Robin M Posted August 1, 2010 Share Posted August 1, 2010 Good morning dearhearts! Today is the start of book week 31 and the quest to read 52 books in 52 weeks. Have you started Book # 31 yet? Mr. Linky is all set up on the 52 books blog and ready for you to link to your reviews. 52books theme - Ebooks: Love or hate them, they are here to stay. I love my nook and have found myself using it more and more. Won't ever take the place of a real book, but is convenient. Don't you hate it when the current book you are reading, you want to read to take it with you and read while out and about, but the cover is too racy for comfort. I don't know why all the romantic suspense or thriller novels have to have a shirtless, muscle bound guy on the cover. Always raises eyebrows. There are so many free ebooks now, it's like going to the library. Books you want to read but not keep. There's a link in the post to a site with comparisons of all the ereaders. So... if you don't have an ereader, which one would you buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted August 1, 2010 Author Share Posted August 1, 2010 I'm currently reading Silent Scream by Karen Rose. She is one of my favorite suspense authors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted August 1, 2010 Share Posted August 1, 2010 (edited) Good morning, Robin! I don't have an e-reader, but am plugged into my iPod with audio books quite a bit. I'm thinking I'd like an iPad, maybe for Christmas. While I like the heft of a book in my hands, I hate how paperbacks won't lay flat on the table while I'm eating and am constantly laying a knife or salt shaker on the thing to keep it open while I eat my sandwich. An e-reader would fix that, but then I'd hate my greasy fingers to touch the reader! One other problem with e-readers and audio books on your iPod....what do you take to signings? I read a terrific fantasy book this week. The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss has all the typical trappings of a fantasy book, but it is plotted and written in a very clever way with beautiful language, memorable characters, a believable world. It was one of the books I bought at Comic-Con last weekend and had signed by the author. I also read The Element, by Sir Ken Richardson, who has done a couple of TED lectures on education and creativity. The Element is about finding your passion, and tapping into your innate and unique creative talents to find a happy and fulfilling career. It sounds like feel good New Age tripe, but it is a funny and thoughtful treatment of a topic relevant to us homeschoolers. Edited August 1, 2010 by JennW in SoCal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted August 1, 2010 Share Posted August 1, 2010 While I don't read much fantasy (apart from urban fantasy in limited amounts), I read and enjoyed a new book. It's N.K. Jemisin's Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. I'm looking forward to the second book in the series. From Publishers Weekly: "Starred Review. Convoluted without being dense, Jemisin's engaging debut grabs readers right from the start. Yeine desires nothing more than a normal life in her barbarian homeland of Darr. But her mother was of the powerful Arameri family, and when Yeine is summoned to the capital city of Sky a month after her mother's murder, she cannot refuse. Dakarta, her grandfather and the Arameri patriarch, pits her against her two cousins as a potential heir to the throne. In an increasingly deep Zelaznyesque series of political maneuverings, Yeine, nearly powerless but fiercely determined, finds potential allies among her relatives and the gods who are forced to live in Sky as servants after losing an ancient war. Multifaceted characters struggle with their individual burdens and desires, creating a complex, edge-of-your-seat story with plenty of funny, scary, and bittersweet twists. (Mar.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved." Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangermom Posted August 1, 2010 Share Posted August 1, 2010 I have Composition in the Classical Tradition and Lilith this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglei Posted August 1, 2010 Share Posted August 1, 2010 What a week for reading . . .:tongue_smilie: I am STILL slogging away at good ole' Charles Dickens' Great Expectations . . . :glare: I cannot for the life of me see WHY I liked this book enough to read it TWICE in high school and do my senior thesis on it!:banghead: I am trying SO hard to finish it! Still HALF way to go.:banghead: I don't know . . . I just may not make it - the book is due this Saturday and I am NOT going to read it much while we are gone these next couple of days. In fact, I went to the library and got two other books out for this trip.:ohmy: Someone please tell me just what I liked about this book all those years ago!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyfaithe Posted August 1, 2010 Share Posted August 1, 2010 Just finished the 3rd Harry Potter and I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak (The Book Thief.) They were both page turners... Off to read the 4th HP and then The Help is next. Faithe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted August 1, 2010 Share Posted August 1, 2010 What a week for reading . . .:tongue_smilie:I am STILL slogging away at good ole' Charles Dickens' Great Expectations . . . :glare: I cannot for the life of me see WHY I liked this book enough to read it TWICE in high school and do my senior thesis on it!:banghead: .:ohmy: Someone please tell me just what I liked about this book all those years ago!!! The only answer I can suggest is you liked it because it wasn't as bad as most of his others. I'm half way through a very hefty volume of modern fiction, The Children's Book. It keeps you reading, it is quite involved but I'm not sure if I would recommend it or not. I don't think I'll be able to make that decision until I've finished, and I wonder if I'll be able to make that decision even then. It's odd. :) Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglei Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 The only answer I can suggest is you liked it because it wasn't as bad as most of his others. Rosie, You always know how to make me laugh!:) What a wonderful gift you have! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WiseOwlKnits Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 I'm still reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I actually put it aside and read some other stuff because I just can't get into it. Someone please tell me it picks up after page 75. Sheesh. Anyway, I'm running behind and I'm reading book #26. Hopefully I'll finish it this week and I have a couple of books waiting to reward myself with. One is Still Missing and the other is Sarah's Key. If I bought an eReader, I'd buy an iPad. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imprimis Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 I completed books 5, 6, and 7 in the Harry Potter series the past couple weeks. I had never read this series before and can honestly say I now understand the hype I heard for years. J.K. Rowling is a very engaging writer with a wonderfully quirky sense of humor that offsets some of the darkness in these books. It was actually hard for me to leave Harry's world when I reached the end of the series. I will say though, I think the last few books are better suited for older kids and teens (and adults, of course ;)), especially if you have sensitive children. My 11 yo son actually finished the series before me---he was 2-3 books ahead of me while we were reading them. My 6 yo started the first book, but hasn't finished it, and I have decided to have her wait to begin the rest of the books until she is a bit older. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 Funny that some of us are reading Harry Potter. I've never read the series either. I'm still reading the first book. I'm reading it in German and it's been 12 years since I've read anything in German. So it's taking me a little longer. I also started The Book of Margery Kempe. I hope it's better than Augustine's Confessions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 I also started The Book of Margery Kempe. I hope it's better than Augustine's Confessions. Ouch. I have had that sitting there for far too long. I shall endeavour to start tonight! :001_huh: Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 Earlier today, I finished Special Topics in Calamity Physics. I quite enjoyed it (though the use of extensive citations did get a bit tedious at times). I liked that the story had some twists & turns; the ending is not neatly wrapped up -- there are some items which are left up to you to decide how it really ended. It vaguely reminded me of The Secret History. Tonight, I have started The Geographer's Library: A Novel. I don't have an e-reader, nor have I spent any time investigating them. But, off the cuff, I'd say I want an iPad. :001_smile: Books I've read in 2010: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time; Good Omens; The Palace of Dreams; Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World; Lying Awake; The Remains of the Day; Iron & Silk; Lottery; The City of Dreaming Books; Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel; Clutter Busting: Letting Go of What's Holding You Back; The Power of Less; Stop Clutter from Stealing Your Life; The Bonesetter's Daughter; Life of Pi; Orphans Preferred: The Twisted Truth and Lasting Legend of the Pony Express; Whatever You Do, Don't Run: True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide; Waiting for Snow in Havana; The Happiness Project; Ella Minnow Pea: A Progressively Lipogrammatic Epistolary Fable; The Dante Club; Conquering Chronic Disorganization; City of Thieves; Throw Out Fifty Things: Clear the Clutter, Find Your Life; Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen; Dead Until Dark; The Color of Magic; Fernande; Special Topics in Calamity Physics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeschoolmom97 Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 Eaglei - Dickens - great literature, yes - but as an English lit major I can say I have freed myself enough to say...ENOUGH. Do you really want to read it AGAIN? You only have so many heartbeats. If you're not enjoying it - and you've already read it (twice???) - move on to something you might love. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PollyOR Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 Took a month off. I was busy helping my 12 & 15yo girls prepare for a pioneer handcart re-enactment. I thought about giving up on my goal to read 52 books but then we watched the movie "Coraline" Monday. I decided to read the book and compare the two. I've continued my diet of children's lit with reading A Series of Unfortunate Events books (1-3). I'm enjoying them so much more than I thought I would. Very clever and humorous writing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 I quit reading The Geographer's Library. The premise was good, but 70 pages in, it was pretty dull, imo. I've started 2 different ones now. Medicus: A Novel of the Roman Empire From Booklist *Starred Review* Fans of Alexander McCall Smith will delight in this series debut set in Roman-occupied Britain and featuring wry army doctor Gaius Petreius Ruso. Newly divorced and burdened with the debts of his late father, Ruso finds himself in a ramshackle military outpost with miserable weather and minimal supplies. Ruso's new job gets off to a rocky start when he's called upon to examine the corpse of a young woman who drowned. Then, after a long shift of tending to the sick, the cranky but charitable doctor rescues an injured