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bookworm mommas! - Page 2

post #21 of 93
10/13/10 at 11:35pm
Another big reader here! I want to set some kind of goal for next year because I don't read as often as I used to (it's hard with a toddler always wanting to sit on you when you have a book...but not wanting you to read said book to him)

Yeah, his first REAL word (like clear word) has been "book" and he doesn't even like to read them!
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post #22 of 93
10/13/10 at 11:38pm
Without books I would be so lost. Nothing makes me feel better like sitting and reading in the bath. I can leave all my troubles behind for a little while.

I have been known to read the backs of match boxes and stuff in the bathroom at someone else house

Reading is a huge part of my life and I cant imagine it ever not being.

I got my love of reading from my gramma she would sit and read her romance novels while watching her soaps and she could tell you exactly what she was reading and exactly what was going on with the soaps she usually read between 3-5 books a day and did so up until she was nearly 80 when alzheimer's kicked in. I fully believe that her reading like she did kept it from coming on much earlier like it does with most people. She was a great lady and I still miss her. I would get my books from her to read so she got me into romance I think she would have really liked the new paranormal romance that is out now and I am sorry she missed it.

I trade books at a place called Mr. K's thank goodness or I couldnt afford my book habit. Last year alone I read nearly 1,000 books and that dosnt count reading my favorite books over again.
post #23 of 93
10/18/10 at 8:25pm
I am a little late to the party, but I want to join too! I am a huge reader, and usually have stacks of books falling off my nightstand. I always read before bed, and that way usually manage to fit in at least an hour a day.

I am just finishing up the Women of the Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong. Highly recommended for anyone who likes supernatural fiction - plus she is a Canadian author, and that makes me happy. I have read the 11 novels in the series thus far, and am just working through her two short story anologies.

I am off to the library to pick up Women Food and God. I have waited for this book since the end of August - I was 179 on the hold list when I selected it! It better be as good as everyone says it is!

To keep our book costs (and clutter) manageable I try really hard to use our library rather than running off to the bookstore. We have a small branch in my town without a huge collection, but I can place requests online and get nearly anything I want, as long as I am willing to wait a couple of days for it to come in. Sometimes I am really tempted to just drive to the bookstore, but the library is so much better on so many levels.

My DH reads too, but not nearly at the same velocity. Usually I will check out a stack of books and he will get one. A week or two later I will return my stack, get a new stack, and he will have to renew his one book!
post #24 of 93
10/19/10 at 9:03am
just_lilly, I didn't know Geneen Roth had come out with a new book. I read all of her books a decade ago and loved them! I've just recommended Women, Food and God to several friends.

I'm a library gal too, to save money, to save space, and to support the library, which also has great programs like storytimes for the kids, bookclubs, and author visits.
post #25 of 93
10/19/10 at 9:20am
I think we're rubbing off on DS He's 18mo and likes to sit with his board books (as many as will fit in and around his lap) and point and babble while he turns the pages. He REALLY likes to "read" to us! It's funny, though, because he's not big on us reading to him...
post #26 of 93
10/19/10 at 9:38am
Count me in! I'm in the middle of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series at the moment (and several magazines and a couple of non-fiction books I pick up now and again). We're at the library a lot, too, though it's hard to look for books with a toddler. Somehow he always finds something interesting in the opposite direction I got a nook for my anniversary, and I'm loving that. It's a bit of a money pit, though, since I can buy books when the toddler's nursing (and I do that way too often)
post #27 of 93
10/19/10 at 1:13pm
Thread Starter 
Oh man! I'm so glad this thread is taking off

