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Posts from the ‘Messages’ Category

27
Nov

#NonFicNov wk 5 Thanks for sharing your books!

 

Week 5: (Nov. 26 to 30) – New to My TBR (Katie @ Doing Dewey): It’s been a month full of amazing nonfiction books! Which ones have made it onto your TBR? Be sure to link back to the original blogger who posted about that book

 

  1. Here is my list of YOUR books….that I want to read (TBR).
  2. It’s important to read outside of your experience,
  3. …outside of your time,
  4. …outside of your comfort zones.
  5. That is the most important take-away  #NonFicNov!

 

  1. I’ve sifted through 73 posts and
  2. …always found 2 books I’d like...
  3. …be it about:
  4. …theatre, mental health, race, parenting and play, politics
  5. …memoir, foodie, travel, basic income, health issues, women’s rights
  6. …US First ladies, true crime (…not my comfort zone!)
  7. …essayism, perfect storms, tsunami’s, or inspirational books
  8. …like Educated, Tools of the Titans, In praise of Slow,
  9. …Daring Greatly
  10. …Living alone and Liking it and
  11. …C. Strayed’s Wild.

 

  • Thanks  to the readers for sharing your best non-fiction!
  • Thanks to hosts…
  1. Sarah at Sarah’s Book Shelves, 
  2. Katie at Doing Dewey, 
  3. Kim at Sophisticated Dorkiness,
  4. Julz at Julz Reads,
  5. Rennie at What’s Nonfiction
  6. #NonFicNov

 

Jade@ReadingWithJade

  1. Silence: In the Age of Noise by Erling Kagge
  2. One Woman Walks Wales by Ursula Martin

Kazan @AlwaysDoing

  1. Command and Contorl – E. Schlosser
  2. The Clothing of Books – J. Lahiri

Angela @LiteraryWanderer

  1. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry – N. deGrasse Tyson
  2. In Harms Way – D. Stanton

Kate @BooksAreMyFavoriteAndBest

  1. Eggshell Skull – Bri Lee
  2. My Salinger Year – J. Rakhoff

Julie @JulzReads

  1. Hell is S Green – Lt. W. Diebold
  2. The Unexpected Truth About Animals – L. Cooke

Allison @MindJoggle

  1. Prairie Fires – C. Fraser
  2. Unbroken – L. Hillenbrand

Rachel @Hibernator’sLibrary

  1. Killers of the Moon Flower – D. Grann
  2. Them – B. Sasse

Sue @WhisperingGums

  1. House of Grief – H. Garner
  2. Isaac’s Storm – E. Larson

Cathy @746Books

  1. The Empty Space – P.  Brook
  2. What is Theatre? – E. Bentley

Helen @SheReadsNovels

  1. A Tudor Christmas – A. Weir
  2. The Plantagenets – D. Jones

Debbie Rogers@ExUrbanis

  1. In Pursuit of  Memory – J. Jebelli
  2. The Paper Garden – M. Peacock

Emma @WordsAndPeace

  1. Democracy in Chains – N. MacLean
  2. Fear – B. Woodward

Tina @ TbrEtc

  1. Between the World and Me – Ta-Nehisi Coates
  2. I‘d Rather Be Reading – A. Bogel

Katherine @TheWriterlyReader

  1. NeuroTribes – S. Silberman
  2. Thunderstruck – E. Larson

Deb Nance @Readerbuzz

  1. Leonardo da Vinci – W. Isaacson
  2. The Nine: Inside the Secret World of The Supreme Court – J. Toobin

Ellie @CuriosityKilledTheBookworm

  1. The Idiot Brain – D. Burnett
  2. Born a Crime – T. Noah

Raidergirl3 @AnAdventureInReading

  1. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark – M. McNamara
  2. The Ghost Map – S. Johnson

Reese @Typings

  1. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass – F. Douglass
  2. Essayism – B. Dillon

Rory @LiteraryMixtape

  1. Fire Season – P. Connors
  2. John Muir and the Ice That Started a fire

Margaret @BooksPlease

  1. Painting as a Pastime – W. Churchill
  2. Why We Sleep – M. Walker

Tara @Running ‘n’ Reading

  1. The Line Becomes a River – F. Cantú
  2. Educated – T. Westover

Brona @Brona’sBooks

  1. Ghosts of the Tsunami – R. Parry
  2. The Arsonist: A Mind on Fire – C. Hooper

Iliana @Bookgirl’s Nightstand

  1. How to Travel Without Seeing:  Dispatches New Latin America – A. Neuman/J.Lawrence
  2. Code Girls – L. Mundy

Sarah @Sarah’s Bookshelves

  1. I Am. I Am, I Am – M. O’Farrell
  2. Red Notice – B. Browder

Tina says @BooksAreMyThing

  1. The Newcomers – H. Thorpe
  2. Shoe Dog – P. Knight

Louise @AStrongBeliefInWicker

  1. The Art of Frugal Hedonism – A. Raser-Rowland
  2. The Art of Living Alone and Loving It – J. Mathews

Susie @NovelVisits

  1. From the Corner of the Oval – B. Dorey-Stein
  2. Forty Autumns – N. Willner

Rennie @What’sNonfiction?

