Teaser Tuesdays (Nov.1)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Herein lies the faithful and true account of my last sixty days, by Kartik, brother of Amar, loyal son of the Rakshana, and of the strange visitation I received that has left me wary on this cold English night.  To begin at the beginning, I must go back to the middle days of October, after the misfortune that occurred.

~ p. 3, Rebel Angels by Libba Bray

Bout of Books 2.0: Final Update

I apologize for the somewhat lateness of this post, but here I am.  I finished only one of the books on my original list, but did nearly finish another one and I hope to finish this one later today.  Overall, I would say it was pretty successful, as I did get quite a bit done and was able to spend time reading this past weekend.  Hope everybody had fun and I am looking forward to the next one.

Musing Mondays (Oct. 31)

Happy Halloween everybody.  I am not dressing up and haven't done so since I was twelve.  Now unless I have to dress up, I generally don't; its too much of a hassle to do it for one day a year and I would prefer to dress up for something I do want to attend.  Besides it was never really a big deal after elementary school anyways, unless you count PJ day in high school.

Anyways, onto this week's question.  This week MizB of Should Be Reading asks:

 Would you say that you read about the same amount now as when you were younger? More? Less? Why?

I actually do read more than I did when I was in school.  The primary reason is that I was bogged down with papers and class readings and exams and when in high school, just general homework and when I had sometime to relax, I would usually watch TV or play some games on the computer.  I would say I would be lucky to read probably about 20 books a year, but now that I am not in a course, I probably read about 40 books a year (and some of them aren't exactly thin books and I am a fairly slow reader and there times during the year that I don't read anything).

Bag of Bones read-a-long

Michelle from Castle Macabre is hosting it in anticipation of the A&E mini series on the book that will start in December.   I have never read a Stephen King book, so this will be my first Stephen King book; hopefully I won't get too many nightmares.

If you wish to sign up, you can do so here.  Here is the reading schedule:

• November 13-19--Chapter 1 - 9
• November 20-26--Chapter 10 - 15
• November 27-December 3--Chapter 16 - 21
• December 4-10--Chapter 22 - End

It basically amounts to about 125 pages a week.  More information is on the site.  Hope you can join.  I am going to see how much I can read, due to the fact that I have a ton of 2-week books coming in from the library in the next few days and have to read Crime and Punishment, but we'll see how far I can get.

Bout of Books 2.0: 3rd Update

Today was a fairly good day in terms of reading.  I spent a few hours reading Frankenstein this afternoon and then later this evening read a bunch more of Frankenstein.  Also I read a bit of Little House in the Big Woods and tomorrow looks like it may be another big reading day, if I can get a few of my household stuff out of the way before noon.  Hope you all have a great sleep :)

Sunday Salon - Reading and other related matters

A lot of you know that a few weeks ago, I was extremely frustrated that I couldn't get myself into the reading groove.  Well, things have changed and I am reading more than I have in probably at least a year and a half.  And you may be wondering what the cause was.  Well…blame it on Facebook app games.  I was spending at least a few hours each day and by the time I was off, I was frustrated and spent and couldn't calm myself down to the point that I could get a lot of reading done.

A little over a week ago, I just made a decision to quit them cold turkey and while I thought about going back and play again, its feeling like I made the right decision.  And the result of that decision is that I have actually sat down and read more in the past week and a half.  Now things were a little crazy until this Saturday afternoon, but nonetheless, reading has become more of priority for me.  Now, if I could do that with going for a daily walk…

Reviews:
1. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
2. Captivity

Blog Hop

The question this week is: If you could have dinner with your favourite book character, who would you eat with and what would you serve?

That is an interesting question.  I have so many favourite book characters that I can't just pin it down to one, but if I had to choose one, I would probably choose Jane Eyre.  As to what I would serve her, I really don't know, but I would probably serve her chilli.





This week, Book Blogger asks: What is your favourite Halloween costume?

