Musings of a Bookish Kitty

Monday, February 02, 2015

Where Is Your Bookmark? (02/03/2015)

After a not so good week last week, I was ready for the weekend. A trip to the San Diego Safari Park (not to be confused with the San Diego Zoo) was just what we needed. It has been years since my husband and I were last there, and it was Mouse's first time. She's been wanting to go back to a zoo for about a month now, and the weather and timing were just right.

After my dismal showing in audiobooks last year, I was reluctant to start something new. I had to drive across town to another office within my agency one day a couple weeks ago, however, and the radio just wasn't doing it for me. I am not a big audiobook listener. I am lucky to get in 20 minutes a day of listening on average during the work week--and that's if I am in the mood. So, it takes me a very long time to get through even a short audiobook. Still, last Tuesday I was in the mood, and I began listening to Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor and Park.

Blurb from Goodreads:

Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.

I am still reading Miramont's Ghost by Elizabeth Hall. It is easy to get lost in the pages when I do sit down to read it. I hope to finish it by the end of the week.

What are you reading this week?

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.

Last week I began listening to Rainbow Rowell's young adult novel Eleanor and Park. I picked it partly because it was on the shorter side, but mostly because the audiobook came highly recommended by fellow book bloggers. I could relate to the first sentence--only instead of music, my nose was more likely to be stuck in a book.

XTC was no good for drowning out the morons at the back of the bus.

Park pressed his headphones into his ears.

Tomorrow he was going to bring Skinny Puppy or The Misfits. Or maybe he'd make a special bus tape with as much screaming and wailing on it as possible.

I admit the introduction didn't grab me right away. This is definitely one of those cases where continuing on is in your best interest even if the opening doesn't grab you--at least so far than I can tell. I am about half way into the audiobook and enjoying it quite a bit. It's a beautiful story about friendship and young love.

Would you continue reading?

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely ladies at Broke and Bookish.

This weeks' Top Ten Tuesday theme is Top Ten Books I Can't Believe I Haven't Read From the Mystery/Crime Fiction and Fantasy Genres. I chose crime fiction and fantasy because they are two of my favorite genres. While I could list books a couple miles (at least) long in either genre, I decided to split it down the middle and list five in each genre I can't believe I have yet to read. I tried to stay away from authors I have already read at least one book by--although that could make an entirely different list!

Crime Fiction (Mystery) Genre

1. The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith ~ I have had a copy of this pre-announcement that J.K. Rowling penned it, but have yet to read it. I have no other excuse than I was scared off by all the hype.

2. The Beekeeper's Apprentice (Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes #1) by Laurie R. King ~ I have heard nothing but great things about this series and have had this first book on my book shelf waiting to be read forever. Well, it feels like forever. I don't know what's stopping me from reading it. I really don't.

3. Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear ~ I made my husband read the first book in this series set in post-World War I, featuring Maisie Dobbs, private investigator, but I have yet to. He says I will like it, and I am sure I will. I love the time period--and a female private eye to book? Sounds like my kind of book.

4. The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen ~ Set in Copenhagen, this book, the first in a series, is described as being "Darkly humorous, propulsive, and atmospheric." Not to mention it comes highly recommended.

5. Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith ~ For years I have wanted to give Patricia Highsmith a try. She seems like one of those authors a crime fiction lover must read. Where better than to start with her debut novel about two strangers who meet on a train?

Fantasy Genre

6. Midnight Never Come by Marie Brenanen - I want to read quite a few books by this author, admittedly, but this is the first book to make it onto my TBR shelves. Set in Elizabethan England and mix in the fae . . . Well, it's a wonder I haven't read this yet!

7. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss ~ the first in the Kingkiller Chronicles, The Name of the Wind is the first fantasy novel in a long while my husband fell in love with. Just at the word wizard, I was sold.

8. Fledgling by Octavia E. Bulter ~ This is yet another book which has been languishing on my shelf for too long. It is about an amnesiac "genetically modified, 53-year-old vampire."

