Book A Week in 2011 - week forty two

[Negin]

Guess what I'm making this weekend? :tongue_smilie: Here's to hoping the waffles turn out right using my GF flour mix.

Hope you like it. :)

I have several other Nutella recipes. We should start a Nutella thread. I think we've had them before. You can never have too many Nutella threads :lol:.

[Robin M]

Oh you guys are making me hungry. I just signed up for goodreads. Wonderful way to get distracted for an afternoon. You can find me on there under Robin McCormack. Who else is on there and I'll add as friend.

[Stacia]

Oh you guys are making me hungry. I just signed up for goodreads. Wonderful way to get distracted for an afternoon. You can find me on there under Robin McCormack. Who else is on there and I'll add as friend.

 

Me! http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/3917029-stacia :001_smile:

 

I find I'm loving goodreads for the recommendations it gives you based on how you rate things you've read. :thumbup1:

[Negin]

I have my review of the Queen Noor book up here. Just FYI --- I enjoyed it. My book club almost unilaterally panned it for reasons explained in my review. I was surprised and kind of bummed.

I enjoyed your very thorough review. Thank you. :)

And have fun with Nutella. :D

 

BTW, I have several more Nutella recipes if anyone's interested. Maybe I should start a new thread ;). Would love to share and get more recipes.

 

Oh you guys are making me hungry.

:lol:

 

I just signed up for goodreads.

I just sent you a request. :)

 

I find I'm loving goodreads for the recommendations it gives you based on how you rate things you've read. :thumbup1:

:iagree:

[ladydusk]

I made a "group" on GoodReads for us. I don't think I've friended everyone who uses goodreads, so here's the link so people can join ... (Negin and Robin, I've sent you friends invites, but couldn't invite you yet ...)

[Angel]

 

This week I am reading The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

 

Faithe

 

I enjoyed that book!

 

I finished New Moon and am already 3/4's of the way through Eclipse. I'm pathetic :rolleyes: I guess everyone else is rereading these too before the movie comes out next month because every copy of Breaking Dawn is checked out of the library including ILL.

[Paisley Hedgehog]

.

[ladydusk]

We finished The Wind in the Willows tonight. I'd never read it and we loved it. Not the easiest book to read aloud, but a great read aloud nonetheless.

 

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 - Georgette Heyer

15. The Organized Heart - Staci Eastin

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

17. Christian Encounters: Jane Austen - Peter Leithart

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

19. Aunt Jane's Hero - Elizabeth Prentiss

20. The Magician's Nephew (Audio Book) - C.S. Lewis

21. The Horse and His Boy (Audio Book) - C.S. Lewis

22. Beauty for Truth's Sake - Stratford Caldecott

23. A Mother's Rule of Life - Holly Pierlot

24. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

25. Persuasion - Jane Austen

26. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen

27. Real Love for Real Life - Andi Ashworth

28. Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies - Marilyn Chandler McEntyre

29. The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction - Alan Jacobs

30. The Help - Kathryn Stockett

31. The Waiting Sands - Susan Howatch

32. Prince Caspian (Audio Book) - C.S. Lewis

33. Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien (review forthcoming)

34. Garden Spells - Sarah Addison Allen

35. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

[Sparkle]

Ladydusk, thanks for your review of Aunt Jane's Hero. I've had that on my to-read list for awhile, and you reminded me to read it.

[ladydusk]

Ladydusk, thanks for your review of Aunt Jane's Hero. I've had that on my to-read list for awhile, and you reminded me to read it.

 

You're very welcome. Hope you enjoy it. Of course, now I'm super nervous 'cause I'm always nervous when someone reads something I liked and recommend :tongue_smilie:

[Storm Bay]

And, I agree -- it is nice when people can give their real opinions about books. That's what makes this thread fun to read, imo.

 

:iagree:

 

I made a "group" on GoodReads for us. I don't think I've friended everyone who uses goodreads, so here's the link so people can join ... (Negin and Robin, I've sent you friends invites, but couldn't invite you yet ...)

 

Are you going to let everyone know how to use this?

[Angel]

Finished Eclipse last night. I know most either love or hate Stephenie Meyer but even though I've already read these, I can't put them down. It was the same when I read The Host. I think that that puts me at 39 or 40. I will have to recount.

 

We just signed up for our free trial of Amazon Prime so Breaking Dawn is already on the way...I better get caught up on school and housework before it gets here. :D

[eaglei]

Originally Posted by ladydusk

I read a Sarah Addison Allen book that I got from the library yesterday, Garden Spells. It was ... good. I have to admit that I tend to avoid modern books because of several things found in this book, but I continued reading and basically devoured the book. A good mind candy filler book, and an author I'll try some more from, but in small doses./QUOTE]

 

Originally Posted by Stacia

I enjoyed Garden Spells & found it to be light, easy, mind-candy type reading.