I grew up in a family of readers. My Dad is a history buff, and my mom is always reading some silly woman-romance-novel [and I got slightly addicted at one point too] and my brother loves reading. So in our house there were always books and book trip/library trips were encouraged.
DD loves to read, and I can read her stacks and stacks of books which makes me so so so happy. Hopefully DS will love it too!
post #28 of 93
10/19/10 at 7:36pm
I always use the "back of the cereal box" description to describe my reading habits too! I just finished the Hunger Games series, thanks to a thread here. I got a nook for xmas last year and I love love love always having new books easily available. My standard gift request is now B&N gift certificates, so I don't have to spend too much of my own money. One of my favorite things about is that B&N does "Free Fridays" a new ebook for free every Friday, I've read so many things I probably wouldn't have tried if I had to pay for them, and gotten sucked into a few new series that way...a brilliant marketing ploy! Now DH and SH (7.5yo) are asking for nooks for xmas too!
post #29 of 93
10/19/10 at 7:50pm
I just read three books in three days. My 16 year read 5 books in three days. I think she's a serious bookworm, too.
post #30 of 93
10/20/10 at 10:06am
Did anyone read Freedom yet? I am starting it tonight.
post #31 of 93
10/20/10 at 10:40am
this is me too! so happy I found you guys

I'll read anything, anywhere...I've got books placed strategically all around the house, stashed in the car in case I've got 4 minutes to kill, in my bag...

Also, we live kind of far out in the country so i do a fair amount of driving each week and so I listen to books on CD rather than music. I'm voracious!

I also do the library thing. I go once a week with my little one and I check out so much stuff every week, I usually need 3 bags to carry it all. The librarians know me. They used to make comments about 'when do you find the time' or 'do you really read all this' but now they've simmered down. Thankfully, because it's so bad that I'm actually self-conscious about it. LIke I'm putting them out by making them check out so much stuff for me. (ok, so i have issues).

Anyway, i'd love book recommendations or just to hear what you all are reading lately...
post #32 of 93
10/20/10 at 12:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Caneel View Post
Did anyone read Freedom yet? I am starting it tonight.
I'm shying away from "Freedom" because I hated "The Corrections" so much. Please check back and let me know what you think of "Freedom;" I simply can't put myself through another story about a horrible family who does despicable things and treats each other so badly. I'm hoping this novel is vastly different; it certainly has gotten a lot of buzz!

Add to the list of "Things Not to Read": "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair. It's one of those that pops up on every list of books you should read before you die, so I decided to read it. Horrible. Imagine a poor immigrant coming to America in the 1900s and going to Chicago to work in a meat-packing plant with his extended family. No unions. No welfare. No job security. No medical care. No access to good food or clean water. No repercussions if his wife's boss comes onto her. Now imagine EVERY SINGLE possible bad thing that could happen to this man living in this situation. Bingo. You've got "The Jungle."

Is "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" likely to be a cheerier story? That's what I've got on deck at the moment.
post #33 of 93
10/20/10 at 3:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by LaLaLaLa View Post

Is "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" likely to be a cheerier story? That's what I've got on deck at the moment.
You're funny. Does anyone mention Victor Hugo and "cheerier" in the same sentence?
post #34 of 93
10/20/10 at 7:54pm
Quote:
Is "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" likely to be a cheerier story? That's what I've got on deck at the moment.
Ha! Hahahahaha. Oh, you poor deluded individual. Yep, it's a gay romp. Barrel of laughs. You'll be in stitches.

Quote:
I am off to the library to pick up Women Food and God. I have waited for this book since the end of August - I was 179 on the hold list when I selected it! It better be as good as everyone says it is!
I just read this a few days ago and didn't like it at all. It was a bit... flabby and New Agey for my tastes. Interestingly, though, I read it and was like "Huh. You know, I don't have any food issues". Which was a minor revelation. I've had them in the past, but right now? I have a non-mainstream view of food, sure (TF/whole foodsy, lots of homemade stuff, cooking geek, anti- quite a few food additives so I have to read labels). But for the first time in my life, I think I have a really healthy relationship to food. I don't eat as a substitute for love, I don't consider the occasional indulgence a moral failing, I love to cook, and I... just... eat. I didn't resonate with the women in the book, because I really don't think of food in such a loaded way. I like food, that's it.

