Book a Week in 2012 - Week 2

[Robin M]

Good morning my darlings! Today is the start of week 2 in our quest to read 52 books in 52 weeks. Welcome back to all our readers 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 - Sarah Addison Allen: highlighting the author's books since discovered her stories are incredibly charming and well worth reading.

 

We are off to an incredible start and I hope the momentum carries you forward throughout the year. It makes me happy to see so many folks reading and enjoying it. One thing to remember: Everyone reads at different rates and in different ways. Some can read several books at a time and others only one at a time. Some read fast and some read slow. Some read heavy duty books and others light. Enjoy your mind voyages exploring new works and ideas and don't worry about the numbers.

 

We'll start Ahab's wife next week and then when we are done, think we'll give it a couple weeks before we tackle Moby Dick. Sounds like everyone will need a lot of encouragement with the whale tale. :)

 

I've put together the list we have so far of folks who have amazon wishlists. We can also include your barnes and noble wishlist. Pm me if you'd like to add your lists or receive a copy of the list. I'll be sending it out today to those who already provided their lists. Remember too you can lend ebooks to each other so it you have a nook or kindle, you can add each other as contacts.

 

 

Housekeeping note: Each week I'll post a link to and from the old thread and new thread. Please continue conversation in new thread no matter what book # you are on. Thanks.

 

So.... :bigear: What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to week 1

Edited January 8, 2012 by Mytwoblessings

[Cleopatra]

Well, I missed posting on Week 1 :blushing:, but at least I'm the first poster on Week 2 (that is, if I can type fast enough! :D)

 

My Week 1 read was The Book of the Ancient Greeks by Dorothy Mills. I was extremely surprised that I could not put this book down! I now have a much greater overall understanding of the Greek world and it gave me a passion to learn more, especially about characters such as Aristides, Cimon and Socrates! It was a book that made the history come alive.

 

This week I'm reading A Midsummer Night's Dream. While I've read retellings for children, I have never read the complete play before. So far, I'm pleasantly surprised. From the retellings, it was never one of my favourite Shakespeare plays but I have a funny feeling I may be altering my overall opinion when all is said and done. My No Fear Shakespeare version, with the Elizabethan English on one side and modern English on the other, is helpful as well.

 

I'm looking forward to hearing about what everyone else is reading! :001_smile:

[Night Elf]

I have a problem with doing all or nothing. Once I start reading a book, I cannot put it down even if it means staying up to the wee a.m. hours. I actually finished 4 books in week 1.

 

Book 1: Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwarz

Book 2: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Book 3: Speaker of the Dead by Orson Scott Card

Book 4: Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold

 

Current book: I haven't started one yet. I can only read 1 book at a time and I'm still trying to decide which book I want to read next. There are a couple of books about Aspergers that I'm interested in reading. I'm also thinking I should challenge myself and attempt a non-fiction book. It's not really my thing though.

 

I won't be joining the challenge for Ahab's Wife or Moby Dick. I don't think I would enjoy either one at all. My reading preferences are fairly light. I guess some people would call my choices mind candy. But hey, we all read for different purposes. :tongue_smilie:

[Robin M]

I'm usually a quick reader but it took me most of the week to read "the Rose Labyrinth by Titania Hardie. It was along the lines of DaVinci Code. However, didn't think I'd ever hear myself say this.. It was so much better, more interesting and the characters are more likeable. The characters really delve into history, philosophy, and religion and is a lot to absorb. Not something you can read fast.

 

Amazon: "A sweeping adventure for readers who loved The Da Vinci Code and The Expected One, The Rose Labyrinth is a decadent, romantic novel with a historical twist. It features a wonderful mix of literary references, from Shakespeare, to the Romantic poets, to Gabriel Garcia Marquez; the folklore and history of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Paganism; and of course, astrology and numerology, of which Hardie is an expert. As the Rose Labyrinth tells us, the world we think we know is not all that it appears to be."

 

 

I also read "Garden Spells" by Sarah Addison Allen. It was her debut novel and thank you to everybody for recommending her. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Very charming and entertaining with a bit of magic to it.

 

Decided with my A to Z challenge going to blend it with new author challenge so all the authors will be new to me. Spices it up a bit. This week I'll be reading "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" by John Berendt and my nook book to read while treadmilling is "By the Light of the Moon" by Dean Koontz.

 

Happy Reading!

Edited January 8, 2012 by Mytwoblessings
typing too fast

[MrsH]

I'm just about finished with Healing Back Pain Naturally: the mind-body program proven to work by Arthur Brownstein. It's been very helpful in terms of offering me some exercises that were more appropriate for me than the generic ones my doctor gave me. I'm also excited to try out some of his visualization techniques.

