Book a Week in 2013 - Week three

[eaglei]

This week I finished:

 

#2 - The Screwtape Letters, by C.S. Lewis. Been awhile since I last read this. Always an *enjoyable* read that reinforces old insight in new ways.

 

Currently reading:

 

#3 - Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith, by Anne Lamott.

 

I decided not to *officially* choose any challenges again this year; rather, to read for the pure enjoyment, escape, etc. However, I am keeping a check sheet of certain suggested categories from which I am more likely to read. Ought to be personally interesting at years' end. :)

[BugsMama]

Finished:

1. The Absolutist, John Boyne

2. Beloved, Toni Morrison

3. Cat's Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut

 

And, I'm not sure what I am reading for D..... Something! I have Dorian Grey and Dracula, but neither are really singing to me.

[Hoot]

Currently Reading

 

Nim Chimpsky: The Chimp Who Would Be Human by Elizabeth Hess

 

Completed So Far

 

1. Best Friends by Samantha Glen

2. Wesley the Owl by Stacey O'Brien

3. The Gift of Pets: Stories Only a Vet Could Tell by Bruce Coston

[Jane in NC]

Finished:

1. The Absolutist, John Boyne

2. Beloved, Toni Morrison

3. Cat's Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut

 

And, I'm not sure what I am reading for D..... Something! I have Dorian Grey and Dracula, but neither are really singing to me.

 

I have not read Cat's Cradle since high school. There is a copy of it in my dusty stacks so I may reread this in the forthcoming weeks. What did you think? Was it a revisit or a first time read?

[Jane in NC]

It is just 1:30 here and already this is on the second page?!! I'll have to read the previous posts later, but wanted to check in before taking a well-earned Sunday nap. Here's what I've been reading thus far this year.

 

1. The Baker Street Letters by Michael Robertson is the first in a new series of mysteries that start with the premise that a law firm has established offices at 221 B Baker Street. They of course get lots of letters addressed to Sherlock Holmes, and this book is about what ensues when someone decides to answer a letter in person. It is lighthearted fun, and I was going to dismiss it as pure fluff, but it actually was a very smart mystery. I will search out some of the others (there may be just 2 so far...)

 

Have you watched the BBC Sherlock makeover? My son had missed it so we watched the two seasons while he was home during this holiday break. This culminated last night so there was deep analysis happening on that last episode as we drove to the airport this morning.

[prairiegirl]

I am on my fourth book, "The Map That Changed the World" by Simon Winchester. This is a non-fiction account of William Smith, the man who made the first geological map in the 1800's. I found the book very interesting. This is part of my dusty book challenge as well. I am now reading 'The Happiness Project' by Gretchen Rubin, 'Appointment with Death' by Agatha Christie, 'The Hobbit' by Tolkien and "Les Miserables" by Victor Hugo.

[Laura Corin]

I'm rereading Notwithstanding (Louis de Bernieres) as my bedtime book, expecting to recommend it to my book group. In the car I'm listening to Bad Pharma by Ben Goldacre. So far:

 

1: Mr Briggs' Hat

2: Busman's Honeymoon

 

Laura

[CupOCoffee]

Week 1: The Midwife's Secret

Week 2: Heaven and Hell, A Journey of Chris and Serena Davis (Kenneth Zeigler)

 

I loved the book Heaven and Hell! I could not put this book down. It's a very interesting perspective on what afterlife *might* be like. This book made me think SO HARD about the concept of eternal damnation or eternal heavenly life. This book is not for everyone, but if you *do* believe in a literal Heaven/Hell, then I highly recommend this book. I will be looking for the other books in this author's series to become free for Kindle, atho I have a feeling they won't anytime soon.

 

Still plugging along with Les Miserable as well....

 

Up for this week is continuing on with Les Mis and Jane Eyre on audiobooks...

