Book a Week in 2012 - week 4

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday, my dears! Today is the start of week 4 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 - Mystery of Nevada Barr: Barr is the author of Anna Pigeon mystery series. Anna's a forest ranger who gets herself into all kinds of interesting situations. Newest book in series just released "The Rope" and how it all began for Anna.

Ahab's Wife readalong - are you just beginning, somewhere in the middle or finished it already.

If you are into mysteries, check out the 2012 Edgar Allen Poe Award Nominees for best in mystery fiction. Do you recognize any of the authors or books?


What are you reading this week?




Link to week 3

[Paisley Hedgehog]

.

[Shawneinfl]

Just finished Dark Tide for week three. It actually got more interesting the longer I stayed with it. I'm on chapter 3 of The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains and I have Ahab's Wife waiting on my nightstand. I will give it a shot today and see if I can get into it. If not, I have Snow Flower and the Secret Fan as a backup.

 

2012 List

1. Confessions of a Prairie Bi*ch

2. Unbroken

3. Dark Tide

 

http://www.gurulib.com/Swampmom

[Robin M]

I finished Ahab's Wife friday night. Yes, I enjoyed it. It's one of those books that leaves you thinking and with the idea you'll want to revisit it because it so full and rich, it takes time to digest. Methinks I'll be getting the hard copy version so I can go back and reread and dissect portions at a time. It's not a light read so you have to be in the mood for it.

 

This week I'll be starting my c books for a to z alphabet challenge. The Passage by Justin Cronin and Alafair Burke's Close Case. Will probably start with Cronin's book first. That ought to keep me busy a while. I'm slowly working my way through "Reading Like a Writer" by Francine Prose for writing craft study and just started Chapter 4. Plus I'm listening to J.D. Robb's Ceremony in Death (#5 in Death series) in the car.

[Laura in NC]

I hope you don't mind me joining you 3 weeks late.

 

This week I'm working on Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich and Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner.

 

My 2012 list:

1. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins-hope to read the other two soon

2. Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah-this became one of my favorite books

3. Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner

 

I'm excited about reading 52 books this year.

[JennW in SoCal]

I read Ahab's Wife this week. Haven't finished it and I may not because I don't particularly like it. Well, to be fair, I have a love/hate relationship with it. I like the writing and kept picking it up to see what happens next. I also get what the author is doing, writing a Yin (feminine) story to balance the very Yang and masculine Moby Dick. (I've actually read Moby Dick, so I do see this.) But Una's world rubs me the wrong way, because it is too perfect and patently politically correct. The irony here is that I am a left leaning feminist, and I like fantasy, but this book just bugs me. I would, however, love to live on the island with the lighthouse, with a garden, goats and a library of books!

 

The only other book I've completed this year is Laurie King's Pirate King, which was pure fun. I'm listening to Great Expectations, which may take a while as I'll only be listening while driving.

[porque]

Here is my updated list:

 

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.

4.What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Dayby Pearl Cleage. OK, Pretty Fluffy.

5. What Einstein Told His Cook(non-fiction)

6. Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts. More fluff, but joyful too. I liked it.

7.Backroads byTawni O'Dell.

8. Boys Adrift by Leonard Sax, non-fiction. Didn't agree with everything he had to say, but pretty interesting.

9. Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende. I really liked this book and it tied in well with Ahab's Wife

10. Calico Bush (read a aloud)

Continuing:

 

Your Money or Your Life (non-fiction)

Indian Captive (read aloud)

Struggle for a Continent (read aloud)

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

Ahab's Wife I am almost done and am loving this book! Through the first few chapters I thought the protaganist was crazy and that I would not be able to relate to the book at all, but then reading further and learning all she had been through her actions/emotions made a lot more sense. I would love to have more of Una's positive acceptance of life and circumstance and also to parent more like her Aunt and Uncle of the island lighthouse.

 

 

 

 

My DD9 wants in on the book-a-week challenge too!