 

I'm leisurely reading through The Art of Family: Rituals, Imagination, and Everyday Spirituality by Gina Bria. I love what she has to say, but wish it had a "helpful tips and ideas for you to implement yourself" section with each chapter. She has all these great thoughts and I have to really slow myself down in order to think how this can be a reality in my life, rather than just going "yes!" and reading on.

 

I just got Ahab's wife from the library so will start that after I finish the last chapter of the back pain book.

[Zebra]

DD had a fever etc this week, which gave me plenty of time to read.

 

I finished 4 books this week. I don't know WHY I read both of the books by Carrie Fisher, I guess just because I got them from the library and they were easy to read. There were some interesting tidbits in both the books, but not really worth my time and I wouldn't particularly recommend them to anyone (unless you want an easy way to get your numbers up :lol:!). Carrie Fisher is really funny at times, and the photo captions in Shockaholic were priceless.

 

I also read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, it was good. Interesting enough, but I think I liked Shanghai Girls more. The whole idea of footbinding is fascinating to me. Footbinding makes no sense, it's barbaric and it ruins a person for life. I never thought about how much footbinding would rule a woman's life-you're in pain for years, then you can't go anywhere or do anything for the rest of your life because your feet are so useless. It makes me realize maybe the modern world isn't that awful after all. I have heard awful reviews of the movie, so I may not bother to rent it.

 

The last book, (and the best book I read this week) was Excellent Women by Barbara Pym. The cover said "Written with the wit and style of a twentieth-century Jane Austen." Which is a pretty good description. It's not QUITE Jane Austen, but I enjoyed reading it. The one thing that had me laughing was when a character referred to herself a "slut" as in she was a messy housekeeper! I had NEVER heard that term in that context before.

 

My list so far:

 

1) The Pioneer Woman-A Love Story Ree Drummond

2) Wishful Drinking Carrie Fisher

3) Snow Flower and the Secret Fan Lisa See

4) Shockaholic Carrie Fisher

5) Excellent Women Barbara Pym

 

I can't wait to see what everyone else is reading :D!

Edited January 8, 2012 by MeAmy

[Melinda in VT]

Every January I ask my three oldest kids what one book each would recommend to me.

 

DS12 suggested Dandelion Fire, but it's the second book in a series, so I'm starting with the first book, 100 Cupboards.

[lailasmum]

I was going to Read Maya by Jostein Garder last week but hated it and gave up 1/5th way through. Instead I read How to be a woman by Caitlin Moran and UFO for her by Xiaolo Guo.

 

This week I plan to read Hokkaido Highway Blues by Will Ferguson. I read this several years ago and then lent it to my sister who promptly lost it. She has recently given me another copy. I really enjoyed it last time so am looking forward to reading it.

[Monkey Island Academy]

For week 1 I finished Dark Tide:The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 and my full review is Here.

 

This week I have started reading Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri. A collection of Pulitzer Prize winning short stories focusing on the experience of being an Indian immigrant in the United States. Full of emotion,culture, tradition and human experience.

 

Also reading: The Rhythm of the Family by Amanda Blake Soule and Stephen Soule. I have read and enjoyed Soule Mama's previous two books and am looking forward to hearing about her family's activities as they relate to the rhythms of the seasons and the year.

[Paisley Hedgehog]

.

[Jennifer3141]

I needed a break from my first pick - the Lionel Shriver book So Much For That. I'm halfway through Midsummer though so I made progress that way. And I'm finding that very enjoyable. To make up for not being able to slog through the LS book, I read three Star trek books instead. They were my first Kindle purchases!! :D

 

I did love House Rules by Jodi Picoult. It was a less predictably perfect ending that she is famous for and I just fell totally in love with the main character.

 

So my list for the year so far looks like this:

 

1. House Rules by Jodi Picoult

2. A Midsummer Night's Dream (currently reading)

3. So Much For That by Lionel Shriver (currently reading)

4. What Price Honor? by David Stern

5. Daedalus by David Stern

6. Daedalus's Children by David Stern

7. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (currently reading)

 

I'm looking for a good science book on space and time and string theory to round out my Star Trek penchant next. I will get that dang LS book read this week!! It's just going to be so darn depressing. I can feel it coming only 40 pages into it. :(

Edited January 8, 2012 by Jennifer3141

[lillysmom216]

For week 2, I had planned on reading The Magic of Reality by Richard Dawkins. However, I'm switching that to a read aloud with dd. I'm reading God Grew Tired Of Us by John Bul Dau, instead. It is a memoir of his experiences as a Lost Boy of Sudan.

