Book a Week in 2011 - Week six

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday! Today is the start of week six in our quest to read 52 books in 52 weeks. Welcome to everyone who is just joining in, welcome back to our regulars 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 in my signature.

 

52 books blog - E is for Essays: Rosie inspired me with all her talk about Montaigne. A little history behind the essay and some links to check out and yep, another mini challenge.

 

I'm so pleased with everyone's progress so far. Wherever you are in your reading journey, I hope you are enjoying yourself. I saw a saying once that said

 

"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming 'WOW What a Ride!'"

 

 

Reading is a journey, an exploration into the known and the unknown. So enjoy the journey, make the most of it. Explore, dive right in, take side trips, expand your horizons, and most of all, enjoy the ride. After all it's the journey, not the destination that's important.

 

What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 6, 2011 by Mytwoblessings

[edithcrawley]

I'll be reading Invisible by Paul Auster

[Jane Elliot]

I finished reading aloud The Scarlet Pimpernel to my middle girls (ages 10-14). I didn’t like it as well as I did in my teens and 20s when it was probably my favorite book. I found the whole idea of Marguerite as “the cleverest woman in all of Europe” far-fetched this time; she actually seemed a little slow on the uptake. But, my girls enjoyed the book immensely. We watched the 1982 version of the movie last night as a family, and that was a lot of fun, too. We are reading Gone with the Wind now.

 

I finished The Warden. This was my first Trollope, and I am looking forward to more. I especially enjoyed his excoriation of the press, which seemed unexpectedly modern day.

 

I began Death of a Red Heroine, a Chinese murder mystery. This book was recommended on these boards when I asked for books to help me understand Chinese thought and culture. I thought it was a good place to start as mystery is my favorite genre, and it’s been too long since I’ve indulged. So far, it’s very enjoyable, and I’m learning a lot, too.

 

Books Finished in 2011:

1. Glamorous Powers - Susan Howatch (4/5 stars) 1/7

2. City of Man: Religion and Politics in a New Era - Michael Gerson and Peter Wehner (5/5) 1/15

3. That Distant Land: The Collected Stories - Wendell Berry (4/5) 1/27

4. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Written by Herself - Harriet Ann Jacobs 1/28

5. The Scarlet Pimpernel - Baroness Emmuska Orczy RA (4/5) 2/2

6. The Warden – Anthony Trollope (4/5) 2/5

Currently Reading:

7. Trusting God - Jerry Bridges

8. Gone With the Wind – Margaret Mitchell RA

9. Death of a Red Heroine – Qiu Xiaolong

Books Read Aloud in 2011 to My Littles (age 5-12):

1. On the Banks of Plum Creek – Laura Ingalls Wilder 2/4

Edited February 6, 2011 by Luann in ID
added my list

[Robin M]

Right now I'm reading The Fifth Servant, a historical fiction novel by Kenneth Wishnia set in 15th century Prague. Murder and conflict between jews, christians, and catholic church. Interesting but slow reading. Will be reviewing on Wednesday for TLC Book Tours - whether I have finished it yet or not.

 

So far for a - z challenge have finished

 

Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

Beatrice and Virgil - Yann Martel

Cinders - Michelle Davidson Argyle

Delirious - Daniel Palmer

Eats, Shoots and Leaves - Lynne Truss

Forsaken by Murder - Kait Nolan

Green - Ted Dekker

[radiobrain]

I have already fallen far behind in the challenge. :tongue_smilie:

 

One is that my life has been hectic, therefore, little time for myself at all, mush less reading. Second is that I am picking books that are TOO LONG.

 

So, I am in the middle of The Rule of Four. Still have 200 pages to go which i doubt I will finish this week either. :001_huh:

[Jane Elliot]

So far for a - z challenge have finished

 

Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

Beatrice and Virgil - Yann Martel

Cinders - Michelle Davidson Argyle

Delirious - Daniel Palmer

Eats, Shoots and Leaves - Lynne Truss

Forsaken by Murder - Kait Nolan

Green - Ted Dekker

 

This list looks so pretty.:)

 

I love your a-z reading plan. Sometimes the hardest part for me is deciding which book to read next. This would certainly simplify things.

[K in MI]

We finished White Fang this week (read aloud),which we really liked, and I finished Ask The Animals. We started Silas Marner last week, so we'll try to finish that. On my own, I'm going to read Doctor of the Heart by Isadore Rosenfeld.

