Rec contr' Amor non es guirens lai on sos poclers, s'autra.

These are the top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing’s users (as of today). Bold what you have read, italicise what you started but couldn’t finish, and strike through what you couldn’t stand.

I'm also going to italicise what I own, but haven't read, 'cause there's a lot.

( books under here! )

Music

On Peak Hill - Stars

This song is a little more electric than their other songs, but it's still a slow ballad. I love the bits and pieces of electronica that you can hear shifting in and out of the music.

Ochrasy - Mando Diao

Mando Diao is a Swedish band, and their song Ochrasy is a guitar fueled political statement, without the heavy-handed "You bad!" that is present in so many political songs.

Voice on Tape - Jenny Owen Youngs

A pop-indie song that has pieces of voice messages running through it, it starts a little oddly, but gets much better towards the end. Like the other two, it's more of a ballad than anything else, but it's a fun song that has a great repetitive rhythm.

Tangled up in Blue - Bob Dylan

Dude, it's Dylan.

Books:

The Book of Fate - Brad Meltzer

This is a good suspense/political conspiracy book. It's light enough that it's an easy read, but the content isn't fluff. The story is fairly engaging (if sometimes a little too well planned - you can see some obvious links that aren't revealed until later) and it moves quickly, especially the later half of the book.

Night Watch - Sergei Lukyanenko

Vampires and werewolves, oh my! The front cover says "Harry Potter, set in Gorky Park" which is absolute crap. The book is nothing like Harry Potter - it's by far much darker, and much murkier. Good is good, but it's a fine line that can be blurred. The characters often act contrary to what you would expect from the good/evil division. The story itself is fast-paced, and philosophical, but not to the point where you get bored.

Lost in Mongolia - Colin Angus

Colin Angus and two friends rafted/canoed/kayaked down the Yenisei river - from Mongolia, to the Arctic Ocean. Along the one, one gets lost for several days, and must live off the land. The story follows them from the Mongolia yurts, to Siberian cities. They interact with tribesmen and mob bosses. And it's all a true story!

Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer

A true account of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, when 8 people, from 2 expeditions, died. The author is a journalist who had been hired to do an article climbing the mountain, and was part of one of the expeditions. The story can drag it's feet sometimes (the author always refers to people by their full names, which can get a little annoying), and you can tell it was written by a journalist and not a story-teller, but it's still griping. The lead-up is long and drawn out, but you get a full view of what it's like to climb Mount Everest. The latter half of the book movies very quickly, with events unraveling at a speed that is nearly unimaginable. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has an adventurous streak.

A.

Due to a recent post, and a recent conversation, I've decided to give a review of several of my favourite books from the past year. They run the spectrum - some are straight fiction, some are fantasy, there's history, travel, mystery. But I enjoyed all of them.

( Book list under here )

So last night was the 5th Annual Literary Follies, in Kemptville. If I had known that it wasn't just a few people sitting aroung, that it was an actual, honest-to-gods event, with planning, and music, and skits and what-not, I never would have done it. You know, 'cause of nerves and all. And the prep for it - the practicing, the pacing, the memorization.....yeah, I'm too lazy for all that.

So instead, I show up, I realize what the hell I've gotten myself into, and I get up on stage......and gobsmack the audience. They loved my reading (I read a part of "Archeology" from Yarn Harlot; the Secret Life of a Knitter.) and they even laughed when they were supposed to laugh. Awesome.

I got plenty of compliments at the end, as well as the standard "Oh, when I was your age, I knit...." and "When we cleaned out my aunt's house, we found a 12 X 12 room that was full, absolutely full, of yarn...."

The proceeds from the evening went to the Friends of the Library - a group that is raising money to renovate the library in town (a beautiful historic building. I have so many memories of that place. Of the kids corner in the basement, the smell of books, the crinkle of the plastic wrap around them....) Before the start, during the intermission, and after the show, there was a book sale - 4 for $1. I only got 4 - there weren't too many books that piqued my interest. I did get Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Other than that, I managed to buy $100 worth of second hand books in the two used book stores in KV. And I ransacked my mom's cookbooks (with her permission) for an obscene amount of books. I have no idea where all these books are going - this is crazy. It's madness! MADNESS! I need another bookshelf.

