eschulenburg
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Posts posted by eschulenburg
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Recently Finished:
Ulysses by James Joyce (2/8/09, blech)
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce (technically, I didn't JUST finish this one - I read it a while ago. But after Ulysses, I'm done with Joyce.)
Current Selection:
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Up Next:
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
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1910s - Howard's End by E.M. Forster
1920s - Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset
1930s - National Velvet by E. Bagnold
1940s - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by B. SMith
1950s - Marjorie Morningstar by H. Wouk
1960s - A Wizard of Earthsea by U. LeGuin
1970s - Bridge to Terabithia by K. Peterson
1980s - Midnight's Children by S. Rushdie
1990s - The Giver by L. Lowry
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1 - How I Live Now by Meg Rosof - recommended by Megan of Leafing Through Life
2 - Repossessed by A.M. Jenkins - recommended by Andi of Tripping Toward Lucidity
3 - Devil's Brood by Sharon Kay Penman - recommended by Carey of The Tome Traveller
(in the spirit of full disclosure, I was going to read this book anyway, but since I found a
glowing recommendation for it, now I'm adding it to this challenge!)
4 - Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman - recommended by Alyce of At Home with Books
5 - Matrimony by Joshua Henken - recommended by practically all of the book blogging world
6 - Dakota by Kathleen Norris - recommended by Word Lily
7 - The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff - recommended by Stephanie of Open Mind, Insert Book
8 - Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips - recommended by Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit
9 - The Almost Archer Sisters by Lisa Gabriele - recommended by Luanne of A Bookworm's
World
10 - Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford - recommended by Marcia of The
Printed Page
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The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher (finished 2008)
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (finished 2/16/09, 9/10)
Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson (Arthur C. Clarke)
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie (Man Booker)
An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro (Costa/Whitbread)
The In-Between World of Vikram Lal by M.G. Vassanji (Giller)
Mercy Among the Children by David Adams Richards (Giller)
The Tin Flute by Gabrielle Roy (Governor General)
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke (Hugo)
This Blinding Absence of Light by Taher Ben Jelloun (IMPAC Dublin)
The Known World by Edward P. Jones (IMPAC Dublin)
Sacred Country by Rose Tremain (James Tait Black)
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai (NBCC)
Atonement by Ian McEwan (NBCC)
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (Hugo and Nebula)
Half of a Yellow Sun by Adichie (Orange)
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Marjorie Morningstar - Herman Wouk
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith
The Giver - Lois Lowry
The Earthsea Trilogy - Ursula K. LeGuin
National Velvet - Enid Bagnold
Bridge to Terabithia - Katherine Paterson
The Illyrian Adventure series - Lloyd Alexander
The Good Earth - Pearl Buck
My Side of the Mountain - Jean Craighead George
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1 - I,robot by Howard S. Smith
3 - Foundation by Isaac Asimov
4 -Til Human Voices Wake Us by Mark Budz
5 - All the Windwracked Stars by Elizabeth Bear
6 - In Her Name by Michael R. Hicks
7 - The Host by Stephenie Meyer
8 - Big Big Sky by Kristyn Dunnion
9 - Battlestar Galactica, Season 4, Episode 11 - "Sometimes a Great Notion"
10 - Battlestar Galactica, Season 4, Episode 12 - "A Disquiet Follows My Soul"
11 -Battlestar Galactica, Season 4, Episode 13 - "The Oath"
12 - Battlestar Galactica, Season 4, Episode 14 - "Blood on the Scales"
13 - Battlestar Galactica, Season 4, Episode 15 - "No Exit"
14 - Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
15 - Battlestar Galactica, Season 4, Episode 16 - "Deadlock"
16 - Battlestar Galactica, Season 4, Episode 17 - "Someone to Watch Over Me"
17 - Battlestar Galactica, Season 4, Episode 18 - "Islanded in a Stream of Stars"
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Afghanistan - A Thousand Splendid Suns by K. Hosseini
Andorra - Andorra by P. Cameron
Antarctica - Decipher by S. Pavlou
Australia - I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
Without a Backward Glance by Kate Veitch (8/2/08, 9/10)
Austria - Homestead by R. Lippi
Belgium - The Sorrow of Belgium by H. Claus
Bosnia/Herzegovina - People of the Book by G. Brooks
