What Are You Reading the Week of 6 April 2013?

Gabriela Mistral (7 April 1889–10 January 1957) was the pseudonym of Lucila Godoy Alcayaga, a Chilean poet, educator, diplomat, and feminist who was the first Latin American (and, so far, the only Latin American woman) to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1945. Some central themes in her poems are nature, betrayal, love, a mother's love, sorrow and recovery, travel, and Latin American identity as formed from a mixture of Native American and European influences. Her portrait also appears on the 5,000 Chilean peso bank note.

Mistral was born in Vicuña, Chile, but was raised in the small Andean village of Montegrande, where she attended the primary school taught by her older sister. She respected her sister greatly, despite the many financial problems that she brought Mistral in later years. Her father was also a schoolteacher. He abandoned the family before she was three years old, and died, long since estranged from the family, in 1911. Throughout her early years she was never far from poverty. By age fifteen, she was supporting herself and her mother, a seamstress, by working as a teacher's aide in the seaside town of Compañia Baja, near La Serena, Chile.

In 1904, Mistral published some early poems, such as Ensoñaciones ("Dreams"), Carta Íntima ("Intimate Letter") and Junto al Mar, in the local newspaper El Coquimbo: Diario Radical, and La Voz de Elqui using a range of pseudonyms and variations on her civil name.

Probably in about 1906, while working as a teacher, Mistral met Romelio Ureta, a railway worker, who killed himself in 1909. The profound effects of death were already in the poet's work; writing about his suicide led the poet to consider death and life more broadly than previous generations of Latin American poets. While Mistral had passionate friendships with various men and women, and these impacted her writings, she was secretive about her emotional life.

An important moment of formal recognition came on December 22, 1914, when Mistral was awarded first prize in a national literary contest Juegos Florales in Santiago with the work Sonetos de la Muerte (Sonnets of Death). She had been using the pen name Gabriela Mistral since June 1908 for much of her writing. After winning the Juegos Florales she infrequently used her given name of Lucilla Godoy for her publications. She formed her pseudonym from the two of her favorite poets, Gabriele D'Annunzio and Frédéric Mistral or, as another story has it, from a composite of the Archangel Gabriel and the Mistral wind of Provence.

The poet's second major volume of poetry, Tala, appeared in 1938, published in Buenos Aires with the help of longtime friend and correspondent Victoria Ocampo. The proceeds for the sale were devoted to children orphaned by the Spanish Civil War. This volume includes many poems celebrating the customs and folklore of Latin America as well as Mediterranean Europe. Mistral uniquely fuses these locales and concerns, a reflection of her identification as "una mestiza de vasco," her European Basque-Indigenous Amerindian background.

On August 14, 1943, Mistral's 17-year-old nephew, Juan Miguel Godoy, killed himself. Mistral considered Juan Miguel as a son. The grief of this death, as well as her responses to tensions of World War II and then the Cold War in Europe and the Americas, are all reflected in the last volume of poetry published in her lifetime, Lagar, which appeared in a truncated form in 1954. A final volume of poetry, Poema de Chile, was edited posthumously by her friend Doris Dana and published in 1967. Poema de Chile describes the poet's return to Chile after death, in the company of an Indian boy from the Atacama desert and an Andean deer, the huemul. This collection of poetry anticipates the interests in objective description and re-vision of the epic tradition just then becoming evident among poets of the Americas, all of whom Mistral read carefully.

On November 15, 1945, Mistral became the first Latin American, and fifth woman, to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. She received the award in person from King Gustav of Sweden on December 10, 1945. In 1947 she received a doctor honoris causa from Mills College, Oakland, California. In 1951 she was awarded the National Literature Prize in Chile.

Poor health somewhat slowed Mistral's traveling. During the last years of her life she made her home in the town of Roslyn, New York; in early January 1957 she transferred to Hempstead, New York, where she died from pancreatic cancer on January 10, 1957, aged 67.

Richard, another interesting choice of author...thank you as always. :)

Just finished reading Train Tracks: Family Stories for the Holidays, and enjoyed the look back in time to growing up in the slums of New York City, circa 1950.

