VioletBramble's 75 for 2010

Hi everyone! I'm in for another year. The plan for 2010 is to read as much as possible off the TBR shelves. In 2011 I plan on reading the really large books I've been putting off because of their size. That will mean less books leaving the shelves in 2011 so I need to make space this year. Also, I plan on buying as few books as possible this year. So, all those great books I'll read about on all your threads will just have to be added to the wishlist instead of the TBR shelves. (Note: I make this same plan every year. I can never stick to the plan. I have no will power).

Hallo! Good goals all (and should be mine too - I also lack will power...)

...like your ticker by the way!

Welcome back!

Glad to see you back with us, VB!

I have similar goals for 2010 - more books going on to my wishlist instead of coming into my house!!

Yup, ditto message 6

Thanks for stopping by everyone. I actually have some free time at work this morning so I can catch up on threads. I'm sure I'll pay for that latter in the day. Off to star threads for the start of the year.

Just dropping in to say hello and good luck with your challenge!

De-lurking to say Hello to a fellow Buffy/Dr. Who fan! Happy Reading!

I had the same goals last year and failed miserably, especially as I follow more and more threads. I've decided against setting those goals for myself this year since I predict I shall once again be at the bottom of the class of goal setters.

very cute ticker, VB. Happy New Year and happy 2010 reading!

Happy New Year! Time to start on that TBR pile!

Yea! Yoga and reading - my 2 favorite things. Good luck this year.

(1)Rose: Poems by Li-Young Lee
(2) Behind My Eyes: Poems by Li-Young Lee
Poetry for January.
These were both short books - less than 100 pages - so I decided to read two books of poetry for Jan.
Li-Young Lee, of Chinese ancestry, was born in Indonesia. His father was a political prisoner in Indonesia. The family left Indonesia and eventually settled in the US. Lee's father became a Presbyterian minister. Lee attended the University of Pittsburgh.
These are simple, lovely, thoughtful poems about refugees, immigration, love, religion. Many of the poems are about Lees father. Here's a poem from Behind my Eyes:

My Clothes Lie Folded for the Journey

Dreamed some rain so I could sleep.
Dreamed the wind left-handed
so I could part it's mane and enter
the dance that carries the living, the dead, and the unborn
in one momentum through the trillion gates.

Dreamed a man and woman
in different attitudes of meeting and parting
so I could tell the time,
the periods of the sun,
and which face my heart showed,
and which it displayed to a hidden fold.

Dreamed the world an open book of traces
anyone could read who knew the language of traces
Dreamed the world is a book. And any page
you pause at finds you
where you breathe now,
and you can read the open
secret of who you are. As you read,
the other pages go on turning, falling
through the page before you, the sound of them the waves
of the waters you walk beside
in your other dreams of the world
as story,world as song, world
you dreamed you were not dreaming.

Dreamed my father reading out loud to me,
my mother sewing beside me, singing
a counting song,
so I wouldn't be afraid to turn
from known lights toward the ancestor of light.

That is a powerful poem. Thanks for posting it!

I'm attempting to add book covers here, but- no luck. My thread will have to continue to be image free. I have no idea what I'm doing.

Since I'm wasting message space I may as well add that I'm currently reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for my book club.

Violet, don't worry too much about covers here. several of us prefer less graphics because the extra download is hard for our internet systems to handle and makes the pages very slow....besides as long as the touchstone works, all I have go do is click on the book title and I can easily see not only the cover but all the pertinent info about the book.

Violet : Check out the thread on basic HTML that TadAD has kindly created that will help you with book cover and other tips.

http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.php?topic=80911

Oh, yes, having just moved from dial up to high speed I know how slow graphics can be to load. I was just trying to see if I could actually do it. I used Tads very clear instructions and still kept getting a little box with a red X.

I do not post any book covers, Kelly, so you are not alone :)

Hi Kelly! I look forward to following you reads.

I like scifi/fantasy and kidlit too. (And should probably meditate and do yoga too :)

Kelly, put a post in leaving the little red box so we can see the source code and try to figure out what's wrong.

Hi Stasia and Pam - thanks for visiting my thread.

Tad, I will try again Wednesday on one of the computers at work. I'm hoping that I'll be working with some of my younger co-workers who are more knowledgeable about computers. Thanks.

(3) The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Mystery, Book club for January
What can I say about this book? I think I'm one of the last people to read this book. The CEO of a large Swedish company hires a journalist (Blomkvist) to solve the mystery of what happend to his niece over 40 years ago. Blomkvist is joined in his investigation by Lisbeth Salander - the girl with the dragon tattoo - a young woman who works for a private investigator. Salander is also a ward of the government and a social outcast with violent tendencies and a mysterious past. I enjoyed the sections where the two investigated by looking through old photographs and newspapers.
I thought the book could have used a good editor. It was a little too long. Also, I had a hard time getting into the book. The economics of the international construction industry aren't that thrilling to me. The misogyny and sexual violence felt gratuitous in sections.

(4) Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey
Mystery
A man, Brat Farrar, is persuaded to impersonate Patrick Ashby. Farrar resembles Simon Ashby, twin brother of Patrick and the heir of Latchetts. Patrick Ashby commited suicide eight years previously, at the age of 13. Brat succeeds in making most of the Ashby family believe that he is Patrick, returned to England after running away. Once Brat becomes a part of the family he starts investigating what really happend to Patrick. Recommended.

Work remains insane. I notice from the home page that I'm about 4,000 posts behind already and it's only the 15th. I'm feeling overwhelmed. Vacation starts at 8pm on Wednesday. I can't wait.

I've edited the above post with descriptions of those books.

(5) Dealing With Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede
Young Adult, Fantasy
Cimorene is a princess who refuses to act like a proper princess. She's more interested in fencing and magic than in embroidery and etiquette. When her family tries to marry her to a prince against her wishes she takes the advice of a frog and runs away. She volunteers to become the princess of the dragon Kazul. She cleans and organizes Kazuls kitchen, library and treasure rooms. She discovers that some wizards have plans that break the rules set down in the agreement between the dragons and the Society of Wizards.
I loved this book. It was a fun read and I can't wait to read the rest of the series. Thanks to Marcia and Stasia for mentioning this book on their threads in 2009.

(6)Skellig by David Almond
Young Adult
Michael and his family have just moved into a new house. His infant sister is very ill and requires surgery. Michael finds a strange man existing in the dilapidated garage. Is he a bird-man? an angel? Michael and his friend Mina move him out of the garage and care for him. Recommened.

#26: I discovered by Wrede and Almond through LT. I think the Enchanted Forest Chronicles is very good for the most part (especially books 1 and 4) and Skellig was another I enjoyed very much.

>25 VioletBramble: Not the last. I'll be the winner of that prize (if I ever get to reading it).

I love, love, love the Enchanted Forest Chronicles... I read it years ago and last year persuaded my husband to read the series as well. He enjoyed it too, believe it or not!

I had the Enchanted Forest Chronicles in my hand at the bookstore, but opted for another fantasy novel instead. With all of the good reviews, I have put it on my wishlist!

I enjoyed Skellig as well.

I haven't read The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo either. I'm still undecided on whether I want to read it. I'll keep it in the back of my mind. Good comments, btw!

#27 Stasia- the 2nd and 3rd books are not as good? I'll keep that in mind. I won't be getting to them until March and April.

#28 Terri- oh good, I'm not the last. It's definitely worth reading.

#29 Faith- good to know. That gives me hope that my 14 year old niece might like them. I plan on passing them on to her. She once told me she doesn't like to read about anything that's not real - meaning fantasy. She's really into the Twilight books though.

#30 jayde - I hope you enjoy them when you do get to read them. Thanks for visiting my thread.

#31 profiler - It's not for everyone. The person in charge of book club sent out warnings about the graphic sexual violence before we started reading. Four of us showed up to discuss the book.

#32: I did not think that books 2 and 3 were as good as the first and fourth books in the series, but that is just me.

I agree with you completely about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - it is definitely not for everyone. I personally loved it, but I can see how a whole lot of people would not.

(7) The Witch's Guide to Cooking With Children: A Novel by Keith McGowan. Illustrated by Yoko Tanaka.
Fiction, Young Adult

A retelling of Hansel and Gretel, set in the 21st century. Sol and Connie Blink move to a new town. Their father and step mother picked this particular town because their research showed that it was the home of Faye Holaderry. Faye is the original witch from Hansel and Gretel. Yes, H&G failed to kill her. The world has grown around her and she has developed new, modern, means of finding children to eat. Mr Blink attempts to lose Sol and Connie in their new town. He doesn't know that prior to moving Sol took the time to print maps of their new town off the internet. Sol and Connie are intelligent, creative and resourceful. They discover who their new neighbor Faye Holaderry really is and they take her on in her own house.
This was a fun, quick read. I love that the book cover is the same red and white check print as the cookbook that my mother used when I was younger. (Betty Crocker? Good Housekeeping? - I can't remember) Recommended.

Good review, it's going on my list!

Sounds like good fun, it's going on my wishlist as well.

I agree with Roni - it does sound like good fun. Thanks for the review, Kelly!

I love the sound of The Witch's Guide to Cooking With Children - sounds very funny...

...and I keep adding Patricia C. Wrede books to my wishlist, but I've still yet to read any - thank you for yet another one! ;o) (this year, I shall find myself at least one...

I'm adding The Witch's Guide to my wishlist too - sounds great!

I've not read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo or even bought it and I'm quite a fan of Scandinavian crime fiction in translation. Maybe I will at some point but it's not calling me and there are rather a lot of books I actually want to read more.

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles has been one of my favourites for years. The first and second one were the ones I liked the best. As for Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I admit I was a bit disappointed with it, but overall liked it. I thought it didn't quite live up to the hype.

Dealing With Dragons was one of my favorites as a kid! I still go back and read it again on occasion.

Thanks for visiting my thread everyone. Despite the fact that I'm on vacation I haven't managed to keep up with threads, even my own. Here are the last 5 books I read:

(8) Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie
Fiction, Fantasy
Haroun is the only child of the storyteller Rashid Khalifa, aka the Ocean of Notions. When Rashids wife Soraya leaves him he loses the ability to tell stories. Haroun travels to the Ocean of Stories with a Water Genie to restore his fathers storytelling ability. Once there Haroun becomes involved in a battle and a plan to stop the posioning of the Ocean. The book is part fantasy, part humor and part allegory. Recommended. I first heard about this book on Tads 2009 thread. Thanks Tad.

(9)The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
SciFi
Ford Prefect, a contributor to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has been trapped on earth for the past 15 years. He becomes aware that the Earth is about to be demolished. He grabs his friend, Arthur Dent, a human, and they hitch a ride on a spaceship a nanosecond before the Earth is destroyed.
I know that many people love this book - and the entire series. It was a little too wacky for me. However; now that I've read the book, certain jokes and storylines in other books, tv shows and movies now make sense to me.

(10) When you Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Fiction, Children's Literature
Sixth grader Miranda lives in New York City with her mother. Her mother is practicing to be a contestant on The $20,00 Pyramid. Mysterious notes to Miranda start showing up - in her library book, coat pocket and in a bag of bread. The notes ask her to write a letter to the annonymous sender and make Miranda aware that one of her friends is in danger. Recommended.

These next two books I read after taking classes at The Open Center with the authors. The Open Center is a center for holistic learning and world culture here in NYC.

(11) The Art of Effortless Living Do Less, Let Go, and Discover Health, Emotional Well-Being and Happiness by Ingrid Bacci, PhD
I took a class in meditation and relaxation techniques with Dr Bacci. Numerous people in the class recommended her book. Normally I don't read self help books - actually I usually avoid them. This book is really good; informative, accessible and well written. The relaxation techniques are really effective. It's hard to describe what the book is about as it covers multiple topics. Essentially the aim is to change your idea of what it means to be successful from that of an outward perspective - postion, wealth, material things, to an inner perspective of success - emotional well being, calmness and fulfillment. You do this utilizing breathing exercises, meditation, visualizatiion and bodywork. Recommended.

(12) Sugar Shock! How Sweets and Simple Carbs Can Derail Your Life - And How You Can Get Back On Track by Connie Bennett
I took this class in hopes of cutting down my sugar intake and decreasing generalized inflammation (I have rheumatoid arthritis). The book covers every imaginable sugar related topic. She gives some tips for cutting down on sugars. Hopefully I'll be putting some of them into practice shortly.
I'm having some trouble separating the book from Ms Benneet herself. Ms Bennett is an annoying, walking info-mercial, who, in person, doesn't actually seem to know that much about her subject. Luckily, other people have written parts of this book.

What an interesting experience it must have been to take classes with these authors. As you many know When You Reach Me recently won the Newbery Medal! I really enjoyed this book.

I read Haroun and the Sea of Stories last year. It is very creative.

I loved both Haroun and When You Reach Me. I am glad to see that you enjoyed them, Kelly.

I have The Hitchhiker's Guide in line to read this year. I am not sure I am going to enjoy it much since I am not at all sure that the humor will appeal to me, but I am going to give it a go nonetheless.

>43 VioletBramble:: You're welcome, Kelly. :-D

Haroun and the Sea of Stories is going on my list. Thanks for the review!

VB, I'm very sad that you didn't enjoy The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy more as it's one of my favourites, but I can certainly see why it doesn't appeal to everyone :o)

I like the sound of When You Reach Me...

#48 flissp - I think I would have liked it better if I had read it when I was younger. I had more of a tolerance for wackily named places in books back in the day.

So, last night my computer died. It is toast. No idea if I'll have internet access back before the next time I work on Saturday. Ack! - I am already so far behind on threads - I'll never catch up.

Sorry to hear about the computer dying, Kelly. I would be lost without mine!

Do not worry about catching up on threads. Just jump in with both feet when you can and go from that point forward.

#49 Yes, I did read it first when I was 11 and it seemed so new and completely different to me at the time - at that point I'd read very little fantasy/sci-fi (beyond Diana Wynne Jones, of course!)

Sorry about the dead PC - I had a similar problem most of last year and I found it very hard to keep up without spending far to much time on LT at work at the end of the day!

OK, I've now got a new computer, much faster and appears to be working fine so far. I still have some software to download - I'm always leery of that. I planned on getting a new computer anyway, the other one was 7 years old. I had hoped to keep the old one; I had the DVD player set up for region 4 so I could watch my Australian DVDs. I'll have to come up with a new plan for that.

#50 Stasia - after two days I was already going through withdrawal. I didn't realize how much I relied on the computer.

#51 fliss- have you read other books in the series? I found the book somewhat lacking in world building, but if it gets better as the series moves on I would consider reading more.

Hi~
"The Witches Guide ..." sounds interesting! I'm always interested in good fairy tale retellings. One more for the TBR list.
I liked your comment at the beginning about making plans and having no willpower. One thing I love about this site is that it at least makes the planning part so much more fun. :) (And it gives me a little push in the willpower dept. too!)
S.

January Recap:
Books read: 12
Books off the TBR shelf : 10
Books bought: 5 (plus 2 books received as gifts. Also one of those 5 was for a class)
Fiction:8
Non- Fiction:2
Poetry: 2
Male author: 7
Female author: 5

(13)Blankets by Craig Thompson
Graphic novel, Memoir
Thompsons memoir of his childhood and adolescence - sharing a room with his little brother, being the target of bullies at school, his Christian fundamentalist upbringing, winter church camp, his obsessions with Jesus and his first girlfriend, and his decision to study art. The story and the artwork are beautiful. Thompson is one of my favorite illustrators.Recommended.

(14)Good-Bye Chunky Rice by Craig Thompson
Graphic novel
Chunky Rice, a turtle, is restless. He decides to head out to sea , looking for the place he belongs. He leaves behind his friend, a deer mouse, Dandel. Dandel rides her bike around town, collecting bottles from the trash. She sends messages in the bottles to Chunky Rice. There's also another storyline about the Sea Captain and his brother. The illustrations in this novel are more comic like, no where near as good as the illustrations in Blankets orCarnet de Voyage.

Congratulations on getting 10 books off your TBR shelf in January!

#52 Woo for your shiny new computer!

Regarding The Hitch-hiker's "trilogy", yep, I've read all five (I've not read Eoin Colfer's 6th sequal as I just can't bring myself to...). The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is almost word for word the same as the first original BBC radio series, but after that, the storyline starts to diverge. I like the next two in the series (The Restaurant at the End of the Universe and Life, the Universe and Everything) as much as the first, but, in my opinion, the last two books in the series (So Long and Thanks for all the Fish) and Mostly Harmless are nothing like as good - it felt like he was fed up with the series and just wanted to finish it up...

Hmmm, so... I think I'd say that if you didn't really get on with Hitchhiker's itself, you probably won't get on with the sequels as they're really just more of the same. What may be worth giving a go are his two Dirk Gently books - Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul (there's also the beginning of another one in Salmon of Doubt, but, very sadly, he died before it got anywhere...)

Thanks for the recommendations for my short story challenge!

And congrats on getting 10 TBRs of the shelf last month. Wow! =)

Loved "Tiger Mending". =)

Nice recap of your January and well done for all the tbr books consumed!

#56- fliss, the description of The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul sounds good, but none of the reviews on LT are that good. Maybe I'll put Adams books in the if I ever run across them pile instead of the wish list book.

#53 madhatter -I do love the planning. Every year I list what books I'll be reading each month for the year. Last year I actually read 50% of what I had planned. I'm shooting higher this year. I always start out doing well, but then, other peoples books start sounding better than the ones I have on the pile.
You're welcome for the short story recs. I'm so glad you loved Tiger Mending.

Hi Stasia and lunacat - thanks for visiting.

I have to second fliss on her recommendation of the 2 Dirk Gently books. They're both worth reading and I think, as funny as the Hitchhiker series, just not as long. ;-)

I forgot to mention when I listed books 13 and 14 that February is Graphic Novel month here on my thread.

(15) Radiator Days by Lucy Knisley
Graphic Novel, comics
This book starts where her previous book, French Milk, left off. Lucy returns from France for her final undergrad semester of art school in Chicago and continues to panic about her future in art. This book is part memoir/autobiography - covering art school, her summer job in a gourmet cheese shop, graduate school at The Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont and her worries about following up her successful first book. A third of the book is comprised of non-autobiographical comics. I did enjoy this book but preferred the design/set up of French Milk with it's large one panel pages full of activity, interspersed with photographs to the multiple panel comic book design used on the majority of pages in this book. Recommended.

(16) Stitches:A Memoir by David Small
Graphic Novel, Autobiography
When David Small was a young child his father, a radiologist, subjected him to multiple, frequent high dose radiographs of his head and neck in an attempt to cure recurrent sinus infections. At age 11 a lump is noted on Davids neck. His parents, believing the lump to be a cyst , and not wanting to spend the money, put off surgery. When he finally has surgery , over three years later, he wakes to find out that he is now mute. His thyroid gland was removed and vocal cords either removed or damaged. His parents never tell him he has cancer. Eventually he discovers he has cancer and starts to act out his anger against his parents. (None of this is spoilers - the book flap pretty much tells you the whole story) The illustrations are in muted shades of gray. I laughed out loud at the part where 6 year old David goes to the playground wearing a yellow towel on his head. David is obsessed with Alice in Wonderland and pretends he is Alice and the towel is his long blonde hair. (My sister used to run around with a yellow tea towel on her head, calling it her long, luxurious blonde hair). I noted in the About the Author section that David Small is married to Sarah Stewart and is the illustrator of her amazing children's picture book The Library. I highly recommend both Stitches and The Library.

(17) Mouse Guard : Volume 1: Fall 1152 by David Petersen
Graphic Novel, Series
In this series Petersen has envisioned an entire mouse civilization. In order to survive their many predators mice have built their cities far apart. Travel between cities is dangerous. The Mouse Guard is an elite group of mice that act as scouts, border patrol, escorts and body guards for those mice who must travel between the cities/territories. In this first book in the series there is a traitor among the Guard and the Mouse Guard heroes Lieam,Kenzie and Saxon, must find the traitor and save Gwendolyn, matriarch of the Guard. The story is imaginative and the illustrations are beautiful. I particularly liked the illustrations of the different mouse cities and their shops and businesses - the smith, the glass blower, the cartographer.
Recommended.

