Ardene (markon) tries a new thing in 2017

Hi, I'm new to the category challenge, and plan on participating in the CAT women reads this year.

I'm hoping to increase my interaction around books this year, and this seemed like a good place to chime in. I may pop in on the science fiction/fantasy challenge, since I read in that genre as well.

In addition this year, I'm participating in two of hibernator's group reads: the Bible as Literature and Understanding Trump's win, so you may see me on the following threads as well.

The Unwinding thread
Reading the Bible as literature thread #1

Here's a link to my short 75ers thread from last year (2016).

In an ideal world, I'd live where this is reality. And I'll do my best to make it possible where I live.

Reading plans for January

Something by Willa Cather that I haven't read yet for the Classics by women portion of the category challenge
Swing Time by Zadie Smith for the group read in Literary Fiction by people of color on goodreads.
1/2 of The Unwinding for Hibernator's group read.
The book of Genesis for Hibernator's Bible as Literature read.

Welcome aboard and have fun with the challenge! :)

Welcome, this is my 1st year in this group, also.

While I'm not going to be finicky on filling this card up, I thought it would be fun to see if my reads will earn me a bingo sometime this year

2: Shadows on the Rock by Willa Cather
4: Too like the lightning by Ada Palmer
7: We are all completely beside ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
9: Modoc by Ralph Helfer
22: Christmas Days by Jeanette Winterson.
24: Dogstar Rising by Parker Bilal

Welcome to the group! I think you will be happy choosing Cather as your first woman author read. I have loved everything of hers that I've read. She has a way with words. I like your goal to coexist. Have a wonderful year!

Hi Ardene! Glad to have you participate in my challenges. Good luck with your reading this year!

>7 mamzel: >8 The_Hibernator: Thanks for the welcome! Looking foward to the new year.

mamzel, I think I'm going to be reading Shadows on the Rock.

Welcome to the group. I love the coexist pic.

>10 majkia: Thanks Jean!

Welcome to the category challenge! Wishing you wonderful reads for 2017!

Welcome and have fun!

Hi, Ardene. Happy new year!

Happy New Year! (dropping a star)

>12 The_Hibernator: Rachel, >13 lkernagh: Lori, >14 MissWatson: Birgit, >15 tymfos: Terri, >16 ronincats: Roni - Thanks. I'm excited about reading this year.

Thanks for dropping a link to your Cat Challenge thread, Ardene. I've got you starred and will keep an eye on what you're reading. I'm hoping to participate in a number of the Cat Challenges this year, even though I don't have a thread over here, so I expect we'll be bumping into each other all over the place. :-)

>18 rosalita: Sounds good Julie.

Welcome to the Category Challenge, I think we have a very good selection of Cats this year and I am looking forward to seeing what everyone is going to read for them.

Thanks Judy. I think it's going to be a fun year.

Let"s hear it for ice storms (or the threat of one) which gave me a day & a half off that I didn't expect this weekend. I finished two books and enjoyed both of them.



The best one was Christmas Days: 12 stories and 12 feasts for 12 days by Jeanette Winterson. I plan to reread this one next Christmas. Twelve stories are alternated within the author's reminisces about holiday traditions and recipes.

This is also a beautiful book, as a one-page illustration heads each chapter.

4 stars, counts as short stories, square 22 on my BINGO card.



Jenn McKinlay's A Likely Story was a fun cosy mystery set on the Connecticut coast. 3 stars.

Can anyone help me out on marking off square 22 on my bingo card? When I tried to add it, it didn't mark it and erased my "free space" as well.

This is what the code looked like before I tried to add a mark on square 22:
(open bracket)img src="http://www.lshelby.com/Utilities/Bingo/bingocardC.php?type=CAT2017-B&color=blue&markers=13"(close bracket)

I tried adding , 22 and ,22 after 13 inside the quotation marks, but neither of those options worked.

put a dash between numbers. 13-20 or whatever

Welcome and Happy New Year!!

Thanks Jean, that fixed it.

Thanks and Happy New Year Victoria!

Just finished reading a book I will want to reread at Christmas-time. It's a beautiful book physically and good reading as well.

Christmas Days: 12 stories and 12 feasts for 12 days by Jeanette Winterson Twelve short stories alternating with descriptions & recipes for Christmas/Solstice & New Year's. While many are hopeful, a few are horrible (shocking or causing fear or disgust.) But all well written.

Favorites include "The spirit of Christmas," and "The mistletoe bride." Check it out or put in on your list to read at the end of the year.

What are your favorite holiday reads?

