What are you reading? 2015 Edition

[Jenni]

I need to sit down and properly get into Irish myth... so many things have piqued my interest.

(I still exist, I still read books, I just have to sit and update Goodreads again, like usual... hah)

[M F]

There's plenty of it! Something like Gantz's translation of "Early Irish Myths and Sagas" is a good place to start, and "The Tain" (Kinsella or Carson's translation, I like both). :) I also like Rolleston's "Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race", but it's pretty old and it's retellings rather than translations. Still. It's one of my favourites.

[Hannah]

Read my first Ronie Kendig, "Nightshade", yesterday. Great story. Now I'm reading Karen Witemeyer's "Love on the Mend".

[Elisabeth]

Finished Aspects of the Novel yesterday, and was quite sorry to see it end. I think I'm going to have to invest in a copy of my own that I can mark up (can't do that with library books).

[M F]

I'm reading V for Vendetta. It wasn't intended to be weirdly appropriate for election night, but whatever.

(It's quarter to two and the live election coverage is soooo boring but I am trying to learn things about politics so I'm awake, I'm awake, I'm staying awake...)

[Susanna]

I am reading "A Concise History Of Wales" to prepare for my first year of college classes and My Sister's Keeper just for fun.

[Elisabeth]

I finally got up my full review of Pendragon's Heir by Suzannah Rowntree, one of my favorite reads of 2014, after a re-read. Highly recommended!

[Jonathan]

I just finished rereading The Gathering Storm, the third-to-last volume of the Wheel of Time series. (We'd had it on loan from a friend soon after it came out; my mom found a copy at the grocery store for a very cheap price a couple of weeks ago, which is what prompted this reread.) I think it's my favorite of the three volumes finished after Jordan's death, and it might be my favorite in the whole series, but I read the earlier volumes so long ago I don't remember them very well.

Before that I reread Many Dimensions, which our local Mythopoeic Society book discussion group will be discussing next week.

[M F]

I hit my 2015 reading challenge target! Woot!

It's partly because whenever I'm depressed I tend to read extensively, partly because I had a bunch of books to read in their entirety for my course so I added those, and partly because I read shorter things than in previous years, but I'm rather pleased with myself for having read 75 books by the time May comes around...

I'm thinking of reading Atlanta Burns next, as I've got it on my Kindle, but I'm running late with an essay, so that might not be for a little while.

[Katie]

I'm working through the Magigonion series by Evangline Walton and absolutely loving it. It's breathtaking mythology, it's a whole new world for me (Wales!) and it's reminding me why I fell in love with mythology in the first place.

[[deleted user]]

If you want to see most adorable penguins, you need to be reading A Penguin Story by Anyoinette Portis. You're welcome. ;)

[M F]

Katie -- WOO WALES. I love Welsh myths because they just make absolutely no sense. As a kid my main introduction to the stories was through Alan Garner -- 'The Owl Service' scared the life out of me, but I still ended up naming my harp Blodeuwedd because of the owl carved on it, heh.

[Katie]

Miriam wrote: "Katie -- WOO WALES. I love Welsh myths because they just make absolutely no sense. As a kid my main introduction to the stories was through Alan Garner -- 'The Owl Service' scared the life out of m..."

I didn't realize you played harp! Is there anything you DON'T do? You know I play harp as well?

[M F]

I am terrible at the harp -- I'm a total beginner. Even more than a year after I started, I'm still at the vaguely plucking out notes, because my shoulder and wrist problems get in the way of practising, ha ha.

I don't play any brass instruments? That's something I don't do. (My main instruments were/have been violin, flute and piccolo; now I mostly play tin whistle and harp.)

Does your harp have a name?

(This is my baby:
http://miriamjoyblogs.tumblr.com/post... -- arty harp
http://miriamjoyblogs.tumblr.com/post... -- bonus picture of me looking very excited because this was when I first got her
http://miriamjoyblogs.tumblr.com/post... -- christmassy harp!
http://miriamjoyblogs.tumblr.com/post... -- that broken string feel)

[Katie]

My harp does not have a name. I've never been much for naming things, even when I want to. I love your harp. It's so pretty, and such a nice size. Mine is 36 strings, and I keep trying to save for a lap harp and then more important things get in the way. Like having a reliable car. * sigh *

Hey, while I'm thinking of it, do you have any hints on how to pronounce vowel-less Welsh names?

