Themed Mystery Series II +

It has been a few days since I last posted. I am finding that only reading books on the bucket list is sometimes a bit like assigned reading in school. When the reading is assigned, the reader is less inclined to read. So, I have decided to mix it up some.

I just finished listening to the unabridged version of Peril At End House by Agatha Christie and am starting on The ABC Murders, again by Agatha Christie. And I am slowly getting through The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas). But, on the weekly trip to the library I picked up a few fun books. These are easy reads. You know the ones; you can finish them in an afternoon or a day. What makes it more fun is that these are the first book of mystery series that I have not yet read. (Link to the Themed Mystery Series post: http://mybucketofbooks.blogspot.com/2012/08/themed-mystery-series.html.)

• Southern Fried by Cathy Pickens; (What is it about southern women and mystery series?) This series revolves around Avery Andrews, an attorney who was downsized and has gone home to her small town in South Carolina. Arson and murder happen in quick order.
• A Catered Murder by Isis Crawford; (more food-related mysteries) This series stars Bernadette Simmons who moves back to New York after a bad breakup. She starts working in her sister's catering company where murder seemingly abounds. (Remind me to never hire a caterer! LOL)
• Catnap by Carole Nelson Douglas; As with the Mrs. Murphy series by Rita Mae Brown, the protagonist alternates between a cat and the cat's pet, this time Temple Barr, a public relations expert.
• Antiques Maul by Barbara Allan; (this is actually the second book. I have the first book on hold.) This series revolves around an antiques dealer and her spoiled Shih Tzu.

And while I am thinking about it, Rita Mae Brown is author of three mystery series. I am most familiar with the Mrs. Murphy series. This is a charming series which stars two cats, a dog and their pet, Harry Minor Haristeen. So, add this author to the Themed Mystery Series.

While doing some background research for this post I found a book to add to the bucket list: Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown. This book covers the Gay and Lesbian genre and is considered a breakthrough novel. It is likely that some folks will choose to bypass this book. But reading is about the experience. No two people on this earth think alike, view the same thing alike, and experience alike.

As a self-professed book aficionado, I want to be able to acknowledge I have done all I can to read at least one book of every genre and at least one book authored by a person in all the countries of the world. What makes reading so pleasurable is that you can read a book and love it or hate it and, if you don't want to, you never have to read it again. Me, I enjoy rereading books, but I generally wait a while before reading a book again. While the entire book may not be a surprise, waiting a while to reread a book always seems be bring new surprises.

Anyhow, I seem to be rambling. So, I'll put this post to bed and go there myself.

Happy reading!

Bucket List: How Many Countries Are Represented?

So I was thinking about the last post. In it I mentioned a possible change of genre after finishing the next few books, and that may well happen. But in the meantime, three more books were added to the Bucket List. These are

• Waves (Bei Dao)
• The Calcutta Syndrome (Amitav Ghosh)
• Cry the Beloved Country (Alan Paton)

As written in a previous post, I want to read books that encompass as many genres as possible; to make the bucket list “well-rounded”. That is what got me thinking. Most of the entries on the bucket list are books or authors I have read or heard about. There are only a few I haven’t heard about. So, I did some thinking and decided that to truly be “well rounded”, the bucket list should also include books authored by people from different countries. At last count, I believe there are around 220 named countries.

I did  a little research, and for the 198 books currently listed in the bucket list the following countries are represented (via author).  

• Afghanistan
• Asia/Middle East
• Australia
• Canada
• China
• Colombia
• England
• France
• Germany
• India
• Ireland
• Japan
• Netherlands
• Poland
• Russia
• Scotland
• South Africa
• Spain
• Sweden
• United States

That makes 20 countries. And it may be because the books I read are written predominantly in English, but the bulk of the authors are from England and United States.

The three most recent book selections were written by authors from the following countries: China, India and South Africa. They were selected not only because of the authors' countries, but also because the books' synopses sounded interesting. And I am looking forward to reading them. It will be interesting to compare the writing techniques, mannerisms, and general psychology of each book.