(18) Sailing Alone Around the Room:New and Selected Poems by Billy Collins
Poetry for February
Selected poems from four of Collins previous books, plus some new poetry. I enjoyed this collection of poetry better than the Collins collection that I read last year.(Picnic, Lightning) His poems are simple and often funny. Here's a favorite, originally from his collection The Art of Drowning:

On Turning Ten

The whole idea of it makes me feel
like I'm coming down with something,
something worse than any stomach ache
or the headaches I get from reading in bad light -
a kind of measles of the spirit,
a mumps of the psyche,
a disfiguring chicken pox of the soul.

You tell me it is too early to be looking back,
but that is because you have forgotten
the perfect simplicity of being one
and the beautiful complexity introduced by two.
But I can lie on my bed and remember every digit.
At four I was an Arabian wizard.
I could make myself invisible
by drinking a glass of milk a certain way.
At seven I was a soldier, at nine a prince.

But now I am mostly at the window
watching the late afternoon light.
Back then it never fell so solemnly
against the side of my tree house,
and my bicycle never leaned against the garage as it does today,
all the dark blue speed drained out of it.

This is the beginning of sadness, I say to myself,
as I walk through the universe in my sneakers.
It is time to say good-bye to my imaginary friends,
time to turn the first big number.

It seems only yesterday I used to believe
there was nothing under my skin but light.
If you cut me I would shine.
But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life,
I skin my knees. I bleed.

I have discovered graphic novels thanks to LT (I am reading a good one now myself), but unfortunately getting my hands on them is proving something of an uphill battle as my local library does not have any other than the Bone books by Jeff Smith. I will be jotting down your recommendations though, Kelly!

(19)Mouse Guard Winter 1152 by David Petersen
Graphic Novel
This second book in the series picks up shortly after the first book ends. Many of the mouse cities find themselves facing winter with limited supplies of foods and medicines stored away.Traitors against the Mouse Guard in the cities have been destroying foods and medicines for months prior to the rebellion. The Mouse Guard heroes head out into a blizzard for supplies.
This book has more details about how the mice live and we learn personal information about the three heroes. The illustrations in this second book are as beautiful as those in the first book. Many of the illustrations look like they could be locations from out of The Lord of the Rings.The illustrations of the village of Sprucetuck, inside an old spruce tree, are particularly beautiful. The abandoned underground weasel city of Darkheather resembles Moria.The Glossaries contain more ancillary materials: maps and information about trades and attire. Recommended.

(20) All Over Coffee by Paul Madonna
A collection of cartoons, originally published in the San Francisco Chronicle, published by City Lights Books. These mainly sepia toned ink wash drawings (few have color) are all images of San Francisco - neighborhoods, buildings, alleys, electrical wires, interiors, cafes and houses. Each drawing also has text that has some obvious or tenuous relationship to the image. On a few of the pages the text has no obvious connection to the image.
An example: The image of a kitchen, sunlight coming through a window. A refrigerator and stove take up most of the panel. The text:

Our kitchen floor was far from level
When Anne made pancakes the batter would seep to one side of the pan as it cooked
The result was wedge cakes: thick, gooey, half-cooked batter sloping to a thin, burnt cookie
Only a small center portion was edible,
but it didn't matter,
It was the only thing Anne could cook.

And I loved watching her there in the kitchen on Sundays,
the afternoon sun shining through her housedress.

These drawings are gorgeous. They make me want to visit San Francisco again.

(21) Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaptation by Ray Bradbury, Illustrations by Tim Hamilton
Graphic Novel
The graphic novelization of Bradbury's 1953 novel of a future where it's illegal to own books and the job of fireman is to burn books, not put out fires. In the introduction Bradbury discusses giving permission to add visual elements that will bring the story up to date (images of books not yet published in 1953). The adaptation is faithful to the book. The color palette throughout is black, shades of blue and grey, with flashes of color -- yellow and orange in the few panels that depict fire.Recommended.

(22) Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms by Fumiyo Kouno
Manga
Three interconnected stories of a family living in Hiroshima after the atomic bomb.The first story, Town of Evening Calm, takes place in 1955. It is the story of Minami who lives with her grandmother in the "atomic slum". Many of her neighbors are ill or slowly dying from the effects of radiation. Country of Cherry Blossoms part1 (1987) and part 2 (2004) tell the story of Nanami, who lives in Tokyo, and is the niece of Minami and the daughter of a hibakusha (survivor of the atomic bomb). These stories deal with the prejudices the second generation hibakusha have to face.
The characters often visit or walk past places of cultural or historical significance in Hiroshima. The illustrations are in black and white and are very detailed. Recommended.

(23) Doctor Who The Forgotten by Tony Lee and Pia Guerra
Graphic Novel
The tenth Doctor and Martha Jones find themselves trapped in a museum dedicated to the Doctor. The Doctor has lost his memories and is weakening. Using the clothing and favorite objects of all the previous incarnations of the Doctor, Martha must help the tenth Doctor remember his life (lives). Martha and the Doctor are not alone in the museum. There is a stranger in the shadows, watching them on CCTV, who is trying to force the Doctor to regenerate. All ten of the Doctors and many companions make appearances in this graphic novel. I don't know any pre-Tom Baker story lines so I have no idea how well the early Doctors are portrayed, but I thought that Doctors 4-10 were portrayed faithfully. The authors incorporate many story elements from series 3 and 4 of the current show. The events in the book take place after the tenth Doctor has brought Donna Noble home to her mother and grandfather at the end of series 4. The illustrations were good, very colorful. Recommended for Doctor Who fans.

(24) Will Eisner's New York: Life in the Big City: New York, The Building, City People Notebook, Invisible People by Will Eisner
Graphic Novel
A collection of four of Eisner's previous graphic novels.The Building is about a skyscraper and four people. The building was such a part of their lives that now they hang around the building: as ghosts. City People Notebook and New York capture stories and moments, images of New York (and other large cities) - neighborhoods, sounds, smells, objects (mailboxes, fire hydrants, etc).Invisible People contains three stories, all rather bleak, about what happens when people lose everything or everyone in an indifferent city.
The black and white illustrations are extremely detailed and capture the sights and sounds of New York City. Recommended.

(25) Nylon Road: a Graphic Memoir of Coming of Age in Iran by Parsua Bashi
Graphic Novel
Parsua Bashi's memoir of her childhood and young adulthood in Iran and her later emigration to Switzerland. The story is told by Bashi, living in Zurich, in flashbacks as she talks to herself at various ages.The Iran-Iraq war, the cultural revolution, women's (and human) rights in Iran, her years in art school, her marriage, divorce and the subsequent loss of her daughter are all discussed.
This book will obviously be compared with Persepolis. There is even a panel with Bashi shown reading that novel.The story itself was as good as Persepolis. I prefer the illustrations in Nylon Road; the style, page lay out and the muted tan and grey color palette are pleasing to the eye. Recommended.

Wow, what a great collection of graphic novels! I'm especially interested in Mouse Guard--they've shown up here and there in the Fables series by Bill Willingham, but I never realized they had novels in their own right. Definitely going to check those out!

(26) The professor's Daughter by Joann Sfar
Graphic Novel
Egyptologist Professor Bowell has the mummy of Imhotep IV at his home. Imhotep, dead for 3,000 years, is quite active, walking around and is in love with the Professor's daughter. There is an accidental murder. Imhotep's father - also dead but still alive - shows up, throws Queen Victoria in the Thames and causes all kinds of trouble. The book was funny but also ridiculous. Also, I'm not a big fan of Sfar's illustrations. If you're interested in this book I'd suggest getting it from the library. It's not worth buying the book - it took only 20 mins to read.

#68 - willowsmom - I didn't know that the Mouse Guard shows up in the Fables series. I always see them in the store and haven't read any of them. I'll have to look into those. Thanks.

Oh, it's an absolutely amazing series--hope you enjoy it! I am pretty sure that the first issue that the Mouse Guard appears in is Fables: Animal Farm, but they're pretty minor characters until later on in the series. But oh! Soooo good!

I tried to post this at home last night but LT was down. I went to the new Barnes & Noble store on 86th street the other day. It is gorgeous. Could not stop myself from buying 8 books I don't really need. Four of the books were graphic novels, including Fables, the Deluxe Edition Vol 1. Hopefully I can fit all the new graphic novels in this month. Depends on how fast I can read the Age of Bronze books.

(27)Pride of Baghdad by Brian K Vaughn
Graphic Novel
In April 2003 during the American bombing of Iraq four lions escape from the Baghdad Zoo. An older female lion, Safa, was once free and does not have fond memories of living in the wild. She wants to remain at the zoo. A younger female, Noor, who was already planning an escape with the help of the antelopes and the monkeys, is exhilarated to be free. Her son, Ali, is confused. An older male lion, Zill, just goes along with the group. The four wander around Baghdad looking for food. A lot of depressing events happen. Since it's based on a true story it's not a spoiler to say that the four are eventually shot and killed by American soldiers.
The illustrations are very nice, a little bit like comics.Recommended.
Thanks to stephmo for mentioning this book on her graphic novel thread.

(28) The Unwritten: Vol 1: Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity by Mike Carey
Graphic Novel
Tom Taylor is the son of Wilson Taylor, author of the Tommy Taylor series of books. The Tommy Taylor books are a cross between the Harry Potter books and the Narnia books. In the world of this book Tommy Taylor is an even bigger phenomenon than Harry Potter. Tom was abandoned by Wilson when he was young and now makes his living at cons, readings and book signings. At one con a young woman, Elizabeth Hexan, asks a question that starts a scandal -- is Tom really the son of Wilson Taylor or a boy he "adopted" to play the part of Tommy.At the same time parts of The Tommy Taylor books start to come to life in the real world. There is also a conspiracy involving Rudyard Kipling, Oscar Wilde and MarkTwain :actually,the entire history of literature may be involved.
I really enjoyed this book and I'm waiting impatiently for the next volume. Recommended.

I love bookstores! I could just stand there and drool all day, lol. Actually, I stand in my library and do the same thing.

Oh *drool* Fables Deluxe edition...will be interested to see what you thought of Unwritten: Vol. 1. I loved it, myself.

Finally posted descriptions of the books in message #72. I took a little reading break for the last couple of days.

#73 Stasia - you must have a nice library. My local branch has nothing. Well, almost nothing -- they do have the Arkangel Complete Shakespeare audiobook series. I have to request everything that I want online.

#74 willowsmom -- I really liked Unwritten. I may give up on the Age of Bronze books and start Fables. It looks so much more interesting.

#75: Actually, I was talking about my personal library, not my local library :)

I've been basically off LT for most of February, so doing a super-fast catch-up. Just wanted to say I also did not love Dragon Tattoo, mainly for the editing and sexual violence reasons you mention. It just felt totally unnecessary, like the male author had to bring a strong female character back down to ground level. And the hyper-detailed descriptions of material objects annoyed me. I think the book could have been about 200 pages shorter and much better for it. Ah well - that's two more books I don't have to read!!

#76 Stasia Ha! and oops. You must have some home library. Mine - aka the bookshelves - just makes me feel guilty. I sometimes feel like every unread book is saying " But why aren't you reading me right now?"

#77 Hey Flossie! Nice to see you. I had almost forgotten about all the name brand computers and software mentioned annoyingly throughout the book. I'm on the fence about reading the next two books. If I do read them it won't be any time soon.

(29) Age of Bronze Volume 1: A Thousand Ships by Eric Shanower
(30) Age of Bronze Volume 2: Sacrifice by Eric Shanower
(31) Age of Bronze Volume 3: Betrayal Part 1 by Eric Shanower
Graphic Novels, History

These are the first three in a planned series of seven graphic novels that tell the story of the Trojan War.
In the first book Paris discovers he is the son of King Priam. The King sends Paris to Sparta to rescue his aunt. In stead of rescuing his aunt, Paris seduces Helen, the wife of Menelaus of Sparta. Helen goes with Paris to Sidon. Menelaus has his brother, Agamemnon, High King of the Achaeans gather all the KIngs of the Achaeans - who have previously sworn an oath devised by Odysseus to protect Helen - to go to war against Troy. The Priestess Thetis hides her son Achilles, disguised as a girl, in an attempt to prevent his death at Troy - which she has forseen. Odysseus sees through Achilles disguise and tricks him into revealing himself. A thousand ships, under the command of Agamemnon, sit in the Bay of Aulis, ready to sail to Troy.
In the second volume Paris and Helen finally reach Troy. The Achaean fleet mistakenly attacks Mysia, believing that they have landed in Troy. When the Achaean Army is once again gathered they are unable to sail because of strong unrelenting winds.The priest Kalchus fortells that the Goddess Artemus requests the sacrifice of Agamemnon's first born daughter Iphigemia to stop the winds.
In the third volume the Achaean Army sends an embassy to King Priam in an attempt to avert war.The embassy, thought to be under the protection of King Priam, is attacked by a mob demanding the death of Menelaus. They escape and tell their story to the army amassed at the Bay of Aulis. At dawn the ships sail for Troy.

The story is well told and, once I got into it, a quick read. The black and white illustrations are somewhat boring. Also, many of the characters are hard to tell apart because, well, most of them look so much alike.

(32) Fables Deluxe Edition Vol 1 by Bill Willingham
Graphic Novel

This volume contains the collections Fables:Legends in Exile and Fables:Animal Farm.
Characters from fables and fairy tales are forced to live in this world after losing their lands. Those that look human live in the Woodland Luxury Apartments in NYC which contains the Underground Fable Government. Snow White is the deputy Mayor. The first collection involves a mystery concerning her sister Rose Red that is investigated by Bigby Wolf. The second collection involves those characters that are unable to take human form. These characters live on a secret, protected farm in upstate New York. Those characters who feel like prisoners on the farm start a revolution, lead by Goldilocks.
I really enjoyed this book and I'll definitely be looking for more volumes in the series. I liked the stories and the concept of characters from fables living in this world. The artwork is very good and the color palette is vivid. Recommended.
Thanks to willowsmom for the recommendation.

(33) Kabuki The Alchemy by David Mack
Graphic Novel
I'll edit with a description tomorrow.

#80: Several people in the group have mentioned the Willingham graphic novels. I am definitely going to have to hunt for them - unfortunately, my local library has none of them.

Hallo VB - just checking in as I haven't been by in a while!

#81 Stasia - hopefully your library will get them at some point.

#82 Hi Fliss! Thanks for stopping by. I loved your holiday pics.

Oh boy, I am so far behind on threads here at LT. Even just my starred threads. Yesterday, for the first time in 3 1/2 months we actually had empty beds in pediatrics. This winter has been busier than any I can remember. I'm so grateful that H1N1 was not as bad as expected. I'm exhausted. I have 6 days off after next Wednesday. I can't wait. I'll be going to New Jersey to visit my mom and sisters and hopefully I can catch up on threads then.

(33) Kabuki The Alchemy by David Mack
Graphic Novel

I found this book while looking through the graphic novel section at B&N. I had never heard of this book but picked it up and flipped through it and immediately was drawn to the mixed media collage look of the graphics. After reading this I discovered that it's the 7th (and last?) in a series of Kabuki graphic novels. It didn't matter that I hadn't read the previous six - there is some history of the primary character, Kabuki, in this book.
Kabuki has left Japan for the US. In Japan Kabuki is famous as a member of the Noh media. Part television news personality, part assassin/secret police. (as best I could make out- it's somewhat cryptic) In the US she wants to create a new life and be creative.
This book is about creativity; our resistance to being creative and the things that we allow to distract us from being fully creative. How manufactured, televised culture has taken the place of organically occurring culture.
I loved this book. It's my favorite book of the year so far. Now I have to find the previous six, some of which are out of print. Highly recommended.

Recap for February:

Books read in February: 21
Books read in 2010: 33
Books off the TBR Shelf 2010: 22
Books bought in 2010:19
Fiction: 8
NonFiction: 2
Poetry: 3
Graphic Novels: 20
Male author:25
Female author: 8

This ends my month of graphic novels. While it was nice to not have to get into a heavy book this month when I didn't really have time to read it did get a little boring after a while.

(34) Searching for Dragons by Patricia Wrede
Fantasy, Young adult
The second book in the Enchanted Forest series. Kazul, King of the Dragons, is missing and Princess Cimorene must find her. This book was as fun as the first in the series.

(35) It Is Daylight by Arda Collins
Poetry
I did not like this poetry. The reviews on the back of the book call these poems savage, desolate, brutally ironic . I just found them strange -- and not in a good way. Most of the poems didn't make any sense, the imagery was not evocative for me, and they didn't hold my interest. Not recommended.

#85: I enjoyed The Enchanted Forest Chronicles. My favorites were books one and four. I hope you get to read the rest of them, Kelly.

I am not at all interested in the Collins book. Just as well from the sounds of it.

#83 Thank you! ...and I'm way behind too - I think it's a common theme in the 75 group this year!...

#84 Sounds great - and is now on the wishlist!

84: I've read most of the Kabuki series, and I'm glad that you loved the one you found. They are really worth it if you find them - I didn't know they are out of print now - they are so visually stunning and the story is pretty unique as well!

#86 Hi Stasia - I'll be reading the rest of The Enchanted Forest Chronicles in the upcoming months. Avoiding the Collins book is a good idea. I actually plan on avoiding all poetry by all the Collins' from now on.

#87 Hi fliss! I have noticed others saying how far behind they are on threads. There are so many more challenge members this year.

#88 Hi Cauterize. Kabuki Circle of Blood is the only one out of print. Today I found #s 4, 5 and 6 at Forbidden Planet. Amazon has #s 2 and 3. A comic book shop in my work neighborhood had two sections from Circle of Blood so I bought those, plus some of the Alchemy Reflections art process sketchbooks. I agree - the stunning visuals are what grabbed my attention but it was the story that I really loved. My problem now - do I try to squeeze these into my planned reading for this year or will I be able to wait until next year.

(36) Start Where You Are; A Guide to Compassionate Living by Pema Chodron
NonFiction, Buddhist, Meditation
A guide to learning to be more compassionate toward others and yourself. Chodron utilizes the fifty nine slogans of lojong teaching and tonglon meditation. The book is really well written and she uses accessible examples to illustrate each slogan. However;the method seemed a little complicated and way beyond where I am at this point in learning meditation. I'll put this book back on the shelf for future reference and continue with uncomplicated mindful meditation.

I agree, it is more difficult to keep up with the threads this year. Our group is growing at a rapid rate. I'm not sure why, but it is good to know that we are popular. I simply cannot read all the threads and try not to get frustrated.

Hi Linda! I've decided to just read my starred threads for now and catch up on the other threads later. I'm behind on the starred threads though.
Yesterday at work I was discussing books with one of the patients. She had brought all 5 of the books that she's currently reading to the hospital. I ended up recommending LT and the challenge threads to her and her mother. Later I thought - if they both join, that's two more threads I'll be behind on.

(37) The 13 Clocks by James Thurber
Children's Literature, New York Book Review Children's Collection.
A cute fairy tale involving a prince who wants to win the hand of the princess and so must find a load of jewels and restart 13 frozen clocks in 44 hours.
The best title in the New York Book Review Children's Collection so far.

(38) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Fiction, Letters
A writer begins a correspondence with members of a Guernsey book club. Recommended.

#93: I have The 13 Clocks in the BlackHole. I need to get to it soon.

I loved Guernsey, so I am happy to see it has found another fan.

I loved The 13 Clocks VB - glad you enjoyed it too. Stasia, I definitely recommend bumping it out of the Black Hole - it's only little ;o)

@89: That's good that you were able to find more of the Kabuki books. I usually see them at comic book stores, but often they don't have the whole series. Kabuki: Scarab, from what I remember, is the only one that isn't done in the watercolour painting style, but more of a traditional comic.

>93 VioletBramble:

Second recommendation of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society I've seen here this week. Now I really need to get past the title and give it a try.

#94 Stasia - I agree with fliss- The 13 Clocks is really tiny and shouldn't take you long to read. Bump it out of the BlackHole.
#95 Hi fliss!
#96 Cauterize - I finally have all 7 Kabuki books in my possession. Circle of Blood , Masks of the Noh and Scarab are all in traditional comic style, and in black and white. Now I just have to squeeze them into this years reading.
#97 Hi madhatter. The bad title is explained in the book. Don't let the title stop you from reading the book -- which is very good.

