Lynness: December and onward, and a radio show you might want to try

Mim, I never did read that story- I checked our library system and
it does not own a copy, and I dislike reading on the computer screen.
Besides all that I had to stop everything I was reading for about 2 1/2
weeks to get through Isaiah's Christmas Party (sorry "Winter Party"!!!)
at school (I'm room parent), making gifts (I made 18 items this year),
getting things ready to send off to the the Left Coast (as my dad calls
it) and getting Ruth through a very nasty cold and ensuing double ear
infection.
Anyway, so once Christmas was over I started where I left off around
the first week of December. I finished "Seeing Voices" (about ASL and
the Deaf) and "An Anthropologist on Mars" and am currently reading
"Uncle Tungsten," all by Oliver Sacks. This is generating a lot of
discussion with Nathan, who has recently started listening to "Radio
Lab," a show on a New York NPR station he gets over the net. They cover
topics from "Sleep" to "Mortality" to "Time," etc., and have guest
speakers, one of whom was Oliver Sacks!! I want to start listening, but
I don't think my connection will do it. If you are interested- and I
think some of you will be (I'm getting to know you all better through
this, too! Especially how much I have in common with Abby), just Google
radio lab.
As far as immigrant nonfiction, I don't have any personal
recommendations, but I'll keep my eye out...perhaps I'll try something
about the present immigration issues as my January read.

Rae: January Read

I hope you each enjoyed your "break" from the assigned book in December and that you were able to find something fun and new to read. I have set a goal to read A Christmas Carol sometime this spring...I never got a round to it in December. But Mim inspired me to read it anyway!

I recently came across a great quote by the Prophet Joseph. He referred to the "veil of stupidity" over the earth. He was probably talking about spiritual things, but the longer I live the more evidence there is of intellectual stupidity too! Way too much apathy and indifference to what is going on around us.

Anyone as election-fatigued as I am? Things should start to really get interesting next week when the primaries actually start and all the posturing by the candidates might truly mean something. It is actually a fascinating and somewhat inspired process, though, and we should be paying attention to it all. We should value our ability to vote and participate in the electoral process.

Your assignment in January is to read a non-fiction title (here's your chance, Liz) having to do with current affairs. Your options are many. Choose an area you don't know much about and go forth and learn. Let us know what you choose and what you discover!

Happy New Year and happy reading to you all!

Rae: Shotguns and Submarines

I spent the month of December reading a bunch of Louis L'Amour western novels so that I could pass them on to my father-in-law for Christmas. He asked if I had any around the house (if he only knew!) and I was able to scrounge up a dozen or so for him. We had an enjoyable Christmas in Coronado. It was great to see the ocean again and to be in a little warmer weather. I was able to walk every day (and somehow I found myself at the local bookstore at one end of those walks...) and the boys (we had Duran with us) were able to shoot and fish and relax. I missed the snow in Payson, though. It didn't really seem like Christmas without it!

With Duran here, the conversation turned to his nuclear assignment on board the attack submarine Norfolk. He got me interested in a couple three books. One is a history of submarine espionage. Another is about the first nuclear accident (which happened in Idaho Falls). And the third is The Hunt for Red October, which I have seen many times on film but have never read before (that I remember, at least). So I've been knee deep in shotguns and submarines this month.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that you are rejuvenated for the new year. I love a new year...new lists, new routines, new goals, and renewed hope and faith. We are blessed simply to be alive!

Happy reading!

Mim/Mom: Christmas Reads & Book Suggestions for Maddie?

Hi My Dears---I'm reporting back about my Christmas reads.  Lynness, did you read that short story, "The Mansion?"  I didn't really enjoy it and I wondered why President Monson reads it over and over!  The characters seemed so flat after reading A Christmas Carol (and Dickens is great at characterization anyway).  The message seemed kind of trite--basically, you get a tiny mansion in heaven if your focus on earth is your earthly mansion.

