A January Reading and Blogging Look Back and a Look ahead to February

January Reading Review

Novels

January was a good reading month for me.   Here are the highlights from the eleven novels I read.

• A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens -read in honor of Dickens forthcoming 200th Birthday on Feb 7.   
• The Untouchable by   Mulk Arand-simply a great book about one day in the life of a Dalit in India in the 1930s-
• Things Fall Apart  by  Chinua Achebe  also a very good book-pretty much a must read for those interested in post- colonial literature
• Back by Henry Green-quirky and strange and wonderful
• I also read the very popular young adult Mockingjay series by Suzanne Collins.   I got all three books free.  I got bored with it once I understood the basic concept.  I would have liked to see the world of the story better developed.
• The Changeling by Kenzaburo Oe-a must for Oe readers

I have also joined a year long read along on Clarissa by Samuel Richardson.  

Short Stories

Short stories are no longer a side line in my reading life or my blog.   Of the ten most popular posts of the month for January every one was about short stories.    

In January I a Simple Clockwork and I began what we hope will be a long term project in which we post once or twice a month on short stories by authors from the Philippines.    We will start out focusing on older stories and as much as we can we will pick stories that can be read online in English.   

I also read a collection of the short stories of Issac Babel which is really a world class cultural treasure.   I read on in collections of the complete short stories of Guy de Maupassant and Flannery O'Connor.

All of the novels and short stories I read in January can be found here.

February Blogging Plans

I will be doing a number of posts related to Irish Short Story Week Year II scheduled to take place March 12 to March 22.   I will do several posts on resources for the event.   I will do a small post of some kind on Feb 7, 2012 in honor of Dickens 200 day.   I also plan to post on Mongolian short stories from the 1930s based on a great suggestion from a Mongolian book blogger.

January Blogging Look Back

I ended the month with 646 GFC followers and 1597 Twitter Followers.   My page views and visits increased over one year ago about 135percent.  

February Reading Plans

1. Memories of a Geisha by Arthur Golden-8 percent completed
2. Family Matters by Rohinton Mistery 75 percent completed  
3. Cousin Betty by Honore Balzac-15 percent completed

Beyond this I have no rigid plans.

In short stories I will continue reading on in the complete short stories of Flannery O'Connor and Guy de Maupassant.   I hope to read more stories by George Moore, Ivan Turgenev, and a diverse collection of short stories from a wide range of authors.   

I as always offer my thanks to my quite brilliant cousin from Texas for editing suggestions.    I am terrible as a proof reader of my own work.




As always I thank the readers and above all the commentators on my blog.


I am very open to reading suggestions, joint projects, participating in events and suggestions for improving my blog.


Mel u

A December Reading and Blogging Look Back and a Look Ahead at January.

 My December reading was very much dominated by short stories.    I  read  the massively to me disappointing  1Q84 by Harukui Murakami.     I had  highly anticipated the book and maybe that added to the real sadness I felt over posting on it.   I still will eagerly read another Marakami work and would like to see him win the Nobel Prize one day.    I also read Joseph Conrad’s short novel, The Secret Agent.  This was a very good book and it relates to today’s headlines.   I did a virtual tour stop with an interview on Juno Charm by Nuala Ní Chonchúir.    This is a very good book I commend to all lovers of poetry.   Additionally, I read a first rate debut novel, The Value of the Rain by Brandon Shire, about the GLBT experience in America in the 1970s.  

I have begun reading through the complete short stories of Flannery O’Connor (31).   Her stories are beautiful and as deep as they come.   I also read for the first time,  the very controversial Russian writer, Maxim Gorky.   Condemn him personally all you like, and he deserves much of it, his early stories about the poorest people in late Czarist Russia can stand next to the best of the world’s short stories.   (Yes I know he was an apologist for Stalin in his latter years.)   I also was happy to have access to twenty or so new to me short stories by R. K. Narayan.   I just love his stories so much. 

