Weekly Review # 19

Alright, it’s good to be back.  I’ve been MIA for some time now for a number of reasons but I don’t think I’ll really get into that now.  I’ve spent the time reading, working and attending performances at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival (I guess that’s also work, but that’s just semantics).  This past week has been busier than I thought it would be but it’s been a good busy.

This week was the opening week of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.  That’s always an exciting time but it’s also a busy time.  The gala opening was last Monday, June 1, and opened with Macbeth.  There were some notable people in attendance that evening, I’ll get into that when I do the review.  

Since last week was opening week this week will be reviews of all the shows that opened at the festival this past week.  I hope these reviews help to spark your interest in some of the shows at the festival this season and if you haven’t been before it may just spark an interested in the festival.

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Weekly Review #18

This has been a slow reading week but that’s alright.  I had the house to myself this past week and it was wonderful!  It doesn’t often happen that the my two roommates leave the house at the same time.  This past week there took a trip, with some other friends to Dominican Republic.  It seems like they had a good time and I know I had a great time with them gone.  I was dealing with major headaches this week but it was nice to have the house to myself.

With my headaches it made it rather difficult to read but that’s the way life is sometimes.  In order to curb the problem I thought trying a chiropractor would be a good idea.  According to X-rays taken I think it was a good idea to see him.  My neck isn’t in good shape at all, and is being fixed.  Since going to him the headaches have started to improve, so much so that I’ll be heading back to work after being home for the past couple of weeks.

I hope to have more to report on the reading side of this next week.  But until then I hope everyone has a great week and enjoys what their reading.

Weekly Review #17

Well it’s hard to believe it’s been another week already.  I’ve been living with major headaches for the last while and the doctors are still trying to figure out what’s happening.  In the mean time it’s been difficult to get any reading done.  Reading and headaches just don’t seem to go well together, in case that’s something you couldn’t figure out yourself.

So Friday, after my massage, I made a quick stop at The Book Vault to see if I couldn’t get some graphic novels that may be manageable with this headache thing going on.  Over the weekend I got several of them read.  I must say that my favourite so far is definitely The Walking Dead.  I’m really looking forward to reading the second book but I had to request it be ordered for me.  So, now it’s time to play the waiting game.

I also realized yesterday that I didn’t do a Theatrical Thursday this past week.  It’s been one of my favourite things to do on here and I feel bad that I missed it.  This weeks Theatrical Thursday will be all about Spring Awakening.  It’s the last show I saw in Toronto to just got my copy of the script by Frank Wedekind, and to top it off the translation and introduction are by Jonathan Franzen (that’s right author that had a tiff with Oprah).

I hope everyone has a great week this week.

Weekly Review #16 & Giveaway

What a week this has been.  It’s almost hard to believe another is week is over already.  I got quite a bit of reading finished this week but my health has been on the decline.  And I’m attempting to find out what books have made you laugh.  So, there is so much that I could talk about today.

First, we had the 24 hour read-a-thon this past weekend.  I didn’t get through the full 24 hours and a lot of that has to do with my decline in health.  I really enjoyed the time that I could sit and read and actually got several things read.  You can see a good summary of how things went here.  There you’ll find out what I read and my general thoughts about how my time reading went.  Now I’m really looking forward to the next one, I hope to find others in Stratford that are interested in participating and getting together to read.

I’m hosting a giveaway of sorts.  I’m wanting to know what books you think are funny.  So until the end of April I want you to tell me what books you have found funny.  From that list I want to compile a list and then survey to find the top 10 funny books.  This isn’t exactly an original idea but the one being done on CBC will be dealing with a smaller group of people.  This one, I hope to have a list from the book blogging community.  Once all is said and done I will be giving away a book to one of the people that tell me what books have made them laugh.  You can go to the original post to tell me what makes you laugh.  Now for some added encouragement if you blog about this event, and send me the link to the post, I’ll give you five more entries.  The prize will also change, instead of getting the number one book you’ll get the books that place 1, 2 and 3.  

I hope this week brings you many great books and some wonderful time to read.

