Mom-ninja. Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 I must do school with kids today. I must. We took last week off to go to the beach. Then we have friends visiting and our schedule will be up in the air. I know we are going back to the beach for 2 days next week again. So yeah, we have to do school today. Yet, I want nothing more than to just sit on the couch and read the rest of the day.  I may have an addiction, people. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Finished The Giver with my kids. I've never read the sequels and I'm debating. I hear such mixed reviews. One part of me wants to keep the book with the ending and have it live happily ever after in my head without the added books. I needed more at the end of The Giver.  It was just a little too ambiguous for me.  I loved the rest of it.  If the ending had been more concrete it would have been a five star book for me.   My daughter read the other three books this year.  After the second book she was a little confused as to how they really went together.  After the third she was happier.  She absolutely loved how the fourth drew it all together.  She has highly recommended I read the other three. My dh and dd's agree with Heather's dd.  I haven't went on to read the others but the rest of the family was glad they did.  9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015  Our second grandaughter was born this past Shabbos at 32 weeks.  I read some books before that.  I imagine I will complete a book again someday... I've glanced at the conversations here from my phone now and again, but I will probably be here less often (and have fewer completed books to share!) for the next little while.  My daughter and son-in-law are living at the NICU now (and thank G-d for a wonderful hospital), and our logistics are a bit crazy.  I am so grateful they moved in with us when they came to this side of the country - it means the disruption for our other granddaughter (16 months) is just a little bit let intense.   Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Oh Eliana  -- love and hugs and prayers for you and your family. Thank goodness your dd and family are once again close by so you can give them all the love and care they need.  The NICU doctors and nurses are some of the most wonderful people on the planet, I'm just sorry your family has to experience their work up close.  7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Oooh Eliana! What a sweetie! Those eyes! Â Holding her in the light, and her family. Extra hugs. You are right - thank goodness you are all living together. Â Hugs and more hugs. Â Nan 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Eliana, my best hopes and wishes are with you, your granddaughter, and your whole family. :grouphug: 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Oh Eliana,  Such joy and such worry! Sending you and your family best wishes through this challenging time. She looks very alert though, watching whatever is happening to her. And that is wonderful!  How fortunate that you are all together.  Sending lots of love your way, Jane 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Eliana :grouphug: Your granddaughter is beautiful. I am so glad your dd's family is with you right now. Your older granddaughter is so lucky to have so many caregivers that love her living in the same house with her. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Eliana, hugs and prayers and mazel tov to your daughter, son-in-law and both granddaughters. Â Holding you all in the light. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Books -  Constructing Qatar: Migrant Narratives from the Margins of the Global System, by Yogamaya Mantha - this is a short edited collection of stories of migrants, mostly from South Asia, who took long terms assignments to work in a range of jobs (construction, hotel maid, office cleaner, security guard) in Qatar.  It's written by a dozen or so university sociology students, and the writing quality varies, but the stories themselves give a glimpse of, like the title says, a quite marginalized group.  (I've become interested recently in migrant worker issues -- ties into some of the issues that y'all were talking about last week in the party I missed, with respect to dystopian novels and our current consumption patterns...)  Q for Qatar, on my round the world...  Faith Unraveled: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask Questions, by Rachel Held Evans.  Evans, raised evangelical and now a young leader in the progressive Christian movement, also wrote A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband 'Master,' which was a lighthearted and quite funny account of her effort to more or less repeat AJ Jacobs' experiment from a woman's perspective.  While I enjoyed Year, this one was not as successful -- too breezy to be a serious treatment of the subject of faith transition, and too pat-and-all-figured-out for a person who's only, what, maybe thirty years old?  The Turtle of Oman, by Naomi Shibab Nye (YA).  A sweet story of a young boy, whose parents are about to take him to the US for a couple years while they go to graduate school, following his adventures with his beloved grandfather who shares his favorite places and foods and encounters in the last ten days before he leaves.  Simple and warm.  The Hilltop, by Assaf Gavron.  This was for one of my IRL book groups, a kind of gritty realistic-fiction about the cast of characters in a West Bank settlement. It's been well reviewed and won a major prize in Israel, where it evidently been a runaway best seller and has sparked lots of animated debate.  I do believe it's the most disheartening book about Israel I've ever read.  