Fall into Reading 2011

I am a sucker for readathons, especially for readathons that take over a long period of time.  Now the list that I am going to put out is only going to have a few books on it, as I don't know exactly what I am going to read due to the fact that I don't exactly know what books I will or won't read.  But here are the books I will or I believe will read during the next 3 months:

• Persuasion
• Moneyball
• Speak
• Tabloid City
• A Race to Splendor
• The Submission
• I Shall Not Hate
• 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus
• Boneman's daughter
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Something Missing
• Rebel Angels
• A Good Hard Look
• Dash and Lily's Book of Dares
• The Book Thief
• Frankenstein
• Captivity
• Crime & Punishment
• The Night Circus

I also plan on making updates about every 2 weeks with reviews of books that I have finished during that two week period.  Anyways, off to do some reading for a bit.

Booking Through Thursday - In Public

Booking Through Thursday asks this week:

        Do you carry books with you when you’re out and about in the world?
        And, do you ever try to hide the covers?

Yes, I do carry books when I am out and about, depending on the situation is.  But for the most part I do carry a book with me because one never does know when you are going to be stuck in a situation in which you will have really nothing else to do.  And I never try to hide the cover because you never know who might be interested in the book you are reading.

Musing Mondays

Miz B of Should Be Reading asks this week:

How often do you read a book, just because you’re in the mood to read it? (not because you’re obligated to for a book club, or a challenge, or for review)

Honestly, quite often.  But then again it depends on my mood.   And usually when I start a book, I am going to be reading it, unless of course I don't understand what is going on.  And usually that means I am trying to get something out of it that I am clearly not getting out of it.

True Grit - Charles Portis

Title: True Grit
Author: Charles Portis
Pages: 235
Published: 2010 (originally 1968)
Genre: Western
Rating: 4/5

True Grit tells the story of Mattie Ross, who is just fourteen years of age when a coward going by the name of Tom Chaney shoots her father down in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and robs him of his life, his horse, and $150 in cash. Mattie leaves home to avenge her father's blood. With the one-eyed Rooster Cogburn, the meanest available U.S. Marshal, by her side, Mattie pursues the homicide into Indian Territory. (via Goodreads)


Thoughts: I quite enjoyed it, especially since the most recent film version of True Grit follows the book more closely than the John Wayne version, even though I haven't seen that particular version.  Anyways, I really liked this book, but once you view the movie, the book is basically ruined and therefore took me awhile to actually finish it.  Its not that its a bad book, its actually quite good, but its just that the Cohen Brothers took way too much from the book.  But all that being said, I really enjoyed the book and would highly recommend the book to anybody who either has read a western or hasn't read a western.

11764 / 15000 pages. 78% done!

Musing Mondays

MizB of Should Be Reading asks this week:

What is the one (or maybe two) qualities a book must have for you to pass it along to your best friend as a "must-read"?

For fiction, it would have to have a strong narrative and/or strong characters.  The characters would have to be relatable and well developed.

For non-fiction it would have to be a book that was unbelievable and had a strong narrative and also something that interested me but also the person that I would be recommending the book to.

Sunday Salon - Books and 9/11

It was within the first year of the attack on the WTC that I read a book that made the attacks real and hit home on a more personal basis.  There was something about Firehouse by David Halberstam that was different.  Not only was it a more personal look at 9/11, it was probably the most emotional that I read.    I think what struck me about the book was the insight that Halberstam had in writing the book and just the eeriness about reading about individuals who perished while doing their job.

I didn't read much on the subject, probably because I wanted to distance myself from the worry and confusion and anxiety and helplessness that I felt that day, but probably more because I honestly just wanted to forget the images of that day and the chilling nightmare I had while driving home one night from a class (I imagined a plane crashed in front of me while I drove home; not something you want to dream about while driving on a dark highway).  I probably also don't read much on the subject for the simple fact that the horror we all witnessed and that can never be changed.

No reviews this week.