I forgot all about these threads. I always enjoy reading about the authors. I always learn something visiting these threads.

I am reading People of the book by Geraldine Brooks and Crime of Privilege by Walter Walker.

I am enjoying the People of the book so far that I haven't gotten into Crime of Privilege.

Wonderful start, Richard, thank you! I've intentionally been reading poetry more frequently this year; I must look into Mistral.

I'm still reading, and greatly enjoying, The Omnivore's Dilemma and The Hungry Ear. I'm also close to halfway finished with my book club read, Haunted Ground, which is good but not gripping.

Started A Tale For the Time Being tonight. So far I would say it's intriguing.

Working on Midnight folk by John Masefield and finishing Enchanted April

I'm currently reading my first ever Haruki Murakami: Norwegian Wood. I'm reading it in german and it is translated very well. I really enjoy the bok, but it is a difficult topic and it takes me a rather long time to read it. Nevertheless, I really really enjoy the book and if it holds up until the end you might count me as new Murakami fan.

Finished King Henry IV Part Two. A little of Jack Falstaff goes a long way.

Still reading Dominic Sandbrook's engrossing White Heat.

Wow, interesting woman Richard. Thanks for posting about her life. I too am trying to ebb a bit more into poetry, graphic novel-ry and some formats I don't usually get into. It's been a great pleasure. I will check out some of her poems.

I finished and popped up a short review of the excellent Black American Short Stories: A Century of the Best edited by John Henrik Clarke. I've just had a great, great run on short stories, but have just started a novel I found in an awesome used bookstore The Raven (in Northampton, MA) a few months ago ... a Canadian Western called "Lightening" by Fred Stenson (book title Touchstone does not work but the author one seems to). So far, I think Doc, Zeke and Ned and Western fans may dig this one! It's not "kindled" and not sure one would find it in the U.S., but so far it is a rip roaring adventure that starts in Montana and is going to head us North into Alberta.

Cappybear (Post #8), Thanks for your comment on Falstaff. I've thought for decades that Falstaff's alleged hilarity is one of those phony pieties among uncritical readers: Sir John just doesn't do it for me. Anyway, as to other stuff, I'm re-visiting Boswell's LIFE OF JOHNSON, during commercials in ball games. Also Lee Harmon on the REVELATION to Saint John of Patmos -- NOT during ball games! And looking fwd toARJUN AND THE GOOD SNAKE by LT's Rick Harsch.

Just finished The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, & it absolutely lived up to all the hype (so many beautiful lines I wanted to highlight - this one merits a permanent place on the shelf).

Still reading International Bank of Bob (he really loves footnotes) & about to start The Fault in our Stars.

Like momom248 I am reading The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom with my book club. I think we'll have a lot to discuss; there are many interesting characters.

Nearing the end of The Dark Valley and will probably finish it Sunday. It has been an interesting overview of the 1930s as experienced by the seven major powers of World War II.

I think that I'm going to go with a bit of fiction next. Probably A Game of Thrones.

Thanks, Richard, as always, for introducing us to yet another interesting author.

I'm still reading Sebastian Faulk's A Possible Life. I do like it, but have been distracted with other work-related reading this past week. So, hope to make some decent progress this weekend.

Also still reading Anna Karenina on and off. I think this is one book that will take me months to get through. I am consciously reading it slowly, with various critic's notes, etc., so that I can understand it better. There are so many layers and facets here.

And, for non-fiction, I'm making good progress with Clayton M Christensen's How Will You Measure Your Life? It is a slim enough volume and I would have finished sooner if not for work stuff.

A memoir, A Cure For Gravity, by the very talented Joe Jackson.

This Side of Brightness by Colum McCann, I am really enjoying it, he is a wonderful writer.

>16 hazeljune: He really is!

Recently readThe International Bank of Bob and liked it very much. Appreciated the footnotes but had a tough time finding my way back to where I was reading. Maybe, a function of reading it as an e-book.
Not long ago I read The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. Enjoyed it well enough.
Currently readingMr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore. What fun!

