Friday, March 25, 2011

52 Books in 52 Weeks - Books 3-12

Due to a family emergency, I have not had the energy to spend blogging. Things are calming now & I am going to try to get caught up.

Reading is my escape. I typically like to read a wide variety of books - fiction, non-fiction, twaddle and meaty. Well, so far this year, twaddle rules! There is just something comforting about being able to escape into a book that I don't have to think about  - I can just relax and immerse myself in another world. The lighter books have provided a temporary respite to me in these stressful times. So, yes, I have been reading a lot. I'll try to give a quick rundown with pretty limited reviews. If a book is twaddle, I'll try to remember to mark it as such, as good twaddle is different than a solid historical, theological or literary tome.


Book 3: Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo. Mr. Burpo relates the experiences that his son had during surgery after an accident. Not twaddle, but not deep either. It is a simple re-telling of a boy's simple faith and his experience in the lap of Jesus.


Book 4: Why Don't Students Like School? by Daniel T. Willingham. This book is definitely not twaddle. I thought this book had good ideas in it. I do remember one gem in detail, which, in retrospect, is so obvious that I wonder why I hadn't realized it before: Thinking is when we take new information and evaluate it in light of information that we already have stored in our memory banks. Thank you, that is all.


Book 5: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. This is a great book, twaddle-free, a thumbs up!

Book 6: Angel Harp by Michael Phillips. I may be a bit guilty of using an oxymoron, but this book is twaddle, intelligently written.  If you are a fan of Michael Phillips, I don't think you'll be disappointed.


Book 7: Left Neglected by Lisa Genova. Very good twaddle. A novel about a woman who suffers from left side neglect after being in a car accident while using her cell phone. Thumbs up!


Book 8: Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks. True to his style, Mr. Sparks has provided another escape for those of us who need a detailed story of escape  Although this is lighter fiction, I am not calling it twaddle because the author has provided us with a good example of storytelling thorough the written word. Great story to escape into - thumbs up!


Book 9: The Union Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini. Ms. Chiaverini has provided another quilt book for us. An engrossing read, it borders on the serious side of twaddle, if only for the interesting details of life in the Union states during the Civil War. Thumbs up!


Book 10: Katie's Redemption by Patricia Davids. Twaddle, decent escape. I do think the Amish themes are over used in Christian fiction. Move along, people. Get some fresh authors with fresh ideas in there! The thumb was a bit bored.


Book 11: Port Mortuary by Patricia Cornwell. My first book by this author & I enjoyed it very much. Mystery Twaddle (is that a new genre?). Thumbs up.

Book12: Third Time's a Charm 12: by Virginia Smith. I don't remember this one at all, so I'd say the thumb must have been bored. Twaddle.

I have also read the following books so far in 2011:
Stuck in the Middle by Virginia Smith
Age Before Beauty by Virginia Smith
Hide in Plain Sight by Marta Perry

Buried Sins by Marta Perry
Animal Farm by George Orwell

I am currently reading:
The Well Educated Mind by Susan Wise Bauer and Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin.

See, my choices are getting meatier, let's just hope I don't forget to play, too!

2 comments:

dstb said...

Glad to see you are back. Quite a few books there!

I read "Kite Runner" after putting it off for awhile (I don't like to read books that are all the rage. I wait for the fuss to die down.) I do agree it is a good book, though.

Reading "Animal Farm" now with my 12 yo son.

I have read "Three Cups of Tea" and actually found the writing in his second book, "Stones into Schools", better. Another book along that same line, that for some reason left me more hopeful, was John Wood's "Leaving Microsoft to Change the World".

My three favorite books so far this year are:
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
Phantom by Susan Kay
The Power of One by Bryce Courteny (haven't finished yet).

I look forward to seeing what you read next.
Sarah

TechWife said...

I just saw "Stones into Schools" at a bookstore today and passed it by. I'll have to give it another look. I've put "Leaving Microsoft to Change the World" on my reading list - thanks for the recommendation.