9. The City & the City by China Miéville ~ A mystery and fantasy novel rolled into one. I can't wait to read this one. I've heard much about the world building in this one.

10. The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett ~ The size of this series is what intimidates me, and one of the reasons I have yet to read The Color of Magic. I hear it's a fun book and series, however, and do want to give it a try.

Have you read any of these books? Would you recommend them? What books would make your lists of books you cannot believe you haven't read yet?

© 2015, 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.

Friday, January 30, 2015

January 2015 in Review

Can you believe January is at its end? I have a feeling February will fly by too. So much to do . . .

The weather has been: I have seen some beautiful sunrises as of late as I drive to work in the mornings. It has been overcast the last few days. January brought some rain intermixed with some sunny days. I got caught in a late rainstorm yesterday evening. It came just after the sun had broken out from behind the dark clouds. The weekend is supposed to be dryer. Maybe we will be able to go to the park.

I am listening to: Love Songs on the Coast. I know. I know. Pre-bedtime is for reading. I have been enjoying doing puzzles and listening to music on the radio most nights before bed lately. It has helped me relax and clear my mind. Anything to help me to fall asleep. Now if only I could stay asleep. I am also listening to my first audiobook of the year, Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor and Park. It is slow going as I have a very limited window of time to listen each day, but I am thoroughly enjoying it.

I am watching: Many of the shows I follow are not yet back from their mid-season break. I am all caught up on State of Affair and Agent Carter (which I am really enjoying). Scandal came back this week, but I haven't yet watched the episode. I am in the middle of season three of The Falling, and really enjoying it. I love the casting and atmosphere of The Falling. I binge watched the first two seasons while I was out on medical leave, and having to take it one episode at a time now is not as much fun.

I am reading: I am in the middle of reading Miramont's Ghost by Elizabeth Hall for an upcoming tour. It is a rather dark book (which I expected being described as Gothic and all that), and so far I am enjoying it.

I am thinking/feeling: Overall, January was a good month even despite illnesses and this week. I started back to work at the beginning of the year after seven weeks off on medical leave. I still wasn't feeling quite up to full physical health, but each week I have been feeling better. I have a post-op appointment this next week and am actually looking forward to filling out that questionnaire about how my life has improved since the surgery. I just wish I could avoid stepping on that scale . . .

I had high hopes I would jump right back into exercising regularly once given the go ahead by the doctor, but that has not happened. Not exactly. After weeks of sleeping in (until 7 a.m.), trying to get up in the mornings at 4:25 a.m. has proven to be a challenge. Not only that, but the first week I started, I overdid it and realized I really did need to take it slower. I'm working my way back up to where I was before the surgery. I am confident I will get there eventually.

Since I could not be at work around the Christmas holidays, I treated them to lunch one day last week. We do a secret Santa Exchange, but they always pull together and get me a gift card or something. This year, they really out did themselves. I don't normally like to talk about gifts I receive, but I have to share: one of them made homemade brownies for me (brownies are a particular weakness for me), another made homemade chicken enchiladas (she makes the best--and I love enchiladas), one made me a beautiful blanket with kittens all over it, and another is in the process of crocheting what looks like will be a gorgeous afghan (she isn't quite done with it, but included in the big box what she had done along with the ball of yarn still attached--isn't that funny?). I can't tell you how much I appreciate these gifts. I work with such a great team.

This past week was a difficult one. It was a rough week at work on many levels. Usually I can maintain an emotional distance from certain aspects of my job, but not so much this week. Add to that the death of a coworker's 4 year old grandson this week and a friend's loss of her beloved cat. My heart is heavy and aches for everyone who is hurting and grieving right now. It doesn't help that I always tend to become more emotional this time of year. My father would have been 72 years old January 30th. As a result, I have been more sensitive than usual to bad news, even when it has little to do with me.

