The Sunday Salon – One Book at a Time

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This week I read:

The Creation of Eve by Lynn Cullen

The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien

Disquiet by Julia Leigh

I plan to start White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi later today.

I realized this week that I am definitely a one book at a time reader. I’m participating in the Lord of the Rings Read-Along and since I’m re-reading the series, I thought I would take it slow and read only a few chapters at a time. It didn’t work for me. Once I put the book down after only a few chapters, I didn’t pick it back up. I know what happens and I think knowing in the back of my mind what was coming next didn’t make me run back to the book like I would with a new book or a new author. I felt safe in picking up another book and moving on. But when I went back to the book, I found I was once again enjoying the story and I wanted to read more but I told myself it was a month long read and not a day or two day read and put the book back down. Then I started to feel like I would never finish the book because I kept putting it off. I decided to stop thinking about it, because I also realized that I was spending entirely too much time thinking about it, and just finished the book. So, I finished the book. I enjoyed the book, I found new things to like and new things to dislike about the story (dislike in good kind of way) and I’m happy I finished.

There have been times when I’ve read more than one book at a time but usually they’re in different formats — actual books versus ebooks. Because the format is different, I don’t have a problem picking one up and putting one down. I haven’t figured out why that is yet. I sometimes read more than one book when I’m traveling too but that’s usually because I have books for the plane and books for the rest of the trip. Books for the plane have to be so engrossing that I don’t want to put them down and those aren’t always the books I want to read, say, on the beach.

I know people who can read several books at the same time and have no problem keeping track of characters and plots. I can usually do that but I somehow feel like I’m just not finishing something and I think that really bothers me more than trying to keep tons of characters, events, and settings in line.

Well, that’s enough of me rambling this week.  Do you read more than one book at a time? How do you keep track of everything going on?

Library Loot

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It’s been a few weeks since my last library loot so I thought I’d share what I picked up this week. I have a few books on hold and these are the two that came in.

The Greenlanders by Jane Smiley. I recently read The Far Traveler: Voyages of a Viking Woman by Nancy Marie Brown and liked it so much that I did a quick search at my library to see what other Viking inspired books it had lurking on the shelves. I came across The Greenlanders and added it my hold list. It’s a long book and rather dense but I can’t wait to get into this one. Hunts, feasts, feuds, and love affairs in the 14th Century with Vikings — it’s everything I was looking for.

The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick. I read The Wild Hunt by Chadwick earlier this year and enjoyed it. I wanted to pick up a few other books of hers but it seems my library only has The Greatest Knight which is fine because this one has been on my list for a while so in the end it worked out.

The Greenlanders

The Greatests Knight

I’ve been reading a lot of historical fiction lately so I think I’m going to have to put a few contemporary books on hold too so I don’t over do it on the Middle Ages.

Pick up anything interesting at the library this week?

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and Marg 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!

Lord of the Rings Read-Along: The Two Towers Progresses, Rather Slowly I Might Add

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First, thanks to Teresa at Shelf Love for hosting The Two Towers this month. She put together a few questions to help in our discussion for the mid-month check in.

1.Where are you in your reading? Are you finding it slow going or is it a quick read?

2.If you’re a rereader, how does this reading compare to past readings? If you’re a first-time reader, how has The Two Towers met—or not met—your expectations? What has surprised you most in your reading?

3.In Book 3, we visit lots of new places and meet lots of new characters. There’s Fangorn and the Ents, the riders of Rohan, Saruman at Isengard. Which are your favorites? Least favorites?

4.Have your opinions of the main characters from Fellowship changed at all in The Two Towers?

5.Are there any scenes that strike you as particularly memorable? Anything you could do without?

6.And the obligatory movie question: If you’ve seen the movie, has it affected your perception of The Two Towers? If so, how?

For some reason, it’s slow going for me. I’m just about done with Book Three but where I had trouble putting the first two books down, I now have trouble picking this one up. I read a chapter or two and put it down and then I get sucked into another book and don’t read it for several days. I hope it’s not Middle Earth fatigue?! No, I think it’s that I’m a one book at a time person and reading only a few chapters throws me off. I enjoy the story when I’m reading, but I think the idea of reading only a bit at a time has been the wrong approach for me and I will be sitting down to finish the book in the next few days.

Update – I moved on to Book Four last night. I unexpectedly got some extra reading time in thanks to the start of the NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament. I came home to see that my husband had The Setup going on which means he had both laptops on the coffee table in front of the TV watching three different basketball games at once. He was quite proud of himself. I never got a chance to post this but instead got to spend some quality time with my book which worked out just fine for me. 🙂

I’m a re-reader and I was surprised to find myself annoyed with Gandalf this time around. He comes and goes, offers some vague advice when he blesses people with his presence, moves on, and comes back when he has the time. He’s like this in the other books as well so I’m not sure why it’s bothering me here. Also, and this has been mentioned by others, the master/servant thing with Frodo and Sam. In past reads, I’ve been able to ignore it for the most part but this time it’s troubling me.