>27 markon: On the list it goes!

As usual, I have too many books going at once. Listing the ones I'm currently making progress in - some are for group reads and a few just for me.



Bible Group Read
Genesis
Literary Guide to the Bible by Robert Alter & Frank Kermode
Reading the Bible as Literature by Jeanie C. Crain

Understanding Trump Win?
The Unwinding: an inner history of the New America by George Packer

Shadows on the rock by Willa Cather (CAT Women challenge)

The starlit wood: New fairy tales, edited by Dominik Parisien

Too like the lightning by Ada Palmer (eRead, CAT science fiction)

Epitaph by Mary Doria Russell (audio, historical fiction)

Swing Time by Zadie Smith (historical fiction, group read on Goodreads)

>28 luvamystery65: Hope you enjoy it Roberta!

I know I shouldn't sign up for another challenge, but I really want to participate in 2017s Middle East North Africa (MENA) challenge.

Potential books to choose from listed here and here.

Title of special interest to me:

Of Noble Origins by Sahar Khalifeh
Stone of Laughter by Hoda Barakat
Granada by Radwa Ashour (1st in trilogy, only one in English)
Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow by Faiza Guene
The Moor's Account by Laila Lalami
Him, Me, Muhammad Ali by Randa Jarrar
In a Curious Land: Stories from Home by Susan Muaddi Dirraj
Hend and the Soldiers (forthcoming) by Badriah Albeshr
Diary of a Jewish Muslim, Days in the Diaspora, Menoarhs and Minarets (forthcoming) by Kamal Ruhayyim
Baghdad Eucharist (forthcoming) by Sinan Antoon

As usual, I have too many books going at once.

The story of my life, Ardene!

My story involves not being able to resist a reading challenge so I am trying not to even consider the MENA Challenge that you mention above. I will instead look forward to your thoughts on the books that you decide to read for the challenge.

Yow! So many book bullets! My reading is so unpredictable this year that I'm not signing up for challenges, but you have some great ones. I did a bingo reading challenge posted by the podcast Books on the Nightstand a few years ago that was fun. MENA sounds fascinating, and I look forward to your thoughts as you go through that one. I'm also interested in the Bible as Literature group. Someday. You reminded me that I haven't picked up Epitaph yet. I love Mary Doria Russell, but for some reason have been slow to get this one. How are you liking it? I thought Doc was very good.

>32 tymfos: That's why we're here, right Terri?

>33 DeltaQueen50: Way to exercise your willpower Judy!

>34 labfs39: Great to see you back Lisa! I'm enjoying Epitaph. The only problem is I listen before I go to sleep and right now it's pretty hair raising.

I'm working today and tomorrow during the inauguration and responses, but have friends attending marches in D.C. and Atlanta. My coworker Rosie got this scarf via connections at her alma mater, Agnes Scott College. A faculty member had them made & many students are wearing them to DC.

>36 markon: great scarf!

>36 markon: Love it!

Dropping a comment so that I get to follow your thread - happy reading! (I'm a little behind, so apologies for the generic comment - better to come, I hope.) :)

Just realized I have no place to list my reads, so here goes

January 2017

1. Christmas Days by Jeanette Winterson
2. A Likely Story by Jenn McKinlay
3. Shadows on the Rock inLater Novels by Willa Cather
4. We are all completely beside ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
5. Too like the lightning by Ada Palmer

February

6. A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny (reread)
7. Words are my matter by Ursula LeGuin
8. Chapel of Ease by Alex Bledsoe
9. Epitaph: a novel of the OK Corral by Mary Doria Russell
10. The south in color by William Ferris
11. The bear and the nightingale by Katherine Arden
12. The bones of Grace

April
13. Starlit Wood, The, ed by Dominik Parisien and Navah Wolfe

Ack! It's August
The last of the president's men by Bob Woodward

I listened to the audio of Epitaph: a novel of the OK Corral by Mary Doria Russell. I came to this novel with ignorance about the shootout at the OK Corral, and Russell's telling of the story via multiple points of view was engaging.

On reflection, I found it puzzling, as I'm not sure who the main character was supposed to be - Josephine Sarah Marcus Earp? Wyatt Earp?

I also found myself frustrated with the last 1/3 - 1/4 of the book, which abandoned the relationships among the Earp brothers, their wives & girlfriends and Doc Holliday, for an overview of the trajectory of Sarah & Wyatt's lives and a jump to their last few years. This was interesting information, but was less a story and more then this happened, then this happened, . . .

It was a good enjoyable read, just not a great one.

