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. :)