Update

I finished The Master and Margarita a couple weeks ago, before we went home for the Fair. I enjoyed it, mostly. I was a little surprised by how much it was about satan. I thought when they said Margarita sold her soul to the devil for love that it was just cliché, but the book was actually about the devil’s presence in Moscow. Of course, a lot of it had political undertones, portraying Moscow at the time the book was written, but as I have no education about Moscow’s history, I was unable to read it with that perspective and was therefore left with the author’s incredible imagination regarding the devil and his entourage. Parts of it were uncomfortable to read, but like other things, I took it as fantasy and was just fascinated by the author’s portrayal of the ultimate bad guy and his gang of hooligans.

Right now I’m into several books. In the morning, I’m reading Power of a Praying Wife if I have time after devotions. During the day, particularly at work, I’m reading Writing Down the Bones. It is excellent so far and I’ll definitely keep it as a reference, and exercise guide, when I’m done reading it straight through. At night, before bed, I’m reading The Scarpetta Factor. I wanted something easy and relaxing that doesn’t get my brain jumping to be creative, and Patricia Cornwell fits that bill.

The Pillars of Earth by Ken Follett

One word: Awesome!

Listening on cd, and really loving it. I will be disappointed when it is over.

The Master and Margarita

I finished The Center of Everything on the flight from Charlotte to DC on Tuesday night. It ended rather abruptly, in my opinion, but I still recommend it. The story is great, touching on growing up, faith, and especially choices, as well as how life can get away from you if you don’t stay true to yourself and take care of yourself.

Next up is The Master and Margarita, which I checked out of the library today. I had it on my list of “want to read” books. I think I put it on the list after I read Anna Karenina and decided I want to read more translations, particularly Russian translations apparently. Yes, I know that seems kind of strange. Either that or it is one of the books I found while searching the shelves at George Mason for things to read, most of which ended up on the list for later. Actually, it could be a combination of the two – I decided to read more translations and so I looked on the shelves of George Mason.

Either way, I’m starting it tonight and based on a quick reading of the first paragraph, I think I’m going to enjoy the writing. Also, there was a bonus of ephemera tucked towards the center of the book – a ticket for the Graduation Exercise and Commissioning Ceremonies at the United States Naval Academy on May 28, 2010. You’ve got to love a book that comes with random ephemera!

Three!

All of a sudden I have been on a reading kick! Oh, how I love a good book! Of course I can't get anything else done which isn't such a bad thing. After reading "Guernsey" I turned back to a book Mom/Grama let me borrow ages ago called Winter Garden by Kristen Hannah. Oh. My. Goodness. It was such a tearjerker!!!! Heartbreaking!! On the heels of reading a book about the German occupation of the Channel Islands, I read this novel centered around the Siege of Leningrad.

Winter Garden is about an old woman and the promise her daughters make to their dying father to get to know their emotionally distant mother. When they were children, Mom would tell a fairy tale. After their father's death, the daughters learn the true meaning of the story. Get a hanky. It's a doozy! I highly recommend the book.

And then! I read "Thursdays at Eight" by Debbie Macomber. Another "girly" book but a nice escape. I liked how the book's theme is related to a journal group and "words for the year". Since I have made a habit over the last several years of keeping a word for the year, I related to this book. It was an easy, fast and satisfying read, especially for someone like me who wants a happy ending!

I'm glad to hear from Karen about Dune. Grama really knows how to pick 'em! And Christie, I cried just reading the passage from your book....I'm looking forward to hearing what others are reading. Or want to read.

Fallen behind...

Well it's been how long and I'm not even halfway through Dune. I guess that's not such a bad thing because it means I have a lot of other things going on, but I love reading and I just wish I had more time to do it. Especially now that I have plenty of new books on my shelf. I do have those flights home and back so I should get plenty of reading in then.

I am enjoying Dune. I love sci-fi and fantasy books so much because they create this whole new world that I never could have imagined. Part of my reason for reading is to escape and reading books like this means escaping into a place that is new and exciting and full of impossibilities, which makes it all the more enjoyable.

Hopefully I'll start getting more reading in and so be more active on this blog, because I do enjoy sharing and I definitely enjoy reading about what everyone else is discovering in the book world. So I am still here and I do hope other people start reappearing too!

Bye Bye Sweet By and By

I finished The Sweet By and By last night. It was an excellent book! The story revolves around five women in North Carolina, each telling their own part of the story, which mostly takes place in a nursing home. Each chapter is from the perspective of one of the five women – two are “patients,” one is a nurse, one is the daughter of the nurse, and the last is the hairdresser who visits the home once a week.

Pretty much, I love books about women, and I highly recommend this one. However, I will caution that parts of it are sad and if you’re uncomfortable with the topic of getting old, you might want to skip it. Though really, I encourage you to read it anyway.

As I love books about women, especially the powerful bond between women, their friendship, and their strength, the quote below (from the perspective of the nurse’s daughter) especially struck me:

“I studied the circle of women, now encompassing my mother as one of their number, young and old, family and neighbors, perhaps single, married, widowed. It is as though they arrived on a timetable, like a flock of migratory birds, their schedule neither agreed upon in advance nor communicated, as much as felt in the subtle change of the seasons. This is simply what they do. They come. They are called to stand watch, oddly, with no male presence. It is perhaps not that the men, with few exceptions, can’t take the pain. It’s the ambiguity that they can’t abide. And there is that to be sure, endless hours of waiting. Surely these stately creatures are the same everywhere, perched around every bed where someone lies helpless. They arrive one at a time, or in pairs, and they bring smiles and stories and concerned brows and open hearts, and most of all they bring time, they have all the time in the world, poured out like water, crystalline and pure. They lower their shoulders, they place their purses on chairs, and they assume their places, familiar by instinct, either sitting or standing, circling the sick with wings of prayer and patience, protectors and mediators, watchers, slow and graceful, with the singular purpose of a great blue heron wading in shallow water, saving all effort for when it is most needed, the split second at which it catches a swimming fish in its beak, finally lifting off in flight, with no regard to the weight it carries, rising, as hope must, lighter than human breath.”

Seriously, this quote standing alone almost makes me cry, nevermind it’s relevance to the storyline. It’s beautiful. I especially love it because it’s written by a man, who obviously appreciates the power and grace of women.

The next book I’ve got on the agenda (The Center of Everything, by Laura Moriarty) is also about women, but it is kind of the opposite of The Sweet By and By as it revolves around characters much younger, who are just finding their way instead of coming to the end of it.

And since this post is extremely long, I'm going to shut up now. I hope you all are getting in plenty of good reading!

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

I loved it. I read it on vacation and it reminded me of why I love to read. The time on the airplane flew by (no pun intended!)

The book was beautifully written. The characters developed as they were introduced through letters. Some of the story was heartbreaking--the telling of the occupation of the Channel Islands (in the English Channel) by the Germans during WWII. Some of the story was warm and funny and romantic.

Since I don't have to finish a book to write about it, the book I am reading now is Winter Garden by Kristen Hannah. I've just started it but I am intrigued by the fairy tale at the center of the story. It was the first Kristen Hannah book Grama/Mom read (I think) and it caused an avalanche of Kristen Hannah books to be consumed. Which ones has everyone read?

