Maggie1944's Reading Journal

I'll jump in early also as I am excited about doing this. I look forward to talking with you all about what I am reading.

Currently, I am reading My Antonia for my book group. When I misplaced my paperback copy of it I found I could replace it on my Kindle for FREE! Love it.

I am enjoying the book as it has those wonderful descriptions of the natural beauty of the west before it was all cut up into ranches and farms and corporations. There is a description of sunflowers growing wild that just made my day.

I am also reading The Discovery of France which is an unusual "history" of the country. I use it as my "bathtub" book meaning it is not huge, it is not my Kindle, and it would not break my heart if I dropped it in.

Finally, I heard a review, on National Public Radio, of Empire of Dreams by Scott Eyman. It is a pretty thick bio of Cecil B. DeMille, Hollywood director who made "The Ten Commandments" and "King of Kings" - very early spectacular films with great mobs of extras and wonderful special effects, before special effects were the "in" thing. It is kind of a fantasy book in that it is all about the early Hollywood. He first went to California in 1913.

I am bracing myself for reading about his later, very conservative, politics as he was one of the people who thought McCarthy was right, and he supported "loyalty oaths". I am sure I'll cringe, but it is good to know that history as we might be looking at some possible repetitious behavior today.

It's been a long time since I read My Antonia but I recall thinking most highly of it.

I find I really cannot read more than one book at a time. I always get caught up in one of them and neglect the other/s!

I know what you mean. I have to say that Empire of Dreams is the dominant book right now. Antonia I pick up on my Kindle when I am "out and about"; and, the book on France is just the bathtub book. There are other books sitting around which I've started but I'm not really working them right now. Like The Big Burn which is about a huge forest fire near where my father was raised. It is sitting there waiting for me to get back to it.

I read A Lost Lady a while back - I'd somehow overlooked Cather until then. I really loved it. It's definitely worth a look if you haven't already read it. It only took me a day to read. I must read My Antonia - maybe I should save it until I get my Kindle (damn you, 2-3 week waiting period for dispatch, damnity-damn-damn).

I read Death Comes for the Archbishop this year and just loved it. Very different setting from My Antonia, but it was still very much a part of the story. One of my 5 star reads this year.

I have a read-a-thon coming up on 10/9. I may select My Antonia as one of my TBR books for that day. What do you think?

I had never heard of Willa Cather before she kept being mentioned by people here on LibraryThing. I've picked up a couple of her books since then but not yet read either of them, so it's good to see I have a fine read in store for when I do.

Morphidae, I think My Antonia would be great for a read-a-thon. It is definitely not a difficult read and I think, having not yet finished it, it will not be a downer. Not too many pages either.

I love Willa Cather. Can it be true that her books are public domain? Where are her heirs to renew the thing forever?

Death Comes for the Archbishop is probably my fav of hers.

Wasn't she gay? I don't think she had any heirs... (Not that she wouldn't have had nieces and nephews that reproduced.)

My Antonia is one of 2 or 3 classics that brought me around to thinking that maybe some classics might not only be readable but, possibly, even enjoyable. It's absolutely wonderful! Also loved Death Comes for the Archbishop and, hmm, I forget now which ones I read. Maybe The Professor's House? I know I've always meant to read O Pioneers! and The Song of the Lark but haven't gotten round to them yet.

Enjoy!

LG, I think the Amazon site stated that volunteers had done the work to put the words into the format that the Kindle uses (I am clueless about what this really means) so that is why it was free from Amazon. They did have other editions which cost money, of course.

Because Willa Cather is a Nebraska author, I taught My Antonia for many years in Junior English (American Lit).

It is one of my favorite books of all time. The last I knew, one of Anna Pavelka's children was still giving presentations on her childhood and her family's friendship with Ms Cather. (Anna was the original "Antonia.")

oh, that just makes it so much more precious. I am glad I know that there was a person behind Antonia. I also loved Caddie Woodlawn which is a growing up in the old west book set in Idaho. Great stories, all.

pssst.....Caddie was in Wisconsin.

Maybe her author was in Idaho?

