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September 28
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New comment on Steven's review of
The Worst Journey in the World: Antarctic 1910-1913 (Explorers Club Classic)
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September 13
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Donna
is currently reading:
Lolita (Penguin Modern Classics)
by Vladimir Nabokov
bookshelves:
currently-reading
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my rating:
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Donna
marked as to-read:
Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books (Paperback)
by Azar Nafisi
bookshelves:
to-read
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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August 28
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Donna
gave
to:
People of the Book: A Novel (Hardcover)
by Geraldine Brooks
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in August, 2008
Donna said:
"I enjoyed learning about the craft of book conservators and the story of how the haggadah came to be written and preserved, esp. the chapters in Venice and the "White Hair" chapter.
The dancing back and forth between characters/time peri...more
I enjoyed learning about the craft of book conservators and the story of how the haggadah came to be written and preserved, esp. the chapters in Venice and the "White Hair" chapter.
The dancing back and forth between characters/time periods/places was both spellbinding and challenging. For most chapters other than the "Hanna" ones, we never heard from those characters again. That's not how most books work. It makes me wonder how the author felt about leaving those characters and not continuing to work with them.
The front cover is lovely and one I continued to go back and look at, esp. once I realized its significance.
Having read this book makes me want to see a very old handmade book like the haggadah. I wonder if the Harry Ransom Research Center here in Austin has anything similar. Think I'll go check.
...less
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New comment on Steven's review of
Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)
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August 12
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Donna
added Unaccustomed Earth
to the book list Best books of 2008
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Donna
read and liked
Steven's
review of Independent People:
"I ran across an excerpt from this novel in The Ends of the Earth and was quite taken, so ...more
I ran across an excerpt from this novel in The Ends of the Earth and was quite taken, so I thought I'd give it a chance. Very glad I did.
How to describe this book? Its subtitle describes it as "an epic," and it is indeed that. The story centers around Bjartur, the patriarch of a small sheep-farming family in early 20th century Iceland. Bjartur, whose primary goal in life is to remain independent of anyone else, follows this path to an extreme that brings unimaginable hardship to his family. He's not evil, but a very hard, very driven man. You might imagine what life with such a person could be like.
Although the book centers on a few main characters, principally Bjartur and his daughter, his sons and his mother-in-law are also portrayed uniquely -- each one responding to Bjartur and the farm on which they live in their own way.
I loved this book. It's multi-layeredness calls for multiple readings. Highly recommended.
Reader Beware: If you don't want to know what's going on before you dive into it, I recommend skipping the introduction to this edition. Spoiler city....less
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August 10
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New comment on Janelle's review of
Unaccustomed Earth
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August 08
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Donna
is currently reading:
Finding George Orwell in Burma (Paperback)
by Emma Larkin
bookshelves:
currently-reading
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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July 22
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Donna
gave
to:
Telex from Cuba: A Novel (Hardcover)
by Rachel Kushner (Goodreads author!)
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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Donna said:
"Immersed me in the Cuba of the 1950s and invited me to experience it from points of view as varied as children of American expats, the expats themselves, Castro supporters, servants and others.
Kushner recreates the time and places and people alon...more
Immersed me in the Cuba of the 1950s and invited me to experience it from points of view as varied as children of American expats, the expats themselves, Castro supporters, servants and others.
Kushner recreates the time and places and people along with the racism common in the Americas at the time and the classicism that's always existed in the Caribbean since Europeans arrived.
She filled in the spots of knowledge I had about 1950s Cuba though the NYTBR says she makes some factual errors.
I wanted to do nothing except read this book straight through! Boo hoo that I had to put it aside when my weekend on the sofa ended.
Look forward to Kushner's future fiction and tighter editing. And I'm eager to see how she will writes when she doesn't have a treasure trove of primary sources and interviews with people how lived in that time. i want her to trust her imagination. She certainly has writing talent and skill!
...less
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