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stefoodie
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I don't know what it is, I've been on a book kick since October. Maybe it's the realization  that I'm not getting any younger and if I'm serious about reading these books I've got on my (endless) list I better DO SOMETHING!!
I finally read To Kill A Mockingbird which I assigned to oldest years back but never finished.
And then read/skimmed A Thousand Splendid Suns because it was too depressing and just wanted to get it over with, but then I went back and reread, and don't regret having done so. 
My next book is Brideshead Revisited.
I've been reading A Good Man Is Hard to Find but though there have been a few WOW moments I'm kinda not getting it. Don't know if it's a culture thing? Hm.
What have you read/what are you reading so far?
Links to previous book lists, for inspiration:
2013
2012
2011
2010
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stef
mom to five
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JodieLyn
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Been reading a bunch of stuff since Christmas.
The Blood of Kings series of 3 books
Mordant's Need (set of 2) by Stephen R Donaldson
And I've started Ariel by Steven R Boyett
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
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stefoodie
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Oooh, not familiar with any of those, Jodie. Checking them out :)
Has anyone read the Divergent series? Any good?
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stef
mom to five
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JodieLyn
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I haven't, just heard of it the other day.
I haven't read Ariel in a long time.. already can say some language but haven't read enough otherwise. The other's don't have much language, Blood of the Kings is fine for teens. Now the Donaldson books have some sexual situations. The most graphic are actually a show of power, not "making love".. you know that unmarried persons are sleeping together but it's not described. I'm letting my 16 (almost 17) yr old read them. She tends to skip over those bits as much as she can on her own and I was reading ahead of her and left her sticky notes at the worst part. So I'd say adult and possibly older teen depending on the teen.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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MarilynW
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Thanks for starting this Stef.
I too am reading a lot - and not just books with the kids. To inspire myself for the New Year, I read CS Lewis's On The Reading of Old Books, and am keeping this in mind as well as Maria Von Trapp's "something for the mind, for the soul and the heart"
I just finished With God in Russia (Father Walter Cizek) - really good book. Incredible how a human being can survive in the worst conditions - and really moved me to see the need for priests in communist countries.
Our family is on a Dickens roll rather now (dd and dh are big Dickens fans) - I finished reading Bleak House and we watched the BBC version as a family. It was awesome. I just love the Dickens mini series - they make Downton Abbey look uninteresting. I am going to read Hard Times next.
Also on an Austen roll - reading Persuasion again.
For the soul - I am reading Time for God and Happy Are You Poor - both incredible and I can just digest in little chunks.
For beauty I want to read Emily Freeman's A Million Little Ways - I love the quote in the review "You were born to make art. You were made to live art. You might not see yourself as an artist, but you are--in so many unexpected ways. In what you create, whether poetry or pie, sculpture or sand castle, calligraphy or conversation. It's time to uncover the shape of your soul, turn down the voice of the inner critic, and move into the world with the courage to be who you most deeply are. Creating a life of meaning is not about finding that one great thing you were made to do, it's about knowing the one great God you were made to glorify-- in a million little ways."
I also read a couple of books that I thought I should - but did not make me feel great - Huxley's A Brave New World and Orwell's 1984. I think I will avoid this genre.
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Marilyn
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MarilynW
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Wanted to add that I am just loving anything about or by GK Chesterton. I can only read little bits at a time - every sentence of his has to be savored and digested!
I started with Dale Ahlquist's The Apostle of Common Sense. I am following with Orthodoxy and Tremendous Trifles.
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Marilyn
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Karen T
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I read the Divergent series in December. I liked it even more than the Hunger Games - it's dystopian as well but otherwise different. There is a little more physical romance between the main characters but it stops short of going too far and like HG, it's not a big focus of the story. I'm letting my 12 yo dd read them.
I've been reading all of Dickens over the last two years and finished up David Copperfield in the fall, and just started The Mystery of Edwin Drood last night.
I also finally read Enders Game in Dec, hoping to see the movie but it had already left the theaters by the time I did. I'm on the wait list for the next one from the library, not sure if the whole series is as good as the first one or not.
My dd bought me 33 Days to Morning Glory by Michael Gaitley, for Christmas, on Marian consecration. I've tried to do the St. Louis de Montfort book several times and never managed to finish it. This is much more doable for me and a real joy to read. I had already read his other book Consoling the Heart of Jesus last year.
Has anyone read Michael O'Brien's new book Alpha Centauri? am wondering if it might be similar to Lewis's space trilogy.
I also read Dean Koontz's latest book Innocence as soon as it was released. A wonderful book. For those who don't read Koontz, most of his later books, while still mysteries, are much less about horror and more about suffering and redemption. This one is about some outcasts from society and their value.
Karen
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stefoodie
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I've tried to read Orthodoxy several times, my 17-year-old keeps prodding me -- but I just CAN'T. So now I'm reading the Father Brown mysteries as a gentler introduction to GKC. I find that I *can* read his serious works but only if I jump around at random. (ADD-style reading)
Started A Tale of Two Cities and Bleak House and Edwin Drood last year but didn't finish any Dickens except for Great Expectations which I loved. Will try again this year!! I want to read Little Dorrit!!
Prayers for you, Karen! Are you preparing for Marian consecration? (And thanks for the comments on Divergent, my teens have been asking.)
I did manage to finally finish Perelandra last year and bent on reading That Hideous Strength this year. But ugh, I am so not a science fiction fan. Love Lewis though, managed to read several of his books last year.