[fairytalemama]

I'm suddenly finishing books---yay!

 

I finished High Fidelity (you can read my review here).

 

I also just finished The God Delusion (still mulling that one over. No review yet).

 

I'm in the middle of Summer at Tiffany (a nice refreshing read after the aforementioned God Delusion) and still trudging through Jane Eyre. I don't remember Jane Eyre being so tedious when I first read it as a teenager. What has happened to my attention span?!?!?

[JennyD]

Jumping in for the first time here:

 

I'm reading The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin. It was recommended to me by someone on this site and I'm finding it quite delightful. I had read a review of the book a while back that turned me off, but clearly my snap judgment was misplaced.

[Narrow Gate Academy]

I finished Over Sea, Under Stone by Cooper this week and posted a review. I found it thoroughly enjoyable and already have the rest of the series in my crate to read. What I'll get to this week, I don't know since I ought to work on the taxes. Then again if my toddler keeps taking 30-45 minutes longer to eat than everyone else at dinner, I might still squeeze in a book or two this week while I sit with him. ;)

 

Books Completed for 2011

5. Over Sea, Under Stone by Cooper

4. Watership Down by Adam

3. Otto of the Silver Hand by Pyle

2. Lose 200 Pounds This Weekend by Aslett

1. The 5000 Year Leap by Skous

[Kareni]

I finished several books over the last few days.

 

~ In Too Deep: Book One of the Looking Glass Trilogy (An Arcane Society Novel) by Jayne Ann Krentz which I found enjoyable

 

~ Right Hand Magic: A Novel of Golgotham by Nancy A. Collins which was a fun urban fantasy

 

~ My Abandonment by Peter Rock which I read for my book group. This was an intriguing read loosely based on a true event.

 

"Product Description

A thirteen-year-old girl and her father live in Forest Park, an enormous nature preserve in Portland, Oregon. They inhabit an elaborate cave shelter, wash in a nearby creek, store perishables at the water's edge, use a makeshift septic system, tend a garden, even keep a library of sorts. Once a week they go to the city to buy groceries and otherwise merge with the civilized world. But one small mistake allows a backcountry jogger to discover them, which derails their entire existence, ultimately provoking a deeper flight.

 

Inspired by a true story and told through the startlingly sincere voice of its young narrator, Caroline, My Abandonment is a riveting journey into life at the margins and a mesmerizing tale of survival and hope."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[NanceXToo]

Alexa (10 y/o dd) and I finished "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" this morning and we are starting "The Girl With The Silver Eyes" by Willo Davis Roberts.

 

This was a book I'd read when I was like in fourth grade and I loved it so much, I never forgot the title- I'd go so far as to say it was one of the books that really fostered a lifelong love of learning for me! So when I saw it a while back at a used book sale, I snatched it up, and today my daughter and I are finally going to start reading it. I can't wait to see if it is half as good as I remember it being lol.

 

I'm also reading "Doomed Queen Anne" by Carolyn Meyer (YA book from the "Young Royals" series) and still working my way through "Deconstructing Penguins."

[Violet Crown]

Had my first abandoned book of the year:

 

7. Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind*

 

25 years after Bloom wrote this, there's a reasonable entertainment value in reading his rants about the ignorance of mind and vacuity of soul of America's undergraduates, of whom I was (and probably you were), at the time, one. But this is a terribly uneven book. The great central section asks "What's wrong with kids today?" and answers "They've been infected by German philosophy, via Heidegger, Freud, and Weber. Nietzsche is to blame." The cure, apparently, would be for us all to have studied Plato.

 

The first and third sections of the book are much less scholarly, and give the distinct air of having been added to turn a short piece into a book-sized jeremiad, and to give the critics something they could understand enough to quote. There is little smooth editing to make these three sections work together, with the odd result that Bloom will here take for granted that the reader is familiar with Theodore Adorno and John Rawls and their contributions to political philosophy, and there explain in (unintentionally) hilarious detail just who this Mick Jagger fellow is.

 

The deepest flaw in Bloom's thesis is the assumption (which he shares with many another humanities scholar) that cultural artifacts carry with them the full intellectual baggage with which they have ever been associated. Thus Bloom can assert with a straight face that, for example, undergraduates who say "it's all relative" are deeply immersed in nihilism, and that a profound proof of the level to which German political philosophy has saturated American culture is the fact that Louis Armstrong smiled while singing "Mack the Knife."

