GLBT Challenge 2010: Introductory Post

Amanda from The Zen Leaf and Jen from Multi-Genre Fan are hosting a very important and interesting challenge in 2010, the GLBT Challenge 2010. The challenge seeks to highlight GLBT literature.

The rules are fairly simple:
The basic idea of this challenge is to read books about GLBT topics and/or by GLBT authors.
The challenge runs year-round, and there will be three levels of participation:

• Lambda Level: Read 4 books.
• Pink Triangle Level: Read 8 books.
• Rainbow Level: Read 12 or more books.

You don't need to choose your books right away, and they can change at any time. Overlaps with other challenges are fine.

I’m aiming for the Lambda Level but you never know, I might upgrade. I am one of those people who needs a list or nothing happens so here is my list (I do however reserve the right to change my mind):

The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson. I read Nymeth’s review of this earlier this year and it sounded fantastic. It is a YA book about three girls. This will probably be an audio book.

My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Fenway Park by Steve Kluger. Another blog find. This time from Bart’s Bookshelf.  Another YA book about three friends and one year in their lives.

En Komikers Uppväxt by Jonas Gardell. This book is by Swedish author Jonas Gardell. Gardell is one of Sweden’s most GLBT writers. This book tells of twelve year old Juha Lindström. It has been called on of the funniest and saddest portrayals of childhood ever written. This is one of those books almost all Swedish school children read at some point.

Om Gud by Jonas Gardell. Same author as above. This book is a cross read with the World Religion Challenge.

Brokeback Mountain by Anne Proulx. I bought this book because I thought I was supposed to read it for a class in popular lit. Turns out we were supposed to watch the movie. Since I have it I figure I should read it.

Teaser Tuesday: Hogfather

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 

“BUT THE HOGFATHER CAN CHANGE THINGS. LITTLE MIRACLES ALL OVER THE PLACE, WITH MANY A MERRY HO, HO, HO. TEACHING PEOPLE THE REAL MEANING OF HOWSWATCH, ALBERT.”*  (pg 232)

 

From Hogfather by Terry Pratchett

 

*For those who have not yet read Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series I am not shouting. That is Death speaking.

Progressive Dinner Party: Appetizer and Drinks

Welcome to my little home on the interwebbies. Today we are having the Appetizer and Drinks portion of the Progressive Dinner Party put together by Amy, Nicole and Julie. Thank you!

 I hope you enjoyed you Santa's Little Helpers over at My Round File

Stop by the Book Blogger Social Club to visit all the different foods and drinks during the week.

I am serving up a Swedish speciality: Glögg
 
It is a form of mulled wine. Although I am going to serve an alcohol free version for those of us who don’t drink:

Recipes
Base:
5 dl water (2.1 US cups)
2 pieces dried bitter orange peel
2 pieces of dried ginger
2 cinnamon sticks
15 cloves
2 tsp cardamom seeds

Add water and all spices to a pot. Bring to a boil and then let simmer for 30 minutes. Strain the mixture keeping the liquid.

For alcoholic drink:
Mix base with a bottle of wine (75cl) and 1 dl (0.4 US cups) of sugar in a pot. Warm up until sugar has melted but do not boil.

For non-alcoholic drink:
Mix base with 1/2 l  (2 US cups) Black Current Cordial (juice) and 2 dl (0.8 US cups) concentrated apple juice (or apple cider). Warm up the mixture but don’t let it boil.
 
To Serve: Put a couple of blanched almonds and a tsp of raisins in each mug and pour the drink over. Enjoy with a gingersnap or three!


Glögg parties are one of the most common parties in Sweden in December. Most people probably don’t make their own though (well I don’t at least) as there are about two gazillion different pre-mixed versions on the market here. We tried one with chocolate and chili flavour this year. It was awesome!


If you haven't already stop by Dana's Scrap Therapy for some cheese dip (cheese is very good on gingersnaps by the way)

Weekly Geeks: What I Do and Why I Do It

This weeks Weekly Geek asks about what we do with our books.

Books take us on journeys, flitting us off to other times, people, and places. From ancient caves to medieval castles to modern skyscrapers; from delicate geishas to turn of the century immigrants to future captains of spaceships; books are our path to other worlds. But what about the journey we give our books? What path do books take through our hands?

How do you choose what to read? Is it random or planned? Based on your mood, challenges, titles, covers, topic?

I have a list of books I want to read (in a googledoc spreadsheet, it is colour coded and everything. Why yes I have issues). Usually I have decided which book to read next (I might have next year mapped out completely you know if I was anal thorough and precise) but if I fancy something else I will read that which I am fancying. I have lists because I like lists. I also have lists because I have problems making decisions sometimes. Having the decision already made for me (by me, but still) takes away some of my more spacey tendencies.