Yup! Born in Moscow, Idaho and graduated from the University of Idaho in Moscow, as did my parents. Probably why I read her book when I was a kid.

Potatoes and cheese go good together!

We had a foreign student from Denmark working in my library a while back who was trying to read My Antonia. I read some out loud to her and was really amazed at how beautifully she could describe the prairie. It made something so plain, flat, and monochromatic into something so special and amazing. I had read it several years back and enjoyed it but didn't really appreciate it until I read that particular passage.

fleela - yup, yup, yup

mamzel - my youthful days spent on the hot dry plateau in central Idaho taught me how beautiful nature can be, even when not spectacular. I grew up mostly in Seattle in the shadow of high mountains and by beautiful lakes and sounds; but I grew to love the wheat fields, too. I know just what you mean.

I finished reading My Antonia and loved, loved, loved it. I am sure that it is a book only some of us will like but it reminded me so much of when I was younger and the adults in my life were busy sharing their knowledge of local history. We drove a lot around in Idaho stopping at every "historical marker" and every site of an Indian battle that the driver knew about. We also stopped at many a small town Catholic church and looked at all the wonderful stained glass windows and small community cemeteries.

None of the above actually is a part of Cather's book but her vivid descriptions of pioneer life in the mid-west, and the wonderful environment, gave me excuse to revisit my knowledge of local history and environments. She also writes a good story of a young man growing up in a small community and his bonds to the kids he knew. The book spans probably four or five decades in these people's lives. It does not have a traditional "happily ever after" kind of an ending, Cather was wise to end it on a "just like life" note.

Good book! Vivid and believable characters and settings. The book is not plot driven but has a realistic story which does carry the reader along and makes one want to finish the book. And, did I mention, beautiful descriptions of the country.

I've just downloaded My Antonia on the Kindle. Looking forward to reading it. I have a fondness for books that are not strongly plot driven to compensate for the fluff I read that's all about the plot and nothing about the writing/characterisation (which is also fine, in context, if the plot is a goodie).

I read this a couple of years ago, and likewise found it superb. The descriptions of the Nebraska landscape, and the depictions of the experiences of immigrants and women at this time in the country's history, stood out for me.

It's at the library waiting for pickup!

I feel so happy when a book I've liked seems appealing to some of you. I'll be interested to read what you think after you have read it.

I really liked Cather's The Song of the Lark. Have you heard of that one?

I have heard of it and have been thinking about doing some more Cather reading; however, I do have quite the line-up of books waiting for me to finish them. And wouldn't you know it, I bought two more Kindle books today (they use so little room). I got Agatha Christie's Autobiography and one other, the title of which escapes me right this minute. Darn.

OK, move along, nothing more to see here.

I enjoyed both My Antonia and Death Comes for the Archbishop. She had a nice descriptive but clean writing style. Maybe clean isn't the word I'm looking for... I wouldn't call it spare. Someone help me out here. LOL

Erm, 'understated'?

Or 'restrained'?

well isn't that weird...she's buried not far from where I live and I never knew until today (Willa Cather that is).

#29 & 30 - Yes, to both. #31 - I heard she was in NH, but didn't know where. Cool!

"Clean" is the word that comes to mind when describing Cather's writing.

I would agree with that characterization.

I learned when recovering from alcoholism that the first step in dealing with an obsession is admitting there might be a problem. So, I might have a problem with books and here's my evidence: all the books I have sitting around right now with a few pages read and a promise I'll get back to it and finish reading.

in no particular order -
To Kill A Mockingbird is being read in honor of banned books
The Weather of the Pacific Northwest being read because we have very changeable weather here
The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America is being read because it is history of the area where my father was raised
Dragonart: How to Draw Fantastic Dragons and Fantasy Creatures being read because I want my concrete dragon painted in a cool way
Discovery of France: A Historical Geography being read because I loved my trip to France and want to return
Empire of Dreams I love biography
An Autobiography - Agatha Christie, being read as it was recommended here!
King Hereafter also, because of recommendation here
Nine Parts of Desire same as above
Spies of Warsaw I've discovered I love Alan Furst's fiction about WWII Europe
Winnie the Pooh my four year old charge keeps asking for me to read this to him
The Eyre Affair recommended by Green Dragon friends
Surely You're Joking, Mr Feynman book group read
One Square Inch of Silence I crave real silence as does this author

OK, I have lots of choices every evening as I sit down in my reading chair, climb into the bathtub, or jump into the bed. I am a happy girl, except when it is too noisy.

