Booking Through Thursday

For no really good reason that I can think of, I haven't managed to do the last three Booking Through Thursday Memes, so I thought I would do a bit of a catch up post!

From Thursday 19th November - Connecting Words

Okay, today’s question is going to be a little different. First, I’m posting it early because Thursday is Thanksgiving here in the U.S. and I’m going to be busy making and eating turkey as I’m sure some of you will also be, so I want to give everyone time to play. And two, because I’m basically going to link you through to somebody else’s blog with a question that I thought was pretty interesting.

Joanna and Brad are asking about “connecting words,” and they don’t mean conjunctions like “and” or “but.” No, what they’re looking for are unique, or treasured words that we’ve found out and about in our daily travels, words that might not be common usage, or often heard, but which struck a chord for some reason.

This is unorthodox, of course, but here’s the thing: if you link back to Joanna’s post (which is where the rules are written), you’re eligible to win a prize. Not to mention joining in some great conversation about interesting words.

I’m not sure if you’re supposed to leave a comment there or not. She only specifies that you should link to it in your post, but . . . I suppose a comment wouldn’t hurt. But, as always, comment here, too, please so that all of us can play along. I’ve already answered this one here.

I actually don't have an answer for this one, and looking at the comments it seems as though I wasn't really the only one! It did kind of make me laugh though that Deb posted the question early to allow for Thanksgiving, and I am still managing to even think about answering a couple of weeks late! Oh well!

From November 29 - Rolling

Do you get on a roll when you read, so that one book leads to the next, which leads to the next, and so on and so on?

I don’t so much mean something like reading a series from beginning to end, but, say, a string of books that all take place in Paris. Or that have anthropologists as the main character. Or were written in the same year. Something like that… Something that strings them together in your head, and yet, otherwise could be different genres, different authors…

I would have originally said no, not really to this question, but when I look back over the last few months I can definitely see some patterns forming, and most certainly in terms of things that happen in life that interconnect with my reading. For example, last month I read Barbed Wire and Roses by Peter Yeldham, and one of the themes in the book was about the treatment for soldiers who had shell-shock during WWI. Not long after that I watched a documentary on the difficulties that the soldiers who are returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are having in readjusting and not being treated for their medical issues. Last week, I watched another documentary on the History Channel, which investigated what happened to those soldiers that survived WWI but who were mentally scarred and suffering from shell shock.

Since reading that book I do seem to have been reading a bit more fiction that is set in either WWI and WWII, including right now, The Persimmon Tree by Bryce Courtenay which is set during WWII in the Pacific fronts. It all seems to tie in.

Another example of rolling is after reading The Arrival (a look at the immigrant experience with a fantasy setting_ not long ago I also read Unpolished Gem by Alice Pung which is the story of a young girl who was born in Australia of immigrant parents, and she is living the ever changing immigrant experience, trying to balance her home life with living in current day Australia

From December 6 - OOP

This week’s question is suggested by Island Editions:

Do you have a favourite book, now out of print, that you would like to see become available again? (I have several…)

It's probably a good thing that I have had a few days to think about this one, because initially I couldn't think of any, but now I have a couple that I haven't read but would really like to, and the works of another author that I loved when I read them just under 20 years ago.

First, the ones that I have read, but would really like to. I have heard such good things about Kathryn in the Court of Six Queens by Anne Merton Abbey but it does seem very difficult to find, and so far I haven't managed to do so.

The other one that I would really like to read is Phantom by Susan Kay Law. I am told that it is one of the best versions of Phantom around, but it seems to be another really hard one to find!

The author that I have read, but would love to see reprinted is Noel Barber. My aunt recommended his books to me when I was about 17 or 18, and once I read one, I just devoured them! I loved the fact that he wrote multi generational sagas featuring passionate relationships set against the world at war. Loved them. I have no idea if I would enjoy them if I reread them now, but I do enjoy the memory of them!

And now, I am all caught up on Booking Through Thursday....and there has been a bookish post on my blog! Yay!