[luvnlattes]

I finished Becoming Fearless by Michelle Aguilar. She was the season 6 winner of The Biggest Loser. On the front flap Michelle is quoted as saying, "I began to realize how much of my past had been spent...allowing my fears to immobilize me instead of choosing to jump." The back cover says this book, "is an encouragement to 'feel the fear' when facing any obstacle in life without being paralyzed by it." These quotes were what drew me to the book. I had been reflecting on ways I have let fear hold me back or leave me feeling like I wish I would have ... This year I decided I wanted to make some changes, and I thought this book might give me some tips on things that she did to overcome her fears and find her voice. The book didn't really do that so I was slightly disappointed in it for that reason. If I had read it simply because I wanted to hear her story, rather than looking for principles I could apply to my life, I may have liked it better. Because of that I thought the book was just ok.

 

After finishing Fearless I changed gears and started Now You See Me by S.J. Bolton, a mystery involving a present day Jack the Ripper copycat. It's been hard to put down! I'm also finishing up Getting Things Done by Allen and listening to the audiobook Heaven is Real by Todd Burpo.

[BugsMama]

 

 

I have not read Cat's Cradle since high school. There is a copy of it in my dusty stacks so I may reread this in the forthcoming weeks. What did you think? Was it a revisit or a first time read?

 

First time, it was the perfect easy, wacky, hard to put down read for a lazy day. I liked it so much I think I am going to read some more of Vonnegut's work.

[Paisley Hedgehog]

. 

 

[melmichigan]

Well, at the end of week 1 Robin got me started on the Elemental Assassin Series by Jennifer Estep. So of course I had to finish the current books available during week 2.

 

7. Web of Lies

8. Venom

9. Tangled Threads

10. Spider's Revenge

11. Thread of Death (e-novella)

12. By a Thread

13. Widow's Web

 

I was disappointed with Thread of Death, the important parts of the 70 page novella were included in the beginning of By a Thread to bring new readers up to date with the story. I think the rest of the novella could have easily been included in either Spider's Revenge to set up the second part of the series, or as the beginning of By a Thread and avoid the retelling to begin with. On that point I agree with some of the other reviewers.

 

I do like this author. The idea of an elemental, someone who can manipulate one of the four main elements of air, fire, ice, and stone is a new one for me in urban fantasy. I have enjoyed the character development to date, the action moves quickly and keeps my interest. The first four books move to resolution in book five, but that only created more problems for the main character and assassin, Gin Blanco. I look forward to seeing if Gin and Owen (her current love interest) work things out in book eight, and to hearing more about the air elements Sophia and Jo-Jo Deveraux coming in book nine. To learn more about the series click on the author's name above.

 

Last night I started The Lady is a Vamp: An Argeneau Novel by Lynsay Sands as part of the Doing the Continental Challenge-Oh Canada! The theme of immortals created in ancient Atlantis from advanced nanotechnology is a different one for vampires. Each book is the story of one vampire finding their lifemate, so you have vampires and romance together in one book. Besides being a Canadian author, many of the characters and locations in this series are Canadian. I have followed this series from the get go, this is book 17.

 

From there I'm not sure where I will go, my budget is nil until the end of the week. I did finally download the sample of The Handmaid's Tale.

[LostSurprise]

Von Arnim also wrote the novel The Enchanted April that was made into an absolutely delightful movie. I highly recommend it for those times when one needs an escape...

 

Speaking of Von Arnim and classic science fiction, Elizabeth/Mary was H.G. Wells' mistress for 3 years after "the man of wrath" died.

[Stacia]

First time, it was the perfect easy, wacky, hard to put down read for a lazy day. I liked it so much I think I am going to read some more of Vonnegut's work.

Love Vonnegut! One of America's great authors for sure....

 

Simon Winchester is one of my favorite nonfiction authors. I think Krakatoa is one of his best.

I read his "The Professor and the Madman" years ago & really enjoyed it. I've been meaning to read some of his other work. Maybe 2013 is the year to do that....