We had a fabulous discussion about it, which is always something; and my comrades ultimately persuaded me to upgrade (?) my response from "totally nihilist" to merely "troublingly cynical."  Still.  Cynicism's not my thing.      9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Eliana--congratulations on your new granddaughter! Praying all will go well for her and your whole family. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idnib Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015  Our second grandaughter was born this past Shabbos at 32 weeks.  I read some books before that.  I imagine I will complete a book again someday... I've glanced at the conversations here from my phone now and again, but I will probably be here less often (and have fewer completed books to share!) for the next little while.  My daughter and son-in-law are living at the NICU now (and thank G-d for a wonderful hospital), and our logistics are a bit crazy.  I am so grateful they moved in with us when they came to this side of the country - it means the disruption for our other granddaughter (16 months) is just a little bit let intense.  Mazel tov!  I am so happy you are all together and your granddaughter has excellent care.  :grouphug: 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Hugs, Eliana. Our second grandson spent time in NICU when he barged into the world unexpectedly. We celebrated his first birthday in July. Keeping your family in my thoughts. NICU doctors, nurses and support staff are some of the most wonderful people on earth.  July 2014 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Oh, Eliana! :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: Â Echoing what so many of our BaW family have already said -- sending good wishes & hugs to you & your family. What a blessing for your family to all be close & together as you welcome your granddaughter to her beginning in this world. NICU doctors, nurses, & staff are wonderful & I know they will take good care of your granddaughter, as well as the rest of you. :grouphug: Â Thank you for the glimpse at her lovely little face. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Pam, would you be willing to elaborate on what about Hilltop,s picture of Israel you found disheatening? Gritty isn,t something I can do at the moment and since I found myself guessing, I thought it might make more sense to ask. Only if you have time... Â Nan 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Pam, would you be willing to elaborate on what about Hilltop,s picture of Israel you found disheatening? Gritty isn,t something I can do at the moment and since I found myself guessing, I thought it might make more sense to ask. Only if you have time...  Nan  Hmmm.  (spoiler alert)   Well, by "gritty" I do NOT mostly mean "violent," and certainly not between settlers and Palestinians-- there is actually not much Arab-Jewish violence, and the couple of scenes that do take place are set before the main narrative or in other locations.  There is one on-screen DV scene, but the husband "merely" punches a wall, not a person (though the wife and kids are terrified), and another more monstrous DV scene that took place prior to when the story opens.  The threat of violence of all types is chronic, though, so much so that it becomes like air.  I guess I used "gritty" to mean unvarnished and unromanticized (which I respect), under bathed and under mannered (which I can take in limited doses) and... generally unsympathetic. ' A great deal of the book is "about" the machinations and mechanics through which the settlers established "facts on the ground" -- getting permission from an agricultural agency to put a single container trailer by a field, and then converting it into a house and moving in, then putting an enclosure around the neighboring field owned by an absentee (Arab) owner and planting it, then... one little thing after another little thing, each step relying on both a confidence that the right hand of the government neither knows nor can effect what the left hand is doing, as well as the calling-in of favors from Army buddies now in various ministries or fellow yeshiva students now in Knesset, each step is enabled by a military security deployment that is fully expected to be complicit... and each step fueled by completely casual disregard -- scorn, really -- for any type of boundaries - legal, ethical, honor, interpersonal.  Partners in business are casually betrayed and tossed aside, husbands are casually entitled, court orders are casually ignored.  It's one of those books with such a large cast of characters that there's an index in the front to keep them all straight.  About halfway in, I was so disheartened about the prevading nihilism that I went to the index to identify just one character out of all the thousands in whose integrity I could believe in.  And I did find one, a minor character who helped one of the protagonists to get to business school in the US and who later helped him land his first high roller job... in which, once there, the rather brilliant protagonist character gets increasingly drawn in to Lehman Brothers-esque hedge trades on margin.  Rumors start leaking, and the mentor (Idan) takes him (Roni) to lunch, and urges him, whatever he's done thus far, to stop: 'I know those people.  They aren't people who were raised badly, who have no choice but to be criminals.  It's merely greed. There are two principles that make people operate within the law, a sense of right and wrong, or the fear of being caught, going to jail, losing a lot of money... Whatever you've done, you did well. But stop here.'  (But of course, he doesn't, and -- well, much earlier the reader has already cottoned on that the institution is modeled after Lehman.)  