This week she has read

1. Ginger Pye

2. The Secret of the Golden Pavilion

3. Pinky Pye

[joannqn]

I read Hunger Games this week which was my second book.

 

I'm almost done with Catching Fire (Hunger Games 2).

[rwjx2khsmj]

Here are the books I read this week:

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

Ladies' Night at Finbars Hotel edited by Dermot Bolger

How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill

 

The one that I liked the best was How the Irish Saved Civilization.

 

I'm currently reading The Tower, The Zoo and The Tortoise by Julia Stuart.

[Zebra]

This week I slogged through The End-The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1944-1945 by Ian Kershaw. From the inside cover, "Countless books have been written about why Nazi Germany lost the Second World War, yet remarkably little attention has been paid to the equally vital question of why it was able to hold out as long as it did."

 

It's a great question, how did Nazi Germany keep the war going so long? And, now I know. This book was pretty dry, and I had a difficult time MAKING myself get through it. It was one of those books where I had to force myself to read so many pages every day, and then I wondered why I made myself do it. There were some interesting parts, and I do think I have a better understanding of this particular aspect of WWII.

 

I am running, screaming back to fluff books this week, for sure ;)!

 

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

6) The Help Kathryn Stockett

7) One Day David Nicholls

8) THE END The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler's Germany 1944-1945 Ian Kershaw

[Stacia]

If you are into mysteries, check out the 2012 Edgar Allen Poe Award Nominees for best in mystery fiction. Do you recognize any of the authors or books?

 

Didn't really recognize many of the books or authors on the list. However, I do have The Devotion of Suspect X on my 'to-read' list; I had seen it recommended recently & it seems good.

 

I read Ahab's Wife this week. Haven't finished it and I may not because I don't particularly like it. Well, to be fair, I have a love/hate relationship with it.

 

I read Ahab's Wife many years ago & remember not particularly liking it either. (That's why I didn't join in & re-read it this time.)

 

Currently, I'm about 1/2way through one I found on the 'new' shelf at the library: The Infernals by John Connolly.

 

So far, it's funny & makes me think of Percy Jackson books (for the next-step-up-crowd) mixed w/ Terry Pratchett. :lol: I'm really enjoying it so far & have had some lol moments. (Apparently this one is a sequel, though I've had no trouble picking up the storyline.)

 

Book description from amazon:

 

 

"From

New York Times

bestselling author John Connolly, a wonderfully strange and brilliant novel about a boy, his dog, and their struggle to escape the wrath of demons. Young Samuel Johnson is in trouble. Not only is his eyesight so poor that he mistakenly asks out a letter box on a date, but an angry demon is seeking revenge for Samuel’s part in foiling the invasion of Earth by the forces of evil. It wants to get its claws on Samuel, and when Samuel and his faithful dachshund, Boswell, are pulled through a portal into the dark realm, the home of the Infernals, it gets its chance.

 

 

 

But catching Samuel is not going to be easy, for the Infernals have not reckoned on the bravery and cleverness of a boy and his dog, or the loyalty of Samuel’s friend, the hapless demon Nurd, or the presence of two clueless policemen and the unlucky, if cheerfully optimistic, driver of an ice-cream van.

 

 

 

Most of all, no one has planned on the intervention of an unexpected band of little men, for Samuel and Boswell are not the only inhabitants of Earth who have found themselves in the underworld. If you thought demons were frightening, just wait until you meet Mr. Merryweather’s Elves. . . ."

 

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)

03. The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt (HHH 1/2)

04. In a Strange Room by Damon Galgut (HHH 1/2)

05. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling (HHHHH)

[Jane in NC]

I finished reading Paris to the Moon by New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik. Enjoyable essays for the most part except for the sports oriented things which are not my cuppa. That was book 4 for the year.

 

Book 5 was the audio version of I Heard the Owl Call my Name, a best seller from the sixties which is on my son's reading list for this semester at college. It is a moving tale of a young vicar sent to a Kwakwaka'wakw village in Canada. This would be an excellent book to include in a 20th century high school reading list.

