Book a Week in 2013 - week four

[Giraffe]

I have abandoned my Dusty Book challenge for the next two weeks while I have access to a LIBRARY!!! As a result, I am devouring "The Song of Achilles" - a real book with paper pages. About half way through, should have it done tomorrow. Waiting on reserve is "How We Decide" by Jonah Lehrer that I'll pick up Tuesday when the library reopens. I hope to return "Achilles" then. Three more books are working their way through the system, one for DD, the rest for ME!!!

 

Still plodding along with Herodotus, on Book Three. This thing is so dense that I want to count each book in it as a separate book in its own right. Sigh....

 

ETA:

Finished:

1. The Handmaid's Tale (Canadian, Dusty)

 

In Process:

Herodotus, "The Histories"

Miller, "The Song of Achilles"

[AllSmiles]

 

Dracula was slow in the beginning for me. I was trying to follow the timeline and whose journal I was reading. I was frustrated more than anything and felt a dash of "get on with it!" Once I found my groove with the timeline and the flow of the journals, I really enjoyed it. I was surprised that I had to put it down at bedtime...I got a little scared lol. I'll be anxious to see if your first impression in correct or not!

I found Dracula a little slow and confusing at first as well. However, I think it was because it wasn't what I was expecting at all. A little ways into it, I really started to enjoy it. It is a great book!

[Lynnae]

Finished #6 this morning (stayed up entirely too late) - The Bungalow by Sarah Jio. I saw this author listed in a previous thread, maybe for Blackberry Winter? When I went to the library a few days ago I looked for that one, but found only The Bungalow, so I checked it out. I really enjoyed the story, and have placed her other books on hold.

 

I have Finale by Becca Fitzpatrick, but not sure I can make myself read it. Also have When the White House Was Ours on my bedside table. We'll see what I pick up next.

 

On-going: The One Year Bible and Cleaning House A Mom's Twelve-Month Experiment to Rid Her Home of Youth Entitlement

#1 - Worth the Weight - Mara Jacobs

#2 - The Peach Keeper - Sarah Addison Allen

#3 - The Castaways - Elin Hilderbrand

#4 - The Dressmaker - Kate Alcott

#5 - Come to the Table - Neta Jackson

I LOVE Cleaning House! Can't wait to hear what you think!

[Kareni]

Calvino is another of my favorite authors. Can one have too many favorite authors?

 

Nope.

 

So now I can "do the continental" in my reading and with my scarf!

 

Go, Jane!

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kim in Appalachia]

I've read 2 books this week: The Farthest Shore, and The Tombs of Atuan, by Ursula Le Guin. These books are number 2 and 3 in the Earthsea cycle. I read the first one, A Wizard of Earthsea, last week. I have loved these books. For me, these books are close to perfect. The writing is beautiful, absolutely artistically crafted prose. And it is the kind of book that you just lose yourself in. It is a beautful world that you don't want to leave. These are older books, and I'm thankful to the boardies who recommended her books. I believe I will buy them all, because I think my kids will love them too.

 

I read her book, The Dispossed, 2 weeks ago. I also enjoyed that. Again, well written, wonderfully thoughtful. I wanted more in that cycle (The Hanish cycle) but the used book store didn't have anything, so I went to the Earthsea cycle. I may order the other ones used.

 

I'm loving her as a writer. Her newest book is called Lavinia a take on the Aeneid character. I will get to that at some point this year.

 

I'm also reading 2 books on meditation. One is Running with the Mind of Meditation, and the other is, Secrets of Meditation: A Practical Guide to Inner Peace and Transformation. I had to stop the running one, because I can't run right now and it's depressing me. :glare: The books are interesting. I would like to learn more about meditation, and I would like to spend more time meditating. The one that's a practical guide is not as good as I hoped, but still I think it will help me work at meditation more.

 

No exercise has meant lots of reading, plus my kids had a swim meet this weekend, and I was able to read a lot.

 

Oh, and I also bought a new devotional that I will work through this year. It's an old one, Morning and Evening, by Charles Spurgeon. But that will be an ongoing read. :)

[Kim in Appalachia]

 

 

Jo Walton:

 

Tooth and Claw - her starting point was imaging the rules of Victorian society, especially as portayed by Antony Trollope, as literally true, with a tangible reality to them. Her characters are dragons, and it takes a few chapters to really get into the world of the book, but I am very, very fond of it.

