Falling Behind Fast

So, I must have composed a few posts in my head, because I sure thought I was more up to date than this.

I added "Her Fearful Symmetry" to my list when my mom showed up with a copy loaned to her from a friend. I read it quickly so that I could return it to her. A rather bizarre book, I must say, but so was "The Time Traveler's Wife" (same author). I definitely preferred "The Time Traveler's Wife".

I'm certain I've added another book or two in my head but am, of course, drawing a blank now.

Also finished "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" (Jan. 8th?) and "The Hidden Art of Homemaking" (Jan. 18th). That book club was interesting...it didn't rate very well among anyone.

Next month's book club pick - "The Painted Veil".

I've also started the "Mark of the Lion" series by Francine Rivers. It took me a few chapters to get into the first book, but I'm loving it now. I finished "A Voice in the Wind" and am reading "An Echo in the Darkness". In the midst of reading this, I've also been reading a lot of the Old Testament. The series references many of the events I am reading about...the timing has been great.

Phil is finished "The Long Walk" as I type. I might need to add that to my pile.

And, last but not least, I need to decide on a non-fiction book for February. Any suggestions?

A list for 2010

Well, I've been working on a list for 2010. It's far from complete, but here's a few of the titles I'm considering.

The Girl who Played with Fire - finished 1/3/10
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - finished 1/8/10
The Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers: Book #1 - finished 1/23/10 , Book #2 - finished 1/25/10, Book #3 - finished 1/30/10
The Hole in our Gospel
The Hidden Art of Homemaking (January book club pick) - finished 1/18/10
Boundaries
The Strong-Willed Wife
The Grapes of Wrath
The Catcher in the Rye
The Book Thief
The Pillars of the Earth - finished 5/16/10
The Art of Racing in the Rain
- Added to the original list -
Her Fearful Symmetry - finished 1/10/10
The Painted Veil (Feb. book club) - finished 2/19/10
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie - finished 2/3/10
True Colors by Kristin Hannah - finished 2/4/10
The Baker Street Letters - finished 2/7/10
365 Nights - finished 2/2010
Sweethearts (YA) - finished 2/23/10
The Cruelest Month - finished 2/28/10
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families - finished 4/2010
Getting Things Done - finished finally 4/23/2010
Down to the Wire - finished 3/2010
Cloud Atlas (Apr. book club) - finished 4/15/2010
Breathing Lessons (May book club) - finished 4/24/2010
Take One by Karen Kingsbury (free on Kindle) - finished 4/19/2010
Take Two - finished 4/21/2010
Rainwater - finished 4/25/2010 (do not judge this book by its author...it's like nothing else that she has written)
Take Three - can't quite remember when I finished this one...4/2010 or 5/2010
All God's Creatures - 5/2010
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (June book club) - finished 6/13/10
The Girl who Played with Fire (re-read) - finished 6/27/10
The Girl who kicked the Hornet's nest - finished 7/1/10
The Housekeeper and the Professor - finished 5/31/10
The Yellow Lighted Bookshop
Mockingjay (on pre-order from Amazon)
The Whole Life Adoption Book
World without End
Unveiled by Francine Rivers - finished 6/4/10
U is for Undertow - finished 6/8/10
Percy Jackson & the Olympians Book #1 - finished 6/10/10
Beatrice & Virgil - finished 6/10/10
The Recipe Club - finished 6/11/10
The Other Wes Moore - finished 6/??/10
The Lost Art of Happiness - finished 6/??/10
The Postmistress - finished 7/2010
The Poisonwood Bible - finished 7/2010 - our July book club pick. Because of baseball I had to miss the discussion. So sad. To miss the discussion that is.
If Life is a Bowl of Cherries, What am I Doing in the Pits? - finished 7/17/10


Plenty will be added, I'm sure. And probably a few will be taken away.










Visit Life as Mom for her Booking It challenge this year. It will be fun to follow along as others tackle their reading lists, whatever the size or challenge.

In My Book Box

This year's book box was a little lighter than usual. Its contents included: "Half-Broke Horses", "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil", "Kneadlessly Simple" (a book on bread-baking), a local cookbook and a couple movies. But, and it's a big but, the next box held an Amazon Kindle. Now, I have most books at my fingertips for a mere $9.99.

So far, I've been exploring the free books available for the Kindle. I've added "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", "Mossy Tree", and "All God's Creatures". I also purchased (with a Christmas gift card) "The Host" and "The Girl Who Played with Fire". So, I have plenty of reading.

