Sunday, October 4, 2009

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? - October 5

I know, it's not Monday yet (at least not in my current time zone), but I'm writing this one now anyway. Maybe I'll actually get the final review for the week's books up tomorrow this way.

Anyway, It's Monday! What Are You Reading is kindly hosted each week by J. Kaye of J. Kaye's Book Blog.

This past week I finished reading the following books (I got horribly off track from what I said last week):

Gone Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright: A children's book, but a very good one. It's a Newberry Honor book too. What got me reading it now was I remembered enough details to post a query to the LibraryThing Name That Book Group and they identified it and it's sequel.

Return to Gone Away by Elizabeth Enright: The sequel to Gone Away Lake. I liked it just as much as the first book, too.

Geisha, A Life by Mineko Iwasaki: an autobiography that was very reminiscent of Memoirs Of A Geisha, the novel by Arthur Golden. It was also the third library book I picked up this week. Definitely an interesting read if you're interested in Japan and Japanese culture. I have to get the review written and posted soon.

Books I'm reading now:

Defenders of the Scroll: I'm just over two hundre pages in now. It's a children's/teens fantasy. I'm enjoying it, especially the lavishly done illustrations. I'd bet that if I posted this meme on Monday (my time-zone), I'd have this book in the completed section instead.

The Day The Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan: Set around Niagra Falls in 1915, this looks like a very good book. I've only just started reading it now though so I can't say yet. I do like the historical photos that are at the beginnings of most of the chapters though.

Books I intend to read:

I don't want to set this in stone at the moment. I will say I've joined the Clear Off Your Shelf Challenge with a threshold of 50% though.

16 comments:

Teddyree said...

I loved Memoirs of a Geisha so I think I'd probably enjoy Geisha, A Life too. My copy of Defenders of the Scroll arrived late last week so I'm glad to see you're enjoying it. Happy reading :-)

Here's my Monday post

Tea said...

I hope I don't miss your review about "The Day the Falls Stood Still." I love Newberry books. What would the world be like without Newberry, a very sad world.:(

Jennifer said...

Oh good lists! I enjoyed Geisha, A Life. I am waiting for my copy of When the Falls Stood Still to arrive. Happy reading.
Mine is here: http://rundpinne.blogspot.com/2009/10/what-are-you-reading-monday.html

karen! said...

'Defenders of the Scroll' sounds really good and 'The Day the Falls Stood Still' is one of the books my book club may be reading next year. I'm curious to hear what you think of it.

Sheila (bookjourney) said...

Memoirs of A Geisha was a good read. That is the only book on Geisha I have ever read.

Elena said...

Teddyree, Geisha, A Life was an enjoyable read. If you loved the descriptions of clothing, scenery and customs in Memoirs of a Geisha, they're all here too.

Tea, I don't know what it would be like without the Newberry Award, but I'd suspect the world would be a lot poorer. A lot of my favorite kids (and teen books) are Newberry Award or Newberry Honor books.

Jennifer, happy reading to you too. Hope your copy of The Day The Falls Stood Still arrives soon.

Karen, I'll be sure to post the review once I'm finished reading it.

Thanks for commenting everyone!

Anonymous said...

Although I haven't joined the challenge, I have every intention of clearing of mine this year. I have new things planned in 2010 and need a clean bookshelf to do it...lol.

Elena said...

Clearing off bookshelves is a bit of an act of futility for me. The new books come in faster than I can get rid of old ones (usually because I don't like to get rid of them).

I find that typically I've ended up buying the same book again after I've sold it on. Still, something's got to give (before the shelves do).

Cackleberry Homestead said...

Glad to hear Defenders is good - I have it on my pile to read along with The Day the Falls Stood Still.

Elena said...

I'm enjoying it, anyway.

Thanks for stopping by Crystal.

Marie said...

I've been thinking about The Day the Falls Stood Still since I usually like historical fiction. And I've read good things about the Geisha book so I might need to add that to my list also.

Elena said...

It looks like a really neat book, Marie. I just want to finish Defenders of the Scroll first.

Mary (Bookfan) said...

The Day the Falls Stood Still is on my wish list!

Elena said...

That seems to be the case for a lot of people, Mary. I've got to say, it's just increasing my enthusiasm for the book by confirming that others think it's going to be good too.
Thanks for dropping by.

Ruth Schaller said...

Have a great week! :D

Elena said...

And the same wish for you.

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