So that was nice to know. It's refreshing to find a hangup I don't have. Anyway, I finished reading the book, hopped out of bed where DD and I had been napping, and did a bitof housework. Then ten minutes later DD woke up, screaming bloody murder as she tends to do when she wakes up alone. She headed for the kitchen, grabbed an open packet of chips off the table and started stuffing them into her mouth until the sobs subsided. And I was like... heh. OK then.
post #35 of 93
10/21/10 at 10:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by LaLaLaLa View Post
I'm shying away from "Freedom" because I hated "The Corrections" so much. Please check back and let me know what you think of "Freedom;" I simply can't put myself through another story about a horrible family who does despicable things and treats each other so badly. I'm hoping this novel is vastly different; it certainly has gotten a lot of buzz!
Well, I am halfway through Freedom and based on what you say, cross it off your list. Another book about silly, self-centered, emotionally broken people screwing up their lives and the lives of their children.

I read the Corrections prior to DS and back then, I could read books like that and be entertained. Also, that family was so, so similar to a branch of my family and for some twisted reason, I found the Corrections to be quite funny at the time.

Now, I just don't need that negativity in my life. There are better subjects to read about. I will finish it because now I am curious about the characters. I am SO glad I didn't buy it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by LaLaLaLa View Post
Add to the list of "Things Not to Read": "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair. It's one of those that pops up on every list of books you should read before you die, so I decided to read it. Horrible. Imagine a poor immigrant coming to America in the 1900s and going to Chicago to work in a meat-packing plant with his extended family. No unions. No welfare. No job security. No medical care. No access to good food or clean water. No repercussions if his wife's boss comes onto her. Now imagine EVERY SINGLE possible bad thing that could happen to this man living in this situation. Bingo. You've got "The Jungle."
I read The Jungle for a high school history project. Even back then when I was a totally clueless teenager, I found it to be horrifying and it gave me nightmares. I didn't eat meat for a long time.
post #36 of 93
10/21/10 at 4:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by *Lisa* View Post
We're at the library a lot, too, though it's hard to look for books with a toddler. Somehow he always finds something interesting in the opposite direction
This is why I love my library's online system so much. I can go onto the website, order my books, and then I get an email when they are ready. They are all on a shelf next to the front desk with a post-it with my name on it. So I can take DD to the library, hang out with her in the kids section, and then just grab my stack of holds when we check out.

I even sent my DH with my library card to pick up my holds once when I was sick, and they let him do that. Not sure if that would work everywhere though, we are a pretty small-ish town.

Quote:
Originally Posted by LaLaLaLa View Post
I'm shying away from "Freedom" because I hated "The Corrections" so much. Please check back and let me know what you think of "Freedom;" I simply can't put myself through another story about a horrible family who does despicable things and treats each other so badly. I'm hoping this novel is vastly different; it certainly has gotten a lot of buzz!
Oh man, me too!! That book was a.w.f.u.l. I bought it so I felt obliged to read it, but it probably took me 5 or 6 tries to get into it.

It wasn't even that I thought the characters were horrible, just that I didn't care about them in the slightest and found the plot to be dull. I found the chapters to be really, really long so there wasn't a natural spot to put it down and would just have to give up in the middle of a scene so I could go to bed. And then when I finally did start to get interested in a character it would change perspectives and I would have to start all over again with someone else I didn't care about. ARGH!!

So when Oprah announced that Freedom was going to be her next pick I was like "Nooooo thank you!" I am pretty hit and miss on her selections though.
post #37 of 93
10/21/10 at 8:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by just_lily View Post
So when Oprah announced that Freedom was going to be her next pick I was like "Nooooo thank you!" I am pretty hit and miss on her selections though.
I hear you sister. Some of the books really make me think what the heck were they thinking (We Were the Mulvaney's anyone? that I already complained about in this thread)

My mom was at the house today and was all excited because Freedom was waiting for her at the library, she was so surprised the list moved so fast and so on and I was like "well, Mom, lets talks about that book....." (We read the Corrections together)

She said she will check it out but now is "free" to return it right away if she doesn't like it.