(photo of my dad and I)

I am grateful for: My family. My loving and understanding husband who has made me feel so special in the last few weeks when I needed it the most. My daughter whose out of tune/mixed up words version of Let It Go makes me smile and laugh every time. And I am grateful for all of you, who keep coming back to visit.

The child this week: This month, Mouse has had a difficult time letting Christmas go. I suppose our letting her talk us into keeping the Christmas tree up all month doesn't help. I also blame her wonderful teacher who was so busy working on other projects with the children during the month of December, that the December lessons were held over for January--and that included some very holiday themed projects. I'm proud to say my daughter was the only one who knew what Hanukkah and Kwanzaa are. At least only proud until I acknowledge that she knows this thanks to Special Agent Oso and Caillou.

When writing her name, which Mouse does with gusto and using many colors ("my name is a rainbow!"), she has taken to adding an extra line to her name near the end. It's not an extra "i". She's very firm on that. No, it's a line. Already asserting her individuality, that one.

Plans for the February: I am in the beginning stages of birthday planning mode for Mouse's 4th birthday this coming March. She has been talking nonstop about having a tea party for all her girlfriends (all the boys have to be dragons who swoop down and attack the tea party guests and chase them to Mouse's wooden house that my husband is supposed to build where the tea party will resume uninterrupted. The dragons can join, but only if they promise to be good. When asked why a girl can't be a dragon and a boy a tea party guest, Mouse was very adamant in putting everyone in their "appropriate" gender role positions--much to my dismay); however, she is very clear she doesn't want a tea party as her birthday party. She has gone back and forth between a Christmas party or a Lalaloopsy themed party for her birthday. We shall see . . .

How did January turn out for you? Does anything in particular stand out?

What was your favorite January read?

January In Reading Mews:

Number of Books Completed: 5 (I am one book away from my Goodreads Reading Challenge Goal!)

Favorite Book of the Month: A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (review pending)

Currently Reading:

Miramont's Ghost by Elizabeth Hall
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Next Up:

Under a Silent Moon by Elizabeth Haynes
and probably a romance novel. Something with a happy ending. I need that right now.

Reviews Posted:

Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman by Tessa Arlen
Windy City Blues by Marc Krulewitch
From the Archives: Empire Falls by Richard Russo
From the Archives: J.P. Beaumont Series by J.A. Jance
Joy Street by Laura Foley

Posts of Interest This Week:

Where Is Your Bookmark Top Ten Tuesday and 1st Paragraph Edition (Including Top Ten Most Anticipated Novels of 2015)
Where Is Your Bookmark? (01/13/2015) (Including Top Ten 2014 Releases I Meant To Read But Didn't Get To)
Where Is Your Bookmark? (01/20/2015) (Including the Top Ten Books I'll (Probably) Never Read)
Where Is Your Bookmark? (01/27/2015) (Including Top Ten Books I'd Love to Read If I Had A Book Club)
Mouse's Corner: Poetry in Childhood, A Guest Post by Poet Laura Foley

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Bookish Thoughts: Joy Street by Laura Foley

Joy Street by Laura Foley

Headmistress Press, 2014

Poetry; 48 pgs

From the Publisher:

"Joy Street" pays lyrical homage to the truth of living as a lesbian in the second half of life. Each poem in this radiantly plainspoken collection offers subtle and penetrating observations that swell to a rich tapestry of ordinary life, beheld from a stance of grace and buoyancy. Starting with intimations of desire in childhood, these poems travel through ordinary domestic scenes to the blessing of a maturity in which the narrator, still embracing desire and wild promise, thrives in the midst of life's darker gifts.

When first approached to read and review Laura Foley's book of poetry, Joy Street, I hesitated. While I occasionally read poetry, it is not something I read often nor am completely comfortable reviewing it. I have said before I am a bit intimidated by poetry, afraid I often miss the intricate meanings behind the words. Having said that, perhaps you will be surprised to know I write poetry from time to time.

