August Reads

 

I've pretty much given up on my blog---except for recording my cookbook countdown.  I vacillate between starting blogging/journaling again (for my own satisfaction only) or not.

So, here I am.

I thought I'd just start slowly and post my August books.

It was a really good reading month for me.  

Better than any month ever--18 books. 

I had 2 five stars reads.

2 3 star reads.

and all the rest were 4 star reads.

I feel that the star rating system is so arbitrary.  

Because my 3 stars are still books I'd recommend.  3 stars means I liked the book.

I am very selfish with my 5 star ratings.  I don't give them often.

But that means that I would recommend all of these books to most of my friends.

Although, I know my audience, so the romances not to everyone.

My big surprise?  Running with Sherman.  I loved it.   

And that's my slow re-entry into the blogging world. 

 

Bookclubs and more Bookclubs!

On Monday, I said this about this book:

This one was---just okay.  I read it for book club and tomorrow night I have to go defend my opinion in someone's house, who really loved it. 

I would recommend with reservations.

But here it is Wednesday, the day after book club and guess what?  I still would recommend it with reservations, BUT we had the best discussion last night.

It was all about women's issues--which the book brought to light in a different way.  I guess they weren't just women's issue:  health, love, parenthood and worry, infidelity, aging, friendships, discovering yourself.  But the book talked about these things among women, so we really, REALLY, got off subject and didn't talk so much about the book's characters, but rather, ourselves.  The book was the catalyst tho.

I still don't know if I'd recommend it,  I didn't love it, but I did love the discussion it brought about.

It was a small group last night--only half of us--but it was fun.

I could kick myself for not stepping outside and taking a picture of Kerry's view. I don't know why I didn't, it's so beautiful, and as you know I like it when I can show off  Nevada's beautiful side.

I took a few photos but my head must have been somewhere else.

Betty and Kerry were our hosts. They served some great appetizers

And Kerry has a very big lazy susan, so serving ourselves was easy peasy.

****************

On Wednesday afternoon,  we had our first Literary Guild Luncheon of the season.

The Literary Club (we gave up the word Guild some time ago) has been meeting since 1952.

We don't all read the same book (except for the month of May), but we have a nice lunch and listen to a book talk.

We have a little booklet with all the members names in it and phone numbers.

Every October we donate money to purchase Dictionaries for all the 3rd graders in the county school system.

And this is the book which Terri gave the report about.

She says we all should read it!

It's Monday

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week.  It's a great post to organize yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile!

It's Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date.

Apparently I have been missing in action since October of 2016.

I can tell you that I've read 72 books so far in 2017!

I'm sure you don't want a back log of my books, so I'll just tell you what I read last week...

(they were both very good.  I listened to the audio version of 'The Hate U Give',  I would highly recommend it.)

And what I'm reading this week..... 

That's what I'm reading.

How about you? 

What are you reading this week?

And best books of summer?

I loved: 

Beartown by Fredrik Bachman

Stingray Afternoons by Steve Rushin

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

Those are some of my favorites.

What are some of your favorite summer reads so far?

I define summer reads as between Memorial Day to Labor Day.

So the end is almost here.

Can I say 'YAY' for fall?

YAY!!

(even tho it's supposed to be 101 today--fall is coming!)

Non-Fiction November FAIL-- kind of

I have failed this year keeping up with Nonfiction November posts.

I was feeling a bit bummed about it, because I really do love to connect with others thru memes/challenges and events, and I really love non-fiction.  I like to find out what's trending and what everyone is recommending  this year.

So yes, I was a bit bummed--until I went to see an author at the library this afternoon.

You might be thinking, yeah, so what, you saw an author. But we live in rural Nevada.

Rural.  Nothing around for miles and miles.  It's not an easy sell for an author.    TJ Stiles is a Pulitzer Prize wining author of nonfiction!  Pulitzer Prize!!  Winnemucca scored!

I had not read his books before today, but was excited to see  him and hear his book talk.

Guess what?