I am also breaking the books down by genre. I decided on using a high level list of genres, which is posted here: http://mybucketofbooks.blogspot.com/p/book-genres.html. It will be interesting to see what genres are not included in the bucket list; at least not yet.

If you are a fan of www.goodreads.com, I updated my "To read" list with all the books on the bucket list that I haven't yet read. These, in addition to the other books I already has listed as "To read", means there are about 150 books yet to read.

Update - I just finished reading The Lost Years, by Mary Higgins Clark. For anyone who enjoys Mary Higgins Clark, don't bother with this one. It was written like an afterthought and is painfully bad.

Until next time, Happy Reading!

Assuming An Author's Mannerisms

The last seven days have been a bit hectic. Work has demanded more of my time, and there was more DD drama over the weekend. Something had to go, so reading had to take a back seat. But I finally finished Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen). And I really enjoyed it. One more book to cross off the bucket list. I also made some headway with The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas). And I have The A.B.C. Murders (Agatha Christie) and Peril At End House (Agatha Christie) on hold at the library - unabridged audio versions, thank you.

I am a fan of www.Pinterest.com, and I love it when I find a pin that expresses exactly how I feel when I'm reading. Some of the sayings include

• Book Hangover: Inability to start a new book because you're still living in the last book's world.
• After I read a good book I have a hard time coping with reality.
• That moment when you finish a book, look around, and realize that everyone is just carrying on with their lives as though you didn't just experience emotional trauma at the hands of a paperback.

But I have yet to find one that expresses: "Am I the only one who talks and writes like the time period of the book I just finished reading?" I am laughing at myself right now because I am struggling. I find myself thinking in long, wordy sentences peppered with words such as "approbation" and "vouchsafe". And my struggles are due to the three Jane Austen books I've read in the last month. I find I get so engrossed in a book I assume the mannerisms, terminology, and way of speaking. It's not so bad when I read a book written with more present day phrasing. But other time periods?

I remember the time I attended a reception with my parents and sister after having finished a period piece.  I was talking about an incident I'd witnessed and could only come up with 'brouhaha' to describe it. My sister, only three years younger than me, burst out laughing at my word choice. I still use the word 'brouhaha' because I think that in some cases, it is the best description for what I am discussing. --- See? I'm trying to be brief in my word usage, but as much as I try, my sentences are a bit convoluted. Just think how I'll be talking and writing after I've read Chaucer and Dante! I don't think I'll even understand myself!

Another thing about the writings of Jane Austen's era; passive tense. In present day English passive tense is the use of words such as "have been" or "will have done" or "will be doing". Active tense is much less wordy and a lot more straightforward.  Here is a quote from Pride and Prejudice:

 “I have faults enough, but they are not, I hope, of understanding. My temper I dare not vouch for. It is, I believe, too little yielding— certainly too little for the convenience of the world. I cannot forget the follies and vices of other so soon as I ought, nor their offenses against myself. My feelings are not puffed about with every attempt to move them. My temper would perhaps be called resentful. My good opinion once lost, is lost forever.”

In present day English (my interpretation):

"I am not perfect myself. I have a temper, I hold a grudge, and once you lose my respect it's gone for good."

I am a big fan of active tense. Part of my job is writing technical documents, and active tense is critical in clearly describing technical specs. Not that there isn't plenty of passive tense in present day books. (How do you like that sentence!) It takes some getting used to. Then once you are used to reading the style, subsequent books are much easier to read.

That said, while it makes sense to read the remaining Jane Austen books, I don't want to overdose on her yet. Just like a good wine, I want to savor these books. So, some Agatha Christie (written about 100 years after Jane Austen) is in my immediate future. That and finishing The Count of Monte Cristo. After that? Some Sci Fi may be in order. A change of genre is always a good thing!

