Book A Week in 2009 week 8 update

[Robin M]

Tonight marks the end of 52 books week 7 and we begin week 8 and the start of book # 9.

 

 

Recap of the rules:

__________________

 

Feel free to join in at any time

 

1. Read an average of a book a week - 52 books in 52 weeks
   
2. Re-reading a book counts--as long as you first read it before 2009
   
3. School related books don't count (unless you want them to)
   

 

____________________

Last week was a little quiet in book land and not many posted to the last update thread. I'm sure it is because we all missed Kay. Continue to hold her in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. I will continue the updates until she is ready to take over the reins again - after all this is her challenge. :)

 

I am about to start The Shape of Mercy by Susan Meissner. In the past week I finished "The Book Thief," reread an old Douglas Adams "So Long, And Thanks for all the Fish" and "The House of Dies Drear" by Virginia Hamilton.

 

For lent, I decided to read Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton. Are you all reading anything special during Lent?

 

Please do me a favor and if you see this post getting lost due to many threads, please nudge it along so folks can find it.

[KidsHappen]

I just finished Do Gentlemen Really Prefer Blonds? Bodies, Behavior & Brains - The Science BehindSex, Love & Attraction.

 

This book was absolutely facinating. It was my eighth book and I have now started my ninth: When Men become Gods.

 

So my list so far:

 

1) End of America

2) The Templars

3) Kluge

4) Spook

5) Panic in Level 4

6) Killing the Imposter God

7) Journeys to a Mythical Past

8) Do Gentlemen Really Prefer Blonds?

[Karenciavo]

My list thus far:

1. Christian Mythmakers: C.S. Lewis, Madeleine L'Engle, J.R.R. Tolkien, George Madonald, G.K. Chesterton, and Others

2. The Princess and the Goblin

3. The Princess and Curdie

4. Wuthering Heights

5. Do Hard Things (a couple of days)

6. Divine Comedy (2.5 weeks)

 

In the Bull Pen:

Climbing Parnassus -reading with a book club, so it will take more than a week and I will start:

On Stories by C. S. Lewis

Mere Humanity: G. K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, And J. R. R. Tolkien on the Human Condition

[DSAcademy]

My list so far:

 

1. The Writing of Fiction - Edith Wharton

2. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

3. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

4. The Hours - Micheal Cunningham

5. The Enchantress of Florence - Salman Rushdie

6. Gorgias - Plato

7. War and Peace - Tolstoy (2 weeks)

8. All The President's Men - Woodward and Bernstein

 

Still on my nightstand:

 

Einstein: His Life and Universe - Walter Isaacson

[Beth in Central TX]

I finished Life Wide Open and started The Mom Factor by Cloud & Townsend.

 

Here's my list so far:

1. The Great Divorce

2. Know What You Believe: Connecting Faith & Truth

3. The Deadliest Monster

4. Renovation of the Heart

5. Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life

6. Self Talk, Soul Talk: What to Say When You Talk to Yourself

7. A Hunger for God: Desiring God Through Fasting and Prayer

8. Crunchy Cons

9. Life Wide Open: Unleashing the Power of a Passionate Life

 

Here's what I have waiting on my nightstand:

The Three Battlegrounds by Frangipane

This Day We Fight by Frangipane

Do Hard Things by Harris

[Beth in Central TX]

Wow! I'm impressed that you read War & Peace in 2 weeks. I just can not get into that book...

[Jenny in Florida]

1. Bel Canto

2. In Cold Blood

3. Joy in the Morning, Sister Carrie

4. Sense and Sensibility

5. Queen Bee Moms and Kingpin Dads

6. Before and After You Get Your Puppy

7. Assassination Vacation, by Sarah Vowell

8. Larklight, Phillip Reeve

 

We spent three days on the road this week. which cut into my actual reading time. We did listen to Larklight during the drive, though.

 

It was cute. I really enjoyed the faux Victorian feel of it.

 

I'm currently reading Q&A, the book on which Slumdog Millionaire is based.

[Robin M]

War and Peace - Tolstoy (2 weeks)

 

 

2 weeks! You give me hope that I will be able to read w & p in a fair amount of time. Did you read it in big chunks or a certain amount per day. Please share how you read it in 2 weeks. I look at the book and it seems daunting but I'm about to dive in soon.

[Wendi]

So far I've read:

 

The Zookeeper's Wife

Bellwether

See You in a Hundred Years

The Woman in White

We Bought a Zoo

 

Started, but not done yet:

To Say Nothing of the Dog

Here, There Be Dragons

Emma

 

 

 

Wendi

[newlifemom]

I'm so confused, I think for week 7 I read Echo in Celebration. I know it is a schooling book, but I am a bit pressed. I really liked it. Of course that is because I am following a classical style of education anyway. The book could use another run thru with an editor though. Last week, b/c I have been so pressed, I went to the libs and checked out a Theone book from the Shiloh series. It was just what I needed, light. I have no idea what I will read this week, so it will probably be a reread. Jane Erye or something along those lines. Thanks for keeping me accountable.