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stef
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knowloveserve
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Recently finished The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and liked it for "good fiction" reading... I hope to get a couple more titles ready in this category for the long nursing hours I have coming up with a newborn.
Just started I Believe in Love which I have high hopes for based off a good friend's glowing recommendation.
Also finishing up a very readable biography of Catherine of Siena mostly because I'm a fan of Sigrid Undset.
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Ellie
The Bleeding Pelican
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MarilynW
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stefoodie wrote:
I've tried to read Orthodoxy several times, my 17-year-old keeps prodding me -- but I just CAN'T. So now I'm reading the Father Brown mysteries as a gentler introduction to GKC. I find that I *can* read his serious works but only if I jump around at random. (ADD-style reading)
Started A Tale of Two Cities and Bleak House and Edwin Drood last year but didn't finish any Dickens except for Great Expectations which I loved. Will try again this year!! I want to read Little Dorrit!!
Prayers for you, Karen! Are you preparing for Marian consecration? (And thanks for the comments on Divergent, my teens have been asking.)
I did manage to finally finish Perelandra last year and bent on reading That Hideous Strength this year. But ugh, I am so not a science fiction fan. Love Lewis though, managed to read several of his books last year. |
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Love love love Little Dorrit. And the movie is just fantastic - probably my favorite Dickens. I don't find Dickens writing style very easy when I am tired.
I am not into science fiction either - just never been able to get into it.
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Erin
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Just before Christmas I read some very thought provoking books
Kite Runner a novel about betrayal and redemption, raw in parts
Dry Grass of August made me really think about racial segregation in the 50s. Ultimately a book of courage
Memory Keeper's Daughter couldn't get this book out of my head. One twin was born with Down Syndrome, the mother told she was dead (by the father) and sent to an institution, but yet she never made it there...
After Christmas I read Citadel of God and Lay Siege to Heaven both fantastic!!
About to delve into some Cyril Hare mysteries recommended on somebody's blog in the Books Read round up at the end of 2013.
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Erin
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Kristie 4
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Not much reading right now- mind numb from tv on netflix??
Anna Karenina- can't get into Tolstoy. I try. I read War and Peace and liked it, but after Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy is kind of hard to stomach.
Brave New World- I picked this without pre-reading for my dd's book club. Wowsers- I need to read this fast to keep up with the discussions that are going to follow.
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Kristie in Canada
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A Walk in the Woods
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stefoodie
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Erin, Kite Runner was written by the author of A Thousand Splendid Suns -- have you read it? I can't say I 'enjoyed' it -- more like it confirmed what I had read about elsewhere, but I can't read very many books like it without getting depressed. Is Kite Runner more, uhm, uplifting?
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Erin
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I haven't heard of it, but will read it when in the mood for that sort of novel. Kite Runner isn't uplifting, very raw in parts but the characterization was very good. The betrayal/redemption part struck me but you have to be in a certain mood to be able to read it.
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Erin
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Kristie 4
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Stef, I find his books quick reads but they can be dark at times- goes with the subject matter. His last one was pretty good, but it took concentration to keep with the plot as it jumped all over the place! I like 'Suns' most of the three. The Kite Runner had that one scene that sort of traumatized me!
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Kristie in Canada
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A Walk in the Woods
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Erin
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yeah skipped that scene as soon as I realised where it was going, also another scene towards the end that was hard to read
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Erin
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Christine
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I am currently reading Saint Bernadette Soubirous by Abbe Trochu and Mother Love. The next book that I will be reading is Children and Parents by Sheen.
Ellie, I Believe in Love is one of my favorite books. I hope to reread it this year.
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Christine
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Memories of a Catholic Wife and Mother
Pretty Lilla Rose
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JodieLyn
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JodieLyn wrote:
| I haven't read Ariel in a long time.. already can say some language but haven't read enough otherwise. |
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And now I can say there's definately language through the book, not a great deal but there. And there's some young man growing up stuff.. w#t dreams somewhat frankly mentioned and one s#x scene near the end. In this case because the Unicorn won't stay with a non virgin, it is pertinent to the storyline, but described more than necessary. I probably won't let my kids read it. Not much more is described in it than in Mordant's Need.. but the intent is different. In Mordant's Need it's a power play and has a different "feeling" than in Ariel where it's a bit gratuitous.
I got it to read because I read is ages ago, and all I could remember was it had a unicorn, that it was dystopian (there was "the change" that stopped modern things like cars and guns and planes and such and brought back magical creatures), and that they used hang gliders.. specifically that the updraft on NY sky scrappers would lift the hang gliders. So I wanted to revisit it. The story wasn't bad and I'm glad I reread it. But it won't be one I plan to revisit again really.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
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MarilynW
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Kristie 4 wrote:
Brave New World- I picked this without pre-reading for my dd's book club. Wowsers- I need to read this fast to keep up with the discussions that are going to follow.
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I was previewing this and 1984 - that's why I read them. (had done 1984 years ago in high school) I found them very disturbing. Yes - they will provoke tough discussions - and very relevant to today's politics and anti-life culture.
One of the things that really struck me about Brave New World (and there are many!) - how "mother" is the worst curse word ever. 
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Marilyn
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MarilynW
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I read some Catholic fiction which was very good - edge of your seat, "gotta finish the book" - The Brian Gail Trilogy Fatherless and Motherless I really liked. Childless was a little scary and disturbing in the light of the anti-life culture we live in.
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Marilyn
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4Real Forums : Book Club
Topic: Booklist 2014!!