What process do you use for reading? Do you take notes while reading? Annotate your books? Just read?

I take notes. In the book. Yup I am one of *those* people. I don’t make notes in all books and definitely not in library books. But if I find that I agree with lots of things in the book. That they touch me in some way I at least underline. In pencil. Never in pen. I don’t like pen in my books. I do sometimes take notes on separate paper as well. Especially with audio books where I can’t flip back to check something when I am writing my review. For library books I use post-it notes. Lots and lots of post-it notes. I also use those little post it notes to identify where I have made notes.

 
What happens when you are done reading? Do you wait to review or write immediately? Do you revisit and revise before posting?

I write my reviews right away. Otherwise they end up in the To Do Pile of Doom (I am a great procrastinator). Also doing them straight away I remember what’s happened and what I thought of the book. I am trying to let the reviews sit a bit before I publish them though because I find that I have had to go back and fix some pretty big errors when I have posted them straight off the bat. So that is one of my resolutions for 2010, let my reviews sit for a day or two.

What other tasks do you go through after reading a book? Is your blog the only place you post a review? Do you keep lists of readings? Catalog genre, page numbers, gender of authors, etc.?

I keep a record of books read on Shelfari. I like the visual aspects of it. I have looked into both LibraryThing and GoodReads and I have yet to be sold that either of them offer me anything I can’t get on Shelfari that I need. I like the visual aspects of Shelfari. However, I don’t like that they seem to have an issue with Swedish books. I can’t find any on there, which is one of the reasons I am considering a switch to one of the others.

What happens to the book when you are done with it? Does it end up in your home library? Go back to a public library? BookMooch?

Because I read most of my books in English and my local library has a pitiful collection of books in English I own most of my books. I am also a compulsive collector so most of the time they go into my home library. When I lived in the UK I was pretty good at giving books to charity and I would like to do that more but I don’t have any appropriate charity shops around here so…I should probably try BookMooch but I am pretty sure that it would cost me more to send books around the world there to get credit than it costs me to buy them new from BookDepository.co.uk (especially since I try to buy as many books from them as possible when I have discount coupons)

Overall, if you had to give someone a "How To" list for your dealings with any particular book, what would it look like?

My How To for Me list is as follows:

1. Make a list of books

2. Break list down into months

3. Choose book from current month

4. Put list in “Currently reading” category on Shelfari

5. Read

6. Write review as soon as finished

7. Log finish date on Shelfari.

8. Tag book on Shelfari with current month and year (current tag December 09) plus current year.

9. Post review on Shelfari

10. Twitter about the review on blog

11. Pick next book

The Sunday Salon: Christmas Carol Edition

What Caught My Fancy This Week

I hate to do this but…this has been an incredibly busy week for me. It was my last week at placement (aka work) and I still have stuff to finish up for that. I also have a big essay to write this coming week that I have been working on. Because of this I haven’t read an awful lot. However, I did read this story from the NY Times on my phone on the bus home one day. It caught my attention because it is about A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. My Dad LOVES that story and every year around Christmas he watches every single adaptation he can get his hands on. Every year we complain about it (while secretly loving it *Shhhhh*).

 

A Christmas Carol is such a big part of Christmas for me that I loved reading about the original edits and changes. I wish I was in New York so that I could go see the original manuscript!

Reading

How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren. Nothing read here to much other stuff going on.

 The History of the Ancient World by Susan Wise Bauer. Essay is taking precedent this week and I have not read anything of this book. I do have a galley copy of the next book in the series that I probably need to start reading first so that I can post a review before it comes out.

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett. Reading this one for two challenges 2009 Holiday Reading Challenge and the 2010 Terry Pratchett Challenge (which started on December 1st).

Finished

The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs (review). Loved Loved Loved this book!

Challenges

Over the next two weeks I will be posting my sign ups for 2010 challenges. I’ve tried to schedule them for different days of the week. I am doing one post for each challenge for my own house keeping so that it is easier for me to keep track of where I am in the different ones.

 
Finished The Year of Living Biblically  by A. J. Jacobs. Which means that I have finished the Fall Into Reading challenge! Wrap up post will be forthcoming (probably not until after the day of doom 13th)

Fun Stuff

Join us for the Progressive Dinner Party this week over at The Book Bloggers Social Club starting on Monday. I’ll be serving food on Monday and Wednesday here!


There is a great giveaway right now over at Bibliofreak. Click to Join the Great Kindle II GiveAway! and I get another entry (have I mentioned how much I really really want a Kindle?)


