Abandoning a Book

I just got a new iPhone, so haven't been doing as much reading lately as I usually do.  Before I got the iPhone, though, I was reading a book which I unfortunately gave up on.  I usually don't give up on a book,  but this was one the was just boring me to tears.  About halfway through, I remembered my wonderful Content Area Reading professor from Wichita State, who advised us that if we are reading for pleasure, it should truly be pleasurable, and not to force yourself to read something that you just aren't enjoying.  I thought to myself, "Stephany, what are you doing?"  The book was An Unsuitable Attachment by Barbara Pym.  I just didn't like any of the characters, let alone care whether any of them had happy endings.  In fact, none of the characters in the book seemed to even like each other.  If the characters don't like each other, how am I supposed to like any of them?  I did peek at the ending (maybe I did care a little?) but abandoned the book.  Now I am reading Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, a YA novel.  I am enjoying it much more than the Barbara Pym novel, although I am not getting through it much faster, because of the new iPhone discussed above.  I love the Kindle app!

Best Middle Grade Books

Check out this link for 100 recommended middle grade books from the last century and 10 from this past decade. I loved this list. And I love the name of the blog...The Book Aunt. That's kind of how I see myself. I'll have to add it to the blogs I follow.

Tips on Giving and Receiving Books

I am linking to this article that I found really interesting.  As a reader, I love to give books for Christmas, but don't always know how to go about it.  Not only does this article discuss choosing books as gifts, but also gives tips on receiving books graciously.  I know I have been guilty of the last item on her list.

More Gift Ideas for Book Lovers

I found another list of great gifts for readers.  This is part #5 of this blogger's list of gift ideas.  If you read through the list to the bottom of this post, there are links to parts #1- #4.  It is so fun browse and "window shop" on line.

Working Out the Bugs

Grrr....I am having trouble posting images.  What is the deal?  I posted images of the covers to a couple of books I blogged about, but on subsequent days, they won't load.  I hope I figure this out soon or I may move this blog.  I'll post the new address here if I decide to move it.

Georgette Heyer

I had heard from several friends that Georgette Heyer is the next best thing to Jane Austen and I am starting to believe them.  I gather that she is considered to have established the genre of the Regency romance novel.  Since she was not writing about her own time period, as was Jane Austen, she had to do extensive research and included many details about Regency life in her novels to help her readers better understand the plots.  I find the novels richer for these details.  From what I've read about Georgette Heyer she was meticulous in her research and rarely made a mistake.

I read Devil's Cub last week and just finished its prequel, These Old Shades, today.  They were both charming, delightful, funny and romantic.  These Old Shades especially picked up the pace the further I got into the novel and if I weren't reading in the bathtub, I would have been on the edge of my seat  during the climactic confrontation between the hero, the Duke of Avon, and the villain, the Comte de Saint-Vire (or that "pig-person" as our heroine, Leonie would say).  Previously I had read The Reluctant Widow and enjoyed it, but maybe not as much as these two I just finished.

So today, I went to Barnes and Noble and ended up buying a copy of the four Regency romances that were currently available at the store.  When I first heard about Georgette Heyer, her books were no longer in print, but many have been re-issued and are now available.  I am hoping that the same thing happens with D.E. Stevenson, another recent personal discovery.

Books for Boys and Young Men

As the mom of only boys, I am always on the lookout for books geared toward the male gender.  Here is a post of reading suggestions for boys that I found interesting.

Great Gifts for Readers

I found this list on another book blog.  It gives some great Christmas gift ideas for the readers and writers in your life.  Make sure to go to the bottom of the list where you can click on last year's suggestions.  This second list includes a whole section on ideas for Jane Austen lovers.

Books About Books

Next to reading fiction, I like to read books about books.  Here are some of the ones I have read (I own all but the last one):

1. Book Lust and More Book Lust by Nancy Pearl.  Nancy Pearl is a librarian, an avid reader, and I think occasionally appears on NPR.  She is well-read and is able to recommend books in just about any category, including chapters like "Horror for Sissies," "Tickle Your Funny Bone," "Cozies," "A...My Name is Alice," and various authors she considers "Too Good to Miss."  I gave these two books out to almost every adult on my Christmas list last year.  I had placed an order on Amazon through my cell phone, but somehow placed the order twice.  Rather than send back the extra books, I just handed them out too.












