My First Six Months as a Book Blogger

I will always recall the question my wife asked me when I did my first blog post six months ago.  It was "who will read these posts you are writing?"     The only answer I had was "I do not know".    I wanted to have a record of the books I read so I could look back on it in the years to come and writing  on a book helps to clarify my thoughts on it so I started my blog anyway and now it is of great importance to me.

My Blogging Plans and Reading Resolutions for 2010

Six months ago I began my blog.   In those six months my blog has become a very important part of my life.   I wish I had a detailed record of everything I have ever read to look back on and that is an important part of why people blog.   Some book bloggers in their teens and twenties now will go on to become famous 21th century writers and thinkers.   Future historians will be able to see everything they ever read and their thoughts on it.   So will they as their life advances and their children and grandchildren can also.   Many bloggers say they blog just for themselves or a few close friends and do not care if anyone reads their blog.   In some cases this is true but most of us want readers and love the sense of community book blogs create among people all over the world that all love books.   A lot of times I will read a blog post and think to myself "That post is like a small work of art itself".  On January 7 on my 6th month blog anniversary I will do a sort of look back at my first sixth months as a blogger.   I want now to look to the future.

The first thing I have to realize is that things can come along and change all your reading plans.  On Jan 1, 2009 I would have never dreamed that I would read over 40 Japanese novels that year.   Given this here are some of my hopes and plans for The Reading Life for 2010.

1. To complete all the 30+ reading challenges I have signed up for.    I hope and think I can do this while reading quality books I want to read anyway and I am maintaining full control over what I read etc.   I think these challenges can be completed in about 40 or so books.   I read about 130 or so in 2009 (and I slacked off a bit in the first half of the year!) so I will still have plenty of time for impulse reads and to go in new directions.   I fully intend to complete all these challenges but will not be stressed if I do not.   I also expect to sign up for more as the year proceeds as well as joining in some read alongs.   If I end up signing up for 50 challenges for 2010 that will be great fun for me.   The biggest challenge will be keeping records on all this and cross posting the reviews to the challenge blogs but actually I will find that sort of fun also.   I am sort of creating a challenge for myself to see if I can do all these challenges.   I know it may seem a bit crazy, compulsive etc to some and perhaps it is and that is ok!    I already have a mental list of about 50 books I want to read in the first few months of the year.
2. To try to set up a cooperative group of bloggers to review more Filipino novels.  Last year I posted on three Filipino novels set in WWII and sadly that seems to be near all there is to posting on Filipino novels in the book blog world.   I know there is an interest in this as these posts got many reads.   If you are interested in this project please let me know.
3. To continue on reading more Japanese Novels-to read any Oe or Tanizaki works I have not yet read.  
4. To read more new to me contemporary authors and to read more books by some of the wonderful writers that were new to me in 2009-Margaret Atwood, Marcus Zusak, Fan Wu, Anita Brookner, Jeannette Winterson, A S Byatt and others.  In my many years of near compulsive reading I only began to read modern literary fiction about two years ago so I am enjoying a lot of new discoveries that are old friends of other bloggers.   It is through book blogs I discovered these writers.
5. To continue to seek out and read as deeply as I can the greatest literary works of all times.    This gives you a basis for comparison as your reading life proceeds.   Reading too much lower quality literature (I know this may seem a bit elitist to some but that is ok also) is like a diet of twinkies and red bull.  
6. To read books from a wide variety of countries-my challenges will help me do this
7. To ponder hosting a read along of Ford Madox Ford's Parade's End.   If you are interested in this please let me know.
8. To read more books about the reading life-the theoretical focus of my blog!
9. To have fun, be open to new ideas, learn something everyday (on a good day more than one thing!)   
10. To support the international community of book blogging through thoughtfull commentation on posts where I can.  

11     To expand on the concept of the bookish boy genre I used in talking about Club Dumas and Dance,   Dance, Dance.    

Mel u

      

December 2009 Reading Review

December 2009 was an excellent reading month for me.    I hope your month was great also.


Classics

1. Roderick Hudson by Henry James -early James-I have as a personal perpetual challenge to read all the fiction of Henry James and Edith Wharton
2. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austin-a reread from 40 years ago

 Japanese Novels

1.  Nip  The Buds, Shoot the Kids by Kenzaburo Oe 
2. Rouse Up O Young Men of the New Age by Kenzaburo Oe
3. The Old Capital by Yasunari Kawabata -reread
4. Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami

Oe  and Kawabata are both Nobel Laureates .  Some think Murakami will one day be the 3rd Japanese writer to win the Nobel Prize.    Maybe in ten years but not sooner is my guess.


English Language Novels

1. Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood-I liked it but I liked The Handmaiden's Tale more
2. The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford-see my post please as I cannot really compress my thoughts on this novel into one line.
3. February Flowers by Fan Wu-coming of age story set in modern China-a good read for the 2010 GLBT reading challenge

Biography

1. The Man Who Killed Rasputin:  Felix Youssoupov and the Murder that Helped Bring Down The Russian Empire  by Greg King-also a good choice for the 2010 GLBT Challenge-interesting popular history for Romanov devotees like me.  
   

Mel u

My Favorite Reads-Part 3-

Favorite Reads (other than Japanese)  Second Half 2009

In My Favorite Reads Part 1 I talked about the books I read in the first half of 2009, before I began my blog in July 2009

In My Favorite Reads Part 2-I spoke of my favorite Japanese reads among the 40 or so works on which I have posted on in 2009

Now in the last part of The Reading Life Best Reads of 2009 part 3 I want to talk about my favorite non-Japanese reads from July 7 to now.   I am still reading and hope to post on two more books by year end but both are Japanese works.