Its really hard to say due to the fact that I haven't really dressed up for Halloween since I was 11, but if I did have to dress up for Halloween, I would probably try to find something that would be considered to be a bit sexy, without being too sexy.

Bout of Books 2.0: 2nd Update

Today wasn't as successful as yesterday, as I didn't read as much, but was certainly more successful than Monday and Tuesday.  Read a little bit before work today, but nothing really much since for some strange reason.  Tomorrow should be a better day in that regards.

Booking Through Thursday - Hard

Booking Through Thursday asks this week:

What’s the hardest/most challenging book you’ve ever read? Was it worth the effort? Did you read it by choice or was it an assignment/obligation?

The hardest book that I have ever read and finished was East of Eden.  I read it by choice as the plot of the book sound intriguing and once I was able to get through it, it was definitely worth it; it is probably one of the best books that I have ever read.

The hardest book that I haven't completed would be Anna Karenina.  I have gotten through half of the book, but the descriptions of farm life were amazing and I am hoping to finish it in the near future, same goes for War & Peace, in which I just kinda gave up due to the fact that I had other things I needed to read.  I also need to read Crime and Punishment and I am somewhat dreading the denseness of the book.

Bout of Books 2.0: 1st update

Finally was able to sit down and get a bunch of reading done.  I managed to get Captivity done and a review posted and I have started Frankenstein and will be starting Rebel Angels later tonight.  Happy reading and I will talk to you tomorrow!

Captivity - Deborah Noyes

Title: Captivity
Author: Deborah Noyes
Pages: 352
Published: 2010
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: 3/5

This masterful historical novel by Deborah Noyes, the lauded author of Angel & Apostle, The Ghosts of Kerfol, and Encyclopedia of the End (starred PW) is two stories: The first centers upon the strange, true tale of the Fox Sisters, the enigmatic family of young women who, in upstate New York in 1848, proclaimed that they could converse with the dead. Doing so, they unwittingly (but artfully) gave birth to a religious movement that touched two continents: the American Spiritualists. Their followers included the famous and the rich, and their effect on American spirituality lasted a full generation. Still, there are echoes. The Fox Sisters' is a story of ambition and playfulness, of illusion and fear, of indulgence, guilt and finally self-destruction. The second story in Captivity is about loss and grief. It is the evocative tale of the bright promise that the Fox Sisters offer up to the skeptical Clara Gill, a reclusive woman of a certain age who long ago isolated herself with her paintings, following the scandalous loss of her beautiful young lover in London. Lyrical and authentic-and more than a bit shadowy-Captivity is, finally, a tale about physical desire and the hope that even the thinnest faith can offer up to a darkening heart. (via Goodreads)


Thoughts: It took me about half of the book to get into it and it was after a podcast that I heard on the Fox sisters that I actually got into the book.The one thing that bugged me about the book was the constant back and forth between the storyline for the Fox sisters and Clara and it was a huge thing that I couldn't read it for sometime.  I probably missed things that were important to the story, but the last few readings of the book, I just wanted to get it done.

13387 / 15000 pages. 89% done!

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Author: J.K. Rowling
Pages: 317
Published: 1999
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Rating: 5/5

Harry Potter is a very unusual boy. He can't wait to get back to school after the Summer holidays! But that's not the only unusual thing about Harry; Harry's school is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Harry is a wizard! But when Harry, along with his best friends Ron and Hermione, go back for their third year at Hogwarts, the atmosphere is tense. There's an escaped mass murderer on the loose, and the sinister prison guards of Azkaban have been called in to guard the school ...(via Chapter.ca)


Thoughts: This was the 3rd or 4th time that I have read this book and is one of my favourites in the Harry Potter series  and was probably the best one that was adapted to film (its also my favourite movie and was the first one that I saw of the Harry Potter movies), but I digress.  One thing I like about the third book is that it deals with stuff that is still fairly light and fun (the Maurader's Map, the trip to Hogsmeade), but also deals with quite a bit of darker factors in the the story that have implications in later books (the introduction of the dementors, Lupin and Pettigrew, etc.). In other words, it has a nice balance of the elements that were in the first two books, but also is a nice introduction into the darker elements that come into more prominence over the next four books.  Recommended highly.