I also have been reading  through some of the short stories of the American master of minimalism Raymond Carver.   I can see his technical brilliance but the content of many of his stories do not appeal to me.   Bottom line, to much drinking in his stories for me!   Maybe it was the back to back reading of his stories that was the mistake, maybe one a week or so I could deal with the subject matter and savor his real brilliance.    This is a personal issue with me on Carver, not a literary judgment.   I also read a short story I hope a lot of people will read, “I Stand Ironing” by Tillie Olsen.   

I also have begun to make use of Windows Live Writer as a blog editor.   I owe this suggestion to Parrish Lantern.


 As always I thank so much my very brilliant Cousin S for her editorial advice.


 I acknowledge I have a hard time proofreading my own works.   Errors that would jump out in the work of others go past me in my own writing.   I have some odd errors I make over and over such as I will put “think” in the place of “thing” and vice versa.   I try as I can to catch everything but for what remains, oh well. 
 I will do a year end report also.   My monthly reports are mostly for me to have something to look back on.


 Any suggestions for changes or improvements will be appreciated and respected.  


I ended the month with 625 GFC followers and 1515 on Twitter.   My page views and visits are up about 150 percent year to date.   Some bloggers say they never look at their stats and even scoff at those who do.   I enjoy tracking my stats, seeing what cities visitors are from etc.     The top cities of residence for RL visitors in December were London, Delhi, Mumbai, New York City,  Brisbane, Bangalore, Manila, Dhaka, and Los Angeles.   The top countries are the USA, India, the Philippines, UK and Australia.  




 In January, I hope to post on at least two works by Charles Dickens in honor of Dickens 200th birthday coming on Feb. 7th.   I also will post on a novel by Kenzaburo Oe, The Changeling.   I also hope to read a lot more short stories in January.   I am  starting to read through the complete collections of Guy de Maupassant and the collected stories of Isaac Babel, for example.   I will finish up the stories of Flannery O’Connor.   I am also hoping to read the acknowledged masterwork of R. K. Narayan, The Guide in January.    I am also excited to have a copy of the classic novel by Mulk Raj Anand, Untouchable set to read very soon.   Additionally I have a few review books to post on soon that look really good.   



Mel u

June 2010 Reading Life Review

June 2010 Reading Life Review

June 2010 was a good reading month for me.   I lost a little time to the World Cup.     

Japanese Novels

1. Black Rain by Masuji Ibuse
2. Fires on the Plain by Shohei Ooka
3. Coin Locker Babies by Ryu Murakami
4. The Waiting Years by Fumiko Enchi
5. Vita Sexualis by Ogai Mori
6. A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami
7. Pinball, 1973  by Haruki Murakami

I recommend without reservations all of these works with the exception of Coin Locker Babies which I enjoyed but I can see others seeing it as a work driven by one overly sensational  scene after another.    Pinball, 1973 should be read after you have enjoyed some of Murakami's major novels first.    

Western Novels

1. The Charterhouse of Parma by Stendahl
2. Diary of a Superfluous Man by Ivan Turgenev
3. Jacob's Room by Virginia Woolf

Jacob's Room was a very enjoyable read for me though it is not among the top five Woolf novels on any list.    Diary of a Superfluous Man (really a novella by most counts) would be a great first Turgenev.   The Charterhouse of Parma is a great master work of 19th century literature that anyone into the classics should have on their one of these days list.

Short Stories

I continued reading more short stories in June.   I read twenty seven short stories and posted on all but three of them.      I began a short story related project in June, Australian Bush Writers, and read stories by several new to me Australian authors from the pre-WWI era all set in the outback.    There are a lot of these stories and I found some of the authors very talented.   Barbara Baynton's  "The Vessel" was the stand out for me so far in this category.   I continued on with my Katherine Mansfield reading project.    I read  "The Metamorphoses"  (some would count this as a novella) by Franz Kafka and Vladimir Nabokov's lecture on it.    I also read James Joyce's "The Dead" which is on most lists of worlds ten best short  stories.   Three months ago I had, like I have found a lot of readers do, an aversion to the short story.   I now see I was wrong in this prejudice and am actively seeking out the world's best short stories along with a lot of fun minor ones.   A short story is a good way of seeing if you will like a writer.    There are 1000s and 1000s of short stories online.   Most are older stories but you can also find some newer stories by top and up and coming writers also.   