[Homemama2]

I'm currently reading Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring and Tale of Two Cities. Last week I read Hunger Games and Red Riding Hood by Sarah Blakey-Cartwright (Christmas gifts) along with the two mentioned above.

[Abeille]

I finished two for last week: Dawn of the Dreadfuls (prequel to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies ), and House Rules. I found the latter gripping, and stayed up too late one night to finish it. I have a son with Asperger's and the book gave me a lot to think about, things I hadn't really considered before. It gave me some new insights into how parenting an Aspie can consume your life, and also reminded me how blessed we are. I know I'll be thinking of this book the next time ds is in a fullblown meltdown. Thanks to people from the thread for recommending this title.

 

Not sure what I'm going to read for week 2 yet. I started a book on home organization, but have yet to become enthused about it. I'm also starting Bootcamp for Lousy Housekeepers. I will probably pick a fiction book to start as well, because I'm not sure I'll finish either of the non-fiction ones during the week.

[Jennifer3141]

House Rules. I found the latter gripping, and stayed up too late one night to finish it. I have a son with Asperger's and the book gave me a lot to think about, things I hadn't really considered before. It gave me some new insights into how parenting an Aspie can consume your life, and also reminded me how blessed we are. I know I'll be thinking of this book the next time ds is in a fullblown meltdown. Thanks to people from the thread for recommending this title.

 

 

Jinx! We read it together!!! :D

 

I feel the say way you do about the book. It was one of the few boooks I HAD to read ahead because I just was going to feel like death if I didn't know how the main character faired.

 

And I kept thinking all through the book, "Oh thank goodness, my DS is more flexible than this."

[Meriwether]

For those of you who have kids participating, do you let them count schoolbooks? Dd read The Lost Baron by Allen French last week. I read four books last week but am not counting two of them (complete braincandy). This week I want to try something weightier. It wouldn't take much.;)

[Jen in PA]

Week 1: I read Your Child's Writing Life and ended up getting a few good ideas from it. I also read Adrienne Rich's Tonight No Poetry Will Serve which I thoroughly enjoyed.

 

Week 2: I am working on The Alchemyst (YA, seems like fun so far) and Pinched.

[*Lulu*]

Well, I was planing to read the Anne Perry book this week, but.....

 

I really did enjoy Eragorn.....

And my dad brought me Eldest......

And I really want to DS9 to see me rush to the next book to increase his curiosity about the series.....

And I really, really like to *finish* one series before I move to another......

 

 

So this week I will be reading Eldest by Christopher Paolini. :tongue_smilie:

[PeacefulChaos]

Well, I finished up Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. I'm going to go review it on my blog when I'm done here. I also started reading The Body Project last night.

I started reading C.S. Lewis' The Joyful Christian but it was too random and drove me nuts. So I'm taking it back. :D

My first week's book was Radical Together.

[cjgrubbs]

I love reading this thread - so many good books I might not hear of otherwise!

 

This week I read Radical by David Platt. It was REALLY good!

 

I also started reading Midsummer Night's Dream (Shakespeare Challenge), Books that Build Character and The Vikings by Elizabeth Janeway.

 

I have requested Ahab's Daughter from the library and I got an email that is here - will pick it up Monday and will start this week. It will most certainly take me longer than 1 week to read that book - but I'm looking forward to it!

[cani e porci]

I finished Daughter of Smoke and Bone and The Palace of Illusions and began The Autobiography of an Execution this week.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone was an interesting escapist read for me. I loved Taylor's reworked concept of angels and her juxtaposition of the everyday and the sublime.

 

I'm a comparative mythology geek, so was really looking forward to The Palace of Illusions. The Palace of Illusions has all of the magic and grittiness of the Mahabharata, but is told from the viewpoint of the princess Draupadi, rather than from a male point of view. Experiencing the story though Draupadi's eyes moves the characters of the Mahabharata from a collection of archetypes to humanity, which is incredibly powerful. If you love mythology, you won't be disappointed with this book.

 

Reading:

A Midsummer Night's Dream

The Autobiography of an Execution

 

1. The Palace of Illusion
   
2. Daughter of Smoke and Bone
   

 

[Kidlit]

This week I finished Choosing Gratitude by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, an excellent nonfiction selection on Christian living. I hope tI review it on my blog on Tuesday. This week I will focus on finishing Death Comes to Pemberley by P. D. James. I an also working my way through Beyond Opinion, a book on Christian apologetics edited by Ravi Zacharias.

 

You all inspire me!

