The Affinity Readalong, Part 1 and 2 (Finis!)

Part II Post

Morning, y'all! It's now Tuesday, April 5th, and I'm adding Part 2 to my original Part 1 Affinity Readalong post. This is actually the second of two, and therefore, the last post of this readalong. Of course, I'm not done with the book! That would just be madness to actually be on schedule. The good news is, after Greyson's first virus, everyone seems to still be standing. After some hellish weeks at work, also still standing (I seem to be saying that a lot lately). The good news is that Greyson is on a perfect, wonderful, awesomely timed schedule and falls asleep prompty at 8pm, so I usually still have some energy to paint my nails or, OH, read!

So, what do y'all think? Have you finished? Still working on it?? I wanna know! I'll post my official review when I'm done. Getting there!

Part I

Hey folks! It's finally here! The Affinity Readalong is underway. I'm sorry it's quite late in the day, but as usual, I'm scrambling to keep up with work/home/reading balance. That said, my portion of this will be quite vague. I'm not quite through Parts I and II but I certainly already have some impressions of these characters and this novel.

First off, I am absolutely, positively entranced by prison. Don't want to go there myself, but I initially picked this book for myself because it's set in a prison during this time period. After reading about the real, and now defunct, Millbank Prison, I was even more excited to dive into the pages.

Thus far, the setting is right up my alley. I've just passed the portion where Margaret Prior gets to see exactly how the new prisoners are brought into the system. Their hair is cut, they're examined by a doctor, they're stripped of all their possessions. It's a frightening thought, for sure, but also quite fascinating to see how these women are indoctrinated into their new "home." I've also been quite interested to "meet" some of the prisoners and learn of their crimes. Of course, Selina Dawes is at the center of it all.

Someone mentioned the other day (on Facebook or Twitter...sorry, my brain has left me) that they'd struggled with knowing who was speaking in the beginning. Jill! Ha! It was Jill. My mind is not completely gone! And at first I had that issue as well. It threw me to switch back and forth between Margaret Prior's journal and Selina Dawes' journal? I guess it's her journal. Chronicles of the "spirits" who have visited her, their cause of death, and so on. Fascinating, but confusing in the beginning, nonetheless.

The pacing of the whole thing strikes me as very "Wilkie Collins." I'm repeatedly reminded of The Woman in White as I'm reading. I'm really at quite a precarious spot to be "discussing" because I just want to know so much MORE at this point. I want to know more about Dawes' living situation and her fellow mediums. I want to know more about Margaret Prior's dead (and supposedly haunting) father, I want to know more about Prior's past! More, more, more!

And as I type, my Nook is charging in my office. I will most definitely be using my lunch hour to do some more reading and get caught up with everyone.

How's it going so far? What are your thoughts on the characters, writing, setting? How does this stack up with others of Waters' novels you've read?

Feel free to leave a link in the Mr. Linky below or your thoughts in the Comments section!

The Affinity Readalong, Part 1 and 2 (Finis!)

Part II Post

Morning, y'all! It's now Tuesday, April 5th, and I'm adding Part 2 to my original Part 1 Affinity Readalong post. This is actually the second of two, and therefore, the last post of this readalong. Of course, I'm not done with the book! That would just be madness to actually be on schedule. The good news is, after Greyson's first virus, everyone seems to still be standing. After some hellish weeks at work, also still standing (I seem to be saying that a lot lately). The good news is that Greyson is on a perfect, wonderful, awesomely timed schedule and falls asleep prompty at 8pm, so I usually still have some energy to paint my nails or, OH, read!

So, what do y'all think? Have you finished? Still working on it?? I wanna know! I'll post my official review when I'm done. Getting there!

Part I

Hey folks! It's finally here! The Affinity Readalong is underway. I'm sorry it's quite late in the day, but as usual, I'm scrambling to keep up with work/home/reading balance. That said, my portion of this will be quite vague. I'm not quite through Parts I and II but I certainly already have some impressions of these characters and this novel.

First off, I am absolutely, positively entranced by prison. Don't want to go there myself, but I initially picked this book for myself because it's set in a prison during this time period. After reading about the real, and now defunct, Millbank Prison, I was even more excited to dive into the pages.

Thus far, the setting is right up my alley. I've just passed the portion where Margaret Prior gets to see exactly how the new prisoners are brought into the system. Their hair is cut, they're examined by a doctor, they're stripped of all their possessions. It's a frightening thought, for sure, but also quite fascinating to see how these women are indoctrinated into their new "home." I've also been quite interested to "meet" some of the prisoners and learn of their crimes. Of course, Selina Dawes is at the center of it all.

