Book a Week in 2013 - week ten

[Annabel Lee]

Well I'm finally dipping my toe in over here, due to the warm response to my other thread. :seeya: I'll join, but I can't promise any numbers. I didn't realize books we read to or with our kids for homeschool "count" if we want them to, so those & audiobooks will help a bit.

 

I have the problem of starting a book and getting too busy with other things to get back to it, even if it's one I truly enjoy. During my kids' sports seasons, I have plenty of reading time while waiting for kids inbetween practices/lessons.

 

I'm a bit of a budding Tolkein nerd, so you'll all have to live with that. I finished The Hobbit and am finishing up TFotR. His writing is pure brilliance.

I also finished the first 3 Redwall books as read alouds.

 

I started and have not finished:

The History of the Ancient World (SWB)

The Aeneid by Virgil

The Optimistic Child

The Power of a Positive Mom (with devotional journal)

 

After reading the threads above, I had forgotten I wanted to read The Hunger Games to check them out for ds.

 

DD is reading Night by Eli Wiesel and that sparked the strong emotions I remember having when I read it at her age, so I want to re-read that to discuss w/ her. It's short and gripping, so even though it's emotionally heavy, it will be a fast read.

 

I suppose I need to pick just a few to focus on and get them done.

[aggieamy]

Well I'm finally dipping my toe in over here, due to the warm response to my other thread. :seeya: I'll join, but I can't promise any numbers. I didn't realize books we read to or with our kids for homeschool "count" if we want them to, so those & audiobooks will help a bit.

 

Welcome! Don't worry about numbers just read and enjoy hanging out here.

 

It’s taken me awhile but I finished EntreLeadership by Dave Ramsey. One of my resolutions this year was to read more “business†books and this is one I’ve had on my shelf for awhile. I’m a huge Dave Ramsey fan and DH and I have benefitted greatly by his debt-free living plan so I went into this book expecting to really enjoy it. His advice (and he will admit this) is usually common sense stuff – some of it you already know and some of it is new but good. This book is more of the same of that. So did I like it? Meh. I think DR’s personality was featured a little too strongly in the book and it came as a bit of a turn off. He’s REALLY rich and I thought he was reminding us of that frequently. His attempts to come off as humble worked about half the time and the other half of the time I felt like I was being reminded that he was REALLY rich. An editor should have taken care of that better. I’d recommend this book to someone that has a business because there is some basic information that is good to be reminded of but I’d also give them permission to skim parts.

 

In Progress:

 

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (read aloud)

Mrs. McGinty’s Dead by Agatha Christie (audiobook – just me)

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt (Ladies book club)

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (book club)

The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy GIlman

 

2013 finished books:

 

23. EntreLeadership by Dave Ramsey (***)

22. The Children of Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren (*****)

21. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien (*****)

20. Down the Mysterly River by Bill Willingham (***)

19. Five Children and It by E. Nesbit (***)

18. Asleep by Banana Yoshimoto (****)

17. The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman (****)

16. Organizing from the Inside Out by Julie Morgenstern (***)

15. Getting Things Done by David Allen (****)

14. The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit (****)

13. Clouds of Witness by Dorothy Sayers (****)

12. The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan (****)

11. Toliver’s Secret by Esther Wood Brady (***)

 

 

Amy's Rating System:

 

***** - Fantastic, couldn't put it down

**** - Very good

*** - Enjoyable but nothing special

** - Not recommended

* - Horrible

[LostSurprise]

I love AS Byatt. She understands that uniquely Victorian tone, without pretending that all good people of any era have our modern tastes/beliefs. I read The Children's Book last year and liked it. The creepy Angels & Insects is probably my favorite, but Possession is great fun and one of her more approachable.

 

Down the Garden Path:

 

There are a few large sections with actual gardening and little humor, so I'm not sure this book is for everyone. But then there are great lines to make up for it.

 

"Certain very definite and very ludicrous things have to be done before one has babies. One cannot have them with one eye on the sunset and the other eye on the Oxford book of English Verse."

 

After going on and on about how wonderful this stolid author of a book on winter flowers is, he says, "he has not scratched my back, nor have I scratched his. Nor do I expect to, though I should like to stroke his back, very gently and with a decently controlled ecstasy, for the pleasure and instruction he has given me." Stuff like that comes out of nowhere.

 

I like his whimsy and his ability to realize his own ridiculousness without doubting the heart of who he is.

