Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Reading Envy 059: Are You Inspired Yet?

Jenny follows through on her 2016 reading goals and brings you another book speed dating project! This time, she is determined to be more cutthroat.

Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 059: Are You Inspired Yet.

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Books discussed:


Heart of the Original by Steve Aylett
Murder in the Stacks by Marion Havighurst
The Curfew by Jesse Ball
Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands by Chris Bohjalian
Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon
Life is So Good by George Dawson and Richard Glaubman
The Believers by Zoƫ Heller
Surpassing the Love of Men by Lillian Faderman
Ophelia and the Great Idea by Deborah Levy
Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin

Related Episodes:
Episode 015 - The Time for Exclaiming Over Costumes with Jean and Karen
Episode 036 - The Reader Sense of Ann VanderMeer with guest Ann VanderMeer
Episode 035 - Speed Dating Books
Episode 047 - Sex with Elvis: Bonus Book Speed Dating Episode 
Episode 050 - Open to Suggestion bonus episode 
Episode 056 - The Wall of Romance 
 
Stalk us online:
Jenny at Goodreads
Jenny on Twitter
Jenny on Instagram
Jenny on Litsy (search for ReadingEnvy)

Saturday, May 14, 2016

Library Books Mid-May 2016

The Tears of Autumn by Charles McCarry
The Front Seat Passenger by Pascal Garnier
You Can't Keep a Good Woman Down: Stories by Alice Walker
The Door by Magda Szabo
Some Day by Shemi Zarhin
The Forgotten Recipe by Amy Clipston
Upstairs at the Strand: Writers in Conversation by Jessica Strand
Hotels of North America by Rick Moody
The Portable Veblen by Elizabeth McKenzie
The Book of Phoenix by Nnedi Okorafor
Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger
Arcadia by Iain Pears

I am teaching a reading class in the month of May for our May Experience term. Two of these books are in genres I haven't yet read - sports and Amish romance. I haven't decided which way to go so I may go both ways and read the Bissinger and the Clipston.

The McKenzie is on the Baileys shortlist, the Okorafor is on the Arthur C. Clarke shortlist (but I have read other books by her, and The Book of Phoenix is the prequel to my favorite, Who Fears Death.) The Moody just jumped out at me while at the public library, as did the Pears (I had tried the audio and couldn't get into it but still was intrigued by the description... I suspect this author may just not be for me....)

I requested the McCarry, the Garnier, the Walker, and the Zarhin through interlibrary loan. I loved the first Paul Christopher novel, and came across the Zarhin on a publisher's website sale. The Walker is the May read for a feminist book club in Goodreads; I've read poetry by Walker before but not short stories.

I have been wanting to read the Szabo but haven't cracked it yet. Robyn, my amazing co-worker with impeccable book taste, thought I might want to read the Strand so she saved it for me. I've dipped into one interview and enjoyed it, so I will likely read it in chunks between other things.


Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Reading Envy 058: Wishing for a Sequel

Jenny is joined at the Reading Envy pub by Scott to discuss some award lists and to cover some new trips to familiar (genre) ground.

Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 058: Wishing for a Sequel.

Subscribe to the podcast via this link: Feedburner
Or subscribe via iTunes by clicking: Subscribe
Or listen through TuneIn
Or listen on Google Play (new!)  


Books discussed:



The Last Witness by K.J. Parker
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King
Central Station by Lavie Tidhar
Star Wars: Lost Stars by Claudia Gray
Letters to Tiptree edited by Alexandra Pierce and Alisa Krasnostein

Other mentions:

Hugo Awards
Nebula Awards
Arthur C. Clarke Award
Philip K. Dick Award
Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
Reamde by Neal Stephenson
Anathem by Neal Stephenson

Uprooted by Naomi Novik
His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik
Europe at Midnight by Dave Hutchinson
Coode Street Podcast
The Book of Phoenix by Nnedi Okorafor
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
Arcadia by Iain Pears
Academic Exercises by K.J. Parker
Devices and Desires by K.J. Parker
Chimpanzee by Darin Bradley
Finders Keepers by Stephen King
End of Watch by Stephen King
Aftermath by Chuck Wendig
Gene Wolfe
Tim Powers
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin
Tales of the Quintana Roo by James Tiptree Jr.
Crown of Stars by James Tiptree Jr.
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Blackout/ All Clear by Connie Willis
A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast
Ruby by Cynthia Bond
The Past by Tessa Hadley

Related Episodes:
Episode 052 - The Man with the Eyebrows with Philip and Scott
Episode 054 - Retired Pirates with Jason Roland
Episode 055 - Too Late for an Autopsy with Julie Davis
Episode 056 - The Wall of Romance
 
Stalk us online:
Jenny at Goodreads
Jenny on Twitter

Scott on Twitter
Scott on his blog

Monday, May 9, 2016

Reading Reflection: Who are you as a reader?

