Hibernator's Happy New Year

Hi, my name's Rachel (the_hibernator), and I got my PhD in biomedical engineering studying hibernating bears. :) Right now, I'm working in the healthcare industry and taking prerequisite classes to get into a Physician's Assistant program (it turns out my education has expired, so I need to retake several classes). Winter semester I will be taking an EMT-B training course so I can get some direct medical experience. I also volunteer for a suicide prevention hotline for teenagers. I will soon start training for a program called "COLUMNS" (Circles of Support & Accountability for life-term offenders on parole), which works with recently released life-term offenders to help them readjust to life on the outside and avoid recidivism. I'm also passionate about reducing stigma about mental illness. I have bipolar disorder and talk about it a lot because I think more people need to know that mental illness is something that you don't have to be ashamed of.

If you want to follow me on other media:

Twitter: @hibernatorslibr
blog: http://hibernatorslibrary.blogspot.com

Currently Reading / listening to

Top 5 of 2015:



Books Read in 2015

First Quarter

1. The New Testament Canon, by Harry Y. Gamble
2. Fire & Ash, by Jonathan Maberry
3. Coldest Girl in Coldtown, by Holly Black
4. Mr. Monk and Philosophy, by D. E. Wittkower
5. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
6. The Remarkable Miss Frankenstein, by Minda Webber
7. Far From the Tree, by Andrew Solomon
8. Daughter of Smoke and Bone, by Laini Taylor
9. Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen
10. Rogue Knight, by Brandon Mull
11. The Complete Tales of Nikolai Gogol, by Nikolai Gogol
12. The Daughter of Highland Hall, by Carrie Turansky

Second Quarter

13. Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen
14. The Fifth Wave, by Rick Yancey
15. Al Capone Does my Homework, by Gennifer Choldenko
16. The Reason I Jump, by Naoki Higashida
17. The Meaning of Jesus, by Marcus Borg and N.T. Wright
18. Death Note Volume 1: Boredom, by Tsugumi Obha
19. Death Note Volume 2: Confluence, by Tsugumi Obha
20. Death Note Volume 3: Hard Run, by Tsugumi Obha
21. Death Note Volume 4: Love, by Tsugumi Obha
22. Death Note Volume 5: Whiteout, by Tsugumi Obha
23. Death Note Volume 6: Give-and-Take, by Tsugumi Obha
24. Death Note Volume 7: Zero, by Tsugumi Obha
25. The Girl with All the Gifts, by M. R. Carey

Third Quarter

26. The Great Transformation, by Karen Armstrong
27. Game of Thrones, by George R. R. Martin
28. The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien
29. Being Mortal, by Atul Gawande
30. Soulless, by Gail Carriger
31. The Fellowship of the Ring, by J. R. R. Tolkien
32. The Epic of Gilgamesh, translated by N. K. Sandars
33. Gilgamesh, adapted by Stephen Mitchell
34. The Two Towers, by J. R. R. Tolkien
35. The Return of the King, by J. R. R. Tolkien
36. The Norton Critical Edition of Gilgamesh, by Benjamin R. Foster
37. Death Note Volume 8: Target, by Tsugumi Obha
38. The Blank Slate, by Stephen Pinker
39. Dark Eden, by Chris Beckett
40. The Sixth Extinction, by Elizabeth Kolbert
41. Crazy, by Pete Early
42. The Biology of Desire, by Marc Lewis

Fourth Quarter

43. beta read of "Aurix," by D. J. Schuette
44. Girl of Nightmares, by Kendare Blake
45. Let Me in, by John Ajdive Lindqvist
46. Blood Child and Other Stories, by Octavia E. Butler
47. The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression, by Andrew Solomon
48. Carmilla: A Vampyre Tale, by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
49. Death Note Volume 9: Contact, by Tsugumi Obha
50. My Life as a White Trash Zombie, by Diana Rowland
51. Severed: A History of Heads Lost and Heads Found, by Frances Larson
52. Cotillion, by Georgette Heyer
53. Gilgamesh and Old Testament Parallels, by Alexander Heidel
54. The Evil Hours, by David J Morris
55. Missing Person, by Patrick Modiano
56. Quiet, by Susan Cain
57. The Martian, by Andy Weir
58. I am Malala, by Malala Yousafzai
59. How to Train Your Dragon, by Cressida Cowell
60. How to Be a Pirate, by Cressida Cowell
61. How to Speak Dragoneese, by Cressida Cowell
62. Shada, by Douglas Adams and Gareth Roberts
63. The Archetypal Significance of Gilgamesh, by Rivkah Scharf Kulger
64. Bipolar Disorder, by Francis Park Mondimore
65. The Three Sisters, by Sonia Halbach
66. How to Cheat a Dragon's Curse, by Cressida Cowell
67. The Psychopath Whisperer, by Kent A Keihl
68. Living in a Grey World, by Preston Sprinkle
69. Among the Creationists, Jason Rosenhouse
70. Sons, Pearl S Buck
71. Half the Sky, by Sheryl DuWunn
72. The Chimes, by Charles Dickens
73. Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte
74. The First Christmas, by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan
75. The Well of Lost Plots, by Jasper Fforde
76. The Buried Book, by David Damrosch

Books Read in 2016

1. Curio, by Evangeline Denmark
2. Something Rotten, by Jasper Fforde
3. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China, by Jung Chang
4. Rolling Stones, Robert A. Heinlein
5. The Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland boys, and the Dawn of a New America, by Gilbert King
6. The Time Machine, by H. G. Wells
7. Little House in the Big Woods, by H. G. Wells
8. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, by Jack Weatherford
9. Burning Midnight, by Will McIntosh
10. The Little Book of Circle Processes, Kay Pranis
11. War of the Worlds, by H. G. Wells
12. The Nine Lives of Jacob Tibbs, Cylin Busby
13. Among Murderers, by Sabine Heinlein
14. You Were Here, by Cori McCarthy

Book Acquired in 2016

1. The Devil in the Grove, by Gilbert King (Audible) READ
2. On Human Nature, by Edward O. Wilson (Audible)
3. H. G. Wells Sci-Fi Omnibus: Four Great Novels (Audible)
4. The Screaming Staircase, by Jonathan Stroud (Paperback - gift)
5. The Whispering Skull, by Jonathan Stroud (Paperback - gift)
6. The Hollow Boy, by Johnathan Stroud (Hardback - gift)
7. The Serpent King, by Jeff Zentner (NetGalley)
8. Red: The True Story of Red Riding Hood, by Liesl Shurtliff (Netgalley)
9. Unbecoming, by Rebecca Scherm (Paperback - won a copy)
10. The Higgs Boson and Beyond, by Professor Sean Carroll (Audible)
11. The Aeronaut's Windlass, by Jim Butcher (Audible)
12. The Little Book of Circle Processes, Kay Pranis (Paperback - gift) READ
13. Unpinned, by Grant Watkins (Paperback - gift)
14. Lights and Sirens, by Kevin Grange (Audible)
15. Among Murderers, by Sabine Heinlein (Audible) READ
16. Discipline and Punish, by Michael Foucault (Audible)
17. The Will to Power: The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, by Professor Kathleen M. Higgins, Professor Robert C. Solomon (Audible)
18. Literary Modernism: The Struggle for Modern History, by Professor Jeffery Perl (Audible)
19. Meet Me in Atlantis, by Mark Adams (Audible)

For this challenge, I will be joining some bloggers / twitter users in reading our own books instead of buying or borrowing. My rule will be that if I've owned a book for more than a year (give or take) it will be included in this category.

1. Something Rotten, by Jasper Fforde
2. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China, by Jung Chang

The Women's Classic Literature Event is another challenge in the blogging world in which we will focus this coming year on reading women classics authors. (It actually started in mid-November for some reason.)

1. Sons, by Pearl S. Buck
2. Cotillion, by Georgette Heyer
3. Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte
4. Little House in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder

The #Woolfalong is #Woolfalong is another challenge in the blogging world. They will be reading one Virginia Woolf book a month. I'll be joining them for:

To the Lighthouse (Jan - Feb)
Mrs. Dalloway (Jan - Feb)
Orlando (July - Aug),
Virginia Woolf, by Hermionee Lee in (July-Aug)
The Waves (Nov - Dec)

Anne of Green Gables Reading Challenge is a blogging-world challenge to read all of the Anne books in one year.

1.

I Plan on reading the following Little house book with a blogging-world challenge The Little House Readalong.

January - Little House in the Big Woods
February - Little House on the Prairie
March - Farmer Boy
April - On the Banks of Plum Creek
May - By the Shores of Silver Lake
June - The Long Winter
July - Little Town on the Prairie
August - These Happy Golden Years
September - The First Four Years

Back to the Classics Challenge 2016

This challenge gives a set of categories, and I need to read one in each. The choices are subject to change. The categories are not.

