Double-Stacked Bookshelves

This week's topic is:  Tattoos.  Do you have them?  Why or why not?  Talk about one. I actually got my first tattoo this year...and immediately followed it up with another!  It's true what they say: tattoos are addictive.  It took me a long time to finally get a tattoo because I was indecisive.  I had ideas of what I wanted, but was never totally certain on placement/exact image/etc.  I was also worried that it would be more painful than I wanted it to be.  It took my fiancé making me schedule an appointment to force my decision.  And I'm glad he did because it wasn't painful (really) and now I am on the path to possibly doing a full sleeve!  YIKES!  My first tattoo is totally FOR ME.  I specifically turned it upside down to face me (not the correct placement for tattoos) because I wanted to look at it.  It's not for anyone else's pleasure but my own.  It speaks to my nerdy-ness and my l...

Teaser Tuesday:  At the Water's Edge Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by Jenn @ A Daily Rhythm . Here are the rules: grab whatever you're reading, open to a random page, select no more than two sentence (NO SPOILERS), share the title and author, and GO! Here's today's teaser: "Her wool coat floated, an absurd umbrella, first resisting and finally wicking water, puller her deeper.  She looked back at the landing, suddenly desperate.  If only she had a hat, she could throw is back onto the thorny gorse.  If she'd had anything that would float, maybe they'd think it was an accident and let her be buried with her daughter." --page 8           At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen I am so excited for this book and am rather enjoying it so far! Happy reading :)

Teaser Tuesdays:  The Unbearable Lightness of Scones Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB @ Should Be Reading . Here are the rules: grab whatever you're reading, open to a random page, select no more than two sentence (NO SPOILERS), share the title and author, and GO! Today's teaser: "Grown-ups spoke as if the world were simple; as if people behaved nicely to one another.  But Bertie knew that they did not.  When you were a boy, as he was, and saw the world the way in which boys saw it, it all looked very different.  Olive and Tofu would fight because that's what people like that did:  they fought.  And it would end up with Tofu spitting on Olive, and Olive screaming and perhaps even trying to stab Tofu with the syringe from her junior nurse's kit." --page 88-89           ----- The Unbearable Lightness of Scones by Alexander McCall Smith Happy reading!

Happy Tuesday, fellow A-Zers.  Today brings us to the letter S and it's all about:  W.G. Sebald, Art Spiegelman, and Alexander McCall Smith. W.G. Sebald (1944-2001) German writer W.G. Sebald is pure brilliance.  Prior to his untimely death in 2001, Sebald was heralded as one of the greatest living authors and believed to be a future Nobel Prize winner for Literature.  His father was a member of the Reichswehr in1929 and then transitioned as a member of the Wehrmacht under the Nazis, though he remained a fairly detached figure.  During World War II, Sebald's father was a prisoner of war until 1947.  Because of much of his experience during the Nazi Regime, Sebald focuses the majority of his work on the Holocaust and post-war Germany.  Heavy themes of memory and loss of memory (both personal and collective) and decay run rampant through his work.  In addition, he utilizes elaborate and old-fashioned language in the original German inte...

Today is all about the letter G and it's dedicated to a very deserving writer, in my opinion.  If you like Jane Austen (who I would have included in my A post if I had figured out my guiding theme by that point), then you will like:  Elizabeth Gaskell. Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865) A British writer during the Victorian era, Gaskell structured her novels and short stories around the social strata of the times and was a staunch believer in tolerance toward all religions, which is shown in many of her works.  In addition, Gaskell would pepper her works with local or regional dialect depending on the various settings to further aid in her want to represent the social times.  I first read one of Gaskell's works when I was living in Scotland; fitting since the setting was in Scotland as well.  From the time I picked the book up until I finished it, I was in love.  As a huge fan of Austen, Elizabeth Gaskell ranked right there alongside Austen's genius....

Today's teaser comes from Alexander McCall Smith's The World According to Bertie : "Some books, of course, were destined not to be read, largely because of their unintelligibility to all except a very small number of people" (171). I think we can all come up with a few books that would fit this description.  Happy Tuesday!

Week two of the A-Z Blogging Challenge has commenced and landed on the letter H.  Today is all about Hogmany   Princes Street, Edinburgh   Hogmany is the Scots word for New Years and is a three day celebration consisting of parades, bonfires, Viking ship burning, and fireworks.  So...a lot of fire.  In 2007/2008 I rang in the New Year on the streets of Edinburgh, Scotland.  The entire city shuts down for this event, closing off all major city center streets to traffic and thousand upon thousands of people gather in Princes Street Gardens, on Princes Street, George IV Bridge, Queen Street, etc.  There is live music set up at several points around the city center, as well as food and beer kiosks.  Essentially, it's a GIANT street party.  Once the clock strikes midnight, fireworks are set off from Edinburgh Castle, Calton Hill and other strategic places around the city so that those standing on the streets are completely surrounded by g...