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

Since I'm already behind and haven't started anything new yet this year, except an audiobook, of which I've only listened to about 1/2 hour, I decided to get a couple of chick lit books from the library to give me an easy entry into the year. So, this week, I'm planning to read Hearts on a String by Kris Radish and The Husband Habit by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez.

[porque]

Completed

1.Paradise, by Toni Morrison. I really liked this one. Seemed metaphorical, but I am not sure for what. I really need to be hit over the head sometimes on things like this.

2. Here on Earth by Alice Hoffman. Didn't like this one, characters were unbelievable and the set-up for the story seemed to be straight out of Wuthering Heights.

3.Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat. Pretty good story about a young woman and her life in Haiti and New York.

 

Continuing:

What Einstein Told His Cook. (Non-fiction)

Your Money or Your Life (non-fiction)

Calico Bush (read aloud)

Struggle for a Continent (read aloud)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (read aloud)

 

Starting

What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day by Pearl Cleage

Edited January 8, 2012 by porque
fixing some spelling errors

[mom22es]

Week 1 - Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. I loved it, which I knew I would before I started reading it.

 

Week 2 - I am currently reading All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot. I am surprised at how much I am enjoying this one. I have a companion book to this one called James Herriot's Yorkshire that I think I will tackle next.

 

I am also hoping to join in and read Ahab's Wife as soon as I finish these two.

[beaners]

I'm reading God Grew Tired Of Us by John Bul Dau, instead. It is a memoir of his experiences as a Lost Boy of Sudan.

 

Very interesting! Many of the "Lost Boys" lived in my hometown, and I actually know a couple of the people who have worked on the projects at his clinic.

 

 

I just finished reading Danger in the Desert by Roger Cohen aloud to my daughter. It's about Roy Chapman Andrews and some of his work for the American Museum of Natural History. It was probably a little too dramatic for her, but the overall story is fascinating.

 

 

1. Nurtureshock by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman

2. Danger in the Desert by Roger Cohen

 

Right now I'm about halfway through Koestler's Sleepwalkers, which is a winding progression of discoveries and theories about the universe from ancient times forward. I'm also working through Socrates, Plato and Aristotle in my Harvard Classics collection, and I'm trying to read an episode or two in Don Quixote when I remember.

[Onceuponatime]

Last week I finished:

 

1. What the Dog Saw- Gladwell

 

2. How to Prosper in Hard Times- Napoleon Hill and others (This is more a motivational book about a state of mind than economics. :-)

 

3. A Lantern in Her Hand- Aldrich ( I saw this on someone else's list. It is a classic pioneer story from a woman's point of view. I'm not a pioneer, but I saw something of myself in this woman's thoughts. It drew a few tears. )

 

Right now I am reading The Great Transformation: The Beginning of our Religious Traditions by Karen Armstrong.

 

I am also reading Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin out loud for the fifth time.

Edited January 9, 2012 by Onceuponatime

[PeacefulChaos]

Well, I reviewed the Tiger Mom book on my blog. I actually kind of liked it! I don't want to parent the way she does, but some of her reasoning is sound. It was entertaining, for sure, and a quick read. Anyway, I had just wanted to satisfy my curiosity about her. :) If you want to see my full review, you can go to my blog. Just don't flame me for liking some of what she said. :D

[Lynnae]

Last night I finished On Little Wings by Regina Sirois. I found it while looking for free Kindle books. Apparently it's the author's first book and was self published, but it was fantastic! It's written for a young adult audience, but I thoroughly enjoyed it as a light read.

 

Right now I'm working on Lit! and On the Incarnation. I have a few books on discipline that I checked out from the library, as well. It seems that I have forgotten everything there is to know abou raising a toddler. :glare:

[-M-]

Read in 2012:

 

#1 The English Teacher (Lily King)

#2 Artist's Journal Workshop (Cathy Johnson)

#3 Coriolanus (William Shakespeare)

#4 Feed (MT Anderson)

#5 The Autobiography of an Execution (David R. Dow)

#6 Like Shaking Hands with God (Kurt Vonnegut, Lee Stringer)

 

Currently reading:

 

■ The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains (Nicholas Carr)

■ The Lost Art of Reading (David L. Ulin)

 

_______________

 

I wanted to add links to posts about these books for folks who are interested:

On the nightstand, January 9

On the nightstand, January 2

Edited January 8, 2012 by Mental multivitamin
To add links to posts describing the books in greater detail

[Molly]

Completed in 2012:

1. Four Houses & a Marriage by Clair Ni Aonghusa

2. One Life by Rebecca Frayn

 

Currently reading:

3. What Katy Did at School by Susan Coolidge (finishing this as I had started it after reading a couple of other What Katy Did books).

