RamblingIvy's bomb disposal thread

I've just done a very preliminary count, and it seems that I have 214 unread books on my shelves. To be fair, most of these are not books I have acquired myself, but are, instead, books I have inherited from deceased relatives. However, I do have a long-term goal to have a much smaller personal library consisting of books that I love and treasure, without many guilt-inducing legacies from others, so hope to keep reading my way through them... and donating or keeping as appropriate.

I am a sucker for book sales and remainder catalogues, and am always searching for new literary treasures, so really don't have high hopes of ending the year with fewer books than I have now. However, if at the end of 2012 I can have more books on my shelves that *I* have chosen for myself, rather than inherited, then I'll be happy.

Bring on 1st January!

Ivy.

Best of luck with your challenge, Ivy!

Best wishes with your challenges. I hope your wish to own more self-chosen books will come true!

Good luck on your challenge! I'm trying to do the same thing with my books over the next few years. It's very liberating to get rid of some stinkers and fun to find some gems you never would have picked up or have forgotten about.

I agree!

I'm all inspired, waiting for 2012, and have already filled a box of unneeded reference books etc to take to the op shop, and am already revelling in the teeny bit more shelf space I've released.

My grandmother was really into Henry James and, oh lucky me, I've inherited her entire HJ collection. I didn't mind Washington Square but thought What Maisie Knew and Daisy Miller were deadly dull, and am not looking forward to plodding through the rest... but oh! the joy I'll feel when I've read them all and can get rid of them (or not) without guilt.

Of course, I've inherited some gems too, but it can be hard work finding them, when one has to sort through so many of someone else's books.

:-)

I've finished my first TBR for the year: Men of Bad Character by Kathleen Stewart. It was a wonderfully-written story about a woman's attempts to reconstruct her life after a terrible betrayal by her husband. However, it's not a subject I'd like to revisit, so into the resale box it goes.

My second for the year:

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Another one off the shelf, read, and into the resale box:

Rapture Ready!: Adventures in the Parallel Universe of Christian Pop Culture by Daniel Radosh

I read The Grapes of Wrath in high school, I didn't think much of it then but I've been meaning to pick it up again as an adult. Let me know what you think!

I thought it had some important themes that are disturbingly relevant to contemporary society ("I don't want to do this terrible thing; the bank / the economy is making me do it") but felt it was entirely too long and long-winded, so it's not one that I'd like to keep on my shelves.

Here's my fourth completed BOMB for January and 2012:

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. Definitely one to keep.

I also started, and rejected, Josh Hartnett DEFINITELY wants to do this... by Bruce Beresford. He did a very entertaining radio interview shortly after the book was published, and that made me want to read it some day... but, having tried it, I was disappointed, so into the op-shop box it goes. There's nothing wrong with the book, it's just that I'm not keen enough on films to be bothered reading such a detailed account of the life of a director... especially as he presented the book in diary form which was not, I think, the best format for telling his tale.

My fifth completed book for January and 2012:

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

This is not only a book to keep, but a book to place in the special bookcase reserved for meaningful books that I want to keep, and treasure, and reread.

I recently read People of the Book and I liked it but I didn't love it. Year of Wonders and March both sound great though, I have The Nine Parts of Desire on my stack somewhere, maybe I'll detonate that one next :)

I thought March was ok, but didn't keep it. I prefer her non-fiction books to her fiction: Foreign Correspondence was a favourite of mine in my twenties and is still kept with my treasured books, and her Nine Parts of Desire is great, I think, too, and insightful and thought-provoking. I hope you enjoy it. I seem to remember knocking that one off in almost one sitting!

I've yet to read People of the Book but probably shall at some point. It's not something I'm racing to find, though, as I haven't heard anyone rave about it yet.

My sixth completed bomb for January and 2012:

Conditions of Faith by Alex Miller, another Australian book, which I read in celebration of Australia Day (Jan 26th). It was 400 pages long and I didn't expect to knock it off in 30 hours, but it was fantastic, so I did.

