Book a week in 2011 - week nineteen

[Robin M]

Happy mothers day my darlings. I'm typing this from my iPhone with a limited connection in the az desert. Tiny screen so this will be short and sweet. If one of you could add the link from last weeks thread I'd appreciate it.

 

52 books blog -r is for Roxanne St Claire

 

What are you reading this week?

[edithcrawley]

Never did finish "100 years of Solitude" probably because I got a Nook on Monday and have been too busy reading free e-books on that.

 

Last week I finished "My Antonia" by Willa Cather, "The Jungle Book" by Rudyard Kipling.

 

This week I'll finish up "Cleopatra" by H. Rider Haggard, and then probably start on his book called "Montezuma's daughter"

[Stacia]

.

Edited September 12, 2014 by Stacia

[coffeefreak]

OOFFF!!!! I need to figure out what I've read the last couple of weeks! I have 10 books checked off my list and 4 that I have been working on. The one's I'm still working on are:

 

Surprised by Joy - CS Lewis

Honey for a Teen's Heart

Emma - I don't know why I can't seem to get through this one? I love Jane Austin . . .Maybe it's me.

Get a Clue - Jill Shavis

 

I just finished The Gurnsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. LOVED IT!!!! So much I ordered my sister a copy on PBS.

 

 

That's it for this week!

Dorinda

 

ETA-I actually have 12 books checked off. I've done a really bad job at record keeping this year. Maybe I'll find more before next week ;)

Edited May 8, 2011 by coffeefreak

[Ali in OR]

Very light reading week this week. I finished one Sisters Grimm book (#4) and started another (#5). I won't put them on my official list since they're just fun kid lit. We had listened to #3 in the car on our Easter road trip and I wanted to know what happened next. My youngest kept stealing #5 from me because she had never finished it. I would pick up the book when we were off to some kid activity and she would steal it from me. I should be able to finish it up today or tomorrow now that she is done. Then we can fight over book 6.

 

My dad's wife gave me Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo which I read in a couple of hours last weekend. The author's son had a burst appendix and told his family about what he saw in heaven, including his dad's grandfather whom he had never met.

 

Radical Homemakers by Shannon Hayes just came up on hold for me at the library, so that will be next. Heard about that one here.

 

2011 Reading List

 

25. Heaven is for Real-Todd Burpo

24. Under the Tuscan Sun-Frances Mayes

23. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother-Amy Chua

22. These Three Remain-Pamela Aidan

21. Chocolat-Joanne Harris

20. Where the Red Fern Grows-Wilson Rawls

19. Duty and Desire-Pamela Aidan

18. An Assembly Such As This-Pamela Aidan

17. Left Neglected-Lisa Genova

16. Classics in the Classroom-Michael Clay Thompson

15. True You-Janet Jackson

14. The Samurai’s Garden-Gail Tsukiyama

13. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet-Jamie Ford

12. God’s Middle Finger-Richard Grant

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

[Violet Crown]

I am so behind. I've been curriculum planning rather than reading for the last two weeks in my copious free time.

 

But at last finished

 

17. The Story of an African Farm. Olive Schreiner.

 

A classic of South African literature. Apart from a dreadful extended atheist parable halfway through--Schreiner is no Dostoevsky--this is a moving and beautiful book.

[Negin]

After finishing a very deep and powerful book - Night by Elie Wiesel, I'm now reading an embarrassingly shallow and rather meaningless book (but boy, is it fun :D) - The Royals by Kitty Kelley. Actually, I'm re-reading it after 14 or so years when it first came out. It's all Spy Car's fault that I'm re-reading this. :lol: :tongue_smilie:

 

[dangermom]

This week I read The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes, which is a really great history of...well, the intellectual life of the British working classes. The title pretty much says it all. And also I read several of my daughter's latest books, such as the 100 Cupboards trilogy (great stuff!) and The Stone Child.

 

I failed to post here last week, but I read Farm City and Generation X Goes to College. They're on my blog.

[Angel]

Very light reading week this week. I finished one Sisters Grimm book (#4) and started another (#5). I won't put them on my official list since they're just fun kid lit.

 

Why in the world wouldn't you count this?! A book is a book! I count all books I read, whether kid lit or not. Some of my favorite books fall into fun kid lit. ;) Just had to ask :D

 

I finished "Lessons from Blackberry Inn" by Karen Andreola today. Definitely not as good as "Pocketful of Pinecones." It took me a couple weeks to get through it. I found it interesting that she went to the trouble of being historically accurate and accurate to Charlotte Mason's teachings then used the NKJV of the Bible for her quotes. Charlotte Mason encouraged the use of the King James version of the Bible. Not to mention that the NKJV wasn't even around in the time frame of her book, making that not accurate.

