March 2008 Book Challenge - Page 3

[BurtsGirl]

Originally Posted by snozzberry

We even have an MDC group!

MAN! I didn't know we had a group. Just joined!

[Indigo73]

Originally Posted by snozzberry

btw, another fun way to track the books you've read is LibraryThing. We even have an MDC group!

Anyone know if we have a group on Shelfari?

Hmmm... I'll go check, if not. I think I'll start one.

[Indigo73]

Okay started it. http://www.shelfari.com/groups/22757/about

[Maggirayne]

Originally Posted by jennaugustson

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Is she a model? Did they do an article about her in Reader's Digest years ago? If so, that's where I first read/heard about FGM. I put this one on my TBR list at my library, with 130 other books. . .

Originally Posted by cathe

"Waiting for Daisy" by Peggy Orenstein

The full title is intresting, also on TBR list.

Originally Posted by Holiztic

First post in Book Challenge threads
The Eyre Affair (book 1 in the Thursday Next series) by Jasper Fforde.
Mother Goose", and "Goodnight Gorilla". Oh wait, guess those don't count!!!

Welcome! I love the Thursday Next book!

Hehe, I was wondering about all the Sandra Boynton board books. Heaven knows I'm the one picking them out--giggling over Moo, Baa, LaLaLa! I read it aloud to my parents (on the phone) last night. They thought it was hilarious!

Originally Posted by nancy926

#11: Criss Cross, by Lynne Rae Perkins
Young adult novel about a quirky cast of characters in their teens. Easy read, funny and insightful. No great angst or tragedy. Great conversations between the characters. I will have to find her other novel!

Sounds interesting I think I'll add it too.


Neat on the LibraryThing group, I joined, yay! I need to update my library. Or create an AP account. I have too many books.

[muttix2]

Originally Posted by snozzberry

I totally agree about this book!

btw, another fun way to track the books you've read is LibraryThing. We even have an MDC group!

I didn't know that there is a MDC group, I'm joining now! I signed up for Library Thing just a couple weeks ago.

[muttix2]

Originally Posted by Indigo73

Anyone know if we have a group on Shelfari?

Hmmm... I'll go check, if not. I think I'll start one.

I hadn't heard of Shelfari. Do you get to add an unlimited amount of books for free or do you have to pay for that? If so, how much?

[Leilamus]

Just finished book #6 - The Memory Keeper's Daughter. Enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to.

I'm trying to start Atonement tonight, for the third time in a month. I'm having a hard time getting into it.

Does anyone have any series to recommend? I'm feeling in the mood for something different and I haven't read a series since finishing HP last year. I like general fiction, and fantasy. Just not a big mystery fan. TIA!!!

Off to join the group!

[eco_mama]

#6 The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore By Deepak Chopra

In The Third Jesus, bestselling author and spiritual leader Deepak Chopra provides an answer to this question that is both a challenge to current systems of belief and a fresh perspective on what Jesus can teach us all, regardless of our religious background. There is not one Jesus, Chopra writes, but three.

First, there is the historical Jesus, the man who lived more than two thousand years ago and whose teachings are the foundation of Christian theology and thought. Next there is Jesus the Son of God, who has come to embody an institutional religion with specific dogma, a priesthood, and devout believers. And finally, there is the third Jesus, the cosmic Christ, the spiritual guide whose teaching embraces all humanity, not just the church built in his name. He speaks to the individual who wants to find God as a personal experience, to attain what some might call grace, or God-consciousness, or enlightenment.

#1 A Midwife's Story By Penny Armstrong & Sheryl Feldman
#2 Jesus and The Essenes By Dolores Cannon
#3 The Book of Secrets: Unlocking the Hidden Dimensions of Your Life By Deepak Chopra
#4 Spiritual Midwifery By Ina May Gaskin (4th Ed.)
#5 A New Christianity For a New World By John Shelby Spong


I have about 10 books that I can only have for 6 weeks so I'm trying my best to finish as many as possible!

[jennaugustson]

Originally Posted by Leilamus

Does anyone have any series to recommend? I'm feeling in the mood for something different and I haven't read a series since finishing HP last year. I like general fiction, and fantasy. Just not a big mystery fan. TIA!!!

I just started the 4th and last in the Big Stone Gap series by Adriana Trigiani yesterday. It's easy reading and pretty good. Set in rural west va and italy. typical love story, small town drama, type chick lit stuff...Here are the titles in order of the series...

