Coming Up...Week 9 of 2013
Books to be reviewed:
The story of the relationship between Abélard and Héloïse is one of the world’s most celebrated and tragic love affairs. It is told through the letters of Peter Abélard, a French philosopher and one of the greatest logicians of the twelfth century, and of his gifted pupil Héloïse. Through their impassioned writings unfolds the story of a romance, from its reckless, ecstatic beginnings through to public scandal, an enforced secret marriage and its devastating consequences. These eloquent and intimate letters express a vast range of emotions from adoration and devotion to reproach, indignation and grief, and offer a fascinating insight into religious life in the Middle Ages.
This is the revised edition of Betty Radice's highly regarded translation, in which Michael Clanchy, the biographer of Abélard, updates the scholarship on the letters and the lovers. This volume includes Abélard's remarkable autobiography and his spiritual advice to Héloïse and her nuns, as well as a selection of the 'lost love letters' of Abélard and Héloïse, letters between Héloïse and Peter the Venerable, two of Abélard's hymns, a chronology, notes and maps.
What I'm Reading now:
The dramatic final book in the epic historical trilogy about the lives and loves of the three daughters of the great Talmud scholar Rashi
Rachel is the youngest and most beautiful daughter of medieval Jewish scholar Salomon ben Isaac, or ?Rashi.? Her father?s favorite and adored by her new husband, Eliezer, Rachel?s life looks to be one of peaceful scholarship, laughter, and love. But events beyond her control will soon threaten everything she holds dear. Marauders of the First Crusade massacre nearly the entire Jewish population of Germany, and her beloved father suffers a stroke. Eliezer wants their family to move to the safety of Spain, but Rachel is determined to stay in France and help her family save the Troyes yeshiva, the only remnant of the great centers of Jewish learning in Europe.
As she did so effectively in Joheved and Miriam, Maggie Anton vividly brings to life the world of eleventh-century France and a remarkable Jewish woman of dignity, passion, and strength.
Progress: 119 of 432 pages, 9 of 33 chapters plus epilogue
Drumstick legs, cherry-colored lips, dumpling cheeks...everything about them, he wants to eat up. But he's dateless and has been since he discovered girls in the third grade, and he's convinced himself that this is solely based on the fact that he's the only Korean American teenage in Renfield- the fifth richest (and WASPiest) town in Connecticut. In Nick's mind, he sticks out like a "banana in a wheat field."
Now it's time for Nick to figure it out once and for all.
Is it all in his head, or are his suspicions that his heritage is keeping him from a triumphant boob fest true?
Progress: 180 out of 294 pages, 14 out of 22 plus epilogue chapters
Unrestrained.
Unrelenting.
And completely undressed!
When her best friend disappears during Mardi Gras, microbiologist Claire Brookes is determined to find her. Her only lead is a bar called Once Bitten—a haven for the dark, melancholy and vampire-obsessed. And while Claire generally prefers science nerds over the Gothy children of New Orleans, something about the bar’s tall, dark and delish bartender makes her mouth water….
Bar owner Rafe Moreau is pretty sure that there’s more to Claire than uptightness and frumpy clothes. And as they delve further into the dark, seedy underworld of the Big Easy, Claire and Rafe turn to each other, discovering a sizzling hunger that won’t be satisfied.
But will one taste be enough?
Bein’ bad in the Big Easy...
Progress: 63 out of 218 pages, 5 out of 16 chapters plus epilogue
Kwani. A beautiful woman in the American southwest long before Columbus...whose blue eyes marked her as a witch and set her apart from the Indian tribe that raised her.
Following her destiny in a vanished world of great stone cities and trackless wilderness, warring tribes and mysterious travelers from other lands, Kwani found love with Kokopelli, the Toltec magician, who rescued her from death and took her to the Place of the Eagle Clan.
There she was transformed from an outcast to the Chosen of the Gods, where she became She Who Remembers and taught young girls the secrets only women know, secrets that provided her with the inner power to change her life forever
Progress: 46 out of 472 pages, 8 out of 54 chapters plus afterword and epilogue
One of that handful of fictional characters whose names have passed into common usage, Little Lord Fauntleroy embodies the author's belief that "Nothing in the world is so strong as a kind heart."
Young Cedric Errol lives in poverty in New York with his mother. On the death of his English father -- disinherited for marrying an American -- Cedric is summoned to the family castle by his grandfather. There the crotchety Earl plans to transform the boy into a docile, traditional lordling.