Seeking vacation destination? Try Guernsey!!

The Isle of Guernsey that is!! I just finished reading the BEST vacation, read on the plane for fun book..."The Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society"!

The characters were warm and wonderful; the story was interesting; the setting was different than my usual; it was written as letters from one character to another and there was a love story wound up in it as well.

I LOVED IT!!

I LOVE LUSTBADER!!!

I had forgotten how much I enjoy reading Eric Lustbader! I love his dark sided characters, his twisted plots, his exotic settings and his page turning writing. Although I have not read one YET, he is the perfect author to continue the writing of the Bourne series, in my opinion any way.

I have just finished reading a two-book series of his about the beat friend and close confidant of the US president, and the relationship he has with the president's daughter. (NOT THAT KIND OF RELATIONSHIP!!). The first book is 'First Daughter" and the second is "Last Snow". You really need to read them in order as one builds from the other. They are full of intrigue and danger, brainwashing and its results, spy masters and spies, Russians and criminals and diplomats and a serial killer or so. They have some sex and some torture and alot of fast turning pages! My kind of book!!

I have them to loan if anyone is interested in borrowing......

No Summer Sisters

As I expected, I didn't have much time for reading over the weekend. We were busy doing other wonderful things! This means I didn't get Summer Sisters started, and now I've decided to skip it and move onto another book called The Sweet By and By by Todd Johnson. It was recommended on a blog I love and so I'm going to give it a try... I'm even going to buy a copy! Well, mainly because they don't have it at the library, or else I'd get it for free. Fortunately, I have a good coupon for Borders, so I'll be picking it up tomorrow at lunch time.

Awesome.

I finished The Amber Spyglass, which completes the His Dark Materials series. The series as a whole was amazing, though I was a little disappointed with the last bit of the last book. It seemed like after all they had been through that the ending was a bit anticlimactic… but maybe that’s because I already had an idea of what would happen.

I still really enjoyed the story and the characters and the creativity. There were points in the last book where I was practically in tears, others where I was on edge wondering what would happen, and finally a bit disappointed because even though the characters were experiencing a lot of emotion, I wasn’t really "feeling it."

There were a couple things I do wish I had written down while I was reading, but I can’t find them now trying to look back through. Darn it, I should have known better than to think I could go back, but it’s hard to stop reading when the story is so awesome!

Moving forward, I’ve decided to read some stuff I have at the condo instead of getting books out of the library when I bring these last two back. I think I’ll start with something I’ve already read (years ago) - Summer Sisters by Judy Blume - because it will be a fun, easy read for me while I’m in RI camping and hopefully going to the beach this weekend.

The Subtle Knife - Finished

I am glad to hear from Karen- especially about her reading of the His Dark Materials series! I suppose I am not reading the series with the controversy in mind, meaning it's not affecting my enjoyment, but I do see where a controversy could stem from. And although I don't agree with a complete overhaul of creation and of the relationship we have with God verses what we know as Christians, I do find the story and characters extremely fascinating.

I finished The Subtle Knife before I left for VT and started The Amber Spyglass, which is the last book in the series. I have already been introduced to some amazing creatures in one new world, and the story line continues to build up to what I'm sure will be a grand battle and finale.

Do Not Recommend

I finished The Book of Air and Shadows and just to let you know how much I enjoyed it, when I read the last word, I threw it across the kitchen. I realize I could have just stopped reading it at any time, but I have a weird thing with not finishing things and I just had to, so I stuck it out. I was thinking it would be more Dan Brown-esque and it really wasn't. The kind of story was similar, but the way it was told and the actual storyline etc. did not live up to Dan Brown's work at all. It didn't flow that well and it wasn't that interesting and it was a little more pornographic than I thought was necessary. Needless to say, I do not recommend this one. Just steer clear.

Grama sent me the Dune series so I've just started on the first one. I really don't have much time to read nowadays but starting in July I should have a better time of it. I'll try to keep up though, I did so well at the beginning of the year. Anyway, this one seems like it's right up my alley so I'll probably post more about it, at least more positively.

Christie: I have read the whole Dark Materials series and I thoroughly enjoyed them. I also read them without knowing there was such a big controversy surrounding them and I did not catch on to that at all when I read them. But I'm a little dim sometimes, and just don't always think that deeply about things. I just read them as really fascinating, creative and unique fantasy stories, which is just the kind of thing I enjoy. I'm glad you're enjoying them. They are definitely books that I would recommend to anyone.

The Subtle Knife

Oh what a bum I am for not posting to this in forever! I finished The Golden Compass and have moved on to the second book in the series, The Subtle Knife.

I'm having a hard time articulating my thoughts about this series of books. I know that some people think the content is controversial, and although I was a bit uncomfortable at the end of The Golden Compass when he altered scripture to fit his storyline, I have viewed the books as an amazingly creative work of fiction, not something scary or offensive in terms of my faith.

I suppose I just believe what I believe and I'm grounded enough in that to not be swayed or offended by someone else's make-believe. His characters are excellent and so far I've taken the story as adventure, not evil.

We'll see how I feel when I finish book two and book three. I'd like to talk with Karen a bit more at some point, or get her ideas about it in a comment, because I know she's read them (or at least the first one).

I'll probably not post again until I'm done with all three (hopefully I can gather my thoughts better between now and then), but don't hold it against me!

well, it is not too awful

I have stuck it out with "The Other Queen", and though it does occasionally make me yell into the air that "I picked up that four disks ago", I have also enjoyed it. There are three perspectives, each read by a different narrator. We see the story from Mary Stuart, Bess of Hardwick, and Lord Talbert's viewpoint. Not bad, and I am thankful that they use different people to help me to be focused. :)

Other books on my list on in progress:
"Two Old Women" a book that is rather interesting. It is based on a legend in a native culture in the Pacific North West. The old women in the band are left behind because there is not enough food, and they have not been able bodied for years. After they realize that this was really happening, they are determined to survive. Though they still have the aches and pains from a few days before, they work through them, and move to a safer place. I actually am looking forward to picking this up again.

"The Lace Reader" is a novel. It based out of Salem, MA, and I haven't gotten too far into it. I think it is a mystery of sorts, and related to talents we are afraid of trusting with in ourselves.

"The Last Lecture", this is a hard read for me at this point. I have set it aside for now.

My car book continues to be the one written by an adolescent with Dyspraxia. I am close to being done with it though.

My next audio book will be "The Memory Keeper's Daughter".

It's Been a While...

I think the last time I posted I had started The Bell Jar, which i very much enjoyed. I only had a vague idea about the book when I started and there were times when I really related to the main character, Esther, particularly in the way she looks at the world and the people around her. It turns out the book is semi-autobiographical, following Sylvia Plath's own descent into mental illness. (Interesting side fact: It was Plath's first and I think only novel and she published it under a pseudonym because she didn't think it had any relevance, literary or otherwise.) Go figure. It was a very interesting read and did not end as tragically as I thought it would. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Sylvia Plath's own life, which she ended very shortly after this novel was published.

