Wednesday Reading Meme

[osprey_archer]

What I’ve Just Finished ReadingThe second Ivy + Bean book, which I think will be my last Ivy + Bean book, because it’s not much better than the first. In this book, Bean cuts her sister Nancy’s hair as she sleeps, and honestly I just feel so sorry for Nancy and I know the books are never going to let her get her own back

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[evelyn_b]

THE HUNGER GAMES I KNOW

I'm not mad at myself for not trying to read it years ago, because I think I needed to be in a certain place to enjoy it as much as I'm doing now.

I also read John Muir’s Stickeen, which is about Muir’s walk along a glacier-top with a dog named Stickeen. At one point Muir has to inch his way along an ice bridge that crosses a massive ice chasm, chipping his path with his ice-ax because the ice bridge has eroded down to a knife-point, and he’s writing about it all chill and relaxed because he is basically the epitome of a nineteenth-century adventure hero, except in the flesh.

This sounds PRETTY DAMNED DELIGHTFUL. Does the dog live? I will read it even if he doesn't but I will be a lot happier if the dog lives.

If. . . you like chill and relaxed guys being remarkably chill about ice, month-long nights, and other things, you might like the book I'm reading now, The Worst Journey in the World. It gets horribly sad at times, though, fair warning.

[osprey_archer]

The dog lives! It's actually a pretty joyous essay about nature and dogs and stuff.

Is The Worst Journey in the World the Antarctica book you've been reading? It sounded pretty good when you posted about it; I was thinking about reading it already.

[evelyn_b]

<3

The first Antarctica book I read was Endurance: Shackelton's Incredible Voyage; this is the second. They are both very readable but different. Endurance was written by a journalist 30+ years after the events it describes (with the help of interviews, photos and diaries), and everyone in the story survives and makes it home, though they are extraordinarily uncomfortable for a very long time. It's a much more compact book and a quick read. The Worst Journey in the World was written by a participant ten years after events, is more personal and expansive, and several of the men die in extremely sad circumstances. A lot of animals also die in both books.

It's odd comfort reading, but that's the niche it's occupying right now. They're really engrossing.

[osprey_archer]

I was hoping the library would have just one or the other to help me make my choice, but in fact it has both. Clearly I should save them for summer when I will need to read about the frosty cold!

[wordsofastory]

The Hunger Games! :D They are a lot of fun, even if they're not particularly great literature. I also think they're one of the few cases where the movies are as good, or even better, than the books, so if you have any interest in checking them out once you finish reading them, I recommend it!

[osprey_archer]

I will be! My friends have been discussing the possibility of a Hunger Games movie marathon, which is one of the reasons why I'm reading the books now.

[asakiyume]

I didn't know you've never read the Hunger Games books! I never have either, and I probably won't, because it's a plot I just ... don't feel like reading. Still, I enjoyed hearing my daughters' reactions to the books and seeing the first movie.

[osprey_archer]

I've heard the movies are even better than the books; I'm reading them partly because my friends have been agitating for a Hunger Games movie marathon.