Canada - Barometer Rising by H. MacLennen
China - Apologies Forthcoming by Xujun Eberlein (9/21/08, 8/10)
Cuba - The Old Man and the Sea by E. Hemmingway
Denmark - The Royal Physician's Visit by P.O. Enquist
England - The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue
Egypt - Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell
Faroe Islands - Far Afield by S. Kaysen
Finland - Cast a Long Shadow by Leena Lander
Lang by Kjell Westo
France - The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
Gibraltar - Gibraltar by C. Tepley
Greece - Apartment in Athens by G. Wescott
Hong Kong - The Language of Threads by Gail Tsukiyama
Hungary - Embers by S. Marai
Iceland - Under the Glacier by H. Laxness
India - Beneath a Marble Sky by J. Shors
The Forbidden Daughter by Shobhan Bantwal (9/4/08, 7/10)
Iran - The September of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer
Ireland - The Gathering by Anne Enright
Israel - We Just Want to Live Here by Rifa'i and Ainbinder
Italy - The Anatomist by F. Andahari
Japan - The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama
Lichtenstein - Ludmilla by P. Gallico
Malta - Jukebox Queen of Malta by N. Rinaldi
Nigeria - You Must Set Out at Dawn by W. Soyinke
Norway - Naive.Super by Erlend Loe
Pakistan - The Reluctant Fundamentalist by M. Hamid
Papua New Guinea - The White Mary by Kira Salak (7/9/08, 9/10)
Portugal - Alentejo Blue by Monica Ali
Russia - The Madonnas of Lenningrad by D. Dean
Rwanda - We Wish to Inform You....by P. Gourevitch
Scotland - The Translator by L. Aboulela
Sicily - The Marchesa - Simonetta Agnello Hornby (1/09, 5/10)
Sierra Leone - A Long Way Gone by I. Beah
Spain - Shadow of the Wind by C. R. Zafon
Sri Lanka - Reef by R. Gunesekera
Sweden - Popular Music from Vittula by Mikael Niemi (7/4/08, 7/10)
Turkey - The Sultan's Seal by Jenny White
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Joseph Auslander (completed)
Allen Tate (completed)
Robert Penn Warren (completed)
Louise Bogan (completed)
Karl Shapiro (completed)
Leonie Adams (completed)
Elizabeth Bishop (completed)
Conrad Aiken (completed)
William Carlos Williams (completed)
Randall Jarrell (completed)
Robert Frost (completed)
Richard Eberhart (completed)
Louis Untermeyer (completed)
Howard Nemerov (completed 7/19/08)
Reed Whittemore (completed 9/19/08)
Stephen Spender (completed 11/21/08)
James Dickey (completed 12/29/08)
William Jay Smith (completed 1/15/09)
William Stafford (completed 2/10/09)
Josephine Jacobsen (completed 3/2/09)
Daniel Hoffman
Stanley Kunitz
Robert Hayden
William Meredith
Maxine Kumin
Anthony Hecht
Robert Fitzgerald
Gwendolyn Brooks
Richard Wilbur
Mark Strand
Joseph Brodsky
Mona Van Duyn
Rita Dove
Robert Haas
Robert Pinsky
Billy Collins
Louise Gluck
Ted Kooser
Donald Hall
Charles Simic
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Just Finished:
Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
Honk, the Moose by Phil Strong
The Good Master by Kate Seredy (6/27/08, 7/10)
Dobry by Monica Shannon (9/16/08, 7/10)
Current:
Invincible Louisa by Cornelia Meigs
Next:
Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze by Elizabeth Rivers
Swift Rivers by Cornelia Meigs
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My Reading Challenges, 2009 edition
Once again, I have signed myself up for WAY too many challenges. It's like a sickness I can't get rid of.
Here's my list:Challenges I have OFFICIALLY signed up for:
42 Science Fiction Challenge - experience 42 sci-fi books, short stories, movies, TV shows, etc. This challenge runs until December, 2009
A Daring Book Challenge - this challenge is to read books listed in the Recommended Books section of A Daring Book for Girls. This challenge runs until June, 2009.
Book Awards Challenge - this challenge is to read books which have won one of the many book awards given worldwide. This challenge runs until June, 2009.
Book Buddy Blogger Challenge - this is a great challenge, encouraging participants to read books recommended by fellow book bloggers. This challenge runs until December, 2009.
Decades '09 - this challenge requires participants to read 9 books in 9 consecutive decades. This challenge runs until December, 2009.
My Year of Reading Dangerously - another unique challenge, which encourages participants to read 12 books they deem "dangerous" - either books which have been banned, books dealing with controversial subject matter, or books they have been afraid to read thus far. This challenge runs until December, 2009.
New Authors Challenge - this challenge is all about reading new-to-you authors. This challenge runs until December, 2009.
Read Your Own Books Challenge - this challenge is perfect for cleaning out TBR piles - read your own books! This challenge runs until December, 2009.
The Pub Challenge 2009 - this challenge requires participants to read books originally published in 2009. This challenge runs through December, 2009.
