its a book thing...

A Charlotte Mason Companion

2011-08-13T06:28:00.000-07:00

On Thursday night, I finished Karen Andreola's book A Charlotte Mason Companion. I really enjoyed it. I know some of the reviews I read on Goodreads complained about the chattieness of the style, and the rather repetitive nature of some of the material. I liked those aspects. I've always liked the rather personal journal or letter style of reading. I am definitely more excited than ever to start homeschooling but I am also (more than ever) aware of my short-comings (especially in the area of patience).

I am currently rereading The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. I read it a year or two ago but now we are reading it for literary book club.

The Nun Study and Reading to Our Children

2008-01-26T08:13:00.000-08:00

The personal impact of this Nun Study data came home to me one afternoon in Bill Markesbery's office as Susan Kemper and I laid out our findings for him. Unexpectedly, Bill didn't ask us technical questions about our statistical and linguistic methods. He looked directly at Susan and said, "What does this mean for our children?"

The question caught me off gaurd. But when I saw the look on his fce, I realized that he was speaking as a father, not a sceintist. Bill has three grown daughters, and it was clear he wanted to know whether he and his wife, Barbara, had done the right things as parents.

"Read to them," Susan answered. "It's that simple. It's the most important thing a parent can do with their children."

Snowdon Ph.D., David. Aging with Grace: What the Nun Study Teaches Us About Leading Longer, Healthier, and More Meaningful Lives. Bantam Books, 2001. ISBN 0-553-80163-5

My article: Alzheimer's Prevention by Reading?

Done

2007-10-18T04:29:00.000-07:00

I've written up seven different articles (review, reading group guide, character summary, story summary, and critical) about The Sound and the Fury. Done! Now I just have to return it to the library.

I just finished The Virgin Blue this morning at about 5:10. No I didn't stay up all night, I got up early (4:20). I think it might be my favorite Chevalier novel to date. I only have one more of her books to read, Falling Angels, and then I will have read everything she has out right now.

We watched the move of The Girl with the Pearl Earring last week. It was good but the book is better. Still, I wouldn't mind owning it.

I finished my book for church book club. The book for this month is The Novelist by Angela Hunt. It skirted on cliche more than once but it was a quick and enjoyable read, even if a bit predictable.

What's next? Falling Angels or The House of Seven Gables?

my friend

2007-10-08T15:11:00.000-07:00

My friend Penny Johnson has published her first book of poetry, The Last Time We Were Children, which is small and enjoyable volume. You can find more about her book of poetry at her website Penny's Pages Online.

Finally!!

2007-10-05T05:38:00.000-07:00

I finally finished The Sound and The Fury I am now reading some support material for the book then, since it is by an American Author, I will write some articles on it for Suite101.

Sunday afternoon is the book club meeting for it. It should be interesting to hear what everyone thinks about it.

What shall I read next? The Virgin Blue or Falling Angels?

Chevalier

2007-10-02T14:50:00.000-07:00

I've finished Girl with the Pearl Earring. Now I am finishing The Sound and the Fury(Faulkner) which I started before The Lady and the Unicorn. (I also read A House Like a Lotus (L'Engle) in between). When I am done with The Sound and The Fury, I will read another Chevalier-Falling Angels.

I am obsessed with her books right now. I have the painting of Girl with the Pearl Earring on my desktop now (I've had it on my desktop at work (many years ago when I did work) so this isn't entirely due to the book). :)

totally obsessed

2007-09-27T14:47:00.000-07:00

I am totally obsessed with Chevalier's novels. I just finished "The Lady and the Unicorn" and I am flying through "Girl with a Pearl Earring."

Everyone should read at least one of her novels. ;)

Chevalier and Poe

2007-09-20T15:34:00.000-07:00

I posted the review I wrote on Tracy Chevalier's book Burning Bright over at Suite101 as well as reading group guide for the book (I would love to discuss the questions I generated for the book).

I also published an essay on Edgar Allan Poe that I am quite pleased with.

Take a peek at American Fiction at Suite101, if you are interested.

Faulkner

2007-09-18T14:28:00.001-07:00

I am reading The Sound and the Fury. Ugh...I will finish it, I will finish it, I will finish it.

finished and fascinated

2007-09-14T15:04:00.000-07:00

I recently finished Burning Bright by Tracy Chevalier. It was a thoroughly engrossing book. I love books that spin a well-known person or story so that we see it from a different light. In Burning Bright, Chevalier gives a new perspective on William Blake. In particular, she looked at the nature of opposites and how Blake used them.

