Book a Week in 2013 - week seven

[Robin M]

Good morning, my lovelies! Today is the start of week 7 in our quest to read 52 books in 52 weeks. Welcome back to all our readers, to all those who are just joining in 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 below in my signature.

 

52 Books blog - Keeping the Feast: Highlighting Paula Butturini's memoir about how food played a role in her and her husband's life through multiple trauma's and helped them heal. Their story is at times difficult to read, yet shows a strength of character. I think a big part of their healing came from living in Italy itself. Paula found healing and solace in the daily routine of walking to the outdoor market in the piazza to pick out their food for the day, preparing and cooking their meals. Interspersed throughout the book, she shared stories about growing up, her parents, her mother's fight with depression and most of all, memories of family meals. Christmas and other holidays centered about the food, not the event.

 

Since we aren't financially independent enough to travel the world, taste testing all the way, we'll be vicariously journeying and eating our way around the world through culinary memoirs.

 

My challenge to you is to read a book about food - a chef's memoir, history of food, etc, And since we've been traveling through Canada during the Continental challenge, be sure to check out one of Canada's best well known chef's Michael Smith and try out some of his recipes and let us know how it turned out.

 

I've also linked to a few other chef memoirs on 52 Books to get you started.

 

What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

 

Link to week 6

[Robin M]

I just completed my first non fiction read for inspiration challenge: Echoing Silence: Thomas Merton and the Vocation of Writing edited by Robert Inchausti. It was comprised of essays from many of his books and interesting to see his thoughts over the years about writing and all the authors he corresponded with. Moving on to Pope Benedict's Jesus Of Nazareth: Holy Week from the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection and Thomas Merton's New Seeds of Contemplation for Lent. Started New Seeds this morning and it is absolutely food for the soul - enjoying it.

 

Besides the two books which are still in progress - Christopher Vogler's The Writer's Journey and Neubauer's Write Brain Exercise Workbook I'll be reading James Scott Bell's The Art of War for Writers. I know it sounds like a lot, but spread out over a week's period of time, my morning study time moves rather quickly.

 

Fiction wise, I'm currently listening to the audio book of Charles Dicken's Oliver Twist in the car and reading the hardback of Deborah Crombie's No Mark Upon Her. As you can see, I've moved on the D's in my A to Z challenge and waiting in the wings is Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop and Robert Jordan's The Dragon Reborn.

 

And last but not least, delving into Yes, Your Teen is Crazy: Loving your Kid without Losing Your Mind by Michael Bradley, which was recommended to us and is a guide to how to deal with those tumultuous teenage years. Speaking of teenagers, we are coming up on the deadline for spending the educational monies Visions gave us for the year. James seems to be like his father and prefers non fiction over fiction. Unless it's a comic book. I was coming up with a list of things to order and asked him what he'd like to read. He asked for - biography of Obama, Hitler, Queen Elizabeth, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. Plus Commodore Perry in the land of the Shogun. My son has an interesting mind. I'll let you know which one we end up reading first. :)

[tammyw]

I had a bumpy week. I was reading From Beirut to Jerusalem and couldn't finish it quickly. I'll continue reading it, but probably only a chapter a week. In the meantime, I picked up a fiction book The Kite Runner. I prefer non-fiction, but I liked that there was also lots of "real" stuff in there. It was a bit contrived at parts, but I still really liked it. It was the first book that made me cry in a while. I definitely want to read his other Book A Thousand Splendid Suns, soon.

[MomtoCandJ]

Finished Cleaning House and The Reading Promise. I'm now reading The Saint Who Would Be Santa Claus.

[thessa516]

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

4. Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures of the World's Most Wanted Hacker by Kevin Mitncick

5. Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir by Jenny Lawson

6. The Friday Society by Adrienne Kress

 

I'm still reading Deconstructing Penguins. Not a lot of reading this week; I'm immersed in TWSS DVDs. BUT, I'm excited about the food reading challenge! Food? Check. Reading? Check. Yeah, I'm in! :drool5:

[Remudamom]

Here is what I'm reading. A bit dry but interesting.

 

http://www.amazon.co...e to lady astor

[Ali in OR]

Finished The Sun Also Rises. I'll enjoy discussing it with my book club--reading it as an adult (and after reading Paris Wife) is a lot different than reading it as a high school student with little life experience.

