Sally Lou's 2015 reading challenge -- thread 2 -- continues unnumbered thread

Converses2015 Category Challenge

Afegeix-te a LibraryThing per participar.

Sally Lou's 2015 reading challenge -- thread 2 -- continues unnumbered thread

Aquest tema està marcat com "inactiu": L'últim missatge és de fa més de 90 dies. Podeu revifar-lo enviant una resposta.

1sallylou61
Editat: des. 29, 2015, 4:13 pm

Although I had less than 100 messages on my first thread, I decided to add another thread to have separate messages for each category and to have my bingo cards near the beginning of my thread.

I debated about whether to aim for 75 or 90 titles, and am currently aiming for 90 -- 15 in each of 6 categories. Although a number of titles could fit in more than one category, I will put each in only one. I changed calling what I read from books to titles since many of the items are plays or short works, often published in collections. Many were class assignments, and I decided to list the titles separately.




If problem with ticker, have read 110 titles; 20 over goal of 90 (12/29/2015)

2sallylou61
Editat: des. 23, 2015, 11:48 pm

Category 1. History including historical fiction. This will include books I read for the HistoryCAT challenge. Some history books and biographies will be in category 2. WomanCAT instead of here if they deal with women.

1. Five Great Greek Tragedies -- January HistoryCAT and ROOT -- finished January 15th
2. Whistle Stop -- LT Early reviewers -- NOT HistoryCAT -- finished Jan. 26th
3. Wisdom's Daughters by Elizabeth G. Watson -- February HistoryCAT and ROOT -- finished Feb. 2nd.
4. Quakers and the Arts by David Sox -- ROOT -- read March 4th.
5. Fatal Journey by Peter C. Mancall -- March HistoryCAT for theme and ROOT -- finished Mar. 25th.
6. Lift Up Thy Voice by Mark Perry -- finished May 18th.
7. Down with the Old Canoe: a Cultural History of the Titanic Disaster by Steven Biel -- finished May 27th.
8. Soliloquy: The Shakespeare Monologues: The Women by William Shakespeare; edited by Michael Earley and Philippa Keil -- finished June 13th -- counting as History since read for HistoryCAT for June -- finished June 13th.
9. Jamestown and the Founding of the Nation by Warren M. Billings -- finished July 27th.
10. Defiant Brides: the Untold Story of Two Revolutionary-Era Women and the Radical Men They Married by Nancy Rubin Stuart. -- finished Aug. 2nd.
(counting here instead of in WomanCAT since lot of book is about their husbands in military campaigns, etc.
11. The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson -- finished Aug. 13th.
12. Into the North by Eva Schmutterer -- finished Aug. 24th.
13. The Wit & Wisdom of Harry Truman edited by Ralph Keyes. -- finished October 14th.
14. West from Home: Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder to Almanzo Wilder, San Francisco 1915 -- finished Nov. 11th.
15. Only the Rivers are Peaceful: Thomas Hart Benton's Missouri Mural by Bob Priddy.
16. This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War by Drew Gilpin Faust -- finished Dec. 1st.
17. Daisy Petals and Mushroom Clouds: LBJ, Goldwater, and the Ad that Changed American Politics by Robert Mann -- finished Dec. 4th.
18. Rickey & Robinson: the True, Untold Story of the Integration of Baseball by Roger Kahn -- finished Dec. 12th.
19. Love Always, Hobby and Jessie by Sara Robinson. -- finished Dec. 23rd.

3sallylou61
Editat: des. 29, 2015, 4:20 pm

Category 2. WomanCAT. This cat was on the ballot this year, but not one of the cats chosen. Instead of trying to establish a kit (there are several of them already), I plan to do my own reading. This will include reading Women's History (many of the books will come off the HistoryCAT list since I included so many possibilities in it). Also, WomanCAT will include literature written by women, particularly on the "woman question" prior to the early 20th century, and also in special formats -- poetry, short stories -- on any topic from any era.

1. Portrait of a Nude Woman as Cleopatra by Barbara Chase-Riboud -- read January 1st

2. Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography by Laura Ingalls Wilder -- finished January 6th.

3. A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen for Frick's "Theatre and the Spirit of Reform" course. read Feb. 1st.

4. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston -- OLLI short novels class --finished Feb. 9th.

5. Course Correction by Ginny Gilder -- finished Apr. 12th -- an ER book.

6. The Road to Seneca Falls: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the First Woman's Rights Convention by Judith Wellman -- finished May 9th

7. The Feminist Thought of Sarah Grimke, edited by Gerda Lerner -- finished May 25th.

8. Women on the Row : Reflections from Both Sides of the Bars by Kathleen O'Shea -- read May 28th

9. Women and the Lakes by Frederick Stonehouse -- finished June 17th.

10. Elizabeth Fry by June Rose -- finished June 30th.

11. Household Workers Unite: the Untold Story of African American Women who Built a Movement by Premilla Nadasen -- finished Aug. 10th.

12. Selected poems by Rita Dove -- finished reading Aug. 22nd.

13. The Daring Ladies of Lowell by Kate Alcott -- finished reading Sept. 8th.

14. Women of War: Selected Memoirs, Poems, and Fiction by Virginia Women Who Lived through the Civil War edited by Clay Clabough --- finished Oct.12th.

15. Laura Ingalls Wilder: American Writer on the Prairie by Sallie Ketcham -- finished Nov. 22nd

16. A Little House Sampler by Laura Ingalls Wilder and Rose Wilder Lane --- finished Nov. 28th.

17. Civil War Women:American Women Shaped by Conflict in Stories by Alcott, Chopin, Welty and others, edited by Frank McSherry, etc.

4sallylou61
Editat: des. 1, 2015, 11:35 am

Category 3. Classics

1. Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck -- read for January Northside Book Group.

2. The Awakening by Kate Chopin -- read for OLLI class.

3. The Stranger by Albert Camus -- read for OLLI class.

4. Faust by Goethe -- read for OLLI class.

5. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (could list under short works) -- read on Ryndam Aug. 17 and 18.

6. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell -- finished Aug. 19th

7. Kristin Lavransdatter I: The Wreath by Sigrid Undset -- finished reading Aug. 28th.

8. O Pioneers by Willa Cather -- finished reading Sept. 7th.

9. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen -- finished reading Sept. 18th.

10. The Annotated Persuasion by Jane Austen -- finished Sept. 27th.

11. The Annotated Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen; annotated by David M. Shapard -- finished Oct. 4th.

12. Oedipus the King by Sophocles, translated by Robert Fagles -- read Oct. 27th for OLLI class.

13. Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles, translated by Robert Fagles -- read Nov. 1st as supplementary reading for OLLI class.

14. Antigone by Sophocles, translated by Robert Fagles -- read Nov. 9th for OLLI class.

15. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque -- finished Nov. 15th.

5sallylou61
Editat: des. 9, 2015, 5:05 pm

Category 4. Book club books. I belong to 2 book clubs; the one sponsored by the closest branch of our public library reads 10 books a year, and the book club started by women in our Friends Meeting generally reads a book each month.

1. The Man Who Walked Away by Maud Casey -- Friends Book Group for February.

2. Evidence of Things Unseen by Marianne Wiggins -- Northside Book Group for February.

3. The Pickup by Nadine Gordimer -- Friends Book Group for March.

4. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri -- Northside Library Book Club for March -- also Big Read.

5. Twilight Sleep by Edith Wharton -- Friends Book Group for April.

6. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury -- Friends Book Group for May.

7. Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick -- Northside Library Book Club for May -- (list in History if get too many for book clubs and not enough for history)

8. Defending Jacob by William Landay -- Northside Library Book Club for June.

9. Kindred by Octavia E. Butler -- Friends Book Group for June.

10. Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor -- Northside Library Book Club for July.

11. Grandma Gatewood's Walk by Ben Montgomery -- for Northside Library Books Sandwiched in Committee in July.

12. To the Letter by Simon Garfield -- for Northside Library Books Sandwiched in Committee in July.

13. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe -- for Friends Book group December meeting.

6sallylou61
Editat: des. 22, 2015, 9:57 pm

Category 5. Short works -- 100 pages or less:

1. Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka -- read 2 versions (translations) for OLLI class.

2. The Drunkard by William H. Smith -- read for OLLI class.

3. Uncle Tom's Cabin by George L. Aiken -- play based on Harriet Beecher Stowe's book --- read for OLLI class.

4. Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot -- read several times for discussion in OLLI class since class kept being cancelled for snow.

5. Waiting for Lefty by Clifford Odets -- read for OLLI class.

6. Dutchman by Amiri Baraka --read for OLLI class.

7. The Lifted Veil by George Eliot -- read for OLLI class.

8. Master Harold ... and the Boys by Athol Fugard -- read for OLLI class.

9. The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe -- read for OLLI class.

10. Everything I Need to Know about Love I Learned from a Little Golden Book by Diane Muldrow.

11. A Permeable Life by Carrie Newcomer.

12. Arise and Build: a Centennial Commemoration of the 1895 Rotunda Fire with essay by Richard Guy Wilson.

13. Making Peace by Denise Levertov.

14. Love and Freindship by Jane Austen.

15. Catharine, or The Bower by Jane Austen.

16. The Watsons by Jane Austen.

17. Lady Susan by Jane Austen

18. Sanditon by Jane Austen

19. You Need More Sleep : Advice from Cats by Francesco Marciuliano (slightly over 100 pages but a lot of pictures).

20. I Could Pee on This by Franesco Marciuliano (slightly over 100 pages but a lot of pictures) -- reread

21. Seven against Thebes by Aeschylus -- 2 different editions with different translators -- very different reading experience

22. What Does an Angel Look Like by Joshua Brown

7sallylou61
Editat: des. 20, 2015, 11:40 pm

Category 6. Other books -- this will be for books which do not fit any of the other categories.

1. Real Doctor Will See You Shortly by Matt McCarthy -- LT Early Review book.

2. A Family Sketch and Other Private Writings by Mark Twain, Livy Clemens, and Susy Clemens -- Christmas present for husband.

3. When Doctors Don't Listen: How to Avoid Misdiagnoses and Unnecessary Tests by Leana Wen and Joshua Kosowsky -- Va Book Festival 2014 -- ROOT.

4. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller -- read for OLLI class

5. The 50 Most Dynamic Duos in Sports History by Robert W. Cohen -- LT Early Review book.

6. July's People by Nadine Gordimer -- read for OLLI class.

7. The Assistant by Bernard Malamud -- read for OLLI class. -

8. The Best Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis selected and introduced by Caroline Kennedy.

9. Lived through This by Anne K. Ream -- LT Early review book.

10. Hidden in Plain Sight by Jane Allen Petrick -- ROOT

11. That's Not English by Erin Moore --

12. We Are Penn State: the Remarkable Journey of the 2012 Nittany Lions by Lou Prato.

13. Missoula : Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer

14. A Government of Wolves : the Emerging American Police State by John W. Whitehead

15. Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee -- read Aug. 4th and 5th.

16. Dewey's Nine Lives by Vicki Myron (with Bret Witter) -- read Aug. 16th and 17th.

17. Last One Home by Debbie Macomber

18. The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce -- finished Sept. 10th.

19. Liberation: New Works on Freedom from Internationally Renowned Poets edited by Mark Ludwig -- finished Sept. 28th.

20. Stolen Years: Stories of the Wrongfully Imprisoned by Reuven Fenton -- finished Nov. 8th.

21. Bluffing is Murder by Tace Baker (previously had listed under Classics and Mysteries, but have enough classics not to need to include mysteries.)

22. The Long Way Home by Louise Penny -- finished Sept. 12th -- (previously had listed under Classics and Mysteries, but have enough classics not to need to include mysteries.)

23. Whiter than Snow by Sandra Dallas -- finished Dec. 16th

24. Come Go Home with Me by Sheila Kay Adams -- finished Dec. 20th.

8sallylou61
Editat: oct. 14, 2015, 5:54 pm

Bingo card 1. I am doing this for fun, and do not expect to fill the whole card.

9sallylou61
Editat: oct. 14, 2015, 6:09 pm

Bingo card 1 results screen:
1. Book set in another country -- The Stranger by Albert Camus.

2. Genre bender -- Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot -- Lois Conrad said this is an example of a genre bender being both poetry and a play -- also both poetry and prose (speeches by the knights) 3/12/15

3. Reminds me of my childhood -- Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

4. Book chosen by someone else -- The Pickup by Nadine Gordimer

6. Book with correspondence -- The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe

7. Book owned more than 1 year: Wisdom's Daughters by Elizabeth G. Watson.

8: Book translated: Five Great Greek Tragedies (could also have been used for #7 owned more than a year or #1 set in a country other than your own, or #13 read a CAT). Plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.

9. Book centered around historical event: Whistle Stop by Philip White

10. Book published in 1915: The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka.

11. Prophecies: The Lifted Veil by George Eliot

12. Book with scientist: Evidence of Things Unseen by Marianne Wiggins

13. Read a CAT: A Family Sketch and Other Private Writings by Mark Twain, Livy Clemens and Susy Clemens (January Random CAT)

14. Author shares an ancestor's first name -- The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway -- Ernest was maternal grandfather's first name.

15. Natural disaster -- Women and the Lakes by Frederick Stonehouse -- tells of many wrecks caused by bad storms

17. LGBTQ main character -- Course Correction by Ginny Gilder (Early reviewer book)

18. LT author -- Women of War: Selected Memoirs, Poems, and Fiction by Virginia Women Who Lived
Through the Civil War edited by Clay Clabough.

19. Book about language -- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (contains a lot of dialect)

20. Book outside comfort zone: The Man Who Walked Away by Maud Casey

22. Book inspired by another piece of fiction -- Uncle Tom's Cabin -- a play by George L. Aiken inspired by Uncle Tom's Cabin, the novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe

23. Unfamiliar with subject Defiant Brides: the Untold Story of Two Revolutionary-Era Women and the Radical Men They Married by Nancy Rubin Stuart. Included lot of info about campaigns of Revolutionary War -- not particularly interested in nor knowledgeable about military history.

26. Protagonist of opposite gender -- The Assistant by Bernard Malamud

10sallylou61
Editat: des. 16, 2015, 10:33 pm

I'm having so much fun with my bingo dog that I decided to do a second one, using books not in my first one. I am primarily using books read for other purposes than merely for bingo dog. Also, I'm interested in seeing how many lines I can fill; I'm not trying to fill the whole card.