Time to catch up. I did not plan on being away from here for so long. March seemed like it was going to be a better month than the four preceding months. It started out pretty good and then .. wham. One of my co-workers was savagely beaten and has a long period of recovery ahead of her. The man was caught and will most likely be charged with attempted murder. Everyone at work was left stunned by this random brutality. Ten days after this incident, a patient who has lived on our unit for 7 1/2 years - since he was 3 months old - died suddenly. I'm close to his entire family. This put me in a general funk, which led to a book funk. I've been feeling better the last couple of days.

Last book for March:
39) The Weed That Strings The Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley
A Flavia DeLuce Mystery
I enjoyed this second book in the series. There were not as many descriptive paragraphs about the lovely English countryside in this book. Also, I actually forgot the identity of the murderer. I had to re-read the last two chapters.

Recap for March:
Books read in March: 6
Books read in 2010: 39
Books off the TBR Shelf: 26
Books bought in 2010: 50 (31 in March. What? -- I was in a funk)
Fiction: 12
NonFiction: 3
Poetry: 4
Graphic Novels: 20
Male authors: 27
Female authors: 12

40) The Four Story Mistake by Elizabeth Enright
Childrens Literature
Thanks to Linda for mentioning this book on her thread. It was just what I needed to help get me out of this funk. A fun, leisurely read.

41) Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon
A Guido Brunetti Mystery
The first book in the series. Set in Venice. I'd definitely read more books in this series - even though I guessed who did it very early on (and that never happens to me).
I know I first read about this book on someone's 2009 challenge thread but I can't find it in my wish list notebook. So, thank you to anyone who read this book last year.

42) Dearest Creature by Amy Gerstlet
Poetry
I enjoyed these imaginative, fun poems. Recommended. Here's an example:

Advice from a Caterpillar

Chew your way into a new world.
Munch leaves. Molt. Rest. Molt
again. Self reinvention is everything.
Spin many nests. Cultivate stinging
bristles. Don't get sentimental
about your discarded skins. Grow
quickly. Develop a yen for nettles.
Alternate crumbling and climbing. Rely
on your antennae. Sequester poisons
in your body for use at a later date.
When threatened, emit foul odors
in self-defense. Behave cryptically
to confuse predators: change colors, spit,
or feign death. If all else fails, taste terrible.

43) Lord Sunday by Garth Nix
7th book in The Keys to the Kingdom series, Young adult
A fairly good ending to the series. I wasn't expecting Lord Sunday to be the least scary and the most ineffectual Trustee of the Will. No big surprises here.

44) Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall by Bill Willingham
Graphic novel
Snow White is held captive by a sultan. To save herself she tells the sultan a new story -- each about the history of the Fables Characters -- for 1001 nights. These stories fill in some of the missing history for some of the characters.
Some of my favorite illustrators do the artwork for this book- Charles Vess and Derek Kirk Kim. I really liked the art of James Jean. I will have to look for more of his work.

#98: Kelly, I am sorry to hear about your co-worker and the death of the child whose family you are close to. Sounds like you have had a rough go of it.

As far as The 13 Clocks goes, I have it home from the library now and will be reading it in the upcoming weeks. I enjoy Thurber, but this will be a new one for me.

#99: I just recently read The Four Story Mistake too and loved it. Just a nice, comfortable kids book.

I have read the first book in the Donna Leon series and keep meaning to get to the rest of them. Maybe this summer I finally will.

I have the first book in the Keys to the Kingdom series home from the library and am hoping I enjoy that series as much as everyone else here in the group has.

I am slowly making my way through the Willingham Fables series. I have read the first two, but since my local library does not carry them, I have to buy them one at a time. It may be a bit before I get to book 3.

Glad to see you back and posting again!

Thanks Stasia. I'm feeling better, and more social, these days. Also, last year, you suggested this next book, so, thank you for that as well.

45) The Joys of Yiddish by Leo Rosten
The subtitle of this book is : A relaxed lexicon of Yiddish, Hebrew and Yinglish words often encountered in English, plus dozens that ought to be, with serendipitous excursions into Jewish humor, habits, holidays, religion, ceremonies, folklore, and cuisine: the whole generously garnished with stories, anecdotes, epigrams, Talmudic quotations, folk sayings and jokes- from the days of the Bible to those of the beatnik.
I think that subtitle just about covers it. The copy I read was an original 1968 library copy. The copies you can buy today are edited by Rosten's children to be more PC.
Very funny and informative. I always thought zaftig was a German word.

#101: I am glad you enjoyed that one! I read Rosten's The Education of Hyman Kaplan recently and thoroughly enjoyed it too, so I will recommend that one to you as well.

#102 Thanks Stasia, I've added that to the wish list.

46) The Frozen Thames by Helen Humphreys
Forty very short stories, each about a time when the Thames froze. The late 1600s in particular appears to have been a very bad time to live in London. The illustrations are amazing. Recommended.

47) The Balloonists by Eula Biss
Prose poems
This was one of two books recommended to me by a co-worker: both of which were written by people she knows. She went to University with Eula Biss. This is Biss' first book.
These, often short (1-4 lines) prose poems are about Biss' parents, their divorce, and breaking away from your family of origin to make your own life. Some are remembered conversations. Some just observations. Example:

I grew up by the Hudson. The river that flows both ways. Where I lived it only breathed a little bit with the tides. When I first came to New York and looked out the window and saw the river flowing the wrong way, I checked a map, then a compass, and then I sat by the window feeling scared.

I'm not usually a fan of prose poems, but, once I figured out the direction this collection was headed, I enjoyed this book.

48) The Beasts of Clawstone Castle By Eva Ibbotson
Children's Literature, Audiobook
Madlyn and Rollo have to spend the summer at Clawstone Castle in Scotland while their parents are in America. Clawstone Castle is owned by their Uncle George. Although Uncle George has the only herd of all-white cattle in the UK: Clawstone is not making enough money to survive. The kids invite a bunch of ghosts over to haunt the castle. They sell Haunted Castle Tour tickets to tourists. Saving Clawstone also means dealing with their jealous neighbors in the castle next door. There is also a greedy doctor and veterinarian who are performing experiments on animals - and the all-white cattle are just what they've been looking for.
This audiobook is read by David Tennant. In his very lovely Scottish accent; and many other accents as well. I will admit -- this is why I bought the book.

I remember reading some children's stories about Frost Fairs and really loving the idea.

#103: Adding The Beasts of Clawstone Castle to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation, Kelly.

You've been reading some good ones. I've added The Frozen Thames and Dearest Creature to my list. Loved the poem!

I'm glad you liked The Frozen Thames. It was one of my top reads last year. Like you, I loved the illustrations. Have you read any of her other books? I also liked Wild Dogs

#98 Hi back VB! Catching up, after being absent a while:

I'm sorry you and the people you know have had such a rough time of it lately - sounds horrendous. Glad you're feeling better though.

#99 Enjoyed the caterpillar poem, although I can't forgive them for munching through all my broad beans at the moment!

#103 "This audiobook is read by David Tennant. In his very lovely Scottish accent; and many other accents as well. I will admit -- this is why I bought the book." I may have to too now - I agree, I love his accent...

#104 elkiedee- I think Frost Fairs sound like fun. I'd want to make sure the ice was really frozen before I'd walk on the Thames though.

#105 Stasia - I hope you enjoy the book.

#106 mstrust - Thanks. Both those books are great. I hope you enjoy them.

#107 Thanks Linda, I've added Wild Dogs to the list. It looks interesting.

#108 Hi fliss! Thanks, I'm definitely better now. Glad to see that your parents both made it back to England safely. Too bad about the broad beans though.
If you like the Tennant accent you will like this audiobook. I wasn't able to find any of the Dragon books he reads so I went with this.
Speaking of Tennant, we in the US finally got to see his Hamlet. It aired on Wednesday night. I didn't know it was a modernization. I wasn't expecting Hamlet in jeans and a tee shirt.

I'm going to try to quickly finish the April books. Then I've got to go to bed - so I can get up at 5 to go to work.

49) The Wonderful O by James Thurber
Children''s Literature. The New York Review Children's Collection
Some pirates go to an island looking for jewels. The head pirate bans the use of all words with the letter O in them. (He hates the letter O because his mother once got stuck in a porthole). There is a lot of word play in this book as the islanders try to think of replacement words without Os.

50) Calling on Dragons by Patricia Wrede
Fantasy, Children's Literature
The third book in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles. It started good and then became a little boring. Not as good as the first two books in the series.

51) The Everything Paganism Book: Discover the Rituals, Traditions, and Festivals of this Ancient Religion by Selene Silverwind
NonFiction
Basically an overview of a number of pagan religions. Topics discussed: paganism, neo-paganism, Wicca, Asatruar, Druidic beliefs, Vodoun, Santeria, Shamanism. For some of the religions their practices, tools, holidays, celebrations and ethics are detailed.

52) Crafternoon by Maura Madden
NonFiction, Hobbies
Maura Madden occasionally does crafternoons at the New York Public Library.Dozens of strangers decoupaging or making valentines together. The idea behind this book came from her own monthly crafternoons with family and friends. This book gives you ideas about setting up your own craft group. The book is divided into months. Each month has 1-3 crafts with instructions. These are very basic crafts, easily done by someone without crafting skills. (except the knitting chapter) Recipes for munchies are included. So, basically, this book gives you an excuse to get together with friends and family, eat and learn a craft skill. I'm passing this on to my sister, who is way more artsy crafty than I am. ( but I'm photocopying the recipes first -- they look good)

53) Body Learning: An Introduction to the Alexander Technique by MIchael J Gelb
NonFiction
The class I'm taking this month is Meditation and the Alexander Technique. The Alexander Tech is a type of therapy/body work that tries to treat or prevent certain disorders ( headache, depression, tension, neck and back pain) through postural changes. This book is an excellent introduction to AT.

Usually I read one book of poetry a month. Because April was poetry month I read a couple more:

54) What The Living Do by Marie Howe
Poems about her childhood memories, physical (sexual?) abuse , and her brothers death from AIDS. Highly recommended Here's one:

The Copper Beech

Immense, entirely itself,
it wore the yard like a dress,
with limbs low enough for me to enter it
and climb the crooked ladder to where
I could lean against the trunk and practice being alone.

One day, I heard the sound before I saw it, rain fell
darkening the sidewalk.
Sitting close to the center, not very high in the branches,
I heard it hitting the high leaves, and I was happy.

watching it happen without it happening to me.

55) The Man With Night Sweats by Thom Gunn
This collection is mainly poems about drug use and living with and dying from AIDS. Example:

The Reassurance

About ten days or so
After we saw you dead
You came back in a dream.
I'm all right now you said.

And it was you, although
You were fleshed out again:
You hugged us all round then,
And gave your welcoming beam.

How like you to be so kind,
Seeking to reassure.
And, yes, how like my mind
To make itself secure.

#110: I really enjoy the Thurber books and The Wonderful O is no exception. I hope you liked it.

Of The Enchanted Forest Chronicle books, I liked the first and fourth ones the best. I think the third was, for me at least, the weakest. I will be interested in seeing what you think of book 4 when you get to it, Kelly.

I hope you get some rest!

56) The Mind- Body Problem: Poems by Katha Pollitt
These poems are brilliant. I enjoyed the whole collection. It was hard to pick a representative poem.

What I Understood

When I was a child I understood everything
about, for example, futility. Standing for hours
on the hot asphalt outfield, trudging for balls
I'd ask myself, how many times will I have to perform
this pointless task, and all the others? I knew
about snobbery, too, and cruelty - for children
are snobbish and cruel- and loneliness; in restaurants
the dignity and shame of solitary diners
disabled me, and when my grandmother
screamed at me, "Someday you'll know what it's like!"
I knew she was right, the way I knew
about the single rooms my teachers went home to,
the pictures on the dresser, the hoard of chocolates,
and that there was no God, and that I would die.
All this I understood, no one needed to tell me.
the only thing I didn't understand
was how in a world whose predominant characteristics
are futility, cruelty,loneliness, disappointment
people are saved every day
by a sparrow,a foghorn, a grassblade, a tablecloth.
This year I'll be
thirty-nine, and I still don't understand it.

Recap for April:

Books read in April : 17
Books read in 2010: 56
Books off the Shelf 2010: 32
Books bought in 2010: 62
Books borrowed from the Library: 3
Fiction: 19
NonFiction: 7
Poetry: 8
Graphic novel: 21
Male author: 33
Female author: 23

off to bed...

57) Talking to Dragons by Patricia Wrede
Children's Literature
Fourth book in the Enchanted Forest series. One day Queen Cimorene sends her son, Daystar, out into the Enchanted Forest on a quest. She tells him nothing, but hands him a sword and sends him on his way.
This book was a lot of fun -- as good as the first book in the series.

58) Cold Earth by Sarah Moss
Fiction
Thanks to Rachael/Flossie T, who, last year, sent me a list of pandemic books. This book was on the list. Between the book description and her wonderful review on Belletrista, I just had to read this book.
A team of six archeologists (well, some are just graduate students, one of English literature) are in Greenland, digging at a viking settlement for the summer. Meanwhile, an epidemic is spreading around the rest of the world. The news from home gets slowly worse. They lose internet and phone communication with the outside world. They face the fear that they may be stranded in Greenland, without supplies, for the winter. Another fear is that they may not be as alone as they believe that they are. Each section of the book is a letter from one of the characters to loved ones at home.
Highly recommended.

Hi there, poetry-wise, have you read Pattiann Rogers? (I'm sure you have if you are from Nth America, and are into poetry) I have only read one poem of hers, about toads mating I think, and found it curiously lovely. Is she very well known in the US?

#115: I already have Cold Earth in the BlackHole. Maybe someday my local library will get a copy.

#109 Hallo again! Thank you and yes to the broad beans. They still seem to be growing though, so...

The RSC/David Tennant/Patrick Stewart was very good though, wasn't it? We thought that the Cordelia and Polonius were particularly good. And Patrick Stewart. And David Tennant. I tried hard to get tickets to see it properly at the time as I've never seen Hamlet done well on stage. Unfortunately, it sold out incredibly quickly (the Dr Who thing I suppose), so I was very pleased to see it was filmed when it came on at Christmas.

I actually prefer it when the plays are updated a bit - it always seems a bit stolid and un-thought about when productions stick to traditional costumes and staging. In this case, I thought that the CCTV cameras were a particularly good touch - it gave Hamlet something to give his soliloquies to and an extra level to all the watching. Also the scene with the broken mirror. You could tell that a lot of thought had gone in to it.

#110 Re the Alexander Technique, do you find it works well for you?

#110, 112 & 115 I'm looking forward to Patricia Wrede's dragons book - I just received the first one through Bookmooch the other day...

#113 What a sad poem! But very beautiful too...

#115 Cold Earth sounds like my kind of thing - onto the list it goes!

#116 Hi Ireadthereforeiam, thanks for visiting my thread. I have never heard of Pattianne Rogers. I looked her up here at LT and at Amazon. There are only 1 or 2 reviews of her work at each place so I can't tell if I might like her poetry. I'll look for her the next time I'm in the poetry section. That's the way I choose most of the poetry I read - just looking through books in the store.

#117 Hi Stasia. I think Cold Earth may be hard to find in the States. I checked numerous stores here in NYC the week it was released in the US and no one had ordered any store copies. I had to get B&N to order it for me. I don't plan on re-reading or keeping the book so if you're interested just PM me and I'll send the book to you.

#118 Hi fliss. I thought the entire cast of Hamlet did a great job. I liked the update - I think it was just the jeans and tee shirt that really threw me off. I was fine with the rest of the costumes and the CCTV was innovative. I heard the stage production had sold old quickly. It was probably a combination of the Doctor Who and Star Trek fan boys and girls.
Re the Alexander Technique - I've only been practicing for 5-6 weeks. I start the second part of the class tomorrow night. It takes months, even years, for it to "click' and become natural. So far I've only done floor and chair work, plus meditating in correct posture. The real break throughs happen once you start table work - where the instructor moves you into positions and through certain motions and repressed memories surface, memories that caused you to hold tension in various muscle groups and then you're able to finally release that tension. So far I'm working on kinesthesia. I still have trouble noticing when I'm tensing my muscles and difficulty keeping my muscles relaxed when I'm not actively trying to relax. I hold my upper body too stiffly. My instructor says this is always a problem for people who do yoga. However, I've only been doing yoga for a year and I've had upper body stiffness for decades. Also, I wake up several times a night worried that my cervical spine is not in correct alignment while I'm sleeping. I blame this on the late hour of the class (8-10PM) The two times I actually managed to reach the "floaty head" state that is the goal was very nice. (think Alice in Wonderland in the illustrations with the large head and little body)
Enjoy the Wrede books. Stasia is right, the first and fourth books are the best.

59) Cooking With Fernet Branca by James Hamilton-Patterson
Fiction
Gerald, a biography writer from England, buys a house on a remote hilltop in Italy. He hopes the quiet environment will benefit his writing. He finds out, too late, that the other house on the hillside is occupied. His neighbor, Marta, is the daughter of the head of a Voynovian crime family. (Voynovia being a fictional former Soviet bloc country) Marta is a composer of movie soundtracks. She worries that the movie she's currently scoring may actually be soft-core porn. Gerald's habit of loudly singing classical and opera songs while he works around the house and cooks his own invented recipes (Mussels in chocolate, Otter with lobster sauce, fried mice) actually inspires Marta.
The story alternates between Gerald's and Marta's points of view, so the reader gets both sides of the story. The misunderstandings and mis-judgements between Gerry and Marta, and the disgusting recipes, make this book very funny. Also,it was a quick, easy read. Recommended.

60) The Poisons of Caux: The Hollow Bettle (Book One) by Susannah Appelbaum
Children's Literature, Fiction, Fantasy, Plants & Medicine, Series
After the poisoning of his daughter, King Verdigris of Caux turned his back on his kingdom and hasn't been seen since. This has left Caux at the mercy of King and Queen Nightshade ( the Deadly Nightshades). Caux used to be a country of apotheopaths who used herbs and other plants to heal. Now they are a country of poisoners with the motto: Poison or be poisoned. Everyone has their own taster - a graduate of the Taster's Guild.
11 year old Ivy Manx (aka Poison Ivy) lives with her Uncle Cecil above his pub, The Hollow Bettle. Uncle Cecil is the last apotheopath healer in Caux. Uncle Cecil wants Ivy to become a healer. Ivy likes poisons. She spends her time experimenting with poisons and trying to recreate the perfume of Queen Nightshade.
One day, Cecil takes an elixir to the castle in an attempt to heal the King. He leaves Ivy in the care of a taster, Sorrel Flux. When her uncle has been missing for a year Ivy decides to find him. With the help of Rowan ( a taster on the run from the law), Axelrod (an author and trestleman) and a copy of his book :The Field Guide to the Poisons of Caux; she sets out for the castle.
This is the first book in a planned trilogy. I enjoyed the book and would read the rest of the series. It was fairly well written and the world building, while not great , seems promising. I bought the book because I'm interested in plants and herbs. I'm hoping plants and herbs play a larger role in the next two books than they did in this first book.

These next two books have finally made me realize that books with copious footnotes are not for me. Previously I have started and not finished: Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Ibid and House of Leaves. I find I get bored very quickly when there are too many footnotes. I will be trying the audiobook version of JS and MN for the June challenge, so I'll see how that goes.

61) The Selected Works of TS Spivet by Reif Larsen
Fiction
Twelve year old TS Spivet is a genius and a cartographer who meticulously graphs, maps and charts every aspect of his day. He lives in Montana with his rancher father and his mother, Dr Claire, who studies a rare subspecies of Tiger Beetle. TS is notified by phone that he has received a prestigious fellowship from The Smithsonian. He never informs his parents. He packs a bag and hops a pre-dawn freight train to Washington, DC. On the trip east he learns about hobo living and finds out new information about his family history.
Just about every page of this book has 1-3 footnotes and multiple margin diagrams and illustrations. 50% of these, easily, are digressions from the main text. It was interesting at the beginning but got old quickly.

62) Second Space by Czeslaw Milosz
Poetry for May
Nobel Prize winning poet Milosz wrote these poems when he was in his 90s. The majority of the poems are about being old. Some are about the history of the Milosz family. I liked all the poems except the multi part poem that comprises Part 4 : The Apprentice. This autobiographical poem required copious footnotes for the subject to be understood by anyone not familiar with Milosz's life.

#120: I have Cooking with Fernet Branca around my house somewhere. I really need to get it read.

