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Book a Week in 2011 - Week eight


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Happy Sunday! Today is the start of week eight 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 - G is for Greece. This week we are armchair traveling through Greece. Discovered some interesting books and authors beside the ancients. Take a trip from philosophy to murder mysteries to a virtual trip through greece itself.

 

The following authors birthdays are this week:

 

 

 

 

Check out these authors and read one of their books in honor of their birthday.

 

What are you all reading this week?

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Last week I read The Book Thief, The Lost Boy, and Sarah's Key. I read The Book Thief before Sarah's Key. I wish I hadn't. The Book Thief was so good that Sarah's Key really paled in comparison. It started off okay, and I was enthralled with Sarah's story of the Jewish round up, but Julia's character ( the present day journalist) bored me to tears. The book, in my opinion, went from gripping to fluff toward the end when Sarah's voice disappeared and Julia's voice took over the narration. Maybe I would have liked it more had I not just read The Book Thief. Love that book....just love it.

 

This week I am reading Without Pity by Ann Rule. I'm almost done so I'll have to find something else soon. Looking forward to reading this thread for some recommendations:)

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Last week I read The Book Thief, The Lost Boy, and Sarah's Key. I read The Book Thief before Sarah's Key. I wish I hadn't. The Book Thief was so good that Sarah's Key really paled in comparison. It started off okay, and I was enthralled with Sarah's story of the Jewish round up, but Julia's character ( the present day journalist) bored me to tears. The book, in my opinion, went from gripping to fluff toward the end when Sarah's voice disappeared and Julia's voice took over the narration. Maybe I would have liked it more had I not just read The Book Thief. Love that book....just love it.

Interesting, since I read "Book Thief" about 2 years ago. Wondering if I'll like Sarah's Key. I know that Book Thief is much better, so it's not as if my expectations are particularly high ... ;)

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Last week I read The Book Thief, The Lost Boy, and Sarah's Key. I read The Book Thief before Sarah's Key. I wish I hadn't. The Book Thief was so good that Sarah's Key really paled in comparison. It started off okay, and I was enthralled with Sarah's story of the Jewish round up, but Julia's character ( the present day journalist) bored me to tears. The book, in my opinion, went from gripping to fluff toward the end when Sarah's voice disappeared and Julia's voice took over the narration. Maybe I would have liked it more had I not just read The Book Thief. Love that book....just love it.

 

This week I am reading Without Pity by Ann Rule. I'm almost done so I'll have to find something else soon. Looking forward to reading this thread for some recommendations:)

 

With all of you guys reading The Book Thief and saying how good it is, I want to too! Time to put it on my hold list at the library.

 

I finished Summer at Tiffany which was a nice refreshing read. I love memoirs! See my review here.

 

This week I'm frantically reading The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (due back to the library by Thursday! Who knew it was over 500 pages long?!?!?), and still plodding through Jane Eyre. I also started A Reliable Wife because it's the pick for my book club this month. So far, so good.

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I am reading the Circle Trilogy by Ted Dekker. So far, ho hum. The writing is kind of bland. After reading Orson Scott Card's Lost Gate last week, this one is too ummmm.....simple I guess. but, I bought the 3 books as a set on my e reader, so I will procede. I really wanted to read Green, but didn't think it would make Sense without reading the trilogy first. Hmmmmmm.....

Faithe

 

Eta....I am glad I gave this more time. I was up until 2 reading. I finished Black and half of Red. Hmmmmmm. Fun read and not as boring as I thought it was going to be from the first few chapters.

Edited by Mommyfaithe
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So I just read Breaking Dawn...yes I know its Young Adult fiction but I had it on my list for a while. I was actually quite enjoyed it which is saying a lot. I didn't really enjoy Twilight and don't really understand the Twilight fever. But I will say that Stephanie Meyers does a really good job of creating a storyline that causes the reader to want to find out how the series ends, even when the individual book were just fluffy. Breaking Dawn is by far my favorite of the books in the series, I enjoyed the new twists to the vampire literature.

