Montarville goes to school in 2019

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Montarville goes to school in 2019

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1Montarville
Modifié : Déc 30, 2018, 8:15 pm

This is my second year doing the category challenge.

My objective is to read one book per ten days, so that would be about 36 books. Since I think I will read quite a bit of non-fiction this year, the easy way to categorize my reading will be by subject: school subjects! I have decided to go with six categories:

Math and science: this will most likely be made of non-fiction books about math and science.

History: this will include as much non-fiction history as historical fiction.

Geography: in 2018, I had planned to read a book for each Canadian province. I will try to finish this challenge in 2019. I will also continue my journey around the world (I started with a book that was set in Canada, and the first foreign place mentioned in the book became the destination for my next read).

Music and arts: this category will also likely be made up of non-fiction books. I have quite a few TBR on music waiting for me, and there is an art museum with a lovely bookshop between my workplace and my home.

Literature: this is the place for literary fiction.

Recess: this is the place for less serious stuff, such as mysteries (I am a snob, I don't think they are literature, but I love to read them), comics, P.G. Wodehouse, etc.

I will also play BingoDog and try to use the letters in the AlphaKit. I have a hefty pile of TBR, so I will try to keep up with the TBR category too.

There will be no overlaps in my school categories, but the BingoDog, AlphaKit and TBR will be made entirely of overlaps.

2Montarville
Modifié : Déc 22, 2019, 10:07 pm

School cats (my personnal cats):

Math and science
- Math with bad drawings, Ben Orlin
- L'Incroyable histoire de la médecine, Jean-Noël Fabiani

History
- The Deadly Sisterhood, Leonie Frieda (non fiction)
- Quattrocento, Stephen Greenblatt (non fiction)
- Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Frederick Douglass (non fiction)
- The Race to Save the Romanovs, Helen Rappaport (non fiction)
- And No Birds Sang, Farley Mowat (non fiction)
- Les Maîtres sonneurs, George Sand
- Confronting the Classics, Mary Beard (non fiction)
- Beyond Band of Brothers, Major Dick Winters (non fiction)
- Born a Crime, Trevor Noah (non fiction)

Geography
(Also see maps in the post below.)
- Late Nights on Air, Elizabeth Hay
- Rilla of Ingleside, Lucy Maud Montgomery
- Birdie, Tracey Lindberg
- Island, Alistair MacLeod

Music and arts
- Maestros and their Music, John Mauceri
- Leonardo and the Last Supper, Ross King
- Montrez-moi vos mains, Alexandre Tharaud

Literature
- Le Christ s'est arrêté à Eboli, Carlo Levi
- Swing Time, Zadie Smith
- Crimes, Ferdinand von Schirach
- Du côté de chez Swann, Marcel Proust
- La Belle et la Bête, Madame de Villeneuve
- Dîner avec Edward, Isabel Vincent
- Les Frères Karamazov, Feodor Dostoievsky
- Chroniques de Jérusalem, Guy Delisle
- City of Glass, Ghosts, Paul Auster

Recess
- Le Beau mystère, Louise Penny
- Mort à la Fenice, Donna Leon
- Promenons-nous dans les bois, Bill Bryson
- Cover her Face, P.D. James
- Petits miracles au bureau des objets trouvés, Salvatore Basile
- La Faille en toute chose, Louise Penny
- Dead with the Wind, Miranda James
- The Case of the Careless Kitten, Erle Stanley Gardner

3Montarville
Modifié : Oct 19, 2019, 4:00 pm

Literary tour of Canada


Create Your Own Visited Provinces and Territories Map


In 2018:
Newfoundland and Labrador
- Mister Nightingale, Paul Bowdring
Québec
- Manikanetish, Naomi Fontaine
Ontario
- The Whirlpool, Jane Urquhart
Manitoba
- Rue Deschambault, Gabrielle Roy
Saskatchewan
- The Englishman's Boy, Guy Vanderhaeghe
British Columbia
- Monkey Beach, Eden Robinson

In 2019:
Prince Edward Island
- Rilla of Ingleside, Lucy Maud Montgomery

Nova Scotia
- Island, Alistair MacLeod

New Brunswick
-

Alberta
- Birdie, Tracey Lindberg

Yukon
-

Northwestern Territories
- Late Nights on Air, Elizabeth Hay

Nunavut
-

Literary Journey


Create Your Own Visited Countries Map


In 2018:
My journey starts in Canada, with Jane Urquhart's The Whirlpool. Page 2: "The light, too, harsh and metallic, not at all like the golden Venice of summer."