Most of the books I read since my blog began I have posted on.   I should note that when I fail to write a post on a book I have read, it is not a negative comment on  the book. 

There were three works I read in this period that I somehow could not bring myself to do a brief blog post about.   I will try to say why now.

1. A Sentimental Education by Gustav Flaubert-This well might be a better novel than MB.   The editor of the book in the Oxford Classics edition  flirts with the idea that it is better than War and Peace but never fully embraces the idea.   Maybe you think Flaubert is an ice cold Olympian.   Those who know or have read only MB  will be shocked how full of the love of the pleasure of life A Sentimental Education is.   I am going to reread it pretty soon and feel then I can do a post on why I like it so much.    If you are in a personal quest to experience the greatest works of literature ever written, my advice is to read this book as young as you can so you have a standard to hold other works up to.
2. Keepsake by Kristy Gunn-The only post on this work that would do it justice would be to scan it all in and post the whole thing.   Gorgeous prose
3. Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli-young adult-deeply moving story about the Warsaw Ghetto-I love the last five pages so much I have reread them numerous times.   If  I had done a blog post right after reading this all I would have probably said would come down to "Do yourself a favor, read this book this week so the rest of your life you can have it in your head".

Best Blogged on Books

1.  The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (books in no special order)
2. Barefoot in the Park:  A Filipino WWII Childhood by Barbara Ann Gamboa Lewis.   This book deserves a high  place in the YA literature of WWII-
3. The PowerBook By Jeannette Winterson
4. Balzac and  the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Siuji
5. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barberry
6. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
7. A Start in Life  by Anita Brookner
   
8. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Anne Shaffer and Anne Borrows
9. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton-unlike pretty much everybody else I do not see the deepest meaning of this work in its social commentary
10. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
11. The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford-can hardly be over praised
12. I am the Messenger by Marcus Suzak-I know this is a quirky pick but read it if you liked The Book Thief .

Of my  top 12, 9 are by women.   This just happened by accident.

Only Real Advice I Offer From These Lists

If you are serious about experiencing the best literature the world has to offer, then read A Sentimental Education and The Good Soldier.   (This will not be a task, they are both hugely fun reads.) 

My best by far non-fiction read of 2009 is Flaubert:  A Biography by Frederick Brown-just what he says about Ivan Turgenev, a good friend of Flaubert, is fascinating.  

What are your favorite reads for 2009?   

Mel u

Year End Reading Life Review-Part II-Best Japanese Reads

Before I began the Japanese Literature Challenge 3 on August 9, 2009 I had never in fifty plus years of near compulsive reading read a Japanese novel.   Long ago I read a number of the so called "wisdom texts" of Asian writers so it was not simply a question of my being very Euro-centered in my reading habits.    When I went to school, there were basically no Japanese novels yet translated into English.   The challenge required only that you read one book and it had a big list of suggested reads.   The Japanese Literature 3 challenge became my first ever reading challenge. So far I have read 42 Japanese works.  It will end Jan 31, 2009 at which time I plan now to write two posts.   One will be an attempt to see where the Japanese writers belong in the context of world literature.   There are big questions that can arise.  Is there really a Japanese novel in more a sense than there might be a distinctly Dutch, Canadian or even American novel?   I think there is and will give my thoughts on this then.   I will also write something like "The Reading Life Starter Guide to the Japanese Novel" in which I will list what I think are the first 3, 6 and 12 Japanese novels one should read and why I think it.    Here are my "ten best" -out of 42-Japanese reads for 2009.   (The order is not of import)

Best Japanese Reads 2009

1.      Out  by   Natsuo Kirino 2004-exciting slice of lower life crime novel
2. Kusamakura by Natsume Soseki    1904-beautiful work that teaches us a lot about how to approach literature and art.
3. Teach Us to Outgrow Our Madness by Kenzaburo Oe-I love the four stories in this volume. 1969
   
4. The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki.   Centers on the lives of four sister in preWorld War II Osaka-1948
5. The Woman in the Dunes by Kobe Abe-1964-
6. Crazy Iris and other Stories of the Atomic Aftermath (stories from eight authors selected and introduced by Kenzaburo Oe)  Most of the authors are atomic bomb survivors.  1985 
7. Quick Sand by Junichiro Tanizaki-an excellent choice for the GLBT challenge for 2010-it does not seem like a nearly 90 year old novel  1928
   
8. The Flower Mat by Sugoro Yamanto -an historical novel of 17th century Samurai life centering around the wife of a samurai   1948
   
9. One Man's Justice by Akira Yoshimara-story of a soldier returning home in defeat and disgrace.   A universally applicable story that gives us a good look at conditions in Japan right after WWII. 1978
   
10. Goodbye Tsugumi by Banana Yoshimoto-most of those who have posted on this and Kitchen like Kitchen better-you will not go wrong with any of her works. 1989

List of The Reading Life Japanese Posts

I explicitly proclaim myself as a neophyte in terms of the Japanese novel and put this list forth with that understanding.   Japanese novels will be an important part of my reading life (and my blog) from now on.   I will always be grateful to Dolce Bellezza for introducing me to the Japanese novel.   As far as The Reading Life and Japanese literature, please send me any ideas or suggestions as to new directions to go in.   I hope I have only just begun a very long reading relationship. 

