Book a Week in 2013 - week twenty four

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday, dear hearts! Today is the start of week 24 in our quest to read 52 books in 52 weeks. Welcome back to all our readers, to all those who are just joining in and to all who are following our progress. Mr. Linky is all set up on the 52 Books blog to link to your reviews. The link is below in my signature.

 

52 Books Blog - The Audies 2013: June is the month to celebrate audiobooks and recently stumbled across The Audies 2013 sponsored by the Audio Publishing Association. Up until a couple years ago I wasn't really a big fan of audiobooks. I'm very picky when it comes to narrators and even when found one I liked, would end up tuning out, because my brain was simply too busy. Then I got a new car radio which was USB capable and had a brilliant idea. Why not listen to a book I'd already read. So I began downloading books to my Iphone and listening to J.D. Robb's In Death series and before I knew it, started enjoying my drives more and training my brain to listen to audio books.

 

Now I find myself listening while cleaning the house, gardening or occasionally just sitting there doodling. And I discovered it's a great sleep aid for a busy mind and curl up in bed most nights, listening until I start to phase out. I'm still picky about the narrators and mainly like female narrators but find myself branching out and discovering some of the guys do a pretty good job without sounding like off Broadway female impersonators.

 

Which brings me back to The Audies. I'm looking forward to checking out a few of these award winning titles.

 

Audiobook of the Year: The End of the Affair by Graham Greene and read by Colin Firth

 

Fiction: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood and read by Claire Danes

 

AudioDrama: Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner read by Ellen Kushner and a cast of others

 

Classic: Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens read by Charlton Griffin

 

Distinguished Achievement on Production: Dracula by Bram Stoker read by Tim Curry and a cast of others.

 

There are a few other categories listing the winners and nominees for each category. Be sure to check it out and listen to an audio book or two this month. Looks like they are all available at Audible.com

 

What are you reading or listening to this week?

 

 

Link to week 23

[Robin M]

This past week I finished Laurell K. Hamilton's Kiss the Dead (from her anita blake vampire series). Stephen King's the Waste Land, #3 in his Dark Tower series which ended in a cliff hanger but fortunately I have book # 4 waiting in the wings.

 

I'm currently reading Keri Arthur's Darkness Unbound, # 1 in her Dark Angels series, niece to Riley from her Riley Jensen series so does have some character carryover. Still listening to Nora Robert's Key of Light in her Key Trilogy. Plus reading Michael Crichtons's Jurassic Park with James.

[Jane in NC]

Which brings me back to The Audies. I'm looking forward to checking out a few of these award winning titles.

 

Audiobook of the Year: The End of the Affair by Graham Greene and read by Colin Firth

 

Colin Firth reading Graham Greene?? My heart be still...

AudioDrama: Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner read by Ellen Kushner and a cast of others

 

 

My husband is a fan of Ellen Kushner. I think he'd love this as a Father's Day gift. Thank you for mentioning it!

 

Apparently I had missed a couple of Inspector Diamond mysteries, a series by Peter Lovesey. Currently reading Stagestruck and then I'll have to await publication of his next novel.

 

Have you all seen Little Free Libraries? I am thrilled to have one in my neighborhood. Take a book, leave a book.

 

 

 

Website with plans to construct one here. Talk about a nice homeschool project!

[Giraffe]

OMG I read a book! I've been AWOL for about a month while I took a course to become certified as an ESL teacher. For a month I did nothing but live ESL. I had no idea it was going to be that intense and busy, but it was. My daughter got any scrap of energy or attention I had left. Books - hah! But this weekend - I READ A BOOK!! Hooray!! It was The Oracle Glass, a lovely little historical fiction set in 1670s France. Completely frivolous and wonderful!!

 

I am totally behind on achieving 52 books in 52 weeks, but I won't worry about that now. I'm certified, can look for a job, and have my life back. And I read a book!!!

[Onceuponatime]

This week I finished Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, a fairy tale retelling. I also read The Seven Percent Solution, a Sherlock Holmes story that was a best seller in the 70's.

I'm currently reading The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. I'm enjoying it very much, even though I kind of figured out the secret early on.

 

Still working on The Swerve: How the World became Modern. It is not what I expected but still interesting.

[Negin]

I read:

Prey - 4 Stars

The Chosen Highway - 3 Stars (Baha'i history book)

Ten Days in the Light of Akka - 2 Stars (Baha'i book)

 

 

 

 

MY RATING SYSTEM

5 Stars

Fantastic, couldn't put it down

4 Stars

Really Good

3 Stars

Enjoyable

2 Stars

Just Okay – nothing to write home about

1 Star

Rubbish – waste of my money and time. Few books make it to this level, since I usually give up on them if they’re that bad.

[Just Robyn]

I made some progress on the DD challenge last week. (That abbreviation has me thinking I must, I must, I must increase my bust!) I read:

 

Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog: The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences by Kitty Burns Florey (DD 400) - This was a fun and fluffy book - part memoir, part history, part art. It talks about the author's experience diagramming sentences (which she considered a fun part of the school day) and her job as an editor. She talks about the history of sentence diagramming and what some writers (I can only remember Gertrude Stein) have said about grammar and sentence diagramming and whether or not it was likely that this or that author had learned it in school (based on years of popularity of diagramming and years the author was in grammar school). While she considers sentence diagramming a fun and worthwhile task, her opinion, and the seemingly unanimous opinion of the people whose opinions she reports, is that learning to diagram sentences does not improve your writing. Also, homeschoolers are mentioned as the main people who you'll find online talking about sentence diagramming. (Yay us!) The book is full of diagrammed sentences, some of them quite complex and lengthy.