 

Yes, it is not difficult reading - and exactly one-reason why I enjoyed it.:D When life is over-the-top hard and not improving at.all. , well, light, easy, mind-candy is a great escape, a short reprieve, even a necessity at times just to make it through the day! It's my treat to myself!:D Surely, I am not the only one who needs or enjoys these candy breaks???:confused::)

 

Just saying again how much I enjoy this thread - my list of *wanna-reads* is growing to be quite long just from books recommended on these Book-a-Week threads!:)

 

A few books I have gone back-and-forth on, based on the reviews where some like it, some don't, some in the middle. For example, The Poisonwood Bible. Thought I'd read it, then not, now not sure - so that decision is on hold - and that's a good decision as I have a stack of books waiting for me to crack the covers!

[eaglei]

Anyhoo, just popping in to say that I'm on track (even a bit ahead!) because no one else knows that I'm doing the challenge. Or would care if they did know ;). But I am quite pleased with myself. :thumbup:

 

Good for you! And I know what you mean about having to enjoy by yourself the success of reaching the reading goal!:) I get tickled every time I add another book to my list! It means I've been good to ME.:D

[Stacia]

Yes, it is not difficult reading - and exactly one-reason why I enjoyed it.:D When life is over-the-top hard and not improving at.all. , well, light, easy, mind-candy is a great escape, a short reprieve, even a necessity at times just to make it through the day! It's my treat to myself!:D Surely, I am not the only one who needs or enjoys these candy breaks???:confused::)

 

For me, I enjoy mind candy once in awhile. I don't often read lots of it in a row, though -- kind-of like overindulging in real candy. Too much & I just feel sick. :tongue_smilie::lol: In moderation, perfect! :D (I guess I can say the same thing about authors in general; I rarely hurry to read sequels or other books by the same author immediately after finishing one book. I guess I need variety & space/time between too much of a good, or even mediocre, thing.)

[Stacia]

I get tickled every time I add another book to my list! It means I've been good to ME.:D

 

:iagree:

[radiobrain]

I have to tell you all that I have been slogging through The Game of Thrones series, and that eats up a LOT of weeks. :D

[Angel]

Well, as part of the unofficial reading list, I read a Sarah Addison Allen book that I got from the library yesterday, Garden Spells. It was ... good. I have to admit that I tend to avoid modern books because of several things found in this book, but I continued reading and basically devoured the book. A good mind candy filler book, and an author I'll try some more from, but in small doses.

 

 

 

:iagree: with the bolded part. I read The Girl Who Chased the Moon before Garden Spells and though there was one scene in that book, there was a bit too much in Garden Spells. It was over my limit. Now, I still finished it because I couldn't bear not knowing the end and the parts that were not crude were absolutely delightful.

 

Does anyone know if The Sugar Queen and The Peach Keeper are more like Garden Spells or The Girl Who Chased the Moon? Allen's style of the modern day fairy tale is just lovely, as is her descriptive writing. However, these days I'm a PG-13 gal :lol:

 

It's been a mind candy kind of year for me. Other than Jane Austen and Shakespeare, I've really just been enjoying my "candy."

[eaglei]

It's been a mind candy kind of year for me. Other than Jane Austen and Shakespeare, I've really just been enjoying my "candy."

 

Wow. I'm impressed that in a mind-candy year you have also read Austen and Shakespeare. Good going! I, on the other hand, have stuck to the candy this year!:D Before I started this post, I checked my list to see how much non-fiction I've read and I was stunned to see that, out of 67 books read, 32 have been non-fiction! I'm pleased! However, there is only one short classic on there; definitely nothing *heavy* or deep.:001_huh: At the beginning of the year, I had wanted to do at least a dozen classics (as I had planned and over-achieved the previous year) - not a good plan for this year. And I had SO wanted to re-read all of Austen... I am still mighty impressed with your Austen and Shakespeare reading!:)

[Stacia]

I finished my books, Judgment of Tears: Anno Dracula 1959 and Slaughterhouse Five.

 

Judgment of Tears was one of my October 'spooky' reads & centered on a different version of Dracula lore. I think the author did a reasonable job in creating a new story of an old legend. This particular book is the 3rd one of a series (& I haven't read the first two), but it was easy enough to follow anyway.

 

I really loved Slaughterhouse Five -- not surprising because I'm already a fan of Kurt Vonnegut. His books always touch on a variety of things, this one specifically emphasizing the horrors that man inflicts on man (& everything) in war. (The providence of being in an underground bunker during carpet bombing by US forces plays an important role here, just as it did in The Book Thief.) I find Vonnegut an amazing writer because his work is almost surprisingly simple to read, so succinct -- a master of ironic understatment. Yet his observations are profound, his satire razor sharp. I think he's one of America's great contemporary writers and someone that everyone should read at least once (even if he's not your normal cup of tea).

