War and Peace Wednesdays: May 11th and 18th

As at May 18th, 2011

Pages read so far: 512 - Up to Book Two, Part 3, Chapter 8. 

Confidence level: 
3.5/5: I managed this week to get 50 pages done and at a good speed, so hopefully the pace will remain for the rest of the month so I can catch up. Interestingly, I've been wanting to read my book rather than listen to the audiobook version lately. I'm not sure why but I'll go with it.


Words I have had to look up: 

Nothing this fortnight.

Comments: 

"Life is not over at thirty after all!" Thank you Prince Andrei for that earth-shattering revelation! I can carry on knowing I have more than 2 years left! I do, of course, jest. The poor guy has been through such a time what with losing his wife and all the guilt he felt about that as well as losing his faith in humanity after his stint in the war that it's really great to see him perking up a bit. Well, a lot, actually. He's getting back into it and he's realising he has a whole lot more to live for. I guess this is something that a lot of us experience. Sometimes life can throw epic curve balls at you just can't see how on earth it will ever get any better. Thankfully, a lot of the time it does. I'm really pleased to see our Andy (the irreverent way I like to refer to Prince Andrei in my head) is pulling out of his black phase. Onwards and upwards!

As for dear old Pierre, don't we all know how he's feeling? New Year's Resolutions are made, and then promptly broken 7 weeks later. Exercise regimes are set in place and then slip off the radar. He's trying so hard, bless him, but old habits die hard and when it seems like the rest of the Brothers aren't walking the walk either... Well. I think the way his speech in Chapter Seven was shot down was particularly heart-breaking. I can see what he is saying and I feel his frustration - he believes in action not just empty words. He wants to see results, not just come to regular meetings and act like he's doing something good. He really is interested in doing the hard spiritual work of changing and improving himself but it seems like he's alone. I kind of know how he feels. There have been plenty of times before when I have got involved in something, started out all gung-ho but then got really discouraged because others were all kind of "Whatever man" about it all. He's being accused of being like the Illuminati (which, so far as I understand, have the idea of using the power of religious groups to manipulate secular power structures like the government) but I don't see it like that. He's thinking that they can use their combined powers as a force for good.

What do you think about Pierre's struggle with the apparent apathy of the other Freemasons? Do you think he's right or just a little over-invested?

Links to other people blogging about War and Peace:

The Book Ladys Blog
The Avid Reader's Musings
A Literary Odyssey
Kristi Loves Books
Kim at Sophisticated Dorkiness
Jillian at A Room of One's Own
Kaye at The Road goes Ever Ever On (Thursdays with Tolstoy)
Tips on how to read WaP at The Blue Bookcase

Sunday Salon: The Reading Slump

Now if I had a nook like this
I'm sure I'd never have a reading
slump, like, ever.
Image copyright: Kath Liu 2011

Yep, the first slump of the year has hit and my blogging mojo has also somewhat hit the skids. I'm not sure exactly what causes these slumps. I mean, really - what is my life without reading? I'm a book lover, a reading nerd, the bookish girl that everyone asks for reading recommendations. Why, then, do I have these periods of time where I don't pick up a book for ages? Right now I really need to not be in a reading slump. I have to get The Lacuna done and read and write the review within the next 2 weeks. I'm currently on page 21. Come on!! What's going on in there, brain?

Having just written that first paragraph, sat back and reflected, I think I can pinpoint the cause of my slump. It's performance anxiety. It's that nagging little voice. You know the one - the annoying little nay-sayer that barges in, makes himself comfy in the back of your mind and sighs and shakes his head and occasionally comments "You're never going to make it, you know..." or "It's all going to fall down around your ears soon..." I often have this little bugger hanging around telling me that I'm never going to get my thesis finished on time. Unsatisfied with this, it seems he has moved on to my reading and blogging.

This year, I've been making a massive effort to blog regularly and interestingly. It's been going quite well and I've been very happy to welcome about 50 new followers (hi guys!) But I logged in today to find that the air had been let out of my "OMG I have 100 followers" balloon when someone un-followed me. I know, I know, I shouldn't take it personally - but I do. Of course, this was just fuel for the nay-sayer's fire: "See? The decline in your success is already happening..."

Alright! Enough already! You. Nay-sayer. Out! I am officially evicting you. Pack your sad little suitcase and get out of my head. Go on. Shoo!

Image source: Here

OK. I feel better already. I'm sure I will get another follower sometime. I still have 2 weeks to read The Lacuna. I will get back on track with my War and Peace mission today. Reading is supposed to be fun and I'll be damned if I'm going to let it become a chore.

Do you ever have reading slumps? If so, what causes yours?