Weekly Review #15

Another week down and yet another lies ahead.  There have been a number of happenings this week that are worth noting.  

1. Thank YOU!  I wanted to take an opportunity to thank all of you that have been regulars and those of you just discovering That’s the Book!  The primary reason for wanting to take this opportunity right now is because comments have reached over 500 this week.  I appreciate all comments that are left here because they have often helped me to consider different aspects of novels while I read.  It’s wonderful to be a part of such a rich and vibrant community online.  As an added thank you there is a gift for the person that made the 500th post.  An email has been sent to Kim L. from Bold. Blue. Adventure. letting her know that 500 is thanks to her.

2. As I’m writing this a copy of Christopher Moore’s Fool is making its way to me.  I was shocked to receive an email from Harper Collins Canada this week.  And even more shocked to see that the email was asking me if I would be interested in getting a copy of Moore’s most recent novel, Fool.  I was absolutely thrilled with this offer and I’m sure it came across in my response:

I would love a copy of this book!!!  I love Christopher Moore, and I work for the Stratford Shakespeare Festival so this is a perfect book.

Thank you so much for offering me this.  I couldn’t be more thrilled!!

Aaron

I don’t think I could have come across as more of a blathering idiot.  But I’m a huge fan of Christopher Moore and have been waiting to get my hands on a copy of this book, I was actually about to get a copy the next day, so to have them send this to me excited me to no end.

3. I also got some reading finished this week.  I finished Tom Wolfe’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test and got a start on Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick (which is being read on my new Sony Reader) as well as Bernhard Schlink’s The Reader.  I should get The Reader finished today, as I don’t go back to work until tomorrow.  

This weeks Theatrical Thursday will be all about The Reader.  Until next time happy reader.

Weekly Review #14

This has been quite the week.  There are a number of things that have happened since last Monday and the last Weekly Review.  I’ve got some reading done and saw the end of the first book for CBC and was a winner.  I also got a phone call from the doctors office which is both a blessing and somewhat of a concern.

This week I got several books on the go.  The most interesting book I got started this week was Tom Wolfe’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.  This a book I’ve been wanting to read for sometime and was very excited to finally have the opportunity to get reading it.  The primary reason for wanting to read this book is the title.  I just love the title and the copy I have has a great cover.  I don’t remember what it was that brought me to this book in the first place but so far I’m glad I picked it up and started reading it.  It’s like watching The Blair Witch Project, very raw.

I also got started on The Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs by Irvine Welsh.  At this point I must say that I’m not exactly sure how I feel about this one.  The accents written in the novel make it a little difficult to read.  It’s making me think of the time I read A Clockwork Orange, it was difficult to read until I really got into it.  I also read, and finished, How to Solve Your People Problems by Dr. Alan Godwin.  You can keep your eyes peeled for the review of that coming up.

It also turns out that I won the big prize from the CBC Book Club.  I am extremely excited about getting me prize, a Sony Reader.  I hope it gets here soon and I’ll be sure to let you know what I think of it once I’ve had the chance to use it.  This morning CBC announced the next book we’ll be reading for the Book Club, The Man Who Forgot How to Read by Howard Engle.  Sounds like an interesting book, so I’ll go the Book Vault tomorrow and order my copy of the novel.

Weekly Review #13

This week I managed to get quite a bit of reading done. I feel like I have somewhat made up for the last couple of weeks when I didn’t get so much read. I’ve also made the decision to put Amitov Ghosh’s novel Sea of Poppies on hold for a while because I”m not really enjoying it. There are some parts I like but others I don’t and I’m getting too bogged down with the parts I don’t like.

I suspected that I might enjoy The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and I finally got the opportunity to read it Friday night before I left to do my bowling for bowl for kids (that was a lot of fun, and it was a great opportunity to spend some time with people from work). It’s a story I knew but I didn’t know how it would end but once I got into the story I knew how it would end so it wasn’t quite a surprise that I would have liked it to be. But it was enjoyable.