After that, I read The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, another book Paige lent me from her collection. It took a little while for me to get into it--it was very intellectual and deep and philosophical and I had a hard time relating to the characters for a while, but as is often the case, it picked up and I really enjoyed it. There was a lot of interesting points made about society in general and the behavior of people, particularly between the classes. It was a very good example of the bonds that can be made between unlikely people and how those bonds can affect the course of a person's life. It touches on how even the smallest of things can have the biggest effect on people. I definitely recommend it to anyone who can fit it in.

I didn't bring anything new with me to Colorado but I managed to find a small collection of books in the housing common area and picked out The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber. It's a very Dan Brown-esque novel that centers around a mysterious and presumably very valuable piece of literature. Already a scholar with important information has been tortured to death! It should keep me entertained at the very least until I get more books in my possession, which I know are coming!

Listening

I finished the Twilight Saga, and was rather disappointed with the ending.

Now, I am listening to books, rather than reading. Well, OK, I am still reading... Just haven't decided which book to discuss....

Any way has any one read "The Other Queen" by Phillipa Gregory? Please tell me it gains some momentum and they stop repeating themselves.... Other wise, I will be shifting to "The Memory Keeper's Daughter"....

My reading at this point is focused on gaining some perspective for my upcoming sermon.
Some Joyce Rupp, Bible, and well Bible Commentary... The Joyce Rupp is more for the PLF worship service I will do on Tuesday night. The others will help in June. :)

Done with Isaac and his storm...

I finished Isaac's Storm last night. I would say that if you are squeamish about the powerful destructive force of water, whether it be in the form of a hurricane, waves, or high water, that you avoid this book. His descriptions of how the water takes over the city of Galveston are detailed, as are his descriptions of the effects the water had on bodies and buildings. Even without the crime story intertwined, like in his other books I've read, it still had a level of suspense and I can tell you my heart beat a little faster the night I was reading and there was a storm flashing lightning outside the bedroom window.

When it was over, I tried to imagine what it must have been like to be there. It nearly choked me up thinking about it. The devastation was immense, and yet that city still stands today. They rebuilt after unprecedented loss and moved forward. Amazing.

I'll be bringing The Golden Compass along with me on the trip to CO. I don't really expect to get it started along the way, but will likely be glad to have it at the airport and on the plane on Tuesday.

Vacation

You would think that with a week off from work, I would have finished one of the several books I have have going. Nope, not one.
So, I will be sneaking in some reading during the next few rainy days. :)

Lifetime Movie...?

I finished Between Sisters this weekend. I think that it could totally be a Lifetime movie. I didn't find the writing to be superb, but the story was good, and the emotion was definitely there. Yes, I cried at several parts towards the end. But hey, even Lifetime movies can move you... in fact, isn't that kind of what Lifetime movies are all about?!

I started Isaac's Storm last night. Like I said before, I loved the other Erik Larson books I've read (Devil in the White City and Thunderstruck) and although this one doesn't seem to have an intertwined crime story, I still think I'll like it a lot.

Oh, all right

I'll admit it. You all having been reading such intellectual books. ME, I have been sucked into the "Twilight" saga.
Not that I haven't read other books. In the past several weeks, I read two different Janette Oke Books, "A Woman Named Damaris" and "A Bride for Donovan".
I continue to read "Living Artfully" and "The Invitation". I can only do these a bit at a time, but I have not given them up. I actually have reread parts instead of moving forward in "The Invitation".
I have side books as well: "The Last Lecture" and "Living in Chaos" The second is a book about adolescence with dyspraxia, written by a 16 year old with the condition. It is my car book.

But, I will comment on the "Twilight" books. I think Edward is an a**. I don't find the idea of cold marble kissing to be enticing. However, I do feel there is a thread of mystery in them. There is a piece that I feel is missing and we have to figure out. I like the character of Jake, and find him to be more appealing. Who knows, maybe it is the fact that I like dogs more than bats. :)
Yeah, I know, it is truly sad that I should have an opinion about fluff books, but I do. I am not enlighten by them, just entertained.

Books, books, books!

I finished parts one and two of The Naked and the Dead (which means over 400 pages!) and then returned it today. Some day I'll take it out again and read parts three and four!

In an effort to catch up on my reading goals, I took out three books today. I don't know if I can finish them all by the return date, but I'm going to try! I chose some that I thought would be pretty quick, but enjoyable. Here they are:

1. Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson. I've read two of his other books and I LOVED them. I don't think this one has a crime story interwoven into the historical parts, but I'm sure it's good anyways.

2. Between Sisters by Kristin Hannah. This one was recommended by Grama. Hopefully I enjoy it and devour it as quickly as she did!

3. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. I saw the movie and really enjoyed it, but was disappointed that the sequels probably wont be made into movies any time soon. I know a lot of the subject matter is controversial, but it's also extremely creative and interesting. I'll probably read this one last so I can follow up with the sequels.

And yay, when I was leaving the library, I checked the "free books" bin and found Hold the Dream by Barbara Taylor Bradford. It's the sequel to A Woman of Substance, which I bought awhile back at the thrift store after thinking it looked good and then finding out it's one of Grama's faves. I haven't read the first one yet, but maybe I'll get through the two this summer.

Whoa.

I figured out today that I've been working on The Naked and the Dead for almost seven weeks. Like I've said, it's not taking so long due to lack of interest or enjoyment, it's just a really long book and I've not been reading much because it's not really a "can't put it down" kind of book.

So, I decided this morning that I'm going to skip to the end and see what happens, if anything. Then I'm moving on to something else. Maybe someday I'll come back and read the middle, but for now, I want to catch up on my reading goals! Plus, when warm weather hits, there's this serious desire to read lighter, move through them quickly books in the sunshine as opposed to curling up into blankets and warmth for something more serious.

I'll be going to the library tomorrow and I'll check back in to let you know what I pick out!

Books

I've never read "Poisonwood Bible" but I have read another book by Barbara Kingsolver--"Prodigal Summer". I think you would like it, Karen.


Right now I am reading a Kristen Hannah book from Grama. "The Things You Do for Love". I surprised myself and stayed awake for well over an hour last night after I went to bed! I am enjoying the book. Mom--you were right--it's a gentle read. I'm looking forward to more!

This week Christie and I discussed the book "Style Statement". It's a book about defining personal style using two descriptive words. The words are discovered through written exercises. I'd write more but Mike is turning out the lights and going to bed without me. So, more later!

Complete

I finished The Poisonwood Bible. It was absolutely incredible. I wish I could put my feelings about it into words, but I can't quite form the right sentences. (Might be the distraction of American Idol...). But really, it was such a great picture of social and cultural differences in terms of seeing a "third world country" through an upper-middle class American's point of view. It explores the differences in religion, values, and just the things we take for granted as opposed to what other people could never imagine in their wildest dreams. I'm having a hard time expressing myself, but just know that this book is a major recommendation for anybody. Definitely in my top 5 at this point.

Now I'm working on The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. More on that later when I've gotten further into it.

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST!!

Another Kristin Hannah book that is! I was so excited on Tuesday night to find I had gotten my order from Amazon that had my new KH book "Between Sisters" in it. I started to read right away and at 12:30 AM on Thursday I closed the book, dragged my body up the stairs and went to bed. Another totally absorbing story done. AND I had been to bed, gotten up and worked all day Wednesday as well!