13035 / 15000 pages. 87% done!

WWW Wednesdays

This is a weekly book meme hosted by Should Be Reading. To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you'll be reading next?

My answers:
What are you currently reading?
Captivity (hoping to finish it by Friday)

What did you recently finish reading?
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

What do you think you'll be reading next?
Frankenstein and Rebel Angels.

What's on Your Nightstand - October 25

October was not a good month and based on what has happened today during the last 12 hours, it will probably end the same as it started.  But I did get a number of books done and reviewed.  I realize I haven't done this in some time, but here are the books for October.

Reviews:
1.  Moneyball
2.  Persuasion
3.  The Night Circus

I did finish Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, but haven't posted my review of it yet.  And when I do, I will put up a link here, possibly later today.

What I am currently reading:
• Captivity - I have been reading this for the last couple of weeks trying to finish it and somehow I just can't, but am slowly getting myself closer to the end of the book.  Am hoping that this may be the week that I will.

• Frankenstein - Started this a number of weeks back, hoping to read it for a readathon, but didn't get around to it that weekend. Seeing as that I have a bunch of time this coming weekend, it looks like I will finally be able get around to this book.

Musing Mondays

Miz B of Should Be Reading asks this week:

 Do you listen to audiobooks? Why, or why not?

I don't listen to audiobooks.  One reason I don't is because i prefer to read my books on paper and it has to do with concentration.  The second reason is that the free ones that I can get through the library are only really available to those who have PC's and I have a Mac and am unable to download the free ones through my library because of format.  Thirdly, I don't due to the cost of audiobooks.  I also don't listen due to the amount of space that audiobooks take up on a computer.   Lastly its due to the fact that I get easily distracted and I have lots to listen to already.

Sunday Salon - Slowly getting there

Remember this post a couple of weeks ago?  Well, one of the comments on the post had a link to some tips as to how to get over my "book slump" and was really helpful.  I think part of it was that I was probably a bit depressed and when that happens I tend to get into a funk and that funk tends to affect my reading.  Another part of the fact that I couldn't get into my books was due to the fact that I had become seriously addicted to a bunch of games on Facebook, which I have quit cold turkey on Thursday.  And quite honestly, I feel much less stress by being not playing them.  I can't say what games I will go back to and for how long it will be, but if I do go back, it will be much fewer games than the four that I was going to on a regular basis. 

What did find, at least in the first day, is that I was picking up a book instead of the computer for my entertainment, but yesterday evening and this (Saturday) morning, I found myself trolling the internet trying to find something that would occupy my mind for longer than a few seconds.  I will see what happens in the coming days.

This is all to say that I am feeling way less stress and less aggravated when it comes to my computer and realizing how much I do love reading, even if it is just a sports magazine.  I realize how hard it is to give up the games, but I think that by going cold turkey for at least a while, I can hopefully find some balance between my online life and my life offline.

Reviews:
1.  The Night Circus

Bout of Books 2.0 Starting Line

Starting Line
Onabookbender is hosting Bout of Books readathon again.  If you are interested, you can find more information here and can sign up here

Time Devoted to Reading
Judging from my week, it looks like I will be able to get in some reading each day.

My goals
I plan on finishing at least two books, maybe three.  I am trying to make more realistic goals this time around versus last time when I didn't.

My Books
• Captivity
• Frankenstein
• Rebel Angels

Updates
I will put up an individual post at the end of each day posting what I read and how many pages I read, along with my thoughts. 

Book Blogger Hop: 10/21-10/24

This week Crazy for Books asks:

What is your favourite type of candy?

