What’s on Your Nightstand?

I raced through the books in the past two weeks–which is probably good since I don’t anticipate getting through many this week.

Hectic doesn’t even begin to describe the life as a dietitian in a nursing home when “state” shows up. (Especially when it’s your first ever survey.)

Something tells me my stack of “in progress” books isn’t getting any smaller this week. (Nor is the baby quilt for my due-any-day nephew or niece going to be finished.)

Oh well, that’s life–and surveyors had to arrive sometime.

This month I read:

1001 Gruesome Facts by Helen Otway
In a fit of what could be called morbid curiosity, I read this book. It’s interesting. Even more interesting is what the author considers gruesome (certain things just sounded like facts of life to me–but, then, I’m a medical person.) As with other books of “facts”, I find myself doubting when I find an error in my area of expertise. This had a couple such errors, which makes me wonder how many of the other gross facts are facts in fact.

Libby’s Story by Judy Baer
Caretaking for parents with Alzheimers. Best childhood friends all grown up. Finding purpose as a single 20 or 30 something. Coming to grips with an accident that changes your life. Great subject matter, not so fantastic execution. This isn’t a light and fluffy book, but it’s too disconnected to be a weighty book. I wish I could recommend it, but instead I have to give it a big “Eh.”

The Mystery of the Mixed Up Zoo created by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Probably the best “created by” so far. At least there was no furtive dishonesty or truly dangerous situations in this one.

Ben and the Sudden Too-Big Family by Colby Rodowsky
When Ben’s dad marries Casey and they decide to adopt a little girl from China, Ben gains a much too-big family. Or so he thinks. Worst of all, instead of going to soccer camp like all the boys at school, Ben has to go to family vacation with Casey’s ginormous family (forty or so). I enjoyed this story, probably because I come from a much larger family than Casey’s and have experienced from the inside what Ben experiences from the outside–the enfolding of a stranger into the “clan”. (Spoiler: Ben discovers that the big family is actually pretty great.)

Reviewed elsewhere on bekahcubed:

• Firegirl by Tony Abbott
• Christianity: A Short Introduction by Keith Ward
• Live a Little! by Susan M. Love and Alice D. Domar

Not Reviewed:

• Bones and the Dinosaur Mystery by David Adler
• Bones and the Dog Gone Mystery by David Adler
• Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Dinosaur Bones by David Adler
• Do the Doors Open by Magic? by Catherine Ripley
• The Holocaust Overview by Ann Byers
• I’ll Mature When I’m dead by Dave Barry
• Love Finds You in Last Chance California by Miralee Ferrel
• Return to Harmony by Janette Oke and T. Davis Bunn
• Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
• The Secret of the Lost Tunnel by Franklin Dixon
• A Wodehouse Bestiary by P.G. Wodehouse
• Yo! I know: Brain Building Quizzes by Times for Kids

Additionally, I read somewhere around 50 children’s picture books–among them at least 2 dozen Berenstain Bears books (My thoughts here)

Survey week should be ending (assuming they finish in four days like they say they will) with a nice long weekend for 4th of July–so maybe I’ll have a chance to get some reading done next week.

Heaven knows I have plenty of books waiting in the wings:

Don’t forget to drop by 5 Minutes 4 Books to see what others are reading this month!

In a fit of I-don’t-exactly-know-what, I broke my 100 item rule at the library and checked out 114 items on April 30 (a week an a half after showing you the picture below–what I still had to finish in that last week’s time.)

A week later (after checking out the 114 books), my library switched its catalog over to a different format–one that automatically notifies borrowers via e-mail that their books are almost due.

So 18 days after checking out those 114 library books (for the three week renewal period), I arrived home to find…

114 notification emails in my email inbox.

The pre-notification system is great and all–but couldn’t they just combine all the books due into ONE email?

Anyway, enough about that–you want to know what I read this month.

This month I read:

At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson
I planned to review this one in more detail. My plans went awry. So, here’s what I wrote in my journal to jog my memory for a more full review (the jotted notes were necessary since this was among the books that went BACK to the library on the 30th of April): “short not best descriptor-meandering perhaps. through rooms of Bryson’s own English home–formerly a vicarage. servants, plumbing, architecture, gardening, glass, iron vs. steel, a little archeology–seamless flow through diverse topics–modern disease, food habits, bathing habits, styles of clothing, class distinction. Enjoyable, but at 452 pages, not exactly short.”