 

Farthing(first of the Small Change Trilogy) - this is a cross between a cosy mystery and a dystopian alternate history. In this universe, Great Britain made peave with Hitler... it grabs the interest right away and is a chilling, compelling story.

 

Among Others - winner of numerous awards, including the Hugo and Nebula - I need to reread it because it is the book of hers I have least connected with.

 

She has an Arthurian duology plus related book, King's Peace is the first. It doesn't click for me as Arthurian, but it is richly done fantasy.

 

She post regularly on tor.com with book reviews and musings; two series of posts were OK, Where Do I Start with That(due to be published this year, with some revisions, as an actual book) and Revisiting the Hugos.

 

Her "The Lurkers Support Me" runs through my head sometimes here...

 

 

 

I like your review! Among Others was one of the last books I read last year. I really liked it. I will definetely look into her other books. Thanks.

[Heather in Neverland]

Started Reading:

The Conviction to Lead: 25 Principles for Leadership that Matters by Albert Mohler (American author, DD class 300)

 

Still Reading:

The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen (American author, DD class 800)

The God Who is There: Finding Your Place in God's Story by D.A. Carson (Canadian author, DD class 200)

 

Finished:

4. The Next Story: Life and Faith After the Digital Explosion by Tim Challies (Canadian author, DD class 600)

3. The House at Riverton by Kate Morton (Australian author, DD class 800)

2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (English author, DD class 800)

1. The Dark Monk: A Hangman's Daughter Tale by Oliver Potzsch (German author, DD class 800)

[zillymom]

I certainly didn't love it. ...the main draw, for me, was the different view it gave on that time period, and, particularly, on Hemingway's work, espcially the Movable Feast... which I had read before, but hadn't appreciated at all. PW gave me a different perspective and enabled me to get more out of Hemingway than I ever have before (though I still have a ways to go!)

 

(speaking of The Paris Wife)

 

I'm so glad I stuck with it to the end, and by the time I finished, I did feel that I enjoyed the book overall. I agree, the different view was a nice draw, and I ended up feeling inspired to read more Hemingway (and reread, too!).

[Diann]

I am still reading the second book in John Jakes North and South trilogy, Love and War. I hope to finish this week.

 

Diann

[AllSmiles]

This week I finished "The Broker" by John Grisham. I usually love Grisham's novels, but I wasn't very impressed with this one.

 

I have a couple of library books to finish and then I'm going to start on "Sherlock Holmes"

It sounds like there are a lot of great spinoffs but I want to start with the original first. The BBC series sounds great too.

 

 

[bobbeym]

Finished last week

1. Animal Farm – George Orwell
   
2. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
   

 

In progress/Ongoing

1. Anne of Green Gables (CW Canada) <--This is a very slowly read for me. I'm not sure why I can't seem to get past the first couple pages.
   
2. The Handmaid’s Tale (CW Canada, 5/5/5 comfort zone) <-- interesting read, 64% done.
   
3. Project 51 reading plan on YouVersion (Inspirational) <-- daily NT/Psalm/Proverbs reading for the year
   
4. Dragonfly in Amber – Outlander book 2 (5/5/5 chunky) <-- currently on disc 4 of 33
    
   

Upcoming this week

1. Beowulf (WEM poetry)
   
2. Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew (5/5/5 play)
   
3. The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle
   

[Stacia]

Am just getting ready to start The Twelve Rooms of the Nile by Enid Shomer. I've been looking forward to starting this historical fiction novel!

 

Before she became the nineteenth century’s greatest heroine, before he had written a word of Madame Bovary, Florence Nightingale and Gustave Flaubert traveled down the Nile at the same time. In the imaginative leap taken by award-winning writer Enid Shomer’s The Twelve Rooms of the Nile, the two ignite a passionate friendship marked by intelligence, humor, and a ravishing tenderness that will alter both their destinies.

 

In 1850, Florence, daughter of a prominent English family, sets sail on the Nile chaperoned by longtime family friends and her maid, Trout. To her family’s chagrin—and in spite of her wealth, charm, and beauty—she is, at twenty-nine and of her own volition, well on her way to spinsterhood. Meanwhile, Gustave and his good friend Maxime Du Camp embark on an expedition to document the then largely unexplored monuments of ancient Egypt. Traumatized by the deaths of his father and sister, and plagued by mysterious seizures, Flaubert has dropped out of law school and writ-ten his first novel, an effort promptly deemed unpublishable by his closest friends. At twenty-eight, he is an unproven writer with a failing body.