>41 markon: I'm sorry that Epitaph didn't quite do it for you, Ardene. I have not read that one yet but I adore Mary Doria Russell and thought her first book about Doc Holliday (Doc) was delightful. Have you read that one?

>42 rosalita: Yes, I have read and enjoyed Doc. And I loved Sparrow and liked Children of God a lot.

Hm, I have not read Epitaph yet, but like Rosalita, enjoyed Doc. I will probably still read it at some point, because I have read everything else she's published, but the idea doesn't have me running to the bookstore. I admire the diversity of her writing or rather the diversity of topics for her writings.

Edited to add: How did you like We are all completely beside ourselves? Another book I have yet to get to, but have good intentions.

Just stopping by to say hello. I hope you are well.

Ack! It's August and I haven't posted here for months! Will try to jump into the September challenge, either with a book by Rumer Godden or Walls: Resisting the Third Reich by Hilgunt Zassenhaus

Hi, Ardene. Good to see you emerge, even if only temporarily.

What have I been doing? Working and forgetting to get myself out of town to play! So I went to my niece's wedding last weekend, am taking a week off at home after my birthday labor day weekend:)

Reading:

Currently The firebrand and the first lady by Patricia Bell-Scott (about Eleanor Roosevelt & Pauli Marshall)

Pit Bull the battle over an American icon by Bronwen Dickey (my dog looks like he's part pit bull)

Also recently enjoyed
Words without music, Phillip Glass's memoir was fascinating,

and I liked Parker Bilal's Dogstar Rising (second in the Makana series set in Egypt in the 1990s and oughts.) I really need to buy these in paperback so I can donate some to the library.

>48 markon: - Congratulations to your niece on her nuptials and what a lovely idea to take a week off after your birthday!

Nice to get an update, Ardene. The memoirs of Phillip Glass and the book on Eleanor Roosevelt peaked my interest. Are you enjoying the Roosevelt-Marshall one?

I hope you have a lovely birthday and vacation.

I enjoyed my birthday week off. Then hurricane Irma blew by Atlanta and we worked our tails off catching up.

Yes, Lisa, I'm enjoying the Roosevelt-Marshall book, though I would say it's more about Marshall than about Roosevelt. Still very interesting.

Two other books I've enjoyed recently are New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson nad Modoc, by Ralph Helfer.


New York 2140 is set in Manhattan where sea levels have risen so high that much of lower Manhattan is underwater. People live in high rises above the water and travel by boat. Then a big storm hits. Multiple points of view made this novel a little hard to follow at first, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. 4 stars

I read Modoc ages ago. It's a little fuzzy in my mind. Did you enjoy it?

Lisa, I enjoyed Modoc. It had a lot of ups and downs, and I was interested to learn that it's reallly "as told to" the author. It was a fun book, but I don't think it was well fact checked.

I'm short of time as usual, so am just going to list what I've been reading. And listening.



Walls: resisting the Third Reich, one woman's story by Hiltgunt Zassenhaus (non fiction)

The collapsing empire by John Scalzi space opera!

The book of the unnamed midwife by Meg Elison (dystopian fiction)

The Evangelicals: the struggle to shape America by Frances Fitzgerald (author of Fire in the lake, 1972 Pulitzer winner) (non fiction)

Listening to:

All Mortal Flesh by Julia Spencer Fleming (my first in this mystery series)

Blood Brothers: the fatal friendship between Muhammed Ali and Malcolm X by Randy Roberts (non fiction)

The bad-ass librarians of Timbuktu by Joshua Hammer (non fiction)

And my soundtrack includes the CDs listed below.

Two (Chick Corea & Bela Fleck), Bach: a Strange Beauty (Simone Dinnerstein), And still I rise (Heritage Blues Orchestra), Fire on the floor (Beth Hart), Taj Mo (Taj Mahal), Bach Trios (Yo-yo Ma, Chris Thile, & Edgar Meyer)

>51 markon: Nice to see your positive review of New York 2140. This is one that I'm considering. I've enjoyed several of KSR's other novels.

My favorite book for September is Walls: resisting the Third Reich by Hiltgunt Zassenhaus. It's a memoir about the author's life in Germany from 1933-1945 (age 17-29) under Hitler. Hiltgunt's family are not supporters of the Nazis, and this book did a good job of portraying Hiltgunt's initial small steps of resistance which grow over time, and the risks that accompany them. It also portrays her family's initial belief that the Nazis won't last long, through the years of the war, physical hardships, the bombing of Hamburg, and what happens once other Germans are quartered in the Zassenhaus home.