[CAMom]

I'm a little more than 50% done with Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. I'm not really sure what I expected but it's not what I expected. :) What a fun book. I'm loving it!

 

After that, I have Unbroken sitting on the nightstand ready to go.

 

My dd and I have a speech and debate tournament this week and I have a job at the tournament that has grueling hours so I only have Monday and Tuesday to read this week.

[Just Robyn]

Just finished one book in week one.

 

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. It was a quick, easy and interesting read. I'm not sorry I chose it to start off the year. I did not like that the only practical advice given was to raise awareness. In (almost) the words of Stuff White People Like, raising awareness allows people to feel that sweet self-satisfaction without actually having to solve anything or face any difficult challenges.

[Jane in NC]

Hurrah to all of the readers!

 

Having finished The Day of the Jackal, I am ready for radio host Diane Rehm's January book club. Jackal is a deftly plotted thriller which was made into a film that I saw ages ago. Time to seek that one out again.

 

Also, I am happy to recommend award winning juvenile history writer Albert Marrin's latest, Flesh and Blood so Cheap: The Triangle Fire and its Legacy although you might want to pre-read if your children are sensitive. The book goes beyond the labor issues to include background on New York's immigrants who worked in the garment district and explains how some of the Suffragettes joined forces with the seamstresses to lobby for a humane work week of 52 hours.

 

Moving on to book 3 this week: Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik.

[Ali in OR]

I thought I was doing pretty well by finishing 3 books, but that is pretty light weight on this thread! Anyway, I finished The Farthest Shore by Ursula Le Guin (3rd of The Earthsea Cycle) and will start #4 of that series on the treadmill tomorrow. I also read Peter Pan which the girls and I are all reading for MCT's lit program. And I finished The Paleo Diet which may inspire me to eat more fruits and veggies and less bread, but I have no intention of abandoning my 2 favorite food groups, thank you. I have started The Scarlet Pimpernel which I am counting as a classic--don't know if that is its official status or not. And reading this thread made me open up a second window to access our library system and put a few on hold: the 4th Flavia de Luce book and The Shallows. What the Dog Saw has 5 copies available on the shelf so I'm not supposed to put it on hold--I just have to remember to go look for it next time I'm there. Thanks for all the suggestions!

 

Books Read in 2012

3. The Paleo Diet-Loren Cordain

2. Peter Pan-James Barrie

1. The Farthest Shore-Ursula Le Guin

[Stacia]

Currently reading:

 

The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt (shortlisted for the 2011 Man Booker) -- review from Publisher's Weekly as posted on amazon:

 

 

"Starred Review. Dewitt's bang-up second novel (after Ablutions) is a quirky and stylish revisionist western. When a frontier baron known as the Commodore orders Charlie and Eli Sisters, his hired gunslingers, to track down and kill a prospector named Herman Kermit Warm, the brothers journey from Oregon to San Francisco, and eventually to Warm's claim in the Sierra foothills, running into a witch, a bear, a dead Indian, a parlor of drunken floozies, and a gang of murderous fur trappers. Eli's deadpan narration is at times strangely funny (as when he discovers dental hygiene, thanks to a frontier dentist dispensing free samples of "tooth powder that produced a minty foam") but maintains the power to stir heartbreak, as with Eli's infatuation with a consumptive hotel bookkeeper. As more of the brothers' story is teased out, Charlie and Eli explore the human implications of many of the clichés of the old west and come off looking less and less like killers and more like traumatized young men. With nods to Charles Portis and Frank Norris, DeWitt has produced a genre-bending frontier saga that is exciting, funny, and, perhaps unexpectedly, moving."

 

Rumo & His Miraculous Adventures by Walter Moers -- review from Publishers Weekly as published on amazon:

 

 

"Starred Review. Set in the land of Zamonia, this exuberant, highly original fantasy from German writer and cartoonist Moers (The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear) features an unlikely hero, Rumo, a little horned puppy (or Wolperting) who lives on a farm with a family of seven dwarfs. Rumo's rise to greatness begins when he's kidnapped by a Demonocle, "a vicious type of one-eyed giant," who takes him to Roaming Rock, a floating island. There Rumo befriends Volzotan Smyke, a Shark Grub, who can live on land or in water but "thought it wiser to convey the impression he was a sea creature pure and simple." Innumerable picaresque adventures follow, one of the funniest involving gambling and the hazards of winning. Illustrated with the author's appealing line drawings and full of sly humor, this rambunctious novel will appeal to fans tired of the usual epic fantasy, though they should be prepared for some violence in the tradition of the Brothers Grimm."

