liz, yes, I know the reputation The Jungle has but I always thought I would read it. Otherwise, it wouldn't be sitting on my shelf haha. The Wet Parade sounds interesting too.
>307 kidzdoc: Thanks Darryl, I thought I first read about The Line in Belletrista. Then I probably read your review too and that clinched it. Thanks for the reminder.
>308 Berly: Thanks Kim!
310PaulCranswick
Bonnie - I adored your review of The Things They Carried and seem to be getting hit by book bullets everywhere this morning.
311brenzi
>310 PaulCranswick: Well thank you Paul. Book bullets are fairly unavoidable around this place. It's the simultaneous curse/good luck that comes with being a 75er;-)
314TinaV95
Hey Bonnie... Popping in to catch up. No real juicy bits to add to conversation though...
316Donna828
Whew! I've already read The Things They Carried. Another great review, Bonnie. I'm looking forward to seeing what your next serendipitous book is.
317jnwelch
Like Donna, I'd read The Things They Carried, Bonnie, but I sure liked your review. I think you read The Yellow Birds, but if not, that's another good one, based on the Iraq war.
318brenzi
>314 TinaV95: Hi Tina!! Thanks for popping in.
>315 lit_chick: Oh yes Nancy, lots of weaving and bobbing required. Also lots of ducking.
>316 Donna828: Well that's the thing about serendipitous books Donna...you just never know;-)
>317 jnwelch: Thanks Joe, I haven't read The Yellow Birds yet but I have Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk on my iPad that I want to get to first.
>315 lit_chick: Oh yes Nancy, lots of weaving and bobbing required. Also lots of ducking.
>316 Donna828: Well that's the thing about serendipitous books Donna...you just never know;-)
>317 jnwelch: Thanks Joe, I haven't read The Yellow Birds yet but I have Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk on my iPad that I want to get to first.
319vivians
Hi Bonnie - just wanted to recommend The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford. I read it after reading about Ford in The Paris Wife. It is beautifully written - the narrator uses flashbacks (not particularly in chronological order) to tell the story of infidelity, betrayal and a stunning portrait of wealthy Americans and British in turn-of-the-century Europe. I can't understand why this isn't the most remembered novel of the time - far superior to Gatsby in my opinion.
320Whisper1
#225...This does indeed happen to me a lot, ie I'm reading a book and then wondering how I'm going to read another and then my mind wanders to how in the world I'm ever going to finish all the unread books scattered throughout the house...
321brenzi
>319 vivians: Hi there Vivian, thank you for that recommendation of The Good Soldier which I downloaded onto my iPad some time ago. Your description makes me want to read it right away. And I also have The Paris Wife on my shelf so I could actually read both of them.
>320 Whisper1: Haha it sounds like we're in the same boat Linda. I'll be reading a book that I'm really enjoying and then look at my shelves and think about a book and wishing I was reading that instead. Geesh!
>320 Whisper1: Haha it sounds like we're in the same boat Linda. I'll be reading a book that I'm really enjoying and then look at my shelves and think about a book and wishing I was reading that instead. Geesh!
322mckait
Move over a bit in that boat.... I feel the same! Especially with the Nook and Kindle in my life..I just have no idea how many books I already have waiting. I am afraid to count. I just loaded one onto my phone, which I swore I wouldn't do. Well, I swore that I wouldn't add another one, as I had an iBook already there. But I downloaded the kindle app and a book. Woe is me. ( and ... a very quiet yay! for books that you can keep hidden away in a phone )
323Donna828
319, 321: How serendipitous...The Paris Wife is my RL book group's next selection and I happen to have a lovely new copy of the Everyman's Library edition of The Good Soldier that has been calling to me... Thanks for that recommendation, Vivian!
324lit_chick
Oh my, I was going through some books yesterday and came across The Paris Wife which I also still have not read. Talk about book bullets ...
325brenzi
>322 mckait: I hear you Kath. I'm afraid to count what I've got on my iPad too. Between iBooks and the Kindle app it's my own private heaven/hell.
And you say ( and ... a very quiet yay! for books that you can keep hidden away in a phone )
That works only until the cc bill comes and then there are disturbing questions like: "What are all these $1.99/$2.99 etc. items from Amazon?" And when I innocently explain I see the eyes glaze over in exasperation.
When I first got the iPad on Christmas morning I immediately started downloading books until my son said (rather innocently), "What are you doing? Read the one you download before you get any others. They're not going to go away." Mmrrrawaaawwwwwwhhh!
>323 Donna828: And Donna gets hit with a double shot! LOL
>324 lit_chick: And Nancy goes down next! haha
And you say ( and ... a very quiet yay! for books that you can keep hidden away in a phone )
That works only until the cc bill comes and then there are disturbing questions like: "What are all these $1.99/$2.99 etc. items from Amazon?" And when I innocently explain I see the eyes glaze over in exasperation.