2. Book Crush by Nancy Pearl.  Like the books above, but for children and teens.









3. Great Books for Every Book Lover:  2002 Great Reading Suggestions for the Discriminating Bibliophile by Thomas Craughwell.  I think this is out of print now, but gives a lot of down-to-earth suggestions.  Chapters include "The Book Is Always Better Than the Movie," "British Classics," "Children's Classics," and "Shakespeare--In a Class by Himself."

4. Beowulf on the Beach:  What to Love and What to Skip in Literature's 50 Greatest Hits by Jack Murnighan.  I recently read this and found it fascinating.  I am now at least a little familiar with many classics that I will probably never read, but are nonetheless part of our Western Civilization and heritage. Because of this book, I am also interested in reading some works I never though I would.  For example, I just picked up a copy of The Canterbury Tales in a used bookstore.  I had no idea it would be so full of humor.  Chapters cover authors such as Shakespeare (of course), Homer, Dante, Milton, Jane Austen (I wouldn't have bought this if it didn't), Dickens, Hemingway, Cormac McCarthy, and many others.

5. 501 Must-Read Books, published by Bounty Books.  This is sort of a coffee-table book that I could leisurely thumb through or get lost in for several hours.  There is a picture shown for each book discussed, and I suspect that most of the pictures are of first-edition covers.  Books from the following categories are discussed:  children's fiction, classic fiction, history, memoirs, modern fiction, science fiction, thrillers, and travel.




6. Defining Moments in Books:  The Greatest Books, Writers, Characters, Passages and Events that Shook the Literary World, published by Octopus Publishing Group, Ltd.   Another coffee table book.  This one covers more cutting edge or controversial books and is divided by decade starting with 1890 and ending with 2000.




7. The Book of Great Books:  A Guide to 100 World Classics by W. John Campbell, Ph.D.  A compilation written in the style of Sparknotes or Cliff's Notes.  Gives short and interesting synopses of plot and characters from such works as The Scarlet Letter, Macbeth, Twelfth Night, Of Mice and Men and Jane Eyre.

8. How to Read and Why by Harold Bloom.  In different sections, he discusses reading short stories, poems, novels (here, what I would call "classic novels" including Emma by Austen and Great Expectations by Dickens), plays, and novels again ("modern" novels including Moby Dick by Melville and Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison).





9. The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived:  How Characters of Fiction, Myth, Legends, Television, and Movies Have Shaped our Society, Changed Our Behavior, and Set the Course of History by Allan Lazar, Dan Karlan and Jeremy Salter.  This title pretty much says it all, but here are the categories that the authors cover:  Greek and Roman myths, folktales, legends, monsters, stereotypes, adventure, crime, Americana, literature, children's literature, theater, movies, women's liberation, comics and animation, commerce (i.e., The Marlboro Man), propaganda and television.  This is another book that is fun to page through and which you don't have to read straight through to enjoy.  This was  a gift from my mom, who knows I love to read, a couple of years ago.

10.  The Book Whisperer:  Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child by Donalyn Miller.  Written by a teacher for teachers, but there is lots of good info for parents too.  There is a list of suggested reading written by her students.  I did pass my copy along to a teacher, but if I were in charge of a classroom, this book would be a must-have.  She is truly concerned with getting kids to love reading rather than forcing them to read.  This book is also where I learned about my favorite  book blog, Jen Robinon's Book Page.    Check her out at http://jkrbooks.typepad.com/.


11.  The Man Who Loved Books Too Much:  The True Story of a Thief, a Detective and a World of Literary Obsession by Allison Hoover Bartlett.  OK, this book is totally different than the rest on my the list, but it is about books and it is so engaging.  It is a true story about a rare-book thief.  I loved glimpsing the criminal mind without having to read any blood, gore, or violence.  Plus, I learned about the rare book world.

A Truth Universally Acknowledged

I just found out about this book:  A Truth Universally Acknowledged:  33 Great Writers on Why We Read Jane Austen.  I am looking forward to reading it.