Kurki15's Book Journal

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I did get a lot of reading done at all last week. My back was hurting just right that holding a book didn't feel good and I was taking muscle relaxers that wipe me out cold so I didn't have any reading time before bed which is when I get most of my reading done.

But, I got quite a bit of reading done this weekend. I'm closing in on the end of the Haruf books, Where Once You Belonged and I'm enjoying it. I'm not finding this one as heartwarming and compelling as his more recent two novels. This one is much more like his first one. It is once again set in Holt, CO and he definitely has down the dynamics of small town living. I think this one is probably written as well as the two more recent novels and is better than his first one, but it is a book primarily about a guy that you just want to hate like the rest of the town does. So, that doesn't make for a heartwarming story.

I also got about 100 pages or so read in Maggie Righetti's Sweater Design in Plain English. This book is AWESOME if you wish to design your own knitwear. I haven't actually sat down and read many other books on the subject, though I have several checked out and have skimmed them. But, this one seems to cover a lot more info that isn't really covered in the other ones (at least from a surface scan). She even covers class of stitch patterns and the characteristics of the resulting fabric - ie. seed stitch and moss stitch tend to grow in width, 1X1 rib is generally more elastic than other rib combinations etc. She also goes into body types and special measurements that are needed for those types to ensure a good fit. I've heard that info is exclusive to this book and I can see it being very helpful. I'm soo excited to start my own design project. But, I want to read the majority of this book before I dive it too far so I know what parts I want to refer back to when I am actually doing the designing.

Uggghhh, I'm am reading soooo slowly this year :-(

One Saturday I finished Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.

I didn't remember a whole lot of the book and it was an interesting story. Somewhat enjoyable, though it isn't all sunshine and flowers (which is fine, just know it has some rough stuff). It is a bit of slow read too, as it is all done in dialect. For me, that meant a slowere read because I had to pronounce a lot of the words in my head to fiure out what they were, LOL!

I'm excited to watch the movie. In fact, I think I might watch it this afternoon while knitting. I think DH would appreciate those 2 hours freed from the TiVo :-)

I'm now 1/3 of the way through the slim Haruf volume, Where Once You Belonged. It's relatively short at only 176 pages, but it has been a good read so far.

Weee, finally, a book that took less than a week to read!

I finished The Tie That Binds by Kent Haruf last night before bed. It was a good read. Not as good as the other two I had read before, but this is a 20 year old novel and his first one at that.

The book opens with an old woman in a hospital with a guard stations outside her door. Then a man tells the woman's life story, as he knows it, to a reporter who came out from Denver to snoop around Hold, Colorado to crack a murder case. You know this woman is somehow connected to this murder, but you don't know anything about the murder - who it was, how it was done etc. until the very end. Probably in the last 50 pages or so.

It was a good read and a touching life story, though we do never find out if the old woman gets better and whether she is put to trial for the murder.

What is it with me and books that don't tie up the ends lately? Hopefully Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston has an ending. I can't remember because it's been at least 15 years since I read it. But, I picked up a copy last night so I could read it before watching the movie version that was on TV last night. So, that is what is up next. I haven't started it yet though, but I will tonight for sure.

I was very happy there were a few copies on the shelves that did not have the big huge sticker on it advertising the movie. I think I'm a bit of a book snob. I don't like to have those things plastered on my books, because 9/10 the book had been on my list of books to read loooong before it was a movie. I don't know if I figure someone will go through my books when I die and make snide comments of how all my books were movies, or were endorsed by Oprah's book club or that, but I really detest those things on my books.

Well, The Little Friend by Donna Tart kicked my butt. It was the only book I got read in the ENTIRE MONTH of February. And, I actually didn't finish it until Wednesday, so that was March 2nd - yikes!

I had a couple people recommend this book to me so I nominated it for the library book club. I'm wishing I hadn't I think. Though I suppose it could cause some good discussion.

This book did not impress me. The synopsis sounded *very* good and right up my alley. However, the execution was mediocre at best I think. There was way tooo much detail that did nothing for the story. Well, I suppose it might have helped the character development some, but it didn't advance the plot at all so it was really boring and work to get through the middle 300 or so pages. I also did not like the ending at all either. Nothing was really tied up at all, it was left to the reader to decide what the ultimate outcome for everyone was. A book doesn't have to tie everything up, but for 624 pp, you'd think a couple pages could be spared to give some sort of an ending, even if not everything was tied up.

I suspect part of my dislike for this book as that fact that I didn't *like* any of the characters - the mom was a self-centered adolescent who should have never had children, the older daughter was definitely following in her mother's footsteps, the main character was annoying and at times completely stupid, her side-kick was more or less the same, the grandmother was way too stern and nosey about things that didn't concern her and not nosey enough about things that should have concerned her. I could go on and on... It's hard to connect with a story when you don't like any of the characters.

All I can say is that I am *very* glad I am finally done with this book and can move onto more interesting books.

I'm about 50 pages into Kent Haruf's first novel, The Tie That Binds. It is set in Holt, CO as the other two novels of his I have read (Plainsong & Eventide), though it is set around 20 years earlier and has different characters. So far, I'm thinking it isn't quite as good as the other two, but it is his first novel. And, I am only 50 pages in.

I'm also reading books on knitwear design that I got through ILL. One I am for sure going to have to buy - Sweater Design in Plain English by Maggie Righetti. I'm kind of reading a little from here and little from there so it'll be a while before I get to right reviews on any of the them, but I'll get there.

( Read more... )

The funny thing is that I think nearly all of these were assigned in class (aside from Little House) and of those, most were part of my jr/sr high school cirriculum, only a couple were part of my college classes.

