Book a Week in 2011 - Week twenty

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday! (or late Saturday night depending on where you are. :) Posting this a bit early as I have a class paper to finish writing tomorrow and won't be online until it's done. ) If somebody would bump the post in the morning, it would be much appreciated.

 

Today is the start of week 20 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 Book Blog - S is for stereotyping. Sharing an interesting video by Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adichie about the Danger of the Single Story. Armchair traveling to the continent of Africa this week. Where have you been armchair traveling lately?

 

What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to week 19

Edited May 15, 2011 by Mytwoblessings

[Robin M]

Just finished reading "Ruthless Games" by Christine Feehan, the latest in her Ghostwalker series. I actually haven't read the other books in the series so going to back up and read the others when I have a chance.

 

Also read J.D. Robb's latest in the In Death series "Treachery in Death." Great as always.

 

Received Sandra Brown's "Where There's Smoke" for mother's day and also picked up Carla Neggar's "Kiss the Moon." :001_smile:

[Giraffe]

I'm just getting to where I can read. DD is going to preschool for language immersion and I get a whole month of days to read read read! Hooray!

 

I can't find my last post to remember what I've read. This is what's in the queue:

 

Histories by Herodotus

Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk

Montessori Read & Write by Lynne Lawrence

History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides

 

Snoopy dance!!!

[Negin]

Still enjoying The Royals - my first trashy, tabloidy book in more than a decade. :D

 

[ladydusk]

I'm picking Acedia and Me back up for this week. Kathleen Norris writes so beautifully.

 

:lurk5:

[NanceXToo]

I am reading The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk this week on my own.

 

Together, my daughter and I are reading The Long Winter (Little House on the Prairie series).

[prairiegirl]

I finished "The Core" by Leigh Boortins this week. I liked it better than I thought I would, especially the chapter on map drawing. Now I am reading 'Decision Points' by George Bush. I am quite enjoying this book. I like it's format. Each chapter is based on a major decision he has had to make in his life, personal or presidential. I find it fascinating to read about his decision-making process.

[Mommyfaithe]

I am so not keeping up this year. Sigh. I feel so uninspired and unfocused. I haven't posted in a few weeks because I haven't read anything grown up since then.

I did read aloud the Voyages of Dr. Doolittle, Soft Rain (a story of the Cherokee Trail of Tears) and a biography of Sitting Bull to my kids. I am now reading them Black Ships Before Troy...and I am loving Rosemary Sutcliffe. I had forgotten what a good author she is.

 

I need some good mommy reading....but couldn't seem to get into my last 3 choices....sigh...they sat partially read until they had to go back to the library.

Faithe

[Jane Elliot]

Faithe, I think it's wonderful that you've gotten so many read alouds finished. What a gift to your children! Rosemary Sutcliffe's writing really is beautiful. As I've been planning Ancients for next year's school, her books are the ones I've been most looking forward to revisiting.

 

This week, I finished "They Say/I Say": The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing by Graff and Birkenstein and Ultimate Prizes by Susan Howatch.

I haven't decided what to read next, maybe the next in Howatch's Starbridge series or ... well, I don't know. I'll be watching everyone else's posts here to see if one of the books you're reading calls my name.

 

My girls and I are still enjoying Gone With the Wind, and the youngest six and I are enjoing The Hobbit together.

 

Tim Challies is starting Christianity and Liberalism with "Reading the Classics Together." I've never done this before, but I think I might like to try it with this book. They start June 2.

Edited May 15, 2011 by Luann in ID

[Robin M]

Bump. Suppose to be working on my paper but uninspired. iPhone is a joy and distraction. Never thought I'd read a book on it but found the app for my nook. Now I'll never be without. "grin"

 

Faith - sometimes the books we read with the kids can be fulfilling plus they count. Hope you find a "me" book to read.

[JennW in SoCal]

It's been a long while since I last posted and since I last wrote a book review on my blog. I've been immersed in educating myself on the entire college admissions and financial aid process which is making my head explode!