 

I could not finish this book. It reminded me far too strongly of why I dropped out of graduate school.

 

6. Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France

5. Graham Greene, A Burnt-Out Case

4. Aeschylus, The Oresteia (Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides); Robert Fagles, Tr.

3. Camara Laye, The Radiance of the King

2. St. Augustine, Sermons for Christmas and Epiphany

1. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

0. Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars

 

*not completed

Edited February 7, 2011 by Sharon in Austin

[prairiegirl]

Due to being storm-stayed (sp), for most of the last 6 weeks, I have been doing an amazing amounts of reading. I am shocking myself with the number of books I am going through.

 

This week I read 'Marrying the Mistress' by Joanna Trollope (it was okay--just okay,) 'How to Read a French Fry' by Russ Parsons (a fun kitchen science book) and 'Room' by Emma Donoghue (WOW! a disturbingly good book.)

 

I am now reading Book #11-- 'Every Last One' by Anna Quindlen.

[NanceXToo]

'Room' by Emma Donoghue (WOW! a disturbingly good book.)

 

I am now reading Book #11-- 'Every Last One' by Anna Quindlen.

 

I read "Room" after someone here (I forget who) recommended it, and yeah, it was a haunting story! Good book though!

 

I like Anna Quindlen's books, too.

[Rosie_0801]

52 books blog - E is for Essays: Rosie inspired me with all her talk about Montaigne.

 

Sorry :(

 

 

:lol:

 

I'm about ready to toss that book back down the library chute. I think St Augustine and Margery Kempe have weakened me. I don't think I can bring myself to finish the WEM recommended chapters of Montaigne's essays.

 

It was all so stressful I had to read one of those cute books about Australian chicks trying to become Parisian to try and recover my strength.

 

:)

Rosie

[nono]

Luann, I like your format, so I'm using a version of it! ;)

 

This week I finished The Dance of Intimacy and Saltwater Buddha. I was underwhelmed by The Dance of Intimacy -- really nothing new from her book The Dance of Anger that I read years ago. I believe in her tactics, it's just that I felt like an eavesdropper listening to other people's problems as I ran along listening, without really getting any new insight. That made me uncomfortable. :001_unsure:

 

Saltwater Buddha was a pleasant surprise. If you love the water, and have an appreciation for young adult perspectives, it's an easy read.

 

Books Finished in 2011:

1. I Run, Therefore I’m Nuts

2. Forbidden Nation: A History of Taiwan

3. Pre

4. Extraordinary, Ordinary People (audio)

5. The Dance of Intimacy (audio)

6. Saltwater Buddha

Currently Reading/Listening:

1. When the Brain Can’t Hear

2. The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life (audio)

 

 

[sarahj]

Last night I finally finished book #3, The Children of Henry VIII by Alison Weir. This morning I began book #4, Mommy, Teach Me! by Barbara Curtis.

[kokotg]

I finished Zeitoun by Dave Eggers last week (review in blog) and loved it.

 

I did not finish Howard's End and probably won't this week either, owing to too many time sensitive library book reads.

 

Right now I'm reading Colum McCann's Let the Great World Spin, which I was initially attracted to because the title is so fabulous, but it also won a National Book Award, so it has other things going for it as well.

 

And I'm reading The S*x Lives of Cannibals; I've just started it, but I suspect it's going to be very...interesting. So it's Judge A Book by its Title Week for me!

[eaglei]

This week I finished a light-reading book and an inspiring book - not hard to tell which is which!

 

#8 - Watch Over Me, by Christa Parrish

#9 - Raising the Dead: A Doctor Encounters the Miraculous, by Chauncey W. Crandall IV, MD

 

I am almost through with an autobiography written by the wife of Steven Curtis Chapman:

 

#10 - Choosing to See: A Journey of Struggle and Hope, by Mary Beth Chapman with Ellen Vaughn

 

Not sure what I will read next. I am still barreling my way through my backlog . . .

[Ali in OR]

Just finished A Lucky Child which I discovered in one of these threads a few weeks ago. In fact, my next few books are going to be books I heard about here! I loved A Lucky Child and couldn't put it down. Thanks for mentioning it, whoever you were!

 

Earlier in the week I finished Three Cups of Tea by/about Greg Mortenson. Interesting--glad I read it--but it did start dragging after awhile. I think it could have been shorter.