 

Moving on to book 6, a graphic novel that my husband recommends, Anya's Ghost. Fans of Scott McCloud may be interested to hear that he gives a recommendation on the book jacket.

 

Later in the week I'll read Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. I finally made it to the front of the library queue! It has taken a while...

[Negin]

I'm reading and loving Fall of Giants. I've always enjoyed Ken Follett books.

 

[-M-]

Slow reading week here. Had many too many periodicals to catch up on. Finished reading the Coriolanus essay in Goddard's The Meaning of Shakespeare; am on the the Henry chapters. Working. It's all good -- just not as much time to read read this week (if you know what I mean (and you do if you still have ACR catalogues in your desk drawer, as I do)).

#1 The English Teacher (Lily King; fiction)

#2 Artist's Journal Workshop (Cathy Johnson; non-fiction, art)

#3 Coriolanus (William Shakespeare; play, classic)

#4 Feed (MT Anderson; fiction)

#5 The Autobiography of an Execution (David R. Dow; non-fiction)

#6 Like Shaking Hands with God (Kurt Vonnegut, Lee Stringer; non-fiction)

# 7 The Project (Brian Falkner; YA fiction)

#8 Wool (Hugh Howey; fiction)

#9 Wool 2 (Hugh Howey; fiction)

#10 Adventure Unleashed (______ __. _________; unpublished fiction)

#11 Wool 3 (Hugh Howey; fiction)

#12 Wool 4 (Hugh Howey; fiction)

 

Currently and/or still reading:

 

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

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

■ The Social Animal (David Brooks)

■ The Cult of Lego (John Baichtal and Joe Meno)

■ The Crucible (Arthur Miller)

■ Our Town (Thornton Wilder)

■ The Genius of Shakespeare (Jonathan Bate)

 

_______________

 

Links to posts about some of these books:

 

On the nightstand, January 15

On the nightstand, January 9

On the nightstand, January 2

[Cleopatra]

I finished the Two Towers with my dd. Otherwise I'm in process with Anna Karenina, The Iliad and The Defense Speeches by Cicero. I'm still not enjoying AK that much but I am thrilled with Cicero. His rhetoric is brilliant; I think this book should be a must-read for all high school students!

 

____________________________________

Read in 2012:

 

1. The Book of the Ancient Greeks - Dorothy Mills

2. A Midsummer Night's Dream - William Shakespeare

3. Anne of Green Gables - Lucy Maud Montgomery

4. The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde

5. The Forgotten Affairs of Youth - Alexander McCall Smith

6. The Two Towers - J.R.R. Tolkien

[Jennifer3141]

I'm halfway through Ahab's Wife and smiling. Everytime another character pops back up, I think, "Hey! I remember you!"

 

I'll be finishing Devil in the White City today. I have to stop reading and make my kitchen sanitary today and I resent the wits out of that. I am in LOVE with this book. The stress that is building is unbelievable and watching eveyone moving around this psychopathic serial killer and not being able to recognize that is frightening.

 

Imperfect Birds is ok. I still like her nonfiction better.

 

I also peeked at Moby Dick. I am going to make it through that this time!!! I swear it!!!

 

1. House Rules by Jodi Picoult

2. A Midsummer Night's Dream

3. So Much For That by Lionel Shriver

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 (book club reading

8. Surak's Soul by David Stern

9. The Good Men Do by Andy Mangels

10. Ahab's Wife by Seta Jena Naslund (currently reading)

11. Imperfect Birds by Ann Lamott (currently reading)

Edited January 23, 2012 by Jennifer3141

[Kareni]

I've been on a historical romance reading binge for months now. (It's really too bad that my book group faded away as it expanded my reading horizons.) A few recent reads from this year:

 

Mary Balogh's

The Famous Heroine

The Plumed Bonnet

 

Jennifer Ashley's

The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage

The Many Sins of Lord Cameron

 

Joanna Bourne's

The Spymaster's Lady

My Lord and Spymaster

The Forbidden Rose

The Black Hawk

 

The Leopard Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt

 

Regards,

Kareni

[NorthwestMom]

I finished Ahab's Wife this morning! I'm glad I read it, but I'm glad it is over. The writing was excellent, but the character of Una really rubbed me the wrong way. She made a bunch of impetuous choices, including hooking up with the first sympathetic male to present himself in any situation, and it always worked out pretty grand for her. Ugh.