A.

1. Lost Cosmonaut; Travels to the Republics that Tourism Forgot - Daniel Kalder travel
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - JK Rowling children’s lit
3. The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell - Lilian Jackson Braun mystery
4. Playing with Fire - Gena Showalter romance
5. 1491; New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus - Charles C. Mann history
6. Revelation - Carol Berg fantasy
7. Bel Canto - Ann Patchett fiction

Two in One Post

I kept forgetting to post both of these, so I’m just going to put this all together.

Firstly, my December reading list.

1. The Last Templar - Raymond Khoury
2. Time Was Soft There - Jeremy Mercer
3. Hotter Than Hell - Mark Tushingham
4. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - JK Rowling
5. The Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham
6. Written in Bones; How Human Remains Unlock the Secrets of the Dead - Paul Bahn
7. Star Wars; Betrayal - Aaron Allston

A wide range of books to round out 2006. My 50 book challenge actually started in April, so my year isn’t quite up yet. However, I read at least 64 books last year, however 59 of those were between April and December 31. I didn’t keep track between January and April, and I figure I must be missing a few.

I re-read a few favourites (ie the Harry Potter books and Day of the Triffids) but I made up for it and a wide selection of books – ranging from history to fiction, biography to politics, travel to romance. I missed a few sections (mystery most notably) but I’m hoping to get a few books of that ilk in in the next few months.

Secondly, my New Year’s resolutions. I really only made one this year, but one that I am intent on keeping.

I’m happy with me the way I am, faults and all. I didn’t want to make a resolution that I wouldn’t keep, and so wasn’t going to make any at all. But then, the other day, I got to thinking (while organizing the cooking section at Coles) that I really wanted to buy a cookbook. Which lead me to think, I don’t really look at the cookbooks that I now own (and I own a lot. I love cookbooks. I love the look of them on my shelf above my stove. I love the idea of having them there, of being able to open them up and cook something out of them. I just never do, you see. I never use them, I never crack them open, I just buy them and have immense pleasure about owning them. Much like I am with all other books, really.)

So, based on that, and my nearly-overwhelming needwant to buy more, my New Year’s Resolution is to use my cookbooks more. To actually make something out of them at least once a week. To peruse through them some evening, and make a list of what I need to make a certain dish, then when I’m grocery shopping buy that, rather than the old stand-bys of what I always make. This should help shove me out of my food rut, and cause me to spend less at the Food Court while I’m at work.

I’d also like to spend more time with my friends. New Year’s brunch pretty much waved that flag in my face. I had such a wonderful time with everyone who showed up, that it just reminded me that I don’t get to see people nearly often enough. We’re always all so busy, so rushed, that it can be hard to get together, but dammit! I want to change that this year. I want to get together for coffee, for brunch, for a movie, for a wine and cheese, for whatever and just sit and laugh and have a grand old time.

So what say flist? Is that do-able, or just another New Year’s “resolution” that will fade away into the realm of good intentions that will be dusted off every few weeks and held up as a “but I’ll start this tomorrow!” example?

A.

1. green grass, running water - thomas king
2. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
3. After Midnight - Teresa Medeiros
4. Sagas and Myths of the Northmen - Penguin Epics
5. The Justification of Johann Gutenberg - Blake Morrison
6. Thud! - Terry Pratchett


Thoughts:

Wuthering Heights: Why this drivel is considered a classic is beyond me. I’ve read cereal boxes that are better written, and more absorbing. This is the poor mans Bronte, really, and should be passed over in favour of…..anything. Anything at all, including Nora Roberts and Dan Brown, which are better constructed than this “book” (term used loosely.)

Also avoid Sagas and Myths of the Northmen, or at least this rendition of it. It’s a horrible translation. It’s choppy and has no flow, which makes it very hard to get into.