 

Next up--I have The Housekeeper and the Professor and also The Wreath (Kristin Lavransdatter) from the library, and I'll probably tackle them in that order. I have other books I want to get from the library, but need to not check out more than I can get finished before they're due! But I'll keep checking this thread to find out what else I should check out. My 2011 list so far:

 

 

2011 Reading List

 

9. A Lucky Child-Buergenthal

8. Three Cups of Tea-Mortenson

7. Run-Ann Patchett

6. The Red Queen-Philippa Gregory

5. Agnes Grey-Anne Bronte

4. The Daughter of Time-Josephine Tey

3. Mythology-Edith Hamilton

2. Phantom Toll Booth-Norton Juster

1. Her Fearful Symmetry-Audrey Niffenegger

[dcjlkplus3]

Well, I finished The Writing Class by Jincy Willet, I wasn't terribly impressed, but i did finish it (which I still haven't been able to do with The Other Queen).

 

Right now I am slogging my way through Beloved Toni Morrison. I'm on page 46 and I really hope it gets better soon. I hate that there seems to be more focus on the sound of the words than on the story.

 

I'm ready to go browse at the library again and see if they have anything that actually captures my attention.

[Jane Elliot]

Luann, I like your format, so I'm using a version of it! ;)

 

LOL. Well I stole that format from someone else last week, but didn't credit them and can't remember who it was. It is nice, isn't it?

[Jane in NC]

1. Glamorous Powers - Susan Howatch (4/5 stars) 1/7

 

Oh Luann...a question: I had never heard of Susan Howatch until recently. One of my old high school pals and I have begun a snail mail correspondence. (Isn't that a delightfully old fashioned concept?). My friend mentioned that she really likes Howatch's Starbridge series of which Glamorous Powers is the second book. The first, Glittering Images, is in my queue to begin this week. Tell me: How did you discover this author?

[dangermom]

I did a Georgette Heyer mystery, which was disappointing, and A Room With A View, which was lovely.

 

For another challenge, I read two essays by Dorothy Sayers under the title Are Women Human? They were very good.

 

And I'm planning to read a John Stuart Mill essay this week!

[Heather in Neverland]

This week it is Unchristian and finishing up Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church.

[Jane Elliot]

Oh Luann...a question: I had never heard of Susan Howatch until recently. One of my old high school pals and I have begun a snail mail correspondence. (Isn't that a delightfully old fashioned concept?). My friend mentioned that she really likes Howatch's Starbridge series of which Glamorous Powers is the second book. The first, Glittering Images, is in my queue to begin this week. Tell me: How did you discover this author?

 

The first time I heard about them was years ago on SWB's list of favorite books. Since then I've seen them mentioned other places including Great Books of the Christian Tradition and Honey for a Woman's Heart. I had been meaning to read them for years and now have enjoyed the first two and look forward to reading the others.

Edited February 6, 2011 by Luann in ID

[MominIN]

I'm already behind! I did have a baby in January, though, so I'll use him as my excuse. I am reading my fifth book, In All Deep Places by Susan Meissner. We are also reading Johnny Tremain as a read aloud, but we still have probably a week and a half before we finish it.

[Jane Elliot]

I'm already behind! I did have a baby in January, though, so I'll use him as my excuse. I am reading my fifth book, In All Deep Places by Susan Meissner. We are also reading Johnny Tremain as a read aloud, but we still have probably a week and a half before we finish it.

 

Baby's are the best reason for being behind! Enjoy him!

 

I've been wanting to try Susan Meissner. Have you read her other books?

[MominIN]

Baby's are the best reason for being behind! Enjoy him!

 

I've been wanting to try Susan Meissner. Have you read her other books?

 

No, this is my first. I just started it, so I can't give an opinion quite yet. I'm hoping it's good!

[Jane Elliot]

No, this is my first. I just started it, so I can't give an opinion quite yet. I'm hoping it's good!

 

I look forward to hearing how you like it.

[Mom22ns]

I forgot to post for last week, but we finished Otto of the Silver Hand. I didn't like it much, but the ending helped.

 

This week I've read A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver, and we finished Harry Potter as a read aloud.

[Gooblink]

I missed posting last week! I'd started reading "Decision Points," but that was interrupted by "Gut and Psycology Syndrome" (GAPS diet) and "Sun Stand Still," which I need to review on my blog this week for the publisher.

 

This week I'll continue "Decision Points" and, hopefully, finish it.