 

I agree with JennW here:

I read Ahab's Wife this week. Haven't finished it and I may not because I don't particularly like it. Well, to be fair, I have a love/hate relationship with it. I like the writing and kept picking it up to see what happens next. I also get what the author is doing, writing a Yin (feminine) story to balance the very Yang and masculine Moby Dick. (I've actually read Moby Dick, so I do see this.) But Una's world rubs me the wrong way, because it is too perfect and patently politically correct. The irony here is that I am a left leaning feminist, and I like fantasy, but this book just bugs me. I would, however, love to live on the island with the lighthouse, with a garden, goats and a library of books!

 

Edited January 22, 2012 by NorthwestMom
explaining the quote

[Onceuponatime]

Book #5: Summer at Tiffany

 

This was a great read: a quick, lighthearted, historic memoir of the WW2 era in NYC. I don't remember who recommended this to me, but thank you!

 

 

I'm halfway through The Great Transformation by Karen Armstrong, it's taking me a while because I want to digest everything. I just started Looking Backward 2000-1887 by Edward Bellamy. It is a classic time travel/utopian story. I had never heard of it but I saw it on a book list of time travel classics.

Edited January 22, 2012 by Onceuponatime

[JennW in SoCal]

 

Currently, I'm about 1/2way through one I found on the 'new' shelf at the library: The Infernals by John Connolly.

 

So far, it's funny & makes me think of Percy Jackson books (for the next-step-up-crowd) mixed w/ Terry Pratchett. :lol: I'm really enjoying it so far & have had some lol moments. (Apparently this one is a sequel, though I've had no trouble picking up the storyline.)

 

You've sold me! Percy Jackson and Terry Pratchett?! I'm going to have to get this along with The Gates, the first of these stories. Have you read any of the Charlie Parker series? Are they any good?

 

Have you read any of the John Scalzi books? Agent to the Stars is a hoot -- an extraterrestrial hires a Hollywood talent agent to help introduce his species to earth. Wil Wheaton reads the audio book, which is extra fun.

[swellmomma]

I finished 3 books last week, books 1 & 2 from the Morganville Vampire series. Brain candy really but for those that like vampire novels these were engaging enough to keep me absorbed and reading them cover to cover in 1-1.5 days.

 

I also finished smart but stuck. It is was an okay book, but not what I expected. It was written based on adults who have unidentified learning disorders and how they managed in their lives, the hardships etc the feelings of inadequecy despite generally being intellegent. I was looking for books about ways to help my kids and this wasn't one of them, but if I was not looking for a specific type of book I probably would have gotten more out of it.

 

 

Reading this week (books 7 & 8 I started last week but have not finished them yet)

7. Little Sugar Addicts: End the Mood swings, meltdowns, tantrums and low self-esteem in your child today By Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph. D.

8. When the Brain can't hear: Unraveling the mystery of auditory processing disorder by Teri James Bellis, Ph. D.

9. Simplify your life with kids by Elaine St. James

10. Moby Dick (on audio book)

11. Ahab's Wife (it finally came in at the library )

 

Also continuing our read alouds

12. The Secret of the Andes by Ann Nolan Clark

13. Seaman: The Dog who explored the west with Lewis and Clark

 

Books completed so far this year.

6. Smart but stuck: emotional Aspects of learning disabilities nad imprised intelligence by Myrna Orenstein, PhD.

5. Dead Girls' Dance: The morganville vampires (book 2) By Rachel Caine

4. Glass Houses: The morganville vampires (book 1) by Rachel Caine

3. Healing the New Childhood Epidemics by Kenneth Bock, M.D. and Cameron Stauth

2. What the Night Knows by Dean Koontz

1. King of the Wind: The story of the Godolphin Arabian by Marguerite Henry

[Mama2Many4]

I'm halfway through Escape by Carolyn Jessop. It's very interesting and also very disturbing the way they live their lives.