 

Florence is a woman with radical ideas about society and God, naive in the ways of men. Gustave is a notorious womanizer and patron of innumerable prostitutes. But both burn with unfulfilled ambition, and in the deft hands of Shomer, whose writing The New York Times Book Review has praised as “beautifully cadenced, and surprising in its imaginative reach,†the unlikely soul mates come together to share their darkest torments and most fervent hopes. Brimming with adventure and the sparkling sensibilities of the two travelers, this mesmerizing novel offers a luminous combination of gorgeous prose and wild imagination, all of it colored by the opulent tapestry of mid-nineteenth-century Egypt.

 

--------------------------

My Goodreads Page

My PaperbackSwap Page

Working on Robin's Dusty &/or Chunky Book Challenge.

Working on Robin's Continental Challenge.

Working on LostSurprise's Dewey Decimal Challenge. Complete Dewey Decimal Classification List here.

 

My rating system:

5 = Love; 4 = Pretty awesome; 3 = Decently good; 2 = Ok; 1 = Don't bother (I shouldn't have any 1s on my list as I would ditch them before finishing)...

 

2013 Books Read:

01. Women of the Klondike by Frances Backhouse (3 stars). Challenges: Dusty; Continental/North America; Dewey Decimal/900s.

02. Equator by Miguel Sousa Tavares (3 stars). Challenges: Dusty, Continental/Europe; Africa.

03. UFOs, JFK, & Elvis by Richard Belzer (2 stars). Challenge: Dewey Decimal/000s.

04. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (4 stars). Challenge: Continental/North America.

[Angel]

It was slow starting for me too. It never got scary IMO, but did get suspenseful. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. When I first started reading it, I questioned whether or not I would end up finishing it.

 

I'm a wimp LOL! I'm still scared of the dark. It was very suspenseful, especially for its time period. I

 

I found Dracula a little slow and confusing at first as well. However, I think it was because it wasn't what I was expecting at all. A little ways into it, I really started to enjoy it. It is a great book!

 

I, too, really enjoyed it!

 

 

One of my goals this year is to read a Dickens (so far I've only read A Christmas Carol); I've gone so far as to download Great Expectations, so I guess I should get on it.

 

It is one of my goals as well! I have Great Expectations on my Kindle app right now. I downloaded two weeks ago. I've maybe made it 10 pages in or so. It was either Great Expectations or Bleak House. I went with Great Expectations because I am familiar with it. My mom used to watch this old version when I was young, and I saw it numerous times. I doubt I will finish it in February, though, as it's not my main read.

[thessa516]

 

 

Ghost in the Wires is on my wish list; I'm glad to hear it's good.

 

 

 

I finished it today. I loved the first and second parts of the book. The third section started to get more technical; in spots I found my eyes glazing over with all the technical talk. The fourth section wraps it all up and gives a bit of closure, but feels like it's more hastily written than the first two sections. Still, the guy is a genius and I'm glad that he's now making a living at legal hacking. I think it'd be pretty neat to meet him. My DH got to meet Steve Wozniak last year at a work function. I'm hoping his company will bring in Mitnick for a talk soon.

[MommaOfalotta]

Joining a little late.. I havent had a whole lot of time to read lately but I have finished a couple books so far this year.

 

2) HP & The Sorcerers Stone- Just read this series for the first time back in November, and instantly became a "Potterhead." We now own all 8 movies and almost all of the books. Its pretty much an obsession. With that said I'm re-reading the series.

1) Dead To The World- Im sick to death of all the vampire stuff out there these days, but the Sookie Stackhouse novels are pretty entertaining, and they are a quick, light read.

 

Currently Reading:

The Well Adjusted Child

HP & The Chamber of Secrets

The Lucky One- not my usual genre at all, but it was a Christmas gift.

Dead As A Doornail

[ladydusk]

Since Dickens birthday is February 7th, we'll declare February Dicken's month so start thinking about which Dicken's books you'd like to read.