 

If you are still with me after that little rant :001_smile: I am almost finished with a couple other books, so maybe I'll get ahead this week!

 

19. "Lessons from Blackberry Inn" by Karen Andreola

"Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen

"The Silver Chair" by C.S. Lewis

"The Girl Who Chased the Moon" by Sarah Allen

"Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

"The Candlestone" by Bryan Davis

"Emma" by Jane Austen

"Turtle in Paradise" by Jennifer L. Holm

"It's a Jungle Out There!" by Ron Snell

"Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian" by Rick Riordan

"Remarkable Creatures" by Tracy Chevalier

"Stardust" by Neil Gaiman

"The Diamond Throne" by David Eddings

"Adam and His Kin" by Ruth Beechick

"Persuasion" by Jane Austen

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

"The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" by C.S. Lewis (carried over from 2010)

"Mansfield Park" by Jane Austen

"Enchantment" by Orson Scott Card

[Paisley Hedgehog]

.

[ladydusk]

I finished The Organized Heart: A Woman's Guide to Conquering Chaos by Staci Eastin. It was published by Tim Challies' new Cruciform Press and I enjoyed it a lot. Definitely Christian in content!

 

I started Kathleen Norris' Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and A Writer's Life. So far, I'm enjoying it a lot! I think she is a very good writer.

 

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.

7. Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization (Audio Book)- Anthony Esolen

8. Excellent Women - Barbara Pym

9. The Abyssinian - Jean-Christophe Rufin

10. In the Company of Others - Jan Karon

11. One Thousand Gifts - Ann Voskamp

12. Regency Buck - Georgette Heyer

13. Bath Tangle - Georgette Heyer

14. The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer

15. The Organized Heart by Staci Eastin

Edited May 9, 2011 by ladydusk
Forgot to add the book to the list! Silly me.

[eaglei]

This week I finished reading:

 

#32 - Bryson City Secrets, by Walter Larimore, MD

#33 - The Touch of the Master's Hand, by Charles L. Allen

#34 - The Five People You Meet in Heaven, by Mitch Albom

#35 - The Thorn (The Rose Trilogy, v. 1), by Beverly Lewis

 

Will start later this evening:

 

#36 - The Judgment (The Rose Trilogy, v. 2), by Beverly Lewis

 

After that will be Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury.

[prairiegirl]

I finished 'Choosing to See' by Mary Beth Chapman and am now on book #27-- 'The Forgotten Garden' by Kate Morton (I think that is the title. I am too lazy to run upstairs and check.)

[Stacia]

Still slogging through Karen Armstrong's A History of God (since about week 3).

 

I read that quite a few years ago & really didn't care for it. I vote for dropping it. ;):tongue_smilie:

 

7. Into Thin Air (J. Krackauer)

3. The Beekeeper's Apprentice (L R King)

1. The Lightening Thief (R. Riordan)

 

I really enjoyed all of those!

[Ali in OR]

Why in the world wouldn't you count this?! A book is a book! I count all books I read, whether kid lit or not. Some of my favorite books fall into fun kid lit. ;) Just had to ask :D

 

 

I don't know...I have counted other kid lit books that seem a bit more "classic", including The Phantom Tollbooth and Where the Red Fern Grows. But these books I'm finishing in a couple of hours (finished 5 and 6 today), and I'm kind of skimming them and cheating by reading ahead or out of order. I might count them if I was behind, but I'm doing fine on the book-a-week challenge and adding them would feel like padding the list.

[Paisley Hedgehog]

. 

 

[Lizzie in Ma]

Slow reading week for me, crazy busy with curriculum planning and my twin got sick so I was helping her out too. (she has pericarditis)

Read FableHaven by Brendan Mull and am half way through the 2nd one.

Really enjoying them, just what I needed.

I find myself missing Harry Potter though after re-reading the first 3 again. May have to continue but I get so upset reading Order of the Phoenix. Dolores Umbridge makes me insane. :)

[NanceXToo]

Week 19

 

With 10 y/o DD: Harriet Tubman, Call To Freedom

On my own: Free-Range Kids, How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children (Without Going Nuts with Worry) by Lenore Skenazy

On her own: Snowbound, The Tragic Story of the Donner Party

 

Week 18

 

With 10 y/o DD: The Safe Zone, A Kid's Guide To Personal Safety

On my own: Lover Unleashed (latest in the Black Dagger Brotherhood/vampire series) by J.R. Ward

On her own: Which Way Freedom?