Well, it depends.  If you are asking about chocolate/candy bars, I will have to say Coffee Crisp, but in terms of candy it is between M&M Peanuts and Twizzlers.

Fall into Reading 2011 - Update #2

These last two weeks have bee pretty bad in regards to reading, as I got stuck basically reading one book.  Part of the reason was that I got a tad depressed and hence got into bit of a reading rut as a result.  Hence I didn't get much done, but this readathon isn't meant for speed and am starting to get out of the rut and almost finished a second book within the last few days, even though it is a book that I have been reading for quite sometime. One thing I have done is cut back on the time that I am spending on Facebook.  Its not that I am quitting cold turkey on that site, its just that the games are starting to take more and more of my time.  That will mean more time reading and hopefully getting the books that I need to get done in the next couple of weeks, not that I am pushing myself.  Basically I am uncomplicating my life by a huge bunch.

Book Reviews:
1.  The Night Circus

My next update will be in two weeks.

Booking Through Thursday - Vacation

Booking Through Thursday asks this week:

Do your reading habits change when you’re on vacation? Do you read more? Do you indulge in lighter, fluffier books than you usually read? Do you save up special books so you’ll be able to spend real vacation time with them? Or do you just read the same old stuff, vacation or not?

Depending on where I am going, I do read more and I tend to read my books a bit faster than if I were at home and there are distractions around me all the time.  But if the vacation includes seeing family, you can forget about reading.  But if its relaxing beside a pool or on a beach, then I probably will read more and for longer periods of time.

The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern

Title: The Night Circus
Author: Erin Morgenstern
Pages: 384
Published: 2011
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4/5

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. 


But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead. (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: It took me awhile to get into the book, but once it did, I was entranced with the book and felt like I was at a circus.  I really liked how the three storylines were tied up at the end of the book; it felt like one was in a managrie of sorts. One pet peeve of the book was that I didn't like the alternating chapters and got me turned around so many times that I didn't know where the story was headed and if they had been in three separate sections, then I probably could have made sense of the book a little more.

12718 / 15000 pages. 85% done!

WWW Wednesdays

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions...

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you'll be reading next?


My answers:
What are you currently reading?
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

What did you recently finish reading?
The Night Circus (I will have my review up shortly)

What do you think you'll be reading next?
Captivity (am almost finished this book and plan on completing it this week) and probably Frankenstein.

Booking Through Thursday - Sequel

Booking through Thursday asks this week:

If you could get a sequel for any book, what would it be?

Difficult answer, as I can't really recall a book that would be worthy of a sequel, but if I had to choose one, I would probably choose Jane Eyre, as I would like to find out what happened to the family.  Did they have more children and what happened to her cousins that she met while at the Rivers' household.

Musing Mondays

Miz B of Should Be Reading asks this week: 

What types of nonfiction do you read?

I generally read a combination of memoir, biography, sports and history.  I do read some religious books, but its only in conjunction with my bible study group.

Sunday Salon - I am trying to read

This past week has been particularly bad in regards to my reading.  I love to read and for some strange reason I am finding it hard to get any sort of meaningful reading done.  I can spend time on the bus reading, but it seems that once I get home I can't get myself to get any sort of reading done, at least this week.  Last week I seemed to get my book for my book club meeting done, but that was because I had a deadline and now it just seems that I can't get anything done this week.  I have read quite a bit of The Night Circus and have enjoyed it, but it just seems that when I get home I watch TV until I go to bed.  Maybe I am still trying to get over my dad's absence and it is harder than I thought it would be.  It seems as though I am trying to replace his absence with TV.  I can't even get myself to go through my Google reader when I am home and spend a little bit of time going through that.  It almost seems like I have to force myself to read anything.

Any suggestions as to how I can read get back in the groove of reading again?

ETA: My dad is still alive, but has just relocated elsewhere and hence I don't see him as frequently.  

