Bout of Books Read-a-thon 25

I’m joining the 25th edition of #boutofbooks! It's my fourth Bout of Books and I'm looking forward to a week of reading, reading, reading! Why not join us?

Here's the scoop on Bout of Books:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01 am Monday, May 13th and runs through Sunday, May 19th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, Twitter chats, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 25 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

I have 2 books to finish, and 3 others waiting in the wings when I do:

Books to finish:

    "The Bridge of San Luis Rey", Thorton Wilder
    "Shakespeare is Hard But So Is Life", Fintan O'Toole


Books to start:

    "The Prodigal Tongue", Lynne Murphy
    "Essential Encounter", Therese Kuoh-Moukoury
    "Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Parliament", Paul Gallico

Onwards and Upwards, Readers!

Bout of Books #24 - Wrapup

Another week-long Bout of Books comes to an end, during which I read parts of several books, joined the Monday Twitter chat, and completed one of the challenges. I like this read-a-thon because it's all about reading and sharing with the group, in a free-form manner. No rules, no large page-counts required!

First I finished the final 200 pages of the 800-page novel "Can You Forgive Her?" by Anthony Trollope. It's known as the first of his Palliser series, although the Pallisers are not the central figures in this book. Yes, it was long, but I thoroughly enjoyed the stories that it told of upper class life in 1860s England, and look forward to reading the other five tomes eventually.

I also read 3/4 of "Queen Lucia" by E. F. Benson, likewise the first in a series of six novels. Long ago I watched several television productions based on the Mapp and Lucia series of books, so I thought I should read the original comedies. I must admit that I liked Lucia much better on screen than on the page. She's so bossy and snobbish that she became annoying. I guess in the TV series she seemed a bit more likeable. Still, I plan on reading the whole series.

Lastly, I re-read several short stories in the translated collection "The Book of Khartoum" before reviewing it. There are 10 stories from Sudan in the slim volume and it's a quick read. Some stories were very interesting, while others were mostly baffling to me. It gave me a peek into a very different culture, which I enjoyed, but I am glad it was a short trip.

I see Bout of Books #25 will be from May 13th to May 19th. Join us, it's fun!

Dinner Party

The challenge for Day 2 of Bout of Books 24 is:

Character dinner party: You are hosting an intimate dinner party for five of your favorite characters. Who do you invite and what food do you serve?

This was a tough one for me at first; of the many books I've read, who would I invite? But then I decided I should invite characters from some of my favorite book series, because after 10 or so books, you feel you know them well enough to have them over.

Invitations go to:

• Domenica, Bertie, and Angus from the "44 Scotland Street" series by Alexander McCall Smith
• Isabel and Jamie from the "Isabel Dalhousie" series by Alexander McCall Smith
• and mayhap Flavia de Luce will pop in from her eponymous series by Alan Bradley

I would cook a 7-course Chinese feast, one course per diner as traditional, because that's what I'm good at! Since the first 5 are from Scotland and Flavia is English, they would all be far to polite to object to whatever I made. For after dinner drinks, I would offer some single-malt Scotch and sparkling apple juice for Flavia.

How is your dinner party working out?

Bout of Books Read-a-thon 24

I’m joining #boutofbooks! This is the 24th edition of the popular read-a-thon and my third one. We have a lot of fun with Twitter Chats and other challenges. Why not join us?

Here's the scoop on Bout of Books:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01 am Monday, January 7th and runs through Sunday, January 13th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 24 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

 Here's what I am planning to read:

• "Queen Lucia", E. F. Benson
• "The Bridge of San Luis Rey", Thornton Wilder
• "Miguel Street", V. S. Naipaul

Let the reading commence!

Bout of Books Read-a-thon 23

I’m joining #boutofbooks! This is the 23rd edition of the popular read-a-thon and my second one. We had a lot of fun last time - why not join us?

Here's the scoop on Bout of Books:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 20th and runs through Sunday, August 26th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 23 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

My goal will be to read as many books as I can during the week of the readathon. Because I'm packing up to move in a few weeks, I'll continue my Short Reads Short Reviews personal challenge. This lets me complete a book without spreading it out over too many days and losing track of the story.