[SJ.]

I can not believe it is Week 4 and I still have only 1 book finished while some of you have long lists. When do you read? Are your books short? I just don't get it! Maybe you don't sleep? :D

 

I am on pg 343 of Ahab's Wife. I have to say that the first 50 pages were so hard to get through. I did not like the author's writing style, at first I felt like she was trying too hard (whatever that means!). Now I feel invested in the characters so I have to finish. This is definitely a book I would not have chosen so I am grateful to be moving outside of my comfort zone. It seems like one chapter I am enjoying the book another chapter I am not; I will press on until I finish.

 

My King book seems to have taken a backseat to Una. I thought I would read some of each every evening but it hasn't worked out that way.

 

 

Currently Reading:

4. Wizard and Glass, Stephen King (119/694)

3. Ahab's Wife, Sena Jeter Nasland (343/666)

2. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, JK Rowling (read aloud, 113/309)

Finished:

1. The Waste Lands, Stephen King (588)

[Robin M]

I hope you don't mind me joining you 3 weeks late.

 

This week I'm working on Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich and Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner.

 

My 2012 list:

1. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins-hope to read the other two soon

2. Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah-this became one of my favorite books

3. Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner

 

I'm excited about reading 52 books this year.

 

Welcome! Happy you are diving in.

[Ali in OR]

I've been reading What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell and also The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte this week. I was enjoying Bronte more, so about halfway through the week I started to read only that and just finished it last night. So still working on What the Dog Saw, and I'll have to pick out something else to read on the treadmill--probably Ursula Le Guin's The Other Wind, book 6 of the Earthsea cycle (our library doesn't have book 5, but it looks like it's just short stories).

 

Books Read in 2012

6. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall-Anne Bronte

5. Tehanu-Ursula Le Guin

4. The Scarlet Pimpernel-Baroness Orczy

3. The Paleo Diet-Loren Cordain

2. Peter Pan-James Barrie

1. The Farthest Shore-Ursula Le Guin

[sarahj]

I'm behind already but still plugging away. Last week I finished book #2: Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua.

 

Finished:

2. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua (Kindle library loan)

1. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (Kindle library loan)

 

Currently Reading:

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

Thorn in My Heart by Liz Curtis Higgs

[swellmomma]

I can not believe it is Week 4 and I still have only 1 book finished while some of you have long lists. When do you read? Are your books short? I just don't get it! Maybe you don't sleep? :D

 

 

 

I read all the time. I often have both non-fiction and fiction going at once. My books are not overly small but not as big as Ahab's wife. I read while I cook, I read while I eat, I read while I watch the kids, I read on the toilet, and in the tub and in bed at night. I would say about 2 hours total per day, I try to split it evenly between my fiction and nonfiction titles. I also read fairly fast, so unless I have stopped to take notes from a non-fiction which makes it take longer to get through I can usually finish 1 of each a week, some books are more engaging and I simply forgo many other things in order to read them and finish more of them in a week.

 

As for sleep it is overrated anyway. Due to my insomnia but needing to be up early to babysit I get on average 4 hours of sleep a night, you can get a lot done around the house on hobbies and reading with a 20 hour day. No matter how tired I am I can not sleep without reading for a little while so some nights I only read 1 chapter, some nights I read 100 pages.

[Narrow Gate Academy]

This week I finished Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Verne for my third book and reviewed it here. I also made it through Act 3 of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Unfortunately Ahab's Wife has yet to make it out of the library crate. Maybe this week.

 

Books for 2012

3. Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Verne

2. Beowulf by Heaney

1. Cut Your Grocery Bills in Half by Economizers

[cani e porci]

I finished 13, rue Thérèse: A Novel and The Shadow of the Wind this week.

