Do you read more than one book at one time?
Archive for » February, 2010 «
25
Feb 2010
Suggested by Janet:
I’ve seen this quotation in several places lately. It’s from Sven Birkerts’ ‘The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age’:
“To read, when one does so of one’s own free will, is to make a volitional statement, to cast a vote; it is to posit an elsewhere and set off toward it. And like any traveling, reading is at once a movement and a comment of sorts about the place one has left. To open a book voluntarily is at some level to remark the insufficiency either of one’s life or one’s orientation toward it.”
To what extent does this describe you?
Well, that’s certainly an impressive quote to start a conversation off with, isn’t it?
I’m almost sad to say this, but this quote fits me quite well if we can combine reading stories and writing them…
Back when I was in the States, I didn’t have a very happy existence. Oh, there were plenty of good times, but the darker demons were still there. I told stories before I knew how to write and wrote many more once I did learn to write. When I wasn’t writing, my nose was stuck in a book.
If you didn’t see me with a book or a notebook, you could know that I had gotten yet another lecture about how my family viewed me as strange/antisocial for always having a book or a notebook with me.
When I moved to Australia, I adopted a new life. A wonderful life. I still had to get past the demons and whatnot, but I finally felt safe, in control of my life and loved unconditionally. I felt love like I’d never felt before, and I felt happy.
Reading books and writing them dropped off considerably.
Whether moving and my reading/writing dropping off are actually related, I don’t know. I just know that it happened to me.
Category: Booking Through Thursday
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24
Feb 2010
Welcome to this week’s By Any Other Name book game!
We didn’t quite get to the goal number of titles last week, so the goal stays the same…
If you’re new to the challenge, this is a game from my dear friend Calliope that gets us to play with book titles.
The game works like this:
1. Each week I will choose and a book title that features that word.
2. Then it’s your turn to come up with book titles containing the same word, without duplication (yes, that includes my titles). The author would be nice, too, in case I want to check it out.
3. If you make it to the challenge number of titles (make sure you read the challenge section each week because it can change), then I will draw one name from all the participants and that person wins their choice of one book from my giveaway shelf!
It’s really not complicated. I pick a word and you list titles with that word. Easy peasy.
The current challenge:
Titles to Reach: Nineteen
Titles Per Person: Two
What can you win? The winner receives any one of the books on this page along with a bookmark (or two!).
I’ve decided this is a much better way of doing things rather than offering the SAME book over and over. Plus, I will be adding to the giveaway shelf as much as I can, so keep checking in to see what’s on offer.
So if you’d like a chance to win, join in!
If you don’t reach the goal, we’ll try again next week. If you reach the goal, I’ll have a brand new challenge for you next Wednesday where you’ll get another chance to win a book – regardless if you have won a book previously!
The word this week is:
Cat
I Say: The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Suess
You Say…
Category: Wednesday Book Game
4 Comments
19
Feb 2010
About the Book
We all know that diets don’t work, yet most of us continue to be swayed by their promise. After all, who doesn’t want to be a little bit thinner? Who doesn’t want to zip her skinny jeans without (literally) holding her breath? You can’t blame a girl for trying even the most desperate of measures.
As a fashion and beauty journalist, Mimi Spencer spends much of her time surrounded by the catwalk elite, engulfed in the culture of thin. Fed up with years of deprivation and dieting, she created the anti-diet. In 101 Things to Do Before You Diet, Spencer shares her strategies for trimming and flattering every inch of your body and shows you how she finally lost those pesky last few pounds – and how you can, too.
The Long Story
This is one of the very few books I have bought after reading someone else’s glowing review.
Mimi Spencer has taken on the world of trying to get ‘trim, taut and terrific’ like many others, but she has done it in an anti-diet way through common sense. Flitting through everything from how to cut those extra calories to bum and tum flattering apparel, Spencer takes an all-around approach to getting you looking and feeling great.
I have to say, as someone who is used to reading books about either what I should be doing with my body or how horrible I’ve been to my body without realizing it, it was a relief to read a book that treated me like a person. And a woman.
The best part about this book is that Mimi Spencer knows that no matter how good or bad you look on the outside, you will never be the woman you want to be without feeling sexy on the inside. This is a point that so many books just plain ignore, and is something that really made me feel comfortable ‘listening’ to Spencer’s tips.
The ‘101 Steps’ layout of this book makes it a great ‘pick up, put down’ kind of book. While that doesn’t work for fiction, it does for this because it gives you plenty of time to really think about what Spencer is saying.
I couldn’t agree with all her suggestions – Tip 27: Buy a Corset should have ‘if you have $200 to spare’ attached to it – and found some of the fashion parts to be a bit boring. I don’t care if pointy-toed heels are fashionable; I think they look horrible. I also don’t have the money to get the clothes she suggests.
However, despite my brief boredom with a few fashion tips, I quite liked this book. Her tips are common sense and don’t leave you with any excuses while still being sympathetic because it’s all coming from a woman who knows. I look at Spencer’s picture and wonder what in the world she has to complain about, but the words say more than just looking at her ever could.
As a credit to how many studies she quotes and the kind of studies, I am not handing this book off until I get time to investigate some of them. A lot of the things quoted are recent and fascinating, and I’m looking forward to doing more reading.
The Short Story
I highly recommend this book from the standpoint that it focuses on self-love and common sense tips in all areas of beauty – both inside and out.
***
Rating: 3 ½ stars
[What do the ratings mean?]
***
101 Things to Do Before You Diet: Because Looking Great Isn’t Just About Losing Weight
Mimi Spencer
http://www.mimispencer.com/
ISBN: 9781605298481
Length: 234 pages
Category: Book Reviews
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17
Feb 2010
I’m away this week, so you have another whole week to get to the goal number of titles.