[Sparkle]

Hi, I'm just joining in now :)

 

Here is my list so far:

 

1. Nine Days a Queen

2. Mrs. Pollifax, Innocent Tourist

3. Driving Over Lemons

4. Father Arseny: A Cloud of Witnesses

5. Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future

6. Grandma's Wartime Kitchen: World War II and the way we cooked

7. Vanity Fair

8. Spiritual Counsels of Father John of Kronstadt (reading now)

9. Les Miserables (reading now)

 

 

Wendi, I have Here, There Be Dragons next on my list :D

[Zoraida]

Week 1: The Nice and the Good by Iris Murdoch

Week 2: The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

Week 3: The Book and the Brotherhood by Iris Murdoch

Week 4: The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie

Week 5: The Moor's Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie

Week 6: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Week 7: Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie

Week 8: Paper Towns by John Green

 

Blessings

 

Zoriada

[Rosie_0801]

I read "The Writing Class: a novel" by Jincy Willett. I don't usually like murder mysteries, but this was good. I also read a book on sea weed, general info and recipes for. We're REALLY looking forward to getting into some of that next week. I'm so excited!

 

:)

Rosie

[Jane Elliot]

I finished two this week, which is good because as the weather warms up (no sign of that yet! I'm going on faith), my reading slows down.

 

His Word in My Heart: Memorizing Scripture for a Closer Walk With God by Janet Pope. Excellent! I devoured this book. It just hit me where I am right now.

 

In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall Smith. Enjoyable, as always. My favorite quote from this book: "A life without stories would be no life at all."

 

My list so far:

1. A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by Phillip Keller

2. Too Late the Phalarope by Alan Paton

3. Everyday Talk: Talking Freely and Naturally about God With Your Children by John A. Younts

4. Kristin Lavransdatter: II The Mistress of Husaby by Sigrid Undset

5. The Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith

6. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver

7. The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli

8. His Word in My Heart: Memorizing Scripture for a Closer Walk With God by Janet Pope

9. In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall Smith

 

I haven't decided on my book for this week yet, although I began and am enjoying Four-Season Harvest (a gardening book, see I really am hoping for warm weather.) And, I'm still trying to decide if I'll read Utopia along with my boys in an effort to self-educate.

 

In honor of my oldest's 20th birthday today, here's one of my all-time favorite quotes from Alexander McCall Smith: "The world is full of twenty-year-olds...all of them blind."

[Sojourner]

Just finished The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester which was a very interesting and informative book. I must warn you though that the "madman's" mental illness includes sexual elements and a scene of self-mutilation. Nothing is dealt with too graphically but I would say it is an adult book. The main story about the 2 men and the dictionary is really fascinating and I will never look at a dictionary the same way again.

 

Week 7: The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff

Week 6: Shelf Life by Suzanne Stempek Shea

Week 5: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Week 4: Mosaic by Amy Grant

Week 3: The Faith Club by Idilby, Oliver and Warner

Week 2:The Body in the Kelp by Katherine Hall Page

Week 1: Nightingales: The Extraordinary Upbringing and Curious Life of Miss Florence Nightingale by Gillian Gill

[Kristiana]

My list so far:

1. 1066-The Year of the Conquest by David Howarth

2. Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

3. A Little Princess

4. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire

5. Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie

6. Pinocchio

7. Endless Night by Agatha Christie

8. The Wind in the Willows

 

I'm also in the middle of:

 

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

Shadow of the Silk Road by Colin Thubron

Our Sacred Honor by Ron Carter

Jesus the Christ by James Talmage

 

I haven't been reading as much in the past couple weeks. Hopefully that will change. I almost read more as the weather turns nicer. I take the kids to the park and sit on a bench and read. :)

[DSAcademy]

2 weeks! You give me hope that I will be able to read w & p in a fair amount of time. Did you read it in big chunks or a certain amount per day. Please share how you read it in 2 weeks. I look at the book and it seems daunting but I'm about to dive in soon.

 

The plan was 100 pages a day for 15 days, so that I would finish it by my birthday. I figured this would work out to about 3 hours of nightly reading, curled up in front of the fireplace.

 

However, I apparently miscalculated the density of the book, because the reality was 3-5 hours of nightly reading. So starting at 9pm and ending between midnight and 2am, I developed a new appreciation for caffeine, the invention of socks and Proust. I also learned that when I schedule something in pen, it gets done...no matter what.

 

It seems that Tolstoy is not nearly as intimidating, as a day book with an un-checked "To Do" item. :glare:

Edited February 27, 2009 by DSAcademy
Most words don't have an echo.

[Jane Elliot]

The plan was 100 pages a day for 15 days, so that I would finish it by my birthday. I figured this would work out to about 3 hours of nightly reading, curled up in front of the fireplace.

 

However, I apparently miscalculated the density of the book, because the reality was 3-5 hours of nightly reading. So starting at 9pm and ending between midnight and 2am, I developed a new appreciation for caffeine, the invention of socks and Proust. I also learned that when I schedule something in pen, it gets done...no matter what.

