March 2009 Book Challenge - Page 3

[KaraBoo]

Thanks for that, friendto all. I'll look it up! It sounds very interesting to me.

I have to cry, though, because the library website lost my saved list. I've been using these threads to save books for later and now it's all gone!

[Bufomander]

Originally Posted by KaraBoo

I have to cry, though, because the library website lost my saved list. I've been using these threads to save books for later and now it's all gone!

Oh no! Are you just going to start from scratch?

#31 Never Tell a Lie by Hallie Ephron
My book confession of the week: This was basically a Lifetime TV movie on paper. (and I say that not having had a TV for about 7 years -- but my husband often refers to the Baby Monitor: Sound of Fear movie we happened to see a few years ago)..... If that sounds good to you, and you aren't pregnant, you might enjoy this book.

#32 The Housekeeper and The Professor by Yoko Ogawa
a short novel -- cute and interesting. One of the main characters is a math professor -- and some of that went over my head, but also intrigued me as I tried to figure some of it out. Basic premise is that the professor was in an accident and now his memory lasts 80 minutes flat. A new housekeeper is hired (after many have left) who has a 10 year old son. Each morning it is like he is meeting her anew.

[PassionateWriter]

i havent been reading as much as i would like. im a bit annoyed about it. i think i need to venture into audio books. our library has a ton of ones on tape but i dont have a tape player in my car.

Originally Posted by kaliki_kila

Her Grace is still killing, just has an added dimension to it

yeh, after i read your review, i found out a few pages later. interersting.

Originally Posted by Bufomander

uh Oh. I have that one out from the library -- maybe I'll just send it back instead...

i am reading now and really enjoying it. its a fast read...IF your entire family isnt getting over the flu and IF you are not totally exhausted, so that you fall asleep 5 minutes after your head hits the pillow (your only time to read). IF all those stars line up for you, i find its a good read. As another reviewer posted earlier, the author is really good at explaining the different worlds..and i am finding it pretty suspenseful throughout.

Originally Posted by KaraBoo

I have to cry, though, because the library website lost my saved list. I've been using these threads to save books for later and now it's all gone!

i am so sorry. neat that they give you a saved list though. im presuming its different than a reserved list?

[mammastar2]

#12 - Audition by Barbara Walters

It was looong! Almost 600 pages. Pretty fluffy, with a whole lot of namedropping filler, and not brilliantly written by any means. I enjoyed it well enough, and was interested to learn about her early years as a pioneering woman in network tv. Still, though, it was looong...

[cathe]

3 Willows by Ann Brashares

This is by the author of Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. It's similar in that it's about 3 friends who are separated for the summer who learn about love, how to work thru family problems, and finding themselves. I don't know that I liked it as much as her other series but it was enjoyable enough once I got into it.

[fremontmama]

Originally Posted by KaraBoo

I have to cry, though, because the library website lost my saved list. I've been using these threads to save books for later and now it's all gone!

Oh no!!!! That happened to my library list once too. So I started keeping track of my books on a word doc on my computer. Now I use the facebook visual bookshelf though.

Good luck rebuilding your list!

[snozzberry]

Bufomander, please give Graceling a try! I really enjoyed it myself.

#19 The Spectacular Now
Author: Tim Tharp
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Rating: 3.5/5

Summary: It’s senior year, and Sutter Keely is living large with a beautiful girlfriend and an endless supply of whiskey. His girlfriend wants him to do something he can’t quite remember, but why worry about that when you can live in the now?

Review: Sutter’s charm is simultaneously entertaining and heartbreaking. You get the feeling that it’s a front for something, which of course it is.

This is not a feel-good story, but it is a real story. A real snapshot into the life of a young man who drinks morning, noon, and night. Because if he drinks, he can be the life of the party and live in the moment. And if he can live in the moment, he doesn’t have to think about his past or his future.

