I have to sub at school today--today I will be imparting wisdom to the second and third grades--so it seemed like an opportune time for an Audience Participation Day. Also, I have a question for you. Which we will get to at the end.
So! Let me tell you what I'm reading right now. (Can you guess the question yet? Bet you can.)
I don't actually have a lot of time or mental energy for reading at the moment, since life seems to be moving at a rather breakneck pace right now. But that doesn't mean I don't read. It just means I usually re-read something.
I'm a big re-reader. And my favorite books to re-read are my Barbara Michaels/Elizabeth Peters books. I have a couple dozen of the many she wrote during her career, and they're good for re-reading because they don't require a lot of brain power, and are entertaining.
My current re-read is Houses of Stone, which I must have read at least eight times, if not more.
The second re-read right now is one I've only read once. I'm re-reading it at work on my lunch breaks. It's 97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement, by Jane Ziegleman. It is, as you might have guessed from that very long and descriptive title, a food history book.
The last thing I'm reading is the Bible. Despite being a reader (obviously), I have never read the entire Bible. I thought about doing one of those guided reading things, that give passages to read every day with little lessons about them, but that seemed like too much work. So I just started reading. I'm currently finishing the Book of Numbers. I only have the mental strength and focus to read the Bible first thing in the morning when no one else is awake, but it's going fairly quickly. Luckily, I'm a fast reader.
And now, the question! What are you reading? I need some new ideas. Hit me.
28 comments:
I'm also attempting to do a Bible-reading project, and some days I am good at that, and some days not. The most recent thing I finished was both of the Thessalonians, but the group is already three books ahead of me. Whatever. Good job, valiant people. I've read all this before, just never with any kind of non-liturgical determination.
What am I reading right now ... some British romance novels chosen mainly because they have cute covers and are available in Libby. Frankly, cannot really recommend. I need to find a new downtime genre.
Last thing I read that I liked, with the faint praise that it's mostly harmless, was a book called The Letter Tree by Rachel Fordham. Perfectly appropriate for my teen daughters, kind of the Jannette Oke of their era. And a relatively unusual premise, which I'm always looking for.
Over the weekend I was reminded of Caroline by Sarah Miller, and I might reread that. It's fiction, absolutely exquisite, about Laura Ingalls Wilder's mother. If you haven't read it, I'd offer that as a suggestion.
I've been reading the New Testamen, a chapter a day, starting with the Gospel of Matthew, for a while now. Currently in 1 Corinithians.
Re-reading The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, as I'm working on reading Agatha Christie's works in a chronological order.
Working on The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose. I want to like it? I read the first one (The Maid) and I remember feeling the same way. I have nothing but sympathy for the narrator/protagonist, but I feel like I'm getting through the book, not really enjoying it, to find out what happens.
I just finished The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan. It is based on firsthand stories of the people that lived through the Dust Bowl in the 1930'S. I thought about you, Kristin, living in a remote area of New Mexico. The book mentioned the town of Clayton often.
Now I'm reading another volume (13) of the Commissario Brunetti series by Donna Leon. I quite enjoy them and there are 32 books in the series so far!
Valerie
Some serious reading (Our Beloved Kin) on King Philips War and Divided Ground, which is more locally centered on colonists and native Americans. Fun reading: three books by Kate Quinn (The Alice Network, The Huntress, and The Rose, all about women and WWII, entertaining and good. And for serious fiction, Daniel Deronda by George Eliot.
I'm starting and not finishing a lot of books right now. Tried the Oppenheimer book, and wound up just reading the last chapters. Tried several murder mysteries, and although well written, I couldn't focus on them, so hopped to the last chapters.
I tried reading a bunch of Terry Pratchett books and found them a mixed bag. I liked Going Postal ,Mort, and Reaper Man ( though some of the slapstick comedic sections I skimmed).