I love the Ents and Fangorn. The Ents are the most amazing creations and I love the way that no one can really describe them and in a way are just as amazed by them as I am. And while I know Fangorn is supposed to be this forbidden place, I always want to know more about it because it sounds so fantastic. As for least favorite, I wasn’t so much interested in Helm’s Deep. I always have trouble reading battle scenes and this one was no different. Although, I did enjoy the battle count going on between Legolas and Gimli. The relationship between the two is one of my absolute favorites in the series.

Other than feeling put out by Gandalf, no, I don’t think I radically changed my opinion of any of the characters.

The scene that I enjoyed most was the chapter Flotsam and Jetsam. I loved Merry and Pippen’s welcome to the group and the reunion of part of the fellowship. I also liked the way you got caught up with this group without having to re-live anything. It all fit together nicely for me. I am finding it odd though that there hasn’t really been any mention of Frodo and Sam by anyone. I know they are dealing with their own problems — battles, orcs, Saruman,etc. — but it seems like no one is even giving them a second thought. I get what Tolkien is doing and why he breaks up the story but it’s odd for me this go round.

Yes, I have seen the movie. Honestly, the battle for Helm’s Deep worked better in the movie for me and the entire time I was reading that chapter that’s all I pictured. I think the sea of orcs vision I had in my head, which is courtesy of the movie, at least gave me something to grasp when reading. I’m looking forward to more of Book Four and catching up with Frodo and Sam. Sam was and is a favorite character of mine and I miss him a bit.

Any thoughts about The Two Towers you’d like to share?

Remarkable Creatures

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Remarkable Creatures

Remarkable Creatures

By Tracy Chevalier

Dutton

ISBN: 978-0525951452

4 stars

Elizabeth Philpot and her sisters, Louise and Margaret, are in need of a new home now that their brother is being married. With no marriageable prospects — the Philpot sisters are not known for their beauty — they take a tour of possible new homes and come to find they like Lyme Regis, a small coastal town known for its fossils. The town slowly becomes home to the sisters, especially Elizabeth who finds she has a passion for fossils. During her walks on the beach, she befriends Mary Anning, a local resident and fossil hunter.

One day, Mary comes upon a strange set of bones that she believes to be a crocodile. The skeleton turns out to be a complete ichthyosaurus skeleton, a creature unknown to science at the time. Mary’s find sets off a bomb in the science world and it becomes a boon for her. The Annings are a poor family but the discovery of the ichie, as Mary likes to call the ichthyosaurus, brings in a little money for the family and she begins to spend more time on the beach taking other collectors and hunters out and showing them what to look for.

During this time, Mary and Elizabeth find their lives colliding, oddly enough, over a man. Elizabeth, ever the one to voice an opinion, tells Mary what she knows will happen with this man but Mary refuses to listen hoping that the creatures she finds will not only change her family’s fortunes but also her own. When things go badly, the women stop speaking but it is Elizabeth, stubborn to the core, that fights for Mary when most needed.

Elizabeth and Mary are endearing. Elizabeth is cold, harsh, and way too outspoken for a woman at the time (around 1810) which sometimes gets her in trouble. She takes a minute to grow on you, but once she does, you’re infinitely grateful for her forwardness and willingness to stand up for what she thinks is right. Mary on the other hand is too trusting and you wish she wouldn’t be.

While the book is about Mary’s fossil discoveries of previously unknown sea creatures, the ichthyosaurus and the plesiosaurus, and the ways in which her discoveries changed the scientific community and brought about a discussion of the theory of extinction, the book really is about the friendship these two women forge. Elizabeth is an educated spinster from London with no prospects for marriage and Mary is a poor, uneducated girl from the seaside town of Lyme Regis who hunts for fossils on the beach to sell to tourists. Other than the fossils they both love and obsessively hunt, the two have little in common. You get to watch both grow and challenge the men who want to tell them how to act and what to think. It’s a wonderful read and I recommend it.

In addition to this blog, I also do reviews for The Book Reporter website. The above is a summary of my review, which can be read in full here. The book was provided to me by the publisher for The Book Reporter review.

The Far Traveler: Voyages of a Viking Woman

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The Far Traveler: Voyages of a Viking Woman

The Far Traveler: Voyages of a Viking Woman

By Nancy Marie Brown

Harcourt, Inc.

ISBN: 978-0-15-101440-8

4 stars

In the 12th Century, a Viking woman named Gudrid packed up and left all she knew to sail to the edge of her known world. She was looking for the land found by Leif Eiriksson. After being blown off course by a storm, she eventually landed in the New World and made a home there only to sail back to her homeland a few years later.

Gudrid is mentioned in some Icelandic sagas and over the years her existence has been debated, until archeologists unearthed a longhouse in Newfoundland that proved she did in fact exist and was literally the stuff legends are made of.

I don’t read much non-fiction but I’ve always found Vikings fascinating and thought this would be interesting read. I was right, it was. Some of the archeological technology, GPS coordinate mapping, and other methods used to uncover the sites were not all the interesting but chapters on Viking diets, farming techniques, weaving, and daily living conditions were. Who would have thought the process of making wool and spinning would be entertaining? And, also a bit disgusting since urine is involved in the process but nonetheless fun to read about it. When I came to the chapters describing the lives of Viking I was hooked.