I was motivated by a great post on Wuthering Expectations to do a series of best of 2009 posts.   I will do at least one more post, the next will center on the my best reads since I began my blog (less the Japanese works).

Mel u

My Favorite Reads 2009-Part 1-

One reason for doing a Best Reads of the Year posts is to kind of clarify things in our own mind and hopefully have something to look back on many years in the future.

  Part I of my post on this topic will be about the books I read from January 1 to July 6, 2009. My blog began on July 7,2009.   The lists are in order by publication date.

                                                                  Classics

1. Emma by Jane Austin  1816
2. Old Goriot by  Balzac 1836-because his productivity is so huge I find reading him intimidating.  The standard cliche  is that he is the French Dickens and vice versa but this is probably an as taught to students dictum and it seems  to represent a shallow understanding of either writer.  
3. Moby Dick by Herman Melville-1851-read this work with an open mind-forget that it was forced on you in a class room and you had to write a 20 page paper on what the white whale stood for!-just let the majestic prose go into your mind as you read it.
4. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert-1857-often claimed to be the world's best novel.   It is an ice cold work of perfection but I prefer A Sentimental Education.
5. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy 1869 -new trans 2007-don't let the size keep you away and don't worry about keeping all the characters straight as they will begin to stand out as you read.   
6. The Bostonians by Henry James-1886-early James, has all the basic themes-a good first Henry James-
7. The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald-1925-the last ten pages are simply stunning in the beauty of the writing.   There are annoying tics in the work but just ignore them. 

                                                 21th Century Top Reads

1.  Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano -trans 2006-read this before 2666 if you can
2.  2666 by Roberto Bolano  2008 trans.
3.  Against the Day by Thomas Pynchon-2006-I know this is long and not much read.

                                                       Non Fiction

1.  Queen Victoria by Christopher Hibbert-2000-good popular biography
2.  Alexandra:  The Last Tsarina-Carolyn Erickson-2001-a good easy to read bio
3.  Flaubert:  A Biography by Frederick Brown-2006-simply a great book
4.  The Last Mughal-The Fall of a Dynasty-1857-Delhi-William Dalrymple-reminded me of how little I really know of Indian History
5.  Waltzing the Dictator:   Marcos and the Making of US Foreign Policy  1987 -by Raymond Bonner-a brilliant book that explains in detail how the Marcoses were able to do what they did to the Philippines.   It explains this better than any other  source.    A good bit of the success of  Marcos came from the fact that, say whatever else you want about him and his wife, he was able to use the needs and the vanity of several American presidents (mainly Reagan) to obtain his ends.  Ronald Reagan and Nancy were pretty much putty in the hands of Imelda.   The Marcoses began to cultivate Reagan when he was governor of California.  

This post was inspired by a recent post on Wuthering Expectations on Best of  2009 Lists

Mel u

Reading Challenges and The Reading Life

When I began my blog July 7, 2009 I had never heard of Reading Challenges.   I soon saw they are a fairly big part of the book blogger community.   The first challenge I saw that intrigued me was the Japanese Literature 3 Challenge.   I realized I had never read a Japanese novelist.   If asked on a quiz show to name  two Japanese novelists I would have been stopped after Haruki Murakami.   I read the rules of the challenge and saw you had only to read one book.      So far I have read about 45 Japanese literary works and have placed three Japanese authors on my "read everything they have written list".   As I began to read an increasing number of book blogs (maybe 350 or so now) I came upon other challenges involving reading books in translation and books by authors from different countries.   The host of these challenges said any book read in 2009 counted so I completed these two challenges without a strain.   Then I joined a challenge revolving around reading some books on WWII and completed it almost at once.   I have also joined the China Challenge and  have one book to go and the Women Unbound Challenge for which I have read five of eight.   Both of these challenges carry over into 2010.   I also joined two other challenges that I did not complete because I more or less lost interest in them.   If I was doing it now I would not join either of these challenges as I am not drawn to what I now see as gimmick based challenges.  (This is just me-it is not a slam on gimmick based challenges-by which I mean something like "Read a book whose title has the same number of letters in it as your middle name").    I also completed the Rest In Peace Challenge and the November Novella Challenge and the Elizabeth Gaskell Mini Challenge in 2009.

As 2010 approached I knew I wanted to finish the two challenges I have yet to complete that overlap into 2010 and join some new ones.  I have now committed to 32  for 2010.   I only will commit to a challenge that allows overlaps with other challenges as any other course seems over directing to me and most challenge hosts explicitly state they allow it.    One of the Challenges asks you to read 52 books in 52 weeks.   I will if all goes well do this in the first four months or so so it is really not a factor in what I read.   For fun I pondered how many books will I have to read to complete these 20 challenges, setting aside the challenge to read 52 books.  (I will sign up for more I am sure and maybe in spring commit to 100 books).   These  20 challenges can be completed by reading from 25 to 30 books that I want to read anyway.   I remain fully in charge of what I read.   If there are  more challenges that interest me I will join them also.   The biggest to me challenge will be keeping track of them.  I plan to create a challenge tracking post to follow it all.    There are lots of ways to find challenges that will interest you.   A very good place to get information on the various reading challenges going on and future ones also is at A Novel Challenge.   There are really challenges for all sorts of readers.  