1. A 19th Century Classic - Ten days in a Mad-house, by Nellie Bly

2. A 20th Century Classic - Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf

3. A classic by a woman author - Anne of Green Gables, by L. M. Montgomery

4. A classic in translation - Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes

5. A classic by a non-white author - No Longer at Ease, by Chinua Achebe

6. An adventure classic - The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, by Howard Pyle

7. A fantasy, science fiction, or dystopian classic - The Time Machine, by H. G. Wells

8. A classic detective novel - The Complete Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle

9. A classic which includes the name of a place in the title - Middlemarch, by George Elliot

10. A classic which has been banned or censored. - Catch-22, by Joseph Heller (banned for language)

11. Re-read a classic you read in school (high school or college) - Persuasion, by Jane Austen

12. A volume of classic short stories - The Collected Works of Charlotte Perkins Gillman

Books Read in 2016

1. The Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland boys, and the Dawn of a New America, by Gilbert King

Some interesting challenges there, Rachel. Great to see you back for 2016. xx

Thanks Paul! I look forward to it. I'll try to actually stick around for the whole year this time instead of bowing out and jumping back in. :)

Yowzer Wowzer!!! You've got a YEAR mapped out. Go go go.

Wow, Rachel, you are organised. I'll be following you in 2016.

Hi Rachel! I love the various challenges you have listed here on your thread, especially the Anne of Greene Gables and Little House on the Prairie ones. Those books bring back great childhood memories for me.

>14 weird_O: Hi Bill! Yeah, I've mapped it out alright. We'll see how well I manage to keep up with my plans though. ;)

>15 Ameise1: Back atcha Barb!

>16 lkernagh: Believe it or not, I haven't read those books Lori. I guess I'm in for a treat.

Happy new thread!

Dropping off my star, Rachel!

Wow, look at all your challenges! Good luck with them - I had a few goals for myself last year and decided to give myself a break, but if/when I jump back in, I think I'm going to make a concerted effort to read all over the world.

Hi there, Rachel! *Poke*

Wow - what a list of challenges! I'll try and follow you through 2016.
A Very Happy New Year to you, Rachel!

Thanks Foggi, Mamie, Barb, and Nathalie!

>20 bell7: That's a great goal too, Mary. I really should try that out, but this year I've got my head full of books already.

>21 Ape: SQUEE!

Happy New Thread for a Happy New Year!

Oh I think I need to investigate this blogger world you write of. :-)

>25 leahbird: Thanks Leah! Happy New Year to you too!

>26 AuntieClio: Stephanie, the blogging world is incredibly supportive (at least I find the book blogging world to be). You would like it if you have the time to blog.

Happy New Year everyone!

Well, the new year has rung in and I'm eager to get out here and get all my challenges complete. This week went well - no glitches at work, hung out with some laid back friends for New Year's Eve, that kind of stuff. And I don't work today! YAY! (I work the weekend, but having a holiday in the middle is wonderful.)

I have some bad news. The guy that organized my Bible study group-read has canceled it, which is very disappointing. It was the challenge I was most looking forward to, and the most anxious to actually complete. Oh well, I guess that leave me more time to read other stuff. I'll continue to study the Bible on my own, but the pace will be much more leisurely.

Books completed this week



Movies / Theater completed this week



Books acquired this week



TOP FIVE BOOKS OF 2015



I note an interesting pattern here, which I've never seen before - 4 of the five are non-fiction. Also, White Trash Zombie jumped in there even though I hadn't really expected it to be all that great. Who knew?

Because my Reading the Bible as Literature group was canceled this year, I will continue with my study of The New Testament. I'm using The Teaching Company's: The New Testament, by Professor Bart D. Ehrman.



So far, I have only completed lesson 1 - in case you're interested, I'll paste the bullet points that I learned from that lesson later.

Lesson 2, which I'm working on now, is called The Greco Roman Context and suggests reading: The second chapter of Erhman's text The New Testament: A Historical Introduction, and all of Pagans and Christians by Robin Lane Fox, As the Romans Did by Jo-Ann Shelton, and Cults of the Roman Empire by Robert Turcan.

I'm looking forward to following your (very) high energy thread. Happy New Year!

Thanks Becky! I hope you have a happy New Year too! I always figured my thread was kind of medium energy compared to some of these guys and gals here. :) I generally don't have the capacity for chatty conversations on my thread. :)

Lecture 1: The Early Christians and Their Literature

• There are a few ways to study the NT 1) as a faithful believer; 2) From a cultural perspective (e.g. the NT's influence on Western culture and on literature); and 3) From the historical context of the initial audience. Erhman's course intends on studying the NT from the third perspective.


• There are 27 books in the NT, all written by Christians of the 1st century. Many of these books claim to be written by direct apostles of Jesus (i.e. people who are considered to have been sent directly by Jesus to spread his word). All of the books were originally written in Greek.


• The 27 books of the NT comprise 4 major groups. 1) The four Gospels, describing the birth, life, and death of Jesus; 2) The Acts of the Apostles, describing the spread of Christianity around the world; 3) 21 epistles, 13 of which are written by Paul, with a focus on the beliefs and ethics of Christianity; 4) The Book of Revelation, which is a piece of apocalyptic literature, originally thought to have been written by the apostle John, but later revealed to have been written by another John. (The belief that it was written by the apostle is why it attained popularity among early Christians.)

Texts read:

The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, by Bart D. Ehrman - Chapter 1

An Introduction to the New Testament, By Raymond Brown - Chapter 1

The New Testament Canon, by Harry Y Gamble

Happy, happy New Year Rachel! I look forward to hearing about your challenges & your other readings

There is another person in the 75 doing a Bible as literature course this year. I can't remember who, but if you're looking for company, I bet you can research them out. Or maybe it will ring a bell (New Year's Bell?) with another visitor.

I have Genghis Khan and The Meaning of Human Existence too... if you read them, maybe I'll be inspired.

Happy 2016!

I loved Noonday Demon but hadn't heard of Far From the Tree, thanks for bringing it to my attention!

Happy New Year, Rachel!

>33 streamsong: I haven't seen the person who's doing a bible read yet. In fact, I really ought to get out and see some of the threads of people I don't "know." I'm always bad about doing that. I'll take a look and see if I can find the person who's doing a literary bible read.

>34 qebo: I was planning on reading those books in the proper months for this year's nonfiction challenge. History, I think, is next month. We'll see if I can fit it in!

>35 karspeak: It's pretty good Karen. You should check it out.

>36 Crazymamie: You too Mamie!

Rachel, I hope you continue to note some highlights of your NT study. I am reading it daily this year on Bible Gateway. No study, though. Happy New Year to you!

Happy new year Rachel, and may your books be numerous and enjoyable. I'm intrigued by all the blogging challenges - especially the Woolfalong, that sounds like great fun.

>37 The_Hibernator: Oh that makes sense. I'd like to read the Genghis Khan soonish, because I recently saw the exhibit at the Franklin Institute.

Wow, your fourth quarter of 2015 was a great few reading months!
Happy new year, and welcome back to the group, again. Even though I am a woefully infrequent visitor here, I intend to try harder this year.

Happy New Year Rachel!

>28 The_Hibernator: Sorry your Bible study was cancelled. I'll be doing some Bible study of my own this year because I've got to teach an early morning religion class, but it's Old Testament. However, we might still find some things to discuss, if you want. :)

Good luck with your challenges!

>38 Donna828: Hi Donna! Daily reading really is the best way to go about studying the bible. That's one reason I was so excited to be doing it with a group. It would give me more reason not to say "not today." My NT course should be interesting even if it hasn't led me to crack the Bible open yet.

>39 evilmoose: Hi Megan! I've actually never read anything by Woolf, so I'm excited to pump a few out with a group. Groups are great because they encourage me to read outside my box, and to read things I've put off for so long.

>40 qebo: Yeah, Katherine, I'll try to slip it in in February with some other histories that I have lying around. We'll see. I might suddenly lose a bunch of audiobook time soon. :(

>41 LovingLit: Good to see you Megan! I generally just read without comment. I'm trying to come by once a week and make a comment, even if it's just happy weekend. :) That's all I can manage. So I understand how you feel.

>42 xymon81: Thanks Xymon! You too!

>43 nittnut: Thanks Jenn! I'd switch to the OT (I have a course for that, too), but I've already started and have the texts for the NT course. But hopefully we can still discuss. :) Anyway, it'll probably be slow moving in a course like this with so many heavy texts per lesson.

Have a wonderful bookfilled 2016, dear Rachel.

Thanks Paul!