[VeganCupcake]

Finished #2 for the new year, The Feast Nearby by Robin Mather. The book's subtitle tells it all: "How I lost my job, buried a marriage and found my way by keeping chickens, foraging, preserving, bartering and eating locally (all on forty dollars a week". This collection of essays and recipes begins, appropriately enough, in the spring, after the author has moved into a tiny cottage on a lake in southwest Michigan. She moves forward with her life and finds new meaning in the small things she has--not a lot of harping on what she has lost fortunately. As a firm believer in small and local economies, she was preaching to the choir.

 

Before I return the book to the library, I plan on copying a couple of recipes.

 

I am still reading Alice Munro's The View from Castle Rock (Canadian and Dusty Book challenges). After reading the first two stories in '06, the year the book was published and it was given to me, I moved it to the dusty stacks. It was not resonating. Now I have reread those stories and enjoyed them. I am not jumping up and down with enthusiasm but I can appreciate the quality of Munro's prose. A favorite quote so far from this book of fictional stories based on the author's very real ancestors:

 

 

 

I will probably start working on Tom Jones this week, a selection from my personal Visiting Old Friends challenge.

 

I have The Feast Nearby on my TBR list.

 

I anxiously await some company in reading Tom Jones. He and I are not getting along that well :) --I keep getting distracted by books coming in for me at the library.

[dharmacat]

To "LoveLearnandLive": Have you tried How to Read Like a Writer by Francine Prose? Highly recommended.

[Paisley Hedgehog]

. 

 

[Murmer]

Finished: Big Boned by Meg Cabot and The Promise of Enough by Emily Freeman

 

Currently Working On:

Downstairs: Disabilities in the Gospel by Danyelle Ferguson & Lynn Parsons

Upstairs: Phule Me Twice by Robert Asprin

Kindle: Forever More by Kathy Hake

IPhone: Stealing Bradford by Melody Carson

Sweet Boy Read Aloud: The Yellow Fairy Book

Angel Girl Read Aloud: The Wind In The Willows

WTM: Don Quixote

IPad: Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town by Stephen Leacock (for Canada)

 

Total Finished in 2013: 6

[Trillian]

Started this week:

 

The Great Dali Art Fraud and Other Deceptions

 

Bomb: The Race to Build - and Steal - the World's Most Dangerous Weapon - as a science RA, will take quite a while to get through at the rate I do science read alouds

 

The Genius in All of Us: New Insights into Genetics, Talent, and IQ - loving, started this morning and am more than halfway through, will post more when I'm done

 

Still in progress:

 

The Aeneid - with TGC lectures

 

Physics and Engineering for Future Presidents - with UC Berkeley youtube lectures

 

Done:

 

1. Three Mile Island

2. Herzog

[thessa516]

Who is The Hot Zone by?

 

Richard Preston. From the back of the book:

A highly infection, deadly virus from the central African rain forest suddenly appears in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. There is no cure. In a few days, 90 percent of its victims are dead. A secret military SWAT team of soldiers and scientists is mobilized to stop the outbreak of this exotic "hot" virus.

 

Scary part? It's NON-fiction.

[MtnMama]

 

 

I am not a Jane Austen fan, but I do want to read all 60 or 61 original Sherlock Holmes stories. I wish there were just 52 so that I could read one per week or something. Somehow I can never seem to settle down to read an entire collection of short stories but I am ok if only expected to read one every now and then. I even have the giant harback annotated Leslie Klinger edition of the collected stories and I still haven't managed to get it done. There must be something wrong with me :svengo:

 

I have that giant hardback too, and it's very interesting but just too big to pull out and read. I got a free Kindle version of the complete novels and stories, and I'm thinking I'll have more luck reading them that way.

[Luckymama]

So these are the holds I picked up from the library today, all thanks to you guys ;)

 

Women of the Klondike (love the photos!)

