What are you reading?

[Kobi]

Not becoming my mother : and other things she taught me along the way / Ruth Reichl

Bestselling author Ruth Reichl embarks on a clear-eyed and openhearted investigation of her mother's life, piecing together the journey of a woman she comes to realize she never really knew. Looking to her mother's letters and diaries, Reichl confronts the painful transition her mother made from a hopeful young woman to an increasingly unhappy older one and realizes the tremendous sacrifices she made to make sure her daughter's life would not be as disappointing as her own.

[Sparkle]

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Life-After-A-Novel/dp/0316176486/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366312599&sr=8-1&keywords=kate+atkinson"]Life After Life by Kate Atkinson[/ame]

from the book description:

"What if you could live again and again, until you got it right?

On a cold and snowy night in 1910, Ursula Todd is born to an English banker and his wife. She dies before she can draw her first breath. On that same cold and snowy night, Ursula Todd is born, lets out a lusty wail, and embarks upon a life that will be, to say the least, unusual. For as she grows, she also dies, repeatedly, in a variety of ways, while the young century marches on towards its second cataclysmic world war.

Does Ursula's apparently infinite number of lives give her the power to save the world from its inevitable destiny? And if she can -- will she?

Darkly comic, startlingly poignant, and utterly original -- this is Kate Atkinson at her absolute best."

It is very readable, as are all her books. And it's a great concept. I'll let you know what I think when it's done.

[Fancy]

Minimalist Parenting: Enjoying Modern Family Life More by Doing Less
by Asha Dornfest and Christine Koh

Ok, so I was thinking this book was going to tell me to get rid of my stuff, but not so. Here's a partial review from Moxie, which I think is spot-on:
"This book is probably going to overwhelm you if you have a first baby under three months. If you have kids older than that, though, this book will give you a nice framework for thinking about all the areas of family life so you can assess what you can control and streamline things so you can process the chaos as it happens and spend more time enjoying life and less time feeling like it's dragging you around."

[girl_dee]

Incidents in the life of a slave girl


Harriet Jacobs

[Kobi]

Where Have All The Leaders Gone

~Lee Iacocca

[Gina]

"Illuminati" by Mark Dice

[Fancy]

The Nature Connection - An outdoor workbook for kids, families, and classrooms

by Clare Walker Leslie

**A lot of fun gems in here to stimulate our thinking and keep us outside learning!

[PaPa]

As Little as possible....
after grad school I am read out for now.
I will however, take suggestion for when I am able to pick up a book again and enjoy it.
I am just too braindead right at this moment in time.
HA!

[Fancy]

The Business of Baby: What Doctors Don't Tell You, What Corporations Try to Sell You, and How to Put Your Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Baby Before Their Bottom Line

Margulis, Jennifer

[Kätzchen]

Wright, David (1985). Geoffrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales.
Oxford University Press (Oxford, England & Oxford, New York).


I find myself, from time to time, picking up this book and reading particular selections of Chaucer. I often find myself re-reading Wright's introduction to Chaucer, so that I am reminded of Chaucer's place in time and where he stood socially - due to his father, John Chaucer, a well-to-do wholesale wine merchant who lived on Thames Street, which at one time was a weathy district in London and his father's marriage to a wealthy heiress, Agnes de Copton - and to also re-acquaint myself with Chaucer's long-storied career in service to the public. I don't know why I do that, but I do - every single time I return to read some tale in this book.

While soaking in the tub last night, the latest tale I read from Chaucer was: The Fragment of The Wife of Bath's Tale (pp. 219 - 250).

[Fancy]

Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place.

~Zora Neale Hurston

[Kobi]

Where they stand : the American presidents in the eyes of voters and historians

by Robert W. Merry.

The rating of American presidents is a popular fascination for scholars and citizens alike. Merry believes that professionals' opinions are, however, sometimes out of sync with those of the people and, specifically, the electorate that installed or repudiated a president.

Therefore, he accords the vox populi weight equal to the verdicts of seven polls of historians conducted over past decades. The professors and the voters exhibit no differences over who were the best presidents Washington, Lincoln, and FDR but they diverge over nominees for the near-great category; electorates liked Jackson and Reagan, but historians have been critical. Likewise, the dons praise Wilson and Truman, whereas the people voted their parties out of power.

To bridge such discrepancies, Merry combines fluid commentary on what impresses historians and application of his rule for the populace's standard of approval, rewarding an incumbent with a second term and succession by his party's nominee. Anything less plunges a president down the scale to average or failure, with near-great Polk as a conspicuous exception.

[afixer]

just finished with old mail.

now on to the instructions for a leveling product that i hope works.

[nycfem]

Just listened to the CD of:

"Banished: Surviving My Years in the Westboro Baptist Church" by Lauren Drain and Lisa Pulitzer"

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Banished-Surviving-Westboro-Baptist-Church/dp/1455512427/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368014671&sr=8-1&keywords=banished"]Banished: Surviving My Years in the Westboro Baptist Church: Lauren Drain, Lisa Pulitzer: 9781455512423: Amazon.com: Books[/ame]

I think it's read by the author but I could be wrong. In any case the reading of it is just beautiful which makes a big difference to me for books on CD.

It's an amazing book that I'm sure I will listen to again at some point. For those who don't know, Westboro Baptist Church is the "God Hates Fags" church. It's about how this girl, now woman, Lauren's, parents ended up moving their family to Kansas and joining the church. It's a fascinating in depth look at this religious cult and the psychology of the people involved from the inner workings of the church day to day, particularly Shirley Phelps. Highly recommended but chilling.