I liked the how-to-read-200-books article; I am always looking for inspiration. But the reality is that there are a few other worthy (to me) things that compete with my reading time. It isn't as simple as ditching facebook and trash TV. My biggest hobby see-saw right now is between reading and learning two foreign languages. My updates: I finished The Bear and the Nightingale. I really enjoyed the story, but I felt like both the author and I rushed through the ending. Then I went back to Dr. Zhivago, which is impossible to rush through if one does not want to be lost in a maze of characters. Dr. Z is going to be a slow, delicious read for me. One of my most bookish IRL friends visited from out of state last weekend. :001_wub: There was much discussion of books, book clubs, and bullet journals. And there was book swapping. I was on the receiving end of My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. On a not-so-fun-note, I spent yesterday morning in the ER with mysterious chest pains. I brought Dr. Zhivago along, but was unable to concentrate on it. I was able to read something lighter, The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg. In fact, I was there long enough to read the whole thing...The source of the chest pains remains a mystery, but did not appear to be heart related. The Power of Habit has a bit of self-help, but it is really more of an anaylsis of habit. Case studies include Alcoa, Starbucks, and the civil rights movement. Go elsewhere if you want the nitty-gritty on how to quit smoking or stay off of Facebook.

Hope you feel better, loesje. I will be curious to know what you think about the hygge book.

Here are my updates: One Thousand and One Nights: A pleasant read, but I never lost that feeling that I was reading a Junior Classics version of a classic. An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments: I am reading this with DS, one bad argument each day. Stellar!! This little book is succinct and entertaining. We love it. I started Dr. Zhivago, and every minute I spend in the book is sheer joy. But I have set it aside to read The Bear and The Nightingale. I just got it from the library, and it won't be renewable of course. I don't read quickly, and I want to make sure I get it done on time. So far it hits a trifecta for me: fairy tales, Russia, and winter. As Rose noted, the author deftly hits that intersection of time in the north when Christianity was overlapping with the older beliefs. It reminds me of Kristen Lavransdatter in that sense. We saw a great documentary over the weekend at a film fest. The Babushkas of Chernobyl tells the story of the babushkas who live in Chernobyl exclusion zone. I recommend it if you get the opportunity. It was interesting, and also quite funny in spots. For me, it is the perfect segue to my Eastern European bingo read, Voices from Chernobyl The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster.

Agreed. I thought she was fantastic.

My dad died in 1995 and this is the book I most associate with him. He loved it. To this day, I see that book and picture him holding it. :grouphug: :grouphug:

Nutrional yeast is awesome stuff. Yumm.

Not to derail the thread, but too much salt gives me a food hangover. I have chosen to limit the sodium in my foods so I can eat some olives or a bit of bacon and not end up feeling ill.

My sincere condolences, and an offering of many hugs. Your father sounds like a wonderful man who will be deeply missed by many. :grouphug: :grouphug:

I have these in my pantry right now: Simply Jif Peanut Butter (3% sodium) Full Circle Organic Almond Butter (0% sodium) Wegman's Cashew Butter (0% sodium)

I love the no salt tortilla chips from Whole Foods. Utz salt free potato chips are good. There are several crackers with low sodium: Ritz and Triscuit, I think. Not that any of the above should be eaten in vast quantities for non-sodium reasons, but that wasn't the question. :lol: I avoid dairy for other reasons, but both goat cheese and ricotta are on the low end of the sodium spectrum. Most prepared humus is around 5%, and my prepared fresh salsa is 2%. Do check the labels. edited for clarity/detail

I think that Novare's Chemistry for Accelerated Students, which is recent, does not suffer from the disease. Relatively speaking, of course :) Sample pages here: http://novarescienceandmath.com/catalog/chemistry/cas/sample-pages/

I finished Weed the People last week. It would have been so much better if the author would have kept himself out of the narrative. By the end, he was sitting on my last nerve. He really should have stuck to journalism and kept away from personal story. And how can you have a discussion of legal marijuana in a chapter called "Going International" that does not even glance at the Netherlands? He quoted The New Jim Crow a few times, and I have seen that book mentioned here so I am putting on my TBR list. Three stars. I learned some things, but it could have been much better. I am, however, eager for the book club discussion this week. Yay for meeting new people who read!

