Tip of the Iceberg

Something New Under the Sun

noreply@blogger.com (Terri B.) — Fri, 14 Feb 2014 15:28:00 +0000

A person my age is likely to subscribe to the ancient saying that there is "nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9). The same themes and dramas seem to play out repeatedly. The sun rises and sets. Storms come and go. Uncle Bob gets drunk again at Thanksgiving. "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again" (NIV). I don't know how far back the saying goes, but the biblical reference is considered ancient. Then there is Shakespeare bringing up the same thing in Sonnet 59:

If there be nothing new, but that which is
Hath been before, how are our brains beguil'd,
Which, laboring for invention, bear amiss
The second burden of a former child.
O, that record could with a backward look,
Even of five hundred courses of the sun,
Show me your image in some antique book,
Since mind at first in character was done!
That I might see what the old world could say
To this composed wonder of your frame;
Whether we are mended, or whe'er better they,
Or whether revolution be the same.
O! sure I am, the wits of former days
To subjects worse have given admiring praise.

"Or whether revolution be the same." So, the endless cycle bears no better result year after year. Can't even get away from it in literature. It's enough to bring on the ennui.

Where am I going with this? Oh, yeah. Curling. You heard me. Curling. Prior to the 2010 Winter Olympics I had never seen or heard of curling. In a moment of boredom I turned on the television to watch yet more ice skating with predictable moves performed to very familiar pieces of music. But instead of very fit young people twirling and leaping on ice, I saw people of all sizes and shapes and ages following a stone sliding across the ice. To my further amazement, they were furiously scrubbing the surrounding ice with brooms and yelling at the slowly moving stone. Well, it appeared that they were yelling at the stone. I'm not sure. It was in another language. But they sure seemed to be giving that stone heck. Were they angry that it was moving so slowly? Was it supposed to do tricks? I had never seen this before! It was new! A new sport! Stone harassment!

Well, it turns out that curling was invented in medieval Scotland. Did you catch that word, "medieval"? The 1500s to be exact. This sport made its way to North America and curling clubs established in the early 1800s. It was an Olympics demonstration event as far back as the 1920s but was not declared an official Olympic sport until 1998.* Apparently, not new.

You might be asking yourself about now, "Where is this essay going? Is the writer saying there IS something new under the sun or not? Is she making a positive or a negative point? Should I be hopeful or depressed?" Here is the point I want to make. The themes of life don't change. Human nature doesn't change. For some of us, the image in which we were created does not change. In this sense, there is nothing new under the sun. But each of us has the capacity to experience something new to us. You can still be amazed, or at least intrigued, by something new no matter how many times you've been around the sun. You can look for old things in new forms. Look around. Pay attention. Life is beautiful and it matters the eyes with which you look and see.

It's all about how you look at it.

*For those interested, this mini history was put together from the Curling article on Wikipedia. After looking at the cited References at the end of the article, I decided that it looked well enough cited to use here in this essay without further research.

NEW BLOG: Terri Talks Books

noreply@blogger.com (Terri B.) — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 18:29:00 +0000

I'm moving!

Terri Talks Books

I've recently been doing some personal social media management and have created companion websites for all of my book related chat and reviews. The websites are branded as Terri Talks Books and use the same header and avatar. Hopefully this will benefit my readers and viewers, making it easier to find me in the various places I talk about books.

How to find me:

Terri Talks Books blog - http://territalksbooks.blogspot.com
YouTube as MsTerriB - http://youtube.com/MsTerriB

What about Tip of the Iceberg?
Tip of the Iceberg is not going away. It will be re-purposed back to its origins as a personal essay writing blog.

How do I find book reviews?
Old book reviews will remain at Tip of the Iceberg and new book reviews will appear at Terri Talks Books. To help readers find book reviews, I will maintain title and author book review indexes and provide a Find My Book Reviews link in the header menu at both blogs.

What if I forget how to find Terri Talks Books?
I've put a link to Terri Talks Books in the header menu above to point readers here at Tip of the Iceberg to the new blog.

Follow me!
I'd love it if you follow me at Terri Talks Books. Subscription links are in the sidebar at Terri Talks Books to help you subscribe in various ways.

Dawn Over the Mountains

noreply@blogger.com (Terri B.) — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 08:00:00 +0000

Creative Commons Image Attribution

Dawn Over the Mountains

The city is silent,
Sound drains away,
Buildings vanish in the light of dawn,
Cold sunlight comes on the highest peak,
The thick dust of night
Clings to the hills,
The earth opens,
The river boats are vague,
The still sky--
The sound of falling leaves.
A huge doe comes to the garden gate,
Lost from the herd,
Seeking its fellows.

-- Tu Fu, from Songs of Love, Moon, & Wind: Poems from the Chinese, trans. Kenneth Rexroth

The Sunday Salon: Winter Reading

noreply@blogger.com (Terri B.) — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 22:52:00 +0000


Creative Commons Image Attribution http://www.ForestWander.com

I've recently finished reading Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton and the image above seems to capture the cold, bleak beauty from that novella. Many of you are probably sick of the "cold, bleak beauty," but my home is in a place that is often quite warm during the winter months (yes, I live in the Northern Hemisphere) so I like to live vicariously through my reading by creating a seasonal reading shelf for winter. I actually do this four times a year, once for each season. I also crave certain types of reading during the year. Here is how it breaks down for me:

December through February - Mysteries, Scandinavian fiction, or books with a winter setting (i.e. Father Cadfael mysteries or Henning Mankell books)
March through May - Fantasy, fairy tales, or books with a spring setting (i.e. In the Forests of Serre, The Enchanted April)
June through August - Science Fiction or books with a summer setting (i.e. Dune)
September through November - Books with a creepy or autumn setting (i.e. Something Wicked This Way Comes)

Classics and literary fiction (yes, I understand there is some controversy over the term "literary fiction" but I am using it here because I think most readers will understand what type of book I'm referring to) are liberally added to any seasonal shelf. I particularly like to read Dickens during the winter months though.