LOL. And I thought my juggling a mere 3 or 4 books was a problem. I always end up focusing on one and feeling bad for neglecting the others.

Well, some do sit neglected for long periods of time, but I try to keep them somewhere near my bed so that my eyes will visit them, from time to time, and I'll remember. Some I pick up and just read small bits such as the weather book, or the French geography. The Geography book is paperback and not too heavy so it is a great "in the bath" book and that is usually when I will not read my Kindle books, or heavy hard bound books. Some I just know I will get back to them soon........very soon......

Another thought: reading the autobiography of Agatha Christie and the biography of Cecil B deMille simultaneously is interesting. I don't know if they are exactly contemporaries but close enough, one in Hollywood and one in England. What a contrast.

Ah maggie, you and me both. I'm terrible at the bookstore. I bring the book I'm reading from home with me so I can read it during the quiet times, but then when I'm straighten the shelves and tidying up, I'll inevitably find books that look interesting and pick them up and start reading. Take Friday for example, found biographies on Lillian Hellman and David Lean and spent the afternoon browsing through them in-between customers. No wonder it takes me so long to read my own books, *chuckle*. It's nice to know I have company. Empire of Dreams sounds like it would be fascinating, I imagine good ol' Cecil had a very interesting life, as did David Lean.

And now, while cleaning up and picking up around the house, I find two additional recent purchases that I intended to read during October. First, I am reading John Fowles The Collector whick is Fowles' first novel, and a horror story at that. Second, I picked up The Sisters Grimm by Michael Buckley which is advertised (on the cover) as "The Fairytale Detectives", a young people's book using the Brothers Grimm's fairy tales as the jumping off spot.

I just don't know when to stop. But I love it. No need to be different now, after all these years.

I received Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid yesterday and sat right down to read it. I'd bought it as I thought a parody of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series might be fun for the 9 year old nephew....but....duh! I'd not paid attention to its being a Tales from the Crypt series and discovered upon the quick reading that it is 1. more appropriate for high school boys' humor and 2. not just a parody of the Wimpy kid but also a parody of the Twilight series. How they happened to put the two together is beyond me. I did laugh a bit but I am so glad I read it before handing it to the 9-year-old. Wow! Slid past that potential disaster.

Well, I fell for it. Watching CBS's Sunday Morning, this morning, I was captivated by the discussion of Mark Twain's Autobiography, so I picked up my Kindle. Opps. Mistake, or maybe not. I bought it. And started reading it this afternoon. One more book started. I am now taking John Fowles' The Collector into the bath with me, rather than The Discovery of France everytime. I need to finish the Agatha Christie Autobiography before I fall too much in love with the Mark Twain one; and then, there's the Cecil B de Mille biography. I am living in everyone else's times. Wheeeee.

I finished reading The Collector by John Fowles and I recommend it strongly. It is "old fashioned" and structured as many novels have been - carefully without fancy dips and shocks. At the end, I did understand the main character's behavior as a collector. It was a bit like a mystery to understand this man's behavior but at the end, I got it. Not to say I like it. He was creepy and unattractive and not a person I would want to know under any circumstances. Nonetheless, Fowles is a master author.

ETA: I read this as an October read...something a little bit spooky and creepy. It definitely qualifies.

I read The Collector years ago and I don't know if I could bear reading it again. There was something very chilling about the main character. As you say a perfect creepy Halloween read.

You've never steered me wrong. I have it on order from the library.

Turns out I'm going to have to order this one on inter-library loan. Mine doesn't have it. :(

Still, it sounds like it's worth the effort.

Bump

I will be trying to get the chat room open at about 8 pm Green Dragon time, which is 5 pm, my time (Pacific). That might be in about an hour. Maybe we can talk books....