The Psychopath Whisperer: The Science of Those without Conscience, by Kent A Kiehl, narrated by Kevin Pariseau

In this fascinating scientific exploration into the biological differences between psychopaths and non-psychopathic people, Kiehl discusses his own dealings with psycopaths in prisons. Kiehl is known as the first person to use an MRI in a prison to study the differences between psychopaths and non-psychopathic prisoners.

Kiehl would determine psycopathy by interviewing prisoners and then rating them 1-3 on a list of 20 attributes. A score of 30 indicates a psychopath. Approximately 20% of inmates were psychopaths. A balanced number of people who rate high and low on the psychopathy scale would be chosen for the experiments.

Once the study subjects were put in the MRI, they would be shown pictures of three types: a morally neutral photo (perhaps an ice cream cone), a morally ambiguous photo (perhaps a wrestling match), and a immoral act (perhaps someone placing a bomb in a car). The prisoners would then rate one a 1-5 scale how immoral the picture was. When a person who scores low on the psychopathy scale sees an immoral picture, his limbic system lights up; but a psychopath's limbic system remains eerily dark.

In his book, Kiehl also discusses findings other people have made about psychopaths - like the fact that they have no startle reflex. This mixture of scientific, psychological, and personal narrative make for a fantastic book.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit - especially the ethical implications of whether a psychopath deserves an insanity plea because their brains function differently than "normal" people and they are unable to physiologically respond the "right" way to the thought of immoral activity. Kiehl himself longs for a day when psychopathy will be caught earlier in childhood, so that they can receive treatment rather than incarceration. But the issue is quite an ethical dilemma. Where do you draw the line on the insanity plea? And then I wonder about what the neurodiversity movement would say about the whole thing? I know they're more into autism and learning disabilities - but doesn't the same concept (everyone is falling within natural variations, so this is not a disease) apply to psychopaths? Again, where do you draw the line? Things that make you go hmmmm.

>47 The_Hibernator: caught earlier in childhood, so that they can receive treatment
What treatment exists? Or perhaps, how can someone with psychopathic wiring be directed toward constructive behavior? Because I can imagine that some aspects of the wiring are not necessarily bad; at the opposite end of the spectrum, one can get all tied up in knots with emotion and doubt.

>48 qebo: I'm not sure there's very much that can be done, though Kiehl sounded optimistic. I think if you catch it young enough you can give them some pretty intensive cognitive behavioral therapy. Apparently they've had some success with that when dealing with kids with behavioral disorders that hint at future diagnosis of antisocial behavior disorder (which can't be diagnosed until you're an adult).

Interesting review of The Psychopath Whisperer, Rachel, and your comments about criminal psychopaths are thought provoking. I can think of at least two young children (6 years old or younger) who I took care of in the hospital after they were brought to our ER by their parents for uncontrollably violent behavior (if I remember correctly the girl tried to attack her mother with a knife, which fortunately was thwarted, and the boy was caught beating his baby sibling with a blunt object). Seeing these kids, one boy and one girl, was chilling, as both of them were, for lack of a better word, evil. I was actually scared of the boy, even though he was thin and scrawny, because of the look in his eyes and the way he attacked his mother during my visit to the room. The nurses were scared of both kids as well, and we were saddened to see them, as we all thought they would end up to be violent criminals by their teenage years, if not sooner.

Needless to say, the mental health system in the US is not geared for treating kids like these, but they were too difficult to live in the same house with the family. I can only pray that these two and others like them receive treatment before it's too late (and it may already have been too late).

>63 The_Hibernator: Thanks for sharing that story Darryl. We've had one couple call in to our crisis hotline about their child who killed his pet bunny and hung it above his parent's bedroom door and then attacked the dog with a knife. They somehow managed to lock the kid into a room and called us for help.

I think psychopathic children are more scary to people than psychopathic adults. There's something so wrong about children who are capable of such atrocities. I guess it's our instinct to take care of children and see them as innocent.

I would hope that it wasn't too late for these kids, but how much can cognitive behavioral therapy work? After all, children who are that bad already probably aren't interested in cooperating with therapy. That information might be supplied in the book The Price of Silence which I have not read, but Jenn (nittnut) recommended to me a while back. And I think part of our problem is that many people view such children as abominations rather than viewing them as human beings that could use our help and support.

>47 The_Hibernator: right onto the Wishlist. What a fascinating discussion.

The Psychopath Whisperer sounds absolutely fascinating! I may have to find that one. LOVE your challenges this year--have fun with them. I know you will!

Hi Rachel! It looks like we'll be sharing at least a couple of reads this year. I have Middlemarch and Anne of Green Gables on my list of books to be read this year.

Hi, Rachel. I'm currently reading N. T. Wright's Paul and the Faithfulness of God, which I expect to take several months--it's my Kindle book. I also hope to finally complete Karen Armstrong's A Case for God this year, after bogging down in the middle a few years ago.

With all your nonfiction, have you checked out the nonfiction challenge this year? It's here:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/208642

Happy new year, Rachel! It looks like you have some great reading ahead of you.

Great review of The Psychopath Whisperer. It sounds really interesting.
The book I read - The Price of Silence - is more of one mother's experience with her son and her thoughts on what kind of care is available to youth and others in the US. She found that there are two ways for the average family to get help for a child with mental illness. Either through the school system or through the prison system. I can say, from personal experience, that unless you have really good insurance or lots of money, that's going to be true. I have a child who suffers from severe anxiety and depression. It didn't look like we expected anxiety or depression to look, first of all, so it was hard to get a diagnosis. This process ended up involving both the school system and even the police. Our attempts to get therapy over the years were mostly useless. And very expensive. It was extremely difficult for us to find a therapist who would listen to us as parents and involve us in the therapeutic process. IMO, it does no earthly good for a child to go to therapy without the parents getting some feedback and guidance for assisting the child with goals at home. On top of that, our neighbors ostracized our child, and us, because they didn't know how or didn't want to deal with the issues. The thing that has been the most effective is cognitive behavioral therapy coupled with appropriate meds and a living situation that clearly rewards appropriate behavior. I believe that the therapy available for youth with mental illness is woefully inadequate and professionals are sadly not willing to admit their total lack of know-how in dealing with it. Don't even get me started on the social services counseling. They operate on a scale of risk. They are so busy putting out fires, they can't stop to prevent one starting. It's a real No Win situation.
Phew! *Hopping down from the soapbox now*

>52 AuntieClio: Hope you like it if you ever get to it Stephanie

>53 Berly: Thanks Kim!

>54 cbl_tn: Hi Carrie. When do you plan on reading Middlemarch? If you have a particular month perhaps we could read it together.

>55 ronincats: Hi Roni! I finished A Case for God several years ago and found it quite interesting. Though I understand why you put it down. There were definitely slow parts! Yes, I know about the challenge. I am reading Wild Swans by Jung Chang and hopefully The Life of Elizabeth the I by Alison Weir (if I have time). The second one I'm not sure I'll fit in as I'm also reading Devil in the Grove by Gilbert King for the Pulitzer Prize challenge.

>56 banjo123: Thanks Rhonda!

>57 nittnut: Hi Jenn. Thanks for your thoughts there - I completely agree with you on the horrible state of mental health - and I'm sure it's a lot worse for dealing with kids than it is in dealing with adults. If only there were better medical coverage and better treatment options, and so on and so forth. But there are so few psychiatrists and social workers are paid so little that of course they're more about damage control than passion for their job. :(

Happy New Year! It sounds like you've done some really thought-provoking reading already.

Hi Rachel! Happy New Year!

Hi Rachel - there you are.

Happy New Year!

ps ->1 The_Hibernator: hope you didn't get too close, studying those bears ;0)

Hi Zoe, Nora, and Humouress! I'll stop by and star your threads now.

Curio, by Evangeline Denmkark

ARC provided by publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review

Grey Haward lives in a world where people can't digest food unless they drink a potion provided by a tyrannical ruling group. When her friend Whit gets punished for saving her life, Grey discovers a hidden trait inside herself - she is a Defender who protects people from tyranny. Just as she's discovering her new powers, she is thrown into a strange new steampunk world in which she must find the Mad Tock in order to escape.

Curio had unique plot-line and world-building, and the mystery remained throughout the book. It was good, clean fun with no sex and minimal violence. Both worlds in the book were quite fascinating, and I wish I knew more about each. However, I did have some difficulty because the transition from the first world to the second was quite abrupt. I was just starting to get emotionally involved in the first when it was taken away, and I suddenly had to start from scratch learning the rules of a foreign world. I would have preferred reading two books each with one world than one book with two. It was a little confusing. On top of that, I wasn't very invested in the characters and was pretty bored.