Anyone like non-fiction? I am a huge Bill Bryson fan and am also reading At Home. It is a history of modern homes he wrote after living in an old rectory in England. Total geek stuff. Like why a pantry is called a pantry, how many servants did it take to run an Edwardian house, that sort of stuff.
post #38 of 93
10/24/10 at 11:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Caneel View Post
Well, I am halfway through Freedom and based on what you say, cross it off your list. Another book about silly, self-centered, emotionally broken people screwing up their lives and the lives of their children.

I read The Jungle for a high school history project. Even back then when I was a totally clueless teenager, I found it to be horrifying and it gave me nightmares. I didn't eat meat for a long time.
Ah, thanks for the heads up on "Freedom." I have enough books on my list that I don't need to add anything new that is going to be that distressing. There are enough horrible classics that I'm trying to work my way through.

And someone made you read "The Jungle" in high school? Eek! This is why people grow up hating to read.

I just finished "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand, the woman who wrote "Seabiscuit." It was an advanced copy; I don't think it comes out until the middle of November. It's a true story of an Olympic-caliber runner who ends up flying planes in World War II. When he's shot down, he floats in the Pacific in a life raft, in shark-infested water, for over a month. When he is finally rescued, it is by the Japanese, who keep him in truly brutal conditions in a series of prison camps. I had no idea what things were like for POWs in Japan. The history is horrific, but the writing is great and Louie, the main character, is charismatic and fascinating. I'd highly recommend it.

I've been reading aloud to my kids (who are 6 and 4.5), too, and we're currently really enjoying the "Peter and the Starcatchers" series by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. They are stories about Peter Pan before he became Peter Pan, and offer explanations as to why the magical things in his world exist. I think people who have read and loved the original "Peter Pan" book hate these, but my kids and I like them a lot. We're halfway into the second book; I'm not sure how many there are.

Okay, onto "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." Someone said it's fun and funny? I sure hope so.
post #39 of 93
10/25/10 at 10:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by LaLaLaLa View Post
Ah, thanks for the heads up on "Freedom." I have enough books on my list that I don't need to add anything new that is going to be that distressing. There are enough horrible classics that I'm trying to work my way through.

And someone made you read "The Jungle" in high school? Eek! This is why people grow up hating to read.
I finished Freedom last night and my opinion of it never improved. The way the author portrays the characters is great but the story line? Yuck!

Actually, the Jungle was my choice. The teacher was one of those types that didn't want kids to reach too far as it might create too much work for him. He thought I was showing off by selecting outside of the "safe" list. (I probably was ) I don't think he read it as he didn't ask me one question during my presentation. I did get an A. Funny, 20+ years later and I still remember what a jerk he was.
post #40 of 93
10/25/10 at 12:04pm
Whhooo - THIS is my tribe. See my screen name? lol
I even have a diary of books, where I try to at least track what I've read and give a review, but my "reviews" have turned into basic "like, love, hate".
My husband got me a Nook after he saw me trying to read Mockingjay and nurse at the same time. I love it so much, but it will be a bit more expensive! I used to get a lot of books from the library, but I have to say that I'm totally devoted to the portablity of the Nook right now.
I am currently reading The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. I read the other 2, and while I have some big issues with the books I was curious about how it would end. Halfway through and I'm impatient... enough with the dull politics, get back to the characters!
I have quite a bit of public domain stuff on my Nook, yay for the classics! And after I finish Hornet, I'm checking out The Imperfectionists via my library. Sadly, they do not have that much available to download. But some is better than none.
I have a weakness for series books, especially fantasy. I read Twilight and was very amused by the first book, but enraged as they went on. BUT, because it was such a phenom, there's a glut of YA fantasy series now. Yay! I'm trying to weed through lots of free Nook samples to see what is worthwhile. Shiver looks promising. Clockwork Angel, not so much.

DS1 loves reading already. Every night, we sit on Story Couch and read a bit. It's such a wonderful time - the whole family does it together - lately DH reads while I nurse DS2. I hope the boys love books as much as I do. I have soooo much to share with them if they like lit!