 

Now reading the new Flavia de Luce book--Speaking from Among the Bones. I was first in line for the library copy. Still reading ChiRunning too.

[Tullia]

Completed in 2013:

1. Night and Day (I'm not generally a fan of Woolf, but enjoyed this one.)
   
2. Anne of Avonlea (I missed out on the Anne books as a child and wish I'd read them.)
   
3. Anne of the Island (")
   
4. Wait for Me (Moderately interesting story line, but not one I'd recommend.)
   
5. Evening in the Palace of Reason (This is on my list of books which deserve a second reading.)
   
6. Whose Body? (An old favorite in a new format--Kindle deal.)
   
7. Clouds of Witness (")
   
8. The Diamond Age (Putting this on the list for reading again; I had trouble following the Primer narrative and spent way too much time on rabbit trails involving Stephenson's invented words. The friend who introduced me to Stephenson's work chided me for not reading Snow Crash first so I'll put that and Cryptonomicon on my list.)
   

This week:

A Study in Scarlet

The Magician's Twin: C. S. Lewis on Science, Scientism, and Society

[Onceuponatime]

I just finished Death Cap Dancers by Gladys Mitchell and am reading Jesus and Paul by James Tabor.

[Lady Florida.]

I didn't post in Week Six because I hadn't finished any books the week before, but I did read the thread.

 

I've since finished:

 

The Final Detail, Harlen Coben - I'm getting close to the end of this series and will miss it. I tried to read some of his stand-alone novels, but I don't like them as much as the Myron Bolitar series.

 

Sophia Loren's Recipes and Memories - I loved this because she is from the same area (not the same town) as my great-grandparents. I recognized a lot of the dishes that were from the Naples area, though I definitely noticed how my family Americanized them.

 

Still reading Pride & Prejudice. I pick it up when I just have a few minutes to read and don't want to get involved in a story that's not familiar. I couldn't resist checking out the Colin Firth BBC adaptation from the library, and watched that last week.

 

I started Midnight Cowboy today. I picked up the Kindle version for free (not free now) nearly 2 years ago, so it's my dusty book for February. I'm only a few chapters in, and it already grabbed me. I've never seen the movie all the way through, and will probably watch it on Netfilx after I finish the book.

[BigMamaBird]

After doing some pretty hard core "serious" Lit. I decided to take a break this week and read something enjoyable. I'm almost done with Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. I love her books!

 

For Lent I'm going to read books about my faith. The first one I'm going to tackles is Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.

 

Completed Books

 

1 - All the King's Men – Robert Penn Warren

2 - A Stranger in a Strange Land – Robert Heinlein

3 - A Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood

4 - Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger

5 - Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury

6 - The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck

[Rosyl]

I am so excited I actually get to post a finished book at the beginning of the week for the first time this year.7}The Year of Learning Dangerously by Quinn Cummings 6} Emma by Jane Austen 5} A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson 4} Hannah's Joy by Marta Perry 3} A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck. 2} Secrets at Sea by Richard Peck 1} His Love Endures Forever by Beth Wiseman

[Kareni]

I've read another book of Thea Harrison's -- Serpent's Kiss (A Novel of the Elder Races). I've been reading the series out of order (first, fifth, fourth, and now third). It took me about fifty pages to get into the story and had I not spent money on it, I'd have likely set it aside. I'm glad I didn't as I enjoyed the book. My favorite is still the first in the series -- Dragon Bound.

 

I also went on a Rachel Gibson kick and re-read her romances Nothing But Trouble, Any Man of Mine, and True Love and Other Disasters. These three are all from her Chinook hockey series. I also re-read Rescue Me and Not Another Bad Date.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Robin M]

BUT, I'm excited about the food reading challenge! Food? Check. Reading? Check. Yeah, I'm in! :drool5:

 

 

Drool is right. As you can imagine, by the time I was done writing the post, after looking up all those books about food, I was starving! :tongue_smilie:

[winoelle]

I just found this thread and I am going to go ahead and join in, albeit a little late to the party! Here is what I am currently reading:

 

Revolutionary Mothers - Carol Berkin

Year Zero - Rob Reid

Palace of Stone - Shannon Hale (listening in the car with dd11)

 

I am optimistic that I will finish all three this week and start something new. I am going to look for something food related since that sounds fun, and I have a book about Betsy Ross in my pile.