slave girl from her sadistic owner. His good deed earns Ruso unwanted attention from a hospital administrator whose attempts to cover his bald spot are both desperate and hilarious. It also lands the medicus in the middle of an investigation into the deaths of two local barmaids. Through it all, Ruso wonders what has become of his life. Celebrated as a hero a few years before for rescuing Emperor Trajan from an earthquake, he's now sharing a residence with a doctor of questionable morals and a flurry of seemingly indestructible mice. A strong start for Downie, whose series joins those by Lindsay Davis and Stephen Saylor on the ancient Rome beat but adds a bit more humor to the mix of period detail and suspense. AND Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel From Publishers Weekly In this latest effort to popularize the sciences, City University of New York professor and media star Kaku (Hyperspace) ponders topics that many people regard as impossible, ranging from psychokinesis and telepathy to time travel and teleportation. His Class I impossibilities include force fields, telepathy and antiuniverses, which don't violate the known laws of science and may become realities in the next century. Those in Class II await realization farther in the future and include faster-than-light travel and discovery of parallel universes. Kaku discusses only perpetual motion machines and precognition in Class III, things that aren't possible according to our current understanding of science. He explains how what many consider to be flights of fancy are being made tangible by recent scientific discoveries ranging from rudimentary advances in teleportation to the creation of small quantities of antimatter and transmissions faster than the speed of light. Science and science fiction buffs can easily follow Kaku's explanations as he shows that in the wonderful worlds of science, impossible things are happening every day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 I also started The Book of Margery Kempe. I hope it's better than Augustine's Confessions. Ouch. I have had that sitting there for far too long. I shall endeavour to start tonight! :001_huh: Rosie I read the intro and first chapter of book one. I don't think it will be... That's some post partum psychosis she had, poor woman. Just reading the descriptions was approaching terrifying. Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crissy Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 I haven't participated in this thread recently, but I have been reading. This week I am reading The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake. Love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 I read the intro and first chapter of book one. I don't think it will be... That's some post partum psychosis she had, poor woman. Just reading the descriptions was approaching terrifying. Rosie Tell me about it! All I keep thinking is that she really needed meds we have available today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangermom Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 I also started The Book of Margery Kempe. I hope it's better than Augustine's Confessions. I just finished it. It was something of a slog because it was so, so, sososo repetitive. It's a long time since I read Confessions (which I didn't like), but this is definitely not on my Top 10 Favorite Medieval Works list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 I just finished it. It was something of a slog because it was so, so, sososo repetitive. It's a long time since I read Confessions (which I didn't like), but this is definitely not on my Top 10 Favorite Medieval Works list. That's encouraging. If you can finish it, we can too! :lol: Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Negin Posted August 6, 2010 Share Posted August 6, 2010 Just finished the 3rd Harry Potter and I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak (The Book Thief.) They were both page turners...Off to read the 4th HP and then The Help is next. Faithe Loved all of these. :) I'm still reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I actually put it aside and read some other stuff because I just can't get into it. Someone please tell me it picks up after page 75. Sheesh. It does get better. I'm reading it right now and loving it. :D I don't have an e-reader, nor have I spent any time investigating them. But, off the cuff, I'd say I want an iPad. :001_smile: Neither me, but an IPad would be lovely. :) This week I am reading The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake. Love it! I keep adding this to and taking it off my wish list. Weird question: does it make you hungry and want to eat more? That's the last thing I need these days. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted August 7, 2010 Share Posted August 7, 2010 I read and enjoyed Finding Mrs. Warnecke: The Difference Teachers Make (A Memoir) by Cindi Rigsbee. It was a quick read. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted August 8, 2010 Author Share Posted August 8, 2010 Link to week 32 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crissy Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 I keep adding this to and taking it off my wish list. Weird question: does it make you hungry and want to eat more? That's the last thing I need these days. ;) Not at all. Her 'skill' is so difficult for her to accept that the author focuses much more on the emotion than the food. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Negin Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Not at all. Her 'skill' is so difficult for her to accept that the author focuses much more on the emotion than the food. Okay, good to know. Thank you. Off to add it to my wish list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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