 

Dicken shares his birthday with Laura Ingalls Wilder. I know this, because I share the birthday with them. If only I shared the talent :)

[ladydusk]

I read all of her books during the one year I ever read mysteries other than Sayers and Tey. (The rest of my life I have been to squeamish, but when I went back to school in the sciences, my reading patterns changed, and during the year I was doing Organic Chemistry, I devoured mysteries. I've never figured out why.)

 

They are very shallow compared to Sayers, both in characterization and in the mysteries themselves, but they have a charm to them - I started with her first published ones, which introduced me to her main detective, and then read them as I acquired them. If you end up liking Marsh, you might also like Margery Allingham. Marsh's first Roderick Alleyn: A Man Lay Dead Allingham's first Albert Campion: Crime at Black Dudley. ...but I don't think it matters in what order you encounter them.

 

Tey has more depth, but my favorite book of hers isn't a mystery at all: The Expensive Halo My favorite mystery is Brat Farrar, but, unlike Marsh and Allingham, or even Sayers, reading one Tey doesn't enable you to predict the flavor of any other Tey you might pick up... there is, obviously, some continuity of authorial voice, but Franchise Affair (my least favorite), for example, is closer to A PD James, Expensive Halo has bits that feel like Alcott, others like George Eliot, and others nothing like either. ....and Daughter of Time, one of her best known, is a defense of Richard III, and has tinges of Paul Murray Kendall's mildy hagiographic biography (my favorite bit is his analysis in one of the appendices of the possible murderers of the Princes in the Tower....)

 

Wow! Thanks for this. Sadly, my library has a limited number of any of these authors. They have the second Roderick Alleyn, in a compilation of three books, but not the first. (Enter a Murderer). 5 Margery Allingham's, not the one you suggest, glad they can be read in any order.

 

There's only one Tey book, which is Brat Farrar, so I'll definitely add that to my TBR list. I've not read any PD James, and I suspect I'd like some of them but I'm also a little afraid they'd be too suspenseful for my tastes.

 

I appreciate your time in typing up all of these suggestions!

 

Right now, as I try to regain health and functioning, reading is even more present in my life since there are days when I can't do much at all physically - to a lesser extent that has been true for the past decade, but I was reading like this when I was working full time and on a competitive volleyball team... when I was going to school full time, working a part time job & homeschooling.... so I can't explain it away merely by citing physical limitations because I have always done this....

 

Here's hoping for a healthy recovery.

[Heather in Neverland]

(speaking of The Paris Wife)

 

I'm so glad I stuck with it to the end, and by the time I finished, I did feel that I enjoyed the book overall. I agree, the different view was a nice draw, and I ended up feeling inspired to read more Hemingway (and reread, too!).

 

Regarding The Paris Wife....

 

I taught AP English Lit for years before becoming a principal and I have always LOVED Hemingway. So I was pretty excited to read this book. Afterwards...well... I was reeling. I emailed my BFF who still teaches Lit and here is an excerpt of what I wrote (It describes my thoughts on the book):

 

 

I just read "The Paris Wife" and it is all about Ernest Hemingway as a young man just as he started writing and his first wife, Hadley, and Paris and the roaring 20's and all that. Beautifully written.

But now I am devastated. All these years I have been in love with Hemingway and he was this amazing writer and tortured soul full of killer insight and quotes that shot you straight through the heart.

But you know what? He was a jerk. A selfish idiot. The kind of man with such low self-esteem from his domineering mother that the only way he could feel good about himself was by emotionally brutalizing others.

He wasn't deep and tortured in the way I imagined. His mom beat up his ego and he went to war for a short bit and got injured like thousands of others have and he just milked that, pickled his liver with booze, and acted like a jerk but got away with it because he was "an artist."

Hadley loved him through those first years and put up with so much crap from him that I don't know if I admire her or loathe her. He left her for some other woman, of course. Absolutely destroyed her.

So basically I can't even look at any of his books on my shelf because I am mad. Maybe it is all an illusion. The whole "deeply tortured but brilliant writer" bit. Maybe they are all selfish idiots and I should start knitting instead of reading.

whatever.

 

 

So as you can see, that book left an impression on me. :)

[MomtoCandJ]

I'm currently reading the Great Influenza. It's slow going but I like it. Love books about medical history and pharmaceutical history any recommendations?