[jenangelcat]

I didn't read anything last week. It was a bad week. Then my ipad charger cord died so I'm on a forced break from Swann's Way. I started my paperback copy of Wuthering Heights. It's been a much easier read than Jane Eyre but I cannot stand the love interests. I realized that maybe the reason that I don't like these two books is because they are romance novels.

[Lady Florida.]

I finished The Mummy. IMO most of today's writers of paranormal/vampires/zombies can't hold a candle to Anne Rice.

 

My next Myron Bolitar ebook is ready for download from the library. Darkest Fear.

 

also in progress:

 

audio book - The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison

ebooks - Anna Karenina, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

[SilverFirefly]

Speaking of Julio Cortazar - are you ready for a challenging readalong? Stacia talked me into it so we going to tackle reading Hopscotch by Argentinian novelist Julio Cortazar and will begin March 10th.

 

For those who aren't interested in Hopscotch, in April (dated to be determined) we will be doing a readalong of the chunkster IQ84 by Haruki Murakami.

 

This it probably a total newby question...but how exactly does a readalong work?

[Lady Florida.]

Well I'm finally dipping my toe in over here, due to the warm response to my other thread. :seeya: I'll join,

 

Welcome. :seeya:

 

After reading the threads above, I had forgotten I wanted to read The Hunger Games to check them out for ds.

 

 

 

One of the best things about this group is getting ideas for books to read, or even just being reminded of one whose title you put on the back burner of your mind.

[Storm Bay]

5 stars to

Not all of it made me laugh out loud, but at least one scene had me laughing so hard for so long I couldn't believe it. Thanks for all the good reviews that helped lead me to listening to this. I learned about Jeeves here first.

 

Ooh, that looks interesting.

 

Also, thanks for saying that you are "listening" to a Jeeves book. I have Carry On, Jeeves, but I can't get into it. I looked it up at my library, and I can get it as an audible download for my tablet. Thanks!

 

 

See if you can get one read by Jonathan Cecil as he's quite good. I liked his reading so much that I took all but the recordings by him back to the library. It may be that there are other good readers, but I'm sticking with this one.

[Robin M]

This it probably a total newby question...but how exactly does a readalong work?

 

Our readalongs are all very casual and basically just reading the same book at the same time. The faster readers try to avoid talking too much about plot points in the story until everyone who said they are going to read is done. It's more for encouragement to try a new author or genre and cheerleading and camaraderie more than anything else. The "oh my goodness" or "have you gotten to this point yet" or "can you believe character such and such did this" and "oh my this is drudgery, talk me through it" or "I can't believe I waited until now to read this, it's so good."

[Woodland Mist Academy]

5 stars to

Not all of it made me laugh out loud, but at least one scene had me laughing so hard for so long I couldn't believe it. Thanks for all the good reviews that helped lead me to listening to this. I learned about Jeeves here first.

 

 

I've only read one Jeeves book, but hope to read more. Should they be read in a certain order?

Thanks!

[Robin M]

Well I'm finally dipping my toe in over here, due to the warm response to my other thread. :seeya: I'll join, but I can't promise any numbers. I didn't realize books we read to or with our kids for homeschool "count" if we want them to, so those & audiobooks will help a bit.

 

I have the problem of starting a book and getting too busy with other things to get back to it, even if it's one I truly enjoy. During my kids' sports seasons, I have plenty of reading time while waiting for kids inbetween practices/lessons.

 

I'm a bit of a budding Tolkein nerd, so you'll all have to live with that. I finished The Hobbit and am finishing up TFotR. His writing is pure brilliance.

 

 

Glad you decided to join in. You'll fit in just fine with the rest of us book nerds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking of which - time to torture you guys with more book finds. I came across a list on Flavorwire - 10 Essential Books for Book Nerds

 

Which includes:

 

Mr. Penumbra's Bookstore (have it)

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much (on my wishlist)

The Book Thief (read it)

Books: a Memoir by Larry McMurtry (on my wishlist)

If on a Winter's Night a Traveler (Have it)

The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby

Phantoms on the Bookshelf - Jacques Bonnett

Reading Lolita in Tehran

Ex Libris - confessions of a common reader

Bibliotopia

 

The rest I hadn't heard of til now and all sound really good and are now on my wishlist. Evidence I'm a book nerd.

 

And today is Gabriel Garcia Marquez's birthday so be sure to add one of his books to your list to read for South American Authors.