 

Now it is on to Inkdeath.

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This week I finished:

 

#13 - America By Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith, and Flag, by Sarah Palin. IMHO, regardless of political propensity, the book basically unites Americans on these three themes.

 

#14 - I Love You, Miss Huddleston, by Philip Gulley. I expected to enjoy this; I liked it - *sort-of* . . . mostly, it fell flat . . .

 

Just started yesterday (thanks to the recommendations on this board) and so far enjoying:

 

#15 - Lady's Maid, by Margaret Forster

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I haven't posted for a while, but have been reading. So far:

 

9. Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England

8. The Solitude of Prime Numbers

7. A Reliable Wife

6. The Lovely Bones

5. Luka and the Fire of Life

4. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

3. Boy on the Lion Throne

2. Lewis and Clark Through Indian Eyes

1. Undaunted Courage

 

 

Currently reading: Animal Dreams

 

The only book I haven't enjoyed so far is The Solitude of Prime Numbers.

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Here's what's DONE:

1. Vision in White

2. Bed of Roses

3. Savor the Moment - all by Nora Roberts/ part of her "Wedding Quartet" series

4. Sizzling 16 - Janet Evanovich

5. Wicked Appetite - Janet Evanovich

 

 

Here's what I'm working on:

5. Surprised by Joy - C.S. Lewis

6. The Screwtape Letters - C.S. Lewis

7. Emma (OK, so I've been working on this since last year, but I'm determined to finish it this year )

8. The Organized Homeschooler

9. Honey for a Teen's Heart - LOVING this one!

10. Happy Ever After (last in Nora Roberts' series)

 

AND I'm reading TWTM again, which, I know, technically doesn't count. But I'll probably count it.:D After all, it IS a book :)

 

Blessings!

Dorinda

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Finished the first Kristin Lavransdatter book and enjoyed it very much--thanks for the rec found here! I'm sure I'll get to the other two, but I've got some others in line first. I'm currently reading one recommended by my dad, God's Middle Finger by Richard Grant. It's nonfiction about the lawless Sierra Madre from the point of view of a British journalist. From the Amazon page:

 

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. As he travels through Mexico's Sierra Madre, one of the largest drug-producing regions in the world, British journalist Grant (American Nomads) encounters a rugged landscape where the mythical old Mexico meets the challenges of the new. The birthplace of Pancho Villa and the Apaches' last refuge, the Sierra Madre has long been home to outlaws and eccentric characters that inspired a variety of American westerns. Into this legendary danger zone, with its exceptionally high murder rate, rides Grant—on horseback, though he has never ridden previously. Grant is the finest kind of travel narrator; though fully cognizant of the dangers and foolhardiness of his obsession with this land, he throws himself into crazy situations, such as a quest for buried gold treasure, a sampling of Mexican folk remedies, a terrifying Tarahumara Indian ritual when God gets into his annual drinking bout with the Devil, a little cocaine or blasting parakeet with local drug dealers, and lots and lots of drinking. He narrates these adventures with unflappable charm and humor, risking his life to the reader's benefit, shared fear and delight of discovery. Though eventually worn out by his physically and emotionally challenging journey, Grant still manages to produce a clear-eyed, empathetic account of this complex, fascinating place.

 

I'm learning a lot, but probably would not have picked this out on my own. My dad lives in CA and said this helped him understand the drug wars and machismo a lot better. Next up: My hold for The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is now ready for me at the library.

 

2011 Reading List

 

11. Kristin Lavransdatter-I: The Wreath-Sigrid Undset

10. The Housekeeper and the Professor-Yoko Ogawa

9. A Lucky Child-Thomas Buergenthal

8. Three Cups of Tea-Greg 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

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Last week I read The Book Thief, The Lost Boy, and Sarah's Key. I read The Book Thief before Sarah's Key. I wish I hadn't. The Book Thief was so good that Sarah's Key really paled in comparison. It started off okay, and I was enthralled with Sarah's story of the Jewish round up, but Julia's character ( the present day journalist) bored me to tears. The book, in my opinion, went from gripping to fluff toward the end when Sarah's voice disappeared and Julia's voice took over the narration. Maybe I would have liked it more had I not just read The Book Thief. Love that book....just love it.