Creating a seasonal shelf not only allows me to read seasonally, but it also allows me to address my enormous TBR collection by creating a smaller pool of books to draw from without restricting myself too much. I might read everything on my seasonal shelf or I might read just some of those books. I like to allow myself room to read something I hadn't thought of, to accommodate a sudden urge to join a read-a-long, or to read impulsively ... because reading should be fun!

Do you create seasonal shelves?

Related links:

The Sunday Salon is a weekly virtual get together where readers share thoughts about their reading. We write about books and reading on our own blogs and then visit and chat with other saloners through the comments feature.

The Sunday Salon: Snow Country

noreply@blogger.com (Terri B.) — Sun, 19 Jan 2014 19:39:00 +0000

I pulled quite a few books from my TBR stacks that have a winter theme or setting and saved them to read during the "bleak midwinter" as it were. Well, I live in a place that doesn't get snow and often feels more like summer during those winter months. Hardly bleak. I was hoping this would be one of our "cold" winters, but it has been consistently warm and sometimes quite hot. My seasonal expectations and reality just aren't in sync this year, so I've been living vicariously through my winter themed books.

Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata is set in the mountains on the west coast of the main island of Japan. This setting is important to the story. The Introduction to my copy of Snow Country describes the setting:

"In the winter, cold winds blow down from Siberia, pick up moisture over the Japan Sea, and drop it as snow when they strike the mountains of Japan. The west coast of the main island of Japan is probably for its latitude the snowiest region of the world. From December to April or May only the railroads are open, and the snow in the mountains is sometimes as much as fifteen feet deep."

The setting and descriptive passages are often stunningly beautiful. It was this that kept me reading. The setting is cold and remote. The characters follow this pattern and this makes them unreachable and, ultimately, unlikeable. A cold and remote setting has a harsh beauty, but these same characteristics in people are unflattering. Nevertheless, it was this parallel between setting and characters that helped me overlook my dislike and focus on the writing to see the beauty of the whole.

The story takes place at a hot-springs in the snow country. Shimamura is a wealthy idle man who travels to the hot springs without his wife. Komako is one of the hot-springs geisha, a near outcast. There is a sense of wasted and decaying beauty in Snow Country and this comes across in the repeated thoughts of Shimamura about wastedness and in Komako's own impulsive and self destructive behavior. An "indefinable air of loneliness" surrounds Komako, and Shimamura's life seems empty. Shimamura is fascinated with the reflected images of others in mirrors and windows and is drawn to illusion over reality.

Again though, I'm pulled away from the characters themselves by the powerful images that the author creates. Images like that of the rounded snow covered mountain tops turned red by the rising or setting sun. This parallels Komako's white powdered neck curving to her rounded shoulders of red skin that flow and disappear into the wide neck of her kimono. Images of red and white recur throughout the novel and one could write an entire post on these images and metaphor.

I'm guessing there is much I missed for lack of cultural and literary understanding. The recurring themes and images mean something. Metaphor is abundant. The entire novel is reminiscent of haiku that "seek[s] to convey a sudden awareness of beauty by a mating of opposite or incongruous terms … [a fusion of] motion and stillness" and a mingling of the senses. (Quote about haiku from the 1956 Introduction to the book.)

A deep vein of darkness and loneliness runs through Snow Country and this may not be to everyone's liking. Those who have an interest in Japanese literature, those who crave poetic writing, and those who love imagery or strongly visualize when they read will want to read this short novel by one of the masters of Japanese literature.

Related links:

Japanese Literature Challenge 7 hosted by Dolce Bellezza

Books Read 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Terri B.) — Wed, 01 Jan 2014 04:01:00 +0000

I've noted FAVORITES in bold type within the list. A few comments (including my top two reads of the year) are at the end of the list.

January

1. Fatal Error (Ali Reynolds Series) by J.A. Jance
2. Left for Dead (Ali Reynolds Series) by J.A. Jance
3. A Winter Dream by Richard Paul Evans (thoughts)
4. The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (thoughts)
5. The Fairy Godmother (Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms) by Mercedes Lackey (thoughts)
6. The Tale of the Firebird by Gennady Spirin
7. Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote - FAVORITE
8. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein - FAVORITE
9. Coyote's Wife (Ella Clah Series) by Aimee and David Thurlo

February

10. Murder on the Iditarod Trail (Alaska Mysteries Series) by Sue Henry
11. Aunt Dimity's Death (Aunt Dimity Mystery Series) by Nancy Atherton
12. River Marked (Mercy Thompson Series) by Patricia Briggs
13. Dreadnought by Cherie Priest
14. Ganymede by Cherie Priest
15. The Inexplicables by Cherie Priest

March

16. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Flavia de Luce Series) by Alan Bradley - FAVORITE
17. One Good Knight (Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms) by Mercedes Lackey
18. Suspect by Robert Crais
19. The Dead Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
20. The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan
21. The Savage Garden by Mark Mills