 

But I'm still making time to read some good books. Here's my year to date list:

 

Thief of Time - Terry Pratchett

Bridge of Birds - Barry Hughart

Nightwatch - Terry Pratchett

Agnes Grey - Anne Bronte

La's Orchestra Saves the World - Alexander McCall Smith

River of Lakes (a natural history of the St. John's River in Florida)

Villette - Charlotte Bronte

Year of Living Biblically - AJ Jacobs

Wise Man's Fear - Patrick Rothfuss

Guards Guards - Terry Pratchett

Becoming Jane Eyre (a decent fictional biography of Charlotte Bronte) - Sheila Kohler

Year of the Hare - Arto Paasilinna

The Know it All - AJ Jacobs

Have His Carcass - Dorothy Sayers

Affinity Bridge (a steampunk genre mystery) - George Mann

Crazy U (about the college admissions process) - Andrew Ferguson

Kraken - China Mieville

Packing for Mars - Mary Roach

[eaglei]

This week I finished these:

 

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

#37 - Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

 

I am currently reading:

 

#38 - A Secret Gift, by Ted Gup. The sub-title is: "How One Man's Kindness - and a Trove of Letters - Revealed the Hidden History of the Great Depression." The author is the grandson of a man who anonymously gave $5.00 (equivalent to $100 today) to 150 needy people for Christmas 1933. In discovering the letters and later embarking on a quest to find the relatives of the writers who received the money, the author not only explores the Great Depression, but also learns, sometimes to his admitted shame or distress, the truth about his grandfather. Compelling.

[Stacia]

Where have you been armchair traveling lately?

 

Well, I'm almost done with I Have America Surrounded: The Life of Timothy Leary. Interestingly enough, I have been armchair traveling in this book (at least part of the time) to recently-independent Algeria in the early 1970s. I was fascinated to learn that Algeria became a gathering place for revolutionaries during that time (not surprising), and that... "By 1971, the Algerian Government officially recognized 13 liberation groups instead of the states they struggled against. These groups effectively became embassies, representing their people, providing information and political support. A delegation from the Vietcong, for example, existed on an official footing similar to that of the British Embassy. ... These were the circumstances that led the Algerian Government, ideologically opposed to Nixon's Republicans and the US Government, to recognise the Black Panther Party as the representatives of the United States."

 

The book has been eye-opening & interesting to me. These are things from my own lifetime, yet history & info I really didn't know much about. There are lots of interesting tidbits, including the fact that Leary designed a series of psychological assessments (often used by institutions & prisons). "Interpersonal Diagnosis was essentially a method of categorizing patients based on their personality types. The system would be used for decades to come and was an important step toward the personality tests commonly used today, such as the Meyers-Briggs assessment."

 

Books read in 2011:

The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag

People Die

Three Ways to Capsize a Boat

The Perfect Man

The Abyssinian

Food Rules

Empress Orchid

Sister Pelagia and the Red Cockerel

A Voyage Long and Strange

All the Names

When We Were Orphans

Her Fearful Symmetry

Meeting Faith: The Forest Journals of a Black Buddhist Nun

The Guinea Pig Diaries

13, rue Thérèse

The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno

Twelve Fingers

Fatu-Hiva

Apartment Therapy

Haroun and the Sea of Stories

The Broom of the System

Well-Schooled in Murder

A Red Herring without Mustard

Treasure Island

[Negin]

#38 - A Secret Gift, by Ted Gup. The sub-title is: "How One Man's Kindness - and a Trove of Letters - Revealed the Hidden History of the Great Depression." The author is the grandson of a man who anonymously gave $5.00 (equivalent to $100 today) to 150 needy people for Christmas 1933. In discovering the letters and later embarking on a quest to find the relatives of the writers who received the money, the author not only explores the Great Depression, but also learns, sometimes to his admitted shame or distress, the truth about his grandfather. Compelling.

