The Good Earth

by Pearl S. Buck is my September choice, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1932. Mom and Aunt Rae, I decided to read it after you both mentioned liking it. The copy I bought is an "enriched classic", so it includes notes and commentary.

I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows! I LOVED it!! It was perfect....just perfect. Couldn't have been better. Beautiful.

Lulu

A Thousand Acres

by Jane Smiley is my September choice. It won a Pulitzer in the early 90's. I picked it because a lady at the library recommended it. It looks pretty good so far. I don't really know anything about it except that she said it was "real." 350 pages.
I am so pleased that I made it to the library today! I needed to get out of the house . . . the kids did too.
Love to all--
Liz

Various book awards

Abby, I love the new design! It's easier to read (for me), and it's fun to see listed what we've read as a group.
I'm on page 385 in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
For some reason, when I tried to post this link, it didn't show. But it describes literature awards. So just copy and paste, if you're interested!
http://www.bookspot.com/awards/

The March

by E. L. Doctorow will be my September choice. It is set during the end of the Civil War when General Sherman marches through the South destroying much of the existing infrastructure. Doctorow won several awards and I will have to investigate them to see if I think he merits the honors.

Mim...I loved The Good Earth. I read it just a few years ago and it has stayed with me. I can't think of very many books that have impacted me emotionally like it did. I even dreamt about it and woke up mad at Ivan once. Poor guy...he had no idea what he had supposedly done!

Abby...great look. Keep it up. Hope I did the indexing correctly.

Rae...great photo. It will be interesting to read about some of the various book awards that are out there.

Happy reading!

From Mim/Mom: Sisterhood of the Panting Readers

Hello, Sisterhood of the Panting Readers! My September book is The Good Earth. I read it when Beccy was a baby so the story will be "new" for me. Actually it made a deep impression on me in 7th grade, and two impressions stayed with me: I began to learn what women have suffered in other cultures and times, compared to enlightened LDS women of our day, and I began to understand the oppressive nature of communism. Why do I want to go back to the book? And why am I not reading about Japan instead of China? Because I like Pearl Buck's narrative style and her insights into human nature (a favorite topic for me--what makes people tick), and I don't know of anything good she's written about Japan except The Hidden Flower, which didn't appeal when I looked it over. Does anyone know if it's good? Has she written more about Japan? It'll be fun to learn about the Pulitzer Prize (that's what The Good Earth won for her). I intend to look it up so I can judge, as I read, whether I'd have given Mrs. Buck that award.

Abby, I love the changes in our blog. As far as the colors and readability are concerned, you certainly wouldn't be asking for my opinion. It's all you birthday people who are getting older, needing boldface black-and-white large print. Who else could you be wondering about? Mim/Mom

Structural Changes

I've made some changes that will hopefully be improvements on our blog. For starters, I've added categories along the right with all the books we've read. Each book is linked to an amazon/deseret book type page for anyone who wants that. At the bottom of the same column you'll find an index. If you click on something like "Harry Potter" or "The Hiding Place", you'll get all the posts that refer to those books. This will be especially useful to Sam, Jennica, Lynness, and Maddie when they choose to join. I'm thinking it may also be handy if we forget what's been said about a book but are thinking about reading it.

If you'd like to save me some time and understand how this works, feel free to add your own labels to your post. This is how it works, briefly. When you're typing your post, between your own text and the "Publish Post" option is a tan bar that has "Labels for this post" in black text. If you type in the name of the book you're writing about, it will be added to our index. To keep confusion to a minimum, if you would just add labels for the books you're writing about (not the many other things you may mention...), that will help. Also - don't worry about adding a label if you're simply stating what book you will be reading. The index is mainly there to help us know what's been said about the book after it was read. :)

I'd love to know what you all think of these things too. And I've also been wondering if the colors are okay. Can everyone read it with ease?

Love
abby

September subject

Aunt Rae, I'm really excited about the September genre! I've just started the last in the Harry Potter series....I'm sure I'll post my thoughts once I'm done. I'm actually taking it a little slowly, reluctant, I guess, to be really done with the whole series. I know I'll read it all over again one day, and then again another day, but this is the last time I'm reading it (the 7th in the series, that is) for the first time. :)

I was researching the different literary awards, and in looking at the Pulitzer Prize, I saw that they award photography, too--amongst many other areas of expertise in the arts. I know this is a book blog, and about books, but I just had to share one of the winning photos. It's too good not to be shared. It's by a man named Oded Balilty, of the Associated Press. I've included the description written underneath the photo.


