October 9th-October 15th, 2022
The Sunday Post
The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly or for a monthly wrap up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme
#2 When Reading is a privilege
New books are very expensive. So I really want Barbara Kingsolver's new book, DEMON COPPERHEAD which will come out on October 18th, 2022, but I can't get it because its expensive. For some odd reason I haven't really taken a liking to borrowing library books mainly because when I have books I want to make marks within the pages. E-books remind me of my dad and I don't want to my favorite activity to smell of my father. Audio-books, ugh, I need to see to read. I can't even stand watching TV to be honest, which will be a topic for another week. I am seriously thinking that books and reading are for privileged rather than something anyone can partake of. My son's school recently has book fair and one book he wanted cost 12.99 dollars. I am disappointed that I was unable to provide for him the book he wanted. My birthday was last week, and I think my son had more fun than I did. I had a few surprises from H-Mart as well as edible gift from my sister. But yeah, I guess that's all for last week. Also, we went to pumpkin farm today and we had a lot of fun. My son got a toy tank he wanted.
Last Week On The Blog
A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson
This Week On The Blog
Possible Reviews of The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri; Dead Water by C.A. Fletcher; The Bronze Drum by Phong Nguyen; The Bone Flower by Charles Lambert; There are no happy loves by Sergio Olguin.
New Arrivals At The Caffeinated Cafe
It's Monday! What Are You Reading?
(From The Book Date)
Top Ten Tuesday
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
How it works:
I assign each Tuesday a topic and then post my top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join me and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.
You’ll find the schedule of upcoming TTT topics below so you can plan ahead. I’ll post a Linky here on the blog each week so you can link up your post (if you want). If you don’t have a blog, post your picks in the comment section below! Have tons of fun talking books and getting to know your fellow bloggers!
NOTE: If a weekly topic is listed as a “freebie”, you are invited to come up with your own topic. Sometimes I will give your topic a theme, such as “love”, a season, or an upcoming holiday. That just means that you can come up with any topic you want that fits under that umbrella.
You’re more than welcome to use the Top Ten Tuesday image I designed above (or any of my older/seasonal ones), or make your own that fits your site’s theme.
October 11: Books I Read On Vacation (bonus points if you tell us where you were!) (Submitted by Dedra @ A Book Wanderer)
Last time I had a vacation was a year before Corona hit which was in Colorado visiting my sister. After that, my vacation is pretty much at home. I hadn't gone anywhere or done anything special. But hey, if I could have unlimited money to go somewhere with a book, here are my fantasies. While the first five will be books I read, the next five will be books I hadn't read yet.
1. Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu (Edward Seidensticker) in Japan. Yes, the whole book is a classic from Japan, but if I were to travel to Japan, I'd love to sit down somewhere and travel back to Japan long lost to time.
2. The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe on a mountainous region. What better way to enjoy mountains and travel than reading a novel that features landscape of Western Europe, namely France and Italy? I love the vivid scenery as well as the story.
3. The Nero duology (Confessions of Young Nero and Splendor before the Dark) by Margaret George in Italy. If I were to see ancient sights of Rome, I would love to have these books as company and perhaps try to appreciate the misunderstood Roman ruler better.
4. Story of the Stone by Cao Xueqin in China. In my opinion its quite similar to Tale of Genji except it takes place in China instead of Japan and this is the China before Great Britain destroyed it.
5. The Foreign Student by Susan Choi in Tennessee. In truth I had already visited Tennessee years and years ago. (Two years before I bought that book,) but if I were to go there again, why not take this book to remind me of my lost youth?
6. Plantagenet Series by Sharon Kay Penman in England. Plantagenet Dynasty is perhaps one of the most defining dynasties in England, and what better way to travel and understand than to read about the most volatile couple ever, Henry II and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine?
7. Beasts of Little Land by Kim Juhea in South Korea. I hadn't read the book but lets say the period that the author covers is very pivotal and important for Korea, and later down the line to South Korea. Ideally I would love to find a '80s or '90s book that takes place in South Korea and that features an interracial couple of Asian male and white female.
8. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas in France. The time is also very pivotal for France, and what better way to understand than by traveling to France to take a look at some of the landmarks that will be featured in the book, as well as enjoy the sensational revenge story?
9. The Children of Arbat Trilogy by Anatoly Rybakov in Russia. This will hit very close to home because my grandparents lived through that time, but I want to understand the homeland where at least six generations of my family lived.
10. Mists of Palanque by Leonide Martin in Central America. Anyone notice that most of my travels are of historical fiction variety? This one is no different. If I could travel to Central American nations such s Guatemala or Belize or Mexico I would love to have this with me to deepen my experience.
Shelf Control
Welcome to Shelf Control — an original feature created and hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies.
Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up! For more info on what Shelf Control is all about, check out my introductory post, here.
Want to join in? Shelf Control posts go up every Wednesday. See the guidelines at the bottom of the post, and jump on board!
Title: The Arabian Nights Volume I
Author: Jack Zipes (editor)
Published: 1991
Length: 591
What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):
An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.
Bawdy and exotic, Arabian Nights, features the wily, seductive Scheherazade, who saves her own life by telling tales of magical transformations, genies and wishes, flying carpets and fantastical journeys, terror and passion to entertain and appease the brutal King Shahryar. First introduced into the West in 1704, the stories of The Thousand and One Nights are most familiar to American readers in sanitized children's versions. This modern edition, based on Richard F. Burton's unexpurgated translation, restores the lushness of the original Arabic. Here are the famous adventures of Sinbad, "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves," and "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp." Here too are less familiar stories, such as "Prince Behram and the Princess Al-Datma," a delightful early version of The Taming of the Shrew, and "The Wily Dalilah and her Daughter Zaynab," a hilarious tale about two crafty women who put an entire city of men in their place. Intricate and imaginative, these stories-within-stories told over a thousand and one nights continue to captivate readers as they have for centuries.
How and when I got it: So I remember I was at half price books and I wanted to kind of go back to my favorite childhood story of sorts. I got it in November 14th, 2009.
Why I want to read it: I did try reading it a bit and enjoyed it. Mainly its to give myself a break of sorts and to come back to something from my childhood.
What do you think? Would you read this book? And if you’ve read it, do you recommend it?
Please share your thoughts!
Books from Backlog
Books from the Backlog is a fun way to feature some of those neglected books sitting on your bookshelf unread. If you are anything like me, you might be surprised by some of the unread books hiding in your stacks.
If you would like to join in, please feel free to enter your link, link back to this post, and then spend some time visiting some of the other posts.
This week’s neglected book
Book Title: The Arabian Nights Volume II
Series: Arabian Nights Duology
Publisher: Signet
Genres: Classic, tale within a tale, magic, fantasny, moral lessons, Middle East, Islam
Pages: 415
Format: Paperback
Source: From a bookstore. I got it on February 6th, 2010
Summary:
After King Shahryar had his wife killed for cheating, he began to corrupt-then kill-one virgin a night, as revenge on womankind. Then he meets Scheherazade, who, night after night, saves her own life by telling him fantastical tales of genies, wishes, terror, and passion.
Why did I add The Arabian Nights Volume II to my bookshelf? I think mianly because I wanted to make sure I had both volumes when I decided I wanted to read it.
What are your thoughts? Have you read this book? Would you recommend it?
Let's Talk Bookish
October 14: Can you write whatever you want? (Anna)
Prompts:
Can bloggers just write whatever they want?
I don't think bloggers can write whatever they want mainly because they might want to be respectful to works or publishers that decided to publish and gift us these works. If there is some discomfort they should mention it, but respectfully.
Or are there boundaries they should respect even on their own platform?
I definitely think there are boundaries they should respect because there are enough horror stories of how people were mean and disrespectful. Also as well, someone might find their blog and what will happen if they read disrespectful words? Job loss.
If a blogger is called out for something they post, are they obligated to respond?
