Books read:
- Girl, Interrupted - Susanna Kaysen
- Virgin Suicides – Jeffrey Eugenides
- Tomorrow, When the War Began – John Marsden
- You Better Not Cry – Augusten Burroughs
March Wrap-Up
Musing Mondays (March 29)
Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about multitasking.
Do you – or are you even able – to do other things while you read? Do you knit, hold a conversation, keep an eye on the TV? Anything?
PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Musing Mondays post, or share your opinion in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks.
Week before last I had a birthday present to knit up that – I’ll admit – I had left to late. Several people I talked to said they couldn’t imagine me having any problems, after all, I’d just knit while I read right?
I can’t quite manage this – I don’t have enough hands for the book and the needles and, well, it’s just not pretty (and I know, you’re going to suggest audio books, I’m just not entirely sold yet).
In fact, while I consider myself to be a fairly skilled multi-tasker. There isn’t actually a great deal I can do while reading – not beyond listening to a bit of music anyway.
Wordless Wednesday
And some words (yes I’m cheating): If you scroll through my blog you’ll notice that I’ve been a terrible blogger of late. I hope to shake this bug I’ve had and get caught up on the reviews.
In the meantime I’m going to bed with the book I haven’t finished for bookclub – see, I’ve been a bad reader too!
Teaser Tuesday (March 23)
Teaser Tuesday is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.
- Grab your current read.
- Let the book fall open to a random page.
- Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page.
- You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
"I have deceived even your very eyes: what your wisdoms could not discover, these shallow fools have brought to light, who in the night overheard me confessing to this man, how Don John your brother incensed me to slander the Lady Hero." (5.1)
Much Ado About Nothing – William Shakespeare
Musing Mondays (March 22)
Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about tbr books.
Where do you keep the books on the top of the tbr pile? Not the bunk of the mountain, but just the tip of the peak – the ‘almost up to’ books?
PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Musing Mondays post, or share your opinion in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks.
I did a little tidying this week and realised just how many books had migrated from my bookshelf to my bedroom. There were… well quiet a few. In doing this I sent some shuffling meekly back to the shelf and put the rest in their usual tbr spots.
The books I’m reading now plus one or two ‘next’ books sit on the shelf above my bed for easy reach – nothing worse than having to leave a nice warm bed to grab another book.
I also have another pile tucked up on the corner of my desk. I consider this to be my ‘priority tbr pile’ and is made up of library books, borrowed books etc.
What about you? Where do you keep your tbr books?
Musing Mondays (March 15)
Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about picture books.
Do you have a favourite picture book, either from your own childhood, or reading to you children?
PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Musing Mondays post, or share your opinion in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks.
One of the little girls I babysit, my cousins three year old daughter Kaitlyn, is a budding book worm. I walk in the door and she comes toddling out with books under her arms, wanting to be read to. I don’t mean that she comes out with one book, or even two – no, she brings out a pile. As such, I’ve been reading more picture books over the past six months than I can ever remember having read before.
My #1 favourite picture book is still Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are (was very excited to see the movie, and yes I did enjoy it). But it’s not my only favourite. I decided to go cover gathering…
Musing Mondays (March 7)
Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about dust jackets.
Do you prefer books with a dust jacket? What do you do with your dust jacket while reading? Leave it on or take it off? (Question courtesy of Kim from Page after Page)
PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Musing Mondays post, or share your opinion in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks.
I don’t actually have a great many books with dust jackets* – mostly because harcover books are just a little out of my price range. But when Kim mentioned dust jackets on her blog last week it got me thinking. I do like them in principle; it is, after all, a good idea to protect the book cover. But when it comes to my books they don’t really serve this purpose.
The whole time they’re on my shelf that dust jacket stays on, keeping them nice and cozy. But as soon as I take them down to read, that dust jacket comes straight off and stored somewhere safe till I’m done. After all, I wouldn’t want the jacket to get damaged! Somehow, I think this is defeating the purpose.
But what about you guys, how do dust jackets fare in your library?
*Okay, I just counted, I have 15, which I have to say, is more than I thought I did.
Anne of Green Gables Challenge
After talking about it last week, several people seemed interested in an Anne of Green Gables reread challenge, and so I set one one – always happy to have some good Anne company!