 

A Mathematician's Lament: How School Cheats Us Out of Our Most Fascinating and Imaginative Art Form by Paul Lockhart (DD 500) - This motivational book compares the current system of math education to teaching art by starting with memorizing brush types and sizes and ending up with paint-by-number in high school. He says that while we are taught mechanical aspects of math (memorizing facts and formulas:memorizing brush types and sizes), not only are we never taught what mathematics really is, but we aren't aware that what we are learning isn't truly mathematics: it isn't what mathematicians do. So, we graduate high school having never learned math, but thinking we have. He gives a few examples of the process of the imaginative exploration that is math and encourages the reader to go play with numbers. I would have appreciated a "further reading" list and a list of starter questions that a teacher could pose to his students while he is getting started on his journey of playing with numbers.

 

Woodsong by Gary Paulsen (DD 700) - In this book, Paulsen (author of Hatchet) tells us about his experiences with animals, mainly dogs, and what he has learned from them. The last 40 pages describe his first Iditarod. There is no spectacular prose here, but the stories are interesting, funny, touching or have you grimacing at Paulsen's pain as a dog bites his knee or he is dragged behind his sled with his head slamming into boulders. It's a quick, fun read, and you see just how smart and funny dogs can be. I think this is probably meant to be a YA book, or at least it could be/would be fine and fun for someone in middle school. I'm considering reading it aloud to my children (ages 7 and up).

 

I am currently reading and really enjoying Chocolat by Joanne Harris. I had a dream that I was at a really cool hot chocolate party, and I love the author's bio inside the book:

 

Joanne Harris, part French and part English, found her inspiration for Chocolat in her family's history - herself having been born in a sweetshop and being the great-granddaughter of a Frenchwoman known locally as a witch and a healer who once disguised herself as an apparition of the Virgin Mary. Harris teaches French in an English school and lives in Yorkshire, England, with her husband and daughter.

[Ali in OR]

I finished Have His Carcase, my last full-length Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane book (I read them completely out of order). Well-done. I am now reading our bookclub pick for June, Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky which is beautifully written. Reading the cover, it looked like it was just historical fiction about WWII. Then I read the blurb on the author who was a Russian emigrant who had moved to France to escape the Bolshevik revolution. She was arrested in 1942 and sent to Auschwitz where she died. She was already an author and this work is two smaller books of five that she had planned to write, taken from her notes. I'm done with the first, The Storm, which follows several different people evacuating Paris as the Germans quickly take control in June of 1940. While the characters are fictional, knowing the author's history you know that the emotions and actions are probably largely taken from what she experienced and saw. I have a library copy of the book, but I'm seriously considering buying it and having dd read it when we hit WWII in history this year.

[Narrow Gate Academy]

I managed to finish book 23 this past week The Titan's Curse by Riordan and reviewed it on my blog. It made a nice fluffy read to relax my brain after a few chapters of How to Read a Book.

 

Books to Read

Making It All Work by Adler

The Well-Educated Mind by Bauer

The Battle of the Labyrinth by Riordan

 

Books in Progress

The One Year Bible

The History of the Ancient World by Bauer

How to Read a Book by Adler (nearly finished, 5 chapter to go!)

 

Books Finished This Year

22. The Horse and His Boy by Lewis

21. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by Lewis

20. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Doyle

19. The Sea of Monsters by Riordan

18. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Stevenson

17. Captains Courageous by Kipling

16. Getting Things Done by Adler

15. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Aiken

14. The Neverending Story by Ende

13. The Coral Island by Ballantyne

12. The Magician's Nephew by Lewis

11. The Children of Green Knowe by Boston

10. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Twain

9. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Fleming

8. Oliver Twist by Dickens

7. The Lightning Thief by Riordan

6. Children of the New Forest by Marryat

5. The Black Cauldron by Alexander

4. Anne of Avonlea by Montgomery

3. Anne of Green Gables by Montgomery

2. Talking Money by Chatzky

1. Pride and Prejudice by Austen

[Violet Crown]

150 pages away from the end of The Brothers Karamazov! And I checked out some R. L. Stevenson from the library, in honor of the Mystery Spot where we currently are. (Hint: Yesterday Middle Girl was terribly excited when we saw this: http://www.astoft2.co.uk/edinburgh/rls.htm ). I'm getting a surprising amount of reading, for me, done on trains, when I'm not distracted by glorious countryside.

[Mothersweets]

Fat Chance:Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Foods, Obesity, and Disease by Robert Lustig. Interesting and thought-provoking. I have been inspired to cut down on my family's sugar intake and am trying to up our fiber.

 

The Far Side of the World by Patrick O'Brian. I LOVED this one - it is my favorite of the canon so far.

[Stacia]

find myself branching out and discovering some of the guys do a pretty good job without sounding like off Broadway female impersonators.

