Friday Fill-ins 07-31-09

Janet is our fantastic host for this weekly event.


My responses are in italics.


1. It's time for the bi-annual family reunion!

2. The basement: it's not a bad place for the bedroom on these hot hot nights.

3. I must be ten pounds lighter after sweating in 106 degree heat.

4. Love is the best thing I have ever known.

5. My puppy is simply the cutest, sweetest and funniest EVER.

6. The last time I laughed really loudly was with my laughing buddies, Nan and Gwenlyn; we always laugh loudly!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to seeing my oldest sister, tomorrow my plans include spending time with both my sisters and Sunday, I want to spend time with the whole fam damily! at the reunion! Read More!

Teaser Tuesday and Where Are You? 07-24-09: When I Lived in Modern Times

Should Be Reading - Miz B - hosts this weekly event. We throw out a couple of sentences from our current read (without spoilers, of course) to entice you to read the book.


This week my teaser is from When I Lived in Modern Times by Linda Grant, page 18 :

From a young age I had stood at my mother's side at the salon, handing her pins and clips, listening ungratefully while she taught me everything she knew. I was sent on humble errands to Steckyn's on Wardour Street to pick up shampoo capes and sleeping nets and snoods. As others hoarded string, we were sharp-eyed for hairpins that had strayed on buses or in the street, collecting them up in our handbags, knowing that the metal they were made of was diverted into the production of aeroplanes and helmets and ships and bombs and that these few slivers of steel had to be gathered and kept in a safe place, sometimes when there were shortages, under lock and key.

It's Tuesday, Where Are You? is hosted by an adventure in reading.

I'm back and forth in time and place between London and Palestine, hoping to be part of creating the new Zionist state. Read More!

Friday Fill-ins 07-17-09

Janet is our brilliant host for this weekly event.


My responses are in italics.


1. Stir fried tofu and rice make a quick and easy dinner.

2. Old Filth by Jane Gardam is the book I'm reading right now.

3. July brings back memories of a rocket firecracker blowing up in my face when I was ten! I was lucky – no long lasting effects.

4. It‘s obvious that the climate crisis is mostly human caused, but there are still deniers. What’s up with that???

5. They say if you tell your dreams it helps you to sort out the meaning; it can be very therapeutic.

6. I usually have to think it over before I respond in a conflict.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to getting over the flu, tomorrow my plans include getting over the flu and Sunday, I want to be over the flu!
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Weekly Geeks 2009-26: Globe Trotting

This week's Weekly Geeks asks you to tell us about your globe trotting via books. Are you a global reader? How many countries have you "visited" in your reading? What are your favorite places or cultures to read about? Can you recommend particularly good books about certain regions, countries or continents? How do you find out about books from other countries? What countries would you like to read that you haven't yet?

This was my own WG topic, so I guess I'd better get a post up about it! I've enjoyed reading books from other countries/cultures for a number of years but haven't been conscientious about it until the last couple of years, since I've been on Library Thing. There I find lots of interesting discussions about books from around the world, ones I probably wouldn't have heard of otherwise. One of the forums on LT is Reading Globally - I get a lot of good book recommendations there.

So, where have I been? I tend to read a lot of Asian lit, particularly Chinese and Japanese authors. There's a spareness about the writing that I love. Gail Tsukyama is one of my favorite Japanese writers.

South America is another favorite place to visit - Isabelle Allende, from Chile, is one of my very favorite authors and I will read anything she writes!

I've read quite a few books by African writers lately -- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wrote the Orange Prize winner Half of a Yellow Sun, which is a stunning book about the Biafran civil war, of which I was completely ignorant.

Most of the books I read from other countries are heavy on cultural and/or political themes, so as well as reading some fresh new writing, I also learn a great deal about other places in the world. It feels expansive and is a much easier way for me to learn about a place than reading history books. And since I know I won't be traveling to most of these places, I get to "visit" them via writers who've lived the experience.

Where have I been? This map gives you a fairly good idea:




55 countries, or 24% of the total. I can see I need to fill in a lot of blanks in Africa, the Middle East and, surprisingly, Europe - Austria, The Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, and many of the eastern European countries. I have a few on my list - do you have some recommendations for me? Venezuela -- Morocco -- Romania -- Croatia -- Kuwait -- Saudi Arabia?

Visit Weekly Geeks to find out where in the world other readers have been.
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Teaser Tuesday and Where Are You? 07-14-09: Fugitive Pieces

Should Be Reading - Miz B - hosts this weekly event. We throw out a couple of sentences from our current read (without spoilers, of course) to entice you to read the book.