I picked up a "light" book at B&N yesterday: a woman, a problem, and a dog with a problem, too. I'm reading it and loving the ease with which this book is going down. I love Sundays, quiet, no commitments, sunshine, a few white fluffy clouds and the day spent reading.

Lost & Found is about a young woman who's husband dies unexpectedly and while dealing with nearly overwhelming grief she bonds with a dog who has also suffered an unexpected loss and who is also, in a dog way, experiencing grief. They are living on an island and the other characters all have their problems too - teen age girl with an eating disorder, a older woman facing her own mortality, and so on. I'm liking it.

Well, I actually finished Jacqueline Sheehan's Lost & Found and completely enjoyed it. I can't say the mystery was not predictable and of course, the happy ending was pretty predictable, too. The dog was very believable and quite a good character. So I guess I recommend this book primarily to dog lovers who enjoy a good romantic mystery.

Well, I am trying to get a few more books finished so that I can at least hit 50% in the 75 books challenge this year. I don't really even know how I am doing with the 10/10 challenge. I think next year I will chose to do challenges which are a bit more realistic for me, with my schedule, and my budget.

So, I did read the following two childrens books. I liked them both and will read them to the kids I spend my days with...

Magical World of Unicorns is a book of magically pretty illustrations, with a few well chose quotations.

Owl Eyes is the retelling of a Mohawk creation fable. Very nice. Tells why the owl has big, round eyes and is kind of grey/brown in coloration, and why he is active at night, and is seldom seen by people. I really liked this book.

Owl Eyes sounds great! By the way, and off the topic, sort of, I looked up web definitions of spider totems for fun. There was a different meaning at each of five sites! This is the one I liked best:

"Spiders are very delicate creatures that play an important role in the myths and lore of many peoples as the teacher of balance between the past and future, the physical and spiritual.
To the Native Americans, Spider is Grandmother, the link to the past and future. In India it's associated with Maya, the weaver of illusions.
With its gentle strength, Spider spins together the threads of life with intricate webs.
Spider knows that the past affects the future and vise versa. It calls us to make use of our creativity and weave our dreams into our destiny.
For many Native Americans, "spider woman" stories are important creation mythologies. One of the common feature of those are wisdom symbolized with spiders' webs (for example, she taught the human how to weave). Also generally accepted are the ideas that her "thread" connects the human world and the world of spirits or the "above world" and the "below world". Spider Woman also weaves the "relationship" of the Web of Life and all beings.

Bold parts are bolded by me, because the pin was my grandmother's and she gave me my love of history. :) I also love the idea of connecting the human world and the world of spirits, one of my goals. Thanks for this idea, Maggie.

This is the site I stole the above quote from.
http://www.animaltotem.com/spider.html

I love the idea of animal totems. Thanks for sharing the result of your research.

I like what you describe about the spider and the owl as elements of myth (and I love eavesdropping on the conversation)!

Here's a short "review" of a book I read for my book group: Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman

Enjoyable, thought provoking but a little bit dated, this book was read for my book group. I am looking forward to talking about it but I don't know if I would have finished reading it were I "on my own". Richard Feynman is certainly an unique character, and probably a fine scientist. He certainly does a good job toward the end of the book explaining what integrity in the field of science must look like and he clearly has no patience with people who fudge their research to assure funding, or curry favor. I enjoyed reading some of the "inside" stuff about the famous labs developing the atomic bomb at the end of world war two; also, the experiments he conducted on himself in sensory deprivation tanks were interesting. For the most part he avoiding talking about physics which I would not, or could not understand.

One chapter he devoted to criticism of text books chosen for elementary schools and I would love to have an argument with him about some of his criticisms. He apparently would like for the rigors of science to be introduced to the grade school children and I am just not sure he understands developmental psychology and how challenging that might be for public schools to fund. But I can't carry on a one sided argument here. There were a couple of other points at which I wanted to argue with him which is why I consider the book to be thought provoking. In general it was an enjoyable and informative read.

I loved Surely You're Joking when I read it a few years ago - glad you liked it too.

Hey, hey, hey

I just signed up for the SantaThing for this year. I've gotten such nice gifts in the past, and have so much enjoyed picking out books for others! I encourage you all to sign up for it. Let's all be Santa!

