Quick! Look Down!

I wrote a post a few days ago and just published it. I'm so happy to see the activity on this blog.

Horses to Kites

I finished All the Pretty Horses this weekend. I really liked it a lot and will definitely be reading more of Cormac McCarthy. The movie version of the book is actually On Demand right now and I might watch it, though I know the movie wont be as good!

I started The Kite Runner last night, so that's my next book. If I get it done before it's due on the 2nd, I'll be ahead in my reading goals for the year!

Found a New One

I am now reading Lolita by Vladimir Nabakov. Another from Paige. She loved it and I am enjoying it so far. I really like the writing, though the subject matter is pretty controversial. I've only just started, but I feel like this is going to be another quick read.

I realized today there is another thing that I read regularly, though it is a little more unusual than a regular novel. As you might know, I have a book called 14,000 things to be happy about and I have gotten back in the habit of reading a couple pages every day and underlining the things that I really agree with. So maybe I'll start sharing a few of the things I underline in my posts just for fun. Here are a few from today:

• beachcombing
• a barn to make love in (ooh la la)
• a bountiful weekend brunch table covered with an antique lace or linen cloth and topped with country pottery, a napkin-lined muffin basket, stout pitchers for milk or juice, and an earthenware vase of wildflowers (a lot of them have to do with food...)
• opening one's eyes a little more
• the dizzy smell of fresh-cut hay

Well, the list goes on and on. It's a great book, and a good one to share with others, so I'll try to make a habit of doing so here. Maybe I'll even think about starting my own blog........Happy reading!

Eat, Pray, Love

So, I started this DAYS ago and thought I posted it! Now I'm finding out I DIDN'T! So here it is:

This last fall, Jane brought this book to me and said I had to read it. I'd avoided it because I thought it was going to be dry and too deep. I finally broke it open in the last week. KAREN! You have to read this book. I hear your voice in it. I've barely read 1/3 (I'm not through the "Eat" part yet) but I've enjoyed it so much. Basically, the author is extremely unhappy in her married life, goes through a messy divorce and pitches a book idea to her publisher--she wants to spend a year in Italy, India, and Indonesia (four months in each place). In the part I am reading, Elizabeth Gilbert goes to Italy to eat and learn to speak Italian.

"When I realized that the only question at hand was, "How do I define pleasure?" and that I was truly in a country where people would permit me to explore that question freely, everything changed. Everything became......delicious. All I had to do was ask myself every day, for the first time in my life, "What would you enjoy doing today, Liz?" What would bring you pleasure right now?" With nobody else's agenda to consider and no other obligations to worry about, this question finally became distilled and absolutely self specific."

The book is an easy read, funny, and thought-provoking.

Finished another one

I have finished Never Let me Go. It was definitely an interesting read. I know what Paige meant now by being surprised by the whole science fiction thing. I could tell from the beginning it wasn't quite normal but the way it was written, it took basically to the end of the book for everything to be revealed. It's this woman telling the story of her life starting at what first appears to be a sort of private school, but you slowly realize there is no mention of parents or a life outside of this establishment and that this is a place they are raising these children for some specific reason. Again, that reason takes a very long time to actually get to. I really liked the way he wrote it, though; he sometimes would go one step forward in the story and then two steps back and then come back to the present and then back and forth again so that very slowly, everything was revealed until we finally realize the kids are clones raised expressly to donate their organs as a way to keep people alive who have fatal diseases like cancer and the like. I was able to sort of guess where it was all going, but it wasn't completely clear until the very end, which I guess is the way really good books are written. Sort of like the Dan Brown books. Just makes you want to keep reading.

I guess I kind of ruined it for those of you who might want to read it, but I recommend it anyway, that is such a small factor of the book really, it's the experience of reading the story that is really enjoyable. I haven't picked out a new book yet, but I plan on looking through Kyle's collection right away to get started on number four of the year. Hope everyone else is having good reading experiences too!

Still horsing around...

I'm still reading All the Pretty Horses. I feel like my pace isn't quite on point, but I'm hoping to step it up a bit over the weekend. I've only really been reading before bed, but as tax season moves forward and Casey goes back to class (starting tonight), I'm sure I'll find more reading time. I've already been better about not watching TV, but I haven't necessarily been reading instead but have been working on other projects. Aw well, it's better to go a little slower and really enjoy it than read too fast and not appreciate the good parts.

Serendipity

I didn't read as much as I planned over the weekend. I have a few more pages to finish in Stillmeadow and Sugarbridge. It seems to be taking forever to read but the book itself is simplicity. Saturday afternoon Mom and I went to the Brick Store in Bethel, treasure hunting. And I found a treasure! Books by Gladys Tabor are easy (if expensive) to find online. (The Stillmeadow book was as much as $45!! My copy is precious--the name Ethel Southworth is written in her hand in the front of the book .) Barbara Webster is harder to find. BUT! As I was browsing at the Brick Store I spotted a book called "Country Matters" by Barbara Webster. I squealed with delight and immediately bought the book. As it turns out, the book is an anthology edited by B.W. and illustrated by her husband, Edward Shelton. I can't wait to read it, after I finish the other book!

Horsies.

I'm loving All the Pretty Horses. The most recent bit I read was describing the two main characters breaking mustangs. McCarthy describes everything they are doing as if he were teaching you to do it yourself. Most of his descriptions are like that; he really doesn't want you to miss anything.

A quote...

"They unloaded the horses at McCullough's and rode up through the middle pasture along Grape Creek and into the low hills. The creek was clear and green with trailing moss braided over the gravel bars" (p. 22).

FINISHED!

I finished Pirate Latitudes today! It was really good. Very gory and pirate-y with battles and sea monsters and revenge. All the good stuff. Probably not something I would recommend to the rest of you, but I definitely enjoyed it.

My next read is a book that Paige has and just finished reading. It's called Never Let me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I actually have no idea what it's about but I will soon find out. Apparently it was not what Paige expected--I guess it turned out to be sci-fi or something. But she liked it and thought I would too. So that's next.

Christie, I know what you mean about Cormac McCarthy books. They are sooo good though. Well, I've only read one, but it was so excellent and I imagine the rest are just the same. I plan on reading more of his work, so let me know how that one is.