[ariasmommy]

Trying to make a dent in my "currently reading" list, though I'll probably start another book or two this week. ;)

 

#3 Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey by the Countess of Carnarvon - I enjoyed learning about the energetic Lady Almina, her work with wounded soldiers during WWI and the archeological expeditions of her husband.

 

#4 The Red House Mystery by A. A. Milne (audiobook)- This was a Goodreads discovery, one of the books they recommended based on my previous reads. I had no idea the author of Winnie-the-Pooh had written a mystery! It was a fun listen, and the narrator, Bill Wallis did a great job.

 

#5 Adam and His Kin by Ruth Beechick - Thought-provoking. DD is reading it, and I wanted to be able to discuss it together.

[mlbuchina]

I haven't had a great week this week. *sigh* I started a couple of books, but just couldn't get into any of them. I ended up just taking a little break.

 

So for this week I am reading several books:

 

Deja Dead ~ Kathy Reichs (I've been rewatching Bones on Netflix, and that got me wanting to read some of the books. I don't know if I will keep reading them if a Booth character doesn't show up soon. *grins*)

Liberty and Tyranny ~ Mark Levin (I just started it this evening, and am really enjoying it so far.)

Carry On, Jeeves ~ P. G. Wodehouse (I may or may not read some in this. I finished the first little story in it, but it isn't grabbing me like I hoped it would.)

 

I am wanting to reread the Outlander series in preparation for the next book coming out this year, but I haven't gotten that started. Maybe this week. We'll see. I'm afraid that once I start on them, there will be no school for a month. I know that I am going to want to do nothing but be with Jamie day and night. LOL

[PollyOR]

Maybe they are all selfish idiots and I should start knitting instead of reading.

whatever.

 

I love A Christmas Carol and I can't tell you how disappointed I was in Dickens when I realized that he left his wife after she bore ten children. Okay, so there are two sides to every story. After looking up a few more authors I have decided it is best not to know anything about their lives. Just enjoy the stories they wrote.

[JennW in SoCal]

I'm so glad to have found the Inspector Banks series, thanks to you lovely ladies! I haven't had a good mystery series to follow in quite a while, and I really enjoyed the first one I found on my library shelves, The Hanging Valley. I thought I had put the first in the series on hold at my library, but the request seems to have disappeared into an internet void, so I'm starting from this, the 4th. I'm going to do like Paisley Hedgehog and just go forward from this one. I even found the BBC version, and finished knitting a hat while it was on.

 

That was number 4 for the year. Number 3 was Return of the King, a reread but on audio this time around.

 

Haven't decided what to pick up and start next. I've got Graham Greene's Our Man in Havana from the library, and several fantasy novels gathering dust. What do unread e-books gather, I wonder??

 

 

#4 The Red House Mystery by A. A. Milne (audiobook)- This was a Goodreads discovery, one of the books they recommended based on my previous reads. I had no idea the author of Winnie-the-Pooh had written a mystery! It was a fun listen, and the narrator, Bill Wallis did a great job.

 

I found this for free on Kindle last year and really enjoyed it! So tickled to see someone else has discovered it.

[Rosie_0801]

I've just finished 'The Girl at the Farmhouse Gate' by Julia Stoneham, which my mother had picked up off a sale table for $2.99. I only picked it up for something to do while I waited in the car for her and was convinced she'd found a bargain by the second page. :) Turns out it is the second of three, but I didn't realise that until I was well into it. It was a light and flavoursome account of a hostel of Land Army girls during WW2. :)

[PollyOR]

First, let me say that I learned that I shouldn't read potentially sad stories when in a female hormonal state . Blubber!

 

The Johnstown Flood is the first David McCullough book I've read. I could not imagine that anyone could make a topic such as a devastating flood interesting but he did. And I feel he represented all parties fairly. The first half of the book sets the stage not only physically but also introduces the townspeople and the members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club (location of the dam.) Of course, then there is the description of the flooding and the devastation from eye witness accounts. I thought it quite interesting to read his criticism of the journalists and some of their unbelievable stories. I thought there would be more coverage of the lawsuits that followed the flood but thankfully he covered them quickly. There are quite a few characters and I was thankful for an index so I could refresh my memory of who was who.

 

I am a visual learner and the maps in the edition I have weren't enough for me. I wish I had had time to find a better map but this one may help those who plan to read it. The last page is a map of Johnstown before the flood. You can zoom in though the street names were a bit blurry. It helped me visualize where the different parts of the story took place.