 

My Goodreads Page

 

2012 Books Read:

01. Mozart's Last Aria by Matt Rees (HHH)

02. Oh No She Didn't by Clinton Kelly (HH 1/2, if you're in the right mood, lol)

Edited September 12, 2014 by Stacia

[jenL]

I love reading this thread - so many good books I might not hear of otherwise!

 

This week I read Radical by David Platt. It was REALLY good!

 

 

:iagree: This was my first book for the year, and although I spoke about in week 1, I just have to give another shout out for it. I've been thinking of information from it all week. I'm trying to get my small group at church to read it, so I can digest it with other nearby Christians.

 

This week, I read Made to Crave by Lysa Terkhurst. I feel as if she wrote about my life. It's only been since November that I've really started to realize that I have issues with food, my body, weight, etc. I used to joke about them and my dissatisfaction, but now, I realize how deep-rooted they are.

 

I have some great books loaded onto my Kindle, but I'm not sure which one I want to tackle next. :) Possibly The Winter Sea...

 

Books read for 2012

1. Radical by David Platt

2. Made to Crave by Lysa Terkhurst

[MominIN]

Last week I finished Pride and Prejudice. I read it in high school and was happy to find I loved it as much the second time. I typically don't reread books, but now I may have to periodically add in old favorites!

 

I'm also reading The Great Wheel aloud and only have 2 chapters left.

 

I'm reading Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro this week.

[Stacia]

"the Rose Labyrinth by Titania Hardie. It was along the lines of DaVinci Code. However, didn't think I'd ever hear myself say this.. It was so much better, more interesting and the characters are more likeable. The characters really delve into history, philosophy, and religion and is a lot to absorb.!

 

Sounds interesting. I need to look for that one.

 

"Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" by John Berendt

 

I enjoyed that one when I read it many years ago.

 

This week I have started reading Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri. A collection of Pulitzer Prize winning short stories focusing on the experience of being an Indian immigrant in the United States. Full of emotion,culture, tradition and human experience.

 

I keep wondering if I would like this one (or any of her books). Looking forward to your review....

 

Daughter of Smoke and Bone was an interesting escapist read for me. I loved Taylor's reworked concept of angels and her juxtaposition of the everyday and the sublime.

 

I'm a comparative mythology geek, so was really looking forward to The Palace of Illusions.

 

More to add to my list....

 

 

#4 Feed (MT Anderson)

 

What did you think of this one?

 

I'm a little more than 50% done with Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. I'm not really sure what I expected but it's not what I expected. :) What a fun book. I'm loving it!

 

That's good to hear because it's another one on my list to read.

[danybug]

Last week, I finished "The Meaning of Marriage" by Timothy Keller, "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis and "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins.

 

"The Meaning of Marriage" would get a mixed review by me. It had some really great chapters, including one by his wife on submission. She did such an excellent job articulating "submission" and what she feels it biblically is and is not. And I felt like the chapter on the mission of marriage really spoke to me and inspired me. My only gripe is that he spent too much time in my opinion discussing marriage also from the viewpoint of how singles should approach it and up hold it. I am married and just felt I could skip all of that. But I know Keller's church has a tremendous singles population.

 

"The Screwtape Letters" was a book I had to push myself through, luckily it is a short book. I did like a view of the concepts "Screwtape" used and they made me think about some aspects of my faith, but overall, I was not into the book. I am glad I read it as it has always been on my list.

 

"Hunger Games" LOVED it. I have had it on my nightstand forever and finally got around to it. Last year I was really only reading christian non-fiction , so I enjoyed a total change of pace. I only regret not having the second and third ready to plow through. I had to run to Target this afternoon to get 2.

 

So, this week I plan on reading "Catching Fire" and "Mockingjay".

[danybug]

I'm a little more than 50% done with Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. I'm not really sure what I expected but it's not what I expected. :) What a fun book. I'm loving it!

 

After that, I have Unbroken sitting on the nightstand ready to go.

 

I have "Unbroken" on my nightstand too. I have been wanting to read it for awhile and finally bought it last week. And I have been intrigued by "Miss Peregrines" and have it on my wish list.

[edithcrawley]

Finished:

 

1. The Light Horseman's Daughter by David Crookes

 

Still Reading:

1. Waste by Tristram Stuart

2. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

3. Paradise Valley by Dale Cramer

[joannqn]

Finished:

 

Unshaken: Rising from the Ruins of Haiti's Hotel Montana

 

Current:

 

One Month to Live: Thirty Days to a No Regrets Life Apparently, I need to read books like this because if I found out I had thirty days to live, my first thought is to sit down and spend time making a household notebook so my husband can continue our routines, know what bills are paid and when and to whom, etc. Making a notebook of recipes the family enjoys. Making a notebook explaining plans/curriculum/etc. about homeschooling. Getting around to making scrapbooks from our photos. If I did all that, I wouldn't even see those I love during those last 30 days!

