I haven't been for awhile. My kids were having, uh, fine issues. One child, who shall remain nameless, had to do several hours of babysitting to pay off the fines, and is currently "on a break" from borrowing from the public library.
So I went today AND I went by myself. I like our public library a lot, and I enjoy taking my kids, and we've done numerous activities there over the years, but I also do like just taking my times and searching the stacks for books that I like.
Anyway (have you ever noticed how often I say anyway?) here is what I ended up checking out:
1 - Cooking Green: Reducing Your Carbon Footprint In The Kitchen by Kate Heyhoe
2 - The Natural Step for Communities: How Cities and Towns Can Change to Sustainable Practices by Sarah James and Torbjorn Lahti
3 - The Homeowners' Handbook to Energy Efficiency by John Krigger and Chris Dorsi
4 - Home Almanac: Maintaining Your House Month to Month by John Gates
5 - Give It Up: My Year of Learning to Live Better with Less by Mary Carlomagno
6 - No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet and the Discoveries He Makes About Himself and our Way of Life In the Process by Colin Beaven
7 - Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less are the Keys to Sustainability by David Owen
8 - Surburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream by Andres Duany
9 - Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer by Novella Carpenter
10 - EcoMind: Changing the Way We Think, to Create the World We Want by Frances Moore Lappe
11 - The Handmade Home: 75 Projects for Soaps, Candles, Picture Frames, Pillows Wreaths & Scrapbooks (A Country Living Book)
12 - The Rhythm of Family: Discovering a Sense of Wonder Through the Seasons by Amanda Blake Soule
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Thursday, October 6, 2011
A Book A Day Keeps The Doctor Away?
Well, I haven't been reading a book a day. Well, some days I have. It was DEFINITELY a summer of reading. I could read at the pool during swim team practice, and I could read while I was laid up with my burns. I could read while the kids played. And I could read at night.
And courtesy of my Nook that I got for my birthday, I can bring lots of "books" on our weekend trips without having to load up a bag. I also love my Nook for when I'm waiting. At the dr. office. At school. At the pool. I still get most of my books at the thrift store and I still doing a lot of borrowing from the library.
Some of the fiction I read was: The Jane Austen Book Club, The Prodigal Summer, The House of Sand and Fog, Plain Truth, Transgression, The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing, and While I Was Gone.
On my Nook, so far, I've read: The Help, The Happiness Project, Half Broke Horses, and The Glass Castle.
Non-fiction, of course, was "Simple" reading: Gardening, Root Cellaring, Knitting, Edible Gardens, that sort of stuff. It is funny, I used to have to really dig for these type of books, and they were usually books that were published in the 1970s. This year, there are tons of books in the "New" section. Makes me wish I would have taken the time to get my book written a couple years ago when there was less competition. Oh well. Life happens, right?
And this year, I am even going to do Book Club with my friend Mary! Yes, Mary from my Another Ode to Mary Mary Commentary! The same friend that we talked about books at at Women Living Wisely about how I wanted to start reading more. The friend who said that she would be my "book friend!"
I'm so glad I finally started taking time to "read" again. I missed it!
And courtesy of my Nook that I got for my birthday, I can bring lots of "books" on our weekend trips without having to load up a bag. I also love my Nook for when I'm waiting. At the dr. office. At school. At the pool. I still get most of my books at the thrift store and I still doing a lot of borrowing from the library.
Some of the fiction I read was: The Jane Austen Book Club, The Prodigal Summer, The House of Sand and Fog, Plain Truth, Transgression, The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing, and While I Was Gone.
On my Nook, so far, I've read: The Help, The Happiness Project, Half Broke Horses, and The Glass Castle.
Non-fiction, of course, was "Simple" reading: Gardening, Root Cellaring, Knitting, Edible Gardens, that sort of stuff. It is funny, I used to have to really dig for these type of books, and they were usually books that were published in the 1970s. This year, there are tons of books in the "New" section. Makes me wish I would have taken the time to get my book written a couple years ago when there was less competition. Oh well. Life happens, right?
And this year, I am even going to do Book Club with my friend Mary! Yes, Mary from my Another Ode to Mary Mary Commentary! The same friend that we talked about books at at Women Living Wisely about how I wanted to start reading more. The friend who said that she would be my "book friend!"