Ex Libris

An Everlasting Meal

 

And I've decided to revisit an old friend instead-----Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster. My girls and I puffy floaty pink heart this book :)

 

I had wine with dinner so I'll be posting my List O' Books in the morning with my coffee :lol:

[swimmermom3]

This thread is heavenly. Tomorrow when everyone is out of the house, I am going to sit down with a cup of coffee, notebook, and pen, and read it without distractions. I read the reviews with pure envy as I enjoy talking about books, but enjoy writing about them far less.

 

I am continuing with my studies of ancient Greece. At times it goes more slowly than I would like as I find it difficult to stop being a teacher. I still assess the material as to whether or not my kids would like it, and then think about what I would pair with it, along with the evil essay questions I would ask. :tongue_smilie:

 

Anyway, what I am currently reading is listed in my signature. I finished Work and Days and Theogony by Hesiod and added The Homeric Hymns and The Metamorphoses. While Hesiod is not on SWB's high school list, I would probably have my kids read it. I enjoyed comparing the more personal style of Hesiod's narration to Homer's, where you have no sense of the poet/poets on a personal level. I am still not quite sure whether the humor I find in Hesiod actually exists or if it is Lombardo's use of colloquial language in the translation.

 

My admiration for Elizabeth Vandiver and her Classical Mythology lectures grows daily.

 

For a break from Ancient Greece, I am still listening to the Teaching Company's A Day's Read lecture series. This is probably one of my favorite coursse so far, but then I am partial to short stories and novellas. This week, I met Jorge Luis Borges for the first time as I read "The Garden of the Forking Paths," and "Emma Zunz." I loved both the stories and the lecture, so my plan is to finish Borges' Labyrinths this week and possibly The Old Man and the Sea next week, which is the next selection.

 

I truly wish I could give you erudite reasons as to why I appreciated Hesiod or why my heart was beating faster while reading Borges, but I can't for the simple reason that I have to use my hands and make rather large gestures when I "talk" about books. :blushing: It was a good week reading-wise.

 

May you all have the same this week.

[Jane in NC]

I read a Peter Lovesey book a long time ago (a locked room mystery I can't remember the name of) and wasn't thrilled with it. I may need to give him another try.

 

Lovesey has a couple of different series. I have only read the Peter Diamond ones.

 

OMG, we love Sherlock here! My 12yo and I have different theories about how the cliff hanger at the end of season 2 will be resolved. If only we didn't have to wait til 2014 ... :drool5:

It's gonna be a long wait...

[Lady Florida.]

I'll post my update later this week, but I wanted to share this website I found tonight. If you like series books but are never sure of the order, try this.

http://www.orderofbooks.com/ It's not complete - I didn't find one of the series I read - but it's still pretty good.

 

I've found that sometimes even author websites don't list books in order, or when they do, you have to hunt to find the page. Usually the author website is trying to promote the most recent books.

[ladydusk]

I'm reading Ben Reese #3, Pursuit and Persuasion. My husband watched a movie last night I wasn't interested in and I read about half-way in. So good. I was looking today and my library has these! I should've checked long ago, but 1) my library rarely has books I want, 2) especially if they're from a Christian publisher. But, she's an Ohio writer, so that increases the chances.

 

 

I was also trying to remember books to put on my TBR list. There was one about food and hospitality and kitchen counters that I saw my library had, but I can't remember the actual title! Anyone? Help?

 

Also, anyone read any Ngaio Marsh? Jane? Any recommendations? She's compared favorably with Sayers and my library has some of her books.

[mumto2]

 

1. The Baker Street Letters by Michael Robertson is the first in a new series of mysteries that start with the premise that a law firm has established offices at 221 B Baker Street. They of course get lots of letters addressed to Sherlock Holmes, and this book is about what ensues when someone decides to answer a letter in person. It is lighthearted fun, and I was going to dismiss it as pure fluff, but it actually was a very smart mystery. I will search out some of the others (there may be just 2 so far...)