Creekland, I can only echo what other posters have already said. Based on what you have written about your son, I am stunned. I really know nothing about med school admissions, so all I have to offer are hugs. And another echo: you are very generous to share your family's story. My son is a senior getting a BA in psych, and he hopes to enter a MS clinical mental health counseling program. Advising from the school? Utterly useless. I am trying to be the guidance counselor, but am ill-equipped for the job. I really did not foresee myself in this position at this point but such is life. Sigh I hope to be posting an acceptance in this thread at some point, but who knows. Maybe yes, maybe no. ETA: Congrats to thoes who recently posted acceptances. I did not just glance over those posts :) As I am well-aquainted with the acceptance rates at both NC and MD schools, a special shout-out to y'all.

Thank you for clarifying, Robin. I am sure my newbie questions will die down by February.

Thanks for posting that. I am not sure if nonfiction is specifically noted for Western and Finance because someone specifically asked about those two, or if it is because the others squares must be fiction. Probably just me being dense, but I do want to play by the rules :)

Yes, that is why I asked for clarification. I had thought that either fiction or non-fiction were fine for all squares, but then there were some bits in posts and in the rules summary that led me to second guess that assumption. Certainly early enough for me to adjust, too :)

Can someone help me with a Bingo clarification? Can any category be nonfiction, or is nonfiction limited to Finance and Western? Thanks for your patience. While I have tried to be diligent with the threads, I may very well have missed previous discussion on this point.

Going low (not just reduced) sodium did it for me. Took about three weeks. Once I got it where it needed to be, I did not have to be so strict. Just careful.

And this leads me to a question:Do bingo rereads count if you have never read the book before in that language?

First of all, congrats on the weight loss :) I am not sure what I think yet about One Thousand and One Nights. For better or for worse, I am reading it concurrently with a traditional version. So far, this retelling/reimagining just seems like a junior classics version of Haddawy's Arabian Nights - well, with the erotic bits left in of course. I was expecting Hanan al-Shayk's Shahrazad to be more of a participating character. So far, she no different from the Shahrazad in the traditional telling. But these are only preliminary observations and I will reserve judgement. I'm only on page 62.

I lived in Denmark from 2011 until just a few months ago. I have mixed feelings about reading The Little Book of Hygge. I am curious about the book, but I already have my own ideas about what hygge is and what it isn't. Getting used to the lack of sunlight was difficult the first winter. Having my then 5th grade son walk to school when it was pitch black out nearly did me in, particularly since part of the walk was through a public park. Candles, candles, candles. You cope with candles. And lit candles are found in places that I would be shocked to find them in the USA. Like on the children's play table in the dentist waiting room. On top of the head of the young girl chosen to play St. Lucia in the procession.

Oh, Sadie: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

Still working on it. Except for Russian, none of these are firm yet. English: Either AP English Language with PA Homeschoolers or DE Precalculus: Derek Owens Physics: Clover Creek U.S. History: Home Russian II: By the Onion Sea Geography (Sem1) / American Govt (Sem2) Keep working on Fine Arts credit and Health/PE credit. Much depends on whether or not he starts DE at the local university. He will apply next week.

And did you see that the creator is 17 yr old?! Wow.

I just added it to my TBR list - thanks. I hardly read any books last year, and in all honesty not so many the year or two prior, either. And that was completely out of character for me. The internet only gets partial blame; I was distracted by life events. Normally, I would distract myself from my distractions with escape into a good book, but something went awry. One thing I am trying to get over now is the idea that I got "behind" on books. I am working to banish the inner silly voice that says things like "You never read The Goldfinch? WHAT?! Shame on you, everyone read that in 2013/2014. Why bother, now?" So thanks for the mention! ETA: This is my new self-talk: If The Goldfinch was good in 2013/2014, it will be good in 2017. Or 2018. A good novel has a longer shelf life than that! If not, I don't think I missed much after all.