And other than this one very minor character whose guidance goes unheeded, there is no one, literally no one, that I was able to admire or even to manage neutrality.  One of the characters has found religion, except his conversion is untrustworthy; he seems to experience it mostly as an excuse to cut all ties to the difficulties in his past and as a cover for his ongoing rage.  Another turns ancient relics he (well, actually his wife) uncovered in a cave over to the archaeological authorities... after holding just a few of them back for himself.  The DV victim manages to extricate herself from her marriage, but at the end of the book she's cuing up to start a relationship with the character that we the reader know (she does not) is far worse than the man she's left.  The Arab-Israeli conflict isn't what looms large -- it's certainly there, but mostly as backdrop, and the one Arab character actually forms a business alliance with one of the (more unsavory) settlers, so when the bulldozers come to prepare for the settlement wall the two communities actually protest on the same side.   More a "God help us all" kind of distress, I guess. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Our second grandaughter was born this past Shabbos at 32 weeks.  Congratulations on the birth of your new granddaughter, Eliana. I wish her good health and much joy in life. Sending good thoughts to you, your daughter, son-in-law, and the whole family for a less stressful time to come.  Regards, Kareni 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawneinfl Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Eliana, :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:Â and congrats on the new grandbaby! 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Here's a currently free Kindle offering that might interest some: Warrior in Bronze (Agamemnon Book 1) by George Shipway Originally published in 1977.  "The young Agamemnon has grown up in the household of Atreus, Marshal of Mycenae, whom he believes to be his father. He learns that he is eventually succeed to the throne of Mycenae, but before this he must learn the arts of war and the ruthless politics of Greecein the Heroic Age.REVIEWSĂ¢â‚¬Å“Splendidly successfulĂ¢â‚¬Â¦the details are distinct and convincing, the motivations skilfully developed, the action exciting.Ă¢â‚¬ Northern EchoĂ¢â‚¬Å“Alongside the late C. S. Forester as a descriptive writer.Ă¢â‚¬ Evening StandardĂ¢â‚¬Å“A natural writer with superlative powersĂ¢â‚¬ Sunday ExpressKirkus review Ă¢â‚¬Å“The old heady stuff of scholars and poets in an easy-open container.Ă¢â‚¬"   Regards, Kareni 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tress Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Eliana, :grouphug: and congratulations on your beautiful granddaughter. My prayers are with you and your family. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loesje22000 Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Wishing all the best Eliana! Â ++++ Â I finished 'Die weisse Rose' in Dutch too this week. As I expected something different, I got a little bit disappointed. Â 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Eliana, what a beautiful little granddaughter! Congratulations, and many hearty welcomes to the world for the sweet creature. Prayers of support for her and you and your family, and for the NICU staff. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onceuponatime Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Congratulations, Eliana, and good wishes for the little one!  I need the help of you BAW ladies. I'm in a Public Speaking college class and have to get up in front of the class and tell a spooky story. It has to be about 4 minutes long. Do you have any suggestions or links for stories that would make good retellings, especially ones that are not well known and might be of interest to a class full of young adults, younger than me that is. Ă°Å¸ËœÅ I've been looking around but haven't found anything to strike my fancy yet. Thanks!  ETA: I have a collection of Poe, and will use him if nothing else comes up. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Hmmm. (spoiler alert) ... ... ...  More a "God help us all" kind of distress, I guess. That,s how I use "gritty" too. Gritty books strike me as lacking in finess, since it is perfectly possible to produce something even more depressingly real without being so unnecessarily realistic. Maybe I am just being judgemental about a particular style, though. I think what is most depressing about your book is its popularity. I wonder why it is so popular? Is it voicing politically incorrect but popular opinions? Is it presenting a reality people feel they are living? Is it just mucky and full of revenge and popular in part because of that? (Thinking of books like The First Wive,s Club or whatever it was called, a book whose yuckiness I think contributed to its popularity.) Is it exposing things people want exposed? I wonder if its popularity will last?  Thanks for satisfying my curiosity. : )  Nan 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Eliana - how goes it? Â Thinking about you and your family and wishing you strength. Â Nan 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Congratulations, Eliana, and good wishes for the little one!  I need the help of you BAW ladies. I'm in a Public Speaking college class and have to get up in front of the class and tell a spooky story. It has to be about 4 minutes long. Do you have any suggestions or links for stories that would make good retellings, especially ones that are not well known and might be of interest to a class full of young adults, younger than me that is. Ă°Å¸ËœÅ I've been looking around but haven't found anything to strike my fancy yet. Thanks!  