I am adding both The Poisons of Caux and The Selected Works of TS Spivet to the BlackHole (I like books with lots of footnotes, lol.) Off to see if the local library has them . . .

Thanks for the recommendations, Kelly!

63) Britten and Brulightly by Hannah Berry
Graphic Novel
A murder mystery graphic novel in film noir style. Fernandez Britten is a private researcher (detective) investigating a supposed suicide that is related to another case he investigated years ago. Business hasn't been good lately. Britten suffers from depression and carries his partner around in his pocket. I have to admit I don't understand what Berry was going for with Brulightly. Is Britten mentally ill? The story ties up a little too neatly. The graphics are nice. There are a lot of dark, rainy panels.

64) This Book is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All by Marilyn Johnson
NonFiction, Libraries
Covers various topics about librarians and libraries in the age of technology and in this current economy. I particularly liked the part about St Johns University and it's students from developing nations learning the computer to document human rights issues in their countries. Library Thing got only one paragraph while the Second Life website got a chapter. I guess it's the lure of cyber sex with librarian avatars. Many of the topics involve The New York Public Library. If I didn't live in NYC and use the library I don't think I would have found this book as interesting as I did.

#122: I loved the noir look of Britten and Brulightly.

When I read This Book is Overdue! I was rather disappointed that more was not made about small libraries, so I understand your point about The New York Public Library.

Hi Stasia. I noticed from reviews in various places that librarians don't seem to like This Book is Overdue! and question Johnson's choice of topics.
So, what did you make of the character Brulightly? (If an object can be seen as a character.)
If you like footnotes you will love TS Spivet.
Oh, I mailed Cold Earth today. You should receive it by mid-week.

#124: I thought that Brulightly was a rather tongue-in-cheek character - put it to reflect how low/depressed/whatever you want to call it, that Britten had sunk (talking to an inanimate object.)

I probably would love TS Spivet, but my local library does not have it yet, so until it does, I will never know :)

Thanks for sending the book my way! I will let you know when I have it in hand.

#120 - I also had a good laugh reading Cooking with Fernet Branca. I had a chance to try Fernet Branca recently and yuk, it tastes like Listerine.
I have a copy of The Selected Works of TS Spivet waiting on my tbr pile. I'm usually ok with footnotes but you are right about the ones in Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, I managed to finish it but only by glossing over the footnotes.

65) Foiled by Jane Yolen (Art by Mike Cavattaro)
Graphic novel, Children's literature
Aliera Carstairs is a high school student and champion fencer.She goes to fencing practice every day after school. On weekends she visits her wheelchair bound cousin Caroline and plays role playing games. At a tag sale her mother buys her a practice foil with a ruby in the handle. One day while waiting in Grand Central station for Avery (her science lab partner and date) Aliera puts on her fencing mask while holding her new practice foil. A whole new world is revealed to her. A world where she just might be the World's Defender.
The graphics start in shades of grey. Aliera is color blind. Once she becomes aware of the fantasy world around her she starts seeing certain elements in vivid colors. The illustrations are very detailed.
This is the first book in a planned series for middle school aged readers. I would read more in this series as they're released -- I like fencing and fantasy.

66) Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli
Children's literature
A young, nameless boy, is surviving on his own on the streets of Warsaw in Nazi occupied Poland. He befriends a group of orphan boys and is given the name Misha. He steals food to survive. He meets a girl named Janina Milgrom. When the Milgroms are relocated to the ghetto Misha goes with them. He becomes a part of their family. Being small he is able to slip through the fence and steal food. He brings the food to the Milgroms and to the children at the orphanage. Misha looks for angels every where. He doesn't realize that he is an angel to many. In his innocence he doesn't realize the full truth of the situation in the ghetto. When he realizes what is happening he tries to save Janina. A powerful story. Recommended.

**SPOILER ALERT** Since I actually read the 7th volume of Kabuki before Vols 1-6 things that I didn't consider to be spoilers might actually be spoilers for others.

67) Kabuki: Circle of Blood by David Mack
Graphic Novel, Series
In this first book in the series we learn about the origins of the Noh operative known as Kabuki. Kabukis mother Tsukiko (Moon Child) was from an Ainu farming family. She was one of the thousands of women taken by the Japanese military to be " comfort women" for the soldiers during WW II. She found herself on an island base under the control of The General. The General commanded that the comfort women be used only to perform Kabuki plays. Tsukiko performed in a play about the ghost of a woman out for vengeance. There were no costumes so she wore the flag of the Imperial Navy as a gown. After the war the General plans to marry Tsukiko. His son, Ryuichi Kai, is enraged. The night before the wedding he attacks Tsukiko in the temple, leaving her for dead. She lingers in a coma and is later found to be pregnant. She dies in childbirth. The child is named Ukiko -Girl of the Rain - and raised by the General.When Kai becomes aware of Ukikos existence he attacks the girl, on her mothers grave, carving the kanji "Kabuki" onto her face. He believes she is dead. She actually dies for nine minutes and a death certificate is signed. The General takes advantage of the death certificate. He lets the world believe that she is dead. He grooms her as an operative in the Noh agency. The Noh is a secret government organization designed by the General to balance the scales of corruption between organized crime and the government. Ukiko is trained until her body is a living weapon. She receives a new face (mask) and the name Kabuki. In honor of her mother her costume uses the pattern of the flag of the Imperial Navy and her weapon is the farmers sickle. One night Kabuki disobeys orders and takes revenge - for herself and for her mother- against the directors of the Noh.
A great beginning to the series. The story and the art are amazing. The black and white graphics have multiple layers. I had to use a large magnifying glass to make sure I caught all the details. Macks repeated use of certain panels and their positioning with similar panels ( a technique he uses throughout the series) frames the story and adds depth. He uses numerous allusions to Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass throughout the story. "Alice" imagery is used -- decks of cards, cheshire cat smile. The story takes place during Japans rainy season so the majority of panels depict rain. Fitting, since Ukikos name means Girl of the Rain. The first line: The rainy season has begun.
Highly recommended 4.5/5 stars

May Recap:
Books read in May : 11
Books read in 2010: 67
Books off the Shelf : 38
Books Bought in 2010: 75 (13 in May) + 2 books obtained from other people
Borrowed from Library: 3
Fiction: 25
NonFiction: 8
Poetry: 9
Graphic Novels: 25
Male author: 39
Female author: 29

68) Kabuki: Dreams by David Mack
Graphic Novel, Series
The second book in the series. Kabuki, severely injured after her attack on the Noh, lies bleeding on her mothers grave. She dreams of her mother.Since her (short) death as a child Kabuki had believed that her mothers spirit was in her own body. Now that she has obtained vengeance for her mother she envisions her mothers spirit leaving her body.
This is the first book in the series to use multimedia graphics - water colors, photo collage, ink. The graphic are beautiful and somewhat over shadow the story in this volume. 3/5 stars.

69) Kabuki: Masks of the Noh by David Mack
Graphic Novel, Series
In this third volume in the series we get to meet other Noh operatives : Scarab, Siamese, Snapdragon, Ice, TigerLily, and Butoh. There are multiple chapters and a little of the history of each operative is revealed.The operatives are preparing to find and neutralize the rogue Kabuki.
The chapters about the budding friendship between Scarab and TigerLily - the only Noh operatives who know each others identity behind the masks- are touching and give insight into the private lives of professional assassins.
The illustrations - all black and white - are by multiple artists. I preferred the chapters by Rick Mays, but all the artists did a great job. Recommended 4/5 stars.

70) Kabuki: Skin Deep by David Mack
Graphic Novel, Series
Fourth in the series. Kabuki is held captive at Control Corps, an institution for rogue agents. Control Corps prepares agents for new lives and new jobs.But first, they want information from Kabuki. She refuses to cooperate and is kept in isolation.She receives notes, on animal origami, through the ventilation system, from Akemi, another woman from the institution. Kabuki is made aware - by the soon to be brand new Kabuki - that the other Noh operatives are coming for her.
This is the first volume that mentions media manipulation of the masses - an underlying theme inthe amazing 7th volume.
The illustrations are beautiful - a mix of previously used black and white panels,full color ink pages and water colors. Highly recommended 4.5/5 stars.

71) Kabuki: Metamorphosis by David Mack
Graphic Novel, Series
Fifth book in the series. Kabuki remains at Control Corps.She's begun talking to her doctor and is no longer kept in isolation. She interacts with the other women in the institution. Akemi and MC Square share their philosophies. Akemis philosophy of visualizing the reality you desire inspires Kabuki. This story is interwoven with the story of the other Noh operatives who have broken into Control Corps and are searching for Kabuki.
One of the best in the series. The illustrations, while not multimedia like some of the other volumes, are incredibly diverse. Highly recommended 5/5 stars.
An Akemi quote from the text: I practice literature as magic. All words and all works are alchemy, the great science /art of transformation

72) Kabuki: Scarab by David Mack Art by Rick Mays
Graphic Novel, Series
Sixth in the series. The story of how Scarab became a Noh operative. At age 15 Scarab runs away from the orphanage where she was raised. At age 16 she meets Yukio, head of a speed tribe named Malpractice, who runs errands for a gangster. After a shootout between the gangsters and the police Scarab is caught and forced to join the Noh. The story of the friendship between Scarab and TigerLily is expanded in this volume.
The black and white graphics by Rick Mays are in the same style as his Scarab and TigerLily sections in Masks of the Noh. 3/5 stars

#127: I already have Foiled in the BlackHole and Milkweed home from the library, so I am good.

#128: Nice summary, Kelly!

Oooh, Foiled sounds good. I love Jane Yolen's books usually anyway. Onto the wishlist it goes!

Glad you liked Foiled.

It wasn't for me, although I would take a look at the next in the series. Sometimes I just don't like the first books of a series very much.

Milkweed sounds very interesting.

I've finally posted descriptions of books # 67-72 in the above threads.

#126 avatiakh - Fernet Branca sounds disgusting. I'm presently listening to Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell on audiobook and it's going well. I only noticed the narrator reading a footnote once. I'm on disc 5 of 26 and at the same spot that I stopped reading.

#130 Stasia - I hope you enjoy Milkweed and Foiled when you get to read them.

#131 Hi Roni. Thanks for visiting my thread.

#132 Pam- I almost passed on Foiled because of other LT reviews. I like fencing so that sort of tipped the scales.

Hallo VB! I've been out of touch, but am now back up to date...

#119 Goodness, I had no idea that the Alexander Technique was so complex emotionally! It's interesting what your instructor says about yoga and stiffness - I would have thought that yoga would reduce stiffness of posture...

#120 Interesting what you say about footnotes - I think this was probably my issue with Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell too - although I did both finish and enjoy it in the end - just not as much as I was expecting to from all the worshipful and intriguing reviews. The Ladies of Grace Adieu on the other hand, has very few footnotes (if any - I can't quite remember) and I thought that that was wonderful...

#127 Re Foiled - I love the pun of the title!

All the Kabuki books sound interesting - I shall have to investigate...

Hi fliss. Last week my Alexander instructor said that people who do pilates also hold themselves too stiffly. She said she sees it all the time.
I actually bought Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell the day it came out because Neil Gaiman raved about it on his journal. I'm enjoying it on audiobook. My inability to finish that book has kept me away from The Ladies of Grace Adieu. Maybe I'll give it a try.

73) Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Fiction, TIOLI challenge - Book about Africa

Published in 1902. A story of 19th century colonialism inspired by Conrads own experiences in the Belgium Congo in 1890. The story starts on a boat on the Thames as Marlow, the narrator, tells his fellow seamen the story of his journey in Africa. He takes command of a cargo paddle wheel boat owned by an ivory company. The company is sending him down the river to , among other things, find Mr Kurtz. Kurtz is the man who has obtained the most ivory for the company. He has also sent the main office a status report on the state of the native population that states that they should all be killed. There is a rumor that Kurtz is very ill, probably dying. Along the way Marlow witnesses the exploitation of Africa - its people and its resources.
It felt like it took forever to read this short (98 page) book. But, when I reached the end of the book, I felt that there should be more. I guess I expected more. I thought the book was all tell and no show. More details would have made the book more interesting. I did like the writing. This is a favorite passage:
There were moments when one's past came back to one, as it will sometimes when you have not a moment to spare for yourself; but it came in the shape of an unrestful and noisy dream, remembered with wonder amongst the overwhelming realities of this strange world of plants, and water, and silence. And this stillness of life did not in the least resemble a peace. It was the stillness of a implacable force brooding over an inscrutable intention. It looked at you with a vengeful aspect.

74) The Joy of Ritual by Barbara Biziou
Spirituality, Ritual

I took a Rituals class with Ms Biziou earlier this month. In the book she gives you "recipes" for performing your own rituals. Rituals to celebrate milestones, transitions or holidays are included in the book.Ms Biziou is an interfaith minister and the rituals are appropriate for people of all religions (or no religion). There are rituals for a new home, community building, divorce, grieving the unborn, moving through depression and many, many more. Emphasis is on developing your own rituals - not having to be perfect, using colors and symbols that hold meaning for you, losing the parts of rituals that don't speak to you or work for you. I found the directions very clear, esp compared to similar books I've read in the past. Of course, being in her class and learning things directly from Ms Biziou, plus the hands on experience, was extremely helpful. The aim is to integrate practical spirituality into your life daily. Highly recommended.

75) The Summer Solstice: Celebrating the Journey of the Sun from May Day to Harvest by John Matthews
Spirituality

Discusses sun myths, legends, ceremonies and the history and rituals of May day, Summer solstice and harvest around the world. Informative and full of beautiful illustrations. Recommended.

76) Haiku: An Anthology of Japanese Poems edited by Stephen Addiss, Fumiko Yamamoto and Akira Yamamoto
Poetry for June

A collection of haiku poems from the 17th century to the present. Divided into three sections; poems about nature, humans and reflection. I enjoyed the nature section best. Examples:

Spring rain
just enough to wet tiny shells
on the tiny beach

The cuckoo
with a single song
has established summer

77) Du Fu: A Life in Poetry by Du Fu. Translated by David Young
Poetry for June
I first heard about this book on tiffins 2009 thread. Thanks tiffin.
Du Fu was a Chinese poet during the Tang Dynasty. Du Fu had contacts at the Imperial Court but was not talented enough to get a prestigious post or any long term employment. During his life time China was almost constantly under attack or at war. Many of the poems are about trying to provide for his family during war time, the families of the conscripted soldiers and being separated from family and friends. Many of the poems are about nature and imperial politics. These poems are beautiful, simple and accessible; they give you a real sense of the man and his life in the 700s. Highly recommended. Here's a poem about his son:

Thinking of My Son

Here it is spring weather, Pony Boy,
and still we are apart
you must be singing with the orioles
happy in the sunshine
while here I am dismayed
to see how fast the seasons change
I can't be there
to watch your growing mind--
I think about the little streams
the mountain paths we'd visit
the wooden gate, the village
among the ancient trees
I start to fall asleep
imagining I see you
as I lean against this railing
the sun warm on my back


78) The Coral Sea by Patti Smith. Music by Kevin Shields
Poetry for June, Audiobook, Spoken word performance
I guess this counts as a re-read. I read the book over a decade ago. This is a live reading/ spoken word performance by Patti Smith of the poetry in her book The Coral Sea. The poems are about her friend, the artist, Robert Mapplethorpe and his illness and dying from AIDS. The poems tell the story of a dying man and his journey to see the southern cross.
I have loved Patti Smiths music and poetry since the 70s. Smith reads these poems with such urgency. With an eerie background soundtrack by Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine) on guitar and effects these poems are haunting. The first disc is better, more affecting, than the second disc. Recommended.

Congratulations on hitting 75!

Congratulations! 75, well done (meanwhile I'm plodding along!)

>137 VioletBramble:, Im into Patti Smith too and The Coral Sea sounds so so so so good. I may have to purchase :-)

>119 VioletBramble: So interesting about the "alice in wonderland" feeling, I get that at the end of a yoga class too during relaxation, it's quite surreal!

#135 Oh I definitely found Ladies of Grace Adieu a lot more approachable than Jonathan Strange..., I absolutely loved it, so I shall recommend it to you. Audio book sounds like a good solution for the latter!

#137

"The cuckoo
with a single song
has established summer"

I'm sending that to my Dad - he'll love it.

I shall have to take a look around for The Coral Sea. The only Patti Smith album I have is "Horses" which I do enjoy, but don't listen to much any more - I've never really taken the time to listen to her poetry.

Congrats!

Oooh yes, a WOOOO on passing the 75 mark!

Congratulations on reaching the 75 goal!

You've got some very special poetry here on your thread; thank you so much for posting samples from the books; I about fell over on reading the line "it wore the yard like a dress". I particularly liked the Caterpillar poem as well.

I've enjoyed your thread very much; just got a link here from the TIOLI challenge. I'm looking forward to reading more of your posts. Of course, the endlessly growing "Wishlist" is grateful too...

#138 Thank you, Stasia.

#139 - Hi ireadthereforeiam. The only reason I made 75 books already is because I'm trying to get a lot of the graphic novels, children's lit and poetry books off my shelves before next year. (next year I plan on reading the really big books that have sat on my shelves for ages) Those are generally shorter and/or easier to read.
Besides the actual number you read doesn't matter. It's the sharing of book information that counts.
If you like Patti Smith I think you'd really like the CD of Coral Sea. I put the CD on while I was doing some stuff around the bedroom: putting away the clean clothes, ironing, etc, and ended up sitting on the bed, mesmerized. I've seen her live a few times and find her a really powerful performer. It comes through in this CD.
I've also gotten the Alice in Wonderland feeling a few times after a massage. It hasn't happened to me while doing yoga yet. Something to look forward to.

#140, 142- Thanks fliss. I hope your Dad likes the haiku. I thought it was an appropriate poem to copy over with the solstice just days away.
The best Patti Smith albums are Easter and Waves (imo), but all her early stuff is great.

#141 Thanks, drneutron

#143 hi bohemima. Thanks for visiting my thread. I"m glad that you enjoyed the poetry. I don't know anyone who reads poetry so I like to share it here. Oh, my own wish list grows every time I log on to LT. Very dangerous place.

Currently reading:
Sabriel - for the group read. A re-read. I love this series. I've read through Ch 25
August: Osage County - for real life book club
Just Kids - inspired by the Patti Smith CD (#78), about her friendship with Robert Mapplethorpe.

I've somehow managed to have 4 exam/certification renewals due for work all within the next few months -- Chemotherapy provider, Research in Human Subjects, Pediatric Nursing and Diabetes Educator. The last two will require a good deal of study time so my reading time will be more limited.

Good luck with your exams and certification renewals, Kelly!

#144 Thanks for the Patti Smith recommendations, I shall investigate.

My Dad's amusing response to that haiku:

No cuckoo
this year to cheer us
And no summer either it seems

Snort.

#147 - fliss, LOL, that's good. Did he make that up on the spot? If so, he's very creative. Are you not having summer in the UK? It is stinking hot here already. High 80s all week.

I just wanted to wish anyone who happens by my thread a Happy Summer solstice. May you never thirst and may you never know hunger. Blessed be.

Now, I'm going outside to play in the sun.

Hope your solstice is a pleasant one and that it marks the beginning of a great summer for you. I love the old holidays marking out the turning of the seasons; they seem so, gosh it sounds trite but...down to earth and soothing. My favorite is the autumn equinox, but Midsummer's Day (and Night) is great as well...

Oh, yes, time to pull out and re-read Puck of Pook's Hill today too!

#148 Did he make that up on the spot? - pretty much - I know - my sister can do it too. Sadly the creative-on-the-spot thing more or less skipped me.

Well, when I posted that, it looked like we weren't, but it got better and today is beautiful. The weather just can't make up it's mind - although I suppose that's nothing new - the British summer has always been pretty "changeable"!

Happy solstice to you too (belatedly)!

#150 bohemima - Thank you. While autumn is my favorite season the summer solstice has always been my favorite day. Just something about it being the longest day of the year.

#151 - enjoy your book Roni.

#152 - fliss, I'm glad you're having better weather. Yesterday (Monday) was gorgeous here. Today was gray with storms late in the evening. Now the wind is so strong it's rattling the windows and keeping me from falling asleep.
I'm in awe of that type of quick wit. I have none. My one sister got all the creative ability in the family. The rest of us are good at math.