This one is difficult to respond because there are various school of thoughts on that. Maybe not because it might escalate the situation or make it even worse would be my guess. At the same time, if its something innocent then I think yes. People respond differently to books, and what floats one's boat may sink it with one another.
Stacking the Shelves
Book Titles I got this week: (if available)
Planned Reviews: (If available. Use pictures)
The Bone Flower by Charles Lambert
There Are No Happy Loves by Sergio Olguin
Offend times books at school book fairs can be found cheaper somewhere else. As a kid I always made a list of the books I wanted from the book fair and my mom will get me one or two of those books somewhere else. Sometimes Scholastic will sell their books way cheaper on their website then at their book fairs.
ReplyDeleteHave a great week.
Hello and thanks for the comment Ann! Way back books used to be cheaper, but it feels as if now they aren't anymore. When time is right, I could try and see if I could find a book my son desired later on.
DeleteI try to go to used book sales and have been able to add a lot of great books to my library for a fraction of the cost. Reading is a hobby that people can spend as much or as little as they want to. Libraries are available to those who can't afford books even though that may not be a readers first choice in all cases. I always told my kids how much they could spend at the school book fairs and let them figure out what they could get for that amount. That helped them learn about budgeting in addition to letting them bring something home from the fair. Have a great week.
ReplyDeleteHi Carole's Random Life! Way back thrift stores and library book sales are definitely the best things in the world in my opinion because one never knows what treasures lay hidden (I got a look of books that way too.) Two thrift stores near me went through renovation and quite recently their selections suck, and so far I hadn't been able to find the book my son wanted at a local library sale. I am grateful about the library when it comes to him.
DeleteIt's true books are for the privileged and they are expensive. I do use the library though and of course my Kindle and I love an audiobook. So not as restricted as yourself. But I give an ouch of pain when I buy a book.
ReplyDeleteHi Kathryn T! Yeah, I feel as if my teeth are about to be pulled when I look at how much money the book costs. Lets hope by New Years Demon Copperhead will cost at least below ten dollars, as unlikely as it sounds...
DeleteBooks are expensive. I do like my Kindle, but prefer to hold a book in my hands. Regine
ReplyDeletewww.rsrue.blogspot.com
I definitely like print books. I don't know why I can't take to ebooks, but not the same and doesn't feel the same way. I try to imagine a children's ebook with my son, and it feels weird in my opinion.
DeleteI’ve never read The Count of Monte Crisco, but I hope you like it! It’s cool to read classics. :)
ReplyDeleteMy post: https://lydiaschoch.com/top-ten-tuesday-types-of-books-i-read-on-vacation/
Thanks so much! I read abridged version of Count of Monte Cristo which I really loved. But I want to conquer and read the unabridged version. Some classics can truly speak to one's soul, or cause disbelief.
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ReplyDeleteBooks are generally very expensive to buy here in Australia too, paperbacks retail at a price which is about equal to an entire day of my weekly grocery budget for my family. Thrift stores are my only options for buying books, I’m lucky to receive a lot of ARCs too, otherwise I rely on my local library which I’m very grateful for.
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy the other books you have received, I like the sound of several of them.
Wishing you a great reading week
Hi Shelleyrae@ Book'd out. Where I live, if one goes to grocery stores or whatnot, books cost above 10 dollars or so. However there are thrift stores and Half Price Books. But the selections at thrift stores or libraries can be hit or miss. And quite recently miss in my opinion.
DeleteAlso, thanks and I hope I will enjoy the books I got!
DeleteThose Arabian Nights books look great. Salvation Army, Goodwill, and flea markets are great for finding good books cheap. I've gotten many that way.
ReplyDeleteHi Sophia Rose! Am glad you like Arabian Nights books. They are mass paperbacks and definitely very engaging (I tried to read them when I first got them, and I liked them.) I agree about Goodwill and in some cases thrift stores in finding good books, but quite recently they have been more of a miss than a boon. I did get a lot of wonderful reads from Friends of Library sales as well as Goodwill in the past, and got introduced to a lot of amazing authors too. Lets hope if I end up going there again soon, I can get my hands on some dog man novels for my son.
ReplyDelete