The conversation concerning The Color of Water was interesting. Most enjoyed the book and have or would recommend it to others. Two were neutral about it, feeling that the first 3/4 of it were really detached and too subjective for a memoir. Everyone found the format of alternating chapters in his voice and his mother's voice interesting and effective. One person found McBride's conversational story telling that jumped around chronologically confusing, while another person felt it illustrated his jazz background.

We did a lot of speculating about his mother - how she raised such successful kids when she didn't have role models who stressed the importance of education to her, how she came across as sort of naive and not a great mother, yet it seems she did a good job, but we never see how she did that good job.

We all agreed that this would be a more effective book club selection if the book club was not so WASP-y :-) We had no one to speak up about the racial or religious issues raised by the book who had experienced anything like it.

I've been making virtually NO progress on Then Came Heaven. I'm stuck on track 4 of CD2. I think because I'm so exhausted when I go to bed and then aI try squeeze out some regular reading before actually turning out the light and them I'm out once I put it down.

That said, The Little Friend is going quite slow as well. I soared throught he first third in under a week and though, great, this won't throw off my goal of 4 books per month. But it seems I'm wrong. I think part of my problem is the length of the chapters. Normally I like to stop reading at the end of a chapter. But, now I don't have that goal to get to the end of the chapter. Then there is the tired thing too. I had planned to read last night, but I got two pages read while DH finished getting ready for bed, then we talked a little and I fell right to sleep.

I know there are a few of you who have read it. My mom has had the same trouble getting through the book. Did you have that trouble? Then, my other question, what year is this taking place? Did I just miss it? The only clue I had picked up on was that Hely's comic cost 30 cents, so DH and I suspected early 60's? How far off are we? Then I came across a reference to Harriet's mom being a 1950's babe or something like that. So I suspect I'm kind of on target. I suppose it doesn't really matter, but it's overshadowing my experience of the book. I'm totally trying to find more clues to tell me the time period.

I'm some where between 1/3 and 1/2 way through the book now. I think once I post my final lesson tonight I'll be doing a bit more knitting and reading. If nothing else, I have reading to do in prep for two possible new classes, but I hope to have The Little Friend done soon, as DH ordered me my own copy of the Swedish Folktale book and the last Carol Goodman book I didn't have and the Kent Haruf books I haven't read that are in trade paperback. So, I'm excited to get to read those and then there are the Jane Green books I got from mom and dad too! Ah, so much to read and so little time! :-)

Creative Correspondance by Michael Jacobs (2/4)

I checked this one out from the library and I think I'm ultimately glad I did that rather than buy it. It's a good book, but if you've even dipped your toe into the rubberstamping arena you've probably seen most of it. There is a lot of rubberstamping, card creation, and collage. It is somewhat inspiring and there were some interesting folds in there. But I don't think it would be one I'd refer to very often. But, it is worth taking a look at if you can get it through your library.

Vintage Paper Crafts by Anna Corba (2/5)

This book was said to be the "how-to" partner to Nick Bantock's Urgent 2nd Class. I don't know how they made that connection really. Yes, Urgent 2nd Class did not have any step-by-step projects really, but the work of Corba is not anything like Bantock really. That said, this is a good starting point for anyone new to vintage arting. But, the title containing the word craft is probably pretty appropriate as most of the projects involved little creativity beyond choosing the images. There wasn't much in the way of making collage or needing knowledge of composition or that. The projects were like putting initials on milk glass jars, making a book from brown lunch sacks and clothespins, pasting postcard images to old jars etc. The one unusual bit about it was that she used nearly all vintage things, including the base for her craft, from the old jars to old weather vanes etc. It is very pretty to look at, though contains nothing particularly earth shattering in the way of techniques and her work is nothing like Bantocks so it really isn't a companion to Urgent 2nd Class as has been quoted in places. Again, I'd say it is worth a test drive from your library if available before making a decision on purchasing it.

Texture Effects for Rubberstamping by Nancy Curry

Yet another one I checked out from the library! All Hail Your Local Library (and ILL)!

Anyway, I don't rubberstamp that much these days so I didn't really want to rush out and purchase this book. But, I have been in some collaborations with Nancy and really want to see her book. If I were still rubberstamping regularly (and with something other than my alphabets) I would definitely want to own this book. Her techniques are good and pretty fresh. The directions are clear and backed up with many photographs of the steps. Each technique is applied in a couple different ways (drastically different color schemes, or on different surfaces etc.) which is great for those who don't often think out of the box on their own. It's definitely a technique-based book, with little other content besides demonstrations of techniques. So, if you're not a technique-based book person this book is probably not for you. But, ultimately it is a good book on a subject in rubberstamping that is often overlooked.

Just a quick reminder that the numbers are fiction/total.

The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride is a great book. I suspect I'm probably several years behind the crowd in reading it. This book is a relatively slim volume memoir about a man who was born to a black man and a white, Jewish mother who was not very forthcoming with her 12 children's background when they were growing up.

So, it's a bit of a story about dealing with identity issues as an adolescent (and in the case of his mother through out her entire life they were a real struggle) and also growing up as a bi-racial child during the height of the civil rights movement. It is a very interesting story told in a very interesting manner.

The chapters alternate being Jame's story or his mother's story through his eyes and the story being told by his mother. That means there is some time jumping, but all chapters "by" his mother are italicized so it is easy to make that jump.

I think part of what I liked best was the easy conversational styling of James' sections. He'll jump time in his narrative, but it happens easily and still feels fluid. So often when there are large movements in time it can be hard to follow, but I didn't find this to be the case in this book.

I'm very excited to see what the bookclub concensus is later in February. So, I will be posting more about this then, after the bookclub gathering so I'll sign off on this one for the time being.

But, in short, I highly recommend it.