New Discovery for me of the Month-Australian Bush Writers-


 My one year Blogaversary will by on July 9 and I will do a look back post on my first year then and a second one on my blogging and reading plans for the next 12 months.  I have found, as have many, that a blog begins to take on a life of its own after time.  


  As always I thank very much those who read my posts.


I always love to get comments and suggestions of any kind-


This month I got into Twitter for the first time and am finding it a good way to connect with other book bloggers, publishers, authors, etc.   I have a twitter follow me button in my sidebar and I will happily follow back anyone who follows me.   




Mel u

May 2010 Reading Life Review

May was one of the best reading months of my life.    I overcame a life time aversion to reading short stories.  I somehow decided a long time  ago that short stories did not provide enough substance for me to find them interesting.   They did not seem to create a whole world in which I could enter and I somehow felt they left me hanging.   I have seen a very similar sentiment expressed by numerous other bloggers in the last month or so.   I have now totally changed my mind on this and a whole new world of reading has opened up to me.   I will give  my thanks  to Suko for suggesting I enter a short story reading challenge, Spring into Short Stories hosted by LuAnn for being the   force that broke an aversion of long standing.    Once I get into something I tend to get very into it.   A year ago I had read no Japanese literature.    Now I have read and posted on 70 works by Japanese authors.   I have now posted on 37 short stories.   Through reading short stories (all of which I have read online) I have discovered several new to me authors like Kate Chopin, Flannery O'Conner, Alexander Pushkin, P. G. Wodehouse, Jhumpa Lahiri and my now much loved Katherine Mansfield.    I have embarked on a personal challenge to read all of her short stories.    Short stories are also a great way to "try out" an author.   You can read online a short story and then decide if you want to try a longer work by the author.   The short story poses its own unique challenges to a writer and reader.   There are thousands of stories we can read for free online.    Most are older stories in the public domain but some new ones can also be found.    This also means translations of stories will be older versions and there are very few Asian stories online as few were translated prior to 1970.

Short Stories read in May 2010

1. "The Queen of Spades" by Alexander Pushkin
2. "The Artist of the Beautiful" by Nathaniel Hawthorne
3.  "The Gift of The Magi" by O Henry
4. "The Shot" by Alexander Pushkin
5. "The Open Window" by Saki
6.  "The Spirit of Emulation" by Fernando Sarrentto
7.  "Metropolis" by Crystal Koo
8. "Miss Brill" by Katherine Mansfield
9. "The Garden Party" By Katherine Mansfield
10. "The Rocking Horse Winner" By D. H.Lawrence  1926
11. "The Doll House" By Katherine Mansfield 1922
12. "A Good Man is Hard to Find"  Flannery O'Conner 1955
13. "The Mark on the Wall" by Virginia Woolf 1915
14. "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson -1948
15. "The Enormous Radio" by John Cheever 1953
16. "German Meat" by Katherine Mansfield  1911
17. "Hills Like Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway 1926
18. "A Clean, Well Light Place" by Ernest Hemingway 1929
19. The Baron by Katherine Mansfield 1911
20. "The Sister of the Baron" by Katherine Mansflield  1911
21. "Frau Fisher" by Katherine Mansfield  1911
22. "Frau Brachenmacher attends a Wedding" by Katherine Mansfield  1911
23. "A Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin  1894
24. "The Withered Arm" by Thomas Hardy 1888
25. "The Selfish Giant" by Oscar Wilde 1888
26. "The Happy Prince" by Oscar Wilde 1888
27. "The Modern Soul" by Katherine Mansfield 1911
28. "At Lehman's" by Katherine Mansfield 1911
29. "The Luft Bad" by Katherine Mansfield 1911

Japanese Novels read in May 2010

I have for some time wanted to read more Murakami and really liked the three works by him I read in May.   I now have added Murakami to my "read everything translated list" along with Oe, Tanizaki and Yoshimoto.    I expect I will soon be adding several more Japanese novelists to this list.