Someone mentioned the other day (on Facebook or Twitter...sorry, my brain has left me) that they'd struggled with knowing who was speaking in the beginning. Jill! Ha! It was Jill. My mind is not completely gone! And at first I had that issue as well. It threw me to switch back and forth between Margaret Prior's journal and Selina Dawes' journal? I guess it's her journal. Chronicles of the "spirits" who have visited her, their cause of death, and so on. Fascinating, but confusing in the beginning, nonetheless.

The pacing of the whole thing strikes me as very "Wilkie Collins." I'm repeatedly reminded of The Woman in White as I'm reading. I'm really at quite a precarious spot to be "discussing" because I just want to know so much MORE at this point. I want to know more about Dawes' living situation and her fellow mediums. I want to know more about Margaret Prior's dead (and supposedly haunting) father, I want to know more about Prior's past! More, more, more!

And as I type, my Nook is charging in my office. I will most definitely be using my lunch hour to do some more reading and get caught up with everyone.

How's it going so far? What are your thoughts on the characters, writing, setting? How does this stack up with others of Waters' novels you've read?

Feel free to leave a link in the Mr. Linky below or your thoughts in the Comments section!

The Sunday Salon - I'm a Reading Tart

Happy lazzzyyy Sunday, y'all. Greyson has had a little bit of a cold, he's kindly passed it along to me, and I've spent the majority of my morning watching Food Network and dozing. I would really prefer to read, but staying awake has been a challenge.

I'm in the midst of several books (as I've mentioned recently). I'm wrapping up The United States of Arugula for the March 14th BookClubSandwich discussion. I had a preconceived notion that this book would be about FOOD, and it certainly is, to some extent. But it's much more about PEOPLE. Likewise, it examines food movements in the U.S. I won't give away too much since the discussion is coming up soon, but I think I could've gotten a really good feel for this book if I'd read this blurb from Powells.com first:

One day we woke up and realized that our macaroni had become pasta, that our Wonder Bread had been replaced by organic whole wheat, that sushi was fast food, and that our tomatoes were heirlooms. How did all this happen, and who made it happen? The United States of Arugula is the rollicking, revealing chronicle of how gourmet eating in America went from obscure to pervasive, thanks to the contributions of some outsized, opinionated iconoclasts who couldn't abide the status quo.

 It's taking me a bit to read this roughly 400-pager. Non-fiction always moves a little slower than fiction for me. Given that I've been reading it for a little over a week, I'm feeling a little unfaithful and tarty.  It's taking ALL I HAVE not to read Affinity until I'm done with The United States of Arugula. I'm also bound and determined to read Room before it has to go back to the library. I was on hold so long, I'd feel like an arse if I didn't read it.

Looking forward a bit more, I need to start working on my 2011 challenges. So far I'm doing the best on the E-Book Challenge. When I finish Affinity and The United States of Arugula, I'll be 1/3 of the way through the challenge on my way to 12 e-books for the year. I don't think I'll have any problem surpassing that number.

The Chunkster Challenge will likely be my biggest hurdle for the year. Given the limited free time, Chunksters make me a bit antsy. I'm gonna try, though! I have lots of chunkies on the shelves that get avoided, so I shouldn't have any shortage of material to work with.

Finally, What's in a Name 4 will take some focus!!! I need to see if I own any books that meet the requirements.

How's your Sunday? Your challenges for the year?

The Sunday Salon - I'm a Reading Tart

Happy lazzzyyy Sunday, y'all. Greyson has had a little bit of a cold, he's kindly passed it along to me, and I've spent the majority of my morning watching Food Network and dozing. I would really prefer to read, but staying awake has been a challenge.

I'm in the midst of several books (as I've mentioned recently). I'm wrapping up The United States of Arugula for the March 14th BookClubSandwich discussion. I had a preconceived notion that this book would be about FOOD, and it certainly is, to some extent. But it's much more about PEOPLE. Likewise, it examines food movements in the U.S. I won't give away too much since the discussion is coming up soon, but I think I could've gotten a really good feel for this book if I'd read this blurb from Powells.com first:

One day we woke up and realized that our macaroni had become pasta, that our Wonder Bread had been replaced by organic whole wheat, that sushi was fast food, and that our tomatoes were heirlooms. How did all this happen, and who made it happen? The United States of Arugula is the rollicking, revealing chronicle of how gourmet eating in America went from obscure to pervasive, thanks to the contributions of some outsized, opinionated iconoclasts who couldn't abide the status quo.

 It's taking me a bit to read this roughly 400-pager. Non-fiction always moves a little slower than fiction for me. Given that I've been reading it for a little over a week, I'm feeling a little unfaithful and tarty.  It's taking ALL I HAVE not to read Affinity until I'm done with The United States of Arugula. I'm also bound and determined to read Room before it has to go back to the library. I was on hold so long, I'd feel like an arse if I didn't read it.

