It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

 
It's Monday! What are you reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. For this meme, bloggers post what they finished last week, what they're currently reading, and what they plan to start this week. 
You might also like to check out my Friday Finds highlighting new reads I discovered during last week that got added to my TBR (to be read) list over at Goodreads. 

I also posted about the Irish Book Awards shortlist and 2012 Book Pilgrimage a challenge is to read a book, or books, and then visit (make a pilgrimage!) to either the location where the book is set or to the author's home (or grave). 

FINISHED THIS WEEK:

Synopsis here.

 I enjoyed it perhaps not as much as I have enjoyed Steve Berry previously. It's pretty fast paced and action
packed. I like the way that history becomes an integreal part of the story. But I must admit to glazing over
some of the Napoleon background included.

STARTED THIS WEEK:

From the book jacket:

Out of the rich culture of India and the brutal drama of the 1947 Partition comes this lush and eloquent 

debut novel about two women married to the same man.
Roop is a young girl whose mother has died and whose father is deep in debt. So she is elated to learn 

she is to become the second wife of a wealthy Sikh landowner in a union beneficial to both. For Sardaji’s first wife, Satya, has failed to bear him children. Roop believes that she and Satya, still very much in 

residence, will be friends. But the relationship between the older and younger woman is far more 

complex. And, as India lurches toward independence, Sardarji struggles to find his place amidst the 

drastic changes. 

Well, I did stick with this mainly because we drove to Montreal for the weekend so I forced myself to finish in 
the car.
But it was a painful read. I especially skimmed over the many, many pages of Indian politics in the 1930s and 40s. 
Most of the reviews are excellent so it must only be me that ended up being exasperated with these women, I need
to remember the times and location to generate any sympathy for them. I do think being the second wife at 16 to a
in his forty's  cannot be easy. The first wife is a very smart woman, though and her husband might have been wise 
to listen to her!

I will be on vacation for the next couple of weeks so I'll catch up with everyone when I return.

2012 books read (34 to date):

The Coast Road - John Brady
Still Midnight - Denise Mina
The Bulgari Connection - Fay Weldon
Good Bait - John Harvey
The Heretic's Treasure - Scott Mariani
Dead I Well May Be - Adrian McKinty
The Devil's Elixir - Raymond Khoury
A Darker Domain - Val McDermid
The Impossible Dead - Ian Rankin
GB84 - David Peace
The Emperor's Tomb - Steve Berry
Stonehenge Legacy - Sam Christer
Inquisition - Alfredo Colitto ABANDONED!
The Troubled Man - Henning Mankell
Nineteen Seventy-Four - David Peace
Faithful Place - Tana French
Dead Like You - Peter James
Brother and Sister - Joanna Trollope
The Forgotten Garden - Kate Morton ABANDONED!
A Beginner's Guide to Acting English -Shappi Khorsandi
The Snowman - Jo Nesbo
The Leopard - Jo Nesbo
The Stone Cutter - Camilla Lackberg
Miramar - Naguib Mahfouz
The Gallow's Bird - Camilla Lackberg
Nineteen Seventy- Seven - David Peace
Timeline - Michael Crichton
Millennium People - JG Ballard
The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins 
Birdman - Mo Hayder
Clara Callan - Richard B. Wright

The Paris Vendetta - Steve Berry

Flat Stanley - Montreal

I first mentioned Flat Stanley in a previous post and some background on him and his travels over here.

So Flat Stanley went on a road trip this weekend. He went from Toronto to Montreal which is about 350 miles each way (or approx. 510 kilometres each way as can be seen in the 2nd photo).

We took his picture as we headed back to Toronto, the sign behind him shows  the direction to either Montreal (east or est in French) or Toronto (west or ouest in French).

He is resting up now for his flight tomorrow night from Toronto to Copenhagen, Denmark where he starts his European trip.

You can see the Quebec license plate on the car in front.

 Crossing the "ever under construction" Mercier Bridge

 Heading back to Toronto - we're going right.

 510 Km!! until home!

Scenic Sunday

Before we had our house repainted we used to have a wall of photos from our travels. We could only select one photo from each place and we had it enlarged and mounted. This was our selection from Nova Scotia from 1990.
The lupins (also known as lupines) were in bloom along side this red clay road in the middle of these rolling hills.