April

22. Damned Busters (To Hell and Back, Bk 1) by Matthew Hughes
23. The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim - FAVORITE
24. Costume Not Included (To Hell and Back, Bk 2) by Matthew Hughes
25. The Last Detective (Elvis Cole Series) by Robert Crais
26. Hell to Pay (To Hell and Back, Bk 3) by Matthew Hughes
27. The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag (Flavia de Luce Series) by Alan Bradley
28. Fortune's Fool (Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms) by Mercedes Lackey
29. The Forgotten Man (Elvis Cole Series) by Robert Crais

May

30. The House at Tyneford by Natasha Solomons - FAVORITE
31. Melusine by Sarah Monette
32. The Fever Tree by Jennifer McVeigh - FAVORITE
33. The Virtu by Sarah Monette
34. The Mirador by Sarah Monette

June

35. Corambis by Sarah Monette
36. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh - FAVORITE
37. Coffin Man (Charlie Moon Series) by James D. Doss

July

38. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain - FAVORITE
39. Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
40. The Secret of Shadow Ranch (Nancy Drew) by Carolyn Keene
41. Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
42. Sapphique by Catherine Fisher
43. The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield - FAVORITE
44. The Snow Queen (Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms) by Mercedes Lackey
45. The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz

August

46. Earthway (Ella Clah Series) by Aimee and David Thurlo
47. Never Ending Snake (Ella Clah Series) by Aimee and David Thurlo
48. Pegasus by Robin McKinley
49. The Rope (Anna Pigeon Series) by Nevada Barr
50. The Star of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson
51. The Fault Tree by Louise Ure
52. The Android's Dream by John Scalzi
53. 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King

September

54. The Orchid Affair by Lauren Willig
55. Touch Not the Cat by Mary Stewart
56. The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart
57. The Sleeping Beauty (Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms) by Mercedes Lackey
58. Black Thunder (Ella Clah Series) by Aimee and David Thurlo

October

59. The Rook by Daniel O'Malley
60. "The Eyes" by Edith Wharton
61. Aura by Carlos Fuentes - FAVORITE
62. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
63. The Orphanmaster by Jean Zimmerman
64. Lost Memory of Skin by Russell Banks
65. Curse of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz

November

66. The Frankenstein Papers by Fred Saberhagen
67. 11/22/63 by Stephen King - FAVORITE
68. The Unfinished Clue by Georgette Heyer

December

69. A Red Herring Without Mustard (Flavia de Luce Series) by Alan Bradley
70. Killer Librarian by Mary Lou Kirwin
71. Dewey by Vickie Myron
72. I Am Half Sick of Shadows (Flavia de Luce Series) by Alan Bradley
73. Maus by Art Spiegelman - FAVORITE
74. Spirit of Steamboat (Walt Longmire novella) by Craig Johnson
75. The Frozen Deep by Wilkie Collins
76. An Irish Country Christmas by Patrick Taylor

A few notes:

Apparently I read a lot of series books this year! It is amazing how quickly series books pile up in the TBR stacks. I'm hoping to read more stand alone novels in 2014 as well as some non-fiction.

Probably my favorite read, as far as sheer enjoyment goes, was 11/22/63 by Stephen King. Time travel of the best sort. King writes, in his notes, that he had the idea for this story long ago when he was quite young. I am REALLY glad that he waited to write this in his more mature years. Maturity brought a richer take on something that could have been quite cliche. And the ending … oh, the ending … sigh.

For sheer beauty, The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim was my favorite. This short novel swept me away. I could see it, feel it, smell it.

Reading Update

noreply@blogger.com (Terri B.) — Thu, 07 Nov 2013 22:02:00 +0000

I'm trying to get back into the swing of blogging and thought I'd ease into it with a little book chat. After all, chatting about books is probably what I do best! Here is a little bit about what I just finished reading, what I'm currently reading, and what I am about to start reading.

The Frankenstein Papers by Fred Saberhagen

I started reading The Frankenstein Papers on October 31st. I figured that I would exit the RIP (Readers Imbibing Peril) and Halloween season with a monster book and I'm so glad I did! This is the tale of Frankenstein and his monster told primarily from the monster's point of view. It is written in the spirit of Shelley's Frankenstein ... until the rather odd ending. I won't comment more on the end of the novel since that would be spoilerish. The creature narrates his own story through a personal journal. Additional viewpoints are included, in order to slowly reveal "truth" from "fiction," through letters from several other characters. Again, I won't say more about the other characters since that too would be spoilerish. What I liked most about this book is the monster's quest for identity. Is he truly a monster rejected by his creator? Or is there some other explanation .... You will have to read it if you want to know!

I'm currently reading several books. I rarely read more than one book at a time, but have found myself picking away at several very different titles over the last few days.

Mistress Oriku: Stories from a Tokyo Teahouse by Matsutaro Kawaguchi

I love nostalgia. It makes me ache and cry and long for times that are no more. I know ... masochistic. I've got some old black and white photos of Japan from my dad's time stationed there with the Air Force in the early to mid 1950s. In those photos you can see the traditional clashing with the modern. I don't know how much of the traditional still exists in that country. Because of my brush with this shift in Japanese history and culture through my father, I am interested in books that portray this shift (whether nostalgic or not). Mistress Oriku is a collection of short stories that is "filled with clear-eyed nostalgia for the vanished - and entirely captivating - world of old Tokyo" (from the back cover of the book).