Looking forward a bit more, I need to start working on my 2011 challenges. So far I'm doing the best on the E-Book Challenge. When I finish Affinity and The United States of Arugula, I'll be 1/3 of the way through the challenge on my way to 12 e-books for the year. I don't think I'll have any problem surpassing that number.

The Chunkster Challenge will likely be my biggest hurdle for the year. Given the limited free time, Chunksters make me a bit antsy. I'm gonna try, though! I have lots of chunkies on the shelves that get avoided, so I shouldn't have any shortage of material to work with.

Finally, What's in a Name 4 will take some focus!!! I need to see if I own any books that meet the requirements.

How's your Sunday? Your challenges for the year?

Hatin' on Wang Lung

Today begins our next-to-last week of discussion of Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth over at The Classic Reads Book Club! If you want to join us for some Wang Lung hatin', come on over and join the partay! :D

I have to say, I've had SUCH a good time leading this discussion! It makes me all the more excited for

• The March 14th BookClubSandwich discussion of The United States of Arugula  by David Kamp.
• The Affinity Readalong coming up on March 28th!

Hatin' on Wang Lung

Today begins our next-to-last week of discussion of Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth over at The Classic Reads Book Club! If you want to join us for some Wang Lung hatin', come on over and join the partay! :D

I have to say, I've had SUCH a good time leading this discussion! It makes me all the more excited for

• The March 14th BookClubSandwich discussion of The United States of Arugula  by David Kamp.
• The Affinity Readalong coming up on March 28th!

Introducing: The Affinity Readalong

After my "Stalking Sarah Waters" post, several of you expressed an interest in a readalong of this book! So, why not?!

The Affinity Readalong will begin on Monday, March 28th. There will be two discussion installments:

Monday, March 28th, Parts 1 and 2
Monday, April 4th, Parts 3, 4, and 5

I could've split this book into more parts, but the truth of the matter is that it's not that long at 337 pages so I'm assuming many of us will read straight through. It's also something of a shot in the dark the way I'm splitting up the parts. One of the downsides of e-reading is that I can't actually flip through to see how long each section is. So, in the grand tradition of adventure, I'm guessing!

For those of you who are on the fence about reading along, here's a blurb to get you interested:

Set in and around the women's prison at Milbank in the 1870s, Affinity is an eerie and utterly compelling ghost story, a complex and intriguing literary mystery and a poignant love story with an unexpected twist in the tale.

Following the death of her father, Margaret Prior has decided to pursue some 'good work' with the lady criminals of one of London's most notorious gaols. Surrounded by prisoners, murderers and common thieves, Margaret feels herself drawn to one of the prisons more unlikely inmates – the imprisoned spiritualist – Selina Dawes. Sympathetic to the plight of this innocent-seeming girl, Margaret sees herself dispensing guidance and perhaps friendship on her visits, little expecting to find herself dabbling in a twilight world of seances, shadows, unruly spirits and unseemly passions.

Is that enough to convince you to dive in? I hope so! If you'll be participating, enter your information into Mr. Linky below...

Introducing: The Affinity Readalong

After my "Stalking Sarah Waters" post, several of you expressed an interest in a readalong of this book! So, why not?!

The Affinity Readalong will begin on Monday, March 28th. There will be two discussion installments:

Monday, March 28th, Parts 1 and 2
Monday, April 4th, Parts 3, 4, and 5

I could've split this book into more parts, but the truth of the matter is that it's not that long at 337 pages so I'm assuming many of us will read straight through. It's also something of a shot in the dark the way I'm splitting up the parts. One of the downsides of e-reading is that I can't actually flip through to see how long each section is. So, in the grand tradition of adventure, I'm guessing!

For those of you who are on the fence about reading along, here's a blurb to get you interested:

Set in and around the women's prison at Milbank in the 1870s, Affinity is an eerie and utterly compelling ghost story, a complex and intriguing literary mystery and a poignant love story with an unexpected twist in the tale.

Following the death of her father, Margaret Prior has decided to pursue some 'good work' with the lady criminals of one of London's most notorious gaols. Surrounded by prisoners, murderers and common thieves, Margaret feels herself drawn to one of the prisons more unlikely inmates – the imprisoned spiritualist – Selina Dawes. Sympathetic to the plight of this innocent-seeming girl, Margaret sees herself dispensing guidance and perhaps friendship on her visits, little expecting to find herself dabbling in a twilight world of seances, shadows, unruly spirits and unseemly passions.

Is that enough to convince you to dive in? I hope so! If you'll be participating, enter your information into Mr. Linky below...