[LostSurprise]

1. 
   
2. The Diamond Age (Putting this on the list for reading again; I had trouble following the Primer narrative and spent way too much time on rabbit trails involving Stephenson's invented words. The friend who introduced me to Stephenson's work chided me for not reading Snow Crash first so I'll put that and Cryptonomicon on my list.)
   

 

I don't know if its sad...but I didn't even notice the invented words and I was most fascinated by the primer. :tongue_smilie:

 

What do you think of the educational implications of narrative as an educational tool?

 

What do you think of his discussion about needing a stable emotional link for the student (having the same caring tutor vs. many tutors to connect to)?

 

What do you think about the fact that in his narrative having someone too close, or too desperate to connect to the student may mean the student doesn't challenge themselves enough?

 

My other interest in the novel was the human need to create tribes, and the effect of tribes on survival. I think someone could write a long paper on the different tribes in that novel...some very anarchic and others created by philosophy or people group.

[Jane in NC]

Well I won't be winning any prizes for quantity of books. I did finish #5 for the year, Christopher Benfey's memoir/sweeping history Red Brick, Black Mountain, White Clay which I loved. Benfey's Quaker roots are woven into the fabric of North Carolina--or should I say wedged into the clay of this state? In his book he visits Seagrove potters and relates pre-revolutionary tales of explorers going into Cherokee lands to find the kaolin that is a necessary ingredient in porcelain. This memoir is quite the ramble as people like Josiah Wedgwood and Joseph Albers enter the story. I think NC clay must live in my bloodstream because of the work that I have done with it. This book really resonated.

I am still listening to P.G. Wodehouse's Uneasy Money. This was in the background as I finished knitting a baby bib and started the next pair of socks.

And I am still reading Tom Jones. Who can not grin when reading Fielding?

[M]any a woman who shrieks at a mouse, or rat, may be capable of poisoning a husband; or, what is worse, of driving him to poison himself.

I mentioned this in another thread but it seems appropriate here. Stacia offered a Valentine craft link to the How About Orange blog where I found a tutorial to make some postcard wall art. The given example uses postcards made from vintage Penguin book covers:




Here is a close up:
 

[Violet Crown]

 

And I am still reading Tom Jones. Who can not grin when reading Fielding?

 

 

I mentioned this in another thread but it seems appropriate here. Stacia offered a Valentine craft link to the How About Orange blog where I found a tutorial to make some postcard wall art. The given example uses postcards made from vintage Penguin book covers:

 

On Book X right now. I'd forgotten the introductory chapter essays; they almost form a book-within-a-book, don't they?

 

Love the wall art.

[Just Robyn]

I finally finished The Power of Half by Kevin and Hannah Salwen (Dewey Decimal 100s) and The Story of the Stone by Barry Hughart. I love Hughart's books - a combination of mystery, fantasy, humor (though sometimes crude) and Chinese culture.

Yesterday I read Principia Discordia, Or, How I Found the Goddess and What I Did to Her When I Found Her by Malaclypse the Younger (Dewey Decimal 200s). I was surprised by this book. It's one dh has wanted me to read for some time. I thought it would just be silly and funny, but there are some serious messages, some philosophy, embedded in the chaos. I'm a convert. Hail Eris!



I have started reading the newest Gail Carriger book, Etiquette and Espionage, and the second book in the Charlotte Mason series, Parents and Children (Dewey Decimal 300s).

[Stacia]

And I am still reading Tom Jones. Who can not grin when reading Fielding?

 

When you share such awesome quotes, you may just make me jump in & read Tom Jones too.... :D

 

P.S. Jane & VioletCrown, what versions/editions of Tom Jones are you reading? Any that are recommended...???

[WiseOwlKnits]

Finished last week: Prized and Promised. This week I'm reading The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.