 

:)

 

Well, I just started 'Sarah's Key' last night. I am quite enthralled with it. I read 'The Book Thief' a long time ago so maybe I won't be as disappointed with Sarah.

 

I also read 'Young Romantics' by Daisy Hay. This is a fascinating book about the lives of Percy and Mary Shelley, Keats and Byron. I enjoyed this book a great deal.

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I didn't post last week because I wasn't feeling too great and was reading romance novels too crappy to be worth mentioning.

 

I'll finish off "Eat Right 4 Your Type" about the blood type diet today. There's some interesting ideas in there, so I started a thread on here and Peela (of course!) had another recommendation which I can't wait to get my mitts on. Unfortunately it isn't in our library system :thumbdown: so I don't know when I'll get to read more than the sample she linked online! It sounded a lot better than the blood type diet when compared to previous reading. I think I'm going to have to check my bank balance and consider a date with an online bookshop... If only I had started the thread a few days earlier. I could have snuck that book in with the last of my school shopping!

 

Rosie

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I'm still finishing up Frank Schaeffer's Crazy For God (when I say "finishing up" I mean I still have 150 pages to go or so, but DH is going out with a friend tonight, so I'm planning to sit down and finish it then). I also started listening to Keith Richards' memoir, Life, as an audiobook (read by Johnny Depp!). Next up is Rebecca Goldstein's novel, 36 Arguments for the Existence of God, because it's the next library book that's going to disappear from my Nook.

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How good you are! I've tossed it and am waiting for Teresa of Avila to show up in the mail. I hope I can make it through. After St Augustine and Margery Kempe, I thought I literarily invincible!

 

Rosie

 

There are parts I like and then parts I don't like. He is very much a man of the 14th century when it comes to his opinion of women. Oy! I was so irritated after reading the chapter, "On the affection of fathers for their children" that I spent a good bit of time grumbling. I'm glad I'm not a woman living in the 1500s.

 

I thought this was interesting. Montaigne never read Confessions by Augustine. I find that amazingly shocking. So there, Rosie, you have read a historically significant book and Montaigne didn't. ;)

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I am currently reading Listen by Rene Gutteridge. This is my first Christian fiction in a long, long time, but it came free on my Kindle, and I'm enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would. I'm about 3/4 of the way through and I'm dying to find out how it ends, but I'm really supposed to be making next week's assignment sheets. (Oh wait. That's what I'm supposed to be doing, so what am I doing on these boards???)

 

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 stars) 1/15

3. That Distant Land: The Collected Stories - Wendell Berry (4/5 stars) 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 stars) 2/2

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

7. Death of a Red Heroine – Qiu Xiaolong (3.5/5) 2/9

Currently Reading:

8. Trusting God - Jerry Bridges

9. Listen – Rene Gutteridge

10. Gone With the Wind – Margaret Mitchell RA

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I finished The Professor by Charlotte Bronte and How Right You Are, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse, also read Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield, which was hilarious. I have no idea why I have never read it before. Also started reading Churchill by Paul Johnson, and The Demon in the House by Angela Thirkell.

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Last week I read the Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis and Ree Drummond's Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels.

 

This week I am wanting to start The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Never read the series before, and that's one of my goals for the year. We've been so sick this week/weekend that I'm not getting much reading done, though.

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Was just straightening out the garage, after finally taking down the christmas lights from the fence. Went through box of books we inherited from mother in law. Discovered The Irish by Sean O'Faolain. Synchronicity at work. Also found The Thirty Nine Steps by John Buchan and Favorite Father Brown Stories by G.K. Chesterton. Also a cool find of a 1959 Plain English Handbook: complete guide to good english. Every time I go through that box, I find something new and interesting.