Italy:
L'amie prodigieuse, Elena Ferrante - ROOT
Page 162: "Quand tu as finis cette histoire de Bruges la morte, tu me dis si c'est bien, comme ça je la lirai peut-être moi auss!"

Belgium:
Pétronille, Amélie Nothomb
Page 7 (but really page 1): "À l'exemple des chamans amazoniens qui s'infligent des diètes cruelles avant de mâchouiller une plante inconnue dans le but d'en découvrir les pouvoirs, j'ai recours à la technique d'investigation la plus vieille du monde: j'ai jeûné."

Continuing in 2019:

4Montarville
Modifié : Déc 22, 2019, 10:08 pm

Bingo Dog



1- Debut novel: Mort à la Fenice (Death at the Fenice), Donna Leon

2- Featuring siblings: Les Frères Karamazov, Dostoïevsky

3- Graphic Novel: Chroniques de Jérusalem, Guy Delisle

4 - Made into a movie: Le Christ s'est arrêté à Eboli, Carlo Levi; made into a movie in Italy in 1979.

5 - Part of a series: Le Beau Mystère, Louise Penny; part of the Armand Gamache series

6 - Prize winner: Late Nights on Air, Elizabeth Hay; winner of the Giller Prize

7 - Animal in title or on cover: A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson; bear on the cover

8- Children's or young adult: Rilla of Ingleside, Lucy Maud Montgomery

9 - Short stories or essays: Crimes, Ferdinand von Schirach

10 - Artistic character: Leonardo and the Last Supper, Ross King

11 - Eastern European setting: The Race to Save the Romanovs, Helen Rappaport

12 - Fairy Tale: La Belle et la Bête (The Beauty and the Beast), Madame de Villeneuve

13 - Read a Cat: Swing Time, Zadie Smith (May Random Cat: dance)

14 - Alliterative title: Beyond Band of Brothers, Major Dick Winters

15 - Cover has at leat 2 human figures: The Deadly Sisterhood, Leonie Frieda; cover is Venus and the Graces Offering Gifts to a Young Girl, by Sandro Botticelli

16 - LT rating of at leasr 4 stars: Du côté de chez Swann, Marcel Proust (4.25 rating as of July 1)

17 - More than 6 words in the title: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, by Frederick Douglass

18 - Related to medecine: L'Incroyable histoire de la médecine (The unbelievable history of medecine), Fabiani and Bercovici

19 - Book Bullet: Born a Crime, Trevor Noah

20 - In translation: Quattrocento, Stephen Greenblatt; read in French, original English title: The Swerve

21 - Title contains homophone word: Maestros and their Music, John Mauceri; their/there/they're

22 - Food related: Dîner avec Edward, Isabel Vincent

23 - Author uses initial: Cover her Face, P.D. James

24 - Mentioned in another book: Les Maîtres sonneurs, George Sand (mentioned in Swann's Way by Marcel Proust)

25 - Weather event in title: Dead with the Wind, Miranda James

5Montarville
Modifié : Oct 19, 2019, 4:08 pm

Alpha Kit

January: Q A

February: K O

March: U L
- Le Christ s'est arrêté à Eboli, Carlo Levi
- Leonardo and the Last Supper, Ross King

April: B M
- Mort à la Fenice, Donna Leon
- Rilla of Ingleside, Lucy Maud Montgomery
- Promenons-nous dans les bois, Bill Bryson

May: H V
- Crimes, Ferdinand von Schirach

June: J D
- Cover her Face, P.D. James
- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Frederick Douglass

July: C P
- Du Côté de chez Swann, Marcel Proust

August: N I
- Island, Alistair MacLeod

Sept.: F W
- Les Frères Karamazov

Oct.: G T
- Ghosts, Paul Auster

Nov.: S Y

Dec.: E R

6Montarville
Modifié : Oct 19, 2019, 4:09 pm

TBR Cat

A TBR to me is a book that I bought (or received) before January 1, 2019, and has not been read yet. I hope to read 12, whether or not they fit in the cat challenge of the month.




January
February
March

April: Book bought for LT group or challenge
- Late Nights on Air, Elizabeth Hay (bought for my personnal challenge last year of reading one book for each province and territory of Canada)

May: Book you keep looking at but have not read yet
- Swing Time, Zadie Smith

June
July
August
September
October
November
December

TBR that don't fit the cat:
- Promenons-nous dans les bois, Bill Bryson
- Cover her Face, P.D. James
- Les Maîtres sonneurs, George Sand
- Les Frères Karamzov

7Montarville
Modifié : Août 2, 2019, 9:02 pm

In case I feel like playing with these cats too...