 

:smilielol5:

 

 

Colin Firth reading Graham Greene?? My heart be still...

 

 

I know, I know. I may have to take up audiobooks myself…!

 

Have you all seen Little Free Libraries? I am thrilled to have one in my neighborhood. Take a book, leave a book.

 

 

I’ve seen them on the internet, but never in real life. How neat to have one in your neighborhood. I guess the closest thing I’ve seen in reality is the shelf at the marina where my sister works that is ‘take a book/leave a book’ for all the boaters that come in & out of the marina. (Not much book storage space on boats….)

 

I'm certified, can look for a job, and have my life back. And I read a book!!!

 

 

Awesome! And so glad to see you back here!

 

This week I finished Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, a fairy tale retelling.

 

 

How did you like this?

 

(That abbreviation has me thinking I must, I must, I must increase my bust!)

 

 

I’m sure there must be some DD books on that very topic! ;)

 

And Woodsong sounds like something my teen dd would love. I will mention it to her.

 

Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky which is beautifully written

 

 

I have wondered what it is like….

 

150 pages away from the end of The Brothers Karamazov

 

 

Still giggling over your ‘light’ reading choices!

 

Fat Chance:Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Foods, Obesity, and Disease by Robert Lustig. Interesting and thought-provoking. I have been inspired to cut down on my family's sugar intake and am trying to up our fiber.

 

 

I will have to see if my library has this one.

 

P.S. Sorry for any weird spacing issues. The enter key still doesn’t work (using my kids’ laptops since we’re away from home) & I’m ending up copying & pasting stuff into Word, writing, then repasting it back to the boards & it still seems to be an iffy proposition even in those circumstances. Ugh.

[ladydusk]

 

 

Did Tropical Storm Andrea bother you during your stay on the OBX? Sounds like you had a good reading filled vacation!

 

We had some rain and wind on Friday, but not bad at all. It was a pretty good week, thanks.

 

I'm starting No Return of Love by Pym next.

[Murmer]

Finished: Montessori at Home by John Bowman, In Your Place by Rachel Ann Nunes, Gone to Green by Judy Christie, and Golden by Cameron Dokey

 

Currently Working On:

Downstairs: Eternal Marriage by BYU

Upstairs: No Longer Strangers by Rachel Ann Nunes

Kindle: Crazy Little Thing by Tracy Brogan

IPhone: From a Distance by Tamara Alexander

Sweet Boy Read Aloud: The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh and the World of Christopher Robin by A. A. Milne

Angel Girl Read Aloud: The Wind In The Willows

WTM: Don Quixote

IPad: The Purple Land by W. H. Hudson (South America)

Personal Enrichment: First Bites by Hilary Kimes Bernstein

 

Total Finished in 2013: 66

[MicheleinMN]

Just finished my 3rd Jo Nesbo audio book. I'm also reading The Poe Shadow, and I finished The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood. I tried The Handmaid's Tale and just could not finish it, but I enjoyed The Penelopiad.

 

That's all for now.

[aggieamy]

^{Robin - I have found some of my favorite audiobooks through the Audies so thanks for posting the link. I had forgotten about them.}

^{I’m back. After being on vacation for what seemed like years I’m so happy to be back home. Here’s what I’ve read while gone.}

 

^{Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams – I listened to this as an audiobook read by Martin Freeman and enjoyed it. Douglas Adams is the best type of humor.}

^{The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan – Meh. The part talking about the self-sustaining farm was interesting but I found the in depth information on growing corn and cattle to be a little dry. I found myself skimming a few chapters to keep from putting the book down for good.}

^{A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie – A short read. Not one of her best but a fun way to fill an hour or two.}

^{Hungry Monkey: A Food Loving Father’s Quest to Raise an Adventurous Eater by Matthew Amster-Burton – This was written by a dad who seemed to really enjoy telling us all about the foods he ate and how cute his daughter was. The book convinced me that stories about cute kids are only awesome if you know the kids. Also he wanted to come off as just a regular stay-at-home dad whose wife was a school librarian and then he talked about buying $100/lb ham, mail order specialty bacon, and drinks daily at the local Seatle coffee shop for his toddler. Right. On a school librarian’s salary? I call bogus.}

^{1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children by Thomas Phelan – Seems like sound advice and a good system. I’m going to try implementing it and then ask me what I think in six weeks. J}

^{After the Funeral by Agatha Christie – Pretty mediocre for an AC book. Skip this one and read one of her others instead.}

 

^{In Progress:}

 

^{Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery (read aloud)}

^{Seven Years in Tibet by Heinrich Harrer}

^{A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh}

 

^{2013 finished books:}

 

^{46. Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams (audiobook) (****)}

^{45. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan (***)}

^{44. A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie (***)}

^{43. Hungry Monkey: A Food Loving Father’s Quest to Raise an Adventurous Eater by Matthew Amster-Burton (**)}

^{42. 1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children by Thomas Phelan}

^{41. After the Funeral by Agatha Christie (***)}

^{40. A Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony (****)}

 

^{Amy's Rating System:}

 

^{***** - Fantastic, couldn't put it down}

^{**** - Very good}

^{*** - Enjoyable but nothing special}

^{** - Not recommended}

^{* - Horrible}

[melmichigan]

Last week I read Tiger Magic by Jennifer Ashley, part of the Shifters Unbound series. This week I have delved into the Psy-Changeling Series by Nalini Singh. I enjoy her Guild Hunter Series and am pleasantly surprised by the Psy-Changeling Series, I didn't think it would be my thing. I am also still plugging along with Introductory Chemistry: A Foundation by Zumdahl, and various books for Ancients.