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Last week I read The Book Thief, The Lost Boy, and Sarah's Key. I read The Book Thief before Sarah's Key. I wish I hadn't. The Book Thief was so good that Sarah's Key really paled in comparison...... Maybe I would have liked it more had I not just read The Book Thief. Love that book....just love it.

 

I couldn't imagine reading Sarah's Key right after the Book Thief. I would have needed to take time off and read some fluff inbetween to settle my mind.

 

 

I'm almost finished with A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness.

 

I just downloaded this one to my nook. Looking forward to reading it.

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I thought this was interesting. Montaigne never read Confessions by Augustine. I find that amazingly shocking. So there, Rosie, you have read a historically significant book and Montaigne didn't. ;)

 

I thought he'd read everything. He seems to quote everything. <insert snoring smilie>

 

*sniff* I'm glad I sent it back to the library.

 

Rosie

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Well, why haven't I participated in this thread before? Oh, yeah--it's because I took a little break from the boards so I could read more!

 

This week I finished One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia (middle grade fiction) and Ava's Man by Rick Bragg (biography/memoir). The latter was excellent, if you like stories about the South as it really was, not as people think it was.

 

I post reviews of the books I read on my blog (link in siggy) on Mondays (and often at other times, too), but I'm several weeks behind on my reviews. One Crazy Summer should go up Feb. 28 and Ava's Man the week after.

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Robin, when you post the new link for the week, is there any way you could link to the week prior's post too? I know when you close the prior week's thread you link to the new week, but it might be nice to go backward through the threads, too ...

 

I'm working on Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts (and it is lovely, I'm savoring), Barbara Pym's Excellent Women (started last night and already enjoying it!), and Anthony Esolen's Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child. I've got a couple other things I've started, too :)

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I had started this series of light hearted historical romances in December, so I'm reading a few more of them because that's all I can mentally handle at the moment, so this week I'm reading The Deception of the Emerald Ring by Lauren Willig.

 

so far this year:

 

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

Charlie St. Cloud by Ben Sherwood

One Amazing Thing by Chitra Banarjee Divakaruni

Dream Angus by Alexander McCall Smith

The Neddiad by Daniel Pinkwater

The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand

The Masque of the Black Tulip by Lauren Willig

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Read in 2011 so far:

 

Pemberley Chronicles

Shibumi

Jane Eyre

Ascend

Torn

Switched

Clockwork Angel

I'm Number Four

City Of Bones

City of Ashes

City of Glass

Fallen

Torment

 

There is quite a bit of fluff on the list so far for the year and not much substance. :) I was really surprised at how very much I liked Jane Eyre. It makes me consider reading Wurthering Heights. The reports of it always sound so dreary and negative that I've never wanted to read it. I know one doesn't really have anything to do with another but I'm wondering if I liked one sister's book, maybe I'd like the other.

 

This week I finished Pemberley Chronicles. I felt like it was one of the better sequels for P&P that I've read. Well, it was about the first one I've ever read that didn't use the story as a way to write as many s3x stories for Darcy and Elizabeth as possible (not necessarily always a bad thing ;) LOL). It was just a good story about their lives and things they might have gone through. One big thing I enjoyed about it was that the author used the opportunity to incorporate much about what was politically going on in England. I appreciated that interesting addition. One big thing that drove me slightly crazy about the book was the author seemed to forget some of the facts she had previously stated. The birth order of some of the children seemed to change sometimes. :)

 

Back to pushing myself through Great Expectations this week. I'm going to finish this book if it kills me! (it just might) I just don't seem to like Dickens. I'm going to read A Tale Of Two Cities later this year as a last ditch effort to appreciate him.

 

I'll also finish Gulliver's Travels of which I also don't care for. I don't like leaving dangling, unfinished books, so this will be satisfying even if not particularly enjoyable. :)

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I read Sarah's Key and A Farewell to Arms last week. This week I am jumping between The Bell Jar and Protecting the Gift.