  1. The Library Book – S. Orlean
  2. Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen – L. Colwin

Andi @Estellasrevenge

  1. We Were Eight Years in Power – Ta-Nehisi Coates
  2. Eloquent Rage – B. Cooper

Paula @BookJotter

  1. Why Do  Birds Suddenly Disappear – L. Parikian
  2. Suffragette: The Battle for Equality – D. Roberts

Michael @InexhaustibleInvitations

  1. Hunger – R. Gay
  2. Hope in the Dark – R. Solnit

Nikimags @SecretLibraryBlog

  1. The Light in the Dark – H. Clare
  2. If They Only Didn’t Speak English – J. Sopel

Valorie Grace Hailinan @BooksCanSaveALife

  1. Great Tide Rising – K. Moore
  2. The Wilderness Warrior – D. Brinkley

Stacey @UnrulyReader

  1. Heating Cooling: 52 Micro Memoirs – B. Fennelly
  2. We’re Going to Need More Wine – G. Union

Maphead @Maphead’sBookblog

  1. Playing With Fire – L. O’ Donnell
  2. When They Come for Us We’ll be Gone – G. Beckerman

Melissa @I’dRatherBeAtPemberley

  1. War on Peace – Ronan Farrow
  2. So You Want to Talk About Race – I. Olou

B.I.P @BuriedInPrint

  1. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus – C. Mann
  2. Bitter Chocolate: Investigating the Dark Side of the World’s Most Seductive Sweet – C Off

Dana @LittleLovelyBooks

  1. Sons and Soldiers – B. Henderson
  2. Never Caught – E. Dunbar

Lou @LouLouReads

  1. The Vaccine Race – M. Wadman
  2. The Radium Girls – K. Moore

JoAnn @LakesideMusing

  1. Waking Up White – D. Irving
  2. White Fragility – R. DiAngelo

Kelly @StackedBooks

  1. All You Can Ever Know – N. Chung
  2. A Dream Called Home – R. Grande

Eva @ThePaperbackPrincess

  1. The Blood of Emmett Till – T. Tyson
  2. Shrewed – E. Renzetti

Kay @WhatMeRead

  1. The Last White Rose – D. Seward
  2. (posted only 1 book)

Karen @BookerTalk

  1. Do No Harm – H. Marsh
  2. The Wicked Boy – K. Summerscale

Carrie @Other WomensStories

  1. Betty Ford – L. McCubbin
  2. Upstairs at the White House – J.B. West

Jean @HowlingFrog

  1. Danubia – S. Winder
  2. Meeting the Remarkable Manuscripts – C. de Hamel

Brandy @ReadingBeyond

  1. Factfulness – Hans Rosling
  2. Destiny of the Republic – C. Millard

Melissa @MelissaFirman

  1. When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing – D. Pink
  2. On Writing: A. Memoir of the Craft – S. King

Heather @BasedOnATrueStory

  1. Have Dog Will Travel – S. Kuusisto
  2. The New Farm – B. Preston

Amanda @GunInActOne

  1. A Higher Loyalty – James Comey
  2. Killing Pablo – M. Bowden

O @QuaintAndCuriousVolumes

  1. Virginia Woolf – M. Whitworth
  2. The Letters of Vriginia Woolf vol 1

Rita @BookishRita

  1. Eating Animals – J. Foer
  2. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind – Y. Harari

Katie @DoingDewey

  1. Black Ink – S. Stokes
  2. Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicone Valley Startup – J. Carreyrou

Sue @BookByBook

  1. H is for Hawk – H. MacDonald
  2. Happiness is a Choice You Make – J. LeLand

Dee @Dee’sBookblog

  1. The Sun Does Shine – A. Hinton
  2. Bloodsworth – T. Junkin

Lisa @ANZLitLovers

  1. Letting Go – C. Corke
  2. 1947: When Now Begins – E. Åsbrink

Lance @SportsBookGuy

  1. I could not find a #NonFicNov post
  2. ….just a few of his sportbook reviews (..ho…hum)

Jaymi @OrangeCountyReaders

  1. Behind Enemy Lines – M. Cohn
  2. Ghost in the Wires – K. Mitnick

Sharlene @RealLifeReading

  1. The Diary of a Bookseller – S. Bythell
  2. (I read her other books!)

Beth @Bibliobeth

  1. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers – M. Roach
  2. Mapping the Mind – R. Carter

MaryR @BibliographicManifestations

  1. Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell – D. Yaffe
  2. Soul Food: The Suprising Story of Ameican Cuisine – A. Miller

Cathy @WhatCathyReadNext

  1. Darkest Hour: How Churchill Brought England Back from the Brink – A. McCarten
  2. Memory-Hold-The-Door – J. Buchan

Heather @Gofita’sPages

  1. These Truths: A History of the US (chunkster!) – Jill Lepore
  2. The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote – E. Weiss

Juliana @The[Blank]Garden

  1. A Secret Sisterhood – E. Midorikawa
  2. These Ghostly Archives: The Unearthing of Sylvia Plath – G. Crowther

Molly @SilverButtonBooks

  1. Grit – A. Duckworth
  2. 1000 Books to read Before You Die (2018) – J. Mustich

Lynn @Smoke&Mirrors

  1. The New Jim Crow – M. Alexander
  2. The Boys in the Boat – D.J. Brown

Hannah @TheCozyReadingNook

  1. Bringing Up Bébé – P. Druckerman
  2. Play: how it shapes the Brain – S. Brown jr.

Rebecca @BookishBeck

  1. The Book of Separation – T. Mirvis
  2. Memories of a Catholic Childhood – M. McCarthy

Katheleen @SMS NonfictionBookReviews

  1. There’s a Boy in Here – J. Barron
  2. Making Peace with Autism – S. Senator

Lory @TheEmeraldCity

  1. I Don’t Want to Talk About It – T. Real
  2. Shadow and Evil in Fairy Tales – M. von Franz

Joli @LiteraryQuicksand

  1. Educated – T. Westover
  2. (posted only 1 book)

Kim @SophisticatedDorkiness

  1. Yes We (Still) Can: Politics in the Age of Obama – D. Pfeiffer
  2. West Wingers – G. Raghavan

Vera @UnfilteredTales

  1. Tools of Titans – T. Ferris
  2. Daring Greatly – B. Brown

 