Big Stone Gap
Big Cherry Holler
Milk Glass Moon
Home to Big Stone Gap

[jennaugustson]

Originally Posted by Maggirayne

Is she a model? Did they do an article about her in Reader's Digest years ago? If so, that's where I first read/heard about FGM. I put this one on my TBR list at my library, with 130 other books. . .
.

I think your thinking of Iman, David Bowie's wife.
Here's the link to Hirsi Ali's book..
Infidel

[Indigo73]

Originally Posted by muttix2

I hadn't heard of Shelfari. Do you get to add an unlimited amount of books for free or do you have to pay for that? If so, how much?

Unlimited books. It's a bit "prettier" than LibraryThing. I used them both for a while and chose Shelfari.

[nancy926]

#12: The Mysterious Benedict Society, by Trenton Lee Stewart

YA book, but long (almost 500 pages) - fairly easy reading, though. Orphan Reynie Muldoon sees an ad for a school for gifted kids. He takes a series of strange tests and finds himself in an elite group of kids with a Herculean task (saving the world, of course). Enjoyable reading, some plot twists, and lots of great names (S.Q. Pedalian is my favorite!).

[BurtsGirl]

#10 The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
by Michael Pollan

Definately changed how I look at the food on my plate!

#1 Natural Witchery#2 Levi's Will #3 Easy Tarot #4 The Elements of Pantheism: #5 Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs #6 Nigth Watch #7 The Green Book #8 Conquering Infertility #9 Affluenza

[BookGoddess]

#6 Let Me Hear Your Voice: A Family's Triumph Over Autism by Catherine Maurice.
This book, written under under a pseudonym, is the story of one family's struggle to help two of their children from "incurable autism". The book is honest about the various therapies on autism available to them at the time. The family goes through concern, despair, denial, acceptance and eventually to recovery of their two children through ABA therapy also known as behavioral therapy. The author's children were diagnosed in the late 1980s when the treatment for autism was still in blame the parents mode. The realization autism is a neurobiological disorder was absent and there was widespread ignorance about autism. Treatment included psychotherapy and dangerous medications and neither was helpful. Treatment also included the absurd hugging therapy which was basically forcing the autistic child to endure long hugging sessions. If hugging could help autism then would anyone need any other therapy! The family put up with all sorts of misinformation but in the end they found behavioral therapy really helped their children to become fun, functional, verbal children. I liked the book. I think it will go down as a classic among the Autism books out there.

[Bufomander]

Originally Posted by jennaugustson

I just started the 4th and last in the Big Stone Gap series by Adriana Trigiani yesterday. It's easy reading and pretty good. Set in rural west va and italy. typical love story, small town drama, type chick lit stuff...Here are the titles in order of the series...

Big Stone Gap
Big Cherry Holler
Milk Glass Moon
Home to Big Stone Gap

I like these -- I think they have a bit more substance than typical "chick lit" -- actually, thinking about it, they have a lot more, imo -- just by virtue of not at all being about surface relationships and shopping for shoes (sorry, my prejudices are coming out) I really like reading about the relationship between the mother and daughter. As I have one daughter and we are likely not having more, it's inspiring for me.

#29 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl -- Just finished reading this one aloud with my daughter.

#30 When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It: The Parts of Speech for Better and/or Worse by Ben Yagoda
This book was really really fun to read. (It was our bathroom book for a while.) One of the highlights for me was learning that ampersand (&) was once considered the 26th letter of the alphabet and was pronounced "and". When children were saying the alphabet, they would end with "and, per se, 'and'" and from that we've gotten "ampersand". Someone out there has to be as fascinated by this as I was...Right? Right?

#31 Letter to a Godchild (Concerning Faith) by Reynolds Price
dd has just woken, so I'll be quick -- Price is a Professor of English at Duke University. This is the expanded version of a letter he wrote to his godson on the occasion of his baptism, intended for him to read later in life. He considers himself a Christian, but approaches faith from a broader perspective than one single religion might provide. I liked it.

[muttix2]

Originally Posted by Indigo73

Unlimited books. It's a bit "prettier" than LibraryThing. I used them both for a while and chose Shelfari.

I wish I'd learned about this before I paid for a lifetime membership to Library Thing. I've decided to use Library Thing for the books I'm reading to the kids and Shelfari for my own books. I've joined the mdc group on both too. Thanks for the link!