A wonderful, wonderful, book, and definitely one to keep. However, it ends with the main character working her way through a terrible moral dilemma, so now I'm feeling mentally and emotionally drained. I was wanting to jump right into another book, but now I'm going to have to think before I start my next one: it'll have to be great, to compete with Alex Miller's writing, but I don't want to have to go through another vicarious emotional ordeal so soon.

Hmmmmm....

My seventh bomb for January and 2012. This is one I've been pottering at for a few weeks, now: I didn't read it overnight, as the posting times might suggest.

The Mind of St Paul by William Barclay

This is a lovely, solid, piece of 1950s scholarship, published by Fontana, but I think it might just as easily have been published by Penguin. Its sole aim seems to be to help laypeople gain a better understanding of St Paul's mindset and teachings, and Barclay accomplishes this with an admirable lack of jargon or academic waffling. I really can't imagine a book like this being published in 2012, and that's a pity.

I'm keeping this one, as I think I'll want to revisit it in a few years.

One of the problems with joining this group is that I know I'm going to be adding far too many books to my wish list and Year of Wonders has been added.

Also have to say that I admire your reading of Henry James as hr's not a writer I get on with, although i did quite like What Maisie Knew in the end - his premable irritated me so much that I abandoned the book and only picked it up again because I was on a long train journey with nothing else to read. But I found the characters quite annoying, but we can't all like the same books as that would be boring!

Well, you'll note that both Maisie and Dorothy Miller are short books, and I was able to knock both off, with gritted teeth, in a day or so. My courage fails me when I look at his longer books, which take up a large section of one shelf, thanks to my Grandmother's passion for his writing.

I suspect life's too short to spend days / weeks battling with Henry James, but would feel guilty about tossing them without at least trying them. Maybe I should aim to read one a year... or, better, one every leap year. They're probably going to be less daunting individually, than en masse.

I hope you enjoy Year of Wonders, when you do find and read it.

What did you think of the ending to Year of Wonders? I thought the book should have ended with the end of the plague, the epilogue was so contrived and irrelevant to the main story, it quite spoiled it for me.

Yes, I agree completely. I thought the ending was quite improbable too.

The book's place on my treasures shelf is tenuous, and it will only remain there until I find something better to replace it.

My eighth bomb for January and 2012:

The World of the New Testament by Sean Freyne

Verdict: donate to the op shop... and as quickly as possible, because I'm irritated just seeing it in the house.

What a disappointment after William Barclay's beautifully-constructed arguments. This book, to put it charitably, reads like a good draft, and I feel it should never have been published in its current form. There are multiple, multiple, structural flaws, flaws that really should have been picked up by an editor and corrected before publication.

Where to start? Should I mention the lack of commas where commas should be, and the presence of commas where they should be absent? The misplaced capitalisations? The evident inability to identify, construct, and conclude an argument and the reliance, instead, on verbose, if learned, ramblings? The breaking of basic rules of scholarly writing, such as the introduction of new material in the conclusion, or, worse, the regular mentioning of new concepts, but the failure to actually explain them until much later in the text? I could go on and on, but won't... Suffice it to say, the book became very irritating very quickly; finishing it became an irritating ordeal; and I shall be glad to be rid of it.

Hmph.

My ninth, and final, bomb for January:

The Rest of Us by Jacquelyn Mitchard

I bought this for 50c from an op shop last year, thinking it would make good beach reading. I didn't read it on the beach, but did read it in bed last night, exhausted after a long day and baking sore muscles on my electric blanket, and very grateful for some light reading.

This book is simply a collection of newspaper columns Mitchard has published over the years. It provides some nice insights into her life and attitudes, and my only complaint is that I wish the columns had been dated, as they were obviously published out of order.

Anyway, the book was bought for light reading and served its purpose admirably, so back to the op shop it goes, to entertain some other tired person.