And God Spoke to Abraham: Preaching from the Old Testament by Fleming Rutledge

This book came to my attention through an online post that provided one of the chapters (sermons) titled "The Bloody Passageway." I was immediately hooked by the beauty of the writing and the way in which this Episcopal priest (female for those interested) connects us to the past and leaves the reader with a sense of kinship to the ancient, primitive, and primordial. I got goosebumps reading this piece and by revisiting one of the oddest pieces of biblical scripture I've ever read - a passage in which "a ceremony is described which is of such great antiquity that one has the sense of going back as far as it is possible to go in biblical history." What is extraordinary to me is the way in which Rutledge brings this forward in time, to me and you. Whether or not you agree with the theology, you might very well be stunned by the beauty of the writing and the way in which the author ties us to the ancients. I'm looking forward to reading more out of this book over the coming months.

11/22/63 by Stephen King

I'm about to start this hefty tome. Mostly because I've heard good things about it and it is on my TBR pile of already acquired books! I thought reading it in November of the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination would be good timing.

Bloglovin'

noreply@blogger.com (Terri B.) — Thu, 07 Nov 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Runners United to Remember Boston

noreply@blogger.com (Terri B.) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 01:03:00 +0000

2.62 for Boston!

For photos of others running for Boston this week go to RunJunkEes

The Inexplicables by Cherie Priest

noreply@blogger.com (Terri B.) — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 19:32:00 +0000

Cherie Priest just gets better and better and has written a fast paced and moving fifth book in The Clockwork Century series, an alternate history of Civil War era late 19th century America. Priest has more developed characters and the story has greater depth than previous novels in the series. In The Inexplicables we clearly see that most people are neither fully good nor fully bad but are, instead, a mixed bag. We also see that some are driven by substances that override the normal internal checks and balances that keep us morally functional, but we've all got choices to make no matter how difficult or painful. As one character says,"The world's an uncertain place," full of what ifs and mights and our job is to keep working forward through those uncertainties ... to celebrate and build upon the good that comes through. And, yes, there are zombies.

Saturday Snapshot: Fairy Tale Walking Stick

noreply@blogger.com (Terri B.) — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 16:28:00 +0000

Sticking with the fairy tale theme, here is a photo of my old man in a stick. This walking stick was carved by a gentleman in Utah. A shimmering ribbon of poetry is inscribed and wraps around the stick all the way to the bottom. This old man usually gets quite a few compliments when I take him out for walks on the trails!

Saturday Snapshot hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books.

The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey

noreply@blogger.com (Terri B.) — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 23:28:00 +0000

I've gone off on a bit of a fairy tale jaunt during the past few days. I pulled out The Tale of the Firebird and posted a glimpse of my gorgeously illustrated copy of that Russian folktale by Gennady Spirin the other day. Apparently I hadn't satiated my desire for a bit of the faerie, so I picked up The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey. What a pleasant surprise it turned out to be!

The Fairy Godmother is the first in the Five Hundred Kingdoms series. This book appears, at first glance, to be a re-telling of the Cinderella fairy tale but after reading just a few short pages I realized that this is no traditional re-telling. In fact, Lackey breaks with tradition and, well, writes about breaking with tradition.

Bits and bobs of many different fairy tales appear throughout The Fairy Godmother, but Lackey weaves a new tale and those who like to buck tradition will enjoy it. Traditionalists should also enjoy this book for the many familiar elements included. Princesses in need of rescue. Champions on quest. Dragons, fairies, elves, and evil sorcerers. And, of course, fairy godmothers. Just don't expect these characters to toe the line.

Ah. There is also a happy ending, and, as one of the characters says:

"To happy endings, however they come about!"

*******************

"Fantasy for me has always gone far beyond the magic rings and castles of the classical fairy tale, although heaven knows I love the classical fairy tales! To write or enjoy fantasy requires an open mind and heart, and the ability to believe that things are not always what they seem."
-- Mercedes Lackey

Reading Fairytales ...

noreply@blogger.com (Terri B.) — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 21:39:00 +0000

"Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, lived the great ruler Tsar Vasilyi. He had three sons, and the youngest was named Ivan-Tsarevitch.

"The Tsar's greatest pride was his garden, filled with exotic trees, and in the center of this garden was the prize of his kingdom: a tree with golden apples."

The Tale of the Firebird

Retold and Illustrated by Gennady Spirin

Translated by Tatiana Popova

Philomel Books

2002

Gorgeous illustrations by Gennady Spirin in this retelling of the classic Russian folk tale.

In the Forests of Serre by Patricia A. McKillip incorporates parts of the Firebird tale and makes a nice side-by-side reading with The Tale of the Firebird by Gennady Spirin.

In the Forests of Serre

Patricia A. McKillip

Cover illustration by Kinuko Y. Craft

Ace Trade Reprint Edition June 1, 2004

The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

noreply@blogger.com (Terri B.) — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 22:26:00 +0000

The destructive force of gambling. Human passions and the difficulty of controlling them. This is the primary focus of The Gambler, a short novel with big themes by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

Winners, losers, and users. Alexei, the main character, observes that " ... people not only at roulette, but everywhere, do nothing but try to gain or squeeze something out of one another." This astute yet cynical observation sums up the characters in The Gambler. The tutor, the naif, the imperious general, the wealthy matriarch ... all are driven by obsessive love/hate passions with gambling, with money, with each other and it spells ruination for them all. In the midst of these self-destructive characters are the users, the parasites, who also gamble ... gamble on the rise and fall of the fortunes of others.

Did I like The Gambler? I wouldn't use the word "like" since it was much too noir for my tastes. The Gambler looks at the dark side of human nature and is very psychological. It is also very honest, peeling back the masques of the characters ... characters who are representative of the darker side of us all with our suppressed obsessions and passions that, if let loose, would likely drive us to destruction. Yes, this makes for an uncomfortable read.