79) Sabriel by Garth Nix
Fantasy
This was a re-read. I think it's been around 10 years since I first read this book. Over the years I had re-read Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr and Abhorsen but not Sabriel. I had forgotten some parts and mis-remembered other parts.
Sabriel is the daughter of the Abhorsen. The Abhorsen is sort of a necromancer who helps the dead move beyond all the gates of death. When her father becomes trapped in death Sabriel must travel to the Old Kingdom to rescue him. The story is original and the world building is amazing. Highly recommended.

80) Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Carke
Fantasy, Audiobook
I bought this book on the day it was released in 2003. Neil Gaiman had raved about it on his journal - that was good enough for me. I couldn't get into the book. One of my co-workers was reading the book at the same time. One night at work I was telling her how I was having a hard time making any progress with the book, that it was boring and nothing was happening. She asked what part I had read up to. I said I was passed the part where Norrell raises the woman from the dead. She replied that raising someone from the dead was a pretty big thing. I conceded that yes, it was a big thing, but even that part was so boring. I gave up on the book a few days later. At some point, maybe in 2005, I bought the audiobook - still determined to find out what - if anything- happens.
The audiobook is 32 hours long on 26 discs. The reader, Simon Prebble, does a really good job. A big plus -- the footnotes all have their own track. You can skip them if you want. So,now I've listened to the story and I know what happens -- and I was bored 95% of the time. In the beginning when the statues in York Cathedral began talking there was a small sense of excitement. The ghost ships were slightly impressive. The eternal dark is a scary concept. Maybe it's just something about the style that doesn't hold my interest. I wanted to like this book- I love fantasy,magic, fairies. Anyway, I'm really happy to get this book off of the TBR list at last.

81) Wizards: Magical Tales From the Masters of Modern Fantasy edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois
The stories in this volume:
The Witch's Headstone - Neil Gaiman Chapter 4 of The Graveyard Book
Holly and Iron - Garth Nix - fairly good, not his best by far
Color Vision - Mary Rosenblum -- I liked this one
The Ruby Incomparable - Kage Barker - This was excellent
A Fowl Tale - Eoin Colfer - Weak
Slipping Sideways Through Eternity - Jane Yolen. Similar to The Devils Arithmetic
The Stranger's Hands - Tad Williams - very good
Naming Day - Patricia McKillip -- good and fun
Winter's Wife - Elizabeth Hand - also excellent
A Diorama of the Infernal Regions or the Devil's Ninth Question - Andy Duncan - pretty good
Barren's Dance - Peter S Beagle - pretty good
Stone Man - Nancy Kress - I really liked this one
The Manticore Spell- Jeffrey Ford - okay
Zinder - Tanith Lee - nice, fairy tale
Billy and the Wizard - Terry Bisson- very funny
The Magikkers - Tery Dowling-- pretty good
The Magic Animal - Gene Wolfe- pretty good Arthurian re-telling
Stonefather - Orson Scott Card. I've never read anything by Card but if this story is any indication of his writing I need to add his stuff to my wish list.

An anthology of stories, in various styles, about wizards. Overall, very enjoyable read. Recommended.

#153 Good at maths is important too!

Now the wind is so strong it's rattling the windows and keeping me from falling asleep - oooh you see I love weather like that - it's so exciting and you can get all cozy! That said, I prefer it not to happen in the summer ;o)

#154 Hmmm. The only Garth Nix that I've read was Mister Monday and I have to say I was pretty unimpressed - but everyone on LT seems to like him so much I keep wondering what I was missing. Maybe I should try Sabriel?

Re Jonathan Strange..., I took an incredibly long time to get into it too - I probably wouldn't have persevered if I hadn't been reading it over Christmas... I'll reiterate the "don't-be-put-off-by Ladies of Grace Adieu though - I genuinely enjoyed it soooo much more...

I recently finished Wizards: Magical Tales from the Masters of Modern Fantasy as well and enjoyed it. Orson Scott Cards other stuff is great too, although I have always viewed him as more sci-fi than fantasy. I guess that is because I have only read his Ender books. I want to look into the Mithermages series.

#155 fliss, True, I can do my own taxes.
Cozy weather to me is when it's raining really hard and I'm inside. When the wind is rattling the windows while I'm trying to sleep I get paranoid that someone is trying to break into my apartment. Then I get out of bed, wander into the living room or kitchen, maybe get something to eat, turn on the tv or computer. Then go to bed really late and have to go to work with only 2-3 hours sleep. Not good.
I've already added the Ladies to the wish list. I've always thought the cover of that book is so pretty.

#156 Jess - I'll have to look for the Mithermages book(s). Thanks for the mention.

82) August: Osage County by Tracy Letts
Play, Book club
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Also, I believe the play won the Tony award for best drama in 2008.
This play is set in Oklahoma. A dysfunctional family gathers together after the suicide of the patriarch.
I enjoyed reading the play. It was well written. I can't really think of anything to say about the play and, I'm wondering what my book club is going to be able to discuss about the play.

#154 Congratulations on getting the Jonathan Strange off your tbr pile. I reckon this writer made a lot of sales of her book because most of us couldn't read it in the prescribed borrowing time that libraries allow us. I know I had to buy it and struggled through it wondering all the time that if this was considered the Harry Potter for adults then I'd stick to reading children's books. I did feel satisfied when I finished but I would never press this book on to anyone else.
I loved the Abhorsen series and really should reread it someday.

I read the Dark Alchemy (alternate title to your Wizards: Magical Tales from the Masters of Modern Fantasy) collection last year and also loved the Orson Scott Card story and would love to track down a novel set in that world. I've read most of his Ender books and enjoyed them as well, but they were scifi. I also liked the Patricia McKillip story and I still haven't read anymore of her work. I'll have to go back and refresh my memory on some of the others. It's a good way to discover new fantasy writers.

#155 flissp - Nix's Abhorsen books are crossover YA and riveting reading. I haven't read his Mister Monday series yet but that is intended for children so is in a different ballpark from Sabriel et al.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is on this month's Take It or Leave it challenge WiKi as a member recommendation.

#159 Thanks avatiakh. It's nice to know so many others have struggled with this book. I enjoyed the Harry Potter books so much more than this book. I've read criticism that the Potter books are poorly written and borrow ideas from other books but; they kept my interest, sparked my imagination and kept me anxiously waiting for more.
Yes, I added a bunch of books to the wish list from the author introductions in Wizards. Esp from those authors that were completely new to me.

#155 oh fliss, I forgot to add above that if you didn't like Mister Monday then you should avoid the Keys to the Kingdom books. It's the strongest book in the series. But, The Abhorsen Chronicles are amazing.

#160 elkiedee - I saw the book in the TIOLI thread. The book wasn't a member rec for me --one of the docs at work recommended it -- so I wasn't sure if it would count. Also, I'm not sure I'd be able to finish it by the end of the month.

I'm curious regarding your "real life book club." It sounds interesting.

Hi Linda. I was just posting over on your thread. I refer to the book club as "real life' to differentiate it from the on-line book club I belong to also. I've slacked off this year and only read two books for book club so far. It takes place at the local branch of the NYPL. The librarian picks the books. I live on a small island in the city and many of my neighbors are United Nations families. The librarian does a good job of picking a variety of international titles. For the on-line book club there is a moderator. We give her book suggestions in October. She researches them and gives us a list for the next year by November. This year we're reading a short story every other month. I like the on-line club because if I don't finish the book by the due date it doesn't matter. You can post to that books thread even years later and potentially re-start a discussion. Also, the people have been the same for years (like on LT) and we sort of know each others issues (sexual abuse, substance abuse) and are careful about pushing peoples buttons. At the library you never know who'll show up.

This sounds like a fascinating group!

83) The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
NonFiction, Biography, Science
Henrietta Lacks was just 31 years old when she died from an aggressive form of cervical cancer in 1951. Prior to her death and during an autopsy doctors and researchers took tissue samples of her tumors. Researchers were able to grow her cells in culture medium. Her cells, named HeLa, not only survived when previous attempts had failed, they thrived and multiplied rapidly. Her cells were disseminated to labs around the world. Researchers used HeLa cells to find a cure for polio, in gene mapping, to develop chemotherapy and AIDS drugs, to find out why cancer cells have a longer life span than normal cells, to diagnose the variant strains of HPV and thousands of other applications. The Lacks family was unaware that Henriettas cells were being used around the world. 25 years after her death the family found out about the harvesting and proliferation of Henriettas cells when reporters approached the family for information and doctors approached her husband and children for blood samples.
Skloot alternates chapters about the science and industry of cell production with chapters about Henriettas family. Skloot accompanies Henriettas youngest daughter, Deborah, on a journey to find out the truth about her mother and her cells. The issues raised in the text include use of tissues and cells without consent, racism in medicine and science, monetary compensation of research subjects, ethics in research, invasion of privacy of subjects and their family members and profiteering by scientists, doctors and scientific corporations.
The book is well written and held my interest throughout. Highly recommended.

Side notes : I loved that the Lights Out episode about the chicken heart was referenced. That's my favorite Bill Cosby skit. I always thought it was made up. I never knew there was a real chicken heart in a lab that inspired the story.
Also, I liked that David Smith, a librarian at the NYPL was acknowledged for his help. I just read about Smith in This Book is Overdue! and the assistance he gives to authors who use the library.

#165: I am glad you enjoyed that one, Kelly. It is on my memorable reads list for the year, I liked it so much.

#159 You see I don't have a problem with reading children's fiction (I've been reading it all my life in fact ;o)), but I was still underwhelmed by Mister Monday, so I'll definitely give "The Keys to the Kingdom" books a miss. After your comments (and those of others), I promise to give him another go with "The Abhorsen Chronicles"...

#165 I'm also enjoying this currently (although reading it very slowly as it's a lunch-at-work book for me!)

>165 VioletBramble:: I also just finished Henrietta Lacks and agree that it is a book that will hold one's attention throughout. I loved the story about how much the brightly colored mosaic of the HeLa cells meant to the family. I thought it was so poignant when Deborah gave it to her brother for his room. Btw, I'd love to listen to Bill Cosby's rendition about the chicken heart. It makes me smile to even think about it!

#168 Donna - yes, the part with the FISH photo of the HeLa cells was very touching. Not only because Deborah gave the photo to her brother, but also, due to the scientist who gave it to her because he felt bad about the way the family had been treated all those years.

84) Just Kids by Patti Smith
NonFiction, Memoir

Patti Smith, singer, poet and artist, writes about her relationship with the artist Robert Mapplethorpe. The beginning of the book is autobiographical. Smith tells of her childhood, her family and the start of her obsessions with poetry, the French and Catholic iconography. Smith dropped out of college and took a bus to New York City to make a future in art. She was unable to find any of her friends and ended up living on the streets and in the parks for weeks. She briefly meets Mapplethorpe two times in those weeks. One evening Smith is on a date that she fears is about to turn physically violent and she sees Mapplethorpe walking past. She gets him to pretend he is her boyfriend so she can get out of the situation. After that the two were nearly inseparable. They moved in together, became friends, lovers and supported each other financially and in pursuit of their art.
Smith writes like a poet and she has a remarkable memory for detail. She often mentions what she wrote in her diary on a certain day so I'm guessing she may have kept journals from many of those years. Parts of the book are a who's who of the 70s art scene in NYC - Warhol's crowd of hanger -ons, the celebrities and near celebrities that made the Chelsea hotel their temporary home, the musicians at Max's and CBGBs.
This was an enjoyable read. Recommended for fans of Smith and Mapplethorpe and those interested in art.

June recap:
Books read in June: 17
Books read in 2010: 84
Books off the Shelf: 45
Books bought in 2010: 89 (14 in June)
Borrowed from library: 3
Fiction: 30
NonFiction: 12
Poetry: 12
Graphic Novel: 30
Male author: 51
Female author: 36

I thought Patti Smith was married to John McEnroe? Or was this previous to that?

Fliss, I think John MacEnroe is married to Patty Smyth, not Patti Smith. (Not that I know anything much about either of them, but that would seem to be the verdict of a quick google.)

Caty is correct. This Patti Smith was married to Fred "Sonic":Smith of the MC5 and dated the playwright Sam Shepard and Alan (forget his last name) from Blue Oyster Cult. She dated Mapplethorpe when they were in their late teens/ early twenties. It was while they were together that he discovered that he was homosexual and became involved in the S&M scene that made his art so comtroversial.

It seems we see eye to eye regarding Heart of Darkness, VB. The story left me wanting.

Thanks to you, I've finally added Sabriel so many have raved about it, I must check it out.

Hmmm, I've been getting Patti & Patty confused for a very long time it seems! ;o)

#174 Carmenere - yeah,Heart of Darkness could have been more interesting. The topic is certainly interesting. The writing is lovely in parts. I'm not exactly sure what it's lacking (beyond details), but I needed more.
I hope you enjoy Sabriel when you get to read it.

#175 fliss - LOL. Probably neither Patti (Patty) would be thrilled to be confused with the other. Patty Smyth and John McEnroe make no sense as a couple, to me. But Patti Smith and John McEnroe - hysterically funny.

I've been neglecting my own thread. I will post details on the two books I've finished -- Lirael and Book of my Nights on Monday night or Tuesday.
My sister and niece are visiting so that my niece can attend Trapeze School at Chelsea Piers. Will post after they have gone home.

>170 VioletBramble:, love the look of that book! I checked it out to buy but its too expensive at the moment, I'm going to have to wait! (grrrrr :-0)

#177 Ireadthereforeiam -- Good luck finding the book. Would libraries in New Zealand have copies of a memoir by a punk poetess from the US ? There's always paperback at some point and sales later on.

85) Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr by Garth Nix
Fantasy, Young Adult, Series
The second book in the Abhorsen Chronicles. The book starts 14 years after the events in Sabriel. Sabriel is the Abhorsen. Touchstone is King of the Old Kingdom. They have two teenaged children. Their son Sameth is being groomed as the Abhorsen-in-waiting.
The Clayr, briefly mentioned in the first book, have a larger role in this one. Lirael, a 14 year old orphan, is despondent because she has not yet received the Sight. The Sight is the gift that lets all daughters of the Clayr see into the future. To keep her occupied and give her some reason to not be present at Clayr events where her dark hair and lack of the Sight make her stand out; she is made a third assistant librarian. Lirael explores the library, learns powerful charter magic and makes a sending of a dog (The Disreputable Dog) to give herself a friend. While exploring the glacier of the Clayr Lirael discovers her gift and her calling.
Sameth and Lirael both set out on quests to find Sameth's friend Nick. Nick is under the control of a powerful necromancer who is attempting to awaken a slumbering evil force. Eventually they meet and join forces.
The book ends on a cliff hanger after both Lirael and Sameth realize that their futures will not be what they planned (or what was planned for them).
This book is my favorite in the series. The world building continues. The detailed descriptions of the Clayrs glacier and the library made me want to live and work there. The Clayr community, their history and how the Sight functions are believable and imaginative. We learn more about how charter magic works and how the charter was formed. Highly recommended.

86) Book of My Nights : Poems by Li Young Lee
Poetry for July, TIOLI Challenge - Book with Night or Day in Title
This is the third book of poetry by Li Young Lee that I've read this year. He's fast becoming my favorite poet. I had previously mentioned Lees family history - how the family moved to the US after his father spent time as a political prisoner in Indonesia. Lee was a pre-schooler at that time. In these poems Lee seeks an understanding of his origins. These are somber, melancholy poems. Lees' dead father and brother (who died in childhood) feature in the majority of the poems.
Highly recommended. Here is a poem about his brother:

Black Petal

I never claimed night fathered me.
That was my dead brother talking in his sleep.
I keep him under my pillow, a dear wish
that colors my laughing and crying.

I never said the wind, remembering nothing,
leaves so many rooms unaccounted for,
continual farewell must ransom
the unmistakable fragrance
our human days afford.

It was my brother, little candle in the pulpit,
reading out loud to all of earth
from the book of night.

He died too young to learn his name.
Now he answers to Vacant Boat,
Burning Wing, My Black Petal.

Ask him who his mother is. He'll declare the birds
have eaten the path home, but each of us
joins night's ongoing story
wherever night overtakes him,
the heart astonished to find belonging
and thanks answering thanks.

Ask if he's hungry or thirsty,
he'll say he's the bread come to pass
and draw you a map
to the twelve secret hips of honey.

Does someone want to know the way to spring?
He'll remind you
the flower was never meant to survive
the fruit's triumph.

He says an apple's most secret cargo
is the enduring odor of a human childhood,
our mother's linen pressed and stored, our father's voice
walking through the rooms.

He says he's forgiven our sister
for playing dead and making him cry
those afternoons we were left alone in the house.

And when clocks frighten me with their long hair,
and when I spy the wind's numerous hands
in the orchard unfastening
first the petals from the buds,
then the perfume from the flesh,

my dead brother ministers to me. His voice
weighs nothing
but the far years between
stars in their massive dying,

and I grow quiet hearing
how many of both of our tomorrows
lie waiting inside it to be born.

Hey Kelly! Just waving as I try to catch up on the threads!

>178 VioletBramble: Hi
I am lucky enough to have 16 libraries within a 20km radius of where I live- well stocked too! But as with other new titles, they are popular. So ill put my name on the list and wait it out! And if it's meant to be, Ill be buying Patti Smith soon enough.

Love the above poem btw, i shouldn't neglect poetry, thanks for the reminders!

The Patti Smith memoir was serialised on the radio and extracted in the newspaper (either the Guardian or the Observer) and I definitely want to read the actual book at some point, will have to look up paperback publication details.

#181 Hi Stasia! Waving back at ya!

#182 Megan (Meghan?)- I hope you have a short wait. Good luck.

#183 Lucy - I had no idea that Patti Smith was popular enough to have her memoir serialized on the radio. Did you get a chance to hear any of it?

87) Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
Steam punk, Fiction, TIOLI challenge - book with a body part in the title, Alternate history

The story is set in an alternate Seattle, approximately 1860-1880. Leviticus Blue, inventor, is paid by the Russians to invent a machine that will bore through a hundred feet of Alaskan ice to previously unretrievable veins of gold. Dr Blue's Incredible Bone Shaking Drill Engine is completed early. On Jan 2, 1863 the Bone Shaker unexpectedly bore a large tunnel under Seattle, from Blue's basement to the financial district, and back again. The structures above the tunnel, including a number of banks, collapsed. Hundreds of people were killed. During the reconstruction of downtown Seattle workers starting getting ill. It was soon discovered that a gas was leaking from the tunnels. The gas turns every one who breathes it into a zombie. The majority of the citizens leave and a 200 foot wall is built around the downtown area. A small number of people stay. Blue's wife, Briar, runs to her fathers house. She soon discovers that she is pregnant. 16 years later her son, Zeke, sneaks under the wall to find out the truth about his father. When Briar finds out what Zeke has done she hires a dirigible to drop her over the wall so she can bring Zeke back home.
The story is filled with zombies, gangsters who turn the gas "blight" into a drug, a mad scientist, Chinese immigrants who control a series of ventilators that filter out the blight gas in the tunnels, air pirates in dirigibles and a bunch of amazing inventions. It's a fast paced, fun, well written story. I was a little miffed when I reached the end of the book and realized that Briar had had a year between the Boneshaker incident and the wall being built AND had access to resources, yet remained in Seattle. Also, I really hate open ended endings. I want to know what happened to these characters.

88) Artist to Artist: 23 Major Illustrators Talk to Children About Their Art to benefit the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
NonFiction, Art
23 illustrators of picture books talk to children about their start as artists. The left hand side of each page is a letter from the artist discussing their childhood love of art, their early works and how they decided to make art their career. The right hand page features a self portrait of the artist. This page opens over to a double page with examples of their art, photos or sketches of their process and pictures of their studio. I especially liked getting to see where the artists work.
This is a wonderful book for children interested in art.

89) The Turning: Stories by Tim Winton
Fiction, Short stories, TIOLI challenge - ISBN ending in 4
A collection of interconnected short stories that take place in the Western Australia coastal town of Angelus. Some characters appear in numerous stories at various times in their lives, in various places and from multiple points of view. Each story explores some turning point in that characters life. These stories are poignant, melancholy. Winton always makes me feel nostalgic. Many of his stories and novels take place in the 1960s and 1970s. Recommended.

90) Abhorsen by Garth Nix
Fantasy, Young adult, series
The third book in the Abhorsen Chronicles. It's hard to write anything without spoilers. Lirael and Sam continue in their attempts to stop The Destroyer and its minions. A powerful and sad conclusion to the trilogy. Highly recommended.