Hello everyone! This has apparently been a busy week, since I'm behind on everything! This week I celebrated Christmas with my boyfriend's family on Sunday - got three Lockwood & Co. books - gave platelets and then fainted on Tuesday, celebrated my sister's birthday with my whole family one Wednesday, went to The Force Awakens for a second time on Thursday. Today I'm thrilled to not have any plans at all. :)

This was my last week of vacation, but I've been busy covering for my employee who went on vacation during my vacation. Unfortunately, her father died yesterday, so I'll be covering for her a while longer while she takes care of that. Good news is that doing her job lets me listen to audiobooks all day, so I've had a productive reading-week.

books completed



Acquired

>64 The_Hibernator: Good to see you back - and with new books - but I'm sorry you fainted. I hope it happened at the doctor's so you were in good hands???

Wishing you a most lovely weekend, Rachel.

>65 Deern: Hi Nathalie, yeah I'm always going to be a bit sketchy about being on LT every day. I've just got so much else going on. And I'm totally reading books faster than I'm reviewing them. I've got to up the ante a bit, haven't I?

Actually, I fainted at an Olive Garden, but I managed to do it by collapsing into my car (it was more of a half-faint). I could feel it coming on and got out of there as quickly as I could to avoid a scene. In retrospect, maybe it's better to lose consciousness in a building rather than outside in a MN winter. But one does not think straight when one is about to faint.

>66 Ameise1: Thanks Barb

Just picked up The Psychopath Whisperer -- it is all your fault. : P And no more fainting!

>68 Berly: That's great Kim! I hope you enjoy it. I'll try not to faint anymore. It's been about 6 months since the last time, unless I've forgotten something (which is possible).

Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, narrated by Juliet Stevenson

Warning: here be spoilers

When Jane fights back against her abusive aunt and cousins, she is sent away to a boarding school for charity cases. There, she is starved, punished severely, and witnesses deaths of students due to school negligence. After living this life for 18 years, she is thrilled to find a place as a governess for the ward of the mysterious and wealthy Mr. Rochester. They find love, but only at a great cost.

I first read Jane Eyre as a teenager and wasn't thrilled with the book. I thought Rochester was a jerk. And Jane. Well. She started out feisty enough, but as an adult she allowed Mr. Rochester to be a total jerk to her. When she discovers his deep, dark secret, she throws herself about dramatically upon the steppe until she is rescued. Then she meets this nice cousin (St. John Rivers) who proposes to her and offers to whisk her off to India and she says no!

I just listened the brilliant Juliet Stevenson narration of Jane Eyre with a more mature ear. I noticed several things - Jane's fiestiness in the first chapters of the book were not necessarily looked on as a good character trait by Charlotte Bronte. In current times we have this view that everyone is equal and we should defend ourselves against abuse instead of just taking it with a bowed head. But look at it from the perspective of a Christian in the 19th Century who may have been taught to accept what she can not change.

This acceptance is demonstrated to perfection in young Helen Burns - Jane's friend at school. Helen patiently explains her philosophy to the angry Jane, and Jane heartily disagrees. They seem to be opposite ends of a spectrum. Jane wants to change everything because it's unacceptable, and Helen wants to accept everything because it's unchangeable. When Helen's character dies with acceptance, Jane seems to adopt her philosophy - thus taming the fire within.

It is with this acceptance that she deals quite calmly (most of the time) with the rudeness and games of Mr. Rochester. Jane recognizes that this is how he is, she's unable to change it, but she is still able to see the kindred spirit within. In other words, it is her acceptance that gives her a trait that I can admire - forgiveness. And it is this acceptance which brings her love in the long run.

But Jane does not accept to the point of having a weak character. When Rochester gives her an unacceptable choice - living with him as an unmarried couple - she chooses to leave. This is not weakness. This is strength. Yes, she flopped about dramatically on the steppe for a couple of chapters, and it was her own fault for losing her money, but this was a choice she made when she left Mr. Rochester. She couldn't stay, so she took an option that was very brave: the total unknown. Many a weaker character would have sacrificed her own values and self-worth by staying with Mr. Rochester because she had nowhere else to go. But Jane found a way to change when the "unchangeable" finally became "unacceptable."

Jane is strong to accept what she can not change and she is strong to change what she can not accept.

I like your review of Jane Eyre, Rachel. Interesting insights - I like Jane, and now you make me want to revisit her.

I enjoyed your review of Jane Eyre, Rachel. As I mentioned on your Club Read thread, I and several LTers (Joe, Debbi, Bianca and Claire) saw the play based on the book at the National Theatre in London this past September, and we all loved it. The National Theatre Live rebroadcast of it is being shown in theatres in the US, and I would highly recommend seeing it if you or anyone else has a chance to do so.

http://ntlive.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/51859-jane-eyre

Wonderful review of Jane Eyre. It's one I've reread several times, but you have made me think about several events in a new light.

It was amazing to me how differently I felt about Jane Eyre, depending on the age I was when I read it. As a young adult, I loved the book for its depiction of Jane and her fierce character. As an older (ahem!) adult, the most important thing to me is the love story between Jane and Rochester, and the way he treats her as an equal (well, because she insists on it). Probably my favorite book, ever.

I'll look for the National Theatre production. I love the BBC series starring Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens, too.

Karen O.

>58 The_Hibernator: Agreed- although not to imply that those folks don't care about their clients, because I am sure most of them do.

>70 The_Hibernator: Fabulous review of Janie Eyre. It's one of my favorites. :)

Hi, Rachel! I think this my first visit over here, so Happy New Thread! Good review of Jane Eyre. I would love to revisit it, on audio.

Hope you had a good weekend.

TH--Very insightful review of Jane Eyre. Thanks for taking the time to share your insights. I love that book!

>71 Crazymamie: >73 streamsong: >75 nittnut: >76 msf59: >77 Berly: Thanks Mamie, Janet, Jenn, Mark, and Kim

>72 kidzdoc: Hey Darryl! I checked out the link and there's a show about 30 miles from my home. If I'm not working that day I'll go and see it. I love watching adaptations and comparing them!

>74 klobrien2: Yeah, age makes a huge difference. I didn't dislike Rochester as much this time around, actually. He was manipulative and put Jane in a horrible situation because of his selfishness, but he also had had a terrible life. And as long as it turned out well in the end, I guess that's all we need.

The Well of Lost Plots, by Jasper Fforde, narrated by Emily Gray

After Thursday Next's husband is erased from existence (eradicated), she decides to take a break from the real world by vacationing in the Well of Lost Plots. She finds a nice unpublished book to hide in - and in her spare time she begins an apprenticeship with Jurisfiction - the group responsible for policing fictional characters.

This is the third book of the Thursday Next books, and although not as great as the first, it was quite funny. It has some healthy British humor and is probably one of the weirdest alternate realities I've ever read. Highly recommended.

I'll be reading Middlemarch for the British Authors Challenge. I think George Eliot is scheduled for April.

I loved the audio if The Well of Lost Plots. It helped that I had already read The Big Over Easy. I loved having the "had had" and "that that" passage read to me!

>80 cbl_tn: Fantastic. I'll keep April in mind for Middlemarch. Thanks Carrie!

>80 cbl_tn:; >81 The_Hibernator: Middlemarch is one of my favorites from Victorian lit. I think it's time for some British lit again. I'm glad you mentioned the British Authors Challenge, Carrie. It would be a good book to read with a group.

I love the Thursday Next series! Serious fun. I think I read thru book 5, but is has been a long time. : ) His other series starting with Shades of Grey is also responsible for me reading Fifty Shades of Grey when I accidentally picked it up at Costco. That was a shocker!

>83 Berly: That story still makes me laugh every time I think of it! I loved when you commented that you didn't think it was YA.

70: I think Jane's refusal of Rochester's proposal is timelessly relevant. How many countless women in the past have put up with bad men because they were scared of the unknown, or had nowhere to go. Her willingness to go through what she did at the end of the novel is amazing.

Stopping by to get caught up and to wish you a lovely week, Rachel! Dodging the Jane Eyre review as I have yet to read that one. Something I should probably correct at some point in my lifetime. Of course, you did not display any "snowflake rating" so I am at a bit of a loss as to whether or not you liked it. ;-)

>82 labwriter: Hi Becky. I agree. It's fun to read it with others. :)

>83 Berly: >84 Crazymamie: Hi Kim and Mamie. That's hilarious. I can't imagine what it would be like to think you're picking up a funny YA novel and ending up with Shades of Grey.

>85 Ape: Hi Stephen! No kidding. No kidding. Oh, and SQUEEEEEEE!