This week my teaser is from Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels, page 156:

...my hands remembered the crazed and embossed leathers, corners eroded to board, paperbacks soft from the sea air. And slipped between books, newspaper clippings fragile as mica. When I was young I searched among them for the one book that would teach me everything, just as I would look for one language, just as some would look for one woman's face. There's a Hebrew saying: Hold a book in your hand and you're a pilgrim at the gates of a new city.

It's Tuesday, Where Are You? is hosted by an adventure in reading.

I started out in Biskupin, Poland; was rescued from the Nazis and taken to Zakynthos, Greece. Then we moved to Toronto. I'm now back in Greece on the island of Idhra. Read More!

Friday Fill-ins 07-10-09

Janet is our brilliant host for this weekly event.


My responses are in italics.


1. The last thing I ate was ice cream and coffee.

2. Puppy food is something I recently bought.

3. When it rains, it turns everything a luscious green, which is why I love Oregon.

4. Laurie was the first person I talked to today.

5. Hugs are essential.

6. I take my own pillow with me for extra comfort.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to reading and playing with Liza, tomorrow my plans include a potluck-song circle with a bunch of women friends and Sunday, I want to play with Liza!

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Teaser Tuesday and Where Are You? 07-07-09: The Colour

Should Be Reading - Miz B - hosts this weekly event. We throw out a couple of sentences from our current read (without spoilers, of course) to entice you to read the book.




This week my teaser is from The Colour by Rose Tremain, page 71:

It was Pare's weeping that brought four year old Edwin to the place where she sat. He'd been lolling in his totoki tree, letting his pet brown caterpillar promenade up and down its branches, when he'd heard an unfamiliar sound. Pare's was a musical kind of weeping, and Edwin wondered whether this noise could be a giant Moa Bird crying for its lost ability to fly.

It's Tuesday, Where Are You? is hosted by an adventure in reading.

I'm in New Zealand near Christchurch at the beginning of a gold rush in 1861. Read More!

The Sunday Salon: Second Quarter wrapup and a new puppy!

Happy July! Now there are two of my favorite events in July - Wimbledon and Orange July! I'm watching the men's final as I type, with my first cup of coffee at hand and our brand new puppy, Liza Jane, in my lap. Something tells me I won't get quite as much reading done with this little bundle of joy in our lives.

First off, here's my second quarter report. I read 25 books this quarter, some amazingly good and some forgettable. My favorites include:

• Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
• The Master by Colm Tóibín
• East of Eden by John Steinbeck
• The Spare Room by Helen Garner
• The Hiding Place by Trezza Azzopardi
• The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich
• The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar
• Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
• The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
• Three Junes by Julia Glass
• Delicate Edible Birds by Lauren Groff (short stories)
• The Wilderness by Samantha Harvey
• The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff
• Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
• The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
• All Over Creation by Ruth Ozeki
• The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
• The Frozen Thames by Helen Humphreys
• Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan (graphic short stories)

Among these I'd have to claim the Erdrich as my favorite, though it's difficult to choose from this stellar list. A couple of surprises: Oryx and Crake was a book I'd tried to read two or three times in years past and hadn't gotten far. The timing was right this time, it was a great sci-fi story and Atwood's writing, as always, is incredible. I'm anxious to read her brand new book, due out soon. The Woman in White was a nice surprise. I hadn't heard of Wilkie Collins until recently - he's a contemporary of Charles Dickens and this was a great story with mystery, intrigue and plenty of humor and memorable characters. Sarah Waters, who apparently was a Collins fan, disappointed me a bit with her new novel, The Little Stranger. It just didn't have the pizazz that her other books have had, but I still enjoyed it.

And now, let me introduce you to Liza. She's 1/2 dachshund and 1/2 chihuahua, nine weeks old, full of piss and vinegar, sweet and cuddly and quite smart. We were relieved that the neighborhood fireworks didn't seem to faze her last night; she did keep us awake a lot her first night, though, not quite getting the message that her bed is separate from ours. I'll keep you posted on her progress as she settles in. Enjoy your July reads!

Liza Jane

See more photos of her on my photo blog.
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Friday Fill-ins 07-03-09

Janet is our charming host for this weekly event.


My responses are in italics.


1. When I heard Michael Jackson died I was shocked.

2. Good friends are the best medicine.

3. It's late, but I want to finish this book!

4. I’ll be loving you Always.

5. My eyes have seen many changes; I wonder what’s yet to come.

6. Coffee. Now. And strongly.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to cooling off from the heat wave, tomorrow my plans include welcoming our new puppy home and Sunday, I want to play with the puppy and get to know her – and probably take a picture or two!

. Read More!