Meredith's Challenge 2.0

52 books, one year. Stay tuned for more details.

Monday, July 31, 2006

2.26 Oh, Play That Thing by Roddy Doyle

I picked this and the next handful of books out from the bargain bin at the book store the day before I left for my trip. I should have paid closer attention to this one because although I do enjoy myself some Modern Irish Lit, I decidedly do not like picking up a series in the middle. I didn't know that this was book #2.

Besides all that, this was a fun, easy read but at times a bit trying because I didn't have a good grasp of the back story and I also forgot how Doyle's grammar during longer conversations drive me batty because:

-He writes them
-Like this
-And if it goes on long enough
-You forget who said what
-When and then you
-Lose track of
-What the heck is going on
-Sometimes, you might re-read them
-To try to figure out what just happened
-But that is not always helpful.

Friday, July 28, 2006

Yes, I am a Dirty Old Woman

Oh, baby.

As much as I don't like Equus, I would love to see this, as would most of the world's population who swings that way, I believe.

Hey, he's seventeen now, totally legal in the U.K. I've always wanted to visit England.

Monday, July 24, 2006

2.25 Time's Magpie: A Walk Through Prague by Myla Goldberg

I read this to prepare for our trip. It was okay. I didn't hate it, as much as I did her other book, but after having gone to Prague, I didn't find her book particularly helpful, nor did I think it was interesting while I was reading it. I got to pick up a bit of Czech history, but other than that I didn't get much. I know that Adam thinks that she's fantastic but I just don't see it.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

2.24 Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende

I read this one before I left on vacation so my memory of it is a bit fuzzy, but I do remember being disappointed. It's a thick book and by the time I was half way through it and realized that I had no interest whatsoever in the plot or characters, it was too late to turn back. Very rarely is a book so bad I cannot finish it. It's an illness. Seriously.

From what I can recall, a wealthy girl falls in love with a poor guy, he leaves for the Gold Rush, she follows him and spends the next 10 years looking for him. He may or may not be a notorious outlaw or he may be dead. Tres exciting, no?

Sunday, July 16, 2006

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

By popular request, here are some of my favorite photos that we took while on vacation. I was too lazy to prettify them, so what you see is what we caught.

The astronomical clock in the Old Town Square in Prague. It's old, very old. The person who built it had his eyes poked out because his employers did not want him to build anything similar for anybody else.


The Old Jewish cemetery in Josefov. For a while, the city refused to let the Jews open another cemetery, so the stones (and the bodies one presumes) are piled up together. Some of the headstones are so old that the writing is no longer legible. We went on a drizzly, overcast day which really fit the mood of the place.

A view of the crazy baroque St. Vitus Church in the Praha Hrad (Prague Castle). This photo is of a window in the church designed by Mucha, an Art Noveau artist from Prague. The photo, as good as it is, does not even come close to how breathtaking this window is.

A close up of one of the gargoyles at the church.

By far, my favorite photo. A capture of one of the gates on the Charles Bridge at night.

In Cesky Krumlov, an UNESCO World Heritage Site, I risked my life (have I ever told you that I'm afraid of heights? Especially if they involve lots of small stairs with no handrails?) by climbing up the pink tower so we could get a better view of the city. We saw this:

And then I died.

In Vienna, we went to a lot of museums and they don't really let you take pictures in them. I fell in love with my new favorite painting and we saw a little painting known as "The Kiss". We also ate ungodly amounts of pastry because we were in Vienna, home of the croissant. Sadly, no croissants were eaten. Lots of cake was though. Mmmm, cake.

FIN!

Thursday, July 13, 2006

It's Alive!

I'm back from my whirlwind European vacation. And as soon as my body remembers what time zone its in, I will give you the full report on the 10(!) books I've read since we last met. Something tells me that this year won't be as down-to-the-wire as last. Also, if you ask nicely, some photos. 'Til then dear readers.