Sunday, February 23, 2014

Week's Reading

Nursing school has me so busy anymore that I really don't have time for posts besides these link up posts. They give me what to write about so it's easy. I need easy. I get so little sleep anymore it's kind of sad. I got used to staying up late and getting up late during Christmas break I have just continued on staying up late but now I have to get up early. It's wreaking havoc on my body. You'd think a little over a month into this semester I might have figured this out and tried going to bed earlier... let's just say I'm a slow learner. ;)

Anyways, this week I'm linking up again with Book Journey for "It's Monday What are You Reading?". I posted links to the Goodreads pages for all of the books for your convenience. 

So last week I didn't finish up anything but Sunday I did complete Mary Poppins in the Park, which I'm not sure if that's the last of the Mary Poppins books or if that's just all of them that my family has. I really enjoyed reading them though and if you haven't checked out my review of the books then I would encourage you to do so. Pretty much what I said though was read them! You and your children... NOW! 
Synopsis (from Goodreads): From the moment Mary Poppins arrives at Number Seventeen Cherry-Tree Lane, everyday life at the Banks house is forever changed. This classic series tells the story of the world's most beloved nanny, who brings enchantment and excitement with her everywhere she goes. 
Only the incomparable Mary Poppins can lead the Banks children on one marvelous adventure after another. Together they meet the Goosegirl and the Swineherd, argue with talking cats on a distant planet, make the acquaintance of the folks who live under dandelions, and celebrate a birthday by dancing with their own shadows. And that’s just for starters!

I'm currently listening to the audiobook of The Warden which is by Anthony Trollope. I'm enjoying it so far. I've already read it's sequel Barchester Towers and watched a miniseries of both of them so I know what's going to happen but it is still fun to read it. The Warden is similar to reading Jane Austen's novels though not as humorous and it does seem to drag on at points. One of the points I really enjoy about it is the close father-daughter relationship portrayed in it. 
Synopsis (from Goodreads): The book centers on the character of Mr. Harding, a clergyman of great personal integrity, whose charitable income far exceeds the purpose for which it was intended. Young John Bold turns his reforming zeal to exposing what he considers to be an abuse of privilege, despite being in love with Mr. Harding's daughter Eleanor. The novel was highly topical as a case regarding the misapplication of church funds was the scandalous subject of contemporary debate. But Trollope uses this specific case to explore and illuminate the universal complexities of human motivation and social morality. 

Via iBooks I'm reading The War of the Worlds. I'd seen an old movie version before so I was interested in reading it, especially with my sci-fi kick of late. So far it is different from the movie but still good. Once I'm done I think I'll watch the newer film version with Tom Hanks. 
Synopsis (from Goodreads): Man had not yet learned to fly when H.G. Wells conceived this story of a Martian attack on England. Giant cylinders crash to Earth, disgorging huge, unearthly creatures armed with heat-rays and fighting machines. Amid the boundless destruction they cause, it looks as if the end of the world has come.

For this coming week I'll continue with those two aforementioned and probably start on Tolkien's Children of Húrin. I actually have no idea what it's about I just know it is Tolkien therefore I'm going to read it. ;) 
Synopsis (from Goodreads): Painstakingly restored from Tolkien's manuscripts and presented for the first time as a fully continuous and standalone story, the epic tale of The Children of Hurin will reunite fans of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings with Elves and Men, dragons and Dwarves, eagles and Orcs, and the rich landscape and characters unique to Tolkien. There are tales of Middle-earth from times long before The Lord of the Rings, and the story told in this book is set in the great country that lay beyond the Grey Havens in the West: lands where Treebeard once walked, but which were drowned in the great cataclysm that ended the First Age of the World. In that remote time Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in the vast fortress of Angband, the Hells of Iron, in the North; and the tragedy of Turin and his sister Nienor unfolded within the shadow of the fear of Angband and the war waged by Morgoth against the lands and secret cities of the Elves. Their brief and passionate lives were dominated by the elemental hatred that Morgoth bore them as the children of Hurin, the man who had dared to defy and to scorn him to his face. Against them he sent his most formidable servant, Glaurung, a powerful spirit in the form of a huge wingless dragon of fire. Into this story of brutal conquest and flight, of forest hiding-places and pursuit, of resistance with lessening hope, the Dark Lord and the Dragon enter in direly articulate form. Sardonic and mocking, Glaurung manipulated the fates of Turin and Nienor by lies of diabolic cunning and guile, and the curse of Morgoth was fulfilled. The earliest versions of this story by J.R.R. Tolkien go back to the end of the First World War and the years that followed; but long afterwards, when The Lord of the Rings was finished, he wrote it anew and greatly enlarged it in complexities of motive and character: it became the dominant story in his later work on Middle-earth. But he could not bring it to a final and finished form. In this book Christopher Tolkien has constructed, after long study of the manuscripts, a coherent narrative without any editorial invention.
So now that I know what it is about I am definitely reading it! :) Pretty much it's a book for us Tolkien Geeks. ;)

Plenty of reading to get done this week but the question is will I get it done? With a test this week and then my church's women's retreat this weekend, I wonder. :)

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10 comments:

  1. Ahh - I found that Tolkien hardback in the fall and kept it for my son =) I'm sure he'll be thrilled !
    I reviewed a Mary Poppins audio - not impressed with the narrator - makes a huge diff in whether listening is pain or pleasure!

    I've also posted a response to your JA query on variations as follows:
    @Lois - treat them as an adventure and find out which are your favs!
    I've def encountered wins + losses - if you're concerned, start with your public library & download some ecopies to 'try them' =)

    for audibles, use the sample listening button to check if it's a voice and speed you can enjoy for the hours involved in 'listening'..

    but don't miss out on some great variations - you can always stop the book or audio if you're not into that particular one !
    enjoy the experiment & let me know how you get on...

    HapPy reading Lois!

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  2. I loved Mary Poppins as a youngster :D The Children of Hurin is gorgeous, Alan Lee is such a great artist too. Have you listened to the War of the Worlds musical album by Jeff Wayne? It's narrated by Richard Burton, and it's great. Happy reading, I hope you can get some sleep!

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    1. The musical album sounds great! I'll have to check into that. Thank you! :)

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  3. I feel a sci-fi mood coming on soon too. There's some new stuff coming out that I want to read. Hope you have a great week. And ooh War of the Worlds - loved the movie, and I hope the book is just as entertaining.

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  4. The Mary Poppins series is on an ever increasing list of TBR's in my house! As is War of the Worlds! Thanks for visiting my blog!

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    1. Thanks for visiting mine! I can't recommend the Mary Poppins books enough.

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  5. I must read The Children of Hurin! I'm a huge fan of LOTR and The Hobbit so I know that I'll love it :)

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