[kaliki_kila]

23. The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister

From the cover: Once a month on Monday night, eight students gather in Lillian's restaurant for a cooking class... the students have come to learn the art behind Lillian's soulful dishes, but it soon becomes clear that each seeks a recipe for something beyond the kitchen. One by one they are transformed by the aromas, flavors, and textures of what they create, including a white-on-white cake that prompts wistful reflections on the sweet fragility of love, and a garlic and red sauce that seems to spark one romance but end another...

Each chapter features a different student and the recipe they create in the cooking class and how it changes them. My favorite part was the first chapter, about how Lillian as a child loved cooking and the very simple recipes she used to bring her bookworm mom back to reality - a few yummy things added to her mom's coffee, a warm and buttery bowl of mashed potatoes, a crisp apple...

Marisa de los Santos gave this a great review and I can see why because the writing style is much the same as Love Walked In and Belong to Me.

[cathe]

Originally Posted by snozzberry

Bufomander, please give Graceling a try! I really enjoyed it myself.

I just started it!

[PassionateWriter]

ok, just finished Graceling. i enjoyed it alot. pretty fast read too.


1. Club Dead, Charlaine Harris. #3 of the Southern Vampire Series.
2. Dead to the World #4 of the Southern Vampire Series.
3. Dead as a Doornail, book #5 of teh Southern Vampire Series.
4. Holidays on Ice, David Sedaris.
5. Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins.
6. Life as We Knew It
7. Definitely Dead #6 of the Southern Vampire Series.
8. A Thousand Splendid Sunsets
9. All Together Dead #7 of the Southern Vampire Series
10.Graceling

[basmom]

1. T is For Tresspass - Sue Grafton completed 1/3/09
2. Marley and Me - John Grogan completed 1/13/09
3. A Thousand Splendid Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini completed 1/22/09
4. Harvesting the Heart - Jodi Picoult completed 2/2/09
5. Twilight - Stephenie Meyer completed 2/10/09
6. New Moon - Stephenie Meyer completed 2/18/09
7. Knit Two - Kate Jacobs completed 2/27/09
8. The Last Days of Dogtown - Anita Diamant completed 3/4/09 A work of fiction based on the actual village of Dogtown (on Cape Ann, MA). The actual historical record is spotty, according to the author. I liked reading about the inhabitiants, as imagined (and researched to a degree, I suppose) by Anita and Diamant. But...I kept waiting for something to happen. This was more of a collection of character descriptions that loosely connected through the book. Not bad, just not what I expected after reading The Red Tent.



Started Deweyby Vicki Myron, because, like I said, I'm a sucker for a good animal story. This book is ok, but maybe should be titled, A History of Spencer, Iowa, the memoir of Vicki Myron and, Oh Yeah, There's A Cat That Lives in the Library!

[basmom]

AND....I am so going to meet my 30 book goal this year! I'm finding...maybe making?...more time to read and am sooooooo happy!:

[PassionateWriter]

Originally Posted by basmom

AND....I am so going to meet my 30 book goal this year! I'm finding...maybe making?...more time to read and am sooooooo happy!:

incredible isnt it? i think my original goal was 25 or something. i just never thought i had time to read....a challenge is a great thing for me.

[friendtoall]

The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale

Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, spends the first years of her life under her aunt's guidance learning to communicate with animals. As she grows up Ani develops the skills of animal speech, but is never comfortable speaking with people, so when her silver-tongued lady-in-waiting leads a mutiny during Ani's journey to be married in a foreign land, Ani is helpless and cannot persuade anyone to assist her. Becoming a goose girl for the king, Ani eventually uses her own special, nearly magical powers to find her way to her true destiny. Shannon Hale has woven an incredible, original and magical tale of a girl who must find her own unusual talents before she can become queen of the people she has made her own."

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I listened to it, and though the style was not was I'm used to (different people reading and one narrator), it was okay. The story is very sweet, though there were some upsetting parts - not recommended for young children.


Adoptable Dog: Teaching Your Adopted Pet to Obey, Trust, and Love You
by John Ross, Barbara McKinney

"Unbelievably, there has never been a comprehensive training-and-care guide written for the adopted or "pre-owned" dog. Manuals abound for the puppy, even for the needs of the adult or mature dog, but Adoptable Dog promises to be the standard work for this exploding population. John Ross and Barbara McKinney, authors of the best-selling Puppy Preschool, provide a biscuit-to-basket guide for every kind of adoptable dog-the older puppy, the overactive or unhousebroken adult dog, the shelter pooch, or even the mature canine in need of one last, loving home."

There was a lot of good information in this book and a lot I found to be common sense. It actually made me a little hesitant to adopt another dog, but inspired me to better train the one I have.

[Bufomander]

Originally Posted by Bufomander

Did I tell you all that for Lent I'm not putting books on hold at the library.

Originally Posted by cathe

Now that's what I call a sacrifice!

Originally Posted by fremontmama

Oh, that's a good idea! I might actually finish a few books around here if I did that.

Yep, I put all my holds on hold, too. So maybe I can at least get the amount of books I have out down to a smaller number -- ideally, I'd get 'em all read and start in on the GIANT BOX of "to be reads" I own.... we'll see. We leave on Friday for Indiana and there are a bunch I need to get read before then, due-date-wise....

Originally Posted by friendtoall

The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale

Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, spends the first years of her life under her aunt's guidance learning to communicate with animals. As she grows up Ani develops the skills of animal speech, but is never comfortable speaking with people, so when her silver-tongued lady-in-waiting leads a mutiny during Ani's journey to be married in a foreign land, Ani is helpless and cannot persuade anyone to assist her. Becoming a goose girl for the king, Ani eventually uses her own special, nearly magical powers to find her way to her true destiny. Shannon Hale has woven an incredible, original and magical tale of a girl who must find her own unusual talents before she can become queen of the people she has made her own."

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I listened to it, and though the style was not was I'm used to (different people reading and one narrator), it was okay. The story is very sweet, though there were some upsetting parts - not recommended for young children.

I liked this one too!

And okay, ya'all have convinced me to give Graceling a try -- probably not before we get back from Indiana, but I'll give it a try.

[Suzukimom]

I've been neglecting my posting. I forgot all about the change of month.

January:
1.Dreams from My Father - Barack Obama
2. Everything Must Change- Brian McClaren
3.Irresistible Revolution- Living as an Ordinary Radical- Shane Claiborne
4. A New Earth - Eckhard Tolle I finished it on the 30th

February
5. A Zookeeper's Wife- A War Story - Diane Ackerman. A WWII story of survival in Warsaw which wasn't as dismal as I thought it might be. Bringing nature and zoology into the story gave it a different perspective.

6. Misquoting Jesus - Bart Ehrman.
7. The Year of Living Biblically. Funny insightful book.

March
8. Guyland - Kimmel - about guys and their culture from age 16-16.
9. Perepolis - graphic book about Iran written through the eyes of a child. I really liked it.

[cathe]

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Great book -- I agree with everything that's been said about it. You should definitely give it a go Bufomander.

[mammastar2]

#13 - The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

I'd never made it through a Margaret Atwood before! This was a compelling read, timely in some ways and dated in others. Depressing as all get-out though, and just left me feeling...icky...and like I wanted to read something fun next. Kind of a medicinal read.

[NewCrunchyDaddy]

Originally Posted by mammastar2

#13 - The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

I'd never made it through a Margaret Atwood before! This was a compelling read, timely in some ways and dated in others. Depressing as all get-out though, and just left me feeling...icky...and like I wanted to read something fun next. Kind of a medicinal read.

This one has been on my "To-Be-Read List" for so long it's not even funny. Though, at this rate, who knows when I'll get to it?

[kangamitroo]

Where Love Is, There God Is Also by Leo Tolstoy
this is a little book with 3 stories that Tolstoy wrote as reflections on the New Testament. i have been curious about these for a while...Tolstoy had an influence upon Gandhi and many others.

my favorite part is actually a quote in the introduction, where Tolstoy was talking about preaching through actions not words, and how hard that can be:
"If I know the road home and go along it drunk, staggering from side to side--does that make the road along which i go the wrong one?"