Books, Books, & More Books

Facing the Wind: A True Story of Tragedy and Reconciliation by Julie Salamon

This was one of those that I just tripped upon while browsing Amazon. It was not a book I would normally read, as it was a true crime story. But this one was different as it involved a man brutally and methodically killing his wife and 3 children, and after years in an mental institution was released and remarried and began a new family. I was absolutely dumbfounded as how our judicial system could allow this to happen. So my curiosity was piqued and I dove in. I am not sure I would read this category again, but I am not sorry I added this book to my list. It was like entering another world and every moment being ready to return to your own, but a little wiser through the journey.



The Weight of Water by Anita Shrive. Here is all I have to say about this book; Do you ever have someone, a friend (that you trust), perhaps, that gives you a book and says, "This is book is SO great, you HAVE to read it?" Then you do, of course, your friend gave it to you! But afterwards you want to beat your friend senseless with the book while screaming, "Why have you wasted my time?" but you still like your friend, so you don't? :)

This book had a convoluted plot, the characters were two dimensional and hard to really feel sorry for, and the writing had terrible prose that the author clearly thinks is poetic. This is not to mention the contrived and much to neatly wrapped up ending. I would tell you more about the plot, but it's not worth it. I should have known when I read that it was about a murder on "Smuttynose Island."

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers - Mary Roach Another book mentioned in conversation that was too good to pass by, after hearing from one of my husbands friends about it I checked it out at the Library. Completely not my norm, but this book managed to somehow be completely entertaining, witty and informative. I am not a gore lover, but this book manages to not be gory. Some of the information is not for the light hearted, but Mary Roach easily delivers a book that is conversational and fun, and you will find after the end that you know more than you ever thought possible about the curious lives of human cadavers-from plastic surgery, Crucifixion, and forensics to organ donation and crash test dummies.

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books - Azar Nafisi I have to admit, I stumbled across this book in one of my thrift store haunts and have stopped reading in mid-through so that I can read some of the books in the book. Confused? Off of Amazon-

"In 1995, after resigning from her job as a professor at a university in Tehran due to repressive policies, Azar Nafisi invited seven of her best female students to attend a weekly study of great Western literature in her home. Since the books they read were officially banned by the government, the women were forced to meet in secret, often sharing photocopied pages of the illegal novels. For two years they met to talk, share, and "shed their mandatory veils and robes and burst into color." Though most of the women were shy and intimidated at first, they soon became emboldened by the forum and used the meetings as a springboard for debating the social, cultural, and political realities of living under strict Islamic rule. They discussed their harassment at the hands of "morality guards," the daily indignities of living under the Ayatollah Khomeini's regime, the effects of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, love, marriage, and life in general, giving readers a rare inside look at revolutionary Iran. The books were always the primary focus, however, and they became "essential to our lives: they were not a luxury but a necessity," she writes.

Threaded into the memoir are trenchant discussions of the work of Vladimir Nabokov, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jane Austen, and other authors who provided the women with examples of those who successfully asserted their autonomy despite great odds."

I can never pass up an opportunity to look at life from the perspective of a woman or group of women close to my own age living in such a separate reality from my own. I hope to finish this book and compare notes with these women and perhaps gain some insight. Not to mention I am hopelessly drawn to books that refer to my two fav authors Jane Austen and F. Scott Fitzgerald. More to come on this one...

The Dogs of Babel - Carolyn Parkhurst Strange, fascinating and worth the read. Paul Iverson one day comes home to find his wife Lexy has died; she has fallen out of the apple tree in their backyard. After the tragedy, Paul a linguistics professor, becomes obsessed with teaching their dog, a Rhodesian Ridgeback named Lorelei (the sole witness to the tragedy) to speak so he can find out the truth about Lexy's death. Paul finds himself on a journey of self discovery as he also slowly puts the pieces of his wife's life, and death together. Recommended book, great and fast read.

The Shadow Of The Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon You know how people say, "If you read one book this year, make it this one!"? Well, seriously, make it this one. This book has it all; a mystery, love, scandal, tragedy, adventure, everything you could ever want wrapped up into one fascinating story and set against the lovely backdrop of Barcelona, Spain. This book "had me at hello" :) when it opened with young Daniel Sempere's kind hearted father introducing him to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a secret library where books "no longer remembered by anyone, books that are lost in time" reside. Each person who visits may take one book, so that life may be given back to that book, and when Daniel sees The Shadow of the Wind, he knows it "had been waiting for me there for years, probably since before I was born." Daniel takes home his book and reads it in a night. He is enchanted by the story and sets out to find more books by the author, Julian Carax only to discover that someone is finding and burning every book every written by Carax. Thus the investigation is born. A book about books. My kind of book. Ha! It was one of those reads that I wished I could unread so that I could read it again. Truly a gem for me. Highly recommended.