[Jane in NC]

Swordspoint and Thomas the Rhymer are favorites of mine, and I enjoy checking in on her Livejournalfrom time to time. She and her partner, Delia Sherman (who wrote the *fabulous* YA time slip/historical fiction novel Freedom Maze) are delightful to read - their writing, teaching, traveling, and (most fun of all to read) Delia's descriptions of their extensive theatrical viewing. [it was via one of their LJs that I heard about this incredible adaptation of Richard III]. If I have my links correct thisis a link to Ellen reading the first chapter of Swordspoint in French (I really want to read that translation!)

What an interesting adaptation of Richard III!

 

My husband follows Kushner's Livejournal and notes that she is good about maintaining a dialogue with those who comment.

[Butter]

I've read 31 books so far this year. Today I finished The Big Book of American Trivia. There were some interesting trivia bits in there. The tone was slightly condescending sometimes, though. I learned a few things. I didn't like that it was done in a question and answer format with the questions on one side of the page and the answers on the other side. t made it so you constantly have to flip back and forth.

 

My next book is Salt. My husband has been begging me to read that book for years. He loved it and talks about things from it a lot.

[Kareni]

 

Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog: The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences by Kitty Burns Florey

 

 

I enjoyed this some years ago. Funnily enough, I found my copy in the pet section of a used bookstore!

 

Have you all seen Little Free Libraries? I am thrilled to have one in my neighborhood. Take a book, leave a book.

 

 

That looked so inviting! I'm most familiar with the 'take one, leave one' book shelf in B&Bs and small hotels.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

I just finished the romantic suspense novel Freefall by Jill Sorenson; I enjoyed it. It contained some characters who had featured in the author's previous book Aftershock; however, it can easily stand alone.

 

"He's her only hope…

 

Park ranger Hope Banning's plans for a little R & R are put on hold when a plane crashes at the top of a remote mountain. Hope will have to climb the summit and assess the situation. And the only climbing partner available is Sam Rutherford—the enigmatic man she spent a night with six months ago.

 

For staying alive

 

Ever since Sam lost his girlfriend in a falling accident, he insists on climbing solo. But Hope and any potential survivors need his help. As Sam and Hope set out on an emergency search-and-rescue mission, he realizes the sparks still sizzle between them. And when they learn a killer is among the survivors, they must place their trust in each other for a chance at happiness."

 

 

Yesterday I finished the book Butterfly Tattoo by Deidre Knight which I also enjoyed. It contained a storyline I'd not previously encountered. This review from From Publishers Weekly describes the plot well.

 

"Making a compelling case for bisexuals who recognize no gender boundaries when it comes to true love, Knight's engrossing romance includes another keen twist regarding families. Michael Warner, Hollywood electrician, quasi-queer of the somewhat straight variety, and his cute stepdaughter, Andrea Lauren Richardson, meet Rebecca O'Neill, a former actress turned producer, after a power outage at her office. The attraction's immediate for the adults but Rebecca's assistant, Trevor, warns Rebecca that Michael is gay. Michael's grieving the loss of his partner, Dr. Alex Richardson, who died in an accident a year earlier that left Andrea with physical and emotional scars, something Rebecca understands since she also bears scars from a brutal stalker attack. Knight handles this unusual tale with admirable delicacy and adds a twist worthy of an Emmy-winning soap opera, involving paternity and surrogacy. As Michael, Rebecca, and Andrea plant new family roots, Knight's weepy and affecting story presents bisexuality as viable a concept as homosexuality or heterosexuality. (Feb.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Robin M]

Have you all seen Little Free Libraries? I am thrilled to have one in my neighborhood. Take a book, leave a book.

 

 

Website with plans to construct one here. Talk about a nice homeschool project!

 

That is so neat and what a great idea.

 

OMG I read a book! I've been AWOL for about a month while I took a course to become certified as an ESL teacher. For a month I did nothing but live ESL. I had no idea it was going to be that intense and busy, but it was. My daughter got any scrap of energy or attention I had left. Books - hah! But this weekend - I READ A BOOK!! Hooray!! It was The Oracle Glass, a lovely little historical fiction set in 1670s France. Completely frivolous and wonderful!!

 

I am totally behind on achieving 52 books in 52 weeks, but I won't worry about that now. I'm certified, can look for a job, and have my life back. And I read a book!!!

 

yeah!

 

This week I finished Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, a fairy tale retelling. I also read The Seven Percent Solution, a Sherlock Holmes story that was a best seller in the 70's.

I'm currently reading The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. I'm enjoying it very much, even though I kind of figured out the secret early on.

 

Still working on The Swerve: How the World became Modern. It is not what I expected but still interesting.

 

Kate Morton - moving her up to the top of my tbr pile.

