Thanks very much for the invitation, Devona. Stop me if you've heard this one:
Before I became a mom 12 years ago I used to read all the time. When my two boys were born (Andy, now 12 and Peter, now 10), I brought hundreds of pounds of children's books into the house and we read them all. I didn't really notice that my own reading list dwindled away to nothing, because it was so wonderful to explore the world through my children's eyes.
Eventually Harry Potter came onto the scene, and while I don't object to him per se, he's just not very interesting to me. So I've rediscovered my own passions at last! My favorite books this year have been:
1. Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. If you're interested in Afghanistan and the nature of brotherly love, this is the book for you.
2. The Pavilion of Women, by Pearl S. Buck. As I told Devona, this book is about an upper-class woman in 1930's China who celebrates her 40th birthday by securing a concubine for her husband. If you liked The Good Earth, you'll love this.
3. Circle of Friends, by Maeve Binchy. All of Binchy's characters are so strong and deep, you feel like you've moved into her town and everyone's your friend.
4. Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain. We got this book on tape and have been listening to it while we drive all over town this summer. The boys are disappointed when it's time to get out of the car :) I'm a BIG fan of (unabridged) books on tape.
5. The Spirituality of the Cross, by Gene Veith. Wait, that's not fiction ...
About the rules: Tolstoy has a ton of really good short stories. But a longer novel is good too, let's just chop it up into segments. In "real life" book clubs they usually shoot for one book a month, but maybe the online experience while allow for more (since we can blog in our bathrobes :) I hate gratuitous sex and violence (= that does nothing for the story). Let's take turns choosing books, with input from others. Devona, you start, because you're gracious to get this thing rolling. And how about the contributors post their conversation, and others use the comment box.
Personality note: I'm very shy in real life, and I sometimes compensate for that by holding forth on-line. You can tell me to knock it off, it's okay. Also, I have an ironic streak that some people don't appreciate. It's a relic from my bizarre childhood :)
Before I became a mom 12 years ago I used to read all the time. When my two boys were born (Andy, now 12 and Peter, now 10), I brought hundreds of pounds of children's books into the house and we read them all. I didn't really notice that my own reading list dwindled away to nothing, because it was so wonderful to explore the world through my children's eyes.
Eventually Harry Potter came onto the scene, and while I don't object to him per se, he's just not very interesting to me. So I've rediscovered my own passions at last! My favorite books this year have been:
1. Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. If you're interested in Afghanistan and the nature of brotherly love, this is the book for you.
2. The Pavilion of Women, by Pearl S. Buck. As I told Devona, this book is about an upper-class woman in 1930's China who celebrates her 40th birthday by securing a concubine for her husband. If you liked The Good Earth, you'll love this.
3. Circle of Friends, by Maeve Binchy. All of Binchy's characters are so strong and deep, you feel like you've moved into her town and everyone's your friend.
4. Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain. We got this book on tape and have been listening to it while we drive all over town this summer. The boys are disappointed when it's time to get out of the car :) I'm a BIG fan of (unabridged) books on tape.
5. The Spirituality of the Cross, by Gene Veith. Wait, that's not fiction ...
About the rules: Tolstoy has a ton of really good short stories. But a longer novel is good too, let's just chop it up into segments. In "real life" book clubs they usually shoot for one book a month, but maybe the online experience while allow for more (since we can blog in our bathrobes :) I hate gratuitous sex and violence (= that does nothing for the story). Let's take turns choosing books, with input from others. Devona, you start, because you're gracious to get this thing rolling. And how about the contributors post their conversation, and others use the comment box.
Personality note: I'm very shy in real life, and I sometimes compensate for that by holding forth on-line. You can tell me to knock it off, it's okay. Also, I have an ironic streak that some people don't appreciate. It's a relic from my bizarre childhood :)
posted by Twylah @ 8:41 AM
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