May TBR 31 books in 31 days challenge
This is a very interesting start. I am just returning again from a very long break I took the last few weeks (more like months at this point). I am debating if I should do a wrap-up for the last few months or just move on?
I have not updated anything since the second week of May. We will see. Also this coming month I have very ambitious plans. Let me try to lay an overview of the big plans.
Challenge 31 books in 31 days. *36 books in this list but by now I am not sure how to count them or not. I have several volumes in the same series.
Week 1
• Fullmetal Alchemist vol 5 Hiromu Arakawa
• Fullmetal Alchemist vol 6 Hiromu Arakawa
• Fullmetal Alchemist vol 7 Hiromu Arakawa
• Fullmetal Alchemist vol 8 Hiromu Arakawa
• Fullmetal Alchemist vol 9 Hiromu Arakawa This is another of the manga series I am trying to get through.
Breaking the laws of nature is a serious crime!
In an alchemical ritual gone wrong, Edward Elric lost his arm and his leg, and his brother Alphonse became nothing but a soul in a suit of armor. Equipped with mechanical “auto-mail” limbs, Edward becomes a state alchemist, seeking the one thing that can restore his and his brother’s bodies...the legendary Philosopher’s Stone.
Alchemy: the mystical power to alter the natural world; something between magic, art, and science. When two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, dabbled in this power to grant their dearest wish, one of them lost an arm and a leg…and the other became nothing but a soul locked into a body of living steel. Now Edward is an agent of the government, a slave of the military-alchemical complex, using his unique powers to obey orders…even to kill. Except his powers aren't unique. The world has been ravaged by the abuse of alchemy. And in pursuit of the ultimate alchemical treasure, the Philosopher's Stone, their enemies are even more ruthless than they are
• Inuyasha vol 20 Rumiko Takahashi. This is already over halfway through the series. This follows Kagome a young high school student from common era Japan is transported to the Feudal era. She and her newfound friends face Naraku an evil half-demon who wishes to obtain the Shikon no Tama in order to get the power the jewel grants.
• Inuyasha vol 21 Rumiko Takahashi
• La vida, el timepo y la muerte by Fanny Blanck Cerejido. A nonfiction book that I hope will lift my mood.
• Fisica cuantica para filosofos by Alberto Clemete de la Torre. This is a good introduction and easy to digest. We will see how understandable it really is.
Week 2
• The Hollywood double bill by Daphne du Maurier. Back when going to the movies meant a whole afternoon or evening's entertainment not just the one movie Audiobook radio is proud to be home to the Hollywood Double Bill. Adapted for radio with all the frills including the big stars and hosted by Roger Prior. I have recently read Du Maurier for the first time and enjoyed it greatly so I am trying to dive into a few more of her works.
• Sharks in the river, Ada Limón. The speaker in Sharks in the Rivers finds herself multiply dislocated: from her childhood in California, from her family’s roots in Mexico, from a dying parent, from her prior self. The world is always in motion—both toward and away from us—and it is also full of risk: from sharks unexpectedly lurking beneath estuarial rivers to the dangers of New York City, where, as Limón reminds us, even rats can find themselves trapped by the garbage cans they’ve crawled into. In such a world, how should one proceed?
• The doll short stories Daphne Du Maurier.
Before she wrote Rebecca, the novel that would cement her reputation as a twentieth-century literary giant, a young Daphne du Maurier penned short fiction in which she explored the images, themes, and concerns that informed her later work. Originally published in periodicals during the early 1930s, many of these stories never found their way into print again . . . until now.
Tales of human frailty and obsession, and of romance gone tragically awry, the thirteen stories in The Doll showcase an exciting budding talent before she went on to write one of the most beloved novels of all time. In these pages, a waterlogged notebook washes ashore revealing a dark story of jealousy and obsession, a vicar coaches a young couple divided by class issues, and an older man falls perilously in love with a much younger woman—with each tale demonstrating du Maurier’s extraordinary storytelling gifts and her deep understanding of human nature.
• Indian stories 5 famous tales by Katie Haigh. These five famous Indian tales are a collection of stories on human behaviors, portrayed by animal characters, with a beautifully wrought moral at the end. Discover the oldest legends of ancient India with these still resonating folk tales: Who killed the otter's babies
The alligator and the jackal
The farmer and the money-lender
Tit for tat
Sing Rajah and the cunning little jackals
• Hotel iris by Yoko Ogawa. In a crumbling seaside hotel on the coast of Japan, quiet seventeen-year-old Mari works the front desk as her mother tends to the off-season customers. When one night they are forced to expel a middle-aged man and a prostitute from their room, Mari finds herself drawn to the man's voice, in what will become the first gesture of a single long seduction. In spite of her provincial surroundings, and her cool but controlling mother, Mari is a sophisticated observer of human desire, and she sees in this man something she has long been looking for.