 

16 Lighthouse Road This is pure mind candy...light romance. My daughter and I enjoy this local author's writing. We're planning on reading the series and then visiting "Cedar Cove", which is Port Orchard, this spring or summer. My understanding is the city has a Cedar Cove map so you can visit the places that inspired or were referred to (even if by another name) by the author. It's a special weekend away, we are looking forward to. I'm hoping the author, who lives there, will agree to meeting us for lunch.

[prairiegirl]

I am reading "39 Steps" by John Buchan and am in also in the middle of "Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper.

[Jane in NC]

 

We'll start Ahab's wife next week and then when we are done, think we'll give it a couple weeks before we tackle Moby Dick. Sounds like everyone will need a lot of encouragement with the whale tale. :)

 

 

 

As much as I love Moby Dick (and I say this with all sincerity--it is a magnificent book!), I will not be joining the group to reread this one. I have decided that I want to read a number of plays in the coming months, Shaw and Moliere in particular, as well as books set in France. Let me explain the latter: I really should be working on my French but cannot find the proper motivation. So it occurred to me that if I immerse myself in French landscapes and personalities, perhaps I'll return to my studies of the language itself.

 

Anyone have any favorites besides Peter Mayle to inspire me?

[TravelingChris]

I finished book #6 last night but I decided to put it in week 2 since I am writing about it this week.

 

V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton. Very good book. Wonderful how it is set in the mid 80;s as so few books are set at that time. Makes me think back to the time before cell phones, internet, and before VCRs were widespread let alone CDs and DVDs and DVRs.

 

So a quick list of what I read so far"

1. The Best American Mystery Short Stories 2007 edited by Carl Hiassen

2. The Boy in the Suit Case by Lene Kaaberbol and Agnette Friis

3. The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party by Alexander McCall Smith

4. Death of a Chimney Sweep by M. C. Beaton

5. DC Dead by Stuart Woods

6. V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton

 

Next up is the latest by Ruth Rendell.

[pfamilygal]

Week 1: I read the first three Brad Thor books: Lions of Lucerne, The Path of the Assassin and State of the Union.

 

Week 2: I read Blind Faith by CJ Lyons. (Really good!)

 

Now I'm reading What Paul Really Said About Women by John Temple Bristow and Half the Church by Carolyn Custis James.

 

Oh, and I am slogging my way through the Wheel of Time series. I'm on book 4 right now.

Edited January 8, 2012 by pfamilygal

[Stacia]

Week 1: I read the first three Brad Thor books: Lions of Lucerne

 

Hey, my dh just read that last week too. He really enjoyed it. I'll have to find the others for him.

[eaglei]

I had a super busy week which resulted in very little time for reading. I was actually stunned that it took the whole week to finish my first selection! But I DID finish it yesterday AND started my second book. YAY!

 

I finished:

 

#1 - This Is My Life, by Thyra Ferre´ Bjorn. For those who enjoyed Papa's Wife and Papa's Daughter, you may also enjoy this. While the two Papa books were fiction, based on the author's real life, This Is My Life is truly autobiographical. The author starts her story at the time of the publication of her first book (Papa's Wife) and brings their lives to current. (The book is c1966).

 

I enjoyed the book, but I had mixed emotions about the author! Through much of the beginning chapters, I was sorry I was reading it because it gave me a glimpse of the author that I personally found off-putting. (She somewhat redeemed herself in the rest of the book)! Words like *bullheaded*, *demanding* and *petulant* come to mind.

 

An example: She saw a fur coat that she really wanted. At almost a thousand dollars, she knew they couldn't really afford it. But - she wanted it. So she whipped out her charge card and bought it with a $15.00 down payment. When she got home, she phoned her husband at work and told him about it. He got awfully quiet, then very firmly told her they could not afford the expense, to take it back to the store immediately, and to tell the clerk that he said for her to do it. Rather than return the coat, she hid it in back of the closet. When she would go out walking, she would wear it, then hide it before he got home. Some months later, they were attending a special event and she decided to wear it. He looked at it - and looked at it. Didn't say a word. (The man comes off looking like a saint more than once)! She ends this story by justifying herself! Not only did she wear it for many years, but, at the writing of the book, one of her daughters was having it made over into an evening jacket, so she concludes that it "was not a bad investment afterall."