 

My list so far:

 

My Wilder Life

Oryx and Crake

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

The Light Between Oceans

Dragon House

Birthmarked

Prized

Promised

[Narrow Gate Academy]

I needed a break from Dickens last week, so I decided to try The Lightning Thief by Riordan for book number 7 and reviewed it. I have several other books in my TBR stack that I've pulled from the past couple of weeks of threads either because they caught my interest or because I thought my oldest DD might possibly enjoy them. (She wants a list of new book ideas for her to read for her birthday next month, and I'm running out of classic literature selections.) I need to finish Oliver Twist this week for discussion and start The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Twain to discuss with other DD next week. Thinking I'll give The Neverending Story a try next if I can squeeze it in.

 

Ongoing

One Year Bible

Oliver Twist by Dickens

Glittering Images by Howatch

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with DS8

 

Finished

7. The Lightning Thief by Riordan

6; Children of the New Forest by Marryat

5. The Black Cauldron by Alexander

4. Anne of Avonlea by Montgomery

3. Anne of Green Gables by Montgomery

2. Talking Money by Chatzky

1. Pride and Prejudice by Austen

[Jane in NC]

When you share such awesome quotes, you may just make me jump in & read Tom Jones too.... :D

 

P.S. Jane & VioletCrown, what versions/editions of Tom Jones are you reading? Any that are recommended...???

 

I believe that VC is reading Tom Jones on her Kindle--useful for such a chunkster. I am reading the 1952 Heritage Press edition, picked up for $1 at a library book sale. My edition has magnificent illustrations by T.M. Cleland.

[Jane in NC]

On Book X right now. I'd forgotten the introductory chapter essays; they almost form a book-within-a-book, don't they?

 

Love the wall art.

 

I love the introductory chapters so much that I often reread them immediately. This is something that I don't believe I fully appreciated in my youth!

[Elinor Everywhere]

Currently reading:

The Bull Years, by Phil Stern

The Iliad (Robert Fagles translation)

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley - audiobook, which I rarely make the time to listen to!

 

Finished books:

1) South to Alaska, by Nancy Owens Barnes

2) Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey, by the Countess of Carnarvon

3) My Dear Charlotte, by Hazel Holt

4) Perfect Health Diet, by Paul Jaminet

5) The Mousetrap, by Ruth Hanka Eigner

6) Unbroken: A WWII Story of Survival, Resilience, & Redemption, by Laura Hillenbrand

7) Bhagavad Gita: The Song of God, by Swami Prabhavananda

8) Agincourt: A Novel, by Bernard Cornwell

9) Big Backpack - Little World, by Donna Morang

10) Memoirs of a Gnostic Dwarf, by David Madsen

11) Worship Without Words: The Signs & Symbols of our Faith, by Patricia S. Klein

12) The Life and Prayers of Saint Augustine of Hippo, by Wyatt North

13) Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen

14) How to Disappear Completely, by Annika Howells

15) French Fried: One Man’s Move to France With Too Many Animals & an Identity Theft!, by Chris Dolley

 

On hold or abandoned....

Whose Body? (Lord Peter Wimsey series), by Dorothy L. Sayers. I WANT to like it, but when I'm reading I just keep saying to myself, "blah, blah, blah, on and on..." I feel like I'm reading it while I'm planning my shopping list, thinking about errands I have to run, or just thinking random thoughts - anything but really paying attention to the story. So for now, I've moved on.

[Tullia]

I don't know if its sad...but I didn't even notice the invented words and I was most fascinated by the primer. :tongue_smilie: Oh, you see I collect interesting words and Stephenson's powers of invention are fascinating to me. I enjoyed the primer...I just have this thing about jumping around within the narrative. I've read LOtR so many times that I now follow the characters instead of the actual page order.

 

What do you think of the educational implications of narrative as an educational tool? Is there any other? :D Seriously, I would say that narrative is an essential teaching tool and the older I get the more I believe it. ETA: It's so useful at combining different elements into a coherent whole.

 

What do you think of his discussion about needing a stable emotional link for the student (having the same caring tutor vs. many tutors to connect to)? The thing that jumped out at me was that the relationship between Nell and Miranda seemed to be mostly positive while Fiona's relationship with her father as mediated by the primer was darker--he didn't know what was going on in his life and I think the uncertainty communicated itself and was not helpful to Fiona.

 

What do you think about the fact that in his narrative having someone too close, or too desperate to connect to the student may mean the student doesn't challenge themselves enough? Your question makes me wish I'd taken more time to think about that, but wold love to hear your thoughts.

