kayray.org » Books

November 23, 2011

kara — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:23:29 +0000

Anne McCaffrey has gone between.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/23/anne-mccaffrey-pern-dies-85

Dragonsong and Dragonsinger were my favorites. They made a huge impression on me when I first read them as a 10-year-old (I still re-read them every few years). Menolly was a wonderfully real girl — brave enough to run away and live Holdless for the sake of her music, but as shy and insecure as I was.

Thanks, Anne.

Reading in German

kara — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 22:14:36 +0000

I’m quite proud of myself because I have just read an entire novel in German: “Klassensprecherin Dolly” by Enid Blyton. I’ve read a lot of other stuff in German over the years — chapters of this and that, short stories, and even half of Alice in Wonderland for LibriVox (Elli read the other half), but never a whole novel from beginning to end. And Enid Blyton is unknown here, so I wasn’t even familiar with the story or characters. Our library has NONE of her books in English, though she is a British author! They only have a few German translations in storage. Hilarious.

Yes, it’s “just” a kids’ book… but still it was quite an accomplishment for me! And very fun, as well. I’ve always loved boarding-school stories. And I was just delighted when Dolly gave horrible Irmgard a good shaking!

Now I’m in the middle of “Balletschuhe” by Noel Streatfeild, which I’ve read before in English, of course, so that helps quite a lot. But I think Streatfeild’s writing style is a bit more complex than Blyton’s.

The Cazalets

kara — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 17:49:23 +0000

Grandma knows I love BBC costume dramas, and she recommended The Cazalets, so I got the first disk from netflix and watched last week. Really liked it! As usual, there were lots of actors whom I recognized from other BBC things :) I did a little internet searching and discovered that the BBC series was based on the Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard: The Light Years, Marking Time, Confusion, and Casting Off. I sent for The Light Years from my library and read it in three days — could not put it down. (Because I use the lovely “Readmore” app on my iPhone, I happen to know that it took me 7.3 hours of reading in 13 sessions over 3 days, heheh.)

It was just the sort of book I love: a big complicated family, lots of aunts and uncles and cousins, their servants, all the little details of relationships and family life, etc., set against a historical background (pre-WWII England, in this case). Every character seemed real to me, but I thought the author was particularly good at writing the children and teenagers. I can’t wait to find out what happens next. I don’t know which will get here first — the next book or the next disk of the miniseries, but either one will make me drop everything else.

Sprichst Du Deutsch?

kara — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 22:29:52 +0000

Would you like to help create a public domain German translation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s “A LIttle Princess”? Elli and I are finishing up with Chapter 1, and we’re ready to start Chapter 2:
http://www.bitesizeedits.com/projects/zx0x49/bitesizeedit/

Vielen Dank!

German speakers needed!

kara — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:12:53 +0000

Dear German speakers, would you like to help me with a translation project? I want to create a public domain German translation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s “A Little Princess” , so I’ve set up the first chapter on Bite-Size Edits: Translation into German of A Little Princess, Chapter 1, “Sara” (link edited out; chapter 1 is done!)
It will feed you one sentence at a time, with the previous and next sentences for context. There are a few very simple sentences that I can translate myself, which is fun, and my friend Elli, who is a native German speaker and also speaks flawless English, will help smooth everything out.

To prevent random strangers from bumping into the project and editing rather than translating it, I’ve made it visible only to my contacts. So if you’d like to help, please make an account at Bite-Size Edits and then ask it to make me (username: kayray) your contact, and I’ll OK you right away.

Vielen Dank!

Betsy-Tacy has been reprinted!

kara — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 19:46:05 +0000

Harper Collins has recently re-published the High School books from the Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace, hooray! I have adored these books since I was a little girl, and I still re-read them every year or so.

Maud based all the books on her own childhood and high school experiences in the early 20th century. Nearly every character in her books has a real-life counterpart (Betsy is real-life Maud, Betsy’s best friend, Tacy, is real-life Bick, etc.) Maud had a very happy childhood and a loving, supportive family so the books are very warm and cozy, though never sticky-sweet, and Betsy certainly does have problems of her own. Hair that won’t curl on its own and teeth parted in the middle. Being asked to the school dance by the wrong boy. Oh, that herbarium! And wretched Gaston and the rosy apple blossoms! And why won’t Joe Willard join their Crowd??

In an attempt to recruit some new readers and help these lovely new editions sell well, the publisher sent free copies of the first book, the combined “Heaven to Betsy” and “Betsy in Spite of Herself”, to members of a Betsy-Tacy fan email list of which I am a member. We’re divided into two societies, just as the kids in Betsy’s high school are — the Philomathians and the Zetamathians. (I was randomly assigned to be a Philo – go Philos! We have all the cutest boys and sweetest girls!) We’re competing to see which team can recruit the most new readers. The winning team gets an inscribed paving stone outside Betsy’s (Maud’s) childhood home!

I sent my copy to a young friend in England. She’s 11, just the right age for the High School books, though I hope she’ll read the earlier books someday, too. I thought it would be fun for her to see a bit of our cultural history through Betsy’s eyes and get to be friends with Betsy, Tacy, Tib, Tony, Cab, Julia, Margaret, Mr. and Mrs. Ray, Anna, and everyone in Deep Valley. Her book arrived and she’s already reading it, and likes it! Hooray!

Here she is with her new book:

Hope you’re still enjoying it, my Scrabble-friend :) I’d love to discuss it with you!

These new editions are very fine. There is even extra material in the back taken from Sharla Whalen’s wonderful Betsy-Tacy Companion — biographical info and photos of Betsy/Maud’s family and friends, houses, schools, etc. Lots of fun! All three new books are on my Christmas list for sure.