Cleveland

Taken in Cleveland at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a few years ago.

All photography on this post at Junk Boat Travels are under copyright. If you would like to use any of my photographs please contact me first.

Floral Friday Fotos

'm posting over here today!

Flat Stanley

Flat Stanley from I Have a Notion's blog visited the CN Tower in Toronto yesterday. You can just catch a glimpse of a Toronto streetcar behind him, known as a Red Rocket.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

 
It's Monday! What are you reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. For this meme, bloggers post what they finished last week, what they're currently reading, and what they plan to start this week. 
You might also like to check out my  Friday Finds highlighting new reads I discovered during last week that got added to my TBR (to be read) list over at Goodreads. 

I also posted about the Irish Book Awards shortlist and 2012 Book Pilgrimage a challenge is to read a book, or books, and then visit (make a pilgrimage!) to either the location where the book is set or to the author's home (or grave). 

I also bought a bunch of books for our vacation which I will post this Friday.

FINISHED THIS WEEK:
Nothing!! It's been a busy week with other stuff getting in the way!

Still reading:

Synopsis here.

2012 books read (33 to date):
The Coast Road - John Brady
Still Midnight - Denise Mina
The Bulgari Connection - Fay Weldon
Good Bait - John Harvey
The Heretic's Treasure - Scott Mariani
Dead I Well May Be - Adrian McKinty
The Devil's Elixir - Raymond Khoury
A Darker Domain - Val McDermid
The Impossible Dead - Ian Rankin
GB84 - David Peace
The Emperor's Tomb - Steve Berry
Stonehenge Legacy - Sam Christer
Inquisition - Alfredo Colitto ABANDONED!
The Troubled Man - Henning Mankell
Nineteen Seventy-Four - David Peace
Faithful Place - Tana French
Dead Like You - Peter James
Brother and Sister - Joanna Trollope
The Forgotten Garden - Kate Morton ABANDONED!
A Beginner's Guide to Acting English -Shappi Khorsandi
The Snowman - Jo Nesbo
The Leopard - Jo Nesbo
The Stone Cutter - Camilla Lackberg
Miramar - Naguib Mahfouz
The Gallow's Bird - Camilla Lackberg
Nineteen Seventy- Seven - David Peace
Timeline - Michael Crichton
Millennium People - JG Ballard
The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins 
Birdman - Mo Hayder
Clara Callan - Richard B. Wright

Flat Stanley

I had never heard of Flat Stanley (but then I don't have kids in elementary school!) until I was reading Cat Patches post Flat Stanley. BTW when you pop over there be sure to vote for her quilt.
As Cat Patches says Zachary, who claims to be a co-worker over at I Have a Notion, has requested help with a reading homework assignment. He's asked us to print out a picture of his friend, Flat Stanley, and take him some place interesting near by. Then we're supposed to take a picture of Flat Stanley and email it back to Zachary's mom along with a little narrative about Flat Stanley's travels. If you want to help Zachary out, you have until May 15th to do so.
After reading all this I had to google Flat Stanley and lo and behold he has his own website!
The site states "The basic principle of The Flat Stanley Project is to connect your child, student or classroom with other children or classrooms participating in the Project by sending out "flat" visitors, created by the children, through the mail (or digitally, with The Flat Stanley app). Kids then talk about, track, and write about their flat character's journey and adventures. Although similar to a pen-pal activity, Flat Stanley is actually much more enriching-students don't have to wonder where to begin or what to write about. The sender and the recipient already have a mutual friend, Flat Stanley. Writing and learning becomes easier, flows naturally, and tends to be more creative. This is what teachers call an "authentic" literacy project, in that kids are inspired to write of their own passion and excitement about the project, and given the freedom to write about many things through the rubric of the Flat Stanley character."

So I have printed Flat Stanley and he will be coming on our trip to Copenhagen and then on our Danube river cruise.

Irish Book Awards Shortlist 2012

The Irish Publishing News recently announced the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards Shortlist.