 
So I talked about A Christmas Carol in my other December post.  But Dickens' The Life of Our Lord was a nice little surprise.  A sweet little book but I don't know if any of you would get very excited about it.  He does have a gift for writing simply, in a way his children would've been enchanted with.  He had ten children!  Anyhow, the best thing about the book is the two letters at the end, which President Hinckley quotes from, where Dickens teaches his children, "Remember!  True Christianity is TO DO GOOD always . . ."
 
Here's a question for everyone:  What can you recommend for Maddie on the topic of immigrants to America?  She's been reading about this in her history text this week and she said it was the first time in forever that she'd been excited about something she's learning at school (other than Spanish and Japanese).  She hasn't even been as enthused this year about reading in general.  So I want to give her some titles and "strike while the iron's hot" to encourage her.  I did a Google search but without any personal recommendations the selections offered are just unknowns.  Anyone know some good ones?  Nonfiction, of course, and not too scholarly.  She would like it to be narrative, to read like a story.  Says she wants to read about the clashes of culture and about the hardships people overcame . . . Thanks for your answers . . .
 
Merry Christmas and I love you all!  Lynness, I feel like I'm getting to know lots about you thru this blog!  And Samantha, are you still out there?  Or are you spending all your time writing instead of reading?  One day we'll all be reading a Samantha Weigel book together, no?  Love, MIM
 
 

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Abby: Jasper Fforde

Aaah! That's so COOL! I thought he was done and was so sad. I'm glad you've read them too! I'll think of some more fiction and get back to you.

Lynness: Been there, read that

Actually, there's now five books! The newest is "First Among Sequels"
which showed up at the library a few weeks ago and I picked it up ass
soon as I saw it. I own the first 2. Any other picks? Thanks!

Abby: Fiction for L ynness

Lynness, I forgot that you had asked about favorite fiction authors. I loved Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series. The first book is called The Eyre Affair. Aunt Rae introduced me to the series. There are four books...and I have three which I want to mail to Beccy for her to read, but I could mail them to you and then you could mail them to her I bet. Beccy, are you anxious to get those soon or could I send them to Lynness first? We haven't talked about them for quite some time.

There is some language in the series. BUT, it doesn't happen often. I remember most that one of the later books has one word in particular which is repeated a few times within a few pages, which was strange. In the books I have from Aunt Rae, most of them have been crossed out with permanent marker.

Anyway...if you're interested let me know.

Lynness: Non-fiction picks

    Ditto to pretty much everything Rae said.  I used to think non-fiction was education, not entertainment, but have learned in the past five years or so that it can definitely be both.  I do think that the books written about people's life experiences are some of the most memorable reads.  I'm thinking books like The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (Terry Ryan) or Aron Ralston's Between a Rock and a Hard Place (climber stuck in canyons in Southern Utah who eventually has to amputate his own hand to get free).  Truth is often stranger (and just as interesting/entertaining as) fiction!
    I also enjoy essays and vignettes, especially humorous ones, like Bailey White's Mama Makes Up Her Mind (and Other Dangers of Southern Living) from which she has read sketches on NPR.
    I don't know if you're into the same sort of things I am, but if you have a scientific bent that also includes cooking and medicine,  I've enjoyed James Gleick's Chaos and one called Fuzzy Logic (I can't remember the author).  Russ Parson's How to read a french fry: and other stories of intriguing kitchen science is not really in story form, but is quite interesting. I've read Crypto, about the advent of digital cryptography, and a book on forensic pathology, (I'd have to go to the library and find it to tell you the name...).
    There's many more, but since I don't record them like Rae, I can't think of more now...I posted a little while ago about finding fiction authors that people have liked, since I find I'm reading mostly non-fiction.  My favorite way to find new non-fiction is to browse the "new books" shelf at the library.  We have a very good and large library system and hundreds of new books come in monthly.  I pick up more non-fiction than fiction there because there seem to be so many more "flies" in the popular fiction on the new book shelves.

Hope this gives you and others some jumping off points!

Abby: Another Non-fiction suggestion

Aunt Rae's list of interests jogged my memory. I loved Seabiscuit and I know Aunt Rae did too. I'm not sure if that author's in her list because I can't remember the author's name.