I did, however, enjoy Green Grass, Running Water a lot more than I thought I would. Funny, while still taking the material seriously. Well-written and riveting. Read it.

A.

Ok, wow, long day. Yay for tomorrow off! Except for that 4 hours shift at Coles, until close. But yay for a ride home after! I got me some crazy-mad shifts coming up - shifts where I don't get off until 11. If I don't get off until 11, I won't be home til midnight at the *earliest* if I take a bus. And then I have to be up at 6 to get to Stats to teach all day. Yes, that sounds crazy to me too.

In between all this working, I'm knitting a really interesting scarf for my mom for Christmas. It's a braided scarf - I got the pattern out of the Holiday issue of Vogue Knitting, if anyone is interested. Otherwise, visit the Vogue Knitting website, the red scarf that featured on the magazine cover is what I'm doing. I'm trying to knit a foot a day - and let me tell you, it's been a struggle so far.

And with the reading as well - I think this month will be a crap shoot for books. It's mid-way through the month, and I'm still on book two.

There's more, of course, but I'm tired and I don't feel like typing out all my stupid stories at the moment. But trust me, they're funny.

A.

1. Tapping the Dream Tree - Charles de Lint
2. Caucasus; Mountain Men and Holy Wars - Nicholas Griffin
3. The Truth About Love - Stephanie Laurens
4. The Dragonbone Chair - Tad Williams
5. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - JK Rowling
6. The Dharma Bums - Jack Kerouac
7. The Coma - Alex Garland
8. The Year of Our War - Steph Swainston

All I'll say right now is, avoid The Year of Our War but read The Coma.

1. Exile’s Return - Raymond E. Feist
2. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone - JK Rowling
3. The Epic of Gilgamesh - Stephen Mitchell
4. The Truth - Terry Pratchett
5. Silverthorn - Raymond E. Feist
6. The Day the World Came to Town; 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland - Jim Defede
7. To Distraction - Stephanie Laurens
8. Hadrian’s Wall - David J. Breeze and Brian Dobson
9. Transformation - Carol Berg

Ok, I read Rosie Thomas' Sun At Midnight in June, but forgot to mention it. She's in the Meavy Binchy, Charolette Bingham category of writer.

For August, its

1. Why I Hate Canadians– Will Ferguson
2. On The Beach- Nevil Shute
3. Adultery- Richard B Wright
4. Angels & Demons- Dan Brown
5. Phantom- Terry Goodkind
6. Wordsworth Classics' Selected Stories- Anton Chekov
7. Devil’s Bride- Stephanie Laurens
8. Thou Shalt Not Grill- Tamar Myers
9. The Adventure of English: The Biography of a Language- Melvyn Bragg

The only one I don't recommend is the Chekov translation. It was.....not good. It didn't suck harshly, but it was obvious here and there that the translation needed work.

If anyone wants a further review of any of the books, let me know, and I'll provide it.

A.

for some reason, these two books never made my "hey, I read these!" lists

Until I Find You - John Irving
Lost in Mongolia: Rafting the World's Last Unchallenged River - Colin Angus.

The first is very much an Irving novel. The ending is....uneventful. The last third of the book is, actually.

The second book is terrific. It's a travel diary, basically, written by a Canadian who rafted down the Yenisey river, through Mongolia and Russia. He is by no means a writer, but the book is intriguing anyway.

A.

The Sorcerer: Metamorphosis – Jack Whyte
Eldest – Christopher Paolini
Little White Lies – Gemma Townley
Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses – Bruce Feiler

It was a month for sequels. Finally finished Jack Whyte's Camulod Chronicles series. He has a few more books out that are related to it, but aren't part of the series. Overall the series was good, although it did wan a bit in the middle. This book was slightly higher than average, but only because it tied everything together.

Walking the Bible is an interesting read. I'm nearly finished it now, and while I don't appreciate how preachy the books is, I do enjoy the archealogical, historical, and geographical information. Basically, the premis of the book was to tie the stories in the Bible (actually, Torah. The guy's Jewish, and he's only looking at what the Christian's call the Old Testament) to the land - Isreal, Jordan, Egypt, etc. It rapidly turned into a book about the author re-finding his faith, what faith is, and how even if you can say "Ok, yeah, that really happened, we have hard evidence" it actually diminshes the bible, even as it supports it.