#184: I have Boneshaker set aside to read this month. I have seen several people review the book who did not care for it much, so I am glad to see someone who liked it!

Still waiting for Just Kids....

Boneshaker sounds like the strangest thing I have ever heard of! Maybe I should tip-toe outside my comfort zone just a tad every now and then (but is my imagination good enough!?) The Turning: Stories sounds interesting too, I've read a couple of his and like his style.

Just wanted to de-lurk (and finally catch up on abuot 60 messages here) to say thanks for adding Mountains beyond Mountains to the TIOLI challenge. I had room for 1 more book this month and am really enjoying it - I have about 5 pages left... must get off here!

I've looked at Jonathan Strange but have never wanted to buy it. I definitely won't be now!

I remember Patti Smith from the late '70's. I bet she has some story to tell and should be some pretty interesting reading. Wishlisted.

I have edited with descriptions for books 88-90 in message 185.

#186 Stasia - I hope you enjoy Boneshaker. I thought it was fun. Looks like it's part of a planned series.

#187 Megan - Have you ever read any steam punk? Boneshaker was better than other books I've read from that genre. I was worried that descriptions of the zombies would keep me awake at night, but, they weren't that creepy.
- If you like Winton's style you'll like The Turning . Its typical Winton - a pensive thoughtfulness hangs over each story. I really enjoyed it. I was describing the stories to a co-worker and she asked me if I ever read anything "happy". A quick look at my 2010 reading list would suggest that I do not. I do enjoy reading about angst though. I'll have to find some more upbeat reading for the rest of the year.

#188 cmt - You're welcome. I've been meaning to read it for years. It was a book club selection from 2005 that's been sitting on my shelves. You're much farther along than I am. I'm barely a quarter of the way through. It's my last book for the month and enjoyable so I know I'll finish it by the end of the month.
Looks like I'm spreading the Jonathan Strange dislike around LT. LOL.

#189 Carmenere - the book is very interesting. I've been a fan of hers since the '70s and the only things in the book that I knew about her were the friendship with Mapplethorpe and her obsession with Rimbaud.

Hi there, you have some interesting reads there, very keen on the Artist to Artist book as I paint and both my daughters are very artistic.

Just to dissent from the masses, thought I'd mention that I read Johnathon Strange and Mr Norris and really enjoyed it. It is slow at parts (often concerning the conservative and boring Mr Norris) but for the most part I was quite transported to another world and I loved the chapters on the Napoleonic Wars and the Fairy paths and worlds.

>190 VioletBramble:, funny that someone asked you if you ever read anything happy! I have been asked that too. Re: have I ever read any steam punk..... Ive never even heard of it!!! Is that because I dont read Sci Fi?

Despite being a bit meh about steam punk, you had me right up until your last two sentences with Boneshaker - I think I'll give it a miss for the time being. The Turning on the other hand, is definitely going on the list...

I read sci-fi and I also would love to know what Steam-Punk is, forgot to ask yesterday...

RE Book 90--could have been a whole lot sadder. And did you notice where the Disreputable Dog headed off? Whew, that was a good series, wasn't it?

#184 & 193> I wasn't that taken with Boneshaker but still hold out hope for steampunk as I've enjoyed the YA steampunk novels I've read.

#191-192-194 - KiwiNyx and Megan - here is the description of Steam punk from Wikipedia:

Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction and speculative fiction, that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes fictional works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used — usually the 19th century, and often Victorian era Britain — but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, often featuring futuristic technology as the people of this historical period would have envisioned it to look like, i.e. based on a Victorian perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, art, etc. This technology may include fictional machines like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer, but occurring at an earlier date.
Other examples of steampunk contain alternate history-style presentations of "the path not taken" for such technology as dirigibles, analog computers, or digital mechanical computers (such as Charles Babbage's Analytical engine).

#191-KiwiNyx- I was hoping to be transported to the world of Fairy by Jonathan Strange. It just didn't happen for me. Normally I love that type of book. I hope you'll be able to find Artist to Artist- it's published by a small museum outside of Boston.

#192- Megan- Do you avoid SciFi or have you just not gotten around to reading it yet?

#193 Hi fliss- I hope you enjoy The Turning. Have you read any Winton?

#196 - Kerry- I actually bought Leviathan after reading your thread. I probably won't get to it this year though.

**SPOILER ALERT***********SPOILER ALERT*******

#195 Hi Roni. Yes, Abhorsen would have been a lot sadder if Lirael's plan had worked. I love this series. I have pushed it on many people over the years. So, the Disreputable Dog walked off along the zig-zag path between life and death. Even after multiple readings I have no idea what that means. Where is she heading to? What am I missing? I like to think that part of her is in the dog statue, waiting for Lirael to make another charter sending. They are such a great team, I can't imagine Lirael in death without the dog.

*****END SPOILERS*************************************

Great spoiler alert, I wish someone else had done that- I just read the ending of the book I'm currently reading! *sad face sad face*

Thanks for the Steam Punk definition, sounds really interesting! I dont necessarily avoid Sci Fi- just am drawn to other books more. I see all books falling into books in 3 categories only: Fiction, Non-Fiction and Romance, I'll gladly read anything from the first 2 categories!!

#199 - I don't mind knowing the endings ahead of time, (half the time I'll forget it while reading anyway ), I just don't want to know any surprises or twists.

Will edit sometime later with descriptions of the following books. My sister and niece are visiting again and I have a double bridal shower for which I need to prepare food.

91) The Country Between Us by Carolyn Forche
Poetry
Forche is known as a political poet. She spent the 1970s in El Salvador as a journalist for Amnesty International. Most of the poems in this collection could be called poetry of witness. Some of the poems are about her family. A female relative who was a freedom fighter in Czechoslovakia during WWII (and was sent to Theresienstadt) is the subject of one poem. Recommended.

92) Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder
NonFiction, Public health, TIOLI challenge - Book about making a difference.
The story of Dr Paul Farmer, a medical anthropologist and Infectious Disease specialist. Dr Farmer and a few friends founded Partners in Health, an institution whose main goals were to treat/cure MDR TB and AIDS in Haiti, Peru and Russia. An inspiring story that shows how much of a difference one person can make in the world. It also shows how smaller, more local efforts have been of greater assistance in addressing the health care concerns of the poorer populations of the world than have large scale efforts by governments or international organizations. Recommended.

**Spoiler Alert*********/Spoiler Alert/*****

>197 VioletBramble:
I don't know what it means either, but to me it indicates that the DD was not banished to Death as so many of the others, but is off wandering her own path and chasing anything that interests her, now that Lirael doesn't need her any more. The interesting thing that is not even hinted at is what now becomes of Mogget? Now free, now having made a choice for Life but like the DD not having been bound up in the Charter itself like the Seven--what is HIS story now? BTW, I think it would be interesting to take this discussion over to the group read spoiler thread, don't you? If you want to copy your response above over, I take this one over.

*******End Spoilers********************************

197 Nope, never read any Winton - in fact, I'd never even heard of him, but it sounds right up my street and I'm a big fan of short stories.

Thanks for that, Steampunk sounds like a genre I've already delved a bit into and it definitely sounds like one I'll continue reading.

I've updated with descriptions of books #91 and 92.

July Recap:
Books Read in July: 8
Books Read in 2010: 92
Books off the Shelf:50
Books Bought in 2010: 94 (5 in July)
Borrowed from Library: 3
Fiction: 34
NonFiction: 14
Poetry: 14
Graphic Novels: 30
Male author: 56
Female author: 38

Nice summary, Kelly!

93) The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
Fiction, TIOLI Challenge book with a weather term in the title
The story of a man, Denny, who races cars, his dying wife Eve, their daughter, Zoe, and the in-laws who are suing him for custody of Zoe. The story is told by Enzo, the family dog. Because Denny is a race car driver (as is Enzo at heart), the book is filled with racing metaphors and trivia. I really liked this book. Was it great literature? No. But it made me cry, it made me laugh and then it made me cry again. Recommended, esp for dog people.

94) The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip
Fantasy, TIOLI Challenge book set in another world
Sybel, the great granddaughter of the wizard Heald, lives in a crystal domed, white stone manor on Eld Mountain. She is a wizard. She lives with some forgotten, mythological beasts. The Boar Cyrin, Keeper of Riddles. The Cat Moriah. Gules Lyon, of the Southern Deserts. Ter the Falcon. The Black Swan. Gyld the Dragon. One day Sybel is given the infant Tamlord, to raise, hidden from his father, King Drede. All Sybel really wants is to call the Liralen, a large white bird with trailing wings, to her and ride it to the stars. Because of Tam she becomes involved in the world of men and the battles of Kings.

95)The Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination by Robert Place
NonFiction, History
This book was for a class. I was inspired to take this class after reading the transcript of an author chat with Little,Big author John Crowley. In the chat Crowley and one of the participants were discussing the tarot card deck of Violet Bramble (a character in the book) and how it differed from a traditional deck and what her extra cards symbolized.
The history section of the book is very informative. Place is the creator of the Alchemical Tarot and has an art degree. Alchemy and the Renaissance are featured heavily in this book.
The symbolism section is also pretty good. I still have no clue what I'm doing when it comes to card readings.

#205: I read both The Art of Racing in the Rain and The Forgotten Beasts of Eld last year, so I am dodging those book bullets. I am not interested in The Tarot, so I am safe for now :)

You've just reminded me that I've got a Bookmooched copy of Little, Big on my unread shelves - I must bump it up the reading pile. Was it your thread I saw it on? Hmmm, or maybe it was Jenny/lunacat's. I'm guessing it's a favourite of yours?!

#206 - Hi Stasia. Well, I guess I'm glad I didn't add more books to the black hole. I'm not all that interested in the tarot either. Apparently I'm missing some symbolism in parts of Little Big because I'm unfamiliar with the major arcana. Hopefully, on my next re-read I'll discover something new.
(very strange, the touchstone keeps alternating between Little, Big and The Solitudes)

#207 Hi fliss. Yes, Little, Big is on my Top 10 Books list. I also put it on my list of books for Bonnie's Salon earlier in the year.I hope you enjoy it when you finally get around to reading the book.

I'm always disappointed when folks don't like Heart of Darkness, which is one of very favorite pieces of literature. I think it may come off as "all tell and no show" because it is a story being told by one character to several other characters. It is certainly more atmosphere than plot, but overall I find the picture of Marlow finding out just how futile and, in fact, horrifying Europeans' attempts to "civilize" the African vastness have become to be endlessly compelling. For example, the glimpse of the French man of war sitting off the coast lobbing shells blindly and evidently randomly into the jungle, or the starving Africans chained together (described, if I remember right, as "a bundle of acute angles" and remember this is a realistic portrayal of what was going on in King Leopold's Belgian Congo) or Kurtz's thorough corruption, both mental and physical, in the face of his appointed task. Or when Marlow tells his listeners that what was truly appalling to him about watching tribesmen howling and dancing angrily on the river bank wasn't how alien it seemed to him but how familiar . . . It's all quite fascinating to me. But it's a book that may take a second reading (at least) to be fully appreciated.

At any rate, this is certainly not to say that there is a right or a wrong way to feel about any work of art. Only to offer an alternate perspective. Cheers!

96) Mother/Land (Earthworks S) by Cheryl Savageau
I'll review this separately below.

97) The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester
Fantasy, Children's Literature
Piper McCloud lives on a farm with her parents, she doesn't go to school and she can fly. One day her secret is revealed in front of the whole town. Dr Hellion, who works at a top secret institute for children with exceptional powers and intelligence, shows up and offers Piper a chance to attend. Piper thinks she'll be able to practice and perfect her flying skills. She's also thrilled about attending school and being with other children. But, Dr Hellion and the institute are not what they claim to be. This book was okay, 3/5stars.

98) Governors Island The Jewel of New York Harbor By Ann L Buttenwieser
NonFiction, History
Governors Island was one of the Harbor Defense islands. The island was a military post starting with the British in pre-Revolutionary times, the US Army until the 1960s and the US Coast Guard until 1997. Presently it's open to the public on weekends and soon to be a public park and home to the Maritime School.
This book covers the Islands history as a military fort, a military prison, a place for polo matches and the first flight of Wilbur Wright over water. The history of women on the island has it's own chapter and discusses secretaries, day workers, wives and daughters and women in the Coast Guard.
The reason I read this book: My father was in the Coast Guard and my family lived on Governors Island from 1971-1981. Unfortunately this time period is barely discussed in the book. The author did post at a GI Brats web site that I belong to and asked for GI stories. Some of the stories contributed by people I know, including my former next door neighbor, made their way into the book. Reading this book did bring back memories: All the kids on the playground standing still and facing the American flag flying over Fort Jay during Taps, then whooping and running inside. (All the moms wanted us in at sunset. Since Taps was heard all over the Island you couldn't say you didn't know what time it was)
Fun Facts I learned reading this book:
The real Ichabod Crane was a commanding officer on the Island.
The name of the spy that was hanged at Castle Williams was John Beall. He was said to be the ghost who haunted the Castle and made Girl/Boy Scout meetings there at night very scary.

Except for it's almost total lack of information about the 1970-1980's this is a thorough look at the history of Governors Island. Recommended for military buffs and GI Brats. 4/5 stars.


99) Hetty Dorval by Ethel Wilson
Fiction, Persephone
Set in British Columbia, London and Paris. Frankie is 13 years old, riding her horse to school in her small British Columbia town, when she first meets her new neighbor, Hetty Dorval. Frankie is warned by her parents to stay away from Hetty. Hetty's bad reputation has preceded her. When Hetty gets too close to people that Frankie loves, she must grow up quickly and confront her old neighbor.
A well written, slow read. 3.5/5 stars

100) Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Young adult, Fantasy, Series
The third book in the hunger games series. Picks up shortly after the second book left off. Katniss and her family are living in the 13th district. Gale and his family are there as well. The 12th district has been destroyed by the Capitol. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. The rebels plan to attack the Capitol and want to continue using Katniss as their Mockingjay. She agrees to be the symbol of their revolution under certain conditions; that her family and all the former Hunger Games participants are safe and that she gets to kill President Snow.
A good ending to the series. I didn't like this one as much as I liked the first and second books. 4/5 stars.

I stood in line at Borders in Columbus Circle today to have Suzanne Collins "stamp" my copy of Mockingjay.

#210: What did you think of The Girl Who Could Fly, Kelly?

I did get to hear a lot of Just Kids on the radio and it made me want to read the whole book for myself. We have a radio station here which is all spoken word stuff, including Book of the Week (non-fiction), the Woman's Hour drama which is sometimes an original one but often an adaptation of a novel, and Book at Bedtime (usually fiction). Quite a lot of what I hear that way makes me want to read the originals myself.

#205 rocketjk - I'm sorry to disappoint you. I did think the prose was descriptive and yes, the book had more atmosphere than plot. That may be the problem for me. While I appreciate the atmosphere I still wanted a little more plot.

#207 stasia - re: The Girl Who Could Fly -I would have loved this book if I'd read it as a child. I thought it was okay. From the description I expected a cross between Harry Potter and Sky-High. I was disappointed that it wasn't really a "school" book.

#208 elkiedee - I'm so jealous that BBC radio listeners get to hear books read over the radio. I know they sometimes read Persephone books. I think the podcasts are available for a short while afterwards.

#213: I have seen some mixed reviews of The Girl Who Could Fly. I guess I will just have to try it myself and see if I like it or not! Thanks for the input, Kelly.

August Recap:

Books read in August: 8
Books read in 2010: 100
Books off the Shelf: 56
Books bought in 2010: 105 (11 in August)
Borrowed from Library: 3
Fiction: 39
NonFiction: 16
Poetry: 15
Graphic Novel: 30
Male author: 58
Female author: 44

I will have descriptions and /or reviews for books 96-100 soon.

101) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling
TIOLI Back to School challenge, Fantasy, Fiction
A re-read. I just needed some comfort reading this month. It had been awhile since I'd re-read this one. Plus, a little school shopping in Diagon Alley is perfect for this time of year. 5 stars

102) The Kuan Yin Chronicles: The Myths and Prophecies of the Chinese Goddess of Compassion by Martin Palmer, Jay Ramsay with Man-Ho Kwok
NonFiction, Buddhism, Myths, TIOLI LT three letter combo challenge (yth)
Kuan Yin, the Goddess of Compassion, the One Who Hears the Cries of the World, actually started out as a male bodhisattva. This book is divided into three sections. The first section: History and Origins tells the story of how and why Kuan Yin changed genders, and how she became the most beloved religious figure in China. The second section: Myths and Legends discusses the myths of Kuan Yin over the centuries and in various parts of Asia. The third section contains poems about or inspired by Kuan Yin and discusses methods of divination utilizing the 100 poems.
The authors do a good job of explaining the often confusing story of Kuan Yin. 3.5/5 star

I have added reviews or descriptions for books 97-102 in the above posts. I wanted to give book #96 it's own post so I could add some of the great poems.

96) Mother/Land (Earthworks S) by Cheryl Savageau
Poetry for August
(Despite what the touchstone says the actual title of the book is Mother/Land.)

Savageau is an Abenaki poet from New England who writes about nature, the colonization of North America and it's effects on the native population, Her mother's life, death and jewelry box. Apparently Savageau's mother received or bought a jewel for every big - and some not so big - moments in her life. Many of the poems are titled with jewel names and are set in the shape of jewels. These poems are lovely, fierce, spiritual and powerful. Recommended.
I liked so many of these poems it was hard to decide which ones to include here. Here are some favorites:

No Pity

At breakfast I am rock hard with milk
and the child, eight days out of my body,
and full of his own life, is hungry. I cup my hand
under my breast, to guide it to his searching mouth
and milk sprays out over the breakfast table.

I am laughing out loud at the wonder of it
I am Hera spraying stars across the sky
I am Selu running her hands up her belly
coaxing waterfalls of corn from her breasts,
filling baskets

But he is not laughing
this young man I call husband. He pushes his
plate away, unable to eat. I have
put him off his breakfast, he says

I am raining blood and milk
the life of his son, when he tells me,
women are disgusting, they're always
dripping from somewhere.

The marriage ends here,
although he doesn't know it yet,
and continues his pronouncements
for another year or more.

Women are clever
but not intelligent, he says, emotional
but not passionate.

He is outside
and afraid, and I have
no pity.

Nesting

when I ascend
the altar steps
dressed in white
there is whispering
they notice the new
fullness to my breasts
and wonder
yes
beneath this wide skirt
is the nest I am building
and the egg that has quickened

nobody notices
the knife in my teeth

Convent School

Because I hate the crowded halls
I duck into the quiet chapel
where there's only a few of us
genuflecting, kneeling
in the filtered sunlight

I think I am
getting away with something
I am not saying words
I am just breathing in the silence

I don't know yet
that this is prayer

103) Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
Graphic Novel, Memoir
A graphic novel memoir about growing up with a perfectionist father. Bechdel's father was also a closeted homosexual who had some legal trouble because of his relationships with some of his male students and his children's babysitters.The story circles around itself, coming back to the same incidents with additional information. When Bechdel went away to university she realized that she was a lesbian and almost immediately came out to her parents. Two weeks later her father was dead. His death was declared an accident but suicide was a possibility. The relationship between Bechdel and her father, and the differing ways each dealt with their sexuality is the heart of this book.
Bechdel is a very good artist. The black and white illustrations are very detailed. Recommended

104) Asterios Polyp by David Mazzuccheli
Graphic Novel
Asterios Polyp is an award winning architect and professor. Well, on paper. None of his designs have ever been built. Asterios sees the world only in dualities. His colleagues, his parents, his wife and the people that she works for and with all try to teach Asterios that the nature of existence is essentially non-dualistic. Asterios is unable to learn this truth until he has lost everything. The text weaves the two stories together - Asterios as a gifted architect and professor on his way to losing everything and the Asterios who has lost everything and is finding his way to a new truth.
The illustrations are very good and the color palette is pleasing to the eye. The graphics add to the theme of the text - when we leave the concrete reality based panels for the more abstract, Asterios is drawn in a repeated linear pattern while the other characters are drawn in more diverse patterns. Highly recommended.