I also managed to finish Andrew Davidson’s The Gargoyle which is one of the best novels ever. I really enjoyed it and you can read my full review here. Be sure to read this novel if you ever get the chance.

This week’s Theatrical Thursday will be on a show I saw this week that isn’t book related but I wanted to express my opinions on the show. I made the trip to Toronto this past Wednesday to see Jersey Boys. Here is a clip of the London cast doing one of the numbers from the show to tempt you back on Thursday:

I’ve got a few other books on the go now; an ARC copy of Dr. Alan Godwin’s How to Solve Your People Problems, Tom Wolfe’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, and The Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs by Irvine Welsh.

Weekly Review #12

This is a little later than usual but this week has been turned on its head a little.  I’ve had make some adjustments to my work schedule (starting earlier) because I’m off tomorrow evening to see Jersey Boys in Toronto.  Due to this change I wasn’t thinking yesterday and so didn’t do my weekly review then…so you get it now.

I didn’t get nearly as much reading done as I wanted to this past week.  I did get started on The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson and I must say this is proving to be one of the best books I’ve read this year.  Thank you to all of you that suggested I read it.  I’m almost half way through already and I have already fallen in love with it.

On the flip side I’m still struggling through Sea of Poppies and more and more is being missed because my mind likes to use this time to wander.  But I’m determined to keep at in hopes that it’s rewarding in the end.

I did get another one of the Fables books finished this week and I must say it was great.  This is one of the best graphic novel series I’ve encountered.  But then again I haven’t been that involved in the graphic novel scene.  I’m really enjoying my encounters with graphic novels thus far.

Coming up this week in Theatrical Thursday is a look at Boy in the Striped Pajamas.

Until next time happy reading.

Weekly Review #11

This week I didn’t get even half the reading done I wanted to. It was rather disappointing. I got one book finished and some started. I wanted to have one other book finished before the end of the week but that just wasn’t going to happen. I also got back to doing Weekly Geeks which was great this week, I really enjoyed answering the question.

I finished Rabbit, Run by John Updike finally this week.  I enjoyed the book but there were some times I had difficulty really getting into the book.  I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the Rabbit books throughout the year.  The copy I have has the second novel, Rabbit Redux in it too.  I just need to take some time away from the book for a bit.

I’ve also got Sea of Poppies and there are some portions of the novel I’m really enjoying but others I could easily do without.  There are several stories going on right now, which I’m sure will merge together at some point soon, but some of them I seem to be tuning out while I’m reading (not a good sign is it).  I’m interested to see where Amitav Ghosh is going with this story.   So far it has a similar feel to Lawrence Hills The Book of Negroes.

I’ll get the other book I started this week finished within the next few days so all is good on that front.  Until next weeks review happy reading.

Weekly Review #8

Well I guess this past week made up for the previous week.  I got three books finished and got a giveaway started.  I guess I have several reviews I should get working on and posting on here but I keep finding other things that I want to talk about on here so the reviews get left behind sometimes.  Another bookish type thing that I got do yesterday was a trip to Toronto to see The Color Purple: The Musical.

If you’ve been reading this post for a while you’ll know that I spent some time talking about Canada Reads last year and I’ve started to keep tabs on what’s going on in the world of Canada Reads 2009. So to celebrate great Canadian literature I’ve decided to host a giveaway.  I’m going to give the drawn name the winning novel in this years Canada Reads.  I’m really excited to see what others have to say their best Canadian novel is.  Since some people have asked already the giveaway is open to everyone!  Enter and good luck!

This week I finished reading Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow then I got several other started and finished.  This week I also had the joy of reading Fruit by Brian Francis (this is the first book I read for Canada Reads 2009), Murder at the Prom by Peter DePietro (this was actually some required reading for the community theatre group I’m helping get off the ground), and the 3rd installment of the Fables graphic novels (Fables: Storybook Love by Bill Willingham, with illustrations by Mark Buckingham and Steve Leialoha).  Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for some reviews to come.

Well it’s been a busy week and it was nice to end it off yesterday with The Color Purple and then the Oscars.  A great way to end a week.  Until next time happy reading!