I wish Booklikes was still active
Just posting a picture for old time's sake
Books, hockey, and a bucketful of snark
Being the musings of a Yorkshire lass living in the USA. I'm a book geek, bird nerd, grammar Nazi, and hockey nut. Sarcasm is my default setting.
1
Blah!
There were way too many points of view and I ended up losing track of who was who.
File under "nope".
4
Reading progress update: I've read 12%.
Oh god, how many more POVs are we going to get? They all sound the bloody same anyway.
1
Nanny Ogg's opera TED talk
'Well, basically there are two sorts of opera,' said Nanny, who also had the true witch's ability to be confidently expert on the basis of no experience whatsoever. 'There's your heavy opera, where basically people sing foreign and it goes like "Oh oh oh, I am dyin', oh I am dyin', oh oh oh, that's what I'm doin'," and there's your light opera, where they sing in foreign and it basically goes "Beer! Beer! Beer! Beer! I like to drink lots of beer!", although they sometimes drink champagne instead. That's basically all of opera, reely'.
Nailed it!
7
Read. This. Book.
I can't add anything to all the glowing reviews this book has already received. Everything I want to say about it has already been said. It should be on everyone's shelves, and in all schools and libraries. If you haven't read it yet, you should remedy that right now.
6
Reading progress update: I've read 57%.
Oh, but this is so very, very good.
I thought the writing style was going to grate on me at first, but it didn't take long for me to just get completely lost in the story-telling.
2
This is Britain as you've never read it.
This is Britain as it has never been told.
From Newcastle to Cornwall, from the birth of the twentieth century to the teens of the twenty-first, Girl, Woman, Other follows a cast of twelve characters on their personal journeys through this country and the last hundred years. They're each looking for something - a shared past, an unexpected future, a place to call home, somewhere to fit in, a lover, a missed mother, a lost father, even just a touch of hope . . .
This is Britain as it has never been told.
From Newcastle to Cornwall, from the birth of the twentieth century to the teens of the twenty-first, Girl, Woman, Other follows a cast of twelve characters on their personal journeys through this country and the last hundred years. They're each looking for something - a shared past, an unexpected future, a place to call home, somewhere to fit in, a lover, a missed mother, a lost father, even just a touch of hope . . .
3
This was my latest book club choice, and I can definitely recommend it.
It's set during a period of history I know very little about; Pre- and Post-WWII Korea, and how the country and politics were shaped by the involvement of Japan and the United States.
Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls living on the Korean island of Jeju, are best friends who come from very different backgrounds. When they are old enough, they begin working in the sea with their village’s all-female diving collective, led by Young-sook’s mother. As the girls take up their positions as baby divers, they know they are beginning a life of excitement and responsibility—but also danger.
Despite their love for each other, Mi-ja and Young-sook find it impossible to ignore their differences. The Island of Sea Women takes place over many decades, beginning during a period of Japanese colonialism in the 1930s and 1940s, followed by World War II, the Korean War, through the era of cell phones and wet suits for the women divers. Throughout this time, the residents of Jeju find themselves caught between warring empires. Mi-ja is the daughter of a Japanese collaborator. Young-sook was born into a long line of haenyeo and will inherit her mother’s position leading the divers in their village. Little do the two friends know that forces outside their control will push their friendship to the breaking point.
Book Club Choice
Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls living on the Korean island of Jeju, are best friends that come from very different backgrounds. When they are old enough, they begin working in the sea with their village’s all-female diving collective, led by Young-sook’s mother. As the girls take up their positions as baby divers, they know they are beginning a life of excitement and responsibility but also danger.
Despite their love for each other, Mi-ja and Young-sook’s differences are impossible to ignore. The Island of Sea Women is an epoch set over many decades, beginning during a period of Japanese colonialism in the 1930s and 1940s, followed by World War II, the Korean War and its aftermath, through the era of cell phones and wet suits for the women divers. Throughout this time, the residents of Jeju find themselves caught between warring empires. Mi-ja is the daughter of a Japanese collaborator, and she will forever be marked by this association. Young-sook was born into a long line of haenyeo and will inherit her mother’s position leading the divers in their village. Little do the two friends know that after surviving hundreds of dives and developing the closest of bonds, forces outside their control will push their friendship to the breaking point.
1
Ugh. I hope this starts improving soon. Too many one-dimensional stereotypes for my liking.
1
I feel completely bereft and totally wrung out now that I've finished this book.
And even though I already knew how Cromwell's story ends, the marvelous writing from Mantel meant it was still a gut punch.
8
Reading progress update: I've read 86%.
Already knowing how all this turns out is making me dread getting to the end of the book.
Everything is falling apart for Cromwell, but he's still desparately trying to keep all his plates spinning. The Anne of Cleves debacle has happened. Katherine Howard is batting her eyelashes. And Jane Rochford is scheming.
Completed this book-themed jigsaw puzzle last night.
Apparently it's Scrabble Day today, so I think we'll be having an extra game tonight to celebrate.
5
Even the ducklings have to wear masks while outside in Boston.
I saw this doing the rounds on Twitter and wondered which house my Booklikes buddies would like to find themselves in. I quite fancied house #3, but only if we were able to change the locks and keep Ayn Rand out of there. But the thought of attempting to drink Dorothy and Ernest under the table makes house #6 rather tempting. Especially if Ernest brings a couple of his cats with him.
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