1. Norwegian Wood by Huruki Murakami
2. The Wind Up Bird Chronicles by Haruki Murakami
3. Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami
4. The Cage by Kenzo Kitakata
5. Five Modern No Plays by Yukio Mishima 
6. Harp of Burma by Michio Takeyama
7. The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
8. Somersault by Kenzaburo Oe

Western Novels

This month I completed Parade's End by Ford Madox Ford in the company of the others in the the first read along I have hosted.    I really enjoyed doing that and I learned a great deal from the posts of the other readers.    I also read my first Virginia Woolf novel, The Waves.    I will read more for sure.    I read Georges by Dumas for the Classics Circle, not a great book but an interesting one.   I read  two wonderful novellas, The Awakening by Kate Chopin  and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.     I also read Cardboard:   A Woman Left Dead by Fiona Place, a powerful novel about the effects of eating disorders.   

1. A Man Could Stand Up by Ford Madox Ford
2. Georges by Alexander Dumas
3. The Awakening By Kate Chopin
4. Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
5. Cardboard:   A Woman Left Dead by Fiona Place
6. The Waves by Virginia Woolf

I would say, if I had to, that the best novel of the month was Parade's End.   The best for me discovery of the month was Katherine Mansfield.    The best cultural treasure I encountered  I wish I could convince others to read is Harp of Burma by Michio Takeyama.  

I thank everyone who has offered me suggestions to expand my reading in the short story and would love to get more ideas on that topic.   I take all suggestions seriously and have already read several of stories suggested   and credited the blogger who suggested them in my post.    

Mel u

April Reading Life Review and May Plans

April 2010 was an interesting and enjoyable reading life month for me.   I lost a few reading days on a family trip to Palawan Island, about one hour by air from Manila.    We stayed in Puerto Princessa in a  beautiful resort over looking The South China Sea.    I did get in some reading time in one morning in the restaurant.       The view is awesome and the open air restaurant was cooled by the ocean breezes.   I was reading The God of Small Things.   The owner of the restaurant (and a friend of my wife also) spotted the book and said she was reading it too!-

In April I did my first Classics Circuit read, Nana by Zola.   I achieved one of my 2010 blog objectives.   I started a read along of Ford Madox Ford's Parade's End and feel very fortunate in the high caliber of the participation in this read along.   I read a number of short stories and have now overcome a life long aversion to the form.   I will be reading short stories and blogging on them on a regular basis from now on.   There are 1000s of short stories available on line on  various free web pages.   Here is what I read and posted on in April (so far this year I have posted on everything I have read):

1. South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Marakami
2. The Diving Pool (a collection of three novellas-each reviewed) by Yoko Ogawa
3. Some Do Not by Ford Madox Ford
4. "Heaven and Hell" by Jhumpa Lahiri (short story)
5. "A Doctor's Visit" by Anton Chekhov (short story)
6. "A Respectable Woman" by Kate Chopin (short story)
7. No More Parades by Ford Madox Ford
8. "The Dance of Death" by Gustav Flaubert
9. Train Man by Hitori Nakano
10. "The Yellow Wall Paper" by Charlotte  Perkins
11. "The Man with Two Left Feet" by P G Wodehouse
12. Nana by Emile Zola
13. Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino
14. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
15. "The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe
16. Diary of a Mad Old Man by Junichiro Tanizaki
17. The Tobacco Monopoly in the Philippines 1766 to 1880 by Edilberto C de Jesus
18. "The Dead Alive" by Wilkie Collins

The best books I read this month were those by Ford Madox Ford, Junichiro Tanizaki, and Emile Zola.   The worst was Train Man by Hitori Nakano and even that was kind of a fun book in a new format, the message room novel.     I discovered some new to me writers I will be reading more of also.    P G Wodehouse for his style and his humor, Arundhati Roy for her wisdom and insight into India and beyond,  Yoko Ogawa for the almost dream like quality of her work,   Pushkin who I really want to read more off (expect another Pushkin post very soon), Jhumpa Lahiri has written three books and I will hopefully read them all  and Kate Chopin whose The Awaking I am in the process of reading via Dailylit.com.   