He was such a great speaker and was so interesting to listen to!   He's written  three books and I bought all three.  In fact, our little town bought ALL of the books he brought.  We cleaned him out.

He was just so thoroughly enjoyable.

So I was feeling good--I was able to attend a speaking engagement by a non-fiction author this month and purchase his books to read.

While I was visiting with him as he was  signing my books, I mentioned that it was Non-fiction November and he said  "you have a blog?"  I said that I did.

You all know that I don't identify with being a 'book blogger' right?  I'm just someone who  has a blog and LOVES books.

But today--I was so happy to be included and be a  part of the book blogging world!

So even tho I am failing at the proper way to participate in Nonfiction November, I just feel I scored big!

Off to go read some Non-Fiction!!

Tuesday Intros!

 

Today is Tuesday--- which means I'll be joining up with Diane at Bibliophile By the Sea and her First Chapter, First Paragraph

Tuesday Intros.

  (yay!  It's been so long since I've joined in--I'm excited)

Where,  bloggers post the first paragraph of a book they are thinking of reading --- and get everyone's opinion to see if it grabbed them from the beginning or not.

Click here to join the fun!

My Paragraph:

If you want to get Brandon's family talking, you need only ask about his childhood tantrums, aaannnnnnnnd they're off!  Their descriptions are sufficiently vivid that you'd think he'd had a screaming meltdown in the family car last week. But if you ask Brandon about his tantrums, he'll tell you that he was constantly hungry, and that low blood sugar will bring out the wailing, shrieking lunatic in anyone.

What do you think? Keep on Reading?

The Book:

 

It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

 Change is hard for me sometimes, but it's always exciting too.

What the heck am I talking about?

Sheila from Book Journey has passed the torch of the Monday meme:

It's Monday! What are you Reading? 

to Kathrine at Book Date.

Thank you for hosting for so long Sheila --- and Hello Kathrine!

October is the busiest month of the year where I work. Besides organizing a 5k Fun Run,  organizing a beer and wine tasting, with silent auction etc, , the general membership luncheon and a couple of new business ribbon cuttings, (and every other year we host a Candidate's Night.  THANK GOODNESS that was not the case this year) I am on the library board and we had to hire  a new director, which meant an evening of 'meet and greet' and 2 days of interviews last week, and finally a dessert function with a ribbon cutting of our brand new bookmobile.  

So I guess reading has been put on the back burner for the past couple of weeks.

Still, I couldn't NOT  (is that proper grammar? )  take part in Book Date's new venture!

So here I am!

I am taking part in a Stephen King Read-along this month. I haven't gotten far in Salem's Lot, but now that my work activities have drawn to a close, and the Handyman is out of town for a few days, I plan to hunker down tonight and get on with it!  AND, it's RAINING!! 

What better way to read Stephen King?

I am also supposed to read this for book club this week:

I don't want to, but I will.

I want to imagine Atticus as he was in To Kill a Mockingbird.

I hope this doesn't ruin it for me.

And my "for fun" book right now is Dollbaby.

My early morning (5am), having coffee, sitting in my comfy chair book!

I am only about  50 pages in.  

I think I'll like it.

That's it for What I'm Reading this week.

How about you?

A More Diverse Universe

 

Here it is October 17th and I am just checking in with my Diverse Universe post.

As I said when I signed up tho--I did pick the busiest month of the year for me.

It was sort of fun watching the 'due date' come closer and closer knowing I still had a book to read.

2 days ago!

 

I love the threat of the guillotine of deadlines.

 

Why did I think it was important to participate in this challenge?

I, too, am a middle class white female American, who has a pretty easy life. Food on the table, laughter around the table with family and friends,  a warm house to enjoy the impending winter, enough money in the bank to go shopping today (for things I want and don't necessarily need).

 

Well..... I agree 100% with Aarti from BookLust, who started this challenge!