 

About 13, rue Thérèse: I would like those hours of my life back, please. I can nearly always find some redeeming qualities in a book, but this was the exception. It wasn't very well written or particularly interesting. The whole premise of taking a box of real-life ephemera and crafting a story around it was intriguing, but the narrative she created was only possible because there were no relatives left to sue for libel. This book kind of left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

On the other hand, I loved The Shadow of the Wind for so many reasons: gorgeous use of language, multiple parallel plots, sly humor, wonderful characters, and a starring role for Barcelona, one of my favorite cities. Ruiz Zafon does a remarkable job describing the aftereffects of Spain's civil war and life in fascist Barcelona. What a wonderful novel!

 

I started Whiskey Breakfast: My Swedish Family, My American Life on Friday and am enjoying it very much.

 

After Whiskey Breakfast, I'll read Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

 

Currently reading:

Whiskey Breakfast

 

Completed:

8. The Shadow of the Wind

7. 13, rue Thérèse: A Novel

6. Meditation of Marcus Aurelius

5. Ahab's Wife

4. The Autobiography of an Execution

3. A Midsummer Night's Dream

2. The Palace of Illusion

1. Daughter of Smoke and Bone

[Just Robyn]

This week I finished

 

4.) God, No! by Penn Jillette Sometimes while reading this book I was trying not to laugh too much in public. Other times I was bored out of my mind. I enjoyed reading Penn Jillette's views on atheism, politics, and magic. I have zero interest in his s*x life. I kinda think he only had so much to say and stuck some other less interesting things in for filler.

[RainySunday]

I just finished The Hunger Games and now can't wait to read the other two! It took me about a day and half. Very easy read, quite disturbing, reminded me in some ways of The Giver. Thanks again secret friend!

 

I will start something else probably later today, but not sure what yet.

 

Here's my completed list so far:

 

4. The Hunger Games -Suzanne Collins

3. Ahab's Wife -Sena Jeter Naslund

2. When Will There Be Good News -Kate Atkinson

1. 77 Shadow Street -Dean Koontz

[laughing lioness]

I read 3 books this weekend. Heaven is for Real, The Amish Wedding and on Chesil Beach. Reviews on my blog here. Ahab's Wife is ready for pick-up at the library. I'm hoping it inspires me to finally get through Moby Dick, but no promises.

[JennyD]

I started Whiskey Breakfast: My Swedish Family, My American Life on Friday and am enjoying it very much.

 

Adding this to my list.

 

Speaking of which, may I join in, a bit late? Here's my 2012 list:

 

1. An Unquenchable Thirst, by Mary Johnson [memoir by woman who spent 20 years as a nun in Mother Theresa's order. Riveting.]

 

2. The Art of War, Niccolo Machiavelli, Christopher Lynch tr. [a reread of the text, but I finally got around to reading Lynch's interpretive essay, which turns out to be fantastic.]

 

3. Then Came You, Jennifer Weiner. [Fluff city, and pretty meh besides.]

 

4. The Good School, by Peg Tyre [quick, mildly edifying read summarizing current educational research that might pertain to a parent choosing a preschool or elementary school for a child. I found the chapter on standardized testing especially illuminating.]

 

5. A Year and Six Seconds, Isabel Gillies [post-divorce memoir by author who wrote It Happens Every Day. Pleasant read.]

 

6. Finished this week: America's Army, by Beth Bailey. It's a history of the all-volunteer army from the draft protests of the late 1960s to today. Unusually well-written for an academic book (Bailey is a history prof and the publisher is Belknap Press, an imprint of Harvard University Press) and completely fascinating. I highly recommend it to anyone even mildly interested in the history of the modern U.S. Army.

Edited January 22, 2012 by JennyD

[dangermom]

I was super-sick this week and read a lot of very light stuff.

 

Snuff, Pterry's latest, got me through the worst bit!

