Oh, Dearest Mother, Sweetest Virgin of Altagracia, our Patroness. You are our Advocate and to you we recommend our needs. You are our Teacher and like disciples we come to learn from the example of your holy life. You are our Mother, and like children, we come to offer you all of the love of our hearts. Receive, dearest Mother, our offerings and listen attentively to our supplications. Amen.



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Chari
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Posted: Jan 01 2008 at 10:03pm | IP Logged Quote Chari

Time to start for 2008!

We will keep a list of all of the books we read this year. Everytime you finish a book.........you just post it here.

If it is a duplicate of a previous book mentioned.........list it anyway.     

Consider it a survey of Catholic homeschool moms' reading choices.     

Let's capitalize the titles, and always remember the author! If you want, take the time to put the title in color........so it can catch our eye.

Be prepared to talk about your book choices sometimes!

Happy reading!

Wonder who will have the most posts in this year????

Thanks to all of you who have made last year's list such fun! Let's keep it up!

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Karen T
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Posted: Jan 02 2008 at 1:38pm | IP Logged Quote Karen T

oops double posted
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Karen T
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Posted: Jan 02 2008 at 1:38pm | IP Logged Quote Karen T

I actually finished this in 2007 but I'll go ahead and post it here so we can get some conversation going. I read My Antonia by Willa Cather. I liked it a lot but I felt the ending was anticlimactic.

I am almost finished with Founded on a Rock by Louis deWohl. It's a good overview and reiterates a good bit of both church and secular history that ds14 has been studying (and I've been reviewing) lately. It was the only deWohl book our library has.

Next in my pile is Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undsett . I started this book once before and put it down after a few chapters. I've heard so many good reviews I'm going to try again.

Oh, I also finished Persuasion by Jane Austen recently. Pretty good.

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Chari
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Posted: Jan 03 2008 at 2:18am | IP Logged Quote Chari

Thanks, Karen, for jumping in. I love Persuasion. Any and all Jane Austin There is a really good movie out there.....with Ciaran Hinds, I believe.

I found a beautiful old copy of kristin L......it is waiting for me. have not been in the mood yet. I hope you can find other de Wohl books somewhere else!

For some reason, I have picked up the Fellowship of the Ring.......just in the mood, I guess...we will see where I go with this third reading.

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Posted: Jan 03 2008 at 11:52am | IP Logged Quote pixilated_momma

Happy new year of reading!

I *just* finished:
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

It was a recommended read on another thread here, so I picked it up.

Margaret Hale and Mr. Thorton were interesting, well-rounded characters who grew from their trials and experiences, and felt so real to me. They made mistakes, had stereotypes that changed, etc.

I really enjoyed this read. The book really appealed to me, except, I will confess, I had a very hard time with the dialect. BOY HOWDY, did I struggle with this. Paragraphs upon paragraphs of union philosophy and manufacturing ideologies is difficult enough in plain English, but when written in dialect ... I struggled with some of it. I even just sped-read some of Nicholas' dialogue. I'm not one for dialect. Maybe a "ya'll" or an "aye" here in there, but wowza. Them Milton folk sure have a curious way o' speakin'.

And that's really all the reading I've done this year so far. What a slacker!



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Posted: Jan 03 2008 at 1:13pm | IP Logged Quote Chari

You inspire me, Maria! Maybe I will finally pick up that book....so, i can watch the movie

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Posted: Jan 04 2008 at 6:19pm | IP Logged Quote Rachel May

I finally finished The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan.

The book traces 4 meals back to their roots with sidetrips about CAFOs and how it feels to hunt food. They include a Mc Donald's meal traced to an Iowa field of genetically modified corn and a CAFO. Ugh, but that doesn't really come as a surprise even to me, and I'm ignorant about how food is produced (or was).