The man is a proud if threadbare translator living on an island off the coast. A widower, there are whispers around town that he may have murdered his wife. Mari begins to visit him on his island, and he soon initiates her into a dark realm of both pain and pleasure, a place in which she finds herself more at ease even than the translator. As Mari's mother begins to close in on the affair, Mari's sense of what is suitable and what is desirable is recklessly engaged.
• My hero academia vol 23 by Kohei Hirokoshi.
• Revenge eleven dark by Yoko Ogawa. An aspiring writer moves into a new apartment and discovers that her landlady has murdered her husband. Years later, the writer’s stepson reflects upon his stepmother and the strange stories she used to tell him. Meanwhile, a surgeon’s lover vows to kill him if he does not leave his wife. Before she can follow-through on her crime of passion, though, the surgeon will cross paths with another remarkable woman, a cabaret singer whose heart beats delicately outside of her body. But when the surgeon promises to repair her condition, he sparks the jealousy of another man who would like to preserve the heart in a custom tailored bag. Murderers and mourners, mothers and children, lovers and innocent bystanders—their fates converge in a darkly beautiful web that they are each powerless to escape
Week 3
• Icing ivy by Evan Marshal. Jane Stuart and Ivy Benson were once best friends. Ever since Ivy's daughter Marlene was murdered, though, things have been rocky. To patch up their friendship, Jane invites Ivy to the writer’s retreat Jane organized. Jane and Ivy plan to spend the wintry week relaxing and drinking cocoa, just like old times!
Off-season Mt. Munsee Lodge is a mountain-top hotel which is perfect for relaxing and having fun. But Ivy brings Johnny, her new man, who turns out to be on the run. To Ivy’s displeasure, Johnny swoons over one of Jane's students, Carla, a waitress with little promise as a writer but great potential as a home wrecker. Johnny figures the retreat makes the perfect getaway, but what he’s running away from soon appears. And when an unexpected blizzard leaves everyone marooned in the snow, there's no chance for escape.
Out for a walk the next day, Jane finds her old friend Ivy on the snowy trail—dead. Ivy has been stabbed with an ice pick. Johnny's the likeliest suspect, but he’s vanished. Anyway, Jane knows Johnny’s not the one who iced Ivy. He has no motive. The killer is someone who knows a lot more about murder than writing.
• And then there were none, Agatha Christie.
First, there were ten—a curious assortment of strangers summoned as weekend guests to a little private island off the coast of Devon. Their host, an eccentric millionaire unknown to all of them, is nowhere to be found. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they're unwilling to reveal—and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder. A famous nursery rhyme is framed and hung in every room of the mansion:
"Ten little boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine. Nine little boys sat up very late; One overslept himself and then there were eight. Eight little boys traveling in Devon; One said he'd stay there then there were seven. Seven little boys chopping up sticks; One chopped himself in half and then there were six. Six little boys playing with a hive; A bumblebee stung one and then there were five. Five little boys going in for law; One got in Chancery and then there were four. Four little boys going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one and then there were three. Three little boys walking in the zoo; A big bear hugged one and then there were two. Two little boys sitting in the sun; One got frizzled up and then there was one. One little boy left all alone; He went out and hanged himself and then there were none."
• Murder is easy by Agatha Christie. In a quiet English village, a killer is about to strike. Again and again. Officer Luke Fitzwilliam is on a train to London when he meets a strange woman. She claims there is a serial killer in the quiet village of Wychwood. He has already taken the lives of three people and is about claim his fourth victim.
Fitzwilliam dismisses this as the ramblings of an old woman. But within hours she is found dead. Crushed by a passing car. And then the fourth victim is found. Each death looks like an accident. But in Wychwood nothing is as it appears.
• Misery by Stephen King. Bestselling novelist Paul Sheldon thinks he’s finally free of Misery Chastain. In a controversial career move, he’s just killed off the popular protagonist of his beloved romance series in favor of expanding his creative horizons. But such change doesn’t come without consequences. After a near-fatal car accident in rural Colorado leaves his body broken, Paul finds himself at the mercy of the terrifying rescuer who’s nursing him back to health—his self-proclaimed number one fan, Annie Wilkes. Annie is very upset over what Paul did to Misery, and demands that he find a way to bring her back by writing a new novel—his best yet, and one that’s all for her. After all, Paul has all the time in the world to do so as a prisoner in her isolated house...and Annie has some very persuasive and violent methods to get exactly what she wants.
• The tommyknockers by Stephen King. Something was happening in Bobbi Anderson's idyllic small town of Haven, Maine. Something that gave every man, woman, and child in town powers far beyond ordinary mortals. Something that turned the town into a death trap for all outsiders. Something that came from a metal object, buried for millennia, that Bobbi accidentally stumbled across.
