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Annael
Immortal
Jun 29 2016, 3:15pm
Post #1 of 11
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it's the Lily's-on-vacation-and-I-forgot-to-post-yesterday Reading Thread!
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Really must remember to actually LOOK at my calendar.
A misty calm morning here in the PNW, which means a nice hot day later. I'm obsessively following the Race to Alaska, a no-engines-allowed race of sailboats, kayaks, rowing dories, and even one delusional stand-up paddleboarder 750 miles up the Inside Passage from my town on the Olympic Peninsula to Victoria, Canada first (the proving run) and then to Ketchikan, Alaska. 53 boats started this year; as of this morning, 4 days out of Victoria, 38 remain. Last year one trimaran won in an all-out, nonstop 5 days of 30+ gale wind sailing, while most of the others either had their boats delaminate in the pounding waves or spent a week hiding on the lee side of various islands. This year is a lot calmer and the fleet is forging ahead, with one crew of three maniacs on a cabinless catamaran well in the lead but the battle for second anyone's game. Winner gets $10,000; second place earns you a set of steak knives. Last year's second-place winners won by 5 minutes and shared the steak knives with the third-place folks.
Two of the boats have all-women crews; one consists of three men who, when on land, are in wheelchairs. One team renamed themselves Ghost Rider when a crewmember died before the race; they are sure he'll be riding along. Besides the USA & Canada, England, France, Sweden, and South Africa are represented.
I'm well into "Dark Run" by our own Ufthie, laughing a lot. Reads like Jim Butcher put Harry Dresden aside for a bit to do his own take on a "Firefly"-ish crew, and nothing wrong with that! Anyone who was privileged to read Ufthak's "Gandalf's Diary" back in the day (in good old Dickens style, served up to us in installments) knows all about his hilariously sarcastic style.
Makes a good break from reading Gaston Bachelard on the philosophy of science.
What are YOU reading?
I am a dreamer of words, of written words. I think I am reading; a word stops me. I leave the page. The syllables of the words begin to move around … The words take on other meanings as if they had the right to be young.
-- Gaston Bachelard
* * * * * * * * * *
NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
(This post was edited by Annael on Jun 29 2016, 3:20pm)
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ange1e4e5
Gondor
Jun 29 2016, 7:34pm
Post #2 of 11
(391 views)
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I always follow my job through.
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NottaSackville
Valinor
Jun 30 2016, 11:43am
Post #3 of 11
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Aunt Dora mentioned this book some time ago. I picked it up for $1 on my Kindle at the time but never got around to reading it until now. It's a book written by E. Nesbit in 1902, so it qualifies as the oldest book I've read in a bit (I don't think it was available on Kindle when first published...)
5 young kids discover a sand fairy that grants them one wish each day. Here's the shocking part - it always goes horribly wrong!
Anyway, it's amusing, light-hearted and a quick read. I see it was made into a movie in 2004, might be a fun movie to watch.
Notta
Happiness: money matters, but less than we think and not in the way that we think. Family is important and so are friends, while envy is toxic -- and so is excessive thinking. Beaches are optional. Trust is not. Neither is gratitude. - The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner as summarized by Lily Fairbairn. And a bit of the Hobbit reading thrown in never hurts. - NottaSackville
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Elberbeth
Tol Eressea
Jun 30 2016, 2:51pm
Post #4 of 11
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by Suetonius, translated by Robert Graves. I heard about this book while watching Treasures of Rome on History channel, and it sounded interesting. We all know about Julius Caesar, but not much about most of the others. The book covers Julius through to Domitian, all of whom Suetonius wrote about in his lifetime. According to the foreword of the book, he produced a number of scholarly works that are now almost entirely lost, but for this one. He differs from other historical works by including not only the deeds and military history of the rulers, but by including their characters, appearance, conduct and personal and private relationships as well. It's very interesting, if a bit dry.
Also read Ironhorse, another book in the Virgil Cole/Everett Hitch series. This one is written by Robert Knott, on an outline by Robert B. Parker. They all seem much the same after a while, the dialogue is laconic in the extreme, but the descriptions of the countryside is well done.
"There are some things that it is better to begin than to refuse, even though the end may be dark."
