Did Jen break the internet?
There seems to be only select sites working at the moment from both my cable connection and my wireless iPad connection. Of course WordPress is one I can’t get to but the Apple website loads up quick as can be. Hmm, perhaps there is a conspiracy afoot? I’m going to ignore the internet for now and hope that by the time I am done writing this in TextEdit on my Mac, things will be hunky-dory again. (Since you see this posted, things are working again, sort of. Thanks Moss and Roy!)
Let’s talk about reading plans for June!
May reading went pretty well. I have King Lear carrying over but will be finished with him by the weekend. I am also just over halfway through The Luminaries. Goodness, is this a long book! I am enjoying it, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes I wish it weren’t so wordy. For those of you who have read it, I am past the first long part where the men at the Crown are telling various parts of their stories and am just hours away from the seance. Except the time it is taking to get there seems like it is moving in real time and not book time.
Oh, yes, I am also still reading Teaming With Microbes. It is a very science-y book and sometimes my eyes glaze over just a bit but other times it is fascinating. I learned last night that bacteria make soil alkaline and fungi make soil acidic. So how do I get fungi to thrive in my blueberry beds? I haven’t learned that yet but I hope I will. I will be very disappointed if the book doesn’t go there.
Besides these carry-overs, I have just started Founding Gardeners by Andrea Wulf. It focuses on George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and how their passion for gardening and agriculture shaped America from its very beginning. I am reading this along with Danielle who actually got to hear Wulf speak not long ago. I am supremely jealous about that.
I also started reading Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit. It is a collection of essays. I have thus far read the titular essay and found it both funny and sad. Though Solnit did not invent the word, nor does she particularly like it, the term “mansplaining” came into existence because of this essay which was first published on the internet.
I had planned on reading Euripides’ play Medea sometime over the summer, but after seeing the preview for the upcoming National Theatre production of it, I decided I had to read it now. So from the library I borrowed a more recent translation by Michael Collier and Georgia Machemer. It looks like it has a good introduction and lots of notes. I’m really looking forward to it!
I will be getting a book of poetry in the mail soon, a review copy, that sounded too good to resist. The Antigone Poems by Marie Slaight in collaboration with artist Terrence Tasker, was created in the 1970s. I’m not certain that it has ever been published before. I love it when artwork and poetry are combined plus, it is inspired by the Sophocles play. I’m excited to read this.
Another poetry book I have on hand is But What by Dutch poet Judith Herzberg. Recommended by my friend Cath, I am excited to read this one too.
No doubt with all my various hold requests at the library at least one or more have to read now because I can’t renew it books will arrive for me and throw all my carefully laid plans by the wayside. But at least, as I look back over my plan, I see I am excited by and looking forward to reading and/or already enjoying every book I mention. That makes me happy.
I know this is entirely a matter of taste, but I loved The Luminaries so very much, and found every long, calmly paced minute of it to be perfect. It does pick up pace tremendously though in the second half, so even if it feels a bit slow now, I assure you that the ending is just a rush of awesome.
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Usual varied selection of books to read. I may make a start on the Luminaries if I can unintimidate myself from its length! Recently read Barbara Tuchman’s old classic about Europe pre 1914, The Proud Tower and some Swedish and Scottish crime fiction.
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Ian, I’m reading it as an ebook borrowed from the library so at least I can’t actually see how big The Luminaries is. Though I am reminded of its size by how slowly my progress bar creeps along. Oh, Tuchman! I have managed to collect several of her books without actually reading any of them. I must get to her sometime.
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Bibliobio, I am enjoying The Luminaries but not loving it. It definitely isn’t boring, I am just impatient to know where it is all going. Perhaps when all is revealed I find myself loving it 🙂
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I knew Michael Collier when I was at U of MD. Medea seems like an interesting choice for him to translate, as he is himself a poet of quiet moments.
