It's a hard стучать life.

What struck me about The Artamonov Business by Maxim Gorky is how difficult life in Russia was. Where Anna Karenina portrayed life among upper class Russian society, The Artamonov Business follows the life of a recently freed serf mill founder and his children as they build their mill and become involved in town life, and ultimately wind up on the wrong side of the revolution.

The book is a really good, if sad, story, but yikes. Life is tough. There are many dead children. People seem so unhappy. I can see why many people thought that the revolution would make a difference - because life was so difficult before, how could it get anything other than better?

I had not read anything by Gorky before and I'm definitely glad I read this book.

Oh, and Google Translation helped me with the Russian in the title. I actually studied Russian in school but years of disuse have made me incredibly rusty!

Babywearing and Nigerian culture.

Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe Is one of those amazing books that I had no idea existed before I started this project. I had read Things Fall Apart in college and really enjoyed that but had no clue that Achebe had written other books. I'm really glad I read this. There are a lot of themes here that I hadn't really thought about.

I liked the story of the intersection of the traditional religion and Christianity. Even more, I liked learning about the culture of the people from Umuaro. I liked the glimpses of family life and childcare. They carried babies on their backs! (I'm convinced that is one of the most comfortable ways for me to carry a baby!) Interesting how the colonizers were convinced they were introducing the people to new and better ways of doing things, but now looking back, many of the older ideas and traditions (baby wearing!) are actually becoming more popular again. The new ways aren't necessarily better.

I really enjoyed this book. I was kind of sad it ended where it did.

Pretty thoughtful.

Where The Apes of God was long, silly, and unreadable, Arcanum 17 was pretty, thoughtful and WAY over my head.

The book is not really a story. It is more of a series of musings on the world in 1944 that the author assembled while spending time in Quebec. It is beautifully written with some really cool imagery. I liked that the author seemed to have a lot of respect for women and thought their contributions to society were undervalued. I'm sure I missed some important points because it was kind of confusing at times, but I'm glad I read this. It was short and really beautiful.

Thud.

Thud is the sound The Apes of God made when the reference librarian placed it on the counter in front of me. This book weighs a ton, and it is about 640 pages.

Thud is also the figurative sound this book made as I was reading it. Not interesting. Whatever Lewis was trying to do with this book ("tell a story" not really working out for him) doesn't translate to a contemporary audience. I was glad to see in the afterword that lots of people find it unreadable. I have to admit that I kind of gave up trying to figure it out and just skimmed to get through it.

Here is a recipe for Peasant Stew we had a few weeks ago and loved. It's not made from peasants or anything, don't worry.Peasant Stew from Cooking Light

The amazing race!

Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days is like a book version of my favorite show, The Amazing Race! I loved it! I loved how methodical Fogg is and the different ways he devises to solve his various travel issues. I liked the servant and how he gradually became more trusted and able to make decisions as the journey progressed. And I liked the ending! This was super fun and over too soon.

I was amazed at how quickly they got out of the house and off to their trip once it was decided. They definitely weren't traveling with a toddler, that is for sure. (No! Burpies! Yellow doggie turtle! No! Green car! Ball! Snacks! Nooooo!)

Next up for me is The Apes of God, over 600 pages. Due back at the library on September 9, no renewals. I better get going!

Not many antics here.

I didn't know what to expect when I started Aldous Huxley's Antic Hay. I think I skimmed Brave New World at some point in my educational career but I don't remember anything about it at all. This book was kind of a disappointment. I could tell that the author was trying to put forth certain views but I honestly have no idea what those are. I am really not enjoying the books that consist mainly of characters sitting around talking to each other. DO something! I didn't like any of the characters and they just didn't seem real to me. I feel like the author just created them as mouthpieces for various views.

I'm sure I missed the point of this book but I'm just glad it's over!

From Russia with love.

Anna Karenina was a lot different for me this time around. A lot has changed in my life since I read this 5 years ago and I enjoyed this book a great deal more now. The last time I read this perhaps I didn't have the patience to really enjoy it, or wasn't in the right frame of mind. Plus I think there is something about reading a lot of great books...it's like I have more practice or something, so I'm getting more out of each one.

This book is just incredible. It's a novel but the reader also learns so much about the history and culture of Russia from the story as well. Mike said something interesting the other day when I was marveling at how much I was enjoying the book. He said, imagine how amazing it must have been when it first came out too. People must have been awestruck by what an incredible novel it was.

Lately I've been thinking that there is a very wide disparity among the 1001 books. There are some that are incredible like this one. Even people who aren't fans of Russian literature could probably appreciate what a masterpiece it is. On the other hand, there are also there random weird books that are stream of consciousness, or there's a hole cut out in the book, or whatever. Gimmicky things. It is just interesting the wide range of books that the editors considered the best.