[Onceuponatime]

Glad you decided to join in. You'll fit in just fine with the rest of us book nerds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking of which - time to torture you guys with more book finds. I came across a list on Flavorwire - 10 Essential Books for Book Nerds

 

Which includes:

 

Mr. Penumbra's Bookstore (have it)

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much (on my wishlist)

The Book Thief (read it)

Books: a Memoir by Larry McMurtry (on my wishlist)

If on a Winter's Night a Traveler (Have it)

The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby

Phantoms on the Bookshelf - Jacques Bonnett

Reading Lolita in Tehran

Ex Libris - confessions of a common reader

Bibliotopia

 

The rest I hadn't heard of til now and all sound really good and are now on my wishlist. Evidence I'm a book nerd.

 

 

 

 

 

Metabooks! I also haven't heard of some on your list. I'm off to check on them.

[Hoot]

Today I finished Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. Meh... While it was mildly interesting, I really didn't get what all the fuss was about.

 

I haven't decided whether my next book will be The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern or The Romanovs: The Final Chapter by Robert K. Massie.

 

Completed So Far

 

1. Best Friends by Samantha Glen

2. Wesley the Owl by Stacey O'Brien

3. The Gift of Pets: Stories Only a Vet Could Tell by Bruce Coston

4. Nim Chimpsky: The Chimp Who Would Be Human by Elizabeth Hess

5. Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams & Mark Carwardine

6. Confessions of a Prairie Bitch by Alison Arngrim

7. Beowulf by Seamus Heaney

8. The Odyssey by Homer (Fagles translation)

9. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

10. The Year of Learning Dangerously: Adventures in Homeschooling by Quinn Cummings

11. Neither Here Nor There by Bill Bryson

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

13. Tales of an African Vet by Dr. Roy Aronson

14. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

[SilverFirefly]

Wow! I am so behind in posting my reading to this thread. How do the weeks fly by so fast? Even if I haven’t been remembering to post I have been reading.

 

Finished:

I finished reading the Junie B. Jones series as a read aloud with DS. The whole series is hilarious. Now we are working on The Magic Tree House books. I’ve been counting each boxed set as a single book. That might be bending the rules a bit, but it’s helping me stomach reading forty of the darn things. I do like them, but they are very formulaic.

 

I read Emily of New Moon by L. M. Montgomery for the Oh Canada and Continental challenges. I liked it but didn’t love it. I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more had I read it as a teen. I just started the second in the trilogy. I finished Peter Pan by J. M. Barre as an audiobook for the Continental. I had forgotten how imaginative this book is. This one I really liked it.

 

My most recent was #18 Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell for my book club (also Chunky and Continental). I wanted to love this book, I really did, but I just didn’t. The unique structure of the book was fascinating but not enough to make up for the holes in the stories and the lack of cohesion.

 

Started:

Emily Climbs by L. M. Montgomery (Oh Canada; Continental)

Magic Tree House Boxed Set, Books 17-20: Tonight on the Titanic, Buffalo Before Breakfast, Tigers at Twilight, and Dingoes at Dinnertime by Mary Pope Osborne

The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess (Continental - USA)

 

Continuing (still...):

Global Health Disparities: Closing the Gap Through Good Governance by Enku Kebede-Francis

Textbook of International Health: Global Health in a Dynamic World by Anne-Emanuelle Birn (Chunky)

The One Year Devotions for Women: Becoming a Woman at Peace by Ann Spangler (Inspiration)

The One Year Chronological Bible NLT (Chunky; Inspiration)

 

2013 Reading Completed

01 - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (Continental - England; ****)

02 - Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll (Continental - England; ****)

03 - When Dad Hurts Mom: Helping Your Child Heal the Wounds of Witnessing Abuse by Lundy Bancroft (****)

04 - The Self-Esteem Workbook by Glenn R. Schiraldi (*)

05 - The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton (Continental - Australia; *****)

06 - Junie B. Jones Complete Collection (#1-24) by Barbara Park (Continental - USA; ****)

07 - Junie B., First Grader: Jingle Bells, Batman Smells! (P.S. So Does May.) (#25) by Barbara Park (Continental - USA; ****)

08 - Junie B., First Grader: Aloha-ha-ha! (#26) by Barbara Park (Continental - USA; ****)

09 - Junie B., First Grader: Dumb Bunny (#27) by Barbara Park (Continental - USA; ****)

10 - Junie B., First Grader: Turkeys We Have Loved and Eaten (and Other Thankful Stuff) (#28) by Barbara Park (Continental - USA; ****)

11 - Emily of New Moon by L. M. Montgomery (Oh Canada; Continental; ***)