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Meneldor
Valinor
Jun 30 2016, 6:05pm
Post #5 of 11
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by Mike Sullivan, second prequel in his Riyria fantasy books. His writing is getting better, and it was fun to revisit favorite characters in their younger days.
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. -Psalm 107
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Na Vedui
Rohan
Jul 1 2016, 7:13pm
Post #6 of 11
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There are a couple of similar books by her that you might like: The Phoenix and the Carpet, and The Story of the Amulet.
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NottaSackville
Valinor
Jul 1 2016, 7:35pm
Post #7 of 11
(319 views)
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Happiness: money matters, but less than we think and not in the way that we think. Family is important and so are friends, while envy is toxic -- and so is excessive thinking. Beaches are optional. Trust is not. Neither is gratitude. - The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner as summarized by Lily Fairbairn. And a bit of the Hobbit reading thrown in never hurts. - NottaSackville
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Kilidoescartwheels
Valinor
Jul 2 2016, 2:46pm
Post #8 of 11
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Follow You Home by Mark Edwards
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It was one of 3 free books I got on Kindle recently - set in England, it was about a young couple that traveled through Eastern Europe to Romania, where something terrible happened.... Actually a very good book, I got it read in 3 days, which is like a speed record for me. I'm trying to decide what to read next, probably another book by a British author. One of the 3 freebies is called "War Brides," which looks like an interesting mystery set during WW2, apparently involving a German spy in England. But there's also this other book, "Lord of the Rings," which I keep saying I'm going to re-read sometime this summer - slow as I read, if I start now I might have it finished by Christmas! I actually started reading "Fellowship" yesterday, but somehow I ended up watching the movie instead, haha.
Proud member of the BOFA Denial Association
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Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven
Jul 5 2016, 2:26pm
Post #9 of 11
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It's the well, I'm back, reading thread!
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Which I'll post under last week's, since last week's hasn't moved down the boards very much.
Thank you, Annael, for filling in for me. (Don't look now, but there've been a couple of times I've forgotten to post until Wednesday, too.)
I haven't read very much since I was last here, my eyes being otherwise occupied. I started a mystery novel which I didn't care for and set aside---no names, I know the author.
I'm now reading The Ghostway, an early Jim Chee book by Tony Hillerman. I'll comment on that next week.
I listened to Cat Among the Pigeons, one of Agatha Christie's more obscure Hercule Poirot novels, about a series of murders at an exclusive girl's school. The plot turned out to be less dependent on coincidence than I originally thought, and the characterization is good, but the book suffered from Poirot not appearing until 2/3 of the way through.
I also bought a copy of The (London) Sunday Times, which provided me with reading material for over a week. Really, two pages of The Times has more on it than an entire section of our local paper!
So what have y'all been reading behind my back? 
Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?
Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?
They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;
The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow....
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NottaSackville
Valinor
Jul 5 2016, 2:56pm
Post #10 of 11
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A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore
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I finished Five Children and It by E. Nesbit. It was a fine book that had some fun exploring what would happen if a group of young children got one wish granted every day (spoiler: mayhem ensues!). I did find myself wondering whether the bit in the fairy's background story about humans mixing with dinosaurs was just part of a fantastical story in a kids book or represented an actual misunderstanding in the early 1900's about whether humans and dinosaurs actually overlapped. It's not at all important to the book, but just something that made me curious.
I've just started a new book by an author I've enjoyed in the past: A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore.
Notta
Happiness: money matters, but less than we think and not in the way that we think. Family is important and so are friends, while envy is toxic -- and so is excessive thinking. Beaches are optional. Trust is not. Neither is gratitude. - The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner as summarized by Lily Fairbairn. And a bit of the Hobbit reading thrown in never hurts. - NottaSackville
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Old Toby
Grey Havens
Jul 6 2016, 3:45pm
Post #11 of 11
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It's been a number of years since I read these Southern Vampire novels, and I had forgotten how much I enjoyed them. I've just finished the first one, Dead Until Dark, and have started the second one, Living Dead in Dallas. Charlaine Harris has such a great way of painting a picture for you with her characters and has such a terrific sense of humor that I'm relishing re-reading this fun, exciting, and occasionally horrifying series again.
"Age is always advancing and I'm fairly sure it's up to no good." Harry Dresden (Jim Butcher)
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