Other monthly cats:

Random Cat
March: book from the EU: Le Christ s'est arrêté à Eboli, Carlo Levi

May: book realated to dance: Swing Time, Zadie Smith

July: birds: And no Birds Sang, Farley Mowat
Birdie, Tracey Lindberg

Series Cat
January: in translation: Le Beau Mystère, Louise Penny

Calendar Cat

8Tess_W
Déc 30, 2018, 10:27 pm

What a great theme!

9The_Hibernator
Déc 31, 2018, 3:43 am

Good setup! Happy New Year!

10Montarville
Déc 31, 2018, 8:48 am

11hailelib
Déc 31, 2018, 9:29 am

Good luck on your categories and for the year.

12thornton37814
Déc 31, 2018, 11:46 am

Welcome back! Nice setup!

13Tess_W
Déc 31, 2018, 2:58 pm

14lkernagh
Déc 31, 2018, 9:11 pm

Welcome back and good luck with your 2019 challenge reading!

15Montarville
Jan 1, 2019, 10:11 am

16Montarville
Jan 1, 2019, 10:12 am

My first read of the year: Math with Bad Drawings, by Ben Orlin. A Christmas Gift. For a book about math, it is very entertaining. And not that much math is needed to understand.

17christina_reads
Jan 2, 2019, 10:51 am

>16 Montarville: That sounds like my kind of math book!

18MissWatson
Jan 3, 2019, 10:02 am

I'm glad to see you're back. Looking forward to book bullets flying!

19LisaMorr
Jan 4, 2019, 9:03 am

Good luck with your 2019 reading! I like your literary journey plan - I think I will borrow (steal?) that idea for a future challenge!

20DeltaQueen50
Jan 5, 2019, 2:24 pm

You're off to a good start on your 2019 Challenge. I am trying to read more Canadian books so I am looking forward to seeing where this category takes you.

21Montarville
Modifié : Jan 27, 2019, 9:58 pm

January is almost finished, so this is a good time to update my thread.

I have added reads in three of my school categories:

Music: Maestros and their Music, by John Mauceri
A glimpse inside the world of conductors. It is an art that I find fascinating, and John Mauceri presents it in a very interesting way.

History: The Deadly Sisterhood, by Leonie Frieda
The Italian Renaissance is remembered as an era of enlightement, of great advancement in the arts and other fields, but in reality it was a bloody affair. Little states constantly at war with one another, alliances and rivalries between great families, foreign invasions... And the girls of these great families like the Medicis, the Sforzas, the Borgias, the della Roveres, etc., used as pawns in these bloody strategy games. Fascinating.

Recess: Le Beau Mystère, by Louise Penny
An episode of the Armand Gamache series, set in a monastery somewhere far from civilization. A very good installment of the series.

22Tess_W
Jan 31, 2019, 10:25 am

>21 Montarville: Looks live some very interesting January reads!

23Montarville
Modifié : Mar 31, 2019, 10:25 am

Apparently my reading went into hibernation in February. I started a few books, but I finished none.

March was better, with an Italian theme. I read Christ stopped at Eboli. The author, Carlo Levi, was exiled in a poor village in southern Italy during the Mussolini years. He tells of the daily life in this forgotten region, where time seems to have stood still for centuries. Very moving.

I also read Quattrocento, or The Swerve in English. It is about the rediscovery, in the late Middle Ages, of a poem by Lucrecius that played an important part in the triggering of the Renaissance. From the French point of view, which is what we are taught in school in the province of Quebec, Renaissance started in the 1500s, but in Italy, it started much earlier. Two hundred years earlier, in the 1300s, scholars were already rummaging in libraries of universities and monasteries to find copies of ancient Roman and Greek texts. The late Middle Ages is a period much more interesting than I thought.

24Montarville
Modifié : Avr 11, 2019, 7:20 pm

It looks like my mind is still turned towards Italy. In the last couple of weeks, I have read two more books set in Italy. And they fit nicely in the bingo card:

A book about Leonardo Da Vinci will obviously have an artistic character (bingo square number 10), in as much as a non-fiction book can have "characters". Leonardo and the Last Supper by Ross King is both a biography of Leonardo and an analysis of his masterpiece fresco. Sometimes events in Leonardo's life help us understand the fresco, and sometimes it's the fresco that gives us clues as to Leonardo's mind and life. The artist and his art are inextricably linked. I found it fascinating. One downside: there is no picture of the fresco in the book. There is a part of the fresco on the cover, and in the middle pages, there are pictures of other works by Leonardo or by other artists, including a faithful copy made shortly after the fresco was completed, but there is no picture of the fresco itself. I guess it is for copyright reasons, though one would think a work made over 500 years ago would now be in the public domain...