 

 

I just added this to my list! Three weeks in and I am on the second page of my would like to read list! :)

 

For Sherlock Holmes fans I recently read "The Ghost of Baker Street" by Val Andrews. It was a quick but really fun read. I loved the concept -- unfortunately I think it was the only one. It was about the Baker Street apartment being haunted by Sherlock after his death and the ghost finally finding a worthy tenent. Then the fun started!

[Parrothead]

I"m reading Northanger Abbey. Dd was supposed to read Pride and Prejudice for school this week but couldn't get into it. So we are reading Northanger Abbey together.

[Just Robyn]

The Postmortal by Drew Magary – this was for book club and one of my least favorite genres. A basic summary of the book is that a cure for old age is found and a bunch of people take it so they start living for a long time. Nobody gets married anymore, the government starts killing people to control the population, the earth is overcrowded and polluted, and religion is abolished. It’s written in first person which tends to bother me. There’s nothing redeemable or likeable about the main character. It reminded me a lot of Oryx and Crake but without the good writing. I’ll be surprised if anyone at my book club enjoys it and might have a lot of fun doing a group trashing session.

 

Thanks for this review. I have looked at Postmortal a few times. Next time I think about reading it I'll grab Oryx and Crake instead.

 

If Lavinia goes well, I want to revisit LeGuin - I bounced off of her work as a teenager... it didn't connect for me emotionally at all, but I want to give it another try, especially as I connected more with her, relatively, recent YA trilogy (Gifts is the first one)

 

I read the Earthsea series and loved it, but when I read Gifts aloud to my dc, we all thought it was too slow. I've been thinking that the pace of The Left Hand of Darkness is slower than most of the Earthsea books, but not as slow as Gifts. I'll be interested to hear what you think of Lavinia.

[Tullia]

Weeks one and two: Empire of the Mind

Week three: Continue Empire of the Mind and begin Night and Day (Virginia Woolf)

I read the free sample of Diamond Age and put it on my Kindle wish list. Thank you, LostSuprise. :D

[Heather in Neverland]

Started Reading:

The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen (American author, DD class 800)

 

Still Reading:

The Next Story: Life and Faith After the Digital Explosion by Tim Challies (Canadian author, DD class 600)

The God Who is There: Finding Your Place in God's Story by D.A. Carson (Canadian author, DD class 200)

 

Finished:

3. The House at Riverton by Kate Morton (Australian author, DD class 800)

2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (English author, DD class 800)

1. The Dark Monk: A Hangman's Daughter Tale by Oliver Potzsch (German author, DD class 800)

 

 

 

I have to say that I LOVE reading Sarah Addison Allen books (thank you to Rosie for the suggestion). The make me feel warm and fuzzy. And Sarah Jio. She's great, too. After The House at Riverton, which was excellent but very depressing, I need some warmth.

[LifeLovePassion]

Today I started Boundaries, I got about 1/2 way through thanks to sick kiddos and myself not feeling the best. It was a couch day.

 

Week 2: Zen to Done

Week 1: Getting Things Done

[JennW in SoCal]

OMG, we love Sherlock here! My 12yo and I have different theories about how the cliff hanger at the end of season 2 will be resolved. If only we didn't have to wait til 2014 ... :drool5:

 

We love it here, too! And while I hate the wait, it was for a good cause as it allowed Martin Freeman to be Bilbo and Benedict Cumberbatch to be Smaug and the bad guy in the next Star Trek movie. I think it is fair compensation!

 

 

Simon Winchester is one of my favorite nonfiction authors. I think Krakatoa is one of his best.

 

 

I haven't read Krakatoa, but loved Professor and the Madman and The Man Who Loved China. The book on the Atlantic Ocean was good too, though it didn't have a narrative to drive it along.