Looks really interesting. Added it to my wish list. :)

 

Lovely cover too, btw.

 

[eaglei]

Looks really interesting. Added it to my wish list. :)

 

Lovely cover too, btw.

 

 

Negin,

I am so pleased to read your response! So often I hesitate to make comments on what I've read (or on anything, actually :glare:) . . . I do hope you enjoy it when you get the chance to read it - I'll look forward to reading what you thought about it! :)

[ladydusk]

Tim Challies is starting Christianity and Liberalism with "Reading the Classics Together." I've never done this before, but I think I might like to try it with this book. They start June 2.

 

Luann, I was considering doing this too. I've failed on the other "online book club" style reading I've done in the past, though. On the other hand, we already own this book ...

[Ali in OR]

Only kid-lit this week. I read Sisters Grimm books 5,6, and 7. That's all we own, so I'll have to get 8 from the library. I just started Radical Homemakers yesterday and I'll have to finish that one this week to get it back to the library--14 day checkout. I'll share my thoughts on that next week. On the Rosemary Sutcliff front, we're finishing The Eagle of the Ninth as a read-aloud. It was a little slow starting out, but we're all hooked now and are really enjoying it.

Edited May 16, 2011 by Ali in OR

[Guest]

reading and enjoying The Skin Map this week by Stephen Lawhead. (I'm on a Lawhead kick, lol.)

[Shawneinfl]

but I have been reading. Just finished "Half-Broke Horses" and loved it. Now I want to read "The Glass Castle". I'm halfway through Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink" which is fascinating.

[Violet Crown]

History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides

That's what I'm planning to read if I ever finish this Japanese cyber-punk novel dh thought I should read! If you move it up in your queue, we can compare notes. I'm reading the Warner translation, not being brave enough to tackle Hobbes'.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

Finished listening to Weird Sisters. Almost finished with Blood Orange. Started The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nestthis weekend.

[Stacia]

A Secret Gift, by Ted Gup.

 

I agree w/ Negin that this looks really interesting. I mentioned it to my book club tonight as a consideration of a book to read over the summer.

[Negin]

Negin,

I am so pleased to read your response! So often I hesitate to make comments on what I've read (or on anything, actually :glare:) . . . I do hope you enjoy it when you get the chance to read it - I'll look forward to reading what you thought about it! :)

You shouldn't hesitate to post about what you read or to make comments. :grouphug:

May be a while before I get to read it, since my pile of books to read is growing. But this one is now on the top of my wish list. :D

 

Just finished "Half-Broke Horses" and loved it. Now I want to read "The Glass Castle". I'm halfway through Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink" which is fascinating.

Read and enjoyed all 3 of these.

Personally, I would wait a little while (not too long, but just a small amount of time) before reading The Glass Castle. Just my humble opinion ...

 

Finished listening to Weird Sisters. Almost finished with Blood Orange. Started The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nestthis weekend.

Weird Sisters is already on my wish list.

Blood Orange - never heard of it, but looks interesting. Added it to my wish list.

Loved The Girl with Dragon Tattoo series. Absolutely loved those. :)

 

Stacia, I love the picture on your siggy line. :)

[Lizzie in Ma]

Finishing up the Fablehaven series, in book 5 right now.

Very much enjoying them. :)

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

[quote name=

Weird Sisters is already on my wish list.

Blood Orange - never heard of it, but looks interesting. Added it to my wish list.

Loved The Girl with Dragon Tattoo series. Absolutely loved those. :)

 

Stacia, I love the picture on your siggy line. :)

 

I liked Weird Sisters more than I thought I would. Blood Orange was a little slow starting, but now I'm really liking it. I'm taking it with me to finish during kids' theatre class today! I've enjoyed the Dragon Tattoo series as well, but they are so violent and disturbing, I have to take a long break in between each one. ::scared:

[T'smom]

Negin,

I am so pleased to read your response! So often I hesitate to make comments on what I've read (or on anything, actually :glare:) . . . I do hope you enjoy it when you get the chance to read it - I'll look forward to reading what you thought about it! :)

 

I'm so sorry that you feel that way! I've added it to my to-be-read list to! It sounds fascinating and if you hadn't mentioned it, I may never have known about it!

