flight paths discussion

last month of this difficult year
lets see if we can find some cheer

Just started Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter and im hoping it will take me out of last weeks odyssey of violence.

How is everybody else doing with this tricky time of year?

cheers!

Magdelanye wrote: "Just started Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter and im hoping it will take me out of last weeks odyssey of violence.

How is everybody else doing with this tricky time of..."

I've had better years but at least there are books.

I'm curious as to how you like Ruins. I tried but couldn't get into it-but I might be willing to try it again. I liked the Financial Lives of Poets and Citizen Vince.

I read If Women Rose Rooted which I loved and found very inspirational. It's been a real bright note in my life. I also read Han Kang's new book (to be released in January I think) Human Acts which was fascinating but brutal (about a student uprising in South Korea in 1980).

I'm currently reading What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours, a collection of short stories by Helen Oyeyemi. I'm finding it difficult which is disappointing since I loved Boy, Snow, Bird and Mr Fox. It may be just my own difficulty concentrating so I don't want to pass judgment on it right now. I like the fairy tale-like style. It's just that the stories seem long.

Looking forward to hearing about what others are reading.

Sometimes the more time I have available the less I read - strange times.

strange times, yes indeed!
and on the news again all day, drastic speculations about polar bears.

Personally, I left my fone in the computer room on Friday, was told they didn't have it on Monday, went back today and there it was. I missed GR!

All I want is to be be reading!
Ellie, I adored Beautiful Ruins! Mystified you didn't, must not have been the right time. Yes, there's some real scuzzballs, but most of the characters are so endearing it was easy for me to make the leap of faith required for the plot to hang together.
This was my second book by JW and I intend to seek out more.
@Petra,I'm guessing that you might like this! And Ice, maybe this would be some comic relief for you

and I also adored Elizabeth Gilbert s Signature of all things. a wow for me, highly recommend:-)

Wonderful to hear you having such a great time reading! I'll definitely try Beautiful Ruins again. I generally like JW. Maybe It was the Lives of the Poets I didn't like. Sometimes I think I read too much and what I read starts to blur into each other.

Ice, strange times indeed. I went on an excellent retreat where we read a book by St. Bonaventure (Bringing Forth Christ (Fairacres Publications): Five Feasts of the Child Jesus) so now I'm reading another one (for Advent) The Journey of the Mind to God, also by Bonaventure. It's more a meditation than a "read" but I'm liking the experience.

Have to try the Gilbert. I've never read her, believe it or not!

Magdelanye, I tried Beautiful Ruins and couldn't finish. I didn't even put it in my Read list. Sorry....just wasn't for me.

hmm, this is somewhat disconcerting, two people whose opinion I especially loved. Does it make me love it less? Not at all, it makes me want to figure out just what it was about this book that brought me out of my recent funk.
It was partly the timing. After a stretch of pedophilia and rape, envy and ignomy, this was a sheer romp. I fell in love with Pasquale despite his capitalist tendencies. The setting was also a draw, and the moral conundrums explored really are pertinent to me.
JW gets under the skin of all of his characters, even the reptilian mask of the Machiavellian producer, who personifies everything artificial and obnoxious about Hollywood behind the scenes.
maybe I should go and write my review already!
@Petra... they are forecasting more snow, hope we will be more prepared! Good luck on the road! I am thinking you live around Pemberton, and I am imagining you safe and cosy, hopefully beginning your three week holiday!

that should read two people whose opinions I respect dissing a book I loved.
and Ellie, I know just what you mean about too any books, and the astonishing leaking that can occur. Recently there was a character from a short story that somehow inserted herself into City on Fire. It took me a while to sort out!

Magdelanye wrote: "@Petra... they are forecasting more snow, hope we will be more prepared! Good luck on the road! I am thinking you live around Pemberton, and I am imagining you safe and cosy, hopefully beginning your three week holiday! ..."

My mother lived in Pemberton for some time. I like it there. Very pretty. Very hot in the summer (oh boy!).
No, I live in PoCo (east of Vancouver).
A three week holiday! What a dream. LOL! I have 2 weeks off over Christmas & New Year. One more week of work to go. Then I'll hunker down and keep warm and cozy.

I'm trying to remember about Beautiful Ruins. I listened to the audio, so perhaps that was part of the problem....I can't remember. I just remember that the story got weirder and weirder. When Richard Burton showed up, I tossed it.

I wish I was in Vancouver right now! Maybe someday...

Magdelanye-different books call us at different times. If we're lucky we're there when they are calling.

It's starting to get really cold down here. We've been lucky (climate change?), it's been unseasonally warm.

I'm having trouble concentrating on any book at the moment. I really miss the deep pleasure of losing myself in a story.

Ellie wrote: "I wish I was in Vancouver right now! Maybe someday......"