Mort à la Fenice, or Death at the Fenice, is Donna Leon's first novel (bingo square number one), and by the same token the first in the inspector Brunetti series. A solid first novel, though I figured most of it out well before the last chapter. Even more fun if you have a map of Venise close by for consultation.

25Montarville
Avr 27, 2019, 12:33 pm

Three more books, three more bingo squares.

Prize winner: Late Nights on Air, by Elizabeth Hay, won the Giller prize (a Canadian prize) a few years ago. It is set in the Northwestern Territories. It's the first time my reading takes me in this part of the country. It made me want to visit it in real life. Highly recommended.

Young adult: Rilla of Ingleside, Lucy Maud Montgomery. The Anne of Green Gables Series were the first "real books" that I ever read. I remember I cried the first (and the second and the third) time I read it years ago. Years later, I cried again, but not at the same places. Instead of crying when the sad thing happens, I cried in the early chapters every time the concerned character appeared. And being now an adult, I realize how unrealistic the male characters are. No wonder I was in love with all of them when I was a teen.

Animal on the cover: Promenons-nous dans les bois, which is the French version of Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods. I don't know why I bought the French version of this book. While reading I kept thinking it would be so much funnier in English. It wasn't a bad translation, except that I was very aware that it was a translation. It was still an entertaining read.

26lkernagh
Avr 28, 2019, 10:58 am

>25 Montarville: - I agree with your assessment of Late Nights on Air. Such a great story!

27Montarville
Modifié : Mai 26, 2019, 8:54 pm

When it takes me more than three weeks to finish a book of average length, for reasons that have nothing to do with the book, finishing the book always become a bit of chore. It's what happened with Swing Time, by Zadie Smith. The book is good, but I struggled a bit to finish it. It didn't help that none of the main characters were very likable, including the narrator. The characters are strong, and I will likely remember them for a long time, but I am very glad none of my friends or my family are like that.

A book that was much more interesting (I gobbled it this weekend) is Crime, by Ferdinand von Schirach. The author is a lawyer for the defence in criminal cases. His experience served as the basis for the 11 short stories of this book. They are very interesting.

I used these books respectively for square 13, Read a cat (May Random Cat: I could have danced all night), and square 9, short stories.

28Montarville
Modifié : Juin 19, 2019, 10:34 pm

I have read quite a few books so far in June. None of them are very thick, most of them are not very serious, all of them were time well spent.

Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave: This one is obviously one of the serious ones. The author's words paint a vivid picture of the horrors of slavery. A moving read. (Bingo square: title has more than six words)

The Race to Save the Romanovs, by Helen Rappaport: This is another serious book. The author dives into one of the last mysteries about the last tsar and his family: why weren't they saved? The author's conclusions are a bit sad. A lot of people made efforts to save them, but none were very serious, and even if they had been, they would have had very little chance of succeeding. (Bingo square: Eastern European Setting)

In the not serious department, I read a few mysteries, including P.D. James's Cover her Face, that I used for the bingo square of the author using their middle name or initial.

Another couple of light reads, that somehow ended being quite similar: Petits miracles au bureau des objets trouvés and Love in Lowercase. In both, the main character is a single man in his thirties who sees his routine of many years disrupted by someone forcing the door of their apartment (in the first case, a girl looking for a doll, in the second case, a cat). He then goes on a journey not very far from where he lives, meeting old people with pearls of wisdom and finding love along the way. It's light, it's pleasant, and I will have forgotten both these books in three months. Plus, neither fit bingo squares.

29Tess_W
Juin 22, 2019, 9:39 am

>28 Montarville: I love all things Romanov, so that is a BB for me!

30Montarville
Modifié : Août 2, 2019, 9:54 pm

I haven't updated my thread in over a month, and I did quite a bit of reading. So, here we go.

I have filled two Bingo squares: book with an LT rating of at least 4, with Marcel Proust's Du côté de chez Swann (Swann's Way), and book mentioned in another book with George Sand's Les Maîtres sonneurs (The Bagpipers).