Jude Deveraux's TheDuchess , yet another in the Montgomery series (which I will completely knock out one of these days) was a pretty decent read.  While I didn't quite enjoy it as much as some of the others, I did like the fact that it was a quick read with characters that I believed. Duchess tells the story of Claire Willoughby and her journey to finding a "suitable" husband, as declared by her grandfather.  Claire finds Harry Montgomery, the Duke of MacArran, and a seemingly perfect fit for her grandfather's stipulations.  The engagement is announced and Claire and her family move into the historic castle of her intended.  While there, some interesting things occur.  Claire is thrust into the mix of an extremely eccentric bunch of people, all of whom inhabit the castle.  A mysterious man, Trevelyan, appears in the countryside who draws Claire like a magnate.  Harry starts to show some of his true colors.  People's feelings and true circumstan...

Having spent time living in Scotland, I've been reading some of the contemporary authors that have been products of that beautiful land.  One of my favorites, who I discovered in a random charity shop in Edinburgh, is Christopher Brookmyre who is a wonderful political/crime/whodunit writer.  Another well-known contemporary Edinburgh writer is Ian Rankin , whose books are along the same lines as Brookmyre's.  His Detective Rebus novels have even garnered a television show .  In addition to these two writers, there is Kate Atkinson .  Now, I have never read anything by Atkinson, though she's prevalent on my To-Read list because her novels always sound so interesting, but I ran across an inexpensive used copy of one of her books recently and thought I'd give it a try. Kate Atkinson's Case Histories was an interesting read.  Not bad...not great...just interesting.  The novel covers a time span of thirty years and three separate cold cases.  Somehow...

Jude Deveraux's The Heiress was a pleasant, easy read.  The book is one of the many in the Montgomery series, of which I am rather enjoying.  It's nice because this series does not need to be read in order (though it would probably help to do so in order to see the timeline), which is a wonderful thing seeing as how there are quite a few in it.  Heiress follows the story of Jamie Montgomery, an impoverished knight, and Axia, an extremely wealthy heiress.  Jamie is taxed with escorting Axia to her newly arranged husband, a mission that will supply him with a nice nest egg to help his two sisters as well as himself.  Of course he would be even more well off if he could get Axia to fall in love and marry him, thus inheriting her entire fortune.  His sisters further spur the mission toward this outcome.  Unbeknownst to Jamie, Axia and her cousin Frances, her only companion aside from Tode the jester, have decided to pretend to be each other and trick Ja...

I'm trying to pick books that will be quick reads and that I can finish before I leave on vacation this weekend.  Having said that, this week's teaser comes from Jude Deveraux's The Duchess , one of the many books in the Montgomery series and NOT to be confused with the Keira Knightley film of the same name. "She sat there for a long while, breathing the sweet, cool Scottish air and looking at the hills.  After a while she turned and saw that Trevelyan was staring at her.  He seemed able to read her thoughts, but she had no idea what he was thinking" (65). This book started off really slow...thankfully it's started to pick up (100 pages in).  Now I have until Friday night to finish it, along with grading a massive stack of essays and poem responses.  Joy to my burning eyes ;)

Hands down, my favorite book in the 44 Scotland Street series so far!  Alexander McCall Smith's Love Over Scotland takes the reader back to those quirky characters on Scotland Street, as well as bringing in a few more to mix things up.  There is a lot that happens to each of the characters in this installation and all come out in a different place than they started. Pat finally has a viable love interest...or two, though one might not be as honest as the other, and has started at the university studying Art History.  Domenica is off on her anthropological study of pirates in the South China Sea.  Angus is missing Domenica tremendously.  New character Antonia Collie, an old friend of Domenica's, is subletting her flat in Scotland Street while she's away.  Angus does not like this.  Poor Bertie has been forced into yet another extra-curricular activity; one that provides him with utmost embarrassment:  the Edinburgh Teen Symphony.  Embarrassi...

Ah...another easy smut novel to breeze through.  Jude Deveraux's Highland Velvet was one of my 50 cent finds at the Friends of the Library book sale and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  One reason being that it was quick to get through (as all romance novels are) and another reason was because it was set in Scotland...I LOVE SCOTLAND! Velvet follows the arranged marriage (or marriage for services rendered to the king) of Stephen Montgomery, a British aristocrat, and Bronwyn MacArran, a Scottish clan leader.  Of course these two don't see eye to eye at all.  For one thing, Stephen is convinced, before meeting Bronwyn, that she is absolutely hideous and Bronwyn is a very strong, independent woman who is used to being a leader of men.  These two butt heads from the very beginning and continue to argue despite the fact that they are falling deeply in love (obviously).  There are trials and tribulations added to their constant bickering, but this forced the two to r...

