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pontalba's 2014 Reading List


pontalba

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(Told you I peak in at your thread and reviews :P )

Just wanted to let you know, if you didn't see it in the Book News thread, BBC History has a piece on Ian Fleming's life in Jamaica and James Bond.  Also, my first journal essay (ugh) for school is on the media and how it portrays human suffering, do they go too far?  I am going to be writing on Robin Williams. 

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Just wanted to let you know, if you didn't see it in the Book News thread, BBC History has a piece on Ian Fleming's life in Jamaica and James Bond.  Also, my first journal essay (ugh) for school is on the media and how it portrays human suffering, do they go too far?  I am going to be writing on Robin Williams.

Wow Anna, that's a heavy topic! Good luck :).

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Hey!  I finished it.  I think it was supposed to be just a paragraph or something, but it ended up being a short essay  :P  about 220 words.  I borrowed heavily from the arguments posed in that Washington Post article you posted, thanks for that.  :smile: It's only a "journal" assignment (which will be graded at mid term though), so I thought Id just make it what I wanted :D I totally went critical on it.

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(Told you I peak in at your thread and reviews :P )

Just wanted to let you know, if you didn't see it in the Book News thread, BBC History has a piece on Ian Fleming's life in Jamaica and James Bond.  Also, my first journal essay (ugh) for school is on the media and how it portrays human suffering, do they go too far?  I am going to be writing on Robin Williams. 

 

Going to go and look at the article now.  Thanks a lot!  Love Ian Fleming.  I have his bio around here somewhere, a friend gave it to me many years ago.  Fleming was an interesting fellow.

 

 

Hey!  I finished it.  I think it was supposed to be just a paragraph or something, but it ended up being a short essay  :P  about 220 words.  I borrowed heavily from the arguments posed in that Washington Post article you posted, thanks for that.  :smile: It's only a "journal" assignment (which will be graded at mid term though), so I thought Id just make it what I wanted :D I totally went critical on it.

 

Glad it could be of help!  Absolutely, follow your instincts, I always say.  Critical is good in this case, IMO!

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Anna, here is another link you might find useful. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2013/11/08/which-of-the-11-american-nations-do-you-live-in/?tid=trending_strip_6

Which of the 11 American nations do you live in?  There is a map of the U.S., showing dominate cultures in each section of the country.

I think it's probably fairly accurate.  It is as far as my area is concerned at least.  I'm just north of New Orleans, La., and as you can see by the map, we are not compatible with the Deep South.  New Orleans has always been "different" from the rest of the South, interestingly so, IMO. 

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We made it to the local Library Sale yesterday.  Here is the haul. :)

 

The Shades of Green, Architecture and the Natural World by Peter Buchanan

The Geographer's Library by Joh Fasman

Final Account by Peter Robinson

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

A Night of Watching by Elliott Arnold

The Master Bedroom by Tessa Hadley

The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt

The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz

Hostile Witness by William Lashner

Forests of the Night by James W. Hall

No Time for Goodbye by Linwood Barclay

Black Blade by Eric Lustbader

The Kaisho by Eric Lustbader

Second Skin by Eric Lustbader

The Son by Philipp Meyer

Just Revenge by Alan M. Dershowitz

Barabbas by Par Lagerkvist

Great Words of Our Time

Euripides translated by Don Taylor

Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet by Gail Grant

Fire in the Earth Poems by David Whyte

 

All for about 17 USD.  Not too shabby. :D

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^^ quite a haul!  I'd like to read The Last Samurai.

 

Interesting! The "Left Coast" is quite the hybrid!

We took a drive across the country and found NO to be the way he describes.  Lafayette and Baton Rouge seemed to have lots of "minorities" being the majority (although, the few places we stopped in those cities were a tad scary. We stayed in NO for 3 days, I think). 

I'd like to read what he has to say about the history of NO leading to it being so openly diverse.  I saw a lot of this working in politics/ news radio as well, especially working with a Libertarian.  Thanks!

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So, now for the backlog. :)

 

...

 

 

The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe

 

 

Wohoo! :D I hope you shall like it :smile2: 

 

We made it to the local Library Sale yesterday.  Here is the haul. :)

 

The Shades of Green, Architecture and the Natural World by Peter Buchanan

The Geographer's Library by Joh Fasman

Final Account by Peter Robinson

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

A Night of Watching by Elliott Arnold

The Master Bedroom by Tessa Hadley

The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt

The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz

Hostile Witness by William Lashner

Forests of the Night by James W. Hall

No Time for Goodbye by Linwood Barclay

Black Blade by Eric Lustbader

The Kaisho by Eric Lustbader

Second Skin by Eric Lustbader

The Son by Philipp Meyer

Just Revenge by Alan M. Dershowitz

Barabbas by Par Lagerkvist

Great Words of Our Time

Euripides translated by Don Taylor

Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet by Gail Grant

Fire in the Earth Poems by David Whyte

 