P.S. Referred to me by the same friend that gave me Weight of Water. Absolution granted.

The Lake of Dead Languages - Carol Goodman This book might have been somewhat worthwhile had I not previously read The Secret History of which this book is a total knock off. It bugged me all the way through. You can only read so many books about Latin snobs and Greek mythology and authors that attempt to make it appear sophisticated and grandiose that a bunch a teenage girls are attempting to learn it, but I didn't buy it.

The plot goes something like; whiny discontent woman leaves her husband that she never really liked (but doesn't make it clear as to why exactly) and takes her daughter and returns to the private girl's school of her youth to teach Latin. During her time at this school some deep dark scandalous incident happened involving her and her two roommates. Upon her return to the school, she begins to find someone is leaving her messages through her old journal which was lost the year she left the school. So someone now knows her secret and she embarks on a clandestine mission to find out who. The first story is slowly revealed as the second and current story plays out which is at times painstakingly slow. Ending can be foreseen by anyone with the tiniest bit of insight. Not to mention (possible spoiler!) I am DONE with reading books that include incest. Enough already! The Secret History, The Weight of Water, Middlesex, this book, geez. It's not mysterious. It's just gross!

Second Glance - Jodi Picoult
From Amazon-"Ghosts and ghost hunters collide in this compelling tale of the paranormal set in Vermont's green mountains. When the patriarch of the Abenaki Indian tribe that was nearly eradicated by that state's eugenics project in the 1930s encounters Ross Wakeman, the miraculous survivor of several attempted suicides who wants nothing more than to be reunited with the woman he loved and lost, they set in motion a chain of events that will unravel an ancient murder and lead to a second chance at life and love for the victim's descendants."

I couldn't dislike a Jodi Picoult novel if I tried. She is just an amazing author. This was definitely not my favorite Picoult, I was a bit surprised at the direction she went with the ghost hunting. But as usual, she had me thinking many weeks beyond the book about ethics. And the information about the America Eugenics project was mind blowing.

Up next:

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini

Patron Saint of Liars-Ann Patchett

The Road-Cormac McCarthy

A Good and Happy Child Book Review

I have a friend at work who is a fellow book lover and we swap and trade books constantly. She found this book as a pre-published copy and loved it, so passed it to me.

I read it very quickly, only taking a few days. The plot was enticing and it cited "The Secret History" as a book similar in its power for gripping the reader in suspense. I just read "The Secret History" before Christmas and it did do a number on me.....chilling and completely unnerving. So I dove into A Good and Happy Child.

The story chronicles a boy's life after his father's mysterious death. Eleven year old George is awkward and chubby and has difficulty making friends at school. To make matters worse, his mother is a feminist and activist that doesn't appear to mesh well in the small town they live in. As George tries to cope with his father's death and his and his mother's grief, he becomes plagued by a "friend" that appears to him in his dreams. George fears that he is going crazy and is miserable and lonely until the voices he is evading spirals out of control causing a bizarre accident that leads to psychiatric treatment. The real thrill of the story is this; is it a demon or mental illness? Or both? The story leaves you reeling with your own questions and thoughts; which would be worse? What do you believe? And if you simply believe it, does that make it true?

A thought provoking and thrilling read by a talented author.

Week by Week: A Year of Reading and Reflecting

I have decided to attempt a reading challenge, much like the one that Sarah Nelson embarks on in her book So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading. I read her book last fall and enjoyed peeking at her bookshelf and learning how she came about reading the books she reads, one a week, for a year. Any seasoned reader would snicker at her "double-booking rule" or her "first 30 pages rule." We all seem to have some sort of outline or self imposed boundaries in our minds of when you call it a loss or you resolve yourself to go back later for a second try.

One of the reasons I would like to record my reading weekly is because, like Sarah, I read a wide variety and there is no rhyme or reason to which genre or author I will pick up next. And sometimes, there is a story just in the telling of the who or how you came upon a book you love. For me, if it is one of those truly delicious books that will forever remain in the recesses of my mind, ones that I recall the memory when I want a sweet treat, to recall a character I loved and feel as if I am reuniting with an old friend-those can become even more precious depending on the when or how I received the book.

Another aspect of reading that Sarah so aptly highlights is matching our reading experience with our personal one, "and trying to see where they match up and they don't". I love this introspective glance at not only what we read, but how what we choose to read, and what books we love in some ways defines who we are. In my book journal I generally give a small review of the book; mini plot summary, themes, my personal reflections, whether I liked it. But I realize in retrospect that I do not always include what was happening during my life that may have an impact on whether a certain book resonates loudly in my heart or makes me furious at a character I relate to oh so well.