Dostoyevsky's ability to pull the reader into the tension filled mental state of a character is also quite uncomfortable, yet brilliant. These moments of extreme tension set your nerve endings vibrating and looking for release. Dostoyevsky does this in The Idiot as he describes the increasingly manic internal state of Myshkin preceding an epileptic seizure. You can feel it. Likewise, the mania in The Gambler as Alexei tries to guess the next turn of the wheel at the roulette table is palpable. Dostoyevsky's own bouts with epilepsy and addiction to gambling undoubtedly contribute to his ability to capture these states so vividly.

Some things never change. I saw something in The Gambler that took me by surprise. A reference to lawyers using mental illness as defense:

"Lawyers have taken to arguing in criminal cases that their clients were not responsible at the moment of their crime, and that it was a form of disease. 'He killed him,' they say, 'and has not memory of it.' And only imagine, General, the medical authorities support them - and actually maintain that there are illnesses, temporary aberrations in which a man scarcely remembers anything..."

Would I recommend The Gambler? Yes, with some caveats. Everyone should be able to relate to the larger theme, the struggle with our darker natures and passions and the destructive force of those passions. The 19th century struggle of Russian identity and the culture clash with other nationalities, especially the French, might be harder to grasp or understand. Dostoyevsky also pays little attention to details of settings and personal descriptions of his characters, which might leave some readers without a "place to hang their hat." There are no lovely snow swept vistas or lilac infused gardens in which to revel here. Dostoyevsky chooses to focus on the thoughts and emotions of his characters. The characters are effusive and a bundle of contradictions always undergoing some kind of internal torment. The emotions and situations will seem sensationalistic, but it is important to remember that Dostoyevsky likes to examine the depths of human experience in his writing. He has done just that in The Gambler.

A Winter Dream by Richard Paul Evans

noreply@blogger.com (Terri B.) — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 00:41:00 +0000

I just finished reading A Winter Dream by Richard Paul Evans. I picked this book up just before Christmas and thought I'd read it Christmas week. Well, that didn't happen. I debated with myself whether or not to go ahead and read it this week or to hold it until next Christmas. It isn't a Christmas book per se, but it does have a lovely Christmas tree on the cover and I just couldn't get past that bit of Christmasy-ness. I finally decided that it wasn't too late to read it even if it did turn out to have a Christmas orientation. I'm glad I went ahead and read it!

I've never read anything by Evans but A Winter Dream really hit the spot for me as a thoughtful bit of January reading. The story is a modern re-telling of the Biblical story of Joseph. For those not familiar with Bible stories, it is the story of Joseph and the coat of many colors found in the book of Genesis. Joseph, in both renditions, is a dreamer ... a dreamer both literally and figuratively. The modern day Joseph is an ad man working with his eleven brothers for their father's very successful ad firm in Denver, Colorado. Like the story in Genesis, Joseph is wronged by his brothers and finds himself in a "foreign land." Instead of ending up in Egypt, this Joseph ends up in Chicago working his way up the ranks of a very prosperous transnational ad firm. Yes, there is even a "Potiphar's wife" in this re-telling. I don't want to say too much else about the storyline, but it does indeed follow the outline of the Biblical story. I often dislike Bible story re-tellings or analogies, but Evans handled this incredibly well, following a faithful storyline without being twee.

I particularly like the sense of endings and new beginnings that comes out in A Winter Dream. This made my choice to read it in early January a happy accident. Lessons learned, triumph through adversity, and forgiveness play very large in this story for the ages. It will make you think about your own life and the choices you make every day about how you will respond to circumstances. Each chapter of the book includes an entry from Joseph's diary that not only introduces the chapter but presents the reader with something to consider. For instance:

"I have wondered why it is that our greatest triumphs spring from our greatest extremity and adversity. Perhaps it is because we are so resistant to change, we only move when our seat becomes too hot to occupy."

As someone who does not like change, this spoke to me. I hope to remember it when I am forced from complacency by the hot seat.

I will leave you with the letter written to a young Joseph, before his trials, by his father:

"... always remember that --
Adversity is not a detour. It is part of the path.
You will encounter obstacles. You will make mistakes. Be grateful for both. Your obstacles and mistakes will be your greatest teachers. And the only way to not make mistakes in this life is to do nothing, which is the biggest mistake of all.
Your challenges, if you'll let them, will become your greatest allies. Mountains can crush or raise you, depending on which side of the mountain you choose to stand on. All history bears out that the great, those who have changed the world, have all suffered great challenges. And, more times than not, it's precisely those challenges that, in God's time, lead to triumph.
Abhor victimhood. Denounce entitlement. Neither are gifts, rather cages to damn the soul. Everyone who has walked this earth is a victim of injustice. Everyone.
Most of all, do not be too quick to denounce your sufferings. The difficult road you are called to walk may, in fact, be your only path to success."

It is true too that such advice can not be fully appreciated from the front end of life, but is more often a comforting reflection as we look back.

R.J. Moeller's "Books to Read by Christmas 2013"

noreply@blogger.com (Terri B.) — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 19:50:00 +0000

I haven't joined any reading challenges for 2013 ... yet. I do know that I will challenge myself to read books from my TBR shelves as much as possible. Like many book bloggers, my TBR shelves (mine is more of a TBR storage system) are *ahem* quite full so it makes sense to focus on reading those books. With that said, I wanted to share a reading list that is not only an extraordinary list of MUST READS but has the added personal benefit of listing 13 books on my TBR shelves!