 

My other interest in the novel was the human need to create tribes, and the effect of tribes on survival. I think someone could write a long paper on the different tribes in that novel...some very anarchic and others created by philosophy or people group. Yes, I enjoyed that aspect as much as Nell's story--I liked Judge Fang's digressions on political philosophy and how that translated to stability of the different tribes.

 

 

I was also unnerved by the casual acceptance of the nano-pollution. Of course, I expect the point is that we put up with horrifying things once they become familiar enough. I also want to know more abut how/why Bud made his way to SE Asia. When you strip away the techno-glitter, though, the world of Diamond Age isn't all that unfamiliar.

Edited February 10, 2013 by Tullia

[Murmer]

Finished: No Phule Like an Old Phule by Robert Aspirin

 

Currently Working On:

Downstairs: West With the Night by Beryl Markham

Upstairs: MC Higgins the Great by Virginia Hamilton

Kindle: Forever More by Kathy Hake

IPhone: Katy's New World by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Sweet Boy Read Aloud: The Yellow Fairy Book

Angel Girl Read Aloud: The Wind In The Willows

WTM: Don Quixote

IPad: Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town by Stephen Leacock (for Canada)

Book Club: Why are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria by Beverly Daniel Tatum

 

Total Finished in 2013: 11

[Murmer]

Finished: No Phule Like an Old Phule by Robert Aspirin

 

Currently Working On:

Downstairs: West With the Night by Beryl Markham

Upstairs: MC Higgins the Great by Virginia Hamilton

Kindle: Forever More by Kathy Hake

IPhone: Katy's New World by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Sweet Boy Read Aloud: The Yellow Fairy Book

Angel Girl Read Aloud: The Wind In The Willows

WTM: Don Quixote

IPad: Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town by Stephen Leacock (for Canada)

Book Club: Why are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria by Beverly Daniel Tatum

 

Total Finished in 2013: 11

[prairiegirl]

This week I finished Envious Casca by Georgette Heyer (my first Heyer book but not my last,) 'Now You See Me' by S.J.Bolton (good fluff story but extremely gruesome, I don't know whether I will be reading any more of Bolton's books) and 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks' by Mary Norton. I am currently on Book #13 'Publish and Perish' by Sally Wright.

[Heather in Neverland]

Started Reading:

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley (Canadian author, DD class 800)

 

Still Reading:

Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald (American author, DD class 100)

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

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

 

Finished:

7. The Bungalow by Sarah Jio (American author, DD class 800)

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

5. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen (American author, DD class 800)

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)

 

[VeganCupcake]

When you share such awesome quotes, you may just make me jump in & read Tom Jones too.... :D

 

P.S. Jane & VioletCrown, what versions/editions of Tom Jones are you reading? Any that are recommended...???

 

I have a free Kindle edition from Penguin Classics. Much easier to handle than a 1000 page paperback. :)

[Kareni]

I've spent much of the day reading Flat-Out Love by Jessica Park. It was a touching young adult novel, and I enjoyed it.

 

From the back cover: "Flat-Out Love is a warm and witty novel of family love and dysfunction, deep heartache and raw vulnerability, with a bit of mystery and one whopping, knock-you-to-your-knees romance.

 

Something is seriously off in the Watkins home. And Julie Seagle, college freshman, small-town Ohio transplant, and the newest resident of this Boston house, is determined to get to the bottom of it.

 

When Julie's off-campus housing falls through, her mother's old college roommate, Erin Watkins, invites her to move in. The parents, Erin and Roger, are welcoming, but emotionally distant and academically driven to eccentric extremes. The middle child, Matt, is an MIT tech geek with a sweet side ... and the social skills of a spool of USB cable. The youngest, Celeste, is a frighteningly bright but freakishly fastidious 13-year-old who hauls around a life-sized cardboard cutout of her oldest brother almost everywhere she goes.

 

And there's that oldest brother, Finn: funny, gorgeous, smart, sensitive, almost emotionally available. Geographically? Definitely unavailable. That's because Finn is traveling the world and surfacing only for random Facebook chats, e-mails, and status updates. Before long, through late-night exchanges of disembodied text, he begins to stir something tender and silly and maybe even a little bit sexy in Julie's suddenly lonesome soul."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[SunnyDays]

Today I'll be finishing up Blue Zones by Dan Buettner. That will make 12 books completed for the year.