I read:

Prey - 4 Stars

 

Speaking of Prey, James wants me to read Jaws with him next and I really really don't want to. If we make through Jurassic Park, will see.

I made some progress on the DD challenge last week. (That abbreviation has me thinking I must, I must, I must increase my bust!) I read:

 

I am currently reading and really enjoying Chocolat by Joanne Harris. I had a dream that I was at a really cool hot chocolate party, and I love the author's bio inside the book:

 

:lol: - I remember chanting this when I was a teenager and trying to do increase mine. I watched Chocolat the other night. Johnny Depp - yummy in it and the rest of the story was good as well. Will have to read the book soon to compare..

[Heather in Neverland]

It has been a good reading week! I finished two books and read two more and made some headway in a few I am still reading and started a new one and hit the halfway mark for the year two weeks early. I am not usually that productive. :)

 

 

Started Reading:

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (American author, DD class 900)

 

 

Still Reading:

The Conviction to Lead: 25 Principles for Leadership that Matters by Albert Mohler (American author, DD class 300)

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

 

 

Finished:

26. The Last Camellia by Sarah Jio (American author, DD class 800)

25. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (Ethiopian author, DD class 800)

24. Having Hard Conversations by Jennifer Abrams (American author, DD class 300)

23.The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe (American author, DD class 600)

22. The Infernal Devices #3: The Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare (American author, DD class 800)

21. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (American author, DD class 800)

20. Why Revival Tarries by Leonard Ravenhill (British author, DD class 200)

19. The Infernal Devices #2: Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare (American author, DD class 800)

18. The Infernal Devices: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (American author, DD class 800)

17. God's Big Picture: Tracing the Story-Line of the Bible by Vaughan Roberts (British author, DD class 200)

16.The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag: A Flavia de Luce Mystery by Alan Bradley (Canadian Author, DD Class 800)

15.The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner (American author, DD class 900)

14. Prodigy by Marie Lu (Chinese author, DD class 800)

13. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand (American author, DD class 900)

12. The Disappearing Spoon: And Other Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements by Sam Kean (American author, DD class 500)

11. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Anne Fadiman (American Author, DD class 600)

10. A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World by Paul Miller (American author, DD class 200)

9. Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick (American author, DD class 300)

8. Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald (American author, DD class 100)

7. The Bungalow by Sarah Jio (American author, DD class 800)

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

5. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen (American author, DD class 800)

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

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)

 

[Robin M]

I I am now reading our bookclub pick for June, Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky which is beautifully written. Reading the cover, it looked like it was just historical fiction about WWII. Then I read the blurb on the author who was a Russian emigrant who had moved to France to escape the Bolshevik revolution. She was arrested in 1942 and sent to Auschwitz where she died. She was already an author and this work is two smaller books of five that she had planned to write, taken from her notes. I'm done with the first, The Storm, which follows several different people evacuating Paris as the Germans quickly take control in June of 1940. While the characters are fictional, knowing the author's history you know that the emotions and actions are probably largely taken from what she experienced and saw. I have a library copy of the book, but I'm seriously considering buying it and having dd read it when we hit WWII in history this year.

 

 

That looks interesting. Will have to check it out.

 

I managed to finish book 23 this past week The Titan's Curse by Riordan and reviewed iton my blog. It made a nice fluffy read to relax my brain after a few chapters of How to Read a Book.

 

 

I read the Lightning Thief. Thinking I'll reread it, then dive into the rest of the series. Hopefully get my son engaged.

 

150 pages away from the end of The Brothers Karamazov! And I checked out some R. L. Stevenson from the library, in honor of the Mystery Spot where we currently are. (Hint: Yesterday Middle Girl was terribly excited when we saw this: http://www.astoft2.c...inburgh/rls.htm ). I'm getting a surprising amount of reading, for me, done on trains, when I'm not distracted by glorious countryside.

 

 

Awesome link. Thanks for sharing. Will dance when you finish The Brothers. I'd had to be captive on a deserted island with nothing else to do in order to read and finish that one.

 

Fat Chance:Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Foods, Obesity, and Disease by Robert Lustig. Interesting and thought-provoking. I have been inspired to cut down on my family's sugar intake and am trying to up our fiber.

 

The Far Side of the World by Patrick O'Brian. I LOVED this one - it is my favorite of the canon so far.

 

 

Never heard of Patrick O'Brian and his series before. How cool. Added to my wishlist.

 

Over the past 6 weeks, I've read large sections of what feel like millions of books on Autism Spectrum Disorders... I'm marking them down this week as one entry 'lots of ASD books', b/c I want to remember where this fell in my reading life, but I haven't actually finished any of them, nor found even one that I am glad I read... though each has given me at least a little bit more information. I'm marking it for last week because last week my older son got his official diagnosis - we'd been prepped to expect Aspergers or PDD-NOS, but it was Autism. ...which matches none of the books I've read, but was clearly, unequivocably explained to us by the doctor who made the diagnosis. I will continue to search for reading material to help us better understand (and help) our son, but I am a little discouraged at how inapplicable everything I've found so far has been. (and embarrassed by how significant my shock and grief has been - a diagnosis doesn't actually change anything, it is useful, helpful info that will connect us to resources that I hope will be helpful... my heart, however, still needs to catch on that.)

