Lulu: My reading

Looks like we're all of the same mind here; I read The Help several months ago and loved it. The movie was really well-done, too. Recently I've read:

The Thirteenth Tale (Diane Setterfield) - I adored this book and didn't want to read anything else afterwards, because it was just too good. I recommended The Help to Liz and she recommended The Thirteenth Tale to me; we enjoyed several occasions of quiet, intent, tandem reading while I was at her house through the month of August.

Peace Like A River (Leif Enger) - Recommended to me by Abby and Aunt Beccy a couple of years ago, this was the book I read after The Thirteenth Tale. It was so beautiful! So I passed it on to Liz.

These Is My Words (Nancy E. Turner) - Recommended by Abby and Aunt Beccy, also a couple of years ago, I finally got around to reading it and I'm sad I'm done.

The Book Thief (Marcus Zusak) - I got 48 pages into this addictive book before it was lost in my floating-around-space suitcase that Delta still can't find. Very annoyed about that. I've requested it from our teeny-tiny branch library, so I'm just waiting. But I might end up buying it.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (C.S. Lewis) - I can't believe it took me so long to read this! I was really missing out. I read it to the kids out loud, after we had finished The Mysterious Benedict Society and were taking a break before diving into the second one. They loved it, Reed especially. I was so happy to read him something that is so richly symbolic of Christ, and written by someone who was a follower of Christ. Aslan makes me cry happy tears. Lucy and Susan make me think of my sisters. I'm really excited to read the first one (I hadn't realized that LWW was the second in the series) and the third! At the moment, we're finishing the Overlander series (Suzanne Collins); we're in the last book. And eventually we'll do the second Benedict book. It's nice to have a long queue of interesting books for their night-time reading. Makes me look forward to bedtime.

Reed is reading the first Harry Potter book! I am so pleased I could cry. While his vocal reading fluency isn't a strength YET, his comprehension is wonderful, and he gets zeroed in on Harry with intense interest when he's reading it to himself.

I'm also perusing several books on the art of writing, both the technical elements and the creative side of it.

In the process of moving and putting all my books on the shelves, I am re-realizing how many books I own that I haven't yet read. Furthermore, a lot of classics and "necessary" reads that I haven't touched....like....(oh, it shames me to admit this!)....To Kill A Mockingbird. Never read it. And too many others that I know I ought to read. I'm happy to have finally read These Is My Words and Peace Like A River, as those were on my shelves for a couple of years before I opened them. But I know, too, that it would be great if I'd read more of my own books!

Liz: P.S.

I also read Ella Minnow Pea, a couple years ago, and found it engaging, funny, and thought-provoking. I'd like to read his next book.

Liz: What I've been reading

Left to Tell by Immacule Illibagiza. Had a profound impact on me and still will forever. Highly recommend.

Peace Like a River by Lief Enger. Exquisitely written. Loved the style. Loved the miracles. Highly recommend.

The Help. Awesome. Highly recommend.

TRYING TO READ BUT IN SPURTS: The Parenting Breakthrough by Merilee Boyack. Seven Habits-Covey. Total Money Makeover-Dave Ramsey.

Love you all!

Raehink: Eclectic Recommendations

The Help is also on my list of recommended titles. I thought it was fantastic, although some black scholars have criticized its white author. You just can't win, I guess. I too am looking forward to the movie - one of these days...

Qait - I know you enjoy nonfiction - if you liked The Help then you might like The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson. It's about the massive black migration from the South to the North after Reconstruction. It's incredibly well-written and made me really feel my own history (even though I wasn't around). I highly recommend it to anyone interested in that period of history.

I loved Ella Minnow Pea and have his newest book on my to-read list (the title escapes me at the moment). I also have Just My Type in the house to read as well. I absolutely LOVED my first reading of the new RS history book. My counselors are reading it now and we also discussed using it for our 1st Sunday lessons next year. Good minds thinking alike, Lynness!

I am halfway through Anne Patchett's State of Wonder and am really enjoying her writing as well as her plot. Hope it maintains my interest all the way to the end. I have also read the first two Alan Bradley mysteries starring Flavia de Luce. She is an eleven-year-old delight! If you enjoy mysteries, I recommend Bradley's series. Another recent set of mysteries is set in post-World War One England and stars Maisie Dobbs, a former war nurse. The author is Jacqueline Winspear.

I also read a Steve Berry book but was less than impressed. Read an old title for youth called House of Stairs. It's a psychological thriller written back in 1974 or so. Quite remarkable for its day. Last but not least, I will recommend another nonfiction title: The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction by Alan Jacobs. It will make you feel good about reading at all :)

Love to all of you...and Happy Reading!

Lynness- Re: The Help and other books

I've had The Help on hold at the library for a month now- it'll probably be another month before it's my turn.  Over our vacation to see Jon and Janis et. al., I read the Ender's Shadow series, which I enjoyed and which made me want to go re-read Ender's Game to see how it fits together, which I did.  I also read Ella Minnow Pea (say it fast, Mad-Gab style)- a quick, quirky fiction about losing letters of the alphabet.  I read about a book about fonts called Just My Type, but my library doesn't have it (yet, anyway- I'm hopeful).

And, of course, I'm reading the new church publication about the history of the Relief Society.  I'll probably use it for 1st Sunday presidency messages in the new year.

Q- The Help

Have any of you read The Help by Kathryn Stockett? If not, you're so missing out!!! I LOVED it.
I love books full of such real characters, people you feel like you've either known or would love to know.
I also really enjoyed the subject matter; this woman Skeeter is told to write about what bothers her, and the same things would bother me! At the same time, I feel like I understand better...
The book centers on Jackson, Mississippi in the 60s, when many (MANY) black women were maids for white families. I've always hoped I would never treat a black person unkindly, and while I still have the same hope, I think I'm humbled to the point that I can admit if I had lived at that time, I would have been very affected by society and rather ignorant about my White ways.
(Of course, I still feel sure I wouldn't be despicable like some women in the book).

So! I LOVED this book. So much. As always, there's no way the movie will be as good (you just can't fit all of that in, and the book goes into the women's minds the way a movie can't). But I'm really excited to see it some time!

love, Q

Lynness- finally read it...

Well I finally read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and agree with Rae- everyone should read it.  It's got science, but not too much- very accessible; it's got a human story full of depth.  Rebecca Skloot did an amazing (and highly time-consuming, evidently) job on this.  It didn't take me this long to read it b/c I was busy- it had over 80 holds on it at the library when I put it on reserve: obviously a lot of people are interested in it.  I love nursing!! I have an excuse to sit down for a few minutes and read!  I read it over a couple of days and just couldn't put it down.  I read all the other ones I had reserved (except the one on dark matter- I just couldn't get into it, even though the subject seemed like it would be interesting) and added All Clear, the 2nd half of Connie Willis' Blackout.  I was looking for some books to recommend to a friend and ran across Read My Pins, a memoir from Madeleine Albright that I think looks good- I'll let you know how that goes.