February 2008 - What are you reading?

I am reading several books right now, besides the gardening books that are taking over the living. For pleasure I am reading "The Friday Night Knitting Club" by Kate Jacobs. Can't really give a review at the moment however when I am done I will. For my own interest reading, I am reading "Where To Draw The Line" by Anne Katherine, MA. This one promises to be really very good, but again I am not done reading it yet.

I just finished Lisa Gardner's new book "Hide". It was well written and a true horror crime novel.

I just started Michael Connelly's "Lost in the Light".

I mostly read for pleasure, but I do have "Slaughter of Cities" order. I've been having ongoing arguments with some local activist friends about approaches to community organizing and urban gentrification. I expected more of them, it seems that a lot of stuff they're doing is causing racial visions and I don't like. Anyway it seems they're basing a lot of their stuff on this book. We'll see.

Deborah - yea, another gardener!!! Let me know what you think of Friday Night Knitting Club, as I happen to belong to a Thursday night Knitting Club, and we could maybe combine our knitting with a discussion of the book sometime...

Tamara - me too! I'm still stuck in Italy, and while the book is readable, it feels a little too flippant and a little too self-indulgent. Know what I mean? I'm hoping she gets a little more grounded in India, but who knows...

Sharon - I love good crime novels... I'll have to check out "Hide" - and let us know what you think about "Slaughter of Cities" - I think urban renewal is a huge issue, but it's a tricky balancing act to bring it about.

You can always order a copy of my book, "Climbing Through Windows," on Amazon or barnesandnoble.com!

Enjoy your vacation!

Ms. Combs,
Writing a book review is a challenge. Sharing a book review? Maybe I'll write one before deciding whether or not I'll share it.
Be well.
weak reader

Kimmy - what's your book about? I love the title!

Tamara - that is exactly what I was afraid of

weak reader - I suspect you have very high standards for book reviews! I'm not interested in an essay that stands for all time - just your first and/or lasting impressions. Your opinions are welcome here, both rough and refined...

I just finished reading "The Memory Keeper's Daughter" by Kim Edwards. It's about a father whose wife gave birth to twins in the mid-1960s, and the daughter had Down's Syndrome. The father gave the child away and told the mother that she was dead. The parents try their best to raise their son, but the father feels guilty about giving the daughter away, and the mother is constantly thinking about the daughter who she thinks is dead. The son also feels guilt as he grows up, knowing that he was the lone surviving twin. We also learn the fate of the daughter, and how the person who raises her as her own fights to make sure the girl gets a good education.

I've started "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte. It's one of my mother's favorites, and I've never read it. It hooked my on the first page, and I'm loving it.

I'm reading "Lover Unbound" by JR Ward...good vampire book if you're into paranormal romance. Dun have much time for reading these days. I cannot wait for summer, I never was into being cold. But I love when it snows and cuddling up with my b/f watching a movie and drinking hot cocoa.

Ms. Combs - When I wrote book reports in schools teachers were the only ones reading my book reports. My earliest attempts at reading reports in front of a classroom of students were dismal, shameful failures. When I read or see or hear something I want to write about in "What are you reading?" I don't want to be pretentious. -- weak reader

suggested DESIDERATA revisions

change "Speak your truth quietly & clearly; and listen to others, even the dull & ignorant; they too have their story" to [Speak your truth quietly & clearly; and listen to others]
change "Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity & disenchantment it is perennial as the grass" to [Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity & disenchantment it is perennial]
change "And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should" to [And whether or not it is clear to you, the universe is unfolding]
change "Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be" to [Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive God to be]

Hope I'm not violating copyright law.

Most of my attempts at reading reports and, or, extemporaneous talks in front of a classroom of students have been dismal and, or, shameful failures.
It is reassuring to know that teaching is a learnable skill.

Oh man, four days and free time for reading....Have fun, Marianne!