A children's fantasy called Midnight's folk by John Masefield.

>19 Bjace: I hope you read the sequel to that: The Box of Delights by John Masefield. That is such a great book!

Actually, #20, I read that one first and yes, it's a great book.

too many books. Oy, I really have to stop doing this to myself -
Columbus: The Four Voyages which is fascinating in a cringe-worthy kind of way.
and
Louise de la Valliere - #4 in the enormous d'Artangan romance series.
Cat's Eye - Atwood, as an audio which I'll probably listen to quite a bit tomorow while I'm in the woods photographing small things.

Last week I finished Wallace Stegner's The Big Rock Candy Mountain. It was wonderful.

This week, I've started Kent Haruf's latest, Benediction.

On audio, I think I'm getting close to the end of Louise Penny's latest The Beautiful Mystery.

#23, glad to hear that about the Wallace Stegner. It's on my book shelf. It doesn't fit into any of my challenge categories this year but I'll make on for it next year.

>24 Bjace: It took me a long time to finally get to it and I'm very glad I did!

I have lots going on in my reading life right now. I am deep into Big Rock Candy Mountain and trying to finish that for the group read here on LT, and reading Omnivore's Dilemma for my real time book discussion group. I also have started Time and Chance for the April group read here on LT. I usually don't have that many books going at once but BRCM has taken longer to read than I thought it would. It's a good book but at 500 pages it is long.

Did anybody besides me hear the story about the Goodreads sale on NPR's Weekend Edition this morning? I was drowsing in bed and all of a sudden realized they were talking about Goodreads.

Finishing off Kushiel's Dart and then on to Fragments

10> Boswell's Life of Johnson would be one of my desert island books.

19-21> Yep, The Box of Delights is great!

>19 Bjace:, 20, 28 Most bookstores I've been to don't even carry anything by John Masefield. I knew about the British television series The Box of Delights, which aired on the Jim Henson Hour. I stumbled across the book in a small, privately-owned book store and snapped it up, because I had been fascinated by the filmed version. I also read Jim Davis by the same author, which may be described as a younger version of Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped. I wasn't as thrilled with that one as with The Box of Delights, but it was still an enjoyable read.

29> We've got the TV adaptation of The Box of Delights on an old video cassette; my wife watched it again only the other week.

I'm reading John by Cynthia Lennon. I'm finding the early Beatle years pretty fascinating.

Yesterday I read A Country of Strangers by Conrad Richter, the author of The Light in the Forest. It is similar to that book, but different as well.

At the recommendation of someone here at LT, I am going to read another book by the same author, The Sea of Grass. It was not available through the public library system, so I bought a used copy online.

My mom passed away on Thurs. night, so I haven't been doing much reading for obvious reasons. Still, I've maaged to read a bit in the ER book I received, The Girl Who Married an Eagle by Tamar Myers, which is the perfect light reading for now.

Mom went so peacefully, and had just enough awareness when we first got there to know that my brother and I were there. We were able to hold her hands until the end, and see that she was comfortable and at peace. I'm sad and will miss her, but so comforted by how she went.

Finished Shanghai Girls by Lisa See, a bit predictable, but still a very worthy read. Started Speaking From Among the Bones a continuation of the Flavia de Luce mysteries. Love that kid. That won't take me long, so next in line is The End of Your Life Book Club. Also reading, slowly, Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough, a favorite author.

#33 I'm sorry for your loss bookwoman I'm glad you and your brother were there to be with her.

>33 bookwoman247: I'm sorry to hear about your loss, bookwoman. What a sad time. I'm glad to hear that she went peacefully, and that you were able to be there.

There's no easy age at which to lose a parent. It's good that you were able to be with her, bookwoman.

It is such a powerful experience to be present when a loved one passes. My condolences and best wishes as you adjust to the new shape of your world, bookwoman!

Safe journey home for your mom, and much sympathy on your loss.

>33 bookwoman247: I'm so sorry for your loss bookwoman.

