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mamabrico

mamabrico

I'm a mama and a teacher and a writer and an expatriate. I live in france. I read books all the time. I correspond with friends. and I love to drink hot chocolate.

A note about my shelfari "shelf methods." Virtually every book that appears on my shelf is a book I've read. In a few (rare, I think) instances, the book is on my shelf and...more »
  • Bordeaux, France
  • member since Wednesday, October 11 2006

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mamabrico’s last login was yesterday. show recent activity »

Random books from my shelf

     
 
 
 

Public Notes

  • Judith L

    judith l says

    i found your Shelf while scouting out some of THE GREEN KNOWE books..but Boy Howdy we have many titles in common..i.e. i have to start seriously listing MY books...and i have done...thanks for the push...could i list you as a FRIEND (look over my shelf before agreeing)???

    posted 2 months ago. ( send a note )
  • JudithAnn

    judithann says

    Hi Mambrico, what did you think of The Road (McCarthy)? I thought it was very good, if disturbing. Would be interesting to see how the boy got on, but I don't think there is a sequel.

    posted 5 months ago. ( send a note )
  • starcrossed

    starcrossed says

    Vous avez la chance! Lucky you, to live in France! Great shelf you have...

    posted 9 months ago. ( send a note )
  • sands_of_time

    sands_of_time says

    Could you pls join one of my groups...
    Please...!!!!!

    posted 11 months ago. ( send a note )
  • daggereoneil

    daggereoneil says

    thanks for accepting

    posted 11 months ago. ( send a note )
  • JudithAnn

    judithann says

    Just finished My Year of Meat, a re-read, after seeing it on your shelf. Always a good read!

    posted 11 months ago. ( send a note )
  • JudithAnn

    judithann says

    Hi Mamabrico, I see you've got Barbara Kingsolver on your list as well as "My year of meat"! My kind of books! Want to be friends? I haven't got very much on my shelf as I add while I read (and don't put my previous (before Shelfari) reads on it). But maybe you like what you see! Best wishes from the Netherlands, Judith.

    posted 12 months ago. ( send a note )
  • sweetafton

    sweetafton says

    I'm not woman enough to review each and every book I've managed to shelve here. Some of them aren't worth the bother, others I wonder why I've shelved them here at all, and there is always that matter of time. I've decided to stick with reviewing the new ones, the as-I-read-them books rather than retread ground long ago covered. Unless the spirit moves me, but that's not very likely these nearly-autumn days.

    I'm sure we could talk for days about the academic life "not being the thing"... and well, why I'm still in it then. But for now, let's stick with your "Or something of the sort." It has a nice ring to it.

    I read Fruit of the Lemon earlier this summer, and was left wondering if I'd made a serious mistake in picking up Small Island as well. But, the truth is that I am savoring it, taking small breaks from it into the worlds of other books, so that I can return to Gilbert and Hortense and Queenie and all. At this point I am about halfway, and in no rush to reach the end. So, I think that's a bit of a resounding "yes, I am enjoying it." Even if this savoring means I never actually participate in the Caribbean Lit. group discussion of it. The reading's the thing.

    I have one bookcase of To Be Read books, a nearly four feet tall stack of same near the bed, and a separate list here on Shelfari. Suffice to say I have a very difficult time walking out of a bookstore (new, used, antiquarian, younameit) empty-handed. Rarely do I bother with published book reviews these days, because many seem to be more about proving the review writer's worth and merit as a writer than about the actual book under consideration. I read the reviews of some Shelfarians, yes, the ones I know who tend to write more rather than less, thoughtful in a way. But, when it comes to me and a book, well, it all boils down to the first two pages in the end. Something might catch my eye (whether it's the author, the title, recalling something I read here, eavesdropping, etc.) and get me to look at the synopsis. If that looks promising (and sometimes the synopses fail to do a book justice...), I read the first two pages. If I want to carry on to the third, sometimes I buy and plan to read it right away, which is one of the reasons I have too, too many books in progress and far too few bookmarks these days (it took me thirty years to finish Jane Eyre); or I add it to my list here or the one I carry with me. I'm none too tidy about it. There will always be more books in my home than other things, which means never being at a loss. And no matter how many new books there may be, I revisit some often: To Kill a Mockingbird, Parable of the Sower, Rebecca are a few. They are like old friends.