Reserve list:

  1. Just Mercy
  2. The Shallows: What the Internet is doing to our Brain
  3. American Radical
30
Aug

#20BooksofAutumn 2018

 

  • If we fail to plan …we plan to fail.
  • I had a #20BooksOfSummer list that helped me stay focused.
  • Here is my  list for September – October – November.
  • I selected books that
  • …I REALLY REALLY want to get off my TBR list
  • List of Challenges 2018
  • Monthly plan
  • #20BooksOfAutumn

 

  1. The Outrun (A. Liptrot) (Biography/Memoir) – READ
  2. Darkness Visible – W. Styron (Biography/Memoir) – READ
  3. Between Riverside and Crazy – S. Guirgis (Pulitzer Prize 2015)  (play) – READ
  4. Our Man in Charleston – C. Dickey (NF) – READ
  5. Kim Jong-Il Production – P. Fischer (NF) – READ
  6. Atomic Thunder – E. Tynan (Prime Minister’s Literary Awards 2017 History) – READ #AWW2018
  7. The Enigmatic Mr Deakin – J. Brett – READ #AWW2018
  8. The Bed-Making Competition – A. Jackson – READ #AWW2018
  9. Short story:  Audition – S. Sayarfiwezadeh – READ (The New Yorker 10.09.2018)
  10. An Ordinary Day – L. Sales – READ  #AWW2018
  11. Nooit Meer Slapen (Beyond Sleep) – W. F. Hermans – READ
  12. Don’t Call Us Dead – D. Smith – READ
  13. The River in the Sky – Clive James – READ
  14. Just Enough Liebling – J. Liebling (NF) – READ
  15. James Wright: A Life in Poetry (NF) – J. Blunk – READ
  16. Washington Black – E. Edugyan – READ #CanBookChallenge
  17. The Raven – E.A. Poe – READ  #RIPXIII
  18. Christ Stopped at Eboli – C. Levi – READ
  19. Mãn – Kim Thuy – READ #CanBookChallenge
  20. Je reste ici – M. Balzano – READ

 

 

26
Aug

The Classics Club: 50 questions

  1. This is the largest library in Ireland.
  2. It was founded alongside Trinity College in 1592.
  3. The 200-foot main chamber shelves 200,000 books and
  4. …is lined with marble busts like the one above.
  5. So  while I dream of being in a library like this one…
  6. …it is time to complete this list of  50 questions about classic books
  7. …for The Classics Club,
  8. I will keep my answers short. (booktags)
  9. #cclubgames

 

50 Club Questions: 

  1. Share a link to your club list.  Book LIST 1 –  Book LIST 2
  2. When did you join The Classics Club? 2012
  3. How many titles have you read for the club? completed 1 list of 50 +  11 in 2018
  4. What are you currently reading? Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
  5. What did you just finish reading and what did you think of it? Un Vie (de Maupassant) review
  6. What are you reading next?  East of Eden b/c I need an audio book for train commuting

 

  1. Best book you’ve read so far with the club, and why?
  2. Mme Bovary (G. Flaubert) – Mme Bovary  was my first French classic for my “read French for a year’ challenge. It took me three months to finish the book.. Some days I could just read 6 pages! At times I would take a deep breath and as myself …is it worth the effort? I did not give up and have kept on reading French.

 

  1. Book you most anticipate (or, anticipated) on your club list? – Sentimental Education. I’ve never rad another book by Flaubert since 2012 Mme Bovary. That book was my nemesis.  I can still see the cover on Goodreads….it sends chills down my spine. Oh. how I struggled with that book. Now after many years of reading French I want to see if I can manage Flaubert ‘s vocabulary without the feeling of exasperation. Can I master his language….ever?

 

  1. Book on your club list you’ve been avoiding,  Why?
  2. Any book by Virginia Woolf.
  3. I have no rational reason for this aversion.
  4. I hope to discover why so many people love her books.
  5. To the Lighthouse is on my  classics list 2.
  6. First classic you ever read? The Tale of Two Cities, C. Dickens
  7. Toughest classic you ever read? Don Quixote
  8. …this was a challenge to read… very long one.

 

  1. Classic that inspired you? or scared you? made you cry? made you angry?
  2. Inspired: St. Augustine’s Confessions
  3. I read it and listened to an audio explanation via
  4. Audible.Com series The Great Courses.  I would recommend both!
  5. Scared:
  6. Dracula by B. Stoker – shape-shifting creatures
  7. …vampires.
  8. Horror is not a genre like a western or crime fiction
  9. ….it is pure emotion! This is a classic not to be missed!
  10. Cried:
  11. The closest I came to tears was reading
  12. …the last pages of Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton.
  13. When it comes to women’s feelings….Edith nails it.
  14. Angry:
  15. The Next Time Fire by J. Baldwin
  16. …b/c nothing has changed since the 1960’s

 

  1. Longest classic you’ve read?  Herodotus The Histories .
  2. The book is bigger than the bible.
  3. I was not looking forward to this read…but I started…and got through it.
  4. This book left me physically exhausted.
  5. The version I selected on Goodreads is the best translation and includes many maps.
  6. Without the maps I never would have understood it all!
  7. Longest classic left on your club list? Dumas, Alexandre – Count of Monte Cristo
  8. Oldest classic you’ve read?  Early Bronze Age (3rd millennium B.C.)
  9. Myths of Mesopotamia. Here is my review (quickscan).
  10. Oldest classic left on your club list? Suetonius
  11. (Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus)
  12. Twelve Caesars (De vita Caesarum) – 2nd C AD
  13. Favorite biography about a classic author you’ve read?
  14. Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgimage of the Flesh by J. Lahr.
  15. The definitive biography of America’s greatest playwright by
  16. the longtime drama critic of The New Yorker. Excellent book!