[snozzberry]

I actually managed to finish a couple books while taking care of a newborn!!!

#4 The Happiest Baby on the Block: The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Newborn Baby Sleep Longer by Harvey Karp
This book has been essential for my husband and me in learning how to calm our 3-week-old daughter. I highly recommend it.

The only part I wasn't completely sold on was the section about using the techniques to get your baby to sleep for longer periods. My daughter needs to eat every 2-3 hours, and it doesn't feel right to me to try to manipulate her into sleeping for longer periods of time when I know her body's trying very hard to grow right now. I would love to sleep for longer periods myself, but that section of the book seemed inconsistent to me. The rest of the book is about trying to recreate a sense of being in the womb and seeing things from the baby's point of view--the section on sleeping longer is all from the parent's point of view trying to get the baby to fit into the parent's idea of a daily schedule.

#5 The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Your Child by Robert Sears
I haven't read any other books on vaccines, and after reading this one I really don't feel like I need to. Every other vaccine book I had thumbed through was painfully one-sided--either they would say that if you didn't vaccinate your child on the same schedule as everyone else, you were putting the health of everyone else in the country at risk, or they would say that vaccines are always bad and aren't worth it compared to the diseases they protect against. My feelings on the issue were definitely not at those extremes, and this book presented the issue in a much more balanced way than any other vaccine book I've seen.

The author is a doctor, so he definitely has a bias towards vaccines and their use from a public health standpoint, but he's up-front about that. And he recognizes that some parents aren't going to agree with him. Rather than making you feel like a bad parent for making up your own mind, he offers you tools and information so that you can come up with a vaccine decision that's right for your family.

He raises some very good questions about aluminum in our vaccines and whether they're at toxic levels--I hope researchers read this book and start studying the issue soon. He also includes an alternative vaccination schedule so you can spread out the vaccines that contain aluminum. And if you're more on the no-vaccine side of the fence, he includes a very selective vaccination schedule that he feels protects against the most serious diseases for young infants, such as pertussis and some diseases that cause meningitis.

[eco_mama]

#7 Paths to Becoming a Midwife: Getting an Education

Paths to Becoming a Midwife: Getting an Education is going to be a highly useful resource for years to come. Even as data about the listed programs and varying legalities changes, the essence of the book's shared wisdom will remain constant. The six chapters cover a wide range of thought-provoking and pertinent topics. They include information on the many ways the path to midwifery might begin, the realities of the work, the politics, the philosophies, and the future of midwifery on a global basis. Experienced direct-entry and nurse-midwives share their stories, suggestions, wisdom, and preferences. Doulas and childbirth educators also add their voices to the book's vast store of ideas on how to become part of the world of being "with woman." There are lists of resources, lists of schools, and a list that analyzes legal status state-by-state. There is information about international midwifery, and a great deal of helpful material about NARM and MEAC. Appendices include school directories, forms to send to different agencies for more information, and lists of core competencies for both MANA and the ACNM.

#1 A Midwife's Story By Penny Armstrong & Sheryl Feldman
#2 Jesus and The Essenes By Dolores Cannon
#3 The Book of Secrets: Unlocking the Hidden Dimensions of Your Life By Deepak Chopra
#4 Spiritual Midwifery By Ina May Gaskin (4th Ed.)
#5 A New Christianity For a New World By John Shelby Spong
#6 The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore By Deepak Chopra

[Jenifer76]

#3 "Waiting for Daisy" by Peggy Orenstein

[kofduke]

Into thin Air, Krakauer

Into Thin Air is a riveting first-hand account of a catastrophic expedition up Mount Everest. In March 1996, Outside magazine sent Jon Krakauer on an expedition led by celebrated Everest guide Rob Hall. Despite the expertise of Hall and the other leaders, by the end of summit day eight people were dead. Krakauer's book is at once the story of the ill-fated adventure and an analysis of the factors leading up to its tragic end. Written within months of the events it chronicles, Into Thin Air clearly evokes the majestic Everest landscape.

This was absolutely fascinating!

#1-Garden of Beasts, #2-Passporter Guide to WDW, #3-Skylight Confessions, #4 - The Secret, #5 - The Kite Runner, #6 - Gone, #7 - Hidden Mickeys, #8 - Into Thin Air