The second is cooked from organic foods from Whole Foods--chicken, asparagus, roasted veggies, and wine, I think. The biggest surprise for me with this meal was the fact that "organic" and "environmentally sound" are not synonymous. (His midwinter orrganic asparagus was probably industrial farmed before it was flown in from Chile, and it tasted like soggy cardboard... but not jet fuel. )

The third meal is from a chicken the author had butchered himself and other things grown at Polyface Farms--a farm that sells food in our area, I discovered. He spent a week working at the farm and learning about the interconnectedness of all things farmish. Everything on the farm works towards the benefit of something else, the way I used to think all farms worked. This and the Whole Foods sections were my favorites.

The fourth meal was wild pig shot by the author, veggies grown in his garden, and mushrooms he had gathered himself. That chapter was the biggest snoozer to me. It felt like the hunting/gathering went on and on and on....maybe that's true to life though. In the end I felt like the book was a good read and eyeopening in areas that had been missed in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle which I found very inspiring.

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Posted: Jan 04 2008 at 8:49pm | IP Logged Quote Chari

wow, Rachel.......what a very interesting idea for a book. I am one of those people who occasionally pick up books with strange ideas for a topic. Thanks for a great review!

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Posted: Jan 08 2008 at 2:59pm | IP Logged Quote Mare

Karen T wrote:


Next in my pile is Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undsett . I started this book once before and put it down after a few chapters. I've heard so many good reviews I'm going to try again.

Oh, I also finished Persuasion by Jane Austen recently. Pretty good.

Karen


I'm reading Kristin Lavransdatter now. I'm on the second book. I'm enjoying it. There are parts that make me feel a bit sad sometimes.

I'll just add that Masterpiece Theatre will be airing Jane Austen films beginning this Sunday with Persuasion. I'm really looking forward to sitting under a blanket with a nice warm cup of tea and watching these films.   



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Chari
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Posted: Jan 08 2008 at 7:08pm | IP Logged Quote Chari

Oh, lucky you, Mare!

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Posted: Jan 08 2008 at 7:21pm | IP Logged Quote jdostalik

I just finished My Grandfather's Son by SC Justice Clarence Thomas. This is not a typical book for me to read, I actually bought it after seeing him interviewed on Raymond Arroyo's news show on EWTN. Thomas was so erudite and smart and humble and faith-filled--nothing like the press portrayed him during his confirmation process. The book is extremely well-written and very nostalgic. Thomas writes frankly and honestly about his childhood as a poor black in the South and the love and respect he had for his grandparents who raised him. Fascinating reading!   

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Posted: Jan 09 2008 at 12:42pm | IP Logged Quote Karen T

Mare wrote:

I'm reading Kristin Lavransdatter now. I'm on the second book. I'm enjoying it. There are parts that make me feel a bit sad sometimes.



The book I have from the library has 3 books within it - The Bridal Wreath, The Mistress of Husaby, and The Cross. I assume these were published separately as well? So there are not more after I finish this (huge) volume I hope!
Anyway, I am just about to the end of the first book and while it's definitely interesting, I was very disappointed in her character once she got to the convent. I just wasn't expecting this, esp after the whole reason she went away for awhile anyway! (I'm trying to discuss this without giving anything away to someone who hasn't read it as I don't want to spoil it).

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Posted: Jan 09 2008 at 1:10pm | IP Logged Quote KC in TX

I just finished Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See.

What a beautiful book. It's interesting for me to see the differences in Chinese culture and Korean culture. Although, it could also be because the book is set so much earlier in time.

The chapter on footbinding was painful to read, but the rest of the book was very, very good. It painted a picture of the relationship between two girls who grew to womanhood together. It was very sad to read at the end, but reminds us to treasure our friends and not let petty things get in the way.


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Posted: Jan 09 2008 at 1:18pm | IP Logged Quote Chari

Sounds great, KC!

Karen, from someone who has not read the book, I appreciate you being careful    ....from my understanding, you only have to read your one book.....I have an antique edition I picked up cheap at a library sale .....all three in one....kind of overwhelming to get started when you look at how fat the book is...