I signed up for it this year too. I'm very excited. :)

I am still reading An Autobiography of Agatha Christie on my Kindle. One complaint I have of the Kindle is that it is tough to judge how fat the book is, and how far along I am...but, the Autobiography is great stuff. She lives a very interesting life and writes so well about it! I had no idea she had traveled, with her husband, around the world at a relatively young age. Her description of learning to surf in Hawaii is hilarious.

Does she say anything about her mysterious disappearance? She said at the time she was kidnapped, but probably not.

AH...She's in Bagdad right now...very adventurous traveler, all by herself. Maybe there is a kidnapping on the next page or so...

It's been awhile since I've read it, but I believe there is a great silence regarding that. Didn't it happen when she was becoming disentangled from her first husband? Anyway, anyone who has watched Dr. Who knows what happened.

#59 - no it's not mentioned. There is a comment from the publishers I think explaing why she choose not to write about it.

#58 - I think you can get firmware 'upgrades' that can add modifications like a page x of n. www.mobileread.com would be a safe place to look fro them - but they might involve some complicated editing of files. I haven't yet attempted anything with my Sony.

OK, I looked at wikipedia....and found out she disappeared for a couple of weeks after her first husband announced he wanted a divorce, after having falled in love with another woman. Really I think, reading between the lines, she just disappeared because she wanted to pull herself together. It may have been called a "nervous breakdown". Nowadays, I think a woman might just pack up and go to Italy, India, and Indonesia.

I finished the wonderful Agatha Christie's Autobiography today. I definitely enjoyed it. I especially like England and the English during that period of time (pre WW I through The Cold War). She was adventuresome, talented, and had a great sense of fun. I think she would have been fun to sit and chat with over some tea, or brandy. There were a few anachronisms such as racial and religious prejudice typical of some of the English upper classbut all in all I recommend the book.

If you can over look Mark Twain's language in Tom Sawyer you can over look Christie's prejudices, too.

I need to revisit Three Cups of Tea for my book group but I think I'll tackle something new for reading in bed. Maybe....King Hereafter by Dorothy Dennett. What do you think?

I am actually reading, on the Kindle, The Woman I Was Born To Be and finding it to be quite cozy; nothing surprising in her very normal childhood. I kind of see her as a modern day Cinderella.

I've also claimed three kids books as finished: Dr. Seuss' One fish two fish blue fish red fish; A Fly Went By; and, New Tricks I Can Do.

I do still have a long list of books I've started and in which sit markers. I think before the year is out I will at least undertake to list them all, and put them all in one central place in the new house. That way perhaps I'll do better at not overlooking them every time I am tempted to buy something new.

We'll call that a Pre-new year's resolution.

I cannot tell you how many times I've read A Fly Went By. It was one of my favorites as a child, and my boys had me read it multiple times each day for months.

I completed The Woman I Was Born To Be and have to say i enjoyed it. It is not a heavy tome, nor full of profundities, but it is cheerful and happy. Susan Boyle did suffer from slight fetal brain damage and has been "different" all her life. She also was given a great gift of voice, which she has studied and worked to handle with respect. I really like this slice of life in Scotland, and the craziness of the TV talent shows, and what happens when you are on utube as a sensation.

I hope her life will settle down and she will be able to enjoy the fruits of her talent and work without it all being just too much.

While laying in bed, trying to survive a really nasty cold, I read The Sisters Grimm, Book One, The Fairy Tale Detectives which was quick, easy, and fun. I do recommend it as a young adult book as the author really is doing a fine job of recommending mythology to a new generation. Check it out.

This was in the very beggining of the conversation, but I noticed you were discussing My Antonia. The only reason I read it is because my fiction/novels teacher decided to start with a local author. Definately not my type of books, but if it was, it is really, really good. The same with a lot of other classics I had to read like Where the Red Fern Grows. Some people in that class got really emotional when the dogs died, especially when the costumary tradition of watching the movie after reading the book.

>67 maggie1944: Maybe I should read it. LibraryThing says I would love it and the confidence is really high.