[LostSurprise]

I read the free sample of Diamond Age and put it on my Kindle wish list. Thank you, LostSuprise. :D

 

You're welcome! I'm surprised more people haven't read it. Its a fascinating book if you're interested in education and how children learn. Really, this is the one place I would love to read The Diamond Age with the entire group and just have a gigantic discussion about learning methods and educational narrative. Plus it has Dickensonian overtones, Confuscian justice, and nanotechnology. Its kind of a sci-fi education major homerun.

 

 

This week, I met Jorge Luis Borges for the first time as I read "The Garden of the Forking Paths," and "Emma Zunz." I loved both the stories and the lecture, so my plan is to finish Borges' Labyrinths this week

 

Borges is on my 'Finally Finished' list. After so many reminders of House of Leaves on here I'm excited to get back into it and read Borges' "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius."

[Tullia]

You're welcome! I'm surprised more people haven't read it. Its a fascinating book if you're interested in education and how children learn. Really, this is the one place I would love to read The Diamond Age with the entire group and just have a gigantic discussion about learning methods and educational narrative. Plus it has Dickensonian overtones, Confuscian justice, and nanotechnology. Its kind of a sci-fi education major homerun....

 

I'd never heard of Stephenson until a friend who thought I'd enjoy Anathem suggested it. I've spent my Kindle budget for January, but plan to buy Diamond Age in February. :)

[Mothersweets]

I have so many things I read twenty or more years ago that I have been rereading, or thinking about rereading, and some times it seems as if I read a different book with the same title because my perceptions and reactions have shifted so much... brings to mind Mortimer Adler's defintion of a Great Book as one that always has new things to offer, so no matter how much I've grown, it always seems the book has grown too.

 

 

 

I've been finding this to be true. I have several books in mind that I would like to re-read because I know I will enjoy them more? differently? than when I first read them.

[BigMamaBird]

For Week 2 I read A Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein. I like SciFi so I thought I'd give myself a break with the heavier reading. I haven't finished it yet though. It's an interesting book, but you can tell it was written in 1961 by the way it handles the female characters, not exactly politically correct, but I am enjoying it.

 

For my third book I'm going to read A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood for the Canadian challenge.

[Shannanlee]

This week I completed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling

 

So this is my 3rd book of the year for this forum. I actually read 4 books so far but one did not count.

 

1. The Hobbit by Tolkien

2. Clash of Kings by George R. R, Martin

3. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.R. Rowling.

 

Currently reading The Centurion's Wife by Davis Bunn

Up Next is the Princess and the Goblin by George McDonald.

[swimmermom3]

 

Borges is on my 'Finally Finished' list. After so many reminders of House of Leaves on here I'm excited to get back into it and read Borges' "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius."

 

 

I definitely want to talk about that one!

[The Governess]

To "LoveLearnandLive": Have you tried How to Read Like a Writer by Francine Prose? Highly recommended.

 

 

I haven't. Thanks for the recommendation! :)

[Kareni]

The Ionian Mission by Patrick O'Brian. #8 in the Aubrey/Maturin series and I am sooo happy that there are 11 left to go.

 

The Aubrey/Maturin books are a favorite of my husband's, too. They are one of his rare forays into the world of fiction.

 

 

Everitt's bio of Cicero was on my son's 9th grade reading list as part of his study of Ancients. I want to toss that idea out here for those who feel that their students might need a break from primary source materials.

 

Likewise it was assigned reading for my daughter's out of the home AP Latin class. She enjoyed it.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[MrsBanjoClown]

1. Pride and Prejudice (5/5/5 - Fiction)

2. A Midsummer Night's Dream (5/5/5 - Drama)

 

Currently, I am reading Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and Psalms. I'm going to the library in the morning to get our school books for the week and I am going to look for something to participate in the Keywords challenge for this month.

[Negin]

I'm reading The Maxwells of Montreal - Volume 2 - about a Baha'i family in Montreal in the early 1920s and beyond. It's a thick book - more than 400 pages. It'll take me a while to complete.