Bones and the Big Yellow Mystery by David Adler
A Children’s First Reader, this title wasn’t near as impressive as the Cam Jansen series, also by David Adler. This particular story was all about “Bones” a kid detective who solves a mystery of a missing bus (Turns out the bus driver had exited the wrong door in the mall and gotten scared when he didn’t see his bus nearby.) The story could have been good, except that the story doesn’t give the right sort of clues to allow the reader to try to solve the mystery on his own (which, I think, is the key to any sort of mystery–even for beginning readers!)

Boogers are my Beat by Dave Barry
Dave Barry is always amusing. This particular book, so far as I can tell, is a collection of columns from 2000 and 2001–which means that it covers, among other things, the Democratic and Republican conventions, the recount debacle, and September 11. Generally amusing, this pokes fun equally at left and right–and includes some nice non-political pieces as well.

Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Television Dog by David Adler
As I alluded earlier, I do like these Cam Jansen stories. They’re beginner’s chapter books that star “Cam” Jansen (short for “Camera”), a youngster with a photographic memory. In this particular story, a dog-napper steals a celebrity pooch in the midst of said celebrity’s book signing event. These stories are simple to read and fairly straightforward as far as mysteries go–but are still amusing and likely to be quite fun for the target audience.

GraceLand by Chris Abani
I chose not to return this one to the library just yet, because I intend to review it in more depth. This is the story of a young black Elvis impersonator in Nigeria. The story reminded me somewhat of Slumdog Millionaire. It was brutal, violent, and often unpleasant–but somehow ended up being a remarkably moving story.

Nim at Sea by Wendy Orr
I checked this out expecting it to be the book off of which Nim’s Island (the movie) was based. I got it home to discover that this was in fact the sequel to Nim’s Island (the book off of which the movie was based.) Turns out, this is a delightful little tale of how Nim “forces” the author off the island in a fit of bad manners–and then goes stowaway to retrieve her in a fit of compassion for her now-lonely dad (Oh, and to retrieve her pet seal, who has been poached by an evil tour-cruise company.) A delightful little novel just right for the middle-grade audience (and for myself).

Room for Improvement by Stacey Ballis
Remember Trading Spaces, the TLC home makeover show that was all the hit a half dozen years ago or so? Now imagine Trading Spaces with a personal makeover twist. Single guy (with the help of an interior designer) makes over single gal’s house (to make it more “guy friendly”)–then gets made over himself (by a gay fashionisto/a, of course), just in time for an unveiling in which he meets said single gal. And vice versa. Our heroine, if you can call her that, is one of the interior designers. This fits squarely into the chick lit genre, with all the accompanying drama (including some affairs, be forewarned). I found the setting amusing (since I was in college and had access to a TV during the “Trading Spaces” craze), but the story somewhat lacking. Eh.

The Rose and the Beast by Francesca Lia Block
Modern retellings of a number of fairy tales, all in short story form. Block is definitely a YA author, with all the accompanying shock value. These stories include rape, incest, homosexuality, violence, teenage runaways, you name it. She’s a masterful tale-teller, but definitely into the dark side of things.

Spoken from the Heart by Laura Bush
I’ve decided that either Laura or her ghostwriter (Lyric Winik) is a lovely writer. I enjoyed the anecdotes in this book, as well as the way in which they were told. Laura’s voice is inherently nice, even when she’s talking about things that aren’t always nice. Even when she’s issuing reprimands to reporters or public figures who spoke unfairly of her or her husband, the reprimand is not shrill or accusatory. I greatly enjoyed reading the former first lady’s perspective on her own life (from her earliest years to the first year after the White House–naturally the eight years in the White House occupy a good bit of the narrative). This wasn’t an exceptional memoir (nor was it the “finish in one setting, almost chick lit” like so many these days)–but it was a nice look at Laura’s life.

The Story of the Bible by Larry Stone
I reviewed this title at length, subtitling it “A Museum in a Book”. It’s the story of the writing, preservation, copying, and translation of the Bible–including full size reproductions of dozens of manuscripts. I loved it.

