Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Where is Your Bookmark? (08/27/2013)

Our family was hit hard by the summer flu recently.  Mouse caught a bad case of Conjunctivitis and I was laid up for a week, unable to do much more than move around the house like a zombie.  Other than a lingering cough, both Mouse and  I are feeling much better.  Somehow, Anjin has managed to stay on the healthy side, and hopefully it stays that way.

You would think a week of being sick would be the perfect time for reading.  Unfortunately, that was not the case.  I did watch a lot of HGTV though.  Love it or List it became a favorite.  And I got a few ideas for my own house.

I managed to get to the book City of Bones, the first book in Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series, just in time for the release of the movie.  I finished listening to Joseph Finder's Paranoia, which ended on a high note.  I have yet to see the movie, which has not gotten the highest of ratings.  I have been spending much of my reading time on novellas of late, reading ones by John Connolly, J.A. Jance, and Shawntelle Madison.

I have settled finally into another full length novel and am reading my first Karin Slaughter mystery thriller, Unseen, which got off to a strong start.  It is a real page turner.  In audio, I am listening to the popular and much raved about Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, narrated by Wil Wheaton.  The novel is set in the future and is full of 1980's nostalgia.  Two chapters in and I am already loving it.  

What are you reading right now?  Is it something you would recommend?



Every Tuesday Diane from Bibliophile By the Sea hosts 
First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, where  
participants share the first paragraph (or a few) of a 
book they are reading or thinking about reading soon.

One of my most recent reads was a novella by John Connolly called The Wanderer of Unknown Realms.  I really had no idea what to expect going in.  It has an air of a mystery novel about it, but is definitely more a horror story.  The opening does not give anything about the story away really, but it does set the tone.  
Through Chancery, pausing only to wipe the dung from my boots.
To the Chancery, to the chambers of the lawyer Quayle.
There are men of wealth and power who wish others to know of their position in society.  They eat at the best restaurants and stay in the finest hotels; they revel in ostentation.  Even those who serve the interests of others more important than themselves are not immune from grand gestures, and so it is that the Harley Street physicians who tend to the ailments of the great will acquire suites of rooms fitted with antique furnishings, as if to say, "See! I am as good as you.  I can demean myself in displays of wealth just as readily as you can."  It should be said, of course, that it is somehow less noble to have bought one's possessions with money earned than it is simply to inherit, and arrivistes who try to compete will always be looked down upon by those whose wealth was acquired so long ago that the effort of its acquisition, the filth and sin of it, have since been erased from memory.  
Then there are those who understand that wealth and power are weapons and should be used carefully and not without forethought.  They disdain ostentation in themselves and in other men.  In a way, they may even be ashamed of their privileged position.  They have learned, too, that if those who look after their affairs--the physicians, the lawyers, the bankers--work in lavish surroundings, then someone, somewhere is paying more than a shilling extra on his bill in order to provide such comforts.  The man who looks after one's money should know its value and be parsimonious with his particular funds as he is with one's own.  
Would you continue reading?

© 2013, Wendy Runyon of Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

13 comments:

  1. Glad you are all better now. BTW - Love it or List it is a fav of mine as well.

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  2. Ready Player One was one of my favorite audios the year it came out. I was BLOWN AWAY, as I am such an 80's geek. I am right in the middle of uploading Unseen on my iPod. I love Karin Slaughter.

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  3. Glad to hear you are now on the mend. Summer colds and flus are awful.

    I read my first Karin Slaughter recently and wasn't that impressed. Told she was like Kathy Reichs, one of my favourite authors of this genre, I think part of the problem was that I expected more.

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  4. Glad you're all feeling better. I'm reading The View From Penthouse B by Elinor Lipman and enjoying it quite a bit. The characters are very well done.

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  5. I'm glad you're feeling better -- the flu and conjunctivitis episode sounds miserable.

    Steph

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  6. I'm glad you're feeling better now. The flu/conjunctivitis episode sounds miserable.

    Steph

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  7. John Connolly is an author I haven't read in a while -- I like this intro --enjoy Wendy.

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  8. Sorry you were sick, glad you are better. Love it or List it is a favorite of ours too.

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  9. I absolutely loved Ready Player One! And I am definitely going to have to give Slaughter a try at some point - her name keeps showing up places.

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  10. Glad you feeling better. The book is new to me.

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  11. There are all types of rich folk. I've only heard of the Noveau Riche. The book seems very interesting. Thanks.

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  12. Being sick with a little one is no fun. Hugs for making it through :) I wanted to see Paranoia but since it was Jason's pick we saw Jobs instead.

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  13. Where did you read the John Connolly novella in? I read his Charlie Parker novella in Nocturnes, which scared me - very creepy effective horror story. I haven't read all the stories in Nocturnes, so if the one you read is there, I'll go get it :-)

    I have Karin Slaughter to read too, and was wondering if I should read City of Bones before the movie gets out. It does look interesting (both book and movie). Was it? you didn't say...

    hope you are all feeling better by now!

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