11sallylou61
Editat: des. 16, 2015, 10:34 pm

Explanation of filled in squares, bingo card 2:

1. Protagonist of opposite gender -- The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri.

2. Chosen by someone else -- Missoula by Jon Krakauer

3. Owned more than 1 year -- Quakers and the Arts by David Sox

4. with scientists -- The Ghost Map by Stephen Johnson

5. Unfamiliar subject -- This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War by Drew Gilpin Faust.

6. Translated from language you don't speak -- A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen

7. With a natural disaster -- Whiter than snow by Sandra Dallas.

9. with LGBTQ main character -- Women on the Row by Kathleen O'Shea -- wrote a lot about herself

10. Set in a different country -- July's People by Nadine Gordimer (South Africa)

11. Book about language-- That's Not English by Erin Moore -- finished May 26th.

13. Read a CAT -- Kindred by Octavia E. Butler for SFFF cat -- finished June 26th.

14. Reminds me of my childhood -- Only the Rivers are Peaceful: Thomas Hart Benton's Missouri Mural by Bob Priddy.

15. Prophecies -- Oedipus the King by Sophocles -- read Oct. 27th.

17. Inspired by another piece of fiction -- The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce

18. With correspondence or letters -- The Feminist Thought of Sarah Grimke, edited by Gerda Lerner -- most of the documents included are letters, either to individual persons or to newspapers.

20. Animal of importance -- You Need More Sleep: Advice from Cats by Francesco Marciuliano.

22. Major historical event -- Fatal Journey by Peter C. Mancall

23. Same first name of ancestor -- The Long Way Home by Louise Penny -- mother's name was Louise.

24. Genre bender -- Faust by Goethe (play in poetry)

25. Outside comfort zone -- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

12lkernagh
jul. 3, 2015, 9:39 am

Happy new thread!

13MissWatson
jul. 3, 2015, 10:12 am

Happy new thread! Interesting books on your Bingo card.

14mamzel
jul. 3, 2015, 9:38 pm

I admire how well you are distributing books in your categories. I am so bad at that. Happy new thread!

15-Eva-
jul. 3, 2015, 11:38 pm

Happy new thread!!!

16sallylou61
Editat: jul. 3, 2015, 11:54 pm

Thanks to people commenting on my new thread.

I just finished reading Bluffing is Murder by Tace Baker, a murder mystery with multiple deaths featuring a Quaker, Lauren Rousseau, who tries to solve the murders.

3.5 stars

55th title read.

17rabbitprincess
jul. 4, 2015, 8:53 am

Happy Thread 2! The second bingo card is looking good, too!

18sallylou61
Editat: jul. 10, 2015, 2:57 pm

I'm at a Quaker conference in North Carolina this week. Last night's entertainment was a concert by Carrie Newcomer, a Quaker folksinger who has published a short collection of poems and essays. I read the book, A Permeable Life today, and really enjoyed the poems and her first essay about her relationship with her elderly dog. The rest of the essays were okay, it nothing special.

In an author's talk. Carrie said that she bases her songs on poems or short stories she writes. In this collection, she indicates under the title of a poem or essay, which song is related to it. Many of the poems/essays are not related to a song.

3.5 stars.

56th title read.

19thornton37814
jul. 14, 2015, 8:23 pm

>18 sallylou61: You must be at Guilford College? Just a guess!

20sallylou61
jul. 15, 2015, 10:39 am

Re 19: No, the conference was held at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee. We had approximately 1500 Friends at the conference (actually called the Friends General Conference Gathering); we are too big a group to meet at any of the Quaker colleges.
Ours was the largest conference which Western Carolina University had held; before their largest had been 500! The University did very well with such a large group.

21sallylou61
jul. 15, 2015, 3:54 pm

For tonight's book club meeting, I have finished reading A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor. I'm going to give it a thumbs down (meaning I did not like it) when we go around the room giving our general impressions. Although this book won a Pulitzer Prize, I found it to be very boring with little action and considerable repetition.

2 stars

57th title read

22sallylou61
jul. 17, 2015, 9:27 am

For the Random CAT I read a pamphlet, Arise and Build: a Centennial Commemoration of the 1895 Rotunda Fire which discusses the 1895 fire of the Rotunda of the University of Virginia and its impact on the institution. Although former colleagues of mine were responsible for the exhibition, I had never actually read the pamphlet which accompanied it. The fire might have been a blessing in disguise; the Rotunda housed a small and inefficiently run library among other things. Following the fire, the administration of the institution considered what had to be accomplished to make the university a major university instead of a school for white males, many of whom came unprepared for university level classes. The university hired the nationally known architect Stanford White to design the new Rotunda and several other buildings.
(Incidentally the University of Virginia did not accept black males until around 1960 or females until around 1970).

58th title read

23sallylou61
jul. 23, 2015, 6:25 pm

I have just joined a committee at our public library which sponsors monthly lunchtime book lectures during the academic year. We read any potential books that we might have discussed to see if they are good choices. I have just finished reading Grandma Gatewood's Walk: the Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail by Ben Montgomery. This is an enjoyable book which I think will appeal to our audience, which consists mainly of retired people, many of whom are quite elderly. Grandma Gatewood walked the Appalachian Trial three times; this is the story of her first time in 1955. In addition to telling the story of Grandma Gatewood's hike, it mentions what was going on at the time of the hike; thus it is a good review of the 1950s -- a time that our audience would have lived through and remember. Moreover, we are near the Virginia section of the trail; several places the audience would be familiar with are mentioned.

4 stars

59th title read.

24sallylou61
Editat: jul. 27, 2015, 9:32 pm

For the HistoryCAT, I read Jamestown and the Founding of the Nation by Warren M. Billings. This book provides an overview of the history of Jamestown which was only in existence as a town during the 17th century. The book gives both the political and social (i.e. discovery and way of life) history of Jamestown, and shows how its history was both similar to and different from 17th century England. The final chapter covers various celebrations every 50 years up through 1957. The book's weakness in its final chapter is that it talks about celebrations and research which have occurred until the present without clearly stating the date the book was written which was around 1990. The 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown was celebrated in 2007. Moreover, considerable research has been done since then, described in Jamestown, the Buried Truth by William M. Kelso, head archaeologist of the Jamestown Rediscovery Project, published in 2006.
Mr. Billings' book contains a useful chronology and lists of chief executives (1607-1699) and Speakers of the House of Burgesses (1643-1699).

3 stars

60th title read

25cbl_tn
jul. 27, 2015, 9:52 pm

>23 sallylou61: I took a hit with Grandma Gatewood's Walk. I've never walked the Appalachian trail, except for a very short stretch in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. I'm particularly interested in her background. It appears she's from Gallia County, Ohio, where my great-grandfather's family lived. My local library has a copy in Overdrive so I've added it to my wishlist there.

26sallylou61
jul. 28, 2015, 12:14 am

Re 23 and 25: Carrie, "Grandma" (Emma Rowena) Gatewood was an interesting character. She first walked the complete Appalachian Trail when she was 67 years old. Her home life is also described in the book; over a 20 year period, she gave birth to 11 children who ranged in age from 27 to 47 when she hiked the AT in 1955. She was portrayed as a widow; however, she was actually divorced from a man who had severely abused her for many years.

27sallylou61
Editat: jul. 28, 2015, 5:11 pm

Again this month one of the items on our public library's summer reading program list is "Read a book you started and never finished." I finally finished reading A Government of Wolves: the Emerging American Police State by John W. Whitehead. Mr. Whitehead is the founder and a leader of the Rutherford Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to the defense of civil liberties and human rights, and taught an OLLI course which I attended several years ago. In 26 relatively brief chapters, Mr. Whitehead shows again and again through specific examples how our government in alliance with large corporations is robbing us of our liberties.
After sounding alarmist through the first 26 chapters, Mr. Whitehead changes tone in the final 5 chapters showing what we as citizens can do to restore our liberties. He often uses Martin Luther King, Jr., as an example of how to perform nonviolent resistance.