 

  1. Which classic do you think EVERYONE should read? The Scarlet Letter why?
  2. There is so much symbolism, irony and characterization (especially Biblical references)  in the book that one tends to miss many of  the literary puzzles. I would never have understood the impact of this book at the age of 15 years when I had to read it for high-school. This is just another example that some great books are worth re-reading after you have had more reading experiences.I would strongly recommend this book as  an example of a great American Classic.

 

  1. Favorite edition of a classic you own? A rare small format hardcover of Tale of Two Cities published by Könemann, Köln Germany.
  2. I found it in a second-hand bookstore in Groningen The Netherlands.
  3. ISBN 3829008805. (foto)
  4. It was my first classic book and I wanted to remember it with this beautiful edition.
  5. Favorite movie adaption of a classic? Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by T. Williams .
  6. Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman are the stars.
  7. Their performances  just ‘jump off the screen” …so powerful
  8. Classic which hasn’t been adapted yet which you wish would be adapted to film.
  9. Any book by Charles Dickens that hasn’t
  10. …already been made into a movie or  BBC series!
  11. Least favorite classic? Why?
  12. The Ginger Man by B. Donleavy.
  13. It is just vulgar, honestly…so crass filled with gutter jibes and sexual innuendos.
  14. How did this book get on Modern Library’s
  15. …TOP 100 novel list of the 20th C…is beyond me!

 

  1. Name five authors you haven’t read yet whom you cannot wait to read.
  2. The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
  3. Vanity Fair  by William Makepeace Thackeray
  4. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
  5. The Palace Walk by  N.Mahfouz (Nobel Prize winner)
  6. Effi Briest by T. Fontane

 

  1. Which title by one of the five you’ve listed above most excites you and why?
  2. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood.
  3. Due to the very popular TV series  (2017)
  4. I want to read the book about dystopian future
  5. …before I watch the series with Elisabeth Moss.

 

  1. Have you read a classic you disliked on first read
  2. …that you tried again and respected, appreciated, or even ended up loving?
  3. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (review 2018)
  4. Samuel Johnson is credited with saying that
  5. “A book should teach us to enjoy life or to endure it.”
  6. I think Jane Austen succeeds on both counts!
  7. I’m not a dyed-in-the-wool Jane Austen fan
  8. …but I’m going to toss aside all my preconceived  notions about her books.
  9. I have moved on. I have enjoyed life but at times had to endure it.
  10. Opinions formed beforehand in my youth) are without adequate evidence.
  11. I will read Jane Austen and let her…speak to an older and wiser Nancy.

 

  1. Which classic character can’t you get out of your head?
  2. The main character in the book The Knot of the Vipers (1933).
  3. François Mauriac (1885-1970) French writer,
  4. winner of Nobel Prize in Literature in 1952.
  5. If you are ‘Reading the Nobels’
  6. …this is an excellent book to put on your list.

 

  1. Which classic character most reminds you of yourself?
  2. Margret Schlegel in Howard’s End. Margaret is chatty, vociferous.
  3. Subtly Margaret changes.
  4. Margaret saw more clearly what a human being is.
  5. Margaret was silent. Something shook her life
    ….in its inmost recesses and she shivered. (pg 340)

 

  1. Which classic character do you most wish you could be like?
  2. Melanie Hamilton in Gone with the Wind.
  3. She was the kindest character I ever met!

 

  1. Which classic character reminds you of your best friend?
  2. Constance Baines in The Old Wives’ Tale by A. Bennett. It is strange how fate has changed the lives of the sisters Sophia and Constance. Constance’s had remained, her father had wanted, quiet and the model of consideration. She lived at St. Luke’s Square in Bursley her entire life.

 

  1. If a sudden announcement was made that 500 more pages had been discovered after the original “THE END” on a classic title you read and loved, which title would you most want to keep reading?
  2. The Old Wives’ Tale.…this is truly an underappreciated classic!

 

  1. Favorite children’s classic?  E.B. White’s Stuart Little
  2. Who recommended your first classic? Freshman year English teacher

 

  1. Whose advice do you always take when it comes to literature?
  2. ….I always listened to my sister.
  3. I had moved to The Netherlands and in the days before internet
  4. …when I would visit home I let my sister
  5. select 10 books I MUST read from
  6. …the Barnes & Noble bookstore we always visited!

 

  1. Favorite memory with a classic? –
  2. Last scene in The Tale of Two Cities with Sydney Carton:
  3. “It’s a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done
  4. … a far, far better rest than I go to than I have ever known.”

 

  1. Classic author you’ve read the most works by? Charles Dickens (7)
  2. Classic author who has the most works on your club list? Émile Zola (20+)
  3. Classic author you own the most books by? Zola and Dickens
  4. Classic title(s) that didn’t make it to your club list that you wish you’d included?
  5. The Third Man by Graham Greene
  6. If you could explore one author’s literary career from first publication to last
  7. — meaning you have never read this author and want to
  8. explore him or her by reading what s/he wrote in order of publication
  9. — who would you explore?
  10. Virginia Woolf.…I have to read her eventually!

 

  1. How many rereads are on your club list? NONE…I don’t re-read. I haven’t the time.
  2. Has there been a classic title you simply could not finish?
  3. Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz. I wanted to read it for my
  4. Nobel list….but just could not finish it. Bah.
  5. Has there been a classic title you expected to dislike and ended up loving?
  6. Winesburg, Ohio by S. Anderson (review 2018)

 

  1. Five things you’re looking forward to next year in classic literature?
  2. Mann, T. – The Magic Mountain
  3. Classic you are DEFINITELY GOING TO MAKE HAPPEN next year? –
  4. Morrison, T. –  Beloved  (Nobel Prize winner)
  5. Classic you are NOT GOING TO MAKE HAPPEN next year?
  6. Stevenson, R.L. – The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (no interest….at all)
  7. Favorite thing about being a member of the Classics Club?
  8. I enjoy the social contacts with other book lovers!