 

I noticed some people reading "The 5000 Year Leap." I read that a couple of years ago and it inspired me to read many American historical primary source works. :)

[Jane in NC]

The first time I heard about them was years ago on SWB's list of favorite books. Since then I've seen them mentioned other places including Great Books of the Christian Tradition and Honey for a Woman's Heart. I had been meaning to read them for years and now have enjoyed the first two and look forward to reading the others.

 

Well how interesting...I look forward to reading Howatch this week!

[fairytalemama]

:lurk5:

 

Just bumping this week #6 thread over week #5.

 

Loving all the suggestions...I have so many books on my hold list now that the library's website told me NO MORE! :D

[Gooblink]

I'm suddenly finishing books---yay!

 

...still trudging through Jane Eyre. I don't remember Jane Eyre being so tedious when I first read it as a teenager. What has happened to my attention span?!?!?

 

Funny! When I read it as a teenager I found it tedious (not even sure I finished it), but I just read Jane Eyre a couple weeks ago and LOVED it. :)

[jenL]

I'm picking books that are far too long for the time I have during the week. So, I'm still behind, but I am enjoying the books I've chosen! :)

 

Right now I'm reading Dragonfly in Amber by Diane Gabaldon. It's the 2nd in the Outlander series, and I'm thoroughly enjoying the ride.

 

I also began The Door in the Wall as a RA with my 2nd grader this week.

[Mom-ninja.]

 

I'm about ready to toss that book back down the library chute. I think St Augustine and Margery Kempe have weakened me. I don't think I can bring myself to finish the WEM recommended chapters of Montaigne's essays.

 

 

 

I'm actually enjoying Montaigne much more than Augustine and Kempe. I'm already into Book 2, woohoo.

 

I also read True Fires. I saw it posted here either last year or the year before. It was a very quick read which was nice considering the slugging along in Montaigne's Essays.

 

I've started Animal Farm by George Orwell on audio.

 

I also just got Sleepless in America from the library I'll start tonight.

[Medieval Mom]

I finished The Children of Green Knowe, and have moved on to #6, This Country of Ours.

[CAMom]

Can I join in? I've been reading the thread all the way through every week but was afraid to jump in because I was afraid I'd fizzle at week 1 but I didn't.:D

 

I'm finishing The Book Thief tonight. What an amazingly beautiful book!

 

This week I plan to read The Cellist of Sarajevo. I'll also finish How to Get Your Child off the Refrigerator and on to Learning by Carol Barnier. I read this one years ago when my 18yo was a little guy and need a refresher course for my 5yo.;)

 

Here's what I've read so far this year:

 

Her Daughter's Dream by Francine Rivers

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl who Played with Fire

Room: A Novel

One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp

[ladydusk]

Oh Luann...a question: I had never heard of Susan Howatch until recently. One of my old high school pals and I have begun a snail mail correspondence. (Isn't that a delightfully old fashioned concept?). My friend mentioned that she really likes Howatch's Starbridge series of which Glamorous Powers is the second book. The first, Glittering Images, is in my queue to begin this week. Tell me: How did you discover this author?

 

If I can intruded on this conversation, I love Susan Howatch! She has several stand alone books (aside from the Starbridge/St Benet's books, which I devoured) The standalones might be a better place to start as they follow a family through generations in one story. Some of her books are in the Mary Stewart romantic suspense family. I read some in high school (she was right below Victoria Holt on the library shelf ... I think I wrote a paper on Cashelmara) and then found her again as an adult. Amazing, amazing writer.

[Mommyfaithe]

This week I read a new Newberry winner because my librarian neighbor sent it over and said I HAD to read it...so I did...and I loved it!! MUCHLY!!!

 

Moon over Manifest....lovely story...just gave it to dd to read.

 

I am also still working through The Happiness Project. That is a slow go for me....

 

I will probably find some other brain candy to read this week as I need some unwinding ....

 

Faithe

[Jane in NC]

If I can intruded on this conversation, I love Susan Howatch! She has several stand alone books (aside from the Starbridge/St Benet's books, which I devoured) The standalones might be a better place to start as they follow a family through generations in one story. Some of her books are in the Mary Stewart romantic suspense family. I read some in high school (she was right below Victoria Holt on the library shelf ... I think I wrote a paper on Cashelmara) and then found her again as an adult. Amazing, amazing writer.

 

Thanks for the advice. As a reader, I find it amazing that I never encountered Howatch until now!

