Finished reading AN IMPROBABLE FRIENDSHIP by Anthony David.

Ruth Dayan was the first wife of General Moshe Dayan, Israel's war hero and former Defence Minister. Raymonda Tawil was the mother-in-law of Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization and President of the Palestinian Authority. Dayan and Arafat were mortal enemies. That couldn't prevent Ruth and Raymonda from becoming close friends who worked tirelessly together for peace and goodwill between Arabs and Jews. AN IMPROBABLE FRIENDSHIP traces their astounding journey and roadblocks they encountered.

This book is the 59th I've finished reading in 2018. The last one.

Lazarillo de Tormes, Anonymous, translated by Michael Alpert. Excellent use of the Picaresque genre with satire and irony to provide a fascinating account of life in Spain under the inquisition. Well written although the author remains anonymous.

Books the Atlantic say was good reading in 2018. I did not read any.

antabanta posted:

Lazarillo de Tormes, Anonymous, translated by Michael Alpert. Excellent use of the Picaresque genre with satire and irony to provide a fascinating account of life in Spain under the inquisition. Well written although the author remains anonymous.

I read Lazarillo de Tormes when my mother was trying to get me to read Spanish lit.  You have to read it in Spanish to get it. I Have two copies. One was given to me by  my mother. It has English on the right side of a two page spread  and Spanish on the left, The  other I bought at a foreign book store on Hillside and Kew Gardens some years ago.  I bought lots of books from them. They wholesale foreign classics in their original languages. You have to look closely to find them.

antabanta posted:

Lazarillo de Tormes, Anonymous, translated by Michael Alpert. Excellent use of the Picaresque genre with satire and irony to provide a fascinating account of life in Spain under the inquisition. Well written although the author remains anonymous.

I really enjoyed reading this novella. VS Naipaul had mentioned that this book gave him writing ideas. 

In alphabetical order, I am thanking the following GNI Members for keeping this thread alive during 2018: @antabanta, @cain, @Former Member, @GTAngler, @Former Member, @Former Member. Let's resolve to read more in the New Year. We all know the immeasurable benefits that reading gives us. Avid readers have a bond and mutual respect that nothing can break. I invite other GNI folks to join us in the reading experience.

Gilbakka posted:

In alphabetical order, I am thanking the following GNI Members for keeping this thread alive during 2018: @antabanta, @cain, @Former Member, @GTAngler, @Former Member, @Former Member. Let's resolve to read more in the New Year. We all know the immeasurable benefits that reading gives us. Avid readers have a bond and mutual respect that nothing can break. I invite other GNI folks to join us in the reading experience.

Happy New Year Gilbakka.

Have tons of books to read for 2019.

Did you see #44 2018 book list?  A House for Mr. Biswas - V.S. Niapaul.
His #1 is Becoming... 
Will start reading mine in 2019.

IGH posted:

Gilbakka posted:

In alphabetical order, I am thanking the following GNI Members for keeping this thread alive during 2018: @antabanta, @cain, @Former Member, @GTAngler, @Former Member, @Former Member. Let's resolve to read more in the New Year. We all know the immeasurable benefits that reading gives us. Avid readers have a bond and mutual respect that nothing can break. I invite other GNI folks to join us in the reading experience.

Happy New Year Gilbakka.

Have tons of books to read for 2019.

Did you see #44 2018 book list?  A House for Mr. Biswas - V.S. Niapaul.
His #1 is Becoming... 
Will start reading mine in 2019.

New Year Greetings to you too. I saw the Obama thing and relayed it to Political:

https://guyana.crowdstack.io/topic/obama-biswas-naipaul

Gilbakka posted:

In alphabetical order, I am thanking the following GNI Members for keeping this thread alive during 2018: @antabanta, @cain, @Former Member, @GTAngler, @Former Member, @Former Member. Let's resolve to read more in the New Year. We all know the immeasurable benefits that reading gives us. Avid readers have a bond and mutual respect that nothing can break. I invite other GNI folks to join us in the reading experience.

Happy New Year to you and your family Gilly, and to all here and their families. Let us hope and pray that this New Year is a better one for all our brothers and sisters in Guyana.

The Swindler (El Buscón), Francisco de Quevedo, translated by Michael Alpert - a humorous picaresque satire on life in Spain in the early 17th century, chronicling the adventures, or misadventures as the scoundrel seems more of a failure than a success, of a low-born whose primary goal is to become a caballero.