105) Tongues of Serpents by Naomi Novik
Fantasy, Series, Dragons
The sixth book in the Temeraire series.
I know people are still reading this one so I won't say much about the story in an attempt to avoid spoilers.
Temeraire and Captain Laurence have been sent to the penal colony of Sydney, Australia for their treason in book four. They bring with them two dragon eggs with which they hope to start a dragon culvert in the new colony.
This is my least favorite of the series so far. (Previously Black Powder War was the book in the series I liked the least) Very little happened. What did happen was stretched over an enormous amount of pages. This book felt like filler, or if edited down, the first few chapters of a better book. Disappointing.

I hope you enjoyed Asterios Polyp as much as I did, Kelly.

Delurking here to tell you how much I enjoyed the poems upthread. I spewed out a bit of coffee when I read the one about breastfeeding. My DIL just had her first baby on Friday and my son is full of talk about 'latching on' etc.! It is just so funny to me to have these conversations with him. ;-)

I don't think I'll pass that particular poem onto the new parents because of the sad ending. I'm glad that my son sees the beauty of motherhood and doesn't see it as 'disgusting.'

Enjoyed the poems!

I'm with the previous 2, love the poems, particularly the first and last. How terrible for her to realise when her baby is only 8 days old that it is over between her and the father. Great poem, thanks

Hello Stasia, Donna, Roni and Megan- thanks for visiting my thread. I'm glad you enjoyed the poems.

Stasia - I did enjoy Asterios. I'll have reviews some time soon..maybe. Depends on work.

Donna - Congratulations on your new grandchild! If your son is having conversations about latching on with you he is definitely not the same kind of guy as the young man in the poem. Sounds like you raised him right.

I just want to wish anyone who wanders into my thread a Happy Autumnal Equinox. Happy Vernal Equinox to those of you in the Southern hemisphere. May you have an abundance of blessings this year.
Now I have to figure out what to have for dinner. I had planned butternut squash - a good autumn food - but it's 85 degrees here today. Does garlic bread, sweet potato fries and pomegranate tea sound like a balanced meal? Hmm, no..

#223: I will take garlic bread with just about anything and call it a meal, Kelly!

Well I had to look up vernal equinox but thanks from the southern hemisphere. I like your menu, perfectly balanced in my opinion, but if you are keen on using your butternut, cube it, roast it and then toss it through some salad greens with a vinagerette. A bit of summer and autumn then..

#224> Here, here! My theory is that there are only two major food groups:
1) food that needs more garlic
2) food that needs more chocolate

#226: Nope, I respectfully disagree, Jerry. I think Garlic is its own food group!

Oh, I missed all the garlic conversation. Drat. All I have to say is .. Garlic, Yum.

106) A Parcel of Patterns by Jill Paton Walsh
Children's literature, plague
Recommended by Kerry/avatiakh. Thanks Kerry.
The story of how the village of Eyam closed itself off from the surrounding towns during an outbreak of the plague in 1645. Highly recommended.

107) The Rough Guide to the iPad by Peter Buckley
NonFiction
The tech chapters were full of information a technophobe like me can't live without. I will not be buying an iPad though.

108) The City in Which I Love You by Li-Young Lee
Poetry for September
This is the fourth book of poetry by Li-Young Lee that I've read this year. I believe this is his earliest work - and it shows. While still lovely the poetry in this volume didn't speak to me like his later works do. I'd still recommend the book though.

109) Buddhism for Dummies by Jonathan Landaw
NonFiction, Spirituality
All the basics of the practice and history of Buddhism. Actually, very well written. Recommended.

Planned reading for October:
The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone - the only author on my TBR list with 10 or more letters in their name for the main TIOLI challenge
Un Lun Dun by China Mieville
The Seems The Glitch in Sleep by John Hulme
The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
The October Country by Ray Bradbury
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
A Taste of Honey: Stories by Jabari Asim
The Wednesday Wars - by Gary Schmidt

Looks like you have some great reads coming up in October, Kelly!

The seemingly endless rain has caused my rheumatoid arthritis to flare up and I've taken a sick day from work. (I once almost dropped a baby when my hands were bad so now I always call out sick on bad hand days) I've managed to catch up on all my reviews. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, Asterios Polyp and Tongues of Serpents are reviewed in post #218. A Parcel of Patterns and others are now reviewed in post # 228. Also on the plus side, I was notified that I've won my first Early Reviewer book. It was my first request so I'm guessing it's beginners luck.

Recap for September: Books read in September: 9
Books read in 2010: 109
Books off the shelf: 56
Books bought in 2010: 122 (17 in September)
Borrowed from Library: 6
Fiction: 41
NonFiction: 19
Poetry: 16
Graphic novel: 32
Male author: 63
Female author: 47
Rereads: 1

110) The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
Young adult, Fiction, Read for Zoe's TIOLI Old fashioned type of children's book challenge.
Thanks to Linda (Whisper1) who recommended this one in her 2009 challenge)
Holling Hoodhood is a 7th grader at Camillo Junior High School, in Long Island, New York. It's 1967. The Vietnam war continues. On wednesday afternoons while his classmates go off to Hebrew school or Catechism, Holling, the lone Presbyterian in his class, stays behind with his teacher, Mrs Baker. Holling is sure that Mrs. Baker hates him because he takes up her wednesday afternoons. At first Mrs Baker gives Holling chores. Later, she gives him a book of Shakespeare's plays. The two gradually learn about each others lives outside the classroom. As Holling discovers "what Shakespeare wanted to teach us about life" he and Mrs Baker form a relationship of mutual respect and friendship. Recommended.

I am glad to see that you enjoyed Asterios Polyp! That has to be one of my favorite graphic novels.

Sorry to hear about the RA kicking its ugly heels. I can commiserate (I do not have RA though - I have DJD instead.)

A Parcel of Patterns looks very intriguing, may keep an eye out for that one. Asterios Polyp has also bounced on to my 'go and look at the library list' - I've been banned from bookshops for a while.

And it looks like you've got some great reading planned for october, I may join you on the Un Lun Dun as I bought it recently as part of my I love books about alternative Londons week.

Just to clarify, the husband banned me from buying books not the bookshops themselves. Gawd, that would be a nightmare if I was actually banned from a bookstore!

"Just to clarify, the husband banned me from buying books not the bookshops themselves."

He doesn't mind if you buy bookshops?

Ooh, what a great idea..

I was thinking the same thing!

Just checking in to say hallo! You can never have too much garlic. ...Hmmm except possibly late at night, after the pub, when making garlic mayo for potato wedges with far too many cloves (don't ask)

#226/7 ;o)

Enjoy Un Lun Dun and The Graveyard Book - both very enjoyable! ...I really must get round to getting a copy of The Wednesday Wars...

I do hope your arthritis eases up a bit for you.

Well, the RA is back to it's usual level of control. Thanks to the makers of Celebrex.
#231 - Stasia - I don't know how you deal with joint disease in the heat and humidity of Texas.

#232 - KiwiNyx - did you decide to read Un Lun Dun? I just started the book last night.

#233-236 LOL

#237 Hi fliss. Thanks. I did enjoy The Graveyard Book. Late night garlic is never a good idea - if one plans to get some sleep. Well that's only now that I'm older. When I was younger I could eat anything and still sleep.

Catch up time. Reviews to follow.

111) The Halloween Tree - Ray Bradbury
112) The Seems: The Glitch in Sleep - John Hulme and Michael Wexler
113) The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman
114) A Taste of Honey: Stories - Jabari Asim
115) The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight and Saving The Planet - Alicia Silverstone
116) Millay - Poems Everyman's Library Pocket Poets- Edna St Vincent Millay
117) Un Lun Dun - China Mieville

I loved The Graveyard Book. I am glad to see you enjoyed it as well, Kelly.

Ditto about The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman is a huge talent. I am very keen to hear about The Kind Diet as I tried a vegan diet for 3 months earlier this year and felt great.

Un Lun Dun is currently being held by the husband every night in bed while I read other books and wait for him to finish it. He is really busy at the moment and so rarely has time to read anymore but I think it would be fun to read it at the same time as another LTer so it might become my daytime book.

I am also interested in your thoughts on The Kind Diet, Kelly. My weight is a constant battle.

111) The Halloween Tree - Ray Bradbury
Fiction, Children's literature, TIOLI Not Quite Horror Challenge

A group of eight neighborhood boys go trick-or-treating on Halloween.Their friend Pipkin - the best boy - is missing. When they arrive at Pipkins house they discover that he is ill. Pipkin tells the boys that he will catch up with them in a little while. The boys head to the largest house in town - the haunted house. In the yard is a Halloween tree: 100 feet tall and hung with a multitude of jack-o-lanterns.They meet the occupant of the house, Mr Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud.
Mr Moundshroud takes the boys on a trip back through space and time to discover everything that Halloween ever was. Traveling via the Kite of Autumn, the boys learn the myths, customs and history of Halloween. The boys visit ancient Egypt during the Festival of the Dead, caveman times, the Celtic New Year with Samhain, Druid God of the Dead, view the witches of Europe, hang out with the gargoyles of Notre Dame and spend El Dia de los Muertos in Mexico. Early in their travels Pipkin shows up but he gets carried away by the spirits of Halloween. As they travel through time the other boys try to find and save Pipkin.
This book is a great Halloween read for middle school aged children. It's atmospheric but not scary.

112) The Seems: The Glitch in Sleep by John Hulme and Michael Wexler
Fiction, Children's literature, TIOLI Polysyllables Positively prohibited challenge

Twelve year old Becker Drane of Highland Park, NJ works as a fixer for the Seems. The Seems is the world behind our world where they build the world from scratch every day and keep things running. They are in charge of everything: the weather, sleep, dreams and nightmares, nature, energy and time. When a Glitch makes it's way into the sleep chamber the entire world suffers from insomnia. Since no one is sleeping, dreams can't be delivered. Actions that people would have taken the next day based on their dreams won't happen and important events that were scheduled will therefore not occur. It's up to Becker to save sleep.
I thought this book was fun, esp the word games and puns. I found the main character almost as precocious as Flavia de Luce ( At age 9 he hangs out at coffee bars, drinking hot chocolate, chatting with baristas and discussing music with Jazz cats) but more likable.

113) The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman
Fiction, TIOLI Not Quite Horror Challenge

The story of Nobody "Bod" Owens , his guardian Silas and the graveyard that they call home. When he was still a toddler Bod became the only survivor of the massacre of his family. When the man Jack broke into the house to kill Bod's parents and his sister, he left the door wide open. Bod toddled up the road to an ancient graveyard. The occupants of the graveyard protected Bod from the man Jack and his associates. Mr and Mrs Owens adopted him and raised him in the graveyard with the help of Silas and the other occupants. Bod receives the blessing of the graveyard and is therefore able to fade and walk through walls. As he grows Bod learns the secrets of the graveyard and the ways of the outside world. Recommended.

114) A Taste of Honey: Stories - Jabari Asim
Short Stories, Fiction, TIOLI- Book with a song in it's heart challenge

Interconnected short stories set in 1967-1968 , based around one African-American family and their neighbors. At the center of these stories is the Jones family, Reuben, a painter, his homemaker wife Pristine and their three sons, Ed, Schomburg and Crispus. Subjects include police brutality, domestic violence, zombies, ghosts, racism and civil rights. The first story has young Crispus introducing us to his family while other stories spread out to include their neighbors and the city. The last story includes the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr and the ensuing riots. Asim makes you care about these characters, esp Crispus, Reuben and Roderick (the boy genius of the neighborhood).
This book was the best book of the month for me. It's a well written , fast read , that kept my interest throughout. Highly recommended.

#242/243: I already have The Halloween Tree in the BlackHole, but I am adding The Seems and A Taste of Honey to it as well.

I read The Graveyard Book back in 2008 and loved it. I am glad you enjoyed it too, Kelly.

I also loved The Graveyard Book but I will be adding the Jabari Asim book to my list as your review sold it to me.

You've had some good reads- I loved The Graveyard Book too and I've had The Halloween Tree on my to-find list for a while. The Seems sounds good too so I'll look for it. Thanks!

116) Millay: Poems: Everyman's Library Pocket Poets - Edna St Vincent Millay
Poetry for October

Millay is my favorite poet. This small collection includes some of her best known poems. Here are some favorites:

Sonnet

What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why,
I have forgotten, and what arms have lain
Under my head till morning, but the rain
Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh
Upon the glass and listen for reply.
And in my heart there stirs a quiet pain
For unremembered lads that not again
Will turn to me at midnight with a cry.
Thus in the winter stands the lonely tree,
Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one,
Yet knows its boughs more silent than before.
I cannot say what loves have come and gone,
I only know that summer sang in me
A little while, that in me sings no more.

To The Not Imposible Him

How shall I know, unless I go
To Claire and Cathay,
Whether or not this blessed spot
Is blest in every way?

Now it may be, the flower for me
Is this beneath my nose;
How shall I tell, unless I smell
The Carthaginian rose?

The fabric of my faithful love
No power shall dim or ravel
Whilst I stay here - but, oh, my dear,
If I should ever travel!

117) Un Lun Dun - China Mieville
Children's Literature, Fantasy, TIOLI - Polysyllables Positively Prohibited challenge

A cross between Neverwhere and Alice in Wonderland. Un Lun Dun is an alternate London where all the discarded objects from the real London are absorbed and have a second life. Houses are built out of old record players. People live in discarded hats. Zanna and Deeba, two teenaged girls from London inadvertently travel to Un Lun Dun. They discover that Zanna is the Schwazzy , the chosen one, sent to save Un Lun Dun from it's biggest enemy. There is a quest with multiple steps (or maybe not) to locate the only weapon that can defeat the enemy.
Inventive and fun. Recommended.

Recap for October:

Books read in October: 8
Books read in 2010: 117
Books off the shelf: 59
Books bought in 2010: 124 (2 in Oct)
Borrowed from Library: 6
Fiction: 47
NonFiction: 20
Poetry: 17
Graphic Novels: 32
Male author: 69
Female author: 49
Rereads: 1

Hello Stasia, KiwiNyx and mstrust. Thanks for visiting my thread. I hope you enjoy the books.

#240, 241 - I'll be writing a review of book #115, The Kind Diet, soon. I just want to try a few more recipes.

Good review of Un Lun Dun, I grabbed it off the husbands bedside table last week and started looking at it and was told off for stealing his book so I'm still waiting. ;)

#248: Nice summary for October, Kelly!

>247 VioletBramble: Nice poem, Sonnet I mean. I really liked it.

I'd seen Un Lun Dun mentioned around here but didn't have a clue what it was about. A cross between Alice and Neverwhere sounds like a winner.

Lurve E.V.M. - that sonnet and "I Shall Forget You Presently My Dear" are two of my all-time favorites of anyone's. Have you read Savage Beauty? It's a chunkster, but well worth the time.

#250 - KiwiNyx - LOL. Tell your husband he needs to read faster.

#251 Thanks Stasia

#252 Hi Megan. Millay's sonnet's are lovely, passionate and funny.

#253 madhatter22 - Savage Beauty has been in the wish list book for a few years now. I'm trying to avoid buying chunksters because I never actually get around to reading them. (actually, that' s next years challenge) I hate toting large books. Maybe I'll get it for the Kindle.

I hate toting large books too. I always have to have another book going when I'm reading a chunkster. I take public transit everywhere and I certainly wouldn't want to be lugging a book like Savage Beauty on the train! (Sounds like a great Kindle candidate. :)
I actually don't even like thick hardbacks when I'm just at home. They're just not as easy to curl up with.

I always have a commuting book to read on the train or tram.By the time I finish the chunkster "home" book I've probably finished 6-8 smaller books - poetry, YA, fantasy- while commuting. I have at least 25 large books on the shelf right now that I will be working on getting off the shelf over the next few years. I've ignored them for a long time.
I have downloaded Savage Beauty to the Kindle, along with Book Lust To Go and Novel Destinations. Those should be good emergency reading.

Will review these later:

118) The Dragonfly Pool - Eva Ibbotson
119) Facing the River - Czeslaw MIlosz
120) The Underneath - Kathi Appelt
121) Two Cents Plain; My Brooklyn Boyhood - Martin Lemelman

currently reading: The Knife of Never Letting Go and Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy

I hope you enjoyed The Underneath, Kelly. I loved the prose in that one, but think it wasted on the younger set.

I will be interested in seeing what you think of The Knife of Never Letting Go.

I too now always carry a book with me as I do a bit of waiting for buses and children and husbands etc. I call it my handbag book and since I started taking one with me, I have avoided hours of boredom. Brilliant idea.

>256 VioletBramble: Kindles and the like are only just starting to be marketed here in NZ, they do look mightily convenient and cool! I am a bit old-school though and cant get past holding an actual book in my hand (or handbag)!

Time to catch up on reviews:

118) The Dragonfly Pool - Eva Ibbotson
Fiction, Children's Literature, TIOLI challenge - Book with a WWI or WWII setting

Tally is an eleven year old girl who lives in London with her father and two maiden aunts in 1939. The threat of the war reaching London increases. Tally is offered a scholarship to a school in Devon. Delderton is a progressive school - no uniforms, few rules and the children are encouraged to be individuals. Headmaster Daley notices that when Tally comes to him with a problem it always entails something with which she wants to help one of her fellow students. While at the cinema with a friend, Tally views a travelogue about Bergania. (fictional European country) Tally is instantly taken with the beauty of the country, the mysterious Prince Karil and the bravery of King Johannes who defied the Nazis. Tally discovers that the 1939 International Folk Dancing Festival is to take place in Bergania. Tally and her friends make up a British Flurry dance and get invited to Bergania for the festival. While in Bergania Tally comes across Prince Karil at his secret place in the forest - the dragonfly pool. They become friends. When King Johannes is assassinated during the festival all the visiting children help smuggle Karil safely out of the country.
Recommended.

119)Facing the River - Czeslaw Milosz
Poetry, TIOLI challenge - Book written by a Nobel laureate

This is the second collection of poetry by Milosz that I've read this year. Both collections are about getting older. This collection contains poems written when he returned to his home country of Lithuania. I didn't like many of these poems and doubt that I will read any more poetry by Milosz. Here is a poem that I did like:

WOE!

It is true, our tribe is similar to the bees.
It gathers honey of wisdom, carries it, stores it in honeycombs.
I am able to roam for hours
Through the labyrinth of the main library, floor to floor.
But yesterday, looking for the words of masters and prophets
I wandered into high regions
That are visited by practically no one.
I would open a book and would decipher nothing
For letters faded and disappeared from the pages.
Woe! I exclaimed- so it comes to this?
Where are you, venerable one, with your beards and wigs,
Your nights spent by a candle, griefs of your wives?
So a message saving the world is silenced forever?

At your home it was the day of making preserves.
And your dog, sleeping by the fire,would wake up,
Yawn and look at you - as if knowing.

120) The Underneath - Kathi Appelt
Fiction, Children's Literature, TIOLI challenge - read a book recommended by Stasia (L-Z)

Thanks to Stasia for recommending this book on her thread.
This story is actually four interconnected stories that span thousands of years. One story thread is about Gar Face, an abused, disfigured man who spends his nights hunting for the Alligator King and lives in a crooked house in the bayou where he keeps his no longer trusty hound dog chained up. A second story segment is about the hound dog, Ranger, and the pregnant calico cat who befriends him. Together they raise her kittens, Sabine and Puck. The four become a family. The third part of the story is about Grandmother Moccasin, trapped in a jar buried in the roots of a tree and her memories of her daughter Night Song, who married Hawk Man and had a daughter of their own. The fourth part of the story is told by the trees who have witnessed countless stories for thousands of years.
The prose is beautiful, poetic. The story unfolds slowly, told in many short chapters. While often violent and sad the story is ultimately about the power of love. I thought many parts of the story were too violent for the intended age group. Highly recommended.

121) Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy- Gary D Schmidt
Fiction, Children's Literature, TIOLI challenge - read a book whose title includes the letter Z, Historical fiction

Turner Buckminster has just moved with his family to a small town in Maine. His father is the new minister. When Turner makes friends with Lizzie Bright, a girl who lives on Malaga Island, the town is appalled. Malaga Island is a community settled by former slaves. The family quickly learns that the town leaders plan on getting rid of all the residents of Malaga Island. The shipping industry that supports the town is about to go under. Town leaders believe that they can bring tourists to Malaga Island. Mr Buckminster supports the town leaders. Turner can't believe that his father would let innocent people be treated this way. The town acts in the middle of the night. They get all the island residents committed to the Home for the Feeble Minded.
This story is partly based on the true history of Malaga Island. In 1911, under the orders of the Governor, the residents of Malaga Island were placed in the asylum where they quickly died. The graveyard on the island was dug up and the remains moved to the grounds of the asylum. The houses were burned down.
The book started slowly and was fairly depressing in sections. I almost stopped reading at one point. I'm glad I finished it and would recommend the book. Thanks to Linda- and her quest to read all the Newberry Honor Books- for recommending this book on her thread.

still to be reviewed:
115) The Kind Diet- just waiting to make the lotus root, sun choke and leek dish.
122) Two Cents Plain My Brooklyn Boyhood
123) The Knife of Never Letting Go

#257 Hi Stasia. I did really like both The Underneath and The Knife of Never Letting Go. I want to finish the two Connie Willis WWII books before I read the next two in the Chaos Walking series.

#258 KiwiNyx - my father taught me - by example - to always have a book on me for lines, slow times, elevators, etc.

#259 Megan - I prefer real books as well. I received the Kindle for my birthday. My sister has had one for awhile and thought I might like one for traveling. So far I'm enjoying the new shopping experience of receiving a book from Amazon in about 10 seconds. I haven't read a book on the Kindle yet.
This reminds me that I wanted to mention that Patti Smith recently won the National Book Award for NonFiction for Just Kids. She made a tearful speech about loving real books and received a standing ovation.

I also need to read the two Connie Willis books. I am just not sure when I will get to them.

I have The Kind Diet home from the library now. I am anxiously awaiting your review of that one.

Glad you liked The Underneath!

122) Two Cents Plain: My Brooklyn Boyhood by Martin Lemelman
Graphic novel, memoir, Early Reviewers, TIOLI challenge - book published after 2005 with 5 or more words in the title.

Martin Lemelman grew up in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn in the 1950s. His parents were Holocaust survivors that met in a relocation camp. His father Tovia had been wounded as a soldier in the Soviet Army. His mother Gusta had survived the war, with her siblings, by hiding in a hole in the woods outside their Polish town. They opened Teddy's Candy Store on Howard Avenue. The family lived behind the store, using boxes of merchandise as furniture. They worked every day except Passover. Going out to eat meant getting hot dogs and knishes at the deli across the street. They had to deal with infestations of rodents and insects drawn to the food, candy and the sticky sweetness of empty soda bottles stored in their living quarters. Despite the hardship Lemelman paints a picture of the fun childhood he shared with his brother Bernard. He shows us the neighborhood, merchants, schools, children, television shows, police corruption, candy and toys that made up his world. The story is told in three voices; alternating between Martin, his mother and his father, as each gives their side of the story.
The illustrations are black and white, appearing to be pencil drawings, interspersed with photographs of family, toys, prizes, fountain drinks and 1950s-1960s ephemera. I like Lemelman's drawing style. The illustrations are very detailed. I enjoy stories of how artists became interested in art. I really liked the story of how he found parts of paint-by-numbers sets and other paints in the unsellable merchandise cabinet and hasn't stopped painting or drawing since.
This graphic novel was funny, sad and touching. Highly recommended.

123) The Knife of Never Letting Go- Patrick Ness
Series, Dystopian, Young adult, TIOLI alphabetical order challenge

The first book in a trilogy. Todd lives in Prentisstown with his guardians Ben and Cillian. He is impatiently waiting for his 13th birthday, when he will become a man. Todd is the last boy in Prentisstown. Prentisstown is on a new world; another planet. Todd's mother was one of the settlers of the planet. Todd has been told that the original occupants of the planet, the Spackle, released a virus that killed all the women on the planet. This virus also made it possible for men to hear each others thoughts - all the time. Todd has grown up with this constant noise. When Todd discovers a quiet spot in the swamp he is sent away by Ben and Cillian. Todd, his dog Manchee, and another companion (I don't want to spoil the story for anyone) run away from Prentisstown with all the men of the town -an army led by Mayor Prentiss - on their trail. Todd slowly discovers that he has been lied to all his life.
This is a very fast paced story about lies, betrayal, love, communication and sexual politics. Loved Manchee. I can't wait to read the next two books in the series. Highly recommended.

Two down, three more unreviewed books left to go. Maybe tomorrow.
Edited to add : very strange. I italicized one word - that word disappeared but all the following text was in italics. Will delete.

I can't sleep so I'll do another review.

124) Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence - Geoffrey Canada
Graphic novel adaptation illustrated by Jamar Nicholas
Graphic novel. memoir, Early Reviewer, TIOLI challenge - book published after 2005 with 5 or more words in the title.

This is the graphic novel adaptation of the book published in 1995. Geoffrey Canada is the President and CEO of the Harlem Children's Zone. This is his memoir of growing up with his brothers in the South Bronx. Canada details the progression of violence in the life of inner city children. Canada started learning the code of the streets at the age of 4. All boys on the street had to prove they had heart - be willing and unafraid to fight anyone, even if you couldn't beat the other person. Canada states that a child starts to carry weapons because they lack a sense of safety in their environment. Also, that children learn very early in their school age years the impotence of adults in violent situations. They carry weapons for protection. Canada was saved by his love of reading and his Christian upbringing. He disposed of his gun before he found himself in a situation where he might kill someone. He continued to worry about being confronted by teenagers with weapons who might not be lucky enough to have his moral foundation. Since graduating from college Canada has worked at Harlem Children's Zone , which is working to change the lives of inner city children and stop the cycle of learned violence.
Jamar Nicholas adapted and illustrated this edition. Nicholas is a comic artist and his illustrations are basically black and white panel based comics. While the illustrations are not as good as many graphic novels I've read, Nicholas does manage to convey powerful emotions in the facial expressions of these characters. Also, the illustrations helped me realize just how young the Canada brothers were during the events of the novel.
I haven't read the original novel so I can't compare the two or comment on the faithfulness of the adaptation. I will be looking out for the original. A powerful book, a must read for anyone who works with inner city children. Highly recommended.

>262 VioletBramble: cool re: the Patti Smith book. It got a nod in the best books of the year in my local paper here. There are only so many copies of it at the library so Ill keep waiting my turn!

#264: I really need to track down a copy of that one! I have seen nothing but good reviews of it. I am glad to see you liked it as well, Kelly.

115) The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight and Saving the Planet - Alicia Silverstone
Diet, Cookbook, Vegan, TIOLI challenge author with at least 10 letters in their name

In this nutrition and cookbook Silverstone gives you three ways to achieve permanent weight loss, feel better and be kind to animals and the planet. You can choose flirting - eating less processed and animal foods; vegan - eliminate all animal products from your diet; or superhero - basically a macrobiotic diet free of animal products, processed foods and white sugar. Silverstone discusses nasty foods: meat, dairy, white sugar, processed foods and kind foods: whole grains, new proteins, vegetables, and magic foods: miso, umeboshi plums, pickles and sea vegetables.
The book is written in a simple, accessible style. It's filled with nutritional information, bios of vegans, hints for lifestyle changes and advice on activism. I esp like when Silverstone tells which brands she uses. (Although, I did find, when shopping in the vegan section of the market, that vegans are a very friendly bunch that are happy to tell you which products they think taste good and which to avoid). The photos in the book are gorgeous and make all the dishes look amazing.
I have been a vegetarian for 40 years. Also, I'm a very picky eater. I read this book planning to just find a few more recipes I could add to what I already eat. I didn't really plan on switching to a vegan or a macrobiotic diet. However; I have really liked the recipes I've tried and have starting filling my pantry (such as it is) with grains and beans. I may slowly advance to a vegan diet. Giving up butter will be hard.
These are the recipes I tried:
Vegan:
1)Crispy tofu slices with orange dipping sauce -- pretty good
2) Traditional English breakfast - steamed greens, fried tomato and mushrooms, tempeh strips. I could have done without the tempeh strips (aka fakin bacon). I don't really feel the need to replace meat products in my diet. Also I expected something crispy and bacon like - this was limp and vaguely smelled like bacon.

Superhero/macrobiotic:
1) Kim's red radiish tabbouleh - Good. I love radishes though
2) Pan fried mochi - also yum. Another reviewer stated this was as good as french toast. It's no where near that good but I still really liked it. I've just tried the plain version but have cinnamon raisin to try next.
3) Azuki beans with kabocha squash - very good, almost stew like. Great on a cold day.
4) Baby bok choy drizzled with ume vinaigrette - pretty good. I really loved the ume vinaigrette and the gomashio that is drizzled on the bok choy. I'm trying to find more foods in which to add these two ingredients. I used store bought gomashio instead of making my own. I don't own a suribachi to make my own.
5) Maple roasted lotus roots, sunchokes and leeks. Loved the maple syrup and garlic mixture, esp on the sunchokes. You have to make sure the lotus roots are sliced thinly, (use a mandolin if you have one.) so that everything else in the dish doesn't burn while you wait for them to finish cooking.
6) Braised daikon in mirin and shoyu - pretty good. The liquid measurements in this recipe are way too much. The first time I tried it using her amounts and the liquid never was absorbed. The second time I used much less water - just enough to cover the bottom of the pan - and it worked much better. Smells and tastes like baked potatoes.
7) Mochi waffles with lemon walnut rice syrup - pretty much the same as the fried mochi above. Cut into strips and placed in a waffle iron. The lemon walnut rice syrup is very good. I like the rice syrup plain as well.

As I said above I'm a picky eater. I think I've liked more recipes in this cookbook than any other that I've tried. However; I like more vegetables and more variety than these recipes offer. Some of the ingredients are hard to find, even here in NYC. Overall I enjoyed this book; it's friendly conversational style and the hints - diet and lifestyle- and the recipes. Recommended for those looking to lose weight or change to a vegan or macrobiotic diet.

Recap for November:
Books read in November: 8
Books read in 2010: 125
Books off the Shelf in 2010: 64
Books bought in 2010: 150 (26 in Nov)
Borrowed from Library: 6
Fiction: 52
NonFiction: 20
Poetry: 18
Graphic Novel: 34
Male author:74
Female author: 52
Rereads: 4

will review tomorrow:
125) Blackout - Connie Willis (wrong touchstone)
126) The Ask and the Answer - Patrick Ness

That book does sound good! I am what I call vegetarian curious. There are times when I cant believe I eat meat, and times when I cant believe I would ever think of giving it up. Deep down I think i know what I would really like to be eating.....but old habits die hard. Sounds like the Silverstone book would be a good rev up.

#269: I just finished that one up the other day and copied all kinds of recipes to try. I am glad you have given some of them a thumbs up already, Kelly, although some of the ingredients she mentions I am never going to be able to find locally.

#271 Hi Megan. Well, as my nutritionist once told me -- not everyone can be a vegetarian. My gastroenterologist had referred me to her. On her advice I tried eating meat for 3 or 4 days in 2007. I could not get used to the texture of the meat. Or stop thinking about where the meat came from. I ignored her and remained a vegetarian. Turns out I was allergic/sensitive to apples and all I had to do was give up apple products and I was fine.

#272 Hi Stasia. What recipes are you thinking of trying? I had trouble finding some ingredients here in NYC. Do you have any Asian markets near you? A number of the ingredients are staples in asian diets. I checked markets in China Town and Korea Town but still ended up going to a large Asian Market in NJ (near my mothers house) for lotus roots and burdock.
If there is something you really want to try and are unable to find, let me know. If I can find it and it's mail- able I'll send it to Texas. And, I almost forgot, amazon.com carries some of the products she mentions in the book.

My reviews on books 125 and 126 will have to wait. Influenza A has hit pediatrics this week. One of my flu patients is only 12 days old. He is so adorable. I am exhausted, and yet hyper and unable to sleep.

#272: Kelly, the stack of recipes in next to my computer at home, so I cannot list them here at the moment. The one I do remember offhand that I want to try is the Cauliflower Steak recipe.

As far as Asian markets go, I do not know of one close to me. I will have to investigate further, but the only ethnic grocers I know of here in Sherman are Hispanic.

ETA: Thanks for the heads up about Amazon. I may check there if I am dying to try a recipe and cannot find the ingredients locally. I do have a nice health food store here, so I will try there as well.

Two Cents Plain and Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun both sound really interesting. I really need to check out the library for graphic novels. I haven't been buying new books and I very rarely them in used or thrift shops.

Some yummy looking recipes in The Kind Diet. And the statement about mochi being as good as french toast gave me a good laugh. I'm forever hearing those kinds of statements and I always wonder if the people making them actually do believe that now or if they're just trying reeeally hard to convince people. :)

#274 - Stasia - I never even noticed a cauliflower recipe. I hate cauliflower though. Good luck with the recipes.

#275 - Shauna - I hope you find the graphic novels. They're worth looking for. I managed to snag them both as ER copies.
Re: The Kind Diet .. I don't know, that reviewer could like food that sticks to your teeth much more than I do. But still..nothing like french toast.

I'm going to try to quickly catch up on my own thread with very late reviews. Correction.. make that descriptions.

125) Blackout- Connie Willis
Fiction, Time Travel, War, TIOLI Time travel book
127) All Clear - Connie Willis
Fiction, Time travel, War, TIOLI Next book in a series
Willis' Doomsday Book- Connie Willis is on my top ten favorite books list. These two books take place in the same world of time traveling Oxford historians. In 2060 three history students - Polly, Michael and Merope - travel back in time to various places and events in WWII England. Polly poses as an Oxford Street shopgirl to study the effects of the Blitz on the contemps. Merope/Eileen cares for child evacuees at a manor house in the country. Michael/Mike, who is studying heroes, finds himself at Dunkirk. When something goes wrong and their drops will not open to return them to the present (2060), the three historians are trapped in the past. They eventually find each other and work together to survive and try to find a way back to the future. In the meantime they must avoid making any changes in history.
I always have the same problem with all of Willis's novels; she puts too many obstacles in the paths of her characters. Constantly. Nothing ever happens smoothly - not once. Interruptions, misconnections, miscommunication and lack of communication -- the action hinges on these. It's as if the phone had never been invented. And having the same character get her shoe stuck in something THREE times is just lazy writing. One improvement here -- the nurse characters are much more appropriate than in her other novels. As a nurse I was getting pretty tired of all the nurses in her novels being too mean to be true.
That being said, I loved these books. Willis researched WWII for 10 years before writing these books. It shows in the details. I cried at the end. Will definitely re-read these books. Highly recommended.

126) The Ask and the Answer - Patrick Ness
Fiction, YA, TIOLI book with an animal on the cover

The second book in the Chaos Walking Series. Todd and Viola arrive in Haven to discover that Mayor Prentiss has reached the town first. Todd and Viola are separated and find themselves on opposites sides of the war. Viola is in hiding with The Answer. The Answer is a rebel group made up mostly of women. Viola questions their use of bombs and terrorist tactics. Todd is forced to work with (now) President Prentiss. First with the enslaved Spackle and later in the torture chambers of The Ask. Prentiss continues to use Todd and Viola's feelings for each other to control them both.
Faster paced than the first book. Continues to deal with racism, sexual politics, power, control, manipulation,communication and above all, choices.
Highly recommended

128) The Winter Solstice: The Sacred Traditions of Christmas - John Matthews
NonFiction, religion, Folklore, Spirituality, History, TIOLI book with a Christmas connection

A look at the origins of the traditions of Christmas. Topics include, the tree, Santa, Child of Wonder, Mummers, Morris dancers, animals, foods and songs, solstice traditions. There is a section on the 12 days of Christmas - the symbolism or significance of each gift.
There is a lot of information in this book. It's almost as good as his wive's book about the Summer Solstice.

These next two are holiday re-reads/listens:
129) Holidays on Ice - David Sedaris
Audiobook - love sedaris reading Santaland Diaries and Jeses Shaves

130) Christmas in Noisy Village - Astrid Lindgren
My favorite childhood Christmas book. I love the illustrations of a Scandinavian Christmas.

I am going to be reading both Blackout and All Clear early in the new year. Glad to know you enjoyed them, Kelly!

Despite their flaws, I really loved Blackout and All Clear too. Definitely keepers. I like Willis' snarky sense of humor a lot. Wasn't Sir Godfrey a wonderful character?

Merry Christmas, Kelly!

#280 Hi Stasia. Belated Christmas wishes to you. I hope you had a nice holiday and some time off. And thank you so much for visiting my thread throughout the year. I would have spent a lot of time talking to myself otherwise.

For the first time in 21 years I actually had 4 days off at Christmas. I went to my Mother's in NJ. She was afraid I would get stuck there with the blizzard so she sent me home yesterday instead of today. I made it home before the trains and F train (subway) shut down. I have spent the day cooking. I made vanilla scented bulgar with dried cherries and toasted walnuts for breakfast ( from Going Wild in the Kitchen) and now I'm making roasted squash and azuki beans with kabocha squash for dinner (from The Kind Diet).

***SPOILERS***SPOILERS***SPOILERS***SPOILERS***SPOILERS*****
#279 - Roni - I actually thought Sir Godfrey might turn out to be Colin. He seemed to be dropping a lot of hints. Just a red herring I guess. But I agree, a great character.
I do really love Willis' books. I wish she would come up with some other way to make conflict in her novels.

***END SPOILERS*** END SPOILERS ******

#281: Would you be willing to share the breakfast recipe with me? It sounds wonderful!

I had a nice holiday despite having to work :)

Edited for spelling

#282 Stasia - no problem. This dish does taste really good. It also re-heats well in the microwave. It's from Going Wild in the Kitchen: The Fresh and Sassy Tastes of Vegetarian Cooking by Leslie Cerier.

Vanilla Scented Bulgar with Dried Cherries and Toasted Walnuts -- serves 4

2 cups water
1/3 cup dried pitted cherries (I use bing cherries)
2- inch piece of vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
1 cup bulgar wheat
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup toasted walnuts
plain yogurt (optional)

Place the water, cherries and vanilla bean in a 1 quart saucepan, and bring to boil over medium heat.
Add the bulgar and salt, reduce the heat to low, and simmer 10 minutes or until the water is absorbed and the bulgar is tender. Remove the vanilla bean.
Meanwhile dry roast walnuts in a fry pan for 5 mins, stirring occasionally, or until walnuts darken in color and start to crackle.
Spoon the hot bulgar into bowls and serve topped with yogurt and walnuts.

Enjoy!

I prefer this without the yogurt. Cerier has a couple of cookbooks with great grain recipes. My favorite is Teff porridge with cinnamon and dates. Teff is an Ethiopian grain, now grown domestically, that has a chocolate hazelnut flavor. The teff flour makes amazing waffles/pancakes. Although, if I remember correctly, you don't like chocolate. You probably wouldn't like Teff.

I tried the first recipe I copied from The Kind Diet tonight, the Lentil Stew, and it was terrific!

Thanks for the recipe, Kelly. I will give it a try.

ETA: You remember correctly, I do not like chocolate.

131) Confession of a Buddhist Atheist- Stephen Batchelor
NonFiction, Religion, Spirituality, TIOLI book about religion

Part of this book is a memoir of how Batchelor traveled to Asia after graduating from school and became a Buddhist monk. After realizing he is agnostic in regard to the existence of reincarnation and an all powerful, immortal spiritual being (God, Buddha, etc) he put aside his robes. Now a lay person, Batchelor makes a living teaching seminars and writing about Buddhism in today's secular societies. Other parts of the book describe an imagined life of the Buddha based on the Pali cannon and a tour of the parts of Asia that the Buddha traveled to/ lived in as he brought his dharma to the people.
This book was okay. It jumped around a little bit too much for my reading tastes. He does mention numerous other texts - by himself and others - that sound interesting and worth looking into.

Recap for December and 2010:

Books read in 2010: 131
Books read in December: 6
Books off the Shelf in 2010: 64 (almost 50% -- a new record. Yay!!)
Books Bought in 2010: 153
Borrowed from the library: 6
Fiction:55
NonFiction:23
Poetry: 18
Graphic Novels: 34
Male author: 78
Female author: 54
Rereads: 6

Happy New Year, Kelly!

McMurdo Station, Byrd Glacier Survey

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Links to lists of Mystery books/series/authors for children, pre-teens and young adults:

YA Edgar Award Winners

Young Adult Mysteries

Teen Mystery/Suspense

Get A Clue

Mystery Books for Pre-teens

Mystery Books for Kids

Children's Mystery Books

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