[Stacia]

.

Edited September 12, 2014 by Stacia

[Giraffe]

That's what I'm planning to read if I ever finish this Japanese cyber-punk novel dh thought I should read! If you move it up in your queue, we can compare notes. I'm reading the Warner translation, not being brave enough to tackle Hobbes'.

 

I'm trying to read "in order" - Herodotus first, then Thucydides. I brought the hardcopy Herodotus with me (I just moved overseas for the summer) as a result. If you start it, please tell me, though - I might change my mind if it means having a study buddy!!!

 

You know what (yes, I know, I'm rambling). Holler when you start it. I have it on my Kindle and who says I can't read two books at once, even two hard ones? My translation is Crawley (?).

 

I'm going to blog about Herodotus, maybe I'll blog about both. If/When I do I'll post the blog, too. :)

[Sparkle]

I don't think I posted the last two weeks...I've read How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, Constable by Jonathan Clarkson,

Killer Dolphin by Ngaio Marsh, August Folly by Angela Thirkell, An Unsuitable Attachment by Barbara Pym, and Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen. Currently reading All the Presidents' Pastries: Twenty-Five Years in the White House by Roland Mesnier.

[Angel]

I finished Miniatures and Morals by Peter J. Leithart last night. It's my third carry-over book from last year (and last). It was another companion book to my dd's Jane Austen Lit Study course this year. We are wrapping up a great year. I found Leithart's book to be good, a little wordy and repetitive at times, but good. My biggest complaint...he was way too harsh on one of my favorite characters, Marianne Dashwood. :D

 

I know you all don't list your carry-over books, but I do. They have to be recorded somewhere ;)

 

I'm in the middle of two books right now and still have to finish our final companion book for our Jane Austen Lit Study...Jane Austen for Dummies. That's a bit rare for me, but I'm hoping to get focused soon.

[Sparkle]

How's the pastry book? That was a title I didn't expect to see. :001_smile:

 

:D I've only read the first two chapters so far, but I'm liking it. It's his memoir of being a pastry chef at the White House under the Carters, Reagans, Bush Srs., Clintons, and Bushes. The first bit is his childhood, growing up in France and deciding to become a pastry chef, and then moving to Germany. There's a chapter of recipes at the back that are favorites of the presidents.

 

I got the book initially for the recipes, since I'm thinking of leading a 4-H project next year on "Presidential Cookies, Cakes, and Pies" and I wanted recipes. I wasn't really planning on reading it, but I got sucked in. :001_smile:

[Violet Crown]

I'm trying to read "in order" - Herodotus first, then Thucydides. I brought the hardcopy Herodotus with me (I just moved overseas for the summer) as a result. If you start it, please tell me, though - I might change my mind if it means having a study buddy!!!

 

You know what (yes, I know, I'm rambling). Holler when you start it. I have it on my Kindle and who says I can't read two books at once, even two hard ones? My translation is Crawley (?).

 

I'm going to blog about Herodotus, maybe I'll blog about both. If/When I do I'll post the blog, too. :)

Just started Thucydides. Which means, at last, at long last, I FINISHED ...

 

18. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of The World. Haruki Murakami.

 

Well, I probably wouldn't have read it if dh had warned me that it was cyberpunk (or at least a kissing cousin thereof), but it wasn't bad at all. There is an astonishingly dull chapter given over to exposition by the Mad Scientist, who gives the techno-babble explanation that lays everything out, much like Geordie in the engine room explaining the Time-Space Continuum Singularity, and which is rendered agonizing by the translator's inept attempt to colloquialize his speech ... but once past that, it gets very good again. 4 stars, if you like modern science fiction.