It wasn't that Bobbi and the other good folks of Haven had sold their souls to reap the rewards of the most deadly evil this side of hell. It was more like a diabolical takeover...an invasion of body and soul--and mind.
• El hombre semen by Violette Ailhaud. In a village after the war that took all the men from them. The women there make a pact, once a man comes into their location they need to take action. A pact is made and then after a few years, it happens. A man is coming into the village.
• I know why the caged bird sings by Maya Angelou. Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local "powhitetrash." At eight years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age—and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors ("I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare") will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned.
Week 4
• The birds & don't look now by Daphne Du Maurier. Du Maurier is of course world famous for many of her novels. These two stories are perhaps even better known as films (The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock and Don't Look Now by Nic Roeg), but here we bring you the full terrifying texts, superbly read by Peter Capaldi, who brings the true dimension of these works to the imagination.
• American Indian fairy tales by William Trowbridge. Iagoo, the story-teller knew the fairy tales and wonder stories told him by his grandfather. Where did robin get his red breast? How did fire find its way into the wood? Why was Coyote more clever that the other animals? Iagoo would answer these questions with his stories. Adapted from legends collected by noted ethnologist Henry R. Schoolcraft in the Lake Superior region in 1839, this charming collection of seven stories will delight youngsters and lovers of Native American myth and legend.
• Tales from the Norse legends by Edward Ferrie. The tales of the Norse gods--of the giants, demons, trolls, and dwarves--still have the power to fascinate more than a thousand years after they were first told. Tales from the Norse Legends tells the stories of the one-eyed god Odin, the all-seeing, who from his throne in Asgard must prepare for Ragnarok--the final conflict between good and evil. There are tales too of Tyr, of the cunning Loki, of Thor the mighty thunder god, and a host of others. These retellings of the old tales are given extra dramatic perspective by the music of Mahler, Grieg, and Smetana.
• Penultimate peril by Lemony Snicket. This is almost the end of the story I am very interested in the Bauldelaires orphans' stories.
• Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson. A children's story that was very opular but I missed. Jess Aarons' greatest ambition is to be the fastest runner in his grade. He's been practicing all summer and can't wait to see his classmates' faces when he beats them all. But on the first day of school, a new girl boldly crosses over to the boys' side and outruns everyone.
• The day it snowed tortillas by Joe Hayes. This title alone captured me.
• The field guide by Holly Black. Another very popular children story. It all starts when Jared Grace finds their great uncle's book, 'Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastic World Around You' and the Grace kids realize that they are not alone in their new house. Now the kids want to tell their story but the faeries will do everything they can to stop them.
Week 5
• House of many doors by Dianna Wynne Jones. Charmain Baker is in over her head. Looking after Great-Uncle William's tiny cottage while he's ill should have been easy. But Great-Uncle William is better known as the Royal Wizard Norland, and his house bends space and time. Its single door leads to any number of places—the bedrooms, the kitchen, the caves under the mountains, the past, and the Royal Mansion, to name just a few.
By opening that door, Charmain has become responsible for not only the house, but for an extremely magical stray dog, a muddled young apprentice wizard, and a box of the king's most treasured documents. She has encountered a terrifying beast called a lubbock, irritated a clan of small blue creatures, and wound up smack in the middle of an urgent search. The king and his daughter are desperate to find the lost, fabled Elfgift—so desperate that they've even called in an intimidating sorceress named Sophie to help. And where Sophie is, can the Wizard Howl and fire demon Calcifer be far behind?
• They never learn by Layne Fargo. Scarlett Clark is an exceptional English professor. But she’s even better at getting away with murder.
Every year, she searches for the worst man at Gorman University and plots his well-deserved demise. Thanks to her meticulous planning, she’s avoided drawing attention to herself—but as she’s preparing for her biggest kill yet, the school starts probing into the growing body count on campus. Determined to keep her enemies close, Scarlett insinuates herself into the investigation and charms the woman in charge, Dr. Mina Pierce. Everything’s going according to her master plan… until she loses control with her latest victim, putting her secret life at risk of exposure.
• Wise little burro by Joe Hayes.
• Canto de la salamandra by Rogelio Gueda.
- Native American Indian stories 3 famous stories by Katie Haigh. It is as great an offence against a child to starve his mind as to starve his body. The Astorg Audiobook collection means to bring together the fairy tales, stories, myths and legends which have fed the children of many generations in the years when the imagination is awakening and craving stimulus and material to work upon.
Discover 3 classic short stories for kids and children of all ages, taken from the myths and legends of Native American Indians: The Maiden Who Loved a Fish; The White Canoe; The Star Wife. We are in dire need for a greater understanding of Native American cultures, and these stories provide the food for thought necessary for greater proximity.
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