The list, Books to Read by Christmas 2013, is created by R. J. Moeller who writes at Acculturated: Why Pop Culture Matters.

Here is the list in short, but I encourage you to go read Moeller's article which includes his comments on the books:

Books to Read by Christmas 2013

January - The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoevsky
February - One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
March - Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra by C.S. Lewis
April - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
May - The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton
June - No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
July - The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
August - Moby Dick by Herman Melville
September - 1984 George Orwell
October - We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
November - That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis
December - The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

As you can see, the books are spread out over 12 months which provides some nice pacing and looks to be quite doable.

You can join any of the discussions on Twitter by using the appropriate hashtag. The hashtag for the January read is #TheGambler. You can also banter with @rjmoeller on Twitter. Feel free to chat with me @MsTerriB.

Happy Reading!

Merely Mystery Reading Challenge Wrap Up

noreply@blogger.com (Terri B.) — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 05:02:00 +0000

I didn't join too many reading challenges this year. Good thing since I didn't seem to stick to any reading plans ... not really. I love to read mysteries though so managed to read 21 books from that genre which made my participation in the Merely Mystery Reading Challenge, hosted by Literary Feline at Musings of a Bookish Kitty, fairly successful. I only wish I'd written more reviews and been a bit more social. Oh well, at least I did the reading part of the challenge! Here is the list of mysteries I completed in 2012 (along with my own categories):

Historical Whodunit
A Morbid Taste for Bones (Brother Cadfael) by Ellis Peters
The Winter Queen (Erast Fandorin) by Boris Akunin

Classic Whodunit
"The Murders in the Rue Morgue" by Edgar Allan Poe

Crime
In the Bleak Midwinter (Russ Van Alstyne/Clare Fergusson) by Julia Spencer-Fleming
Bad Boy (Inspector Banks) by Peter Robinson
Forests of the Night by James W. Hall
Another Man's Moccasins (Walt Longmire) by Craig Johnson
The Dark Horse (Walt Longmire) by Craig Johnson
Junkyard Dogs (Walt Longmire) by Craig Johnson
Borderline (Anna Pigeon) by Nevada Barr
Burn (Anna Pigeon) by Nevada Barr

Kinda Cozy Crime
Serpents Trail (Maxie and Stretch) by Sue Henry
The Tooth of Time (Maxie and Stretch) by Sue Henry

Funnier Than Heck Parody
Sizzling Sixteen (Stephanie Plum) by Janet Evanovich
Smokin' Seventeen (Stephanie Plum) by Janet Evanovich
Explosive Eighteen (Stephanie Plum) by Janet Evanovich

Culinary Mysteries
The Grilling Season by Diane Mott Davidson
Stick and Scones by Diane Mott Davidson
Dark Tort by Diane Mott Davidson
Fatally Flaky by Diane Mott Davidson
Crunch Time by Diane Mott Davidson

I'd love to have a clear favorite, but each one of these mysteries brought its own pleasure. Sometimes I needed to laugh and the Stephanie Plum books would often leave me laughing until I cried. Other times I needed to curl up with an old favorite feel good cozy or culinary mystery. The historicals took me to other times and cultures. I also read a lot of grittier crime novels, but none of them hopeless like the Noir subgenre. Each of the crime novels had a satisfying ending where justice was mostly served. Of the crime novels, I favored the Walt Longmire books by Craig Johnson. I watched the TV series Longmire this year too. I was a little wary going into the TV series, since I didn't want it to interfere with my reading images, but ended up REALLY liking it. The TV series is not a direct copy of the books but instead captures the characters well and follows the spirit of Craig Johnson's novels. I highly recommend both the book and TV series.

A big THANK YOU to Wendy for hosting such a fun reading challenge!

Books Read 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Terri B.) — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 02:00:00 +0000

I only reviewed a few books this year and I've hyperlinked those titles with reviews in the list below. A post will follow with some commentary about favorites, my overall thoughts about reading in 2012, and commentary on my participation in a few challenges and the Clarissa group read.

Edited to add:
Merely Mystery Reading Challenge Wrap Up

January
1. A Morbid Taste for Bones (Brother Cadfael) by Ellis Peters
2. Clockwork Angel (Infernal Devices) by Cassandra Clare
3. The Winter Queen (Erast Fandorin) by Boris Akunin
4. "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" by Edgar Allan Poe
5. The Palace of Tears by Alev Lytle Croutier
6. In the Bleak Midwinter (Russ Van Alstyne/Clare Fergusson) by Julia Spencer-Fleming

February
7. Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
8. The Mostly True Story of Jack by Kelly Barnhill
9. Bad Boy (Inspector Banks) by Peter Robinson
10. The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley
11. Wither (The Chemical Garden) by Lauren DeStefano

March
12. Lipstick Jungle by Candace Bushnell
13. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba
14. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
15. The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa
16. The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa

April
17. Beyond the Highland Mist by Karen Marie Moning
18. Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
19. Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr
20. Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich
21. Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich
22. The Grilling Season (Goldy Culinary Mystery) by Diane Mott Davidson
23. Sticks and Scones (Goldy Culinary Mystery) by Diane Mott Davidson

May
24. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
25. Serpents Trail by Sue Henry
26. Another Man's Moccasins (Walt Longmire) by Craig Johnson
27. The Dark Horse (Walt Longmire) by Craig Johnson
28. Junkyard Dogs (Walt Longmire) by Craig Johnson