>86 lkernagh: 4.5 snowflakes. It's up there now. :)

Something Rotten, by Jasper Fforde, Narrated by Emily Gray

Now that little Friday Next has been born, Thursday decides her son must meet his father - eradicated or not. Thursday returns to the "real" world and takes her job back in Spec Ops. She keeps herself busy smuggling Danish books out of the country while pretending to hunt them down and burn them, fighting Goliath Corporation for the existence of her husband, and trying to get her town's cricket team to win the championship so that a fictional character won't achieve world domination.

This fourth book in the Thursday Next series is just as funny as the third. Definitely going to hunt down the next book soon(ish).

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, narrated by Cassandra Campbell

In Half the Sky Pulitzer Prize winning journalists Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn share a heartbreaking study of oppression of women around the world. It begins with a long section on the sex trafficking of women, sharing personal stories of many victims. Girls may be told that they are about to go to earn money selling fruit in a city, and then they are kidnapped, beaten and raped until they submit to prostitution. Some are born into brothels. Many who escape or are rescued from their situation return "willingly" because they know no other way to make a living and they are stigmatized in their community for their past occupation. And many return because they crave the drugs that their pimps have forced upon them to keep them complacent and needy. The book also explores lack of freedom to get educated, honor killings, genital mutilation, and maternal mortality.

Half the Sky was a difficult read because it's hard not to be dragged down by the pain these women have experienced - and that millions worldwide are still experiencing. This is a powerful and important book, and I believe that everyone even remotely interested in the topic should either read this book or watch the documentary that is based on it.

>89 The_Hibernator: I second your recommendation for Half the Sky! Definitely worth reading.

I enjoyed their more recent A Path Appears too.

Okay, question. Did you read The Eyre Affair before you read Jane Eyre? Joining with others on rating this an excellent review, by the way, as well as agreeing that at different ages, different strengths of the characters emerge--a characteristic of a great book, I think.

I love the Thursday Next books. Is Something Rotten the one where the cast of Wuthering Heights is going through group therapy?

>90 _Zoe_: I only heard about A Path Appears when I checked out WuDunn's Twitter account yesterday. So it's good? I'll have to take a look at it.

>91 ronincats: Yes, I read Jane Eyre about 20 years ago. And I'd seen so many versions of the movie by the time I read The Eyre Affair that I was pretty well-versed in the story. :)

Well of Lost Plots was the one where the cast from Wuthering Heights was going through group therapy. Hamlet was the only major "fictional" character in Something Rotten.

>70 The_Hibernator: I agree with everyone else; good review of Jane Eyre and interesting insights. I read it (the book) a few times when I was young, but though it was the least annoying of the Brontës I've read, I don't think I'm going to reread it soon.

>79 The_Hibernator: >88 The_Hibernator: ... But I might go back to the Thursday Next series.

>83 Berly: Oh, Kim!

>89 The_Hibernator: Though that's an interesting subject, I don't think I'm strong enough to read that one.

>1 The_Hibernator: ETA I see you've updated your first post. How sad to think education expires; but I think I'm in the same boat. I'll have to check and see if I'm up to date :0/

>90 _Zoe_: I agree about both books! They are quite different from each other. I found A Path Appears helpful for learning more about effective charitable giving, in particular. And it is not wrenching or emotionally intense like Half the Sky.

>93 humouress: Well, I think it depends on whether you're applying to new programs or not. I think they just want to make sure that your coursework is recently enough in your mind that you actually remember it. It's probably in my best interest. Still, it's annoying.

>94 karspeak: A book that helps you know how to give effectively sounds like a good one to read!

The Buried Book: The Loss and Rediscovery of the Great Epic of Gilgamesh, by David Damrosch, narrated by William Hughes

This is an interesting study of the discovery of the tablets that comprise the most complete sections of the Epic of Gilgamesh. It starts with a discussion about the archaeologists involved in discovering the tablets - what trials they underwent while digging, politics behind their dig, and even quarrels between archaeologists. (Sounds like Wallis E Budge was a jerk despite his fame.) The most interesting story was that of George Smith. He came from a working class background, but he had a brilliant ability to learn languages so he moved up to a classier job as apprentice in a printing shop. He spent all of his free time in the British Library learning languages and looking at ancient documents. Eventually he was hired on, first as a volunteer, and then as a full-fledged member of the team to research ancient Babylonian tablets. He was the one to discover the flood story within The Epic of Gilgamesh and he got so excited that he ran around the library in a "state of undress." (How much undressed he was remains a mystery. But I don't imagine he ran naked through the library yelling Eureka! or anything. He probably took off his jacket and loosened his tie.)

The book then jumps back to the time of Ashurbanipal (668-627 BCE), a historical king of Nineveh who collected rare literature from around the world (at least the world within reach of himself). It was inside this buried library, which was destroyed in the fall of Nineveh, that the most complete set of tablets for Gilgamesh was discovered. Buried Book tells of Ashurbanipal's father, who was severely depressed and paranoid. He couldn't read and was terrified that his assistants were hiding things from him when they read correspondences. Historians believe that this may be why Ashurbanipal was encouraged to learn to read at a young age. I found this section quite interesting and wished that there were more to it than there was. Though I suppose you can't say THAT much about a historical figure about whom only fragments of records exist.

The Buried Book then retreats farther into a short analysis of Gilgamesh with historical perspective. It discusses how the trip to tame Humbaba in the forest may have represented Gilgamesh's famed war to retrieve wood in other parts of Persia.

Finally, The Buried Book jumped back to how Gilgamesh has affected modern readers - including a longish section on Saddam Hussein. Apparently, Hussein could see Gilgamesh in himself and this impacted his philosophy on ruling. I was pretty interested to hear that Hussein had written a decent novel - I had no clue! Of course, chances are someone else wrote it from Hussein's notes, but still. Very interesting.

Hi, Hibernator!

I can't find The Buried Book at any local libraries--but it sounds like my cup of tea. Thanks for the "heads up"!

Karen O.

>89 The_Hibernator: caught a very fat BB here, I'll try and get this for my TA later this month.

I read Jane Eyre twice so far and had two very different experiences. The first time (read in translation) I concentrated on the romance and didn't enjoy the book that much. I didn't like Jane and thought Rochester was just weird. Some years later I read it in English and that time my focus was much more on Jane and her inner strength. It was like reading a different book and it went from 3 to 4.5 stars.

Have a good weekend!

Nice review of The Buried Book, Rachel!

>97 klobrien2: I hope you find it Karen!

>98 Deern: It's a really good book, Nathalie. If you're at all interested in the subject you should read it.

>98 Deern: Thanks Darryl!

So this week I lost one of my employees. This particular employee is a very difficult person to work with, so in that way it was a relief. But it also meant that I would have to work every single weekend covering shifts from 2 missing employees instead of every other weekend covering the shifts of only one. Having just finished an incredibly busy week of EMT class and MnCOSA training while working full time, I realized that there's no way I'd pass my EMT class if I start working every weekend. It's just too much. So I quit. I actually quit my job. Well, in truth, I moved down to part time - so I'm helping out every other weekend and on Wednesdays until my boss can find someone to replace me and/or the missing employees. It was a hard choice to make, and a hard phone call to make as I hated dumping so much stress on my poor boss. But it was what I needed to do.

As I said above, the EMT class started this week. It was nothing new since I'd already finished about 3 weeks of the class before asking to transfer to this semester. But I've now been CPR certified twice in 4 months. I feel a lot more confident this time around since I won't have another class and a full time job to distract me.

Do you remember me telling you about how I was going to volunteer for COLUMNS, which is a program through the MN Department of Corrections to help a paroled life-termer reintegrate safely into society? Well, instead I ended up in the MnCOSA program, which works with sex offenders reintegrate safely into society. Remember, this isn't just about the safety and happiness of the sex offender (though that's partly what it's about to me), but it is also about helping the sex offender not offend again - it's for those people out there who could potentially be hurt. That's what Restorative Justice is all about. My training, which started on Tuesday, will last 2 more weeks...so I'm going to be very busy until then with my EMT class twice a week and training twice a week and full-time job (for two more weeks). The training so far has been pretty interesting - learning about the justice system, about sexual deviancy, and talking to a rape survivor who writes and speaks nationally about his experiences and restorative justice. If you're interested, his name is Grant Watkins, and his book is called Unpinned. I'm reading it now.

Books Completed:



Watched:

Nothing!

Acquired:

Hi Rachel - Sounds like you made the right move, choosing the path that gets you to your goal. Wow! You are one busy lady!

I was also really impacted by Half the Sky. I listened to it on audio, which I find gets me through the tough parts with books I might otherwise put down due to 'empathy overload'. I'll keep an eye out for A Path Appears.

Rachel, it's good that you made your point. I wish you a relaxed weekend.