Here's my on-the-bus reading:
Finished! "Your Neighbor's Secret Life Online: Protecting Families from Internet Conmen, Scammers, and Predators" by Stephen Dean. Despite the title, this really isn't a how-to book, although if you're looking to hide your online activity you might learn a thing or two.

Just beginning! "The Great Man" by Kate Christensen. This is turning out to be a good read, a story. I like how clean and quick it is, with toothsome details.


At home for family out-loud reading we just picked up "The Wright Three" by Blue Balliett. We enjoyed "Chasing Vermeer" and I'm hoping that this unwraps well.

For whatever reason, I'm drawn to 19th century writers during the long, cold winter months. I tend to re-read Dickens, Austen, or Tolstoy. With Masterpiece Theater presenting a series of Austen novels, I can't help but read her work this month! I'm halfway through "Sense and Sensibility" and then plan to read "Mansfield Park." Last week I read a new book, "Mr Knightley's Diary," which was a fun twist on Austen's "Emma" - it's the other side of Emma, told from Mr Knightley's point of view - very fun (can't recall the author's name - sorry).

Zelda is onto something! We've been watching Masterpiece, too, and it's got me wondering where my Austen novels are.

In the meantime, I've been reading quite a bit. After reading and reviewing Release Your Brilliance for Collins Nonfiction, I read Richard Cohen's book, Strong at the Broken Places: Voices of Illness, a Chorus of Hope. I have to admit that these two books together didn't provide as much revitalization and hope as my next read, The Courage to Survive by Dennis Kucinich (yes - that Dennis Kucinich). 'Courage' was the story of Kucinich growing up and coming of age under some difficult circumstances. Yet, it was not 'sensational'. Nor was it bitter or self-pitying in any way. The only thing I didn't like about it was that it ended too soon. I highly recommend it.

Next I read Mistress of the Art of Death which was a creative mystery that takes place during the time of Henry II's rule in what we know as Cambridge. Desperate to know who the murderer was, I raced right through it and will likely read more from the author, Ariana Franklin, again soon.

I'm currently reading The Ordeal of Elizabeth Marsh by Linda Colley. Marsh is a fascinating woman from the 18th century - well-traveled, independent and intelligent - whose life is linked to the Royal Navy and lived amid the backdrop of the British Empire. Colley, most famous for her book titled 'Captives', is a first-rate researcher and historian.

P.S. I wish I could knit well enough to join a knitting club!

Wow, Diana, you have been tucking the books away. Yesterday I finished "My Life in France" by Julia Child (with Alex Prud'Homme as co-author) and it was a quick, light, and pleasant read, a quick trip away from exactly what Zelda described. BTW, the photos are very sweet and revealing.

I am one-third of the way through THE NAZI YEARS, A DOCUMENTARY HISTORY--EDITED BY JOACHIM REMAK; so far no alarm bells have gone off about the United States of America, at least not beyond the usual reverberations. The usual reverberations? "Many trends, not all of them German, converged to create National Socialism. Most of them were negative in nature: anti-Liberalism, anti-rationalism, anti-Marxism, antiparliamentarianism, anticlericalism, anti-Semitism. Some were affirmative: an intense nationalism, a cult of the Nordic, a romantic longing for an age both simple and heroic, and, above all, a pseudobiological explanation of the universe derived from Social Darwinism." (from THE NAZI YEARS, page 1).

Yesterday I read about meditation in THE DALAI LAMA, A POLICY OF KINDNESS. I meditated for about five minutes right afterwards, then did a set of stretches.

I'm reading Home to War, about Viet Nam veterans, and Mosaic,
Amy Grant's memoir, which I am liking a lot. also reading Bread for the Journey, a book spiritual reading by Henri Nouwen, and on the recommendation of Carrie Newcomer, I'm looking at a couple of books by Scott Russell Sanders, including this one. Just finished up Tumbling Blocks, by Earlene Fowler -- really like the dimension, and sense of faith and reality she brings to her characters. also just finished Robert Irvine's Mission: Cook!, as interesting for the story of a man following his passion as for the recipes.