My question to myself is why join so many challenges?   My answer is that it is fun for me, I am supporting the book blogging community, I make some new contacts, and I also learn about a lot of new books from reading the posts in the challenges I join.    If it all seems a bit crazy to some that is ok perhaps it is!- 

As to personal reading perpetual challenges I will continue to read the novels of Henry James and Edith Wharton and I hope somehow I can host a read along of Ford Madox Ford's Parade's End if a few others would want to join in.   I will also join the Japanese Literature Challenge 4 when it begins in 2010.   I will post more on my 2010 reading hopes and plans later as the year ends.  My thanks to all who host challenges.   I will continue to join more challenges as the year begins.   I see no reason other than the work involved in keeping track of them (which also will be fun for me) not to join 50 challenges.  
Anyway those are my thoughts on Reading Challenges-

what are your reasons for joining a reading challenge or why do you avoid them-?

Mel u

November 2009 Monthly Reading Life Review

November 2009 was a very good Reading Life month for me.   I blogged on all of the works I read in November with one very notable exception.   I will list below first the book I did not blog on and some comments on it, then the books I have already posted on with a short additional comment in most case, then a few random observations and such.

Book I Read but did not Post On
1.   Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon.   Gravity's Rainbow is firmly in my list of twenty greatest novels of all times.   I first read it about a month after it was published.    I still in fact have the hardback I read many years ago.  I have reread the work numerous times.  I see it as a wonderful near inexhaustible work.   I know this is now a minority opinion and that is ok.   When I heard Inherent Vice was coming out I was excited but worried as it sounded too much like Vineland.  I had to force myself to finish Vineland.  Perhaps I am missing something, but if a new to me author had written Inherent Vice I am not sure I would have completed it.   I will give it a second change in 2010 and I am sure there are dissertations already being started on the book.   I cannot endorse this book to any one who is not really into Pynchon, as  I still am.  First time Pynchon Readers should start with The Crying of Lot 49.   I kind of hope Pynchon will get the Nobel prize one day (odds makers put this at about 500 to one last year) just to see who he would send to pick up the award for him.

Books I Posted About in November
2.  The Thirteenth Tale-by Diane Satterfield-a fun very bookish work.
3.   The Handmaiden's Tale by Margaret Atwood-liked it a lot
3.   The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood-very imaginative myth retelling
4.   Leaving Home by Anita Brookner-typical very well written Brookner
5.   People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks-good Reading Life book
6.   The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte-fantasy for bookish  boys?
7.   My Life by Anton Chekhov (novella)-wonderful work
8.   Shamela by Henry Fielding-Novella-still very funny after 200 plus years

Japanese works I posted about in November
8.  Hardboiled by Banana Yoshimoto-a novella
9.  Hard Luck by Banana Yoshimoto-a novella
10. Shame in the Blood by Tetsuo Miura-collection of short stories marketed as a novel
11. Mandrians by Ryunosuke Akutagawa-a collection of short stories
12.  Woman of the Dunes  by Kobo Abe-my first Abe-there will be more
13.  The Makioka Sisters by Juniciro Tanizaki-considered his master work
14.  Kusamakura by Natsume Soseki-a beautiful meditative novel
15.  Crazy Iris and Other Stories of the Atomic Aftermath edited by Kenzaburo Oe-read four of the nine short stories in the collection of 9 this month
16.  Hiroshima Notes by Kenzaburo Oe-nonfiction-collections of essays
17.  Teach Us to Out Grow Our Madness by Kenzaburo Oe -novella


Reading Challenges

Women Unbound Challenge-completed the fiction segment
Japanese Challenge-will continue to read for this
Chinese  Challenge-3 of 5 read
November Novella Challenge-completed-four novellas

I like reading challenges.  They are fun for me, can open up new reading areas and by joining in and participating we help support the book blog community.  I will be joining a number of challenges as 2010 begins.  My book blog started in July 2009 so  I could not properly do a lot of challenges.   I will do a number of challenges in 2010.

Some bloggers have asked if others have year end reading plans.   I hope to read my 3rd Atwood in December, my second Murakami, two Oe Novels, and Naomi by Tanizaki.   I will be posting shortly my second reading review of The Old Capitol.   

All in all November 2009 was a very good Reading Life month for me.  As always I thank and appreciate my readers and commentators. 

Mel u

October 2009 Reading Life Month End Review Sunday Salon

October 2009 was a very good reading month for me.   I discovered a new to me writer that I added to my "read everything they have written" TBR list, I read some very moving  short stories about the Atomic Aftermath,  and I continued to read more Japanese novels.  

Books I read in October but did not blog about

1.   The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Zafon.   I enjoyed this book for its atmosphere, the use Barcelona between the world wars as a background, the idea of the library of forgotten book, the sense of being in a premall and preinternet book store and I liked the characters in the book.   I think I preferred this  book to his Angel's Game.  I think any body who likes books might well like it.  I did not blog on it mainly because there must already be fifty book blog posts on it.

2.   The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne-This was to me a good Y A book about the holocaust.   It is not, to me, on the level with Milkweed or The Book Thief  but for sure it is worth reading.   The day after I finished this my wife and I watched the movie.   We enjoyed it.   There are a few changes that took away a bit from the book but I thought the movie was better in showing the changes in the teenage girl, weaker in the ending and weaker in its treatment of the character of the mother.   I was struck in the book where the family is so proud (and scared) when Hitler comes to dinner.   It is mentioned that a member of the family is learning French, Hitler says "why would anyone want to do that?"