 

As luck would have it, the next book on my list is about food! :) I am going to read The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. The catch is, I got it from the library e-book service, and didn't realize at first it was the young reader version - oops! But I'm going to go ahead and read it because I'm sure there will be good parts to share with my son.

 

After that... one of the couple dozen books waiting on my Kindle!!

[ariasmommy]

My challenge to you is to read a book about food - a chef's memoir, history of food, etc,

 

 

As luck would have it, the next book on my list is about food! :) I am going to read The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan.

 

I'm in! SunnyDays, your post reminded me that I have Wendell Berry's Bringing It to the Table on my bookshelf (Michael Pollan wrote the intro).

 

I finished an audiobook yesterday:

#9 Lady of Quality by Georgette Heyer - I'm sorry to say it's the first book on my Goodreads list to earn a 2 star rating. Disappointing, as I enjoyed Cotillian so much last year.

[rwjx2khsmj]

This week I finished The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman. A very engaging story. I felt like I learned something and spent some time thinking. Both good things when reading fiction. This book wasn't as weirdly mystical as some of Hoffman's stories. I was surprised because I was really expecting it to be WAY out there. Maybe I was just expecting it so prayers, amulets and such didn't seem so bizarre.

 

Currently, I'm reading The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry. I've been reading lots of selections lately about relationships among women.

• Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich
  
• Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
  
• What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
  
• Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
  
• Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
  
• The Merchant's Daughter by Melanie Dickerson
  
• Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
  
• All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
  
• The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had by Kristin Levine
  
• Marmee & Louisa: The Untold Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Mother by Eve LaPlante
  
• Elsewhere: A Memoir by Richard Russo
  

[VeganCupcake]

I love the culinary challenge; I have quite a few books on my wish list that deal with food. I just have to decide which one to jump into!

 

I finished The Panic Virus by Seth Mnookin. It is about the anti-vaccine movement that essentially started with Andrew Wakefield in 1998. I found it absolutely fascinating, especially the discussion of cognitive biases and the scientific method, and the way all this played out (and continues to play out) in the media and online.

[Stacia]

Thanks for the feedback on Tom Jones. My library has various copies. At least there's not a waitlist, so I'd be able to renew it a few times too.... http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/wink.gif http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/tongue_smilie.gif (I don't have a Kindle, so that option doesn't really work for me. I do have the Kindle software loaded on my computer, but sitting at my computer reading such a long book does not seem esp. appealing.)

 

Currently, I'm reading The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry. I've been reading lots of selections lately about relationships among women.

I have this sitting here to read. Not sure if I'll start it soon or just return it for now. (I have a pretty big stack of books right now....)

 

Yesterday, I finished A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes. I found it to be an odd & fairly riveting mix of innocence & fun amid the macabre & inhumane. It's also a fascinating study of being civilized vs. uncivilized (in respect to children vs. adults, 'civilized' folks vs. pirates, etc...), moral vs. amoral, & thoughts/perceptions vs. reality. It can be read as an entertaining tale or as something deeper with plenty to chew on.... Definitely not a kids' tale, rather a tale of kids & pirates for adults.

 

Currently, I'm reading The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye by A.S. Byatt.

 

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

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 (Canada); Dewey Decimal – 900s.

02. Equator by Miguel Sousa Tavares (3 stars). Challenges: Dusty; Continental – Europe (Portugal) & Africa (São Tomé and Príncipe).

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 (USA).

05. The Twelve Rooms of the Nile by Enid Shomer (3.5 stars). Challenge: Continental – Africa (Egypt).

06. The Hard Way by Lee Child (2 stars).

07. The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy (3 stars).

08. Daughters of Copper Woman by Anne Cameron (3.5 stars). Challenge: Continental – North America (Canada).

09. A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes (3.5 stars).

[MarinesWife]

This week I finished The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman. A very engaging story. I felt like I learned something and spent some time thinking. Both good things when reading fiction. This book wasn't as weirdly mystical as some of Hoffman's stories. I was surprised because I was really expecting it to be WAY out there. Maybe I was just expecting it so prayers, amulets and such didn't seem so bizarre.

 

Currently, I'm reading The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry. I've been reading lots of selections lately about relationships among women.

• Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich

• Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver

• What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

• Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

• Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

• The Merchant's Daughter by Melanie Dickerson

• Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

• All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

• The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had by Kristin Levine

• Marmee & Louisa: The Untold Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Mother by Eve LaPlante

• Elsewhere: A Memoir by Richard Russo

 

 

 

I don't know if you mentioned it in a previous Book a Week thread, but what did you think of Gone Girl? I read it last year and the book really stuck with me. I was revolted and fascinated at the same time ... and when it ended I just .. sat there. I couldn't even figure out what I thought about the ending!

[MarinesWife]

I had a bumpy week. I was reading From Beirut to Jerusalem and couldn't finish it quickly. I'll continue reading it, but probably only a chapter a week. In the meantime, I picked up a fiction book The Kite Runner. I prefer non-fiction, but I liked that there was also lots of "real" stuff in there. It was a bit contrived at parts, but I still really liked it. It was the first book that made me cry in a while. I definitely want to read his other Book A Thousand Splendid Suns, soon.

 

 

 

A Thousand Splendid Suns is so good ... it's hard to read in so many parts, and yet just so good! Definitely a book that stuck with me for a long time.

[aggieamy]

Robin - I just got back on Weight Watchers and now you're doing a book/food challenge. :tongue_smilie: No problem. I'm find a healthy eating book to read for the challenge. :)

 

As always - Love this thread. Thanks for starting it!

 

On hold or abandoned....

Whose Body? (Lord Peter Wimsey series), by Dorothy L. Sayers. I WANT to like it, but when I'm reading I just keep saying to myself, "blah, blah, blah, on and on..." I feel like I'm reading it while I'm planning my shopping list, thinking about errands I have to run, or just thinking random thoughts - anything but really paying attention to the story. So for now, I've moved on.

 

 

After all the rave reviews on here I read this last year and was ... bored. I got through it because it wasn't that long but I intended to never pick up a Lord Peter book again. AND I love all things British and particularly all things British mystery so I was suprised I didn't like them. (The British gentry have just a simply lovely way of murdering people. :)) Based on all the reviews and love on here I picked up the second book in the series earlier this year and loved it. It had been so long since I read the first one that I couldn't tell you exactly what was different but I encourage you not to give up on the series if Brit Mysteries are a genre you enjoy.

 

After doing some pretty hard core "serious" Lit. I decided to take a break this week and read something enjoyable. I'm almost done with Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. I love her books!

 

 

Me too! I just finished that same book in the last few weeks. What's your favorite Agatha Christie book?

[joannqn]

I'm still bumping along reading YA books with my kids, for the most part.

 

I finished

3. Face the Winter Naket by Donnie Turner -- Set in the Great Depression, it follows a man who is suffering from PTSD from the war and the fact that he can't support his family. So, he leaves them, without saying goodbye. The book switches back and forth between telling his story on the road and with his thoughts and his wife's story back home trying to get her children fed.

 

4. Water Street by Patricia Reilly Giff -- Set during the Irish Potato Famine, this book continues the story of Nory from Nory Ryan's Song and Maggie's Door. This story focuses mostly on her daughter. It's a coming of age story and depicts some of the difficulties of being Irish in America.

 

5. The Wave by Todd Strasser -- This is a novelization of the ABC Afterschool Special by the same title. Both are based on the true story of Ron Jones, a California history teacher, and his students as they learn first-hand how easily people can be manipulated into following a dictator. While the book is a literary classic, the subject matter is fascinating. A 2011 German movie modernized the story and changed the ending. It isn't rated, but is probably PG13. A documentary by the title, Lesson Plan, filmed in 2011 is simply interviews with the original teachers, some of his students, and even some students and parents not part of the experiment.

 

I'm currently partway through Caddie Woodlawn (kids are done, we are moving onto other topics so I probably won't finish this one), All Quiet on the Western Front (our next lit selection), America in the 1910s, The Help, and Christlike Parenting.

[Rose in BC]

Week one: The Father's Tale, Michael O'Brien

Week two: 30 Days to Social Media by Gail Z Martin (professional development)

Week three: Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese

Week four: The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman

Week five: Collaboration Handbook, by Winer & Ray (reading it for professional develpment ).