I am teaching a class for our May Experience term (15 days) on... reading! I know, I know. Big surprise. The class will have daily reflections and I thought I'd invite the world to play along.

During class on the first day, Wednesday, students will reflect on these questions and then talk about whichever parts they feel like sharing. This is how we will introduce ourselves to one another!

1. What place does reading hold in your life right now?
2. What kind of reader are you?
3. What are you hoping to learn or gain from this class?
4. What is one book you would like to read before our time together is over, one that has been on your shelf or on your radar?

Now go ahead; play along! Comment here or create your own response and link to it in the comments. Or flag me down in Twitter.

Thursday, May 5, 2016

Books I Read in April 2016 (91-120)



(Pictured: 5-star titles from April)

91. Sidney Chambers and the Dangers of Temptation by James Runcie (eARC from NetGalley; my review)
92. The Fireman by Joe Hill (eARC from Edelweiss; my review)
93. Wisteria: Poems from the Swamp Country by Kwame Dawes (SC poetry; my review)
94. Requiem by Kwame Dawes (SC poetry; my review)
95. Impossible Flying by Kwame Dawes (SC poetry; my review)
96. Midland: Poems by Kwame Dawes (SC poetry; my review)
97. Gomer's Song by Kwame Dawes (SC poetry; my review)
98. Poetry on the Comet ed. by Ed Madden (unpublished, SC poetry; my review)
99. A History of Reading by Alberto Manguel (library; my review)
100. Just Fall by Nina Sadowski (eARC from NetGalley; my review)
101. Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sidek (library for Library Management Book Group; my review)
102. The Book of Wanderings: A Mother-Daughter Pilgrimage by Kimberly Meyer (borrowed after author visit; my review)
103. Siddhartha by Herman Hesse (owned; my review)
104. Country of Marriage: Poems by Wendell Berry (library ebook; my review)
105. Bad Girlfriend: Poems by Debra McQueen (SC poetry; my review)
106. Central Station by Lavie Tidhar (eARC from NetGalley; my review)
107. This Poem is a House by Ken Sparling (eARC from Edelweiss; my review)
108. The Keeper of Lost Causes (Department Q #1) by Jussi Adler-Olsen (owned; my review)
109. The Potbellied Virgin by Alicia Yanez Cossio (owned; my review)
110. Allegient (Divergent #3) by Veronica Roth (owned eBook; my review)
111. The Front Seat Passenger by Pascal Garnier (interlibrary loan; my review)
112. The Atomic Weight of Love by Elizabeth J. Church (eARC from NetGalley; my review)
113. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande (interlibrary loan; my review)
114. Abide With Me by Elizabeth Strout (owned; my review)
115. A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) by V.E. Schwab (audiobook; my review)
116. The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild (library from Booker shortlist; my review)
117. Gin and Gardenias: A Memoir of Desire, Love, and Loss: Poems by A. Scott Henderson (owned; my review)
118. The Miernik Dossier by Charles McCarry (library; my review)
119. Ark by Ed Madden (owned also SC poetry; my review)
120. One of Us is Sleeping by Josefine Klougart (eARC from Edelweiss; my review)

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

New Books In - April 2016

The pile was manageable and then I stopped at the Friends of the Library Book Sale for the Greenville County Public Library. I've lived in Greenville County ten years but this was the first time at this book sale. I will add it to my rotation now! I ended up with several memoirs and other books I've been wanting to read, only one I had read previously. I have some other books in this pile from other places, so I will explain more below!


Passages: Africa edited by Antonio Aiello and Billy Kahora
Man with No Name by Laird Barron
The Lost Garden by Li Ang
Bluebeard's Egg: Stories by Margaret Atwood
All Over but the Shoutin' by Rick Bragg
The Last Supper by Charles McCarry
House Rules by Rachel Sontag
The Believers by Zoe Heller
Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands by Chris Bonjalian
A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Towes
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Faithful Place by Tana French
Broken Harbor by Tana French
The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared by Alice Ozma
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu
Hold Still by Sally Mann

I recently contributed to a PEN America kickstarter campaign that will work to bring additional translations of literature from other places to our publishing industry. Part of my donation came with the gift of Passages: Africa and the Ang. 

The Barron and the Liu were recent wins in Goodreads giveaways.

The rest are from the book sale - Atwood because I always snag a book by her if I haven't read it yet, the Bragg because it seems like an important southern work, the McCarry because I recently read a book by him and really enjoyed it, the Sontag because it sounded like a memoir that might cover some familiar ground, Heller & Bonjalian because I've always meant to try them, Doctorow because I've read that book a million times but want to own the paperback, French because I read the first one and wanted to keep going, Ozma because it seemed related, and Mann because it was a finalist in nonfiction for the National Book Award in 2015.