Right now, My rereads are the Murderbot Diaries, Anne Cleeland's Doyle and Acton mysteries, and random books my kids are reading. This includes Foxtrot and Calvin and Hobbes. I have a book about the Catholic Church in colonial times that I keep meaning to read. Maybe over spring break.
My reading is riveting for me but probably not for many others. My current book is "Quantum Supremacy" by Michio Kaku. It is interesting for me anyway. lol
One day Costco was selling a single volume of the complete works of Shakespeare, annotated. Each page was split vertically with the text on one side and notes on the other. Meaning yes, the notes were as long as the text. It explained every cultural reference, joke, etc, that you would need to understand it as a contemporary would have. (Imagine the amount of background you'd need to read to get all the jokes in Disney's "Aladdin" for comparison. Then imagine having every joke explained before going back and re-reading. Much ha, so laugh.)
I made it through 3 or 4 of his comedies, and tried ... really tried ... to get through the sonnets. But I couldn't. Eventually the book went on a shelf in the basement where it stayed until we moved. Then it went straight to another shelf in another basement.
@Valerie,
Isn't wonderful when you find an author whom you enjoy who also is prolific?
Books. I'm conflicted.
I love to read but have really been struggling to find anything that interests me. I have traditionally been a solid romance novel reader -- laugh if you want, but it's my version of a rom-com or TV sitcom, something mindless and stress free with a happy ending to look at at the end of the day. (I'm not a TV/movie watcher at all. We don't even have a TV.) However, I'm wondering if I've aged out of the romance genre, though, or at least out of contemporary romance. I've quit reading most of the books that I've started in the last couple years due to boredom or offense. If it's boring, I won't read it. If the storyline degenerates into vampires or lgbtq or straight-up p0rn, I'm out. I've found my enthusiasm lukewarm at best for the ones I have finished. "Well, I guess I didn't hate it" has become my typical review.
Unfortunately, I'm a pretty picky reader. My list of things I do like in a book is short, but my list of things I don't like in a book is extensive. I won't bore you with the details.
Your mention of Elizabeth Peters may have me searching for one of her books to read next, so thank you for that. I adored her Amelia Peabody series when I stumbled upon them 20 years ago. It couldn't hurt to try revisiting them.
--Karen.'s sister
We know "all scripture is God-breathed and profitable for instruction," but I'll be honest...I've never made it through Numbers. I'm currently studying Esther.
I've been wanting to reread Icebound by Jerri Nielsen, whichI read years ago and loved. It's about the doctor who discovered her breast cancer while wintering at the South Pole. Also on my reread list is The Hungry Ocean by Linda Greenlaw, who was the first female swordfish fishing boat captain. Lastly, The Magic of Ordinary Days is next to my bed because I loved the movie and want to read the book.
A very fun read is Becoming Duchess Goldblatt by Anonymous. You can read it in small bits but also enjoy Lyle Lovett as important character even though it's fiction. Mary in MN
I just finished George Eliot's Middlemarch. It was way better than I expected. Next up is Tom Sawyer because I made a goal of reading a Mark Twain book this year. I am also reading Beowulf because I assigned it to my high school homeschoolers. Our current read aloud book is the second in the Luck Ugly trilogy. This is a re-read for me, but I don't remember a bit of it.
I knew Barbara Michaels! She was a delightful, extremely educated woman, who was much like Amelia. I was sorry she died, not only because it meant never seeing her again but because it also meant no more Amelia and Peabody. If you want some light reading mysteries, the series by Mel Starr called The Chronicles of Hugh de Singleton is fun; the first one was called the Unquiet Bones. Hugh is a Medieval surgeon on Oxford who ends up being the surgeon and bailiff for a wealthy landowner in a rural area. The author is an expect in Medieval medical practices so you learn a lot about the medical care of that time.
For more dense plotting and sentences, the Tudor series by CJ Sansom is great. Intricate plot, great historical atmosphere, wonderful lead character. Best to start from the first in the series, called Dissolution.