 

Week six: Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts

Week seven: the Forgotten Garden, Kate Morton

[Giraffe]

Well, for me it was a bad reading week. Too many unfriendly reading conditions and too many demands on my time. Grumble. I'm hoping that this week will be more productive, but I seem to have more on my plate than I realized or anticipated.

 

Still working on Switch: How To Change Things When Change Is Hard. I find it incredibly practical and useful. Kinda wishing it wasn't a library book on my Kindle.

 

Finished:

The Handmaid's Tale, Atwood

The Song of Achilles, Miller

Alias Grace, Atwood

Book Was There: Reading In Electronic Times, Piper

 

In Process:

The Iliad, Homer

The Histories, Herodotus

Switch: How To Change Things When Change Is Hard. Heath

 

 

AggieAmy, would you mind horribly if I co-opted your rating system?

[aggieamy]

AggieAmy, would you mind horribly if I co-opted your rating system?

 

 

Help yourself. It's kind of conglomerate of other systems I've seen so I can't claim copyrights to it.

 

Hope you get a week of relaxing and good reading in.

[Giraffe]

Started Reading:

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley (Canadian author, DD class 800)

 

 

I really liked that book. I sort of saw the ending coming, but I was a nice read regardless.

[LNC]

Old Fashioned Girl, by Louisa May Alcott-

My daughter begged me to read this. She underlined her favorite parts, some about a loving mom, and wrote a notation about me in the margin. :) It is a lovely book.

 

The Bungalow, Sarah Jio- next up

 

Story of Liberty, Charles Coffin - assigning the children 3x chapter a week MWF. I'm reading ahead to discuss. I'm glad I did be the opening chapter is kn the Magna Charta. His opening describes the need to reign in the absolute power of the monarchy. His illustration is Richard the Lionhearted's cannibalism during the Crusaades. Yikes! Didn't come across THAT in any other spines! Does anyone know?

 

Men of Iron, Pyle - read aloud. We are all loving it.

[Luckymama]

 

I also went on a Rachel Gibson kick

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

I love Rachel Gibson---she is one of my auto-buy authors!

 

Old Fashioned Girl, by Louisa May Alcott-

My daughter begged me to read this. She underlined her favorite parts, some about a loving mom, and wrote a notation about me in the margin. :) It is a lovely book.

 

How sweet :) Have you read other LMA books? I love Eight Cousins and Rose in Bloom.

 

 

Culinary books----I've read a few this year already. I have An Everlasting Meal by Tamara Adler waiting on the shelf right behind me :)

[UrbanSue]

I finished

 

6. Acedia and Me, by Kathleen Norris.

7. Carney's House Party, by Maud Hart Lovelace

 

The Norris book . . . I don't know what to say. I'll probably blog about it at some length. I found the stuff just on acedia itself really thought provoking. I found her biographical stuff depressing and kind of boring. I usually love biographies, and I'm not sure she intended to be depressing even though she was sometimes writing about depression.

 

The Maud Hart Lovelace book was just for fun. Part of my goal with this challenge is to pre-read more of the books my kids read and also to read some "kids classics" that I missed as a kid. I also just really wanted something quick. This took me 2.5 hours and it was just delightful. My daughter and I discovered the Betsy-Tacy books together last fall. She loves them but lost interest when Besty got to high school. I finished the series except for this one about Carney. It's not deep or anything but it is so refreshing to read a lovely story, told very well.

 

This is break week for us and I can't decide if I want to polish off a couple of other quick reads or spend the entire week plugging ahead with Gotham. I still have more than 1000 pages to go. This book makes me want to buy a Kindle just so I can read it one-handed. The tome practically needs its own stand. So I never grab it on the fly, which is when I get most of my reading done! It is a fabulous history, though. One of these days I'll finish it!

[Kim in Appalachia]

I just got, and read through in a night, Lauren Brooks Kettlebells for Women book. Not a thrilling read, but I'm looking forward to working through it. :)

 

I'm also reading Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash. It's well written, exciting, and even funny, but I'm having a hard time getting my head in it. My brain wants to go back to Earthsea (Ursala LeGuin's novels). I have the book on my Kindle, and it's a library loan. I don't know if I'll be able to finish on time.

[TammyinTN]

This week I'm reading Quilting Bee...short read because I have 100 projects going at once. ;)