                                                                                

May Plans

On May 5 I will be participating for a second time in the Classics Circuit in a post on Georges by Alexander Dumas.    I also plan to post on the longest works by Kenzaburo Oe and Huruki Murakami.   I will do three more posts on Parade's End.   I hope to post on four to eight more short stories.   Short stories are also a very good way to kind of "check out" an author.    I am considering also reading Pale Fire by Nabakov once I complete and process Parade's End.

As always I thank the readers of my blog.    I appreciate all   comments and reading suggestions.  

Mel u 

March 2010 Month End Reading Life Review-Books Read and Progress in Reading Challenges

March 2010 was a very good reading month for me-here is what I read in March-with a newly added

comment

1. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco-very knowledge packed-my first Eco but not last
2. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See-good historical novel of 19th cent. China
3. The Key by Junichiro Tanizaki-must read Japanese classic
4. A Personal Matter by Kenzaburo Oe-a world treasure of a writer and thinker
5. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte-more than just little sister's best book of two
6. The Street of a Thousand Blossoms by Gail Tsukiyama -good WWII historical novel-
7. The Broken Tower:   The Life of Hart Crane by Paul Mariani-great literary biography
8. Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Haruki Marakami-good solid collection of short stories
9. Villette by Charlotte Bronte-parts of this are for sure best written of her books
10. "The Overcoat"  by Nikolai Gogol (short story)-Nabakov says great work-
11. The Aspern Papers  by Henry James-a small master work as one would expect
12. Wuthering Heights by  Emily Bronte  -deepest and darkest of the Brontes
13. The Death March:  A Documentary Novel by Jiro Netti-set just before the Russian-Japanese War
14. "The Diving Pool" by Yoko Ogawa (short story)-masterful short story by author of The Professor and the House Keeper
15. Living with the Enemy:  A Diary of the Japanese Occupation by Pacita Pestano-Jacinto-deserves to be a best seller
16. Peony in Love by Lisa See-good 17th century set in China historical novel
17. "Bartleby, The Scrivener" By Herman Melville (short story)-best of Melville's Short Stories?

In March I discovered two new to me  authors that I will for sure read read again, Umberto Eco and Yoko Ogawa.   I continued reading more of the Brontes.   I read two more historical novels by Lisa See.  I see her as a good solid writer if a bit predictable.    I am nearing my goal to read all the (in English) works of Junichiro Tanizaki and well past the mid-point for Kenzaburo Oe.   I discovered two new to me Japanese authors.  I began to get into short stories a bit.

44 Reading Challenges So far for 2010

So far this year I have completed 21 challenges

I have read at least one book for 19 still to be completed challenges

I have not yet started 5 challenges

I thank all the challenge hosts for their efforts.   I expect to complete all these challenges by year end and most by mid-year.   I have explained my reasons for joining so many challenges here if anyone is curious.    

Since I began my blog eight months ago I have received visits from readers from 107 countries. I know a lot of these are by students.   When ever I think about my blog I recall as I was writing my first post my wife asked me "Who will read these posts you are doing?".  My only response was "I do not know, maybe nobody will but at least I will have records of what I read".   I was so thrilled when I got my first comment and am in fact still thrilled when I get a comment.  ( I moderate my comments as I have been subject to spam attacks.)

If any one in the Manila area wants to do a book swap please leave a comment or E-Mail me at rereadinglives@gmail.com

I also completely redid the look of my blog using the new template -designer from Blogger in Draft

February 2009-Reading Life Month End Review

February 2009 was a very good reading month for me.   I read a book I wish I had read

 forty years ago so I could have reread it many times by now, Jane Eyre.    I followed it up with a very nice book by Charlotte Bronte's youngest sister Anne, Agnes Grey.     I read the first novel written without a man to help her  by a larger than life author  of 19th century French literature,  Indiana by George Sand.   She found her way about half way through the work (or maybe I did) and it is  master work ahead of its time and maybe ours also.   I followed this with Pierre Et Jean by Guy De Maupassant, Henry James called it a "small masterpiece", Flaubert pronounced it a work of genius, and Turgenev was quite enthralled and shared it with Tolstoy who admired it also.   I am sure De Maupassant will rest easy knowing I liked it too.   Maybe I will go see the movie of Drood (based on the novel of that name by Dan Simmons) to see the friendship of the author of a true Victorian chunkster, The Woman in White, Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens depicted.   The book is great and I think any fan of the Victorian novel genre will like it.   