This book was about a broken relationship between two sisters and what happened to bring them together one more time... Read it, you'll like it.

Still plugging along...

I'm glad to see an occasional post up here! I know we're all still reading plenty, and it's great we're finding the time to tell each other about it every now and then.

I'm still working on The Naked and The Dead. I'm actually really enjoying it, but I think I've decided the reason it's going so slowly is partly because it's not the kind of book you get all into and then devour in a couple of sittings. The writing is fantastic, I'm enjoying the characters, but it's not the suspense kind of book where you can't wait to read more.

Plus, I get to bed, read a few pages, and then find the book in my lap because I've dozed off. Ah, life is so exhausting, haha!

Because I didn't finish by the end of March, I'm a bit behind on my goal of two a month, but I'll just make the next couple books quick reads to help me catch up!

It's a long one...

so I'm still working on The Poisonwood Bible. I wish I was getting through it faster but I've been pretty busy lately. So I'm falling a little behind on my reading spree, but it's ok. I should catch up later when all I have to do is read in the beautiful sunshine of Colorado.

The book is about a Baptist preacher who takes his wife and four young daughters to the Congo on a missionary trip. It is written from the point of view of the mother and four girls, each chapter written by one of them. In one chapter, one of the girls is talking about what the people in their village wear and how there is a man who wears a woman's sweater but doesn't seem to notice.

"But if you think about it, how would he or anyone here ever know it's a lady's sweater? How do I even know? Because of the styling, though it's nothing you could plainly describe. So is it even a lady's sweater, here in the Congo? I wonder."

This quote struck me as something very enlightened. Perhaps something only someone living in a very different world would notice. It's very interesting the things we take for granted or don't even think about but when put in a foreign environment, surrounded by people with different backgrounds and cultural experiences becomes strange and unfamiliar.

It's a great book so far and I look forward to enjoying the rest. Keep you posted.

AN UNUSUAL BEDTIME

I am not an "in bed" reader like Kathy and Christie. I can never get comfortable and I am not able to see clearly enough to read... must be 'old' age. I have however had several rather late nights lately because I have been reading books I couldn't bring myself to put down! Last night, well actually at 2:30 this morning, I managed to drag myself away from the latest Kristin Hannah book that has had me sleepless in Tunbridge.

The first one I read was 'Winter Garden'. I chose it because it was about a Russian woman who had married an American and had 2 daughters with him. Now, he has passed away and she is left,at 80+, to fulfill a promise to complete telling the fairy tale she never finished telling their daughters when they were young. Her children, now in their 40's, never had a close or loving relationship their mother, but they had also made a promise, to get to know her better and to take care of her. The journey that they take together is awesome and interesting. I had trouble putting the book down and it left me hungry for more from this author.

I just blindly picked the next one from Amazon.com's list. "The Things We Do for Love" was again about a relationship that grows and changes between a childless unhappy woman and a motherless (more or less) teenage girl. It was as good as the first one was, full of love and joy and growing, including all the pain that can involve. Again, there were more late nights.

Now I am on the prowl for yet another one....

Nabbed from Karen's blog

I think we all can relate to this!

See Karen's blog here.

Clearing the Nightstand

Like Christie, I go to bed to read and end up reading two or three pages and then I'm out cold. No wonder it is taking me so long to finish anything! Last week I decided my goal was to clear my nightstand, once and for all. I still have about 10 pages of Still Meadow......honestly, I should be ashamed. That book was so enjoyable and it's taking me months to finish. Ridiculous.

I'm also reading Julia Cameron's memoir. Gotta finish it. Jane asked if I've read it yet (she let me borrow the book). I love J.C.'s writing--I've read almost every book she has ever written and they have been life changing. I'll create another post soon so we can talk about life changing books.

The book "I Thought it was Just Me" about shame is half done. I haven't decided if I will finish or if I will give myself permission to remove it from the pile. It has been thought provoking and I have gained some insight into why I feel some of the ways that I do.

I did finish a book called "Creating Time and Space" about making time in your life for art. The book featured several artists and their methods for organizing their life in such a way that they have time to create. I took away a couple of interesting thoughts. First, all of them agreed that a clean house isn't necessary. EEEK! I don't think I can handle that idea. But I also recognize that I will find all kinds of excuses to avoid making something. The second idea was that the creative mind is always thinking--often we obsess about things that we cannot control . Oh boy, is that me! I'm constantly thinking. I have felt I should escape it somehow. Instead the author suggests we replace obessive thoughts with creative ones--like instead of worrying about whether I will die an early death or whether Karen will find the job of her dreams, I need to be thinking about my next art project. I like this idea!

As I finish the books I will give myself a star. I have so many good things to read. Maybe I need to go to bed sooner at night or something.

One more day, one more book...

Turns out, Breakfast at Tiffany's is a very short book. I finished it yesterday without even knowing. I thought it was the end of the book but I wasn't at the end of the physical book. Turns out the rest of it is a few short stories by Truman Capote. So...that was easy. It was good. A cute story.

I was in Kyle's room yesterday and spotted The Poisonwood Bible on his bookshelf so I snatched it. I don't really know anything about it except I've heard good things. So I'll be starting that today. I suspect this one will take a little longer than a day...I'll keep you posted.

Too fast for my own good.

So, I started The Lost Symbol on Saturday and by Wednesday I was a little more than half way through. Well, I am an easy target for Dan Brown's books apparently because I got home Wednesday and got in bed and read for the entire night until I was finished. I would say it was at least 200 pages. Needless to say, I was not as bored with it as Grama was. I do think he did a lot of historical explanations, even more than usual. So it seemed to drag on at points. But I'm a sucker for the way he sets up the chapters so you're left with a cliffhanger at almost every turn. It sucks me right in, just as it is intended to. The story is set in Washington, DC, based around Masonic tradition and involves the CIA and the relationship between science and religion. It definitely took a more religious turn in the end than I would have expected. I wouldn't say it lives up to The Da Vinci Code or Angels and Demons but I still enjoyed it.

Well, I got through that so fast, I didn't even think about what would be next. It's a gloomy, rainy day today and I had nothing so I caught Paige before she went to work and she gave me Breakfast at Tiffany's so I'll give that a go today. It should be another quick one.

Slow.

My current book (The Naked and The Dead) is going very slowly, though not for lack of interest. It seems like every time I go to bed to read, I end up with the book dropping to the covers because I've dozed off. I'm actually really enjoying the book, so I'm hoping to carve out some time to read that doesn't involve laying down under comfy blankets. Hopefully I'll have it finished before the end of March so I can stay on track!

A "time-ly" quote

“Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you”

Carl Sandberg (read in “one Simple Act” by Debbie Macomber on 3-2-2010)

a wee post from Mom, Grama, Barbara

Finished

I finished Travels With Charley the other day. Now I'm just sticking with Eat, Pray, Love, though I'll probably finish that this weekend. I might start another one after that, but I have an acting scene I have to memorize so the extra reading might fall by the wayside a little bit. Then again, if it's nice out this weekend, I might make a trek to the library...Maybe find the new Dan Brown book. YEAH!