I found the last half of the book (the part I had not previously read) more interesting to read. This is probably because I no longer am subscribing to the e-mail documents issued by the Rutherford Institute (which often mentioned this book). Moreover, some of these chapters are on topics of particular interest to me including the problems faced in our schools (the overuse of security, arresting little children for doing things little children normally do) and in the criminal justice system (the over-representation of black men and minorities in jail, long sentence for minor offenses, etc.)

3 stars

61st title read (i.e. finished)

28sallylou61
jul. 29, 2015, 11:42 pm

During the past few days I took time off from reading To the Letter, a rather boring relatively long book I'm reading for a committee assignment and finishing A Government of Wolves to read a short collection of poetry by Denise Levertov called Making Peace. I'm still trying to acquire more of an appreciation for poetry. The collection was divided by the editor, Peggy Rosenthal, into four sections: "Life at War," concerning the horrors of war, "Protesters" concerning resistance to violence, "Writing in the Dark" concerning the evils of one's times and the mystery of not knowing what good one's work might do; and "Making Peace" concerning possibilities of healing society's wounds (p. xiii-xiv). I felt that section three was the least successful; however, each section contained some meaningful poems. Still, Denise Levertov is definitely not one of my favorite poets. I purchased this book on special sale for $1.00 at the Friends' bookstore at the conference I went to earlier this month.

3 stars

62nd title read

29sallylou61
jul. 30, 2015, 11:37 pm

I finally finished To the Letter by Simon Garfield which I read as a committee assignment for our local library's monthly book lectures to see if I thought it would be a book our audience would enjoy hearing about. I personally found the book too long and rather jumbled with the author's going from one subject to another then back to the former too often. The author tries to cover too many topics concerning letter writing including the history of postal services in Britain and the United States and the collecting of letters in addition to letter writing. If we decide to have a lecture about the book, I think the speaker should stick to one or two themes such as love letters or letters written by famous authors.
However, I think that we have enough other candidates that we will not need to choose this book.

3 stars

63rd title read.

30lkernagh
ag. 2, 2015, 6:05 pm

>29 sallylou61: - Ha.... I quickly skimmed your post and at first my mind read Simon Garfield and registered it as being "Simon & Garfunkel". Suffice to say, I was, at first, really excited (and then very confused) over your review until the brain figured out what I had misread. ;-)

31sallylou61
ag. 3, 2015, 1:24 pm

HistoryCAT reading for August -- period, not topic:
Defiant Brides: the Untold Story of Two Revolutionary-Era Women and the Radical Men They Married by Nancy Rubin Stuart.

I found this book to be disappointing reading. The women covered are Margaret Shippen Arnold -- wife of the traitor Benedict Arnold -- and Lucy Flucker Knox -- wife of Secretary of War Henry Knox. Although the women were portrayed, much of the story concerned their husbands, including military campaigns, etc. (Probably this should not be surprising since the title mentions Revolutionary-Era.) Both of the women were raised in families who ended up either being Tories or British sympathizers during the war, and both wanted to live as upper class women. Margaret Shippen Arnold aided her husband in his traitorous actions; Lucy Flucker Knox often complained to her husband about her hardships during and after the war.

The book lacks family trees and lists identifying major characters, both of which would have been very helpful in reading the book.

3 stars

64th title read

32sallylou61
Editat: ag. 5, 2015, 9:45 pm

Just finished reading Harper Lee's Go Set a Watchman, which I managed to borrow from Best Sellers collection in our public library. These books cannot be put on hold, and the loan period is only a week, and probably can't be renewed.

I have mixed feeling about the book. The first part I found very boring. However, the middle section I really enjoyed; there was a lot of action. The last part I found too philosophical.

Although this book was written prior to To Kill a Mockingbird, it could be considered a sequel. The story is once again told from Jean Louise's (a grown-up Scout) viewpoint. There are numerous flashbacks to Jean Louise's life as a child.

3.5 (?) stars

65th title read

33sallylou61
Editat: ag. 6, 2015, 7:42 pm

I decided to give up on my attempt to read Quaker Summer for RandomCAT. It is definitely Christian fiction, which I normally do not read. Through 70 pages of the book the protagonist is still living a wealthy life style although she is uncomfortable since something is missing in her life.

34sallylou61
Editat: ag. 11, 2015, 11:39 pm

I have just finished reading Household Workers Unite by Premilla Nadasen for the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. I need to think more about the book before writing the review. Although the book dealt with an area of history which needs exploring, it was very repetitious; it seemed as if it might have been better treated as an article or pamphlet instead of a book. It talked about the importance of women household workers (domestics) telling their stories, but told very few stories of these people.

3 stars

66th title read

35sallylou61
ag. 14, 2015, 10:07 am

Another historyCAT book -- this time for topic --The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson. Subtitle: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic --- and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World.

This book tells the story of September 1854 London cholera epidemic and how a physician and minister working in the section of London hit discovered the cause, and their efforts to convince the local government what had to be done to stop the epidemic. Many people, including those in government thought it was caused by poor quality air (stench) instead of a polluted water supply. Mapping was used to identify the cause. Mr. Johnson discusses mapping in detail, and the uses it can serve in today's society.

4 stars

67th title read

(Reported via a tablet.)

36RidgewayGirl
ag. 14, 2015, 8:52 pm

I liked The Ghost Map when I read it. So interesting.

37kac522
ag. 15, 2015, 11:24 am

The Ghost Map is going on my wishlist.

38lkernagh
ag. 15, 2015, 6:07 pm

>35 sallylou61: - I have a copy of that one lurking somewhere on my TBR bookcases. Glad to see its a goodie!

39sallylou61
ag. 17, 2015, 4:55 am

Just finished reading Dewey's Nine Lives by Vicki Myron (with Bret Witter). This is a follow-up to her book Dewey who lived in her library. This book contains a few more stories about Dewey, but is mainly about other cats she heard about -- and people's relationship with cats or vice-versa.

3.5 stars

68th book read

40sallylou61
ag. 18, 2015, 4:26 pm

Several years ago we were on a Caribbean cruise on the Ryndam (Holland America Line), and the ship's library did not have any Hemingway titles even though it stopped at Key West and one of the staff members gave a lecture on Hemingway. We are back on the Ryndam, cruising around Norway, and by now the ship has several Hemingway titles. I just read The Old Man and the Sea which I thought was well-written although I did not particularly enjoy the book. The writing created the mood of the story well.

3 stars

69th title read

41sallylou61
ag. 19, 2015, 3:45 pm

Just finished reading Black Beauty by Anna Sewell -- BingoDog -- reminds me of my childhood since my father became interested in the book, and its author, Anna Sewell, a Quaker, and wrote an article about her.

Although I never read the book as a child, I found it very interesting once I became used to a talking horse.

Won't write more now -- we're on a cruise and buying very expensive internet time.

4 stars
70th title read

42cbl_tn
ag. 19, 2015, 5:24 pm

>41 sallylou61: I never read that one as a child, but it brings back memories because it was the first book my brother read on his own.

Enjoy your cruise!