This month I decided to begin one of the projects I announced in January in my post on my plans for 2010,  posting on some books by Filipino authors.   In pursuit of this I blogged on two collections of autobiographical works by Filipino women.   I also read a very good and exciting 21th century work, Shanghai Girls by Lisa See.   She has written two other historical novels set in China and I look forward to reading both of them this year.    I also read two short novels by Junichiro Tanizaki, a writer of great talent who belongs on any list of best novelists of all times.

Not every book can be great or be compatible with  your tastes.   I read two books that I do not admire.   The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Morris was a chore for me to finish and I do not recommend it.    Another work I also did not really like was Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.   I at first thought maybe somehow this was me but I was reassured when my negative remarks on the book was reaffirmed by commentators.   Everyone does say he has written much better books so in a few months I will try another of his works.    I do not like writing negative posts on a book.   Of the 80 or so reviews I have done, all but three are positive reviews.  If I read a book and I do not like it I will say why and I will try to look within myself to see if it could be me.   

 Reading Challenges Update

I really like reading challenges.   They are fun for me, by joining in I am supporting the international book blogging community, it leads me to new reading discoveries and has helped my readership to grow.   So far this year I have signed up for 34 reading challenges with four carrying over from 2009 for a total of 38 reading challenges.  So far I have completed 15 challenges.   In some of these challenges I am going on to try to complete a higher level of reading.    For example in The All About the Brontes Challenge, I have completed my original commitment  and have now decided to read all the Bronte Novels this year (there are not that many).    I have read at least one book for 21 challenges I have yet to complete.   There are still two challenges that I have not yet started.   I expect to finish between 7 and 10 challenges in March, with any luck.   I should then when April begins be left with about 10 challenges to go.   I would like to complete 50 reading challenges this year and I will be signing up for some more next week.

To all challenge hosts, I thank you for your efforts.   I am learning somethings about what makes a good challenge and maybe in 2011 I will try to start one.    I am not able to place on my blog buttons or links to all the challenges I am in as when I tried it my load time slowed to a crawl.   I also try to read the posts by others in the challenges I am in and comment when I can.  This helps me get more ideas for books to read.

Tentative Plans for March 2010

The first week of March I hope to post on one classic novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and on a novel that I could see one day being a classic, The Name of The Rose.   I will read one or two works by Junichiro Tanizaki, one or two by Haruki Murakami, some classics and some by whimsey.  At some point I will start to read Ford Madox Ford's tetralogy, Parade's End.  

As always I thank the readers of my blog and very much thank those who take the time to write comments.  

January 2010 Monthly Reading Life Review

This month I thought I would do something a little different for my month end post.

Reading done right has magic powers.    As I looked at the books I read in January I noticed that I have posted on more older works than I have in the past, one from the 11th century and one from the 18th.     I also read a number of novels set in the past and in diverse locations.  So everybody is invited on a grand around the world sea cruise.   Let us pick up our fellow travelers first.

The first port stop to pick up passenger is the courts of Angor, the great Mogul Emperor, with Salman Rushdie as our tour guide.    Staying a bit longer in India  and advancing a couple of hundred years we departed from the banks of the Ganges river to cross a Sea of Poppies with Captain Amitav Ghosh at the helm.    We have one more stop to make in India-some call center workers during One Night at the Call Center want to get out of the office very badly and I do not blame them.   Our next scheduled stop is Tokyo.