I read Where the Red Fern Grows to my class when I was teaching. I thought it was a delightful book and besides being a sweet book about the love for dogs, it also gives a nice picture of how life was in a different time and place. I hope you'll make time to at least try reading it. You might like it.

Oh I read it. If it is my type of book, it'll be one of my favorite books by far. It's neat. Glad you are a teacher. I appreciate that.

I finished reading Listening is an Act of Love about StoryCorps. I love listening to the StoryCorps segments on NPR's Morning Edition. I am a great fan of Studs Turkel and this group follows in his point of view that what happens to ordinary people is really what is important.

The book was very sweet. Many stories of love between family members and of stories which might not have been told if not for the StoryCorps recording booth.

Last night, before going to sleep, I finished reading Nine Parts of Desire The Hidden World of Islamic Women. I am very glad I read this book as it reminded me the world is not full of simple problems. Brooks does a fine job of balancing hard, biting, criticism of the way in which women are treated in many Islamic countries, and in fact, how they are treated in some so called "developed" countries, with some detailed description of ways in which the Islamic way of life has advantages for men, women, and families. No problem I could ever have is serious compared to what some of these women deal with daily. And I recognized the warmth and joy of participating in women only activities.

I think any one who wants to have a smart opinion on American foreign policy should read this book.

I have had a not very productive month in the Reading Books department of my life this month. I bought a Steve Martin novel on a lark and have found it to be very pedestrian and not inspiring enough to make me want to pick it up often... so, then, yesterday I decided I needed to do something "completely different" and I got a Kindle copy of Hogfather which I am sure will cheer me up. I started reading it last night in bed and am already loving it. I am not always in the mood for Terry Pratchett's version of fun but I think this book will be just fine reading for December 24, 25, and.... I bet I finish it soon.

I am saving Hogfather, not sure what for, but something, anyway, but I hope you enjoy it!

I watched the movie of Hogfather last nite-which has become a yearly tradition for me. I read the book first (3 years ago) & then bought the DVD. Merry Christmas to all of my fellow GDers! 8^)

P S: Happy Hogswatch too!

I picked up and finished a book which has been sitting around, unfinished, for god knows how long: Isaac Asimov's Magical World of Fantasy Faeries. I don't really remember how well I enjoyed the early stories but the last one which combined exploring a new planet, colonized by earth type men, and this planet having magical aboriginal creatures which are fighting to maintain their hold over the planet. "The Queen of Air and Darkness", by Poul Anderson, really was a delightful story filled with magic and realism; love and fear; and a tentative hope for a better future.

I've only managed to come across Asimov's World of Fantasy:Giants and it too is a bit hit and miss, but when it hits, it really has some cracking stories in it. Its an old series, but one I'd really like to own the rest of.

reading_fox, send me a PM with address and I'll send you the Faeries book. I liked it but have no need to keep it and if you'd like the series...well, we can help.

I finished reading Hogfather last night and will say, "Yes!" I did like it. Pratchett takes a little "getting used to" but definitely is fun and worthwhile.

Now you need to get the DVD of Hogfather which I watch every year. I read the book first & they did a great job on the movie!
I'm not going to even get 30 books this year, but will still be back next year anyhow! Happy reading & Happy new Year too! 8^)

I am busy trying to get 50 books finished for the 75 book challenge so this morning I read two books quite quickly: Cows With Guns is a re-read and then I also read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas in a special edition which included information about Clement C Moore and the Coca Cola Santas. oh joy!

OK, progress is being made: I finished Star Wars Episode I Journal Queen Amidala published by Scholastic for kids. Fooey! Rotten writing. I wish writing for kids didn't give some people the idea they can write badly. Oh, well, it is one more book in my quest for a nice round 50 read this year; it was book #45.

If you are interested you can check out my 75 book challenge thread (http://www.librarything.com/topic/80178#top) to see the last five books, all of which are children's books which I read to my five year old nephew. I thereby officially declare that my 75 book thread for 2010 is done, complete and closed at a 67% accomplishment level. I feel satisfied and am ready to start working on a book to put on the new 2011 thread...sometime after January 1.