Time for Kids 2009 Almanac
I love almanacs, and I enjoyed this one. But when I find a half-dozen mistakes in the nutrition section, I wonder what else Time got wrong.

Tomorrow’s Dream by Janette Oke and T. Davis Bunn
The sequel to Another Homecoming, which I wrote about in my last nightstand post. The young heroine of the previous novel is now faced with a tragedy that shakes her to her core: the death of her infant son. Another engaging story with eternal hope from Janette Oke (and T. Davis Bunn, who I am much less familiar with than I am with Oke.)

Children’s Books, authors Bechtold-Berenstain (50 or 60 titles)

Also read:

• The Biggest Loser (reviewed here)
• The Garden of Eden by Ernest Hemingway (reviewed, of a sort, here)
• Now, Discover Your Strengths by Buckingham and Clifton of Gallup
• The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Third Reich
• World War II by Mike Sharpe

The 114 items checked out (and a few more purchased along the way) have whittled themselves down to these, in progress:

And these, in the wings:

Don’t forget to drop by 5 Minutes 4 Books to see what others are reading this month!

Last month, I had just been to the library and my nightstand was full:

The books were flying off the nightstand this month–so fast that I replenished my supply halfway through!

This month, I read:

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson
A terrific dystopian novel that touches on bioethics, personhood, genetic engineering, helicopter parenting, and more–but does it in a non-propagandist, non-pedantic way. Imagine that! (Read my full review.

Another Homecoming by Janette Oke and T. Davis Bunn
When Martha’s husband of less than a year is missing in action, she’s not sure what she should do. One thing is for sure-she knows she wants better than she can give for the daughter growing in her womb. So she gives her baby up for adoption. Then her husband returns, a broken man–and their family is a broken family, grieving for the lost child even as a new child arrives. A lovely little story about a family split by war, later to be brought together by God’s grace.

Batman: No Man’s Land
I’ve always kinda assumed that comic books aren’t really my thing–and after reading this, I have decided that my assumption was correct. The format is lost on someone like me who cares only for words and little for illustrations.

The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse
More Wooster and Jeeves hilarity. These follow a typical formula, but manage to be funny regardless.

A Family-Style Christmas by Carolyne Aarsen
A “Love Inspired” novel in the typical “Love Inspired” fashion. Twaddle. Short on plot, characterization, and pretty much everything. But that’s the “Aa’s” in the adult fiction section of my library.

An Honorable German by Charles McCain
This story centers around a youngish Max Brekendorf, a German Naval officer who finds himself embroiled in Germany’s war–what would become World War II. Seeing World War II from the perspective of an “honorable German”–a German warrior who wasn’t a Nazi–was interesting. The story itself? Meh. Nothing spectacular, but not bad. Some gratuitous sex, lots of descriptions of life on board a U-boat. A so-so book altogether.

Kristallnacht by Martin Gilbert
A stunning look at the night that began the Holocaust–from the personal viewpoints of dozens of heretofore unpublished eyewitnesses. This is a great book that clearly shows the widespread devastation of “the night of the broken glass”.

Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart by Beth Pattillo
This novel tried (unsuccessfully) to be profound–but succeeded wonderfully in greatly surpassing Pattillo’s “Betsy Blessing” series (see here.) I enjoyed this novel–and it’s induced me to give Pattillo a second chance after those two awful “Betsy” books.

The Obama Diaries by Laura Ingraham
It’s true. I enjoy reading conservative rants. Most are entertaining but few have lasting power. I enjoyed this specific conservative rant. But with money tight and opportunities to spend it plentiful, I’ll keep borrowing these from the library (but not even consider spending money on them.)

The Third Reich by David Williamson
Another children’s nonfiction title–this time a not-so-great children’s nonfiction title. Even with all my prior reading on the topic, it was hard for me to follow this title. It used quite a few names, places, and unique terms without bothering to identify or define them. So, if you didn’t already know what the SA and the SS and Lebensraum and Kristallnacht and the Treaty of Versailles were, you would be completely lost.

What? What? What? by Lyn Thomas
Subtitled “Astounding Weird, Wonderful, and Just Plain Unbelievable Facts.” Interesting, but not as jam-packed or information-full as one of the Dorling-Kindersley books I’ve read previously. I don’t think I’d be buying this one for my reference library.

