The Distractible Reader (with a few book recommendations)

My sister and I launched our Sisters Book Challenge last month.  She's done really well, finishing three books from the list already.  Me?  I read one and then got distracted.  It happens all the time.  I plan to read a book and then find three more to read in the mean time. 

This time I can blame Call the Midwife, the BBC miniseries that aired on PBS.  I read the book a few years ago and was thrilled to hear that it was being dramatized, but when it aired on Sunday nights at the precise time that Brian and I set aside to watch The Amazing Race together, I knew I was in trouble.  I was a good wife and skipped it when it aired, but you better believe I kept my eyes peeled for the library to offer it on DVD.  I ended up watching the whole series, plus the bonus features in three evenings when I was sick with a sinus infection.  I loved it so much (funny, touching, fascinating...but not for children!) that I was compelled to re-read the book, Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times.   Then Brian gave me The Life and Times of Call the Midwife: The Official Companion to Season One and Two for Valentine's Day.  He knows me well because, while I love flowers, I love books more.

I determined to get back to my book list and begin another book for the Sisters Challenge.  Of course, that was before I went out to dinner with my friend Flo and we began talking books.  She told me about the latest book from Ted Dekker that was being released in "episodes" for Kindle.  The first episode Identity (Eyes Wide Open, Book 1) was free so I was able to try it out without commitment, but who am I kidding? I finished within a day and promptly bought the second episode... and the third... and the fourth!  (You can also purchase it as a complete set for Kindle with the title Eyes Wide Open for about a dollar more or buy it in print copy.) For those who know me well, this was momentous!  I am generally too thrifty to download anything for my Kindle that isn't free so you know I was hooked.  

I finished that series just in time for one more obstacle.  I won a $50 giftcard to Amazon.  I rarely buy new books for myself.  School books, sure.  Used treasures from the Goodwill, yes!  But I rarely spend money on books for me.  

I knew immediately two books I wanted to spend my money on: both sequels to Call the Midwife that I've been checking my library's website for almost daily, Call the Midwife: Shadows of the Workhouse and Call the Midwife: Farewell to the East End (which  releases to US markets tomorrow). 

I'm being proactive in my effort to read another book from my Sisters Challenge, though.  I also purchased a used copy of All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot.


Dare I ask (and tempt myself to add more to my list)?  What are you reading?

a Reading Buffet

A gentle rain melted much of the snow in our yard this morning.  The snow plow finally came and cleared our road this afternoon (of course, not until after I made a slippery trek to the grocery store).  Then the sun peeped out so Brian and I went for our first run in days. 

Still...still, there were winter hours left to cozy up with our books!  The pages are flying fast around here.  These are the books you'd find lying on tables and shelves if you browsed around our house.

Brian's selections: Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Anderson and The Resolution for Men by Stephen and Alex Kendrick with Randy Alcorn

My selection (that I can barely put down!):  The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton

Gavin's selections:  America's Shark Lady the Complete Adventures of Eugenie Clark by Ann McGovern and LEGO Batman: Visual Dictionary

Maddie's selection: Junie B., First Grader: One-Man Band by Barbara Park

Owen's selection:  Henry and Mudge: The First Book by Cynthia Rylant

We managed to read a chapter from two of our read-alouds, too (Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Midnight Visitor and The BFG ), but we ran out of time for our third (Rebecca and the Movies).

As the little ones were heading off to bed, we read their current favorite picture book, Huff & Puff: Can You Blow Down the Houses of the Three Little Pigs? by Claudia Rueda.

What are you reading today?

What Are You Reading? Year Wrap-Up

Last year when I got a new book for Christmas and realized a few more were still sitting on my nightstand and a few titles were floating around in my head...I began a reading list. It was nothing more than a penciled list on the first page of a spiral notebook, but it was the perfect place for dumping all the book titles that I didn't want to forget to read. I turned my reading list  into an informal record sheet, too, by jotting down a completion date next to each book I finished.

I read 57 books this year-- 25 non-fiction and 32 fiction-- and that doesn't count the 20 books I read aloud to the kids for fun or the history books we read for school or the myriads of picture books we consumed!

I thought it would be fun to sum up my reading year.  And please, if you are a reader, too, chime in!   



*****

Best kid lit (that I was read to myself) was Holesby Louis Sachar.  I checked it out on a whim in August because I had heard the story was good. It took a few weeks to convince myself that I really wanted to read it, but when I finally picked it up, I couldn't put it down.  I needed to know what was going to happen next.  I needed to know why all these kids were sentenced to  work camp when they seemed to be innocent.  I needed to know why they had to dig all day.  I needed to know who the mysterious warden was!  Maybe the intended audience was middle schoolers, but I was thoroughly engrossed in the suspense  Do yourself a favor and try it.  I also read Mary Poppins this summer, but this was one instance where I liked the movie better.  The movie Mary is more cheerful. 



The Great New Author Award will be shared by two this year.  The first book I read this year was Watch Over Me by Christa Parrish.  I had never heard of the author, but the story was excellent and the characters well developed.  I went on to read Home Another Way, also by Parrish and am planning to read her third book which was released in November. 


Coincidentally, the last book I read this year was by another new-to-me author:  The Wedding Dress by Rachel Hauck. I haven't read anything else by Hauch (and truthfully, the covers don't look too promising), but I loved how this one wove the stories of four women through a one-hundred-year-old story of one wedding dress. 





My undecided vote goes to Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.  I like to read books that get good buzz and have a movie in the works.  In 2011, I read The Help and it turned out to be the best book I read all year.  Gone Girl was also popular, got good reviews, and being made into a movie so I thought all the criteria was there for a winner.  The story was intriguing.  Wife goes missing.  Husband is number one suspect, but adamantly claims his innocence even though all the evidence points to him.  The problem was the language was horrible!  Absolutely retched! 



My favorite non-fiction selection was hands-down How Not to Die: Surprising Lessons from America's Favorite Medical Examiner by Dr. Jan Garavaglia.  I love the medical genre anyway which is why I also read books like The Parents' Concise Guide to Childhood Vaccinations: Practical Medical and Natural Ways to Protect Your Child and Midwife on Call: Tales of Tiny Miracles this year. This book was a quick and fun (in a weird sort of way) read.   Written by a medical examiner, How Not to Die was a fascinating look at the often preventable ways people die and debunked a few myths about things that are unlikely to kill you, too. The format was easy to follow and filled with narrative and real life examples. 





My biggest disappointment was Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Loss & Love. Having a daughter named Maddie myself, I was excited to read the story of a man who unexpectedly lost his wife only hours after their first child was born.  I expected heartbreaking and heart-pulling.  I did not expect crass and bitter which is what I got. 

*****

I filled my notebook page with ideas this year.  Many were crossed off as finished and some books I changed my mind about or never had the chance to read.  I decided to start fresh with the approaching year.  I reevaluated my list, taking off a few that didn't interest me anymore and adding a few new titles.  I had hoped to begin with a small tidy list, wanting to begin the year with an attainable goal.  Instead, I  have a pool of 21 books to chose from already! 

My list for 2013 includes Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables is one of my favorite books of all time and yet I've never read this one by the same author!), Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen Maid's Memoir That Inspired "Upstairs, Downstairs" and "Downton Abbey" by Margaret Powell, The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times by Jennifer Worth (a re-read) plus both sequels!


What did you read this year?  What are you planning for next year?