The Hughes & Hughes Irish Novel of the Year
Solace by Belinda McKeon (Picador)
On Canaan’s Side by Sebastian Barry (Faber) -a favourite writer of mine
The Cold Eye of Heaven by Christine Dwyer Hickey (Atlantic)
City of Bohane by Kevin Barry (Random House) - I just bought it
The Forgotten Waltz by Anne Enright (Random House) - read it, didn't care for it
Mistaken by Neil Jordan (John Murray)

RTÉ Radio 1’s The John Murray Show Listeners’ Choice Award:
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (Corsair)
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt (Granta)
How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran (Ebury)
How the Light Gets in by Mary McEvoy (Hachette Ireland)
The Club by Christy O’Connor (Penguin Ireland)
My Dad was Nearly James Bond by Des Bishop (Penguin Ireland)

The Ireland AM Irish Crime Fiction Book of the Year:
A Death in Summer by Benjamin Black (Mantle)
The Bloody Meadow by William Ryan (Mantle)
Bloodland by Alan Glynn (Faber) -loved it
The Reckoning by Jane Casey (Ebury)
Taboo by Casey Hill (Simon & Schuster)
Absolute Zero Cool by Declan Burke (Liberties Press) - he has a great blog

Eason Irish Popular Fiction Book of the Year:

The Time of my Life by Cecilia Ahern (HarperCollins)
All For You by Sheila O’Flanagan (Headline) -a guilty favourite author of mine
Me and My Sisters by Sinead Moriarty (Penguin Ireland) -added to my TBR list
Love and Marriage by Patricia Scanlan (Transworld Ireland) - definitely on my TBR list
NAMA Mia! by Ross O’Carroll Kelly (Penguin Ireland)
The Pink Ladies Club by Emma Hannigan (Poolbeg Press)

All photography on this post at Junk Boat Travels are under copyright. If you would like to use any of my photographs please contact me first. 

Costa Rica

Irazú Volcano National Park in Costa Rica.
ara—peak of tzu—thunder

Costa Rica

The last time Volcán Irazú awoke was in the first half of the 1960's, when, for four years it showered the residents of Cartago and San José with ash, clogged the air with smoke, and sent glowing boulders rolling down its sides.

 The fog quickly rolled in quickly the day we visited.

All photography on Junk Boat Travels are under copyright. If you would like to use any of my photographs please contact me first. 

2012 Book Pilgrimage

This pilgrimage came just in time for our Danube River Cruise we are taking in May, and we have added a couple of days in Copenhagen because we meet the cruise in Budapest.
Libby's Book Blogis hosting this book pilgrimage challenge. Basically, the challenge is to read a book, or books, and then visit (make a pilgrimage!) to either the location where the book is set or to the author's home (or grave). Then, blog about the book and the book pilgrimage! There is a Mr. Linky at her site.


To help find a book set in a place you are going to visit there is a site called Biblio Travel. I didn't find it that helpful, but you might.

Libby found a book for me when we were "talking" about this challenge. It is The Danube Pilot.


I went searching for some more contemporary books and found these. I am already familiar with Steve Berry's books which feature his character, Cotton Malone who makes his home in Copenhagen.
I have listed the books in order of the cities we will be visiting. Even if I don't read all of these it was an interesting exercise researching books set in these cities.

COPENHAGEN

Synopsis here.


Synopsis here.

BUDAPEST

Based on the terrible reviews I am going to give this one a miss.


No, I didn't mean to put this under Prague. Despite its title this book is entirely set in Budapest.




BRATSLAVA SLOVAKIA

Synopsis here.

VIENNA AUSTRIA

Synopsis here.


Synopsis here. Another author I am familiar with.

SALZBURG
I haven't really found any, The Sound of Music is the first thing that comes to mind when you mention this town.

This sounds intriguing, however, it hasn't been translated into English as yet.

PASSAU GERMANY

Synopsis here.

REGENSBURG
the only two books I found were a World War II history of an invasion on the town and one written on  Pope Benedict XVI's September 12, 2006, University of Regensburg lecture. Neither of these interest me.

NUREMBERG

This is a play set in Nuremberg.

PRAGUE CZECHOSLOVAKIA

Synopsis here. This as been added to my TBR list on Goodreads.


Synopsis here.


Synopsis here.

Friday Favorite Finds - Recipes

Please link up to a post containing your list of recipes to try -- do not link up individual recipes please, save those for other linkys.  Be sure to leave a link back here to Finding Joy in my Kitchen.

Chocolate chai mini-loaves

Bubble and squeak rosti

Irish dark and white bread pudding

Source