Random books from callen610's library

Bridget Jones's Diary : A Novel by Helen Fielding

On Beauty by Zadie Smith

Shakespeare, in Fact by Irvin Leigh Matus

True Mom Confessions: Real Moms Get Real by Romi Lassally

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell

A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby

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Member: callen610

CollectionsYour library (436), Currently reading (4), To read (97), Read but unowned (64), Favorites (14), All collections (463)

Reviews8 reviews

TagsFiction (200), TBR (99), Young Adult (96), Non-fiction (89), 1001 Books (52), 2006 (47), 2009 (43), 2007 (36), 2004 (30), History (30) — see all tags

Cloudstag cloud, author cloud

Groups1001 Books to read before you die, 1010 Category Challenge, 50 Book Challenge, Atwoodians, Audiobooks, Book Nudgers, Happy Heathens, Historical Fiction, Homer, the Trojan war, and pre-classical Greece, I Survived the Great Vowel Shiftshow all groups

Favorite authorsJane Austen, Bill Bryson, Nick Hornby, Barbara Kingsolver, Jerry Spinelli, Sarah Vowell (Shared favorites)

Favorite bookstoresBooks End

About meI am a 6th grade teacher (English & Science). My husband is a professional book reviewer, and I try not to get too jealous that he gets paid to read. :-) We have two daughters - 2 1/2 and 6 months.
I usually read books based on recommendations from NPR, my family (esp. my mother), my students, and of course LibraryThing members!

Currently Reading:
American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson ~ Joseph J. Ellis
A Canticle for Leibowitz ~ Walter M. Miller Jr.

To Be Read Soon
A Christmas Carol ~ Charles Dickens
The Man Who Invented Christmas ~ Les Standiford

I am currently participating in the 50 Book Challenge for 2009! Here is the link to my posts: callen610’s 50 Book Challenge-2009

I'm also attempting to read books in 10 Categories from 10/10/2009 through 10/10/2010:

10. Ten Short Stories
9. Nine Young Adult
8. Eight CNY Women's Book Club
7. Seven Non-fiction
6. Six Bonus Books
5. Five Audio Books
4. Four Recommendations by family/friends/LT members
3. Three Fairy Tales/Myths/Legends
2. Two From my Shelves
1. One Dickens
My progress is here: callen610’s 10/10/10 Challenge

Please add comments or suggestions!


About my libraryI rarely buy books for myself anymore - I've found that if I own them, they sit on my shelf. I do better with a little pressure from the public library. Now I mainly buy books for my young daughters. My library as listed here is composed of books I have read (and sometimes own) and books I want to read (tagged TBR).

LocationCentral New York

Emailcallen610yahoo.com

Account typepublic, lifetime

Connection NewsConnection News

URLs http://www.librarything.com/profile/callen610 (profile)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/callen610 (library)

Common KnowledgeSeries (76), Awards (349), Characters (2888), Places (575)

Member sinceApr 18, 2008

Currently readingClassroom Instruction that Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement (ASCD) by Robert J. Marzano
The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed
American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson by Joseph J. Ellis
Me of Little Faith by Lewis Black

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Greetings,

I actually read that Philip Roth book (The Dying Animal) mostly because I had been on a trip to St. Louis and found a neat little used bookstore (called Left Bank Books). I came across his little "area" and pick this particular book at random. I have since bought my dad The Plot Against America and he seems to be really diggin' it.

As for Nick Hornsby I have only read Being Good thus far but it really surprised me with its depth. I picked it up expecting sort of a "junk food" kind of read and it turned out to be a little more thought provoking than that. I'm going to try and lay my hands on a copy of About a Boy at some point in the near future and am looking forward to it.

Aaron
Thanks for the reply, and sorry to shake up the Bryson world.