It's Tuesday and that means it's time for a teaser!  Today's teaser comes from Alexander McCall Smith's Love Over Scotland , the third installation in the 44 Scotland Street series.  "The pain from the scorpion sting seemed to have abated somewhat, and when she looked down at her left foot she saw that the swelling also seemed to have subsided.  She felt a strong surge of relief at this; obviously the scorpion was not too toxic, and she was not going to die, as she had feared earlier on" (218). Oh the antics these characters manage to get themselves in to.  Good stuff.  Happy Tuesday everyone!

Book number 19 in my ever-occurring, never-ending A-Z Reading Challenge is Alexander McCall Smith's Espresso Tales .  This is the second book in the 44 Scotland Street series and I have to say, though enjoyable, I didn't like it as much as the first in the series. Espresso finds us back on Scotland Street with all of the previous characters, plus a few that are featured more prominently than in the previous book.  Most of the characters are still who they were in the first book, though some of them have had a few mishaps and setbacks.  Bruce is just as egotistical as ever, but there were instances in this book that knocked him down a peg or four.  I liked that fact (perhaps that's mean of me).  Pat is finally making a decision about her future and starting to voice her opinions and ideas to those she's surrounded by (Bruce mainly).  She also meets someone...kind of.  Domenica is still the voice of intuition and stories that prevails over the entire s...

It's a rainy, windy, out of control day here in the Pacific Northwest (seriously...I feel like the roof is going to be ripped off the top of the house right now), but I am a dedicated Teaser Tuesday poster and, fear not, I will not let you down!  Today's teaser comes from a book that I am two pages into as I started it this morning and then got distracted by shopping (whoops).  My selection is from Alexander McCall Smith's second installation in the 44 Scotland Street series and is called Espresso Tales . "Stuart looked frantically about the room.  It would be possible to make a run for it now, he thought.  Lard would be unable to run after them, with that bulk of his, but he had heard sounds out in the hall and he had assumed that there were other men, apart from Gerry, in the house.  These gangsters rarely had just one side-kick, he remembered." (177) And now I want some coffee...

That's right!  Alexander McCall Smith's 44 Scotland Street makes me teary-eyed.  Not because of the plot or characters or anything like that, but because of the fact that I can close my eyes and see exactly what the characters are seeing.  I can walk and ride along with them in every aspect.  Sad and teary-eyed because I miss it so much.  Ugh.  Now I don't even want to write this.  My dreary day (though fantastic weather-wise with it's overcast skies, slight mist, and chilly breeze) is now reflected with a dreary mood :( A view of the lovely sky from my backyard today. Anywho...moving on to the book.  LOVED IT!  I like the fact that McCall Smith originally created this as a serial and ran it in The Scotsman every week and I can only image how fans reacted.  Personally, I would have found it nearly impossible to wait for the next installment to come out.  Oh the pins and needles!  However, since there are currently five b...

It's that time of the week where I put forth a little gem of lovely from whatever book I'm reading (at least the one closest to me at the time).  For this week's edition, I've just started Alexander McCall Smith's 44 Scotland Street , the first in the series.  Yay for Scotland (I miss you)!!  And the teaser... "'Psychotherapy," said Bertie, gazing down at the floor.  'I set fire to Daddy's Guardian .'  He paused, and looked up at Domenica.  'While he was reading it.'" (222) A view of the back of 44 Scotland Street in Edinburgh, Scotland I'm really enjoying this book so far...for several reasons.

Julia Glass' Three Junes is by far, hands down the BEST book I've read this year.  It was the 2002 winner for the National Book Award for Fiction and definitely deserved it.  I picked this book up for my scattered Edinburgh bookclub and I can honestly say that it's my favorite of all that we have read in the past nearly three years (ugh).  It makes you laugh, cry, smile, and think.  That's what makes this book so good. The story centers around the McLeod family, natives of Scotland, and follows members across continents, years, relationships, sexuality, heartache, anguish, and happiness.  It's told in sections from the perspective of the patriarch, Paul, his oldest son, Fenno, and Fern, a woman who manages to weave herself into the lives of these two men without much effort and who, after the first section of this book, the reader does not really think about again. We first meet Paul in 1989 and are welcomed into his personal anguish over the death of his w...