Stepping into the way back machine we go to 11th century Japan to hear some of the Tales of Ise and pick up a Samurai and his lady.  Skipping ahead a bit we make a stop in Tokyo to meet Naomi and Jiji.    Naomi's first question is "where are the ships stores".     From Tokyo we cruise along way to Johannesburg South Africa in the 1980s.   We pick up a very nice family there and the father wants to tell what he calls My Son's Story.   From there we cruise on to London.    A very large slightly odd gentleman in his 60s along with a very well dressed young man in his 30s come on board just having finished A Tour of the Hebrides.    We cannot help but notice that the younger man seems to write down everything his companion says.    We also take on Jeannette who for some reason wants to go at once to the kitchen so she can advise the head chef that Oranges are Not the Only Fruit.   Every body on board settles into shipboard life for the long trans-Atlantic portion of the trip.   James Boswell charms everyone but seems most interested in Naomi.    Dr Johnson at once engages in a conversation with our Samurai poet, he being the person Dr Johnson can learn the most from.     Our guests from South Africa confuse the captain by asking in what portions of the ship are they allowed to go.    The call center workers go wild when they find out all drinks and food are free.    So far none of our other Indian guests have left their cabins.

Our first New World stop is Birmingham Alabama in the 1930s where Harper Lee introduces us to a wonderful family.   The father in the family will end up friends with Dr Johnson but gives up on comparing professional notes from their work as Attorneys with Boswell.   His children cannot help but stare at some of the other guests.   Only one stop to go and that is Kingstown Jamaica in the 1840s.   We cross the Wide Sargasso Sea, taking on as a pilot through some very treacherous waters, Jean Rhys who introduces us to Mr Rochester and his wife Antoinette who he sometimes calls "Bertha".    Dr Johnson is completely taken with Antoinette and has to lecture Boswell about his colonial attitude toward her and the Indians.   Dr Johnson knows his friend Edmund Burke was right when he said that the cultural roots of Indian are much older than England.    Everybody is a bit confused as to why half way through the cruise Mr Rochester announces his wife will be confined to the cabin from now on.

Everyone is on board now.   It is up to the power of our imagination if we want to join this cruise are not.   Some of our guests are unpredictable.   The Emperor Angkor insisted on at least 50 cabins for his harem favorites, guards, foot tasters etc.    The  Indians other than the call center workers keep mostly to themselves.    The call center workers all consume mass quantities.    Boswell was a bit annoyed when Jeanette had no interest in him.    Many very diverse foods were served from collard greens and ham hocks for our guests from Birmingham to boiled sea weed with cod roe for Jiji.    The Emperor invites Johnson to his court to be his adviser.   Johnson says he will be honored to come as a guest but only if the Emperor will be his friend and not his patron.   Boswell has to be advised that it is a very bad idea to try to sneak into the cabin of one of the Harem girls of the Emperor.
  

Here is what I read in January 2010

1  The Tales of Ise by Arihara no Narihira

2  To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

3  The Yellow Light Bookstore by Lewis Buzbee

4  Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

5 One Night at the Call Center by Chetan Bhagat

6  Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

7  Sea of Poppies by Amitar Ghosh

8  The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie

9 My Son's Story by Nadine Gordimer

10  Naomi by Junichiro Tanizaki

11  The Journal of a Tour to The Hebrides by James Boswell

January 2010 was a great month.     I read first  works  by four writers  new to authors  me I will for sure return to.   I revisited two old friends.   I added Jean Rhys to "my read everything they have written list." 

Reading Challenges

So far this year I have completed 9 reading challenges

I am still reading for 28 challenges-I expect to complete between six to ten  more challenges in February, with any luck.   Some new challenges will be started as the year goes on  and I will join some of them I am sure.   On July 30, 2010 I will be joining the Japanese Literature  4 challenge.    I fully intend to complete all these challenges but will not be stressed if I do not.   It is the journey that matters to me. I will give a more detailed challenge update next month.

 Notes to Manila readers-if any body in the GMA wants to work out a book swap please contact me-also we went to Cafe Juanita in the Fort Yesterday with some friends and it is the best restaurant we have yet been to in the GMA

As always I give my sincerest thanks to those who read my posts.