While hiking the AT in the south you run in to people in the towns where Bryson stopped. They remember him, but no traveling companion. Also, Bryson has since admitted in interview that Katz was just an "alter ego". Talk to any AT hiker. Just about all of them have read the book. It was one of my first exposures to the trail. I thought I was picking up a book about an honest thru-hike. But, he hiked three hundred miles to Gatlinburg and quit. He hopped around through sections of Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Maine. And he ends with a final sentence that is an insult to everyone who had the fortitude, determination and just plain good luck to finish with the line "I have hiked the Appalachian Trail." No he didn't, not even close. Worse than his claim to have hiked it is rudeness and general disrespect for other hikers and especially for people he met in towns along the way. He settles for cheap laughs at the expense of sharing an honest experience.

The one thing I will give him... the description of a blizzard in the Smokey Mountains... right on the money. Also, Gatlinburg is a cheesy tourist trap, but the people were salt of the earth. I was injured and needed x-rays while there. The people who gave me directions to a hospital and especially the cab driver who drove me to and picked me up from the ER in Pigeon Forge were wonderful. I was lost in what was essentially foreign territory... me, a snotty queer Massachusetts Yankee in "conservative" "Bible belt" Tennessee. To believe Bryson, I could have been lynched by a mob in white robes and hoods. I learned quickly to check my attitude and preconceived notions at the door. That is one of the biggest lessons to be learned and one you can't complete a hike without.

Sorry for the rant, but it's all true.
Hi Callen,

I'm doing my usual Sunday morning check-in. Thanks for adding me to your interesting libraries. What struck you about it?

I see you're working on your 50 books. Probably won't make it myself this yer, but fun watching my "completed" stack grow.
Thanks for putting up that BBC list. Hadn't seen it before. Made me feel better read that a lot of the other lists out there.

I see you're a Bryson fan. Hope you weren't put off by the rant in my profile. I tend to go off any time I'm talking about the AT and some one asks if I've read... well, you know the one.

boulder
Hi Callen,

That's so surprising that you're having more time to read with the new baby. Maybe I should gift my friend with a new book since she just gave birth yesterday... I never would have thought of it before!

I haven't read The Penelopiad, as The Handmaid's Tale was my first Atwood. I do have a copy of Alias Grace on my shelves, so that will probably be my next one. I'll put Penelopiad on my TBR right now *scribbles it down* with a note to let you know when I've picked it up.

Hoping you're getting a full 8 hours,
Steph
Hello.
Have you read "Howard's End" by E.M. Forster?
I quite liked it and this is one of those cases
for me where I "piggy-back" books. I always read
"Howard's End" and "The Remains of the Day" back
to back with either one coming first.
Also I noticed that you had recently added "A Tree
Grows in Brooklyn" which is a marvelously wonderful
story. She wrote another that I enjoyed greatly
called "Maggie Now", although that one might be a
little dated for you.
Let me go in and take a peek at your library and see
if I can some up with some other suggestions.
belva
Hi Callen,

Re: Reading In Search of Lost Time. I recently met someone through a mutual friend who is beginning the fourth volume of ISOLT and has become a bit of a Proustaholic. His enthusiasm is infectious and he's been gracious enough to "take me by the hand" in this Proust adventure. So far, I've barely begun Swann's Way and am reading Proust's Wa by Roger Shattuck, which is also helpful. I'll let you know how it goes!
Hi Callen

Thanks very much for pointing me towards the WAMU radio discussion on "I know why the caged bird sings".
It's given me a better idea on Maya Angelou's autobiography's place in American literature.

I read this book as part of a "bookring" on bookcrossing, so I've been able to make everyone on the ring aware of the audio program to.

Thanks for your consideration.

Cheers
kim
Hello Callen,

The group read of The Blind Assassin will now begin on Monday 9th March.

- TT
I haven't read "The Post-Birthday World" yet, but I'll let you know what I think when I do. I picked it up last weekend from the bargain table at Borders (5.99 for a hardcover!) because I've heard so much positive buzz about it here on LT. I think I will end up reading "The Brief History of the Dead" now - this sort of thing is exactly what libraries are for! That way if I don't like it, no harm done.
I know I'm at home when I go to a LT home page and find Anne Boleyn! She is my all time favorite historical character. And, she truly was a character!
I really liked your review of "The Brief History of the Dead". I heard the author on NPR last year too and I thought that the concept sounded fascinating. Now I'm not so sure.