The Wizard of Oz by L Frank Baum
It was filed in with the children’s picture books–and since I was reading the “BAU”‘s, I read it. Then I got to the end and realized it had been misfiled. This illustrated edition of The Wizard belonged in the general old juvenile fiction section. Oh well.

Also read, but not (yet) reviewed (even in short):

• The Amusement Park Mystery created by Gertrude Chandler Warner
• The Book Thief by Markeus Zusak
• Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Stolen Diamonds and Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the UFO by David A. Adler
• The Complete Worst Case Scenario Handbook: Man Skills
• Mike’s Mystery by Marcie Aboff
• The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
• The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society by Beth Pattillo
• Your Teeth by somebody whose name I’ve forgotten
• Children’s picture books author name BAUER-BECCIA

Having read all that I read this month (and with the extra additions along the way, I still have a bit left on my shelf for next month:

Don’t forget to drop by 5 Minutes 4 Books to see what others are reading this month!

The oddest part of my new library routine is the experience of finding myself “booked out” by the end of my library visit.

The children’s picture books are easy–just grab the next 50. The rest, not so easy. I select my five fiction, my five nonfiction, my three juvenile nonfiction, my three juvenile fiction. I’ve followed all my rules in selecting–2 Christian fiction, 2 secular fiction, 1 literary fiction, 1 biography, 1 craft book, 1 theology/Christian living, etc…

And then I get to my nine “my picks”. And find myself getting “booked out.”

By the last couple, I’m forcing myself to keep looking, even though I’m feeling like book overload.

The nice thing, however, is that I haven’t yet gotten “booked out” in the six weeks between trips to the library. My new system seems to be giving me just the right mix of fiction and nonfiction, stretching and fluff, structure and freedom to keep me engaged for the full six weeks.

Viva la system!

This month, I made it through:

Across the River and Into the Trees by Ernest Hemingway
It took me twelve weeks of slogging to figure out that I was never going to figure out the pull of Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms. Now, having demolished Across the River and Into the Trees I’m stuck trying to figure out why I absolutely love some Hemingway–and absolutely hate others. This particular piece, about an old colonel and his young Italian lover, kept my nose sandwiched in a book even when the weather outside was lovely (and should have been pulling out there.) Maybe because this one mentioned World War II? But I don’t think that was it. Or maybe it’s the “old man” aspect–I certainly liked Old Man and the Sea. Or perhaps it was the love story–like the reason I enjoyed For Whom the Bell Tolls. I’m not sure. But this one was a good one in my book (although it does have a fair bit of Hemingway’s own unique brand of er.otica, caveat emptor.)

The Amusement Park Mystery created by Gertrude Chandler Warner
My opinion of the “created by” books remains unchanged.

The Confessions by St. Augustine
Good book. Difficult to get through. Definitely God-honoring. Definitely though-provoking. A few of my thoughts can be found here (The Blessed Life), here (A Poor Counterfeit), and here (The Bridge across the Chasm)

Earth to Betsy by Beth Pattillo
The sequel to Heavens to Betsy (which I most decidedly did NOT like), this book is more of the same. If you want to read a story about a female pastor who seems to never think of God except to make puns using liturgical terms, this is the book for you. I only read it because I’m reading every book in my library (and eager to close this author out before she writes another book about Betsy Blessing.)

The Factastic Book of 1001 Lists by Russell Ash
Another Dorling-Kindersley book that I enjoy WAY too much. Facts on everything from art to science to food to geography to… you name it. This one wasn’t as evolution-focused as Ask Me Anything–so I’m inclined to recommend this one as a great general trivia book.

The Guernsey Literary and Sweet Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
It’s been on my TBR list forever, because it seemed like a while back the whole blog-o-sphere was raving about it. Unfortunately, I never took down the links to the many reviews that convinced me to read this book. I say this with true regret because I am truly thankful for having read this book. A novel written entirely in letters, this is a sweet story of how a youngish female writer from London meets a group of people who had survived the Nazi occupation of Guernsey (island). She first meets them via a letter from a man who had purchased a book secondhand–a book that used to belong to her. By the end of the novel, her whole life is taken up in that of the Guernsey Literary and Sweet Potato Peel Pie Society. This was a marvelous book.