 

[Laura Corin]

 

I truly wish I could give you erudite reasons as to why I appreciated Hesiod or why my heart was beating faster while reading Borges, but I can't for the simple reason that I have to use my hands and make rather large gestures when I "talk" about books. :blushing: It was a good week reading-wise.

 

May you all have the same this week.

 

 

Borges satisfies something deep inside me. I haven't read Hesiod - maybe I should as you like it.

 

Laura

[Giraffe]

As always, THANK YOU, Robin, for faithfully starting this thread. It is my favorite thread on these boards.

 

 

Hear, hear! Thank you, so much.

 

Also reading in my historical fiction "The King Must Die." It's the fifth and final in the series and quite frankly I'm bored. I'll probably abandon.

 

 

I read that way, way too young - my paternal grandmother gave it to me when I was ~10 - but I was thinking about revisiting Renault when I finish I Claudius and sequel. Do you think you are bored b/c this book is particularly slow, or b/c you are tired of her style/world/characters? ....and is there one you would particularly recommend?

 

 

I think I'm just "done" with the series. The first three, from the perspective of the Scots, were much more satisfying ("The Crown In The Heather" et al). Covering the same ground from the Englsh perspective is just getting old. Too many other books are calling my name!

 

ETA: I have a feeling we may be talking about different books. Are you referring to N. Gemini Sasson's books?

[Lizzie in Ma]

My reading is slowing down to due my new sock knitting addiction. However, I am reading the Beautiful Creatures series by Kami Garica and am on book 3. They are surprisingly good.

http://beautifulcreaturesauthors.com/

[AllSmiles]

 

 

1. The Baker Street Letters by Michael Robertson is the first in a new series of mysteries that start with the premise that a law firm has established offices at 221 B Baker Street. They of course get lots of letters addressed to Sherlock Holmes, and this book is about what ensues when someone decides to answer a letter in person. It is lighthearted fun, and I was going to dismiss it as pure fluff, but it actually was a very smart mystery. I will search out some of the others (there may be just 2 so far...)

 

This sounds like a fun series. I'm going to add it to my tbr pile. Thanks :)

[Soror]

Started The Hobbit yesterday for read-aloud and The Handmaid's Tale for personal reading. I expect to finish The Handmaid's Tale today but The Hobbit will take a bit. I did also check out Oryx and Crake by Atwood but I think I want to read something entirely different. I was thinking of reading an Austen book and since Chucki mentioned Northanger Abbey, which I happen to have on my shelf, I think I'll try that.

[NotSoObvious]

We are on vacation in Florida! We listened to Treasure Island on the way down (week 2) and now I'm finishing The Handmaid's Tale for week 3. I love it! Disturbing, but good!

[Just Kate]

I just finished my fourth book of the year. Now, none of these books are fine literature, but since joining this challenge, I am reading more than I have since having kids, so I am going to call it a win. :D

 

4. The Racketeer by John Grisham - I have read every book written by John Grisham and this one fits the same mold that he's been using for years - small town, main character wronged by the government, hot female sidekick, some kind of twist. Now, I really liked Grisham's early novels (A Time to Kill, The Chamber) and will readily admit that his latest just aren't as good. However, I keep reading them because they are fun, quick and interesting. Also, my dad enjoys Grisham so after I finished this one, I gave it to him to read. When he is finished we will have a chat about the book, which is always fun.

 

3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling - This was my favorite book of the series. It was better than I thought it would be! Now that I've finished the series, I am hoping to watch the movies (which I bought for $2 each over Christmas!).

 

2. Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart - Ds was reading this, so I decided to read along. Great kids' book and a very fun read.

 

1. Confessions of a Prairie B!tch by Alison Arngrim - Hilarious book written by the actor who played Nellie Olsen on Little House on the Prairie.

 

I just got notification from my library that both The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and The Time Keeper are available for digital loan on my Kindle. I think I will start with Henrietta Lacks.