I’m a good elf. Are you?

Book Review: The Year of Living Biblically

The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A. J. Jacobs

Category: Non-fiction

Synopsis: Raised in a secular family but increasingly interested in the relevance of faith in our modern world, A.J. Jacobs decides to dive in headfirst and attempt to obey the Bible as literally as possible for one full year. He vows to follow the Ten Commandments. To be fruitful and multiply. To love his neighbour. But also to obey the hundreds of less publicized rules: to avoid wearing clothes made of mixed fibers; to play a ten-string harp; to stone adulterers.

The resulting spiritual journey is at once funny and profound, reverent and irreverent, personal and universal, and will make you see history’s most influential book with new eyes. The Year of Living Biblically will charm readers both secular and religious. It is part CliffsNotes to the Bible, part memoir, and part look into worlds unimaginable. Thou shalt not be able to put it down. (From the back of the book

My Thoughts: This is the best book I have read all year and I have read some good books. This book made me think. It made me understand. It made me laugh and it even brought tears to my eyes at some points.

Like Jacobs I grew up in a secular family and I find religion perplexing and intriguing and in part I am a little bit jealous of people of faith. My grandmother was Catholic and my mum once said that she envied her faith. The comfort my grandmother gained from her faith is something I wish I had. I, however am a sceptic. I want to believe but I can’t quite bring myself to believe. One of the most perplexing things I find with people of faith is their belief in parts of the Bible but not others. This specifically applies to those Biblical literalist I have encountered (primarily on the interwebbies). Jacob does a very good job of presenting what these people believe and why. Does he pass judgment, yes, but to my, secular liberal, views he does it with compassion and understanding. He states that he cannot believe what they believe but at the same time there is a sense of him wanting to have that strong faith.

The sections that had me laughing out loud where often connected to his wife's reactions to his project (her sitting on all the chairs in the apartment when she is menstruating is pure genius on her part) . I read several sections of the book out loud to my parents as I sat reading they were that funny. I also read out sections that I thought were particularly profound. One of these sections was this:

“The Bible is right: A deluge of images does encourage idolatry. Look at the cults of personality in America today. Look at Hollywood. Look at Washington. I’d like to see the next presidential race be run according to Second Commandment principals. No commercials. A radio-only debate. We need an ugly president. I know we’re missing out on some potential Abe Lincolns because they’d look gawky and gangly on TV.” (106)

Looking over my notes on the book I do have one thing that I am still wondering about: What would this book look like if a woman had written it? Many of the rules he touches upon points to the differences between men and women. I would like to read the book written by a woman doing the same thing.
The book primarily deals with the Old Testament as this is where most of the rules are located, but also because these are the rules that Jacobs with his Jewish heritage feels closest to. If I have one criticism of the book it is that I would have liked to see more commentary on the New Testament. The three chapters that cover the New Testament feel shorter and flatter than the nine that cover the Old Testament. They do include some fairly profound thoughts but they feel rushed. This is probably in part because of the birth of Jacobs twins and the changes that they cause in his life (and I was so happy that they had those kids). It didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book but I did notice the change in the book. 

For those of you who read my Teaser Tuesday on this book: He out Bibles the Jehovah's Witness. The man ends up having to leave without Jacobs being “done”.

I highly recommend this book!
 

South Asian Author Challenge: Introductory Post

S.Krishna is hosting a challenge in 2010 that has me really excited. It is dedicated to South Asian Authors. There are only two rules for the challenge

1) The author must be of South Asian descent.  It doesn’t matter if they’re third or fourth generation, or are only half South Asian – I’m pretty flexible on this issue.
2) The book must be about South Asia in some way.  It doesn’t have to be set in South Asia, as long as it’s about the culture or history in some way.  On the other hand, it can be set in South Asia and not be about South Asians.

The challenge has four different levels. Read 3, 5, 7 or 10 books.

The challenge runs from January 1, 2010 – December 31, 2010

I am aiming for the lowest level since I would rather upgrade than downgrade :) And because I am a compulsive list maker who needs lists in order to get anything done, these are the books I am planning on reading:

Haunting Bombay by Shilpa Agarwal. I read S.Krishna’s review of it earlier this year and I was intrigued!

The Forbidden Daughter by Shobhan Bantwal. Again this one was reviewed by S.Krishna and it sounds really good. Girls and their status in society is something that I find important on a personal level so reading this book should be emotional but good.

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. I’ve wanted to read this book ever since I read Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies for my grad school class. This book is also a cross read with the World Religion Challenge.

I am also seriously considering The Dowry Bride by Shilpa Agarwal as this also looks really interesting.