A lone Jewish settler challenges Israeli security officers during clashes that erupted as authorities cleared the West Bank settlement of Amona, east of the Palestinian town of Ramallah. Thousands of troops in riot gear and on horseback clashed with hundreds of stone-throwing Jewish settlers holed up in this illegal West Bank outpost after Israel’s Supreme Court cleared the way of demolition of nine homes at the site.

February 1, 2006

September read

If you haven't been able to tell, I am alternating fiction with non. My intent is for those of you who don't often read non-fiction for pleasure (many people simply read it for information) to broaden your horizons. Non-fiction, written well, can be as compelling as a good fiction book. For those of you who do prefer fiction, breath a sigh of relief. September is a fiction month...

Miriam referred to all the family birthdays in the months of August and September and wondered if that might suggest a potential read. It does fit in nicely with what I had in mind for the month of September. When birthdays roll around, we celebrate as though we had won an award. So in keeping with that theme, your September reading assignment is to find ANY FICTION book that has won an award. If you need some guidance, the library or internet will have many lists of various awards.

When you post the title of your chosen book, please let us know what the award is. It would also be interesting for you make comment (after your reading) as to whether you felt the award was justified.

Pick a winner! Happy reading!

Bookish Thots

I think August was a transition month for many of us...or at least a very busy one. A new baby, visiting grandchildren, violin lessons, kids starting school and entire families moving...including the Hinkles! Many thanks to Samantha for letting me use her laptop while I wait for my internet access to be set up next week. Even my own reading has slipped a little this month. I probably should have just chosen Harry Potter for our August read!

It warms my heart that each of my nieces mothers so well and so attentively. Though I haven't actually experienced the childbirth process, I do know somewhat of the mothering process and I know how demanding it can be. Kudos to all of you great women in each of your various stages of life.

Mim...you would so enjoy the usage class at BYU from Don Norton. His whole emphasis on writing and speaking is that we should be clear and concise in order to be well understood. Sometimes the rules actually get in the way of that. He is teaching me to re-think my entire mindset regarding the English language. We can be more free in our writing and speech, still follow some set rules, and communicate clearly with our own unique regionalisms. I'd love to talk to you about it all. It's just a boatload of fun...Of course, I haven't sent anything in for a month. I told him to not expect to hear from me until mid-September!

To all who enjoyed the Potter phenomenon...I'm kind of glad it's over and we can move on to other enjoyable reading endeavors! Duran called me yesterday to ask about Beowulf (no...that won't be September's read). Apparently, some sort of movie is being made with that as the subject and Duran wanted to know what it was all about. I had to confess that I have never read it...and don't intend to! But I guess it's good that the media is trying to utilize great books. Hopefully more people will be encouraged to read.

My August read has been very enjoyable. It's about a teacher in California who really creates an environment for learning in his classroom...unlike most classrooms...and has great success. He emphasizes civility and respect. He makes learning math and English fun with silly games and Shakespeare plays. And most of his students are low-income children. I recommend the book to anyone interesting in teaching or learning. I'm willing to send it on to anyone interested.

Lulu...your post on your own blog re Gpa and Gma was most lovely. We were there yesterday for lunch and sometimes I do wonder if Gma knows who I am. Most of the time she does. Gpa takes extremely good care of her and is most solicitous to her needs. I too am amazed at their almost sixty years together! But I think they have moved into the eternal realm with their relationship and simply don't count the years. They will surely be together forever. What a beautiful gift that is from our Savior. Thanks for your sweet post.

I will post the September read in a separate post.

Happy reading!

At least I'm reading something, right?

I have to confess that I have been avoiding the library lately. I hope you are not ashamed of me! I have had a hard time returning books on time, finding checked out children's books around my house, finding time to even go, etc. I even had a really big fine recently because of some DVD's I kept too long. So I didn't check out anything for August but I have in mind to read that book Abby used to teach Autumn to read, by Seigfried Engelman. (I guess I just need to get in the habit of renewing online . . .) I also am reading the Harry Potter books again, although unlike Lulu I did read #7 first. I liked Rae's comments on that and agree that I would have been upset had it ended differently. I was very happy with the ending. I like discovering new details as I re-read. I can and can't believe how much I missed in the first readings! :) I sort of wish I had more to write, but today I am "burning the candle at both ends" just to get my laundry and dishes done, so I am going to bed! I enjoy you all and all you say. Thanks! Liz

Fwd: book club message

Hello All---Mim/Mom here. I've been silent for a long time, but I've been reading everyone's comments and also reading my July and August books. I hope you won't mind that my comments are lengthy and tardy.

Happy Birthday--to everybody else in the book club! From August 18th to September 25th, that is. Rae, does that suggest a genre, maybe?