She says:

Reading diversely is important because we live in a global world.  Period.  If you read books only by white authors, you are limiting yourself to less than 30% of the world's experience of race and culture.  If you read books only by Christian authors, you are limiting yourself to only about 33% of the world's experience of religion.  If you read books only by authors in developed countries, you are limiting yourself to a very privileged view of what the world has to offer you.  If you read books that focus only on Western thought, history, and philosophy, you are missing out on many rich and varied traditions and worldviews that have informed and continue to enrich the way we view the world today. 

I have always felt that I have a very diverse family, BUT we still all live in that (mostly), white middle class world, so I thought it would be interesting to see what I could pull off of my own bookshelves.

I went to check out  the 'grandchildren's' room/bookshelves first---and  I went no further.  I found everything I needed right there.

You might think I'm cheating, because some say that children and JR novels and Young Adult are easy books to talk about, but my thinking is this:

Authors who write for children and middle age readers HAVE TO be good writers, because kids aren't going to stick with a book that doesn't pull them in right away. Right?

 

I have a lot of children's and middle aged books by authors of color.

My favorites are:

The Watson's Go To Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis

Mississippi Bridge by Mildred D. Taylor

 

Those are two great, GREAT books that you should read to your children!

 

I grabbed one I had not read yet--

Hoops by Walter Dean Myers.

 

 

What did I think?

I think you should read it.

The language/slang is a bit dated, EVEN for a diverse, set in Harlem, book.

The language is very ' 70's.

It was funny, you jive turkey!

 

Beyond that, it is the story of a poor black boy in Harlem, trying to find his way in the world.  He's a great basketball player, his coach (who has his own problems) sees that Lonnie has great potential and helps him develop his gift, warns him about pressures.  There is a life-changing decision (of course).

Basically, it's a coming of age story set in Harlem amid the game of basketball.

 

I think most kids can relate to certain aspects of the story ---how one decision change alter your life--Peer Pressure, etc.

But then seen in the Harlem setting, is a new and diverse setting for a lot of us, kids and adults.

I found it very interesting to see the regional,culteral and social differences set in the same America I live in.

 

 

Walter Dean Myers was an American writer of children's books best known for young adult literature. He wrote more than one hundred books including picture books and nonfiction.

He died July 1, 2014

 

 

 

I found this list on the Cooperative Children's Book Center website.

It was an eye-opener for me.

Year	Total Number of Books Published (Est.)	Number of Books Received at CCBC	African / African Americans		American Indians		Asian Pacifics/ Asian Pacific Americans		Latinos
			By	About	By	About	By	About	By	About
2014	5,000	3,500	84	180	20	38	129	112	59	66
2013	5,000	3,200	68	93	18	34	90	69	48	57
2012	5,000	3,600	68	119	6	22	83	76	59	54
2011	5,000	3,400	79	123	12	28	76	91	52	58
2010	5,000	3,400	102	156	9	22	60	64	55	66
2009	5,000	3,000	83	157	12	33	67	80	60	61
2008	5,000	3,000	83	172	9	40	77	98	48	79
2007	5,000	3,000	77	150	6	44	56	68	42	59
2006	5,000	3,000	87	153	14	41	72	74	42	63
2005	5,000	2,800	75	149	4	34	60	64	50	76
2004	5,000	2,800	99	143	7	33	61	65	37	61
2003	5,000	3,200	79	171	11	95	43	78	41	63
2002	5,000	3,150	69	166	6	64	46	91	48	94

It's Monday

This meme is used to share what we read this past week and what our plans are for the upcoming week.  It’s a great way to see what others are reading and add to your own To Be Read list.  You never know where that next great read may come from!

It's hosted by Sheila from Book Journey.

Click here to play along!

I've been in  a teeny bit of a reading slump lately, BUT I have listened to/am listening to some good audio books.

I am making my way thru this non-audio book:

Destined to be a book club favorite, a heart-wrenching debut about two people who must decide how much they’re willing to sacrifice for love.

