Joanna’s Comments (group member since Dec 27, 2013)

Joanna’s comments from the CPL's Book a Week Challenge group.

What is everyone reading this week? I finally finished The Monuments Men. Woo hoo! I don't know why it took me so long, because it was a really good book. I highly recommend it. Now I am reading Welcome to Subirdia, What These Girls Knew for my Dewey Decimal challenge book, and starting into Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Don't forget to also go vote in our March Poll!

Happy reading!

Thank you both.

Ann wrote: "...from the Hobbit, it is Thorin's death that affected me, as did Boromir and Théoden's in the Lord of the Rings.

Théoden's death definitely affects the emotions. I think part of what gets me there are the other characters' reactions to his death such as Gandalf's regret that if Denethor hadn't gone crazy, he might have saved Théoden and Eomer's "Death, death" (which I know is mainly due to him discovering Eowyn but his emotions were already running high since he also just found his uncle's body). I will admit, minus Thorin's parting words, his death didn't affect me too much until I watched the movies. Now I cry every time I read it in the book.

It's good when an author makes the deaths in their books count, instead of just trying to rack up a body count. I think I'll have to check out Anne Perry's books.

Note- Due to the nature of the following discussion, there may be spoilers

I went to my grandfather's funeral over the weekend. It was a time of sadness, but also happiness in remembering the man my grandfather was. It also got me thinking- we are obviously deeply affected by the passing of loved ones. But we also can feel deep emotions over the deaths of fictional characters. So our discussion for the week is this:

Which characters' deaths haunt you the most?

I have four that stick with me. Thomas from Ink and Bone. He was such an innocent and he just wanted to change the world, but the powers that be wanted him silenced. He was a martyr and his death's affect on the other characters is what will drive the rest of the books, I believe.

The other three deaths all come from Tolkien's The Silmarillion. Turin Turambar and Nienor from The Children of Hurin- every time I read the story, I scream at them to make better choices. This despite the fact that I know that they cannot due to the fate weaved about them from Morgoth (Sauron's bigger, badder boss).

The final death is Mirel, the last Queen of Numenor (Tolkien's answer to Atlantis). She could have saved her world if her cousin had not been so evil and forced her to marry him. It's a tragedy (one I know has been perpetrated in real history). Her death as the island drowns makes me cry.:

"And last of all the mounting wave, green and cold and plumed with foam, climbing over the land, took to its bosom Miriel the Queen, fairer than silver or ivory or pearls. Too late she strove to ascend the steep ways of the Meneltarma to the holy place; for the waters overtook her, and her cry was lost in the roaring of the wind."

So which characters do you cry for?

Happy Pi Day, everyone! It is 3-14 and if you remember from math class, pi is 3.14. So go out there and enjoy a piece of pie to celebrate this important math number!

What is everyone reading this week? I caught a Harry Potter marathon on television last weekend and now I am suddenly in the mood to reread all the books. I binged my way through Sorcerer's Stone Friday night/Saturday morning. Chamber of Secrets is next. I'm also reading Planet of the Bugs, a fascinating look at the evolution of insects, and Following Gandalf, a commentary book on themes running through Tolkien's works.

Who is the most iconic couple in literature? According to our February poll, it's a tie! We had two votes for Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy and two votes for Princess Buttercup and Westley.

So who is it? And why do you think that couple over all the others? My vote was for Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. They seem to me to best embody both the pitfalls and pleasures of relationships.

What do you all think?

Don't forget to vote in March's poll- the best place to read a book!

Ingrid wrote: "Have you ever read a book and then felt like you had already read this book? Since this was also a television show, I can't figure out if it's familiar because I watch the show or if I actually have read this book before."

I understand what you mean. I sometimes feel that some authors repeat the same plot over and over which leads to all their books feeling the same. So even if I've never read the particular book, I feel like I've read it because its so similar to others. Since what you are reading is also a television show, it makes sense that it feels so familiar. I'm sure they pulled out a lot of the book plot for the show.

That is so exciting that your neighbor is doing a free little library! It is such a great idea.

Amantes de los libros de bienvenida! Welcome, book lovers, to our March genre challenge! This month, we are going to go exploring outside the United States. The challenge offers two options: read a Japanese manga or read a book that was not originally published in English. Need some suggestions? Keep on reading!

Get ready for CPL's Shobou Con by reading manga! Manga is a style of Japanese comic book or graphic novel. There are hundreds of different ones out there. Here’s just a few titles recommended by our manga expert, Melissa!

Death Note
Fullmetal Alchemist
Fruits Basket
Mars
Ranma 1/2
Alice 19th
Read or Die
Read or Dream
Bleach
Naruto
Sailor Moon
One Piece
Case Closed

The United States is not the only country in the world producing books. Some of our most beloved classics were originally written in another language before being translated into English. Below you’ll find a list of authors who write in their native tongue but then get translated for us!

Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Alexandre Dumas
Leo Tolstoy
Jorge Luis Borges
Paulo Coelho
Stieg Larsson
Haruki Murakami
Victor Hugo
Jules Verne
Isabel Allende
Jo Nesbo
Thomas Bernhard
Cornelia Funke
Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Lars Kepler
Camilla Lackberg

ハッピー読書
(Happy Reading!)

What do Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, and all the other world religions have in common? They are the subject of our next main Dewey class! The 200s (200 to 299) is the Religion section. Here you can find books about and from all kinds of religions, both western and eastern.

