After finding an interesting article about books that are unfilmable, I wanted to see which books bloggers thought could not be made into films. Head
over here to add your thoughts!
I got quite a bit of reading done in the past week, but only three reviews went up. My favorite, by far, is Fyodor Dostoevsky's
The House of the Dead which was a stunning look at life in a Siberian prison. I started
a new series by K.A. Applegate (new for me, not new for the world) and I'm really excited to read the remaining 11 books. I also read
Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey, and while I enjoyed it, I was a bit too hung up on the sexuality and gender issues.
This past week I also finished
Manhood for Amateurs by Michael Chabon, which was a close second to House of the Dead, and I read Charlaine Harris'
Dead and Gone, book 9 in the Sookie Stackhouse series. Reviews for those books will be going up sometime this week...I hope.
I quite happily finished my
mid-year reading report, and with 67 books read at the mid-way point, I'm a bit ahead of my typical reading pattern.
~~~~~~~A Request~~~~~~~
From August 9 to 18, I have a family reunion/small town festival. During that time, I will be pretty MIA online. If anyone is interested in writing a guest post to be published here while I'm gone, I'd love it. If you want a guest post from me in exchange, I can do that too.
If you are fresh out of ideas, here's a brainstormed list I came up with: the joys and/or hardships of eclectic reading, a history of your favorite genre or a post on why that genre makes for great reads, a description of any small town festivals you've been to or a review of a book which features a small town festival, etc. I'm really open, so any thing you'd like is fine.
If you are interested, email me at eclectic[dot]eccentric[at]hotmail[dot]com!
When I went to Poland last summer, I had some people kick in some reviews for me. It does just help with covering all of your bases. Let me know if you want one of my reviews!
ReplyDeleteHave you read any Solzenhitzen (sp)? He's a more modern (mid-1900s) Russian author who also wrote about the prisons/work camps in Siberia. I read One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich last year and really enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI love that picture that you posted! How cool.
ReplyDeleteSandy - I emailed you!
ReplyDeleteAmanda - Thanks for the suggestion. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the whole Siberian prison angle.
Christina - Thanks! It's a good chunk of my family at my grandparents 50th anniversary party at the last reunion/festival.
wow, 67 books? that's a ton! i'm waaay behind you. as for 'manhood...', i borrowed it from the library and never got to it. now i'm disappointed. in related news, i just finished a book by chabon's wife--ayelet waldman. it was a really great read. i can't imagine what it's like to be an author married to an author...
ReplyDeleteHouse Of The Dead sounds amazing! Really! I am going to have to look for that one.
ReplyDeleteNat - It's been a heavy reading year for me so far. I think Waldman wrote a motherhood book, and I'd like to read that one too as they sound like companion books.
ReplyDeleteSheila - It really was a great read. So thought provoking.
Can't wait to hear what you think of Chabon's essays :)
ReplyDeleteThat is a great picture!!! and what a great family. janet
ReplyDeleteI'd love to do a post on small town living...my town is very small, and took some adjusting. do you take humor??
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear you liked House of the Dead -- I thought it was a fascinating book. The Christmas scene alone made it worth reading.
ReplyDeleteIf you're interested in more Russian prison camp fiction, Amanda's suggestion of Ivan Denisovich is always a good one. I liked Solzhenitsyn's First Circle even better: it's longer and, I think, even more interesting because it's about a special kind of imprisonment. If you prefer short stories, Varlam Shalamov's Kolyma Tales are excellent; Shalamov is very respected in Russia.
That's probably a lot more than you bargained for in one comment... somehow, I've come to read a lot of prison camp fiction.
I think I've decided to write my guest post about a little niche that I adore (things people do for a year) and why I like it so much and give some book recommendations from it. Does this sound good to you?
ReplyDeleteAna - I think my review of Chabon posts tomorrow; it was fantastic!
ReplyDeleteJanet - Thanks for stopping by!
Alexandra - I'm excited you'll be writing a guest post!
Lisa - Thank you so much for the suggestions. I really enjoyed HotD!
Jenners - I can't wait to read it! Sounds great.