 

  1. List five fellow clubbers whose blogs you frequent.
  2. Brona’s Books (Brona)
  3. On Bookes (O)
  4. Classical Carousel (Cleo)
  5. One Catholic Life (Nick)
  6. The Once Lost Wanderer (Joseph)
  7. Favorite posts you’ve read by a fellow clubber? 
  8. One of those days...  (Brona)
  9. Books to Pull Out of a Reading Slump (Cleo)
  10. Silver and Gold   (O)
  11. Nick’s Great Book List (Nick)
  12. 100 Greatest Novels of all Time Wrap-up (Joseph)

 

  1. If you’ve ever participated in a read-a-long on a classic, tell about the experience?
  2. Read-a-long with Brona’s Books The Lord of the Ring
  3. This was a struggle because I’m not a Tolkien fan.
  4. But I made an effort to join
  5. Brona’s #HLOTRreadalong 2017.  (wrap-up)

 

  1. I participated in five  #AusReadinMonth @Brona’s Books.
  2. Here is my 2017 Q&A Aus Reading.

 

  1. Read-a-long with  Nick’s One Catholic Life  #LesMiserablesRead-A-Long
  2. This is also a struggle to keep on schedule (chapter a day)!!
  3. I am thankfully up-to-date and reading is in progress ( reading the book in french)
  4. Conclusion:  I need to ask myself if I am a ‘read-a-long’ type of person!
  5. I keep struggling.

 

  1. How long have you been reading classic literature? – 50+ years!
  2. Share up to five posts you’ve written that tell a bit about your reading story.
  3. #AusReadingMonth 2017 – wrap-up
  4. The Classics Club book list nr 1 – completed ( 50 books)
  5. List of my French books….I keep reading #NeverGiveUp
  6. Monthly Planning ( these are the latest books…)
  7. Passègere du Silence ( this is an amazing story about a female French artist…)
25
Aug

The Classics Club #1 list (completed)

 

Finally this day has come.…I completed my Classics Club list!

I started on March 22 2012 with Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens and I ended the challenge with Rabbit, Run by John Updike on 03 Augustus 2014.

During this challenge I decided to read some classic books in French. I wanted to learn the a third language. I can now read a French book as easily as I do a book in English! I was at times dejected, low in spirits because my reading speed was sharply reduced. It took me 3 months to read Mme Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. Yet I persevered and treated myself to a cold glass of Heineken after every completed French book!

My list contains some classic books in my second language, Dutch. Not many people will recognize the titles but in The Netherlands they are considered classics.

Here are the books I read:

 

16th Century

  • De Cervantes, Miguel – Don Quixote
  • De Lafayette, Mme – Princesse de Clèves (french)

Don Quixote was a challenge to read. It is a classic, but a very long one.

Princesse de Clèves: I had to first understand the French history that is an important part of the book. That took some time and effort.

 

18th Century

None! I had no idea I had forgotten this century. I’ll have to put some of these books on my second classic list!

 

19th Century: 

A – C

  • Alcott, Louisa May – Little Women
  • Austen, Jane – Persuasion
  • Brontë, Charlotte – Villette
  • Conrad, Joseph – Lord Jim

My favorite was Villette by C. Bronte. The book had beenon my TBR shelf for years. Little Women is not my kind of book. The only redemptive quality was the fact that it led me to a biography about the Alcott, Eden’s Outcasts by John Matteson. That was an excellent book! I read Persuasion as a gesture towards Brona’s Books blog. It is one of her favortries. I read Lord Jim because I admire Joseph Conrad, Polish by birth and learned English and worte great literature. That is quite an accomplishment!

 

D – E

  • Daudet, Alphonse – Lettres de mon Moulin (french)
  • Dickens, Charles – Little Dorrit
  • Dumas, Alexandre –  La tulipe noire (french) (tulips!)

I was reading Dickens when I started the classic list. I should read more of his books but got carried away reading in French. Two more Dickens’ books are on the second list. Daudet is an author often overlooked. Lettres de mon Moulin would be an excellent choice to read in French if you wanted to practice your language skills. La tulipe noire is set in The Netherlands…..so I had to read it! I ended planting 80 tulips as a gesture to Dumas!

 

F – H

  • Flaubert, Gustav – Mme Bovary (french)
  • Hawthorne, Nathaniel – The Scarlet Letter 
  • Hugo, Victor – Notre-Dame de Paris (french)

Mme Bovary  was my first French classic for my “read French for a year’ challenge. It took me three months to finish the book.. Somedays I could just read 6 pages! At times I would take a deep breath and as myself …is it worth the effort? I did not give up and have kept on reading French. Notre-Dame de Paris was a surprise. I was impressed by the characterization of the Hunchback.  The Scarlet Letter was a book I read in high school. I’m glad I re-read it because I just did not understand all this book had to offer as a teen.

 

J – S

  • Maupassant, G. de – Bel-Ami

Maupassant was my second French classic. In comparison with Mme Bovary I felt I was reading faster than the speed of light! This was my first reward for all my effort while reading Flaubert. I still had to look op 1140 words and 394 verbs.