Without giving a lot of detail, I'll just say that Hiltgunt's language skills eventually lead to her being in charge of all visits to Scandinavian political prisoners in Germany. Her records of where each prisoner is are critical to their ultimate survival.

I read this for the September YA challenge since it was on the list of awar winners for the 1970s. It is not catalogued as a young adult book at my library.

>55 mathgirl40: Paulina, it was a fun book, just took a minute to get characters straight.

The collapsing empire and The book of the unnamed midwife were both good science fiction reads.

Collapsing empire is the first of a multi-volume space opera about a universe where no planet is self supporting, and the method of travel between planets is going to stop working soon. Will the new emperor hold things together or will a competing family selfishly take the planet for themselves?

The book of the unnamed midwife is set not terribly far in our future. A virus has killed most women (and infants, there are no children being born, shade of P.D. James The children of men) The virus lies dormant in the population until a woman gives birth, then kills her and the child. This first volume is the story of a nurse who survives the virus and wanders the country trying to survive and keep herself safe from the gangs of men who enslave/use the few women they find alive.

I'll take 4 BBs from your recent reading: New York 2140, Walls: Resisting the Third Reich, The Collapsing Empire and The Book of the Unnamed Midwife.

>56 markon: Walls: resisting the Third Reich sounds right up my alley. Added it to my wishlist. Book of the Unnamed Widwife sounds interesting too. I liked Children of Men, though not the movie so much. I liked Scalzi's Old Man's War series, but I'm not sure I'm up to another at the moment. I just finished Bad-Ass Librarians. Had a hard time with the first half. Wasn't what I was hoping it would be.

>59 LisaMorr: Lisa, I hope you enjoy them! (Where is your thread?)

>60 labfs39: Lisa, I think you'll find Walls interesting. I, too, was disappointed in Bad-Ass Librarians. I assume it suffered from deadlines and not enough editing (it seemed disorganized to me), but I also found it not so much about the librarians as about a particular time in Mali, which was not what the title led me to believe.

Anyone else frustrated by the latest changes in Library Thing? My about me page, which is where I had the links that I use a lot, has reverted back to standard, and I can't remember how I edited it in the first place. I like how LT organizes things, but as a user I find it difficult to learn/retain new skills, and can't seem to find what I'm looking for in the help wiki.

Ah, well, at least i can still find my wiki in three clicks.

>62 markon: I haven't had that experience, Ardene. My profile page looks just as it always has. Is it possible you toggled between the old and new designs? There are links in the right-hand column to choose and perhaps you inadvertently clicked one? You might try PM'ing or emailing staff to see if they can figure out what went wrong, because I don't think it was anything LT did globally.

>63 rosalita: My profile page hasn't changed, it's the "about me" link from my home page that has. I had my wiki linked there and that's where I keep links I use a lot. Maybe I'll take some time to figure it out this weekend - but probably not, since I have more fun and necessary things to do.

Sorry I'm not able to be more help. The only About Me link I see in my own stuff is on my profile page, so I thought that was what you were talking about. I hope you're able to fix it to the extent that you can or want to.

It's still functional - it's just frustrating when things change and I can't figure them out quickly. Nice to hear from you!

I haven't been around much since June and I'm trying to visit everyone at least once before the year ends. I hope to see you over on the 2018 page.

Wow, this year flew by in terms of reading.

Most interesting book I read recently was I was told to come alone by Souad Mekhennet, a German reporter of Moroccan and Turkish descent who has done in depth reporting on the development of jihadist/Islamicist terrorists.

I hope to post more frequently in 2018, with my goal being a list of what I'm reading twice/month, and a longer review once a month. Will post a link here when I decide where to put it.

Recently finished & enjoyed The girl in the tower by Katherine Arden & am listening to Y is for yesterday by Sue Grafton.

My favorite books this year are The starlit wood, Walls: resisting the Third Reich, and Words without music.

Happy to report I've made it to a yoga class once a week for the last 3 weeks!

Hope you have a happy celebration of whatever holiday you choose this month!

Have a great holiday season and I will look forward to your next year's posting.

I'm going to hop over here for 2018.

Happy Holidays!

>69 markon: Keep going with your yoga. It may be hard to commit but I'm sure you will enjoy the benefits.

It is that time of year again, between Solstice and Christmas, just after Hanukkah, when our thoughts turn to wishing each other well in whatever language or image is meaningful to the recipient. So, whether I wish you Happy Solstice or Merry Christmas, know that what I really wish you, and for you, is this: