Welcome! I can't wait to turn over the calendar to January 2009 and start posting my books here. In the meantime, visit me on the 75 Books Challenge for 2008.

Welcome back.
I was hoping you would join the 2009 challenge. Are you having a nice break between semesters?

Glad to see you back, porch_reader. I fully intend to steal books off your thread just like I did last year!

Hi Whisper and Alcottacre! Thanks for saying hi. I always love it when I see posts on my thread!

I'm having a wonderful break between semesters - working just a couple of hours/day this week. My boys are off school until Jan 5. Then I'll have two weeks to catch up on work (and jumpstart my 2009 reading) before I start teaching.

Can't wait to see what you're reading in 2009. I just read the first short story in Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri last night. It was wonderful! More on that book soon.

Hello Porchy, looking forward to some good chat in 2009.

- TT

TT - I'm looking forward to it!

~Porchy

Dust off a chair on the porch for me, one that rocks preferably.

BDB - I've got a chair with your name on it all ready - and you'll be glad to know that the porch has radiant floor heating for these windy winter days!

Book #1 - My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey - Jill Bolte Taylor - Finished January 1, 2009

Categories: Non-fiction, brain, book club

My book club is reading this one for January. I wouldn't have necessarily picked it up on my own, but I really enjoyed it.

Taylor is a neuroanatomist. At the age of 37, she experienced a massive stroke, which damaged much of the left side of her brain. She lost the ability to understand speech and to communicate. She even had difficulty identifying the boundaries of her own body and completely lost her sense of self. Based on this experience, Taylor helps us understand what she needed during her eight-year recovery period and what was counterproductive to her recovery. She emphasizes the need for rest and understanding, and provides a great description of how she read people's emotions even before she recovered the ability to recognize speech. This insight would be invaluable to anyone who was helping a loved one recover from a stroke.

Taylor also experienced a "stroke of insight" as a result of the damage to the left side of her brain. After her stroke, Taylor's right brain was much more dominant. As a result, she experienced a sense of deep peace and oneness with the universe that had previously been covered up by the dominance of her left brain. After her recovery, she realized that she could return to that sense of deep peace by quieting the chatter of her left brain and reconnecting with the right side of her brain. She encourages everyone to learn how the brain operates and to make sure that they take responsibility for their thought patterns.

porch-reader: That sounds like a really interesting read. Aaagh, it's started already - the TBR pile gets higher!

Sounds really good. No! No! I will not hunt it down!

I read My Year Off by Robert McCrum years ago, and really enjoyed it. He has a stroke and it's about his recovery. I remember it being surprisingly uplifting.

Well, if cmt will not hunt it down, I guess that leaves it to me. On to Continent TBR it goes, porch_reader!

Scaifea, CMT, and Alcottacre - A Stroke of Insight is less than 200 pages, so it shouldn't make your TBR pile topple over!

Book #2 - The Sea is So Wide and My Boat is So Small: Charting a Course for the Next Generation - Marian Wright Edelman - Finished January 3, 2009

Categories: Non-fiction, poverty/social issues, library

One of my goals for the year is to read a few books about plans to reduce or eliminate poverty. I saw Jeffrey Sachs, an economist who works on issues surrounding poverty elimination, speak a couple of years ago and have been meaning to learn more about thie subject.

Marian Wright Edelman is the founder of the Children's Defense Fund. She writes this book as a series of letters - to parents, to teachers, to community leaders - in which she discusses the problems that children face and suggests what each group might do to address these problems. The book includes a number of troubling statistics. For example, 1 in 6 children in the U.S. lives in poverty. The U.S. is the only industrialized nation that does not provide health insurance to cover prenatal care. Each day, 2,145 babies in the U.S. are born without health insurance. Challenges for children born around the world are even greater. These facts, and the stories that Edelman tells to illustrate them, are a striking call to action. Unfortunately, the book falls short in providing details about how to address these issues. It is clear that Edelman believes that it takes a village to address children's issues, and that she believes there are solutions. But explaining those solutions seems beyond the scope of this book. I'm hoping to find other books with more specific ideas about how to address the numerous issues facing children today - especially poverty.

Message edited by its author, Jan 4, 2009, 2:56pm.

>#9 If you liked the book, check out her speech on Ted.com. I haven't read the book, but it sounds like it's the same as presentation she gave. Amazing!

Hi Amy

I'll be sure to read your posts regarding the subject of poverty. For fifteen years, I volunteered at a local shelter for the homeless both in serving meals and as a Board of Directors member. As a result of my experiences, I spoke to local churches and rotary groups in the hope of "educating" people on issues of poverty and also for fund raising purposes.

While I no longer am engaged in this ministry, I feel blessed to have been a part of working with people who taught me a lot about the distribution of resources, or lack thereof, in the US.

#14: I will look for your other reads along this line in the coming year. I hope you come across something that does address the issues as well as supply answers to them. I would like to read it, too.

Here's to a great year --looking forward to your reads

#15 - Thanks, dfreeman! I love TedTalks, but had seen Taylor's talk on Ted.com.

#16 & #17 - Linda and Stasia, I will keep you posted as I find other books about poverty. Linda, I got interested in this topic when I worked with the Homeless Center in South Bend, IN. It was such an eye-opening experience.

#18 - Hi Suslyn! Happy New Year! I'm looking forward to seeing what you read too.

Amy
Perhaps you and I can share stories re. our experiences with homeless folk.

When we lived in Rotterdam we "adopted" a homeless addicted man, he came to us for something to eat or drink when needed.
We worked together with a social worker, tried to get him to live in a house, but that failed. Later I convinced him that taking pills for depression was not as bad as he thought and he agreed to go to a mental hospital.
Over three years ago we moved to Lelystad, but still once in a while he gives us a call.
I was not much we could do, but at least we tried to do something... Most people anly think they are anoying.

>21 - Linda - I would definitely like to learn more about your experiences. I'll pop over to your profile page soon and leave you a note.

>22 - Anita - What a wonderful story! It is clear that you really made a connection with that gentlemen and encouraged him to get some much needed help. What a gift!

Book #3 - Unaccustomed Earth - Jhumpa Lahiri - Finished January 4, 2008

I loved Jhumpa Lahiri's first two books (Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake), but in my opinion, this is her best yet. With Unaccustomed Earth, Lahiri returns to the short story format, which is definitely where she shines. With simple and direct language, she creates characters in only a few pages who I feel like I know and care about deeply. Like her first two books, Lahiri writes mainly about the children of Bengali immigrants. However, in most of the stories in this collection, the challenges of adapting to a new culture are a backdrop for other life issues - dealing with an aging parent, the death of a parent, an unfaithful lover, career choices, or an alcoholic sibling. None of Lahiri's characters are one-dimensional or stereotypical. It is through their relationships with others that we come to know all sides of them.

It is difficult for me to choose a favorite story, but if pressed, I would choose the title story. The title is taken from a quote from Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Custom-House": "Human nature will not flourish, any more than a potato, if it is planted and replanted, for too long a series of generations, in the same worn-out soil. My children have had other birthplaces, and, so far as their fortunes may be within my control, shall strike their roots into unaccustomed earth." In the story title "Unaccustomed Earth," Ruma's mother has died and she has moved to unaccustomed earth (Seattle) with her husband and young son. However, she feels that she should ask her father to move in with them as is customary in India. In fact, when he decides to come for a visit, she is sure that he is coming to ask just that. In alternating voices, Ruma and her father reveal their changing identities and slowly come to know one other better throughout the visit.

It is early in the year, but this is already a candidate for the Top 5 List of '09!

I started The Namesake last year and did not get very far into it since the library wanted it back before I finished it, but I will have to pick it back up again and also see if the library has Unaccustomed Earth. Thanks for both the reminder and the review!

Book #4 - Loving Frank - Nancy Horan - Finished January 11, 2009

Loving Frank is a fictionalized account of the life of Mamah Borthwick Cheney, who had an affair with Frank Lloyd Wright in the early 1900s. Horan does a great job of describing what life was like for women during this time period. Mamah, who got a college degree and explored a career before marrying her husband Edwin, was never entirely comfortable in the role of wife and mother. She seemed to want something more. When Wright designed a home for Mamah and Frank, she came to enjoy their conversations and his attention to her ideas. Eventually they began an affair that took her away from her family and to Europe with Frank. She is excoriated in the Chicago newspapers for abandoning her family to live with Frank. Although she feels justified in leaving her husband, she agonizes over the decision to leave her children. But in the end, when Mamah and Frank return to the United States and build a house in Wisconsin, the children visit her for only a couple of months each summer. And although Mamah finds that Wright can be a difficult man to live with, she spends the rest of her life loving Frank.

I enjoyed this book. The story is well written. In addition to using Mamah's life to depict the challenges that women faced in the early 1900s and to educate us about the growing women's rights movement during that time, we also learn a bit about Wright's work during this time period. The biggest challenge that I had with this book is that I could never quite understand Mamah's motivation for her choices. She agonized over leaving her children, and Horan never quite convinced me that the Mamah's attachment to Wright was great enough to overcome that agony.

I've been on my local libraries long list of those wanting Loving Frank. Thanks for your great review..

Linda - I'll be interested to see what you think about Loving Frank when you get a chance to read it. I also noticed that T. C. Boyle has a book called The Women: A Novel about all of Frank Lloyd Wright's wives and mistresses. It comes out next month. I know that you often read several books about one topic - so maybe these could be the beginning of a Frank Lloyd Wright theme!

I'm glad to hear that you've had a good Winter Break. Are your students back yet? I was on campus today and saw lots of them carrying bags from the bookstore. Our classes start tomorrow! Have a good Spring Semester!

HI
A few years ago my husband and I visited Falling Waters. The tour guide did not have a lot of positive comments about Frank Lloyd Wright. She mentioned that he took commissions in advance and then took a long, long time to start a project, thus posponing any communication with his clients.

Spring semester is here. I returned from vacation to 917 email messages. I vow not to be overwhelmed with it all.

Thanks for the recommendation of both books and I'll add The Women: A Novel about all the Frank Lloyd Wright's wives and mistresses. to the ever growing list.

Take care,
Linda

Book #5 - A Lion Among Men - Gregory Maguire - Finished January 18, 2009

Categories: fiction, off-the-shelf, series

This book is the third in the Wicked Years series (which includes Wicked and Son of a Witch). It tells the backstory of the Cowardly Lion, explaining why he lacks courage. It also picks up where Son of a Witch left off and tells a little more about what's going on in Oz, post-Dorothy.

I generally like Maguire's books (with the exception of Lost). And like the others, A Lion Among Men was an enjoyable read. Maguire's story kept me entertained. However, it was not as good as Wicked or some of Maguire's other early books (Mirror, Mirror or Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, for example). I think that I liked those early books better because Maguire took existing stories and turned them on their heads. In the case of Wicked, he didn't just give us the Wicked Witch of the West's backstory. He also made me think twice about what evil really means and got me to question some of taken-for-granted assumptions about the story. It could be that I'm just getting used to the fairy-tale retold genre, but I felt like A Lion Among Men was much less thought provoking than Maguire's early books.

Message edited by its author, Jan 19, 2009, 7:31pm.

Have you seen the play Wicked on broadway? It is incredible and much better than the book.

Book #6 - The Guy Not Taken - Jennifer Weiner - Finished January 19, 2009

Categories: fiction, short stories, audio, library

I listed to this as an audio book, and it was an enjoyable listen. I have read several of Weiner's novels in the past and have found them light and breezy. Her short stories were a bit more serious. Most focused on divorce or break-ups and the challenges of losing a partner. The stories are somewhat uneven - some of the characters were more well-drawn than others. However, I especially liked the first three - a series of related stories about Josie and Nicki, sisters whose father up and left their mother when Josie was in college and Nicki in high school. The stories follow the sisters through their first summer without their dad, a vacation to visit their grandmother in Florida, and finally Josie's wedding. In some ways the girls are stereotypical - one is responsible, the other much less so. One suffers inwardly, the other spouts wisecracks and makes sure everyone knows her pain. But Weiner captures the relationship between the two in a way that is fresh and unique and helps us understand each girl better.

I know next to nothing about F. L. Wright, but my dad was an architect and I grew up with as an admirer of Wright's work. Much of it is very beautiful. I have both Loving Frank and a biography of the man, both of which I hope to read some day, and now will be happily adding Boyle's new book. Interesting to me that an architect garners so much interest.

Linda,

Which biography of Wright do you have? I think I'd like to read a biography. In Loving Frank, he was portrayed as a bit of a character. I think that - in addition to his architectural genius - may be why he gets so much attention!

Book #7 - Nixonland - Rick Perlstein - Finished January 21, 2009

Categories: nonfiction, politics, library

At last! This book was pretty long - about 750 pages - and I felt like it started to drag a bit at the end. However, the premise of the book is interesting. Perlstein notes in the preface that in 1964 Lyndon Johnson - a Democrat - won 61.05 percent of the popular vote and 486/538 electoral college votes to be elected President. A mere eight years later, Richard Nixon - a Republican - won 60.67 percent of the popular vote and 520 electoral college votes in his bid for re-election. This book tells the story of the years in between and tries to help us understand this shift and the political divisions that accompanied it. Perlstein defines Nixonland as "the America where two separate and irreconcilable sets of apocalyptic fears coexist in the minds of two separate and irreconcilable groups of Americans" (p. 46). One of the things that I like about the book is that Perlstein does a great job of helping me see the urgency with which each sides holds their fears and beliefs. He also suggests that to some extent, these divisions still exist.

As I noted, the book is quite long, but it seems to me that this may have been purposeful. Not only does Perlstein provide an amazing amount of detail about the events, but this detailed style also helps the reader understand how long the events of those years must have seemed. As Perlstein describes year after year of America's involvement in the Vietnam War, and of the protests and riots that accompanied the war, I was better able to understand how these events caused each sides views to become more and more entrenched. (I didn't live through this time period, so I don't have that first-hand perspective. This book might be even more interesting to someone who did.)

I second the recommendation for the Wicked play! I've seen it twice and will go again next time it's in town. I haven't yet read the book, though.

>35 Your review reminded me of Chuck Colson's Born Again. Have you read it? It's been years since I did. I think I have a copy in storage in France... LOL I remember being fascinated by it, but the only concrete thing I remember is that some guy in prison tried to kill him misunderstanding Colson's former role in govt (somehow thinking Colson had a hand in landing the would-be murderer in jail).

>36 Zoe - I agree! I saw Wicked on Broadway and loved it. I have the soundtrack and listen to it all the time. The book is much different, but also good - I recommend it!

>37 Suslyn - I haven't read Born Again, but it sounds interesting. I've always been interested in Nixon and the "dirty tricks" that led up to the 1972 election. I'll have to look for that one.

Book #8 - Dreamers of the Day - Mary Doria Russell - Finished January 25, 2009

Categories: fiction, library, new-to-me author

Agnes Shanklin, a 40-year-old schoolteacher from Ohio loses her family to the influenza epidemic after World War I. With a small inheritence, she travels to Egypt and Palestine to see the area where her sister was a missionary. She arrives just in time to be witness to the 1921 Cairo Peace Conference and meets Churchill, T. E. Lawrence, and Gertrude Bell as they create the countries that make up the modern Middle East - including Iraq. In addition to providing a glimpse of history, Russell also builds some suspense in the story as Agnes befriends a German spy who wants information about the Cairo Peace Conference.

Overall, I really liked this book. I knew little about the Cairo Peace Conference, and this book has make me want to learn more. Agnes is also a very likeable character. However, there was parts of the book that seemed a bit out of place. In several places, Russell provides a number of details about the places that Agnes was visiting. While some of this was useful to create a sense of the region, I would have liked more detail about the events that were happening as a part of the Peace Conference and less about the sites of the region. The final chapter is also a bit jarring - after a relatively realistic story, Russell delves into the supernatural to wrap up the book. But, for fans of historical fiction, I highly recommend this book.

Book #9 - Plum Lucky - Janet Evanovich - Finished January 26, 2009

Categories: fiction, library

I went to the library to get Plum Spooky because of Cal's tip that Grandma Mazur has a monkey, but it was checked out, so I got this one instead. A typical Stephanie Plum Between-the-Numbers adventure. The ending was a little abrupt, but overall, it was a fun read. Exactly what I needed this afternoon.

I agree with you regarding Plum Lucky. Parts of it were very funny..and typical...

Linda - Yep, no surprises from Stephanie Plum in Plum Lucky. But I had spent most of the day writing my annual progress report, (and despairing that I haven't made more progress!), so a little bit of escapist reading was just what I needed. I'm now watching Spongebob Squarepants with with kids, so the brain candy continues!

Hope your spring semester is off to a good start.

>39 I only remember one Russell book that I've read and it was super -- Sparrow. Really fine.

Suslyn - I've heard great things about Sparrow from lots of people. Given your strong recommendation, I'll have to add it to my TBR list. Thanks!

it is sci-fi... but in a non-scifi kind of way. LOL that makes a ton of sense, I'm sure. My non-sci-fi reading friend lent it to me after she enjoyed it. Sure am glad she did. I do hope you like it!

I had heard that Sparrow was sci-fi. I don't read a lot of sci-fi, but I liked Russell's writing so much in Dreamers of the Day that I'll definitely give Sparrow a try. I'll let you know what I think!

I really, really loved A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell but thought Dreamers of the Day was a clunker. My reactions were very similar to yours though so I might've been too harsh. I felt like it went down hill badly at the end, and that she happened to be right in the middle of it all, all the time! But it made me want to read more about the Cairo conference too.

#45: I cannot believe you have not read The Sparrow yet - and after I gave it such glowing recommendations last year. Get thee gone, woman, and find the book! It is simply a must read.

CMT - I agree about the end of Dreamers of the Day. I would have been happy if she had ended the book when Agnes left Egypt. And I had a little trouble suspending disbelief long enough not to be bothered that Agnes just happened to befriend Churchill, Lawrence, Gertrude Bell, and a German spy all in the same trip! I think that the reason that I had a somewhat positive reaction to the book was that I was fascinated by the Cairo conference and that I really liked Agnes. But, I'll definitely have to try A Thread of Grace.

Stasia - I have a trip to the library planned for this afternoon (snow permitting) and will begin the hunt for The Sparrow. I remember you and others talking glowingly about it last year and now I have Suslyn's recommendation too. I wasn't sure I could get into a book about proof of extraterrestrial life (not my usual topic), but it seems that this book is seeking me out! I cannot avoid a "Get thee gone, woman. . ."

There are many interesting comments about The Sparrow. I read it years ago as an advance reading copy. A friend of mine raved about the book. I had a visceral reaction to the story. It upset me tremendously. I'm not sure why I had that reaction, but I know I'm in the minority.

>49 I had the same reaction to The Sparrow when I read it years ago. Sometimes you have to read certain books at the right time to enjoy them, so I plan on reading it again this year.

>49 I think I may have found it upsetting too, but also wonderful and compelling. Funny I didn't remember that til you mentioned it...

This discussion about The Sparrow reminds me that I have the sequel Children of God sitting on my shelf. Any thoughts about how this one compared? Russell is an amazing writer. I adored A Thread of Grace. It is one of the few books that I would eagerly reread. I am compiling a small stack of these to return to in my old age. :-)

#48ff: There are definitely parts of The Sparrow that are upsetting and as Whisper says, visceral. I think that is part of the reason that the book is so memorable - not just because of the writing, but the reactions to it.

#52: Donna, I have read Children of God as well, but IMHO, nothing that Russell has written measures up to The Sparrow. I am not saying her books are bad, I have really enjoyed the others of hers I have read, but she set the bar so high with her first one, that to me, nothing else has lived up to it.

OK, the library gods weren't on my side today. The Sparrow wasn't available, so I'll have to wait a while longer for that one. After reading all of your reactions, I'm excited to read it for myself. But I did get A Thread of Grace (as well as The Graveyard Book).

When you read it, I'm interested in reading your comments about The Sparrow.

Linda - I'll definitely let you know what I think about The Sparrow. It sounds I may need to "debrief" with someone after reading it.

Book #10 - Another Country: Navigating the Emotional Terrain of Our Elders - Mary Pipher - Finished January 29, 2009

Categories: non-fiction, library, aging

My grandmother will be 90 years old this July. She lives at home, and my mom stops by to see her every day on her way to work, makes sure that she has groceries, and takes her for rides. When I was home for the holidays, my mom asked if I had read any books that might help her understand the aging process a little better. So, when I found this one at the library, I checked it out, and my mom bought a copy. We’ve been reading it together.

Pipher does a wonderful job of explaining the differences between the experiences of our elders and the experiences of younger generations. Because people of my grandmother’s generation grew up during the depression, when family members lived in the same town, and when societies were more communal, they speak a different language and respond to events differently than those from other generations. Pipher emphasizes the need to be empathetic. She also describes the challenges that come with failing health, moving from one’s own home to assisted living, and watching one’s friends pass away. She uses examples from her own family and from people who come to her for counseling to richly illustrate these challenges and the multiple ways that families deal with them. Many of these examples show how resilient elders are in the face of these challenges.

In the end, I’m not sure that I found anything surprising in this book. My mom says she nods a lot as she reads it. She sees her own experiences in many of the stories. But, Pipher has a way of putting things in perspective and helping us see the joys among the challenges. Right now, it’s just what we needed.

Book #11 - The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman - Finished February 1, 2009

Categories: fiction, YA, library

I'd heard good things about this book from several of you, and I wasn't disappointed. The book begins with the murder of a mother, father, and their daughter. Only their son, who is a baby, escapes. He toddles up the hill to a graveyard. To protect him from the murderer, the residents of the graveyard (ghosts) take him in, name him Nobody Owens (Bod, for short), and raise him. The story itself is well-written and definitely held my attention. Bod faces challenges and danger throughout the book, and Gaiman had me on the edge of my seat several times. But it was the way that Gaiman described the relationships between Bod and those who cared for him that made me love this book.

#58: Glad you liked it! I love it when people like the books I recommend. (We will not talk about how I feel when people do not like my recommendations . . .)

Book #12 - Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers - Mary Roach - Finished February 2, 2009

When DrNeutron reviewed this book last year, he noted: "Good book, but perhaps not for the squeamish." His review of the book intrigued me, but I am definitely the squeamish. I am the girl who couldn't watch the movies in driver's education because of the gruesome crashes. I am the parent who comforts my children while my husband bandages their skinned knees. A book about cadavers is not for me.

But then, my book club chose this for our February read. So, because I am a good sport, I read it. Although there were several parts that I had to skim because of the details that I preferred not to know, Roach does an amazing job with this topic. I learned a lot about the use of cadavers in medical research, automotive safety, forensics, and plane crash investigations. Roach interviewed a number of people who work with cadavers everyday and tells us about how they have learned to cope with this challenge and to respect those who have donated their bodies to science. And, amazingly, she works a great deal of humor into the book. I ended up liking this book a lot more than I thought I would.

Glad you liked it...more than you thought you would!

Message edited by its author, Feb 3, 2009, 7:43pm.

Amy
drneutron's recommendation last year was intriguing to me as well and thus I also read Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. Like you, I appreciated the humor throughout. I also thought the chapter titles were very creative.

I am the ultimate ghoul and love squeamish things like that so this sounds right up my alley!!

Lunacat - I think you might like Stiff - especially if you are a fan of squeamish things!

Book #13 - Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism - Muhammad Yunus - Finished February 5, 2009

As the founder of Grameen Bank, Muhammad Yunus pioneered the concept of microcredit - making small loans to help poor people start businesses and work their way out of poverty. In 2006, Yunus and Grameen Bank were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

In this book, Yunus shares the benefits that microcredit has brought to Bangladesh, but he also advances a new concept - social business. A social business is an enterprise created to address social problems. Investors would put up capital to start the business. As the business becomes self-sustaining, investors would get their original investment back, but would not earn dividends. Yunus notes that money is not the only motivator, and that many investors will be motivated by contributing to the social good. If the social business became profitable, it could expand the range of social problems that it addresses.

Yunus proposes that social businesses will have the advantages of a business, such as efficient management practices, which should make them more successful than non-profits. However, because they don't have traditional stockholders, social businesses will not face the profit-maximization pressures that corporations face. So, he proposes that social businesses should be more successful than corporations with corporate social responsibility programs.

Overall, I found this book to be quite inspiring. Yunus is good at thinking big thoughts and envisioning the end of poverty. However, I'm uncertain that social business is the only (or even the best) way to get there. Yunus doesn't address what happens if social businesses fail to become self-sustaining. He also doesn't fully justify his claim that social businesses will be more efficient that non-profits. With social problems as big as the ones we face, I don't think that we should rule out any alternatives. However, with that said, the concept of social business may have a place among the range of solutions.

I've had The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid by C. K. Prahalad on my TBR list for a while. I may move it up toward the top so that I can compare his approach to eradicating poverty - which centers around profit-seeking businesses - with Yunus's social business concept.

#65: It sounds like an interesting book, porch_reader, as does his other book Banker to the Poor. Have you had a chance to read that one as well? I am putting them both on Continent TBR.

Stasia - I haven't read Banker to the Poor. I think it is more about the beginning of the Grameen Bank and microcredit. I've read quite a bit about that in articles, etc., and it is a really interesting story.

OK, thanks porch_reader. My local library only has Banker, so I think will start there and look around for the other.

Your book 13 sounds super!

Book #14 - The Bonesetter's Daughter - Amy Tan - Finished Feburary 8, 2009

Categories: fiction, audio, library, new-to-me author

In the first section of this book, Ruth Young, the daughter of Chinese Immigrant LuLing Young, deals with her mother's worsening dementia. Through a series a flashbacks, we learn about Ruth's childhood and her frustration with her mother's superstitions and demands. In this first section of the book, LuLing is depicted as a somewhat irrational mother who is becoming even more difficult to deal with as she ages.

However, when she moves in with her mother, Ruth finds a number of pages written in Chinese that appear to tell the story of her mother's life. In Section 2, Tan shares this story with us. We learn about the challenges that LuLing faced growing up in China, the secrets that she has kept from Ruth, and the circumstances that brought her to America. For me, this was the best part of the book. Piece by piece, secrets are unveiled and I came to understand LuLing and to empathize with her.

Ruth has the pages translated and learns her mother's story. This knowledge seems to help Ruth understand her mother better too. In the third section of the book, we learn how this understanding influences her relationship with her mom.

I really liked this book. Tan did a great job weaving together many stories - the story of a daughter dealing with her mother's dementia, the story of the challenges faced by children of immigrants, the story of the impact of family secrets, etc., etc. My only complaint was that the book seemed to wrap up too neatly in the end, but this was a small complaint. I'd like to read more by Tan.

Always wondered about this one. Thanks for testing the waters for me.

>70 sounds good. I really enjoyed Saving Fish from Drowning -- unusual, educational, fun and well done.

Thanks, Suslyn! I've never heard of Saving Fish from Drowning. Sounds like one for the TBR list!

Book #15 - A Thread of Grace - Mary Doria Russell - Finished February 15, 2009

After I read Dreamers of the Day last month, several of you recommended The Sparrow. It wasn't in when I went to the library, so I got A Thread of Grace instead.

In A Thread of Grace, Russell tells the story of the 1943-45 German occupation of northwestern Italy during World War II. As the Italian partisans take to the hills to fight the Fascists, Italian families risk their own safety to shelter Italian Jews and Jewish refugees. Russell tells the story of Catholic priests working with rabbis to distribute resources that the families need. We see wives of rabbis, Catholic nuns, and other Italian women contributing to the cause. We see a German soldier who has defected from the SS partnering with an Italian soldier to lead a group of young partisans. Near the end of the book, one of the characters quotes a Hebrew saying: "No matter how dark the tapestry God weaves for us, there's always a thread of grace." This story clearly shows us the thread of grace that was present in northwestern Italy during this time.

However, this is also a story about war and the atrocities which accompany it. Russell does not often result to graphic depictions of violence. (Perhaps that is why they are so powerful when they do appear in the book.) But as the story unfolds, many of the characters who I had come to root for become casualities of war. Sometimes in only a sentence or two, we learn of yet another death. Families torn apart. Children's lives ended too soon. Despite her focus on the thread of grace, Russell does not gloss over the horrors of war.

CMT was right - A Thread of Grace was much better than Dreamers of the Day. I imagine that this is a book that will stay with me for some time.

Ah, I haven't read this one. It does sound like something worth reading... Hope you get your hands on The Sparrow at some point. I'd be interested in seeing how you compare/contrast the two.

Another one for the tbr list!! I've already got Sparrow on it and now have A Thread of Grace there as well.

Porch reader
I mentioned previously that The Sparrow haunted me and I could not shake it. I was deeply disturbed by it.

I will, however, try to readA Thread of Grace. I very much like your description.

Suslyn, Lunacat, and Whisper - I look forward to hearing what you think of A Thread of Grace. Whisper - this book also had some parts that haunt me. The brutality of Hitler's forces in Europe was appalling. Russell makes it personal - we get to know and come to like characters who then face horrible events. However, for me, the more memorable theme was the hope, the kindness, the Thread of Grace, that many of the Italian people showed to the Jewish refugees. I haven't read The Sparrow yet, so I can't compare the two, but I really liked this one.

Glad you enjoyed it. I haven't read The Sparrow yet either.

I've read both The Sparrow (SciFi) and A Thread of Grace (historical fiction). It's like comparing apples and oranges, although the writing is brilliant in both books. I'm so impressed that Mary Doria Russellcan write so well in such different genres. I really need to dig out my copy of Children of God which is the sequel to The Sparrow to see the outcome of the story.

Donna - I haven't read The Sparrow or Children of God yet, but after reading the blurbs on Amazon, I thought that they sounded much different than A Thread of Grace. I really like Russell's style though, so although I don't read much SciFi, I'm excited to try them.

I've read all of Russell's books to date, and she is an excellent writer IMO, but I do not think any of her subsequent books reach the tour-de-force The Sparrow, and I do not use the term lightly.

Stasia - Uggh, I checked again for The Sparrow at my small local library today and it was not in. I also looked at the bigger library in my county, and there are three holds on it. I wonder what has made it so popular all of a sudden. I must get my hands on it - especially since you've now labeled it a tour-de-force!

I read The Sparrow as an early reader copy. A friend of mine worked at a bookstore and rec'd lots of books and passed them along to me. All these conversations bring back the memories of how haunted/disturbed I was by the book. I'm not sure why I reacted that way. It was the same feeling I had years ago when watching the movie What Ever Happened to Baby Jane with Bettie Davis and Joan Crawford...spooky, creepy...

Oh no, Linda. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane was creepy! I don't do well with movies like that. I'm a little better with creepy books, but still have to read them in small chunks, during the day, with the doors locked, etc., etc.

I'm torn between reading The Sparrow or A Thread of Grace first, but I'm leaning towards the latter. Onto the TBR pile they both go!

For some reason these discussions on Russell have reminded me of Elizabeth Moon's most excellent book The Speed of Dark. It is sci-fi, but not like her other stuff. Her son is autistic and no doubt inspired her in this story of an autistic fellow... had to be set in the future as they found ways to treat it. Very good. Maybe it's because you were discussing excellence...

Suslyn - The Speed of Dark sounds fascinating, and it is one I probably wouldn't have found on my own. Thanks for the recommendation!

Book #16 - The Zookeeper's Wife - Diane Ackerman - Finished February 19, 2009

nonfiction, off the shelf

It was interesting to read this book right on the heels of A Thread of Grace. Both tell the stories of people who sheltered Jews during World War II. While A Thread of Grace is fiction and The Zookeeper's Wife is non-fiction, both focus on the dangers faced by both Jewish people and those who came to their aid.

Jan and Antonina Zabiniski run a zoo in Warsaw, Poland. When the German army invades, their lives are turned upside down. Many of the zoo's animals are killed and freed during the bombing of the city. However, the zoo is used for a number of other purposes during the war, and Jan and Antonina, along with their son Rys, are allowed to remain in the zoo's villa. Although Nazi occupiers are regular visitors the zoo's grounds, Jan and Antonina are able to hide over 300 Jews in the villa and in animal cages. With the help of Antonina's diaries, Ackerman aptly conveys the challenges faced by the zookeeper's wife. Despite her fear, she remains coolheaded and is often able to avert danger when German soldiers visit the villa. During the occupation, Antonina manages a household, protects her family and their guests, and gives birth to a second child. Her behavior seems heroic, but it is almost as if she doesn't give it a second thought. I was left with the feeling that she couldn't imagine taking any other course of action.

The broader story of Warsaw during WWII is heartbreaking. Warsaw Jews are confined to the Ghetto and later many of them are killed. The city is destroyed. All of its residents live in fear. It is this background of despair that makes the accomplishments of the zookeeper's wife shine so brightly. An amazing story!

Book #17 - Hot Six - Janet Evanovich - Finished February 20, 2009

fiction, audio, library

I've been listening to this book on my drive to work over the past two weeks. It's a typical (that is, funny, somewhat suspenseful, and engaging) Stephanie Plum mystery. These books work well for me on audio.

Amy
I just got a message from the library that The Zookeeper's Wife is waiting for me, I am going to pick it up Monday.
I hope I will like it as much as you did ;-)
Anita

The Zookeeper's Wife sounds like a 'must read' for me. Thx.

Thanks for the review of the Zookeeper's Wife - sounds great. I've recently finished The Zookeeper's War, also excellent but fiction - about the Berlin zoo and its keepers in WW2. LT always thinks I've read Wife not War!

I read Norman Davies' Europe at War: No Simple Victory last year. He wrote convincingly about how much Poland got done over by the rest of the world, including the allies, in WW2. (Warning for anyone considering the book... he was convincing but repetitive...boy was I glad to get to the end of that one!)

>91 and >92 - Anita and Suslyn - I hope that you enjoy The Zookeeper's Wife.

>93 - Cushla - The Zookeeper's War sounds really interesting. I'll definitely keep my eyes open for that one. It seems that the more I read about WWII, the more interested I get. So, I'll keep Europe at War in mind as well.

89: I read The Zookeeper's Wife just a couple weeks ago. Toward the end is mention of over 100 rescuers interviewed by Malka Drucker and Gay Block. (I had to look up the names in the book, not familiar to me, including them here in case anyone is interested.) Rescuers typically did not consider themselves as heroic, merely as doing the right thing. So difficult to imagine -- not just because of the risk, but because any random moment could demand a spontaneous cover story while appearing utterly calm, and how many of us could manage to live this way for years on end?

Qebo - Yes, that was striking to me too. I think that having that pressure year after year would be enormously difficult. What was even more amazing to me was that Jan and Antonina's young son (Rys) was involved as well. How quickly he must have had to grow up.

Book #18 - Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World - Vicki Myron - Finished February 22, 2009

Categories: non-fiction, off-the-shelf, borrowed from Mom

Dewey, a small orange kitten, was dropped into the book return of the Spencer Public Library on a cold weekend in Spencer, IA. Vicki Myron, the library director, found him and convinced the library board to keep him on as the library cat. From that time on, Dewey touched the lives of the library staff, the patrons, and eventually people around the world. Myron weaves Dewey's story together with the story of her own life and the story of Spencer, Iowa.

I really enjoyed this book. Yes, Myron can be a little sentimental at times. And the many positive outcomes that she attributes to Dewey's work at the library may sometimes feel unbelievable. However, Myron's writing about life in small town Iowa rings true. As a lifelong lover of libraries and a member of the Library Board in my small Iowa town, I enjoyed her observations about the role that a good library plays in a small town. This book is a quick read and getting to know Dewey, Vicki, and the Spencer Public Library crew is worth the time.

Amy
Dewey: The Small Town Library Cate Who Touched the World is a difficult book to obtain at my local library. There is a long waiting list. I hope to read it soon. I enjoyed your review.

(touchstones don't seem to be working this morning..) ugh.

Book #19 - Lark and Termite - Jayne Anne Phillips - Finished March 1, 2009

I had read good reviews of this book, so my expectations were high. I felt like it started off slow, but I'm glad that I stuck with it. The last half of the book was outstanding.

Lark, a 17-year-old girl, and her younger brother Termite live with their Aunt Nonie. Termite was born with a disability and can neither walk nor talk. Phillips' narrative alternates between a week in July 1950, when Termite was born and his father was a soldier in the Korean War, and a week in July 1959, when Lark, Termite, and Nonie are dealing with a flood in their town and changes in their lives. Using alternating narrators (including Lark, Nonie, Termite, and Termite's father), Phillips gradually reveals secrets from the past and the uncertainties that face the family in the future. She does this artfully, slowly revealing pieces of the story that seem both surprising, yet inevitable.

However, I think what I liked most about this book was the way in which we got to know the characters, each through their own voices. This is perhaps why the book was a bit slow in the beginning. It took a few chapters to gets to know each character and come to understand their role in the story, But once I came to know them, I found that their voices blended nicely to create the story.

How come I haven't actually posted on your thread yet this year, Amy??

Will look out for Lark and Termite. May be going to hear Phillips read from it in April - would you say it was outstanding enough to acquire before the event, or should I wait to hear her read and talk about it and then make up my mind...?

Hi Flossie! Thanks for stopping by.

I'm a bit on the fence about whether you should get Lark and Termite before you hear Phillips read from it. The first half just felt choppy to me - probably because of the multiple narrators. But I loved the second half. The threads came together nicely. If I hadn't read it already, I'd probably wait to hear Phillips talk and then decide whether to buy the book. I would be very interested to hear her talk about the process of writing the book from such different perspectives. I'll be interested to hear what you think!

Book #20 - The House on Fortune Street - Margot Livesey - Finished March 4, 2009

This book was a quick read. The story is told from four different perspectives - Abigail and Dara (college friends), Abigail's boyfriend Sean, and Dara's father Cameron. Through these four perspectives, we learn about the reasons that Cameron and Dara's mother divorced, and the impact it had on Dara's adult life. We also see how Abigail's childhood (with primarily absent parents) has impacted her adult relationships, which may be partly why she keeps Sean at arm's length. While each perspective weaves together nicely with the others and the stories were well told, I had a little trouble caring a lot about any of the characters, and Livesey's overarching message was never exactly clear to me.

Book #21 - Note to Self: On Keeping a Journal and Other Dangerous Pursuits - Samara O'Shea - Finished March 7, 2009

This was an impulse pick-up from the New Non-fiction shelf at my library. I've never kept a journal in any consistent manner, but recently I've been considering it again. I feel like it would be useful as I sort out who I am, who I want to be, and what that means for my life decisions. O'Shea echoes these benefits of a journal - describing it as a "confident and a poor man's therapist" that has helped her "become a better person."

As she describes the process and benefits of keeping a journal, O'Shea shares a number of entries from her own journals, as well as entries from other famous people - Anne Frank, Anais Nin, and Tennessee Williams, among others.

However, I felt like I just didn't connect with the book. O'Shea is a decade younger than I am. Several of the chapters focused on finding love, losing love, and even sexual encounters. I'm lucky enough to be married to my high school sweetheart, so these topics are less relevant to me right now. Even the chapters on spirituality and developing a sense of self were written from a perspective that just isn't consistent with mine. Keeping a journal is a private undertaking - it is hard to imagine a book about the topic that would resonate with a wide audience. But O'Shea did get me thinking about journaling again.

Hi porch reader

Your post regarding journal writing reminded me of a workshop I attended years ago:

http://www.intensivejournal.org/

It was a great conference, but alas, the system seemed to complicated. However, I journal when important things occur in my life and I'm glad I have record of feelings/thoughts of the birth of grandchildren and the sad loss of my beloved grandmother.

Linda - Wow, the Intensive Journal process does look intense. I think that I'd really benefit from this type of approach, but I"m not sure that I'm disciplined enough. I do like the idea of journaling important events. So far, we've just used the oral history method to preserve the stories of when our sons were born. On each of their birthdays, I retell the stories about their births, but it would be nice to record them somewhere.

Book #22 - Song Yet Sung - James McBride - Finished March 11, 2009

I picked this up on CD at my library so that I'd have something to listen to going to and from work. I'm usually not too choosy with my books on CD. My library doesn't have a huge selection, so I take what I can get. But this one was wonderful. I want to go back and read it on paper so that I make sure I didn't miss anything.

The story takes place in the 1850s in Maryland. The story is told from a number of perspectives - slaves, runaway slaves, slave owners, and slave catchers. The story begins with a female slave, Liz, who has been caught and is trapped in an attic with a number of other captured slave. There she meets an old woman with no name who begins to tell her the code - a way that slaves have of communicating as they are attempting to get free. Liz becomes known as The Dreamer, because she has vivid dreams about the future - both the near future and the distant future. Using knowledge from her dreams, Liz, along with the other captured slaves, escapes, and she begins to use the code (and learn more about it) as she is on the run.

One of the things that I really liked about this book is the depth of the characters. These are not one-dimensional characters. Yes, some are pure evil (like slave catcher Patty Cannon), but most of the others are complex. The relationships between slaves and owners are complicated, and McBride avoids stereotypes and instead develops each character as an individual.

But this book also has a plot. I listened with excitement to find out what would happen to Liz, the Woolman, Amber, Patty, Denwood, and others. As McBride switches narrators, we gradually learn the secrets and fates of each of these characters.

This is also historical fiction at its best. Without simply describing historical events, McBride lets us know what it was like to be there. He weaves information about the time with a compelling story filled with interesting characters. This is the first of his books that I've read, but I'll definitely look for more.

#106: McBride has also written a wonderful memoir called The Color of Water if you are interested.

I am adding Song Yet Sung to the Continent.

Stasia - I've heard of The Color of Water, but haven't read it yet. I'll add it to my TBR list (which is quickly approaching Continent-like dimensions :).

#108: I do not think you will be disappointed in it!

No sympathy at all from me regarding the state of your TBR list :)

Also Miracle at St. Anna. I junked that one after it didn't pass the 50 page test for me but it has been reviewed well by others. McBride is an accomplished jazz musician which drew me to the book. I'll stick to his jazz. Recently, a movie of the book was also released. The movie looked interesting.

Oh, the author's named hadn't registered. But on the basis of The Color of Water, which I read several years ago, I'll add Song Yet Sung to the TBR list...

>106 thx for the intriguing review!

>111 BDB - It's interesting that McBride is an accomplished jazz musician. I didn't know that about him, but his writing reminds me a little of jazz music (although I'm no expert). I think it is because he blends the voices of multiple characters to create the story - with each contributing where the other leaves off. I'll look for Miracle at St. Anna - although given your experience, maybe I'll try it from the library.

>112 & 113 Qebo and Susan - Thanks for stopping by!

Onto the massive TBR pile Song Yet Sung goes!!!

You aren't the first person to note the comparison in his writing to jazz. And my negative experience doesn't mean much other than I just didn't connect with his narrative or voice. Lots of others have heaped praise on his writing. Just didn't turn out to be my cup of tea.....interesting because I am a big jazz fan.

Book #23 - The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell - Finished March 12, 2009

Categories: fiction, library

Wow! I had high expectations for this book. Several of you recommended it highly. So, I was prepared to be disappointed, but that didn't happen. This book lived up to (and even surpassed) my high expectations.

For those of you who haven't read it, here's a quick summary. In 2019, evidence of extraterrestrial life is picked up through a listening station in Puerto Rico. A secret eight-member expedition organized by the Society of Jesus goes to meet the extraterrestrials. Russell tells the story of the expedition both as it is occurring and in flashbacks told by Emilio Sandoz after he has returned to earth in 2059.

This type of story is the type that I generally am drawn to. But this simple summary does not convey the richness and depth of this story. Each of the eight members of the expedition are uniquely drawn characters with very different reactions to the joys and challenges that they discover on the planet of Rakhat. Because a portion of the story is told through flashbacks, we know - at least in part - how the story turns out from the beginning. However, Russell holds just enough back to keep us in suspense until the end.

Although I thought that this was an excellent book, I agree with Linda/Whisper that it is also quite disturbing. I don't want to reveal any of the plot, but many of the events that occur on Rakhat are horrific, beyond anything that I had ever imagined. Because several members of the expedition are Jesuit priests, we see these events through the eyes of people with strong faith and with them, I was forced to ponder the question of where is God amidst such horror. It is not an easy question, and it is not a question that is confined to Rakhat. But, Russell uses the uniqueness of the context to shed new light on this existential question.

This is a story that I expect will stay with me for a long time.

Book #24 - The BFG - Roald Dahl - Finished March 16, 2009

Categories: fiction, young adult, audio, library

Thanks, Linda/Whisper, for inspiring me to pick up Dahl again. This was a great listen on my drive to/from work. The BFG tells the story of a Big Friendly Giant who lives among bigger, less-friendly giants who eat children. The BFG and an orphan named Sophie work together to stop them.

The story is well-told, but I think that I liked the BFG's way of expressing himself even more than the plot. Because he has not had the opportunity for traditional education, the BFG makes up some of his own words (Bellypoppers = Helicopters, whizzpoppers = passing gas). He also often states a fact followed by "right or left?" (For example, I am a Big Friendly Giant, right or left?) He had me laughing out loud.

I'd also like to note that this is the second book in the past few months that features the Queen of England as a character. What are the odds?

What a good story!

Your review pushed The Sparrow onto my lookout list. I have seen many of the other recommendations but yours cinched it.

#117: I am so glad you liked it! The book was one of my memorable reads for last year and one that I went out almost immediately and bought for my personal library.

Russell has several other books out, some of them quite good even excellent, but nothing compares to The Sparrow, IMO, including the sequel Children of God.

BDB - I hope you enjoy The Sparrow. I doesn't sound like my usual type of book, but it is really thought provoking. It goes much beyond a story about extraterrestrials.

Stasia - Yes, I loved it! Thanks so much for insisting that I read it. It's one that I want to add to my personal library too. I wondered about Children of God. I will definitely read it - just because I have to find out what happens next - but I'll keep my expectations lower.

Reading your comments re. The Sparrow brought back haunting feelings. For some reason, this book impacted me on a deep level. I think I was most disturbed by the vulnerability of those who went to that planet, who were lured there because of the exquisite music, only to experience such depravity and ugly things, as you say "horrific, beyond imagination."

A very good friend of mine HIGHLY recommended this book. She felt it was a testimonial to faith that even though these terrible things happened, they still believed in God. Again, I'm not sure why I reacted the way I did to the book, only I can say there have been few books that elicited this reaction.

I am so glad you liked the BFG. Your comments are exactly why I liked the book, ie, the bumbling language, the attempt of the giant and Sophie to cross a comfort level and reach out and relate. It is my favorite Roald Dahl book to date.

Linda - I was so glad that you had warned me about how disturbing you found The Sparrow. I think that it helped me get through the tough spots. I was glad that the majority of the really disturbing parts were concentrated near the end. So, unlike The Road, which I found disturbing throughout, I was able to read most of this one without the intense feelings invoked by the end.

On a completely different note, I agree with your assessment of The BFG. I found both the BFG and Sophie to be charming and real. Thanks for pointing me to that one.

Ahhhhh, yet another fabulous review of The Sparrow and I haven't got a copy! Even if it takes a long time for me to get round to reading the book, I like to have my hands on a copy.

Maybe it will come up on BM soon. One can only hope! lol. Thanks for the reviews on both this and The BFG which is one of my well loved childhood books.

Lunacat - Yes, I definitely recommend The Sparrow. I took me a while to get it from the library. I read two of Russell's other books while I was waiting. But The Sparrow was by far the best, in my opinion.

I don't really use the library (old issues) so thats not an option so I'll have to wait till I acquire one some other way............ah, if only I was a millionaire.

Lunacat - Even though I checked The Sparrow out from the library, it's definitely one that I want to buy eventually. If you figure out that millionaire thing, let me know :).

Book #25 - Fablehaven - Brandon Mull - Finished March 17, 2009

I read this one based on Catey's recommendation. Thanks, Catey! This was the perfect book to take with me on a short spring break trip to Chicago. I read it in the evenings after the kids went to sleep (although it won't be long before they'll enjoy this book too).

When Kendra and Seth's parents go away on a cruise, they are sent to stay with their eccentric grandparents. Kendra and Seth are dreading the visit. They don't know their grandparents well and are afraid that they'll be bored. However, as they soon discover, their grandparents live on a preserve called Fablehaven, a haven for magical beasts. Both rule-follower Kendra and rule-breaker Seth learn a thing or two as they help their grandparents face evil.

This was a charming story. Mull left several plot threads open, so now I'm anxious to read the next book in this series.

Just need to jump in and say thanks for your review of The Sparrow -- a powerful work indeed :)

I've added Fablehaven to the hundreds of tbr books.

>130 - Thanks, Susan! I have to thank you too, for encouraging me to read The Sparrow. It's one of my best reads of the year.

>131 - Linda - I think you'll like Fablehaven, but I have to warn you that it's the first in a series (of 4, I think). I thought I might just read the first one, but now I can't wait to read the rest!

Hi everyone,

Sorry if this is a little off topic, but I wanted to ask a question about the speed at which you read books. It normally takes me at least a week or so to read a decent size book, but from reading this thread some of you seem to be getting through a book every couple of days.

Is this because you are devoting a large portion of time to reading, or just because you are very quick?

I would love to be able to get through more material, but my pace seems quite sedate. Do you have any insights into your reading habits that might help me?

Thanks,

Tom

Tom - I'm definitely not the most prolific reader in the 75 books challenge, but I have read a lot more books in the past couple of years than I used to. I don't think that I'm an extremely fast reader, but I do read at a fairly quick pace. But I think that the reason that I read more books now is that I read more hours/day than I used to. I generally start reading when my kids go to bed and read for a couple of hours - until I fall asleep. Occasionally, I get a chance to read earlier in the day, but I work a full-time job as a professor (and although I read a lot at my job, I rarely read whole books) and have two young kids, so the time fills up quickly. I do listen to audio books on the way to and from work, but generally finish only one or so/month.

So, I'm not sure that there are many insights there. Maybe others will have better tips.

Tom
I'm recovering from surgery so I have the luxury of reading a lot during the day. I'm back to the academic life next week and I'll be back to a "normal" pace for me, which is about two books a week.

Basically, I read for pleasure and because my job is very stressful, I find that reading calms and centers me.

Tom - I have always loved to read, but this year I really have devoted a lot of time to it. I try to read at least two hours every night, and then odd times throughout the day too. I think that this wonderful group of people is a fantastic motivator - they read such exciting books, and everyone is so friendly. Join us, and I bet your reading rate will increase!

Thanks for the pointers guys. It seems that the key is simply to put in more hours. I love reading, and don't find it a chore at all, but somehow I find myself being distracted. So, I must banish the distractions!

Cait86 - I certainly agree that the people on LT (to which I am quite new) seem very friendly, so I will endeavour to participate more.

In that spirit, I will share some of my recent literary adventures. I am probably only on about my tenth book of the year, but perhaps with your help I can catch up!

I recently finished Human Smoke by Nicholson Baker, which really changed my perspective on WWII, and on war generally. In fact I got into quite a heated argument with some friends a few days ago as a result of some of the things the book brought up, so if you enjoy some controversial revisionist history I thoroughly recommend it.

I am now about a quarter of the way through Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I always like historical fiction, and the setting for this book (the 17th/18th centuries) must surely be one of the most fascinating in history. It is quite a tome at almost 1000 pages, but I am getting through it at a steady pace. If you liked The Name of the Rose, this one is for you.

Message edited by its author, Mar 18, 2009, 9:38pm.

Quicksilver is one of my library books. Glad to know you are enjoying it. I hope I enjoy it when I get to it as well.

Book #26 - What I Talk About When I Talk About Running - Haruki Murakami - Finished March 20, 2009

Categories: non-fiction, library

The books is a bit hard to describe. It is part memoir, part essay, part meditation on life. Murakami is an author and a long-distance runner. In this book, he reflects on how his running has influenced his writing and his life.

I am not a runner or a writer, but I found a great deal in this book that could apply to my life as well. For example, on page 83, Murakami notes, "Exerting yourself to the fullest within your individual limits: that's the essence of running, and a metaphor for life - and for me, for writing as well." I like this idea - the idea of stretching, of reaching toward my potential. But, I also like Murakami's practical approach to reaching goals. As he's summing up his approach, he notes, "One by one, I'll face the tasks before me and complete them as best I can. Focusing on each stride forward, but at the same time taking a long-range view, examining the scenery as far ahead as I can. I am, after all, a long-distance runner" (p. 173).

I haven't read any of Murakami's fiction, but this book makes me want to give one a try.

Message edited by its author, Mar 20, 2009, 6:01pm.

#139: I read What I Talk About before I read any of Murakami's fiction, too, and it just made me want to give the fiction a shot, and am I glad I did. He is very good! I do not think you will be disappointed. His Wind Up Bird Chronicle is one of the books that I hope to get to this year.

Book #27 - Invitation to the New Testament - David deSilva and Emerson B. Powery - Finished March 23, 2009

This book includes suggested daily readings from the New Testament - all of Matthew plus related readings from other Gospels, Epistles, and Revelation - along with commentary about the readings. I read the book and related Bible readings as a part of a group Bible study at my church. This is the first organized Bible study that I've done in quite some time, and I really enjoyed it. However, I think that I would have struggled with the book if I had not also had the opportunity to discuss the issues raised with others.

The book is organized into eight sections based on Jesus's calls to us (e.g., Jesus calls us to minister to a hostile world, Jesus calls us to a new relationship with tradition). For each topic, we read 15-20 chapters from the New Testament. The authors then provide 6-7 pages of commentary to help draw out the connections within the readings. For me, the commentary often only scratched the surface. I appreciated the authors' insights about the readings, but the book definitely works best as a resource for group Bible study. People looking for a stand-alone commentary would likely want more depth.

Book #28 - Crocodile on the Sandbank - Elizabeth Peters - Finished March 24, 2009

Thanks to Cheli (cyderry) for recommending this one. This is the first book in the Amelia Peabody mystery series. The book takes place in the late 1800's. Amelia Peabody has been caring for her father, when he dies and leaves her a substantial sum of money. Unmarried, she decides to travel. She meets up with Evelyn Barton-Forbes, who has been disowned by her grandfather and abandoned by her lover, and together they travel to Cairo. While traveling, they find themselves on an archeological dig that is being haunted by a mummy. With her indomitable style, Amelia butts heads with archeologist Radcliffe Emerson and works to protect her friend from the mummy and interfering family members.

I loved this one - mainly because of Amelia! She is my kind of heroine. She never keeps her opinion to herself and manages to handle any situation. I also enjoyed learning a little more about archeology in Egypt during this time period. The mystery (and a couple of romances) kept the plot moving forward. There are a number of books in this series, and I'll definitely be reading more of them.

#142 Amy, if you ever get the chance, check out the audiobooks from Recorded Books of the Amelia Peabody series. Barbara Rosenblat does an absolutely wonderful job on the narration.

#142 - I little while ago a friend gave me the complete Amelia Peabody audiobook collection. I'm looking forward to getting to them one day soon. I like a good mystery, and who doesn't love Egyptology? My Great-Grand Uncle and his wife were actually invited to attend the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb by Lord Carnarvon's daughter, who was also one of the first to enter the tomb! But, I've never been able to find out whether they actually went. More digging to be done (in the family history that is, not in Egypt!).

Edit: Spelling!

Message edited by its author, Mar 26, 2009, 7:07pm.

#144: Shucks, Peter, I was hoping you were digging in Egypt :)

Stasia & Peter - Thanks for the heads up about the Amelia Peabody audiobooks. I'll definitely keep my eyes open for them. Peter, what an interesting connection you have to Egyptian history!

Book #29 - At Home in Mitford - Jan Karon - Finished March 27, 2009

The Mitford books are some of my favorite comfort reads. I usually read them when I'm sick or when I have to fly - two conditions that leave me with a short attention span. When I found myself on a plane to Philadelphia with a raging cold, I knew it was time to revisit a Karon book.

I've read all of the books in the Mitford series, but I love to go back and revisit Father Tim, an Episcopal priest, and his parishoners and friends in Mitford. These tales of small-town life remind me a bit of the town where I grew up and of my current hometown. Somehow things always turn out right in Mitford. Unbelievable? Perhaps, but also comforting.

I agree with you re. the Mitford series. They are so comforting. Yet, they do deal with some difficult subjects, and you are right...somehow things do turn out right.

Amy,
Been really busy and having a hard time keeping up with threads. I'm glad you enjoyed Amelia Peabody - a note on the audios - my library has them in the e-Resource area - in other words, you just download them to your computer. Don't know if you have electronic access to your library or not. It's really great because when you're ready so is the book!

Thanks, Cheli! I'll have to check the e-Books at my library. I always forget about them.

Book #30 – Never Check E-mail in the Morning: And Other Unexpected Strategies for Making Your Work Life Work – Julie Morgenstern – Finished March 30, 2009

Categories: nonfiction, library

Every so often, I get in the mood to read organizing books. My husband and I call it “turning over a new leaf.” How can I organize my stuff, my tasks, and my life more effectively and efficiently? I almost never find much new in these books, but sometimes they get me energized about the task of getting organized again.

This book is focused on getting organized at work. Morgenstern details nine competencies to help us make our work lives work: (1) embrace your work/life balance, (2) develop an entrepreneurial mindset, (3) choose the most important tasks, (4) create the time to get things done, (5) control the nibblers, (6) organize at the speed of change, (7) master delegation, (8) work well with others, and (9) leverage your value.

The good news is that I’m actually not doing too badly on some of these. I’m reasonable at work/life balance. As a professor, I have quite a bit of flexibility, and I use it so that I don’t miss many of my kids’ activities. I’m also pretty good at crafting my job so that I spend time on the things that I am good at and/or enjoy. However, there are lots of tips that I picked up from this book. Some were new ideas, and others were just good reminders. Just so I’ll remember, here are some of the best:

1. In choosing tasks, think about how long they will take, what is the ROI, and what is the deadline. Spend time on those things that have the biggest benefit/cost ratio, or that have an impending deadline.

2. To create time to get everything done, focus on your most critical task first thing in the morning. (Don’t check e-mail first.) This ensures that you get something important done while you are fresh.

3. Beware of multitasking. (This section was written for me.) Focus on one thing at a time. Don’t try to work on a dozen different projects everyday. It’s more efficient to get a few tasks done, than it is to move everything forward just a little bit.

4. Group similar tasks. Think in terms of dots and dashes. Dashes are the projects that require more focus. Break those up with a sequence of “dots” – small tasks that you can knock off quickly.

5. Practice selective perfectionism. Every task doesn’t need to be done perfectly.

6. Control interruptions. Track interruptions for a few weeks and determine how much time you need to plan for interruptions. Try to defer interruptions to the time that is best for you.

7. Organize your files so that working files are closest, and everything else is archived. Weed as you go so that you aren’t keeping things you don’t need.

8. Delegate. Create a clear division of labor so that it is clear who is responsible for what. Delegate one skill set at a time so that you can evaluate progress.

9. Evaluate your working relationships with others. You are working well with others if you are (a) accessible, (b) reliable, (c) flexible, (d) respectful, (e) clear, and (f) fair.

10. Keep track of what you accomplish each day – not the tasks you do, but the results that you accomplish.

So, as I said, this is not rocket science, but it seems that I need to be continually reminded of some of these things. This book did that quite well.

Message edited by its author, Mar 30, 2009, 7:17pm.

Great tips
As you know, working in academia, #6 is very challenging. The student traffic is heavy in our department.

Linda - Yes, control interruptions is a challenging one for me too. I like to be accessible, and part of the thing that I like about my work is the student interaction, but it does make it hard to focus.

I love organization and simple living books too! I read a bunch of them last year, and this year I have a large TBR pile of them. So I can totally understand why you chose that book.
I just got the book Throw Out Fifty Things in today's mail. It's funny how new arrivals are SO much more tempting than the ones on the shelf!

Angela - I've never heard of Throw Out Fifty Things, but will be on the lookout for it. I definitely need to throw out a few things, if only to make room for more books!

Book #31 - The Witches of Eastwick - John Updike - Finished April 2, 2009

categories: fiction, book club

I had never read anything by John Updike, so when he passed away earlier this year, I talked my book club into doing a John Updike read. We're all choosing whichever book we want. I went back and forth between The Witches of Eastwick and Rabbit, Run, but eventually ended up with this one.

I finished the book last night, and I'm not entirely sure what I think about it. I do like Updike's writing style. He is a long sentence writer, and there is a lot of exposition, so this wasn't a quick read for me. But I found that I got into a rhythm and would easily lose myself in a scene.

The book is about three divorced women who live in Eastwick, Rhode Island. They are also witches. They have a number of affairs with married men and are generally seen as somewhat suspect by the townspeople. When a Daryl Van Horne moves to town, all three women begin spending a lot of time at his home. As is characteristic of Updike (at least based on what I've read about his other books), a variety of sexual encounters ensue. What was more disturbing to me was the way that Van Horne seemed to completely absorb the lives of the three witches. They seem to lose what sense of self they had, and their relationships with one another suffer.

I have heard this book described as social satire, and I think that I agree with that. I'm fascinated by books that provide some insight into how our sense of self develops and changes, and this book provides an interesting view of how others influence our sense of self. The story takes places at the end of the Vietnam War and provides some commentary on how the shifting roles of women during that time shaped the identities of the three women.

So, while I didn't love this book, I was intrigued both by its themes and by Updike's writing style. I'm tempted to read more by him.

That's a very insightful review. I have never read anything by Updike either but have all four Rabbit novels at home. I'm just afraid I won't like them and then - being the obsessive compulsive reader that I am - I'll be stuck with reading all four of them for a loooong time.

>157 Thanks, Eliza! I actually picked The Witches of Eastwick over Rabbit, Run because I was afraid that I'd love it and then would have three more books to add to my towering TBR! But I do think that I'll try it at some point.

The Witches of Eastwick was my first Updike too, just in December, and I agree with your review, Porch_reader. I really enjoyed his writing style, and will definitely try his Rabbit books. Updike wrote a sequel not long before he died - The Widows of Eastwick - in case you are interested! I have heard some critics label Witches as misogynistic, while others have said that it is liberating. I know it was the first of Updike's novels to focus on fully developed female characters. Personally, I think I fall in the misogynistic category - the witches are all independent divorcees, yet they are all financially failing, all they care about is sex, they let a man control them, and they totally ignore their children. That said, I still found it an interesting read - it was one of those books that really left an impression, albeit a conflicting one.

I read the Rabbit books as they came out. I enjoyed the books even though Rabbit is not a particularly likeable character, esp. in the first book. When each of the Rabbit books was written, Updike was approximately the same age as the Rabbit character. I'd like to go back and read the books as a unit, one after the other to see how cohesively Rabbit's character develops and changes as he moves from barely post-adolescent to old age.

I've read a lot of Updike's other works and have very mixed feelings about them--sometimes I love them, and sometimes I hate them, but they're almost always interesting. One of the first books of his I read was Couples and it involved, what else, various couples with young families just starting out in the 1950's. Since I was a child in the 1950's, I felt like I was a spy on the "adult" world when reading the book.

>159 - Cait - I have seen The Widows of Eastwick at the library, but haven't read it yet. I think someone from my book club was reading that one, so I'll see what she thought of it. I'm not sure that I'm ready to spend more time with the three witches. I agree with you - I did not find the book liberating, but rather a sad commentary about women in a controlling, unhealthy relationship with a rather odd man. But it was a book that made me think, and I'll bet it will stick with me.

>160 - Arubabookwoman - I'll have to give the Rabbit books a try. I enjoyed Updike's style enough that I want to read more. Even though Witches wasn't a book that I loved, it was interesting.

By the way, the New York Times Book Review section has an article by Charles McGrath, who recently read the audiobook version of Endpoint, Updike's last book of poetry. It made me want to read some of Updike's poetry too.

I've tried and tried Updike, to no avail. He is banned from my shelves as a waster of my reading time because I just don't like him. I am glad there are others of you who like him.

Book #32 - The Friday Night Knitting Club - Kate Jacobs - Finished April 3, 2009

My mom loaned me this book, and it set on my shelf for a while before I finally picked it up. I thought it was OK, not great.

Georgia Walker owns a yarn shop in NYC. She is also a single mom, raising her nearly-teenaged daughter Dakota. Throughout the book, we learn about the challenges faced by the Georgia and the other members of the Friday Night Knitting Club as they deal with renewed relationships, pregnancy, break-ups, and the other trials of everyday life. The women themselves are likable. Each is a distinct - if somewhat one-dimensional - character. And I am partial to books that focus on women who support and nurture each other. However, I found The Friday Night Knitting Club a little flat. Both the plot and the characters were somewhat predictable.

>162 - Mac - Even after just reading one Updike book, I can imagine that he's not everyone's cup of tea. He seems like one of those authors that likely evokes strong reactions - both positive and negative. I'm all for banning authors that I don't like from my shelves. There are too many authors that I love!

I've made it through 2 of the Rabbit books - not sure I can make myself take on the remaining. I'm always hopeful and quite taken with Updikes' writing when I begin, but the constancy of depressing characters acting and reacting at the basest levels finally gets to me.
I fear my lovely Everyman Press edition of Rabbit Angstrom: The Four Novels will forever more be only bookcase eye candy.

>151: 3. Beware of multitasking. (This section was written for me.) ... It’s more efficient to get a few tasks done, than it is to move everything forward just a little bit.

... and written for me too. I have a bad habit of buying this sort of book, reading the first couple of chapters, and then putting it down. But this is my biggest problem at work. Good reminder.

The Witches of Eastwick is the only Updike I've read (apart from a Penguin 60 with a few short stories) and I had similar mixed feelings, enough to not have picked up any more since. My mother-in-law loves his stuff though.

>165 - Orangeena - That is so insightful (". . . the constancy of depressing characters acting and reacting at the basest levels finally gets to me.") I was constantly mad at the witches for that sort of behavior. Not since I read We Were the Mulvaneys have I had such an urge to shake some sense into characters.

>166 - FlossieT - I think I'm going to try one more Updike sometime soon, but I feel like I have to cleanse my palate first. By the way, good luck with the multitasking! I think that I've gotten so good at doing it at home - how else could I fix dinner, check LT, correct math homework, and break up a fight at the same time - that I just can't stop doing it when I need to concentrate.

#167 porch reader
When I read Ethan Fromme last year, I had the urge to shake him. He was so wippingly passive and that frustrated me!

Linda - I used to think that I didn't like books in which I wanted to shake the characters. But I do have to give authors credit when they can get me that worked up!

Good Point!

#168: Linda, I had the same experience with Maryam in The Saffron Kitchen when I read it last year, so I can commiserate. It did not take away from the fact that it was a good book, though, and I agree with Amy's pov on that one.

Book #33 - Krik? Krak! - Edwidge Danticat - Finished April 8, 2009

In Haiti, the question “Krik?” followed by the response “Krak!” signals the beginning of storytelling. In the book Haiti: Feeding the Spirit, poet Sal Scalora captures the importance of this Haitian tradition of storytelling:

We tell the stories so that the young ones
will know what came before them.
They ask Krik? we say Krak!
Our stories are kept in our hearts.

In Krik? Krak!, a collection of short stories, Edwidge Danticat has ensured that the young ones of Haiti, and all of us, will know what came before them. The history of Haiti has not been an easy one. From 1957 to 1986, the people lived under the dictatorship of the Duvaliers. People lived in fear of the Tonton Macoutes, a terrorist death squad that enforced the will of the state. In a number of the stories in this collection, we learn what life in Haiti was like under these conditions.

The stories are filled with unspeakable horrors, to which Danticat gives voice. Each night, as I read the next story, I was left with images of a boy forced to rape his mother and then convicted of crimes of indecency. Of a young girl, a refugee on a boat, who gave birth to a baby who did not cry and then jumped overboard with the corpse. Of a mother who carried the head of her son home after his brutal murder. Of an old woman, put in prison after being accused of being a witch, who chewed the small bits of food that her daughter brought her, swallowed the saliva, and then put the food into her pocket to save for later. Of the prostitute, who entertained guests while her young son slept on the other side of a sheet that divided their small house.

The first story in the collection, “Children of the Sea,” is one of the best. A young revolutionary has fled Haiti, just ahead of the Macoutes who want to kill him. He is young, and has just taken his University entrance exams. This detail brings to mind the swarms of undergraduate students who I have the pleasure to interact with everyday. Like the kids I know at the University of Iowa, this young man wants to get an education, improve his future. But unlike them, he is forced to flee. His voice, from a boat bound for America, alternates with that of his girlfriend. She remains in Haiti, uncertain of his fate. Because of her connection with him, her family is forced to leave Port-au-Prince and her father bribes the Macoutes to save her life. In the end, tragedy visits this young couple, just as it visits so many of the characters in these stories.

But in each of these stories, there is also hope. Life goes on amidst the tragedies. Among the images of pain and suffering, I was also left with images of mothers feeding their children, love that endures distances, unimaginable displays of strength. Danticat succeeds not only in helping us remember the events of Haiti’s history, but also in helping us understand the strength of its people.

If you read this collection (and you should read this collection), read the Epilogue first. The nine stories in the collection tell the stories of Haiti, but the Epilogue tells Danticat’s story. We learn that her mother was against the idea of her being a writer: “Writing was as forbidden as dark rouge on the cheeks or a first date before eighteen. It was an act of indolence, something to be done in a corner when you could have been learning to cook” (p. 219). We also learn what the government thought about writers in Haiti: “In our world, writers are tortured and killed if they are men. Called lying whores, then raped and killed, if they are women” (p. 221). With this understanding, the stories that Danticat writes seem like an even more precious gift, even a miracle. The odds of us reading these stories were long. But, Danticat had stories to tell. Referring to herself as you, she says, “The women in your family have never lost touch with one another. Death is a path that we take to meet on the other side. . . With every step you take, there is an army of women watching over you” (p. 222).

Danticat has an MFA from Brown University, and so it seems likely that she was, at one time, given the advice that many young writers get: Write what you know. And she does. Two of the stories at the end of the collection share the experiences of young women and their mothers who have immigrated to the United States from Haiti. The dialogue in these stories is spot on. I could almost imagine Danticat herself having these conversations with her own mother. But in many of the other stories, Danticat is writing for a broader "you." There is an army of women watching over her. Danticat gives them all a voice. In the Epilogue, she says, “Writing is like braiding your hair. Taking a handful of course unruly strands and attempting to bring them to unity” (p. 220). The women in Danticat’s family are like these diverse, unruly strands, and in this collection, she brings their voices to a powerful unity that will stick with me for a long time.

This is the third of Danticat's books that I've read. I loved this one as much as I loved the other two - Brother, I'm Dying and The Dew Breaker. She's an amazing author.

porch_reader, I don't know why I'm just catching up to your thread. I think I've read more than half of the books you've been discussing, and enjoyed them, so I look forward to seeing what you're going to read next. Krik? Krak! was the first book I read by Danticat and remains in my "top 5" for short stories by the same author. These are terrible stories that she is sharing, and the fact that you want to keep reading is proof of her ability.

#172: I have read Danticat's Brother, I'm Dying but nothing else by her. I am going to have to fix that!

>172: isn't it interesting how you can read one description of a series of horrific stories and think, "erk, not going there!"... and then another and find yourself fascinated and intrigued? Obviously have heard of Danticat but never read anything by her; I have the impression it's powerful and impressing stuff. Making a note.

>173 - Bonnie - I agree. {Krik? Krak! is going to make it onto my top short stories list too. Thanks for visiting my thread! I popped over to yours and now my TBR list is longer. Thanks! (I think?)

>174 - Stasia - I think that anything Danticat writes would be good. But I can definitely recommend Krik? Krak! and The Dew Breaker.

>175 - FlossieT - That's a great insight. I think that Danticat made me want to keep reading because I cared so much about what happened to the characters. Even though this was a short story collection, I felt connected to the characters almost immediately.

Book #34 - Rebel - Bernard Cornwell - Finished April 14, 2009

categories: fiction, off-the-shelf, new-to-me author

This is my first Bernard Cornwell book. I've "heard" several of you talk about him, and TheTortoise recommended Rebel last year. What a great book! Thanks for the recommendation TT!

Rebel is the first in a series of four books about Nathaniel Starbuck, the son of an abolitionist minister from Boston. Just as Fort Sumpter falls, Nate finds himself in Richmond, in the hands of an angry mob. He is rescued by Washington Faulconer, the father of Nate's friend Adam and an influential man in Faulconer County. Washington decides to put together a Legion to fight in the war against the North, and Nate decides to stay on and help him.

In places, the story is a little slow, but for the most part, Cornwell is in charge of the narrative. The last part of the book, during which the Legion fights the Battle of Bull Run, kept me up late last night. Cornwell artfully weaves his fictional characters with historical figures and events.

But the best part of this book is the characters. Colonel Washington Faulconer is larger than life. He fancies himself a war hero, but is actually more concerned with uniforms, band instruments, and other matters of appearance. Faulconer’s brother-in-law, “Pecker” Bird, provides an interesting contrast to Faulconer. A lifelong school teacher, he seems an unlikely second-in-charge. Cornwell sprinkles the book with a host of interesting minor characters as well. In fact, Nathaniel Starbuck, for whom the series is named, was perhaps one of the least well-drawn of the characters. Throughout the book, he struggles with conflicting loyalties and seems to bounce between grateful obedience and the desire to make his own way in life. However, in retrospect, this may have been Cornwell’s way of helping us understand the struggles of coming-of-age far from home, in the shadow of a powerful father, during a war.

I can’t wait to see what happens to Starbuck in the next book in this series.

Whoa book number 33 sounds really interesting. Danticat is an author that I keep meaning to read but have not gotten round to.

Interesting observations on The Friday Night Knitting Club. Refreshing to hear a different perspective. Everyone I know who read it cannot stop gushing. I think there is sequel that recently came out but I can't remember the name right now.

Knit Two is the sequel.

>178 - Trish - As you can probably tell, I really like Danticat's books. I've read fiction, non-fiction, and short stories by here, and I've loved them all.

>178 & 179 - I had heard that there was a sequel to The Friday Night Knitting Club, but couldn't remember the name. Thanks, Cheli, for reminding me. I'm not sure if I'll read Knit Two or not. In a way, I'm interested to see what Jacobs does with the characters in this second book. Maybe I'll see if I can get it at the library and give it a quick skim.

Listen to the Wind: The Story of Dr. Greg and Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortensen and Susan L. Roth - Finished April 20, 2009

I'm not officially counting this book for my reading challenge, but I know that many of you are fans of Three Cups of Tea, so I wanted to mention this book that I read with my kids tonight. Listen to the Wind is a short children's book about Greg Mortensen's efforts to build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. I've read the adult version, Three Cups of Tea, twice, and I love it. (It is probably the book that I am most often an evangelist for.) So when I saw this children's version at the library, I had to read it with my kids.

The story is very simply told and accompanied with great illustrations. My kids were very interested that the children in the Pakistani village of Korphe did not have a school and wrote in the dirt with sticks. Like me, they cheered when Dr. Greg helped the village build a school. I was so glad to be able to share this story with my kids.

The story is followed by photographs so that kids can see the real Dr. Greg, the children of Korphe, and the school that they built. It also tells how kids can help fund the building of other schools through Pennies for Peace.

What a good idea. Nothing like the power of kids' questions and energy to get changes made!

"My kids were very interested that the children in the Pakistani village of Korphe did not have a school and wrote in the dirt with sticks. Like me, they cheered when Dr. Greg helped the village build a school. I was so glad to be able to share this story with my kids"

Oh that is so lovely! That sentence alone makes me want to have children :) Thanks for sharing!

These conversations regarding the power of kids and questions that energize to obtain change.

I'm currently reading Hana's Suitcase, an incredible story of a curious museum director and a band of children on a quest to discover the real life story of young Hana who perished in the holocaust. I am captivated by this book!

Bonnie, Eliza, and Linda - I agree! I think kids are often great at encouraging change. And I really liked that Listen to the Wind was written in a way that helped my kids understand that it is possible to make a big difference like Dr. Greg did. (Although, Eliza, I have to mention that my kids aren't always as adorable as they were when they cheered for Dr. Greg. Right now, they are fighting about an imaginary football game.)

By the way, Linda, Hana's Suitcase sounds like a wonderful story. I'll be watching for your review.

And, since we're talking about schools, I just have to add that I took my youngest son to Kindergarten Round-up today. He'll be starting kindergarten in the fall, so this was his chance to see the school and meet the teachers. I can't believe my baby is starting school. He is very excited about it!

Book #35 - Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe - Finished April 20, 2009

What a wonderful book! On one level, Achebe paints an rich and clear picture of an African village. The story centers around Okwonko, a powerful man in the village of Umuofia. As Okwonko's story unfold, Achebe provides fascinating details about marriage ceremonies, superstitions, rituals, and daily life in the village. When missionaries come to the area, the way of life in the village is threatened.

But on another level, Achebe's story has a much more universal meaning. Okwonko's father was known in the village for being lazy and often in debt. In an attempt to leave that legacy behind, Okwonko works hard to be a successful farmer, build houses for his wives, and become revered in the village. In fact, his identity is almost solely built on this need for approval from the village and to differentiate himself from his father. Okwonko is clearly afraid of losing the reputation he has worked so hard to build and is willing to do almost anything to keep the approval of the village.

The is the first of Achebe's books that I've read. But in the back, there is a blurb about a book of his short stories called Girls at War and Other Stories. I'd like to try that one too.

I like your review of Things Fall Apart. I've added it to my ever growing tbr pile.

Thanks, as always for the excellent writing.

#186: I read Things Fall Apart several years ago and thought it quite good. You will have to let me know how the short stories are.

I am so glad you shared Mortenson's story with your children. The children's book is such a great idea.

Book #36 - The Testament - John Grisham - Finished April 22, 2009

I listened to this as an audio book. I used to read quite a bit of Grisham, but lately I haven't kept up. I find that his books usually work well for me on audio - not too much detail to keep up with and the plotlines move quickly. But this book seemed slow to me. It is the story of a billionaire, Troy Phalen, who jumped from a window and left his estate not to his six (rather greedy and unsympathetic) children, but to a seventh daughter about whom no one knew. She is a missionary in the Pantanal, a remote area of Brazil. Nate O'Riley, a lawyer who is about to lose his license, leaves rehab to find the heir. I liked the descriptions of the Pantanal, and there were some interesting minor characters in the book. Grisham also explores issues of faith as Nate's encounter with missionaries causes him to explore his own faith life. But for the most part, the story moved slowly, and the same issues were rehashed time and again. I think I might have liked the book more if I were reading it in print - at least then I could have skimmed through the slow parts.

Book #37 - The Color of Lightning - Paulette Jiles - Finished April 24, 2009

This is the first book that I've read by Jiles. It is based on the true story of Britt Johnson, a former slave from Kentucky, who moves with his family to Texas in 1863. While Britt is away from home, the Comanche and Kiowa raid the area, kill his oldest son, and capture his wife and two daughters. While Britt is faced with the challenge of recovering his family, Samuel Hammond, a Quaker from Pennsylvania, becomes the new agent for the Office of Indian Affairs, and attempts to deal with the conflicts while remaining true to his Quaker values.

Through these characters, Jiles provides a balanced depiction of the conflicts between the Texan settlers and the Native Americans who also consider this their land. She illustrates all of the difficulties in reconciling the interests of all parties involved while developing memorable characters who will stay with me for a long time. Highly recommended!

#191: The Color of Lightning looks very good! Thanks for the recommendation, Amy.

>181: oh, this sounds lovely - am definitely going to look out for it. I have the YA version of Three Cups of Tea but haven't yet got onto reading it (looks like it might be a little heavy going for my eldest so want to check it out first). But a simply-told story book is such an excellent idea.

>185: glad to hear you enjoyed Achebe. This was one of those books that surprised me at the library sale - haven't read it yet, but it's up there on the shelf just waiting :)

I agree, The Color of Lightning sounds good. Thanks for your recommendation.

>192 & 194 - Stasia and Linda - I hope that you enjoy The Color of Lightning. I thought it was a good (and quick) read.

>193 - Rachael - Yes, I loved the kids version of Three Cups of Tea. My five-year-old liked it best, but even my eight-year-old (who is now very reluctant to read picture books) liked it.

And I'll be interested to hear what you think of Achebe! I really liked Things Fall Apart. I got a copy at a used book store in very good shape. I think it might have been one of those that a student bought for a college course because the spine was barely cracked. Since I finished it, I've seen that several other 75ers have been reading his other books. So, I'm on the look-out for some of those.

Book #38 - Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Jeff Kinney - Finished April 26, 2009

We had a rather stressful week at my house this week. Evidently, with five weeks of school to go, my son's 2nd grade class has some catching up to do. He's come home in tears a couple of afternoons this week, certain that he's never going to get all of the work done. So, I decided that we could all use a Friday evening trip to the bookstore. We came home with (among other things) Diary of a Wimpy Kid. My son finished the book by mid-day on Saturday, so I decided to give it a read too. From the journal entries of Greg Heffley, we get a humorous take on the angst-filled life of middle school. The text is interspersed with cartoon and drawings. A very funny read!

Message edited by its author, Apr 28, 2009, 9:07pm.

I agree with you. Diary of a Wimpy Kid is a quick, fun read.

#196 - Don't you find the amount of work that elementary age kids bring home to be a little stressful for everyone, parents included? My 4th grader likes the Wimpy Kid series as well. Kinney really stumbled upon something that kids can read and feel as if their not reading at all because they are so much fun to read.

I hate being so far behind on threads. Hmmm... let me see. I enjoyed the Mitfords too, the set was a gift from my sis. They're in storage in France.

I find the Peters books get annoying after a while, but I did read them voraciously when I lived in Paris and could get them at the American Library. That's when I got into the Cadfael books as well. -- Right next to each other on the shelf :)

And I too am reading my first Cornwell, Redcoat (the only one I have) -- cheers.

Due to the difficulty I have in getting books I generally resist the huge temptation found throughout these threads to add to my TBR but in glancing back through this thread I find that the preponderance of my additions come from yours. Is this a good thing? ;->

>198 - Carmenere - I agree. Luckily, my son doesn't have too much homework as a 2nd grader, but I do find that it often takes away from our leisure reading time. I'm ready for summer so that we can curl up with some fun books (instead of curling up with worksheets, which doesn't work as well).

>199 - Susan - I am constantly behind on threads - I'm not sure how to avoid it. But I'm glad that you came to visit me on mine. And I'm glad to add to your TBR. I just read (on your thread) that you have a book sale coming up near you. Here's hoping that you find lots of treasures!

Book #39 - My Own Country - Abraham Verghese - Finished April 30, 2009

Categories: non-fiction, library

I've read several great reviews of Verghese's other books on some of your threads, so I wanted to try him for myself. This happened to be the book that I could get at my public library. It is a memoir of the years that Verghese spent as an infectious disease specialist in a small town in Tennessee. The book takes place during the mid to late 1980's. Verghese goes from treating one of the first AIDS cases in the town to running an AIDS clinic with a number of patients.

I really liked Verghese's writing. Throughout the book, we come to understand the emotional connections that he develops with his patients and his frustration that he can’t do more to ease their suffering or cure their disease. We also learn a lot about the patients themselves. Verghese is careful not to generalize. Each patient has a unique story, and he helps us understand how each deals with their diagnosis differently. At times, the medical details were a bit much for me (I tend toward the squeamish side), and Verghese only superficially discusses the impact of his work on his wife and sons. I would have liked to know more about that. But those are minor complaints. Overall, I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading more Verghese.

#201: Glad you liked it, Amy!

Book #40 - How Starbucks Saved My Life - Michael Gates Gill - Finished May 1, 2009

I listened to this book on audio. Gill is an executive at a prestigious advertising firm in NYC. He joined the firm after graduating from Yale, and gradually worked his way up. However, when he is in his 50's, he is fired. He tries consulting, but doesn't get many clients. His wife ends up leaving him, he finds out he has cancer and needs an operation, and his financial situation becomes dire. He goes to Starbucks for a latte, a treat he won't be able to afford much longer, and a young Black woman asks him if he wants a job. Without thinking, he answers, "yes!" and becomes a Starbucks partner.