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China, by Jung Chang, narrated by Joy Osmanski

This contains (nonfiction) spoilers.

Wild Swans is the memior of Jung Chang's childhood in China during the Cultural Revolution, but it's not only about her. She begins with the story of her grandmother.

Jung Chang's grandmother was a concubine to a warlord. She had to use charm and wit to keep herself safe from being held prisoner by the warlord's family - as she was considered the property of the warlord and of his legitimate wives. Upon her warlord's death, she made the very difficult decision to marry, which caused many problems for her, her new husband, and potentially her afterlife (in which her husband and warlord would cut her in half to share her). This story delves into great detail about the strife that Jung Chang's grandmother had to overcome. Now that I'm familiar with how foot binding works I will shudder every time I hear mention of it. I never realized....

The next section of the book is about Jung Chang's mother, who grew up mainly during the strife between her mother and her stepfather's family. WWII was also raging, which meant occupation and brutalization by the Japanese. (This was the most difficult section for me to read.) Once the Japanese occupation ended, their country was ruled by tyranny, thus bringing on the communist uprising. Jung Chang's mother became deeply involved in the Communist Party while very young, but felt betrayed by The Party by the time she was pregnant with her first child.

The final section talks about Jung Chang's childhood, watching the Communist Party emotionally and physically torture those around her, including her parents. She vividly portrays the original innocence that she had - believing in the communist party and Mao's propaganda. Slowly, gently, she began to emerge from this innocence. More gracefully than would be expected, given what was going on around her. That speaks to the power of Mao's campaign.

This was a fascinating and beautifully written book. It's written lovingly, yet it's brutally honest. The research is so amazing that every once in a while I wondered "how does she know that?" Her years' worth of research definitely paid off. This book deserves the fantastic worldwide sales that it has received. I am tempted to read Jung Chang's biography of Mao pretty soon.

>102 streamsong: Thanks Janet! Well, I'll be a lot less busy now that I'm only working 15 hours per week! I can't wait to have more time to study, exercise, and relax (a.k.a. read). And don't blame me there! Relaxing is part of being a mentally and physically healthy person.

>103 Ameise1: Thanks Barb! Everyone's support means a lot to me.

Rachel I bought Wild Swans as part of my load for the Fifth years Thingaversary this week and it looks like I will be pleased if your review is anything to go by.

Hope you have a great weekend. xx

Great review of Wild Swans, Rachel!

>90 _Zoe_:, >92 The_Hibernator: Kristof & WuDunn were at the National Book Festival in 2015, video here: http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/results.php?set=11&cat=70&mode=s .

>108 qebo: I really wish A Path Appears had also covered environmental charities, since I think they can have a significant humanitarian impact, as well. I have had so much difficulty finding good info on environmental giving.

>108 qebo: I keep missing opportunities to see them. I had a ticket to see Kristof speak in Brooklyn last year, and it was cancelled because of snow and rescheduled for a day when I was out of town.

>101 The_Hibernator: Sounds like a tough decision about the job but also sounds like you made the right decision.

>104 The_Hibernator: Oh, Wild Swans is one I'd heard good things about before and your review really makes me want to read it.

I loved Wild Swans when I read it a number of years back. I felt like I had never really understood 20th century Chinese history (particularly the Cultural Revolution), until I read about it through the lens of the three women profiled in Wild Swans.

Stopping by and making note of the five snowflake read in >89 The_Hibernator:!

Wow on the job front but it sounds like you made the decision that will work best for you. There is no reason to burn yourself out and put your EMT class completion in jeopardy at the same time.

Happy Sunday, Rachel! Hope you had a nice weekend and spent some quality time with the books.

Good review of Wild Swans.

Rachel--a very tough decision to make with the job, but it certainly feels like you made the right choice. Your training sounds fascinating and with your passion, I think you will definitely make a difference. Best of luck with all the changes and thanks for hitting me with a book bullet: Wild Swans is now on my WL and it clearly states: "Hibernator's Fault"!! : )

I'm so impressed with your handling of difficult situations - you just take those uncomfortable decisions when the time is ripe and go through with it. I remember last year and the BF, I admired you for that and even more so now. Wishing you all the best for the changes!!

Hi Rachel! Definitely the right decision with the job. That job is just never-ending stress. You are doing so many interesting things! I am fascinated with restorative justice, but I think that working with sex offenders would be too much for me.

*lurking along*

Wow! I can't believe I've not been on your thread until now! What an amazing amount of reading you have done, Rachel . Restorative justice. My understanding is that in Canada, we try use that angle is possible. What a fascinating topic for study and to use.

>106 PaulCranswick: I hope you liked it as much as I did Paul!

>107 kidzdoc: Thanks Darryl!

>108 qebo: Thanks for the link Katherine!

>109 karspeak: I think environmental charities can be considered humanitarian too, Karen. Unfortunately right now I have no money to spend on charity, all I can give is my time. Of course, if I spent all my time working instead of volunteering, then I'd have more money.

>110 _Zoe_: That's a huge bummer, Zoe. :(

>111 souloftherose: Thanks Heather! I hope you find time to read it some time. It's worth the effort.

>112 arubabookwoman: I'm not sure I can say I understand the Cultural Revolution still, though this was certainly an educational portrait of it! I'm considering looking more into the subject now. My interest has been piqued.

>113 lkernagh: Thanks Lori! It's nice to have so much support from everyone! It makes me feel like I've made the right decision.

>114 msf59: Thanks Mark!

>115 Berly: :) I hope you enjoy it as much as I did Kim. And thanks for the support!

>116 Deern: Thanks Nathalie, that means a lot. I hadn't really thought of that as a particular strength.

>117 banjo123: Hi Rhonda! Thanks for the support. Yes, I think working with a sex offender will be difficult for me as well. Strangely, I was hoping to work with a paroled life-termer, which means that he probably did something even worse than rape. Yet somehow the rape seems scarier from this distance. But just because it makes me uncomfortable doesn't mean I can't do it. I need to remember, as I said, that this is not only about reintegrating a human being back into society with forgiveness for past mistakes, but also about keeping him from violating the law again. People who are unable to create a safe home on the outside generally end up back in prison pretty quickly. There's no need for him to reoffend if it can be avoided with a little support from friends. And many people coming out of prison, especially for something so stigmatized as sexual offenses, have very few friends - at least not the type that will encourage them to keep clean.

>118 humouress: *waves* at humouress

>119 vancouverdeb: Hi Deb! I've had a good run of books because I have a lot of audiobook time, thankfully. Yes, our "circle" model of support for released felons here in MN is based on Canada's circle model for the same purpose. We, in MN, are the first in the US to adopt this particular RJ schema, though I think other states have picked it up since we have. We also stole some of your ideas for Crisis Prevention Training. I think we should steal your healthcare as well. ;)

Oh, I loved Wild Swans - I remember reading it a few times as a teenager. You've inspired me to think about reading more of her work... or maybe I should re-read that book. Hmmm, decisions.

Wow, even with reduced work hours you sound super-busy! Stay strong and be sure to find that time to relax.

>121 evilmoose: Wow, Megan. You read it a few times as a teenager? That's impressive given the deep content and the length.

>122 ronincats: Yeah, Roni, I'm overloaded even with moving down to part time. But this should help a little bit.

The Rolling Stones, by Robert A Heinlein Narrated by Tom Weiner

Teenaged twins Castor and Pollux Stone cajole their father into buying a space ship, and the entire family goes on a trip around the galaxy. But Castor and Pollux repeatedly end up in trouble with their schemes to make a fortune on distant planets.

This is a hard book for me to review, so I'll keep it short. I've only read one other book by Heinlein, A Stranger in a Strange Land, and that was as a teenager, so I expected something a bit more serious and meaningful in this book. Is this what pulp is? I've only read one pulp-fiction book, A Princess of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs, so I'm very inexperienced with the genre. It took me a while to get over the cheese. But I recognize that when you're reading a book that was written in a style foreign to you, it's better to view the book within its context rather than comparing it to your usual type. And after I approached the book from this perspective, I began to really enjoy the humor and even became emotionally invested in the characters. I wouldn't say I highly recommend this book, but I enjoyed my second pulp experience.

>124 The_Hibernator: I've never seen that one before. I find though that Heinlein falls into two categories; very serious works like Starship Troopers and more pulp scifi like Have Spacesuit, Will Travel. Which is about a teenager that wins a spacesuit on a soap contest and gets kidnapped by space pirates and goes to the moon. You just get to enjoy the ride.

>125 xymon81: Doubtless Heinlein intended The Rolling Stones to be a teen book as well.