When I first got the iPad on Christmas morning I immediately started downloading books until my son said (rather innocently), "What are you doing? Read the one you download before you get any others. They're not going to go away." Mmrrrawaaawwwwwwhhh!
>323 Donna828: And Donna gets hit with a double shot! LOL
>324 lit_chick: And Nancy goes down next! haha
326brenzi
I am at the halfway point in Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope and I'm absolutely loving it. It's being enhanced because I'm following the tutored read thread and Liz (lyzard) is such a great tutor. I doubt that I'll finish it before the end of the month as it's around 700 pages.
Yay! I snagged an ER offering,
How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid. I loved his The Reluctant Fundamentalist and I also have Moth Smoke on my shelf.
Yay! I snagged an ER offering,
How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid. I loved his The Reluctant Fundamentalist and I also have Moth Smoke on my shelf.
327phebj
Congratulatons on the ER win, Bonnie. I'm dying to know how that book is because I loved both The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Moth Smoke. Hope it's another good one.
328richardderus
Yay for Barchester Towers being a winner!
329brenzi
>327 phebj: Hi Pat, I'm wondering if I should squeeze Moth Smoke in first. Good to know you loved it.
>328 richardderus: Have you read Trollope Richard? I'm wondering if you'd find him too similar to Dickens....
>328 richardderus: Have you read Trollope Richard? I'm wondering if you'd find him too similar to Dickens....
331vancouverdeb
Congrats on your ER win, Bonnie! Oh to be able to say I'd read Barchester Towers would make me feel so swanky! As it stands, I picked up a copy of Cranford so I can try out Elizabeth Gaskell , eventually, without too much reading. :) Nancy aka lit chick has had an influence on me- as do you! And everyone in the 75'ers, when it comes to that!:)
332vancouverdeb
Hmm, Bonnie, I've got our cc bill online only and my husband does not bother to try to access it. But he does notice the books that come in the door..
333richardderus
No, I don't really find Trollope as needlessly prolix and as unpleasantly disorganized as I find Dickens. I quite liked The Eustace Diamonds and several others of his non-Barchester books, but the Chronicles of Barsetshire make me shiver with pleasure.
334lit_chick
Bonnie, yay to your ER win! So glad you are enjoying Barchester Towers. I must go find the tutored read thread and drop in ...
335lyzard
I doubt that I'll finish it before the end of the month as it's around 700 pages.
But you'll be finished in time for the Dr Thorne group read in March, right?? :)
But you'll be finished in time for the Dr Thorne group read in March, right?? :)
336PaulCranswick
Bonnie - I am also taking a leisurely stroll around Barchester Towers curtailed a little as my edition is a little under 600 pages. Great fun isn't it and the clerical machinations make for great sport.
I don't think there are too many similarities with Dickens though - Trollope's word wizardry is more understated and economical. When it works with CD; heavenly - when it doesn't; verbosity. The wry phrasing of Trollope is a joy.
I don't think there are too many similarities with Dickens though - Trollope's word wizardry is more understated and economical. When it works with CD; heavenly - when it doesn't; verbosity. The wry phrasing of Trollope is a joy.
337brenzi
>330 phebj: Oh well in that case Pat.........OK.
>331 vancouverdeb:/332 Yes Deb, we all influence each other so it's all good as far as I can see. I bet you would like Barchester Towers but you'd have to read The Warden first. And the best way would be to follow the tutored read threads. It's just a great way to do it.
Our cc is online too and maybe if your hubby was retired like mine is, with all kinds of time on his hands, he would take an interest in monitoring cc charges LOL.
>333 richardderus: Very good Richard, you make me look forward to all the volumes that follow:-)
>334 lit_chick: Oh yes, I'll be finished in plenty of time. You do realize the end of the month is in two days, right Liz?;-) Dr. Thorne will be the first Trollope that I actually read along with the group instead of just following the thread on my own after the fact. LOL
>331 vancouverdeb:/332 Yes Deb, we all influence each other so it's all good as far as I can see. I bet you would like Barchester Towers but you'd have to read The Warden first. And the best way would be to follow the tutored read threads. It's just a great way to do it.
Our cc is online too and maybe if your hubby was retired like mine is, with all kinds of time on his hands, he would take an interest in monitoring cc charges LOL.
>333 richardderus: Very good Richard, you make me look forward to all the volumes that follow:-)
>334 lit_chick: Oh yes, I'll be finished in plenty of time. You do realize the end of the month is in two days, right Liz?;-) Dr. Thorne will be the first Trollope that I actually read along with the group instead of just following the thread on my own after the fact. LOL
338brenzi
>336 PaulCranswick: Hi there Paul, good point about the difference between Trollope and Dickens especially CD's verbosity. I guess I think of them as writing at the same time, in the same country, commenting on some phase of British life. At any rate, I'm loving everything about BT.
339LovingLit
>326 brenzi: Hi Bonnie- I have wanted to read the Reluctant Fundamentalist, in fact I better go now to the library website and see where its at. SO congrats on getting the author's next offering- may it be a 5 star read for you!