But Little Lord Fauntleroy does the converting. Through his goodness and innocence, he wins the hearts of his English relatives, who welcome his mother warmly.
Progress: 66 out of 207 pages, 5 out of 14 chapters
The two famous Old French chronicles in this volume were composed by soldiers who took part in the Holy Wars. Villehardouin's Conquest of Constantinople is the first trustworthy and fully informed history of the Crusades. Distinguished by its simplicity and lucidity, it is an account of the Fourth Crusade, which ironically ended as a war against the Eastern Christians of the Orthodox Church. Joinville's Life of Saint Louis was inspired by the author's close attachment to the pious king and provides a vivid picture of his times and the ways of life in the East.
Progress: Chapter 11 out of 43 plus introduction, page 81 out of 353
The most fascinating woman you've never met jumps off the pages of this novel. Once you encounter Francesca, thrill to her distinctive voice, embrace her adventurous nature and rejoice at her boundless spirit, she will be part and parcel of your heart and soul forever.
Progress: 75 out of 249 pages, 10 out of 38 chapters
Dear Ones,
We have been sending Humanity instructional letters for some time now. the Letters, collectively known as The Letters Project, started in 2007 and will continue until Humanity has reached its full potential and it is deemed that they will no longer be needed. These Letters are instructions about life and hwo life works from teh perspective of the Spiritual Realm in which we reside.
We go by many names for there are many of us here who want to communicate these truths to you. We work through the spiritual energy named Jaipur and are collectively known to this channel as The Counsel of Divine Wisdom. We are energies that reside in teh upper realms of existence. In your modern day temrs you might say that we are Ascended Masters although that term you use has restrictions, but it will suffice for htese purposes.
It is our intent to show you a new way, another way for Humanity to exist. Indeed, if you are pleased with what you see and feel around you, then this message will have no meaning for you. However, if youa re not pleased with the present condition in which you perceive your world, then you now have a golden opportunity to change it. You can do this by changing your perception of what you see around you and in doing this you will begin to change your life, your world and yourself.
Where will your road take you? Go inside yourself and seek the insights of your soul in hte silent moments. It will know the way.
The world of your highest imaginings is within your reach.
Progress: 59 out of 265 pages, 5 out of 40 chapters plus introduction and epilogue and preface
"So, do you believe in love?" Someone asked me once, and I replied, "I feel, I am here, in this world, just to teach teh world, "love" and "The ritual of love making," the essence of true love and how to create "Holy Kama Sutra." -Poonaam Uppal
THis is a true love story of glamorous, stylish and fiercely ambitious Indian lass Moh Lal Rai who has only one cherished desire, aspiration n her mind to become an internationally acclaimed avant-garde Fashion designer. Destiny deceives Moh's desires landing her in US. During her fashion show at Las Vegas she experiences violent vibration followed by a thunderous broadcasting of her future "soon in 1997 you will meet your true eternal lover" on this earth...
Dragooned by powerful longing to meet her ancient lover she is now a solitary traveler of an abyss of unfathomable space and time where she is sent on a roller coaster ride to a bizarre realm of gonzo occurrences, happenings, visions, premonitions, deja vous, diving visitation and startling revelation of her past birth and she involuntarily unravels the anciet most secret of the extinct art of Kama Sutra and "Tantric Sex" once taught by Lord Shiva himself but now these cryptic writings are shrouded in the misty Himalayan valley. In a cruel game plan of higher she is compelled by a powerful goddess to become a saint a Guru, a Love Messiah and reveal the lost mystical secret behind Kama Sutra___Kama Sutra is the holiest of scripture and only through Kama Sutra human could reach nirvana in this climaxing Black Age. "This is a true love story only the names and places are fictitious."
Progress 69 out of 1084 pages, 6 out of 92 chapters
New York Times bestseller Jane Green delivers a riveting novel about two women whose lives intersect when a shocking secret is revealed.
From the author of Another Piece of My Heart comes the gripping story of two women who live on opposite coasts but whose lives are connected in ways they never could have imagined. Both women are wives and mothers to children who are about to leave the nest for school. They're both in their forties and have husbands who travel more than either of them would like. They are both feeling an emptiness neither had expected. But when a shocking secret is exposed, their lives are blown apart. As dark truths from the past reveal themselves, will these two women be able to learn to forgive, for the sake of their children, if not for themselves?