Gill finds that he has to learn a whole new set of skills to work at Starbucks. It is not easy for him, but he is determined to succeed. He writes dramatically (sometimes over-dramatically?) about his struggles to fit in and do his best, to provide excellent customer service and win over his manager Crystal. In the end, Mike finds that he likes connecting with the partners (co-workers) and the guests (customers). He finds real pleasure in doing "real" work. And he appreciate the respect given to him by Crystal and the other partners.

I wanted to like this book. I really did. I'm a management professor. I do research on people's experiences at work - when do we find meaning, when do we thrive. And on that level, the book was an interesting case study. Despite the fact that Mike was "only serving coffee," it was clear that he found fulfillment in what he did. And I applaud him for re-inventing himself.

But in many places, the story just didn't ring true with me. Gill is a prolific name dropper. The story of his time at Starbucks in interspersed with flashbacks to his time as an advertising exec and to his childhood (his father worked at the New Yorker). I'd be listening to Mike's problems learning to make change or close the store, and suddenly he'd compare his experience to the time he met T. S. Eliot, Hemingway, Frank Sinatra, or Queen Elizabeth II. His daughter even worked with Fifty Cent. I think that he was trying to contrast his "previous" life with his life at Starbucks, but it came across as a little snooty.

Book #41 - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Categories: fiction, re-read, book club

I read this last year soon after it was published, but since I read it very quickly then (and loved it so much), I decided to do a re-read with my book club. The story is wonderful. Juliet, an author, gets a letter from Dawsey, a resident of the Guernsey Islands and a member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Gradually she learns about the German occupation of Guernsey and the literary society that was formed by several residents to cover up their illegal pig roast. Through a series of letters, we learn about the challenges that the residents of Guernsey faced during the occupation and their attempts to pick up the pieces now that the war is over.

In re-reading this book, I still appreciated the story, but I found myself paying more attention to the voices of the characters. In letters that were sometimes only a paragraph or two long, the voice of each character is distinct. Dawsey's quite charm, Juliet's humor and gentleness, and Isola's pluck and frankness consistently come through in their letters. I'm looking forward to discussing this one with my book club Tuesday night.

I agree with you! This is such a charming book!

One of my favorites this year- the story developed so beautifully, layer after layer - letter after letter, drawing you in with greater and greater emotion and involvement. What began as a light hearted little tale of perserverance and island characters gradually and deftly became something much more serious about human nature, suffering, compassion and relationships.

I am suggesting it for my book club next round.

I think I will do a re-read this year of Guernsey, too. I absolutely loved it when I read it last year.

Linda, Emily, and Stasia - I agree! This was one of my favorites from last year. Usually I don't do a re-read so soon, but I absolutely flew through it last year - I had to know what happened! So it was nice to read it at a more leisurely pace this time.

Emily, I think that it will be a good book club book - I can't wait to hear what others in my book club think about it. Most have told me that they loved the book, so now I want to know why. I love your description of why this book is a favorite.

I listened to this as an audio book, with each "part" read by a different person, and really enjoyed it that way! I'd recommend that in addition to reading--it REALLY gave them each a personality. The copy I listened to was exceptionally well done.

Terri - Someone in my book club listened to the audio book of Guernsey, and like you, they thought it was very well done. I may have to get that one to listen to on trips!

Book #42 - The Trouble with Boys: A Surprising Report Card on Our Sons, Their Problems at School, and What Parents and Educators Must Do - Peg Tyre - Finished May 5, 2009

I have two sons - one is finishing 2nd grade and one starts kindergarten in the fall. So far, they do pretty well in school, but I'm always fascinated by books about how they learn and what makes them tick. This book provides a lot of statistics comparing the achievements of boys and girls at school and some discussion of how differences in their learning styles may impact these outcomes. Tyre's main point is that the education system is a better fit for girls than boys. Boys may have more trouble sitting still and focusing. Reading materials and writing activities may be a better match with girls' interests. As a result, schools may need to tailor learning activities to better fit the needs of boys.

For the most part, I found the book pretty interesting. However, I would have liked to have seen more focus on how schools can meet the learning needs of both boys and girls. Are there learning strategies that work for both? How can schools provide some flexibility so that both girls and boys are able to work up to their potential?

I (successfully, I think) raised three boys, and although I haven't read this book, I am also one of the questioners about schools. Sadly, though, I don't think there's enough education money allocated to meet the need for flexibility, not just between girls and boys, but between many different personalities of girls and boys. Here (if I do it right) is a link to one of my very favorite essays: Animal School

Message edited by its author, May 7, 2009, 7:33pm.

hmmm re:211 seems to me someone... Roni? read a book last year on the subject of raising boys that really impressed her... I'll see what I can find.

Terri - Thanks so much to the link to the Animal School essay. What a good way to highlight the challenges of educating diverse students. I agree that sex is not the only difference that makes educating 20 children in one room difficult. I've spent a bit of time in my older son's 2nd grade class this year, and it is amazing how much variation there is. Luckily, he has a teacher who has been teaching for over 25 years and she has done a pretty good job of bringing everyone along, but it is hard given all of the curriculum requirements that are in place.

Susan - Yes! I have a book from Roni on my TBR list - Wild Things: The Art of Nurturing Boys. I'd almost forgotten about it, but will definitely be on the look out for it. As my boys get older (5 and 8), I realize how much different they are than I was as a kid. I feel like I need all the help I can get making sure that they are nurtured!

But, I am very lucky. My boys are pretty good kids. The three of us just spent a lovely hour playing the game of Life. And now they are calmly getting ready for bed.

Ah, that's it. I hunted and hunted -- finally asked Roni. I'll go print a retraction :)

#211 - With two little boys (2 and 2 months) I'm always interested in books like this. Is this book focussed on the American school system, or are the statistics and ideas broader based? The title says "what parents...must do" - can you give an example? Are the ideas practical, or are they more along the lines of: "write to your congress man"?

I also have Wild Things: The Art of Nurturing Boys on my wish list.

>215 - Susan - Thanks for hunting! (And thanks to Roni for the original recommendation.)

>216 - Peter - The Trouble with Boys is focused on the American education system. The statistics are drawn from U. S.Department of Education reports. The book spends quite a bit of time describing the problems with the current system, but there are a number of practical recommendations too. Many of them are targeted at educators. For example, Tyre suggests making sure that classroom books are available that appeal to boys (action stories, factual books), etc. She also talks about the importance of more active learning techniques - not just sitting and doing worksheets - and the importance of physical activity. Much of the advice is about having appropriate expectations. A kindergarten boy likely won't have good fine motor control or a long attention span.

But there is some good advice for parents too. The book starts with preschool and discusses the problems that some boys have with academically-focused (worksheet-driven) preschools. A school that uses exploratory educational methods (learning through play) may be a better fit for boys. Another interesting (although perhaps not surprising) recommendation was to make sure that boys see men reading. In one school, the local police force took turns going to schools and reading to the students - providing good male reading role models. I've always been happy to have reading be "my thing" to do with my boys - I leave wrestling and football to my husband. But this made me think that he should take over the bedtime stories once in a while.

I didn't necessarily agree with all of Tyre's recommendations. She discusses the pros and cons of single-sex education. That's not an option that I'm considering for my boys. And, as I said above, I would have liked to have seen more balanced recommendations - ideas to help both boys and girls excel in the same classrooms. But the book was a quick read, and it gave me some understanding of the challenges that my boys are facing.

I'll be interested to hear what you think of Wild Things: The Art of Nurturing Boys.

#217 - Thank you very much for your considered and detailed response. I will take a look at the book if I can. While we currently live in Japan, we plan to move back to the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, to put our boys through school. I'm sure there will be some small differences between systems and statistics in the US and Australia, but many of the basic premises would be the same. Thanks again.

Book 43 - A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - Marina Lewycka - Finished May 7, 2009

Categories: fiction, off-the-shelf

This first lines of this book are printed on its cover: "Two years after my mother died, my father feel in love with a glamorous blond Ukrainian divorcee. He was eighty-four and she was thirty-six. She exploded into our lives like a fluffy pink grenade. . ." With these words, Nadezhda, the daughter of Ukrainian immigrants, begins the story of her struggles to protect her elderly widowed father from Valentina, a voluptuous Ukrainian woman trying to stay in the UK. At the same time, we piece together the family's history as they escape from Ukrainia during World War II, spend time in a German labor camp, and come to live in the UK.

The story is at times funny - especially as Nadezhda tries to manage her father in the early stages of his love affair. But more often, I found it poignant and even sad. While Valentina is a bit of a caricature, Nadezhda and her father are sympathetic and human. As she learns more about her father's past, Nadezhda becomes his ally and grows into the reversed role of caregiver. While the ending is a bit abrupt (and perhaps a bit convenient), I appreciated the way these characters were developed throughout the story.

#219: I have that book in my personal library and one of these days I am actually going to read it!

#219 - At face value this title seems very misleading so thanks for the clarification. I'm definately adding it to my wish list.

Hi Amy
Good Morning and Happy Mother's Day.
Your most recent read is still on my tbr pile from last year. I must move it up closer to the top.

>220 - Stasia - I'll be interested to hear what you think of A Short History of Tractors in the Ukrainian!

>221 - Lynda - Ha! My husband was also quite confused by the title. I bought the book on a family shopping trip to Barnes & Noble, and he actually said, "Honey, have you read all of the other books?" The book actually does have a little connection with tractors - the aging father was an engineer and is writing a book on the history of the tractors in the Ukrainian, but you only get a few pages about tractors.

>222 - Happy Mother's Day to you to Linda!

I read A Short History of Tractors in the Ukrainian last year after avoiding it for a while and found it very entertaining. A similarly entertaining read would be Mark Haddon's A spot of bother.

Kerry - I read A Spot of Bother a couple of years ago, and I liked it too. I still haven't read Haddon's other book, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, but I've heard good things about it too.

Book 44 - The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch - Finished May 13, 2009

Randy Pausch is a son, a husband, a father, a professor, a mentor, a creator - and at the time he wrote this book, he was dying of cancer. When he got the chance to give a final lecture at Carnegie Mellon, he titled it "How to Achieve Your Childhood Dreams," but he used the time to talk about how to live your life.

I'm probably one of the last people around to read this book. I wasn't avoiding it intentionally. I had heard very good things about it. I was just waiting for the right time. And I think that this was it. My youngest son graduated from pre-school yesterday - which definitely caused me to reflect. The semester is finished and this summer I'll be writing my application for tenure - another cause for reflection. Randy's advice isn't rocket science, but but it does cut to the heart of what matters to him. He talks about his accomplishments, but only as a context to talk about the lessons that he's learned about how to live his life. This book really made me think about what's important in my life.

#227: I have not yet read it, either, so do not feel like you are the only one who has not gotten around to it! I guess I ought to get to it to, or I may be the only one who has not read it, lol.

Book #45 - Racing Odysseus: A College President Becomes a Freshman Again - Roger Martin - Finished May 16, 2009

This was an impulse check-out at the library. I like to read books about other people's college experiences, and this one caught my eye. After beating cancer, Roger Martin, the president of Randolph-Macon College, takes a sabbatical and enrolls as a freshman at St. John's College. St. John's is known as the Great Books school. There are no majors. Students learn by reading the Great Books. Martin shares his experiences as he reads Plato, Socrates, and Homer, and sits in on a discussion of these books with a small group of St. John's freshmen. Encouraged by the St. John's message that students should try whatever extracurricular activities they are interested in, Martin also joins the crew team. As he shares his experiences, he reflects on how the lessons of a liberal arts education are applicable in today's world.

This was an interesting read. It is written in a conversational style that mixes Martin's experiences with the broader St. John's experience with ease. But most of all, it made me realize how few of the "Great Books" I have read. Maybe Plato will sneak his way onto my TBR list this summer.

#229: Sounds like a book I would like. I will have to look for it. Thanks for the recommendation, Amy!

Amy
Good luck with your tenure process. I hope all goes well for you.

Thanks, Linda! I'll spend most of the summer putting my materials together, and then the process takes most of the school year. It is very nerve wracking, and I'll be glad to have it done!

Book #46 - The Book Borrower - Alice Mattison - Finished May 21, 2009

I picked this up at a used bookstore. The title and the blurb on the back sounded interesting. Two young mothers meet in a park in the 1970s. One loans the other a book. They become friends, and the book plays a role in their lives. That was enough to peak my interest.

The book lived up to, and maybe even exceeded, my expectations. The two main characters, Deborah and Toby, are incredibly well drawn. As the book begins, they are young mothers, struggling with the challenges that motherhood brings. The book then skips ahead a few years – children are older and Deborah and Toby are more focused on careers. A final section takes place as the children have gone off to college. Although Deborah and Toby remain friends throughout these events, there is also quite a bit of conflict between the two. They never completely click. It is because of this conflict that I felt like I really got to know the characters. At times, I didn’t really like them. I’m not sure I would have chosen either of them as a friend. But they were interesting.

The other interesting aspect of this book is that parts of the book that Deborah loans Toby (Trolley Girl) are included. I’d be reading along about Toby taking care of her baby and then taking a break to read her book. Then there’d be a section of Trolley Girl, which describes a Jewish family in the 1920s. One of the sisters becomes an anarchist and during a trolley strike, she takes an action that will have lasting ramifications for her family. (OK, that’s pretty non-descriptive, but I’m trying to avoid a spoiler.) The juxtaposition of Trolley Girl with the story of Deborah and Toby made this book even more interesting, and eventually, the two stories intertwine.

I knew nothing about this book when I picked it up, and it ended up being a lovely surprise!

Is Trolley Girl a real book, or just made up for this book?

Your latest read sounds fascinating.

>234 - Terri - There is a book called Trolley Girl, but it is not about an anarchist during a trolley strike. I think that Mattison made this story up for this book. In essence, she is writing two books - Trolley Girl and The Book Borrower - but the way that they come together is fascinating.

>235 - Hi Linda! The Book Borrower was one of those books that just pulled me in.

I think I'd like the sound of it more if Trolley Girl was a real book. Somehow, creating a book in order to have it be meaningful (or a juxtaposition) to your characters detracts on the impact for me.

