I finished The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest this afternoon. What a great read - all 600 pages! It is so sad that Stieg Larsson died just shortly after finishing The Millenium Trilogy. The plots are ingenious, and they keep you hanging until the very end. The translations are good, so if you read Swedish, they must be spectacular! There are quirks - like detailed descriptions of every piece of technology the characters touch. The lead, Mikael Blomkvist, doesn't just use his mobile, he picks up his Ericsson T10; he doesn't just open his laptop, he opens his MacBook Pro with OS2, etc. Also, in this third book, the author starts each of the four sections with a little historical piece on Amazons and women warriors through history. I think it's supposed to go with the lead female, Lisbeth Salander, but I don't think it fits at all.
At any rate, head off to your local Costco, or get in line at the library to read these books: first is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, second is The Girl Who Played with Fire and the third is The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. They must be read in order! The third one will not be available in North America until May 25, 2010. Yikes! But you could pay the freight and order it online from Foyles or Blackwells, or if you know someone headed for England (or anywhere in Europe) give them the money and have them bring it back for you. Our daughter-in-law Sarah brought me mine in October. Thank you, Sarah!
I am sad to be done with this, but I know I will read this trilogy again some time.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Wednesday Book (almost)
I am almost done with The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. I'll write about it when I've reached the end. I'll be sorry to do it, as there will be no more. Sigh. This Millenium series is really good!
We're supposed to get a lot of snow on Friday - we'll see how it goes. What came last week has stayed around, and the nights are colder. Seems like Winter is really here.
Stay tuned!
We're supposed to get a lot of snow on Friday - we'll see how it goes. What came last week has stayed around, and the nights are colder. Seems like Winter is really here.
Stay tuned!
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Wednesday Book (4, or really 5)
Well, I didn't get anything written yesterday as I thought. The hours just roll on and then the day is over. (Wasn't that profound?) But yesterday was my birthday, and a lovely one it was. Lots of fun. The tradition at Holden is that you can have Happy Birthday sung to you in any manner you choose. I thought first of doing sheep - baa baa baa baa baa baa, baa baa baa baa baa baa, and so on - but then I thought, "Why not the whole barnyard?" It was hilarious!
The last Wednesday book I wrote was on October 14! I finally finished Cathedral of the Sea which was pretty good for one of those long, historical saga things. If you want to know more about 14th century Barcelona, you'll enjoy it.
The program in October here was on pilgrimage. One book we read in the community was The Ramsay Scallop by Frances Temple. It's another book in a historical setting, the turn of the 14th century in England, France, Spain. It's about two young people who are engaged, and don't like each other much. So their village priest sends them on the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. It's kind of a Canterbury Tales book as they pick up other pilgrims along the way, and a good coming-of-age tale. It's written for young adults, but is a good read for adults as well.
In the middle I read Olive Kitteridge, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Elizabeth Strout. I love her writing, and especially liked Abide with Me. But Olive Kitteridge is truly outstanding. I wrote in an email to Bev Christensen, I think, that reading this is like slowly sipping fabulous soup. Every sentence is to relished and enjoyed. Lynn Krog gave me this one from the Faith Women's Book Group, and she did it particularly because it's a novel built from a series of short stories, and she knows I dislike reading short stories! But this is different from the random story. It's beautifully connected throughout the book, and Olive grows on you throughout. It is one of the best books about hope I have read for a long time. Get this book and read it! And, thank you, Lynn!
I'm reading two books right now. One is Winter Wheat by Mildred Walker, another Women's Book Group gift, this one from Kristin Johnson. Kristin loves western writers, so I knew it would be good and recommended it for a Village book discussion even before I read it. (Olive Kitteridge will be coming up one week as well.) It's about a young woman in Montana in the early 1940's. I am enjoying the writing immensely, and others in the Village who are reading it are liking it a lot. I'm looking forward to the discussion on Friday. Thank you, Kristin!
My big treat is the third book in the Millenium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson - The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. It just came out in translation in England on October 1 - won't be here until the first of the year. But daughter-in-law Sarah Murdoch was in England in October and picked on up for me! Thank you, Sarah! It's even better (and, I'm sorry to say, longer) than the first two. This is a great series. If you haven't yet started with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, don't wait another day.
That's a good book update. Happy reading.
The last Wednesday book I wrote was on October 14! I finally finished Cathedral of the Sea which was pretty good for one of those long, historical saga things. If you want to know more about 14th century Barcelona, you'll enjoy it.