Anyway, surprisingly, I don't recall really coming across any quotes that really stood out to me in TWC. It seems strange, it was a very beautiful, descriptive book about traveling across the country, but for some reason, there wasn't a lot that I came across and thought, I really need to write that down. There was this one quote I marked, he had just been talking to an actor and said this of the theatre:

"So it went on--a profession older than writing and one that will probably survive when the written word has disappeared. And all the sterile wonders of movies and television and radio will fail to wipe it out--a living man in communication with a living audience."

It was an enjoyable read. I wish I could say more about it than that, but really it was enjoyable. The writing was great, of course, but I can't say I was blown away by it. It was nice.

I'll let you know if anything new comes along this weekend.

Seriously changing gears...

I finished Home yesterday afternoon. I had struggled through it a bit, but I was very pleased with the end. It made the struggle worth it and somehow when it started to wind down, I finally started to gain some deeper understanding of what the book was trying to say.

Here are some quotes I wrote down since last time:

"I am hungry in general. It is the particulars that discourage me." (198)

"How to announce the return of comfort and well being except by cooking something fragrant. That's what her mother always did." (252) - This quote and other parts of the book where food was discussed make me want to cook more and provide that kind of comfort.

"You can hate thoughts. That's interesting. I hate most of my thoughts." (287)

"... the table and sideboard with their leonine legs and belligerently clawed feet, like some ill-considered, doiley-infested species of which they were the last survivors." (299)

"His hair had been brushed into a soft white cloud, like harmless aspiration, like a mist given off by the endless work of dreaming." (304)

"If Jack had been here, he'd have felt that terrible shock of joy- no, worse than joy, peace- that floods in like blood pushing into a limb that has been starved of it, like wild rescue, painful and wonderful and humbling- humiliating as she remembered it becasue she had been so helpless against it." (322)

********

The changing gears refers to going from the above book to my next book, which is The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer. When I went to the library the other day, none of the books I was looking for on my list were in and so I started to browse. I recognized this title and then remembered it was a book from the Top 100 list. It is a war novel set in the South Pacific during World War II. Definitely a change of scenery from Home, which is about coming back to a home in Gilead, Iowa.

1986 REPRESENT

Pulitzer Prize in Fiction: Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry

Nobel Prize for Literature: Wole Soyinka (Nigeria)

I swear I've read something by Wole Soyinka. I definitely know the name. Maybe I read one of his plays...or at least learned about him in some theatre class somewhere along the way.

Books of note:

• The Old Devils, Kingsley Amis
• The Progress of Love, Alice Munro
  
• A Summer to Memphis, Peter Taylor
  

1963 (Beth)

Note from the Editor: Christie--that photo just cracks me up! I remember (I think)Mammie bought the tee shirt. With U.J.'s influence perhaps??

Now for the entries for 1963. Beth--there will be a quiz.

Nobel Prize for Literature: Georgio Seferis
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: The Reivers by William Faulkner

Other books of note:

The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin
73 Poems, ee cummings
The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan
The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath
V, Thomas Pynchon
The Centaur, John Updike
Cat's Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut

and last but by no means least: Happiness is a Warm Puppy by Charles M. Schultz

1943 (Guess Who?)

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Dragon's Teeth by Upton Sinclair

No Nobel Prize for Literature awarded in 1943---the war perhaps?

Popular books published in 1943:

The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery
The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith
Mere Christianity, CS Lewis
These Happy Golden Years (#8 in Little House series), Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Razor's Edge, W. Somerset Maugham

Who's Next?

Yep, a fun idea...

Cool idea, Mom! Here are my book related entries for 1984:

Pulitzer Prize, Fiction: Ironweed by William Kennedy

Nobel Prize for Literature: Jaroslav Seifert (Czechoslovakia)

Books: Hotel Du Lac by Anita Brookner and Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie

I'm going to add Ironweed and the books of note to my reading list. As for Seifert, I'm going to look up some of his poetry online. Here's something I found already (from "Dance of Girls Chemises"):

Love,

which we inhale and feed on,

disenchanted,

love that our dreams are keyed on,

love,

that dogs our rise and fall:

nothing

yet the sum of all.

An aside: the album of the year, "Thriller," may explain some things...

Thanks for the suggestion Mom! Can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with!

A fun idea....(maybe).....1962

Darnelle sent me this cool e-mail where you click through to find out the history for the year you were born. Included in the information: Who won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature, Nobel Prize, bestsellers, etc. I thought I would share the ones from the year I was born, 1962:

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: The Edge of Sadness, Edwin O'Connor
Nobel Prize for Literature: John Steinbeck

Books of Note:
Another Country, James Baldwin
Silent Spring, Rachel Carson
In the Clearing, Robert Frost
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Gunter Grass
The Colossus and Other Poems, Sylvia Plath
All My Pretty Ones, Anne Sexton

http://www.infoplease.com/year/1962.html

Not a happy year, 1962. I think the books truly reflect the turmoil of the time. If you want to see your books--click through and change the year OR let me know the year you were born and I will post for you. The next challenge? Actually reading the books!

Quotes

This is a neat topic and I'm enjoying the discussion going on here and seeing how others keep track of the words that most inspire them.

If I own the book, I sometimes highlight or underline quotes I like, but most often I just write them in a little notebook that I keep handy, with pen, while I'm reading. When I start a new book, I write in the title so I'll know where the quote comes from and then write the page number next to the quote for future reference.

I also have a blank journal that I keep a lot of my favorite quotes in. I haven't updated it for awhile, but it's a combo of images and favorite quotes I've gathered from all over.

Here are couple of quotes from the book I'm currently reading (Home by Marilynne Robinson):

"She opened the windows to cool the kitchen and air out the dining room a little, and the breezes that came in were mild, earthy, grassy, with a feel of sunlight about them" (105). -- I love that last part about the "feel of sunlight."

"You feel that heart in there? My life became your life, like lighting one candle from another. Isn't that a mystery?" (116)

Collection Quotes Part Deux

Grama/Mom/Barbara says:

I think the neatest books of collected quotes I have seen/read are Father Tim’s 2 books from the Mitford Series. Some of the quotes are scrawled in, some are neat, some are typewritten on scraps of paper and look like they are stuck in.
I myself kind of followed that example and I have 2 or maybe 3 different books of quotes going at the present. I never gave it much thought but I LOVE quotes and they are about anything, anything at all as long as the words touch some deep place in my being. A lot of mine are magazine clippings, some are written out of books, out of cards, off of all kinds of things that catch my eye. I am not a purist, I will lift a good from ANYWHERE I see one.
Be loose, write them in colors, all colors, all size markers and pens , CRAYONS, whatever you have when you read it, but always put them all together in the same place. Date them if you want and watch your life wander through the words across time.

Collecting Quotes

Christie brought up a good question. How do you collect quotes? As I learn more about art journaling, I wish I had kept a collection in a more organized way over the years. I read once that Madeline L'Engle kept a big book of quotes throughout her life. I think she talks about it in the book "Walking on Water, Reflections on Faith and Art." (Good read by the way)

I guess it's like anything else. You need to have the desire and the means. And then the discipline. I love a good quote. Maybe I need a journal JUST for that purpose. (another journal? Egads.)