ETA: I have a collection of Poe, and will use him if nothing else comes up. What about one of the Tlingit or Haida stories? My teens were thoroughly spooked by the stories in Shamans and Kushtakas: North Coast Tales of the Supernatural by Mary Giraudo Beck. Nan 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Last night I finished a young adult novel which I enjoyed in spite of the fact that it strained credulity ~ Girl, Stolen by April Henry From School Library Journal"Gr 7-10Ă¢â‚¬â€œA trip to the pharmacy turns into a nightmare for Cheyenne Wilder, a blind teenager. Sick with pneumonia, she waits in the backseat of her stepmother's car when someone steals it, unintentionally kidnapping her. Things become even more complicated when the inadvertent kidnapper, Griffin, returns home to his hostile father and his criminal cronies, who have their own designs on Cheyenne upon learning that her father is the president of Nike. Still sick and held captive, Cheyenne must use her other senses and intellect to break free and find help before it's too late. The novel is a nail-biter with an unforgettable protagonist who smartly and bravely turns her weakness, and her captors' underestimation of her capabilities, into an advantage. Henry illuminates the teen's predicament using all of her intact senses, making every touch, sniff, and breath palpable. Cheyenne's growing sympathy for Griffin, who becomes her protector, adds layers of complexity to this thriller, especially when she faces leaving him injured in the woods or slowing her own escape by saving him. Readers will be hard-pressed to put this one down before its heart-pounding conclusion." Jennifer Barnes, formerly at Homewood Library, IL© Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc.   Regards, Kareni 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Sanity is being restored, people. After eliminating celestial navigation from the curriculum, the US Naval Academy returns sextants to the classroom. Of course students will continue to rely primarily on modern technology but the Navy recognizes the threat of cyber attack. And a sextant can't be hacked.  What does this have to do with books? Nothing. It just makes me happy.  I do not rejoice at the thought of cyber attacks, but I rejoice that something beautiful will be introduced to younger generations.  Jane (who has been making molasses crinkles this afternoon and must be feeling nostalgic)  http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2015/10/15/navy-celestial-navigation 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 re: The Hiltop, by Assaf Gavron That,s how I use "gritty" too. Gritty books strike me as lacking in finess, since it is perfectly possible to produce something even more depressingly real without being so unnecessarily realistic. Maybe I am just being judgemental about a particular style, though.I think what is most depressing about your book is its popularity. I wonder why it is so popular? Is it voicing politically incorrect but popular opinions? Is it presenting a reality people feel they are living? Is it just mucky and full of revenge and popular in part because of that? (Thinking of books like The First Wive,s Club or whatever it was called, a book whose yuckiness I think contributed to its popularity.) Is it exposing things people want exposed? I wonder if its popularity will last?Thanks for satisfying my curiosity. : )Nan  You know, I've been thinking about this very question.  I don't know enough about Israeli culture -- which is really several very different and often polarized sub-cultures -- to have any insight, but that question is definitely part of my nagging uneasiness.  The book is really not about the Arab-Israeli conflict per se.  This particular book group has read a number of books in which that conflict is central to the story; in this one, it is background to the narrative.  So the (considerable) mucky-ness is not revenge in that direction; it's internecine.   7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Sanity is being restored, people. After eliminating celestial navigation from the curriculum, the US Naval Academy returns sextants to the classroom. Of course students will continue to rely primarily on modern technology but the Navy recognizes the threat of cyber attack. And a sextant can't be hacked.  What does this have to do with books? Nothing. It just makes me happy.  I do not rejoice at the thought of cyber attacks, but I rejoice that something beautiful will be introduced to younger generations.  And slide rules don't need batteries! Perhaps they'll be coming back next.  My husband enjoys wowing his algebra students by demonstrating his slide rule each year. Most have never seen one.  Regards, Kareni 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 And slide rules don't need batteries! Perhaps they'll be coming back next.   Slide rules took us to the moon! And the computers they did use had only 64K. Can you imagine using a device with only 64k today? And yet...the moon. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Slide rules took us to the moon! And the computers they did use had only 64K. Can you imagine using a device with only 64k today? And yet...the moon. Eratosthenes measured the diameter of the earth without even a slide rule. :) Â Nan, who is happy about the sextons, given what she knows about ships' tendencies towards breakages and much personal experience with the reliability of marine electronics 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Eratosthenes measured the diameter of the earth without even a slide rule. :)  Nan, who is happy about the sextons, given what she knows about ships' tendencies towards breakages and much personal experience with the reliability of marine electronics  Hmmm..I think of a sexton as a gravedigger, not exactly the person I want to rely on in a storm at sea!  