 

Z(ola) ( all in french)

  • Zola, Émile – La Fortune des Rougons
  • Zola, Émile – La Curée
  • Zola, Émile – Le Ventre de Paris
  • Zola, Émile – La Conquête de Plassans
  • Zola, Émile – La Faute de l’Abbé de Mouret
  • Zola, Émile – Son Excellence de Eugène Rougon
  • Zola, Émile – L’Assommoir
  • Zola, Émile – Une Page d’Amour
  • Zola, Émile – Le Rêve 
  • Zola, Émile –Pot-Bouille
  • Zola, Émile – Au Bonheur des Dames
  • Zola, Émile – La Joie de Vivre
  • Zola, Émile – La Bête Humaine 
  • Zola, Émile – L’ Œuvre
  • Zola, Émile –L’Argent
  • Zola, Émile –Germinal
  • Zola, Émile – Lourdes

 

This was the basis for ‘my read French for a year’ challenge. I had read Germinal and could not forget that book. I decided to read the Rougon-Macquart series.  (20 books) I  finished the last R-M  books but are not included on this list.

 

20th – 21th Century:

A – F

  • Bolano, Roberto – 2666 
  • Cheever, John – The Wapshot Chronicle

2666  It was a chore to read from start to finish, but I gave the book a “chance to prove itself”.  Bolano’s 2666  took me to new ‘reading limits’ and no regets. It was the first book  that I ever read that was  physically exhausting.

The Wapshot Chronicle: I wanted to read one of the most famous  American writers who suffered from alcoholism. Cheever drank chronically for 40 years and yet was able  to produce great works of literature despite  the  addiction.  

G – L

  • Gide, André – I’immoraliste (french)
  • Grossman, Vasily – An Armenian Sketchbook
  • Llosa, Mario Vargas – Feast of the Goat
  • Londres, Albert – Au Bagne (french)

L’immoraliste sat on my bookshelf for years. I wanted to finally read this book and discover André Gide. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature 1947, yet rarely do you see his books on classic lists. An Armenian Sketchbook was one of my ‘surprise’ books this year. I never heard of the writer and feel in love with his writing. I plan to read more of his books. Feast of the Goat was historical fiction and M. V. Llosa exposed the world of a Central American dictator. Au Bagne was a big disappointment. Londres’s writing style is choppy and dull. I have 2 more of his books on the shelf, they may stay there.

 

M – P

  • Némirovsky, Irène – Suite française ( french)
  • Némirovsky, Irène – Le vin de solitude (french)
  • Pasternak, Boris – Doctor Zhivago

Némirovsky’s books are a pleasure to read in French. Her style is simple and it just flows. I expect she has read Zola because she wrote crowd scenes and described gardens (Suite française) as he did. Némirovsky can sometimes get carried away with the ‘poetic’.  Too much of a good thing can be tiresome in the end. Doctor Zhivago was one of my first classic reads in 2012. It was familiar due to the film. I knew what to expect. I want to read more Russian literature, but not Pasterank.

 

R – W

  • Simenon, George – La neige était sale
  • Shute, Nevil –On the beach
  • Saluerhoff, Jan – Alle verhalen
  • Thurber, James – The 13 clocks 
  • Tillion, Germaine – Ravenbruck (french)
  • John – Rabbit, Run
  • Vestdijk, Simon – Terug naar Ina Dammen
  • Vestdijk, Simon – Pastorale 1943
  • Wiesel, , Elie –Night
  • Williams, Tenneesse – Cat on a hot tin roof
  • E.B. – Stuart Little

 

I went from the best to the worst with some of these books. I’ll start with the bad news. La neige était sale was awful. Simenon is not looking for  “le mot juste”.  I rarely found a metaphor  or a simile to give the story some polish. Anything that makes other novels into literature is missing here. The rest of the books were all good news! The Dutch selections are classics in The Netherlands, you probably don’t recognize them. American classics were powerful, Cat On a Hot Tin Roof and Rabbit, Run. I was able to enjoy these book after reading about Williams in Trip to Echo Spring, writers and drinking by O. Laing and Updike in ‘Updike’ by A. Begley. I would recommend reading these books for add information. WW II is the back round for Night and Ravenbruck. Sometimes difficult to read, but one must know the truth. I needed some relaxation after some intense reading and choose to read some children’s classics that have a whiff of literature about them: Stuart Little and The 13 Clocks. They were great reads for young and old!

I remember when I sat down to start a blog. All I needed was a glass of Chardonnay, some determination and a desire to start an incredible journey through some classic books.

Don’t waste your time….. here is the link for The Classics Club. Start your journey because there are so many good books just waiting for you!

2
Aug

Classic: #AllAboutAusten @Brona’s Books

  1. Samuel Johnson is credited with saying that
  2. “A book should teach us to enjoy life or to endure it.”
  3. I think Jane Austen succeeds on both counts!
  4. I’m not a dyed-in-the-wool Jane Austen fan
  5. …but I’m going to toss aside all my preconceived  notions
  6. about her books.
  7. I have moved on….
  8. I have enjoyed life but at times had to endure it.
  9. Opinions formed beforehand
  10. ….(in my youth) are without adequate evidence.
  11. I will read Jane Austen and let her
  12. …speak to an older and wiser Nancy.
  13. You can join in the reading fun HERE.
  14. @BronasBooks is hosting a very a low-key, casual event
  15. and you are  free to post as you will.
  16. If you want to do an Introductory post, feel free.
  17. If you only want to share your reviews… that’s okay too.
  18. Chat on twitter with #AllAboutAusten.

 

READING:

  • Author: Jane Austen
  • Title: Pride and Prejudice
  • Published: 1813

Update: 05.08.2018

I didn’t even have one of Austen’s books on my bookshelf! My copies arrived yesterday!

 

Update: 06.08.2018

After 3 days of constantly reading French (Charterhouse of Parma, Stendhal….it is time to bend over the saddle…and let go of the reins! starting P&P…on the prairie!