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Posted: Jan 09 2008 at 2:06pm | IP Logged Quote Mare

Karen T wrote:
The book I have from the library has 3 books within it - The Bridal Wreath, The Mistress of Husaby, and The Cross. I assume these were published separately as well? So there are not more after I finish this (huge) volume I hope!


You are correct, Karen. Our library had the books that were published separately. I was surprised to find them Young Adult section.

Karen T wrote:
Anyway, I am just about to the end of the first book and while it's definitely interesting, I was very disappointed in her character once she got to the convent. I just wasn't expecting this, esp after the whole reason she went away for awhile anyway! (I'm trying to discuss this without giving anything away to someone who hasn't read it as I don't want to spoil it).


Yes, that's exactly how I felt! I think that's where I began to feel sad too. Without spoiling the book, it's interesting how they deal with indescretions. It also is giving me some insight as to the origin of some old wives tales and a bit of understanding of where stories like Little Red Riding Hood may have originated.   



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Posted: Jan 09 2008 at 4:03pm | IP Logged Quote organiclilac

I just finished Pride and Prejudice (2nd time) and started on Northanger Abbey. I am hoping to get through all the Austen I haven't read yet (Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, and Sense and Sensibility) before they air on Masterpiece Theater. Thankfully, I received all of these for Christmas!

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Posted: Jan 09 2008 at 5:05pm | IP Logged Quote Chari

Yea, Tracy!

I guess I will have to borrow the movies from Netflix since we do not have any TV service. You all are making me jealous ...not that I need to borrow P & P.....I HAD to own that one, we borrowed it from the library too much!

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Posted: Jan 10 2008 at 9:08pm | IP Logged Quote Rumpleteazer

Chari, I'm taking advantage of your invitation of a few months back to pop in every so often and talk books... New Year's Day I stole away a great big stack into my room, and have slowly been working my way through them.

pixilated_momma wrote:

I *just* finished:
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell


I also finished this just recently! I tried to read it a couple years back, but halfway through the book I got a bit overwhelmed by one of those union discussions which really went right over my head... very different from Gaskell's Wives and Daughters! However, I got the BBC adaption for Christmas and after seeing that I was inspired to give it another try, and I really did enjoy the book.

I'm on the verge of finishing Triumph: The Power and the Glory of the Catholic Church by H.W. Crocker III. I found it a really very captivating book, very attention-grabbing. It's the first complete history of the Church I've read, and now I'm planning to expand my knowledge of the subject by reading Belloc.

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Posted: Jan 11 2008 at 4:18pm | IP Logged Quote Karen T

Rumpleteazer wrote:
I'm on the verge of finishing Triumph: The Power and the Glory of the Catholic Church by H.W. Crocker III. I found it a really very captivating book, very attention-grabbing. It's the first complete history of the Church I've read, and now I'm planning to expand my knowledge of the subject by reading Belloc.


I have read about 1/3 of Triumph and got sidetracked by something else. I need to go back and finish it. I just finished Louis deWohl's Founded on a Rock, which was a very good, readable history but ends right before Vatican II.
Which Belloc book are you reading? I have the one on the Crusades but haven't read much of it.

Forgot to mention earlier I think that I'm reading The Apostolate of Holy Motherhood. anyone read that? It's for our group's book club. It is not what I was expecting so far - I thought it would like Holiness for housewives or A Mother's Rule of Life, etc. but it is one woman's visions of Mary and what she has been told to do.

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Posted: Jan 11 2008 at 8:05pm | IP Logged Quote Rumpleteazer

Quote:
Which Belloc book are you reading?


I have a couple in my room right now: Europe in the Faith, which I actually got halfway through about a year ago, but never managed to finish, and How the Reformation Happened.

I didn't realise that de Wohl had written a history of the Church... I've read some of his other books and really enjoyed them. I'll have to look into that!

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