 

 

 

:grouphug: My son is also autistic. He was diagnosed at 5 and is 13 now. According to the DVR, the word Aspergers is totally being removed and all will be considered autistic. I've read all the books and you won't find just one that's going to be the answer. You'll find bits and pieces and eventually pull them all together in a way that will help you with your son. Take advantage of the resources now available. We just had James retested and will be taking advantage of additional resources. I just have to remember that my son isn't broken, he just has a different way of thinking and looking at the world. If you need to talk, pm me.

[Robin M]

Currently Working On:

Downstairs: Eternal Marriage by BYU

Upstairs: No Longer Strangers by Rachel Ann Nunes

Kindle: Crazy Little Thing by Tracy Brogan

IPhone: From a Distance by Tamara Alexander

Sweet Boy Read Aloud: The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh and the World of Christopher Robin by A. A. Milne

Angel Girl Read Aloud: The Wind In The Willows

WTM: Don Quixote

IPad: The Purple Land by W. H. Hudson (South America)

Personal Enrichment: First Bites by Hilary Kimes Bernstein

 

Total Finished in 2013: 66

 

 

Awesome. I don't know how you can keep them all straight. I tried but need to stick to two or three at a time at max.

 

Just finished my 3rd Jo Nesbo audio book. I'm also reading The Poe Shadow, and I finished The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood. I tried The Handmaid's Tale and just could not finish it, but I enjoyed The Penelopiad.

 

That's all for now.

 

 

I don't know how I missed Jo Nesbo. Adding to my wishlist.

 

^{Robin - I have found some of my favorite audiobooks through the Audies so thanks for posting the link. I had forgotten about them.}

^{I’m back. After being on vacation for what seemed like years I’m so happy to be back home. Here’s what I’ve read while gone.}

 

^{Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams – I listened to this as an audiobook read by Martin Freeman and enjoyed it. Douglas Adams is the best type of humor.}

 

 

Yeah! Love Douglas Adams. Been years since I've read Restaurant.

 

Last week I read Tiger Magic by Jennifer Ashley, part of the Shifters Unbound series. This week I have delved into the Psy-Changeling Series by Nalini Singh. I enjoy her Guild Hunter Series and am pleasantly surprised by the Psy-Changeling Series, I didn't think it would be my thing. I am also still plugging along with Introductory Chemistry: A Foundation by Zumdahl, and various books for Ancients.

 

 

I wasn't sure about the Psy-Changeling series myself. Look forward to hearing more what you think about it.

 

I've read 31 books so far this year. Today I finished The Big Book of American Trivia. There were some interesting trivia bits in there. The tone was slightly condescending sometimes, though. I learned a few things. I didn't like that it was done in a question and answer format with the questions on one side of the page and the answers on the other side. t made it so you constantly have to flip back and forth.

 

My next book is Salt. My husband has been begging me to read that book for years. He loved it and talks about things from it a lot.

 

 

A book about salt? Will be interesting to hear what you think of it.

 

 

I just finished the romantic suspense novel Freefall by Jill Sorenson; I enjoyed it. It contained some characters who had featured in the author's previous book Aftershock; however, it can easily stand alone.

 

"He's her only hope…

 

Park ranger Hope Banning's plans for a little R & R are put on hold when a plane crashes at the top of a remote mountain. Hope will have to climb the summit and assess the situation. And the only climbing partner available is Sam Rutherford—the enigmatic man she spent a night with six months ago.

 

For staying alive

 

Ever since Sam lost his girlfriend in a falling accident, he insists on climbing solo. But Hope and any potential survivors need his help. As Sam and Hope set out on an emergency search-and-rescue mission, he realizes the sparks still sizzle between them. And when they learn a killer is among the survivors, they must place their trust in each other for a chance at happiness."

 

 

Yesterday I finished the book Butterfly Tattoo by Deidre Knight which I also enjoyed. It contained a storyline I'd not previously encountered. This review from From Publishers Weekly describes the plot well.

 

"Making a compelling case for bisexuals who recognize no gender boundaries when it comes to true love, Knight's engrossing romance includes another keen twist regarding families. Michael Warner, Hollywood electrician, quasi-queer of the somewhat straight variety, and his cute stepdaughter, Andrea Lauren Richardson, meet Rebecca O'Neill, a former actress turned producer, after a power outage at her office. The attraction's immediate for the adults but Rebecca's assistant, Trevor, warns Rebecca that Michael is gay. Michael's grieving the loss of his partner, Dr. Alex Richardson, who died in an accident a year earlier that left Andrea with physical and emotional scars, something Rebecca understands since she also bears scars from a brutal stalker attack. Knight handles this unusual tale with admirable delicacy and adds a twist worthy of an Emmy-winning soap opera, involving paternity and surrogacy. As Michael, Rebecca, and Andrea plant new family roots, Knight's weepy and affecting story presents bisexuality as viable a concept as homosexuality or heterosexuality. (Feb.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved."

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

 

Butterfly Tattoo does sound intriguing. Will have to check into it.