Maybe wait a month or two, Ellie. It's unseasonably cold and snowy at the moment.
The big snowstorm predicted yesterday hasn't arrived yet. Fingers crossed that it will hold off another 12 hours so that people can go to work and return home in reasonable driving conditions.

It would be great to have you here, Ellie.

Thanks Petra. (And it's supposed to get real cold this weekend)

Hope the snow held off!

It was pretty good. It depended on where you were as to how much it snowed.
At my work, we had no snow until about 1pm. It was a bit slow going to get home but no problems.
At hubby's job, it snowed all day but not too heavily.
According to the News, some hillier, slightly higher altitude, areas got lots of snow.

Thanks for asking, Ellie.

Magdelanye, how did you fare today?

The coast has the same kind of snow pattern. Apparently Gibsons was snowed in again yesterday. I have avoided it all by caving.
Petra I have friends in Poco and found it quite easy to get there on public transit. Its one of the nicer suburbs I think. Do you work in van?
Ellie, wait till summer!
I'm sure we will all get our share of challenging weather,although I guess Ice finds its refreshing.
As for what I'm reading, gosh, back in New York
( this isn't intentional)
Spent the whole afternoon and into the early dark pushing my way into Lionel Shrivers The Mandibles. Actually, Ice might have an edge on this one, the economics is frightening.

Summer sounds good. All the way around.

How is The Mandibles? I really hated Shrivers' statement about the accusations of appropriation-wearing a sombrero did not seem funny to me. But I do like her as a writer and am curious about this one.

what's this about sombreros Ellie?
This is a risky book, and a real challenge for me, as I appreciate what she's attempting,but its tedious reading so far.

She was criticized got supposedly appropriating the voice of a person of color and her response was to wear a sombrero to the panel.

it will be interesting to find out more about that. I did end up liking the book a lot. And now I'm excited to finally get to The invisible Bridge by Julie Or ringer, and I've also got Random Family started....
hope everyone is doing fine as we lurch towards the longest night :-)

Sounds good Magdelanye. I wanted to read The Invisible Bridge but I forgot about it. I look forward to hearing what you think about it. I liked Random Family although even more after I read it than at first. It's the kind of book that stays with you. I'd like to try The Mandibles, especially since you liked it so much.

I saw a Harry Potter concert last night, with a Potter puppet show, so now I'm kind of wanting a re-read of the series. In honor of the holidays. But it's kind of a big commitment and I'm continuing to have trouble concentrating. This is my longest spell I can remember of not being able to really read. I'm working on the Kinsey Milhone mystery, X but although I'm liking it, it's going very slowly, especially for a mystery in a series I'm so familiar with. I hope I can read again soon. I miss it so much.

@Ellie, Reading slumps suck! Hope you've found something to spark your interest. maybe Elizabeth Gilbert s signature of all things, or Kathleen Winters Boundless, non fiction, inspiring.
Let us know!

Thanks for the suggestions. Will follow up.

just finished the Invisible Bridge and bit of weeping. @petra, read your review and I'm sorry you had a disappointing experience with it. Perhaps not the time for you. The things you mentioned as annoying are things that annoy me too: like too much irrelevant detail, too unlikely coincidences and too perfect charactets, too compressed endings,.romance.
But the book skated by these pitfalls. I'm sorry you didn't love it like I did.

Now Ellie, you must read it soon and let us know what you think.
Its Ice that's the champion of epics. Have you a place for holocaust fiction?

It's been a long time since I've read The Invisible Bridge. I think I got annoyed at it because I really enjoyed the first half and then the coincidences and perfect people started to take that enjoyment away. Reading my review, I liked it, which is pretty good.
I'm glad you loved it, Magdelanye. It's always so great to read a book we love.

Ellie, do read it soon and let us know your thoughts.

Best wishes to all for the festive season.

In the northern hemisphere the days get longer from tomorrow !!

Best wishes to you Ice.

I'm looking forward to more light, soon!

solstice greetings to everyone, especially beloved participants, but also to the lurkers! love and light!

Happy solstice!

Happy solstice!

I finished two books this week:

Pictures from Italy, which I found interesting. Charles Dickens' humor shows through and his writing is recognizable. The people he meets in his travels aren't as "real" as the characters in his books, though. It all seemed a bit distant in feel. Perhaps it's because a travelogue was meant to bring the country to people who couldn't go there themselves and therefore the descriptions are detailed and yet impersonal? This would be an interesting read while travelling to these cities and towns today to compare one's observations with Dickens'. How much has truly changed in all these years?

Testament of Youth....a bit of an uneven read for me. Vera tends to be wordy. However, as I read, I gained perspective into the turmoil of those years, her personal growth before, during and after the war, as well as the changes that encompassed Europe after the war. A really interesting read.

travelers tales are always more interesting to me when personalized. Walking the Camino, I felt enriched and accompanied even by those writers and musicians who walked before me. This year with my focus was on Canadian authors. Your comment Petra has reminded me how much i love reading about the wider world, and if I set any reading intentions for next year, one will be read more travel and adventure.
As for your comments on VB, my sentiments precisely. I didn't want to intrude on your direct reading earlier, so I refrained from admitting that I enjoyed finishing the series more than the reading. I'm glad I read it, and it was a bit of a slog )

Petra wrote: "Happy solstice!