I'm so glad I finally started taking time to "read" again. I missed it!
Friday, November 20, 2009
Mitten Strings for God: Reflections for Mothers in a Hurry
I've heard of this book from homeschooling blogs, and then a few months ago, I saw it at the thrift store, and decided to pick it up. It was different than I thought it was going to be, but not in a bad way. It was more of a book about a woman who decided that she wanted to live her life simpler, more deliberately, and more in tune with her family. (Sounds like my kind of book, huh???) I also thought that the book was going to be more about God, based on the title, but there was very little mention of God in the book. Either way would have been fine with me, but in case someone was buying because it was going to be a book from that point of view, I didn't want you to be surprised or if there is someone who is hesitating because they are not looking for a book from that point of view. Anyway, here's a list of the chapters:
1. Dailiness
2. Morning
3. Peace
4. Quiet
5. Simplicity
6. TV
7. Play
8. Secret Places
9. Wants and Needs
10. Stories
11. One On One Time
12. Surrender
13. Breathing
14. Healing
15. Listening
16. Nature
17. Enchantment
18. Grace
19. Rhythm
20. Truth
21. Helping
22. Discipline
23. Stretching
24. Nurturing
25. Sabbath
26. Spirit
27. Balance
28. Choices
29. Wingbeats
The book is 220 pages long. The chapters are short, and so it is a great book for reading during, say, swimming lessons (although we are done for the fall. Lessons don't start up again until the end of January.) or while you are waiting for cookies to cool or something. I'll do a review of a few chapters, but I'd really recommend picking it up, especially if you are a mom of a child/children who are under 12, and if you ever feel like you just need a little more little joyful moments in your life.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Book Reviews
I've read a few books this summer. A couple non-fiction, and three fiction (see, I'm trying!). Well, actuallyI'm still working on the third fiction one, but I'm 200 pages into it, so I'm fairly confident that I'll finish.
Mercy - Jodi Picoult
This book was lent to me by a friend. I knew that Jodi Picoult had also wrote My Sister's Keeper. I thought I might like this book. I didn't hate it, but I did find myself skimming through it after I got about half way through it.
Basic Plot - Cameron MacDonald is the chief of Police in a small Massachussets town. He is married to a woman who runs the local floral shop. One day, a cousin of Cameron's, Jamie, comes to town, with his dead wife in the car, and confesses that he killed her (later it is revealed that his wife had cancer and they had agreed to have Jamie kill her if the situation became hopeless). On the same day, Cameron's wife, Allie, hires a woman, Mia, to help out in the shop. Allie ends up getting involved with Jamie's case, and Cameron ends up getting involved with Mia. (I won't tell you the end in case you want to read it.)
The infidelity in the book seemed to happen SO quickly, it seemed completely implausible. And overall, I just didn't care about the characters in the book, and it made it difficult to get through.
Overall rating: Thumbs down. (Sorry Stacey!)
The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl - Shauna Reid
I saw this book in the New Books section at the Library. It was a quick read.
Basics of the book: A 351 pound, 23 year old woman decides to lose weight. The book follows her on the 7 year journey where she loses some weight, gains some back, loses some weight, falls in love, gets married, loses a little more weight, plataues at a weight higher than she had originially wanted to be,but still half the weight she used to be. In the end decides that she isn't that fat person anymore. Now she is a happy, active, person.
I liked the book. It isn't really a diet book. It is more a book about having the strength to change, and the strength to do it for more than one day. But it is also written in a very witty, funny way.
Overall rating: Thumbs Up.
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not Getting By in America) by Barbara Ehrenreich
I picked this up at the Thrift Store. It looked like something I'd be interested in. And it was an interesting read.
Basics - A journalist decides to try and live off minimum wage in three different areas of the country. She works as a waitress & a hotel worker in Florida, a maid in Maine, and a worker at Wal-Mart in Minnesota.
The author is very upfront that this isn't a REAL study of people living on minimum wage. She had money to use for a deposit on an apartment. She had a car. She said that she would never become completely homeless. The really interesting part of the story are the other people. The REAL people living off minimum wage.
One thing that she addresses a little in the book, but I would have liked to hear more about was the lack of benefits, specifically health insurance, that most minimum wage workers go without.