The Liturgical Year by Joan Chittister and Phyllis Tickle
I realized after writing my review that I’d promised Thomas Nelson I’d read the entire book. I forced myself to do so. My opinion is the same. I didn’t really like this book. At all. Click the link to find out why.

Norah’s Ark by Judy Baer
Christian chick-lit, borrowed from my little sister, who borrowed it from the library. Amusing, but I begin to tire of the woman-being-chased-by-three-men plot–and the “waiting for bells” line too. (I fear I am becoming a bitter single, Lord help me!)

Paris Encore and Dunkirk Crescendo by Bodie Thoene
Yes, I know, you’ve already heard me rave about these books a bazillion times. But I wrote a little piece about this series–or about what this series has done for me. I called the piece In Praise of Historical Fiction

The Shallows by Nicholas Carr
Like every book blogger out there, I loved this book. But since every book blogger out there (or at least Lisa of Lisa Notes, Janet of Across the Page, and Tim Challies of Challies.com-who made it one of his top books of 2010) has already reviewed it, I won’t be reviewing it here. I did, however, write a few reflections on what I read: “Outsourcing Humanity”.

The Nazis by William W. Lace
The Rise of the Nazis by Charles Freeman
Hitler Youth by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
I’m on a World War II kick, surprise, surprise–see above under Paris Encore–and I wrote up a joint review of all three of these juvenile history books.

Winston Churchill by John Keegan
At 192 pages, this was a nice, quick, easy-to-read intro to Churchill’s life. It’s whetted my appetite for more–I imagine I could spend the rest of my life reading about this man and still not exhaust what there is to know about him. He seems a very…LARGE man.

Children’s Picture Books author name BASE-BAUER

• Books by Graeme Base: Picture books with riddles hidden in every layout. In one book, readers are encouraged to find a dozen animals hidden in each layout. In another, there’s a who-dun-it crime that readers can solve by decoding a variety of simple ciphers found in the borders of each layout. It takes a while to read these because you spend so much time on each page–but they’re pretty neat. These are for slightly older readers. Probably third or fourth grade?
• Books by Teresa Bateman: Whimsical Irish folktales starring leprechauns, lyrists, and liars or hilarious little farm tales hosting silly children and equally silly animals. I enjoyed reading these books quite a deal.
• The Princess and The White Bear King by Tanya Robyn Batt: A retelling of the ancient Norse fairy tales “East of the Sun, West of the Moon”, “The Black Bull of Norway”, and “The White Bear King.” I was delighted with this story and its illustrations–and when I got to the end of the book, I found that it was published by none other than Barefoot Books (a publisher Carrie raves about, but who I hadn’t encountered until this book.) Perhaps Carrie’s right–I’m definitely impressed with my first taste of Barefoot Books.
• Papa’s Mark by Gwendolyn Battle-Lavert: I enjoyed this story about an African American man who learned to write his name so that he could write his own name when he voted (just after the Civil War.)

‘Twas a good reading month–and now my library crates stand empty, ready to be refilled with books to be returned once I’m done reading them. This six-week’s haul is pretty exciting–I can’t wait to dig into them!

Don’t forget to drop by 5 Minutes 4 Books to see what others are reading this month!

Do you remember the library book reading plan I unveiled last month?

150 items checked out for six weeks?

I’ve had to lower my expectations–which means that this box of books is being returned to the library today…

unread.

I still did get a bit of reading done though:

The Inimitable Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
I’ve never reviewed anything by Wodehouse for bekahcubed–mostly because I’ve been inclined to believe that everyone already knows about him and about Jeeves and Wooster and that I was the last person on the planet to discover just how delightful this author and his characters are. But perhaps there is someone like me a year ago, who had never been introduced. Wodehouse is a fantastic comedic writer, with tales of hilarious capers that have the advantage of being CLEAN.

Munich Signature and Danzig Passage by Bodie Thoene
My sister LOVED the Zion Chronicles when we were teenagers. I’m not sure if I ever even tried to read one–but I was sure I wouldn’t be interested. They were too full of history, too wrapped up with music, too…too…Anna. My sister clearly had better taste in books than I did. I started reading the first in this series when I was restlessly looking for something to read at my folks’ house in between grading endless finals at the end of the last semester–and have been hopelessly hooked. These are some of the most engaging novels I have ever read. Set on the cusp of the second World War, they follow a small group of Jewish musicians from country to country as the nations of the world fall to Hitler’s insanity.