BIt of a change

After being on the verge of tears in El Fuego reading Eat, Pray, Love today I have decided I will only read it at home or when I can take it in and react appropriately if necessary. Which means I will return to Travels With Charley as my take-with-me book that I can read in public/at work etc. So I'll keep posting about them both.

AH HA

I am alive in the world of reading. :)

I must say I have read, but mostly fluff stuff. I finished a book by Janet Oke, "A Bride for Donovon". It was about a mail order bride. It was Sweet, and easy to read. :)

I have a couple of others on the burner... James Patterson "The Midnight Club" and one by another famous guy that for the life of me I will have to either Google or get off my butt to find out.... UGH! He wrote "Time to Kill' , "The Chamber", "The Client", "the Firm".... It is coming to me, John something. Garner? No.... Grisham I think....

Oh, well, life has been to crazy for much heavy reading. I have a couple of things on the sidelines. They have been there waiting for me for so long, I am afraid the dust may have sucked the words out of them. :) Nah, I know that isn't true. "Living Artfully" was hauled out of it's hiding spot this evening, prior to the arrival of Des and her prom dress. (Story for another blog.) I will be taking some quiet time to myself and reading a bit this week. I can't wait. :)

Trudging along...

I'm kind of struggling through my current book, Home by Marilynne Robinson. I think it might be because I'm having a hard time focusing and getting the deeper meaning out of the story and the writing. I think all the snow days threw me off track and now I'm trying to get things back in alignment, which funks with my reading. I'm working through it though and hope to get as much out of it as I can... after all, she's a Pulitzer Prize winning fiction writer!

Readin like a fool

Well, last week I started reading Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck. And I think I will enjoy it. But Saturday I bought Eat, Pray, Love because from what Mom said about it, it seemed an appropriate book for me to read at this particular time in my life. Turns out, that couldn't be more true. I am amazed at how similar her experiences are to the ones I've been having. But I guess that's the point, that it's so similar to what most women go through at some point or other. But the exactitude of it all is uncanny. So I think I made the right choice. Travels with Charley will just have to wait.

Annnd finished another.

When I got the call last night that I wasn't working today I decided to stay up and finish my book. It took a turn after my first post about it. I said how the main character is so optimistic and took the time to enjoy the small things around her, and of course I knew it wouldn't last but the way she changed and how quickly it seemed to happen was very unexpected. I won't go into the details since Mom mentioned she might want to read it, but it was unusual how easily she changed her views on life and how she decided to handle the changes that were happening to her. In terms of my similarities to her I have to say that the way she behaved toward her sister in light of certain developments was very unlike me, but in the other ways she handled her emotional state was unfortunately quite similar. As can be expected, in the end she had grown up quite a bit and was making adult decisions that she knew were right even if they were against her personal feelings.

I wish I could go to the library today since I have the day off, but it is very unlikely that any will be open. So I shall have to do some more borrowing. Kyle has plenty, so it shouldn't be a problem. I also did just read the play from which I am doing a scene for acting class called Alchemy of Desire/Dead-Man's Blues. It is pretty strange a little hard to figure out but I will have to read it a couple more times anyway so I can understand it for my scene. It is interesting, though and will definitely be a good challenge. I'll be sure to report back with my new read when I find it.

New Read

I haven't been posting because no one else has, which is a silly excuse. Partly because I'm lazy too I guess. I started a new book last week after finishing Lolita. (I very much enjoyed Grama's post on it :) ) Now I am reading one called I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. I really, really like it. It's from the perspective of a 17 year old girl living in England in a very old castle in the 1930's. It is written as if it is her journal and what I find so fascinating about it is that I feel like I could have written it. I very much relate to the character and feel like I could be reading my own journal as if it were me living as a poor family in a castle in England, writing about her life and the people around her and the small things she notices and appreciates. She has a rather optimistic view on life (so far) and leads her life at times as if it is a fairy tale, even though it is far from it. It is a very easy read and I'm sure I will breeze through the end. And maybe my next one will be one I choose rather than one Paige has. Though, that has been working out rather well for me. Glad to hear from everyone again. Keep on truckin!

For those of you who can't....

I know some of you can't e-mail directly to blogger because of work e-mail restrictions. Keep the posts coming whatever way works!

I'm still plugging away at the same old books. Maybe I need to pare down to just one or two instead of five or six. Or go to bed earlier.

I love reading what other people are up to. Mom--I totally loved the story about the librarian's offer to put Lolita in a paper bag. How times have changed!

TEST TEST

Hi reading friends!

Just testing to see if the e-mail publishing address works.  If you want to publish through e-mail because you can't get onto blogger, please send your posts to dolphnsatsunrise.readingnuts@blogger.com.

Happy Reading!

Lolita Revisited

A post from Grama/Mom/Barbara:

I remember reading Lolita. I was about Karen’s age, a ‘married lady’ with young children. There was such a stir about the movie that was coming out based on the novel, oh my, and on such a forbidden topic too, sex with an underage child. I was not intimidated by any of that, it simply made me more curious than I probably would have been about reading the book.
I walked into the Westerly Public Library, past the desk and into the stacks. I knew, from years of loving and exploring the place, exactly where to go. I found what I was seeking and took to the desk to be checked out, where Mrs. Benson said, “Oh, MY! Barbara, I will have to put this one in a bag for you”.
I took it home and read it, then badgered my poor husband to take me to see the movie!
We saw the film starring James Mason and, I think, Carol Lynley, in New London. They wouldn’t show it in Westerly, it was too scandalous and the churches were opposed to it.
A tiny piece piece of film trivia. The town that is shown from a moving train in the film is Westerly, RI, the very same one that would not allow the movie to be shown in their town!
I thought the book was excellent and the movie was good. The scandal of it all was even better

Ding dong, the witch is dead...

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West is an awesome book, which I'm sure no one will be surprised to hear.

It was a lot more of an "adult-read" than I had expected. I hadn't exactly expected it be a children's book, but it was a lot more grown-up and intellectual than I anticipated. There was a lot going on and I found it amazing that someone could create a whole 'nother world like that of Oz, with various political parties and lives intertwined. I really look forward to reading the sequels, and of course hopefully someday seeing the play.

Next up for me is Home by Marilynne Robinson. Like I said before, it's a title I saw when browsing at Borders. I guess Robinson wrote another book set in the same town, but completely independent, that was extremely popular.

done da-done done donnnnneee

I finished Lolita today. It actually did not end the way I thought it did, but it's just as well. It was a very enjoyable read, I have to say. One would think that in writing a story from the perspective of a character like this, he would make himself out to be the good guy, in a relatable and sympathetic fashion. But he doesn't glamorize it. He knows the extent to which what he did was socially unacceptable, to say the least. But he is not particularly apologetic about his behavior, for he was acting out of pure, almost otherworldly love, as unorthodox--and illegal--though it was. In one of the last pages of the book, he is talking about his Lolita saying "I looked and looked at her, and knew as clearly as I know I am to die, that I loved her more than anything I had ever seen or imagined on earth, or hoped for anywhere else." Vanity Fair is quoted on the front cover as saying "The only convincing love story of our century." I understand how it could be hard for a lot of people to not dismiss his story as a one of a creepy, disgusting pedophile who took advantage of a young girl. And it indeed is that very thing, but it is revealed at the end that his love for her was more than just a lust or infatuation for a child, but a pure, real and eternal love for a person that he takes with him to his grave. It is also clear that he is aware of his crime and ashamed of what he had done.

