Monday, June 8, 2009

What Are You Reading on Mondays?


Hosted by J. Kaye at J. Kaye's Book Blog.

Currently Reading...

Carpentaria by Alexis Smith - an award winning novel by an Aboriginal Australian

Ulysses - the Irish one, pray for me.

Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann

Finished this week:

The Accordionist's Son by Bernardo Axtaga - a very interesting novel about Basque Spain. I recommend it.

Hard Rain by Janwillem Van De Wetering - a mystery by a Dutch writer, set in Amsterdam. I like the police detective protagonist and I will definitely read more in this series.

Upcoming books:

Map of the Invisible World by Tash Aw (2009) Malaysia
Fiction, 343 pages HC; about post-colonial Indonesia. Doris Lessing's recommendation.

And Let the Earth Tremble at its Centers by Gonzalo Celorio (1999) Mexico
Fiction, 152 pages Pb; translated from the Spanish 2009 in, described as "a literary portrait of Mexico City". That's all I know, I just can't resist a lyrical title.

The Great Lover by Jill Dawson (2009) UK
Fiction, 310 pages HC; about the English poet Rupert Brooke.

Nada by Carmen Laforet (1945) Spain
Fiction, 244 pages HC; an award winning book, translated from the Spanish in 2007, about an orphan's life in post civil war Spain.

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Mailbox Monday
Hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page.
In the mail this week:

A Lucky Child: A Memoir of Surviving Auschwitz as a Young Boy by Thomas Buergenthal. A LibraryThing Early Reviewers ARC.

Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel - an ARC that I did not request.

What did you get at your house this week?

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48 Hour Reading Challenge Wrap-up
Hosted by Mother Reader.

I read for 8 hours on Friday and have been bedridden with illness ever since.

I did complete a Dutch mystery, Hard Rain by Janwillem Van De Wetering. I enjoyed it very much and have a copy of The Japanese Corpse to enjoy next in this series. I recommend this writer.

I also read 200 pages of Carpentaria, a novel about Aboriginal Australians that won the Miles Franklin Award in Australia. The author, Alexis Wright is Aborginal Australian. I requested this as a purchase at my public library two years ago when it first came out. A year later, after it won the award, they granted my request. It's very good.

I did spend some time leaving comments on other marathoner readers' posts and was very encouraged by those left on mine. Thank you all for those. I'm happy to have been able to read for those first hours.

I've become very debilitated but will post about my reading when I can.
********************************************************************
Tomorrow: 5 winners of Testimony by Anita Shreve will be announced.

19 comments:

  1. Ulysses? You are very, very brave. :)

    I'm reading The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan, Back Creek by Leslie Goetsch, and Tess of the D'Urbervilles.

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  2. I hope you are feeling better soon, Sandra!

    I have Ulysses here in the house but I'm not sure when I will ever get to it ... I thought that buying it was the first step!

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  3. Last night in Montreal is a very good book. I hope you do give it a try even if you did not request it.

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  4. I wish ALL the luck with Ulysses! I couldn't read it beyond page 4!


    Mondays: Start of another week

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  5. I'm so sorry to hear you were bedridden. I hope you have a better week this week. Speaking of Australia,did you ever see that movie Australia? Wonderful movie, I truly enjoyed it.

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  6. I'll should check out The Accordionist's Son-I love Spain. I'll have to put that on my summer list.

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  7. I've heard The Accordionist's Son is very good. I hope you enjoy it. I've never read Ulysses, but wish you luck with it!

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  8. So sorry that you weren't feeling well. Thanks for starting off with us and come back next year to play.

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  9. I love how the authors you are reading span the globe!

    Also...

    Mr. Linky is too slow in loading, so I moved your link to the actual post. I think I am going to start doing this on Mondays because the widget is too unstable.

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  10. Ulysses- good for you. Hope you feel better soon. I have A Lucky Child in the TBR pile- will get there someday, meanwhile will look forward to your review! :-)

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  11. Oh, I hope you feel better soon!

    I've read everything that Janwillem van de Wetering wrote, from his mysteries and children's books to the Zen chronicles. What a wonderful writer he was! The mysteries have a very Zen undertone, don't they? I especially like one of their ways of solving problems - jamming together.

    I can't do Ulysses either. Alas.

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  12. I am finishing up Persuasion right now.
    Enjoy your reading!
    Here is what I got this past week.

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  13. Ulysses - Wow - good luck! While you are sick you better read something a little less.....oh, I don't know....sleep inducing! JK hope you enjoy it!

    You have some great books listed that would fit perfectly into the Books Around The World challenge I joined! Thanks!!

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  14. Good luck with Ulysses!

    This is the first time I've played Mailbox Mondays -- I was inspired by the big stack of books I got last week. My list is here.

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  15. Hi Sandra, please stop by when you get a chance to pick up the Literary Blogger award I passed on to you. your blog is fabulous!

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  16. best of luck for the Ullysses :) :) I am praying for you :) :)

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  17. I am really sorry to hear that you fell sick! hope you have recovered and are feeling better :) :) but you did 8 hours! I would have been jumping up and down if I could do that much... so kudos to you :)

    and get well soon :) :)

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