12 - Dinosaurs: A Companion to Dinosaurs Before Dark (Magic Tree House Research Guides #1) by Will Osborne (**)

13 - Magic Tree House Boxed Set, Books 1-4: Dinosaurs Before dark, The Knight at Dawn, Mummies in the Morning, and Pirates Past Noon by Mary Pope Osborne (***)

14 - Peter Pan by J. M. Barre (Continental - England; ****)

15 - Magic Tree House Boxed Set, Books 5-8: Night of the Ninjas, Afternoon on the Amazon, Sunset of the Sabertooth, and Midnight on the Moon by Mary Pope Osborne (***)

16 - Magic Tree House Boxed Set, Books 9-12: Dolphins at Daybreak, Ghost Town at Sundown, Lions at Lunchtime, and Polar Bears Past Bedtime by Mary Pope Osborne (***)

17 - Magic Tree House Boxed Set, Books 13-16: Vacation Under the Volcano, Day of the Dragon King, Viking Ships at Sunrise, and Hour of the Olympics by Mary Pope Osborne (***)

18 - Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell (Book Club; Chunky; Continental - UK; **)

 

Rating System:

***** it was amazing

**** really liked it

*** liked it

** it was okay

* didn't like it

[Mom-ninja.]

I didn't read anything last week. It was a bad week. Then my ipad charger cord died so I'm on a forced break from Swann's Way. I started my paperback copy of Wuthering Heights. It's been a much easier read than Jane Eyre but I cannot stand the love interests. I realized that maybe the reason that I don't like these two books is because they are romance novels.

 

I do not consider Wuthering Heights a romance novel. It's a story about demented, twisted obsession that can destroy body and mind. It has nothing to do with love. It is a psychological thriller not a romance.

[jenangelcat]

Wow! I am so behind in posting my reading to this thread. How do the weeks fly by so fast? Even if I haven’t been remembering to post I have been reading.

 

Finished:

I finished reading the Junie B. Jones series as a read aloud with DS. The whole series is hilarious. Now we are working on The Magic Tree House books. I’ve been counting each boxed set as a single book. That might be bending the rules a bit, but it’s helping me stomach reading forty of the darn things. I do like them, but they are very formulaic.

 

 

 

 

 

Slightly off topic. Was dieting mentioned in the Junie series? My 7 year old told her 5 year old sister that she should go on a diet. When I asked her where she got it from she said it was one of her Junie B. Jones books.

[melmichigan]

Well, I read Frost Burned (Mercy Thompson Book 7) by Patricia Briggs last night.

 

Mercy Thompson’s life has undergone a seismic change. Becoming the mate of Adam Hauptman—the charismatic Alpha of the local werewolf pack—has made her a stepmother to his daughter Jesse, a relationship that brings moments of blissful normalcy to Mercy’s life. But on the edges of humanity, what passes for a minor mishap on an ordinary day can turn into so much more…

 

After an accident in bumper-to-bumper traffic, Mercy and Jesse can’t reach Adam—or anyone else in the pack for that matter. They’ve all been abducted.

 

Through their mating bond, all Mercy knows is that Adam is angry and in pain. With the werewolves fighting a political battle to gain acceptance from the public, Mercy fears Adam’s disappearance may be related—and that he and the pack are in serious danger. Outclassed and on her own, Mercy may be forced to seek assistance from any ally she can get, no matter how unlikely.

 

The main plot wrapped up by 60-70% on my kindle and the last portion of the book was action that I didn't see coming. I won't say more for fear of spoiling your fun. :)

[Stacia]

Finished the Flavia book today. What a cliffhanger ending! Guess I better look up when the next one will be released....

 

Flavia always provides great entertainment... I needed it today; I was reading it to escape -- my elderly kitty died today. :crying: 17 years.

[SilverFirefly]

 

Our readalongs are all very casual and basically just reading the same book at the same time. The faster readers try to avoid talking too much about plot points in the story until everyone who said they are going to read is done. It's more for encouragement to try a new author or genre and cheerleading and camaraderie more than anything else. The "oh my goodness" or "have you gotten to this point yet" or "can you believe character such and such did this" and "oh my this is drudgery, talk me through it" or "I can't believe I waited until now to read this, it's so good."

 

 

Thanks for the explanation. It sounds like a lot of fun and both books look fascinating! I put in an ILL request for Hopscotch and my library has 1Q84. So I'm going to try to join. I don't know if I'll be able to fit them in along with my book club books and my textbooks, but I really hope I can manage to juggle them all.