 

It has been a good reading week! I finished two books and read two more and made some headway in a few I am still reading and started a new one and hit the halfway mark for the year two weeks early. I am not usually that productive. :)

 

:hurray:

[Stacia]

Ok, I was being book-nerdy again today & not posting until I finished my latest book: Hammett Unwritten by Owen Fitzstephen. Having read The Maltese Falcon (loved it) earlier this year, this is a great counterpart to the legend of Dashiell Hammett, Sam Spade, literary, movie, and real-life happenings related to all those topics. There is a lot of mix of fact & fiction in this book (as I found out after I was busy researching various things, such as Hammett having been jailed in the 1950s for contempt of court for proceedings relating to Communism, as he was head of a group that was labeled as a front for a Communist group. However, as he served in both world wars, he is buried in Arlington National Cemetery). Fascinating mix of story, characters, atmosphere, & a look at Hammett/Spade in the years after The Maltese Falcon. I would advise reading The Maltese Falcon first, though, to get the most out of this fabulous novella. A very nice addition to the noir/crime genre.

[VeganCupcake]

My next book is Salt. My husband has been begging me to read that book for years. He loved it and talks about things from it a lot.

 

I tried to read that last year but I gave up because I couldn't stand another description of a pickle or salted meat. :lol: Maybe I should just have persevered until I got to the good stuff?

 

I've been struggling with books to hold my attention. I think I'm in a wee bit of a fog because I found out last week that I'm pregnant. :) But I did finish How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton Christensen and Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss. It took me a while to get into How Will You Measure Your Life? but I did find some chapters to be quite applicable to my family life, so I've been mulling some of that over.

 

Salt Sugar Fat--well, I'm a sucker for a healthy-food book, and this was really interesting. I've been trying to cook more, and cook better, and this just galvanized me to try harder to avoid processed foods.

[melmichigan]

 

:grouphug: My son is also autistic. He was diagnosed at 5 and is 13 now. According to the DVR, the word Aspergers is totally being removed and all will be considered autistic. I've read all the books and you won't find just one that's going to be the answer. You'll find bits and pieces and eventually pull them all together in a way that will help you with your son. Take advantage of the resources now available. We just had James retested and will be taking advantage of additional resources. I just have to remember that my son isn't broken, he just has a different way of thinking and looking at the world. If you need to talk, pm me.

 

I agree.

 

It will be very interesting to see how they classify my DD with the new criteria.

[Stacia]

Many :grouphug: to those of you helping your children with autism (&/or other diagnoses). I'm sure your road is filled with both many joys & tears & I admire you for walking the road you need to walk. I can't begin to imagine your daily experiences, but do want to send you a smile & a hug. VeganCupcake, congrats on your happy (if brain-erasing) news -- I'm sure you know I mean the congrats in reality that last part (brain-erasing) in total jest, in honor of pregnancy/mommy brain. (I think my mommy brain has become a permanent state of being. :tongue_smilie: & I'm way too old to be pregnant at this point. Maybe mine has morphed from mommy brain to old lady brain...?)

[Stacia]

.

[Onceuponatime]

 

 

How did you like this?

 

 

 

 

 

It is written for a younger audience, but I enjoyed it.

[Just Robyn]

Over the past 6 weeks, I've read large sections of what feel like millions of books on Autism Spectrum Disorders... I'm marking them down this week as one entry 'lots of ASD books', b/c I want to remember where this fell in my reading life, but I haven't actually finished any of them, nor found even one that I am glad I read... though each has given me at least a little bit more information. I'm marking it for last week because last week my older son got his official diagnosis - we'd been prepped to expect Aspergers or PDD-NOS, but it was Autism. ...which matches none of the books I've read, but was clearly, unequivocably explained to us by the doctor who made the diagnosis. I will continue to search for reading material to help us better understand (and help) our son, but I am a little discouraged at how inapplicable everything I've found so far has been. (and embarrassed by how significant my shock and grief has been - a diagnosis doesn't actually change anything, it is useful, helpful info that will connect us to resources that I hope will be helpful... my heart, however, still needs to catch on that.)

 

 

:grouphug: I hope you find the perfect empowering book.

 

I enjoyed this some years ago. Funnily enough, I found my copy in the pet section of a used bookstore!

 

 

:lol:

 

I watched Chocolat the other night. Johnny Depp - yummy in it and the rest of the story was good as well. Will have to read the book soon to compare..

 

 

It has been a very long time since I've seen the movie, so I plan to watch it again soon. As I was reading I was thinking they couldn't possibly have gotten that whole book into a movie; it would take too long. I'm expecting a simplified/more focused version of the story. I'm anxious to see though. I love watching movies of books I just read.

[Ali in OR]

Chocolat is one of the few stories where I thought the movie was better than the book. Something to look forward to for you!

[mumto2]

:grouphug: to Eliana, I hope you are able to find the information you are searching for.

 

I finished "Hide" by Lisa Gardner. It was good. Fast paced. Definately part 2 of her DD Warren series. If I hadn't read "Alone" a couple of weeks ago I would have been totally lost.

 

Also read "12th of Never" by James Patterson. Almost put it down permanently after the first twenty or so pages. I ended up liking it in the end.

[joannqn]

I've only listened to one children's book and the Harry Potter series on audiobook. I don't have a device to put digital books on so that makes it harder.