[Kareni]

I've got ... several fantasy novels gathering dust. What do unread e-books gather, I wonder??

 

Virtual dust?

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Paisley Hedgehog]

. 

 

[Lizzie in Ma]

1. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

2. Money Secrets of the Amish by Lorilee Craker

3. The Hot Zone by Richard Preston

 

Currently reading Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker by Kevin Mitnick. It is FABULOUS! It's more about social engineering than actual hacking. Still kind of thumbing through Getting Things Done. It's re-read, so I may not finish it. I still have lots of books on my nightstand that I want to get to - most are recommendations from these threads.

 

The Hot Zone by Richard Preston was a fantastic read.

[Lizzie in Ma]

I discovered the Allie Beckstrom series by Devon Monk this week and I am on book three. I rarely give 5 stars on Goodreads and almost never for the first book in a series but these are fantastic.

http://www.devonmonk.com/books/allie-beckstrom/

[mumto2]

Am just getting ready to start The Twelve Rooms of the Nile by Enid Shomer. I've been looking forward to starting this historical fiction novel!

I just put a reqest in at the library for this!

#3 Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey by the Countess of Carnarvon - I enjoyed learning about the energetic Lady Almina, her work with wounded soldiers during WWI and the archeological expeditions of her husband.

This one just needs to be picked up from the library!

 

I love Kathy Reichs! I was a fan before Bones which I find completely different then the books. I highly recommend starting with the first book. Lots of good characters come and go throughout the series. I am having problems quoting you properly. I can't get to the last line to delete it. I'm sorry!

Deja Dead ~ Kathy Reichs (I've been rewatching Bones on Netflix, and that got me wanting to read some of the books. I don't know if I will keep reading them if a Booth character doesn't show up soon.

 

 

I am going to want to do nothing but be with Jamie day and night. LOL

[thessa516]

The Hot Zone by Richard Preston was a fantastic read.

 

:iagree: It also scared me. Stephen King said The Hot Zone was "one of the most horrifying things I've ever read." I'd have to agree with him. I think I've gone through a ton of hand sanitizer since reading it. :laugh:

[TN Mama]

I LOVE Cleaning House! Can't wait to hear what you think!

 

My sister and I are reading together, and taking it slow at one chapter/month. I've had it for several months, but it's just been collecting dust. So excited to finally be reading it now.

[Jane in NC]

I did a Dickens challenge last winter and, though I enjoyed it, he's one of those writers that I can only read once in a while (with BIG gaps between books). Otherwise, I get fed up and start throwing things. I will try either Oliver Twist or Little Dorritt when I can manage to wrap up the four other books I have going right now.

My feeling on Dickens is that he is a grand story teller. I love the dramatization of his books on Masterpiece Theater but I abhor reading them!

 

I will never forget the comment that my then 7th or 8th grade son made while reading Oliver Twist: "Doesn't this kid ever learn?"

[Soror]

I'm still just at 3 finished as I had a busy week and dh and I went out of town this weekend. Hoping to finish Emma this week and The Hobbit next week.

 

In progress:

1. Emma- Austen

2. The Hobbit- Tolkien

 

Finished:

1. Weight of Glory- Lewis

2. The Help- Stockett

3. The Handmaid's Tale- Atwood

[Kareni]

I discovered the Allie Beckstrom series by Devon Monk this week and I am on book three. I rarely give 5 stars on Goodreads and almost never for the first book in a series but these are fantastic. http://www.devonmonk.com/books/allie-beckstrom/

 

I agree; they are good reads.

 

 

My sister and I are reading together [Cleaning House], and taking it slow at one chapter/month. I've had it for several months, but it's just been collecting dust.

 

 

If it's collecting dust, I guess it's not working then! Given the title, one might have hoped for more.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Luanne]

Week one I read Animal Farm.

Week two I read The Giver

Week three I read Gathering Blue

and

Week four I am reading Christy

[Luanne]

Week one I read Animal Farm.

Week two I read The Giver

Week three I read Gathering Blue

and

Week four I am reading Christy

[Luanne]

My daughter, Rebekah (age 24) read:

Week one: Princess Diaries

Week two: Hadassah: One Night with the King

Week three: The Westing Game

and

Week four: Princess in the Spotlight (Princess Diaries book 2)

• 
   
  

[Oakblossoms]

All right, I got a coffee pot with a timer (i drink tea or use a French Press normally) and a three pack of reading glasses from Costco. I am ready to read.