Much Ado about Anne by Heather Vogel Frederick
I read this one as part of Carrie’s L.M. Montgomery Reading Challenge–and thoroughly enjoyed reading about a book club reading Anne of Green Gables (how’s that for a mouthful?) Check out my review for further details.

The Science of Sexy by Bradley Bayou
Um, yeah. Don’t really know how much more I can say about this book than what I already wrote here. Follow the link if you want to hear about how my family (Mom, sister, brothers, and Dad) reviewed this book on fashion/style together.

28 Children’s Picture Books author name BARANSKI-BARKLEM
Picture books are always a mix of delights and duds. I sorta reviewed Lynne Barasch’s A Country Schoolhouse, which I enjoyed quite a deal. But my absolute favorite find in this batch is the group I haven’t reviewed yet–a collection of books by Jill Barklem about the animals that inhabit “Brambly Hedge”. The stories–and the art–remind me of Beatrix Potter with a little bit of The Hobbit thrown in. Absolutely delightful (but I’m sure I’ll be writing about these more in depth later!)

4 children’s nonfiction books about Massachusetts
And I still don’t know how to spell it. Someday, I’m going to remember that there’s a double s, then a single s, then a double t, then a single s. Only ONE set of double s’s, bekahcubed! Get it? (Can anybody guess how often I’ve given myself that speech?)

Ask me Anything a Dorling-Kindersley book
One of my favorites of the whole bunch–I’ve checked it out something like five times already and still haven’t gotten all the way through it. It’s 300 BIG pages filled with interesting factoids about absolutely everything. Info-holic that I am, I can’t abide to just skim it–I wanted to read the whole thing. (I read to page 240 and skimmed the rest.) Most of the sections are absolutely amazing–but readers must be forewarned that the section on dinosaurs is a load of evolutionary hooey (despite the fact that there’s plenty to be explored about dinosaurs without reference to evolution, this book chose to make the ENTIRE discussion of dinosaurs about evolution). Anyhow, I still enjoyed this book fully, learning about everything from super-fast cars to g-forces to how Venus flytraps catch flies.

Two cookbooks
I’m going to rave about both of these sometime in the next couple of months, but The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond and Quick Cooking for Two by Sunset magazine were both winners by my book. I’ve gotten rave reviews and had more fun cooking from these two books than I have from any in years! Definitely worth picking up.

Course, even after taking back a bunch unread, I still have two weeks with what’s left–and there’s plenty left!

I’m gonna focus first, though, on finishing up what’s currently in progress:

• Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
• Bright-sided : how the relentless promotion of positive thinking has undermined America by Barbara Ehrenreich
• Composting by Liz Ball
• Confessions by St. Augustine
• The Liturgical Year by Joan Chittister and Phyllis Tickle
• The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges
• The woman’s fix-it car care book by Karen Valenti

Don’t forget to drop by 5 Minutes 4 Books to see what others are reading this month!

On last month’s nightstand:

What I actually read this month was…
Considering the craziness of this month, what with moving and traveling and still living and working in two different towns, I read quite a bit. But I had very little access to internet, so I’m far from caught up with reviews. I have at least a dozen items on my “TBReviewed” list!

Fiction

• A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
  I finally called it quits on this after 3/4 or so. I just couldn’t get interested in the story.
• Love’s Abiding Joy by Janette Oke
• Love’s Unending Legacy by Janette Oke
• Love’s Unfolding Dream by Janette Oke
• Love Takes Wing by Janette Oke
• Love Finds a Home by Janette Oke

Nonfiction

• The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande (TBReviewed)
• Nasty, Brutish, and Long: Adventures in Eldercare by Ira Rosofsky (My Review)
• Nina Garcia’s Look Book by Nina Garcia (TBReviewed)
• Radical by David Platt (TBReviewed)
• Will This Place Ever Feel Like Home? by Leslie Levine (TBReviewed)

Juvenile

• Children’s Picture Books author BANG-BANKS (partly)
  including BANG The Grey Lady and the Strawberry Snatcher
• The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner’s Dilemma by Trenton Lee Stewart (My Review)
• Nebraska a “Celebrate the States” book by Ruth Bjorklund (TBReviewed)
• The Old Motel Mystery created by Gertrude Chandler Warner

This month’s nightstand is a bit different since I’m in the middle of moving and I haven’t got a nightstand (or any other place for my library books)–and because I’m trying to finish up these library books so I can start anew in my new city.