43RidgewayGirl
ag. 21, 2015, 8:30 am

I loved Black Beauty so much as a child and read it several times. I read it to my kids a few years ago and while they really enjoyed it, I was taken aback by the preachy tone.

44sallylou61
Editat: ag. 23, 2015, 5:22 am

Just finished reading Selected Poems by Rita Dove, which includes her collections The Yellow House on the Corner, Museum and Thomas and Beulah. Although I did not always understand what she was saying, I admire her use of language. (I plan to reread some of the poems at home when I have easy access to the internet which I use as a dictionary when reading poetry.) I particularly enjoyed the first and last collections. Rita Dove is a local author, who teaches at the University of Virginia, and has served as both the poet laureate of the United States and of Virginia (at different times).

4 stars

71st title read

45sallylou61
ag. 24, 2015, 3:09 am

For very light reading -- ship reading instead of beach reading -- read Last One Home by Debbie Macomber. This is a novel about three sisters who became estranged, but got back together again. Enjoyable book.

4 stars

72nd title read

46sallylou61
ag. 25, 2015, 11:00 am

When we were at the North Cape, the northern most point of Europe last Saturday, I bought a book Into the North: Journeys to the North Cape over the Centuries by Eva Schmutterer, translated by Jocelyn Polen. This turned out to be a disappointing book; the first section was about the region around the North Cape, and the second section about people's visiting there. In the first few chapters, Ms. Schmutterer often talked about Finnmark without defining it. Finally on p. 27 she defines it as the northern most county in Norway. The journeys discussed are those of early explorers followed by royalty. The adventures of only three women, all in the same chapter, are described. All of the descriptions are brief, and the bibliographies following each chapter usually do not include the books by the person discussed even when his writings are described as being very important. No map or glossary.

2.5 stars

73rd title read.

47sallylou61
ag. 28, 2015, 4:08 pm

I have finished reading the first book of a trilogy, Kristin Lavransdatter I: The Wreath by the Norwegian author, Sigrid Undset. It was recommended by my travel agent who is Norwegian herself. I enjoyed the story about a young 14th century Norwegian woman who did not want to marry the man her father arranged; she married the man she loved instead. There were a number of surprises in the story.

4 stars

74th title read

48cbl_tn
ag. 28, 2015, 6:40 pm

>47 sallylou61: I've been meaning to get to that one for years! Almost everyone who reads it seems to like it.

49sallylou61
set. 3, 2015, 10:51 pm

Re 43: Kay, I agree that Black Beauty is rather preachy. Both it and Uncle Tom's Cabin could be considered to be 19th century "reform" novels. Although I have never read the latter, I understand that it gets repetitious and probably preachy. In the afterword of the edition of Black Beauty which I read, Lucy Grealy said that an unnamed philoanthropist wanted to buy and give away 100,000 copies of Black Beauty "wanting to do for horses what Uncle Tom's Cabin had done for slavery" (p. 218).

I'm glad your children enjoyed hearing you read Black Beauty to them.

Re 42: Carrie, thanks for sharing that Black Beauty was the first book your brother read on his own. Books can bring back memories even when we have not read them ourselves.

50sallylou61
set. 3, 2015, 10:53 pm

Re 47 and 48: Sometime I would like to read the rest of the Kristen Lavransdatter trilogy, but don't know when I'll get around to it. There are so many good book to read.

51sallylou61
Editat: set. 4, 2015, 12:16 am

For my Jane Austen OLLI class, I have read both Love and Freindship {sic} and Catharine, or The Bower -- short "novels" which Jane wrote as a teenager. Jane wrote Love and Freindship as a novel in a series of letters; throughout the work, she used "ei" in words which should have been spelled "ie" and she had other misspelled words. In it she has describes a number of tragedies, and has girls fainting in reaction to them.

Although it is an unfinished work, Catherine, or The Bower is more like her longer, later her novels with telling a story and better developed characters.

We have not yet discussed these works in class; we were briefly discussing the major novels today. Our instructor was surprised to find that most of us (8 out of 10 students) had not yet read all of the 6 major novels; he had assumed we would all have read them at least once! Although I had planned to do the Jane Austen read this year for the novels I have not yet read, I did not get around to doing so. I consider myself to be a slow reader; many of the titles I have read are short works.

In our class, the only major novel we will read is Mansfield Park; I'm glad that is the one we will be studying since it is not yet available in an annotated edition. I normally read the annotated editions to better understand what is going on since I'm not all that familiar with Regency England.

Next year I'm going back to not counting the titles I'm reading, especially since I often take literature courses featuring relatively short literary works. I decided to count these as two titles since they are two distinct works.

75th and 76th titles read.

52sallylou61
set. 7, 2015, 11:58 am

I just finished reading O Pioneers by Willa Cather for my book club. It is a beautifully told story about life on the prairie in the late 19th century. It features a strong woman character, and vividly describes nature and the weather which had strong effects on the lives of the characters.

This is the second novel I have read by Willa Cather, and each time I read her, I feel I want to read more of her works.

5 stars

77th title read

53mamzel
set. 8, 2015, 10:33 am

I ditto your Cather-love. She has the most wonderful ways of describing otherwise mundane things.

54sallylou61
Editat: set. 8, 2015, 3:03 pm

I read The Daring Ladies of Lowell by Kate Alcott -- a novel about the female textile mill workers at Lowell for the HistoryCAT challenge. This is an easy and quick read romance novel. Although it describes the lives of working class "girls" (always called girls, never women), it also is about class differences. One of the more spunky mill workers attracts the attention of a son of the mill owner; romance dominates the story although Alice Barrow, the mill worker is a strong character.

4 stars

78th title read.

55sallylou61
set. 10, 2015, 7:02 pm

I bought a paperback edition of The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce at the London Heathrow Airport last month, and read approximately 2/3 of it on the flight home. I finally got around to finishing it. This book was written as companion to the author's earlier best-seller, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry; it was not meant to be a sequel. It tells the story from Queenie Hennessy's point of view; the same events are central to the story. However, Queenie wants to tell Harold Fry things which he never knew about their lives and that of his family, which she does by describing it to a hospice employee who write it down although it is never given to Harold. Queenie herself is not very interesting as a character; she has not done much on her own.

3.5 stars

79th title read

56sallylou61
Editat: set. 13, 2015, 2:42 pm

I took another break from reading for my Jane Austen class and read The Long Way Home by Louise Penny. This fits into the bingo square on my second sheet for author shares first name of ancestor; my mother's name was Louise.

I enjoyed this mystery which was primarily looking for a person; the murders do not occur until near the end of the story. The ending surprised me.

3.5 stars

80th title read.

57sallylou61
set. 15, 2015, 12:05 am

For my Jane Austen OLLI course I have read (actually reread) two of Austen's shorter works: The Watsons and Lady Susan. Once again, I particularly enjoyed reading Lady Susan, which is almost completely written as an epistolary novella; only the conclusion is not in correspondence form. Lady Susan herself is probably one of Jane Austen's most evil characters. I'm looking forward to our discussion of these two works in class later this week.

81st and 82nd titles read.

58sallylou61
Editat: set. 18, 2015, 5:20 pm

I have finally finished reading Mansfield Park by Jane Austen for my Jane Austen class. I had meant to do the year-long Jane Austen reading, but so far have not succeeded in doing so. Unfortunately, I have just too many unread books. I had begun Mansfield Park in March, but had not read much of it. It is my least favorite work by Austen; it seems to drag on, and then have a lot of action at the very end. This is the first of Austen's six major novels which I have not read an annotated version of; I enjoy the annotations when reading these novels. However, our class discussions of Jane Austen's works so far have helped me in reading this novel. I'm looking forward to our class discussion next week; we have an excellent instructor who asks thought-provoking questions in leading our discussion.