 

Now, Thucydides! I'm incapable of reading literature in any kind of order, so Herodotus will just have to wait his turn, probably after Moliere and Dostoevsky have had a chance.

[Giraffe]

Just started Thucydides. Which means, at last, at long last, I FINISHED ...

 

18. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of The World. Haruki Murakami.

 

Well, I probably wouldn't have read it if dh had warned me that it was cyberpunk (or at least a kissing cousin thereof), but it wasn't bad at all. There is an astonishingly dull chapter given over to exposition by the Mad Scientist, who gives the techno-babble explanation that lays everything out, much like Geordie in the engine room explaining the Time-Space Continuum Singularity, and which is rendered agonizing by the translator's inept attempt to colloquialize his speech ... but once past that, it gets very good again. 4 stars, if you like modern science fiction.

 

Now, Thucydides! I'm incapable of reading literature in any kind of order, so Herodotus will just have to wait his turn, probably after Moliere and Dostoevsky have had a chance.

 

Hooray! OK, I'll start too. PM me if you want to talk. :)

[Mom22ns]

I've gotten behind in my posting, but I FINALLY finished the Three Musketeers. I really enjoyed it, but it took me forever!

 

1: Graceling

2: Voyage of the Dawn Treader

3. A Single Shard

4: The Fiery Cross

5: A Season of Gifts

6: Otto of the Silver Hand

7: A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver

8: Harry Potter

9: Watership Down

10: Master Cornhill

11. A Breath of Snow and Ashes

12. Catherine Called Birdy

13. Shadow of the Bull

14. I Juan de Pareja

15. The Second Mrs. Giaconda

16. Leonardo DaVinci

17. Mary, Bloody Mary

18. Luther: Biography of a Reformer

19. To Kill a Mockingbird

20. The Shakespeare Stealer

21. The Westing

22. The Three Musketeers

[Storm Bay]

I've gotten behind in my posting, but I FINALLY finished the Three Musketeers. I really enjoyed it, but it took me forever!

 

1: Graceling

2

 

What did you think of Graceling and are you planning to read the companion novel Fire?

[Imprimis]

Because the whole daunting process of college prep, planning, and financing is looming quite large on our horizon over here, I read Crazy U: One Dad's Crash Course in Getting His Kid Into College by Andrew Ferguson.

 

Eye-opening, scary (at times), hilarious ( a lot of the time :001_smile:) look at all the hoops parents and kids need to jump through on the journey to receiving and funding a decent college education.

 

While I enjoyed the book, and loved Ferguson's humor, I came away a bit stunned by some of the info relayed: Want to increase your child's chances of getting into the "right" college? You can hire a private college admissions counselor for a mere 40,000 dollars to give you an advantage in the process. Mind-boggling. I'm thinking we won't be going that route...:lol:

[Stacia]

.

[Storm Bay]

I read Fire by Kristin Cashore & have started The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party, the latest in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books.

[ladydusk]

We've been reading Bambi: A Life in the Woods for a couple of months now, and while I don't generally include our family read-alouds, I'm going to include this. What a fabulous book! We found much to discuss and all of us loved it. This is a book that can be read on many different levels, from story only to deep philosophy.

 

I picked it up originally because of Vigen Guroian's lecture called "Mentor" from last years' CiRCE conference (I listened on CD), and it was absolutely worth it. He discussed Mentoring as a concept in literature using Bambi and The Jungle Book. Now that we've read them both, I'm going to re-listen to the lecture :)

 

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

17. Christian Encounters: Jane Austen by Peter Leithart

18. Bambi: A Life in the Woods by Victor Salten

Edited May 21, 2011 by ladydusk

[Angel]

I finished "Wings" by Aprilynne Pike tonight. I got it free for my Kindle for PC. It was a bit of teen fluff about a girl who finds out she is a faerie. Fairly original for a young adult book, excepting the love triangle ;) I might see if the library has the other two for some light summer reading.

[Robin M]

 

link to week 21. Please continue conversation in new thread.