Mr. Dixon Disappears, another volume about the uber-hapless but mystery-solving librarian Israel Armstrong.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a paranormal teen romance about the forbidden love between a daughter of monsters and an angel warrior (but who are the good guys?)/

The best one was And There Was Light is the memoir of a blind leader of the French Resistance--totally amazing book.

[MominIN]

This week I finished:

 

4. I Will Carry You by Angie Smith. Here is my review. Angie tells the story of her daughter's death. It's a real tear jerker, yet very encouraging at the same time. This is a very Christian book, so if that isn't for you, then you'll want to skip it. I loved this book!

 

 

5. Three Girls and a Baby by Rachel Schurig - This was a free e-book from Amazon. It was a very fluffy romance. I've got to boost my numbers somehow! :lol:

 

Right now I'm reading Little Britches as a read aloud and The Wedding by Marlen Suyapa Bodden. The Wedding is another Kindle freebie ... but, so far is much better than Three Girls and a Baby. It's about a plantation owner's daughter and her maid who is given to her as a wedding gift. The story alternates between the young slave girl and the plantation owner's wife as narrator, giving the reader both sides of things.

 

I'm still waiting for Ahab's Wife to arrive from PBS. I'm a little nervous about reading how much everyone isn't liking it!

 

My complete list for the year.

[Jane in NC]

Slow reading week here. Had many too many periodicals to catch up on. Finished reading the Coriolanus essay in Goddard's The Meaning of Shakespeare; am on the the Henry chapters. Working. It's all good -- just not as much time to read read this week (if you know what I mean (and you do if you still have ACR catalogues in your desk drawer, as I do)).

#1 The English Teacher (Lily King; fiction)

#2 Artist's Journal Workshop (Cathy Johnson; non-fiction, art)

#3 Coriolanus (William Shakespeare; play, classic)

 

 

Coriolanus is a play that intrigued me in my youth but terrifies me now. Were you revisiting the play and found that your emotions toward it had changed?

 

Have you seen or will you see the Ralph Fiennes film of the play?

[Storm Bay]

Book 5 was the audio version of I Heard the Owl Call my Name, a best seller from the sixties which is on my son's reading list for this semester at college. It is a moving tale of a young vicar sent to a Kwakwaka'wakw village in Canada. This would be an excellent book to include in a 20th century high school reading list.

 

 

Later in the week I'll read Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. I finally made it to the front of the library queue! It has taken a while...

 

Wow, that brings back memories. I read I Heard the Owl Call my Name when I was in high school. It was another book my parents had around the house.

 

I'm interested in hearing about the Miss Peregrine's book, because it sounds like something my middle dd might like.

 

I read all the time.

You have a cool avatar, but I was wondering if there's a way I can get it to stop moving when I read. For some reason I have trouble reading with moving things on the screen (perhaps it's my age telling, or just my eyes.)

[prairiegirl]

I read "Watership Down" this week. Who knew that reading about bunnies could be so 'edge on your seat' kind of reading? I love this book! I think this might just be on my 'Top 10' list of all time.

 

Book # 5 is "Still Life" by Louise Penny. My on-line book group has been talking about this author for awhile so I decided to give her a whirl. I'm only about 40 pages in but I am enjoying what I have read so far. :001_smile:

[*Lulu*]

 

52 Books Blog - Mystery of Nevada Barr: Barr is the author of Anna Pigeon mystery series. Anna's a forest ranger who gets herself into all kinds of interesting situations. Newest book in series just released "The Rope" and how it all began for Anna.

 

 

What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

 

Link to week 3

 

I love Nevada Barr books! I'll have to check with our library to see if they've got this one on order.

 

This week I am hoping that the last Paolini book will be in at the library. I am also reading a book on Asperger's syndrome, a Peter Enns book on Biblical interpretation, and am planning to start SWB's History of the Ancient World and/or Elizabeth Peter's Crocodile on the Sandbank.

 

We are reading Mary Poppins and The Captain's Dog, as well as listening to HP and the Sorcerer's Stone and The Tale of Despereaux on audio book. Do any of these count?