Here's what I am planning to read:

• "The Little Prince", Antoine de Saint Exupéry
• "Every Frenchman Has One", Olivia de Havilland
• "Dubliners", James Joyce
• "The Romance of Tristan & Iseult", Joseph Bédier
• "The Book of Khartoum", Raph Cormack & Max Shmookler, editors

Let the reading commence!

Bout of Books 22 Wrap Up

My first weeklong Read-A-Thon is finished. My goals were met and then some!

1. I read the 4 books I intended to read:

"Excellent Women", Barbara Pym
"Red Bang", Brandt Monroe
"The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra", Vassem Khan
"The Ladies of Missalonghi", Colleen McCullough

Then for extra credit I read a 5th, although it turned out to be a longish short story, really, but published as a standalone book:

"Santal", Ronald Firbank

And for good measure, I got through 10% of "Red Pottage", Mary Cholmondeley


2. I posted the answers to each day's challenge on my blog. Updates to book reading were posted to Twitter.


3. I also learned a lot about Twitter and attended my first two Twitter Chats! I had tweeted before but not chatted real time. What saved me was finding Twitter's Tweetdeck browser interface. Highly recommended for following a Twitter Chat!


4. I met a whole slew of avid readers, exchanging book titles, encouragements, and general laughter. What fun!


I am now looking forward to the next edition of Bout of Books - August 20th to August 26th!! Got it on my reminder app so I'll be prepared with a TBR pile. Join us!

Reaching for More Glory

The Day 7 challenge for Bout Of Books #22 is:

Stretch Goal

It's the last day of the readathon, so today's challenge is to take a look at the goals you set for the week (if you have them) and decide a) how you can stretch yourself to complete them or b) how you can revise them so you can meet them. Because yes, you can revise your goals! If you didn't set goals for the week, set a small one for yourself today!

My original goals were a) to read 3 or 4 books and b) to stay away from places where I can spend lots of time finding new titles to add to the TBR (To Be Read) pile.

Now, at the beginning of Day 7, I have read:

1.     "Excellent Women" by Barbara Pym
2.     "Red Bang" by Brandt Monroe
3.     "The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra" by Vassem Khan

and I am 1/3 through:

    "The Ladies of Missalonghi" by Colleen McCullough


Plus I do think I spent productive time reading books and not just reading more book reviews!

Revised goal: I might fit in another short novella, "Santal" by Ronald Firbank.

Bout Of Books Favs

The Day 6 challenge for Bout Of Books #22 is:

Share Your Favorite Bout of Books Moment

With the read-a-thon starting to wind down, we want to see some of your favorite moments. These could be from past Bout of Books or the present one. Did you connect with someone who would later become your BFF and partner in crime? Did a favorite author retweet you? Were you recommended a book that changed your life? TELL US ABOUT IT!

I have really been enjoying my first Bout Of Books! Reading is so solitary. It's nice to see a large group of readers chatting excitedly about books! And I now have new connections in both the Twittersphere and Blogosphere. But I must admit that my Favorite Moment came during the Twitter Chat on Monday when I finally figured out how to use TweetDeck so I could actually see all the tweets! Tah-dah!! Victory is mine!

I'm 60% through my third book, "The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra" by Vaseem Khan. It's a cozy mystery set in India, where the detective's sidekick is a baby elephant.

Book Scavenger Hunt

The Day 5 challenge for Bout Of Books #22 is:

Space Scavenger Hunt

You all like a scavenger hunt, right? This one is space themed. Use the guidelines below. Participate as much as you can. This is a challenge, so you don't have to get them all to win. If you have fun, you win.

• Mercury - Favourite short story/novella - "The Pearl", John Steinbeck
• Venus - Favourite book with female protagonist - the Flavia de Luce series, Alan Bradley
• Earth - Favourite book about nature/nature word in the title - "Cod: a Biography of the Fish That Saved the World", Mark Kurlansky
• Mars - Favourite book with a red cover - "Illuminae", Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
• Jupiter - Favourite tome over 500 pages - "Moby-Dick in Pictures", Matt Kish
• Saturn - Favourite book with circle/ring on the cover/in the title - "Ring for Jeeves", P. G. Wodehouse
• Uranus - Favourite book set in winter - "Bury Your Dead", Louise Penny
• Neptune - Favourite book set at sea, on a boat, or under water - "Moby-Dick", Herman Melville
• Pluto - Favourite books featuring a dog/with a dog on the cover - "44 Scotland Street", Alexander McCall Smith
• Moon - Favourite book set anywhere other than Earth - "Foundation", Isaac Asimov
• Sun - Favourite book set in summer - "Playing for Pizza", John Grisham
• Space - Favourite book set in space - "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", Douglas Adams

Rather a diverse collection of titles, eh? Try one, you'll like it!

