Masterpiece
Very good
Just okay
Not for me
Definitely not for meArchive for January, 2008
« Previous Entries Thursday, January 31st, 2008From the Stacks Challenge Completed!
Last year’s From the Stacks Challenge was my very first challenge ever, so it was fun to repeat this challenge and have it be the first one to be completed twice.
The rules for this challenge were to read 5 books that we had already purchased, had been meaning to get to, had been sitting on the nightstand, and hadn’t read before.
ALL the books I read were great, but my two favorites were Independent People and The Curious Incident.
I read:
Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Mr. Ives’ Christmas by Hijuelos
Independent People by Laxness (review to come)
The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Haddon
Popularity: 4% [?]
Thursday, January 31st, 2008The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon is a very fun, unique book to read- especially if you are interested in mathematics and logic. Christopher is 15, has a form of autism, loves math, and hates the colors yellow and brown. He sees the world through logic and those around him can only reach him through logic. One night he discovers his neighbor’s dog has been murdered and sets out to find the killer. This leads him not only to the perpetrator but also to a personal adventure as well.
I really admire this book. Haddon made Christopher a completely convincing character, and I would love there to be a sequel.
2003, 226 pp.
Rating: 
Also reviewed by:
Popularity: 37% [?]
Wednesday, January 30th, 2008Here Be Dragons Challenge
What? Read 3-5 books featuring dragons.
When? 1st of January to 30th of June, 2008
How? Sign up here.
Love at Stray Talk has some suggestions if you click on the button. I’m getting a lot of mileage out of the Harry Potter books!
My choices:
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by Rowling
Bonus/Alternates:
- The Hobbit
Popularity: 5% [?]
Tuesday, January 29th, 2008Banned Book Challenge
Click on the button for more info.
The challenge lasts from February 24 through June 30, 2008
I’m choosing my books from this list: Pelham Public Library’s List of Banned Books 2008
I’ve commited to 8, and I’ll choose from the following titles:
- Beloved by Toni Morrison
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
- The Chocolate War by Cormier
Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
The Chocolate War by Cormier
Dr. Zhivago by Pasternak
Lolita by Nabokov
Popularity: 8% [?]
Tuesday, January 29th, 2008Series Challenge
Hosted by Kathrin at Crazy Cozy Murders
Runs from December 1, 2007 through May 31, 2008
The idea is to finish the books in an entire series. I plan on completing the entire Harry Potter series, and I *might* get caught up on the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective series as well if I have time.
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Popularity: 5% [?]
Tuesday, January 29th, 2008Japanese Challenge Completed!
Hosted by Bellezza, the Japanese Literature Challenge is my first challenge completed in 2008.
I read:
- After Dark by Haruki Murakami (NYT Notable book)
- Strangers by Taichi Yamada
- Silence by Endo
I really enjoyed all three of these, but my favorite was Silence. I want to read more by all three authors, so I hope you have another Japanese challenge next year! Thanks Bellezza, for a wonderful challenge!
Popularity: 17% [?]
Tuesday, January 29th, 2008Silence by Shusaku Endo
Based on a true story about the persecution and torture of Japanese Christians and foreign missionaries in 1600s Japan, Silence is a powerful book about faith (and doubt), truth, and the human spirit. What will make one person stay true to his faith, even under unspeakable torture, while another one does not? Why is God silent during suffering? These are the questions the book raises, and some would say it gives no clear answers. It is easy to say from our comfortable Western homes that we would never deny God under duress. But the Bible states that even Peter, a much loved disciple, denied Christ. What does it truly mean to stay faithful to God?
Repeating the prayer again and again he tried wildly to distract his attention; but the prayer could not tranquilize his agonized heart. ‘Lord, why are you silent? Why are you always silent…?’
This book powerfully affected me, and I’ve already sought out more books by this Japanese Christian author.
It has been announced that Martin Scorsese will be making this into a movie slated for 2010.
1966, 201 pages
Rating:
Popularity: 42% [?]
