Short Stories on Wednesdays #20 November 30, 2011

Short Stories on Wednesdays is a weekly event hosted here, at Breadcrumb Reads. The purpose of this event is to encourage people to read at least one short story a week. There are no limits, of course! If you have made a post on the short stories you’ve read this week, please do leave a link in the comments section. If you haven’t made a post, it does not matter. I’d still love to know what you’ve been reading. Just put the titles down in the comments section.

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Before I begin I just want to apologise for the lack of a link-up post last week. I’ve already mentioned my reasons elsewhere, so I won’t bore your to tears with them again.

This week I’ve finished a couple of stories from my copy of Classic Tales of Humour. In fact, with these two I’ve completed one of the many short story anthologies on my shelf – yay!

“A Slander” by Anton Chekov
This is my first Chekov short story ever. It is quite short and the story is very simple. Ahineev is holding a wedding dinner for his daughter, and he goes into the kitchen to check on the supper. He is in the middle of smacking his lips whilst admiring a delicious looking sturgeon when a guest walks in with the assumption that Ahineev has been kissing the cook! In his attempt to stop this guest from spreading such a rumour Ahineev decides to stem the tide of gossip by telling the story of how Vankin had mistaken his smacking his lips for his kissing the cook. The result of this is exactly what Ahineev had been attempting to avoid.

It was quite amusing and sad in a way. I think it’s a reminder of how sometimes we can be our own worst enemy.

Read this story online.

“Titbottom’s Spectacles” by George William Curtis
This story is about 37 pages long in my book. I’m still puzzled as to why it has been ranked among humorous stories, though. I found it a rather melancholy and extremely thought-provoking piece.

The narrator is musing aloud to his friend, Titbottom, about a pretty, young neighbour of his whom the narrator judges to be a lovely person beneath all her riches and glamour. Titbottom is not convinced, and at dinner he tells the narrator and his wife all about a pair of glasses he had inherited from his grandfather. These glasses would show him the true nature of people as opposed to their external fronts. The power of these glasses soon become and obsession with Titbottom and bane. At the end he really is trying to say that people are most often not whom we think they are — in other words, don’t judge a book by its cover! I also quite enjoyed reading Curtis’ language; it was crisp and effective.

Read this story online.

So then, what have you folk been reading this past week?

The Shakespeare poll is closing tomorrow! November 30, 2011

I’ve decided to close the Shakespeare polls by 01 December 2011  instead of the 10th as initially planned. The polls have been open for a month now, and I figure folk would like to start planning their 2012 reads ahead of time, especially with the month-long Shakespeare Event in January. I know I would love to have an idea of what I’m in for next year!:D

So, this means anyone who hasn’t voted and would still like to, have only less than 24 hours to cast in their votes for the 12 Shakespearean plays they want to read next year. If you have friends who might be interested in this all-year Shakespeare read-along, please do spread the word.

Thank you!

Tea & Books: another reading challenge November 30, 2011

Just when I thought I’d signed-up for all the challenges that could possibly interest me for next year, I find the Tea & Books Reading Challenge over at The Book Garden. I think it’s absolutely perfect for me, though, since I’ve a couple of over-700-paged books that I’d intended reading by the end of 2011, but have got around to yet. I’ve also got another couple of books I fully intend reading in 2012. So, I think I’ll take up this challenge at the second level – Berry Tea Devotee – that requires me to read 4 books that are over 700 pages long.

While it isn’t required that we list our books down right now, I’ve decided to go ahead and do since I know what I want to read and finish once and for all by the end of 2012.

Berry Tea Devotee (4 books):

• Roots by Alex Haley
• The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone
• Byzantium by Stephen R Lawhead
• War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

P.S. – I LOVE tea!

Narnia in 2012 November 29, 2011

Riki’s Teleidoscope is hosting the Narnia Reading Challenge in 2012. Since I was already planning on reading this series I figured I’d link up with others doing the same.

I’d always wondered why the books come in one order, and the movies were coming out in another. It wasn’t until I read Riki’s post that I understood that there were two possible orders to reading this series – the publication order and the chronological order. You will find an explanation to these things at the host blog. I’ve personally decided to tackle this series in the order the books were published.

1. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
2. Prince Caspian
3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
4. The Silver Chair
5. The Horse and his Boy
6. The Magician’s Nephew
7. The Last Battle

Signing up for the Speculative Fiction Challenge 2012 November 29, 2011

I never quite knew what ‘speculative fiction’ was until I read the introduction to this challenge. I was always under the impression the term referred to merely dystopian novels. And the term itself sounds rather boring. Now I understand that ‘speculative fiction’ is any work of fiction that has an element of magic, other worldliness or futuristic ideas. Here’s how the Speculative Literature Foundation defines it:

Speculative literature is a catch-all term meant to inclusively span the breadth of fantastic literature, encompassing literature ranging from hard science fiction to epic fantasy to ghost stories to horror to folk and fairy tales to slipstream to magical realism to modern myth-making — and more.

Since I’ve finally got that straightened out I’ve decided to sign-up for the Speculative Fiction Challenge 2012 at Adventures of 2.0. Among my favourite genres are that of high fantasy and magic realism, and I have quite a few of those sitting on my shelf. I’m also looking forward to re-reading some of my favourite fantasy books next year, so this challenge seems a perfect way to make sure I get some of that reading done!