Her writing style is simple-and-straightforward but her handling of the subject and her light-hand at characterization made it an enjoyable read.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who might be interested in the subject. I am writing a review for Suite101 about the book and will probably create a reading group guide for it too.

passages

2007-09-08T04:52:00.000-07:00

Madeleine L'Engle died. She is one of my all-time favorite authors. I first read A Wrinkle in Time when I was in sixth grade. I went on to read the first three books in the time sequence. I liked them though I didn't understand them. A short time later, Dad brought home some books he fished out of the trash, among them was Prelude and Arm of a Starfish. I fell in love with those two books and they climbed to the top of my list of reread books as a child (I still reread them as an adult).

When I was in college, I discovered that she wrote adult books too and read as many as the local library held. Then I got married and moved to the cities. I didn't read much of anything much less Madeleine for years.

I am not sure when I started reading her again but I did. I've a fair collection of her works although my two favorites fiction books are not in my personal library. My two favorite fiction books are A Live Coal in the Sea and The Other Side of the Sun. I read The Other Side of the Sun obsessively during a particularly difficult time in my life. It is hard to explain how it helped me but I found reading it very healing. A Live Coal in the Sea is a powerful reminder and testament to the power of God's mercy and grace and I would suggest it to anyone interested in her novels.

Another great fiction novel by Madeleine is her novel A Severed Wasp which is her continuation of the story of Katherine Forrester from Small Rain/Prelude. It is fun to catch up on the life of one of my favorite characters.

Madeleine has wrote volumes of non-fiction too. My two favorites are Walking on Water : Reflections on Faith and Art and A Two-Part Invention. Walking on Water resonated with the artist in me deeply and has provide me solace and inspiration. A Two-Part Invention is a powerful testament to a faithful marriage which I think all married couples should read. It is particularly powerful to listen to her deal with the last months of Hugh's life and his subsequent death.

She wrote more than eighty books in her life. I wish she had written more. Her vision and understanding of God and the nature of love, grace, and mercy is powerful and necessary. I hope we won't soon forget.

guilty...

2007-08-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

I am not reading any of my 'current' books. Why?

We watched 'Walk the Line' two weekends ago and after watching it I checked out all the Johnny Cash biographies and autobiographies that I could find from the library. This is not a sudden infatuation, although, it may seem one.

I grew up with my Mom's love of Johnny Cash and I liked him too. Last fall, I bought her his last album just him, his guitar, and his mother's hymn book. I think nearly all of it was recorded in one take. I remember reading the liner notes, listening to his voice, and falling in love again with his depth of sound.

I am finding a lot of God's grace in his life as I read through these books. They fascinate me - complexity and contradiction are evident in his life as well as a powerful compassion and grace.

extension

2007-08-22T04:30:00.000-07:00

I am making slow progress on Middlemarch but apparently so is everyone else. The classics book club has extended the time for the next meeting.

Mark Twain

2007-08-20T15:00:00.000-07:00

I must remember never to underestimate Mark Twain. I just read The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras Countyand then wrote some articles about it. I have to admit that reading dialog is difficult for me. It often bogs me down.

As a result, the first time I finished the story, I didn't get it. It seemed like an absurd bit of a tall tale, with no real point but the author's own amusement. Then I read the story following it, which was Niagara. For some reason, Twain's satirical wit was obvious to me when I read the second story. I returned to the Jumping Frog and began to absorb more of the story. Then I started my research. Mark Twain is rich. We shouldn't underestimate his skill.

Do I like the story? It's okay. But now I can appreciate it. Appreciation is important - not all life is fun but we can learn to appreciate it.

Am I moralistic fool today, or what?

a little James Herriot

2007-08-14T13:00:00.000-07:00

The card dangled above the old lady's bed. It read "God is Near" but it wasn't like the usual religious text. It didn't have a frame or ornate printing. It was just a strip of cardboard about eight inches long with lain lettering which migh have said "No smoking" or "Exit" and it was looped careless over an old gas bracket so that Miss Stubbs from where sh lay could look up at it and read "God is Near" in square black capitals.

There wasn't much more Miss Stubbs could see; perhaps a few feet of privet hedge through the frayed curtains but mainly it was just the cluttered little room which had been her world for so many years.