Tuesday, January 29th, 2008After Dark
I read this book for the Japanese Literature Challenge and the Notable Book Challenge. This is my first Murakami. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and even though I am only rating this a 3.5, I will definitely read more by this author. I found his writing style to be very unique.
The book covers the encounters of several “night people” on one particular evening from 11:56 pm to 6:52 am. All of the characters in the book have some interconnection. I most enjoyed the story of the two sisters, Eri and Mari. One of them can’t sleep and the other one won’t wake up. I also enjoyed the philosophical discussions between Mari and Takahashi. I didn’t really get what was going on with the TV/white noise thing, but it was interesting. Does anyone have a favorite Murakami? Although I might not get to another one of his until next year, I’d like to read more.
2004 [2007 in U.S.], 191 pp.
Rating: 
Popularity: 31% [?]
Monday, January 28th, 2008Short Story Monday
I thought that today I’d just share some lines from each of the stories I read this past week. I’m still reading from The Collected Stories of Carol Shields.
“Poaching” - A couple likes to pick up hitchhikers and listen to their life stories.
Behind each of the people we pick up, Dobey believes, there’s a deep cave, and in the cave is a trap door and a set of stone steps that we may descend if we wish. I say to Dobey that there may be nothing at the bottom of the stairs, but Dobey says, how will we know if we don’t look.
“Scenes” - Scenes from a woman named Frances’s life.
These are just some of the scenes in Frances’s life. She thinks of them as scenes because they’re much too fragmentary to be stories and far too immediate to be memories. They seem to bloom out of nothing, out of the thin, uncolored air of defeats and pleasures. A curtain opens, a light appears, there are voices or music or sometimes a wide transparent stream of silence. Only rarely do they point to anything but themselves. They’re difficult to talk about. They’re useless, attached to nothing, can’t be traded in or shaped into instruments to prise open the meaning of the universe.
There are people who think such scenes are ornaments suspended from lives that are otherwise busy and useful. Frances knows perfectly well that they are what a life is made of, one fitting against the next like English paving stones.
“Fragility” - A couple prepares to relocate a few years after their son died.
Our plane seems a fragile vessel, a piece of jewelry up here between the stars and the mountains. Flying through dark air like this makes me think that life itself is fragile. The miniature accidents of chromosomes can spread unstoppable circles of grief. A dozen words carelessly uttered can dismantle a marriage. A few gulps of oxygen are all that stand between us and death.
“The Metaphor is Dead–Pass It On” - A professor’s discourse on language.
“The metaphor is dead,” bellowed the gargantuan professor, his walrus mustache dancing and his thundery eyebrows knitting together rapaciously. “Those accustomed to lunching at the high table of literature will now be able to nosh at the trough on a streamlined sub minus the pickle. Banished is that imperial albatross, that dragooned double agent, that muddy mirror lit by the false flashing signal like and by that even more presumptuous little sugar lump as. The gates are open, and the prisoner, freed of his shackles, has departed without so much as a goodbye wave to those who would take a simple pomegranate and insist it be the universe.”
This one goes on to talk about other grammar topics in a similar manner. I’m not sure what it all meant, but I did enjoy it!
Popularity: 8% [?]
Sunday, January 27th, 2008Sunday Salon
Today I read almost all of Shusaku Endo’s Silence. I love it. It’s about Christian missionaries in 1500s Japan who are heavily persecuted. Here’s a quote:
“I cannot bear the monotonous sound of the dark sea gnawing at the shore. Behind the depressing silence of this sea, the silence of God…..the feeling that while men raise their voices in anguish God remains with folded arms, silent.”
I hope to finish Silence on Monday and then finish up Independent People by Wednesday. That will complete both the Japanese Literature Challenge and the From the Stacks Challenge.
Today I also watched Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. It was okay, but I’m wondering if I just can’t enjoy the movies that much because I’m watching them so soon after reading the books. I’m actually contemplating watching The Prisoner of Azkaban before I finish the book (gasp!) to see if I’ll enjoy the movie more that way.
I had internet problems from my provider today and didn’t get it back until late. That drove me crazy. I’m not used to being without it!
Popularity: 4% [?]
« Previous Entries