Jane (who is often amused by autocorrect!)  11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 re: The Hiltop, by Assaf Gavron  You know, I've been thinking about this very question. I don't know enough about Israeli culture -- which is really several very different and often polarized sub-cultures -- to have any insight, but that question is definitely part of my nagging uneasiness.  The book is really not about the Arab-Israeli conflict per se. This particular book group has read a number of books in which that conflict is central to the story; in this one, it is background to the narrative. So the (considerable) mucky-ness is not revenge in that direction; it's internecine. Well, identification and the high brought low have been appealing for a pretty long time. Maybe that was the appeal? Like gossip? That would be depressing but not really ominous. I don,t know anyone currently that I could ask. Maybe Israeli book reviews would reveal why. Or not. I don,t know.  Offering you some virtual chocolate... Nan 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Hmmm..I think of a sexton as a gravedigger, not exactly the person I want to rely on in a storm at sea! Â Jane (who is often amused by autocorrect!) Â Arg... Maybe if we had smaller vocabularies, autocorrect wouldn,t be such a menace. Although I have to say, it seems to give up fairly often now. It hated my lazy commas-for-apostrophes at first and now it doesn,t touch them. And of course when I need its help, it fails to recognize my attempts and I have to resort to my bad speller,s dictionary. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted October 15, 2015 Author Share Posted October 15, 2015 Eliana ---So precious! Â Â Congratulations, grandma and many many hugs to sustain you and your family. Â NICU folks are great. All are in good hands. Â Â 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onceuponatime Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Molasses crinkles are a fall favorite here. We have discovered a new fall favorite this week, pumpkin chocolate chip squares. I think I've gained five pounds. If you want to have fun with autocorrect, try typing Lewis Carroll's poem "Jabberwocky." Â I've decided to use Poe's story "The Masque of Red Death" for my spooky retelling. (Autocorrect just corrected my retelling to rebelling.) It has lots of descriptive potential, and I can start it with "Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away." 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Eliana, :grouphug: and prayers for your dd and her family.  Life is so amazingly precious!  What a sweet little thing she is!  Kathy, I loved the phrase that your grandson "barged into the world!" :lol: Is that he present personality as well?   Skye, my aspie, had to be pulled out forcibly after 4 hours of pushing (she was stuck under my pelvic bone), we like to joke that even in the womb she was resistant to change and meeting new people and was refusing to come out 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Sanity is being restored, people. After eliminating celestial navigation from the curriculum, the US Naval Academy returns sextants to the classroom. Of course students will continue to rely primarily on modern technology but the Navy recognizes the threat of cyber attack. And a sextant can't be hacked.  What does this have to do with books? Nothing. It just makes me happy.  Well, of course, you *can* tie it to books if you want, lol. Something related might be Longitude by Dava Sobel (currently free for kindle unlimited users)?  I only mention this one (I haven't read it yet) as I pulled it off my shelves just a few minutes ago for my ds to try.... I realize the book is not about sextants, really, but it is about navigation & solving navigational problems. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 I am currently stuffing my face with Brach's candy corn.  I allow myself one bag each year (I used to eat 3 or 4 bags each year).  Since I have been eating poorly while sick (who the heck wants to eat salad when you have no taste buds.  I want comfort food) now was a good time :laugh: 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Well, of course, you *can* tie it to books if you want, lol. Something related might be Longitude by Dava Sobel (currently free for kindle unlimited users)? Â I only mention this one (I haven't read it yet) as I pulled it off my shelves just a few minutes ago for my ds to try.... I loved Longitude. Â Commercial pressure, Crown intrigue, scientific race, big bribe (oh, I mean, prize) at stake, working class upset out of nowhere. Â Something for everyone, really. Â Nan, I think you'd enjoy it if you haven't already. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 I really liked Longitude too, in fact I've liked all of Dava Sobel's books. Â The Planets is my particular favorite. Â She has one about Copernicus and one about Galileo's daughter as well. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 I really liked Longitude too, in fact I've liked all of Dava Sobel's books. Â The Planets is my particular favorite. Â She has one about Copernicus and one about Galileo's daughter as well. Â I enjoyed her book "Galileo's Daughter". Really a lovely piece of work. Â I've been meaning to get to Longitude forever. Guess I should bump it up higher on my list. I was pulling it out for ds since he's getting more into non-fiction these days & I thought it might be a good choice for him. Â Ds decided that Escape from Camp 14 is too harsh & upsetting for him right now, so he's put that one to the side & is looking for new stuff to read. Anyone have suggestions of good non-fiction for a 14yo boy who is a very good reader? Or fiction too? 