Sunday Salon - How fast it has gone...again

I can't believe how fast the summer has gone by.  July was basically a wash and the weather didn't really get going until about a month ago and since then the weather has been wonderful, at least out here on the West Coast.  In fact it was the dryest August in quite some time and really only had one or two days of "measurable" rain.  Sure there were days in which it was overcast, but for the most part the weather has been sunny and warm.  Now I am looking forward to a warm week, when the weather usually gets into the early to the mid 20s (its going to get into the late 20s and early 30s, centigrade that is).  It was a strange summer due to the fact that the way that my summer evolved and where I was at certain times during the summer.  The weather also played a large part in the strangeness that was my summer.

Didn't really read that much this summer, at least it didn't feel that way.

Weekly reviews
The Winter Rose

The Winter Rose - Jennifer Donnelly

Title: The Winter Rose
Author: Jennifer Donnelly
Pages: 720
Published: 2008 (first published in 2006)
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: 4/5

It has been twelve years since a dark, murderous figure stalked the alleys and courts of Whitechapel. And yet, in the summer of 1900, East London is still poor, still brutal, still a shadow city to its western twin. Among the reformers is an idealistic young woman named India Selwyn-Jones, recently graduated from medical school. With the help of her influential fiance--Freddie Lytton, an up-and-coming Liberal MP--she works to shut down the area's opium dens that destroy both body and soul. Her selfless activities better her patients' lives and bring her immense gratification, but unfortunately, they also bring her into direct conflict with East London's ruling crime lord--Sid Malone.

India is not good for business and at first, Malone wants her out. But against all odds, India and Sid fall in love. Different in nearly every way, they share one thing in common--they're both wounded souls. Their love is impossible and they know it, yet they cling to it desperately. Lytton, India's fiance, will stop at nothing to marry India and gain her family's fortune.

Fractious criminal underlings and rivals conspire against Sid. When Sid is finally betrayed by one of his own, he must flee London to save his life. Mistakenly thinking him dead, India, pregnant and desperate, marries Freddie to provide a father for hers and Sid's child. India and Sid must each make a terrible sacrifice--a sacrifice that will change them both forever. One that will lead them to other lives, and other places...and perhaps--one distant, bittersweet day--back to each other. (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: I really enjoyed it, to put it bluntly.  It was one of those books that gripped you that made you stay up later reading than you really wanted to.  The characterizations of the characters was enjoyable, but really didn't see myself liking the youngest member of the Finnegan and felt that the author spent a little too much time with him during the final part of the book instead of focusing on the India storyline, even though I realize that Seamus' story is the focus of the final book.    I hope that the final book is just as good as the first two books.


Recommended for those that loved the first book, The Tea Rose, and for those that enjoy historical fiction.

11529 / 15000 pages. 77% done!

Blog Hop

The question this week is: If you could the ending of any book (or series), which book would you choose? Why and to what?

Honestly I can't say what I would change from a book and what exactly I would change as I probably read books that I want to read no matter what.  And if I do have an idea as to how to change a book or a series, it is usually gone by the time I have finished and put away the book.  But I do know of several TV shows that I would like to change the ending to the show, but that is for another time.






This weeks question is:
What are you most looking forward to this fall/autumn season - A particular book release?  Halloween? The leaves changing color? Cooler temperatures? A vacation?

I am honestly looking forward to the NHL and NFL seasons starting up.  I am also looking forward to my TV shows coming back and actually having something to watch on TV other than the typical shows on the specialty channels.  How many times can one watch somebody look at homes that I can't afford and how many times can I watch the same news program again and again?  Its getting a little thin.  Even my dvd sets aren't holding my interest, especially since I went through all the Mad Men dvds in about a months time (including watching the episodes with the commentaries and then re-watching the episodes).  I am also looking forward to getting back to work.

  

Booking Through Thursday - Stormy Weater

Booking through Thursdays asks this week:

While my town dries out of record-setting, epic flooding from Hurricane Irene, let me ask you:
What’s your book with weather events? Hurricanes? Tornadoes? Blizzards? Real? Fiction? Doesn’t matter … weather comes up a lot in books, so there’s got to be a favorite somewhere, huh?

I usually pick a piece of fiction and usually something that I am currently reading.

Library Loot: August 31 - September 4

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

Here is what I got from the library:


• The Soldier's Wife
• Methland: the life and death of an American small town
• Birth: the surprising history of how we are born
• Rebel Angels
• The name of the wind