Saturday 8/01/09 Good reads?

[Dreamer]

Ohhh, ahhh...love to read...don't get to read nearly enough, but I did read at least 5 books over vacation...some were forgettable (as evidenced by the fact that I can't remember them right this minute) but I enjoyed several.

The 4:8 Principle is an awesome book to learn about joy (and I'm all about joy!).
The Art of Racing in the Rain is a sweet story told by a dog (I'm a sucker for dog books)..could have been sappy, but was just good.
The Poisonwood Bible...I read this book because it was at the condo. People leave books all time, so I read whatever is there. This was a great book. It is not "religious" (the title put me off a bit, I was afraid it might be some long preachy book, so I almost didn't even pick it up). I love a book that can transport me to a different time or place and this one sent me far away.

Sorry I don't know the authors; I don't have any of these books in front of me...I've given two away and lent the other.

This is a great topic, thanks everybody for sharing...now I've got some things to add to my reading list.

Happy Sateaday,
Dreamer

[geeber1]

I am currently reading my way through the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. Not hard-core crime stories, and the actual cases that the main character solves are usually more on the entertaining side. Anyway, the series takes place in Botswana, and it's really interesting to read about the way of life there - so much different than here in the U.S.

I almost voted that the books were tea-related, because Mma Ramotswe and her secretary/assistant Mma Makutsi have a lot of discussions over cups of bush tea. In the book I'm reading now, Mma Makutsi finally admits that she doesn't really like bush tea and brings in her own teapot and "regular" tea. But then one of the mechanics' apprentices in the garage owned by Mma Ramotswe's husband uses the teapot to collect some diesel oil from a vehicle.

Speaking of tea, this morning I'm drinking some iced Red Rose.

[Chip]

Well, not much deeeep reading right at the moment. In July, I had been reading a lot regarding the Tour de France including its history and heritage. I need to start reading all the books on Japan, China, etc and TEA that have been gathering dust.

Began the TD with Kunpu shincha from Den's. Just elegance in a cup. SweeTea sipped some refined brew while Pyrit, Wulong, and Lili joined the TeaPartay.

Next up, Gyokuro Sui Mei also from Den's with DW in Deishi Gyokuro Hagi pieces that just arrived this morning.

[Chester Copperpot]

I am currently reading my way through the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith.

Hope you're having fun with those (I would definitely say they're tea related, but I'm a big red bush tea fan, so I may be biased)! My dad likes to call them "gentle reading" (I'm not exactly sure what that means, but I think it sounds fitting for them). Have you read McCall Smith's 44 Scotland Street series (or his Isabel Dalhousie series? Sheesh, he sure is prolific!)? They're pretty funny and would probably also count as "gentle reading."

[geeber1]

I am currently reading my way through the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith.

Hope you're having fun with those (I would definitely say they're tea related, but I'm a big red bush tea fan, so I may be biased)! My dad likes to call them "gentle reading" (I'm not exactly sure what that means, but I think it sounds fitting for them). Have you read McCall Smith's 44 Scotland Street series (or his Isabel Dalhousie series? Sheesh, he sure is prolific!)? They're pretty funny and would probably also count as "gentle reading."

I have those on my list to read after I finish the #1 Ladies' Books. I think your dad's description is spot-on, in fact, I was going to describe them that way when I described what I've been reading! And yes, Smith really is prolific, it will take me a while to get through his novels. Plus he has written children's books and I think textbooks, but I will probably skip those!

They have been showing the BBC series on HBO (which we have free until next week) which is okay, but doesn't really follow the books. And I've been disappointed because they have introduced some "unsavory" elements that aren't in the books at all. Kind of takes away from the gentle nature of them.

[Artemis]

No time. I'm trying to knock out 150 pgs of fiction (writing) for a class and I'm dying here! One good thing, I suppose, is that one part of it requires that I brush up on the classics.

Death to whomever thought that 150 pages would be a good cut off point for a series of short stories. Death! Death!

I'm a bit depressed since my tea is out of stock.

[gingkoseto]

Since I saw nobody voted for "yes and tea related too", I cast my vote for it.

I am recently reading Legend of Stone (or Dream of Red Chamber) for the Nth time, and this time I am marking all the "tea" part in the book. The book mentions tea for several hundred times. I skip all the brief mentionings (because one everyone visits everyone else's home, there is tea serving mentioned) and only mark significant descriptions of tea ware and tea habits. It's a lot of fun! And by the way I highly recommend this reading tool (I use it as a reading tool and use the little post-it to label all interesting pages )

[Cinnamon Kitty]

My current book is "A Breath of Snow and Ashes" by Diana Gabaldon. It is book six in her Outlander series, which is a historical fiction/romance. My aunt gave me the first five books in the series for Christmas two years ago, and I finally got to read them all last autumn. Though they are not generally a genre that I enjoy reading, they are interesting and long enough to give me something to read that I don't finish in one afternoon. The historical fiction aspect, which centers around mid-1700s Scotland, Europe, and colonial America, is fascinating, which at least makes up some for romance parts of it.