 

Isn't it interesting that you appreciated her in high school and continue to enjoy her work?

 

Warmest regards,

Jane

[Murmer]

This week I finished The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride. I LOVED it! It was really interesting to read about being black during the Civil Rights movement and also the pieces of his mother's life that led her to do something that very few other people were willing to do.

Next up is a bunch of fluff...The Toddler Busy Book and a Magic Tree House book that have been on my shelf for over 2 years.

I am still working on 321 Money Plan on my phone (its my out and about without a book book)

I am also trying to listen to The Adventures of Huck Finn in my car.

[Nan in Mass]

In Progress:

Where the Indus is Young

Drawing A Likeness (Graves)

Inner Fish

 

Nan in Mass Running List:

 

Light Thickens (Ngaio Marsh) - Macbeth theme, which is fun.

Tied up in Tinsel (Ngaio Marsh)

Final Curtain (Ngaio Marsh)

The New Global Student - again, just as annoying as ever but comforting while the youngest is in Japan

Grave Mistake (Ngaio Marsh)

Bloomability - young adult, nice

Sense and Sensibility - for the umpteenth time

A Rulebook for Arguments - this is a great book - it answered my questions about writing a persuasive paper

Study is Hard Work

[ladydusk]

Isn't it interesting that you appreciated her in high school and continue to enjoy her work?

 

 

Especially considering that was more than 20 years ago! I am certainly reading on a different level ... less for the story and more for the message (not always, but sometimes). I generally quit reading from the YA section in Jr. High, so perhaps I encountered some themes and such before I could understand/appreciate/deal with them. But the writing. The writing is wonderful. Just talking about it makes me want to move it in front of my too-long to read list and re-read it :)

[i.love.lucy]

I've fallen behind. I had all these great intentions. Some were interrupted by incoming holds from the library and I still didn't get to them. *sigh*

 

Right now I'm in the midst of several non-fiction:

 

The Truth War by John MacArthur

Protecting the Gift by DeBecker

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Pollan

A Woman's Secret to a Balanced Life by TerKeurst

Siblings without Rivalry by Faber

 

Maybe if I could finish all these up in the next week or so (actually the Balanced Life one is for bible study so it will be ongoing) I might be able to feel caught up and move on to the fiction waiting for me: The Sunne in Splendor, The Kite Runner, 1000 White Women and some classics I have always wanted to read: Pride and Prejudice, Little Women and more.

 

Not enough hours in the day!

[Virg]

Captive Queen by Alison Weir

 

I love her books!

[Sparkle]

I read a few books last week: Excellent Women by Barbara Pym, which I enjoyed very much, Ten P's in a Pod by Arthur Pent III, High Rising by Angela Thirkell, and finished The Best of Clarence Day. I'm still plugging along with Bodies Like Bright Stars - it's taking me forever because it's a very dense book and I can really only concentrate on it when there's not a lot of noise going on here, which is practically never. I also started on The Professor by Charlotte Bronte.

 

Here's my list so far for 2011:

1. The Transcendental Murder

2. Devil in the White City

3. The It's a Wonderful Life Book

4. Encountering the Mystery

5. The Keys of the Kingdom

6. Our Hearts' True Home

7. Ask A Policeman

8. Murder on the Bride's Side

9. Jane and Prudence

10. Not Quite a Mom

11. Bret Harte's Gold Rush

12. Call Me Mrs. Miracle

13. Patience with God

14. Some Tame Gazelle

15. The Children of Battleship Row

16. Agnes Grey

17. Excellent Women

18. The Best of Clarence Day

19. High Rising

20. Ten P's in a Pod

21. Bodies Like Bright Stars

22. The Professor

[Sparkle]

In Progress:

Where the Indus is Young

Drawing A Likeness (Graves)

Inner Fish

 

Nan in Mass Running List:

 

Light Thickens (Ngaio Marsh) - Macbeth theme, which is fun.

Tied up in Tinsel (Ngaio Marsh)

Final Curtain (Ngaio Marsh)

The New Global Student - again, just as annoying as ever but comforting while the youngest is in Japan

Grave Mistake (Ngaio Marsh)

Bloomability - young adult, nice

Sense and Sensibility - for the umpteenth time

A Rulebook for Arguments - this is a great book - it answered my questions about writing a persuasive paper

Study is Hard Work

 

I love Ngaio Marsh!