Modern Library's 100 Best Novels Challenge - this is a perpetual challenge, encouraging participants to read through the list of the Modern Library's 100 Best Novels. It has no start or end dates.
My own personal challenges:
Newberry Award Challenge - in which I challenge myself to read all of the Newberry books
Poet Laureate Challenge - in which I challenge myself to read through all the U.S. Poet Laureates
Reading Around the World Challenge - in which I challenge myself to read novels from all over the world
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My book rating system:
10 - Among the best books I've ever read. This book spoke to me, changed me, and, if it isn't already in my personal collection, I dearly wish it were.
9 - I couldn't put this book down. I carved out extra reading time just so I could finish it. This book got carted into the bathroom with me, read over meals, read at work, or kept me up late at night. If this author has more work, I will certainly read it.
8 - Excellent. This is a book I will be recommending to all my friends.
7 - It didn't break my heart to return it to the library, but it was still pretty darn good.
6 - Pretty good, but had some serious flaws that distracted me from enjoyment.
5 - So-so. Some parts of this book were enjoyable, but other parts were a real yawner.
4 - Ok. But whatever redeemable aspects there were to this book, they were not fleshed out enough for me to truly enjoy it.
3 - There was little to nothing enjoyable about this book. Certainly not one I would recommend to anyone.
2 - Don't waste your time. I only finished this one for the pleasure of a good roast in my review.
1 - It is a sad commentary on the state of publishing today that a tree actually died to produce this drivel.
0 - Among the worst books I've ever laid eyes on. I couldn't even finish it, it was so bad.
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(blurb from Barnes & Noble)
The dramatic story of the real-life murder that inspired the birth of modern detective fiction.
In June of 1860 three-year-old Saville Kent was found at the bottom of an outdoor privy with his throat slit. The crime horrified all England and led to a national obsession with detection, ironically destroying, in the process, the career of perhaps the greatest detective in the land.
At the time, the detective was a relatively new invention; there were only eight detectives in all of England and rarely were they called out of London, but this crime was so shocking, as Kate Summerscale relates in her scintillating new book, that Scotland Yard sent its best man to investigate, Inspector Jonathan Whicher.
Whicher quickly believed the unbelievable
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Have you read the original Dragonlance trilogies? They are older, but the Twins trilogy especially has one of the best antiheroes in all literature.
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OSC's Ender series is good, and his Alvin Maker series is also excellent. My opinion about him is that the first two or three books in his series are always great, but the farther along the series develops, the less I enjoy them. If you are looking for stand-alone novels, I especially like Enchantment.
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I actually just finished re-reading one of my favorite novels, The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay. It had been a couple of years since I read it last, and I learned things about the characters I hadn't picked up on before. I was, as usual, sorry for it to end. I don't re-read a lot, but I usually enjoy it when I do.
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In addition to being a cool guy, Scott Savage is also giving me an extra copy of his book to give away to someone - yea for free books! If you are interested, you can go to my blog and enter at this post:
As Usual, I Need More Bookshelves - Find Your Magic
He said it is fine to open the contest up to those living outside the US, so anyone is welcome. If you don't have an account, just leave an anonymous comment with your name, and that you are a member of BCF, and I'll get you signed up. It's a good book - go enter already!
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In addition to being a cool guy, Scott Savage is giving me an extra copy of his book to give away to a lucky person - yea for free books! If you are interested, just visit my blog and leave a comment on this post:
As Usual, I Need More Bookshelves - Find Your Magic
He said it was fine to open the contest to those living outside the US, so anyone is welcome. If you don't have an account, you can just leave an anonymous post with your name, and that you are a member of BCF, and I'll get you signed up. It really is a good one - go sign up already!
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I thought Gods in Alabama and Between Georgia were both excellent - didn't care for her third one as much, but the first two were great!
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Review - Farworld: Water Keep by J. Scott Savage
13-year-old Marcus is an outsider - orphaned, friendless, with disabilities to his arm and leg that require the use of a wheelchair, the new boy at school facing a group of relentless bullies. His only escape is Farworld, the place he has created in his mind where magic abounds. When a menacing stranger appears threatening to take him away, Marcus finds himself suddenly pulled out of his normal life - and into Farworld. His rescuer is Kyja, herself an outsider in Farworld - in a land where magic abounds, she possesses none. The pair is guided by Master Therapass, who knows the true link Marcus has with Kyja. The Dark Circle has discovered the secret that can be the undoing of Farworld, and only Marcus and Kyja can convince the elusive Elementals to work together to make a path between the two worlds.
