read as many books as possible, starting with all the books I own but haven't read

A pretty good read. At first i wasn’t that interested. Then a short way into The River King a couple characters were introduced who reminded me strongly of myself & a friend when i was young. Some of the other characters (particularly the lady photography teacher) were really weak and annoying. The end was also kind of flat; not happy, not hopeless, just unsatisfying in the same way life often is for us. Still, i enjoyed it overall and thus, blew thru it quickly.

I wrapped The Gardens of Kyoto up yesterday. I’ve been horribly sick the last couple days, so reading was just about the only thing i was capable of. What a somber story! Very sad but enjoyed and recommended. I liked these characters, they truly felt like people i might have known.
The story is told from the perspective of Ellen, a young lady who (as a teen) sees her cousin off to WWII, later experiences a brief love affair with an officer back from Korea. It is very much about the real damage of war, how it softly reverberates, cracking the hopes & lives of those who never even fought.
It is extremely touching, and timeless in a way. Particularly now, when there is so much dialog and awareness about soldiers returning with PTSD and similar illness. In the 40s and 50s this was not addressed at all, as you can imagine. I wondered about the affect on my own family.

So far, much better. * sigh of relief *

Walking away from this book. :(
Feel guilty but made it half way thru, just waiting for it to get a little bit compelling, just the slightest upturn of events. I can’t take it anymore. Completely miserable cast of characters. I’ve read a lot of dreary stuff in my life but this is too high up there to continue.
Cholera Epidemic + 15yr old Prostitute + Her baby with its heart outside its chest + Young Doctor involved in murder/body snatching scandal + 19th century uptight Brit’ society = 1 Depressed Bibliofile
Has otherwise received good reviews. One compared it to The Name of the Rose (which i loved), another compared it to Instance at the Fingerpost (which i despised, and ironically, was the last book i just couldn’t finish—2 years ago).
Perhaps it’s bad timing (my life is kinda rough right now) but i’ve committed time every single night to sitting down to read (and “relax”) and i’ve come to dread sitting with this story after a long day of my own life.
Too many other books waiting, onto something else…

Finally finished Orisinian Tales by Le Guin. Took me 2 weeks instead of 1, the fault of a busy life, not the book—that was excellent, highly recommend!! Not at all fantasy/scifi (tho she is oft’ associated with these genres). A collection of short stories about human nature, relationships and destinies fulfilled and sometimes not. The common thread is they all take place in and around this fictitious Eastern European land, though in different time periods: 12th cent till 1960. Excellent read, great to take on a trip, i imagine!

Took my books to sell to used bookstore yesterday. Got $110! Of course, there were a LOT of books. Probably only got about $1.10 each. Oh well… Going to put the money toward the digital camera i want to get. (and i had been eying a model about $100 out of my price range)
Hmmm, fate works in strange ways :)

Nice selection to ease into this challenge as it’s a very short book of shorts!

Also, over the weekend, i did accomplish my task of separating out the books i will seek to get rid of, first choice: sell to a second-hand bookstore i know well. What they don’t take i will swap or donate. (in all honesty, at this point i need the money more)
The Give Up pile = 4 large paper shopping bags and 3 boxes.

I have 2 very large & full bookcases. We are talking about several hundred titles of all sorts. Since i am trying to slim down all my belongs in a long preparation to move from NJ to OR, I’ve thought of a helpful first step.

This weekend i’m going to pull out everything i Have read and of that, decide what to keep (hopefully the lesser amount) and what to sell. Both piles will be put in appropriate boxes. This will leave only unread items on the shelves. A good thing, since you aren’t suppose to have a lot of stuff around when showing a house. And i have noticed that my book collection draws remarks and seems to intimidate people.