The program in October here was on pilgrimage. One book we read in the community was The Ramsay Scallop by Frances Temple. It's another book in a historical setting, the turn of the 14th century in England, France, Spain. It's about two young people who are engaged, and don't like each other much. So their village priest sends them on the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. It's kind of a Canterbury Tales book as they pick up other pilgrims along the way, and a good coming-of-age tale. It's written for young adults, but is a good read for adults as well.
In the middle I read Olive Kitteridge, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Elizabeth Strout. I love her writing, and especially liked Abide with Me. But Olive Kitteridge is truly outstanding. I wrote in an email to Bev Christensen, I think, that reading this is like slowly sipping fabulous soup. Every sentence is to relished and enjoyed. Lynn Krog gave me this one from the Faith Women's Book Group, and she did it particularly because it's a novel built from a series of short stories, and she knows I dislike reading short stories! But this is different from the random story. It's beautifully connected throughout the book, and Olive grows on you throughout. It is one of the best books about hope I have read for a long time. Get this book and read it! And, thank you, Lynn!
I'm reading two books right now. One is Winter Wheat by Mildred Walker, another Women's Book Group gift, this one from Kristin Johnson. Kristin loves western writers, so I knew it would be good and recommended it for a Village book discussion even before I read it. (Olive Kitteridge will be coming up one week as well.) It's about a young woman in Montana in the early 1940's. I am enjoying the writing immensely, and others in the Village who are reading it are liking it a lot. I'm looking forward to the discussion on Friday. Thank you, Kristin!
My big treat is the third book in the Millenium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson - The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. It just came out in translation in England on October 1 - won't be here until the first of the year. But daughter-in-law Sarah Murdoch was in England in October and picked on up for me! Thank you, Sarah! It's even better (and, I'm sorry to say, longer) than the first two. This is a great series. If you haven't yet started with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, don't wait another day.
That's a good book update. Happy reading.
Monday, November 2, 2009
It's About Time!
No blog since October 14. It's been a wild time here in the mountains. The weather has been various - enough snow for a snow-guesser winner (everyone picks a day for the first "official"snowfall, which is 1"on the ground at the weather station for 24 hours), but then it warmed up and rained and it all went away.
Halloween was great. Here are a some pictures:
We had a nice celebration of All Saints yesterday, with people telling their own saint stories for the sermon. Tonight we did El Dia de los Muertos for Vespers, and people brought mementos for an ofrenda we had in Koinonia. There were really a lot of things. One person mentioned how interesting it was that people carry these things with them even to Holden, where one tends to bring only essentials.
We had a whole slew of guests leave yesterday, and some wonderful staff today. We're down to about 50 people for the next two weeks, so it is very quiet. Should be nice.
I'll write a little bit every day this week, and may get the Old Miner himself to write his own update!
Halloween was great. Here are a some pictures:
We had a nice celebration of All Saints yesterday, with people telling their own saint stories for the sermon. Tonight we did El Dia de los Muertos for Vespers, and people brought mementos for an ofrenda we had in Koinonia. There were really a lot of things. One person mentioned how interesting it was that people carry these things with them even to Holden, where one tends to bring only essentials.
We had a whole slew of guests leave yesterday, and some wonderful staff today. We're down to about 50 people for the next two weeks, so it is very quiet. Should be nice.
I'll write a little bit every day this week, and may get the Old Miner himself to write his own update!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Wednesday Book
Well. I'm still reading Cathedral of the Sea by Idelfonses Falcones. It's a long book. I'm almost done, and I don't think it's going to end well. To the author's credit, it doesn't appear to be one of those sagas where everything turns out beautifully for the hero.
It's been snowing at Holden, so I was thinking about snow books. Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan came to mind. It was one of my favorite books in elementary school. It's about Norwegian children in occupied Norway in World War II who secretly transport gold bullion in their sleds as they play right under the nose of the Nazis. It's a great story - I've read it many times, including once a couple years ago. Sheryl Schmeling sent a very funny picture about swine flu which also made me think of rereading children's books. Here's the picture:
Poor Piglet! But it made me think of reading the Winnie the Pooh stories. So this week I hope you'll think of some favorite childrens books and take them out and read them again. Comment on this post and let us all know which ones you really like.
Happy reading!
It's been snowing at Holden, so I was thinking about snow books. Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan came to mind. It was one of my favorite books in elementary school. It's about Norwegian children in occupied Norway in World War II who secretly transport gold bullion in their sleds as they play right under the nose of the Nazis. It's a great story - I've read it many times, including once a couple years ago. Sheryl Schmeling sent a very funny picture about swine flu which also made me think of rereading children's books. Here's the picture:
Poor Piglet! But it made me think of reading the Winnie the Pooh stories. So this week I hope you'll think of some favorite childrens books and take them out and read them again. Comment on this post and let us all know which ones you really like.Happy reading!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Wednesday Book
We have had beautiful Fall days this week. The tamarack (larch) are all turning, and it's fun to watch the color march down the mountains. The picture is of Buckskin late this afternoon.
