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Book a Week in 2011 - Week six


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I just finished Math Wars yesterday. (I started it yesterday, too. :tongue_smilie:) Really interesting book about the wide pendulum of math philosophies embraced by mathematicians and math educators. It had an entire chapter devoted to Liping Ma's book, so a good read, if that kind of thing interests you.

 

I also finished Donita K. Paul's Dragons of the Valley yesterday.

 

Currently reading:

The Way they Learn by Cynthia Tobias

The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis

 

I love Tobias Ulrich- her books are great. I actually met her in person in CA- she is very tall- maybe 6' and used to be a cop.

Lewis is my fav author -fiction and non. :001_smile:

Math Wars is going on my list!

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Me too! I've started to wonder if I need to switch to the LARGE TYPE books. :D

I know ... and I just started Room last night. The print is very small ... I fell asleep after a few pages ;).

 

"I can't imagine a man really enjoying a book and reading it only once."

 

"It is a good rule after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between."

 

"A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest."

 

"Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again."

 

And this one just because I really like it: "The homemaker has the ultimate career. All other careers exist for one purpose only - and that is to support the ultimate career. "

lisa

Thanks, Lisa. These are great. :D

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I do have 2 suggestions or thoughts for this thread and hope that it's not too rude to do so. I hope others are not offended by what I'm about to say, especially with the 1st suggestion.

 

1. Would it be possible to label or mark Christian books? Not all of us are Christians here. Just like with the threads (CC - Christian Content). That way, we can know before doing a search or possibly buying a book and realizing after the fact? I read Baha'i books, but I wouldn't necessarily post them here, or at least I would say that they're Baha'i books.

:

 

The problem I would have with this is that....then I would feel obliged to declare the spiritual inclinations of the books I read and ...frankly, I am too lazy and I just *expect* people to know I am into non mainstream stuff by now(which isnt fair since there are thousands who visit these boards who wouldnt know me from a bar of soap). I do expect people to look them up themselves if it piques their interest though.

I must admit I don't look up a lot of the books here because I sort of presume they might well be Christian since the majority here are..but then, I seem to be pretty narrow in my reading so that certainly isn't the only reason I am not checking out all the great books. I also always seem to have more books than I can read on the go.

But when something interests me I go to Amazon.

I did buy that For Women Only book recently after reading about it here and then on Amazon. I didn't expect it to be Christian, I must admit, but I also didn't find that that interfered with its message particularly :)

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The problem I would have with this is that....then I would feel obliged to declare the spiritual inclinations of the books I read and ...frankly, I am too lazy and I just *expect* people to know I am into non mainstream stuff by now(which isnt fair since there are thousands who visit these boards who wouldnt know me from a bar of soap).

Peela, you're so right. As always ;). I'm so glad and grateful to know you now, much better, hopefully than a bar of soap. :D :lol: :grouphug:

 

I've started The Audacity of Hope last night. I don't normally read books on politics, but I like this book.

I loved this one. I liked his other one even more, but then again, as dh reminds me, I'm very biased. Sorry. Can't help it. :)

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You're the reason I'm reading it. :) Which other book do you like better? There are a few.

Really? I had no idea ... well, I hope don't disappoint. Recommending books to others often worries me, since books are so very subjective ;).

The other one (and I didn't realize that he'd written more than one) that I was thinking of was this one.

 

Dreams_From_My_Father.jpg

 

Happy reading :grouphug:.

 

ETA: Off to go and look into his other books. :)

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I just finished Dog On It by Spencer Quinn which is a mystery narrated by a dog. I'd liken it to Hank the Cowdog for adults and recommend it.

 

"From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Set in the Valley of an unnamed Western state, Quinn's winning debut introduces one smart canine detective and his partner, PI Bernie Little of the Little Detective Agency, who's pretty quick on the uptake himself. Chet, a lively mongrel with one white ear and one black ear, serves as the book's narrator, communicating with Bert via doggy methods that verge on the telepathic (I wagged my tail, that quick one-two wag meaning yes, not the over-the-top one that wags itself and can mean lots of things). Wealthy divorcée Cynthia Chambliss hires Bernie, a former cop, to find her missing 15-year-old daughter, Madison, whose father is a real estate developer who smells suspiciously of cat. (Chet's keen sense of smell comes in handy.) When Madison reappears and disappears again, her dad says she's just a runaway, though Bernie thinks otherwise. Chet must use all his superdog tricks to extricate Bernie from a mighty tight fix in a climax that fans of classic mysteries are sure to appreciate. (Feb.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information"

 

Regards,

Kareni

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This year I've read:

 

  1. Simplicity Parenting
  2. The Cat Who Went Bananas
  3. Latin Centered Curriculum (ver 1)
  4. A Charlotte Mason Education
  5. Margin
  6. Writing Road to Reading (3rd edition I think)

 

 

Currently I'm reading:

 

  • Van Loom's "Story of Mankind" (on my ereader)
  • How To Read a Book
  • The Cat Who Went Underground

 

 

I'm trying to use my ereader more, and I want to try some audiobooks. The kids and I are about to finish "Trumpet of the Swan" and "Mr. Poppers Penguins".

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I'm reading Fall of Giants and really am absorbed in it. Follett does an excellent job weaving together the lives of those affected by World War I. Reminds me somewhat of Winds of War, a favorite of mine set during WWII. In fact, I dusted off that book and am starting that again as well.

 

 

Hmmm, might have to give this one a try. I LOVED Winds of War and War and Remembrance, been years since I read both. (Actually, most of Herman Wouk's books have been really good; I also really like Leon Uris.)