 

Slightly off topic. Was dieting mentioned in the Junie series? My 7 year old told her 5 year old sister that she should go on a diet. When I asked her where she got it from she said it was one of her Junie B. Jones books.

 

 

Not at all that I can recall. There are certainly some snarky comments in the books though, so its certainly possible.

[mlbuchina]

Finished the Flavia book today. What a cliffhanger ending! Guess I better look up when the next one will be released....

 

Flavia always provides great entertainment... I needed it today; I was reading it to escape -- my elderly kitty died today. :crying: 17 years.

 

 

:grouphug: So sorry to hear about your cat. I don't know what I will do when it is time for ours to go. My dc will be inconsolable. :crying:

[Trillian]

Finished the Flavia book today. What a cliffhanger ending! Guess I better look up when the next one will be released....

 

Flavia always provides great entertainment... I needed it today; I was reading it to escape -- my elderly kitty died today. :crying: 17 years.

 

 

I'm so sorry.

[ladydusk]

Flavia always provides great entertainment... I needed it today; I was reading it to escape -- my elderly kitty died today. :crying

 

 

Sorry foqr your loss. Our pets become so part of our lives. [hugs]

[PollyOR]

my elderly kitty died today. :crying: 17 years.

 

I'm so sorry. :grouphug:

[Robin M]

Finished the Flavia book today. What a cliffhanger ending! Guess I better look up when the next one will be released....

 

Flavia always provides great entertainment... I needed it today; I was reading it to escape -- my elderly kitty died today. :crying: 17 years.

:grouphug: Sorry to hear about your kitty. They are so much a part of our families.

[Stacia]

Thanks, everyone, for your kind words about my cat. :grouphug: I will miss him dearly -- he was *my* little old man cat, a feisty handful all of his life. I totally loved his spunk & attitude. He was in my life long before even my children were & he was most definitely part of my family. We are all nursing broken hearts tonight.

 

I love AS Byatt. She understands that uniquely Victorian tone, without pretending that all good people of any era have our modern tastes/beliefs. I read The Children's Book last year and liked it. The creepy Angels & Insects is probably my favorite, but Possession is great fun and one of her more approachable.

 

I will definitely have to check out more of Byatt's works....

 

I finished The Mummy. IMO most of today's writers of paranormal/vampires/zombies can't hold a candle to Anne Rice.

 

I haven't read loads of current vampire/zombie stuff, but I agree that I totally enjoyed Rice's vampire & witch series when I read them (so many eons ago).

 

I came across a list on Flavorwire - 10 Essential Books for Book Nerds

 

Which includes:

 

Mr. Penumbra's Bookstore (have it)

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much (on my wishlist)

The Book Thief (read it)

Books: a Memoir by Larry McMurtry (on my wishlist)

If on a Winter's Night a Traveler (Have it)

The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby

Phantoms on the Bookshelf - Jacques Bonnett

Reading Lolita in Tehran

Ex Libris - confessions of a common reader

Bibliotopia

 

The rest I hadn't heard of til now and all sound really good and are now on my wishlist. Evidence I'm a book nerd.

 

And today is Gabriel Garcia Marquez's birthday so be sure to add one of his books to your list to read for South American Authors.

 

Neat list. Will have to check some of those out. I have read The Book Thief (loved it even though it was heartbreaking) & Mr. Penumbra's Bookstore (light, book-ish fun). If I could, I would add Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie to that list. It's a book for people who love books, imo. I would definitely like to read the Calvino book on the list.

 

Today I finished Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. Meh... While it was mildly interesting, I really didn't get what all the fuss was about.

 

I haven't decided whether my next book will be The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern or The Romanovs: The Final Chapter by Robert K. Massie.

 

I felt the same way about Miss Peregrin's Home.... It was ok; YA is not really my genre of choice & that probably figures into my opinion too. Loved The Night Circus.

 

It's been a rough couple of weeks, but I don't want to miss another week of checking in - coming here to chat keeps me tracking my reading, and jotting down notes and such... and seeing what you guys are reading is always so inspiring!

 

...

 

Latin American literature: I've started several interesting books - this is an area I haven't spent much time with (magical realism works better for me than theater of the absurd, but not by a lot... but I am determined to broaden my horizons a little more!) - and have many more on hold at the library, fiction, non-fiction, and poetry...

 

Hi, Eliana. I wondered where you had been. :grouphug: on your rough couple of weeks.

 

I'm :bigear: for the list of Latin American books you're reading...!