Option 3: The eight central books in the series:
- Anne of Green Gables
- Anne of Avonlea
- Anne of the Island
- Anne of Windy Poplars/Windy Willows
- Anne’s House of Dreams
- Anne of Ingleside
- Rainbow Valley
- Rilla of Ingleside
as well as any related material.
Literary Lusts: Friedrich Bhaer
Literary Lusts is a meme hosted by Elena over at With Extra Pulp, wherein we discuss any literary characters we may have had developed a crush on.
Sometimes – okay, ALL the time – I forget to post my responses to memes, especially when they don’t, quite handily, have the day in the title. This is why I’m doing the Literary Lust post today, instead of yesterday. This is my third post on this subject, and I’m a little concerned that I haven’t run out of people yet…
Friedrich Bhaer
from Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women
from Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women
I know he’s not a major character (not right away, at least) but think about it. He’s a well-learned, extraordinarily kind and gentle man. He’s wonderful with children, believes in honesty, and has an accent to boot. He not only puts up with Jo’s temperamental ways, but actually loves her all the more, and compliments her so well. At the risk of being pelted with tomatoes, I was never disappointed that Jo turned Laurie down – I knew she would find her Friedrich.
You’ve got to love a kindly literature-nerd*.
When it comes to movie adaptions of Little Women, there are of course several Friedrichs**, but my favourite will also be the version of my generation: Gabriel Byrne. Really, would you turn down this man:
* My love for Friedrich is in no way connected to my long-standing wish to be Jo. No. Never. Not at all.
** In looking for Professor Bhaer pictures I discovered that William Shatner and John de Lancie were in a production of Little Women together, as Friedrich Bhaer and Frank Vaughn respectively. This makes the nerd in me very happy … and very giggly.
Teaser Tuesday (March 2)
Teaser Tuesday is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.
- Grab your current read.
- Let the book fall open to a random page.
- Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page.
- You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
The seclusion room etiquette was, If you weren’t locked in, anybody could join you. A nurse could interrupt your yelling to try to find out why you were yelling, or some other crazy person could come in, and start yelling too. (147)
Girl, Interrupted – Susanna Kaysen
February Wrap-Up
I mentioned it earlier this week, but things have been a little busy round my neck of the woods – in fact, blogging wise, this month has been pretty much non-existent. I have, however, gotten a far bit of reading done (all in 5-minute, waiting room snatches), and am now being punished by a nice stack of unreviewed books. Must get onto that.
Books read:
- Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood – Rebecca Wells
- The Sandman: The Dream Hunters – Neil Gaiman and Yoshitaka Amano
- 13 Little Envelopes – Maureen Johnson
- Portrait Photography – Mark Cleghorn
- The Bermudez Triangle – Maureen Johnson
- Little Brother – Cory Doctorow
- 84 Charing Cross Road – Helene Hanff
- The Looking Glass Wars – Frank Beddor
Books not yet finished:
- Girl, Interrupted – Susanna Kaysen
Challenges completed:
- um. none.
Musing Monday (March 1)
Sorry for today’s question being up later than usual – I spent all yesterday freaking out about there being a tsunami morning and all today cursing the storms for knocking out my net. I guess my priorities were a little skewed.
I hope that anyone living in areas affected by the earthquake or resulting flooding is doing okay, and my thoughts are with them.
Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about a story format.
How do you feel about books written in a differing format – whether this be journals or letters (epistolary), verse novels, or any other form? Is this something you enjoy? Or do you prefer straight forward chapter prose.
PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Musing Mondays post, or share your opinion in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks.
I find that reading books with a different format – whether that be in verse, shorter chapters, letters, what have you – makes me more aware of what I’m reading. This can be both good and bad: good because I feel that I’m concentrating more on what I’m reading, but bad because I don’t feel absorbed into the book like I would with really good prose.
That having been said, I really enjoy this in a book. This question came up because I just finished reading Susanna Kaysen’s Girl, Interrupted. Though I’ve seen the movie several times, and knew the main character to be a writer, I’ve never picked up the book before. I expected it to be a journal, and was surprised by the short chapter, topic-like contents. This format have it such a beautiful focus, and I’ve been wondering if it would have been as effective if it were told another way.
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