Finished reading THE CRUSADES THROUGH ARAB EYES by Lebanese historian Amin Maalouf. First published in 1983 it covers the period 1094 to 1291 when European Christian armies waged a series of wars against Arab Muslims and Jews for control of Jerusalem, a city sacred to the three groups of believers. The battlefields stretched throughout Turkey, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Egypt and parts of North Africa. The Arabs won those wars eventually and one of their heroes is widely remembered today --- Saladin, the Kurdish ruler of Syria and Egypt. The most remembered of the Christian Crusaders is Richard the Lionheart, King of England.

Reading this book, I can see why there is never ending animosity between peoples of the Arab world and the West. In fact it can be traced to the 11th-13th centuries.

Gilbakka posted:

Finished reading THE CRUSADES THROUGH ARAB EYES by Lebanese historian Amin Maalouf. First published in 1983 it covers the period 1094 to 1291 when European Christian armies waged a series of wars against Arab Muslims and Jews for control of Jerusalem, a city sacred to the three groups of believers. The battlefields stretched throughout Turkey, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Egypt and parts of North Africa. The Arabs won those wars eventually and one of their heroes is widely remembered today --- Saladin, the Kurdish ruler of Syria and Egypt. The most remembered of the Christian Crusaders is Richard the Lionheart, King of England.

Reading this book, I can see why there is never ending animosity between peoples of the Arab world and the West. In fact it can be traced to the 11th-13th centuries.

You have to go back earlier. Muslims moved in because of their Koran and drove the people there in the 7th century. They hold the place sacred so they fought to get it back. 

Saladin saying that christians can live ther is like whites telling natives that you can live in the reservations. It was not his to give give except he fought to defend previous invasions. 

Finished reading ESSAYS AFTER EIGHTY by Donald Hall, US writer, literary critic and Poet Laureate. Published in 2014 when Hall was 84 years old, it consists of 14 essays. Hall reminisces about his grandparents' New Hampshire farmhouse, his growing up, his two wives and other women, his public poetry readings, his smoker's misadventures, his old age disabilities, his views on death etc. One essay is about his nine honorary doctorates which he deems a dishonour. About his writing life, he says the best part is revision; it's normal for him to rewrite a piece over 30 times. Donald Hall died recently at age 89.

Gilbakka posted:

Finished reading ESSAYS AFTER EIGHTY by Donald Hall, US writer, literary critic and Poet Laureate. Published in 2014 when Hall was 84 years old, it consists of 14 essays. Hall reminisces about his grandparents' New Hampshire farmhouse, his growing up, his two wives and other women, his public poetry readings, his smoker's misadventures, his old age disabilities, his views on death etc. One essay is about his nine honorary doctorates which he deems a dishonour. About his writing life, he says the best part is revision; it's normal for him to rewrite a piece over 30 times. Donald Hall died recently at age 89.

I have been concentrating on West Indian Literature particularly on books I read growing up but there are only so many I can remember. I already have Black Midas, The Wild Coast and The Guyanese Wanderer by Jan Carew, Three Singles to Adventure (Three Tickets to Adventure), To Sir With Love, Cloud With a Silver Lining, The Young Warriors, Backfire, a few by Naipaul and a couple by William Beebe. I just got the Routledge Reader in Caribbean Literature because it is supposed to be a compilation of over seventy pieces of writing from the Caribbean. I am hoping I will be introduced to other writers. I would appreciate any suggestions or recommendations.

Just bought X by Sue Grafton. She died in 2017 and did not get to finish Z. She had written the alphabet detective series featuring private eye Kinsey Millhone, I really liked her books. 

Anjali posted:

Just bought X by Sue Grafton. She died in 2017 and did not get to finish Z. She had written the alphabet detective series featuring private eye Kinsey Millhone, I really liked her books. 

Thanks for checking in, Anjali.

GTAngler posted:

Gilbakka posted:

Finished reading ESSAYS AFTER EIGHTY by Donald Hall, US writer, literary critic and Poet Laureate. Published in 2014 when Hall was 84 years old, it consists of 14 essays. Hall reminisces about his grandparents' New Hampshire farmhouse, his growing up, his two wives and other women, his public poetry readings, his smoker's misadventures, his old age disabilities, his views on death etc. One essay is about his nine honorary doctorates which he deems a dishonour. About his writing life, he says the best part is revision; it's normal for him to rewrite a piece over 30 times. Donald Hall died recently at age 89.

I have been concentrating on West Indian Literature particularly on books I read growing up but there are only so many I can remember. I already have Black Midas, The Wild Coast and The Guyanese Wanderer by Jan Carew, Three Singles to Adventure (Three Tickets to Adventure), To Sir With Love, Cloud With a Silver Lining, The Young Warriors, Backfire, a few by Naipaul and a couple by William Beebe. I just got the Routledge Reader in Caribbean Literature because it is supposed to be a compilation of over seventy pieces of writing from the Caribbean. I am hoping I will be introduced to other writers. I would appreciate any suggestions or recommendations.