The sagas that Brown references in every chapter made me want to read more. I put The Greenlanders, a novel by Jane Smiley, on hold at the library and hope I find it just as entertaining. If you like Viking stories and sagas, you’ll enjoy this read. While part of it might sound like a college lecture, the rest makes up for it.

Teaser Tuesdays

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. The idea is to give everyone a look inside the book you’re reading.

1.) Grab your current read

2.) Open to a random page

3.) Share two teaser sentences from that page

4.) Share the title and author so that other participants know what you’re reading.

Be careful not to include spoilers. You don’t want to ruin the book for others!

My teaser this week is from The Creation of Eve which I’m currently reading and really enjoying.

“We spoke no more, even after we crossed the bridge and were following along the river across from the stable yards, with Cher-Ami bounding before us, and Francesca plodding behind. We had left the sound of the whinnying horses and the voices of the groomsmen and had come to a stand of willows, Francesca trailing out of sight, when the Queen wheeled around.”

The Creation of Eve by Lynn Cullen, page 215.

The Creation of Eve

The Sunday Salon – Not Reading

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Yes, the title does seem out of place since I’m telling you what I read but it will make sense later in the post. The round-up this week. I read:

The Kingmaking by Helen Hollick

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

I’m still reading The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien although I haven’t picked the book up since last week so I’m still on chapter five. I’m planning to spend some time in Middle Earth today and then start The Creation of Eve by Lynn Cullen later this week.

Library Loot. I picked up a few books from the library this week — The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner, Disquiet by Julia Leigh, and White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi. I planned to a Library Loot post this week but lost track of time so I’m just going to include it here today.

As promised, this is where the title of my post will begin to make sense. While reading the book section of The Guardian last week I came across this article — A week without books by Bibi van der Zee. She gave up books for a week and talks about how it went, side effects and all. It got me wondering. I read everyday but do have days when I don’t read more than five pages and others when I don’t read at all. Non reading days are few and far between but they happen. But I’ve never not read for more than one day or so and wondered if I could do it. The days I don’t read I have a really good reason — an illness is usually involved— but I don’t ever try not to read. I can’t imagine crawling into bed without a book. What would I do at breakfast and lunch? Withdrawal would be involved I’m sure. I would be a highly unpleasant person to be around. Needless to say, I won’t be trying this out myself but it did make me wonder about reading too much.

My husband and I don’t have children or pets so I have a lot of time to spend with my books. The hour or so I have to myself before my husband gets home from work is sacred reading time for me. It’s a way to decompress from work, relieve stress, and forget about my day. Saturday and Sunday morning I can be found curled up on the couch lost in a book. But do I read too much? I don’t think so but I also consider reading a part of my life and fit it in when I have a few hours to slip into another world. I don’t fit my life around my books. Anyway, I just thought it was an interesting article and wanted to share.

I’m now off to buy the third book in Helen Hollick’s Pendragon series. The Kingmaking and Pendragon’s Banner were gifts and I need to buy the third book, Shadow of the King now that it’s out. I loved The Kingmaking this week and I’m now hooked on the series, sucker that am for Arthurian legend.

Have a good Sunday.

Friday Finds – Vampires, Families, Bones & Ancient Egypt

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Thanks to a bit of warm weather last week that made something bloom, my allergies hit early and instead of sharing my Friday Finds, I spent the day in bed wishing for my headache to subside. So, this week I’m sharing two weeks worth of finds.

The Three Weissmanns of Westport by Cathleen Schine. Found on Book Beast on The Daily Beast. A divorce throws a family into chaos and when siblings gather to comfort a mother, they finds they have more problems of their own than they thought. It’s supposed to have a Sense & Sensibility-esque quality to it with love problems galore.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith. Found in About.com Contemporary Literature email newsletter. I subscribe to several email newsletters about books and while I don’t always find something interesting in each one, this one made me stop and read. Yes, Abraham Lincoln the vampire hunter. I can’t wait. I think these knock-off re-writes like Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, and Sense & Sensibility & Sea Monsters are a love it or hate it thing for most. I find them amusing thanks to an inherited demented sense of humor which I think you need to really appreciate these books.

Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith. Found while searching Amazon.com for another book. I figure if I’m in for one, I’m in for them all.

A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters. Found in The Wall Street Journal. Twelfth Century murder, a mystery to be solved, in steps Brother Cadfael to do the sleuthing and the burying. I just couldn’t pass up a medieval murder mystery.

Slayer of Gods by Lynda S. Robinson. Found in The Wall Street Journal. When I looked this one up it turned out to be part of a series and while I can’t read books out of order, I did put it on my list as more of an author find than a book find. This is Robinson’s sixth historical thriller set in Egypt and I adore ancient Egypt as a setting. I think I might search out the first book in this series and see where it leads me.

The Three Weissmanns of Westport

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls

A Morbid Taste for Bones

Slayer of Gods

Any good finds to share this week?

Friday Finds is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Leave a comment here with a link to your own finds, or share your answers at Should Be Reading. Happy Friday.