 

Book a Week 2013 by OakBlossoms, on Flickr

 

Going to read my Bible all the way through this year.

Seven Times the Sun to help me get into a better routine and appreciate the seasons a bit more.

The Air We Breathe by Christa Parrish because honestly I just want some reading. Something I can enjoy and read and not something with huge big thoughts attached.

 

 

[MelAR05]

I found Dracula a little slow and confusing at first as well. However, I think it was because it wasn't what I was expecting at all. A little ways into it, I really started to enjoy it. It is a great book!

 

Glad to hear! I am reading Dracula this week. I am enjoying it so far even though I have an awful copy from the library that is typeset like an encyclopedia.

 

Finished:

 

1.) Getting Things Done

2.) Switch

3.) The Night Circus

 

For the Dickens challenge, I am going to read A Christmas Carol. I have only read one of his, Great Expectations. After feeling guilty for not reading it my sophomore year in high school, I read it a few years ago. The guilt is gone but I didn't enjoy the book.

[joannqn]

I finished Maggie's Door, which is the sequel to Nory Ryan's Song. My kids have asked for the third book, Water Street, so I have bought that. I haven't started reading it yet. We're also working on Caddie Woodlawn. I read mostly kids books so I can follow along with them.

 

I'm also in the middle of Face the Winter Naked, a book set in the depression.

 

 

I've spent so much time reading science threads that Ruth in NZ has posted in that I think I should get book credit for them. It's been taking of all of my reading time.

[aggieamy]

I love A Christmas Carol and I can't tell you how disappointed I was in Dickens when I realized that he left his wife after she bore ten children. Okay, so there are two sides to every story. After looking up a few more authors I have decided it is best not to know anything about their lives. Just enjoy the stories they wrote.

 

I'm the same way. I just want to enjoy the books and it takes away from it when I know that the author was a jerk. Same with movies. Used to love Top Gun but now I can't watch it without thinking that Tom Cruise is such a weirdo. I can't get lost in the movie because I just see him as Tom Cruise and not his character.

 

#4 The Red House Mystery by A. A. Milne (audiobook)- This was a Goodreads discovery, one of the books they recommended based on my previous reads. I had no idea the author of Winnie-the-Pooh had written a mystery! It was a fun listen, and the narrator, Bill Wallis did a great job.

 

Obscure book by a well known author? Check.

Mystery? Check.

Audiobook with a good narrator? Check.

 

It seems fate has brought you to this thread to recommend this book to me. A pox on the library system for being closed today and making me wait until tomorrow to get this book!

 

My daughter, Rebekah (age 24) read:

Week one: Princess Diaries

Week two: Hadassah: One Night with the King

Week three: The Westing Game and

Week four: Princess in the Spotlight (Princess Diaries book 2)

 

 

My DD is listening to The Westing Game as an audiobook right now ... for the THIRD time. It's one of her favorite books.

[Lady Florida.]

I'm the same way. I just want to enjoy the books and it takes away from it when I know that the author was a jerk.

 

I agree. I knew that Hemingway was a jerk, but only recently found out about Dickens when I was listening to something on NPR. That really bothered me.

 

 

Same with movies. Used to love Top Gun but now I can't watch it without thinking that Tom Cruise is such a weirdo. I can't get lost in the movie because I just see him as Tom Cruise and not his character.

 

I can no longer watch any movie that has either Tom Cruise or Mel Gibson in it. I can't see through the actors to their characters anymore.

[eaglei]

All right, I got a coffee pot with a timer (i drink tea or use a French Press normally) and a three pack of reading glasses from Costco. I am ready to read.

 

Book a Week 2013 by OakBlossoms, on Flickr

 

Going to read my Bible all the way through this year.

Seven Times the Sun to help me get into a better routine and appreciate the seasons a bit more.

The Air We Breathe by Christa Parrish because honestly I just want some reading. Something I can enjoy and read and not something with huge big thoughts attached.