The Time Machine, by H. G. Wells Narrated by Greg Wagland

This review contains spoilers

Using a time machine of his own making, a man travels to the year 802,701 to discover a world where humans have diverged into two separate species. The first species he meets are the Eloi. They are an indulgent people living in what the time traveler calls a communist society. It appears to be a utopian society in which everyone shares living spaces and food. But our time traveler soon discovers that this society isn't as perfect as it seems. The Eloi are an uncaring race. When one of their own is drowning, they glance uncaringly in her direction and then move on with their own entertainments as if such an event were normal and uninteresting. There is a complete decline of intellect.

Soon enough, our time traveler meets a second brutish and cunning race that live underground. They are called the Morlocks. (How he discovers this is unclear, since the Morlocks don't talk to him and the Eloi refuse to talk about them as if it is extremely rude even to bring them up.) He has very little contact with them, but he believes that the Morlocks eat the Eloi.

At a loss for what exactly H. G. Wells was getting at when he wrote this book, I read a couple of critical essays. Critics say that H. G Wells 1) was suggesting that there would be an inevitable decline in intellect of the human race, 2) was parodying the indulgent and uncaring aristocracy and the brutishness of the working class - a common parody of his time, and 3) was parodying communism despite the fact that he, himself, was a socialist. My father suggested that H. G. Wells had the Nazis (Morlocks) and the Jews (Eloi) in mind when he wrote The Time Traveler - though I find it hard to believe that the Wells believed that the Jews were a self-indulgent and unintellectual race.

What I noticed about both The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds is that both mentioned a subclass of humans who, in the future, would prey upon other humans. (In War of the Worlds it was suggested that humans might, in the future, be used as slaves to hunt humans so the alien race could eat them.) Thus I am inclined to believe that H. G. Wells is suggesting that some humans have a brutish quality in which they inevitably take advantage of and prey upon an untintellectual and uncaring group of people.

I am also interested in this communist aspect. What was he saying? If you have any ideas, please let me know. I am curious what other people think of this story.

Good review of The Time Machine. I have still not read this one or The War of the Worlds. What am I waiting for? Who knows.

(I did see the films...)

I read The Time Machine when I was young. From what I remember, I assumed Wells lived at a time when they still had servants in England so I thought he was extrapolating and exaggerating that social divide. But at that age, I didn't think too deeply about it - not that I would now :0)

>127 The_Hibernator: My father suggested that H. G. Wells had the Nazis (Morlocks) and the Jews (Eloi) I think The Time Machine was written well before the Nazi Party was ever thought of. I've always assumed that the Eloi represented the degenerated upper classes of Wells's own time, whereas the Morlocks represented the brutalised working classes.

I read that one so long ago, I am lucky I remember the plot!! I also seem to remember that the Time Traveler is himself not named in this book. I always thought it was supposed to be Wells himself. ????

>127 The_Hibernator: I didn't know that about communism, but my take on it is that Wells was extrapolating what would eventually happen in a communist society. When you come to expect that everyone is getting what they need, you cease to really care about those other people. They live and die, but that's really none of your affair. I think that since you don't have any direct stake in what anyone else is doing, and no one depends on anyone else except in a very general way, one life stops mattering very much. There's nothing to drive you to excel, so you get bored, lose intellectual curiosity, and eventually become stupid.

And of course in contrast to that you have the Morlocks, so I'm not sure what Wells would have us do. :)

>128 msf59: Hi Mark! That's funny. So far you're the only one who hasn't said that they read it a long, long time ago. I, too, read them a long, long time ago. But I was trying to get a copy of The First Men in the Moon and it turned out I could get a four-book omnibus for the same amount. And now I still haven't read The First Men in the Moon because it's third in the audiobook.

>129 humouress: >130 SandDune: Hi humouress and Rhian! Class divide seems to be the consensus among my LT threads and my blog. That's sort of what I thought too, but I didn't have much to say on the subject so I decided to ask questions instead of answering them. :)

>131 Berly: Hi Kim, no, the time traveler wasn't named - neither were any of the characters. In fact, they were called "the doctor," "the very young man," etc. They weren't named in War of the Worlds, either. I thought that was a little strange, too. Perhaps it means that it could happen to anyone.

>132 ursula: That is really well said Ursula!

5 year throwback. I miss you Grandma!

This week wasn't as eventful as last week. I started working with my boss to have a smooth transition out - though I'm leaving him in a tight spot, so the transition won't be much easier than if I strolled out in the middle of the day and never came back. I caught the stomach flu from my sister and was sick a couple of days. Spent a nice Olive Garden dinner with a friend, and that's about it!

Books Completed:



Watched:

Nothing!

Acquired:

Another blogging world challenge: Katie at Doing Dewey is hosting the Reluctant Romantic Challenge in February.

"Is there a genre you’d like to read more of in 2016? Or a genre that you’ve never given a chance? The Reluctant Romantic event this February is the time to do something about it! Lasting all of February, there will be optional discussion topics and check-ins every Saturday and a twitter chat at the end of the month. To join in, just post a sign-up wherever your online home is and share what genre you’ll be getting to know this month.

Schedule and Discussion Topics
Feb 6 – Genre Speed Dating – What genre are you getting to know this month? Why do you want to give it a chance?

Feb 13 – It’s Complicated – Is there anything that keeps you from reading this genre more?

Feb 20 – Young Love – Have you read the genre you’re trying before? How was your first experience with that genre this month?

Feb 27 – Relationship Status – Where is your relationship with the genre you tried? Will you read more of this genre in the future?"

For this challenge, I will be reading modernist literature, since I've looked at that tag on LibraryThing and discovered I have read none of the books. Besides, it fits in with my commitment to read a couple of Virginia Woolf books for the #woolfalong. Here are some potential books that I'm hoping to read.

Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf
To the Lighthouse, by Virginia Woolf
Swann's Way, by Marcel Proust
Beyond Good and Evil, by Friedrich Nietzsche
The Birth of Tragedy Out of the Spirit of Music, Friedrich Nietzsche
On the Genealogy of Morals, Friedrich Nietzsche
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, by James Joyce

Since I always try to alternate fiction with non-fiction, I've added in some of Nietzsche's works. His philosophy influenced modernism quite a bit. In addition, I got some lectures about Nietzsche and modernism that I will hopefully have time to skim. This will be a hard challenge for me, but that's the point of this challenge.

Wow, there's a lot happening in this thread! I've added a few BBs and will maybe come back to compare notes on Curio once I get around to reading it. Did you read the prequel novella at all? I wonder if that would have helped with the transition from one world to the next. No idea, as I haven't read either yet, but now maybe I will read that novella first and see if it makes a difference at all.

Have a lovely weekend!

Happy weekend, Rachel. Stay safe and warm.

>134 The_Hibernator: Sweet picture!

Happy weekend!

Rachel, how wise of you to choose the work that is your passion rather than the work that saps your strength. I'm not sure I could wear as many hats as you do these days, although I'm pretty sure I would have trouble working with a convicted sex offender. *sigh* It makes me sad to admit that I have such limits. I appreciate people like you who do the difficult jobs like that one. Your reading life rocks, too!

I'm a bit late to the party, but good luck with the job change. I look forward to hearing how everything works out for you!

A lot of Heinlein's early work is referred to as his juveniles, written for teenagers, and The Rolling Stones falls into that category. Some of my favorites from this period of his writing are The Star Beast and Between Planets and yes, they are adventure stories set in space that appeal to teens.

>138 banjo123: Thanks Rhonda! You too!

>139 Donna828: Everyone has limits Donna. Working with a sex offender is pretty close to my limit, but I'm trying to expand my limits. :)

>140 alsvidur: Thanks Emilie!

>141 ronincats: I'll have to try out some of your favorites, I enjoyed The Rolling Stones. Though I won't have time for a while. I'm keeping a pretty tight schedule of books lately. Not much wiggle room.

Little House in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder

This is the first story of Larua as a 4-year old in a log cabin in the woods of Wisconsin. I've never read any of these books before, and honestly I can't even say whether I ever watched the TV show. So I didn't know quite what to expect. Whatever I expected, this wasn't it. This book is written with a slice-of-life narrative with no plot and very little dialog - it was kind of a passive story...or perhaps a string of memories/anecdotes that are connected in approximate chronological order.

Not that I'm saying I disliked it. It was really cute and a really quick read. I'm definitely going to continue with the rest of them. I'm also not entirely sure why this is considered a Christmas book. Yes, Christmas was included in the time-line, but it was about an entire year living in the little log cabin in the woods. I think the cutest part of the book was when Laura and her mother went out to milk the cow at night and mistook a bear for the cow. :) Laura's corn-cob doll was also pretty adorable.