I have also read 97 Orchard and enjoyed it very much. My favorite book of all time is A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. I have reread it many times. For mysteries, I like Louise Penny’s Three Pines series. I would start with the first one, Still Life. Lately, I also enjoyed The Rosie Project and Lessons in Chemistry. They both had some humor in them.
My mother and sister both *love* the Three Pines series and have read and reread the whole series.
For mysteries, I like Alisa Craig's (Charlotte MacLeod's) Grub-and-Stakers Move A Mountain and the following books in that series; and Jeanne Dams' Hilda Johansson books which start with Death in Lacquer Red.
For just plain old comfort re-reading, I like Elswyth Thane's Williamsburg series, which starts with Dawn's Early Light, although that's my least favorite in the series. Try starting with number two, Yankee Stranger.
WOODSWOMAN Anne LaBastille
Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake. It's nonfiction about fungus. I know, I know, but it's absolutely fascinating and not dry at all. Takes a lot of focus though, so it's taking me a while. Reading the Book of Esther with my Bible study group. For pure fun, a mystery series by JL Buck about an 1800s English gentleman called Viscount Ware. The latest one is The Dead Came Calling. Fun characters and period details.
Sorry, forgot to sign above. --Ringo
Karen's sister, have you read Georgette Heyer? Regency period, no sex, written mostly in the 40s and 50s. My favorite is A Civil Contract. Also Frederica, Arabella, Venetia, Sylvester or the Wicked Uncle. Some of her books are too historical for me, so if you don't like one try another.
Kit, I've tried some Georgette Heyer. I think my mom has read every Georgette Heyer ever written, and she also recommended her to me. Maybe I just didn't get the right books and should try again. But I also freely admit to simply being a really picky reader. I'm actually not skittish about sex in books -- I mean, I'm a romance novel reader, after all -- but there's a vast difference between an occasional brief intimate interlude and repeated 15-page graphic descriptions that drag on long past the point of plausibility. The former, added judiciously, can enhance the book overall; the latter ick me out and make me quit reading every time. But, that aside, I will give Heyer another shot!
--Karen.'s sister
Karen.'s sister: You should definitely try Barbara Michaels(Elizabeth Peters' other pen name--neither were her real name :-). They have romance, but literally nothing objectionable. They are also well-written and always focus on some particular theme which is fun to learn about. My favorites are Houses of Stone, Into the Darkness, The Dancing Floor, and Naked Once More (still nothing objectionable, despite the title). Also, Wings of the Falcon, which is not a "modern" book, but more of a historical romance, I guess.
I recently read and loved The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon. It is a fictionalized story of a real midwife, Martha Ballard, from the 18th century. Very interesting!
I knew my sister would eventually turn up. ;)
My lovely librarian even added about 100 Georgette Heyer novels to the Nebraska Libby library for me during covid and ... still no. Which does sadden our mom a bit.
An contemporary writer to consider is Jacqueline Winspear, if one likes mysteries with historical context (between WWI and WWII). A super British mystery writer of the first half of twentieth c. Is Dorothy Sayers. MIL
I’m returning here to note that I was wrong; it wasn’t Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody books I loved, it was the Vicky Bliss series that I absolutely devoured. It’s interesting how an author can write some books that delight a person and turn around and write others that hold no appeal at all. Having searched down the first Amelia Peabody book and then the first Vicky Bliss book, I’m now reminded that it was the latter, not the former, that I enjoyed. (And, alas, her writings as Barbara Michaels also do not excite me.)
But I’m still accepting any and all suggestions!
— Karen.’s sister
Have you read Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Última? It’s a strange and beautiful coming-of-age story, published in 1972 and set in the early 1940s, about faith and family in a small town in more-or-less your part of New Mexico.
nonymous: I read the beginning of Bless Me, Ultima, though I never finished it. A. did, though. And I believe there's a movie of it, too.
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