[mumto2]

I finished The Mummy. IMO most of today's writers of paranormal/vampires/zombies can't hold a candle to Anne Rice.

 

My next Myron Bolitar ebook is ready for download from the library. Darkest Fear

 

I love Myron Bolitar books. I read that one already.

 

I used to read Anne Rice. Somewhere along the line she lost me. Maybe I need to start reading her books again. What should I start with for the more current ones?

 

 

I do not consider Wuthering Heights a romance novel. It's a story about demented, twisted obsession that can destroy body and mind. It has nothing to do with love. It is a psychological thriller not a romance.

 

 

When I was a teenager WH was my favorite book ever. I thought it was sooo romantic now it is just dark. Dd just finished it. Liked it. Thought it was romatic. Maybe it depends on our state of mind for this one.;)

[Kareni]

You might like Julie Zickefoose's books - I have one on my waiting-to-be-read pile The Bluebird Effect, which looks both fascinating and beautiful (MFS, have you seen this? I thought of your birding when I pulled this off the library shelf), but her Letters from Eden, which my mother strongly recommends, might appeal to you more.

 

My library has the former, so I've requested it. Thanks for the recommendation, Eliana.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Giraffe]

Flavia always provides great entertainment... I needed it today; I was reading it to escape -- my elderly kitty died today. :crying: 17 years.

 

I'm so sorry for your loss. Kitties are such wonderful companions. Your little man was blessed to have a wonderful family for so long. (((((Hugs)))))

[Negin]

my elderly kitty died today. :crying: 17 years.

So very sorry, Stacia. :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

[Jane in NC]

Sending Stacia a hug on this new day. :grouphug:

[Pawz4me]

This my first post, so I'm kinda jumping in midstream here. So far this year I've completed:

 

1. Prairie Hill

2. Apocalypse Z

3. Heart of Christianity

4. Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time

5. Living in Conscious Harmony

6. Good Omens

7. The Color Purple

8. Fully Restored

9. Slammed

10. All Through the Night

 

11. (in progress) 11/22/63

[Angel]

Finished the Flavia book today. What a cliffhanger ending! Guess I better look up when the next one will be released....

 

Flavia always provides great entertainment... I needed it today; I was reading it to escape -- my elderly kitty died today. :crying: 17 years.

 

 

Lots of :grouphug:

[ladydusk]

I finally finished Hayley DiMarco's book The Fruitful Wife. The content was great but I was not enamoured with the writing style or layout. I suspect I would have appreciated this more in a real book and not on Kindle for the ease of flipping many pages and moving in the book more easily. I also think that with a study guide this would be a great group study. I enjoyed considering the fruit and DiMarcos emphasis on looking not to the fruit but on the vine which produces fruit. That being said, this is not a book for before bed reading! I fought to make it through each chapter.

[TN Mama]

Finished the Flavia book today. What a cliffhanger ending! Guess I better look up when the next one will be released....

 

Flavia always provides great entertainment... I needed it today; I was reading it to escape -- my elderly kitty died today. :crying: 17 years.

 

:grouphug: :grouphug: I'm very sorry to hear about your kitty. :crying:

[Paisley Hedgehog]

. 

 

[Shawneinfl]

Has anyone read Eighty Days? It just came out and I've downloaded a sample to my Nook.

[Lady Florida.]

my elderly kitty died today. :crying: 17 years.

 

 

I'm so sorry. :grouphug: We lost our old man, also 17, last summer.

 

I used to read Anne Rice. Somewhere along the line she lost me. Maybe I need to start reading her books again. What should I start with for the more current ones?

 

 

 

I can't say. It's her older stuff I like. The Mummy was written in 1989 and is the most recent of hers that I've read.

[Lady Florida.]

Isn't that neat? Each reading encounter is so individual - sometimes I can tell a book is definitely not for me, but often it is just a not at this season of my life...

 

It is neat. It's happened enough times that unless I truly hate a book, I try not to give up on it.

 

Oh. honey! I had one when the twins were little, and it was an excrutiating ordeal. :grouphug: :grouphug: I am so glad you are feeling better!

 

Thank you!

[LostSurprise]

 

Hm, maybe I'm not a Book Nerd after all. :huh: I've not read anything off that list. I do have Reading Lolita in Tehran on my shelf, but I've felt like I need to read the source books first (like, uh, Lolita) to understand the memoir

 

Yeah. I've read 3 of them (Book Thief, Lolita in Tehran, ex libris) and I didn't think any of them were that great.