 

I haven't been part of the thread for a while because I got into a rut and wasn't reading. However I finished two books recently, one of them last night. I have another book that I'm nearly done with, but put down for a while in favor of fiction.

 

#15: Empire by Orson Scott Card

#16 Hidden Empire by Orson Scott Card

 

My son picked these up at the going out of business sale of an online retailer of used books because he enjoyed the Ender's Game series.

 

They are set in present day and are very political. They were poorly rated on Amazon, mostly because of the politics. Anyone on the liberal side of politics will not like these books. Anyone who loved Ender's Game and are expecting the same kind of writing, will not like these books. The first book involves a civil war (some casualties, mostly political) in the US with the lines drawn between conservatives and liberals. The second book revolves around a virus with a fatality rate of 30-50%. It continues with many of the same characters as the first book and involves more politics.

[Murmer]

Awesome. I don't know how you can keep them all straight. I tried but need to stick to two or three at a time at max.

 

 

There is a reason a few of them stay on my list week after week after week lol. I can usually finish my upstairs books every week but it is usually a fluffy book that doesn't take a lot of brain power. My downstairs book is one that I try to set aside 30 mins a day to work on because it is typically nonfiction and need more focus same with Don Quio...but I don't always get to them every day. My kindle book, iPhone and iPad books are more of a hey I have a few minutes waiting I should read, they are also typically fluffy lol.

[Giraffe]

Congrats on both getting certified and being able to read (for pleasure) again!

 

Is Oracle Glass as heavy as the Amazon blurb felt to me? Is the frivolity the lightness of the writing quality/depth of research or the story itself? I seem to need some frivolity right now, but I'm more fragile than usual, and thus even more of a wimp.

 

It's kind of heavy - witchcraft, satanism, poisoning, abortion and infanticide are all present. If you're feeling fragile you might want to skip for now. It was just such a change from my studies and nothing I was required to read that it felt frivolous to me. I could see the end of the story a mile away, too, but that might have just been me. It appeared well-researched, reasonably well-written.

[eaglei]

Finished one book:

 

#31 - The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by Rachel Joyce. This is the author's first novel and it is quite good. There is a simplistic beauty in her writing. The novel itself evokes just about every emotion at some point. I couldn't put it down and in fact ended up reading a good bit of it by flashlight under the covers into the wee hours of the morning!

[Stacia]

Finished one book:

 

#31 - The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by Rachel Joyce. This is the author's first novel and it is quite good. There is a simplistic beauty in her writing. The novel itself evokes just about every emotion at some point. I couldn't put it down and in fact ended up reading a good bit of it by flashlight under the covers into the wee hours of the morning!

 

I know this one was on the Booker nominee list last year. I often enjoy reading Booker nominees & winners, but this one was not my cup of tea (so I didn't end up finishing it). Glad you enjoyed it, though. Sounds fun to be reading by flashlight! :)

[Kareni]

I finished Amanda Quick's The Mystery Woman. It was a fun historical romance with paranormal elements.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Paisley Hedgehog]

.

[Robin M]

Love that the first thing is the sound of pages turning. What else would you add to the list?

Me - birds singing and leaves rustling in the wind

[mumto2]

I finally made it through the wait list for Kevin Hearne's new Iron Druid installment--Grimoire of the Lamb. I was really excited when downloading it. I had quite a surprise -- it is only 68(kindle) pages. What??????

 

All I could think is I usually need to read 70 pages of this series to get really hooked......I am really disappointed! Haven't started it yet the thrill is gone.

[mlbuchina]

After a 13 hour drive, I have made it back to cell phone service and internet. :hurray:

 

I'm so wiped out from the trip, though, I will list my books tomorrow some time. So glad to be back where I can join in the fun again. I've missed y'all!

[readinmom]

Finished Nora Robert's The Witness this morning. This was her 200th book. As a longtime Roberts fan, I began to find the story lines too predictable and hurrying myself to get to the end. Not with this one. I don't know if it was because it was #200 but she definitely put time and effort into this one. Definitely in my top 5 for the year. Note: this is a single book, not part of a trilogy.

 

[Stacia]

I selected this book based on the cover art alone. I had no idea what the story was about, nor did I look up any info about it prior to reading. Wow. Loved it. A shifting story with various reliable (or unreliable) narrators, forcing us to think about reality, memory, fiction, & truth. Is there ever really one truth? How can one single truth even exist? Sure, it's a theme that has been covered in many great books through time, but Manguel makes a worthy addition to the pantheon of such works. It's a very readable story with quite a few nuanced layers. Gorgeous. (The Kirkus review of All Men Are Liars by Alberto Manguel is here.) A five-star novel, imo.

[Kareni]

 

 

 

Love that the first thing is the sound of pages turning. What else would you add to the list?

 

 

Me -- an apostrophe.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Stacia]

Me -- an apostrophe.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

:smilielol5:

[Rosie_0801]

I've just finished reading Angels of Aceh: The Compelling Story of Operation Tsunami Assist by Sophie York. She did a great job of making the heavy story of her husband and colleagues' work in Aceh readable.

[Violet Crown]

Off topic, but -

 

Giraffe, are you okay? I listened to the BBC this morning and thought of you. I know Turkey's a big country, but I'd like to know you don't have any cause for anxiety.