Ariel's Window Seat

[Ariel]

I finished out the June Challenge: Midsummer Festivals (spell out Ferragosto) tonight with The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. My review is largely personal and sentimental but it was a wonderful read and these things happen (lol). I think it's largely going on my favorite shelf because of the invoked sentimentality (review has specifics). All the same though, different books move you for different reasons, that's the beauty of reading really.

As for current challenges to finish by June 30th- I still have one book to read that contains a dog and I'll be done. Cutting it close but I'm very stoked with what I've read this month. So many good books that I might not have gotten to without the challenges.

[Ariel]

JUNE CHALLENGE: Midsummer Festivals; Spell out "Ferragosto" Summary

Completed on June 26, 2015.

I think my favorite books from this challenge would be:



Very moving works for very different reasons. Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea was an unexpected catharsis and is a new fave because of this. ( Review) Byatt's Little Black Book is intense and intriguing and she was also a new female author to me ( Review) while The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt ( Review) is also very intense in a much longer setting and equally intriguing. Tartt isn't as new to me but her style was very captivating and I was pleased that it was this group's Group Read for June or I might not have experienced it. Things Fall Apart was my first introduction to Achebe's work ( Review) and it was beautifully wrought. I found both the book and the inspiring quote by Yeats equally inspiring from a cultural and an intellectual standpoint. I'd recommend all of the above books wholeheartedly.

I also got to experience two of Kelly Link's books:



The stories in Origin are included in Get in Trouble. After reading the first I wanted more so I immediately picked up the latter. I'd say the stories are unique and very vacation friendly. I look forward to reading more of her books/collections. I don't think I'd put them all on par with Byatt's collection above but she has a good style and "Origin Story" was one of my favorites.



The above, Lalla Rookh and the Bloom Critical Essay collection on George Eliot's Middlemarch were a result of my recent read of Middlemarch which I absolutely adore. I think the Critical Essays were very well written and very helpful for studying the text. Moore's book is briefly mentioned in Middlemarch but I'd never come across it before and always love books that have me stumbling across something like that.

Perdido Street Station and The Kitchen House both had their merits. They weren't my favorites of the months but both brought their own unique experience. Perdido was my first encounter with Steampunk novels and was kind of hard to get into. But it's a huge work and very worth the read both for the genre and of itself.

[Ariel]

I just finished reading The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly and really enjoyed it (and the author's notes). Definitely recommend for any that have dealt with childhood grief, have a love of fairy tales both Disney-esque and older, or like alternate world books.

[Ariel]

            Duration: July 1 - September 30, 2015
            Total Read for Third Q Challenge [32 of 32]
            Completed Late: 10 of 10

Awesome challenge and desperately needed by yours truly lol. My library has been killing me with $5/a bag book sales this year and it seems like every available spot is covered in stacks of waiting books.

► I was getting through Sue Grafton's Alphabet Series at a decent pace but they've been on the back burner lately. The first part of my challenge will be to finish up what I have left on my shelves.

Completed: [7 of 7]

1. R is for Ricochet
2. S is for Silence
3. T is for Trespass
4. U Is for Undertow
5. V is for Vengeance
6. W is for Wasted
7. X

► The second part will be to read (at least) 15 books from my Listopia Challenge since I've been stockpiling them lol. I have about 25 to choose from so I'm not sure which they'll be as of yet.

Completed: [14 of 15]

1. The Hours by Michael Cunningham
2. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
3. Company of Liars by Karen Maitland
4. Hild by Nicola Griffith
5. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
6. White Teeth by Zadie Smith
7. The Magus by John Fowles
8. Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other Writings by Jorge Luis Borges
9. The Strange Files of Fremont Jones by Dianne Day
10. History of the Rain by Niall Williams
11. The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
12. All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews
13. The Joke by Milan Kundera
14. Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin
15. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind

► The third part will be 10 freebies from my shelves that either match up with other challenges or I just end up picking up. Making 32 total for the quarter.