 

It seems that Tolstoy is not nearly as intimidating, as a day book with an un-checked "To Do" item. :glare:

 

LOL. I'm thoroughly impressed.

[Rose in BC]

Week One: First Light, Thoene

Week Two: The Man Who was Thursday, Chesterton

Week Three: Second Touch, Thoene

Week Four: My Sister's Keeper, Picoult

Week Five: Respectable Sins, Jerry Bridges

Week Six: The Complete Beck diet for life, Beck

Week Seven: The Portrait of a Lady, Henry James

Week Eight: Peace Like a River

Week Nine: Snow Falling on Cedars, David Guterson

Edited February 28, 2009 by Rose in BC

[eaglei]

Here is my list so far:

 

Joy in the Morning, by Betty Smith

Pioneers of Faith, by Dr. Lester Sumrall

My Antonia, by Willa Cather

O Pioneers! by Willa Cather

The Notebook, by Nicholas Sparks

Lucy Gayheart, by Willa Cather

My Mortal Enemy, by Willa Cather

Lucky Man: A Memoir, by Michael J. Fox

 

I think I previously posted something about each book, except for Lucky Man. I enjoyed this autobiography for the story itself and for Fox's honesty and humor. However, the book is peppered with "four-letter words" that I tried to avoid reading. He is really too good a writer (he says he did his own writing) to use the expletives.

 

I have gotten slowed down with reading for basically two reasons: 1) real life stuff; and 2) the book itself. I started The Great Gatsby at the end of January:glare: and I am still. not. done. I am totally not enjoying that book at all, but I am determined to finish it!:ack2:

[coffeefreak]

OK you over achievers!!! I'm finally caught up, and I was all excited to post, and then I looked at what everyone's reading. Am I the only one reading fluff?!?!:svengo: Or are the rest of you just not admitting it?:glare:

 

So, here's my updated list:

The 3 R's - Ruth Beechick

Beautifully Made - Julie Hiramine

Ten Big Ones - Evanovich

Eleven on Top - Evanovich

12 Sharp - Evanovich (I'm starting to see a trend):lol:

Lean Mean 13 - Evanovich

Fire and Ice - Julie Garwood

 

 

Now I'm reading, wait . . . . can you guess???

 

Fearless Fourteen!!!!:lol:

 

In my defense, my SIL gave me One through 10 this summer and they are just that good! I never get to read much fun stuff in Sept, Oct, and Nov, so I make up for it in the winter. Who am I kidding, for every book that's "good" for me, I have to read a bunch of fluff.

 

See you next week!

Blessings!

Dorinda

 

ps I read "The Book Thief" last year and I LOVE it!!!!

[Melinda in VT]

I think I missed a week or two of reporting. Vanity Fair took me longer than a week (about 2.5 I think), but I read two books a couple of weeks.

 

So far I have:

1. Gilead

2. The Book Thief

3. Living Faith While Holding Doubts

4. The Eyre Affair

5. Dreams from my Father

6. The Thirteenth Tale

7. The Last Lecture

8. Vanity Fair

9. The Polish Officer

10. Highland Fling

[Robin M]

OK you over achievers!!! I'm finally caught up, and I was all excited to post, and then I looked at what everyone's reading. Am I the only one reading fluff?!?!:svengo: Or are the rest of you just not admitting it?:glare:!

 

I'll admit to reading fluff.

 

Repeat after me - fluff is good, fluff is not bad, it is okay to read fluff...

 

Great job catching up - glad you are enjoying Evanovich. I'm reading J.D. Robb Promises in Death. I don't know if I would call her books fluff. She might not like that too much.

 

Happy Reading!

[Robin M]

Nudge nudge wink wink.

 

Are you all having a good Sunday?

 

What are you reading today?

[coffeefreak]

I'll admit to reading fluff.

 

Repeat after me - fluff is good, fluff is not bad, it is okay to read fluff...

 

Great job catching up - glad you are enjoying Evanovich. I'm reading J.D. Robb Promises in Death. I don't know if I would call her books fluff. She might not like that too much.

 

Happy Reading!

 

 

Fluff is OK, Fluff is good for me, Fluff keeps me from going postal, putting my kids in school and booking a trip to the Bahamas :lol:

 

I am reading, "Then She Found Me," by Elinor Lipman. Not fluff but not "educational." I really like it! I'll let you know if I like it at the end!

 

Here's a deep question, do you like J.D. Robb better than Nora Roberts?

[Liz CA]

Working on the "Redemption" Series by Karen Kingsbury - 5 books in all.

[Robin M]

Here's a deep question, do you like J.D. Robb better than Nora Roberts?

 

 

I actually like both her styles of writing equally. It depends on what kind of mood I'm in what style I like. I couldn't live on a diet of J.D. Robb with only Eve and Roark. I have to have some variety. Though I don't think I would like a bunch of Robb books showcasing the sub characters as the main characters. They are interesting, but the play of the sub characters off Eve and Roark help make the story.