So, my summary for January:

Bombs detonated: nine
Bombs that were gifts / inherited (ie not chosen by me): two
Books to donate / sell: five

My first bomb for February, and my tenth for the year:

The Beautiful Visit by Elizabeth Jane Howard

This is part of a compendium, so I haven't entered it into my main account yet.

I've also started, and rejected, an inherited book:

The Marcos Dynasty by Sterling Seagrave

I'm positive it's an interesting subject, but the writing style irritated me, so into the op shop box it goes.

My second bomb for February; my eleventh for 2012:

Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler

This is definitely one to keep. This was an inherited book, as my mother was very keen on Koestler's writing, and, now that I've read one, I can see why. We have at least two more by him on our shelves, and will keep an eye out for more as I browse through op shops...

Did I mention that on Wednesday I bought a big bag of books, for $7.50, if you please, from the Salvos? I know it goes against the spirit of clearing books from shelves, but I don't care: our local library is inadequate, so I grab good books when I see them, especially if they're in good condition and being sold for 50c each.

My third for February and my twelfth for 2012:

Something in Disguise by Elizabeth Jane Howard

This was the second book in the compendium I mentioned earlier, and was much better than The Beautiful Visit. I'm going to put it back on the shelf for the time being, but am not sure if I'll end up keeping it.

I also tried Three Cheers for the Paraclete by Thomas Keneally but won't be keeping it. I've tried a few of Keneally's now and haven't liked any of them, but will give him at least one more try, as we still have Schindler's List on our bookshelves.

Number four for February; thirteen for 2012:

Temptation by Douglas Kennedy

It's a good book, but not one of his best, so I won't be keeping it.

Not too bad - three books ditched, and it's only the ninth of the month.

Bomb number five for February; fourteen for 2012:

Choosing Eden by Adrienne Langman

This is the memoir of a retiree couple who learnt about the coming peak oil crisis and, afraid, decided to flee Sydney and set up a self-sufficient, permaculture, sanctuary on the north coast of New South Wales. Their suburban selves irritated me, frankly, in their insular ignorance, but they grew and changed and turned into much more tolerable people once they moved north, so I was able to get through the book without throwing it at the wall in aggravation.

Some of their "insights" seemed commonplace to me, but there are some useful gardening tips in the book, so I'll be keeping it for now.

My sixth bomb for February; fifteenth for 2012:

For Want of a Nail by Melvyn Bragg

Ho hum. We have about half a dozen of Bragg's we have sitting on our shelves, all inherited. This is the second of his books I've read, and I simply have not related to any of his characters so far. And I don't enjoy the bleakness.

It's nicely written... but not for me, and definitely not one to keep. Off to the op shop it goes.

On the other hand, I highly recommend his radio programme "In Our Time", which I listen to as a podcast.

Yes, so do I! Wonderful, isn't it?

One of the highlights of my week.

Its a fantastic series. Have you seen that they've made the archive available for download on Itunes - they're also available for streaming on the BBC website - so I'm using the archive (and the Desert Island Discs archive, which is also available on Itunes or the BBC Website) as my fix during in between programmes. The Itunes downloads may be limited to the Apple Store UK, but the radio section of the BBC Website isn't currently geoblocked.

I live in Indonesia and can download In Our Time through iTunes for a week after the broadcast, after which I can only get streaming. It's one of the things I listen to while on my constitutional.

my BOMB is "learn to make cool styles on your sewing machine: 1955 edition."

I download shows from the archive here in Australia, too, so it looks as if it isn't blocked.

Number seven for February; sixteen for 2012:

The Story of General Dann and Mara's Daughter, Griot and the Snow Dog by Doris Lessing

Congratulations on reaching your goal so early!

Are you going to revise it for the rest of the year?

Well, I had the bright idea of giving up fiction for Lent, and that meant that precious little bomb reading was accomplished, as I was too tired to cope with the hefty histories on my shelves.

Now that I'm back, I'm starting with some lightweight girlie stuff:

Night Music by Jojo Moyes, specifically bought for a time when I was feeling tired and wanting an easy read and, now that it has served its purpose, it can go to the op shop.

