Month: May 2012

Sunday Salon

Another busy week, and only today to read. I’m reading Derek Hayes’s The Malaadjusted today.

Since I am learning a lot about social media these days. I have been thinking about the social networks for book bloggers as well.

First of all, I’ve been thinking about switching my commenting system. I use the WP one now and I like it, but sometimes I think maybe it would be better to switch over to Disqus (which I have an account for and like fine) or Livefyre which is new to me, but attuned to other people’s social networks. What do you think? Have you used these on your blog and do you like the format of them? Do you think they allow easier engagement on blogs?

Secondly, there are the book social network sites. Since I am online so much, I have had accounts on sites such as AllConsuming.net, Shelfari, LibraryThing, BookCrossing and GoodReads. I joined most of these in their earlier years, but I have not kept up with most of them. Do you still use any of these sites? Which do you like the most?

I have found that GoodReads now leads the pack as a book sharing site and have decided to revive my Good Reads account. I even imported a list from AllConsuming, but it created over 100 duplicates. Deleting the duplicates on GoodReads is a pain. I have left it as it is easy for now and with many of my books unread. I doubt I will add reviews either since I do most my book reviewing here. To be honest, I’m a bit too lazy to keep up with these kind of sites but do like to lurk on them once in awhile.

If you are curious, this is my GoodReads account:

Have a good week, everyone!

On BTT this week, Heidi asks:

Do you consider yourself an extrovert or an introvert?

I am an introvert, big time. Not to say I am antisocial or that I don’t like hanging with people, but I am used to being on my own at times. Sometimes, I need to be on my own to read, watch a movie or just destress. Sometimes I find it a bit tiring to be in big groups. Reading and introverts go well together I’ve found.

Walking People

When I read the back book summary of this book, I expected something a little different than what I got. Sure, I knew it would on the literary side. That there would be discussion of families, immigration, destiny by geography and some family secret. The back cover made it seem like there would be some aftermath to when the secret was revealed. Book cover summaries are usually not the best, but I had not heard about this book at all. It was slow to get into, and I don’t think I really got into it until halfway through the book. I didn’t find anything shocking, but I went back on forth on how I felt about Greta. Ultimately, I found most of the characters realistic. I really liked Michael and wanted to hear more about him and his point of view. Overall, I found some nice moments in this book. It was not the most exciting book, but now that I am reviewing it, I do think it was well written. I think it would interest people of Irish American background, but also those like me to have experienced immigration in their families.

Read May 6-7th, 2012.

The Hunger Games (03 04 2012) – In theatres, see post here.

MuppetsThe Muppets (09 04 2012) – I use to watch “The Muppet Show” as a kid and have seen a couple of the Muppet movies (love a Muppets Christmas Carol) so it was a given to watch this. Additionally, I like Jason Segal’s work in both HIMYM and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. This movie had its moments; I usually like Kermit et al., but of the human cast, one highlight was Chris Cooper. I like him in almost everything. It was light and good to see the muppets again.

CCThe Castle of Cagliostro (13, 15 04 2012) – The original Japanese version with English subtitles. I saw this partially on a road trip. I got it from the library because it was directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Actually, this was his feature film directorial debut. Made in 1979, this film does not boast the best animation, but it’s light hearted, fun and has Miyazaki’s touch of story telling tinged with nostalgia, romance and history.

Sunday Salon

Today is the first free day I have for reading since last Sunday. I have been taking a Social Media Certificate course at the local college so I am going to school again. It’s taken my time to homework, go to class, and transition from my previous sloth existence.

I have a lot of books from the library to read including a big stack of Georgette Heyer. Not for today though since Walking People by Mary Beth Keane is priority and due Tuesday.

My goal this year was to blog and read more again. I think I’ve done well, but in the last few weeks, I’ve watched less shows, movies, and knit much less than I would have before. That’s the problem with hobbies. I always find there isn’t enough time of day to do all the things that I want.

Do you balance reading with other hobbies and interests? Does reading usually win out?

BTT this week:

Do you have siblings? Do they like to read?

This week is easy. The answer is no; I’m an only child. It’s probably helped my reading. I can spend hours at a time reading and not needing to interact with people. Hmm, I am a bit of a loner that way.

Tides of War

I picked up this novel because I had enjoyed Stella Tillyard’s nonfiction, historical book Aristocrats. She wrote that history book as if it were a novel and I was engaged. As a trained historian, Tillyard’s research would not be in doubt for a book about the Napoleonic wars. Also coming off the Heyer’s A Civil Contract, these two books are set in the exact same time period and even share a few similarities in references to the setting.

While I was satisfied for the ending, I struggled to really enjoy a lot of this book. Do you ever get the sense that some books would be better read at another time in your life or another mood? There was something about this book that I wasn’t in the mood for at the beginning. Maybe i should have put it off longer. The more I read it, the more I realized that this is was not one of the better reads of recent times. Or maybe it was just a bad idea to read a historical novel about war. War and Peace showed me that I tend to glaze over the war parts of the novels. This one had its ugly, dark war moments too. That wouldn’t have been so bad if I had felt more for some of these characters.

There are a lot of characters, both real and fictional. I found it hard to feel or care for most of them until the very end. I couldn’t get a ‘hold’ on them. There were too many and there was
not enough time spent on them to really get a grips on their characterization, motivations and personalities until the very last pages. Some of them I didn’t even give a hoot about. I even became really annoyed with a couple of the characters, as it happens sometimes when indifference languishes on for most of a book. For example, the cast is mostly male and a lot of them are unfaithful jerks (historically accurate I guess?), and those that weren’t didn’t get enough focus in my opinion. I found myself glazing over certain narratives because of my lack of engagement with the characters.

With books and tv/movies, I don’t have to like the characters, but I have to find them interesting and engaging. I want to know more about them. It just seemed with this book, less would have been more in the number of characters. It would have been more pathos and events would have carried more impact if there were fewer of them.

All that said, I learned a couple of things from the history aspects of the novel so that is always good as I love the subject. Secondly, I did care about the endings to the females in the book so it was satisfying even though it was a bit depressing at times that I wondered how the book would end on a hopeful note. Thankfully, it did.

Read April 29th 2012.