Completed: [10 of 10]

1. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (from my kindle "shelf")
2. Cress by Marissa Meyer
3. Fairest by Marissa Meyer
4.Stardust by Neil Gaiman
5.Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
6. Beowulf by Unknown; translated by Seamus Heaney
7. We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo
8. Hollow City by Ransom Riggs
9. The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
10. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

[Ariel]

            Started book: 6/30/2015
            Finished book: 7/4/2015
            Rating: ; Review


Cool cover design by Robin Good/Robin Design:




Discussion Threads
► July 2015 Group Read > Water For Elephants: General Discussion Spoiler Free
► July 2015 Group Read > Water or Elephants: Chapters 1-6 (Contains Spoilers)
► July 2015 Group Read > Water For Elephants: Chapters 7-12 (Contains Spoilers)
► July 2015 Group Read > Water for Elephants: Chapters 13-18 (Contains Spoilers)
► July 2015 Group Read > Water for Elephants: Chapters 19-25 (Contains Spoilers)
► July 2015 Group Read > Water for Elephants: Reviews by 2015 Reading Challengers

[Ariel]

            Duration: July 1 - 31, 2015
            Total Read [8 of 8] - COMPLETED!


1. Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light: Read a book where someone loses their eyesight, or a book where characters meet at dawn.

►Cress by Marissa Meyer (view spoiler)[ Captain Thorne loses his eyesight. (hide spoiler)]

2. What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming? Read a book where a character learns how to find pride in themselves, or a book where the characters have reached the twilight of their lives.

► R is for Ricochet by Sue Grafton (a book where characters have reached the twilight of their lives). It's kind of interesting really (view spoiler)[you have characters like Henry and his family that are in their 80s and 90s and they're active and fun, full of life really. Then you have the father of one of the main characters who is ailing and struggling to hang in there for the sake of his daughter. So they're twilights feel vastly different and provide a unique juxtaposition in the story. (hide spoiler)]

3. Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight, Read a book where a character earns stripes in the military, or a book where a character gets in a nasty fight.

►Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (a book where a character gets in a nasty fight). Honestly, there's a lot of fighting in this book but the nastiest fight and the one I'm counting is the one between (view spoiler)[Jacob and August when August accuses Jacob and Marlena of having an affair. (hide spoiler)]

4. O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? Read a book with a fortress (rampart) or a book with someone doing something brave (gallant).

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly; (view spoiler)[counts for both having a rampart and someone doing something brave. (hide spoiler)]

5. And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Read a book with a character that rockets into space or a book that has a character that deals with bombs going off around him/her.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs;(view spoiler)[ read a book that has a character that deals with bombs going off around him/her. (hide spoiler)]

6. Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Read a book where a character has to prove something, or a book about early America.

► The Hours by Michael Cunningham (a book where a character has to prove something); (view spoiler)[ Cunningham's Virginia Woolf has to prove that she's well enough to go back to London after a period of eight years in the suburbs that was, supposedly, to cure her mental/emotional and physical ails. This does coincide with Woolf's actual circumstances and was very interesting to read. (hide spoiler)]

7. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave Read a book with the word star in the title, or read a book with the American flag on the the cover.

► Stardust by Neil Gaiman which obviously includes "star" in the title. However, I also learned that "stardust" refers to a mass/cluster of far off stars. Which was interesting bc I've never read it in that context before.

8. O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave? Read a book where a character migrates to the US, or a book about Native Americans.

We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo; read a book where a character migrates to the US.

[Ariel]

            Duration: July 1, 2015 - December 31, 2015
            Completed [5 of 15]

Premise: Every November, the Goodreads Choice Awards come around, and readers get to vote on the best books of the year. To encourage members to read the books that may be in the running this year, we thought it'd be fun to have a challenge AND a contest around this event.

I've read a couple 2015s already; I think I'll go with a goal of 15 to start with.


1. Fairest by Marissa Meyer - published January 27th 2015
2. Hollow City by Ransom Riggs - Published February 24th 2015
3. Devoted in Death by J.D. Robb - Published September 15th 2015
4. X by Sue Grafton - Published August 25th 2015
5. Down the Rabbit Hole by J.D. Robb Published September 29th 2015
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

Read Prior to July 1, 2015

1. The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
2. The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski
3. Obsession in Death by J.D. Robb
4. Get in Trouble by Kelly Link

I found a list of the top 200 books published in 2015 here. I figure that might help people know what to choose from if they aren't sure. :)

[Ariel]

Okay, so I might have gone a little overboard in reorganizing my corner. But my July Group Read Banner for Water for Elephants kinda makes me happy.

[Ariel]

Brianna wrote: "It's so cute! and fun! I approve lol "

Haha, thank you!

[JoJo]

Where do you get the cool pictures and text from? I love it.