83rd title read

59-Eva-
set. 18, 2015, 5:37 pm

"I have just too many unread books"
Me too! :)

60sallylou61
Editat: set. 27, 2015, 11:27 pm

I unexpectedly reread Persuasion by Jane Austen for our Jane Austen course. It was not on our original reading list, but we decided to add an additional class session, and it will be discussed then. Once again I read the annotated version, annotated by David M. Shapard, but did not read many of the annotations since I knew much more about Jane Austen's writing and English society since I'm taking the class; I felt the annotations were unnecessary.

4.5 (or 5) stars

84th title read

61zhien
set. 27, 2015, 11:32 pm

S'ha suprimit aquest usuari en ser considerat brossa.

62sallylou61
set. 28, 2015, 9:51 pm

I have finally finished reading a LT early reviewers book -- Liberation: New Works on Freedom from Internationally Renowned Poets, edited by Mark Ludwig. This book was prepared "in honor of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps" -- an event certainly worth commemorating. (Quote from front cover.) The collection includes some very moving poems. However, as a whole, the collection is disappointing, and the editing is atrocious. The editor gives no biographical background about the individual poets (except their country and ethnic group); one is directed to a website for that information. Moreover, the book does not contain an index of any kind; the reader must skim through the table of contents to find poems by any individual poet. Also, although the editor claims the poets are renowned, I had never heard of most of them, and I've taken a couple of modern American poetry courses. Of the 40 poets in the collection who are listed as being American or partially American, only 5 are included in The Penguin Anthology of Twentieth-Century American Poetry edited by Rita Dove -- one of the poets appearing in Liberation.

2 stars

85th title read

63sallylou61
Editat: set. 29, 2015, 11:38 pm

For my Jane Austen class I read Sanditon, the novel which the author was working on when she died. This was a reread for me, and I did not like it any better than when I read it two years ago. Several of the characters talk at great lengths about saying silly things about such topics as poetry, novels, and health. It can be seen as a satire on idleness in the upper social classes -- particularly as it relates to one's health.

86th title read

3 stars

64sallylou61
oct. 5, 2015, 12:02 am

Having enjoyed rereading The Annotated Persuasion so much for my class, I have just read The Annotated Northanger Abbey for the first time. This novel I also enjoyed although I was disappointed in Jane Austen's writing about General Tilney -- as a character he did not sound believable. We may talk some about this novel in our next class which is an extra session we added; although Persuasion will be the main topic, we will be free to also talk about what we want to.

Also, this is the first time I have actually read a Jane Austen novel during the correct months for the Jane Austen read; I might participate in that discussion later this month.

4.5 stars

87th title read

65christina_reads
oct. 7, 2015, 5:29 pm

>64 sallylou61: Yes, come talk about Northanger Abbey with us! I'm rereading it now and finding it utterly delightful!

66sallylou61
oct. 12, 2015, 11:52 pm

Finished reading Women of War: Selected Memoirs, Poems, and Fiction by Virginia Women Who Lived through the Civil War edited by Casey Clabough for the time period for HistoryCAT. I think the memoir section was the best; memoirs by Mrs. Roger A. Pryor and Sally A. Brock Putnam were especially interesting. In the poetry section, I found particularly moving "A Mother's Prayer" by Mrs. Makgabet Figoot (probably a misspelled pen name), "A Soldier's Grave" by an anonymous author, and "The Jacket of Gray: To Those Who Wore It" by Mrs. C. A. Ball. However, the poetry section contained some extremely patriot poems which glorified Virginia which I found distasteful. "Virginia" by Fannie A. Marr talked about Confederate soldiers who would rather die than live as slaves, and claiming that Virginia was the friend of freedom! The word freedom was used several times. There were only three fiction selections and they were too short to be very meaningful.

3.5 stars

88th title read

67sallylou61
oct. 14, 2015, 11:07 pm

Just finished reading The Wit & Wisdom of Harry Truman edited by Ralph Keyes. My husband and I are touring Missouri this week plus during the break between the A and B sessions of our OLLI adult education classes. I lived in Missouri between the ages of 2 and 6, but had not been back for nearly 60 years. We have enjoyed
seeing St. Louis, the Mark Twain exhibits (etc.) in Hannibal, Columbia (where I used to live), the Thomas Hart Benton paintings in Jefferson City, and the Winston Churchill Museum in Fulton. Tomorrow on to Mansfield to see the Laura Ingalls Wilder House and to Branson to see the Titanic replica and then on to Independence and Kansas City.

89th title read.

68sallylou61
oct. 21, 2015, 10:01 am

I have read and reviewed a book received through the LT Early Reviewers program: You Need More Sleep: Advice from Cats by Francesco Marciuliano -- a quick, light read which is the shortest, least significant book I've ever received through this program. However, I expected this to be the case having read his earlier book, I Could Pee on This and Other Poems by Cats, which I reread before writing the review. In my opinion, You Need More Sleep is not as original and fun as I Could Pee on This.

3 stars for You Need More Sleep
4 stars for I Could Pee on This

90th and 91st titles read

Although both these books were slightly over 100 pages, I listed both in my short book category since they were heavily illustrated and did not contain a lot of text.

69sallylou61
oct. 28, 2015, 9:42 am

Last week for the first time ever (in approximately two years), I went to our local library's book club meeting without having finished reading the book. It was The 100-Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson. There were some very funny incidents in the book, but I thought at times the author was trying too hard to be funny. The present day experiences were okay; however, I really disliked the interspersed descriptions of the earlier life of Allan Karlsson. Those sections involved his experiences with historical figures, who were unfaithfully represented. I just got so disgusted with the book that I stopped reading it after reading 15 chapters (201 pages of a 384 page book). Several of our book club members had not completed the book.

Although I read more pages than some of the complete books I read contain, I am not counting this in the books read since I did not complete it. (Having participated in the discussion, I may return to it and complete it, but not now.)

70sallylou61
oct. 28, 2015, 9:55 am

For today's session of my OLLI adult education class, Greek Tragedies of Ancient Thebes, I reread Oedipus the King by Sophocles. This version of the play was translated by Robert Fagles; the translation which our instructor recommended. Although I read the play in college, I had not reread it until earlier this year when I read the translation by Sir George Young in the Dover thrift edition. I really saw the value of hearing an expert explain Greek theater in our first class and reading an edition which contained an introduction to the work. Although I knew the basic story, rereading the text was much more meaningful this time. I'm looking forward to our discussion this afternoon; I assume we will examine selected passages since we were told to read an edition with line numbers even if we did not read the recommended translator.

I did not count this title separately before; I counted it as part of the 5 plays I read in one collection. I know that I'm being inconsistent, but I'm counting this individually this time around.

4.5 stars
92nd title read

71-Eva-
oct. 31, 2015, 3:54 pm

>69 sallylou61:
I tried to read that one, but the humor just didn't "click" with me - I've left it on Mt. TBR, though, just in case it'll work another time instead.