I decided to take on the challenge and give Joy Street a try. My first thought was how much I appreciated her free form style, and how simple the poems were--simple in how approachable each poem was, I mean. Not in terms of depth--for there was depth. With each poem, the reader gets to see into the heart and mind of the author, experiencing her life through her words.

There were poems I liked better than others, some I could relate to and some that touched a personal chord with me. There was "Near Miss", a poem about the feeling of dread and foreboding that sometimes hits us; when we think of the tragic things that have befallen our friends and family, and realize how lucky we are, sure we might have--and still could be--next. There was the poem about the "Dinner Party" which read like a script from my every day life. How often I am listening to a conversation and think of something to add, only to fail to do so--that missed opportunity. "Springtime in the Grocery Store" made me think of young love and brought up my own memories with my husband. "Hindsight" and "No Humming" (the second brought tears to my eyes) brought out thoughts and memories of my dad.

The final poem of the book, "Low Night Tide", was my favorite of all:

Around our feet,

the scritch-scritch-scratch

of claws on sand,

ancient sounds

of midnight rounds,

of seemingly solid ground

shifting under us:

revealing worlds below our own.

As you can see, I cannot read poetry without reflecting it back on my own life. I do that with the books I read as well. I enjoyed reading Laura Foley's Joy Street, spending time in the author's mind while at the same time feeling her words in my own way.

To learn more about Laura Foley, and her book, please visit the author's website.

I hope you will check out what others had to say about Joy Street on the TLC Book Tours route!

Many thanks to the TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to be a part of this book tour. E-Copy of the book provided by the publisher.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Mouse's Corner: Poetry in Childhood, A Guest Post by Poet Laura Foley

If you have ever read a young children's book, you may be familiar with the lyrical style many are written in. There is often a playful cadence and quite a bit of rhyming. And when you think about it, songs are like this as well. Both help with language development in a very fun way. Mouse loves to read and sing (if you ever come for a visit, you might think you live in a musical the way she and I sing about every day life). Poetry is all around us in one form or another. It is something I hope to explore further with my daughter as she grows older.

I am interested in others' experiences with poetry in their childhood as well, and so I asked Laura Foley, author of Joy Street, to share some of her childhood experiences with poetry. Please welcome Laura to Musings of a Bookish Kitty:

The first poem I remember loving was Dylan Thomas’ Fern Hill. I savored the pastoral images from Thomas’ childhood in Wales (When I was young and easy, under the apple boughs), and the haunting ending, the evocation of old age and death (…though I sang in my chains like the sea). This was in fifth or sixth grade, in New York City. I remember our teacher, Mrs. Taliaferro, explaining how an image can mean more than the literal. This fairly brief poem was Thomas’ autobiography, from childhood to old age, a tale told in images.

I was also drawn to T.S. Eliot’s New Hampshire. In this one, I began to understand how big concepts could be expressed in small details. The lines Golden head, crimson head/Between the green tip and the root./Black wing, brown wing, hover over… stay with me to this day. It was a poem of children playing beneath an apple tree, but it was more than a simple story. Lilting and elegant, it suggested a world of ideas and sensations just beyond grasp.

Later, when I had my first child (by then I was living in New Hampshire!), I would recite from memory T. S. Eliot’s Prufrock (Let us go now, you and I, when the evening is spread out against the sky…). I loved the lyrical sounds of the words, the lilting cadence that felt comforting to me and, I hope, to my baby in the crib.

Thank you, Laura! Be sure and visit tomorrow to read my review of Joy Street.

To learn more about Laura Foley, and her book, please visit the author's website.

I hope you will check out what others had to say about Joy Street on the TLC Book Tours route!

Many thanks to the TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to be a part of this book tour.