I was actually quite surprised at how good the book was!

And since I'm on the topic of that book, Aunt Rae, I got it from you and you mentioned that it was one you would like back. I still have it, just in case you were wondering. I'll mail it to you!

Rae: Non-fiction

I learned to love non-fiction when I started reading it for the same reasons you want to, Liz. I didn't particularly like reading it for school classes and only became enamored with it when I looked for books that revolved around things I was personally interested in. I had interests in lots of history, medicine, horse racing, ships, animals, and the Old West. I just looked for books that fit the bill!

The non-fiction being written for the masses today is quite a bit better than in the past. It's much more readable and approachable. I can recommend some favorite authors of mine and you could just look at their books in a library or bookstore to see if anything fits your interests.

Try Simon Winchester, Daniel Boorstin, Bill Bryson, David McCullough, Oliver Sacks, or Neil Postman for starters. They specialize in history, travel, medicine, and social commentary.

I find that I read almost more non-fiction as I age than fiction. And the fiction is more genre and more for entertainment than anything else. I am often dissatisfied with much of the contemporary fiction. I LOVE NON-FICTION. Here's hoping you'll hop on board!

Happy reading!

Abby: Good non-fiction for Liz

Liz, I recommend Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculee Ilibagiza. You can tell what it's about from the title. Other than that, it's similar to the Hiding Place in some ways. There is a story line, it's very gripping, and it has a powerful message of forgiveness. Although it is about such an awful time, I still found it uplifting because of her attitude about it.

Something fun & light could be Catch Me If You Can.

I can think of more but the girls need me! More later maybe.

Liz: looking for good non-fiction

Hi everyone!

I have a hard time enjoying non-fiction. I think I've generally always been that way, but more so lately. But now I WANT to read non-fiction. I think I need some mental stimulation and thought-provoking material, and I want to LEARN more. BUT (again) my mental capacities seem to have dwindled at this point in my motherhood. :) I often feel intimidated by non-fiction. Maybe I subconsciously feel like I have to memorize as I read, or I feel like I can't follow the information unless there is some sort of story line. I guess there is non-fiction out there with a storyline; maybe that would be ideal for me. SO do any of you have some good non-fiction you would consider entertaining, fun to read, and very interesting?

Thank you in advance,
Love, Liz

Lulu: Happy Holidays!

Hello, everyone! I will be reading my November choice (Vienna by Eva Menasse) for December, and I'm thinking about reading a book called Two From Galilee: A Love Story (by Marjorie Holmes), which has been recommended to me by two very enthusiastic readers. Anyone know anything about it? Anyone read it? Liked it, loved it, hated it?

Now, since it is December I thought I'd share the text in one of the books from Reed's Scholastic book order that came today. It has lovely illustrations, but the words are sweet and beautiful, so I had to share them. And I thought it was appropriate, given the text of the book, to share this painting (that I've scanned) that Reed made in school.

What Star Is This?
by Joseph Slate
Illustrated by Alison Jay

Far off in space where comets fly
in an icy ring through the deep dark sky,
a tiny comet with a budding tail
is born this night on that frosty trail.

What star is this?

It bounces off its icy berth,
and sails away for the far-off earth.
Down, down--its beam is on the dancing Goat
and the gliding Swan,
the dipping Bear, the leaping Lion,
the flying Horse, and the hunter Orion.

What star is this?

Planets puff and meteors fly,
but the bold little comet ducks right by.
On and on its glowing sail
spreads out like a peacock's tail.
Down, down--its path is sure.
It knows the One it's headed for.
Then over the earth, asleep and still,
the comet blinks, "Good will! Good will!"

And far below, wise men cry,
"What star is this that lights the sky?"

Then suddenly at birth of day,
shepherds hear the angels say:
"Go to the manger! Have no care!
For see, the Star you want is there!"

And there He is, in Mary's bed,
a glowing ring around His head.
"What star is this?" They kneel to see.
The Baby Jesus--it is He!