Having said all that - that it's preachy and about a guy re-finding his faith - I'd still recommend it to everyone. I'm neither Christian nor Jewish (or, for that matter, Muslim) and I tend to stay far away from anything even remotely connected to "religion" in that sense, but it's a good book to get you thinking, and quesitoning your beliefs and your feelings toward religion.

A.

I read American Gods by Neil Gaiman early on in the month. It reminded me of Long, Dark, Tea Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams. I didn't find it all that interesting, to be honest. It was well written, but it didn't suck in my attention the way that some books do. Basically, it's the story of the version of Gods that are in America. Gods whose images were brought over to the new world via immigrants, who prayed to these Gods and made them real. Then, millenia later, these Gods start a war with the new Gods of technology. Got all that?

I then didn't read much for a while. I was slowing going through The Templar Legacy by Steve Berry. It"s somewhat like the Da Vinci Code, only the Templars greatest secret is hidden even from the Templars, who still exist, but secretly, in an abbey in the Pyrenees. So a bunch of people (several quasi-secret agents from a US department, two Templar monks, a Muslim woman, and a French man) go looking for this treasure, following a set of clues (and this is where it links to the Da Vinci Code) and trying to get killed by the other Templar monks after them. Relatively good book, but very much a spy/mystery thriller.

I finally finished that, and quickly read Does Anything Eat Wasps, published by New Scientist Magazine. It's a bunch of science related questions, and answers from ordinary folk and experts. An interesting book to flip through, but reading it cover to cover can get a little dull.

I'm currently finishing up Buried Treasure, Travels Through The Jewel Box by Victoria Finlay. In it, she traces the histories and myths of various gemstones - Amber, Jet, Peridot, Pearls, Sapphires, Rubies, Emeralds, and Diamonds. She looks at where they're found, why we love them, and how important they've been historically. It's all rather interesting, although I would have enjoyed the book better if she had looked at less traditional gems. At any rate, the book is still interesting, provided you like gemstones.

A.

I quickly hopped through The Wives of Bath by Wendy Holden first thing this month. Quick, breezy read, very much Brit-Chick-Lit, but still smart and funny. Her characters are always well done - smart, but with the same pit-falls that we all have.

After that it was a quick detour to Star Wars: The Swarm War by Troy Denning. Third in a series, very Star Wars. I enjoyed it, but I enjoy Star Wars.

Then I bounced straight into Jack Whyte's The Fort At River's Bend. Still following Aruther and Merlin through their journey's in book 5 of the series. Aruther is a young man now (well, he starts off at age 8-ish, he's 15 by the time it ends) and nothing really happens except Merlin finally ges laid.

After that, I enjoyed The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger. It's less about fashion, and more about horrible bosses, but it was still mildly amusing. Very glad I didn't spend more than $10 on it though.

Then I read The Da Vinci Code again, but I'll assume I don't need to give a review of it.

Lastly, I just finished The Geographer's Library by John Fasman. I still have no idea who the geographer really was -- there's one guy that was mentioned throughout the book, and I assume it was him, but honestly, it could have been the Historian as well. The library part was fairly easy to deduce, although it was in no way related to books. It was an interesting read, even if the auther did sometimes go into extraneous details.

That's it for May, alhtough I think 6 books in 31 days is nothing to sneeze at.

A.

Yarn Harlot by Stephanie Pearl-McFee. Funny funny funny. Any knitter should read this, in fact any crafts-person should read this. My mother has gotten a huge kick out of it, and she doesn't knit anymore. Down-to-earth, true, and humourous stories from an addicted knitter.