Go to this post to leave your titles and come back next week to see if you won!
Category: Announcements, Wednesday Book Game
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14
Feb 2010
A week away from pretty much everything (the internet!) and everyone (my husband!) I know, and you think I wouldn’t be taking along any books?
Crazy.
By the time this post goes live, I will be saying goobye to my husband as he drives back home. I’ll pout a bit, go back to my room and get to doing what I’m going there to do: write. It’s self-examination time as well as writing time, but that’s another tangent.
I’m disappointed the my husband and I will be splitting off for a week starting on Valentine’s Day, which is probably why I’m not talking about Valentine’s Day…
Even though I’ll be there a week, I don’t want to pack much. I used to be a pack rat and after one embarrassing trip, I always try to pack in moderation. That’s why I haven limited myself to bringing along three books – none of them fiction because that’s what I’ll be working on.
The first book I have selected is The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I figure that is a pretty good book to have along with me for a week of self-examination. Plus, I’ve been wanting to read it for a long time.
The second book I have selected is Writing Down the Bones. This book is more sentimental value than anything else, as it is the book that got me through when I was diagnosed with depression back at university. Something about reading that book makes me feel calm and helps me to remember that I can get through anything.
The third book… I debated about bringing a third book at all, not wanting to overload myself with reading when I have writing to do. I finally settled on The Artist’s Way. There is a section in there about fear, which will apply to my writing life as well as my self-examination of late.
So there are my three choices, for better or worse.
If you were going somewhere next week for a whole week, which three books would you take with you?
Category: Sunday Salon
3 Comments
12
Feb 2010
About the Book
Sophie lived in the town of Market Chipping, which was in Ingary, a land in which anything could happen, and often did – especially when the Witch of the Waste got her dander up. Which was often.
As her younger sisters set out to seek their fortunes, Sophie stayed in her father’s hat shop. Which proved most unadventurous, until the Witch of the Waste came in to buy a bonnet, but was not pleased. Which is why she turned Sophie into an old lady. Which was spiteful witchery.
Now Sophie must seek her own fortune. Which means striking a bargain with the lecherous Wizard How. Which means entering his ever-moving castle, taming a blue fire-demon, and meeting the Witch of the Waste head-on. Which was more than Sophie bargained for…
The Long Story
Having long been a fan of Hayao Miyazaki’s film work with animated films like Spirited Away, I watched Howl’s Moving Castle as soon as I could get my hands on it. And I certainly wasn’t disappointed. Of course, after hearing that Howl’s Moving Castle is based on a book, I bought the book as soon as I could and devoured it.
Diana Wynne Jones has a unique style of writing that makes you feel less like you’re reading a book and more like you’re hearing a story. That may sound confusing, but it comes down to Jones’ conversational kind of writing even in the rhythm with which she writes. While it does take away from being able to lose yourself in the story at times, it still lent to the fairytale feeling of the overall story.
Along with writing in a conversational tone, Jones concentrates on little details that aren’t repeated. Readers should make sure they pay attention to details, or they might find the very end to be a little confusing or out of the blue.
Anyone who has seen the movie should not approach the book expecting the same thing. While you can expect some changes to any movie that originally came from a book, the movie took changes to another level. Both book and movie are quite similar until about halfway through. Then the movie and book go in different directions, not even truly meeting back up for the ending.
I found the ending to be somewhat anticlimactic, but I’m also used to reading more sweeping, epic tales of fantasy rather than realistic ones. Howl’s and Sophie’s relationship is a subtle one, and the ending fit her personality quite well. I should be happy that Jones didn’t beat the reader over the head with the events of the ending, but I still finished the book feeling not unhappy but definitely a smidge unsatisfied.
The Short Story
I recommend this book as a unique story in writing style and content. I only offer the warning that you shouldn’t dig in expecting the movie.
***
Rating: 4 stars
[What do the ratings mean?]
***
Howl’s Moving Castle
Diana Wynne Jones
http://www.leemac.freeserve.co.uk/
ISBN: 9780064410342
Length: 329 pages
Category: Book Reviews
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10
Feb 2010
Welcome to this week’s (and the first ever) By Any Other Name book game!
We didn’t quite get to the goal number of titles last week, so the goal stays the same…
***I’ll be away next week, so you have two weeks to get to the goal number of titles.
If you’re new to the challenge, this is a game from my dear friend Calliope that gets us to play with book titles.
The game works like this:
1. Each week I will choose and a book title that features that word.
2. Then it’s your turn to come up with book titles containing the same word, without duplication (yes, that includes my titles). The author would be nice, too, in case I want to check it out.
3. If you make it to the challenge number of titles (make sure you read the challenge section each week because it can change), then I will draw one name from all the participants and that person wins their choice of one book from my giveaway shelf!
It’s really not complicated. I pick a word and you list titles with that word. Easy peasy.
The current challenge:
Titles to Reach: Nineteen
Titles Per Person: Two
What can you win? The winner receives any one of the books on this page along with a bookmark (or two!).
I’ve decided this is a much better way of doing things rather than offering the SAME book over and over. Plus, I will be adding to the giveaway shelf as much as I can, so keep checking in to see what’s on offer.
So if you’d like a chance to win, join in!
If you don’t reach the goal, we’ll try again next week. If you reach the goal, I’ll have a brand new challenge for you next Wednesday where you’ll get another chance to win a book – regardless if you have won a book previously!
The word this week is:
Man
I Say: The Man Book by Otto Defay
You Say…
Category: Wednesday Book Game
5 Comments