Anywho, I definitely recommend this book, though I think it is likely to be interpreted and accepted in many different ways by different people. I don't have my next book lined up, but chances are I will have one picked out before the night is done and will post about it tomorrow.

Quote

"Spring tipped in like green well water, frothing at the hedges, bubbling at the roadside, spalshing from the cottage roof in garlands of ivy and stringflower" (32).

Reading List

Still reading Eat, Pray, Love. Still Meadow and Sugarbridge is still on my nightstand. I have been reading a book on creativity called Creative Time and Space. I'm also reading The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, using it daily as a devotional/reflection.

"You don't bring glory or pleasure to God by hiding your abilities or by trying to be someone else. You only bring him enjoyment by being you." (pg. 76)

Do you know your purpose? Just wondering.

Lolita

I am really enjoying this book. As I said before, the subject matter is rather disturbing, but the writing is really beautiful and descriptive. I wish I had been keeping track of more quotes and his word choices, but it's hard to remember to mark the page or write them down while I'm reading. Here is one quote from today that demonstrates pretty well his inventive and almost lyrical writing style:

"While a few pertinent points have to be marked, the general impression I desire to convey is of a side door crashing, open in life's full flight, and a rush of roaring black time drowning wih its whipping wind the cry of lone disaster."

I read this one ages ago and I can't believe I found it again. Thank goodness for my photographic memory so I remembered what part of the page it was on...Hello alliteration...

"I spend my doleful days in dumps and dolors."

I am towards the end and am very interested in how it turns out. I have a vague idea, but nothing specific.

And just for fun, a few things to be happy about from my book:

• baby bootees
• secret caves
• old tintypes
• the cat acting foolish
• sweeps of white beach that surround the ocean's edge
• the dancing of fireflies as the moon rises

Happy reading!

Wicked

Since Karen and I weren't able to see the show, I've gotten the book instead. Maybe someday I'll get to see the show too! I also hope to read the two other books in the series, Son of a Witch and A Lion Among Men.

I also took out Home by Marilynne Robinson, which is one of the books I saw at Borders that I thought might be good.

Finished!

One more quote from The Kite Runner: "I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night" (359).

I actually finished The Kite Runner this weekend after reading most of it on Friday at work. It was a really great book and I definitely recommend it. It's an intense story, but a beautiful one.

I'm not sure what's up next, but I've got a list going and I'm planning on going to the library tomorrow at lunch.

Quote

"But better to get hurt by the truth than comforted with a lie" (p. 58).

Eat, Pray, Love

“In that moment, it was as if my strong mother reached across the table, opened her fist and finally showed me the handful of bullets she’d had to bite over the decades in order to stay happily married (and she is happily married, all considerations weighed) to my father. I had never seen this side of her before, not ever. I had never imagined what she might have wanted, what she might have been missing, what she might have decided not to fight for in the larger scheme of things. Seeing all this, I could feel my world start to make a radical shift.”

Amir's Baba...

When Amir describes his father, it reminds me of Grampa.

"... hands that looked capable of uprooting a willow tree..." (p. 12)

"... impossible to ignore, even in his sleep." (p. 13)

Quick! Look Down!

I wrote a post a few days ago and just published it. I'm so happy to see the activity on this blog.

Horses to Kites

I finished All the Pretty Horses this weekend. I really liked it a lot and will definitely be reading more of Cormac McCarthy. The movie version of the book is actually On Demand right now and I might watch it, though I know the movie wont be as good!

I started The Kite Runner last night, so that's my next book. If I get it done before it's due on the 2nd, I'll be ahead in my reading goals for the year!

Found a New One

I am now reading Lolita by Vladimir Nabakov. Another from Paige. She loved it and I am enjoying it so far. I really like the writing, though the subject matter is pretty controversial. I've only just started, but I feel like this is going to be another quick read.

I realized today there is another thing that I read regularly, though it is a little more unusual than a regular novel. As you might know, I have a book called 14,000 things to be happy about and I have gotten back in the habit of reading a couple pages every day and underlining the things that I really agree with. So maybe I'll start sharing a few of the things I underline in my posts just for fun. Here are a few from today:

• beachcombing
• a barn to make love in (ooh la la)
• a bountiful weekend brunch table covered with an antique lace or linen cloth and topped with country pottery, a napkin-lined muffin basket, stout pitchers for milk or juice, and an earthenware vase of wildflowers (a lot of them have to do with food...)
• opening one's eyes a little more
• the dizzy smell of fresh-cut hay

Well, the list goes on and on. It's a great book, and a good one to share with others, so I'll try to make a habit of doing so here. Maybe I'll even think about starting my own blog........Happy reading!

Eat, Pray, Love

So, I started this DAYS ago and thought I posted it! Now I'm finding out I DIDN'T! So here it is:

This last fall, Jane brought this book to me and said I had to read it. I'd avoided it because I thought it was going to be dry and too deep. I finally broke it open in the last week. KAREN! You have to read this book. I hear your voice in it. I've barely read 1/3 (I'm not through the "Eat" part yet) but I've enjoyed it so much. Basically, the author is extremely unhappy in her married life, goes through a messy divorce and pitches a book idea to her publisher--she wants to spend a year in Italy, India, and Indonesia (four months in each place). In the part I am reading, Elizabeth Gilbert goes to Italy to eat and learn to speak Italian.

"When I realized that the only question at hand was, "How do I define pleasure?" and that I was truly in a country where people would permit me to explore that question freely, everything changed. Everything became......delicious. All I had to do was ask myself every day, for the first time in my life, "What would you enjoy doing today, Liz?" What would bring you pleasure right now?" With nobody else's agenda to consider and no other obligations to worry about, this question finally became distilled and absolutely self specific."

The book is an easy read, funny, and thought-provoking.

Finished another one

I have finished Never Let me Go. It was definitely an interesting read. I know what Paige meant now by being surprised by the whole science fiction thing. I could tell from the beginning it wasn't quite normal but the way it was written, it took basically to the end of the book for everything to be revealed. It's this woman telling the story of her life starting at what first appears to be a sort of private school, but you slowly realize there is no mention of parents or a life outside of this establishment and that this is a place they are raising these children for some specific reason. Again, that reason takes a very long time to actually get to. I really liked the way he wrote it, though; he sometimes would go one step forward in the story and then two steps back and then come back to the present and then back and forth again so that very slowly, everything was revealed until we finally realize the kids are clones raised expressly to donate their organs as a way to keep people alive who have fatal diseases like cancer and the like. I was able to sort of guess where it was all going, but it wasn't completely clear until the very end, which I guess is the way really good books are written. Sort of like the Dan Brown books. Just makes you want to keep reading.

I guess I kind of ruined it for those of you who might want to read it, but I recommend it anyway, that is such a small factor of the book really, it's the experience of reading the story that is really enjoyable. I haven't picked out a new book yet, but I plan on looking through Kyle's collection right away to get started on number four of the year. Hope everyone else is having good reading experiences too!