I’ve decided to go for the Content level which requires us to read a minimum of 12 books. I might move up from there.

For this challenge I hope to read/re-read as many of these as possible:

• The Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkien (re-read)
• Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (re-read)
• The Pendragon Cycle by Stephen R Lawhead
  Taliesin
  Merlin
  Arthur
  The Holy Grail
  
• Byzantium by Stephen R Lawhead
  
• Hollow Hills by Mary Stewart
• Narnia by C S Lewis
  The Magician’s Nephew
  The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
  The Horse and His Boy
  Prince Caspian
  The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
  The Silver Chair
  The Last Battle
  
• The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
  The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
  The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
  Life, the Universe and Everything
  So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
  Mostly Harmless
• Jingo by Terry Pratchett
• The Empire Trilogy by Raymond E Feist and Janny Wurts
  Daughter of the Empire (re-read)
  Servant of the Empire (re-read)
  Mistress of the Empire
• Inheritance series by Christopher Paolini
  Eragon (re-read)
  Eldest (re-read)
  Brisingr
• Winter Warriors by David Gemmel
• The George MacDonald Treasury
  The Princess and the Goblin
  The Princess and Curdie
  The Light Princess
  Phantastes
  The Giant’s Heart
  At the Back of the North Wind
  Lilith
  

Whew! I didn’t realise I had so many sitting on my shelf…and this besides all the stuff my sister owns that I want to read! I hope I’m able to make a decent dent into this lot including the re-reads, next year.

I am not MIA anymore! November 28, 2011

My dear readers,

I know it’s been nearly two weeks since I last made a post on this blog. These past days have been hectic and crazy for me. For a month we have been busy practicing for a play production that we staged only this weekend past. It’s been a lovely few weeks for me, especially as the last time I took part in a theatre production was about four or five years back. I wasn’t able to take as much part as I would have liked to in this production because of my little one, but I adored being on stage again even if I was just a part of the chorus. My kid sister played the main role, and she was simply AMAZING! We’ve been asked to stage this play in another city this weekend, so we’re all pretty excited about that too.

In the middle of all this ‘drama’ my husband lost his father. This meant making a quick trip to his hometown. My father-in-law had passed away suddenly, but his death was good – painless. My mother-in-law’s Faith is so incredibly strong that her glowing face was a testimony all its own. This was the first time I’d ever been to a home where a loved one was just gone, and the house was full of songs of praise and thanksgiving and prayer. It was beautiful. My husband is also doing very well – his entire family is.

I am aware that I missed a Short Story Wednesday, and I want to apologise for this to anyone who came looking for a link-up. I’m afraid I haven’t been able to have a proper look at my laptop for two weeks at least! However, not to worry, this Wednesday’s post for short stories will be up as scheduled. Also, I’ve a few more books to add to my to-review list. Whilst I haven’t been able to get to the laptop, I have been doing a lot of reading. Rick Riordan’s latest Percy Jackson book is out, The Son of Neptune, and I couldn’t resist diving into it the moment my sister handed it over to me. I’ve also finished reading Alice in Wonderland. I read this one in installments as provided by Daily Lit. I find it a very handy site, and am currently reading installments of Behind the Mask by Louisa May Alcott. In addition to these I finished The Economics of Ego Surplus – an economics thriller whose writer asked me to read and review it. I hope to have that post up by the end of this week.

A few weeks ago I posted on how I was going to put aside reading until the 24th of December so that I might prepare for my exams. However, I have only to make such resolutions before they are blithely broken a day or two later. I simply can not stick to a resolution, not matter how sincerely I mean it to be! I’m even beginning to wish I didn’t have to write this exam. *sigh* Oh well…

Anyway, I am back to blogging again. I’m out this weekend for our final performance, but that should affect my blogging habits at least until Friday.

Btw, have any of you been making resolutions lately that you haven’t been able to keep?…

Forbidden Mind: Content like X-Men, reads like Percy Jackson November 20, 2011

Forbidden Mind by Kimberly Kinrade

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I got a kindle version of this novel(la) from Smashwords when I found it was going free for a few days at For the Love of Reading. What grabbed my attention about this book was its whole X-men-like theme (I love the X-men!). The premise is this – A school, nicknamed Rent-A-Kid, educates and trains children with paranormal powers. These kids and their powers are leant out to the highest bidder who needs to dig up dirt or take revenge on someone. But, when these kids turn eighteen they are allowed to “retire” and pursue their own lives. Sam is about to turn eighteen and she’s looking forward to a ‘normal’ life in college when all of a sudden her entire life turns upside down on her first meeting with a new-comer into Rent-a-Kid. The rest of the book is a question of whether or not Sam and her friends will survive what they know.

Right from beginning to the end this book is fast paced. No words are wasted. The writer has a plan and she does not deviate a single bit. Things happen so fast you find yourself at the edge of your seat all the time! If I were looking for another book to compare this style of story-telling to, I would pick Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series. This novel does not pretend to be anything that it is not. If you’re looking for some racy adventure, with so many things happening so quickly together; if you’re looking for something that is nail-bitingly exciting and refuses to drag its feet, then this book is worth a read.

Simply put, it is exciting!