Howling Frog Books

Wow, I hate this cover.   Look at them simpering! Det Går An/It is Acceptable , by  C. J. L. Almqvist Long ago in college, I read a lot of Scandinavian literature, and one of my favorites was the Romantic novel The Queen's Diadem (Drottnigens juvelsmycker) .  The only other work of Almqvist I've been able to track down in English is Det Går An/It is Acceptable , also published as Sara Videbeck .  This was a scandalous story in 1838 and led to Almqvist's removal from his position in the church. It all starts on a ferry; sergeant Albert notices a self-possessed young woman, clearly out on business.  They get to talking, and Sara tells him about her life running the family glassworks.  Soon they are good friends, and decide to travel together.  Nothing much happens except that they build a mutually respectful friendship, and when Albert wants to marry Sara, she argues that marriage is a trap, and they'd be much better off keeping their respective jo...

 Hooray, Karen at Books and Chocolate has decided to run her Back to the Classics Challenge for another year!  Here are the categories: 1. A 19th century classic. Any book first published from 1800 to 1899 2. A 20th century classic.  Any book first published from 1900 to 1972. All books must have been published at least 50 years ago; the only exceptions are books which were  written  by 1972 and posthumously published. 3. A classic by a woman author. 4. A classic in translation.  Any book first published in a language that is not your primary language. You may read it in translation or in its original language, if you prefer.  5. A classic by BIPOC author. Any book published by a non-white author. 6.  Mystery/Detective/Crime Classic. It can be fiction or non-fiction (true crime). Examples include  Murder on the Orient Express, Crime and Punishment, In Cold Blood. 7. A Classic Short Story Collection. Any single volume that contains a...

  Erica at The Broken Spine is hosting her 3rd classic books reading challenge !  And this time she's splashing out; there are bonus categories, and there is BINGO!  I love me a bingo card.  Here's the deal from Erica: The Rules: ALL books must have been first published 50 years ago or earlier Books must be read between January 1st and December 31st Books may be used for up to two prompts The Challenge Prompts: Read a classic by an Indigenous author Read an LGBTQIA2+ classic Read a classic by a BIPOC author with a BIPOC main character Read a translated classic Read a classic by a new to you author A classic that has been adapted (Page to Screen) Read a classic written by a woman Read a classic nonfiction Read a classic on your shelf the longest Read a classic with a one-word title Read a classic written during the Harlem Renaissance Read a classic by a West Asian author Bonus Prompts: Read a banned or challeged classic Read a classic over >500 pages Read a c...

 Breaking Bread With the Dead: A Reader's Guide to a More Tranquil Mind, by Alan Jacobs I quite like Alan Jacobs and have been following his blog, Snakes and Ladders .  I only ran into him a couple of years ago when I read his book, How to Think.   Evidently he's doing a sort of series of that, this, and The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction , which I have not read.  Here, Jacobs lays out his reasoning on why old books is a good idea, and important to do.  With me he's pretty much preaching to the choir, as a look at Howling Frog will show, so the question is, was it worth reading as an already convinced old-book-reader? Jacobs starts by acknowledging that reading old books is often painful.  Yes -- old literature is frequently racist, sexist, or just plain alien.  Why should we even subject ourselves to reading difficult or ugly or incomprehensible books when there are plenty of less painful books to read that we can more easily understand...

Hooray, Back to the Classics, hosted by Karen at Books and Chocolate is still going strong!  You can check out all the rules at the sign-up post, but here are the categories: 1. A 19th century classic: any book first published from 1800 to 1899 2. A 20th century classic: any book first published from 1900 to 1971. All books must have been published at least 50 years ago; the only exceptions are books which were written  by 1971 and posthumously published. 3. A classic by a woman author. 4. A classic in translation, meaning any book first published in a language that is not your primary language. You may read it in translation or in its original language, if you prefer.  5. A classic by BIPOC author; that is, a non-white author. 6. A classic by a new-to-you author, i.e., an author whose work you have never read. 7. New-to-you classic by a favorite author -- a new book by an author whose works you have already read.  8. A classic about an animal, or with an anim...

The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck For Karen's Back to the Classics Challenge, I needed a classic set in a place where I have lived, and the solution was obvious: The Grapes of Wrath .  Cleo wanted to do a readalong in December, which suited me just fine, and so three people set out to read it together.  It's possible the timing was less than ideal, as this is the least wintery or Christmassy book I have ever read in any December ever.  It's an August book for sure. What connection do I have to the locations in this novel?  The Joads set out from Oklahoma and take Route 66, with their destination being Bakersfield, California.  It's the only time I've ever seen anybody describe the land around Bakersfield in glowing terms.  I was born in Bakersfield, and so was my dad; his parents were not Okies, but they were pretty much part of the same migration west around that time.  (I did have a great-aunt who was an Okie; she said when she was little th...

The New Year is fast approaching, and I haven't done any wrap-ups or sign-ups or anything.  I've gotta get moving!  So I'm going to take a page from other posts I've seen and cram a few things in together. Every year I think about cutting back on challenges, and every year challenges pop up that are irresistible to my very greedy book-loving heart.  However, all the challenges I want to join are in line with my existing goals, which are: Continue to work on Reading ALL Around the World and my Classics Club list ; Read as much history as I can cram into my brain (favorite things: UK and Russia/Eastern Europe); Also and at the same time, read whatever I want.  Totally doable, right?  So, here are two events coming up soon, and two of the challenges that I plan to sign up for (but not all, because I'm still hoping some favorites will appear): My favorite way to kick off a new year, the Vintage Sci-Fi Not-a-Challenge, is hosted by Little Red .  I've ...