Still horsing around...

I'm still reading All the Pretty Horses. I feel like my pace isn't quite on point, but I'm hoping to step it up a bit over the weekend. I've only really been reading before bed, but as tax season moves forward and Casey goes back to class (starting tonight), I'm sure I'll find more reading time. I've already been better about not watching TV, but I haven't necessarily been reading instead but have been working on other projects. Aw well, it's better to go a little slower and really enjoy it than read too fast and not appreciate the good parts.

Serendipity

I didn't read as much as I planned over the weekend. I have a few more pages to finish in Stillmeadow and Sugarbridge. It seems to be taking forever to read but the book itself is simplicity. Saturday afternoon Mom and I went to the Brick Store in Bethel, treasure hunting. And I found a treasure! Books by Gladys Tabor are easy (if expensive) to find online. (The Stillmeadow book was as much as $45!! My copy is precious--the name Ethel Southworth is written in her hand in the front of the book .) Barbara Webster is harder to find. BUT! As I was browsing at the Brick Store I spotted a book called "Country Matters" by Barbara Webster. I squealed with delight and immediately bought the book. As it turns out, the book is an anthology edited by B.W. and illustrated by her husband, Edward Shelton. I can't wait to read it, after I finish the other book!

Horsies.

I'm loving All the Pretty Horses. The most recent bit I read was describing the two main characters breaking mustangs. McCarthy describes everything they are doing as if he were teaching you to do it yourself. Most of his descriptions are like that; he really doesn't want you to miss anything.

A quote...

"They unloaded the horses at McCullough's and rode up through the middle pasture along Grape Creek and into the low hills. The creek was clear and green with trailing moss braided over the gravel bars" (p. 22).

FINISHED!

I finished Pirate Latitudes today! It was really good. Very gory and pirate-y with battles and sea monsters and revenge. All the good stuff. Probably not something I would recommend to the rest of you, but I definitely enjoyed it.

My next read is a book that Paige has and just finished reading. It's called Never Let me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I actually have no idea what it's about but I will soon find out. Apparently it was not what Paige expected--I guess it turned out to be sci-fi or something. But she liked it and thought I would too. So that's next.

Christie, I know what you mean about Cormac McCarthy books. They are sooo good though. Well, I've only read one, but it was so excellent and I imagine the rest are just the same. I plan on reading more of his work, so let me know how that one is.

Run On Sentences

Cormac McCarthy uses lots of long sentences. Not that I mind because I do the same thing sometimes. Plus, the writing is so good you just devour those long sentences quickly and try not to miss a bite.

I'm trying to focus on the words when I read this book because his details are great. But last night I only got so far because Casey came to bed the same time I did and he was muttering in bed next to me while he played poker on his phone. It was very distracting.

Aw well, soon enough he'll be working late and I'll miss him... but I'll also be able to read quietly without distraction! :)

All the Pretty Horses

I couldn't find my library card. Fortunately, getting a new one is as easy as showing your ID and paying $2, so I did that at lunch and now I'm good to go.

Today I took out All the Pretty Horses, by Cormac McCarthy, and The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. The Road wasn't on the shelf or I would have gotten that.

I'm starting with All the Pretty Horses. I've got to get it done by the end of the month to stay on track for my reading goal this year... plus it's due back on the second.

Happy Reading!

You should see the piles.....

So many books, so little time. The pirate book sounds good. Grama will be so happy to know you are enjoying it, Karen. Grammie Alice brought a full bag of books to me on New Year's Day. I have no idea when I will read them all. Maybe I need to start reading at lunchtime. How do you find time? (and did you find your library card Chris?)

Hot diggity-dog

I am sailing through this pirate book. It's great, it's like a heist book, but with pirates. I guess that's kind of what pirating is usually about but the way it's set up, it's like a typical heist movie, which I adore. I had the same idea as mom about writing down the books that I read. It should be a good sense of accomplishment at the end of the year. Hopefully. I have a couple books lined up for after this one and if I ever get to the library, I'll look for that Kitchen Diaries book.

Where, oh where is my libary card?

I finished Letter to My Daughter this weekend. I really liked parts, but parts of it didn't interest me too much. Hopefully I'll be having a discussion with Grama to formulate some more developed thoughts to share here! :)

I wanted to go to the library today, but I can't find my library card. I'm not sure why I would have taken it out of my wallet, but I'm going to do a search tonight and if I can't find it, I'll request another one.

Some books on my list to get are: The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns (both recommended by Tana), The Golden Compass (liked the movie- even though some of it is very controversial in terms of my faith), The Road (recommended by Karen), The Kitchen Diaries (saw on a blog), and My Sister's Keeper (saw the movie this weekend and it was BEAUTIFUL!).

Keeping a List

I'm going to start keeping a list of all of the books I read in 2010. It would be GREAT if I could read at least 25. Ideally it would be more. Rather than plan ahead about it though, I'm going to just read as much as I can and keep track of what I finish. Almost done with Stillmeadow-Sugarbridge. Next? I think Eat, Pray, Love. Jane recommended it.

Me too!!

This is about the time that I started reading like crazy last year, and I feel like it is happening again now. I just finished reading Atonement by Ian McEwan. It was really good. I've seen the movie, but as is usually the case, the book was much better. I definitely recomment it to everyone who reads this blog.

Now I am reading a book that Grama gave me for Christmas called Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton. I'm not too far into it but so far I really like it. I'm not even totally sure what it's about, but I'm guessing something about pirates...haha. So far it's sort of Pirates of the Caribbean-esque. But I know that's not really what it's like. Either way, it seems to be right up my alley. I for sure hope I am able to keep up with my reading and with this blog. I'm glad we have started up again , I like the connections too!

Letter To My Daughter

I bought and started this book yesterday. I'm already on Chapter 6. It's a fast read, but one filled with lots of meaningful words. I'm just reading through right now, but I'll probably go back and read it again some day so I can copy down some quotes that really popped out at me.

What I'm Reading

One of my goals this year is to READ MORE! I've been on the same book for ages but loving every word. Still Meadow and Sugar Bridge is a collection of correspondence between two writers, Gladys Tabor and Barbara Webster. Through the course of a year, they write back and forth to each other about their homes, their families, their thoughts, dreams, and reflections on life in the country. The book was published at a time when letters were still handwritten and computers filled whole rooms (late 1950's, I think).

I'm looking forward to reading what everyone else has open. I really enjoy this blog and the connections we make through books.

Hello!

I would love to get this blog back up and running. It's one of my goals for the year.

I know the previous format might seem a little daunting, so lets relax things a bit and see if we can get things going again.

Just post when you can about what your reading, what you've read and enjoyed, and what you'd like to read. I'm going to keep the previous format link in the sidebar though, just for reference in case you need a push in a direction for a certain day.

Right now I'm struggling through a book by Ann Rule, but I think I'm only struggling because I'd rather be reading Letter to My Daughter by Maya Angelou, which is the book I bought for Grama this year for Christmas.

So I'll be headed to Borders today or tomorrow to pick that up and then that's what I'll be reading through. I think she's already done, so I've got to get hopping. :)