Currently in the middle of… or going to start soon (?)

• 30-Minute Get Real Meals by Rachael Ray
• Ask Me Anything a Dorling-Kindersley book
• Boiling Mad: Inside Tea Party America by Kate Zernike
• Business Casual made Easy
• Desiring God by John Piper
• Dug Down Deep by Joshua Harris
• The Kingdom of God is Within You by Leo Tolstoy
• Making the Big Move by Cathy Goodwin
• Nebraska an “America the Beautiful” book by Ann Heinrichs
• The Secret of Skull Mountain by Franklin W. Dixon
• Miscellaneous children’s books, fashion/wardrobe books, and Boston guidebooks (leftover from my trip this month)

Drop by 5 Minutes 4 Books to see what others are reading.

On last month’s nightstand:

What I actually read this month was…

I was a little surprised at how much reading I HAVE been able to accomplish this month. Nevertheless, you’ll see that I have plenty of books carrying over.

Fiction

• Amorelle by Grace Livingston Hill (My Review)

Nonfiction

• The Church Supper Cookbook
  A wonderful collection of recipes, several of which I’m determined to copy for my own personal use.
• Crochet Inspiration by Sasha Kagan
  A collection of great crochet stitch variations with glossy photos, clear instructions, and charts if you prefer those.
• Dreaming of Dior by Charlotte Smith (My Review)
• Founding Faith by Steven Waldman (My Review)
• Justice that Restores by Chuck Colson (Review coming later)
• Money Saving Slow Cooking by Sandra Lee
  I wasn’t impressed. Too many processed foods, not enough that looked appealing.
• The Narnian by Alan Jacobs (Review coming later)
• Nothing to Wear? by Jesse Garza and Joe Lupo (My Review)
• Not Quite What I was Planning
  Six word memoirs. These are great.

Juvenile

• Children’s Picture Books author Balian-Balouch (10 titles)
• C.S. Lewis: The Chronicler of Narnia by Mary Dodson Wade (My Review)

Currently in the middle of…

The asterisk marks the book I picked up over the course of this month–all the rest are holdovers from last month’s list.

• Ask Me Anything a Dorling-Kindersley book
• *Boston: Moon Handbooks
• The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande (Lisa’s Review)
• Desiring God by John Piper
• Dug Down Deep by Joshua Harris
• A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
• The Kingdom of God is Within You by Leo Tolstoy
• Nina Garcia’s Look Book by Nina Garcia

On this month’s nightstand:

Again, the asterisks mark the books I picked up over the course of this month–all the rest are holdovers from last month’s list.

Fiction

• Love’s Abiding Joy by Janette Oke

Nonfiction

• *30-Minute Get Real Meals by Rachael Ray
• *Boiling Mad: Inside Tea Party America by Kate Zernike
• How to Write & Publish a Scientific Paper by Robert A. Day
• Making the Big Move by Cathy Goodwin
• *Nasty, Brutish, and Long: Adventures in Eldercare by Ira Rosofsky
• Radical by David Platt
  Reviews by Lisa of Lisa Notes, Vitamin Z, Sandra Peoples, Lisa formerly of 5M4B, and Carrie–basically, the whole world is talking about this one! :-)
• *Four wardrobe makeover books–who knows how deep I’ll go into these
• *Another Boston guidebook–cause I’m headed to Boston this fall for a professional conference!

Juvenile

• Children’s Picture Books author BANG-?
• The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner’s Dilemma by Trenton Lee Stewart
• Nebraska an “America the Beautiful” book by Ann Heinrichs
• Nebraska a “Celebrate the States” book by Ruth Bjorklund
• The Old Motel Mystery created by Gertrude Chandler Warner
• The Secret of Skull Mountain by Franklin W. Dixon

Drop by 5 Minutes 4 Books to see what others are reading.

