Magazines

Do you keep magazines? I do. I am, perhaps, a magazine hoarder. I have every issue of Taste of Home ever delivered to my mailbox, probably close to 10 years worth at this point. Unfortunately, it's not just Taste of Home. It's pretty much every magazine I've ever laid hands on...cooking, running, reading, life. It's a problem.

Before we moved to Kansas, I did purge my Real Simple magazines, tore out anything I wanted to keep and put the rest in a pile to donate to the library. I had set aside, oh, maybe 8 that I really wanted to keep. Unfortunately, my dear husband who was taking the magazines to the library for me didn't know there was a distinction between the two piles and donated every last one. Tears may or may not have been shed.

One magazine that I no longer receive but cannot bear to part with is "Bookmarks". It rates and reviews all kinds of literature and is a priceless resource for readers. (It's also kind of pricey, which is why I no longer subscribe). My favorite feature is the article where they highlight a book club each issue. It's fun to see what other book clubs have enjoyed reading, what they haven't liked and how they're structured.

Recently, I was looking through some of my mom's old issues (she's still a subscriber) and noticed that in several issues the featured book clubs mentioned "The Other Boleyn Girl" as one of their favorites. I figured it must be worth a read.

I'm disappointed to say that it was not a book I enjoyed and not one I would recommend others read. Perhaps it's because it was so long (not normally something I dislike) and about a story that I already knew the end of. If you don't know the story of Anne Boleyn and Henry the 8th, you may find it more enjoyable, but reading 600 pages and knowing the end of the story...not my favorite thing. The story is told from the perspective of Anne's sister, Mary, and follows history to some extent. I know the author took great liberties, though. I didn't stop reading, so it obviously wasn't horrible, and parts were fascinating. But, I think what disturbed me the most was the complete and utter excess and self-indulgence of the royalty in that time period. Wow. It was repulsive.

Anyway, I don't normally post about books I don't like, but this one made quite the impression. After finishing, I read one of CJ's books that he LOVED, City of Ember. And, then I read it's sequel People of Sparks. They were great books with really good messages.

What's next? I don't know. I'll probably tackle either Green or Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. I am reading The Hole in Our Gospel...and committed to reading some of it each day. It's about that time.

happy reading!

Spring Reading Thing 2011

Can you believe that spring has arrived? I have to tell you if there is one season where I am inclined to read less rather than more, it is spring. I'm not sure why but I think it has to do with getting out of the rut of winter, and I definitely do a lot of reading in the winter.

Nevertheless, I am going to participate in Callapidder Days Spring Reading Thing. It's an easy challenge. Just make a list of books you want to read this spring and then read them. :) Want more information? Go here.

What's on my list? I'm going to try to keep it shorter this time.

Non-Fiction:
The Whole Life Adoption Book (this has been on numerous lists)
The Hole in our Gospel (this one too)
The Good and Beautiful God

Fiction:
Green by Ted Dekker
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (book club, a re-read for me) by John Berendt
Left Neglected by Lisa Genova

There are others on my nighstand and on my library list. But, this is it for my list...for now.

Want to see what others are reading? Check out all the links HERE. (I'll let you in on a little secret...my favorite part of the challenge: finding out about new books/authors from the other readers).

March Reading

Ack...I'm kind of falling behind on posting and feel like I've forgotten what I've read recently.

Let's see. My book club picked "Room" by Emma Donoghue which was already sitting in my TBR pile. I waited to read until last week, so that hopefully I would remember a little more of it than last month's book (Bridget Jones's Diary -which I read too soon). Another book on the list for this month was "The Summer We Got Saved" - definitely one I hope to get at the library.

Also, this month I read Robert Whitlow's Tides of Truth series, three books about a female law clerk set in Savannah, GA. They were super quick, light reads. I actually got the first one on my Kindle for free and used the text-to-speech feature to listen to it as I drove to my parents'. The computer-generated voice takes a little getting used to and occasionally had some pretty funny pronunciations...for example, it pronounced Zach phonetically. So, once I started reading the books, I couldn't help but call him Zach (with ch- as in church).

I'm also taking part in a read-a-long of Jane Eyre hosted over at We'll Always Have Books. I'm a bit behind but should finish before the end of the month.

I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting something...

What's next?

I'm looking forward to book club on Thursday where we'll pick a book for April. I also still have "Green" and "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" from the library. I've started "The Other Boleyn Girl" and need to get back to it. And I'm waiting on about 5 books from the library. I'll save those for the next post.

Happy Reading!

February Reading

I love it when I go to the library and find books that I didn't even know I wanted to read. Or even books that I had considered reading or found intriguing but hadn't yet requested. I really like those library trips.

This past week I ran to the library on Tuesday when snow was falling frantically from the sky. Mostly it was to pick up a couple books on hold that had to be picked up or I risked losing them (and owing $1 for each). My two books on hold: Green by Ted Dekker and The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. When I ventured over to the new arrivals shelf, I found two more books: Roses by Leila Meacham and The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender.

I devoured Roses - don't judge the book by its cover. It's not one I would have picked up based on its appearance, but the back cover compared it to Gone with the Wind but set in Texas, a rather generous comparison in my estimation, but nevertheless I enjoyed the saga...a lot. And, I've just started The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake and it is also a delightful book.

Also on my nightstand:
Green
The Elegance of the Hedgehog
The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny
Sabotaged by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Jr Fiction)
Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham

Happy Reading!

Slow Recovery

So, I just finished "World Without End" by Ken Follett, the 1014-page sequel to "The Pillars of the Earth". A book that size requires a sizable investment of reading time. I actually finished it early this week and I just haven't been able to bring myself to pick up a new book. It is hard to follow stories that span 1000+ pages with one of C's Jr. Fiction books that I need to read, or almost anything else. So, I'm not quite sure what will be next.

It will likely be next month's book club book...which is being chosen at book club tonight...which I am not at...sad. I had to travel for work this month, which is preventing me from taking part in what I am sure is a great discussion about Princess Di's life. I'm looking forward to hearing what book we'll be reading this next month (and actually got to cast my vote early).

Other possibilities for the next book to be read: Sabotage by Margaret Peterson Haddix, The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns or...? Anyone have any suggestions?

The Book Box

The book box was filled with good things. Here's the quick recap:

• Fall of Giants by Ken Follett
• Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
• Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon
• A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg
• The Distant Hours by Kate Morton
• Perfect One-Dish Dinners by Pam Anderson
• Barefoot Contessa: How Easy is That?

I've got some good reading ahead of me in 2011. Right now, on my nightstand: The Diana Chronicles by Tina Brown (January book club) and Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix.

I added a list on the sidebar of this blog to track what I read during 2011. See that for my most recent reads.

Fall into Reading Recap

Well, winter has officially arrived and with it, the end of the Fall into Reading challenge.

How did I do? Well, I lost a little steam at the end. The end of the list is much too restrictive for me. I never "feel" like reading the few things that are left. So, the three remaining on my list were "The Catcher in the Rye", "The Whole Life Adoption Book" and "The Hole in our Gospel". Shame on me. I abandoned the non-fiction once again. These three books will definitely be high on the list for 2011.

Now let's talk about what I did read. I just looked back at my list, and it seems like I read some of those books a long time ago. There were lots of great ones in this list. Without a doubt, the best read was "The Book Thief". I also really enjoyed Francine River's new duo, "Her Mother's Hope"/"Her Daughter's Dream". Ted Dekker's Circle Trilogy (Black/Red/White) was different from anything else I've read and absolutely captivating. "Green" will definitely be on my 2011 list.

In my defense, I did read some non-fiction, including "A Homemade Life" and "My Life in France". I like reading about food obviously. In fact "A Homemade Life" made my Christmas list because of the delicious-sounding recipes at the end of each chapter.

I threw in a few extras as well, Dave Rosenfelt's new one, "Dog Tags" and a free book I had on my Kindle, "Mossy Creek", plus some library books "Winter Garden, "Innocent", "House Rules" and "A Rule Against Murder"...and maybe a Percy Jackson. Total books read this fall = approximately 22.

This is a great challenge! Thanks to Callapidder Days for hosting.