 

I'm probably the only person in the world to say that about The Book Thief. It was okay, but I don't understand all the love.

 

I still consider myself a Book Nerd. Fie on that list, I say.

 

 

 

I listened to the audiobook of Nellie Bly's Around the World in 76? Days. They have a really great reader for that one on Librivox.

[MelAR05]

I just finished Simplicity Parenting and it has left me with much to think about. This book was really timely for me and I am sooo glad I read it. In one week we have already reduced the toys in one bedroom and the girls are excited about it. My oldest daughter is already asking when we can clear out her room. Not sure what I am reading this week. I started a fluff book but am not sure I can continue. Project-Based Homeschooling: Mentoring Self-Directed Learners is coming in the mail today, so I will probably start it.

 

I am REALLY enjoying Don Quixote. It's just sooooo long.

 

 

In Process:

 

Don Quixote

 

Completed:

 

11.) Simplicity Parenting

10.) The Well-Educated Mind

9.) Gone Girl

8.) Last Child in the Woods

7.) East of Eden

6.) The $100 Start Up

5.) A Christmas Carol

4.) Dracula

3.) The Night Circus

2.) Switch

1.) Getting Things Done

[Jane in NC]

Notes on reading Barbara Pym:

 

Hat's off to Ladydusk. Howatch's Starbridge series led me to read about the Oxford Movement in the Anglican church. I am quite sure that when I first read Barbara Pym's Excellent Women I had no idea what a certain aside even meant: "Yes, the Oxford Group Movement. He had tendencies that way, I believe."

 

A taste of Pym for those unfamiliar:

 

I let Dora go on but did not really listen, for I knew her views on Miss Protheroe and organized religion of any kind. We had often argued about it in the past. I wondered that she should waste so much energy fighting over a little matter like wearing hats in chapel, but then I told myself that, after all, life was like that for most of us-- the small unpleasantness rather than the great tragedies; the little useless longings rather than the great renunciations and domestic love affairs of history or fiction.

 

Throw in some anthropologists and there you have Barbara Pym.

[Mom-ninja.]

 

When I was a teenager WH was my favorite book ever. I thought it was sooo romantic now it is just dark. Dd just finished it. Liked it. Thought it was romatic. Maybe it depends on our state of mind for this one. ;)

 

Yes, the state of mind of one who is yet young, naive, and immature when it comes to knowledge of what is and is not a healthy relationship, what love and romance really means, and how to spot dangerously "committed lovers."

 

 

:grouphug: :grouphug:

 

 

 

 

Hm, maybe I'm not a Book Nerd after all. :huh: I've not read anything off that list. I do have Reading Lolita in Tehran on my shelf, but I've felt like I need to read the source books first (like, uh, Lolita) to understand the memoir

 

 

You don't have to have read Lolita to understand Reading Lolita in Tehran. I refuse to read Lolita because I know I can't handle it. However, I enjoyed Reading Lolita in Tehran. Almost like reading a story of A Handmaid's Tale slowly becoming real minus the fertility surrogate mother stuff. But seeing how a government can change the way of life and you are powerless to stop it.

[Stacia]

Thanks again, everyone. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/grouphug.gif

 

 

Hm, maybe I'm not a Book Nerd after all. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/huh.gif I've not read anything off that list. I do have Reading Lolita in Tehran on my shelf, but I've felt like I need to read the source books first (like, uh, Lolita) to understand the memoir

 

Love in the Time of Cholera by Marquez is also sitting unread on my shelf. Sigh. So many books ...

 

I've always wondered if I should read Reading Lolita in Tehran, but, like you, I've never read Lolita either....

 

Love in the Time of Cholera was one book I really did not like. I had it recommended to me by a couple of different people, all who named it one of the best books ever. Uh, not imo. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/tongue_smilie.gif

 

Has anyone read Eighty Days? It just came out and I've downloaded a sample to my Nook.

 

That looks like a neat book. Let us know how it is if you read it.

 

I'm so sorry. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/grouphug.gif We lost our old man, also 17, last summer.

 

I remember that -- your gorgeous orange kitty, right? http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/grouphug.gif

 

As far as feeling so terrible from your infection -- how are you feeling now?

 

Yeah. I've read 3 of them (Book Thief, Lolita in Tehran, ex libris) and I didn't think any of them were that great.

 

I'm probably the only person in the world to say that about The Book Thief. It was okay, but I don't understand all the love.

 

I still consider myself a Book Nerd. Fie on that list, I say.