[Jonathan]

Katie wrote: "do you have any hints on how to pronounce vowel-less Welsh names? "

There are two items about Welsh pronunciation (of which I am otherwise ignorant) that I've picked up, the former from a pronunciation guide in either The Chronicles of Prydain or (more likely) The Fates Of The Princes Of Dyfed, and the latter from my parents' eclectic knowledge whenever a Welsh-tune-name hymn comes up in our family devotions: 'w' is a vowel, pronounced something like 'u', and 'Ll' is a 'tch' (like Greek 'chi', German 'ch', etc.) sound.

[M F]

I'm afraid most Welsh names baffle me, so I mostly just listen to other people saying them. I know that 'dd' is 'th', if that's of any help.

[M F]

I am reading all of the books right now because exams. Not fun books though, hard books. Like "Ireland Before The Normans" which I read earlier which was actually a real struggle to get through and required a lot of caffeine so that I stayed awake. Also I reread the Táin. Tomorrow I have a nice fat book on Scotland from the eighth until the eleventh century to slog through... which I should probably have started doing a bit sooner! I also need to reread both the Eddas and go over some of the Irish sagas too. Blahhh. Exam season is rough.

[Katie]

You're studying the most awesome, obscure stuff though. I love that kind of stuff. I signed up for European history because I thought it might be stuff similar to that, but it ended up being about Western Civilization instead.

[M F]

This is the first time I've studied this -- at school all history was 20th century, pretty much. I had to opt for a super weird course to get this stuff.

[Alisha]

I have read some good wholesome books lately:

Will Our Generation Speak
Growing Up Duggar
Revolution In World Missions
Do Hard Things
Start Here

[Faith]

I forgot to put this in here last week. Make sure you check out this month's Sprint! There's a chance to win a prize every week as well as at the end of the month: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[M F]

in theory i'm currently packing to go home for the summer which basically means finding the library books i haven't yet read and reading them so that i can return them before leaving the city.

currently: rosemary sutcliff, the hound of ulster.

because irish lit ate my life.

[[deleted user]]

Finished Les Miserables. The end almost made me cry, which never happens. It was a good journey

[M F]

I just read my 100th book of 2015 (The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J Maas)! I'm working in a library at the moment, so I have lots of books to choose from.

[Joe]

Just finished reading "The man in the iron mask" and then an abridged version of "The three musketeers"
Plus i watched the two Douglas Fairbanks films based on those two books.
So i think its safe to say I've had enough musketeers to stave me up for a while.

[Katie]

I'm reading Discworld, finally, and absolutely loving it. I just finished "Sourcery" which was really surprising at the end. I really love Rincewind.

[Hannah]

Just read Klassen's new "Lady Maybe" and the four-author novella collection "Among the Fair Magnolias"...

I made a huge find at Half Price books last week... after looking for a copy for all of nine years, I am finally the proud owner of "Monte Cristo and his Wife", Dumas's sequel to "Count of Monte Cristo." And it only cost me $7.50!!

[Katie]

I had no idea there was a sequel. O.O

[Hannah]

There are actually six or eight Monte Cristo novels, which I discovered by seeing the ad in the back of an 1870s/1880s era Eden Southworth book. I've been trying to find them ever since!

[M F]

YAY DISCWORLD

I have so many library books out at the moment. Picked up a really interesting looking one called 'Ink and Bone' this morning; it's about book smugglers or something? I don't know, I'm really intrigued though.

[Joe]

I love discworld, but i've been trying to hold back a bit since reading 27 of them in not to long a time span.

[Katie]

Yeah, there are so many you think you'll never run out but I can see how thinking that way means coming to the end far too quickly.

I'm getting them from the library, though, and many have waiting lists, so that's slowing down my progress considerably. :P

[Joe]

I read most here http://reads.lib.overdrive.com/C864A3...

Your library may not be tied to this but i was able to use it simply by putting my library and card in.

[Katie]

That where I'm getting them. Overdrive ebooks. Still a pretty long wait list on some of them, though.

[Joe]

Ha, ha, so it must be you who makes me have to wait for them sometimes!

[Katie]

Well, I just started, so probably not, but the principle remains. Also, we're in different states, so probably different library systems.

[Joe]

Well that's a relief :)

[Hannah]

Seems pretty quiet around here...
Well, I've been reading so much it's not easy to keep this updated...going to make it to 200 this year!
Is anyone else doing NaNo? If so, I'd love to have plenty of buddies:
http://nanowrimo.org/participants/hgr...

[Katie]

I reached my goal of 130 books and flew on past it, which is awesome. I've been doing tons of reading for my Nano novel and am quickly becoming an expert on Norse mythology, hehe. This is my account if anyone wants to buddy up! http://nanowrimo.org/participants/jan...