Books I posted about in October 2009

3.  The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea  by Yuko Mishima

4.  Barefoot in Fire:  A Manila WWII Childhood  by Barbara-Ann Gamboa Lewis-it is shame that this book is only available in Manila as it deserves a wide readership.

5.  The Power Book  by Jeanette Winterson-my first work by this author, it will not be my last.

6.  The Flower Mat by Shigoro Yamamoto

7.   The Giver by Lois Lowry-a very good Young Adult book that can be enjoyed by all ages.

8.   The Secret History of the Lord of Musaki   by Junichiro Tanizaki

9.   Arrowroot  by Junichiro Tanizaki (published by Vintage in the same book as # 8)-

10.  Some Prefer Nettles by Junichiro Tanizaki

11.   Quicksand  by Junichiro Tanizaki (he is now on my read everything he has written TBR list)

12.  The Noodle Maker  by Ma Jian-

13.  Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink-to me it seemed like one long cliche, others have liked it.

14.   Four Short Stories from Crazy Iris and Other Stories of the Atomic Aftermath  edited and introduced by Kenzaburo Oe.   There are four more stories still to read and blog about in this wonderful and important book.   I expect to read the remaining four stories in November.

Challenges I am currently reading for

The Japanese Literature Challenge 3-greatest challenge of them all to me-open up a new world of reading.
China Challenge-3 of 5 complete-I have until Sept 2010 5 books and will try for 10

Challenges I will join in November

The November Novella Challenge-read either one or four Novellas-(defined here as 70 to 120 pages)
The Really Old Classics Challenge-read one pre 1600 book by Feb 2010-just have to pick my book
Women Unbound Reading Challenge-I will read at least 8 books related to women's studies by Nov 2010

I may joint read books for these new challenges along with the Japanese Literature 3 Challenge and The China Challenge-

Books to Read Before I Die Challenge- by Bibliophile By The Sea

Diane of Bibliophile By The Sea Bibliophile By The Sea  has recently created a reading challenge that intrigues me.    It is called "Books to Read Before I Die Challenge-2010.    A lot of us have a large number of books that we have been meaning to read for a long time.   In my case I have had some books on my own read before I die list for 50 years or so.   The rules of the challenge are simple.    You are asked to post a list of ten to twenty books that you for sure want to read before you die and then read all of them by December 31, 2010.    Diane's blog has a sign up page that explains everything.   She is even offering to place the name of all those who complete the challenge in a drawing for an Amazon.com gift certificate.   (Maybe if you win you can buy your first book for the 2011 challenge with it!)    Anyway here is my list along with a brief explanation as to why I included it.   The order  of the listing is random.

1.   The Woman in White  by Wilke Collins-a lot of bloggers like it
2.   To Killing a Mocking Bird   Harper Lee- should have read this book 45 years ago
3.   Pale Fire Vladimir Nabokov-I want to see what all the fuss is about-

4.    The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco-a classic Reading Life book
5.    Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann-this has been on my TBR list for decades
6.    Charter House of Parma by Stendhal-also been on TBR list for decades
7.  The Plague-by Albert Camus-had a huge influence on post world II Japanese writers
8.   The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton  -
9..    Sea of Poppies  by Amitav Ghosh-for the upcoming South   Asian reading challenge-plus I own it!
10.  My Son's Story by Nadine Gordimer
11.  Naomi by Junichiro Tanizaki
12.  The Cage by Kenzo Kitakata

Mel u

First Quarter Report on The Reading Life

My blog is three months old today.    I find myself surprised by a few things.   When I began my blog I had never read a Japanese novel.    Now I find of the books 11 works I blogged about in September more than half of them were by Japanese authors.     Banana Yoshimoto and Kenzaburo Oe are  among my favorite writers.    My blog, as people told me it would when I did a one month report, has begun to sort of take on a mind of its own.   I will continue to read and post on Japanese novels on a regular basis as well as Chinese novels.    My blog will always be centered on the literary treatment of those who live the reading life.  

I have learned about a number of new to me writers from book blogs, not just Japanese writers but American, English, Chinese, French, Australian, Filipino and a Kiwi throw in  for good measure.    Most of all I have learned that there is a vast community of book bloggers-great people.   They blog about all sorts of
books.   Some blog about the allusions in The Fairie Queene,  some on   Y A stories about fairy queens. 
Some blog on Wilke Collins others on Susanne Collins.      Some get lost in The Decline and Fall of  The Roman Empire.    Some blog on the declining level of service in bookstores.    We all love books and that is what matters.   

I am very grateful to those who read my blog and am still very happy whenever I get a comment.    Please feel free to make any comments you may have.


Mel U

September 2009 Month End Reading Life Review

September 2009 was a really great reading life month for me.    Before I review what I read I want to
explain what went on last month behind the scenes at The Reading Life last month.  

Slyvia's Lovers do not like press gangs or women  heavily into Snakes and Earrings.   The ladies of
Crawford enjoy being in the Kitchen and sometimes even achieve a Gourmet Rhapsody as they prepare the food for a meeting of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society.   The Uninvited guest decides to take a Keepsake so he tries to put some  of Miss 5's Chopsticks in his pocket but Sky Monster Aghwee suddenly appears and scares him so badly he flees to The Old Capital to await One Man's Justice On The Day He Himself Shall Wipe Away My Tears.   Branwell  Bronte says maybe he will see if he likes Milkweed as  much as opium and if not then he will have to go into  his Prize Stock, after all he is not A Child of War and he for sure does not do well among Strangers, or any body else for that matter.   