 

Week 17

 

With 10 y/o DD: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (audiobook)

On my own: Unwind by Neal Shusterman

On her own: Which Way Freedom?

 

Week 16

 

With 10 y/o DD: By The Shores of Silver Lake

On my own: N/A

On her own: The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg

 

Week 15

 

With 10 y/o DD: The Prisoner of Pineapple Place

On my own: N/A

On her own: read some of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

 

Week 14

 

With 10 y/o DD: The People in Pineapple Place

On my own: N/A

On her own: finished Caddy Woodlawn and read some of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

 

Week 13

 

With 10 y/o DD: Surviving The Applewhites

On my own: N/A

On her own: started Caddy Woodlawn and read some of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

 

Week 12

 

With 10 y/o DD: The Midwife's Apprentice

On my own: N/A

On her own: Started Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief and read an autobiography about Milton Hershey

 

Week 11

 

With 10 y/o DD: All-Of-A-Kind Family

On my own: finished Patience, Princess Catherine

On her own: Valley Of The Moon, The Diary Of Maria Rosalia De Milagros, Sonoma Valley, Alta California, 1846" (A Dear America book)

 

Week 10

 

With 10 y/o DD: Treasure Island

On my own: reading Patience, Princess Catherine

On her own: reading Mystery Stories For Girls

 

Week 9

 

With 10 y/o DD: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

On my own: At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks

On her own: N/A

 

Week 8

 

With 10 y/o DD: Sounder

On my own: finished Zipporah, Wife of Moses

On her own: Emily Windsnap and the Castle in the Mist; & Iggie's House by Judy Blume

 

Week 7

 

With 10 y/o DD: Tuck Everlasting

On my own: N/A

On her own: read some of Mystery Stories For Girls

 

Week 6

 

With 10 y/o DD: The Girl With The Silver Eyes

On my own: Doomed Queen Anne

On her own: Thunder Rolling In The Mountains (plus a Nancy Drew Files book)

 

Week 5

 

With 10 y/o DD: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

On my own: Beware, Princess Elizabeth

On her own: finished Streams to the River, River to the Sea (plus a Nancy Drew Files book)

 

Week 4

 

With 10 y/o DD: The Gawgon and The Boy

On my own: Mary, Bloody Mary

On her own: started Streams to the River, River to the Sea (plus read a Nancy Drew Files book)

 

Week 3

 

With 10 y/o DD: Ida B and Her Plans To Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster and (Possibly) Save the World

On my own: The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

On her own: Wright On Time series book 3 (plus a Nancy Drew Files book)

 

Week 2

 

With 10 y/o DD: Skellig

On my own: The Virgin's Lover by Philippa Gregory

On her own: Wright On Time series book 2

 

Week 1

 

With 10 y/o DD: The Phantom Tollbooth

On my own: Flowers for Algernon

On her own: Wright On Time series book 1 (plus two Nancy Drew Files books)

[Stacia]

Re: History of God No, actually I really like it, it is just so dense I can only read about three pages at a time.

 

Ah, gotcha!

 

I didn't care for the style of writing, nor did I think she presented anything new or different. Jmho, of course. ;):001_smile:

 

Enjoy your slow meander through the book! For some books, that's definitely the way to enjoy them.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I'm reading Blood Orange by Drusilla Campbell this week.

[K in MI]

Finally found a book I had read weeks ago, then misplaced -- and couldn't remember the name (Snowbound: The Tragic Story of the Donner Party. I've put it in my list.

 

 

25. Snowstruck: In the Grip of Avalanches (Fredston)

24. The Doctor Wore Petticoats (Enss)

23. Faith Behind the Fences (Taylor)

22. Snowbound: The Tragic Story of the Donner Party (Lavender)

21. Nurse! Nurse! (Frazier)

20. Usborne True Sea Stories

19. Usborne True Stories: Crime and Detection

18. You Want Me to Declaw WHAT?! (Toia)

17. Before My Heart Stops (Cardall)

16. The Deadly Dinner Party (Edlow)

15. Across the Red Line (Karl)

14. All My Patients Have Tales (Wells)

13. Ten Days in a Madhouse (Bly)

12. Heaven is For Real (Burpo)

11. Silas Marner (Eliot)

10. Doctor of the Heart (Rosenfeld)

9. White Fang (London)

8. Ask The Animals (Coston)

7. Call of the Wild (London)

6. The 7 (Beck)

5. Rogue Wave (Moriison)

4. Mockingjay (Collins)

3. Catching Fire (Collins)

2. Hunger Games (Collins)

1. Tales of An African Vet (Aronson)

[Storm Bay]

I'm reading two at the moment. Mennonite in a Little Black Dress and Graceling (My eldest dd read the latter). I've also read a couple of books that my other dd read that are for readers a bit too young to count, but are fun (they're too young for my middle dd, too, but sometimes she'll read them if they're fun. These are a new series by Maryrose Wood. The series is The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place.)