Progress: Chapter 17 out of 60 plus epilogue, page 99 out of 344
Books I'm reading lazily and will take long time to finish:
The first anthology of Jewish mythology in English, Tree of Souls reveals a mythical tradition as rich and as fascinating as any in the world. Drawing from the Bible, the Pseudepigrapha, the Talmud and Midrash, the kabbalistic literature, medieval folklore, Hasidic texts, and oral lore collected in the modern era, Schwartz has gathered together nearly 700 of the key Jewish myths. The myths themselves are marvelous. We read of Adams diamond and the Land of Eretz (where it is always dark), the fall of Lucifer and the quarrel of the sun and the moon, the Treasury of Souls and the Divine Chariot. We discover new tales about the great figures of the Hebrew Bible, from Adam to Moses; stories about God's Bride, the Shekhinah, and the evil temptress, Lilith; plus many tales about angels and demons, spirits and vampires, giant beasts and the Golem. Equally important, Schwartz provides a wealth of additional information. For each myth, he includes extensive commentary, revealing the source of the myth and explaining how it relates to other Jewish myths as well as to world literature (for instance, comparing Eves release of evil into the world with Pandoras). For ease of use, Schwartz divides the volume into ten books, Myths of God, Myths of Creation, Myths of Heaven, Myths of Hell, Myths of the Holy Word, Myths of the Holy Time, Myths of the Holy People, Myths of the Holy Land, Myths of Exile, and Myths of the Messiah.
Progress: Chapter 51 out of 670, Page 36 out of 523
Future Books I will read:
Once a month on Monday night, eight students gather in Lillian's restaurant for a cooking class. Among them is Claire, a young woman coming to terms with her new identity as a mother; Tom, a lawyer whose life has been overturned by loss; Antonia, an Italian kitchen designer adapting to life in America; and Carl and Helen, a long-married couple whose union contains surprises the rest of the class would never suspect.
The students have come to learn the art behind Lillian's soulful dishes, but it soon becomes clear that each seeks a recipe for something beyond the kitchen. One by one they are transformed by the aromas, flavors, and textures of what they create, including a white-on-white cake that prompts wistful reflections on the sweet fragility of love, and a garlic and red sauce that seems to spark one romance but end another. Over time, the paths of the students mingle and intertwine, and the essence of Lillian's cooking expands beyond the restaurant and into the secret corners of their lives, with results that are often unexpected, and always delicious.
Chapters: 9 chapters plus prologue and epilogue (on e-reader)
Pages: 141 (On e-reader)
It was two hundred years before Columbus. The spirits of nature walked the earth, and the people of hte American Southwest lived in intimate harmony with the land, the sky, and the seasons. Here the beautiful, blue-eyed Kwani, gifted with magical vision, and Tolonqua, Hunting Chief of the Towa, joined in a passion that defied all taboos. Here Tolonqua fought to build a great fortress city to protect his clan against the dread Pawnee and other foes. Here Kwani battled suspicion and envy to preserve her place as She Who Remembers, and pass on her powers to a a daughter makred at birth for an awesome destiny. Here Kwani risked death for honor and for love. Here, in a novel of unsurpassed vividness and narrative sweep, a vanished world comes to unforgettable life.
Chapters: 69 chapters plus prologue and epilogue
Pages: 615
Six teenagers from the Bronx set out to explore a cave in their neighborhood and end up three centuries into the future. After saving the life of one member of a tribe, the Bronx teens are accepted. Within weeks, however, they find themselves in the middle of a fight for survival. Another tribe living in Manhattan is bent on wiping out the tribe in the Bronx. These teenagers have a unique advantage in this war—they know the land. For the six, this becomes a true adventure. However, all too soon their adventure becomes very real. Their dog dies, and now both friends and enemies are getting killed. This was no longer fun—this was war!
Chapters: 13 plus author's note
Pages: 258
Froissart (1337-1410), sometimes described as the historian of the Hundred Years' War, was one of the first great journalists.
His Chronicles reveal the same curiosity about character and customs which underlies the works of his contemporary, Chaucer. This selection depicts a panorama of Europe during the great age of Anglo-French rivalry, from the deposition of Edward II to the downfall of Richard II, Froissart's famous descriptions of chivalry in action at Sluy's, Crecy, Calais and Poitiers are only part of a comprehensive court's-eye-view of society which embraces trading activities, diplomacy and the Peasants' Revolt.
