Category: Fiction

My Bookshelf A to Z

[Thanks to Heather over at bitsnbooks for this idea.]

top of books

Ais for author you’ve read the most books from.

Terry Pratchett is the clear winner with 44 books, including the one’s I’ve read that he co-authored: Good Omens and The Long Earth Trilogy.

 

 

Bis for best sequel ever.

An impossible question.

Moving on.

 

 

C

is for currently reading.

I’m currently reading three books (as usual):

From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré

Of course, this list is soon to be outdated.

Take a look at the bottom of the page to see what I’m reading when you read this!

Dis for drink of choice while reading.

Lemon Water or Coffee.

Mainly Coffee.

I gave up on blood and had a coffee transfusion.

 

Eis for e-reader or physical book?

Physical.

Here’s why.

 

 

Fis for fictional character you probably would have actually dated in high school.

I didn’t date in high school; I was interested in academics and not girls. Girls would have brought down my GPA. Never mind the fact I was probably related to 99% of them – no exaggeration.

I’m also much different now than I was then, so those factors must be taken into account. I’m going to have to say Wednesday Addams.

Gis for glad you gave this book a chance.

Ulysses by James Joyce.

Despite a rocky start, Ulysses has really grown on me.

 

 

His for hidden gem book.
The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl

From Goodreads: A series of grisly murders is rocking the streets of nineteenth-century Boston. But these are no ordinary killings. Each is inspired by the hellish visions of Dante’s Inferno. To end the bizarre and bloody spree, no ordinary detective will suffice. Enter the unlikely sleuths of the Dante Club: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, James Russell Lowell, and J. T. Fields — renowned scholars with the skills to decipher the devilish clues. But can this band of bookish gentlemen outwit a crafty killer? A terror-stricken city — and their own lives — depend on it.

Iis for important moment in your reading life.

The day I was first introduced to Dante and his Commedia.

Literally, a life-changing experience.

Also, a life-changing literary experience.

 

Jis for just finished.

I just finished reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

Based on Goodreads reviews, people either love it or hate it.

Personally, I loved it.

 

Kis for kinds of books you won’t read.

Erotica / Bodice Rippers and the like.

Some works have no merit.

Except as kindling.

A part of me died just writing that.

Lis for longest book you’ve read.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

or Ulysses by James Joyce

or Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.

I’m not sure; page numbers vary by edition.

Mis for major book hangover.

Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer.

Please, go out and read it.

Now!

Hey, I said please . . .

Nis for number of bookcases you own.

Four:

Two are standard chain-store bookshelves sagging under the weight of the books they hold, one is a low school library bookcase, and the other is a 6ftx5ft custom job I built in high school.

Ois for one book you have read multiple times.

I’ve worn out 2 copies of Dante’s Commedia.

 

 

 

Pis for preferred place to read.

Either in my chair on on my sofa wrapped up in my comfy blanket with coffee close at hand and Smokey on my lap . . . though he does tend to sit on the book more often than not.

 

 

Qis for quote that inspires you/gives you all the feels from a book you’ve read.

“In the middle of the journey of our life I found myself within a dark woods where the straight way was lost.”
― Dante Alighieri, Inferno

 

 

Ris for reading regret.

Twilight

Need I say more?

 

 

Sis for series you started and need to finish (all books are out in series).

The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare – I still have to read City of Lost Souls and City of Heavenly Fire.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl – I need to read Beautiful Darkness, Beautiful Chaos, and Beautiful Redemption.

Tis for three of your all-time favorite books.

I’m going to cheat and use book series.

Dante’s Commedia

Terry Pratchett’s Discworld

C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia

Uis for unapologetic fanboy.

Dante Alighieri

Terry Pratchett

Neil Gaiman

 

Vis for very excited for this release more than all the others.

The Shepherd’s Crown by Terry Pratchett.

A Tiffany Aching book, it will be the last book set on Discworld written by Sir Terry.

 

Wis for worst bookish habit.

Not using a bookmark even though I have about a dozen of them.

 

 

Xis for X Marks The Spot.

Start at the top left of your shelf and pick the 27th book:

Seamus Heaney’s Beowulf

 

 

Yis for your latest book purchase.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

 

 

 

Z is for ZZZ-snatcher book (last book that kept you up WAY late).

Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman

Teaser Tuesday: American Gods and Summer Reading 2015

I – and my students – survived another exam week; this means that school is officially over for the year!

However, as any teacher can tell you, we don’t really get breaks in the summer. Personally, I’ll be updating the curriculum for at least two classes to finish their alignment with state standards by the due date. Fun stuff. (Really!)

The wheel of time has turned in its course to

Teaser TuesdayJust in case you don’t know, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! All you have to do is grab the book you’re currently reading, open to a random page and share two sentences from that page. But make sure you don’t share any spoilers!*

*I wish I could take credit for this introduction, but I shamelessly stole it from Heather over at bitsnbooks. To help me make amends, you should go check out her blog.

This week I’m reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

I picked a line from page 32, using the supreme logic that 32 is my favorite number:

He reached into his pocket, produced a folded newspaper, 
and handed it to Shadow. "Page seven," he said. "Come on 
back to the bar. You can read it at the table."

American Gods Cover

In Prospect

I haven’t yet solidified my Summer Reading List, but there are several titles sitting on my shelf that need reading. Help me decide what to read next!

Bookshelf Summer 2015
I have:

From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré

Atonement by Ian McEwan

1916: The Easter Rising by Tim Pat Coogan

A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie

The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova

Boneman’s Daughters by Ted Dekker

Living History by Hillary Clinton

A special thanks to the Crone Chronicler for the suggestions of Room by Emma Donoghue and The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery!