Monday, January 26, 2015

Where Is Your Bookmark? (01/27/2015)

Did you have a nice weekend? It was very low key in my house. We are in between soccer lessons, and despite the weather being nice, did not even venture to the park. Mouse did play outside with her chalks, making a hopscotch game on the cement and jumping from space to space. We watched Caillou's Holiday movie a couple of times at least. While I want to complain about the fact it's almost February and the Sprout channel is still playing a Christmas movie, I shouldn't throw stones. My Christmas tree is still up. It doesn't have any decorations on it. That should count for something, right? I am thinking now it might need some hearts . . .

I think I am finally settling into my regular exercise routine again. Not being able to do much for several weeks as I recovered from my surgery took a toll on both my body and my motivation. I have been at it for two weeks now though, and am starting to feel better for it.

I finished the first book in the Coleridge Taylor mystery series, Last Words, by Rich Zahradnik, and plan to have my review ready for you next week. I have just started reading Elizabeth Hall's Miramont's Ghost, a Gothic tale set in the late 1800's about a clairvoyant young woman imprisoned in a castle. She's only four at the place I left off in the book--such a happy child. I already feel sorry for what is to come.

What are you reading? 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.

I jumped at the opportunity to read Miramont's Ghost by Elizabeth Hall when I heard what kind of novel it was. I have enjoyed the mysteries I have read as of late, but it's nice to lose myself in something more atmospheric for the time being. Here is the opening of my current read:

Mantiou Springs, Colorado

She sat at the piano, fingers still poised over the now-silent keys. The notes of the night serenade dissipated in the cool air, ghosts of sound, lingering in the periphery of light and shadow. The sun had set. Shadows crept across the room. But Adrienne stared straight ahead, lost in a trance of remembering. The music had carried her away, to another time and another place, when she was young and in love and the future still sparkled with possibility.

I was swept up into Adrienne's story right from the first paragraph. The image so clear in my mind. There is a strong sense of foreboding, if you well. At least for the younger, more carefree girl Adrienne once had been.

Would you continue reading?

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely ladies at Broke and Bookish.

This weeks' Top Ten Tuesday theme is Top Ten Books I'd Love to Read If I Had A Book Club. I went back and forth about how to approach this topic. Should I share books I wish I had read with a book club, books I did read with a book club (or in a read-a-long) or books I haven't yet read, but think would make great book club picks? I finally settled on doing some of each:

Books I read along with others in a book group or as a read-a-long:

1. Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber ~ I read this one with an online group and enjoyed the discussion. It brought out nuances in the book I might have missed otherwise.

2. Same for, Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, which I read with the same online book group.

3. This past fall, I read Fingersmith by Sarah Waters with Jennifer of Literate Housewife. It's the sort of book I really wanted--needed--to talk about as I read. I am glad I had that opportunity.

4. Under the Skin by Michel Faber ~ This was the first book I read for a face to face book club and it made for an interesting discussion. I do not think anyone in the group liked the book much, but that, in part, was what made the discussion what it was, I think.

Books I have read that I wish I could read with a book club:

5. One of my favorite books of all time, Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos would make for a great book club pick I think. The characters to the various story threads that run throughout the book . . . Plus, any excuse to read this great book again!

6. Haunting Bombay by Shilpa Agarwal ~ I read this book several years ago, but it has stayed with me. When I read it, I felt it would be a great book club pick, and I still feel that way. From the cultural aspects to the dark family secrets, to the mysticism, this is one worthy of discussion.

7. Another book that screamed BOOK CLUB PICK to me was Charlee Fam's The Last Train to Babylon. This novel deals with very serious and relevant of today issues that should be--and need to be--talked about.

Books I think I would enjoy reading with a book club:

8. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier ~ Because it's Daphne du Maurier.

9. The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian ~ This author's books seem like they would all be good book club picks. This is just one of many on my list of books I want to read by him.

10. Any of Haruki Murakami's novels really. He's an author that sort of intimates me, and so I figure a little hand holding as I read my first book by him might be the way to go.

Have you read any of these books? What books would do you wish you could read with a book club? What were your favorite book club picks if you are in a book club?