[laughing lioness]

Finished Zebra and other stories by Potok (YA). Snapshots of people's lives, focusing on loss. Wierd stuff, actually.

Re-reading The 4 Hour Work Week.

 

PrarieGirl- what did you think of Chapman's book?

Karin- I thought Mennonite in a Little Black Dress was quite funny. I thought her crassness detracted from her wit.

[Medieval Mom]

This week I'm reading three:

 

Burgess Seashore Book (Burgess) --on ds's recommendation :)

Pilgrim's Progess (Bunyan)

Princess and the Goblin (MacDonald) -- pre-reading for Grade 3 AO lit.)

[ladydusk]

I finished another one. It is for my book club, so I had to finish before this evening [phew] right under the wire. We read Susan Hunt's Your Home: A Place of Grace. I enjoyed it very much.

 

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.

7. Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization (Audio Book)- Anthony Esolen

8. Excellent Women - Barbara Pym

9. The Abyssinian - Jean-Christophe Rufin

10. In the Company of Others - Jan Karon

11. One Thousand Gifts - Ann Voskamp

12. Regency Buck - Georgette Heyer

13. Bath Tangle - Georgette Heyer

14. The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer

15. The Organized Heart by Staci Eastin

16. Your Home: A Place of Grace by Susan Hunt

[Robin M]

Hi gang,

 

I'm back from the az desert and the land of limited internet connections. Thanks Stacia for linking to last week.

 

I managed to read the other two books in the Guardian Angelinos series "Face of Danger" and "Shiver of Fear" by Roxanne St. Claire on my nook. Fixed the b52 book blog pictures on the weekly post. Just discovered those were messed up. I tried to read non fiction book "longitude" by Dava Sobel on the plane but too many distractions and just couldn't get into it. Will give it another try soon. Now I'm just exhausted. Off to recover from my 'vacation.'

[Imprimis]

I read Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie upon someone's (Stacia?) recommendation.

 

I really enjoyed this book. Touching story about two Chinese boys sent into exile for "re-education" during the Chinese cultural revolution.

 

It provides an interesting glimpse into a completely different culture and illustrates the power of books as the boys discover treasure in the form of banned Western classics.

[Storm Bay]

Karin- I thought Mennonite in a Little Black Dress was quite funny. I thought her crassness detracted from her wit.

:iagree: I haven't finished yet, but I think the same thing so far.

[ladydusk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by laughing lioness

Karin- I thought Mennonite in a Little Black Dress was quite funny. I thought her crassness detracted from her wit.

 

:iagree: I haven't finished yet, but I think the same thing so far.

 

 

I think that's the best way to say it ... and it wasn't just her word choice, but sometimes her subjects.

[Angel]

I finished "What Jane Austen Taught Me About Love and Romance" by Debra White Smith this week. Definitely CC. We have been coordinating this book with our Jane Austen Lit Study so it is a carry over from last year. But it is finished! ;) I loved how she took a look at so many characters out of Austen's novels and talked about them. Sometimes I agreed, sometimes not, but it was definitely food for thought. I did not like how she referenced back to her own books as it was a little too often for my tastes. I am actually close to finishing our other coordinating book, but not yet.

[prairiegirl]

PrarieGirl- what did you think of Chapman's book?

.

 

The book was okay. It focused on the death of her adopted dd and the handling of the grief. The book just seemed very sanitized to me like, 'We can't tell how we really feel because we are Christians and Christians are strong and don't fall apart.' The other thing I didn't like was frequent mentionings of her husband's albums and how well they did on the charts.

[laughing lioness]

The book was okay. It focused on the death of her adopted dd and the handling of the grief. The book just seemed very sanitized to me like, 'We can't tell how we really feel because we are Christians and Christians are strong and don't fall apart.' The other thing I didn't like was frequent mentionings of her husband's albums and how well they did on the charts.