June
29. Delirium by Lauren Oliver
30. White Cat by Holly Black
31. Forests of the Night by James W. Hall
32. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
33. Borderline (Anna Pigeon) by Nevada Barr
34. In the Forests of Serre by Patricia A. McKillip

July
35. The Dragonfly Pool by Eva Ibbotson
36. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
37. Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
38. Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
39. The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson
40. The Beasts of Clawstone Castle by Eva Ibbotson
41. Sixpence House by Paul Collins
42. The Tooth of Time by Sue Henry
43. Dark Tort (Goldy Culinary Mystery) by Diane Mott Davidson

August
44. Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich
45. Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa
46. Fatally Flaky (Goldy Culinary Mystery) by Diane Mott Davidson
47. The Shakespeare Thefts by Eric Rasmussen
48. Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
49. The Forests of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

September
50. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
51. The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

October
52. Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith
53. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
54. Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

November
55. Crunch Time (Goldy Culinary Mystery) by Diane Mott Davidson
56. Burn (Anna Pigeon) by Nevada Barr
57. A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
58. Rebel Angels by Libba Bray

December
59. The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray
60. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
61. Unholy Night by Seth Grahame-Smith

SPORADICALLY ALL YEAR
Clarissa by Samuel Richardson

Christmas Reading List 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Terri B.) — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:50:00 +0000

Are you looking for some Christmas reading? Look no further! Here is my annual Christmas reading recommendations list. This year's list is focused on Christmas short stories that can be read online or freely downloaded.

Short Stories: The Classic Christmas Collection
A collection of classic Christmas short stories from East of the Web. You might want to explore this site for other freely available stories outside of the Christmas story category.

Stories in this Christmas collection are by Saki, Robert Louis Stevenson, Bret Harte, Frank Stockton, O. Henry, L. Frank Baum, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Hans Christian Anderson.

Read these stories online or download them from East of the Web to read on your iPhone, iPod, or iPad. The app is available from the iTunes Store. (see details here)

20 Famous Christmas Stories
Stories by O. Henry, Hans Christian Anderson, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Leo Tolstoy, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Brothers Grimm, Pearl S. Buck, Raymond Briggs, Robert L. May, L. Frank Baum, Selma Lagerlof, Anton Chekhov, Lizzie Deas, E.T.A. Hoffman, Oscar Wilde, Frances Browne, Henry Van Dyke, Willa Cather.

This collection of stories is gathered from several different sources that offer free online access to pieces of literature (mostly classic literature in the public domain). Check the links below for a wealth of additional literature:

Project Gutenberg
The Literature Network
Literature.org
Wikisource
About.com Classic Literature

Classic Mysteries of Christmas Past
Stories by Damon Runyon (1884-1946), O. Henry (1862-1910), Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930).

This list includes A Chaparral Christmas Gift by O. Henry for those who like Westerns.

A Child's Christmas in Wales
This classic story by Dylan Thomas is on the American Literature web site which provides access to many more short stories, poems, speeches, essays and letters.

A Christmas Carol
"Marley was dead: to begin with." Need I say more?

The above link is not downloadable. To download a copy of this story see this link. It will provide you with various download options for your computer or mobile device.

Kids Christmas Stories, Poetry, Rhymes, Plays and Recitals
Looking for something for the kids? Apples 4 the Teacher web site provides links to stories, poems, and activities.

Previous Christmas Reading Lists
2010 Christmas Reading List
2011 Christmas Reading List

Clarissa Group Read: September Links

noreply@blogger.com (Terri B.) — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Here is the Mr. Linky for the September Clarissa group read posts. If you've written a post for Letters 457-522 or have comments on your reading of Clarissa, please leave a link to your post below.

R.I.B.: Readers Imbibing ... Bicycling?

noreply@blogger.com (Terri B.) — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 21:30:00 +0000

My Terry bicycle (engineered especially for shorter women)

This was supposed to be my R.I.P. (Readers Imbibing Peril) post, but I took off cycling instead of organizing my books for the challenge. My apologies to Carl V. for messing with his book challenge title. *blushes*

I will be participating in R.I.P. VII this year. In fact, I have already read one book and am in the process of reading a second that I do believe will end up qualifying for this challenge. I have quite a stack of R.I.P. contenders stacked up, as do most participants.

But ... back to the bike. The morning was just too lovely to stay indoors so I went cycling. I'm usually out running, but decided to build up some leg muscles that just don't get the attention they need from running. I was reminded of these currently wimpy muscles when I rode up my first hill. They yelled at me the whole way; they will thank me later.

I rode about 10 miles and it was easier than I had anticipated after such a long time off the bike (probably due to the running). Since it was a Sunday, I didn't have to contend with traffic on my route. I'm hoping I can take this route on Fridays to commute to work on my bike. It would be nice to combine commute time with exercise time.

I've been considering joining the Adventure Cycling Association. Anyone else out there belong? This would be a great way to find out about cycling events, cycling tours, and bike friendly routes across the U.S. The nine times a year Adventure Cyclist magazine that comes with membership would also be motivating.

I used to ride regularly with my husband and our vacations often involved such fun as riding in the Rocky Mountains and around California wine country. Grad school, careers, kids, grandkids and other things took precedence for years. Now I'm hearing the call of the bike again. Can you tell I've missed riding?