I posted on most of the books I read last month.    I will first list the one's I did not blog about with a comment or two on them.

1.   Sylvia's Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell-This Victorian novel is set in a seacoast town in  northern England in
the second half of the 18th century.   Through this book I came to realize fully how terrible and terrifying a practice was the use of press gangs to fill the ships of the Royal Navy.   There is also a lot of good household economy type information conveyed in the book.   I did not like the portion of the book where the author made use of rural dialect of  of the time in the speeches of her more country characters.   I have no reason to doubt its accuracy but it slowed down my reading of the novel a good bit and I ended up skipping through some of the conversations.   (I also find this annoying in Faulkner.)      If  you have plenty of reading time and an interest in the period or in the Victorian novel then I endorse this book for you, otherwise maybe you should just read the book below.

2.  Cranford  by Elizabeth Gaskell-I was surprised that  this short novel was funny.   I enjoyed the Samuel Johnson/Charlies Dickens debates between the characters.   Samuel Johnson is portrayed as a pompous know it all and of course Dickens is sainted.    I enjoyed the book and if someone wants to read a Gaskell this short novel seems a painless start.

3.  Keepsake  by Kristy Gunn-This is a profoundly beautiful work.   It has some deep things to say about story telling and the reading life.   I did not post on it as I did not see how I could begin to convey the wonder of this book in the space of a blog post.    A marvelous book by incredibly talented writer.

4.  Milkweed   by Jerry Spinelli.    This young adult book has won many awards.   It is set mostly in the Warsaw Ghetto in WWII.   Most reviews and even a quote on the inside of the book says it is a child's view of the events that took place in the Warsaw Ghetto.   I am sorry but this is as wrong as can be.   I did not post on this book as  did not see how I could do it in a relatively short space, if at all.     To me a blog post on this or Keepsake  would be like a blog post summing up "Sailing to Byzantium".   I will only say I will not so quickly pass by crazy speakers on street corners anymore or if I do I will remember Milkweed.   I was so taken with the close of this book that I have read the last chapter four times already.   The last time I can recall being that enraptured by the close of a novel  was while reading The Great Gatsby.

5.   The Internal World of Branwell Bronte by Daphne du Maurier- a beautifully written biography of the supposedly brilliant brother of the Bronte Sisters.   It is claimed he could write two unrelated things at the same time-compose poetry with his right hand while keeping business accounts with his left.   A very interesting biography.   I have no idea what parts of it are accurate.   I enjoyed it a lot.   There are also some information you will enjoy reading concerning   son of Samuel Coleridge as well as some data on  the methods Reverend Bronte used in educating his children.   There are also a number of purely speculative psychological conjectures that are treated as obvious truths just because the author thinks they might be true that seemed a bit baseless to me.


I have blogged about all the works below.

6.   The Old Capital by Yasunari Kawabata
7.   Adventures of a Child of War by Lin Acacio Flores-Eduardo
8.   Snakes and Earrings by Hitomi Kanehara
9.   Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
10. One Man's Justice by Akira Yoshimura
11.  Miss Chopsticks  by Xia Xinran
12.  The Day He Himself Shall Wash Away My Tears by Kenzaburo Oe (novella)
13.  Prize Stock by Kenzaburo Oe (novella)
14.  Sky Monster Aghwee by Kenzaburo Oe (short story)
15.  Gourmet Rhapsody by Muriel Barberry (read The Elegance of the Hedgehog first)
16.  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows\
17.  Strangers  by Taichi Yamada

All in all a great month.   A number of these books I discovered via fellow book bloggers.  I would give credit but I do not know where each idea came from.

As always I am very appreciative of all my readers.   Please feel free to leave any comments you want and I would love to get some good reading ideas.    My blog is still about  the literary treatment  of the lives of people taken up in the reading life and will always have that as its core subject even as I wander around the world.

Mel U

P. S.

I hope people do not mind too much my opening paragraph.   I had fun writing it.    At then end of October there will be a Reading Life Halloween Party attended by all the characters in the books I have blogged on since my blog began July 7, 2009.    For now I think it will be hosted by Mikage from Kitchen  and haunted by Aghwee the Sky Monster.   In November we will have a good old fashioned Thanksgiving and in December a giant new years eve party attended by the authors and characters from all the books I read in 2010.    

What I Like Best About My Blog-Where I Hope my Blog Will Be In a Year

The management of Book Blogger Appreciation Week   has asked everyone to write a short post for the last day of the week.

Setting Goals!
Write in 50 words or less…what do you like best about your blog right now and where would you like your blog to be a year from now?

What I like best is knowing I am not alone in my love of books.   I have read 1000s of  book blog posts over the last year.   I often see book bloggers  talk about retreating into a world of books.    Many bloggers share their experiences of having been socially awkward, shy bookish children.   Some were supported by their parents in their love for books, some came to The Reading Life in their own ways.   There are as many versions of  The Reading Life as there are readers.

In a year I hope to establish more contacts in the book blogger world (I already have some great ones!), to go further beyond my Euro-centric education by joining in great reading challenges, to increase my technical and design capabilities
but most of all I hope to read a lot of great books in the company of my fellow book bloggers.   

Book Blogger Apreciation week Meme

Here are some questions I am answering for book blogger week.    I hope everyone will feel free to jump in with their comments.

Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack?

I do not normally snack while reading-I do drink iced green tea a lot while reading.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of

writing in books horrify you?

I mark in my books-I underline-I make notes in the margins

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears?

I dog ear all my paperbacks-I bookmark Hardbacks.

