February '15- Robert Louis Stevenson

A friend is off to San Francisco Monday- so I'm thinking of that beautiful city today! A year and a half ago, three young ladies had a BLAST of a time in San Fran and beyond. Our trip pictures are here! The photo is of Alcatraz island. 

Next up on our reading journey: Robert Louis Stevenson

Kidnapped
Treasure Island
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
A Child's Garden of Verses

I'll admit I have not started yet... I hear Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is quite short so I figure I can start later! I'm still recovering from Vanity Fair!

I am proposing a twist on our book club- hear me out.

What if every four months, we have a free month where we read whatever we want?  

So that would mean that next month, March, I could start the 44 Scotland Street series I have been meaning to read! 

Today is Friday, woohoo! This weekend Daniel and I heading out of town to spend some quality time on Denman Island at the cabin with his sister, brother in law, and whoever else is there! I've made plenty of chocolate zucchini muffins to share. The thought was to get some skiing in at mt Washington, but we shall see about the status of the snow after a week or two of rain and warm 

temperatures!

William Thackery Wrap-up '15

London circa 1800

Well, I jumped up and down and made all sorts of celebratory sounds when I finished Vanity Fair this evening... not at all because I didn't enjoy the book, just that it was so long! I'm not accustomed to reading that length of book in one month. 

I really loved the book, and found it gripping if not suspenseful! Maybe some may disagree? I loved Thackeray's extensive vocabulary and his wise, sometimes tangetial asides as the all-knowing storyteller were insightful. 

We must bring up character names. Lord Tapeworm? Ladies Hornblower and Sheepshanks? Lord Heehaw? And there's another really good one which I can't remember... but Monica and I were just talking about it today so I'm sure she'll tell us! 

The author seemed partial to all his characters, and although some were definately better people than others, there were times when he seemed to favour the bad... Rebecca Sharp/Crawley. Or maybe just admire her spunk and intelligence and sympathize with her?

Please tell us what you think of this book (or another of Thackeray's novels if  you read a different one!) I can't wait to hear your thoughts!!!

Here's a few quotes I liked:

" This, dear friends and companions, is my amiable object- to walk with you through the Fair, to examine the shops and shows there; and that we should all come home after the flare, and the noise, and the gaity, and be perfectly miserable in private."

"Time has deat kindly with that stout officer, as it does ordinarily with men who have good stomachs and good tempers, and are not perplexed overmuch by fatigue of the brain". {Said of Colonol Sir Michael O'Dowd}

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I'm all tuckered out from a few curling games this evening! I was invited by my sister and brother in law to play with them in a "bonspiel" at the local curling club. We played three games and won one of them! And I got a parking ticket. Grr. 

One reason Daniel is good for me is that he is sensible and never lets me park in a spot where I could get a ticket even when I say "but it's only for a couple minutes", or "but I've never had a probem here before", or in this case "it is a residential parking spot but the houses around it are under construction so no one will care". Turns out they do. Maybe I shouldn't drive anywhere when Daniel is away for the weekend. 

Have a good day wherever you are!

xo

January '15 William Thackeray

Happy 2015! 

Here are our options for this month! I am just starting Vanity Fair... really looking forward to getting more into it. 

William Makepeace Thackeray

Pendennis
Henry Esmond
Vanity Fair
The Virginians

PS- above is a snapshot of the German Christmas Market (all the red roofs), and the Edinburgh Castle from 287 steps up the Walter Scott Monument! I'll bring out a picture of the monument when we read him in August;) Not that you couldn't just look it up or something.... 

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Have a good day wherever you are!

Charles Dickens Wrap-up '14

Jan 7, 2015

I'll blame my tardiness on an unrelenting bug I picked up somewhere in Edinburgh which has followed me home and has let loose its fury! I've got some energy back today, but am continuing to breeze through tissue boxes and cough drops like nobodys business. 

BUT- Scotland was great! We had such a fun time and saw a lot. Maybe some more pictures will show up on here. The photo above was taken on a hike we did near Holyrood Park in Edinburgh on New Years Day. You can see the city below. This was not the summit... my phone died before we got there and I hadn't brought my real camera because it was raining and I didn't want to get it wet. Which was wise because everything else got wet. Like through all the layers. Sterling even had little ponds at the bottom of his shoes. 

Oh the wind!!! 

You could actually lean into the wind and not fall over. Running with the wind on the open areas was like getting running lessons from a gazelle- more distance with less effort! It helped with the upward climb because the wind was at our backs. 

As for Dickens....

I enjoyed reading A Christmas Carol. 

I like how Charles Dickens builds himself into his stories... he has not only put the story on paper, but his persona as a storyteller is there with the audience as they read it.

"The curtains of his bed were drawn aside; and Scrooge, starting up into a half-recumbent attitude, found himself face to face with the unearthly visitor who drew them: as close to it as I am now to you, and I am standing in spirit at your elbow."

"If you should happen, by any unlikely chance, to know a man more blest in a laugh than Scrooge's nephew, all I can say is, I should like to know him too."

December '14 Charles Dickens

Happy December!

Well last month was so much fun, let's do it again! Charles was an international literary celebrity of his time (and ours!) With almost 80 different books/stories, he made $1.5million in today's currency. Yowza! (www.biography.com)

Charles Dickens

Oliver Twist
A Christmas Carol
The Pickwick Papers
David Copperfield

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I think it's pretty convenient that it's December and a Christmas Carol is one of our options! I purchased a collection of Dickens's Christmas stories and A Christmas Carol is one of them. Nothing like getting in the Christmas spirit!

What are you reading?

Mark Twain Wrap-up '14

Guess what we woke up to this morning? SNOW! A whole inch of it:) It has remained below freezing all day today but there has been no further precipitation.

I felt especially badly for the girl at Fairways whose till was right in front front of the open set of double doors. I also felt badly after I asked her, concerned, if she had had a nasty fall (resulting in what I thought was a telltale bruise on one side of her face), and nope, it was a birthmark!

The Ring of Brodgar in the Orkney Islands- way,way North Scotland! Photo courtesy of Monica L.

How did you enjoy reading Mark Twain? 

I really enjoyed reading Tom Sawyer. I found it to be a nice, short, light read. There was a nice combination of adventurousness, fearlessness and innocence in Tom and his friends. The adults in this book were an important part of the storyline but I'm glad the reader gets to stay in Tom's world and gets to know the town, school, streets, vacant lots, forests, graveyards, etc, from his point of view.

I'd love to hear your thoughts!!!

November '14 Mark Twain

Today's the day our book club officially begins!

MARK TWAIN

The Mysterious Stranger

Tom Sawyer

Huckleberry Finn

The Prince and the Pauper

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I just finished reading the first two chapters of Tom Sawyer... and can't wait to keep reading! The whitewashing fence story made me laugh:) Unfortunately I need to do some laundry first! 

Someone had a good thought... that if we cannot find or have already read the four titles that are provided under the month's author, we can read another of their novels, or simply find another classic that was written around that time period. Why not?! That way we can sneak some Jane Austen in there! 

What are you reading? 

We have a few others that have expressed interest in joining us:)

Auntie Bev

Connor

Evan

Chelsea

PS- The photo was taken from the Astoria Column in Astoria, Oregon! Send me some pictures from your albums and I will use them each month!