The chapter goes on to tell how James Herriot took care of her animals. After one of her pets dies they discuss what happens to animals after they die. She wanted to know that she would be reunited with them in heaven. She died a short time later.

In the last paragraph, he writes:

When I had got everything I looked slowly around the little room. I wouldn't be coming here any more and at the door I paused and read for the last time the card which hung over an empty bed.

Middlemarch and Garden Lunacy

2007-08-13T13:36:00.000-07:00

Currently, I am reading Middlemarch and Garden Lunacy at the same time.

I am reading Middlemarch for our classics book club at the end of the month. I like it. Sometimes I find it a little thick. Mr Brooke's method of talking just plain confuses me - I am certain it is intentional but it gets very, very old.

I did some research on George Eliot before I started the book. Several different sources mentioned that she was one of the first novelists to allow her characters to think. She does. Sometimes I don't like the way they think - I find them infuriating and wish that there were some form of wisdom in their actions rather than the futility most of them exercise. However, maybe that will change. I am not very far into the book.

Garden Lunacy is a nice light read. It isn't as funny as I had hoped. The subject matter and anecdotes are funny but his style of writing doesn't pull me into the humor to the extent that I laugh out loud.

it was a book night

2007-07-31T03:56:00.000-07:00

Last night I met with the Classics book club that I belong to. Our discussion book was Uncle Tom's Cabin. We all agreed that the book has often been maligned and ought to be read by more people. We also agree that it isn't a perfect novel, Stowe sometimes oversteps her own characters to make a point. However, have you read very many perfect novels? I didn't think so.

While there, I mentioned reading circles. A reading circle is a slightly different take on a book club. A reading circle is defined as

These are a new kind of book group where people attend with whatever they're reading. The only structure is if participants decide to have an 'optional book.' Otherwise, everyone just brings their own books, articles, magazines, and conversation goes from there. The idea is to loosen the usual format so participants can select their own reading and attend even if they're still in the middle of a book. Conversation inevitably covers the books brought and many other subjects as well.

Deb (this book club is her pet) decided at the end of club that we should all bring our current reading material to club next month as well as discuss the current topic! Yeah!

When I got home, I finished reading my current book which is "The Lost Mother" by Mary McGarry Morris. I will write more about that later.

Have a great day!

ahem, six more books today

2007-07-26T14:31:00.001-07:00

I got six more books in the mail today.

I'm about half way through The Lost Mother. It is compelling. But recently, I find it hard to make myself sit and read even when I have time. When I am outside I want to do yard work. It matters little that the air quality is bad, the heat intense, and my cold is turning into a sinus infection...I can't just look at my garden. When I am inside I might as well be sitting in the middle of play land for all the chaos and noise surrounding me and unlike play land where the children ignore you, I have a constant demand for attention here at home.

My other main reading time is the evening and right now we have a Netflix rental that needs watching. This is a disc with three episodes of the television series Highlander on it so it must be watched one episode per night and then - I need sleep. And, I must watch these. I subscribed us to Netflix (one disc at a time subscription) so that I would force myself to join my husband in front of the television occasionally. He likes me to watch the tube with him.

I would really appreciate anyone who popped over to Suite101 and filled out my bibliophile poll (it is down on the bottom of the page).

it is not a good idea

2007-07-25T14:08:00.000-07:00

To take two over-active sick children to the library. It just isn't. They can't keep quiet or sit still and they throw tantrums. What was I thinking? Actually, it is quite simple, the air quality around here is bad and I thought I ought to get out of the house so that the kids could have a change of scenery.

finished

2007-07-24T14:38:00.000-07:00

Uncle Tom's Cabin, Jane Eyre, and The Earth Moved by Amy Steward. As strange as it may seem - Amy Stewart's book about earthworms was the book I couldn't put down.

At the moment, I am writing a plethora of related articles on Uncle Tom's Cabin for Suite101.