If the Circus, Then the Museum

The Day 4 challenge for Bout Of Books #22 is:

Read Alikes
If you liked a particular book, then recommend a book(s) similar to the one you liked.

IF you liked "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

THEN you should read "The Museum of Extraordinary Things" by Alice Hoffman

I loved "The Night Circus" a lot, and "The Museum of Extraordinary Things" is also very good. Both have heroines with strange fathers, and both girls are part of a show. "Circus" is more dreamlike and other-worldly, whereas "Museum" is more realistic (well, mostly).

My Precious

The Day 3 challenge for Bout Of Books #22 is:

Show Me Your Precious

Everyone has a book that they love; now is your time to bring out your precious and shine. Share your favorite book (in whatever format you choose)! You know the one that has that beautifully illustrated map, or gorgeous writing, or whatever it is that draws you to it. Share with the world what makes that book your precious!

I love books in general, so "When I'm not near the book I love, I love the book I'm near." (sorry Frank!) Current love is "Moby-Dick in Pictures" by Matt Kish. Matt is an amazing artist who decided one day that he should "create one illustration for every single one of the 552 pages in the Signet Classic paperback edition." He began posting them to his blog and eventually the entire collection was published. The result is stunning!

I got a chance to meet Matt at a recent showing of a documentary film "Call Us Ishmael", an intimate look at the world’s obsession with Herman Melville’s “Moby-Dick,” which many consider the great American novel. He's a very nice librarian who, of course, is widely read. So nice that he signed my copy of his book, well, drew a whale picture, actually!! So cool!


Find Out More

The film "Call Us Ishmael"
https://www.facebook.com/CallUsIshmael/

Matt's Moby-Dick Blog, starting on Day 1:
http://everypageofmobydick.blogspot.com/2009/08/moby-dick-page-001.html

Year of Me

The Day 2 challenge for Bout Of Books #22 is:

Year of You

Share a book that was published the year you were born.

On my list of books to check into I found the 1947 novel "One Fine Day" by Mollie Panter-Downes, a British writer who lived from 1906 to 1997. She wrote several novels, short story collections, and a biography, but is better known for her column for the New Yorker, describing London during and after WWII.

Here's the description of "One Fine Day" from the current publisher, Little Brown:

It is a summer's day in 1946. The English village of Wealding is no longer troubled by distant sirens, yet the rustling coils of barbed wire are a reminder that something, some quality of life, has evaporated. Together again after years of separation, Laura and Stephen Marshall and their daughter Victoria are forced to manage without 'those anonymous caps and aprons who lived out of sight and pulled the strings'. Their rambling garden refuses to be tamed, the house seems perceptibly to crumble. But alone on a hillside, as evening falls, Laura comes to see what it would have meant if the war had been lost, and looks to the future with a new hope and optimism.

First published in 1947, this subtle, finely wrought novel presents a memorable portrait of the aftermath of war, its effect upon a marriage, charting, too, a gradual but significant change in the nature of English middle-class life.

As an avowed Anglophile interested in the war years, I will be reading and reviewing this book in the not too distant future.

Today, Tuesday, is the Last Day to sign up for Bout Of Books 22. Join us!

Bout of Books Read-a-thon

I’m joining #boutofbooks! This is the 22nd edition of the popular read-a-thon, and it sounds quite fun.

Here's the scoop on Bout of Books:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01 am Monday, May 14th and runs through Sunday, May 20th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 22 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

My personal goal is to sit myself down and read as many books as I can, start-to-finish, within the prescribed week. I do hope to keep myself from wandering around various book sites online and finding more books I want to read, which takes up actual reading time. It's sort of a good habit / bad habit thing with me. And since book choice is open, I can slot in books for a couple of my challenges. Win!


Here's what I am planning to read:

•     "Red Bang", Brandt Monroe
•     "The Ladies of Missalonghi", Colleen McCullough
•     "Excellent Women", Barbara Pym

And maybe:

•     "The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra", Vassem Khan

Wish me luck! Why not join us on this reading adventure!