(Apologies if that paragraph doesn't make any sense!)

Luna - That makes perfect sense. I love the idea of a friendship developing based on the sharing of a "real" book, especially if it was one that I had read too. I think I'd feel like I was a part of the friendship because of our shared experience of reading the book. But I was actually OK with the creation of Trolley Girl as the loaned book in The Book Borrower. This was partly because I actually got to read along with Toby as she was experiencing the book because Mattison includes chapters from Trolley Girl in the text.

***POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT*** Also, Toby actually meets one of the people from Trolley Girl later in the book. I think that might have felt contrived if Trolley Girl was an actual book.

I'm not describing that very well - partly because I'm trying to not reveal too much. The creation of a book within a book was a little odd, but for some reason, Mattison made it work for me.

> #238 -

Amy.

Your comments here prompted me to add The Book Borrower to my cyber TBR shelves. It sounds very good and I can appreciate your care in not revealing too much about what happens within its pages.

I'm currently reading The Eyre Affair which is filled with characters and references to many, many works of literature. It is clever and humorous as well as having an interesting female protagonist and fast-moving story line. I didn't check your personal library to see if you have read it, but, if you haven't, it might be of interest to you.

All the best - womansheart

Message edited by its author, May 23, 2009, 10:22am.

>#236. Thanks for the info! The book's on my list one way or another, but if Trolley Girl was real, I may have tried to read it first! The Book Borrower sounds like a fun read!

Hey Y'all! I've got a copy of The Book Borrower if someone wants to make a trade.

If it is not too late, I'd like to accept your offer. I have many, many books that I could use as a trade to send to you.

Please let me know if the offer still stands.

>239 - Ruth - Thanks for the recommendation of The Eyre Affair. I did read that one last year, but haven't read any of the other Thursday Next books. And I really liked Thursday! I may have to pick up the next in the series - seems like a good summertime read.

>240 - Terri - Hope you like it!

>241,242 - Bonnie and Linda - Happy trading!

Definitely adding The Book Borrower to the Continent. How can I resist?

Stasia - Hope you like it!

Book #47 - Enough: Discovering Joy Through Simplicity and Generosity - Adam Hamilton - Finished May 24, 2009

This is a slim book - just over 100 pages - that is based on one of Hamilton's recent sermon series. I read it as a part of a five-week group study, but it could easily be read on its own. Hamilton takes a bible-based approach to financial management. He suggests that we are overly focused on consumption, and that consumption is not the key of happiness. Instead, he advises us to simplify our lives, to be generous with what we have, and to seek contentment by exploring what brings true satisfaction.

The book includes some practical tips - budgeting, ways to save money, etc., but it's strength is in its focus on what really matters in life. The bible verses that are interspersed through the text and the "Thinking it Through" questions at the end of each chapter provide a good foundation for a new perspective on financial management.

Ooh that sounds like a book Angela might like -- if I understand what she's written correctly 'simplify' has been one of her themes this year. *scurries off to leave a note*

Got your note - thanks for thinking of me! I have been on a simplify theme this year...I think it is a never-ending project in this world that we live in, haha...

>247 - Susan - Thanks for letting Angela know about my "simplicity" book. You are a literary matchmaker!

>248 - Angela - I've been watching your simplify reading with interest this year. I feel like I'm constantly on a simplify kick. Good luck!

It was a case of great timing for me! With the hubby's job loss, all the simplifying we've done will really come in handy. And I have a feeling my simplicity reading will continue for a while. So far my favorite penny pinching book was The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn. I read it a few years back. However, it's not really a simple living guide, because some of the money saving suggestions would make life more complicated. I think it's all about researching and finding the balance that works best for you...

Angela - I'll have to check out The Complete Tightwad Gazette. I've heard of it, but haven't read it. I hope your husband is having luck with his job search.

Book #48 - A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving - Finished May 30, 2009

I’ve seen a lot of LT conversations about Owen Meany. Although there is some difference of opinion, many of you speak highly of this book, even calling it one of your favorites. So, when we were coming up with ideas for my book club, I suggested this one.

The first sentence of this book grabbed my attention: "I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice - not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother's death, but because he is the reason I believe in God; I am a Christian because of Owen Meany." I was immediately captivated.

The story is told by John Wheelright, a middle aged English teacher in Canada, as he reflects on his childhood, the tragic death of his mother, and most especially his friendship with Owen Meany. Owen is small in stature and speaks in an odd, high pitched voice (represented in the book by capital letters). But it is Owen’s demeanor and actions that truly set Owen apart. Owen is confident and direct. He interacts maturely with adults. And he possesses a strong faith in God. In fact, Owen believes that he is God’s instrument on earth, and he also believes that he knows when and how he is going to die.

With strong foreshadowing, Irving hooked me early and kept me reading until the final pages of this book. At times, I felt like some of the events of the book were too unbelievable. How likely is it that Owen, at age 11, would play both the Angel of Christmas Yet to Come in a town production of The Christmas Carol and Baby Jesus in the Nativity play at church. I doubted that this would ever happen – but I think that is Irving’s point. To me, this is a book about doubt and faith, about accepting God’s will, about struggling with what it means to be a Christian. Reflecting on my own doubt about the events in Owen's life made these issues of doubt and faith even more relevant. And, because John tells the story as an adult, we realize that these are issues with which he is still struggling.

The story that Irving tells and the characters that he develops (even the minor ones like Hester, Grandma Wheelright, and Dan Needham) are compelling. The plot is suspenseful, and Irving provides a unique take on the coming of age story. But the story is more than just a story – its ideas about faith and doubt will stick with me for a long time. It is a book that I feel like I could read again and again, finding more layers of meaning each time.

Book #49 - Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules - Jeff Kinney - Finished May 30, 2009

Another great Wimpy Kid book! I'm so glad that Greg Heffley, struggling middle school student, keeps a journal. His entries capture the challenges of dealing with parents, navigating middle school, and living with his older brother Roderick in a way that rings true and makes me laugh out loud.

Amy
I loved your comments regarding A Prayer for Owen Meany. I have three favorite books and this is one of them -- right up there with Jane Eyre and To Kill a Mockingbird.

When I read A Prayer for Owen Meany, I laughed and I cried.

The movie Simon Birch was based on John Irving's book.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Birch

If you haven't seen the movie, you might want to watch it to compare it to the book.

Thanks Linda for that info (254). I didn't know the connection between Irving's book and the movie.

#252 I'm glad you liked A Prayer for Owne Meany. It seems to be one of those books you love or hate, and like Linda, it's one of my all time favorite books. Very nice review.

Linda and Susan - I didn't know that Simon Birch was based on A Prayer for Owen Meany either, until I went to my book club meeting Tuesday night. The librarian mentioned it, and we decided to watch it at our meeting next month. I'm anxious to see how they portray Owen. I have a picture of him in my head.

By the way, Linda, I've never read To Kill a Mockingbird. Can you believe it? But now that you say is is a favorite of yours, I'm pushing it up higher on the TBR list. I love Jane Eyre. And now Owen Meany is a favorite of mine too. So, I have to try your "other" favorite.

Lorie - I agree! Most people in my book club liked Owen Meany, but a couple didn't like it at all. It definitely seem to evoke strong feelings.

neither can i

#257: Amy, I never read To Kill a Mockingbird until last year and now I am wondering why not. It is an absolutely terrific book!

I believe To Kill a Mockingbird is one of a very select few pieces of literature which may be read in youth, young or middle adulthood or old age which continues to provide new depths of realizations about self and the world. There are a number of books about which that may be said for adult readers or solely for young readers - but many fewer which can be read and appreciated as deeply at 13 as at 33 or 73, IMHO.

I would say Diary of a Young Girl is another - perhaps The Yearling too and I'm sure there are others.

Message edited by its author, Jun 6, 2009, 8:58pm.

orangeena...I agree with your insightfully true comments regarding To Kill a Mockingbird...

#260

I respectfully disagree with you in regards to The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. I find the writing pretentious and self centered and can't help but think that it is only because of the tragedy of her death and the fact she didn't survive the war that has made the book so popular. I truly believe that has she survived, the book would not be considered a 'classic'.

Stasia, Orangeena, and Linda - Wow, what high praise for To Kill a Mockingbird. It is definitely moving higher on my TBR. The idea that it is a book that provides new realizations at any age is especially intriguing. Lately, I've been sharing a lot of books with my mom. This is partly economical (I feel like I can divide the price of each new book by 2) and partly because we are both at a point in our lives when we are reading more (my baby is heading off to kindergarten, and her baby is - well - me). But some books just seem to resonate more with one or the other of us. I'll have to see if she's ever read To Kill a Mockingbird.

Luna - I've never read The Diary of a Young Girl, but as I read more classics (an area in which I'm dreadfully under-read), I've realized that circumstances often have a lot to do with a book becoming popular.

#262
Of course the writing in The Diary of a Young Girl is pretentious and self-centered. Anne was a young teenage girl and like every teenage girl, naive and self absorbed a great deal of the time. It is not her writing in and of itself that makes it a classic - it is her ability to maintain and express her search for herself in the midst of extraordinary circumstances, her balance of hope and despair, of immaturity and growing adulthood. It is the fact that she was in so many ways an ordinary teenager and was able to trust and hope in the darkest of days. As I suggested in a review of her diary, her life and times shows us that none of us in any times are far removed from our best or worst self.

The totality of what we know of her life and death and a written record of her experiences is what makes her diary a classic - not because her writing is particularly brilliant or beautiful.

All IMHO, of course!

#264 I would suggest that any teenager placed in those situations would be able to see hope. What is demonstrated time and time again is that human nature is immense and it will do things far beyond what we believed it capable of.

I guess what I have problems with is the fact she is so......I don't know......almost fanatically idolised when she was just an ordinary girl.

I did finish the book but was so staggeringly unimpressed that I gave it away. I wanted more from it than a diary of a girl that just happened to be found after her death. I guess what I'm saying is that books such as To Kill a Mockingbird and others completely change people's sense of the world. The Diary of a Young Girl certainly didn't do that for me or others I have spoken too that feel the same way.

Of course, all just my two cents! Disregard as you feel warranted :)

#264 Beautifully expressed - thanks.

Book #50 - Cutting for Stone - Abraham Verghese - Finished June 8, 2009

I was expecting this book to be good. I read one of Verghese’s non-fiction books earlier this year (My Own Country) and I really liked it. Plus, Cariola gave this book a very good review earlier this year. Plus, Verghese is a graduate of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, and since I’m from Iowa, that’s always a plus in my book. So, I was expecting to like this book. But it wasn’t until I was about 200 pages in that I realized how much I would like it!

Cutting for Stone tells the story of Marion and Shiva Stone, twins who were born at Missing Hospital in Ethiopia. The boys’ mother, Sister Mary Joseph Praise, dies in childbirth, and their father, Dr. Thomas Stone, disappears shortly after their birth. The boys are raised by two other doctors at Missing, Hema and Ghosh. This story has many layers. As he tells the boys’ story, Verghese also provide insight into the challenges of practicing medicine without enough resources, especially as Ethiopia undergoes political upheaval.

This is not a perfectly told story. There are a few places where the plot is somewhat rocky. Occasionally, events seem to be put in place simply to serve the author’s purposes, to get characters from one place to another. For example, Genet, a childhood friend of Marion and Shiva’s, at times seems to be put into the story just to shake things up. Just when things are going smoothly, here comes Genet again.

But these small hiccups bothered me little. I was willing to overlook them because I was so entranced by the story as a whole. (Here’s where words are going to fail me as I try to explain why I loved this book so much.) Part of the reason was because Verghese did such a good job of getting me inside Marion’s head. I felt as though I was experiencing his life along with him. I felt for him when he endures challenges in his adolescent love life. And I sobbed with him later in the story (for reasons I won’t reveal). The minor characters are complex and well-drawn – both members of the Missing Hospital staff (Hema, Ghosh, Matron) and native Ethiopians who are a part of the boys’ lives (Gebrew, Rosina, and Almaz). And as the book goes along, the plot becomes complex, reaching the perfect level of resolution (not too many loose ends, but not tied up too perfectly) in the end. Even after 550 pages, I was sad to see it end.

I highly recommend this book.

#267: Nice review, Amy, of a book I already have on the Planet. I also read Verghese's My Own Country earlier this year and currently have The Tennis Partner on the nightstand next to my bed ready for my attentions (one of these centuries). I think Verghese is one of those authors that I am going to begin looking for when I am book buying :)

Stasia - I agree. I think I'll buy a copy of Cutting for Stone after it comes out in paperback. I had been very close to buying it in hardback, but then was lucky enough to find it at my library. It's a good one!

Porchy, I read this book weeks ago and fell all over myself trying to describe how it would be a read that would not disappoint. I can't love this book enough for how drawn in I was and how emeshed in Ethiopian life.

All about the book seems off the beaten path or tragic. It reminds me of those guilty times when you see a tabloid and are drawn in by the headline but don't quite finish and after looking all around you throw it quick in the cart. Same feeling!

Scarpettajunkie - Yes, exactly! I felt entirely drawn in by this book. And I loved how it helped me understand Ethiopian life, but this happened so naturally - just in the course of the author telling the story. There is much about the story that is tragic, but there are also equally strong expressions of love, sacrifice, and connection, so there felt like some balance to the tragedy.

By the way, I peeked at your review on your 50 Book Challenge thread, and I absolutely agree that I felt intimately connected with the characters. This was probably the most compelling part of the book for me.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hi Amy
I hope the summer months are good to you. Though, I seem to remember you are up for tenure and I know this creates stress in the preparation.

Thanks for your comments regarding Cutting for Stone. This is a book that was added to my tbr pile awhile back, but now, after reading your comments, I must move it up a notch.

Linda- You are so sweet to remember the details of my life (and lots of other 75ers' lives too). I am working on my tenure packet this summer. The writing itself is not bad, but the whole process of being reviewed is making me very nervous.

I'd had Cutting for Stone on the back burner for a while too, but I'm glad that I found it at the library. It was quite good!

OK, I think it is time for a new thread. Thanks to everyone who has visited me on this thread. My new one is here:

Porch_Reader’s 2009 Reading, Part 2