I finished and REVIEWED Margaret Atwood's powerful and compelling Alias Grace.

Next up: The Dinner by Herman Koch

#38 & 39 express my condolences for Bookwoman exactly. I am glad you were there. In this day and age if is hard to be physically present with family so glad for you to be there.

Book woman my deepest sympathy to you on the loss of your mother.

>So very sorry for your loss, bookwoman, but am glad you can find comfort in knowing you were there with her at the end and that she passed gently.

I too would like to add my condolences Bookwoman, what a blessing you and your brother were there and her passing was peaceful.
My thoughts are with you in the coming days and weeks...

Very sorry for your loss Bookwoman. I echo #38 sentiments. Cherish your memories, and take care of yourself.

I am so incredibly sorry, Bookwoman - BIG hug of a cyber variety. Sounds like your Mama was a beautiful woman.

I have been in peak training (meaning lots and lots and lots of miles) for my marathon coming up on 4-28, working on a huge painting and that darn work thing (which truly gets in the way of my fun), so reading time has been a bit limited. Still, getting into the thick of "Lightning" by Fred Stenson and it was a tiny bit slow to start but okay, now we are rolling! This is a great Western so far! What a suprise to stumble on to!

(33) My sympathies, @bookwoman247.

>33 bookwoman247: - I echo the others here..... so sorry for your loss, bookwoman247.

#33: My thoughts are with you and your brother. I'm glad it was peaceful for her.

Just finished A Chance to Win. It is a nice read. I like books written by journalist and this one didn't disappoint.

Just started Food Rules: An Eaters Manual by Michael Pollan. It is the updated illustrated version.

33> My thoughts are with you, bookwoman.

I'm so sorry for your loss, bookwoman.

Thinking of you.

Sorry for the loss of your mum.. she was luck to have you and your brother with her.

I'm so sorry for your loss, bookwoman, but I'm sure that it gave your mom much peace to have you and your brother with her.

So last night, I finished reading Husband and Wife by Leah Stewart - it was really a very good book. The book was beautifully written and the characters really drew me in; I just had to discover what happened to them. I immediately picked up A Little Death by Laura Wilson and began reading it last night, although I've really gotten into it more tonight.

Another day, another batch of reviews posted on my blog!
ZEITOUN in Politics & Social Issues
THE BIG SLEEP in Mystery Series
FLOWER CONFIDENTIAL in Science, Dinosaurs & Environmental Issues
THE GALAXIE AND OTHER RIDES in Literary Fiction & Short Story Collection
TALL TALES WITH SHORT COCKS Volume 1 in Bizarro, Fantasy & SF
http://expendablemudge.blogspot.com/

I am enjoying Where You Once Belonged by Kent Haruf.

My condolences bookwoman...

Started After Visiting Friends: A Son's Story by Michael Hainey

I'm sorry for your loss, bookwoman, and wish you, your brother, and all your family peace.

Just finished the marvelous Zoli. Colum McCann is such a wnonderful writer with a great ability to turn a phrase and tell a story!

Next up is my RL book club selection for April, The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman.

My condolences to you and your family bookwoman . .

I am about to start The Orphan Master's Son after flying through The Beloved by Annah Faulkner.

Hello!

I read Maskenball der Lüste a german ebook but it´s nothing for people who are against Sadomasochism or someone who believe that love an SM didn´t work together.

Sorry the link didn´match so here is the original link by Amazon: http://www.amazon.de/Maskenball-L%C3%BCste-SM-Liebes-Geschichte-%C3%BCberraschen...

I am about to start The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout, I have high hopes for this one!!! I just adored Olive Kitteridge.

I'm reading Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World and the Cosette part of Les Misérables.

Finished listening to Gone Girl in the car last night. I really wanted to like this book.. but alas I did not. I started out and continued to truly dislike Nick - then Amy - how could this woman be soooo much a door mat??? It went down hill for me then even more. And the ending, sigh, was awful for me! (no spoilers here though) On to the next book on my shelf The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow. :)

I've started Germinal and so far so good.