The Shakespeare Thefts by Eric Rasmussen

noreply@blogger.com (Terri B.) — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 07:00:00 +0000

The first edition of Shakespeare's dramatic works, also known as the First Folio, published in 1623 is one of the most famous and valuable books in the world. It is also attractive to thieves. A census of the First Folios in 1902 identified 152 extant copies. Nearly a century later, Eric Rasmussen and a research team went on the hunt for First Folios in order to catalog known copies in detail and to search for those that have vanished. This team of folio hunters identified 232 known copies. As Rasmussen writes in the preface to his book:

"The Shakespeare Thefts explores what my team of First Folio hunters and I learned while cataloging, in situ, each of the known copies and searching for those that have vanished. Like a Shakespearean play, we uncovered a fascinating world ... one populated with thieves, masterminds, fools, and eccentrics, all of whom have risked fortunes and reputations to possess a coveted First Folio."

The Shakespeare Thefts reminded me of a book I read years ago about the antique map trade. That trade is populated with personalities ranging from eccentric to criminal, and high levels of intrigue are involved. The antique book trade appears to be quite similar. This makes for some good storytelling, and good storytelling is what you get with The Shakespeare Thefts.

Some of the challenges faced by the research team are quite interesting. Scrutinizing antique books seems like a low risk enterprise, but what about the First Folio that is stored with Madame Curie's notebooks? The researcher that spent countless hours cataloging and describing that folio in detail was required to do so in the same room with the (radioactive?) Curie notebooks. An interesting anecdote at the very least!

A recent story involves Raymond Rickett Scott who brought what appeared to be a First Folio into the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. to have it authenticated on June 16, 2008. Because of research and cataloging done over the years, the First Folio brought in by Scott was identified as a copy missing from Durham University. Scott was not proven to have stolen the folio, but he was prosecuted and sentenced for the handling of stolen goods and removing stolen goods from Britain. The documentary Stealing Shakespeare recounts this episode for those interested.

Other stories and mysteries surrounding First Folios remain unsolved, but hopefully the research and documentation done by those like Rasmussen will be used to identify missing copies in the future and make it more difficult for those committing thievery or fraud. As Rasmussen points out: " ... having so many details recorded about an individual volume should give anyone pause when it comes to filching a First Folio."

The book is brief and entertaining (I read the 182 pages in one sitting) which will be disappointing for those wishing for an in-depth look at this topic, but it does include a photo section, notes, and an index. For those looking for an entertaining bit of real life mystery and intrigue, The Shakespeare Thefts will not disappoint -- it is a real life literary detective story that spans centuries of history.

Sixpence House by Paul Collins

noreply@blogger.com (Terri B.) — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 03:15:00 +0000

Sixpence House: Lost in a Town of Books is a wonderful ramble that follows the author's move from San Francisco to the small Welsh town of Hay-on-Wye. Hay-on-Wye is a town of 1,500 inhabitants and 40 bookshops, mostly of the antiquarian variety. The population of this small town has its share of odd characters and Collins spends much of Sixpence House describing these eccentrics and their eccentric book collections.

Sixpence House is rambling, rather like a second hand bookshop where one subject area blends into another and the books often spill from the shelves and flow onto the floor. You never know what you will find and are sometimes surprised by a true treasure. Collins gives an account of his excursions about Hay-on-Wye and the surrounding countryside, inserting snippets and quotes from often obscure books to highlight his storytelling.

As a book lover, I fully anticipated Sixpence House to be about ... well ... books. Instead, like a browse through a second hand bookshop there was the thrill of discovery and I found myself delighted to learn all manner of British curiosities such as:

etiquette in the House of Lords for hurling insults at the opposition
lack of grave space in Britain
the conversion of chapels and churches into B&Bs or shops or ...
no recognition of right to privacy
the preponderance of one lane country roads and sad little pubs

Sixpence House was a delightful book by a witty author that gave me a peek into a culture that, though similar, definitely differs from my own.

Reading Clarissa: April in July

noreply@blogger.com (Terri B.) — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 20:44:00 +0000

Yes. I am behind in my reading of Clarissa. Way behind. You can see reading markers in my physical copy of the book above. The orange tabs are the readings for each month. The bookmark sticking out is my place marker. I'm about midway through April. BTW, I often read this book on my Kindle since the sheer weight of the thing can be tiring.

The readings for March through August are quite large chunks. I managed to get through the March readings during March, but was so put off by the repetition involved in Richardson's telling of this tale that I didn't even pick up the book in April. Then when April came and went I was so far behind and so busy in other areas of my life that I avoided this weighty tome. I know ... blah, blah, blah, excuses.

Speaking of repetition, this is often what my mind does with the story: "I won't!" "You will!" "No, I won't!" "Yes, you will!" "Absolutely not!" "Yes! Even if we have to carry you!" "What have I ever done to deserve this?!" "You are an ungrateful and undutiful wretch!" Repeat. Repeatedly.

I do like the theme of Clarissa, and I don't mind reading epistolary novels. The 18th century language is only a minor distraction. I do not have a lot of, nor recent, experience with 18th century novels; my experience entails an 18th century literature class a couple of decades ago. Hence, I can not tell if my problems are with Clarissa and Richardson's writing or with 18th century literature in general.

Ah well, enough complaining. I will continue reading since I really do want to know how this story ends and I do wish to eventually have something cogent to say about this hunk of literature. To all my fellow Clarissa readers: Keep Calm and Read on!

Clarissa Group Read: July Links

noreply@blogger.com (Terri B.) — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 22:58:00 +0000

Here is the Mr. Linky for the July Clarissa Group Read posts. If you've written a post for Letters 305-381 or have comments on your reading of Clarissa, please leave a link to your post below.