MOMS' BOOK THREAD: Week 27 of 2012

[JuliaT]

I haven't been participating in this thread lately as I have been reading things very slowly and most of them are pre-reads for the upcoming school year.

I am currently reading Carrie Bebris' Mr. and Mrs. Darcy mystery series. I am reading Sense and Suspensibility right now. I am enjoying them as fluff reads but wish they didn't have the paranormal aspect to them.

[Shauna]

I haven't been participating in this thread lately as I have been reading things very slowly and most of them are pre-reads for the upcoming school year.

I am currently reading Carrie Bebris' Mr. and Mrs. Darcy mystery series. I am reading Sense and Suspensibility right now. I am enjoying them as fluff reads but wish they didn't have the paranormal aspect to them.

I loved the Jane Austen mysteries by Stephanie Barron—they're smart, fun, and well written, and they appeal to my inner Nancy Drew fan. I read the whole series and am sad there won't be any more.

[Negin in Grenada]

Negin

Thank you, Michele.

Well, I'm limping along this year with my reading. I did finish The Red House by Mark Haddon. The writing was lovely, the characters well developed but...my attention span is very lacking these days and pages of pages of character development sometimes made my head feel...weary.

This one is on my wish list.
My attention span is terrible these days also. I really miss that wonderful feeling of getting lost and fully immersed in a fabulous book.

[Julie Y]

Have decided to read more classics so am currently reading Essays of E.B. White. Besides being the author of Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little and the Trumpet of the Swan, he was a writer for The New Yorker for more than 50 years. This is a collection of essays about his life -- a lot were written in the 1950's, about life on his Maine farm. Good writing!

[Stacia]

Finally, my reading has picked up after being in a lull for awhile. I've finished two books this week.... (I would give both books 3 stars each.)



The Colors of Infamy by Albert Cossery:

I stumbled across this book on the library rack of new books. Having never read Cossery (whose works have only recently been translated), I thought this novella might be an interesting treat. I found it to be a mildly amusing allegory about corruption & the differences between the haves & the have-nots. Of course, being an allegory, his themes & commentary on them are universal & timeless. I think Cossery did a lovely job of giving a glimpse of life in Cairo. Definitely worth reading if you want to try a modern allegory.

Osa and Martin: For the Love of Adventure by Kelly Enright:

This is a fairly interesting biography of Osa & Martin Johnson (mainly set from the 1910s to the 1940s), who were known/wildly popular for their photos & films of Africa (& the South Pacific). In addition to their photos, films, lecture circuits, the Johnsons also provided specimens/dioramas used in natural history museums & brought animals to various zoos in the US. Prior to reading this, I had never really thought about the person/people behind the stuffed animal exhibits in museums. Although they started out hunting on their African trips, they later morphed into being bigger proponents of not hunting (for the most part) & leaving the animals in their natural habitats. More of the book focused on Osa, who was an impressive adventurer.

Some of their time spent in the South Pacific was in search of cannibal tribes to film. Having read Thor Heyerdahl's "Fatu-Hiva" (about his time living in the South Pacific, part of the time w/ the last remaining cannibal of a particular tribe), this was another interesting glimpse of life on remote islands about 100 years ago.

I enjoyed the photos that were included from their various trips & safaris. (There were a couple of typos in the book that bugged me, though.)


I've now started an alternative-history book (centered around the sinking of the Titanic), The Company of the Dead by David Kowalski.