I am enjoying a cup of Yuuki-Yutaka. I don't plan on sleeping yet. My father came home from his business trip to Japan and brought me back a kyusu that needed to be christened tonight. He also brought me tea, but I need to finish off some of what I have going before I open more. Here is a cellphone picture of the pot. It is a gorgeous mostly unglazed chocolate brown with a few deep blue spots of glaze. It has a nice metal screen filter that just covers the base of the spout, holds about 7 ounces, and passes the stopped hole on the lid test. I will have better pictures when Dad finds the camera.

[geeber1]

My current book is "A Breath of Snow and Ashes" by Diana Gabaldon. It is book six in her Outlander series, which is a historical fiction/romance. My aunt gave me the first five books in the series for Christmas two years ago, and I finally got to read them all last autumn. Though they are not generally a genre that I enjoy reading, they are interesting and long enough to give me something to read that I don't finish in one afternoon. The historical fiction aspect, which centers around mid-1700s Scotland, Europe, and colonial America, is fascinating, which at least makes up some for romance parts of it.

CK, I liked the first three Outlander books, but lost interest after they got to America. How many books are there now?

[Cinnamon Kitty]

CK, I liked the first three Outlander books, but lost interest after they got to America. How many books are there now?

There are six right now and book seven comes out in September. There are definitely slow parts in the middle books. It supposedly gets a bit more interesting in book six since they are entering the Revolutionary War, but I've only gotten through the first 60 pages so I couldn't tell you how it is yet. I think that her sections on Scotland, especially in the first book, were excellent, but the colonial America parts are not quite as good.

[tea fish]

I recently picked up a couple of books by Gish Jen (Who's Irish? and The Love Wife). She writes about intercultural marriages. "Who's Irish?" is a brilliant act of ventriloquism depicting the point of view of an older Chinese mother whose daughter has married a Bostonian of Irish descent. It's hilarious and really thoughtful too.

[Victoria]

Started the TeaDay with Koucha. Had friends over in the afternoon and served the last of my CS Pomelo Oolong (Orange Blossom) stretched with a little LiShan from FLT. They we very very impressed. Then later some DaYuLing from Floating Leaves Tea. A good TeaDay.

[Selaphiel]

I'm caught up in "The Courage to Be" by Paul Tillich, which is a masterpiece. It is an analysis of courage and anxiety, and how courage is the courage to be, a self-affirmation of being in spite of non-being. It is a complex book from one of the most important philosophers and theologians of the 20th century, you need to wrestle a bit with it, but it is worth it.

Still having Li Shan Cha.

[kymidwife]

I had a busy Saturday and never made it into TeaDay for a post, so I am playing catch-up.

Since getting a Kindle a few months ago, I've really rediscovered my love of reading. I was an avid reader as a teen, but I found my recreational reading really dropped off while in college. I've read some over the years since then, but not consistently... until Kindle. I love to read and I love gadgets, so its a match made in heaven. My mom, brother, niece, and nephew all have one and are loving it as much as I do.

This summer has thus far been a Jodi Picoult summer. Jodi writes human-interest stories with an interesting moral/ethical dilemma pertinent to our times. I've read several of her works and been entranced by each one: Handle with Care (deals with the topic of "wrongful birth" and the option of elective pregnancy termination for severe congenital problems), The Pact (two perfect families learn that their perfect teenage son and daughter made a suicide pact that went awry), and My Sister's Keeper (about genetically engineering a new baby to be a cord-blood donor for an existing child with leukemia... and that new child's ultimate rights to her own body).

I've also re-read The Half-Blood Prince in preparation for the movie's recent release. The Time Traveler's Wife is calling my name, as I have heard nothing but good things about it, and I'd like to get the book finished before the movie's release. We'll see how that goes.

Yesterday was a yutaka midori day for tea, and not nearly enough of it.

Sarah

[depravitea]

I've been reading some great stuff lately:
City of Thieves by David Benioff
The Story of Tea by Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J. Heiss
Leaving Las Vegas by John O'Brien
Salt - A World History by Mark Kurlansky
The Grays by Whitley Strieber
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
The Living Dead - a collection of short stories by various sci-fi and horror authors.
Oh, and I re-read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling and I re-read The Tea Companion (Connoisseur's Guides) by Jane Pettigrew

That's pretty much what I've been reading for about the past 2 months.

Lined up I've got War and Peace by Tolstoy, no I'm not making a joke lol
Communion by by Whitley Strieber (I'm about half way through.)
I'm getting First Step to Chinese Puerh Tea by Chan Kam Pong from Hou De pretty soon here, but I think I just need some brain candy, so I'm gonna read a sci-fi something or other, maybe re-read some Asimov