NOTICE: (Updated March 5, 2010)

Beginning December 19, 2009, Books 'N Border Collies will be posting but only intermittently while I pursue personal goals. I plan to share some reading I'm doing, but there will be no reviews. I will, however, be sharing my exploration of vegetarian cooking and the cookbooks and websites I use to educate myself. I hope you enjoy it!

Lezlie



Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Reading Notes and A Get Well Soon For Big Al


Just when things were turning around for my Timberwolves, our leader Big Al Jefferson goes down for the season with a torn ACL. Big sigh.

Get Well Soon, Al! We know we won't see you the rest of this season, but we'll be thinking of you! And to the rest of my T-Wolves: We're there for you, guys! Show the naysayers what you can do!! Go Wolves!!

The reading front is going well. I finished Book II, Canto IV of The Faerie Queene last night. I've finally gotten a handle on the language well enough to read the cantos before looking at the reading guide! I'm pretty proud of that accomplishment!

The Annotated Uncle Tom's Cabin is a little slow going, because I'm reading all the notes. This will not be the last time I read an annotated edition of a book. I'm getting so much out of the extra information! My only complaint is the person who wrote these notes feels the need to point out every time he thinks a part of the book is boring. Is that normal in annotations? Just curious.

Bigger Thomas is still making me nervous in Native Son, and I picked up some essays about the book. I'm trying to decide if I should go ahead and read them before I finish listening to it or wait until I'm done. Decisions, decisions.

Oh! I started listening to Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe. She's full of spit and vinegar, I tell you! I think I like her. I have come across one section of the book that raised even my eyebrows. I don't want to tell you what it is, because it's a pretty prominent story line that I really didn't see coming. I'll bet it caused some problems when the book came out!

And check this out:

The Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe.


[T]he story of an amateur entomologist who wanders alone into a remote seaside village in pursuit of a rare beetle he wants to add to his collection. But the townspeople take him prisoner. They lower him into the sand-pit home of a young widow, a pariah in the poor community, who the villagers have condemned to a life of shoveling back the ever-encroaching dunes that threaten to bury the town. (Description from Amazon.com)

Yes, I bought the book. How could I not? There's just something about that kind of weirdness that I can't pass up!

Happy Reading, Everyone!



10 comments:

Lisa said...

I love reading books with annotations simply because of all the things that I probably would have missed otherwise. I don't think I've ever come across annotations that include personal opinions such as those you describe here.

Lezlie said...

Lisa ~ That's what I'm loving about it, too. The personal opinion notes really took me aback at first. Especially since I didn't agree at all! :-)

Lezlie

Jeane said...

That Dunes book looks really intriguing. What an interesting cover, too.

Lezlie said...

Jeane ~ I'm hoping to get to that one soon for my February Buy A Book And Read It Challenge choice. I hope it's as good as it looks and sounds!!

Lezlie

The Bookworm said...

sounds good, enjoy it!
http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/

Lezlie said...

Naida ~ I just got an email from a friend who said she read it a while back and thought it was really cool. I can't wait to get to it!

Lezlie

joanna said...

I've never read an annotated version of anything, but Uncle Tom's Cabin sounds like a good candidate for such an experiment... And I loved Moll Flanders! I must re-read that, since I didn't even get what your were referring to, I read it ten years ago I think.

Lezlie said...

Joanna ~ Hint: It's when she first moves to Virginia with her husband to live with him and his mother.

I hope you do try The Annotated Uncle Tom's Cabin. I'd love to hear what you think of it!

Lezlie

Terri B. said...

"Woman in the Dunes" ... what a strange sounding book, but intriguing. I probably would have bought it too.

Lezlie said...

Terri ~ We're such suckers, aren't we? :-)

Lezlie