Fall into Reading 2011 - Update #1

I can't say how much I love this readathon! Can't all readathons be like this?

Anyways, it was a fairly productive 2 weeks, as I completed 2 books and almost managed to finish a third one.  While I have reduced the amount of library books I have out at the present time by quite a few (a bunch came due and had 2 renewals on them), I still have quite a few out and hopefully with the upcoming long weekend here in Canada (its Thanksgiving on Monday), I can get a couple more done, especially with one of them only been a fairly short book and there being a three hour drive both later today and on Monday.

While I have family that I will be visiting with during the weekend, there will be times in which I will have time to do reading, especially since I am cutting down on the amount of time that I spend online.

Reviews:
1. Moneyball
2. Persuasion

My next update will be in two weeks.

Persuasion - Jane Austen

Title: Persuasion
Author: Jane Austen
Pages: 250
Published: 2003 (originally 1818)
Genre: Classics
Rating: 3.8/5

At twenty-seven, Anne Elliot is no longer young and has few romantic prospects. Eight years earlier, she had been persuaded by her friend Lady Russell to break off her engagement to Frederick Wentworth, a handsome naval captain with neither fortune nor rank. What happens when they encounter each other again is movingly told in Jane Austen’s last completed novel. Set in the fashionable societies of Lyme Regis and Bath, Persuasion is a brilliant satire of vanity and pretension, but, above all, it is a love story tinged with the heartache of missed opportunities. (via Goodreads)


Thoughts:  This was my first time reading this book and I thought it was ok, especially after reading 3 other Austen books that I enjoyed.  As I said to my book club last night during our discussion, this book felt that a little slower than Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, and Emma because there were no secondary plot that was discernible to that of Wentworth and Anne.  I am not saying that it was a bad book, it wasn't, but I just felt that it was a lot slower than that of the three of Austen's books that I had already read.  Recommended for those that have read Austen's previous books or that enjoy reading classic literature. 

12334 / 15000 pages. 82% done!

Moneyball - Michael Lewis

Title: Moneyball: the art of winning an unfair game
Author: Michael Lewis
Pages: 320
Published: 2011 (originally published in 2003)
Genre: Non-fiction, Sports
Rating: 3.5/5

The Oakland Athletics have a secret: a winning baseball team is made, not bought.In major league baseball the biggest wallet is supposed to win: rich teams spend four times as much on talent as poor teams. But over the past four years, the Oakland Athletics, a major league team with a minor league payroll, have had one of the best records. Last year their superstar, Jason Giambi, went to the superrich Yankees. It hasn't made any difference to Oakland: their fabulous season included an American League record for consecutive victories. Billy Beane, general manager of the Athletics, is putting into practice on the field revolutionary principles garnered from geek statisticians and college professors. Michael Lewis's brilliant, irreverent reporting takes us from the dugouts and locker rooms-where coaches and players struggle to unlearn most of what they know about pitching and hitting-to the boardrooms, where we meet owners who begin to look like fools at the poker table, spending enormous sums without a clue what they are doing. (via Goodreads)


Thoughts: I read this book because of the movie and also because I had heard about on a sports podcast that I listen to on a regular basis.  The first book of Lewis' that I read was The Big Short and by the end of that one I was ready to finish it, as I felt that the subject was a tad dull and would never read another one of his books.  Well, I caved.  Overall I thought that it was a good read and that it had an interesting subject to talk about.  But, there were times that I had to just slog through the book and read it at times.   A bunch of the book flew over my head in terms of the statistics, but what was interesting to me was the history behind what would become moneyball.   I would recommend the book for those that like to read about the statistical analysis of professional athletes, especially baseball fans.

12084 / 15000 pages. 81% done!

Frightful Fall Readathon

The True Book Addict is hosting a Frightful Readathon from October 3 - 9.  You can find the details for the readathon here.  I will be reading at the very least Frankenstein, as I have other things that I need to read, including the chunky Crime and Punishment.