Mara Nichols is a successful lawyer, devoted wife, and adoptive mother who has received a life-shattering diagnosis. Scott Coffman, a middle school teacher, has been fostering an eight-year-old boy while the boy’s mother serves a jail sentence. Scott and Mara both have five days left until they must say good-bye to the ones they love the most.
 Through their stories, Julie Lawson Timmer explores the individual limits of human endurance and the power of relationships, and shows that sometimes loving someone means holding on, and sometimes it means letting go.

and Listening to these two audio's this week:

Kitchens of the Great Midwest, about a young woman with a once-in-a-generation palate who becomes the iconic chef behind the country’s most coveted dinner reservation, is the summer’s most hotly-anticipated debut. 
 
When Lars Thorvald’s wife, Cynthia, falls in love with wine—and a dashing sommelier—he’s left to raise their baby, Eva, on his own. He’s determined to pass on his love of food to his daughter—starting with puréed pork shoulder. As Eva grows, she finds her solace and salvation in the flavors of her native Minnesota. From Scandinavian lutefisk to hydroponic chocolate habaneros, each ingredient represents one part of Eva’s journey as she becomes the star chef behind a legendary and secretive pop-up supper club, culminating in an opulent and emotional feast that’s a testament to her spirit and resilience.
 
Each chapter in J. Ryan Stradal’s startlingly original debut tells the story of a single dish and character, at once capturing the zeitgeist of the Midwest, the rise of foodie culture, and delving into the ways food creates community and a sense of identity. By turns quirky, hilarious, and vividly sensory, Kitchens of the Great Midwest is an unexpected mother-daughter story about the bittersweet nature of life—its missed opportunities and its joyful surprises. It marks the entry of a brilliant new talent.

One Sunday in the spring of 1988, a woman living on a reservation in North Dakota is attacked. The details of the crime are slow to surface as Geraldine Coutts is traumatized and reluctant to relive or reveal what happened, either to the police or to her husband, Bazil, and thirteen-year-old son, Joe. In one day, Joe's life is irrevocably transformed. He tries to heal his mother, but she will not leave her bed and slips into an abyss of solitude. Increasingly alone, Joe finds himself thrust prematurely into an adult world for which he is ill prepared.

While his father, who is a tribal judge, endeavors to wrest justice from a situation that defies his efforts, Joe becomes frustrated with the official investigation and sets out with his trusted friends, Cappy, Zack, and Angus, to get some answers of his own. Their quest takes them first to the Round House, a sacred space and place of worship for the Ojibwe. And this is only the beginning

*********

I'm actually enjoying them all.

I have to finish up the Round House by Thursday, for book club.

What are YOU reading?

RIP---I'm doing it!

I'm doing it.

I'm jumping in!

I'm joining the RIP X challenge.

What is RIP X, you ask?   Readers Imbibing Peril, take ten.

This is the first time I'm taking part and they are 10  years in.

I'm excited!

(it doesn't take much to excite me)

I love fall and all things autumn and that tad bit of creepiness that comes along with, so I thought--why not?  Even tho, the horror genre is not usually my thing (I say usually, because this past year, I have read my horror,suspense, thriller than I ever have), I'm sure I can find a book or two  to fit in.

If you want to join in, sign up at The Estella Society. I hope to see you there!

Read and/or watch, if you're so inclined, books from the following genres between September 1 and October 31, 2015:

• Mystery
• Suspense
• Thriller
• Dark Fantasy
• Gothic
• Horror
• Supernatural
• Anything sufficiently moody that shares a kinship with the above

I am doing Peril the Second.

Peril the Second: Read two books of any length that you believe fit within the R.I.P.categories.

I figure I can read at least 2 books in the categories as well as watch a good ghost story on the screen in the time period, even tho work is hell this time of year.

(HA HA---work is hell---it's a pun to fit in with the book challenge!)

I really did hesitate to sign up, as I have so much (SO SO VERY MUCH) going on at work in the next 4 weeks.

So! What did I decide to do?

Sign up for a few challenges and go on a 5 day vacation!