 

This year so Far:

 

The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks (1 of 5 stars)

Medium Raw by Anthony Bourdain (2 of 5 stars)

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (3 of 5 stars)

Battle Royale by Koushoun Takami (4 of 5 stars)

A Wife After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George (4 of 5 stars)

True Grit by Charles Portis (5 of 5 stars)

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway (4 of 5 stars)

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay (5 of 5 stars)

Edited by LaissezFaire
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I'll finish off "Eat Right 4 Your Type" about the blood type diet today. There's some interesting ideas in there, so I started a thread on here and Peela (of course!) had another recommendation which I can't wait to get my mitts on.

Rosie, I have Eat Right 4 Your Type and have yet to even read it, never mind know what blood type I am ... oh well. This book doesn't really appeal to me and I don't know why I got it. :confused: :lol:

Need to go and look for your thread to see what Peela recommended.

 

I finished You on a Diet by Roisen and Oz. I am so glad to be done with it! That duo definitely goes on my least favorite authors list. If interested, you can read my thoughts on it here.

Tonight, I'm moving on to The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.

I agree with you about the You Series. Even though I've never bought them. Someone would have to pay me in order to read them :lol:. They just annoy me. Mind you, Gretchen Rubin annoyed me a bit somewhat too. Sorry to sound so critical.

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To read Mirkwood and it looks really good and it started out well but I ended up beginning the Dresden Files again from book one.

Can't think and don't really want to.

We got the news that my dear sister in law's angiosarcoma is not only back but back in her liver and ovary and that, and I quote, "she is going to have to fight for every year she wants to still be here". She is 36, went through this in her breast, chemo, radical mastectomy and reconstruction and was declared cancer free at Christmastime. And now this.

Frankly, find myself just staring at the page more often then not and then watching marathons of Psych.

Don't even know why I am sharing but a weekly update is a weekly update.

So, that's mine.

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I should've also said that the books I mentioned above are books 8 & 9 for the year, so I'm on target. All of my books for the year are listed in the right-hand sidebar on my blog.

 

I just checked out your blog. I immediately requested "Turtle in Paradise!" It looks like a great book.

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I'm reading Earthly Vows to finish off the series I started as a result of finding a book from dd's selection for the summer reading work she had to do. I'm also doing a bunch of cleaning and organizing this long weekend, so am not reading a lot or spending a lot of time here.

I didn't post last week because I wasn't feeling too great and was reading romance novels too crappy to be worth mentioning.

 

Rosie

 

 

I read one of those this winter (not named.) It was one of the crappiest and the writing was arocious, but I the title got me. I still can't believe I read the whole thing. At least in high school the romances I read were Daphne Du Maurier and Victoria Holt where the writing wasn't so bad (okay, du Maurier can write.) I almost never read them now. I did once read a literary romance called The Republic of Love by Carol Shields and it wasn't

nearly as dark as most of her novels.

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To read Mirkwood and it looks really good and it started out well but I ended up beginning the Dresden Files again from book one.

Can't think and don't really want to.

We got the news that my dear sister in law's angiosarcoma is not only back but back in her liver and ovary and that, and I quote, "she is going to have to fight for every year she wants to still be here". She is 36, went through this in her breast, chemo, radical mastectomy and reconstruction and was declared cancer free at Christmastime. And now this.

Frankly, find myself just staring at the page more often then not and then watching marathons of Psych.

Don't even know why I am sharing but a weekly update is a weekly update.

So, that's mine.

 

:grouphug: I'm so sorry. I wouldn't be able to read at a time like this either. You and your sil will be in my thoughts.

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To read Mirkwood and it looks really good and it started out well but I ended up beginning the Dresden Files again from book one.

Can't think and don't really want to.

We got the news that my dear sister in law's angiosarcoma is not only back but back in her liver and ovary and that, and I quote, "she is going to have to fight for every year she wants to still be here". She is 36, went through this in her breast, chemo, radical mastectomy and reconstruction and was declared cancer free at Christmastime. And now this.

Frankly, find myself just staring at the page more often then not and then watching marathons of Psych.

Don't even know why I am sharing but a weekly update is a weekly update.

So, that's mine.

 

:grouphug: You are all in my prayers.

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