72sallylou61
Editat: nov. 1, 2015, 11:59 pm

This evening I read Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles, translated by Robert Fagles, as a supplementary reading for my OLLI Greek tragedies class. Our class is studying three plays about Thebes: Oedipus Rex, Seven against Thebes, and Antigone -- in this order which is the order of the story, not of when the plays were written. In the story, Oedipus at Colonus would follow Oedipus Rex, but it is not really a play about Thebes. Some of us are reading it anyway; it will be interesting to see if we discuss it. Our assignment for class Wednesday is to read Seven against Thebes by Aeschylus; however, it is a short play which I will read tomorrow. Oedipus at Colonus is the story of Oedipus after he is banished from Thebes through the end of his life.

I think that Oedipus at Colonus is not as well know as either Oedipus Rex or Antigone; I don't remember having read it previously.

4.5 stars

93rd title read

73sallylou61
nov. 3, 2015, 10:41 pm

For my OLLI Greek tragedies class tomorrow I read 2 versions of Seven against Thebes by Aeschylus; one was translated by Alan H. Sommerstein and published with several of Aeschylus' other plays as a Penguin classic, and the other was translated by Robert Emmet Meagher and published by Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers.

I had very different experiences reading these translations, whose translators apparently had different purposes. Sommerstein was more scholarly in many respects; he had a lot of endnotes, which could hamper the reading of the play, but, more importantly, he included some scenes which were probably not in the original play. Meagher was translating for performing the play, and did not include endnotes or the scenes added later, which he felt detracted from the play. I found reading the Meagher translation much more enjoyable; I agree with his not adding the scenes created later, which results in a different ending to the play. Meagher, in his introduction, points out the importance of the play today.

I will be interested in finding out tomorrow what translations others read. A Penguin edition, but with an earlier translator was recommended; however, the earlier Penguin edition was not readily available.

5 stars for the Meagher translation

94th title read (previously I have counted two translations of the same work as one work)

74sallylou61
nov. 9, 2015, 12:12 am

I have read and written a review of the most recent ER book received through the LT program, Stolen Years: Stories of the Wrongfully Imprisoned by Reuven Fenton.

http://www.librarything.com/work/16534133/reviews/123015216

3.5 stars

95th title read

75sallylou61
nov. 9, 2015, 11:54 pm

This evening I read the last play for my Greek tragedy course -- Antigone by Sophocles, translated by Robert Fagles. I'm really looking forward to our class discussion on Wednesday. It is a powerful play. Although this was a reread since I read it in college, this was like a new read since that was over 50 years ago.

5 stars

96th title read

76sallylou61
nov. 11, 2015, 6:21 pm

I just read West from Home: Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder to Almanzo Wilder, San Francisco 1915 for the RandomCAT challenge which also fits the time period for the HistoryCAT.
Laura went to San Francisco to visit her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, and see the World's Fair (officially named the Panama-Pacific International Exposition). She sent letters back home to her husband, who was running their farm. Laura decribed her journey and the fair in vivid detail, noting particularly things she thought would interest Almanzo such as inventions and farming; she mentioned a milking machine. Apparently, Rose was trying to convince her parents to move out to California since she and Laura went to see possible places to live. (The Wilders stayed in Missouri.) Laura also talks about economic problems of both the Wilders and Rose Wilder Lane and her husband -- and always inquires about Almanza and their dog. She wrote some articles for a farm journal when she got home, one of which is excerpted at the end of the book. That article was aimed toward women; she described how raisins could be commercially pitted.

4 stars

97th title read

77sallylou61
nov. 15, 2015, 11:05 pm

For my local book club, I have finished reading All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, which tells the story of the horrors of that war. It also fits both the time period and theme for November for the HistoryCAT challenge.

4 stars

98th title read

78sallylou61
nov. 19, 2015, 11:56 pm

This evening I finished reading Only the Rivers are Peaceful: Thomas Hart Benton's Missouri Mural by Bob Priddy which I bought last month at the Thomas Hart Benton Studio and Museum in Kansas City. I counted this on my second BingoDog card as reminding me of my childhood. Our family lived in Missouri when I was a very young child (aged almost 2 to almost 6), and returned for the summer when I was 13 when Father taught summer school at the University of Missouri. During that summer we went to Jefferson City and saw the mural. Although the mural was not very meaningful to me then, I have fond memories of going to "Jeff City" and of Father's talking about the mural several times after that summer. John and I saw the mural last month when we toured Missouri -- something I had wanted to do for some time.

This book is a very complete account of one work of art -- the controversial mural in the House Lounge in the Capitol in Jefferson City and its creator, Thomas Hart Benton. It discusses the politics of Benton's being appointed to create the work, the controversy concerning some specific scenes in the mural, unsuccessful efforts on the part of some politicians to get the mural removed, and the restorations which have had to be done since the mural is in a room which for many years was not air-conditioned or climate controlled. The mural as completed was also controversial since it was a social history of Missouri, emphasizing the common people instead of the political history of achievements of important leaders -- and Benton's style was criticized. The last chapter discusses what the mural means, section by section of the work. That discussion is taken from various written sources including interviews.
Appendices contain two articles by Benton -- one of which gives a history of mural painting, telling how for centuries the content of murals had been controlled by the politicians for whom the works were painted, and how Benton broke away from this control. The last appendix discusses Benton's use of models he made prior to doing paintings.

This is a paperback book, and, unfortunately, the pictures of the mural are much too small to easily see. Moreover, it would have been helpful to have had a photograph of the detail of the event being discussed with the text itself.

The book should have been more carefully edited. There is a fair amount of repetition, and some words are run together. Long quotations are printed in very small type which makes them hard to read.

3.5 stars

99th title read

79sallylou61
Editat: nov. 23, 2015, 8:06 am

I enjoyed reading Laura Ingalls Wilder: American Writer on the Prairie by Sallie Ketcham -- a birthday gift from my husband. Although many books have been written about LIW and her life and writing, this one had a different approach. Ms. Ketcham wrote about the lives of the Ingalls and later Wilders in periods of decades for the first four chapters, 1860s through 1890s, then about Laura's writing life -- 1911 to 1943, and a final short chapter concerning her last years and the influence of Laura's writings after her death. Ms. Ketcham related other events which were occurring during the period discussed, and how they related to the Ingalls' lives. The chapter concerning Laura's writing begins in 1911 when Laura became a farm journalist. Ms. Ketcham discusses the tension between Laura and her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, concerning the writing of the Little House Books and several novels Rose wrote using Laura's unpublished autobiography as a basis.

The book is divided into two sections: (1) Laura's life and writings and (2) Excerpts from documents about Laura's writing and its influence.

The weakest point about the book is that whenever Ms. Ketcham referred to Laura's autobiography, Pioneer Girl, it was to a manuscript copy housed in the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library where a large collection of Rose Wilder Lane's materials are housed -- not the annotated edition, edited by Pamela Smith Hill and published by the South Dakota Historical Society Press in 2014. However, Ms. Ketcham's book was published this year (2015), and would have been probably been researched prior to the publication of the annotated autobiography.
Also, although Ms. Ketcham occasionally describes photographs, no illustrations appear in her book.

4.5 stars

100th title read

80sallylou61
Editat: nov. 28, 2015, 3:56 pm

I'm on a Laura Ingalls Wilder binge. I just finished reading A Little House Sampler which included writings of both Laura Ingalls Wilder and her daughter Rose Wilder Lane and was edited by LIW scholar William T. Anderson who wrote an introduction to each essay/story.
Laura's writings were primarily selections her farm journal articles although some were from her remarks she gave to audiences honoring her as the Little House Books author.

I had meant to save this book for the December RandomCat Challenge but ended up taking it on vacation with me as a light read.