What Makes a Book a Classic? (Part II)

When I went back and reread last night's post I realized it really just listed some definitions and not my thoughts about what makes a book a classic. In my defense, it was a loooong day.

Dear Daughter (DD) was bitten by her roommate's dog the night before, and her hand was swollen, red and painful. She went to the doctor who sent her to the ER. Now DD is an adult. She's 20 years old. But she's my oldest, and I know how much she detests doctors, shots and the whole gamut. So, I left work to meet her at the ER. Let me share an important bit of information I learned. Do not go to the ER the first day after a weekend or holiday. For whatever reason, the ER is inundated with everyone and every condition. We waited 3 1/2 hours then left to go to another hospital that had a shorter waiting time. It did. But the wait time once you got into an examination room was not one minute shorter. Another 4 hours, an x-ray, a tetanus shot, and 2 prescriptions later we were leaving. DD is doing better. She's on some serious antibiotics and painkillers, so we will know in a few days whether the infection is getting better.

When I got home last night I needed to just chill. So, I came here, to the computer. Books and reading are my relaxation, so I first went to www.goodreads.com. I checked out the updates to the groups of which I am a member, one of which is "The Perks of Being a Bookworm". One of the discussions began as a challenge to read and appraise the group of what "classics" respondents are reading for the months of August and September. I was going through the responses, and as I was doing so titles kept jumping out. Books by authors I've read, books whose movie adaptations I've seen, books in genres I've been partial to at various time, and more. And these titles piqued my curiosity and interest.

And then I started wondering, what does make a book a classic? How, for example, do books encompassing disparate genres such as horror and romance end up so highly regarded? So I googled the definition. And I think it was about then that exhaustion started overtaking me. I know myself. Once I start a thought process, I really want/need to complete that thought process. If I stop and come back several hours later, the flow is broken and I can't really capture what it was I was trying to convey before. I tried to flesh out my intentions but my eyelids won out. So here I am, picking up where I left off last night, and, amazingly, the flow is still there.

What Makes a Book a Classic? (Plus 3 more bucket list additions)

It is amazing that the more I seek new books and genres to include in the bucket list, the more I look to books identified as 'classics that I haven't yet read. And I find I am very much interested in reading them now. Why? Maturity perhaps? Or is it more that my curiosity is getting the better of me and I want to find out for myself whether I consider these 'classic' books truly worthy of the term.

Just what is a classic? I googled the term online and found several different interpretations including the following:

• "A book accepted as being exemplary or noteworthy, either through an imprimatur such as being listed in any of the Western canons or through a reader's own personal opinion."  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_book)
• A book that expresses some artistic quality, stands the test of time, and makes connections. (http://classiclit.about.com/od/forbeginners/a/aa_whatisclass.htm)
• A book that is well known and passed down through the generations. (http://classicbooks.sblc.wikispaces.net/Definition+of+a+Classic+Book)
• A book that "focuses on matters of great importance, identifying fundamental human problems and providing some sort of guidance for dealing with them, addresses these fundamental issues in ‘beautiful, moving, and memorable ways,’ with

The Bucket List Is Getting Longer!

A few more books were added to the bucket list today. These are

1. Go Ask Alice (Anonymous)
2. Jonathan Livingston Seagull (Richard Bach)
3. The Great Mortality (John Kelly)
4. The Milagro Beanfield War (John Nichols)

Link to updated list: http://mybucketofbooks.blogspot.com/2012/07/julias-bucket-list-of-books.html

The first two are 60's/70's books; a good representation of those years. I read them both in the early to mid-70's. The first, Go Ask Alice, was really profound for me. I was in junior high and very naive at the time. My daughter recently read the book, and I was gratified to find out she enjoyed the book too. I read Jonathan Livingston Seagull when I was 12. I remember reading it at a party my parents went to (and took us kids along) and listening to the soundtrack of Hair, the Rolling Stones and a few other big names that date me. It was fairly philosophical and metaphorical.