    How about you, is it down to reviews, personal recommendations, counting-out-rhymes, something else? Have you ever read and enjoyed a book that you picked up solely on the basis of the cover art? Do you do that?

    ciao for now,
    afton

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Bensco

    bensco says

    Hi! Yes, I think we would be friends! I live the DC area and have quite a few friends are global nomads! I love to travel and visit my far away friends, but I have strong home-body urges. It's a constant yin and yang with me.
    Right now I'm reading Claire Messud's "The Last Life." I finished the latest Harry Potter while on vacation - the best one yet. One my stack to read next - "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson, "Charms for the Easy Life" by Kaye Gibbons and "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy.
    Would love any recommendations or thoughts you may have. Cheers!

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Bensco

    bensco says

    Hi, I really love your book shelf. I came across it because I was looking for others that have read Claire Messud's "The Last Life." It's the September book for my book club. You have so many books on your shelf that I want to read, I wanted to be sure I could get back to your shelf. Thanks for accepting my invitation!
    Suzanne

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • sweetafton

    sweetafton says

    Hate too strong, hm. I understand what you're saying. But in the case of that one book and a short story by Hawthorne, for me, it works. They are, as you say, IMPORTANT, and I would never begrudge anyone's reading and enjoying them, but... well, it just works for me.

    I've just been going a bit further into your shelves and see we've got Life isn't all ha ha hee hee and My Family and Other Animals in common. Your shelf is actually like a great day at the bookstore--especially the things I haven't read. Do you have time to add any opinions? I'd love to know what you thought of some of them. Not that I have gotten around to writing as many as some Shelfarians... not enough time in the world and some books haven't been worth more than a word, while other merit so many in praise that I write nothing.

    Admire your courage to flee the wordy, cerebral scene. Didn't have it myself and occasionally flirt with it even now. I hope that your class is extraordinary, that your reader is helpful and not too kind (do you know what I mean?). I'd love to hear a good report, or even a bad one, just to know how your writing develops. I'm enjoying reading it here (and yes, that was a rather shameless attempt above, wasn't it? haha).

    I've got a bookmark about halfway through Andrea Levy's Small Island which was the selection for the Caribbean Lit group read. That the bookmark has been stationary for some time now (the discussion seems to be winding down) says more about my state of attention than about the book. I'm nearing the end of Howl's Moving Castle... I think I needed a bit of a lark after reading too much deep stuff, and it's turning out to be just the thing I needed. I'll get back to the Levy, but first I want to finish a Barbara Pym and William March's The Bad Seed. How about you, what are you reading now?

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • sweetafton

    sweetafton says

    Hm, you've made me pause. You see, I completely understand what you mean about Paris, and still had someone asked me, "would you live there?", I would have responded, "In a heartbeat." But, I am more than likely looking at it through the haze of nostalgia, through the eyes of a 20-year-old living just off Place Victor Hugo. ...sigh... Reality is as you said: too expensive, too complicated. Of course, having said that, I would live in London in a nanosecond.
    I've added Half of a Yellow Sun to my wishlist. With a recommendation like that, how can I not?
    Favorite book? That's an easy one. It's To Kill a Mockingbird. All time, deep love. I can return to it at any point, and tease something new out of it each time I read it. It is perfect. Most hated... gee, put me on the spot! Make me taste my own medicine, eh? ;) Erm, well, I bloody well hated Moby Dick, and have a theory that one must have a Y chromosome to appreciate it. If you love it, let's keep that a secret. I'd be dashed otherwise.
    Not ethnic studies, but you're not far off the mark. US-centered cultural studies is where I ply my trade, though I am trained as an anthropologist.
    What sort of writing do you do?

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • sweetafton

    sweetafton says

    I lost count of the books I've read, enjoyed while reading, but have forgotten. They are sort of like old boyfriends, no?
    Are you in Paris? What is your most-loved book? Your most-hated?

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • sweetafton

    sweetafton says

    Pleased to meet you. Yes, your first page of books all bear that shadowy "book is on my shelf", save for The Case of the Gilded Fly and Jonathan Strange..., the latter of which I own but have yet to read for fear of braining myself when invariably I fall asleep and whatever book I am reading meets my face. One of these days. Did you enjoy it?
    Thanks for the invitation.
    cheers,
    afton

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • crunchcandy

    crunchcandy says

    hello- I found you via Velvetdahlia and it seems you have very similar taste to me, so i've just added about half your bookshelf yo my own.

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • londonpenguin

    londonpenguin says

    I don't think the Moomins really took off in the US like they did in Europe, so I'm not exactly sure how I even know what a Moomin is. However, they're awfully cute. And it's just so much fun to say "Moomin"!

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • londonpenguin

    londonpenguin says

    Mambrico: Your avatar looks familiar. Is it a Moomin character? londonpenguin

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )


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