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One reader's thoughts as she steps from book to book.
Books I've Finished
- "A Christmas Memory"
- by Truman Capote 12/8/12
- "Child's Christmas in Wales"
- by Dylan Thomas 12/7/12
- "One Christmas"
- by Truman Capote 11/29/12
- "The Thanksgiving Visitor"
- by Truman Capote 11/29/12
- Inside Mrs. B's Classroom
- by Leslie Baldacci 11/28/12
- The Bee Eater
- by Richard Whitmire 11/15/12
- There Are No Shortcuts
- by Rafe Esquith 10/28/12
- I'd Like to Apologize to
- Every Teacher I Ever Had
- by Tony Danza 10/21/12
- Corked
- by Kathryn Borel 10/15/12
- Year of Learning Dangerously
- by Quinn Cummings 9/30/12
- A Hologram for the King
- by Dave Eggers 8/23/12
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- by Harper Lee 7/18/12
About Me
- Christine
- I often have a few books with bookmarks in them at once. I enjoy classics more than contemporary works of fiction, often read historical fiction, and love to get glimpses into other people's lives by reading memoirs and biographies.
9 comments:
I'm on a bit of a Terry Pratchett kick, probably due to the news about his Alzheimer's. I just finished Eric, which was a funny spoof on Faust and bureaucracies (which cohere much better than you'd think), and I'm now in the middle of Monstrous Regiment, which is absolutely hilarious.
I finished The Children's Blizzard last week--SO good!! Even lying in my warm bed with my kitty curled up against my stomach, I felt cold from reading the accounts of the blizzard as it hit. It was amazingly well done, and downright terrifying for those of us who are familiar with life on the prairie.
Last night I started The Poisonwood Bible. My mother's been after me for YEARS to read this...I almost don't want to tell her I've started it. I don't want to give her the satisfaction & crowing rights. ;-)
I finished "Frannie and Zooey", and will read it again someday. I dumped "The Forest Lover" - schmaltzy. And I am reading "The Cheese Monkeys" - the author is recalling his fresh year at Penn State as an art major. It's vivid, crass and funny. The drawing professor is memorable, as his her still life of a pomegranite, a headless kiwi bird named Renaldo and a scarf...
Poisonwood Bible's quite enjoyable, Heather. Hope you like it, too.
I just finished "Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities" by Alexandra Robbins. Ms. Robbins is a journalist by trade and it shows in her writing style. She states in the preface that her goal in the book is to show the reality of the Greek system, not to cast it in one light or another. I think that, overall, she succeeds in keeping her biases separate.
But the reality isn't pretty, to say the least. It was much more in-depth than I had expected, and far less sensationalistic.
Ohhhh, Erin, I've picked up Pledged a few times and considered it. Did it get you mad? That's why I've never read it. Thought it would just get me all worked up.
Heather, how's Poisonwood coming along? There are passages in that book that are among the most moving that I've ever read.
DRD, I wouldn't know Terry Pratchett from Adam's off ox! Who is he? Sci-fi writer? Fantasy?
Sophia, I know you've finished Cheese Monkeys now and said you liked it. I STILL have your copy of Three Cups of Tea and WILL get to it. Do you need it back?
Terry Pratchett is a fantasy writer, he's British and good friends with Neil Gaiman (they wrote Good Omens together). Pratchett has written an incredible number of books--he has over a shelf devoted to him at B&N, all set in his DiscWorld Universe, in which the flat earth is revolved around by the sun.
Christine, some parts of "Pledged" did get me angry, or sad. It especially broke my heart that these young women have so much potential to be active in the world, but put all of their energy into what is, in the end, a big popularity contest.
I would still recommend picking it up. I think what Ms. Robbins has to say merits attention, and it's only through attention to these issues that change will come about.
My favorite parts were the passages about local chapters. They are unaffiliated with National sorority offices, are founded by students, and are far more diverse. Furthermore, they focus primarily on community service, and they avoid the insular, exclusive atmosphere of many official sororities.
Erin, I think you would like Appetites by C. Knapp.
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