Bookgirl's Nightstand | When I'm not reading books, I'm making them.

Friday!

iliana Nightstand November 30, 2007

It’s so funny, I’ve been a lady of leisure now for almost two months and I still get excited about the weekend. I guess it’s just habit.

So I’m still trying to catch up on my book reviews but I get sidetracked by picking up new books to read. Currently I’m reading Last Rituals by Yrsa Sigurdardottir. I love mysteries and even better when they are set in a foreign location.

Also to those of you who read The Owl Service, the Slaves of Golconda discussion starts today!

I’m off to go look for some paper and have a date night at the bookstore. I’ll try to post more on The Owl Service and other books I’ve been reading soon. Have a great weekend everyone!

10 Comments

Quickie

iliana Nightstand November 28, 2007

I don’t know what it was about today but I felt like all I did was rush around. Go do this errand, take care of one more thing, rush to bookbinding class and quick gotta stop at the library to pick up a hold. I’m kind of tired.

Bookbinding class was fun but a bit more mentally taxing. I need to remember so many things. I walked out and was still replaying some of the stuff I learned, but I am excited because I finally see my book taking shape. Today, I’m got to place a headband and use a combination press for casing in my signatures. Ultimately my book should look something like this. Wish me luck.

I wish I had taken my camera with me to show some pics of the work in progress but I’m liable to get glue all over it. Instead I’ll show you what’s sitting on my craft table at home. All nicely folded, my paper is just waiting for me to get the sewing itch. These signatures are for a completely different type of book.

paper

Oh and in case you are wondering what I got at the library? Some videos for my mom and for me a copy of Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O’Nan after hearing a review of it on NPR. Only one book – I told you it was a quick visit.

11 Comments

A Dangerous List

iliana Nightstand November 27, 2007

Andi and Heather from the wonderful Estella’s Revenge have come up with a challenge too good to pass up. I normally steer clear from challenges that go on for a year because I can be fickle and well I even have a hard time completing challenges that only last a few months but I liked the idea of this challenge a lot. The Year of Reading Dangerously Challenge encourages readers to explore those books they’ve always been intimidated by.

Even better, you can follow along with the list Andi & Heather have put together or you can make up your own. I’ve mixed in some of my choices with theirs. Here’s my list of books I hope to read in 2008.

January: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. On the official list
February: Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. I haven’t read too many German authors and as my husband is German I thought it’d be kind of neat to read some of the books he read when he was in school.
March: Selected Stories by Alice Munro. Margaret Atwood is on the list but I have read several of her novels (love her writing) so I wanted to explore some more writing by a Canadian author and I selected Munro. This book is a hefty one and it’s short stories which I’ve mentioned before that I don’t typically read so not sure how well I’ll do with it but I’ll try.
April: Mujer Dando la Espalda by Jeannette Clariond. On one of my recent visits to see my family in Monterrey, one of my aunts gave me this book by this Mexican poet.
May: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. The official list has another Capote novel but I chose this one because this is one of those books I’ve been meaning to read forever but somehow I always hesitate.
June: The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Buglakov. I’ve read Lolita which is on the official list so I went for another Russian book and thought why not this one as Matt’s always raved about it.
July: The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier. On the official list.
August: Maus I and II by Art Spiegelman. On the official list.
September: The Secret Lives of People in Love by Simon Van Booy. On the official list.
October: The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. It’s time I finally read this book and this is probably the perfect time of the year too.
November: Classic Short Stories. I wonder what Andi & Heather have in store for us!
December: Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. On the official list.

Good luck to everyone participating in the challenge. I know I’ll need it!

16 Comments