 

She is definitely a determined person - and in the latter portion of the book, the good qualities of this trait are more evident, as is her overall positive, can-do spirit. She is self-willed, independent, and full of faith - what a combination!

 

On the flip-side, her telling of her visit to her father's first church in Lapland was quite touching, as was her visit to a rest home in Sweden, run by Catholic nuns, who told her:

 

"It is open to the public. Anyone can come and rent a room here to get away from the noisy, busy world for a while. This is our way of serving Our Lord. We do not speak of our faith, but we try to live it in every little detail, and only if we are asked, are we free to speak. People come here wounded by life and with their hearts broken. They have lost faith, and here we help them to find it again. We plant love and kindness and understanding in their souls, and they come back again and again."

 

Her comments concerning her second daughter's marriage are probably universal, and the glimpse of the '60's a stark contrast to today!

 

A warning to anyone who may decide to read this: When speaking of how they resolved one money issue, she wrote, "This was a good way to solve the money problem and still keep me dependent, as I think a woman should be to fill her rightful place in life and to be happy with her man" Eek! Fortunately, there is little *preaching* in the book - just stories of her life.

 

Currently, I am reading:

 

#2 - Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith, by Anne Lamott. I am reading this author because she was recommended on last year's thread, particularly for her book on writing, Bird By Bird. Since the library didn't have this (hopefully it is on order), I thought I'd read a couple of her books to get a taste for her style.

 

I am hoping to get more reading done this week! A couple personal reading challenges seem like they may not happen again this year - but since the year is young, I'm not ruling them out!

 

Robin - This quote of yours from the first thread of the year is just one reason you are such a good "leader" of this thread!

 

"Everyone reads at different rates and in different ways. Some can read several books at a time and others only one at a time. Some read fast and some read slow. Some read heavy duty books and others light. The most important thing I can stress is it makes me happy to see so many folks reading and enjoying it. Don't worry about the numbers. Join in at your own rate and see how you do. You may surprise yourself."

 

Thanks again for doing this!

[-M-]

What did you think of this one?

 

 

Thanks for asking! Here's what I recently posted:

 

■ Feed (M.T. Anderson)

Fiction. Seven years ago, Mr. M-mv and I read this with our son. At the time I wrote:

 

Another book that has, for better or worse, (re)shaped the geography of our imaginations this week is M.T. Anderson's

Feed.

The book has been pitched to "young adults." [...] Hence, a number of children will read it. The clever among them, then, missing the [point], will dismiss it as "shallow" or "dumb." The rest simply won't get it. Frankly, many teens won't get it. Far more worrisome? Most adults may miss the point. Or will get it, and, in their great discomfort, reject it. We're not pretending this is great literature. But, "

Oh? Wow! Thing!"

Well, in addition to Coriolanus (related entry here), the family book club decided to read Feed this month. Does it hold up on re-reading? Both Mr. M-mv and I agree that it does. He revisited the book via an excellent audiobook edition, read by David Aaron Baker ("Terrific!"), and I split my return nearly equally over the paperback I first read and a Kindle edition. Our recent book club discussion included such issues as the novel's prescience, its spot on riff on the vapidity of "teenspeak," the fact that Violet is (of course!) homeschooled, and the observation that Titus is not an entirely an unsympathetic character, nor is Violet an entirely sympathetic character.

 

Some passages for the chapbook:

 

p. 4

 

The thing I hate about space is that you can feel how old and empty it is. I don't know if the others felt like I felt, about space? But I think they did, because they all got louder. They all pointed more, and squeezed close to Link's window.

 

 

 

You need the noise of your friends in space.

p. 31

 

I wanted to buy some things but I didn't know what they were. After we walked around for a while, everything seemed kind of sad and boring so we couldn't tell anymore what we wanted.

p. 47

 

People were really excited when they first came out with feeds. It was all

da, da, da, this big educational thing, da da da, your child will have the advantage, encyclopedias at their fingertips, closer than their fingertips, etc.

That's one of the greatest things about the feed -- that you can be supersmart without ever working. Everyone is supersmart now. You can look things up automatic, like science and history, like if you want to know which battles of the Civil War George Washington fought in and ****.

p. 135

 

The place was a mess. Everything had words on it. There were papers with words on them, and books, and even posters on the wall had words. Her father seemed like a crank.

By the way, can I give a little "Squee!" about the synchronicity / serendipity / synthesis at work here? Re-reading Feed while still engaged with Nicholas Carr's The Shallows was, in a hyphenated word, mind-blowing.