I loved my July read, The Winthrop Woman, which I finished on August 6th. Anya Seton claims meticulous research so I trusted her history details as well as her portrayal of Elizabeth Winthrop. Seton probably couldn't help giving Elizabeth some modern-day attitudes that she may not really have had, but there must have been a few women in that era (about 1615-1660) who perceived thru the Light of Christ that Heavenly Father might not be a God of wrath and that Puritanism was not the true doctrine of the Atonement. Did you know there were alphabet letters other than scarlet A's to label people as sinners? D for Drunkard, V for Venery, B for Buggery . . . They could've made an entire primer of sins for their children, separate from the Bible alphabet primer they used for educating them. I am so thankful to live today and have a testimony of the restored gospel! I must've been desperate to have my earth-turn now and not sooner.

Anyway, I thought a lot about New England history and our country's beginnings, as Rae hoped we all would. I thought about our own family history, about witchcraft and Anne Hutchinson, about early apothecary skills (Elizabeth kept her family of three husbands and eight children remarkably healthy), and Indians (pardon me, Native Americans). I'd forgotten how violent and vile the interactions between colonists and Indians were, and I saw clearly that Satan fought hard to keep this country from ever getting its little flame going and standing a dim chance for religious tolerance. I'd read a bio of John Winthrop but saw him in a less favorable light this time; only a man truly called of God as was Joseph Smith could ever rise above pride and greed in such a role.

Seton sent me repeatedly to my dictionary stand. You can probably guess the meaning of this fun but derisive phrase: "One little boy cocked a snoot at Will . . ."

My August book was Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People who Love Books and for Those who Want to Write Them. Author--Francine Prose (really). Some of you may not be interested in her subject, but you'd all enjoy the format because she quotes passages from excellent writers and you just have a lot of fun reading them. (You have to skip a few nasties.) The author's quite acclaimed. She shows you how these writers use word choice, point of view, dialogue, gesture, etc. in creative ways. I'm sure this sounds like an ordinary writing book. But it was captivating, even though I can't say I really liked analyzing literature till I was thirty or so.

Prose's list of "Books to Be Read Immediately" includes lots of classics, but also lots of moderns that I may try now that I've "tasted" them. The book made me decide that my own writing is way too rule-bound and I can learn much by just "reading like a writer." I don't plan to be all weird and wild, but I feel some new freedom and excitement now about my future writing. Thanks for the fun category, Rachel. Love to all---Miriam/Mom

Long time, no post

Hi, everyone! I've been reading the posts, but have waited to contribute in the whirlwind of relocating. I just figured I'd say that I'm of the same mind regarding adding new people. I would write differently, unless it was someone all of us knew/loved. And I like this little group we've built. I definitely think it'd be cool to add more ladies of the family.

I haven't chosen a book for this month's genre. I'm almost done re-reading all previous books leading up to HP#7--in fact, I'm in 6. So I'm voraciously devouring that, and slapping my hand every time it prematurely reaches for #7.

:)

Lulu

Rae's August Read

I have selected Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire: The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56 by Rafe Esquith.

Happy reading!

More People?

I agree with Mim re adding new people. I would write differently too. I really like the fact that it is family and that I feel more connected with my ladies. I showed the blog to Samantha this past week and she is really excited about it. She thinks Jennica and Lynness would be interested also. Sam is getting ready to move so I don't know when she would "opt in" but if those three came into the group, we would be plenty big. I know that even with a physical book group, you have to manage numbers of people.

My feeling is that it could get out of hand quickly, depending on who you invited...or how many...those are my thots. But I'm always open to persuasion.

Happy reading!

Item for Discussion

Mom/Mim and I have been discussing the pros & cons of opening our group up to a few more people.

Personally, I love having it be family but would love to have it be a few more family members or even very close friends.

Mom/Mim has said she feels like she wouldn't write in the same way if she knew her audience were different than it currently is - but she also wondered if that's fair. She loves the closeness of a group created from sisters/mothers & aunts. (And so do I of course)

What are your thoughts on this?

My August Read

I'd like to read a book about teaching kids & infants to swim for my August read. We've been thinking a lot about the pool that will be in our apartment complex in Florida and want to do all we can to help the girls be safe -- and also enjoy the water! Does anyone have suggestions or know anything about these four books?

Teaching an Infant to Swim (Virginia Hunt Newman, 1967)
Teaching Children to Swim (Eva Bory, 1971)
Infaquatics: Teaching Kids to Swim (John L. Murray, Ph.D, 1981)
Learn to Swim: Step-by-step water confidence and safety skills for babies and young children (Rob & Kathy McKay, 2005)