A few quotes from Slaughterhouse Five:

"Do you know what I say to people when I hear they're writing anti-war books? . . . I say, 'Why don't you write an anti-glacier book instead?'"

 

"Like so many Americans, she was trying to construct a life that made sense from things she found in gift shops."

 

"Billy had a framed prayer on his office wall which expressed his method for keeping going, even though he was unenthusiastic about living. A lot of patients who saw the prayer on Billy's wall told him that it helped them to keep going, too. It went like this: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom always to tell the difference." Among the things Billy Pilgrim could not change were the past, the present, and the future."

 

"The [Americans] came to a shed where a corporal with only one arm and one eye wrote the name and serial number of each prisoner in a big, red ledger. Everybody was legally alive now. Before they got their names and numbers in that book, they were missing in action and probably dead."

 

"There are no characters in this story and almost no dramatic confrontations, because most of the people in it are so sick and so much the listless playthings of enormous forces. One of the main effects of war, after all, is that people are discouraged from being characters."

 

"So it goes."

[Mom-ninja.]

I finished Mennonite in a Little Black Dress. I liked it. I know some of you have discussed the book, and felt that it seemed she was disrespectful of the Mennonite religion. I don't feel the same. I enjoyed her book.

[Negin]

I finished Mennonite in a Little Black Dress. I liked it. I know some of you have discussed the book, and felt that it seemed she was disrespectful of the Mennonite religion. I don't feel the same. I enjoyed her book.

Added this to my wish list. Thank you. :)

[Angel]

Wow. I'm impressed that in a mind-candy year you have also read Austen and Shakespeare. Good going! I, on the other hand, have stuck to the candy this year!:D Before I started this post, I checked my list to see how much non-fiction I've read and I was stunned to see that, out of 67 books read, 32 have been non-fiction! I'm pleased! However, there is only one short classic on there; definitely nothing *heavy* or deep.:001_huh: At the beginning of the year, I had wanted to do at least a dozen classics (as I had planned and over-achieved the previous year) - not a good plan for this year. And I had SO wanted to re-read all of Austen... I am still mighty impressed with your Austen and Shakespeare reading!:)

 

Last year I led my dd's Jane Austen Lit Study and this year I'm leading Shakespeare :D We read all six of Austen's major works between Sept last year and May of this year. We just started Shakespeare, but we will be doing 8 of his plays. I don't prefer non-fiction, so I've only read two of those this year (and part of last) and they both pertained to our Jane Austen study. I think I've got one biography in the list. I had wanted to read the classics that I have assigned my dd for her English/American Lit this year but that's not going well yet :glare: Honestly, though, I don't really think too much about what "type" of book I'm reading. I read for enjoyment and I've never felt the need to slog through something "just because I should" if I'm not enjoying it (*Gasp* horror of horrors on a board like this :tongue_smilie:).

[eaglei]

Honestly, though, I don't really think too much about what "type" of book I'm reading. I read for enjoyment and I've never felt the need to slog through something "just because I should" if I'm not enjoying it (*Gasp* horror of horrors on a board like this :tongue_smilie:).

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree: !!!

 

There was a time in my life when I would slog through a book . . . not anymore - and not for a long time now. Life is too short, there are too many other books waiting to be read, the world isn't going to end if I don't finish a book I'm not enjoying, the sky won't fall down, etc., ad infinitum, ad nauseum!!! I'm at a place in life where I need to do some things for me; reading what I enjoy, or what gets me through the day, is one of those things.:001_smile:

[Negin]

There was a time in my life when I would slog through a book . . . not anymore - and not for a long time now. Life is too short, there are too many other books waiting to be read, the world isn't going to end if I don't finish a book I'm not enjoying, the sky won't fall down, etc., ad infinitum, ad nauseum!!! I'm at a place in life where I need to do some things for me; reading what I enjoy, or what gets me through the day, is one of those things.:001_smile:

:iagree:

This is why I have the 10% Rule. If a book doesn't grab me in the first 10%, I move on. :)

[Angel]

:iagree::iagree::iagree: !!!

 

There was a time in my life when I would slog through a book . . . not anymore - and not for a long time now. Life is too short, there are too many other books waiting to be read, the world isn't going to end if I don't finish a book I'm not enjoying, the sky won't fall down, etc., ad infinitum, ad nauseum!!! I'm at a place in life where I need to do some things for me; reading what I enjoy, or what gets me through the day, is one of those things.:001_smile:

 

:iagree:

This is why I have the 10% Rule. If a book doesn't grab me in the first 10%, I move on. :)

 

That's refreshing! :hurray: I even look at this when I'm assigning reading for my dd17. She will probably never read Steinbeck or Hemingway but loves Austen and Shakespeare and that's ok! I thought I was going to have to duck and run after that statement :D

[Robin M]

 

Link to week 43 - please continue conversation in new thread or in Goodreads.