 

Thank you for this. I think I'll skip it:)

[Stacia]

I read Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie upon someone's (Stacia?) recommendation.

 

I really enjoyed this book. Touching story about two Chinese boys sent into exile for "re-education" during the Chinese cultural revolution.

 

It provides an interesting glimpse into a completely different culture and illustrates the power of books as the boys discover treasure in the form of banned Western classics.

 

Oh, I'm so glad you liked it! That book is still one of my favorites out of all the ones I've read in the past few years.

 

I'm actually reading another one of Dai Sijie's books right now (Once on a Moonless Night).

[Storm Bay]

I think that's the best way to say it ... and it wasn't just her word choice, but sometimes her subjects.

:iagree:

[eaglei]

I thought Mennonite in a Little Black Dress was quite funny. I thought her crassness detracted from her wit.

 

This is putting it kindly - and I agree with you. I also thought she was very disrespectful towards her parents and their beliefs. I was stunned at the conclusion when she cited her mother as her hero. What? After she had ridiculed (I'll leave it at that) her mother's very way of life. Definitely not a book I'd recommend . . . :001_smile:

[eaglei]

I think that's the best way to say it ... and it wasn't just her word choice, but sometimes her subjects.

 

:iagree:

[Storm Bay]

This is putting it kindly - and I agree with you. I also thought she was very disrespectful towards her parents and their beliefs. I was stunned at the conclusion when she cited her mother as her hero. What? After she had ridiculed (I'll leave it at that) her mother's very way of life. Definitely not a book I'd recommend . . . :001_smile:

Now that I've read a fair bit more than I had yesterday, I'm not sure yet if I'm going to finish it. This gets even more personal for me, because my grandparents were Russian Mennonites (she calls them Ukranian, but it's the same thing) and my dad & his siblings were raised in that church (Mennonite conference.) While I agree that it's often good to not take ourselves too seriously, she is often disrespectful, and that's different altogether.

 

It is true that kids that grow up in those churches do learn to sing in 4 part harmony. I remember the first time I visited a Mennonite church and heard the congregation singing in 4 part harmony. I've also eaten most of the foods she mentions, but her mother's recipes are a bit different than my grandmother's, of course.

 

In what I've read so far she dismisses faith as having any value, and yet I know what it did for my grandparents when they grew up during the revolutions and when they escaped from persecution. I do have to say that there was severe discipline compared to today's standards, but that it wasn't unusual by the European standards of the times. Also, that these Mennonites kept their German language and some of those ways (and rarely intermarried in my family tree because if they stayed in the church the married members of the church and there doesn't seem to be a lot of new members based on my family tree.)

 

So, I'm not sure if I'll finish it or not. If I do, it will be more to see familiar kinds of surnames, foods and other things that pertain to the Russian Mennonite culture and heritage (lots of things borrowed from the Russian speaking Ukrainians in there, such as many of the foods.)

[ladydusk]

So much for Acedia and Me. I'm liking it, but I picked up Dr. Leithart's biography of Jane Austen in the Christian Encounters series on the cheap, so I read it quickly. I was disappointed, it doesn't hold up to Leithart's usual excellence, IMO.

 

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.

7. Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization (Audio Book)- Anthony Esolen

8. Excellent Women - Barbara Pym

9. The Abyssinian - Jean-Christophe Rufin

10. In the Company of Others - Jan Karon

11. One Thousand Gifts - Ann Voskamp

12. Regency Buck - Georgette Heyer

13. Bath Tangle - Georgette Heyer

14. The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer

15. The Organized Heart by Staci Eastin

16. Christian Encounters: Jane Austen by Peter Leithart

[Angel]

S I'm liking it, but I picked up Dr. Leithart's biography of Jane Austen in the Christian Encounters series on the cheap, so I read it quickly. I was disappointed, it doesn't hold up to Leithart's usual excellence, IMO.

 

 

 

We are reading Miniatures and Morals by Leithart for our Jane Austen Lit Study. As soon as I finish the section on Pride and Prejudice, I will be finished with it. In this book he talks about each of the six main novels of Austen. I don't always agree with him (especially about Marianne Dashwood) and sometimes he repeats himself, but overall it has been a good addition to our study. I don't know how I missed that he had a biography of Austen.

[ladydusk]

I read Miniatures and Morals several years ago and I loved it. So much better than this.

[Robin M]

 

Link to week 20. Please continue conversation in new thread.

[TechWife]

I'm doing some beach reading this week, even though I'm not at the beach!