I took a detour from the Women's Book Group collection and picked one from my stash of to-be-read. So I'm making my way through Cathedral of the Sea by Ildefonso Falcones. It's set in 14th century Barcelona. It's in the Ken Follet, Arturo Perez-Reverte, Dan Brown, Edward Rutherford mode. I think Perez-Reverte is by far the best writer of the lot, and in this case he may just have a better translator than this author. It's a bit wooden. But it's a fast-moving story and I'm learning a lot about the society and culture of the times. That's not very encouraging, but does make some of our worst hierarchies and such look a little better! We visited Barcelona in 2002, and the story is set in the part of the city where we stayed, including being right by the church (Santa Maria del Mar) that gives the book its name. If you're looking for a bit of a late middle ages escape, this is a good one. The characters are well done, so I do like following what happens to them and sympathizing with their distress and success.
Here at Holden in the Fall and Winter we suggest books for discussion. I picked two that I haven't even read yet from the Women's Book Study collection: Winter Wheat by Mildred Walker, and Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. I'll be reading those next, and am looking forward to them.
On another book note, yesterday I was excited to see that Hilary Mantel won this year's Booker prize for her historical novel about Oliver Cromwell, Wolf Hall. I really like her books, especially ffludd and An Experiment in Love. She writes all across the spectrum, which is fun. I'm not so sure about Oliver Cromwell, but at the same time I'm happy to read anything new by her.
We're having a "what's your current favorite read" discussion tomorrow afternoon. I don't know what I'll pick, there are so many good ones!
Happy reading!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Wednesday Book (2)
Things have been wild in the Village since 118 6th grade students from the Chelan Public Schools arrived yesterday for their 4-day environmental school. We've always wanted to know what it was like to be back in a school cafeteria. They are well-organized and a lot of fun to have around. They don't participate in Village life other than meals, so we just work around their energy and get on with our days! The 6th grade students from Manson come next week.
Since I missed the book post last Wednesday, I'm doing two, still from the stash from the Faith Women's Book Group. The first one is Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik. This is a wonderful book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The premise is a book group started in the late 1960's by some women who have moved into the same neighborhood in south Minneapolis. The book takes us through four decades with them. The author's conceit is to have each chapter be from the perspective of whichever woman is hosting that month, and includes the book she chose and why she chose it. The chapter headings themselves would make a great year's reading. There are, of course, the subplots of the lives of the women, and that part was pretty solid, I thought. The story of one woman, told in letters she writes to her deceased mother, makes up another theme through the book. If you've ever had the privilege of being in a long-time book group, this book will resonate on every level. By the way, Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons (or AHEB) is the name they give their group.
Thank you, Kari!
The other book is Something Mis ing by Matthew Dicks. When I started this I thought it might be too weird to finish, but now that I'm well into it I like it a lot. It becomes a laugh-out-loud read as you go along. It will make you look more carefully at your pantry, your jewelry box, and your garden supplies as you follow the adventures of Martin, a thief who carefully cases his "clients" and stocks his own home with things he knows they won't miss. (The book title is correctly spelled!) I'm not quite done, and it is becoming quite suspenseful as it goes along. A really good read.
Thank you, Sheryl!
Since I missed the book post last Wednesday, I'm doing two, still from the stash from the Faith Women's Book Group. The first one is Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik. This is a wonderful book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The premise is a book group started in the late 1960's by some women who have moved into the same neighborhood in south Minneapolis. The book takes us through four decades with them. The author's conceit is to have each chapter be from the perspective of whichever woman is hosting that month, and includes the book she chose and why she chose it. The chapter headings themselves would make a great year's reading. There are, of course, the subplots of the lives of the women, and that part was pretty solid, I thought. The story of one woman, told in letters she writes to her deceased mother, makes up another theme through the book. If you've ever had the privilege of being in a long-time book group, this book will resonate on every level. By the way, Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons (or AHEB) is the name they give their group.
Thank you, Kari!
The other book is Something Mis ing by Matthew Dicks. When I started this I thought it might be too weird to finish, but now that I'm well into it I like it a lot. It becomes a laugh-out-loud read as you go along. It will make you look more carefully at your pantry, your jewelry box, and your garden supplies as you follow the adventures of Martin, a thief who carefully cases his "clients" and stocks his own home with things he knows they won't miss. (The book title is correctly spelled!) I'm not quite done, and it is becoming quite suspenseful as it goes along. A really good read.
Thank you, Sheryl!
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