[Ariel]

I do them up in photoshop, I do a lot of graphic designs for blogs and also use it to edit or add graphic components to my artwork. So doing banners and stuff has become fun for me (nerd, nerd, nerd lol) but it's also a way to practice or test out new fonts.

Thank you! :) Feel free to use any that you like. Once I put them on here GRs hosts them so you can just right click and save them.

[Ariel]

Updates to Third Quarter Challenge: Clear The Shelves [6 of 32], July Challenge: Star Spangled Banner [3 of 8], & 3rd & 4th Quarter Challenge: GR Choice Awards [1 of 15].

Still a long way to go in a short month (minus the Quarter Challenges). But I'm stoked about clearing the shelves and so many great books to read.

[JoJo]

Ariel (mot_avant) wrote: "I do them up in photoshop, I do a lot of graphic designs for blogs and also use it to edit or add graphic components to my artwork. So doing banners and stuff has become fun for me (nerd, nerd, ner..."

Thank you Ariel, when I have some time I might just pinch a few. They are very cool, and I think that is very clever that you can do them yourself!

[Ariel]

Joanne wrote: "Thank you Ariel, when I have some time I might just pinch a few. They are very cool, and I think that is very clever that you can do them yourself! "

Welcome and have at it :) if there's anything specific you'd like let me know- like I said, I can always use the practice!

[JoJo]

Ariel (mot_avant) wrote: "Joanne wrote: "Thank you Ariel, when I have some time I might just pinch a few. They are very cool, and I think that is very clever that you can do them yourself! "

Welcome and have at it :) if th..."

Thank you :)

I've saved some, like the 'currently reading' and 'To Be Read' pics, but I'm not sure how to put it on my page. Can you please help?

[Ariel]

Joanne wrote: "I've saved some, like the 'currently reading' and 'To Be Read' pics, but I'm not sure how to put it on my page. Can you please help?

Sure thing. What you want to do is use an image link and then right click on whichever pic you'd like to use and copy the pic url, then you paste the url link into the image link.

The link would be: {img src="PIC URL GOES HERE" } (replace brackets with <>)

So for the currently reading pic it would be:
{img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/phot..." } (replace brackets with <>)

And the To Be Read pic would be: {img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/phot..." } (replace brackets with <>)

You paste those links wherever you want them. Hopefully that helps but let me know if there's any issue.

It's not posting the whole link in the above examples so you'll need to click on them and copy the link from the page that opens up.

[JoJo]

Thank you heaps. I feel like I'm learning something new! :)

[JoJo]

[Ariel]

Joanne wrote: "Thank you heaps. I feel like I'm learning something new! :)"

No problem, glad to help! :)

[Ariel]

I read Stardust by Neil Gaiman and really liked it. It was pretty short but interesting. I used it in a couple of my challenges, the I Spy Challenge and the Star Spangled Banner challenge.

[Ariel]

I've finished The Hours by Michael Cunningham and U Is for Undertow by Sue Grafton and added them to my challenges.

I really liked The Hours, it reminded me of Plath's The Bell Jar actually. Especially when researching Woolf more afterwards. I haven't read Mrs. Dalloway as of yet but it on the TBR.

[Ariel]

I reached my 100th book of the year today, woo. (The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera)

I'm glad it was a book I think so highly of.

Also, since I'm doing two "Travelling the World in Books"/"International" Challenges this year, I've made a Google Map to track what I've read and what I want to read. You can view it here.

If you happen to make one for a similar challenge or goal, please comment and share the link! I'd love to check it out.

[Ariel]

I read Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children today and, though bits were awkward, I'm hoping to read the next book soon to give it a fair try out.

[Ariel]

Challenge Summary: July's Star Spangled Banner Challenge
Finished: July 22, 2015

Books Read:



Favorite Books:

I think my favorite book read for the challenge would be Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. It was a great group read for July and wonderful read. (review) I also really loved The Book of Lost Things, Cress, We Need New Names, and Stardust.

[Ariel]

Update to the Clear the Shelves Third Q Challenge:

I read Hollow City by Ransom Riggs and W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton. [16 of 32 books read]

[Ariel]

New favorite and five star book: Company of Liars by Karen Maitland! Thoroughly enjoyed this book.