 

I like your 'fie on the list' statement. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/hurray.gif I loved The Book Thief, yet I'm not sure I'd class it in the category of books for book lovers. And, as you say about ones being not that great, I'd class Mr. Penumbra's in that category. It was a fun, light read, but nothing that will go down in history, iykwim. It's more of a summer/beach read, imo.

[Stacia]

Had to chuckle at this voting list on Goodreads....

 

A List for Those Who Want to Run Screaming at the Mention of Sparkly Vampires, Fifty Shades of Abusive Relationships, or Other Assorted Mass Marketed Crap

 

:smilielol5:

[Mom-ninja.]

 

 

 

 

 

I've always wondered if I should read Reading Lolita in Tehran, but, like you, I've never read Lolita either....

 

 

 

Again, one does not have to have read Lolita.

[SilverFirefly]

Speaking of which - time to torture you guys with more book finds. I came across a list on Flavorwire - 10 Essential Books for Book Nerds

 

Which includes:

 

Mr. Penumbra's Bookstore (have it)

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much (on my wishlist)

The Book Thief (read it)

Books: a Memoir by Larry McMurtry (on my wishlist)

If on a Winter's Night a Traveler (Have it)

The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby

Phantoms on the Bookshelf - Jacques Bonnett

Reading Lolita in Tehran

Ex Libris - confessions of a common reader

Bibliotopia

 

The rest I hadn't heard of til now and all sound really good and are now on my wishlist. Evidence I'm a book nerd.

 

 

From this list I've only read The Book Thief and Reading Lolita in Tehran. Not sure if I feel like this list is a bit arbitrary or if I'm a failure as a book nerd... :glare:

 

Again, one does not have to have read Lolita.

 

 

I totally agree. I've read Reading Lolita in Tehran and I haven't read Lolita (yet). Lolita isn't the only book referenced in reading Lolita (it is a book about reading books after all) so even if you had read Lolita there would probably be something else you hadn't. I think some things might have made more sense if I had read all of the works the author references, but I didn't feel seriously handicapped and it just made me want to read the originals.

[Lady Florida.]

I remember that -- your gorgeous orange kitty, right? :grouphug:

 

As far as feeling so terrible from your infection -- how are you feeling now?

 

 

 

 

Yes, that was him. We've reached the point now where we can talk about him and smile. We can even talk about his grumpiness with fond memories. I hope you get to that point soon.

 

And I'm feeling well now, thank you. I'm not one to take antibiotics for any little thing, but in this case they were called for and did their work quickly.

 

Had to chuckle at this voting list on Goodreads....

 

A List for Those Who Want to Run Screaming at the Mention of Sparkly Vampires, Fifty Shades of Abusive Relationships, or Other Assorted Mass Marketed Crap

 

:smilielol5:

 

 

Love that list, and I really love the description. :rofl:

[ariasmommy]

Finished up two more today:

 

#13 The White Horse King: The Life of Alfred the Great by Benjamin Merkle - DS and I were reading about Alfred the Great in Our Island Story and I wanted to learn more, which I certainly did from this book. One of the things was that Alfred didn't actually learn to read his mother's poetry book (the story according to OIS), but got someone else to read it to him until he had memorized it. One wonders if the story was changed a bit in order to inspire children to want to learn to read. ;)

 

#14 Very Good, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse (audiobook) - Love that British humor. :D

 

See if you can get one read by Jonathan Cecil as he's quite good. I liked his reading so much that I took all but the recordings by him back to the library. It may be that there are other good readers, but I'm sticking with this one.

I, too, enjoyed Cecil's rendition, particularly as his voices for Jeeves and Bertie sounded very much like Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie in the TV series.

 

I've only read one Jeeves book, but hope to read more. Should they be read in a certain order?

Thanks!

I think they could stand alone, but would probably be best read in order, as there are references to earlier events. I had already watched the TV series, so was familiar with many of the characters and story lines already. ETA: Here's a list on Amazon of the books in order.

[Robin M]

Had to chuckle at this voting list on Goodreads....

 

A List for Those Who Want to Run Screaming at the Mention of Sparkly Vampires, Fifty Shades of Abusive Relationships, or Other Assorted Mass Marketed Crap

 

:smilielol5:

Great name - love it. Plus so many good books and some that I haven't read and now will be adding them to my list.

[bobbeym]

I've been reading lots of novel-length fan fiction lately, but none of them are finished. :( But at least I FINALLY finished listening to Outlander book #3 Dragonfly in Amber and started Voyager, book #4.