So sorry, bookwoman. Richard what a timely choice. It seems there is an increase in poetry at least around here. My library has been sposoring Poetry open mike events for over a year. Next is due April 18. Just finished my ER book Fangs Out by David Freed, the second in his Cordell Logan Mystery series. I found both to be humorous and satisfying. I love his wise cracking dialogue. Just beginning m latest ER book, Dead Wrong by Connie Dial, a Josie Corsino mystery.

64 hazeljune Just finished The Burgess Boys last week. You are in for a treat!

I so loved Wool that I jumped right into its sequel, Shift Omnibus Edition. I was reading it this morning at 4 am.

70 DMO I also loved Wool and read the rest of the Omnibus afterward. It was great!

I finished and REVIEWED Herman Koch's very unsettling novel The Dinner which left me with indigestion.

Next up is the new Kate Atkinson book, Life After Life.

#72: I finished The Dinner last week (I also felt uneasy about it). Life After Life is on my TBR list. Let us know how it is.

I finished The Very Picture of You by Isabel Wolff, a fun chick-lit novel. Am halfway through with my ER read, A Beautiful Mess.

The Dinner was definitely unsettling and left you feeling uneasy, but it did it just so well!

Finished reading the very good debut novel, The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman. Next up is my early review edition of The Burgess Boys. Still listening to Leviathan by Paul Auster

#72 - Glad to hear The Dinner was unsettling...I've been going back and forth on that one for a while. "Unsettling" was exactly the word I wanted to hear!

Finished The Good House last night for the second time and I'm halfway through Mystic River, which I'm enjoying immensely. I also just picked up Camel Club by David Baldacci for my readers advisory work...I've never read anything by Baldacci before, but he's popular at the library, so I figured I would give him a try. I don't have particularly high expectations, but hopefully it'll be entertaining at the very least. Anyone have any opinions on his stuff?

I really enjoy his Camel Club series.....good characters!

Finished my Early Reviewers book from February, The Third Son - still need to review it. I've started Cat's Eye now and I'm really enjoying it. I can relate to child-Elaine in a lot of ways.

Hello there, coloradogirl14! :) I have read Mystic River at least twice - maybe three times, myself - and really enjoyed it as well. I'm curious to hear your thoughts about the book when you finish reading it. I finished reading A Little Death by Laura Wilson this afternoon. It was Ms. Wilson's debut mystery and I really enjoyed it.

Now, I'm on to Sights Unseen by Kaye Gibbons. I haven't read that far into the book to form an opinion of the story yet.

I started Fall of Giants by Ken Follettthe and Dexter by Design by Jeff Lindsay

Finished the so - so Leviathan......Starting to listen to The Devil's Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea. He is a fabulous narrator. The combination of his accent and lyrical reading is just great!

I finished The Burgess Boys this morning -- wonderful book, highly recommended.

Next up: A Student of Weather by Elizabeth Hay

I'm about halfway through Kate Chopin's The Awakening. I want to like it more than I do. My enjoyment is through a lens of it's place in literary history rather than an intrinsic pleasure.

I also just started Bossypants and am throughly unimpressed so far. It's just not funny, not well written, and not interesting.

This is what I get for reading a huge heap of Joan Didion one after another - I'm spoiled for wonderful prose! Nothing is living up to her perfection!

Finished The Beggar King by Oliver Pötzsch and started The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie.

>83 urnmo: Oh man, I know what you mean about Bossypants. I started listening to it during my runs and I was surprised by how completely unfunny it was.

I'm working on my ER book, TransAtlantic. Less than superb so far, but it's got a very impressive touchstone list.

I started Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore over lunch today and am intrigued thus far!

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

Started People Who Eat Darkness last night. Am only a few pages in, but already it's a mesmerizing read. It's a true crime about a young British woman who got abducted & killed in Tokyo in 2000, although it's much more than a straight murder story. Some have compared it to In Cold Blood. Interesting to me on a personal note too, since I lived in Japan around the same time as the victim, Lucie Blackman.