Jennifer
Thanks for adding me to your Interesting Libraries List I do not know how you will have time to read come spring! Good luck! I belong to 2 book clubs. One is held at our local library, but is not led by a library employee. They let us use their space and before deciding what books to read, we make sure that they are able to get a good number of copies of the book for that month. We read a variety, but no fluff. The other club is very informal, we read all types of books, nothing too heavy.
P.S. I saw you added Ella Minnow Pea. I've read good things about it and would be interested to find out what you thought!
Hi Corrina! I read through Year of Wonders, but I'm not sure what I got out of it. Maybe I just have a hardened heart or something, but the descriptions of the plague just didn't get to me, not even the deaths. I guess I just felt like I didn't know the characters enough to care if they died. For example, when that man (George?) who had an interest in Anna died, I thought it was a pity, but really, what did I know about him? He'd just been introduced a few pages back. I thought there wasn't enough build up. I didn't really like the book, but that may be just because I have a bias against stories written in that era. I liked People of the Book MUCH better!

I just finished Chocolat and was slightly disappointed with it because it was recommended to me by a friend upon learning I'd loved Perfume. So I began the book expecting a lot, and it fell short of my expectations. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer was EXCELLENT, and if you haven't read it, you should! I loved it. I might pick up The Lollipop Shoes, but I have so many books on my list I don't know when I'll get around to it!

I read City of Ember early this month, and loved it! I never seemed to be able to completely leave behind YA fiction, but now that I have two stepdaughters (one of whom is 14 and LOVES to read), I have an excuse! I loved the book and am definitely going to get the sequels... when I find them and am able to justify spending even more money on books, that is... :D I'm not surprised your students loved it. I do wish the ending had been threshed out a bit more, though. I would have liked to hear the two main characters explain about the new world they'd found. Then again, it IS YA.

Nikki
callen,

Reading 'Bleak House' is one of the Group Reads that the 75 Books Challenge group is going to do. Currently, we have 2 group reads going on: 'Don Quixote' and 'War and Peace'. Anyone is welcome to join in, so if you are interested, give any of them a shot!

Stasia, aka AlcottAcre
Hi,

Thanks for adding me to your Interesting Libraries list.

I see that you are a memeber of The Coffee Trader group. It's a fun group of people.

See you there!

Lorie
Hi Corinna,

"Collections" (on my profile picture) refers to a program being developed by LT's founder Tim in which our libraryThing collection will have the ability to be subdivided into separate "collections" without simply using tags. The most asked-for subset of our personal libraries is a wishlist, I believe, although each person will have the ability to create various subsets of his own library. "Collections" is a feature which has been a long time in coming and seems to be ready for imminent realease after some intitial testing. The picture was taken to tease Tim about the long delay in the release of this "collections" feature. No malice or griping was intended! All of us love Tim, his staff, and LibraryThing. :)
Corrina, Corrina..thanks for adding me to your interesting libraries. I'll be seeing you on the 2009 75 Book Challenge thread.
Welcome to The Highly Rated Book Group!

We are so glad you could join us for some great book reads!

vintage_books
Welcome to the 2009 75 Books Challenge group. Thanks for joining in!
Framboise,
Thank you! I am so glad that I found this site! I am also still in the process of adding books. I did really like Guns, Germs & Steel. It clarified a lot of questions I've had about why countries have developed so differently. I'll have to check out The Third Chimpanzee.

~Corrina
Hi CorrinaAllen,

I saw that you added me to your interesting libraries. I took a look at your library and we actually have more books in common than it says because I haven't added a lot of books to my list. It seems like we both have good taste & interesting libraries! How did you like [Guns, Germs & Steel]? I've been meaning to read that but haven't yet. I read [The Third Chimpanzee] by Jared Diamond and really enjoyed it. Anyway, welcome to Librarything!

framboise
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