Cyderry, I don't think I'll revise my goal for the rest of the year. Instead, I think I might simply contribute to the group total.

ps. So that's 17 bombs for 2012. Unfortunately, I've bought more than seventeen "new" books (op shop books, for 50c each), and wrapped them up as personal presents to myself for Christmas :-).

My first bomb for May, and the eighteenth for 2012:

The Glass Blowers by Daphne du Maurier

I had a few false starts with this book, and it took me a while to get into it, but after the slow start, I was hooked, and finished it in almost one sitting. She does a brilliant job at giving her characters a French "voice", and the whole narrative has a very French lilt - quite an accomplishment for someone writing in English.

I'm not sure whether I'll keep this book or not, so I'll put it back on my shelves for the time being, and see how I feel about it in a few more months.

Number two for May; nineteen for 2012.

Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson

I'm not sure how many times I've tried, and failed, to finish this. I do know, though, that my first attempt was as a schoolgirl, maybe nineteen or twenty years ago. I'm glad to have finished it at last.

Number three for May; twenty for 2012:

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

Number four for May; twenty-one for 2012:

The Victorian Governess by Kathryn Hughes

My fifth for May; twenty-second for 2012:

A Pilgrim's Journey by St Ignatius of Loyola

I hate to say it, but I found his autobiography - and much of the behaviour outlined in it - thoroughly irritating. This one is going right back to the op shop, where, I hope, it may provide someone else with more enlightenment than it gave me.

>38 ramblingivy:,

I absolutely love it when authors manage to bring across the 'feel' for another language even when they're writing in English. I think it's probably very hard to do, especially without resorting to 'cheats' like when people randomly throw in endearments or similar in the other language as a cue.

I think lately, the only time I've seen this particularly well done is in Anne Gracie's romance novel The Spymaster's Lady.

It really is incredible that she was able to get the rhythms right, despite writing in English. I wonder if she ever translated poetry? She'd have been good at it.

I hadn't heard of The Spymaster's Lady so will keep an eye out for it. Thanks.

Number six for May, and twenty-three for 2012:

Second Honeymoon by Joanna Trollope

This has survived countless trips to hospital where I read a few chapters and then put it aside for "later", but I had to spend seven hours on a train yesterday, and the deed was done. Back to the op shop it goes.

Another train trip, another Trollope, another BOMB off the shelves and heading back to the op-shop:

A Spanish Lover by Joanna Trollope

This brings it to seven for May, and twenty-four for 2012.

Number eight for May, and twenty-five for 2012:

Seven Years in Tibet by Heinrich Harrer

Am I right in thinking that this was made into a film starring Brad Pitt? If so, I can't see how they managed it, as this really isn't a plot-driven book and is, instead, mainly a loosely-connected series of reminiscences of the author's time in Tibet, association with the young Dalai Lama, and ultimate departure from the country in the face of an encroaching Chinese army. It's the author's impression of the country and its culture that makes the bulk of the book, and I really can't see how this could be captured on film.

The author himself acknowledges that he isn't a gifted writer, so, interesting as this book was, it wasn't excellent enough to justify taking up 2+cm of shelf space, so off to the op-shop it goes.

ramblingivy - I read this one for a school project in high school (we had to link biographies/memoirs to key aspects of Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey) and remember liking most of it despite it not being particularly well-written. Though his Nazi background was a bit off-putting for me.

I have seen the movie (and enjoyed it despite the slow pacing and Brad Pitt's utterly atrocious fake accent), and they really focused on the slowly building relationship between Harrer and the Dalai Lama - and how both grew from it rather than anything else.

I planned to do a second count come about June, and did so (a little early) this afternoon. I now have approximately 185 bombs on my shelves, down from 214 at the end of December, so this challenge is working!

That's interesting, when you consider it was such a small part of the book, and really only occurred in the final few chapters. And why am I not surprised that Pitt's accent was terrible?

