Month: February 2014

I’ve had a very productive week, have been busy every evening so there’s not been much time to read. I did finish The Chosen early in the week, but haven’t really clicked with anything else, though I started Frog Music by Emma Donoghue at lunch yesterday and I think it is going to be a good one. There is something about her writing that hypnotizes me and keeps me reading even if I’m not crazy about the setting or the plot (as with Room).

I’ve bought a few Viragos lately from awesomebooks.com. I like their very low prices, but sometimes the books are not in the best condition…oh well, I’m just glad to have them. Here are the green beauties I’ve received in February:

A Wreath of Roses & The Sleeping Beauty by Elizabeth Taylor – I still intend to read all of Taylor’s novels, though I have not made much progress lately.

A Pin to See the Peepshow by F Tennyson Jesse – I don’t know much about this author or this book, but doesn’t it have a fantastic title?

A Wreath for the Enemy by Pamela Frankau – I bought this after reading Scott’s post on  “Possible Persephones” at Furrowed Middlebrow.

The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West – This book is on the list for the Librarything Great War Theme Read. I am behind on reading along with the group, but I hope to catch up.

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen – 2014 is the year I WILL read Mansfield Park and Emma, the two Austens I’ve never managed to finish.

I am working today so won’t be able to read until I get home in the evening, but that anticipation of arriving home and settling down with a book and a treat will get me through the afternoon of helping people print and finding books for desperate school children who have reports due on Monday (our typical Sunday crowd).

Enjoy your day!

Hello all! How has your week been? Mine was one of those weird weeks where it seems the planets are really out of alignment, especially at the library. We were all running for the door at closing on Friday because we just couldn’t wait to escape the madness. Many of us had a lot of uncomfortable patron interactions throughout the week mostly concerning noise. My branch is fairly small and everything is in one big room. The only area that is somewhat separated from the main library is the children’s room. We have many people who want the atmosphere to be like a traditional library – very quiet with no talking or other noise. But we also have a large number of patrons who want to be able to study in groups, use their cell phones, and socialize. There is frequent conflict between these two groups and, of course, they want staff to mediate. It can get very heated and usually leads to someone getting upset and wanting justice. Exhausting. What do you think a library should be – sanctuary or gathering place?

I finished a couple of books this week and started reading my book group’s February selection, The Chosen by Chaim Potok. I really enjoyed the first chapter, which introduces the characters and themes of the novel during a baseball game, and am engrossed in the story of two Jewish boys in Brooklyn who come from very different backgrounds and become best friends.

I know that the news of author Sophie Hannah being commissioned to write a new Hercule Poirot novel is fairly old news, but it came across my radar again this week and I started to ponder whether I will read the new novel or not. My first reaction is ‘yes’ because I would love to read a new Poirot story and it will be interesting to see what Hannah (none of whose novels I’ve been able to get through) will do with the tale, but we’ll see how I feel when it’s actually released. Will you read it?

I hope you have a really lovely Sunday!

The best thing about this past week was that I finally picked up steam in my reading again and it’s all due to making a plan. Once again, I’ve learned that I read more and better by making a reading list and following it scrupulously. I finished Mrs.Tim Carries On (brilliant) and am almost finished with Guard Your Daughters. It feels so nice to be reading again.

At work I listened to an inspiring webinar on readers’ advisory that is going to guide my reading for the rest of the year. Classics are my favorite genre and I would read them exclusively if I didn’t feel a duty as a librarian (and it is something I do get paid for) to keep up with contemporary literature of all types. I will fit classics in, but you might see a bit more variety in the books that I feature here.  I was also approved to start the Big Book Discussion and I’m taking the opportunity to read a classic for work. The first book we’re going to discuss is Bleak House. I broke the reading up into fairly equal thirds and the discussions will run from March – May. Let’s hope I’m not the only person who shows up at the first discussion!

Have you watched any of the films nominated for the Academy Awards? Last week, despite the current controversy surrounding its director, I watched Blue Jasmine. Cate Blanchett and Sally Hawkins are nominated for Best Actress and Best Actress in a  Supporting Role for the film. I’m not much of a movie goer these days so I watched it at home on DVD and thought it was good – not a film that astonished me or significantly moved me, but it had a quiet sadness that lingered in my mind. Cate Blanchett plays a woman out of touch with reality with a subtle genius that completely absorbs you. The film has a flashback structure that really works well and helps to intensify Jasmine’s spiral into mental illness. I doubt I will watch any of the other nominated films before the ceremony, but at some point I’d like to see Gravity, Twelve Years a Slave and Nebraska.

Have a great Sunday and happy reading!

Hello there – I hope your weekend has been lovely. This last week of January was an off one for me. I think allergies, lack of sleep and a general malaise made me a bit loopy and daffy and add to that an aching hip and tail bone and I was a hobbling space cadet. Old age, I tell ya.

In reading news, I’m desperately trying to finish Mrs. Tim Carries On because it is due on Friday and there are no renewals on ILLs. I also have to finish Guard Your Daughters as it is due shortly after. But I haven’t felt in the reading zone for a couple of weeks now and I miss that total absorption in a book that takes me away from all of my cares. I started reading The Luminaries yesterday on the recommendation of a friend and I know it is the kind of book that I can get carried away by – if only I wasn’t feeling so out of sorts.

I’m feeling a bit out of sorts about this blog, too, these days. I’m thinking of not writing about books in the way I have in the past, but in more of a thematic way or in the context of how they fit into what is happening in my life. Would you keep reading if I didn’t share book thoughts in quite the same way I have in the past?

Despite my advanced age I have never been to Europe before, but that is about to change. I’ll be meeting up with a friend who is spending the summer in Europe, sometime in July probably, for adventures and rambles. She told me to pick where I want to go and what I want to do and I am having a hard time deciding. England is out of the running as she’ll be spending time there with her children earlier in the summer, but anything else is open. At first I thought France and Switzerland sounded perfect, but now I am stuck on Italy, yet Spain would be wonderful, too…Any advice for me? Where would you go?

As for the Super Bowl today, well I will miss half of it. I am working and won’t get home until around half-time, but that’s okay as it isn’t really one of my favorite sporting events. I don’t like the spectacle. For the record, though, I would like the Denver Broncos to win as I do like Peyton Manning, the Broncos quarterback.

Have a fantastic day!