On last month’s nightstand:

What I actually read this month was…

Fiction

• By Way of the Silverthorns by Grace Livingston Hill
• Heavens to Betsy by Beth Pattillo (Review)
• Love’s Enduring Promise by Janette Oke
• Love’s Long Journey by Janette Oke
• Masquerade by Nancy Moser
• Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse

Nonfiction

• Handmade Home by Amanda Blake Soule (Review)
• Light and Easy Menus by Cooking Light
• Manufacturing Depression by Gary Greenberg (Review)
• Proverbs translated by Rabbi Rami M. Shapiro (Quotes)
• A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken (Notes)
  It’s hard to top Lisa’s review, which, in addition to being a good review, is poetry in and of itself. Ergo, I didn’t even try. I did however, write some notes and quotes as I read. Follow the link above to see those.
• The World According to Mr. Rogers
  A collection of quotes from Fred Rogers. Feel good, humanistic, nothing spectacular.

Juvenile

• Children’s Picture Books author Babcock-Baker (55 titles)
• The Homeschool Liberation League by Lucy Frank (Review)

Currently in the middle of…

• Desiring God by John Piper
  I’m currently reading this one and writing up some of my reflections here on bekahcubed.
• Dreaming of Dior by Charlotte Smith
  I added this to my TBR after reading Bermuda Onion’s review. So far, I’m enjoying it a lot.
• Dug Down Deep by Joshua Harris
  My progress on this book has ground to a halt as each of us in this book club have gotten uber-busy with school starting up again, a couple of us getting new/additional jobs, etc. Don’t know when (or if) we’ll be finishing it up. For those who’ve been wanting my opinion on it, since my review from a second read-through appears to be still a long way into the distance, I like this book a lot. That’s why I suggested it for book club read-through. Most of what Harris shares is just plain Orthodox evangelical doctrine–but it’s a good broad overview of Christian theology and why “average Joe” Christians ought to study it.
• A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
  I quoted this in yesterday’s Week in Words post
• Founding Faith by Steven Waldman
  I’m nearing the end of this book. It’s so near I can taste it. But alas, I am not done yet. And if I were, I wouldn’t have time to review it anyway. It’ll be finished by next month. I promise.
• The Kingdom of God is Within You by Leo Tolstoy
  A new book for my politically/theologically inclined book club. I’m so glad Randy decided to take up the baton and get us going for a second go-round. This should be an interesting discussion since so far we’ve got two raging liberals, one not-so-raging but still liberal, one raging conservative (me), one raging libertarian, and one peaceful soul who hasn’t yet raged his political views :-)

On this month’s nightstand:

Fiction

• Amorelle by Grace Livingston Hill
• Love’s Abiding Joy by Janette Oke

Nonfiction

• The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande (Lisa’s Review)
• Crochet Inspiration by Sasha Kagan
• A Dictionary of Christian Theology edited by Alan Richardson
• How to Write & Publish a Scientific Paper by Robert A. Day
• Justice that Restores by Chuck Colson
• Making the Big Move by Cathy Goodwin
• Money Saving Slow Cooking by Sandra Lee
• The Narnian by Alan Jacobs
• Nina Garcia’s Look Book by Nina Garcia
• Not Quite What I was Planning
• Nothing to Wear? by Jesse Garza and Joe Lupo
• Radical by David Platt
  Reviews by Lisa of Lisa Notes, Vitamin Z, Sandra Peoples, Lisa formerly of 5M4B, and Carrie–basically, the whole world is talking about this one! :-)

Juvenile

• Children’s Picture Books author BALIAN-?
• Ask Me Anything a Dorling-Kindersley book
• C.S. Lewis: The Chronicler of Narnia by Mary Dodson Wade
• The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner’s Dilemma by Trenton Lee Stewart
• Nebraska an “America the Beautiful” book by Ann Heinrichs
• Nebraska a “Celebrate the States” book by Ruth Bjorklund
• The Old Motel Mystery created by Gertrude Chandler Warner
• The Secret of Skull Mountain by Franklin W. Dixon

Yeah. The chances that I’ll actually read these all are about nil, since I’m uber-busy now (take my previous schedule, add 26 hours of commitments and you’ve got my new schedule.) Maybe I’ll have time to read again come January when I go to having just one full-time job?

Drop by 5 Minutes 4 Books to see what others are reading.