All for about 17 USD.  Not too shabby. :D

 

That's a great haul and I think the 'price is right', too :D I've only read No Time for Goodbye off that list but that's a really good one, I hope you enjoy it :) 

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We strolled through Barnes & Noble today. :D

 

Gave into temptation as 40% off was just right for the newest Haruki Murakami, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki, and His Years of Pilgrimage.  The book is adorable, physically itself.  Murakami always has the most interesting covers and this is no exception.  Cutouts, of course.  But the decoration on actual boards of the cover is wonderful.  It's the metro system, possibly of Tokyo.....I can't find a definite answer to the precise location.  Must be, though. 

 

Also another book I'd been on the fence about was The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Dicker......Julie really enjoyed it, so I thought I'd give it a spin as well.

 

Others we happened on...

Americanah by Ngozi Adichie

The Spymaster by W.E.B, Griffin

The President's Club Inside the World's Most Exclusive Fraternity by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy

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LOL  Yup, if it hadn't been 40% off we wouldn't have popped for it.  It's one of those books that once you pick it up, it demands fondling.  It's just that neat.  :D

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LOL  Yup, if it hadn't been 40% off we wouldn't have popped for it.  It's one of those books that once you pick it up, it demands fondling.  It's just that neat.  :D

 

I read a review, saying that it had stickers with it so you could make your own cover ??  :smile:

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Not this one.  It has the open areas that show the color coded stripes representing the metro routes that are shown on the hard part of the cover.  The book is smaller in size, about the size, but shorter than a trade paperback.  Fairly thick though.  Just has a lovely feel.

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Not this one.  It has the open areas that show the color coded stripes representing the metro routes that are shown on the hard part of the cover.  The book is smaller in size, about the size, but shorter than a trade paperback.  Fairly thick though.  Just has a lovely feel.

 

US Cover.     UK Cover.

 

Those are quite different, aren`t they ! I might have to splurge on the full price one, so I can get the stickers.  :giggle2:

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How did you like BBC History Magazine?  I still think the Inca part was my favorite.

I saw this map on Rome and thought of you, check out the first one in real time and #3 is really neat too.

http://www.vox.com/2014/8/19/5942585/40-maps-that-explain-the-roman-empire

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I'm really enjoying it, Anna. :) 

 

Haven't gotten past the Ian Fleming article in it though.  One thing and another around here. :)

I was caught by the Fleming article because we just watched The Man Who Would Be Bond...it was a film of Fleming's life.  Quite the character he was.  I'd read his bio about 25 years ago by Pearson, I think.  Good stuff. 

 

This must be the week for cat problems, Little Pixie and myself.    One of our cats developed a lump on her neck last Saturday night, and by Sunday night had doubled it's size, it was an absess.  Got her to the vets first thing Monday morning and they had to sedate her and drain it.  Fortunately I'd fasted her Sunday night, as I had a notion they'd have to operate on her. 

 

An awful infection had developed, they said it was positively green, and stunk to high heaven.  She is on antibiotics now, after having an antibiotic shot as well.  She is absolute hell to give pills to.  She clamps her mouth shut, and stiffens her neck so it's practically impossible to get a grip on it.  Oy.  But she is fine and the wound is healing nicely.  I think what happened was they were roughhousing and Goldie loves to grab her neck in wrestling.....and a tooth went in too far.  But they are both pretty subdued  right now.  I think the whole thing scared them both.  They haven't been apart in years, and she was gone all day at the vets, and he at home. 

 

Then the vet came out to the house yesterday and gave the rest their shots.  One of them is 21, and I'm afraid to bring her out to the vets, as the last time it wore her out so much she was exhausted for several days.  Kind of scared me.  She is slowing down, but still eating and drinking fine. 

 

I haven't been getting much reading done, and still am picking up and putting down.  But it's been so hectic around here, I haven't had much time or energy to read. 

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I hope you enjoy your new books, Kate :)!

 

Thanks, Gaia. :)

 

US Cover.     UK Cover.

 

Those are quite different, aren`t they ! I might have to splurge on the full price one, so I can get the stickers.  :giggle2:

 

Hah!  Great idea.  Have you seen the two covers of David Mitchell's book? 

http://www.amazon.com/The-Bone-Clocks-A-Novel/dp/1400065674/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409294218&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Bone+Clocks  and the UK one..... http://www.amazon.com/The-Bone-Clocks-David-Mitchell/dp/1471273210/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1409294218&sr=8-3&keywords=The+Bone+Clocks  The latter is the audio version, but that's what the UK cover looks like, as far as I can tell.  I'm waiting for the price to go down. 

I saw an excerpt the other day from The Bone Clocks.....if I find it again, I'll post it.  But I loved it!

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