Readathon Wrap -up Post

When I read other blogs, I'm blown away by other people's reading speeds. I used to think I was a fast reader until I became a book blogger! This weekend was no exception. While other bloggers taking part in this readathon were chewing through multiple books, I was plodding slowly through one. It was one of those heavy going books but I really enjoyed it. I didn't quite achieve my goal of finishing it, mainly because Saturday got pulled from underneath me, but I'm glad I got so much of it read.

The final results:
Friday 5th (evening): Snow (Orhan Pamuk) 101 - 177
Saturday 6th (evening): Snow (Orhan Pamuk) 177 - 211 
Sunday 7th (day):  Snow (Orhan Pamuk) 211 - 338


Total pages read: 237
Total hours spent reading: 8
Amount of fun had: Lots

Readathon 4th - 6th February 2011

What I'm going to read:
Snow by Orhan Pamuk
It's been a slow but enjoyable read but this is a Bookcrossing book with more people waiting to read this so I need to get cracking! Hope to finish it this weekend.


War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
I want to get to page 124 so I'm up to date with my read-a-long schedule. Shouldn't be hard, I'm loving it so far.

I know it doesn't seem like much but I'm anticipating that Snow will take up much of my time. Plus I have some academic reading I need to get done for el thesiso which cannot be ignored - but hey it's reading!

My fellow readathon peeps:
Unputdownables (Superstar organiser of this event)
She is Too Fond of Books
Miss Remmers
Bitsy Bling Books
Must Read Faster
The Zen Leaf
Teadevotee
Nose in a Book
The Right Broad
My Reader's Block
Coffee and a Book Chick
Lit and Life

If you think this sounds like fun, go along to Unputdownable's website and sign up!

UPDATE # 1:
Friday night - I managed to read 77 pages of Snow. I'm really enjoying this book - it's not one to be rushed but rather savoured and enjoyed so I'm giving it the time it deserves. All of this done, of course, to the continuing fireworks explosions going on in the neighbourhood park in aid of Chinese New Year. I'm really ready for that to stop now.

UPDATE # 2:
Saturday started off full of fizz and promise as hubby took care of doggy duty and I grabbed an extra couple of hours sleep (ah bliss!) After I got up and made us some brunch, we took Kratos (our dog) out for a run out by the High Speed Rail station where there are lots of empty parks without dogs so he can be safely off leash. Came home - got cuppa - sat down - phone rings. Friends we haven't seen in ages say they have the day free and can they come to see us. Well of course we weren't going to say no. Fast forward to bed-time. I managed to get an hour and a half of reading in before I got tired so managed about 40 pages or so. Not great progress but hey, it's something. Tomorrow the hubster is at work all day so I'm hoping for the next update to be far more impressive!

UPDATE # 3:
A day to myself is normally filled with thesis work and catching up on housework but today I gave myself express permission to just read for fun. So far today, I've knocked off 90 pages of Snow which doesn't seem like an awful lot but I did also manage a blog post, a load of washing and a nap in amongst all of the reading. And since it's merely 7pm here the night is young... more later.

War and Peace Wednesdays: February 2nd

As at February 2nd, 2011
Pages read so far - 65


Confidence level - 5/5: At this pace I should remain on track!


Words I have had to look up:
Approbation - Approval or praise

Comments - Well the read-a-long has officially begun so we're off and running. I have until this time next week to read up to page 124 which shouldn't be too much of a drama. Two interesting things I noted during my reading this week: (1) It seems an international truth that young people plus alcohol equals stupidity. Strapping a policeman to a bear's back? Really??! and (2) They sure hook up young in this book. Running around making promises to be married at 12 years old, making it official at 16...  wow. Although there are some things that never seem to change no matter where you are, this one is not one of them. I thought it was an interesting contrast. 


Also I saw on an episode of Oprah that there's a movie called The Last Station about Tolstoy's life. Has anyone seen this and was it interesting? I read an article in the London Book Review not too long ago about the madness that was Tolstoy's relationship with his wife and how it drove him to his death so with that and reading this I'm curious. Thoughts?


Oh, and is anyone else joining me on this quest? Go on, you know you want to!!

Bloggiesta: Mini Challenges!

I didn't think I would have enough time this weekend for Bloggiesta but it turns out I have a couple of hours on my hands so I'm going to do a couple of Mini Challenges:
1) Backing up my blog
2) Sorting out my tags
3) Give my blog a favicon.

Alrighty... Let's go! OLE!

War and Peace Wednesdays

I've been trying to read this darned book for ages now. I keep starting it and then getting busy or distracted by other things. But! I have not given up - I am going to read it one way or the other and to help myself stay a little more focussed, I'm going to set up this regular slot here on my blog to track my progress... or otherwise.