[Ariel]

August Challenge: THE TRAVEL CHALLENGE
►Books Read: 8
►Total Miles Traveled: 80,603 miles of 80,000 **Challenge Completed**
► Google Map

Starting point: Birmingham, AL, USA
First Book: Hild by Nicola Griffith
► York, N. Yorkshire, UK (4211 miles)
Total Miles Traveled/Book: 4211 miles
Total Miles Traveled: 4211 miles

Second Book: The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
► York, N. Yorkshire, UK to Sahara Desert, Egypt, Africa (5213 miles)
Miles Traveled/Book: 5,213 miles
Total Miles Traveled: 9,424 miles
* Note: I wasn't sure about the setting on The Little Prince other than the mention of the Sahara. After looking into it some I decided to go with Egypt because it's assumed (in his biography) that he used his experience of crashing in the Egyptian Sahara (Wadi Natrun Valley) in 1935 during a race to Saigon, Vietnam as inspiration.

Third Book: The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
► Sahara Desert, Egypt, Africa to Flen, Sweden (5355 miles)
► Flen Sweden to YXHULT, Flistad, Sweden (58 miles)
►YXHULT, Flistad, Sweden to Hälleforsnäs, Sweden (61 miles)
►Hälleforsnäs, Sweden to Aragon, Spain (1427 miles)
►Aragon, Spain to Lisbon, Portugal (479 miles)
►Lisbon, Portugal to New York, NY, USA (3373 miles)
►New York, NY, USA to Los Alamos National Laboratory, NM, USA (1775 miles)
►Los Alamos National Laboratory, NM, USA to Washington, D.C., USA (1615 miles)
►Washington, D.C., USA to Los Angeles, CA, USA (2297 miles)
►Los Angeles, CA, USA to Shanghai, China (6491 miles)
►Shanghai, China to Tehran, Iran (3967 miles)
►Tehran, Iranto London, UK (2736 miles)
►London, UK to Stockholm, Sweden (892 miles)
►Stockholm, Sweden to Dalarö, Sweden (18 miles)
►Dalarö, Sweden to Leningrad (St. Petersburg), Russia (421 miles)
►Leningrad (St. Petersburg), Russia to Kremlin, Moscow, Russia (394 miles)
►Kremlin, Moscow, Russia to Vladivostock, Russia (3991 miles)
►Vladivostock, Russia to Pyongyang, North Korea (4290miles)
►Pyongyang, North Korea to Kuta, Bali, Indonesia (3372 miles)
►Kuta, Bali, Indonesia to Paris, France (7713 miles)
►Paris, France to Malmköping, Sweden (916 miles)
►Malmköping, Sweden to Byringe, Sweden (11 miles)
►Byringe, Sweden to Södermanland, Sweden (16 miles)
►Södermanland, Sweden to Mjölby, Sweden (76 miles)
►Mjölby, Sweden to Rottne, Sweden (90 miles)
►Rottne, Sweden to Falköping, Sweden (94 miles)
Miles Traveled/Book: 49,928 miles
Total Miles Traveled: 59,352 miles

Fourth Book: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
► Falköping, Sweden to Arctic Ocean (2328 miles)
► Arctic Ocean to Geneva, Switzerland (2739 miles)
► Geneva, Switzerland to Ingolstadt, Germany (304 miles)
► Ingolstadt, Germany to Orkney Islands, UK (923 miles)
Miles Traveled/Book: 6,294 miles
Total Miles Traveled: 65,646 miles

Fifth Book: Joyland by Stephen King
►Orkney Islands, UK to North Carolina (3660 miles)
Miles Traveled/Book: 3,660 miles
Total Miles Traveled: 69,306 miles

Sixth Book: Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
► North Carolina to Oxfordshire, UK (3844 miles)
Miles Traveled/Book: 3,844 miles
Total Miles Traveled: 73,150 miles

Seventh Book: My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
► Oxfordshire, UK to Naples, Italy (1054 miles)
Miles Traveled/Book: 1,054 miles
Total Miles Traveled: 74,204 miles

Eighth Book: Love, Life, and Elephants: An African Love Story by Daphne Sheldrick
► Naples, Italy to Tsavo East National Park, Kenya (6167 miles)
► Tsavo East National Park, Kenya to Nairobi, Kenya (232 miles)
Miles Traveled/Book: 6,399 miles
Total Miles Traveled: 80,603 miles