340kidzdoc
I won How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, too! I was planning to buy this book, since I enjoyed The Reluctant Fundamentalist, so I'll read it soon after I receive it.
341AnneDC
I also won How to Get Filthy Rich and I can't wait for it to arrive!
LOL on downloading books faster than you can read them Bonnie. I always laugh when amazon sends me a message asking me to rate the book I recently purchased. What makes them think I would have read it already when I have literally hundreds awaiting my attention?
LOL on downloading books faster than you can read them Bonnie. I always laugh when amazon sends me a message asking me to rate the book I recently purchased. What makes them think I would have read it already when I have literally hundreds awaiting my attention?
342lauralkeet
>341 AnneDC:: no kidding, I agree!
343vancouverdeb
Well, Bonnie and Anne, the BIG QUESTION is - if you get filthy rich, will you share with we 75 'ers! :)
344brenzi
>339 LovingLit: Ohhhh Megan---a five star read would be nice!
>340 kidzdoc: Hi Darryl, I wonder how many of us snagged this book since The Reluctant Fundamentalist was so popular with the 75ers?
>341 AnneDC: Oh yeah those Amazon notices are fairly annoying aren't they Anne. I mean you'd think there were actually people who download a book and immediately read it. Who does that;-)
>342 lauralkeet: Hi Laura.
>343 vancouverdeb: Well that's assuming there is actually a scheme Deb. We'll have to see, won't we?
>340 kidzdoc: Hi Darryl, I wonder how many of us snagged this book since The Reluctant Fundamentalist was so popular with the 75ers?
>341 AnneDC: Oh yeah those Amazon notices are fairly annoying aren't they Anne. I mean you'd think there were actually people who download a book and immediately read it. Who does that;-)
>342 lauralkeet: Hi Laura.
>343 vancouverdeb: Well that's assuming there is actually a scheme Deb. We'll have to see, won't we?
345-Cee-
Hi Bonnie!
I just know you won't forget your poor book-loving friends when you figure out how to be filthy rich. We'll visit you in Asia ;-)
Anne -
"I always laugh when amazon sends me a message asking me to rate the book I recently purchased."
Me too! LOLOL
I just know you won't forget your poor book-loving friends when you figure out how to be filthy rich. We'll visit you in Asia ;-)
Anne -
"I always laugh when amazon sends me a message asking me to rate the book I recently purchased."
Me too! LOLOL
346Berly
Hi Bonnie!! I will still like you even if you get rich. I promise not to hold it against you.
347kidzdoc
>341 AnneDC: Good news on winning How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, Anne! I've added the book to the February TIOLI challenge #6 (Read and review an unread book you received through ER or MG), in the assumption that I'll receive it by the end of next month.
>344 brenzi: It seems that only 25 copies of How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia were made available in this month's ER batch. I know that Suz requested it but didn't win it, and so far I'm only aware that you, Anne and I will be receiving copies of it.
>344 brenzi: It seems that only 25 copies of How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia were made available in this month's ER batch. I know that Suz requested it but didn't win it, and so far I'm only aware that you, Anne and I will be receiving copies of it.
348Carmenere
Hey Bonnie, congrats on the ER win it looks like a good read.
LOL @ rating Amazon books recently purchased. Ha! It ain't gonna happen! They get in line like all the rest.
and Brrrrrrrr
LOL @ rating Amazon books recently purchased. Ha! It ain't gonna happen! They get in line like all the rest.
and Brrrrrrrr
350lit_chick
I mean you'd think there were actually people who download a book and immediately read it. Who does that;-) Exactly! Who?? LOL.
351brenzi
>345 -Cee-: You're right Cee, I'm sure I'll remember you all when I'm filthy rich and sunning myself on some Vietnamese beach haha.
>346 Berly: Good to know Kim. I would hate to lose my LT friends over something as, well, unimportant as money.
>347 kidzdoc: I'll try to squeeze it in this month too Darryl. Sounds like we were the lucky ones.
>348 Carmenere: After temps in the 60s yesterday Lynda, today we have high winds and temps in the low 20s. Brrrr is right.
>349 mckait: Don't let that blue text scare you Kath. Dive right in.
>350 lit_chick: What's wrong with those people at Amazon Nancy??
I hope you will all follow me to my new thread.....
>346 Berly: Good to know Kim. I would hate to lose my LT friends over something as, well, unimportant as money.
>347 kidzdoc: I'll try to squeeze it in this month too Darryl. Sounds like we were the lucky ones.
>348 Carmenere: After temps in the 60s yesterday Lynda, today we have high winds and temps in the low 20s. Brrrr is right.
>349 mckait: Don't let that blue text scare you Kath. Dive right in.
>350 lit_chick: What's wrong with those people at Amazon Nancy??
I hope you will all follow me to my new thread.....
This topic was continued by brenzi's 2013 Reading - February Frolics.