 

I've needed to multi-task more, so I've switched to some audio books. Finished The Help, what a fantastic story and the narrators were wonderful. You say a movie is coming? I found out yesterday that the publishing story behind this book is pretty interesting too--first book by the company.

 

So, it's snowing, and I'm knitting and listening to Canterbury Tales or Sense and Sensiblity as the mood hits. I'm so indecisive.:tongue_smilie: This is a crazy busy month for me, so I don't really have time to indulge and read, read.

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Hooray! I finished two books this week, the aforementioned Heyer book and Keeping a Nature Journal.

 

I've still a list I'm working on, including 10 Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child by Anthony Esolen with an online book club, and listening to his Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization on CD (the library only had it on CD, I'm certain I would get much more from it in book form). I'm enjoying both.

 

I finished, finally, Keeping House by Margaret Kim Patterson, but not for the 52 books challenge as I read almost all of it last year. It was OK, there were some good insights, it simply didn't really hold my interest.

 

I finished a Georgette Heyer book, Devil's Cub. Might be one of my favorites of hers.

 

My 2011 Reviews:

 

1. Her Daughter's Dream - Francine Rivers

2. Island of the World - Michael O'Brien (AMAZING!)

3. Mennonite in a Little Black Dress - Rhoda Janzen

4. Cinderella Ate My Daughter - Peggy Orenstein

5. Devil's Cub - Georgette Heyer

6. Keeping a Nature Journal - Clare Walker Leslie and Charles E Roth.

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I finally finished The Abyssinian. I enjoyed it quite a bit & would recommend it to anyone who enjoys books like the ones Alexandre Dumas writes (i.e., The Three Musketeers) because the book reminded me quite a bit of that adventurous, romantic style of writing.

 

 

"From Booklist

 

Rufin's superb first novel, rife with political, religious, and romantic intrigue, has won the Prix Mediterranee and the Prix Goncourt in his native France. With historical fact as a springboard and his own knowledge of medicine and the African continent as resources and inspiration, Rufin introduces Jean-Baptiste Poncet, an apothecary/herbalist working in Cairo, Egypt, in 1699. By virtue of his low birth, Poncet only dreams of marrying fair Alix de Maillet, daughter of the French consul in Cairo. Alix, however, is equally smitten and pledges her love even though the two have not been formally introduced. Offered a chance to increase his social status by attending the ailing negus of Abyssinia (now Ethiopia), Poncet sets off on an adventure that places him squarely in the middle of the conflict between opposing political forces in Egypt and France, and between rival priestly orders, the Jesuits and the Capuchins. While it may take readers a few chapters to acclimate, Rufin soon evokes the same sense of history and wonder as Michelle Jaffe in The Stargazer."

Not sure what book I'll start next...

 

Books read in 2011:

The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag

People Die

Three Ways to Capsize a Boat

The Perfect Man

Food Rules

The Abyssinian

Edited by Stacia
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I finished another one this week! :hurray: "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman. We had seen the movie but I had no idea that it was from a book until someone posted about it here. I don't know why I assumed it was a YA book. But it wasn't. Two PG-13 (at least) scenes and one f word (and why one, why did it even need to be there...I hate the token f word...if it was just one it could so easily have been left out and not needed :rant:), so I won't be passing it on to the dd's who enjoyed the movie. I liked the book better than the movie in most accounts. Especially the end.

 

Dh was out of town three days and dd's have been in varying stages of colds so I had lots of time to read (and lots of cereal for meals :lol:). I think I'm back to reality today.

 

8. "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman

7. "The Diamond Throne" by David Eddings

6. "Adam and His Kin" by Ruth Beechick

5. "Persuasion" by Jane Austen

4. "The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner" by Stephenie Meyer

3. "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" by C.S. Lewis (carry over from 2010 but needs listed somewhere )

2. "Mansfield Park" by Jane Austen

1. "Enchantment" by Orson Scott Card

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I am anxiously awaiting the arrival on Tuesday of The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Gerard. This book is the #1 pick for 100 Greatest Adventure Novels of all Time by the National Geographic Adventure magazine.

 

THANK YOU for the link to the Nat'l Geo list! It looks great & I'll definitely be checking out some of the books they recommend. :001_smile: Please be sure to post your review of "The Worst Journey in the World".

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Alexa (age 10) and I have now finished the following books together so far this year:

 

1. The Phantom Tollbooth

2. Skellig

3. Ida B and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster and (Possibly) Save the World

4. The Gawgon and The Boy

5. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

6. The Girl With the Silver Eyes

 

(We also read "Ben and Me" for school reading).

 

Today we will start: Tuck Everlasting

 

On my own so far this year, I have read:

 

1. Rose, by Martin Cruz Smith (although I was halfway through it already at the start of the year so it doesn't really count, probably)

2. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

3. The Virgin's Lover by Philippa Gregory

4. The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

5. Mary Bloody Mary by Carolyn Meyer (Young Royals series)

6. Beware, Princess Elizabeth by Carolyn Meyer (Young Royals series)

7. Doomed Queen Anne by Carolyn Meyer (Young Royals series)

 

and I'm currently reading:

 

Patience, Princess Catherine by Carolyn Meyer (Young Royals series) and Deconstructing Penguins: Parents, Kids and the Bond of Reading by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone.

 

On her own, Alexa, age 10, has read:

 

Five or six different Nancy Drew Files books

All three books in the "Wright On Time" series

Streams to the River, River to the Sea, A Novel of Sacagawea

Thunder Rolling In The Mountains

 

...I am SO pleased with how much reading we've BOTH been doing, and really enjoying doing this challenge WITH her. :)

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