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 I remember enjoying Longitude, but Carry on Mr. Bowditch is my favorite sextant book (that feels naughty just typing it). Â 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 I too am a fan of Longitude...and of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich where a number of wonderful measuring instruments are on display. Talk about geeking out! 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 My birthday box has arrived from my best friend and nestled among an assortment of fun coffe mugs with an avian theme (her mom, my other mother, used to send me china with parrots on it for my bday each year) was a book which Jenn may want to read. Neil Macgregor's A History of the World in 100 Objects. The 100 objects can all be found at the British Museum http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/about/british-museum-objects/. Dd and I started looking our way around at these objects a couple of years ago but never finished. A paperback copy of the book should make things easier. Planning to start reading about an object a day with plans to spend a day or to at the museum next spring. Â My spooky rereads have not been going particularly well. I think I should just start reading the current books and give up filling in the holes made by having missed a couple in some series. Â I did start Robin's suggestion of The Wolf Gift by Anne Rice this morning and so far really like it. I currently have high hopes for this new to me series even though I have read Anne Rice in the past. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 I remember enjoying Longitude, but Carry on Mr. Bowditch is my favorite sextant book (that feels naughty just typing it).  I am so tickled that my earlier comment on celestial navigation has brought out the Luddite in so many of my bookish friends.  Proud slide rule owner, Jane  8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idnib Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 I too am a fan of Longitude...and of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich where a number of wonderful measuring instruments are on display. Talk about geeking out!  Visiting is on my "someday" list.  My birthday box has arrived from my best friend and nestled among an assortment of fun coffe mugs with an avian theme (her mom, my other mother, used to send me china with parrots on it for my bday each year) was a book which Jenn may want to read. Neil Macgregor's A History of the World in 100 Objects. The 100 objects can all be found at the British Museum http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/about/british-museum-objects/. Dd and I started looking our way around at these objects a couple of years ago but never finished. A paperback copy of the book should make things easier. Planning to start reading about an object a day with plans to spend a day or to at the museum next spring.  There's also a podcast. We use the iTunes version but I'm sure there are others.  Proud slide rule owner, Jane   We have one too, an inherited object from DH's grandfather. :) 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 ...was a book which Jenn may want to read. Neil Macgregor's A History of the World in 100 Objects. The 100 objects can all be found at the British Museum http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/about/british-museum-objects/. Dd and I started looking our way around at these objects a couple of years ago but never finished. A paperback copy of the book should make things easier. Planning to start reading about an object a day with plans to spend a day or to at the museum next spring.  I listened to several of the original "100 object" podcasts, and have flipped through the book at the store a time or two. I should get it for dh for Christmas, then we can go find find some of those objects on our trip!  A visit to the Royal Observatory is already on my must list, too!  I am so tickled that my earlier comment on celestial navigation has brought out the Luddite in so many of my bookish friends.  Proud slide rule owner, Jane   The Master and Commander series is my literary sextant connection.  Each day at noon the Captain and the "young gentlemen", aka the Midshipman, take their readings to pinpoint their location. I once tried to figure out how a sextant works at an exhibit on the Shackleton expedition, but I think it would have made more sense to see it used on the open sea rather than in a closed museum space. I have all 3 of my dad's slide rulers, one of which I used back in math class in the early 70s...  I don't recall finishing Longitude when I read it many years ago.  I distinctly remember reading it while the kids were at a YMCA swim class, because the mom next to me, who clearly was not a reader, kept interrupting my reading to chat. Upon seeing the title of my book, she said, rather vaguely, "Oh......you must have to read lots of books since you homeschool."  9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butter Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 My dad still has his slide rule his parents gave him when he went to college. Â He was an electrical engineer for many years and would break out that slide rule on occasion at work. Â Younger engineers had no idea how to use it and thought he was performing magic or something when he'd use it. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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