Lastly, let us not forget the way one book can mention some minute detail or refer to an obscure figure in history and you filter this detail through your mind as you read; insignificant, details of a story, yet while you are reading your next book, there it is, it pops up surprising you in black and white, right there on the page! of the next book you are reading, and you are thinking "What a coincidence!" yet two books later there it is again. Does this happen to anyone else? My books sometimes just by fate mention something or have a connection to a previous book I read and it seems so insignificant, yet linked some way in my mind.

Okay, enough said, I am eager to begin, and I will do my best to post some of my reviews as I move along.

I haven't blogged in a while...we have been busy learning and spending time together as a family which has meant spending considerably less time on the computer and watching television. I had to stop by tonight and share a funny from my little bit; my 6 year old daughter.

She told my husband and I she could tell fortunes if she read our palms. She took my hand first, squinting her eyes and concentrating on my palm. "You are going to have a lot of money." she tells me. Oh yeah, tell me more! "How?" I ask. She brings my palm all the way up to her face staring hard. "Well", she says, "by stopping buying things." Geez. I thought I had hit the jackpot for a moment. ;) My husband said, "You really are a fortune teller!!" That is until she read his palm with equal intensity and told him, "You are going to buy me a puppy." Hmmmm, I see....a future in persuasion.

I also wanted to refer some great books I have read lately, some of them book lovers have probably already read:

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See Now one of my top ten!

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell I am obsessed with this book-very strange but fascinating, I have ordered all other books by this author

The Giver by Lois Lowry Phenomenal

Sleep Toward Heaven by Amanda Eyre Ward Sad but engrossing

So Many Books So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading by Sarah Nelson Funny, smart and easy to read a chapter at a time

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingslover This book resonated with me as my cousin is an African missionary and this story revolves around a missionary family in the Congo. I found the end to be a bit slow, but worth it.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova I loved this story, it took a while to get through but I savored every moment

The Nanny Diaries by Emma Krauss One word; hilarious!

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Piccolt A very interesting and morally challenging story, never expect any less from Ms. Piccolt!

Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier Infinitely better than the movie.

I am now reading the sequel to the Sparrow~Children of God by Mary Doria Russell. I am relishing every page. Hopefully I will get some better info on these up soon and review my favorites.

Back to School

Yesterday we had our first day of school along with our school district. It was a great first day, we had lots of fun! I am feeling excited and a little more organized and confident with our curriculum this year.

We started our day off by making "Writer's Notebooks" that we will use to journal and story tell. We personalized these by using family photographs and magazine clippings to make a collage. Here is the finished product:

Trace's Notebook:

Avery's Notebook:

We dove right into our storytelling process and Avery proudly showed off her stormy story, lightning and all!

I have found some very cool information on different websites and we have a full year of fun ahead of us. A lot of friends and family ask how our schedule works and so here it is for this year:

Monday
8:30- Journal
9:00- Art (ARTistic Pursuits-An Introduction to the Visual Arts)
9:30-Spelling
10:00- Outdoor Walk/Nature Study
10:30-Math
11:00-Reading Workshop
11:30 Chores/Independent Play
Lunch 12:00

Tuesday
8:30- Writing Workshop
9:00- Social Studies-Classical Study/Timelines
9:30-Mystery Detectives

10:00- Outdoor Walk/Nature Study
10:30-Math
11:00-Reading Workshop
11:30 Chores/Independent Play
Lunch 12:00

Wednesday
8:30-Journal
9:00-Music
9:30-Read Aloud Time
10:00- Outdoor Walk/Nature Study
10:30-Math
11:00-Reading Workshop
11:30 Chores/Independent Play
Lunch 12:00

Thursday

Co-op (The kids will take three classes a piece during co-op)

Friday

8:30- Writing Workshop
9:00-Science
9:30 Math
10:00 Spelling Test
10:30 Library
12:00 Lunch

Of course, we don't always stick with our schedule. For instance, we don't stop at exactly 9:30 on the dot to move to Math. That would be ridiculous. For me that is the ultimate about homeschooling. If someone doesn't feel well or a lesson isn't progressing, we have the freedom to move on to something that will. That's the beauty of it. But it does really help to have a general outline and sense of order so we aren't in chaos either.

Also on Fridays, as we did last year, we visit the Library, check out books for the coming week and then stop at one of our favorite places for a slice of pizza. (Providing everyone behaved all week long!)

I am very excited about our writing and reading workshops, a time where they can work independently or get my help as needed as I do chores! I also implemented independent play last year which was the greatest addition to our day ever. The children can spend time playing, but no computer (or television-obviously!) and they have to play alone. They may go into their rooms or the back yard and play, but it really helped develop their imaginations and ability to entertain themselves instead of demanding to be entertained. Here is Trace during his Independent Play time building an army:

Well, that's it for now. We are eager to get into our school year and learn! I added a couple more pictures of my little hard workers for their Nana :)