Savage has a wonderful, visual style of writing that enables the reader to see exactly how this new, magical world appears. Several times I found myself re-reading paragraphs, not because I was confused but because I loved reading Savage's descriptions of the world he has created. I believe he does a good job of allowing the reader to sympathise for his two main characters withouth making them seem weak. Both Marcus, with his physical limitations, and Kyka, with her insecurities, are often pitied by the people around them. Savage, however, never feels sorry for either of them, but allows them to discover how strong they can become when they work together and believe in themselves.
As a woman, I am thrilled to see a young girl in a novel who is written as a true equal to the young man. Too often, the girl is the sidekick - plucky and cute, but watching as the boy gets to be the hero. Savage gives Kyja just as much importance as Marcus, and allows her to be heroic in her own right. And the bad guys are truly scary - I found myself anxious several times when the kids were in danger.Trust me, you don't want to mess with the Thrathkin S'Bae!
I really enjoyed this book. Because this is the first in a series, Savage has to spend a lot of time explaining and introducing , which can at times slow the pace of the novel. However, he has created several characters - Master Therapass and Bonesplitter especially, that I can't wait to read more about. This series has a lot of potential, and I am very exited to read the continuing adventures of Marcus and Kyja. I can't wait for the next installment!
Finished: 6/9/08
Rating: 8/10
Source: ARC from author
Here's an interview I did with the author - he's a really nice guy.
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I was able to participate in J. Scott Savage's blog tour for his upcoming book, Farworld: Water Keep. As part of the tour, he did a Q & A with me that I thought might be interesting for some of you to read. (Also, not sure if this is where I should post this, so feel free to move it to the appropriate area.
)He asked us to come up with a fun location for our virtual intervew - I, alas, am not very creative. However, when I found out that he is a fellow border collie owner, I thought we could take our dogs to a virtual dog park and see if they would make friends. Here's what happened:
E-I thought it would be fun to take our dogs to a dog park - I have a spastic border collie as well, so maybe our dogs can make friends. (or herd each other around in the grass.)
S -Definitely lots of herding going on. Small children and stray sheep beware!
E -Thanks for coming to Des Moines to hang out with Kadie and I. Luckily the dog park is empty today, so my badly behaved dog will hopefully not freak out too much. She's not really that good with crowds. Here, I will toss a ball into the trees for her to sniff out, and we can get started.
S -Excellent! Nothing like a good game of slobberball.
E -On your blog you made a comment about your belief that an author needs to know the end of the story before they begin to write. (And p.s., I wish a lot of TV shows would adopt this rule - do you hear me Lost??) Anyway....did you have the end to the whole series in mind when you began Farworld:Water Keep, or just the first book? Did you initially envision the story as a series? A trilogy? A stand-alone? If you originally though your story would contain fewer books, at what point did you realize it would have to expand?
S -That
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Oh, I loved Pillars of the Earth - makes me want to go back and read it again!
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Can't wait to see what you think of Oryx and Crake. Most people I've heard from either loved it or hated it - but that seems to be the way with a lot of stuff by Atwood.
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Review - Foundation by Isaac Asimov
The Empire is falling. For 12,000 years, it has ruled over countless worlds, but now it is about to collapse. Hari Seldon has found a way to shorten the darkness that will result. He assembles a group of scientists and sequesters them on a lonely planet at the edge of the galaxy, purportedly to create and maintain an encyclopedia of all the knowledge in the universe. He calls this sanctuary The Foundation. However, in the years after he dies, his followers come to realize that there was more to his plan...
It feels odd writing a review of a book that probably everyone in the reading world has already read - how have I lived 32 years without reading it myself? Thank heavens I've corrected this gigantic flaw in my reading history....
I was interested to see how a sci-fi novel written over 50 years ago would stand up in the face of modern scientific advances. I mean, we all know how dorky the original Star Wars movies look now that their special effects are years out of date. (Ducking from the inevitable protests of fans - I can't help it, they look goofy.) To me, Foundation felt like it could be a completely modern novel. Asimov was able to project far enough into the future that we haven't caught up to him yet. The book seemed almost to be more a collection of short stories about the same idea than an actual novel - each section jumped so far into the future that most of the characters had already died. I am interested to read more books in the series to see Asimov fleshes out the different eras of the Foundation that he introduced in this book. I enjoyed it enough to want to read more, but I wouldn't call it one of my favorite reads for the year. Perhaps that's the problem with Great Works of Fiction - they never quite seem to live up to the hype.
Finished: 7/19/08
Source: Franklin Avenue Library
Rating: 6/10
Elizabeth's 2009
in Past Book Logs
Posted · Edited by eschulenburg
Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (finished 2/27/09, rated 8/10)
Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Beloved by Toni Morrison
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Peterson
The Give by Lois Lowry