It took me a few dozen pages to really get absorbed in Marcel Proust's world. The narrator as a little boy wanting his mommy all the time is quite annoying, but it doesn't last too long. Quite soon we enter the world of the neighbours, particularly Mr. Swann, and that is very interesting. And the style is a delight. The long, slow to unwind sentences are perfect for sweltering summer days. Quite early in the book, the narrator receives books for his birthday, all by George Sand, including Les Maîtres sonneurs (The Bagpipers), that I have myself received as a gift about two decades ago but had not read yet.

The Bagpipers is a historical novel set in the late XVIIIth century. There are no historical figures, it is about ordinary people: peasants, forest workers, musicians, etc. At first, there are two boys and a girl, and later three boys and two girls, and it ends up very much like I thought it would but getting there was great fun. As with Proust, Sand's style brings a particular quality to the book. The language sounds old and is very poetic. It must be quite a challenge to translate it.

The July Random cat, all about birds, made me read two Canadian books. And No Birds Sang, by Farley Mowat, is a memoir of the author's experience in the infantry on the Italian front during World War Two. Very moving. I was in tears by the end. Birdie is about a young woman who shows incredible strength and resilience to survive a chaotic upbringing and mental illness. In my tour of Canada, it represents Alberta, because the author is a Cree woman from that province and the novel is partly set in Alberta.

I have also read Montrez-moi vos mains, thoughts on his profession by pianist Alexandre Tharaud. I recommend it only to the most die-hard piano-loving classical music fans.

31Montarville
Modifié : Oct 19, 2019, 4:39 pm

It has been a while since I updated my thread last. Over two months. I have read a few books since. I won't list them all, just the ones on which I have something to say.

For Bingo Dog:

Les Frères Karamazov (The Brothers Karamzov), by Feodor Dostoïevsky: Book featuring siblings. This is a re-read. I read it first when I was a teenager. I thought I remembered it well, but I was wrong. The scene that I thought was the opening scene occurs two-thirds in. I "remembered" a scene (a party in Grouchenka's house) that was not in it at all. However, I remembered the characters very well, and that is the most important. It's a classic, but I couldn't help thinking this would be unpublishable today.

Chroniques de Jérusalem, Guy Delisle: Graphic Novel. Graphic novels are not my usual type of books. For this one, I am glad BingoDog made me go outside my comfort zone. It is excellent.

L'incroyable histoire de la médecine: book related to medicine. A graphic "novel", interesting, a light way to present a serious subject.

Dinner with Edward, Isabel Vincent: book related to food. Read it especially for BingoDog. No more than ok.

Reading tour of Canada:
Island, Alistair MacLeod. These are short stories written by the author over a number of years. Read one after the other, they are slightly depressing. Most of the characters are out of work or can't cope with the changing world. That said, it shows how difficult the 1960s and the 1970s were on fishermen and coal miners in Nova Scotia. A good read, but better in small doses.

32rabbitprincess
Oct 19, 2019, 6:03 pm

>31 Montarville: I agree with your assessment of Island. I took it on a train trip to Halifax and found it overwhelming to read all those stories in one go. I preferred No Great Mischief.

33Montarville
Modifié : Déc 30, 2019, 10:20 am

BingoDog completed!

I used the book Dead with the Wind, a cozy mystery, to fill the square "weather event in title", which was my last. It is my first time I complete the bingo card. I think next year's will be more difficult.

I've read a few more books since I last updated my thread. I'll mention only a couple of them.

I'll be there for you: The one about Friends, by Kelsey Miller. It is a non fiction book about the tv show Friends. Given that this fall marks the 25th anniversary of the beginning of the series, it was an appropriate read. It's for fans only. There is not much in it for readers who are not familiar with the show. Because I've seen all of the episodes, most of them several times, I had great fun reading it.

The Case of the Careless Kitten, by Erle Stanley Gardner. This is mystery featuring the famous lawyer Perry Mason. I thought Perry Mason was created for tv. It appears that I was wrong. I quite liked this book, I will keep an eye open for other Perry Mason's adventures.

34MissWatson
Déc 23, 2019, 2:41 am

Congrats on filling your Bingo card!

35Tess_W
Déc 23, 2019, 3:46 am

Yeah!

36rabbitprincess
Déc 23, 2019, 8:56 am

Hurray for filling your Bingo card!

38VivienneR
Déc 25, 2019, 10:06 am

>33 Montarville: Congratulations on filling your Bingo card. I agree, next year's card looks challenging.

Merry Christmas!