Laying the book flat open?

I never lay the books flat open.   I never read at a desk.

Fiction, Non-fiction, or both?

Mostly fiction but I read royal biographies and literary biographies also.

Hard copy or audiobooks?    Hard copy-I never listen to audio books any more-when I commuted I did.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you

able to put a book down at any point?     I am able to put a book down at any point.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away?   50/50

What are you currently reading?   Henry V,   Teach Us to Out Grow Our Madness by Kenzaburo Oe,   Emperor of Japan:  Meiji and his World-1852 to 1912- by Donald Keene

What is the last book you bought?   Teach Us to Out Grow Our Madness by Kenzaburo Oe

Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can

you read more than one at a time?   I always read at least 3 to 6 books at a time.

Do you have a favorite time of day and/or place to read?    maybe between 900 am and 300pm

Do you prefer series books or stand alone books?   No Preference

Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over?     Not really

How do you organize your books? (By genre, title, author’s last name, etc.?)    Sort of by author but not real rigid on it-

Ten questions with Heather of "Maiden's Court"-by BBAW interview partner

My interview partner for Book Blogger Appreciation 
week is Heather of The Maiden's Court.

Heather's blog focuses on historical fiction and royal biographies with a special interest in the Tudor area.  She also writes very interesting reviews of 21th century novels.   I found her reviews to be open, honest, consistently insightful and flawlessly written.   She loves books and her blog shows it.    


We were asked to send our partner ten questions.   Here are the questions I sent Heather and her answers.

  1.    How did you get started as a blogger?
  I started blogging in May of this year.  I had started following a
couple of  brand new blogs about a month before and was encouraged by their success and decided that I could start my own.  I had been writing reviews for books I  had read and been posting them on other websites and always loved to look up facts about the books I had read - it made perfect sense to create a blog and put it all in one place.
   
  2.   If you could time travel back in history to any era and place prior to  the 20th century where would you go and why?
  I would travel back to Egypt during the reign of Ramesses II.  I have always  been interested in Egyptian history - this was the first period I was ever  interested in.  I would love to meet Nefertari and ask her so many  questions.  It would be so amazing to get to explore the ancient culture and
  see how things looked so long ago.

  3.   How soon after you read a book do you post on it?
  I try to write my review within a week and usually post about it on my blog  soon after.  I will usually post on Goodreads and Shelfari  as
my blog  written.  Sometimes I will hold onto the review for a short while if I am
  using it for an event on my blog.

  4.   How interested are you in tracking your blog traffic?   Do you keep  track of numbers of visitors, countries, web pages they were on prior to your board?
   I have a counter to track the number of visitors to my blog.  I
haven't  tried tracking where they are from - that might be something I would be  interested in that in the future.

  5.  What do you hope to take away from BBAW?
  I would like to take away the chance to meet new people, find new blogs to  enjoy and also gain further exposure for my own blog.  enjoy and also gain further exposure for my own blog.

  6.  Do you moderate your comments and do you feel you should reply to all comments?


  I do not moderate my comments - so far I haven't had the need to.  I think  that everyone should have the right to say what they think, as long as it  isn't attacking anyone's thoughts.  I don't feel that I have to reply to all  comments.  I try to reply to as many as I can - especially if someone asks a
  question or makes a great point.

  7.  What three writers would you most like to interview for your blog?
  I would love to interview Michelle Moran, Philippa Gregory, and Angie Fox on  my blog.  I have loved Michelle Moran's books - they are the best Egyptian  fiction I have read and she has been able to bring to life the figures that I have loved for so long.  I think it would be an absolute dream to have  Philippa Gregory guest-post or be interviewed on my blog. Her books, The
  Constant Princess and The Other Boleyn Girl, were one reason I really became  interested in historical fiction and I have read almost all of her Tudor
  series; I just have The Other Queen left.  There would be SO many
things  that I would love to ask her about.  Angie Fox is not a historical fiction  writer, she writes paranormal romance.  I had read her first book to help  someone out with a review and loved it.  She is a newer author and I would love to help others get to know her and her work.

  8.  How has blogging changed your reading habits?
  Blogging has changed my reading habits immensely.  One reason I really  decided to blog was because it would keep me reading.  I had been on a long  break from reading and I really wanted to get into it again.  I have joined  several challenges that get me to read books that I may not have considered  before.  I have taken up listening to some audio books (mostly because of my  long commute to work) but also to expand upon what I read.  I have read more
  books since I started my blog in May, than I had read in the previous 2 years!


  9.  How do you feel about devices like the Kindle or Sony's Book Reader?
I do not have either of these devices but I think that they are a great  idea.  I would get one of these if I did more traveling - that way I wouldn't have to lug a bunch of books with me.
    I like the ability to get  what you want at any time and have it not take up a lot of space.

  10.  Do you keep your blog on a preset course or do you take it where ever  your reading leads  your or somewhere in  between?
  My blog is never on a preset course.  I have realized that everytime I try  to plan out what I want to do, it changes.  I try to make a general plan, in  theory, and then as I go along with a book, whatever comes up I will post  about.  Sometimes I try to correspond things to different events I am  hosting - but I don't plan them out far in advance.

I will be following Heather's blog from now on and look forward to seeing what she reads in the years ahead.

The Reading Life receives The Zombie Chicken Award Sunday Salon

I am proud and very happy to announce that my blog has been awarded the Zombie Chicken award
by Suko of Suko's Notebook.