I finished two books this week:

Pictures from Italy, which I found interesting. Charles Dickens' humor shows through and his writing is recognizable. The people he me..."

I felt the same way about Testament. I didn't love the writing but the book was extremely interesting for the reasons you give and I was very glad to have read it.

Magdelanye, you've read the entire Testament series? Are they all the same writing style? I have the second and am deciding whether I'd want to continue with the series.
I think it's a strange book where everyone I know who's read this says the same thing: good story; not so great writing. It's certainly very unique.

Travelogues are interesting. I like coming across them. I don't search them out very often yet enjoy them.

Also......I've now topped last year's book total by 1 book. :D
.....but the total pages is down by 1000 pages.
So, I've read one more book but the books themselves were shorter in length, on average.

Happy Holidays!!!
I hope everyone is keeping warm and cozy.
We have family over for the next few days. Today, it's snowing, so we may go out for a snowy walk soon.
I want to thank you all for this group. It's a quiet one but one that feels like stepping into a den when I visit. It's a friendly, warm, comfortable place to visit.

thanks Petra, for your warm comments re the group. Its intended to welcome introspective communication and for fun and inspiration. Your participation has been most welcome!
I was in Van yesterday morning, waking up to a white world. It took me twice as long to get home, the ferry being an hour late, and I thought of you, wishing you warm and cosy with guests.
Ellie, hope you too are having a happy holidays with your kids!
As for Grandpa Ice Bear, I'm sure he is the dispenser of much seasonal cheer.
My love to you all and safe and happy transition to the New Year

We had a present fest and today another birthday !

I (finally) finished 2666. I'm so glad i didn't give up before the last chapter. I loved the book as a whole, although (as Petra warned) I found the part about the murder of the women difficult to get through. I'm not completely sure why-I watch Criminal Minds which is pretty bloody. I think it was the number of women and the seeming relative lack of interest on the part of the police. Anyway, I loved the book as a whole and am so glad to have read it.

Right now, I'm indulging in a totally guilty pleasure-Truly Madly Guilty by Australian writer Liane Moriarty. I'm not sure of the literary value of this one but it's an easy read for the holidays before I jump into my reading challenge for next year-starting with The Nix which is long but looks promising and the new(er) translation of Demons.

I hope it's a good reading year for us all.

Happy (almost) New Year to everybody.

Happy new year !!
may it be so!
I'm a bit wiped with my effort to clear my currently reading shelf...but its gratifying and I will try another approach for the next year.
I did get my reading total for 2016 but I don't know how to get the breakdown. it was an amazing year for new discoveries.
Congrats to Ellie for finishing the Bolanye. I'm not rushing to it, maybe this summer.
Here's to a healthy and productive year!

Happy New Year!! May 2017 bring us all happy memories and fun-filled days.

Ellie, I think the difference between Criminal Minds and 2666 is the constant duration of the murders. Criminal Minds is over in one hour and there are 1-4 murders; the murders in 2666 are never-ending....enough so to become a part of normal, everyday life. It's wearing and tiring on the soul as we read it.

Magdelanye, congrats on clearing your currently reading shelf. It's a good feeling.
I did that the other day, then yesterday started a family saga that will take me into the New Year with contentment.
We're staying in tonight (with bubbly). I'm not fond of New Year celebrations and prefer to nestle down at home with hubby, wine and the fireplace.
What are your plans?

You're right, Petra, about the difference between CM and 2666.

Happy New Year to everybody and a wonderful reading year!

I start my year fresh tomorrow with The Nix.

@Petra
I don't have a nice hubby or equivalent, nor a fireplace, nor bubbly
I do have some kraken left over from last new years, and plenty of books just waiting for their turn.
I heard its snowing over there? And New York I hear is stormy? stay warm Ellie!!
As for Ice Bear, stay cool!

And I'm at a party for the new year. Very different from my usual stay at home but good people, good time.

Stay warm, Magdelanye!

Yes, it's been snowing hard for about 2 hours. We went to run some errands and it's nasty driving out there. Glad to be back home. We'll go out to shovel the driveway sometime tonight. Right now, I'm hoping the snow will stop......but it doesn't look like it will.

No snow where you are?

It is pretty to watch, I must say. Large, fluffy flakes in abundance. We don't get that very often.

@petra, enjoy!
no snow here, only rain.
but on CBC radio 2 they were just talking about the poetry of snow, and that's just enough for synchronicity!

Happy New Year from a relatively mild England !
2017 continues a classics theme with a move from Dickens to Graham Greene at some point.