Still working on my 2010 list...

A Recap of Reading

Wow. Is fall really over? It just flew by.

I really enjoyed the "Fall into Reading" challenge and feel like I made good progress on my list. I finished 12 of 18, read a few other books in the meantime, and obviously neglected most of the non-fiction on my list. Next time, I think I need to read the non-fiction first. Or at least alternate. And, maybe, just maybe, 18 books is a few too many for two months.

I learned that just as I often want to be inspired to make a certain recipe, I feel the same about books. Certain ones on my list just didn't "sound good" when it was time to read them. I also will try to not save the most depressing books on the list for December next year. And I learned the reading others' Fall into Reading lists was a dangerous pasttime.

My favorites - "The Hunger Games" and "The Time Traveler's Wife" but I honestly enjoyed most all of them. (And "The Hunger Games" was one that I added to my list after seeing it on several others'. Thanks for the recommendation!)

Thanks to Callapidder Days for hosting the challenge. I can't wait to partipate again next time.

Last night after I finished "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" (I spent most of the afternoon reading because it was due back at the library 3 days ago), my husband asked me what I'm going to read next. And, I just don't know. I feel like I need to work on another list.

Some possibilities...
January's book club pick, "The Hidden Art of Homemaking"
A few library books waiting to be read, "America, America" or "A Fatal Grace"
Any of the non-fiction books I didn't read or haven't finished, "The Strong-Willed Wife", "Boundaries", "The Emotionally Healthy Church"

Or...

Whatever is in my Christmas box of books...my all-time favorite gift to open. Stay tuned...

Note to Self

Last year in December, our book club chose to read "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier". It's the only time since our book club began that I chose not to finish the book. My heart couldn't handle reading a true story about boy soldiers in Africa and the horrors they experienced and continue to in the midst of the Christmas season. I put the book down, went to book club and thoroughly enjoyed the discussion.

You would think I would have learned from that experience. But, for some reason, all the fiction books remaining on my Fall Into Reading list are a little on the depressing side, not so suitable for holiday reading. I stayed up until 1:30am last night finishing "A Thousand Splendid Suns", an excellent tale about the history of Afghanistan, particularly in its oppression of women. Not light hearted fun reading, though. I cried my eyes out.

"Shanghai Girls" was not a lot better in that regard. And, I know from reading the first half of "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" that it is not a happy book. (And right now I'm not even intending to finish it before December 20th. That tragedy can wait until January).

Alas, I also have a fair amount of non-fiction left to read. I should have spread that out a little more. Next time...

December Book Club

Almost two years ago, I joined a book club. We meet the third Thursday of each month, and I look forward to it all month long. We call our book club "Women of Great Taste"...great taste in books, food, friendship.

Food? Yes, we eat at our book club, something that is somehow related to the book. It's always fun to show up and find out what the host has come up with, for examples when we read "The Five Love Languages", the host served punch and wedding cake.

At the end of our meeting, we pick our book for the next month. The next month's host chooses a genre or theme and then offers 3-5 book suggestions. A vote decides which book we will read.

This past month, I had read all the books on the list. :) But, they were all good books, and I was excited that our group chose to read "Water for Elephants". I have added it to my FIR list and am hoping to re-read it before we meet next week.

But, first I have to finish "A Thousand Splendid Suns".

Where did November go?

After sailing through 8 books on my list, I started "Three Cups of Tea". Who knew that it would take me until the end of November to finish it?

It was a great book, so inspiring. It made me feel like I should be doing something but just what, I'm not sure. I am hoping my husband will read it too. He prefers non-fiction, so perhaps it will be just his thing.

I'm at a bit of a loss for what to read next. I'm tempted to start "A Thousand Splendid Suns" but since I just read about Afghanistan and Pakistan, I think I'll wait. "Shanghai Girls" is waiting to be picked up at the library.

And then, there is this pile of books I checked out last week that aren't on the list at all...gasp! And those are the books I want to read: "Entertaining Disasters" (I'm actually about 1/3 of the way through with it), "The 19th Wife", "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", and "Fatal Grace" (the book that follows "Still Life").

But, I also want to make progress on my list, so we'll see what this evening brings. I'll probably try to finish "Entertaining Disasters" and then start "Shanghai Girls" or finish (I started this summer) "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle". We will see.