What else have I done to help myself? I happened across a War and Peace read-a-long on Facebook which has its own wikispace and reading schedule so I thought well if nothing else this will keep it front and center in my mind. The reading schedule is:
February 1-14: Volume One, Part One (1-124)
February 15-28: Volume One, Part Two (125-231)
March: Volume One, Part Three (232-342)
April: Volume Two, Parts One and Two (343-490)
May: Volume Two, Part Three (490-573)
June: Volume Two, Parts Four and Five (574-712)
July: Volume Three, Part One (713-809)
August: Volume Three, Part Two (810-973)
September: Volume Three, Part Three (974-1103)
October: Volume Four, Parts One and Two (1104-1219)
November: Volume Four, Parts Three and Four (1220-1335)
December: Epilogue (1339-1444)

As at January 19th, 2011
Pages read so far - 35
Confidence level - 4/5 - Peachy keen but I'm a little intimidated by the weight of this thing!
Words I have had to look up:
Postilion - man who rides the leading left hand horse of a team.
Adjutant - Military officer who acts as admin assistant to a senior officer.
Erudition - Possessing great knowledge
Comments - Holding this book up in a comfortable reading position is hard!!

Reading against type - Liu vs Palahniuk

I don't remember what it was that got me thinking about it but a couple of weeks ago I started thinking about the kinds of books I read. It was probably staring at the shelves and shelves of donated books at my work's small 'library' that I have taken over. We've got a pretty sizeable collection - about 900 books - from all genres, particularly the mystery/suspense/thriller category. You know the type, airport books that you buy, enjoy and generally never read again.

I've said it before, and I will say it again: there are far too many books in this world for me to waste my time on things I don't want to read... but. On the one hand it is true. I have absolutely desire to read another Dan Brown book in my entire life. But what about books that I just don't consider my type? What if I'm really missing out? So I decided to branch out. To Choke by Chuck Palahniuk.

So far I have knocked off 130 pages of the 293 in the book. And I am struggling. To be fair, this is a well written book and it covers some interesting ideas and themes but WOW it is so not my style. To say I find it confronting would be an understatement, there are times it makes me squirmingly  uncomfortable. Which is totally the point of the narrative but I don't like feeling this way. I've realised that I read to escape into another world and even if it's a harsh world, the worlds I escape into never feel like a bad fever nightmare that contain sentences that make me feel physically sick.

To all you Palahniuk fans out there, please don't take this as an attack on your favourite author. It's absolutely not. It's just that he isn't my cup of tea. That said, I do plan on seeing this one through to the end because as much as I'm not enjoying the way the book makes me feel, it kind of has me hooked and I want to know how it all pans out.

So have any of you read against your usual type lately? Do you even have a type of book you read? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this one!

MISSION: Taipei Living 10th Edition - nearly completed.

Wow wow whee, have I ever been slack in the last month. At first I was insanely busy (brother in law got married, had the in-laws staying with us) and then that slid into a case of serious denial and writer's block. One good thing though is that in the last couple of weeks I have found myself in the final stages of my current editing project - we have a cover and the final proof copy and everything, how exciting!! The book is called Taipei Living (10th edition) and is basically an everything you need to know about living in Taipei as a foreigner. It's got info on areas for shopping, how to sort out your rubbish, where to get good coffee, how to get a driver's license, what to do if there's an earthquake, hot spring etiquette, info on the international schools and way, way more. It's a gold mine and it was an honour to be involved in bringing it to it's tenth edition. I even gave a nifty new cover and everything.

Anyway, hopefully now I have broken the barrier and posted here the drought will lift and I'll be back with more book-related stuff. Oh and for those of you who like photos, I started Project 365 over here a couple of days ago which should be fun!

Hope you're all well and talk again soon!

Bookdrum - the Wikipedia of books!

This is just a short post but I wanted to let everyone who hasn't already heard of it know about Bookdrum. Basically, it's a website that is collecting in-depth profiles on all sorts of books with information about the author, the plot summary and facts about stuff in the book. It's an awesome project and would benefit from the input of you bookish types out there! I've already submitted a profile on Ian McEwan's Saturday. What are ya waiting for?!

The Honest Scrap Award!

The Honest Scrap Award was received from Helen at Helen Loves Books. Thanks, Helen! The rules for this award are:

1. The Honest Scrap Blogger Award must be shared.
2. The recipient has to tell 10 (true) things about themselves that no one else knows.
3. The recipient has to pass on the award to 7 more bloggers.
4. Those 7 bloggers should link back to the blog that awarded them.

Here are my 10 things...