Philo, Philo, Philomathains for the win!!

I love this “Banned Books” display!

kara — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 15:18:33 +0000

The Twin Hickory Public Library, Glen Allen, VA, celebrates Banned Books Week! Shocking Literacy! Marvelous. (found this at boingboing.net)

According to the American Library Association, more than 400 books were challenged in 2007. The 10 most challenged titles were:

1. And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
2. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
3. Olive’s Ocean by Kevin Henkes
4. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
7. TTYL by Lauren Myracle
8. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
9. It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Read a banned book! How about Huckleberry Finn?

Dover Sampler

kara — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 17:35:28 +0000

I’ve been in love with Dover Publications since I was a little kid. The coloring books! The cheap reprints of classics! The antique needlework guides! The cut-and-makes! The paper dolls, oh, the paper dolls! I just found out that Dover has an online sampler service. Just give them your email address, and every week you get a link to a webpage full of sample book pages to download and print out. Today I got two coloring pages, one from a stained glass coloring book and another from “Art Masterpieces to Color”. If I had a color printer, I could have printed out a page of post-impressionist postcards and a page of fruit-crate labels. And if I liked Tom Tierney I could have printed a page of one of his paper doll books. There are also pages from a book of poetry, a book of mazes, a book of butterfly crafts, etc., etc.

Go here to sign up! http://www.doverpublications.com/sampler/

What I read in 2007

kara — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 21:57:12 +0000

We had a “Read One Book a Week in 2007″ thread at LibriVox, so I actually kept track of nearly everything that I read last year. I didn’t literally read one book a week — some weeks I read several and some weeks I read none at all, but whatever, it added up to 52. A few things slipped through the cracks, but here are the 52 that I remembered to write down:

1. Holidays on Ice, by David Sedaris
2. The Christmas Store, by Ray Sipherd (not recommended)
3. Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld (Excellent!!!)(Jan. 9)
4. Castle, by David Macaulay (Jan. 5)
5. Cathedral, by David Macaulay (Jan. 9)
6 The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets, by Eva Rice (Jan 11)
7. London is the Best City in America, by Laura Dave (Jan 18)
8. The Grey King, by Susan Cooper (Jan 29)
9. The Shepherd, The Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog, by Dave Barry (hilarious and touching) (Jan 31)
10. When Madeline Was Young, by Jane Hamilton (Amazing!) (Feb 3)
11. The Book of Ruth, by Jane Hamilton (feb)
12. Disobedience, by Jane Hamilton (excellent!!) (Feb)
13. Whose Body?, by Dorothy Sayers (librivox – excellent)(Feb)
14. The Awakening, by Kate Chopin (LibriVox) (March)
15: Gaudy Night, by Dorothy Sayers
16: Busman’s Honeymoon, by Dorothy Sayers
17: The Scarlet Pimpernel, by Baroness Orczy (LV, read by Gypsygirl) A rip-roaring adventure!
18: Something from the Oven
19: Summer People (meh)
20: Under Orders (Dick Francis, yay!)
21 Making History (Stephen Fry, yay!)
22: Revenge (Stephen Fry. This one interfered with my sleep)
23: Strawberry Girl (Lois Lenski)
24: Aran Knitting (Alice Starmore)
25: A Room with a View (E.M. Forster, recorded for LV)
26: San Francisco Boy (Lois Lenski)
27: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
28: Texas Tomboy (Lois Lenski)
29: Betsy and the Great World
30: Fever 1793 (Laurie Anderson, excellent YA historical fiction)
31: Murder at the Racetrack (short story collection)
32: little women next door (Sheila Klass)
33: Lady Susan (Austen, LV recording)
34: Brat Farrar (Josephine Tey)
35: No Need to Knead (Suzanne Dunaway)
36: Shopaholic and Baby (sophie kinsella)
37: One Third Off (Cobb, LV recording)
38: The Daughter of Time
39: Literacy and Longing in LA
40: Bagthorpes Abroad
41: Born on a Blue Day, by Daniel Tammet (excellent)
42: Make Him Look Good
43: The Four-Story Mistake, by Elizabeth Enright
44: Anybody Out There? by Marian Keyes (loved it!!)
45: The Other Side of the Story by Marian Keyes (loveloveloved it!)
46: Sushi for Beginners, by Marian Keyes (awesome!)
47: Mad Dash, by Patricia Gaffney (very good!)
48: Hypocrite in a Poufy White Dress
49: And Then There Were Five, by Elizabeth Enright
50: The Return of Sherlock Holmes (LV recording, HOT!!!)
51: A Little Princess (LV recording, Karen Savage, HOT!!!)
52: Being Committed, by Anna Maxted

And we’re all set to read a book a week in 2008!

LibriVox has created 1000 free audiobooks!!!

kara — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 06:07:39 +0000

As of today, October 30, 2007, LibriVox has 1000 free, legal, volunteer-read, downloadable audiobooks.

We’ve been counting down to the thousandth book, having no idea at all what it would be. It turned out to be a recording of Edgar Allan Poe’s Murders in the Rue Morgue, read by a relatively new volunteer, Reynard (who is a fine reader with a delicious accent), and cataloged by a brand new admin, kmerline. It was her first cataloging job! Yay Reynard and kmerline!

Download LibriVox’s 1000th book here:
http://librivox.org/the-murders-in-the-rue-morgue-by-edgar-allen-poe/

Way to go, LibriVox volunteers!!! Without each one of you, we wouldn’t have gotten where we are today.

Check our catalog. You’ll find lots more great books to listen to.