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
 
 

---

i'm is proud to present Cause Effect, a series about real people making a difference. Learn more

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!