Reading Reflections on the Magic of Writing by Diana Wynne Jones. This woman wrote fantasy for years and her out-of-print books were reissued after the publication of the Harry Potter books (finally making her some decent money). She once said she thought J.K. Rowling must have read her books as a child because of the similarities in their stories but it seems that since both authors based their plots on myths and folktales there couldn't help but be some cross overs.

Today I'm starting East of Eden and I'm looking forward to it very much.

I ended up stopping "Lightning" by Fred Stenson ~ boy, it really matters to put great characters into a Western and this one really did not have it. I just kept not caring about even the protagonist. Just uneven and well, kind of boring. Kept finding reasons not to pick it back up ... my Pearl Rule omen.

Now reading/viewing (mostly drawings) the pure awesomeness of The Daily Zoo by Chris Ayers ... and also all of the stories in Glimmer Train #85 (so far great).

Booklist just had a big blurb in their on-line newsletter about Hawk Quest by Robert Lyndon. Has anybody here read it? I thought it sounded interesting.

I finished and REVIEWED Sonali Deraniyagala's haunting memoir WAVE. Now I'm continuing on with Kate Atkinson's Life After Life.

So far this week, I've finished The House of Wisdom by Jim Al-Khalili, A Monstrous Regiment of Women by Laurie R. King, and I Could Pee on This a book of poems by cats.

I'm currently reading The Flight of Gemma Hardy for book club next week, and loving it. For nonfiction, I've chosen The Concord Quartet, which is a look at the friendship between Bronson Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Finished the wonderfully charming Midnight folk by John Masefield and am 2/3 of the way through The spoils of Poynton by Henry James.

Hello there everyone! :) I finished reading Sights Unseen by Kaye Gibbons yesterday afternoon, which was an incredibly poignant look at how mental illness affects the entire family. I enjoyed the book very much. I immediately started reading Evil Stalks the Night by Kathryn Meyer Griffith - an ebook that my daughter told me about quite some time ago. She has been emailing with Kathryn Meyer Griffith for about two years and the author was kind enough to send copies of three of her ebooks for me to read in May of 2012. So far, the book is very good. Then, I couldn't sleep during the night, so I picked up and started reading My Best Friend by Laura Wilson, which I just received yesterday.

I finally finished Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner. I read this for a LT group read and I did not like this book. There was too much testosterone. The author has really weird ideas about masculinity and what being a man is. I didn't like any of the characters except for Elsa and am flabbergasted that Bruce has the audacity, at the end of the book, for blaming her for his problems. On the plus side, the writing was good. Stegner really describes the psyche of the people who live in the American West and, in my opinion, has it nailed. What stands out to me in this regard is that he makes the case that the land makes the people. Sort of what Kent Haruf does in Plainsong, and in fact I wonder how much Haruf was influenced by Stegner. He also does a great job of describing the land. That essay written about Bruce's travel from Minnesota to Salt Lake City is a beautiful description of the land. I loved that section and it was sections like it that kept me reading this book, otherwise I would have thrown it against the wall in exasperation long before it was read.

#94..brenzi..I will be interested to hear from you re Life After Life I have it reserved at my library, a review has said Kate Atkinson at her best!!

I am still reading The Burgess Boys.

Crown of Thorns by Stephane Groueff

Biography of Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria--written by the son of one of the tsar's advisors and confidantes

I recenty read The Dinner and was unsettled by it but am glad I read it. Based on the pseudo-comparison to Gone Girl I read that one too and was fascinated by it - think deer-in-the-headlights fascination. Good and twisty.

I am now reading Restless by William Boyd.

I was home sick today, and in between naps, I've been devouring Bella Poldark. It is a wonderful read, yet I am saddened to think this is the last book in the series.

Picked up The Last Life by Claire Messud and am deeply enjoying it. I know Messud is not everyone's cup of tea, but I really dig her writing. It is nice, as a reader, to be presumed intelligent.

>103 CarolynSchroeder: And one so seldom is!

The new week's thread is up!