It's about time I started signing up for 2019 challenges!  I am pretty sure that I will not be able to read as much as I want to in, at least, the spring semester of 2019 (I will be working a good deal more), so I'm going to try to go pretty easy.  That means that I'll still sign up for things, but I'll sign up for lower levels and not expect too much of myself. That said, here's a perennial favorite of mine: Back to the Classics, hosted by Karen of Books and Chocolate .  Karen says: Complete six categories, and you'll get one entry in the drawing;  Complete nine categories, and you'll get two entries in the drawing;  Complete all twelve categories, and you'll get three entries in the drawing THE CATEGORIES:  1. 19th Century Classic.  Any classic book originally published between 1800 and 1899. 2. 20th Century Classic.  Any classic book originally published between 1900 and 1969. All books in this category must have...

I've done it!  I was a bit worried about finding that crime classic (what a relief that spy novels count!).  But I've successfully finished all twelve categories for Karen's Back to the Classics Challenge.   I have thus earned three entries in the drawing!  Karen mandates that we include a contact address in the post, so here it is: jkleek at gmail dot com, which is the one on my profile. The twelve categories and titles are: 1.   A 19th Century Classic -- Miss Mackenzie, by Anthony Trollope 2.   A 20th Century Classic -- The Third Policeman, by Flann O'Brien 3.   A Classic by a Woman Author .  And So Flows History, by Hahn Moo-Sook 4.   A Classic in Translation .-- The Dawning, by Milka Bajic Poderegin 5.  A children's classic.   -- The Wonderful Garden, by E. Nesbit 6.  A classic crime story, fiction or non-fiction.   -- Greenmantle, by John Buchan 7.  A classic travel or journey narrative, f...

OK, I've finished this challenge just under the wire!  I wanted to fulfill all 12 categories, and I did, which earns me three entries in Karen's prize drawing. I always have a lot of fun with this challenge.  Thanks, Karen, for keeping it going! 1.   A 19th Century Classic-- The Heart of Midlothian, by Sir Walter Scott 2.   A 20th Century Classic -- The Foundation Pit, by Andrei Platonov 3.   A Classic by a Woman Author . -- Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston 4.   A Classic in Translation .  Marie Grubbe, by J. P. Jacobsen 5.   A classic published before 1800 .  The Histories, by Herodotus 6.   A romance classic   -- Shakuntala, by Kalidasa 7.   A Gothic or horror classic.   Castle of Wolfenbach, by Eliza Parsons 8.   A classic with a number in the title .   The First Wife, by Paulina Chiziane 9.   A classic about an animal or which includes the name of an animal...

I'm not quite finished with the 2017 challenge (almost there!) but I'm ready to sign up for next year!  Karen at Books and Chocolate says:  It's back! Once again, I'm hosting the Back to the Classics Challenge.  I hope to encourage bloggers to discover and enjoy classic books they might not have tried, or just never got around to reading. And at the end,   one lucky winner will receive a $30 (US) prize from Amazon.com or The Book Depository!   Here's how it works: The challenge will be exactly the same as last year, 12 classic books, but with slightly different categories. You do not have to read all 12 books to participate in this challenge! Complete six categories, and you get  one  entry in the drawing Complete nine categories, and you get  two  entries in the drawing Complete all twelve categories, and you get  three  entries in the drawing And here are the categories for the 2018 Back to the Classics ...

Karen at Books and Chocolate hosts the Back to the Classics challenge!  A wrap-up post is required, so here we go. I completed all twelve categories!  So I get three entries into the prize drawing, woohoo.  Here is my list: 1.   A 19th Century Classic-- Great Speeches of Frederick Douglass 2.   A 20th Century Classic -- Man's Search for Meaning , by Viktor Frankl   3.   A Classic by a Woman Author . Northanger Abbey , by Jane Austen 4.   A Classic in Translation .  My Childhood , by Maxim Gorky 5.   A classic by a non-white author . Up From Slavery , by Booker T. Washington 6.   An adventure classic   Under the Y oke , by Ivan Vazov 7.   A fantasy, science fiction, or dystopian classic. Voyage to Arcturus, by David Lindsay 8.   A classic detective novel. Brat Farrar , by Jo sephine Tey 9.   A classic which includes the name of a place in the title.   Pi cnic at Hanging Rock , by...

Once again, it's time to sign up for the Back to the Classics challenge, hosted by Karen at Books and Chocolate, now run from Germany!  Hope Karen is getting lots of yummy chocolate there.  Mmmm, now I want German chocolate -- the Milka with the hazelnut filling, for choice.  Anyway, Karen says: It's back! Once again, I'm hosting the Back to the Classics Challenge.  I hope to encourage bloggers to discover and enjoy classic books they might not have tried, or just never got around to reading. And at the end,   one lucky winner will receive a $30 (US) prize from Amazon.com or The Book Depository! Here's how it works: The challenge will be exactly the same as last year, 12 classic books, but with slightly different categories. You do not have to read 12 books to participate in this s Complete six categories, and you get  one  entry in the drawing Complete nine categories, and you get  two  entries in the drawing Complete all t...

Last Tales, by Isak Dinesen/Karen Blixen I always enjoy reading Isak Dinesen, and I have just about everything on the bookshelf because I took a course in college that was almost nothing but Dinesen (I did a good bit of Scandinavian literature).  She was an odd duck in her day, and reading her now is almost surreal; the stories are so strange to our sensibilities, especially in this last collection.  She did her level best to write as though she lived in the 18th century, or possibly earlier, and nobody thought more of aristocracy, nobility, or the mysterious power of femininity than she did. I remember once my instructor showed us a photo of her standing on a stage with Betty Friedan.  Two more dissimilar women could hardly be imagined, and I have to wonder if they'd ever read each other's works (probably not) or if they could possibly have had anything to say to one another.  Karen Blixen was tall, slim, elderly, elegant and proud.  She'd probably put bel...