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Read. Read. READ-A-THON
I could only manage to finish one book, a collection of short stories, In An Uncharted Country by Clifford Garstang (pages 186). All in all I could only manage to read 226 pages. One full book and few pages of other one and then some poetry. The short story collection is very good and it managed to hold my interest. For the first time in my life, I read so slow. Frankly my mind was elsewhere and I simply couldn't concentrate.
Hope all the participants had a good time. Until the next readathon.....
My reading was a bit slow in the beginning of November. Somehow it picked up in the last week, taking it to a total of nine books. Not good but not bad either.
I read 13 books from the beginning of November to till date: Yet to review 9 books out of those:
In An Uncharterd Country by Clifford Garstang
The Emerald Swan by Jane Feather
Creole Angel by Peggy Hancher
After Innocence by Brenda Joyce
Night Secrets by Kat Martin
Midnight Magic by Betina Krahn
Cold Skin by Steven Herrick
White Picket Fences by Susan Meissner
The Scottish Thistle by Cindy Vallar
Tender Triumph by Judith McNaught
Selected Poems of Carl Sandburg
Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran
Soul Catcher by Leigh Bridger
Read. Read. READ-A-THON
I am really going slow. I abandoned Dead Floating Lovers and started a book of short stories, In An Uncharted Country by Clifford Garstang (Pages 186). I am on page 127. And I hope I finish it. As of today, my mind is kind of unsettled and I am unable to concentrate on my reading. I tried various genres but abandoned those after reading a few lines.
I am feeling utterly dejected. Not one of my best reading days, obviously. Or any best day, for that matter.
*reads4pleasure's page is not loading up on my PC. If I try to do that, my PC crashes. If too many graphics are there, my PC behaves like that. So I am thanking her from here. She has been a big support.
Read. Read. READ-A-THON
After an enthusiastic start, it fell flat! I had read 30 odd pages of Dead Floating Lovers and due to some unforseen circumstances, I had to go out and returned around midnight. I read 10 pages of a poetry book and fell asleep. I was supposed to wake up early but as I was too tired, I simply couldn't!
I am lagging behind, feel so bad that I haven't been visiting anyone. I kind of feel demoralised. However, I also know that in this leftover time, I will try to catch up, fiishing at least two books and visiting people.
I need you all to encourage me. Now back to my reading....
Read. Read. READ-A-THON is on! I am prepared with the following books in hand.
Dead Floating Lovers by Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli (Pages 324)
In An Uncharted Country by Clifford Garstang (Pages 186)
Like Mayflies In A stream by Shauna Roberts (Pages 186)
Thirsty by Kristin Bair O' Keeffe (Pages 207)
Along with two poetry books:
At the Threshold of Alchemy by John Amen (Pages 83)
Becoming the Villainess by Jeannine Hall Gaily (Pages 78)
Starting with Dead Floating Lovers by Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli (Pages 324)
Wishing the very best to all the participants. Have fun folks! See you in two hours time.
Weekly Geeks asks us about top books of 2009.
Here is my list (in no particular order):
Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji----Culture
The Killing Tree by Rachel Keener----Mystery/Suspense
The Crying Tree by Naseem Rakha------Mother Son relationship/Redemption
Tender Graces by Kathryn Magendie--Family relationships
The Lost Book of Salem by Katherine Howe---Witch Hunting
Kill For Me by Karen Rose----Thriller
Faces In The Fire by T. L. Hines----Noir
Wait Until Twilight by Sang Pak-------Noir/fantasy
Meggie's Remains by Joanne Sundell.....Gothic
Receive Me Falling by Erica Robuck.....Historical/Slavery
Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran...Historical
I have to add poetry books to the list:
Judah's Lion by Anne Caston
A House of Bottles by Robin Merrill
Magdalene & the Mermaids by Elizabeth Kate Switaj
Mainline to the Heart and Other Poems by Clive Matson
Atlas: Poems by Katrina Vandenberg
The Read. Read. READ-A-THON is on December 5th! It is hosted by Bethany Canfield of Dreadlock Girls. Do join in the fun. I plan to read for 12 hours. I intend to finish at least two books.
Title: The Quincunx
Author: Charles Palliser
ISBN: 978-0345371133
Publisher: Ballantine Books/1990
Pages: 800
From Publishers Weekly
Palliser, an English professor in Scotland, where this strange yet magnetic work was first published, has modeled his extravagantly plotted narrative on 19th-century forms--Dickens's Bleak House is its most obvious antecedent--but its graceful writing and unerring sense of timing revivifies a kind of novel once avidly read and surely now to be again in demand. The protagonist, a young man naive enough to be blind to all clues about his own hidden history (and to the fact that his very existence is troubling to all manner of evildoers) narrates a story of uncommon beauty which not only brings readers face-to-face with dozens of piquantly drawn characters at all levels of 19th-century English society but re-creates with precision the tempestuous weather and gnarly landscape that has been a motif of the English novel since Wuthering Heights . The suspension of disbelief happens easily, as the reader is led through twisted family trees and plot lines. The quincunx of the title is a heraldic figure of five parts that appears at crucial points within the text (the number five recurs throughout the novel, which itself is divided into five parts, one for each of the family galaxies whose orbits the narrator is pulled into).
"Irony is beyond a boy like mine. As is symbolism.
Allegory. Metaphor, too. All is literal with him
though that doesn't rule out a wildebeest,
the one he meets each morning in the fallow field
beyond our yard, the one who lies beside him
each night now in the dark......"
Title: Judah's Lion,
Author: Anne Caston
ISBN: 9780915380718
Publisher: Toad Hall Press/2009
Pages: 96
One of the best books of poetry I have come across. Anne Caston writes about pain. But with courage and compassion. Suffering and endurance both co-exist. Written with beautiful language, this collection of poetry has the power to uplift us in the sheer pleasure of reading it. The rawness touches us. Yet the beauty of poetry sustains us as nothing else can. This book is for keeps. Anne has dedicated this book to her autistic son. That in itself touches our soul.