Overall rating: Thumbs Up. (I'm done with it, but I own it now. Anybody want to read it next?)
Matters of Faith by Kristy Kiernan
I checked this book out from the Library. The title looked interesting.
Basic Plot - Cal and Chloe Tobias have two children: 18-year-old Marshall, who witnessed the death of his best friend as a child and has been exploring religion ever since, and his younger sister, Meghan, who suffers from a severe peanut allergy. Marshall comes home from college for spring break with his girlfriend, Ada, who is religious, but doesn't seem to be a believer of any traditional religion. Ada convinces Marshall that they should try and expose Meghan to peanuts in small amounts to cure her of her allergy. The first attempt ends disasterously with Meghan ending up in a coma. On the recommendation of an ER physician, the district attorney decides to charge Marshall and Ada with child abuse. Marshall and Ada flee town, and leave Cal and Chloe left to deal with Chloe, Marshall's disappearance, and the problems that they had before all of this happened.
This book was different than I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to talk more about Faith. But it was still a very interesting read, and the author gives a very realistic look at both the son and the mother in this novel.
Overall rating: Thumbs Up.
Reading Right Now: Good Grief by Lollie Winston
Picked it up at the Thrift Store. So far, Really Like it. Reminds me kind of a fiction version of Dietgirl, but about grief instead of Diet. It is sad, witty, funny, realistic look at a woman in her 30s, who became a widow after 3 years of marriage and how she dealt with it.
Mercy - Jodi Picoult
This book was lent to me by a friend. I knew that Jodi Picoult had also wrote My Sister's Keeper. I thought I might like this book. I didn't hate it, but I did find myself skimming through it after I got about half way through it.
Basic Plot - Cameron MacDonald is the chief of Police in a small Massachussets town. He is married to a woman who runs the local floral shop. One day, a cousin of Cameron's, Jamie, comes to town, with his dead wife in the car, and confesses that he killed her (later it is revealed that his wife had cancer and they had agreed to have Jamie kill her if the situation became hopeless). On the same day, Cameron's wife, Allie, hires a woman, Mia, to help out in the shop. Allie ends up getting involved with Jamie's case, and Cameron ends up getting involved with Mia. (I won't tell you the end in case you want to read it.)
The infidelity in the book seemed to happen SO quickly, it seemed completely implausible. And overall, I just didn't care about the characters in the book, and it made it difficult to get through.
Overall rating: Thumbs down. (Sorry Stacey!)
The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl - Shauna Reid
I saw this book in the New Books section at the Library. It was a quick read.
Basics of the book: A 351 pound, 23 year old woman decides to lose weight. The book follows her on the 7 year journey where she loses some weight, gains some back, loses some weight, falls in love, gets married, loses a little more weight, plataues at a weight higher than she had originially wanted to be,but still half the weight she used to be. In the end decides that she isn't that fat person anymore. Now she is a happy, active, person.
I liked the book. It isn't really a diet book. It is more a book about having the strength to change, and the strength to do it for more than one day. But it is also written in a very witty, funny way.
Overall rating: Thumbs Up.
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not Getting By in America) by Barbara Ehrenreich
I picked this up at the Thrift Store. It looked like something I'd be interested in. And it was an interesting read.
Basics - A journalist decides to try and live off minimum wage in three different areas of the country. She works as a waitress & a hotel worker in Florida, a maid in Maine, and a worker at Wal-Mart in Minnesota.
The author is very upfront that this isn't a REAL study of people living on minimum wage. She had money to use for a deposit on an apartment. She had a car. She said that she would never become completely homeless. The really interesting part of the story are the other people. The REAL people living off minimum wage.
One thing that she addresses a little in the book, but I would have liked to hear more about was the lack of benefits, specifically health insurance, that most minimum wage workers go without.
Overall rating: Thumbs Up. (I'm done with it, but I own it now. Anybody want to read it next?)
Matters of Faith by Kristy Kiernan
I checked this book out from the Library. The title looked interesting.