6 books for 99 cents

2007-07-23T12:47:00.000-07:00

from the Literary Guild!! And look how literary I can be! I can choose from the following titillating titles:

SuperHotSex
The Couple's Guide to Love and Sex
Daily Sex
The One-Hour Orgasm
The Passion Prescription
Erotica
Massage for Lovers
Naughtier Bedtime Stories
302 Advanced Techniques for Driving a Man Wild in Bed

and of course the ever popular

Kama Sutra (for 21st Century Lovers)

I am sure my cultural knowledge would soar if I read any of these books (NOT!)...I find it revolting that they send this out in the mail - I cringe to think if my daughters picked up the flyer and saw the covers of these books.

what I am nearly done reading

2007-07-20T15:42:00.000-07:00

I am nearly finished with two books - one is Uncle Tom's Cabin, which I have found surprising in the profound thoughts it has given me to ponder. Second is The Earth Moved by Amy Stewart which has me absolutely fascinated with earthworms. They are the coolest creatures.

two cool things

2007-07-07T04:49:00.000-07:00

I ran across these two sites this week. The first one is Reader's Circle. What I liked about Reader's Circle is that they introduced me to a new idea in book clubs, clubs that are called reader's circles. They define a reader's circle as:

These are a new kind of book group where people attend with whatever they're reading. The only structure is if participants decide to have an 'optional book.' Otherwise, everyone just brings their own books, articles, magazines, and conversation goes from there. The idea is to loosen the usual format so participants can select their own reading and attend even if they're still in the middle of a book. Conversation inevitably covers the books brought and many other subjects as well.

I also found a site called BookCrossing. I am going to do this and soon!

bookcrossing
n. the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise.

(added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary in August 2004)

The Magic Garden

2007-07-04T13:55:00.000-07:00

When I was a child, my father worked as the city maintenance man for a town of four-hundred. What that meant was that he did everything that small town needed, including work as the trash man. One of the perks of a father who hauls trash is that boxes of books would find their way home. Some of my all-time favorite books came to us through Dad's acquisitions.

Among my favorite acquisitions was an incredibly tattered copy of a book called The Magic Garden. It had funny old-fashioned illustrations and marginalia in green ink. I read that book numerous times as a young child and teen. When I left home, I took it with me. At some point, after the back cover fell off, I must have thrown it away because I don't have it anymore.

A few years back I decided I wanted to read it again but I couldn't remember the title of the book or the author. So after trying every conceivable word combination to find the book on the internet, I almost gave up. Then I stumbled on Loganberry Books and a little forum called "Stump the Bookseller."

I had my answer within a day and within two days she had found a copy of my book: The Magic Garden by Gene Stratton Porter.

I wrote a review of the book for Suite101.

John Goodall picture books

2007-07-02T13:12:00.000-07:00

A long, long time ago (in our world that would be anytime pre-dating K's birth), C found two picture books at Half-Price Books. We bought them for her. I was delighted that she had picked such charming books but didn't give the books much attention. Then she asked me to read them to her. When I had to 'read' the stories in these wordless books, Goodall's narrative skill as an illustrator became clear. These books are classic and timeless.

I wrote a review where I mention five of his books for Suite101.

Interview with the Devil: by Clay Jacobsen

2007-06-29T13:23:00.000-07:00

The book for my church book club this month was Interview with the Devil by Clay Jacobsen. It was a very fast-paced easy read. As a friend of my said in her review of it, it was not boring. It was a good beach read but not a great piece of literature.

The book is about a Christian Journalist who is given the opportunity to interview the biggest terrorist in the post-9/11 world. It follows him through the decision making process and the issues that come up during decision making and along his journey to the interview and through to the broadcast of his interview.

The story had an abundance of characters and locations. Jacobsen deftly shifted location and characters about every page and a half on average, which drew the reader in and kept them reading. The book had lots of weapons, action, and violence. It had a happy ending.

However, it did spark some really good discussion at book club last night. Not all the discussion centered on the central theme of the book, which was Christianity versus the Muslim faith. (The author Clay Jacobsen, did an excellent job contrasting the two faiths and of presenting the gospel in a clear easy-to-understand fashion). Much of the discussion centered on the habit of telling lies and where lies fit in when one is trying to do God's will. Among the famous scriptural and historical lies we brought into the discussion were the lies of the Egyptian midwives when Pharaoh wanted the boy babies killed, Abram's lie that Sarai was his sister and not his wife, Corrie TenBoom's lies, Rahab's lie to save Joshua and his spies in the land of Canaan, and of course the fictive lies of Mark Taylor the hero of our story.

One interesting thing that I noted in the discussion is that the biblical lies were rewarded in the cases where not only were the liers attempting to do God's will but also when the lies were to protect others (Corrie Ten Boom's lies would fit into this category) while lies told in service to self such as Abram's were punished by God.

Maybe it wasn't a great book but it was at least, provoking.

Peace Like a River: Leif Enger

2007-06-27T13:50:00.000-07:00

I read this book originally for my church book club. It was interesting to discuss because the group was divided evenly. Some loved it and some did not. I loved it.

