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By jamie, February 16, 2012 12:06 am

1. The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. I tried to hold out on seeing the film until I had read the book, but it didn’t happen. I know there has been some controversy with regard to this one, and I have my own problems with this type of book, but the writing is excellent so far. I am also crossing my fingers for the actresses from the film who are nominated for Academy Awards.

2. Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit, by Barry Estabrook. My mother-in-law sent me an article about this book soon after it was published (several months ago). I have been wanting to read it ever since. It’s about the modern tomato industry, which is pretty horrible. I finally got a smart phone, and this is the first digital book I’m reading through the Kindle app. According to Kindle, I have completed 12% of the book, but I will try to pull myself away tomorrow to publish my first post about this riveting book. Wish me luck – I kind of want to quote every page.

3. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, by David Allen. No explanation required, right?

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By jamie, February 15, 2012 11:19 pm

If you have been following my blog for any length of time, you are probably aware that I am a book juggler. I love books. LOVE. BOOKS. But there are so many I can’t wait to get my hands on and start reading that I have trouble sticking with just one at a time. Before I know it, the year is finished and I have only completed nine (I know – I am so ashamed), which is far fewer than the number of books I have started in that same time.

So, it’s a new(ish) year, and I have started more books (I know – I am so ashamed). It’s time for a plan: I chose three books to read for February, and four books for March. Those come first. If I get them done before the month is out, I will take care of some “unfinished business” – these books are listed under the Currently Reading) tab.

My not-so-secret goal is to read two books a week, but my more realistic (and hopefully achievable goal) is one per week.

I have missed talking about books with all of you, and I welcome your comments, suggestions, and book recommendations. Let’s discuss plenty of books in 2012!

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By jamie, November 8, 2011 4:29 am

I stayed up much too late last night reading this book – I read up through page 364 (to Chapter 28). I am officially annoyed that the next book in this series will not be released until next year. I’m not a fan of waiting, but am willing to do so if she keeps up the quality of the writing (as I expect she will). I may have to tackle her non-fiction books too.

One thing has been bugging me – she writes “a historian” instead of “an historian” – this looks wrong to me. What you you think? Is she right? How do you say it when you read these words aloud – is the “h” silent? Grammar Girl agrees with her (as do most style books, apparently) so I guess that’s five points from Gryffindor (sorry – couldn’t resist an HP reference), but her way still looks wrong.

The paragraphs below contains spoilers and speculation about the rest of this book/series, so do not scroll down if you don’t want to know.

If you are still reading, I guess you are either reading the book with me, or you don’t mind spoilers (I’m with you – spoilers don’t bother me one bit!) I have made it to the love story – the witch and the vampire are in love with each other, but their relationship violates a treaty between all non-human creatures, so their lives are now in danger. Diana is a very strong women, but vampires are pack animals, and there can only be one alpha, so things are going to get tricky. From a feminist perspective, what do you think about books that require strong women to become submissive in order to achieve true love?

What is it with vampires? They are physically perfect, but they’re PREDATORS, and they could accidentally kill you even if they love you. At least Diana is a witch, so she might be able to hold her own against them if she needs to. And because the vampires in books are very old, they hold onto ancient traditions, particularly the ones where women must be taken care of and protected, even if this means locking them away from the rest of the world – what is the appeal today? Are women drawn to that kind of chivalry in literature even as we are repulsed by it in real life? Are we repulsed by it in real life? So many questions about gender roles come to mind as I read, particularly given that the lead female in this book is a highly respected scholar who has made a name for herself in her career – does she surrender her career now that she belongs to a vampire? She’s still working in the book, and I’m excited to see where Harkness takes this.

I can’t help but think that Diana is going to become a vampire (I guess we’ll find out in a couple of years when the trilogy is complete). That would make the “Congregation” leave them alone, because they would no longer be breaking the treaty, and it would continue their lovely romance into “happily ever after – ever after” territory. (Otherwise, she alone will eventually die.) Other witches have become vampires at the expense of their powers, but she might be the most powerful witch of all time, so does that mean she gets to keep her powers? Also, her vampire is a geneticist, so he might be able to do something with her DNA to help her keep her powers when/if she becomes a vampire.

I have course prep to accomplish tonight, and many papers/exams to grade, but I’ll to try to squeeze in some reading time too – can’t wait to see what happens next!

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By jamie, October 21, 2011 7:26 am

Halloween and Dia de los Muertos are my favorite holidays. I feel kind of bad this year because I have been so busy teaching and whatnot that I haven’t decorated much at all – just a couple of things on top of the bookshelf in the entryway to the house.

This weekend I am going to try to catch up on a few things though, including my reading, and even though I have a huge back-log, I want to read a couple of titles to celebrate this special time of year. So, here is what I picked – I hope they don’t take me two months to read:

1. Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, by Mary Roach. If you haven’t heard of Mary Roach yet, please do yourself a favor and stop reading my blog long enough to find a copy of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. No, seriously – it is a fascinating book, especially if you are into those TV shows like Bones and CSI. You might have trouble putting it down. I hope Spook is just as entertaining and informative.

2. The Discovery of Witches, by Deborah E. Harkness. This one is a novel (the first of a planned trilogy), and was written by a history professor. I ordered this book when it was released earlier this year, after reading some positive reviews. I know I mostly blog about nonfiction, but I really love novels too, and it’s a real treat when I read one.

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By jamie, September 30, 2011 8:53 pm

I really DO read two books a week. In fact, generally I read two books A DAY, sometimes even three. The vast majority contain brightly colored pages with just a few lines of text, maximum, but Little Mama loves every one of them.

I am teaching at two colleges now, four classes on three different campuses. In other words, I am pretty busy. My girl is back in preschool, and I’m so glad when I can pick her up and take her home with me. We love reading books together at bedtime, and then I do course prep or try to work on my blogs when she goes to sleep.

The other night after we turned the lights out, I mentioned that I was going to get up to work a little before I went to sleep:

Little Mama: What do you need to do for your work, Mommy?

Me: I want to work on my blog.

LM: Just use your computer right here in bed and I will watch you until I fall asleep.

Me: Well, I guess we can try it for a few minutes, but if I’m distracting you too much I’ll have to leave the room.

LM: What do you do for your blog?

Me: Well, sometimes I write about you, or teaching, or just interesting things about our lives. Other times I write about the books I read. Sometimes I write something called a “book review” which is where I tell people what I liked about a particular book, and what I didn’t like, so they can decide if they want to read it too.

LM: [Giggling with excitement.] You can write about The World Champion of Staying Awake so everyone can read it! [That is our current favorite. She has it memorized because we "read" it almost every night.]

Me: Well, I don’t write about those kinds of books. I write about other books I read.

LM: [Disappointed.] But Mommy, that’s your favorite book in the whole world.

Me: [Considering it.] Well, I guess we could try it. Will you help me write about it?

LM: But Mommy, I don’t really know how to write yet.

Me: How about if you tell me what you think about the book and I will type what you tell me to and that will be your book review, and then I’ll add my thoughts?

LM: [Nodding her head and giggling excitedly.] OK Mommy! Let’s do that right now!

Me: Well, I think I’m distracting you from going to sleep. So let’s both go to sleep and we’ll write our book review this weekend if you still want to.

She didn’t want to go to sleep, as usual, but we worked it out. She reminded me about the book review again today, so I think we are going to try it tomorrow. Don’t worry – I am not going to change this into a little kid’s book review blog, but if Little Mama has fun giving her opinion, we might see about making it a semi-regular thing. If it’s really fun I can see about putting “her posts” on a separate page or something. We’ll see how it goes.