Basic Plot - Cal and Chloe Tobias have two children: 18-year-old Marshall, who witnessed the death of his best friend as a child and has been exploring religion ever since, and his younger sister, Meghan, who suffers from a severe peanut allergy. Marshall comes home from college for spring break with his girlfriend, Ada, who is religious, but doesn't seem to be a believer of any traditional religion. Ada convinces Marshall that they should try and expose Meghan to peanuts in small amounts to cure her of her allergy. The first attempt ends disasterously with Meghan ending up in a coma. On the recommendation of an ER physician, the district attorney decides to charge Marshall and Ada with child abuse. Marshall and Ada flee town, and leave Cal and Chloe left to deal with Chloe, Marshall's disappearance, and the problems that they had before all of this happened.
This book was different than I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to talk more about Faith. But it was still a very interesting read, and the author gives a very realistic look at both the son and the mother in this novel.
Overall rating: Thumbs Up.
Reading Right Now: Good Grief by Lollie Winston
Picked it up at the Thrift Store. So far, Really Like it. Reminds me kind of a fiction version of Dietgirl, but about grief instead of Diet. It is sad, witty, funny, realistic look at a woman in her 30s, who became a widow after 3 years of marriage and how she dealt with it.
Friday, February 6, 2009
OK, I finished my bookstand books back in December
but I left the list up to remind me to do a review. And now it is February. Oh well.
The Citizen Solution: How You Can Make A Difference
It was o.k. Probably my least favorite of the batch. I was hoping for more solid suggestions on how I can make a difference in my local area, and it wasn't really that kind of book, despite the title indicating that it would be.
The Self-Sufficient Life and How To Live It
I like this one a lot. It is more of a reference book than a sit-down-and-read book, but I am going to buy it to add to our home library, and to help me have something to look at while planning our move to the country in a couple years.
High Spirits: A Modern Family In Search of an Old-Fashioned Dream
Loved this one. It was a story about a family who moved from the city to a farm (they had 7 children) and how they learned how to raise animals and use machinery, etc. and just their life over about 15 years. It was published in the 1980s though, just so you are aware that it isn't a completely up-to-date story.
For the Children's Sake: Foundations of Education for Home and School
I've read this one a few times, and it is actually a book out of our home library. But I love it, and I'm going to be devoting a few posts to how I apply these ideas to our home and school.
Fallscaping: Extending Your Garden Into Autumn
O.K., again, I was hoping for a slightly different book. This sort of assumed that you had at least a medium-sized established garden. I was hoping for something that that told me about some plants I could plant in late summer/early fall, but this book tells you how to plant in the spring for blooming in the fall.
Winter Gardening
Honestly, I don't remember much about this book, except that it had some interesting pictures. I kind of wish that I had this book now though because Flower was studying about the Snowdrop flower, and I was wishing that I could look at this book and see where/when/etc. you should plant this flower because I would LOVE to be able to see a blooming flower in February.
The Citizen Solution: How You Can Make A Difference
It was o.k. Probably my least favorite of the batch. I was hoping for more solid suggestions on how I can make a difference in my local area, and it wasn't really that kind of book, despite the title indicating that it would be.
The Self-Sufficient Life and How To Live It
I like this one a lot. It is more of a reference book than a sit-down-and-read book, but I am going to buy it to add to our home library, and to help me have something to look at while planning our move to the country in a couple years.
High Spirits: A Modern Family In Search of an Old-Fashioned Dream
Loved this one. It was a story about a family who moved from the city to a farm (they had 7 children) and how they learned how to raise animals and use machinery, etc. and just their life over about 15 years. It was published in the 1980s though, just so you are aware that it isn't a completely up-to-date story.
For the Children's Sake: Foundations of Education for Home and School
I've read this one a few times, and it is actually a book out of our home library. But I love it, and I'm going to be devoting a few posts to how I apply these ideas to our home and school.
Fallscaping: Extending Your Garden Into Autumn
O.K., again, I was hoping for a slightly different book. This sort of assumed that you had at least a medium-sized established garden. I was hoping for something that that told me about some plants I could plant in late summer/early fall, but this book tells you how to plant in the spring for blooming in the fall.
Winter Gardening
Honestly, I don't remember much about this book, except that it had some interesting pictures. I kind of wish that I had this book now though because Flower was studying about the Snowdrop flower, and I was wishing that I could look at this book and see where/when/etc. you should plant this flower because I would LOVE to be able to see a blooming flower in February.
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