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Jeanne, how wonderful you knew Collier! And you know, it’s the quiet people who have great depths so perhaps he plumbed them for violence and anguish. I expect the translation will be excellent.
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As usual a great variety of reading in front of you. I did enjoy The luminaries – a great read that I pretty much read in 5 days. I do have some questions about it, so will be interested to see what you think.
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whisperinggums, I take the saying “variety is the spice of life” to heart 😉 You read Luminaries in five days? Call me impressed! I’ve been at it for a month!
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I had to — it was reading group coming up and I suddenly found I was running out of time. Just as well I’m retired!
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If you ever get a chance to see Monticello (maybe you already have) you will truly appreciate Jefferson’s garden! What a magnificent place, what a view, what a gardener he was. (Of course, he had a lot of help). I am reading small bits of A Field Guide To Getting Lost by Solnit and enjoying it. I returned The Faraway Nearby because it is wait-listed and I knew I would not get to it in time, so I returned it so someone else could read it. I’ll reserve it again when (reading) things slow down. Waiting anxiously for All The Light We Cannot See to arrive from B&N. Maybe it will be waiting for me today.
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Grad, I have not been to Monticello but I would like to go one day. Glad you are enjoying Solnit! I’ve heard good things about All The Light We Cannot See. I look forward to hearing what you think about it. Also, thanks for the link to the new book about Joyce. It looks fabulous! Though I think I just heard my TBR pile make a little groan 🙂
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http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-59420-336-7
Don’t know if that link works or not, but look what is being published this month. Thought you might be interested in light of your reading of Ulysses (and the fact you fell in love with James Joyce in the process!).
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I have yet to read ‘The Luminaries’, which is unheard of for a Booker winner when we are this close to the long list for the following year, but it’s sheer length frightens me. I have so much else that I want to read that I can’t find the courage to embark on it.
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Alex, it is a hefty book. I have been reading it as an ebook which makes it much less intimidating in terms of size but it’s really hard to see the progress bar barely moving from day to day!
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I totally lucked out by hearing Andrea Wulf speak–she was a marvelous speaker and as you can see an engaging writer, too. That says a lot when it comes to history which is so often delivered in a really dry way. I am nearly finished with chapter one (I am a slow NF reader!). I look forward to reading The Luminaries….eventually. I have quite a pile of in progress books at the moment-I need to really think of using some of that vacation time I have built up–I can certainly fill the time with books! I’ve sort of been in the mood for some Greek Classics, so you’ll have to post something soon and help tide me over! Good luck wit your plans–they all seem quite manageable (until those library books come home that is…).
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Danielle, there is never any need to rush through a book (unless you have to return it to the library 🙂 ) I am hoping to get to Medea in the next couple of weeks once I get Lear finished. Today, begins my half-day Fridays through the rest of the summer. So excited! Perhaps that’s something you could do with your extra vacation time too? I plan to spend my time reading and gardening. Much can be done with four extra hours!
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I’ve always thought there was something wrong me because, although I love Shakespeare, I’ve never much liked King Lear. Hope you’ve enjoyed it more than I have. Looks like you’ve got a nice June ahead of you. I’m spending six months reading from my shelves, so even though I’m tempted to put a reserve on The Luminaries, I’ll just put it in My List in the library system instead.
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Emily, there is totally something wrong with you 😉 I’ve enjoyed it very much. Six months reading from your own shelves? That’s a tough challenge! Good luck!
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Hey there — I just want to make sure you see the article on reading in this week’s New Yorker. It’s called (I think) The Ghost in The Stacks. As I was reading it I thought of you. Check it out!
Best,
Meta.
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Meta, I did not know about the article. Thanks for the heads up!
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Ah, you have reached the slow point of The Luminaries, before things start to really hot up in the court case. Hang on in there. I felt very much as you do at this same point, and then it gets very gripping.
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Litlove, well then, I look forward to what’s ahead! The pre-seance party has begun. I expect something exciting is about to happen!
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