Places Traveled:
► York, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom
► Sahara Desert, Egypt, Africa
► Flen, Sweden
► YXHULT, Flistad, Sweden
► Hälleforsnäs, Sweden
► Aragon, Spain
► Lisbon, Portugal
► New York, NY, USA
► Los Alamos National Laboratory, NM, USA
► Washington, D.C., USA
► Los Angeles, CA, USA
► Shanghai, China
► Tehran, Iran
► London, UK
► Stockholm, Sweden
► Dalarö, Sweden
► Leningrad (St. Petersburg), Russia
► Kremlin, Moscow, Russia
► Vladivostock, Russia
► Pyongyang, North Korea
► Kuta, Bali, Indonesia
► Malmköping, Sweden
► Byringe, Sweden
► Södermanland, Sweden
► Mjölby, Sweden
► Rottne, Sweden
► Falköping, Sweden
► Arctic Ocean
► Geneva, Switzerland
► Ingolstadt, Germany
► Orkney Islands, UK
► North Carolina
► Oxfordshire, UK
► Naples, Italy
► Tsavo East, Kenya
► Nairobi, Kenya

[Ariel]

            Started book: 8/1/2015
            Finished book: 8/6/2015
            Rating: ; Review

[Ariel]

Welp, I read my first Stephen King book (Joyland) as a group read. It was pretty ho-hum and had a lot of anachronisms. Oh well, there's many more to dive into in the future-

[Ariel]

Finished reading Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch and really enjoyed it.

Still reading Bleak House and Leaves of Grass and thoroughly enjoying both. While I was getting my haircut today I ended up talking about GR and what I've been reading with an awesome awesome awesome stylist who has hair color magic (lol) & she rec'd Laurell K. Hamilton and I'm stoked bc I'm in dire need of a new series obsession. Think I'll check it out soon.

[Ariel]

Finished My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante the other day and just put up my review.

I def needed to think about it a bit after reading it. Plus, I wasn't aware of the mystery surrounding the author so reading a couple articles was interesting.

For anyone doing travel challenges, this is a good Italy book based in a small neighborhood outside of Naples. (With scenes in the city as well)

[Ariel]

Horribly behind on updating August challenges >.<

But yay, I finished my challenge for the year (and still have a towering stack of TBRs to continue with)!

[Ariel]

September Challenge: Back to School
Goal: 4|4 read; completed!

1. Read a book about your favorite subject in school or from your favorite genre.

White Teeth by Zadie Smith; a book from my favorite genre (fiction).

2. Read a memoir or a book about an author.

Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie; read a memoir.

3. Read a book about subject you did not enjoy in school or a book you should have read in school.

Chasing the Sun: The Epic Story of the Star That Gives Us Life by Richard Cohen; a book about a subject you did not enjoy in school.

4. Read a book about psychology or a book about someone trying to achieve something.

Devoted in Death by J.D. Robb; a book about someone trying to achieve something.

[Ariel]

Welp, I fell majorly short of "Clear the Shelves" but I figure I'll try and finish it up as soon as I can, albeit belatedly.

September was a distracting month lol.

[Ariel]

I thoroughly rec my last three reads:

*The Magus by John Fowles
*Les Fleurs du Mal by Charles Baudelaire
(^ this particular edition if you want to read it in English and/or the original French for comparison)
*Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other Writings by Jorge Luis Borges

I ended up getting very caught up in each.

[Ariel]

FROM THE PAGE TO THE SCREEN
Duration: October 1 - December 31, 2015

Read: 4 of 4; completed

1. Book: The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
Movie: The House of the Spirits (1993) IMDb
[Read 10/2015| Watched on (?)]

2. Book: Don Quixote de La Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
Movie: Don Quixote (2000) IMDb
[Read 11/2015 | Watched on (?)]

3. Book: The Magus by John Fowles
Movie: The Magus (1968) IMDb
[Read 10/2015 | Watched on (?)]
* I'm pretty excited to watch the '68 film because John Fowles apparently wrote the screenplay as well and I tend to be an author-adapted movie junkie.

4. Book: The Witches by Roald Dahl
Movie: The Witches (1990) IMDb
[Read on 11/20 | Watched on (?)]
*I think I watched this when I was a kid but I can't remember for sure.

[Overbooked ✎]

Oh my, lots of challenges, lots of books, I love it!

[Ariel]

Kiwi wrote: "Oh my, lots of challenges, lots of books, I love it!"

Thank you! Yeah, this year has made me a bit of a challenge addict.

[Overbooked ✎]

haha, I know what you mean ;)

Well done for completing so many!

[Ariel]

Welp, the year is ending and I ended up changing my Listopia challenge around. I have enough time to finish up the stragglers (though I got very sidetracked this year!) but I don't want to rush them. I'm happy with the books it brought across my path this year though!