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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.
4 comments:
I finished Darrell Hammond's book, and it's amazing how precise and skilled he was onstage all those years on SNL doing spot-on impressions, because his inner (and sometimes outer) life was filled with turmoil. If what Hammond writes is true, this can be almost totally attributed to his mother, who sounds like a textbook sociopath. I literally became sick to my stomach reading about some of his experiences and interactions with his mother when he was very little. I'm happy for him that he has his addictions and other demons under control, at least for the time being.
I've picked up Hedy's Folly, about Hedy Lammar (sp?), but I haven't even started it yet so I'll save talking about that for next time.
I'm in the middle of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, which is not nearly as much fun as other Douglas Adams books, although I'm enjoying it. Finished Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island this weekend; probably not a good choice coming off my trip from Italy. The descriptions of Oxford (even though he didn't like it much) made me want to be traveling again so badly.
Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading, Sankovtich
I thought of Christine and her Reading Promise when I chose this book.
This is the first book I bought for and read on the Nook. It’s a memoir of a lady who having lost her sister is grieving, and decides to read a book a day to recover. The rules are simple: a new book every day, nothing previously read, nothing more than an inch thick, write a review of each book read on her daily blog. It’s full of reviews (she includes the entire reading list; lots of them I’ve read & even more will go on my “to read” list), and insights, and lessons learned, and personal memories, etc.
Following is the author's summary of her book: "'Tolstoy and the Purple Chair' tells the story of how, after losing my oldest sister to cancer, I found myself running faster and faster away from sorrow, guilt, and fear. On my forty-sixth birthday - the same age my sister was when she died - I stopped running, dropped down into a chair and began to read. My year of reading was a discovery for me, not only of the truths found in books but also of memories, both personal and of my family. Tolstoy and the Purple Chair is the story of my year of reading. I describe how I met my other obligations - four kids, a husband, three cats, friends, school volunteer work, and piles of laundry - while still finding time each day to read and to write, and I recount the moments of epiphany that came to me, spurring me onward in my quest. Most of all, Tolstoy and the Purple Chair is the story of how reading helped me pull through the grief of losing a loved one, and how books brought me back to my family, hopeful, happy, and ready to move forward again. My book illustrates the motto of my website, "Great good comes from reading great books" and is proof of the all-encompassing power and delight of reading."
It was a good read, but I have to say this about that: I’m sorry the author lost her sister. Grief is always hard and personal. But if she has the time, the money, and the family support to read a new book every day, cover to cover, her life really isn’t that bad.
Lisa, I am very interested in the Darrell Hammond book but haven't read it because I was afraid the early part of the book would be detailed scenes of abuse. I am faint-of-heart. I did, however, skip to the late middle of the book once to read how he studied various "characters" by watching film clips of them over and over until he could nail his impersonations. I love reading about real people doing their real work in the world.
DRD, knowing you are a big Bryson fan, I am wondering if this was a first read of Notes from a Small Island? It must have been a reread, right?
Mary, what an interesting book! I've sought out her blog (http://www.readallday.org/blog/) and will go to it often, I'm sure. I love the idea of reading slim books and covering so much ground in a single month. Thanks for sharing. Looking into this book lead me to the one I'll put up as my next post.
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