Don’t forget to follow me on:

 

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

 

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

 

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Lost in Translation

The other day I decided to have some fun by running book titles through the Bad Translator engine.

One of the first I did was Neil Gaiman’s Fragile Things: Short Stories and Wonders, which changed to

You Can Write A Secret Medical History of Miracles

I found it funny, tweeted it, and went about my day. Imagine my surprise several hours later when I went back to Twitter and found close to an hundred notifications. How did this happen? How did this little tweet gain such traction?

The answer was not found on Twitter; instead, it was in my inbox:

Neil Gaiman Retweeted MeThat’s right; Neil Gaiman – the author himself – retweeted me! This means that I have now been retweeted by both Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer. To me, that’s epic.

Other titles I ran through the translator and their new titles are:

Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances (Neil Gaiman)

An Experience to Report to the Police

The Art of Asking; or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help (Amanda Palmer)

This Basis may not be According to Plan, but there is a Way, as You Know, of Fear.

The Silkworm (J.K. Rowling aka Robert Galbraith)

Insects, Of Course

The Cuckoo’s Calling (J.K. Rowling aka Robert Galbraith)

People say Crazy Things

From the Earth to the Moon (Jules Verne)

A Few Months Ago

A Pocket Full of Rye (Agatha Christie)

Large Sports Bag

Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn)

Come On, Guys!

What about you? What titles can you mangle?

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Teaser Tuesday: The Violinist’s Thumb

The past few days have been . . . not normal. I’ll post about that a bit later on.

Nonetheless, the wheel of time has once again turned to

Teaser Tuesday

Just in case you don’t know, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! All you have to do is grab the book you’re currently reading, open to a random page and share two sentences from that page. But make sure you don’t share any spoilers!*

*I wish I could take credit for this introduction, but I shamelessly stole it from Heather over at bitsnbooks. To help me make amends, you should go check out her blog.

This week I’m reading The Violinist’s Thumb by Sam Kean (the same Kean who wrote The Disappearing Spoon). 

They gnawed the cartilage off bones and 
sucked the marrow out, and cooked up all 
the fleshy victuals - the heart, kidneys, 
brain, and, most succulent of all, the
liver.  And with that meal, in a
godforsaken cabin at eighty degrees north
latitude, European explorers first learned
a hard lesson about genetics - a lesson
other stubborn Arctic explorers would 
have to keep learning over and over, a
lesson scientists would not understand 
fully for centuries.

Violinist's Thumb Cover

In Retrospect

I gave Neil Gaiman’s Trigger Warning 5/5 stars. My favorite story was “The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury.”

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Teaser Tuesday: Trigger Warning

Today I’m off to the aquarium and maritime museum; look for photographs in the next Sunday Snapshots (a feature I just made up as I’m typing this – we’ll see how it goes).

Be that as it may, once again the wheel of time has turned to

Teaser Tuesday

Just in case you don’t know, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! All you have to do is grab the book you’re currently reading, open to a random page and share two sentences from that page. But make sure you don’t share any spoilers!*

*I wish I could take credit for this introduction, but I shamelessly stole it from Heather over at bitsnbooks. To help me make amends, you should go check out her blog.

This week I’m reading Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman. I haven’t technically started it yet, but it’s next on my TBR pile, so I’ll just open a page at random . . .

OK, this is from “November Tale” on page 109:

The brazier was small and square and made
of an aged and fire-blackened metal that
might have been copper or brass.  It had
caught Eloise's eye at the garage sale
because it was twined with animals that
might have been dragons and might have 
been sea-snakes.  One of them was missing
its head.

I don’t know about you, but that’s tantalizing, right there! Makes me want to read it right now! Unfortunately, other items require my attention. Things like grading papers and preparing for end-of-term exams and sending out summer school remedial class notices (hopefully not).

And today, a field trip! Huzzah!

Trigger Warning Cover

In Retrospect

I haven’t yet finished The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean, but of the 49% I have read, it’s absolutely wonderful; I plan on condensing and incorporating some of his anecdotes in next years’ classes.

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Teaser Tuesday: The Disappearing Spoon

The gnomes are hard at work crafting brilliant articles and staging stunning photographs.

However, once again the wheel of time has turned to

Teaser TuesdayJust in case you don’t know, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! All you have to do is grab the book you’re currently reading, open to a random page and share two sentences from that page. But make sure you don’t share any spoilers!*

*I wish I could take credit for this introduction, but I shamelessly stole it from Heather over at bitsnbooks. To help me make amends, you should go check out her blog.

This week I’m reading The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements by Sam Kean. The book is an anecdotal walk through the table of elements, and I knew Mr. Kean was an author who really gets me – as they say – when I read these wonderful lines on page twelve:

Probably the biggest frustration for many 
students was that the people who got the
periodic table, who could really unpack 
how it worked, could pull so many facts
from it with such dweeby nonchalance. 

It was the same irritation color-blind 
people must feel when the fully sighted
find sevens and nines lurking inside
those parti-colored dot diagrams - - 
crucial but hidden information that 
never quite resolves itself into 
coherence.

Huzzah! Recognition of a plight afflicting eight per cent of men – myself included. Hopefully, the book will live up to my now-high expectations.

The Disappearing Spoon

In Retrospect

I gave  Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman five stars. I liken this selection of short stories to a packet of chips – or crisps, if you prefer – in that I sat down to read only one or two only to look up two hours later having devoured the whole thing. Honestly, it is that good. It’s difficult to pick out a favorite line or story, but this one from “How to Talk to Girls at Parties” best sums up my feelings:

You cannot hear a poem without it changing you.

 

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