27
Jul

Classic Club Spin # 18

  1. It is time to take part in Classic Club spin nr 18!
  2. I have decided to use audio books for my spins.
  3. Why?
  4. I love to get up in the morning…
  5. and take a 1 hour walk
  6. ..while I enjoy great literature!
  7. Why?
  8. I must reduce my TBR list on my Audible.com library
  9. Why?
  10. I need to avoid IPAD/Kindle screens before bed-time.
  11. Audio books are a perfect solution.
  12. #ccspin
  13. Trivia: @bornasbooks and @HowlingFrog
  14. …these clubbers have participated on ALL 18 CC spins!
  15. BRAVO!
  16. I win the prize (I think) for the LEAST number of spins!
  17. 2014 – Praise of Folly (Erasmus) …very easy to read and very funny!
  18. 2017 – Long Day’s Journey Into Night (E. O’Neill) – one of best 50 plays in 100 years!
  19. 2018 – ??

Update: 01.08.2018

  1. OMG I’ve died and gone to heaven…
  2. spin book is “Means of Ascent’ by R. Caro.
  3. This is a modern non-fiction classic!
  4. Hours of listening pleasure on my morning walks!!
  5. Thank you CC !

 

My list:

  1. Eliot, George – The Mill on the Floss –
  2. Dickens, C. – Our Mutual Friend –
  3. Suetonius – The Twelve Caesars – ancient classic non-fiction –
  4. London, Jack – Call of the Wild –
  5. Ford Maddox Ford – Some Do Not (#1 Parade’s End) –
  6. Bronte, C.  – Shirley –
  7. Conrad, J. – Heart of Darkness –
  8. Hardy, T. –  The Mayor of Casters bridge –
  9. Caro, R. – Means of Ascent (LBJ) –  READ
  10. Bronte, A. – The Tenant of Wildfell Hall –
  11. Huxley, A. – Brave New World –
  12. Atwood, M. – The Handmaid’s Tale –
  13. Mann, T. – The Magic Mountain –
  14. Fitzgerald, F. S.- The Great Gatsby –
  15. Kipling, R.  – Kim –
  16. McCullers, C. – The Heart is a Lonely Hunter –
  17. Du Maurier, D. – Rebecca –
  18. Poe, Edgar Allan – The Complete Short Stories (29 stories) –
  19. Shakespeare, W. – Hamlet –
  20. Thackeray, William – Vanity Fair –
24
Jul

Sleep on the Floor

Evaluation:   3 weeks sleeping on the floor.

  1. 1st wk was awful.
  2. After 14 days I had  my first good night sleep.
  3. 3rd wk:
  4. …sleeping feels like a lottery
  5. ….I have no idea if I will win or lose!
  6. Good news: back pain is GONE and
  7. …my hips are like oiled ball bearings!
  8. It’s amazing the change
  9. I stlll have a long way to go before I get a
  10. …solid 7 hr sleep.
  11. I’m not used to sleeping on my back!
  12. Strange:  when I am in REM my dreams are so VIVD!
  13. Sleeping positon does affect you dreams.
  14. Does anybody else …
22
Jul

Classic Club Master List

CONRAD 3b938fe50d0e7084bba30e2a5d4bf33e

The Classic Club – community of classics lovers

  • The Classics Club is a club created to
  • inspire people to read and blog about classic books.
  • There’s no time limit to join and you’re most welcome,
  • …as long as you’re willing to sign up to read and
  • write on your blog about 50+ classic books in at most five years.
  • You can join HERE.
  • 2018 – 2020   – I hope to finish these classics

 

  1. Pascal, B. – Pensées – READ
  2. Shelley, M.  – Frankenstein – READ
  3. Stendhal – La Chartreuse de Parme (french edition) – READ
  4. Miller A.  – Death of a Salesman – (play) – READ
  5. Vaz da Camões, L.  – The Lusiads – READ (epic poem)
  6. Alighieri, Dante  – The Divine Comedy – READ
  7. Doyle, Arthur Conan – The Hound of the Baskervilles – READ
  8. Hermans, W.F. – Nooit Meer Slapen (Beyond Sleep) – READ
  9. De Lorris, G. et De Meun, J. – Le Roman de la Rose – READ 
  10. Hugo, Victor – Les Misérables – READING
  11. Woolf, V. – Mrs. Dalloway – READ
  12. Wollstonecraft, M.  – A Vindication of the Rights of Women – REA
  13. Virgil –The Aeneid – READ
  14. Cooper, J.F. – Deerslayer – READ
  15. Hemingway, E. – The Sun Also Rises – READ
  16. James, H. – The Golden Bowl – READ
  17. Shirer, W. – The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich – READ
  18. Seneca – Letters From a Stoic – READ
  19. Dickens, C. – Our Mutual Friend – READ
  20. Dickens, C. – David Copperfield – READ
  21. Dickens, C. – Great Expectations – READ
  22. Sei Shonagon –The Pillow Book – READ
  23. Chaucer – The Knights Tale – READ
  24. Maupassant, G. de  –  Une vie – (french edition) – READ
  25. Caro, R. – Means of Ascent (LBJ) modern classic non-fiction – READ
  26. Sophocles – Electra – READ (play)
  27. Ibsen, I. – Rosmersholm – READ (play)
  28. Bronte, A. – The Tenant of Wildfell Hall – READ
  29. Boswell, J. – The Life of Samuel Johnson – READ
  30. Austen, J  – Pride and Prejudice – READ
  31. Anonymous, – Myths from Mesopotamia – trans. S. Dalley – READ
  32. Horace, – Satires – READ
  33. Eusebius,   – The History of the Church – READ
  34. Eliot, G. – Selected Essays, Poems and other Writings– READ 
  35. Dickens, C.  – The Christmas Carol – READ
  36. Shakespeare, W.  – Midsummer Night’s Dream – READ
  37. Shakespeare, W.  – Othello –  READ
  38. Shakespeare, W. – Hamlet – READ
  39. Thackeray, William – Vanity Fair – READ
  40. Suetonius – The Twelve Caesars – ancient classic non-fiction – READ
  41. Pepys, S. – The Diary of Samuel Pepys Vol 1 1660 – READ
  42. Du Maurier, D. – Rebecca – READ
  43. Faulkner, W. – Absalom, Absalom
  44. McCullers, C. – The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
  45. Spark, M. – The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
  46. Shakespeare, W.  – Macbeth – READ
  47. Mahfouz, N.- The Palace Walk- READ
  48. Laxness, H. – Independent People
  49. Atwood, M. – The Handmaid’s Tale 
  50. Melville, H.  – Moby Dick – READ 