The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl. Set in Boston, in 1865, it stars several American literary writers, who are in the midst of translating Dante's Divine Comedy into English. They have to solve a series of murders based on scenes from Dante. The writing flows as if it were written in 1865 -- it reads much the same way that literature used to. While it's well-written, it does tend to get a little heavy, and can bog a reader down. I'd recommend it if you like early American literature (think Melville, Longfellow, or Whitman) and mystery novels.

Confessions of an Ugly Step-Sister by Gregory Maguire. True to Maguire's style, this is another take on a beloved fairy tale. Turned upside down, twisted around, and with a modern take on dysfunctional families, it's a quick, easy read. It's virtually fluff, but enjoyable fluff. Not as funny as Wicked but amusing in it's own right.

Uriel's Machine; The Ancient Origins of Science by Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas. An interesting book, indeed. It delves into the mysteries of Stonehenge, Newgrange, and megalithic sites discovered in Egypt and Isreal. It also weaves in Freemasonry, Judaism, Welsh bards, Druidism, and the Grooved Ware People, who once inhabited the British Isles. If you like astronomy, religious studies, archeology, or history, this book might intrigue you.

S.

A while back someone requested that I list in my LJ what I was reading.

I haven't had a lot of time to read lately, all of it seems to be eaten up by more mundane matters -- sleeping, eating, cleaning. Even knitting and socializing has taken precedence over my reading. I've tried to correct that recently, to immerse myself more in my books, to become a reader again, instead of a bibliophile. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't, but I've gotten through a few books, so here goes.

I finished Blink by Malcolm Gladwell a while back. I'd gotten it for my mother for Christmas, and she passed it on to me. I enjoyed it, but I don't think I understand the hype around it. It was, however, an easy read for the subject matter, and I did enjoy what I gleaned out of it.

On the fiction end of things, I finally finished The Saxon Shore by Jack Whyte. It's the fourth book (I think fourth, could be fifth) in his Dream of Eagles series. It's all about Merlin and Arthur, only the first book, The Skystone starts further back, with Arthur's great-grandfather. THis one has finally introduced Arthur, albeit as a baby. It's an interesting look, partly historical, partly fiction, partly fantasy, at Britain immediately after the Romans left, and as the Saxons, Angles, Jutes and Danes started to take over. I've been reading the series fairly consistently since November, and I think I need a bit of a break before I start the next book. While I'm enjoying it, I think I need some distance before I get bored with the whole thing.

I've also read Freakonomics by authors Levitt and Dubner. As with Blink I enjoyed the book, but don't understand all the hype. It was a quick read, but enjoyable. Interesting food for thought.

I'm currently in the middle of Eragon by Christopher Paolini. It is, techinically, a children's book, but I'm enjoying some of the subtexts in it, intentional or not. The author seems to have drawn on Celtic and Norse myths, which I'm unsure if he intended or not. But words like "Tuatha" and "Tronjheim" couldn't be anything but Irish and Norse, respectively. In fact, the original inhabitants of Ireland, the faeries, are called "Tuatha de Danann" and the "--heim" is so very reminiscent of the nine Norse worlds -- Vanaheim, Alfheim, Jotunheim, Muspelheim, Svartalheim, and Niflheim. (The other three are Asgard, Midgard, and Hel, in case you were wondering.)

I also had a quick reading detour into chick-brit-lit land, with Maeve Binchy's Quenints. A very light, quick read. Nothing in it that would nourish the mind, but it was good for the soul. It's very much a Binchy book, and it revisits characters from some of her other books, most notably Scarlett Feather, Evening Class, and Tara Road. It basically delves further into some stories, carries others on, all the while building a new one.

And that's it. That's been my reading list for the past few months. Not nearly what I usually get through, but interesting nonetheless.

A.

I'm hot, and I'm stinky. I should have showered yesterday, but I didn't. I'll shower before I go out tonight, though, I promise.

My clothes, however, they smell good, as I just did laundry. Must learn not to sit at the Oak while I wait for it to wash/dry -- it ends up being waaaaay too expensive, as I then have to pay for food and coffee. I should just stick to doing laundry while I'm at work.