Pages: 471
Chapters: around 60?
Sara Crewe, an exceptionally intelligent and imaginative student at Miss Minchin's Select Seminary for Young Ladies, is devastated when her adored, indulgent father dies. Now penniless and banished to a room in the attic, Sara is demeaned, abused, and forced to work as a servant. How this resourceful girl's fortunes change again is at the center of A Little Princess, one of the best-loved stories in all of children's literature.
Chapters: 19
Pages: 240
If Albert Kim has learned one thing in his tragic adolescence, it's that God (probably a sadistic teenaged alien) does not want him to succeed at Bern High. By the end of sophomore year, Al is so tired of humiliation that he's chosen to just forget girls and high school society in general, and enjoy the Zen-like detachment that comes from being an "intentional" loser.
Then he meets Mia Stone, and all the repressed hormones come flooding back. Mia, his co-worker at the Bern Inn, is adorable, popular, and most intimidatingly, the ex- long-term girlfriend of Ivy-bound, muscle-bound king of BHS and world class jerk, Ryan Stackhouse. But -- chalk it up to the magic of Al's inner beauty -- by the end of a summer vacuuming hotel rooms and goofing off together, he and Mia are officially "something."
Albert barely has time to ponder this miracle before the bomb drops: Ryan has been diagnosed with cancer, and he needs Mia's support, i.e. constant companionship. True, he's lost weight and he's getting radiation, but that doesn't make him any less of a jerk. And to Albert, it couldn't be more apparent that Ryan is using his cancer to steal Mia back. With the whole town rallying behind Ryan like he's a fallen hero, and Mia emotionally confused and worried for Ryan, Al's bid for love is not a popular campaign. In fact, it's exactly like driving the wrong way on a five-lane highway.
In this desperately funny novel, David Yoo tells an authentic story of first love, and therein captures the agony, the mania, the kicking and screaming that define teenage existence.
Pages: 374
Chapters: 48
The Old West was coming to an end.Two legendary outlaws refused to go with it. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid—as leaders of the Wild Bunch, they planned and executed the most daring bank and train robberies of the day, with a professionalism never before seen by authorities. For several years at the end of the 1890s, the two friends, along with a revolving cast who made up their band of thieves, eluded local law enforcement and bounty hunters, all while stealing from the rich bankers and eastern railroad corporations who exploited western land. The close calls were many, but Butch and Sundance always managed to escape to rob again another day—that is, until they rode headlong into the 20th century. Fenced-in range, telephone lines, electric lights, and new crime-fighting techniques were quickly rendering obsolete the outlaws of the wide open frontier. Knowing their time was up, Butch and Sundance, along with a mysterious beauty named Etta Place, headed to South America, vowing to leave their criminal careers behind. But riding the trails of Chile, Argentina and Bolivia, Butch and Sundance would find that crime wasn’t through with them just yet. In The Last Outlaws, Thom Hatch brings these memorable characters to life like never before: Butch, the brains of the outfit; Sundance, the man of action; and the men on both sides of the law whom they fought with and against. From their early holdup attempts to that fateful day in Bolivia, author Thom hatch draws on a wealth of fresh research to go beyond the myth and provide a compelling new look at these legends of the Wild West.
Chapters: 14 plus prologue
Pages: 255
In 2012, a woman cuts her hand and picks up a strange colored stone -
Suddenly she is staring into the eyes of an angry Powhatan warrior.
And the only town nearby is Jamestown, circa 1622.
Maggie McMillan wakes up one day as a college student, yet ends the day as the Red Woman: A legendary Time Walker that every loyal Powhatan brave wants to kill. Captured by Winkeohkwet, a warrior who is torn between his duty to kill her and his desire to keep her, she is thrust into a life she had only read about in history books.
Hunted and feared by both the Powhatan and the English, she struggles to find a way home while Winkeohkwet plots to keep her there. Maggie fights to survive as she finds herself entangled in the Indian Massacre of 1622, and Winkeohkwet sees everything he ever believed in shattered by the knowledge she holds.
As they battle against each other and the message she brings from the future, she must decide whether to return to her own time, or to make a life in the past with the man who holds her heart captive.
Pages: 285
Chapters: 27
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