I think it's interesting how many people care about whether this story was truly factual. I mean, of course it's not fully factual - apparently Laura was younger when she lived on the Prairie than when she lived in the woods in Wisconsin, but she switched the timeline around. I'm sure some of the memories she mentions are also not fully factual, but that's how family anecdotes are - they change with time and audience. This isn't an autobiography, this is a string of anecdotes for children.

Hoping your transition goes smoothly as you say goodbye to one job and launch in to the new one! Good luck with the Reluctant Romantic challenge. Not sure I will be on the blog, but for me it would be the very broad category of NF. I am trying to read at least one a month this year, and I a off to a good start. My two bookclubs are reading Black Man in a White Coat and I am Malala. : )

>134 The_Hibernator: That is a lovely thought, Rachel - I am sure that she would be very proud of you.

My Gran passed away in 1994 and I still feel her presence regularly but especially on the anniversary of her birthday on 7 May.

>135 The_Hibernator: OMG whan an ambitious list!!
I had to grin when I read your post because I could put that rom-com I found on my doormat yesterday into this challenge and so have a reason to read it. Which would be quite the opposite level from your Woolfs, Joyces, Prousts and Nietzsches. :))

Sorry you had the stomach flu, that's always so nasty!

>143 The_Hibernator: I had that book as a kid and remember being disappointed that it was so different from the popular TV show we all watched every Sunday. I think I didn't even finish it and never felt like picking that series up again.

Lecture 3:

• When the sympathetic nervous system (fight-or-flight setting) activates during stress, your blood pressure goes up. This is great for short periods when the blood needs to rush to your limbs so that you can run. But when it's chronically up (due to chronic stress), damage is done to your blood vessels and heart - much as damage is done to pipes and pumps when they are run too hard for too long. Tears occur. Plaque builds up along the tears. Vessels get blocked by plaque. Heart attack.


• Reading: Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers Chapter 3

Lecture 4:

• When you eat, you break down (digest) those foods into their base components - glucose, amino acids, and fats. These can get stored in your fat cells, be made into proteins for your muscles, or be used as ready energy.


• When you become stressed, you break down the stored fat or protein to make energy for your muscles so that you can activate the fight-or-flight response. This is great when you're running from a lion. But if you're chronically experiencing stressors, you break down fat, store it again, break it down, store it, in cycles. Each time you break down fat you use energy, and each time you store fat you use energy. Thus, chronic stress leads to a net loss of energy, resulting in fatigue.


• Insulin is released by your pancreas when it senses raised levels of glucose in the blood. Insulin signals the body to store fat and absorb glucose.


• When you are stressed, your body releases signals called glucocorticoids which tell your body to stop responding to insulin. This is because the last thing you want to do when you are running from a lion is waste energy storing fat. What you want to be doing is breaking fat down. But when your glucocorticoids are chronically raised, your body is always insensitive to glucose - thus raising the levels of fat in the blood and leading to heart problems. Also, because your body is resisting the effects of insulin, the pancreas pumps out more insulin, leading to diabetes.


• Reading: Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers Chapter 4. It also suggested Diabetes for Dummies, but I didn't bother.

>144 Berly: Thanks Kim! I hope your NF reading goes well this year. I bet it's helpful to have that NF challenge.

>145 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul! My grandmother is with me all the time, as well.

>146 Deern: Hi Nathalie! I was hesitant to challenge myself to read so much modernist literature - really to read anything that I normally avoid. But then I realized that I ought to broaden my horizons a bit. I don't want to be caught reading only things I'm perfectly comfortable with.

Having not watched the TV show, I'm lucky that I don't have that problem. :)

>135 The_Hibernator: Good luck with your modernist reading! I read Virginia Woolf's fiction for the first time last year. I really liked To the Lighthouse. I remember loving A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man when I had to read it in high school.

Stopping by to say hi, Rachel. The Romance February challenge sounds interesting.

>147 The_Hibernator: - That lecture sounds fascinating. I know that I am prone to taking on too much and exhausting myself, and on top of that, I don't get enough sleep, and then I catch a cold. Thank goodness it is usually just a cold but still, you would think if I know the pattern cycle so well, I would work harder at not stressing my body.

>149 cbl_tn: Thanks Carrie! Good to have support. I'm worried that next month will be very dense for me!

>147 The_Hibernator: Oh...I do too Lori. I'm glad I moved down to part time for my job. It was a really good move for me. I need to focus on my future not on my rut. My problems generally tend to be more than a cold. Last semester I had some pretty bad mental health problems and even tried to get into the hospital (though they won't let you in unless they think you will kill yourself in the next 24 hours.)

Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, The Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America, by Gilbert King, narrated by Peter Francis James

In this 2013 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction, Devil in the Grove is about Thurgood Marshall's ("Mr Civil Rights" and arguably one of the best lawyers of the 20th century) work to save three black men accused of gang raping a 17 year old girl.

Gilbert King did an amazing amount of research for this book including reading the FBI's Groveland case files and the NAACP's legal defense files - and this research really shone through. His prose was acerbic at times, and it flowed smoothly keeping my interest the whole way through. Devil in the Grove gave a lot of background information on Thurgood Marshall's life outside of the of the trial, thus bringing a personal light to the story. Gilbert also included stories about KKK activities against lawyers who defended black people accused of rape, which was terrifying and disgusting.

Overall, a fantastic book. Read it.

Nice review of The Devil in the Grove, Rachel. I'll have to make room for that book soon.

>153 kidzdoc: Thanks Darryl!

To supplement my month of reading modernism in February, I've decided to do some studying of literary modernism.



Lecture 1:

The purpose of this lecture is to explore the meaning of the word "modernism" in terms of philosophy and literature.

There are two types of modernism, paleomodernism and neomodernism. These two branches are enemies. Both emerged around the same time - paleomodernism before WWII and neomodernism after WWII.

Paleomodernism: Believes that there should be a reevaluation of the present by associating it with the past. This is a reactionary or classicist point of view. Ideas focus on the Renaissance, where people were reunited with classical philosophies and literature.

James Joyce's Ulysses, which is a rewrite of Homer's epic, is an example of paleomodernism. It suggests that the modern man can be a hero just like the heroes of antiquity.

Paleomodernism is founded on Nietzsche's philosophy. Nietzsche said the early Greeks knew that the will to reproduce and the will to power are holy. He believed that instinct is always good and the suppression of instinct is always bad. He also believed that ambivalence was productive.

Neomodernism: Admired anti-classicism, iconoclasm, and regionalism.

Just as Nietzsche is the founder of paleomodernism, Walt Whitman is the founder of neomodernism. He believed the coherence is forced and immoral. In his poem "Song of Myself" he makes light of classic gravity and rambles purposefully.

Gertrude Stein and William Carlos Williams were the leading critics of classical modernists.Stein approves of the arbitrary and disdains the servile. She dislikes story and plotlines because they are too servile.

William Carlos Williams' poem "The Red Wheelbarrow" was a direct attack on T. S. Eliot's "Mr. Eliot's Sunday Morning Service." It shouted out: "Look, I can say in a few words what you say in several complicated, pedantic stanzas!" Williams' poem also assaults Eliot's ideology and his infamous defense of high culture. Where "The Red Wheelbarrow" appreciates the simple barrow, water condensation, and chickens, "Mr. Eliot's Sunday Morning Service" appreciates the classic (which is why he compares a common man of today, Sweeny, in the last stanza with Jesus in the first stanza).

William Carlos Williams "The Red Wheelbarrow"

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens.

T. S. Eliot "Mr. Eliot's Sunday Morning Service"

Look, look, master, here comes two religious caterpillars.
The Jew of Malta.

Polyphiloprogenitive
The sapient sutlers of the Lord
Drift across the window-panes.
In the beginning was the Word.

In the beginning was the Word.
Superfetation of τό ἔν,
And at the mensual turn of time
Produced enervate Origen.

A painter of the Umbrian school
Designed upon a gesso ground
The nimbus of the Baptized God.
The wilderness is cracked and browned

But through the water pale and thin
Still shine the unoffending feet
And there above the painter set
The Father and the Paraclete.
. . . . .
The sable presbyters approach
The avenue of penitence;
The young are red and pustular
Clutching piaculative pence.

Under the penitential gates
Sustained by staring Seraphim
Where the souls of the devout
Burn invisible and dim.

Along the garden-wall the bees
With hairy bellies pass between
The staminate and pistilate,
Blest office of the epicene.

Sweeney shifts from ham to ham
Stirring the water in his bath.
The masters of the subtle schools
Are controversial, polymath.

>157 The_Hibernator: Truly, he exhibits a prodigious vocabulary.

>152 The_Hibernator: Book Bullet! Nice review. And I love what you said: "I need to focus on my future not on my rut." Yup!