[Night Elf]

7. The Journal of Best Practices: A Memoir of Marriage, Asperger Syndrome, and One Man's Quest to be a Better Husband, by David Finch

 

8. A Close Approximation of an Ordinary Life, by Meryl McQueen (about an old man remembering his life and early diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome)

 

I'm not sure what I'm reading next. I started a couple of books but neither one grabbed my attention. I really need a light fun read due to the stress in my life right now.

[readinmom]

:glare:duplicate post

Edited January 22, 2012 by readinmom
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[Ali in OR]

I read "Watership Down" this week. Who knew that reading about bunnies could be so 'edge on your seat' kind of reading? I love this book! I think this might just be on my 'Top 10' list of all time.

 

 

One of my all-time favorites! I want to read it with my girls.

[readinmom]

For this week: Romeo and Juliet, Antigone, the second half of Ahab's Wife, and something else, if possible. This is a week of heavy reading.

 

Week 3:

8. A Love That Multiplies, Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar

7. Whistlin' Dixie in a Nor'Easter, Lisa Patton

6. The Judgment, Beverly Lewis

Week 2:

5. The Mercy, Beverly Lewis

4. Invisible, an Ivy Malone Mystery, Lorena McCourtney

3. Oedipus Rex, Sophocles

Week 1:

2. The Next Always, The Inn at Boonsboro Trilogy, Nora Roberts

1. Chi Walking: The Five Mindful Steps for Lifelong Health and Energy, Danny Dreyer

__________________

[VeganCupcake]

I am still reading Walden right now, and I finished reading The New Rules of Lifting for Women by Lou Schuler.

 

I'm enjoying Walden a lot, but I feel like I need a commentary to know when he's serious and when he's satirizing.

[Robin M]

We are reading Mary Poppins and The Captain's Dog, as well as listening to HP and the Sorcerer's Stone and The Tale of Despereaux on audio book. Do any of these count?

 

 

Yes Ma'am. :)

[mom22es]

This week I finished Persuasion, my favorite Austen novel. It gets better with each re-reading.

 

And as much as I wanted to read Ahab's Wife with the thread, I couldn't get myself to the bookstore to purchase a copy. So, instead I am reading Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James and God's Smuggler by John Sherrill and Brother Andrew.

 

52/52

3. Persuasion by Jane Austen

2. All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot

1. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

[swellmomma]

You have a cool avatar, but I was wondering if there's a way I can get it to stop moving when I read. For some reason I have trouble reading with moving things on the screen (perhaps it's my age telling, or just my eyes.)

 

I don't think you can make it stop moving. WHen I come across an avatar that distracts me I just scroll up so it is hidden while the words in the post are still visible and easy to read.

[thessa516]

This week I'm working on A Chicken in Every Yard (loving it!), Willpower (very interesting), and The Peach Keeper (just getting started). The kids wanting to be fed is really interrupting my reading time. :tongue_smilie:

[Heather in Neverland]

This week it is:

 

Organized Simplicity

 

The Holiness of God

[-M-]

Coriolanus is a play that intrigued me in my youth but terrifies me now. Were you revisiting the play and found that your emotions toward it had changed?

 

Have you seen or will you see the Ralph Fiennes film of the play?

 

It was largely the trailer for Fiennes film, which we first saw well before Christmas, that prompted us to tackle the play, so, no, we were not revisiting, nor have we seen the movie... yet. We did see a BBC production (1984), though, featuring Alan Howard. It was excellent. (Here's a sample.)

 

Nothing about Coriolanus himself particularly terrifies me, but I find the people who surround him terrifying, particularly his mother, Menenius, and, yes, most of Rome's "rats." (But mobs in Shakespeare are usually rather horrifying, no? Consider Julius Caesar, for example.)

 

I had thought I would be alone in my assertion that Coriolanus was hardly as bad as many made him out to be, but Mr. M-mv and the Misses agreed. Imagine how gratified I was, too, to read Harold C. Goddard's assessment of the misunderstood soldier in The Meaning of Shakespeare.