While eating my fries and gravy, I was reading the Sun, and they had a list of health benefits from quitting smoking. Yeah, none of it applies to me. Taste and smell are supposed to get better -- nope. And that's not just 'cause I have a cold right now. Walking is supposed to get easier -- I never noticed it was hard in the first place. I mean, when I smoked, I was walking roughly an hour a day -- to and from work, 'cause I don't have a bus pass. Wasn't hard. That's.....7 km in total. So, 3.5 km takes me a half hour, which is actually pretty quick, so smoking certainly wasn't hampering my walking, nor my breathing, 'cause I wasn't winded at the end of that. Or during. So the increased lung capacity I should be getting from no longer smoking is probably out the window, too. Dammit! If I don't get anything out of this not smoking, why am I doing it? *shakes fist at the sky* I want my health benefits!

I bought a new cookbook the other day, The Working Parents Cookbook. So, ok, I'm not a parent, working or otherwise, but I thought it would be helpful for a)nutrious recipes that b)a picky eater like me would enjoy while c)not having a lot of time to cook. I was right on all three accounts. I haven't actually made anything out of it yet, but I did look through it last night, and it all sounds good and easy. I did look through it at the store, of course, but I had limited time, as I had a bus transfer, and didn't want to waste two more bus tickets. I figured if it was no good, I'd just return it. But I don't need to, so all is good in the culinary world.

Also, my new theme song, "Criminal" by Fiona Apple. "I've been a bad bad girl/I've been careless with a delicate man/And it's a sad sad world/When a girl will break a boy just because she can."
A.

I lovelovelove the new Van Morrison. The first track, Stranded, is so utterly fantastic. I ended up listening to it while I read my book last night before going to sleep. It is definately dinner party music. All I have to figure out now is the logistics of a dinner party. Considering that I don't have a table (not really an issue, I didn't in Vienna either. There are ways around it) and seating might be a problem (will have to go with a small dinner party of 4, I guess). The menu I'll have fun with. I got a new cookbook for dinner, Fab Food; Retro Classics, which I think would be a good place to start. Or! Or, I could always get a new cookbook. 'Cause they're ever so much fun.

Speaking of books, the one I'm reading, The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, I left that at work yesterday. So I was trying to decide what to read. I have lots of books, and a few of them I haven't read yet, but I wanted something.....light-hearted, but adventursome. So I decided on The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman. I think it's on the reading list for Children's Lit at Carleton. Anyway, I read it when it first came out (along with the other two books in the series, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass) and haven't read it since. A friend of mine who was over the other day commented on the titles, which lead me to pick up the first book last night.

A.

"A new field of interest is likely to require much of your concentration for the next several days, Anya. You could be studying a new spiritual discipline, or perhaps an intellectual problem such as the workings of the Universe - or both. Your mind is especially sharp right now, and so this is a good time to begin a new course of study. The only caution: take occasional breaks so as to avoid a sore back and eyestrain."

Too late.  I went to bed early last night due to a sore back, but not eyestrain.  I'm currently reading "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" -- about the holy grail, mostly.  So far I've read about the Cathars (which I then, of course, had to go and google, so I spent several hours hunched over my laptop reading about them.)  and the Knights Templar, from conception to demise.  Now, we're getting into the "this story is fishy" aspect of it -- basically, how the dates of conception don't gel, and how the story, at times, is just a little too pat.  Anyway, conspiracy theory or not, it's an interesting read.

As I don't have a printer, I've had to mail off some cover letters to my mom, so she can print them, and give them to me, at which point I can fax/mail them off along with my CV, which my mom is also printing off for me.  If I had a new job, I could buy a printer, but to get that new job, I need a printer, and it's just an ugly ugly ugly circle.

Next week, however, I have a car.  I don't know for how long, but I do.  I might be looking for company for a drive out to my mom's house sometime mid-week, to check on the cats.  Anyone want to see Tali again, let me know.  Alternately, anyone willing to risk getting into a car with me driving, let me know.  (I would like to point out that I have never had an accident with me behind the wheel.  Only with me in the passenger's seat.)

I'm rambling again.  It must have to do with mornings.

A.