3.5 stars

101st title read

81sallylou61
des. 1, 2015, 11:31 am

I finally finished reading This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War by Drew Gilpin Faust. Although it is well written, it is a difficult read because of the subject matter. Ms. Faust discusses practically every phase of Civil War deaths and what they meant, and compares the situations of Northern and Confederate deaths; one of many examples was the finding and reburial of bodies after the war. The federal government did this for Union soldiers, and primarily women's societies for Confederate soldiers.

4 stars

102nd title read

82cbl_tn
des. 1, 2015, 11:34 am

>81 sallylou61: That one has been on my wishlist for ages. Thanks for the reminder!

83sallylou61
Editat: des. 5, 2015, 10:41 am

I just finished reading Daisy Petals and Mushroom Clouds: LBJ, Barry Goldwater, and the Ad that Changed American Politics by Robert Mann -- which fits the time period for the HistoryCAT challenge and is a ROOT. This book tells the story of the controversial "Daisy Girl" ad, which featured a young girl counting as she pulled petals off a flower, immediately followed by a countdown and the explosion of a nuclear bomb. This was a new form of political advertising; some leaders in both political parties objected to it. The ad was created by DDB an creative advertising firm, which had earlier produced the Avis "we try harder" ad. Mr. Mann argues that this ad did not defeat Goldwater; polls before and after the ad were very similar in the amount of support of the candidates. However, the Republicans made the campaign easier for the Democrats with their reactions to the ad, bringing it up again and again which brought attention to it. In his concluding remarks, Mr. Mann lists 7 ways that the ad helped change American politics and political advertising.

A long appendix contains many documents concerning the Democratic campaign.

4 stars

103rd title read

84sallylou61
Editat: des. 13, 2015, 8:39 pm

In our book club meeting tomorrow evening we will be Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, which I just finished reading. I found it slow going at first, and the violence manifested by Okonkwo, the main character bothered me in the first and longest section of the book. However, I found the last two sections of the book hard to put down. As so often happened in history, the missionaries trying to force Christianity on the natives killed many people and destroyed the native culture.

3.5 stars

104th title read

85sallylou61
des. 13, 2015, 12:19 am

Rickey & Robinson : the True, Untold Story of the Integration of Baseball by Roger Kahn, fits both the time period and topic of HistoryCAT and is the ROOT which fulfills my goal in the ROOT challenge.

Although the title of this book highlights Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson, baseball writer Roger Kahn often discussed the history of discrimination in baseball, and at times other sports, of Jews in addition to blacks. There are big sections of the book where Kahn is not talking about either Rickey or Robinson. He also tells the story of his experience of covering baseball, and his views about various baseball people and fellow journalists. Many of his views of people are derogatory; however, that is mainly in connection with racism. In many ways, Kahn himself is a major character in the book. Although he claims that he obtained certain information in talking with various people, there are no footnotes or bibliography.
Kahn at times repeats central information; the book could have been more carefully edited.

3 stars

105 title read

86sallylou61
des. 16, 2015, 10:38 pm

I just finished reading a book for pleasure which had a winter theme, Whiter than Snow by Sandra Dallas. This can count both in the AlphaKIT and the BingoDog (natural disaster). I found the middle of the book pretty slow reading -- the author had too many characters for whom she explained their backgrounds for my taste.

3.5 stars

106 title read

87sallylou61
Editat: des. 21, 2015, 9:40 am

Just finished reading a book for the Random CAT challenge: Come Go Home with Me by singer/storyteller Sheila Kay Adams. This is a collection of stories about growing up in Appalchia. A longer description appears on the December RandomCAT thread.

4 stars

107 th title read

88sallylou61
des. 22, 2015, 10:13 pm

This year instead of reading a novel with a Christmas theme, I read What Does an Angel Look Like?: Six Meditations on Christmas by Joshua Brown, a Quaker minister who led a workshop which I attended at a Quaker conference last summer. Mr. Brown discusses how we can make Christmas more meaningful in our lives; he often quotes scripture and gives a fresh interpretation of it. He also gives a common sense approach to such things as gift giving.

3.5 stars

108th title read

89sallylou61
des. 23, 2015, 11:44 pm

We are cruising in a riverboat on the Mississippi River so that I have plenty of time to read, particularly in the evenings. Just finished reading Love Always, Hobby and Jessie by my friend, Sara Robinson. Although it is a memoir about her parents in an unconventional marriage, Sara tells a lot about herself, and how and why certain things happened.

However, the book gets repetitious, and the stories which Sara tells are sometimes not in a logical order. Also, many of Hobby's photographs appear without being identified. (Hobby was a self-taught but professional photographer.)

3.5 stars

109th title read

90cbl_tn
des. 24, 2015, 8:25 am

>89 sallylou61: A riverboat cruise sounds like a lovely way to spend a holiday. Merry Christmas!

91lkernagh
des. 24, 2015, 4:56 pm

Ditto what >90 cbl_tn: said!


92rabbitprincess
des. 24, 2015, 6:03 pm

Merry Christmas and a happy new year! Enjoy your cruise!

93sallylou61
des. 26, 2015, 10:44 am

It's been a very nice cruise. We've had surprisingly good weather even though the cruise is from Memphis to New Orleans. Only Monday was really rainy. I'm about to get off the boat to tour Nottoway Plantation; John is going to various events on the boat this morning. Unfortunately we disembark early tomorrow morning; the week has gone very quickly. Will be in New Orleans for two days, and then take Amtrack (the Crescent) back home.

94-Eva-
des. 27, 2015, 7:37 pm

Hope you have a great time in New Orleans - it's one of my favorite cities!

95sallylou61
des. 29, 2015, 4:41 pm

I've read another collection of women's writings about the Civil War --- this time a collection of short stories titled Civil War Women. I preferred the book I read in October. --- Women of War (post #66) which included memoirs and poetry in addition to short stories. These stories which I just read were primarily by more well-known authors. My three favorite stories in the collection were: "The Locket" by Kate Chopin (which had a surprising ending), "The Battleground" by Elsie Singmaster (which was a particularly moving story about a young widow with children in Gettysburg), and "Comrades" by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward (about some old Civil War veterans in the early 20th century).

3.5 stars

110th title read.

96sallylou61
gen. 1, 2016, 7:59 pm

I exceeded my challenge this year. I ended up reading 20 more titles than I had aimed for; however, I changed from "books" to "titles" since many of my readings were relatively short ones -- individual plays or short stories, especially for some of my OLLI adult education classes. I'm not going to try to count books (or titles) in 2016.

I had 6 categories of a minimum of 15 each, and did not allow any overlaps. I listed 15 titles under classics; every other category had more than 15 except for my book club books which ended with 13. I would have had 15 in it if I had not counted a few of the books as classics, or if I had completely read my two book club books for November. I did not like either of the November books, and ended up not finishing and thus not counting eiher of them.

The BingoDOGs were fun. I tried not to read especially for them, and started the second one relatively soon after the first with no overlap of titles. Whenever, I finished a BingoDOG book, I listed it on the first card if that space had not been filled.
I read books for 22 out of the 25 squares for the first card, and 20 out of 25 squares for the second card. On the first card, I had 7 completed lines: 3 across, 3 up and down, and one diagonal; on the second card, 2 completed lines: 1 across and 1 up and down.

97lkernagh
gen. 2, 2016, 11:52 am

Congratulations on reading beyond your challenge goals!