Amazon.com has books by the following writers: Herbert G. de Lisser (Jamaica), Andrew Salkey (Jamaica), Samuel Selvon (Trinidad), E.R. Braithwaite (Guyana).

Check Peepal Tree Press online. Publishers of Caribbean Literature old and new. Be prepared to spend money.

Gilbakka posted:

GTAngler posted:

Gilbakka posted:

Finished reading ESSAYS AFTER EIGHTY by Donald Hall, US writer, literary critic and Poet Laureate. Published in 2014 when Hall was 84 years old, it consists of 14 essays. Hall reminisces about his grandparents' New Hampshire farmhouse, his growing up, his two wives and other women, his public poetry readings, his smoker's misadventures, his old age disabilities, his views on death etc. One essay is about his nine honorary doctorates which he deems a dishonour. About his writing life, he says the best part is revision; it's normal for him to rewrite a piece over 30 times. Donald Hall died recently at age 89.

I have been concentrating on West Indian Literature particularly on books I read growing up but there are only so many I can remember. I already have Black Midas, The Wild Coast and The Guyanese Wanderer by Jan Carew, Three Singles to Adventure (Three Tickets to Adventure), To Sir With Love, Cloud With a Silver Lining, The Young Warriors, Backfire, a few by Naipaul and a couple by William Beebe. I just got the Routledge Reader in Caribbean Literature because it is supposed to be a compilation of over seventy pieces of writing from the Caribbean. I am hoping I will be introduced to other writers. I would appreciate any suggestions or recommendations.

Amazon.com has books by the following writers: Herbert G. de Lisser (Jamaica), Andrew Salkey (Jamaica), Samuel Selvon (Trinidad), E.R. Braithwaite (Guyana).

Check Peepal Tree Press online. Publishers of Caribbean Literature old and new. Be prepared to spend money.

Thanks Gilly. I really wasn't aware E. R. Braithwaite had written so many books.

Gilbakka posted:

Anjali posted:

Just bought X by Sue Grafton. She died in 2017 and did not get to finish Z. She had written the alphabet detective series featuring private eye Kinsey Millhone, I really liked her books. 

Thanks for checking in, Anjali.

You are very welcome Sir Gil....I will try to check in more often, thank you. 

I still like harlequin and ever so often will read an Enid Blyton 😀.

Anjali posted:

I still like harlequin and ever so often will read an Enid Blyton 😀.

I bought a few of the series I read as a child with the hope my son will have my love of reading. He'll be 5 this month.

Gilbakka posted:

IGH posted:

Happy New Year Gilbakka.

Have tons of books to read for 2019.

Did you see #44 2018 book list?  A House for Mr. Biswas - V.S. Niapaul.
His #1 is Becoming... 
Will start reading mine in 2019.

New Year Greetings to you too. I saw the Obama thing and relayed it to Political:

https://guyana.crowdstack.io/topic/obama-biswas-naipaul

I bought A House for Mr. Biswas - V.S.Naipaul for our older son's birthday.
My message to him was "I enjoyed reading this book as a teenager. It is now on #44 2018 reading list."

I have a copy in my book collection.

Just bought this for my 5 yr old granddaughter





and this for me.
 

I must confess that I have really bad reading habits. if a book doesn't grab my interest in the first few pages, it gets relegated to the "finish later" list unless I have read at least one good in my opinion book, by the same author. This is why whenever I lend or recommend books by an author who has written more than one, I select one of the better ones.

GTAngler posted:

Anjali posted:

I still like harlequin and ever so often will read an Enid Blyton 😀.

I bought a few of the series I read as a child with the hope my son will have my love of reading. He'll be 5 this month.

Early birthday wishes to your son, hopefully in a few more years he will be reading those Blyton's. I have almost all of her books, bought a lot online from England and Australia. I love her books as I grew up reading them. I am going to start reading The Whistler by Grisham. I would add Michael Anthony to the West Indian authors, (Cricket in the Road) etc.

GTAngler posted:

I must confess that I have really bad reading habits. if a book doesn't grab my interest in the first few pages, it gets relegated to the "finish later" list unless I have read at least one good in my opinion book, by the same author. This is why whenever I lend or recommend books by an author who has written more than one, I select one of the better ones.

I usually leave stop reading & try to re-read when I am bored.

Started this a few years ... got very confusing ... book mark is @pages 242/243.

My friend who read it in Spanish told me I should start reading back from the beginning.

Started collecting Edgar Mittleholzer about 3 years before I retire.  Have not read any as yet.
Some were bought from antique book stores(via amazon) & peepaltreepress.com