 

 

Christa Parrish has a new book? Who knew? I read her first book, Home Another Way, for one reason - the bio sketch said she was a homeschooling mom - then read her second, Watch Over Me. Both were somewhat predictable, with the first less so, but I enjoyed them anyway! Easy reading and, as you said, "no huge big thoughts attached" to tax my mind when I just wanted gentle reading. I'll be keeping my eye out for this new one; hoping the library gets it soon! :-)

[luvnlattes]

I finished Getting Things Done which I enjoyed. I also finished listening to Heaven is for Real, blech. I did not like this book.

 

This week, I'm reading The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson and I'm listening to Reinventing Yourself by Steve Chandler. I've enjoyed adding the audiobook component to my reading but the narrators have left a bit to be desired. :tongue_smilie:

 

My books so far:

1. The Missing by Chris Mooney

2. Becoming Fearless by Michelle Aguilar

3. Now You See Me by S.J. Bolton

4. Getting Things Done by David Allen

5. Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo

[UrbanSue]

I like that idea, and actually have been trying to decide on a Dickens book for this year. It's between Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, and David Copperfield. On the other hand, maybe Bleak House will be one of my chunksters.

 

I'm listening to David Copperfield--about 25% of the way through and I'm enjoying it. I've seen the Bleak House mini series and it made me want to read the book. I tried that one as an audiobook last year but using a Librivox recording. I like Librivox, in theory, but this was a truly awful narrator and I couldn't keep up with it.

 

I really haven't read any other Dickens, I guess, except A Christmas Carol but we own all those books so maybe I'll take on another one once I'm through with David Copperfield.

[UrbanSue]

First, let me say that I learned that I shouldn't read potentially sad stories when in a female hormonal state . Blubber!

 

The Johnstown Flood is the first David McCullough book I've read. I could not imagine that anyone could make a topic such as a devastating flood interesting but he did. And I feel he represented all parties fairly. The first half of the book sets the stage not only physically but also introduces the townspeople and the members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club (location of the dam.) Of course, then there is the description of the flooding and the devastation from eye witness accounts. I thought it quite interesting to read his criticism of the journalists and some of their unbelievable stories. I thought there would be more coverage of the lawsuits that followed the flood but thankfully he covered them quickly. There are quite a few characters and I was thankful for an index so I could refresh my memory of who was who.

 

I am a visual learner and the maps in the edition I have weren't enough for me. I wish I had had time to find a better map but this one may help those who plan to read it. The last page is a map of Johnstown before the flood. You can zoom in though the street names were a bit blurry. It helped me visualize where the different parts of the story took place.

 

I didn't know he'd written about the flood. I love David McCullough for light history and I never remember that when I'm book hunting! I do have his newish The Greater Journey on my TBR shelf for this year.

[TN Mama]

I agree; they are good reads.

 

 

 

If it's collecting dust, I guess it's not working then! Given the title, one might have hoped for more.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

Ha! I've had it for several months, but have only just started reading it. Although the main title is, in fact, Cleaning House, it isn't about cleaning your house, but instead about ending youth entitlement. I plan to read one chapter a month for the year.

[4kidlets4me]

I'm finishing up Prodigal Summer today. I was up till the wee hours reading it last night and had to force myself to go to bed. I checked it out from the library but I'll be buying it so I can read it again and again.

 

I also finished Stretch: The Unlikely Making of a Yoga Dude. This was an interesting and very funny account of an middle aged, overweight writer who takes up yoga and ends up getting way more out of it then he imagined. It was a quick easy read.

 

I think I'll start Flight Behavior next and I'm still working on Year Zero

 

1.The Handmaids Tale-Margaret Atwood

2.When We Were the Kennedy's- Monica Wood

3.The Corrections- Jonathan Franzen

4.The Round House- Louise Erdrich

5.Money Secrets of the Amish- Lorilee Craker

6.Stretch: The Unlikely Making of a Yoga Dude- Neal Pollack

7. Prodigal Summer- Barbara Kingsolver

[TN Mama]

I'm the same way. I just want to enjoy the books and it takes away from it when I know that the author was a jerk. Same with movies. Used to love Top Gun but now I can't watch it without thinking that Tom Cruise is such a weirdo. I can't get lost in the movie because I just see him as Tom Cruise and not his character.

 

 

I used to love Tom Cruise, and as a teen Top Gun was my all-time favorite. Now I have the same problem. I can't watch anything he's in. Freaks.me.out.