This is also the time to address one of the major downfalls of the Dewey Decimal system. Because it was created in the 1800s, it has an over focus on the West- history, religion, culture, etc. You will notice that the bulk of the 200s is about Christianity- it takes up sections 220 to 289. All other religions are regulated to sections 290 to 299. Is it fair? Absolutely not. This is one of the issues that the Library of Congress system tries to address. Dewey's unbalanced focus has also led some librarians to wonder if it's time to create a whole new system of ordering. Until that day, though, we have to work with what we have and ensure that our collections remain as balanced as possible.

Now that our little history lesson is over, take a look at some of these interesting subsections:

* 205- Religious Ethics
* 211- Concepts of God
* 215- Science and Religion
* 218- Humankind
* 220- The Bible
* 234- Salvation and Grace
* 248- Christian experience, practice & life
* 270- History of Christianity & Christian church
* 280- Christian denominations & sects
* 292- Greek and Roman Religion
* 293- Germanic Religion
* 294- Religions of Indic origin
* 294.3- Buddhism
* 296- Judaism
* 297- Islam
* 299- Religions not provided for elsewhere

Once every four years, February gets an extra day. Today is February 29th- our Leap Day. We will not be getting another extra day until 2020. So my question is, what will you do with your extra day? Will you read? Work? Spend time with family? Friends? Take a moment to appreciate this little bit of extra at the end of February. It'll be four years until we see it again.

As always, what are you reading this week? I am determined to finish Monuments Men and I am also working on A Frozen Heart.

Nathan wrote: "Starting late on the Dewey challenge this month, but reading Supervillains and Philosophy. It's fun so far."

Oh! That sounds like a book right up my alley! Let me know how it is. :)

Jennifer wrote: "I didn't get to the book I had planned to read for this challenge - :( it's okay though - maybe next time!"

There is always next time! And don't feel too bad... I had to give up my book for the Dewey challenge because I ran out of time.

Everyone has such great choices for this month. I found a pop culture philosophy book to read, but sadly, I won't be getting to it this month. I just ran out of time! I'm going to save it and hopefully read it next month.

What is everyone reading this week? I'm still working my way through Monuments Men and Star Wars Battlefront: Twilight Company. One day, I will finish those two books. Have you ever had a book like that? One where you enjoy it, but it just takes you forever to read it?

Justine wrote: "I just watched a new Hallmark movie based on the book - I didn't realize it was a book first! I'll have to read it and compare. I still can't decide for sure whether I'll read Pride Prejudice and Zombies."

I also watched the Hallmark movie, which is what set me on the path to finding the book. Lol. I will admit that I found the book much better, though definitely not as clean as the movie (it's Hallmark, after all).

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is definitely a fun romp. I was impressed by the way Grahame-Smith was able to almost seamlessly weave in zombies with Austen's original text. Being a fan of both Austen and zombies, I enjoyed the book.

Did everyone survive our Arctic weekend? I was surprised by the number of people out and about, despite the chilly temperatures. Personally, cold weather makes me want to cuddle up under a blanket with a good book. How about everyone else? Did you manage to get some good reading time in this weekend?

What is everyone reading? I managed to finish A Thousand Nights and Unleashing Mr. Darcy this weekend, but I'm still working on Monuments Men and Star Wars Battlefront: Twilight Company.

As a reminder, Valentine's Day may be over, but there is still time to go vote for Most Iconic Literary Couple in our February poll!

Everyone has such great selections for this month! I finally found a book for me. I'm a sucker for Pride and Prejudice remakes and I found one called Unleashing Mr. Darcy. It's a modern retelling and looks cute. Hopefully it'll be as good as it sounds.

Ingrid wrote: "Am I able to count this again when I read the book last year?

It is totally up to you! Some people count any book they read and some people count only "new" books (i.e. ones they have never read). Your choice. Either is fine. :)

I completely understand keeping your load light for traveling. If you take your Kindle, be sure to check out all of the library's downloadable options! We have everything from e-books to e-audiobooks to movies on Hoopla.

Whitney wrote: "I was finally able to log onto the 52 book challenge on the library website. Logged a few books that I have read so far. Excited to start that challenge.... although I am a little behind. January w..."

Welcome, Whitney!! We are so happy you can join us for this challenge! And don't worry about being a bit behind. It happens to all of us. :)

Whitney wrote: "I am reading How To Be Single - Liz Tuccillo. I have been wanting to read it for a while but now I am excited to read it because it will be a movie (released next week). I'm not sure how the movie ..."

I tend to agree with you- the book is always better than the movie (though I do have one or two exceptions). You'll have to let us know how the movie compares to the book in this case. I'm especially interested to know if the book was as comedic as the movie trailer looks, and I assume the movie will be.

I've actually never read Me Before You so I can't offer an opinion about its movie. I'm sure, like all adaptations, they will get some things right and some things wrong. Hopefully it will still do justice to the written word.

Yesterday was the Super Bowl. Did anyone watch? I like football but I generally use it as an opportunity to sit and read. Speaking of reading, what is everyone reading this week? I am still working on my genre challenge book from last month (The Monuments Men) as well as Star Wars Battlefront: Twilight Company and Demon Fish.

Happy reading, everyone! And be sure to check out our three February challenges!