Here are the officials rules governing  the award:

"The blogger who receives this award believes in the Tao of the zombie chicken-- excellence, grace, and persistence in all situations, even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. These amazing bloggers regularly produce content so remarkable that their readers would brave a raving pack of zombie chickens just to be able to read their inspiring words. As a recipient of this world-renowned award, you now have the task of passing it on to at least 5 other worthy bloggers. Do not risk the wrath of the zombie chickens by choosing unwisely or not choosing at all."

I would give The Zombie Chicken award to

DS of Third Story Window

Westcobich of Oh! Books...Paper...Real Life

Mark of Absorbed in Words

Jessica of A Book Lover's Diary

Juliet of Crafty Green Poet

I subscribe to all these blogs in either Bloglines or Google Reader.   I read every thing they post.
To me that is really the most sincere compliment I can pay to a fellow blogger.

Thanks again Suko

August Reading Wrap Up

August was a busy month for me.   I time traveled and I place shifted.

I went to the London Theater in the 1780s with  Evelina.    I got A Sentimental Education in  Paris during the 1848 French Revolution.    I wondered  What Massie Knew as her divorcing parents shattered her world.   

I tried to get A Start in Life reading Balzac with Doctor Weizel.     At least  she has beautiful red hair.   I opened The Book Shop I have always wanted to.   I lived Off Shore on a house boat on the Thames.   I spent some time in a Maoist Reeducation camp along with Balzac and a Little Chinese Seamstress.  


I hated  to do it but I said Goodbye Tsugumi  but I know I will see her again one day.    I wondered what The Blue Flower  has to do with life as a student in  Germany in the 1780s.


.   I even heard Fichte lecture.   I eave dropped on The Duke and Duchess of Beaufort.  I learned some Aussie slang while wondering which of two brothers

was best at Getting the Girl.   I spent some time After Dark in Tokyo at a Denny's.   I fell in love with Dewey:  The Small Town Library Cat that Touched the World.    Five teenagers showed me their view of The Real World.    I played An Angel's game in old Toledo while I browsed in a very strange library.    I was trapped in a Crimson Labyrinth



August 2009 was a great reading month for me.    I will list all the Books I read, in order of  publication along with a comment or two on each one.

1.  Evelina by Francis Burney  1778.   A very well done epistolary novel    It is her most popular novel.
Samuel Johnson admired her a lot..    In truth I would have enjoyed longer letters from some of the other 
parties in the novel.



2.  A Sentimental Education by Gustav Flaubert.  1869   
Ford Madox Ford is reported to have said that a person cannot consider themselves well  educated until they have read this book fourteen times.

In his introductory remarks the translator Douglas Parmee flirts with
the notion that it is better than War and Peace.    Almost every list I have ever seen of the

of the world's best novels includes one Flaubert Novel in the top twenty list.  My list would now
include two of his novels.   I loved this book for its richness, its love of the city life, the great food in the story.
Unlike his more read novel, I liked some of the people in this book.    Read this book because you want to,
not because you are assigned it in a class or saw it on a list.    This book has a great deal to tell us
about The Reading Life.   Once I have read it a few more times I may try to talk about that aspect of the book.     Three Tales  is also a great read and lets us appreciate more Flaubert's talents.
I would love to receive comments from those who have read Salammbo or The Temptation of 
Saint Anthony.

               .    



3.   What Massie Knew by Henry James-1897.    Henry James enters into the mind of of a young girl whose
parents are divorcing.    I am reading or rereading all of the novels of Henry James as a personal  challenge. I am in the process of rereading all of the novels of Henry James.   Like all of his work this is brilliant in
parts.   



4.  The Book Shop by Penelope Fitzgerald -1978.    This was my first of her nine novels.   I liked it so much
  I ended up reading three of her works back to back   


5.   Off Shore by Penelope Fitzgerald 1979-A Booker Prize Winner.   A line in this book has been haunting 
me for two weeks now:  "She fell in love as only a violinist can"     
      


6.   A Start in Life by Anita Brookner-1985-I posted on this in August.  Yesterday I bought another one of
her twenty three novels.   She wrote her first one when she was fifty and has written one a year since then.
  


7.   Balzac and  the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Siuij-1989-I reviewed this in August.   
 I really like this wonderful book.    I will read all of his other books. 



8.   Goodbye Tsugumi 1989 by Banana Yoshimoto-I posted on this in August.


9.   The Blue Flower  by Penelope Fitzgerald  1995-   The very model of a historical novel.   Once I have 
read all nine  of her novels I will post something on what she tells us about the reading life    



10.  Beaufort:  The Duke and Duchess-1657 to 1715.  2001 nonfiction by Molly McCain-a decent 
study of life among the nobility.   She makes some dubious psychological projections on the subjects.

11.   .   Getting the Girl by Markus Zusak.  2004 My policy on Markus Zusak is very simple.
 Whatever he writes I will read as soon as I can get a copy.

 
12.  The Crimson Labyrinth by Yusuke  Kishi-2006-I posted on this in August


13.  After Dark by Haruki Murakami 2007-I have already posted on this.


14.   Real World by Natsuo Kirino 2008.  I posted on this wonderful book in August.

15.   Dewey:  The Small Town Library Cat that Touched the World by Vicky Myron-2008-I reviewed
 this book in August.   I look forward to the movie.

   


16.   The Angel's Game-Carlos Zafron.   After I read The Shadow of the Wind\  I will try to do 
  a reading life review of these two books.   


I

Mel u.