I kept being grateful that the book was written more than half a century ago. I shudder when I think of how it would have been "produced" now: I'm imagining a ghost writer or a co-writer, a lurid cover, and a gratingly sensationalist, lightweight, journalistic style. Harrer may not have been confident in his writing technique, but at least he was honest and detailed and respected the intelligence of his readers.

I am not too confident about my writing style either, as I am half-asleep and heading to bed :-). I'm not familiar with Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey, Caramel: what's that about?

Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces essentially is a study in comparative mythology that claims that most myths/stories follow elements of an archetypal overarching monomyth - he compares creation stories, great flood stories, etc. including the so-called Hero's Journey or quest myths. It's all in a quite Jungian psychology framework (which we were also studying at the time).

George Lucas famously claimed to have used Campbell's work as a guide in his later drafts of the original Star Wars Trilogy.

I remember the Hero with a Thousand Faces being quite dry and a bit rambling, but the excerpts of a PBS documentary of conversations between Campbell and a journalist (Power of Myth) were very intriguing in high school. (Though his inclusion of the Bible in his comparative studies got most of my high school class pretty het up...)

Wow. Sounds like you did really interesting things in high school (she says, jealously).

We studied a book on tropes at university, which sound quite similar to your Campbell book. Ours was by a fellow called Nye (from memory), though.

Number twenty-six for 2012, and my first for July:

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Yes, Mr Twain did impressive things with accents, and the book was quite amusing in spots, but I can't see myself wanting to reread Huck Finn. I'll keep it on the shelf for the time being, but expect I'll be purging it at some point soon.

Number two for July; twenty-seven for 2012:

Awakenings by Oliver Sacks

My mother adored Oliver Sacks, and we have a large collection of his books here. I'm slowly working my way through them, with the help of audible.com, as it's a lot easier to cope with the unfamiliar medical terms when they're being read to you.

I'm not sure what I'll do with this book. I'll probably get rid of it eventually, but might just hold onto it and think about it for the time being.

Number three for July, and the twenty-eighth for 2012:

An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks

I enjoyed this much more than "Wife for a Hat" and "Awakenings" and expect I'll be keeping this one, and even wanting to reread it at some point.

Two to start September, and that brings me to thirty for 2012:

Watership Down by Richard Adams, and

Phineas Finn by Anthony Trollope

Number three for September; thirty-one for 2012:

The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James

Loved it, loved it, loved it. I've moved it onto my treasures shelf.

My fourth for September, and thirty-second for 2012:

The American by Henry James

Ho hum. I won't be keeping this one.

Number five for September; thirty-three for 2012:

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

Not a subject I'm likely to want to revisit, so into the resale pile it goes.

My sixth for September, and thirty-fourth for 2012:

In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great by the highly swoonable (and intelligent) Michael Wood

Oh dear, I went to the library, so no BOMBS for a while.

My first for November, and thirty-fifth for 2012:

African Laughter by Doris Lessing

I enjoyed it, but can't imagine myself rereading it, so into the selling box it goes.

Number two for November, and thirty-six for 2012:

At Home, by Bill Bryson

I found this book thoroughly irritating; an unstructured set of often-irrelevant rambles, and am glad to have finished it and even more glad to be getting it off my shelves!

I lost computer access for a while, so was unable to post here for a fortnight. I've two more books to add to the list. Technically, they're for November, but let's add them to December's tally, just to keep things easy for cyderry.

1) The Rise and Fall of the British Nanny by Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy - interesting enough, but very, very, dated, so into the resell box it goes

2) A Passionate Man by Joanna Trollope. I'll probably keep this one, just because it's good for mindless reading on days when you're stuck in bed with a virus or whatever.

Anyway, that brings me to 38 for 2012. I've a few more that are almost finished, so I hope to be able to get to 40 by the end of the year.

Another one for the final stretch:

3) Ascent to Love: The Spiritual Teaching of St John of the Cross by Ruth Burrows. Wonderful. Definitely keeping this one.

That makes 39 for 2012.

4) In Search of the Trojan War by Michael Wood

... and that brings me to 40 for the year.