1. I wish that I was Lorelai Gilmore - her wit, her style and her overall cool is something I have coveted ever since seeing my first episode of Gilmore Girls.
2. My favourite book is Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. It never gets old, the darkness and broodiness of the novel is unequalled in anything else I have ever read. And I'm re-reading it for The Gilmore Girls Reading Challenge.
3. I developed my caffeine addiction from my first job at a coffee shop. Since then barely a day has gone by without some sort of caffeine infusion.
4. Despite my LOVE of books I took absolutely no English classes in my undergrad degree. Why? Who knows. I think I was trying not to do what everyone expected me to do. In the end I gave in and did a Grad Dip Art (English) which is like a second undergrad major you complete once you already have an undergrad degree and now I'm half way through my MA (English Lit).
5. In my life I have studied French, Japanese and Chinese, but since I never used any of my French or Japanese I have forgotten most of it.
7. I'm a total bibliophile. I love every single thing to do with books. My version of heaven is a massive, old school bookshop with a fantastic coffee bar attached to it which has huge comfy couches and overlooks the ocean. When I die, that's where I wanna be.
8. Moving to Taiwan six months ago has been one o the best things I have done in my life for many reasons but one of the most unexpected ones is that it reintroduced me to recreational reading again - in NZ I'd gotten so busy and overloaded with stuff that I forgot to make time to read. Now that it's back, I'm never letting anything get in the way of my reading time again!
9. Apparently, according to a test I did, I read at 400 wpm with 80% comprehension.
10. My goal in life is to be as "windswept and interesting" (Billy Connolly) and as well-read as humanly possible.

I'm passing this award on to the following blogs:

1. The New Dork Review of Books
2. Literarily Speaking
3. Obsessed with books
4. Miss Remmer's Review
5. Lit and Life
6. Brizmus Blogs Books
7. Out of the blue

Welcome to 2010!

Image credit: Here

As this is the year I start writing my thesis, I'm being careful not to overburden myself with too many things. I have an awful habit of saying "YES, that sounds great!" without first thinking if I actually have the time to do it. Ask my hubby - he's constantly shaking his head at how ridiculously full my plate is.


Already for this year my challenges include:
- Writing my MA thesis
- Learning Chinese
- Editing a book on a very tight schedule
Plus of course everything else that's going on like other part-time work, reviewing, bookcrossing, being a wife, still adjusting to living in Taiwan...

Image Credit: CW

Sourced from: Here

But then I saw the Gilmore Girls Reading Challenge. And I just couldn't resist, especially given how much I love the Gilmore Girls and how much I admire Rory's reading prowess. It's because of her that I took on the crazy challenge of trying to read War and Peace! So I thought, what's the harm in adding another wee challenge to the list. Since there are three levels of participation:
Emily: Read 5 books from at least two different categories;
Lorelai: Read 10 books from at least three different categories; or
Rory: Read 20 books from at least four different categories,

it shouldn't be too much of a strain. If I aim for Emily, then I won't overburden myself and if I happen to achieve Lorelai level then awesome! I reallllly doubt I can attain Rory level, not this year anyway. 

Overall, my goals for this year (I don't make resolutions) are:

- To be happy and enjoy life;

- To read as much as possible;

- To get fluent(ish) in Chinese, and

- To worry less. 

I hope you all had a wonderful New Years! 2010 is going to be a fun year. Enjoy!

Resolutions - you make 'em to break 'em

Well, some people do. Surely. I hear all sorts of crazed plans for the year, the likes of which I have heard in several years preceding, which have never made it to fruition. Usually those poor saps making these wild plans end up despondent by mid-Feb and start to resent the new year before it's really had a chance to prove itself.

I've been there. Many times. 

"I'm going to drop 2 sizes this year!!"

"I'm going to be completely tidy this year!"

"I'm going to get an A+ average!"

And many other things that never seem to happen if I promise them at the beginning of the year.

I find I am far more likely to achieve something like that if I begin at some obscure and non-eventful time of the year, like Mid-September for example. Or if I don't make a weighty claim that places a huge expectation on my shoulders. Letting yourself down is the worst kind of failure as you really, at the end of the day, can't kid yourself or offer any of the half-cut excuses you can try and get away with to others. Start with a realistic goal and expand from there as and when success comes your way.

So upon reflection of what this year is likely to contain for me (massive change, a fair amount of stress, crises of identity etc) I figured that the best resolution that I could make for 2009 would be to be kind to myself. To roll with the punches and not sweat the small stuff. To enjoy the experience of this year as much as possible but to know when to sit quietly in a room with nothing but my iPod and a mug of tea. 

This is the resolution I have made for 2009. This has got to be the most humane resolution I have ever made and then again the most important one yet. Being kind to yourself is not technically difficult but can be hard to achieve for certain personality types (mine included)  - the types of personality who are constantly hounded by the "Should Monster". The Should Monster is a hairy, loud bastard of a monster who bullies its targets into feeling bad for all of the things that they haven't done and inflicts amnesia upon them about the things that they HAVE achieved. It's a mean and insidious S.O.B. 

But no more! This year I am banishing the Should Monster back to its cave. It's time for a new type of resolution and a new approach to a new year. I can't do absolutely everything and I am not Super Woman. But you know what? That's O.K. with me.