 

Short stories:

  1. The Angel of the Odd – E.A. Poe (The Complete Short Stories)
  2. The Birthday of the Infanta – O. Wilde ( The Works of Oscar  Wilde)

 

 

Hashtags:

11
Jun

#20BooksOfSummer 2018

  • I must stop buying books…and start reading them!
  • What to do?  Make a list for…
  • #20BooksOfSummer hosted yearly by Cathy  746 Books
  • I selected books that
  • …I REALLY REALLY want to read.
  • List of Challenges 2018
  • Monthly reading plan
  • #20BooksOfSummer

 

  1. Deep South – Paul Theroux – (NF) – READ
  2. A Very Expensive Poison – Luke Harding (NF) – READ
  3. Why Horror Seduces – M. Clasen (NF) – READ
  4. Islander: Journey Around Our Archipelago – P. Barkham (NF) – READ
  5. From the Edge: Australia’s Lost Histories – M. McKenna (NF) – READ
  6. Flowers For Algernon – Daniel Keyes (novel)  – READ
  7. The Redemption of Galen Pike – Carys Davies (short stories) – READ
  8. The Serious Game – Hjalmar Söderberg (novel) – READ
  9. The Judge and His Hangman – F. Dürrenmatt  (CF) – READ
  10. Rice – Michele Lee (play) – READ
  11. Hunting the Wild Pineapple – T. Astley (8 short stories) – READ
  12. Down These Green Streets – Declan Burke (NF) – READ
  13. The Sun Also Rises – E. Hemingway – READ
  14. View From the Cheap Seats – N. Gaiman – READ (essays)
  15. The Deerslayer – James Fenimore Cooper – RE-READ – classic
  16. Like a House on Fire – C. Kennedy – READ (15 short stories)
  17. The Dispossessed – U. Le Guin – READ
  18. Women in Love – D.H. Lawrence – READ – classic
  19. Berthe Morisot  –  D. Bona – READ (french edition)
  20. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich – W. Shirer – READ
  21. Nation – T. Pratchett – READ

FINI !!

31
Dec

Goodbye….2017

Twitter: @burns_nancy

Challenges 2017: ( here are the links to all the books read)

  • Time to say goodbye to 2017 and look at the results:

 

Most looking forward to 2018 – #DealMeIn2018

  1. Jay host a refreshing challenge each year.
  2. It give me the opportunity to read short stories
  3. …and essays!
  4. I will be joining his challenge for sure!
  5. I will be making my  ‘to read list’ soon!

 

My favorite of the year – #AusReadingMonth @Bronabooks

  1. …here is the reason why:  ‘Wrap-up AusReadingMonth’

 

Most difficult: #HLOTRreadalong2107

  1. Read-a-long @Brona’s books
  2. I decided to leave my comfort zone and read all 4 of Tolkien’s books.
  3. Brona had to nudge me along at times…but I did finish the books!

 

Most fun –The New Yorker Magazine

  1. I tried reading the New Yorker Magazine the week it arrived!
  2. I failed miserably (read only 5 issues since June 2017).
  3. But is was the most fun….because I never knew what I would read!

 

Most intoxicating – Cocktails and Literature

  1. I stumbled upon National Daquiri Day this summer.
  2. After some investigation I found more links between
  3. …cocktails and writers and even WWI  weapons!

 

Most disappointing – Modern Library’s Best 100 Novels List

  1. I had high hopes for this challenge.
  2. Some of the choices
  3. …I doubted if they were worthy to be on the list!
  4. I read 20 books and enjoyed only…4    (20%)

 

Most surprising – Read Ireland challenge

  1. Again, I stumbled  into this challenge via
  2. …the History Book Club group on Goodreads.
  3. I throughly enjoyed Irish plays, non-ficton, fiction!
  4. No one can tell a story like an Irishman!

 

Most work – Nobel Reading Challenge

  1. I started this challenge 3 years ago.
  2. Every chance I had I searched for a new book for this list.
  3. Now, sadly, I just cannot find the enthusiasm I once felt.
  4. I ‘m afraid this challenge will be dropped in 2018.
  5. There are too many other genres ( poetry) I want to discover!

 

Here are my top 5 in 3 catagories:

Fiction:

  1. Cloudstreet – T. Winton
  2. The African Queen – C. S. Forester
  3. The Slow Natives  – T. Astley
  4. The Dry – J. Harper
  5. Bleak House – C. Dickens

Non-Fiction:

  1. Milligan, L. – Cardinal: The Rise and Fall of George Pell
  2. Franklin, R. – Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life
  3. Lamb, K. – Thea Astley: Inventing Her Own Weather
  4. White, R.C. – American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant
  5. Meade, M. – Dorothy Parker: What Fresh Hell Is This

French:

  1. Le pouvoir au féminin – Badinter, E.
  2. Passagère du Silence – Verdier, F.
  3. Ça ira (1), Fin de Louis – J. Pommerat (play)
  4. Dans la tête de Marine Le Pen – M. Eltchaninoff
  5. Le diable est dan les détails – L. Slimani
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