Those who did not found Enger to be too verbose. Those of us who loved him agreed that his use of language was rich and that he clearly loved to play with it.

I found his language and descriptions compelling they sucked me into a mind that was different and had an unusual point of view. Part of what made Enger's words compelling is that he was aware of our sensory needs but not in a simple descriptive the 'car was red' sort of way.

We hunted again that afternoon, under skies so cold frost paisleyed the gunbarrels.

The simplicity and directness of that description puts me there in my own memory.

I wrote a review about Peace Like a River for Suite101.

do you keep track of what you read?

2007-06-25T11:45:00.000-07:00

I used to. In fact when I was really into access databases, I had one for books. I dropped it. Recently, a friend of mine connected me with Goodreads. I didn't know that such a thing existed. Now that I am blogging on American Fiction for Suite101, I decided to check into online book catalogs a bit more as I thought it might be a good topic for my Suite101 blog. It was a good topic and it was interesting. I found three giants in the world of organizing your reading material. Goodreads, LibraryThing, and Revish.

After researching them, I am pretty happy with Goodreads. I think Revish has a cool idea in Revish Connect where you can pay a small fee and get books from publishers if you are willing to write a review on them (I don't think the idea is actually live yet) - but I don't think I need that. I have too much on my plate already.

Yesterday, I finally finished "The Devil Kissed Her" by Kathy Watson. The story of Charles and Mary Lamb is fascinating and certainly worth reading. The life of the literary class at that time often seem surreal to me. I read about the things that Coleridge, Wordsworth, or any of the other literary lions from the time said or did and it just boggles me. In addition to the fascinating story of Mary's madness, this book contains plenty of references to the literary society of that time.

If you aren't aware, Charles and Mary co-wrote the children's book Tales From Shakespeare which is the only children's book that still exists from that time period with the exception of The Swiss Family Robinson. However, before the book and Mary's writing career, came Mary's madness. During her first fit of madness, she killed her mother with a butcher knife. Remarkably, she was turned over to her brother's care and lived a long and interesting life.

It is a fascinating subject.

Frodo and LSD

2007-06-18T03:34:00.000-07:00

I am working on a post recommending book lists for my Suite101 blog and found a very cool booklist. Certainly, I am not going to read all of the recommendations as I don't agree with all of them but I really like this list by Time magazine because it links to the original reviews that Time critics wrote about the book and what they say can be very revealing about how the book was originally received and about the history and culture of the time.

I get a kick out of this line from the 1966 review of Lord of the Rings:

The hobbit habit seems to be almost as catching as LSD. On many U.S. campuses, buttons declaring FRODO LIVES and GO GO GANDALF—frequently written in Elvish script—are almost as common as football letters.

or take this review in 1983 about the novel Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin:

Fourteen-year-old John is the hero of Go Tell It on the Mountain, a first novel by a 28-year-old Negro who sometimes writes with the powerful rocking rhythms of a storefront-church meeting. Author James Baldwin's own father was a Harlem clergyman, and the church scenes in go Tell It are as compelling as anything that has turned up in a U.S. novel this year...

Near the end of Go Tell It, Johnny, too, is saved, in a scene so intense that God's presence seems to live on the page. But before that, the secret sufferings of a dozen people have been relentlessly exposed, and the sufferings of Baldwin's race have brought forth the harsh resentments of author and characters alike. Baldwin, for so good a writer, allows himself the luxury of a silly statement: "I wanted my people to be people first, Negroes almost incidentally." People they certainly are, but so movingly and intensely Negro that any reader listening to them with the compassion Baldwin evokes will overlook his cliche.

The language of this review and how it references Baldwin says a lot about race during that era. It makes me glad that I didn't live then.

For more lists, read my article at Suite101.

great news for readers

2007-06-15T12:42:00.000-07:00

straight from the U.S. Government report Reading at Risk.

We are better people not only intellectually but we are more involved in charitable causes and in athletic activities.

Man, I hate to think how overweight I would be if I didn't read!!

so tell me, why do you read?

2007-06-14T20:17:00.000-07:00

I read because I like to know things. For that reason, I read a lot of non-fiction. When I read fiction, I often read things that expand my mind. I am kind of stupid. I am always surprised when I read something that is purely escapist or is very funny. It is fun to read light and funny stuff. Why don't I do it more often?

Why do you read?