CPL's Book a Week Challenge discussion

"Show me a man or a woman alone and I'll show you a saint. Give me two and they'll fall in love. Give me three and they'll invent the charming thing we call 'society'. Give me four and they'll build a pyramid. Give me five and they'll make one an outcast. Give me six and they'll reinvent prejudice. Give me seven and in seven years they'll reinvent warfare."
-Stephen King, The Stand

This week, share a quote that really stood out to you in the book you are currently reading. I read the quote above a few times to really let it sink in. What quote(s) made you stop and think?

I'm still working on The Stand, but I put it aside temporarily so I can read my historical fiction selection Moloka'i.

Like I said before, I'm not usually an avid historical fiction reader, and I deliberately chose something that was out of character for me. Moloka'i is definitely something I wouldn't have normally chosen to read, but I'm glad I did. I'm learning all about Hawaii and leprosy. I never knew that the island of Moloka'i was used as a leper colony in the early 1900s.

I also finished Spell or High Water, which is a sequel to another book I read a couple weeks ago. It's highly amusing and includes wizards, Atlantis, time traveling, mischief and more!

My audiobook selection this week is My Life as a White Trash Zombie, and although I haven't gotten very far, I can already tell I'll love it.

No one ever doubted that if Crown Prince Frederick came to the throne of Prussia Bismarck and the far-right party would be dismissed and his wife, Victoria, would be the power behind the throne. As king and queen of Prussia in 1862, Fritz and Vicky would probably have had decades to try and realize her father's political vision. The forces of liberal democracy would have had a better chance of prevailing over militarism and absolutism. It is not absurd to argue that, had the prince consort lived even one more year, had his daughter Vicky had a chance to dictate Crown policy and shape society in Prussia, there might not have been a First World War.

A long quote, but definitely food for thought, the book it is from is We Two: Victoria and Albert: Rulers, Partners, Rivals by Gillian Gill. Among other things I learned was that Prince Albert's last act of diplomacy (done while dying of typhoid) was to keep Britain out of the American civil war. It was an interesting book, and an interesting look at not only Victoria and Albert but their families as well as those people who influenced them.

"Addiction is arbitrary. There are tons of junkies that come from good homes. You can color it anyway you like. You supply drugs and it's wrong, and worse than that you know it's wrong." (from The Death of Bees by Lisa O'Donnell)

Just finished the above quoted book. It won the Alex Award this year from ALA (one of ten books meant for adults that high school students might enjoy). I am also still reading my July challenge book and it might take me awhile since I am relishing each word in it.

Frank looked up and gasped in surprise at the house sitting on the rise before him. It seemed enormous, large enough to accommodate the inhabitants of an entire block of tenements. Myriad windows glittered in the blinding sun and the red bricks glowed. The grounds rolled away gently on every side, the grass newly green in the warm spring sunshine. From a distance, everything looked perfectly peaceful and serene, and why shouldn't it? The murder had taken place far from here, in that other world he'd left behind this morning when he'd boarded the train at Grand Central Station.

This quote is from Murder on Astor Place by Victoria Thompson. This historical mystery is my challenge book for July, and I am enjoying the first book in the series so far.

Ann wrote:
...the book it is from is We Two: Victoria and Albert: Rulers, Partners, Rivals by Gillian Gill. Among other things I learned was that Prince Albert's last act of diplomacy (done while dying of typhoid) was to keep Britain out of the American civil war. It was an interesting book, and an interesting look at not only Victoria and Albert but their families as well as those people who influenced them.

We Two: Victoria and Albert: Rulers, Partners, Rivals sounds interesting. I just added it to my to-read list.

Rekesha wrote: " Frank looked up and gasped in surprise at the house sitting on the rise before him. It seemed enormous, large enough to accommodate the inhabitants of an entire block of tenements. Myriad window..."

I love that series, I want to reread them starting with book one, but sadly I keep giving away my copy. I went to B&N, but they had to order it for me. :)

Food is a language of care, the thing we do when traditional language fails us, when we don't know what to say, when there are no words to say. And food is what we offer in celebration--at weddings, at anniversaries, at happy events of every kind. It's the thing that connects us, that bears our traditions, our sense of home and family, our deepest memories, and, on a practical level, our ability to live and breathe each day. Food matters.

That's from Bread & Wine: a love letter to life around the table with recipes by Shauna Niequist. I just finished this compilation of essays about all the aspects of cooking, eating, and entertaining. A fun and thoughtful read.

"There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered" Nelson Mandela

I am reading Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants "The Second Summer of the Sisterhood" as a quick summer read and some of the quotes between the chapters are wonderful little snippets.

I have not been near a computer for a couple of weeks so I am trying to catch up. Looks like everyone has been reading great books, and I have added a few to my list for when I am back home. This week I have the entire series of Sisterhood, I just finished Graduation Day and Mr. Mercedes (I do so love some King) and have also picked up "Snowblind" by Christopher Golden, "In the End" by Demitria Lunetta and "The Book of You" by Claire Kendal. Hope everyone is staying cool and reading lots!

"But because I am writing my memoirs I find I have to write it down, as it is such an important part of my journey to becoming a Hero... And I shall throw it (memoirs) hoping, like Grimbeard the Ghastly, that someday it may be found by someone who will be a better Leader than I have been. Someone living way, way in the future, in times more civilized than those in which I have lived, where men can own beautiful and dangerous things and use them wisely."

I thought this was a very good quote from the last pages of How to be Pirate by Cressida Cowell (which can't count toward my 52 because it is a children's book). Hiccup is throwing out his memoirs about a fortune in treasure that he kept hidden for the good of his tribe.

For a child this message, that they may or may not get yet in their young lives, is giving them a glimpse into their adult lives. A life were power and greed might rule and staying true to themselves and their families is important.

"We couldn't convince the politicians of the immediate urgency," said Chapman in frustration. "They kept insisting on setting up a special committee to look into the matter. Can you believe that? With the world in the brink of extinction, our illustrious elected officials want to strut their self importance while bunched together in executive chairs and vocalize like an a cappella choir."

Sahara by Clive Cussler

That one I am still working on for June's challenge, but it is picking up so I should finish it soon.