What are you reading?

[Mrs. Readsalot]

I really enjoy summer reading. I get to read books I usually don't have time for during the school year. At the moment I am read Twilight by Stephenie Meyers. This is really a different type of book for me. It is pretty good, and very easy to read.

[elegantlion]

Right now I am reading "Revision & Self-editing". It is a book for writers, and it has been very helpful.

[SFP]

I am reading Lin Enger (Lief Enger's brother)'s Undiscovered Country and Flannery O'Connor's Everything That Rises Must Converge.

[Jenny in Atl]

Just finished Foreskin's Lament by Shalom Auslander (very funny) and Kubal Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez (so sweet and uplifting). I've started Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson, Every Last Cuckoo by Kate Maloy, and Death of a Murderer by Rupert Thomson.

[Caroline]

I am reading History of the Ancient World, Eat Pray Love, 5 different calculus text books (I love Foerster by the way,) and one geometry textbook.

[E_Edgerton]

Just finishing Stiff by Mary Roach and listening to the audio performance of The Road by Cormac McCarthy w/ dh. :)

[Kelli in TN]

Just finished these and returned them to the library last night:
Never let me go / Kauzo Ishiguro.
Eat, pray, love : one woman's search for everything across Italy, India and Indonesia / Elizabeth Gilbert.
The Wal-Mart effect : how the world's most powerful company really works-- and how it's transforming the American economy / Charles Fishman.

Just picked up these:
Patriot hearts : a novel of the founding mothers / Barbara Hambly.
So brave, young, and handsome / Leif Enger.

[K-FL]

I'm reading "Scarlet" by Steve Lawhead. Love his writing!!

[WTMindy]

Just finishing Stiff by Mary Roach and listening to the audio performance of The Road by Cormac McCarthy w/ dh. :)

Hey, I'm listening to The Road right now too. What do you think?

[tibbyl]

I mostly stick to nonfiction:

Deer Hunting with Jesus (Joe Bageant) - finished

A Power Governments Cannot Suppress (Howard Zinn) - next on list

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (Malcolm Gladwell) - currently reading

Escape (Carolyn Jessop) - finished

[WTMindy]

I really enjoy summer reading. I get to read books I usually don't have time for during the school year. At the moment I am read Twilight by Stephenie Meyers. This is really a different type of book for me. It is pretty good, and very easy to read.
Oh, I LOVED that series, and I HATE vampire books!! Right now I'm reading What is So Amazing About Grace by Philip Yancy and The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow.

[Happy]

I'm rereading "Knit Together-Finding God's Pattern for your Life" by Debbie Macomber. Terrific! I'm listening to "To Say Nothing Of The Dog" by Connie Willis. I think I would have been better off with an actual book for that one as I keep wanting to rewind and listen to something again to make sure I got it.

[Perry]

Just finished "Twilight" and "Water for Elephants". Next on the list is "Three Cups of Tea".

[Plaid Dad]

Still plugging away at A First Glance at St. Thomas Aquinas (which I'm going to rename "A Long, Glassy-Eyed Stare at St. Thomas Aquinas"). Also An Introduction to Philosophy by Jacques Maritain. Someone air-lift me some genre fiction, will you?

[PrairieAir]

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
I'm not enjoying it much. It's hard to get used to the dialect in which it's written. It's been pretty boring so far, though it has gotten a little more interesting in the last third of the book, and I feel it's starting to go somewhere finally. I'm really just not feeling a lot of sympathy for the characters. I can understand Janie, but there isn't enough there to make me really like her and want to know more.

[nmoira]

Just finishing Stiff by Mary RoachOh, I loved this book. :)

I'm finishing up A House Divided by Pearl Buck and a couple nonfiction books, and am getting pysched to tackle Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell.

[crazycoffeechic]

I'm reading "The Last Patriot" by Brad Thor. Pretty interesting!

[ticklbee]

Right now I'm reading the A.D. Chronicles series by Bodie and Brock Thoene. It is historical fiction and I'm thoroughly enjoying it!

[ncmomo3]

I'm working my way through The Iliad and taking the edge off of that endeavor by also reading Little Women. It makes for great contrast!

[Janna]

Grapes of Wrath (can you believe I've never read this? I don't know how I managed to not read it in High School. Probably something I was supposed to read but chose to wing it. I wasn't a big reader until I started homeschooling. THAT is amazing in itself)

Anna Karenina - this is taking me a long time. I've been reading it off and on for the last 8 weeks. By the way, how do you pronounce that last name? I see it as it's spelled- care-a-neena. But every person I know corrects me and says it's care-eena. Which is it?

Boundaries for Kids

What to Expect the First Year

Oh, and I'm reading the unabridged version of Around the World in Eighty Days to my dd. I've never read this before either and I'm loving it!

[PrairieAir]

I mostly stick to nonfiction:

Deer Hunting with Jesus (Joe Bageant) - finished

A Power Governments Cannot Suppress (Howard Zinn) - next on list

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (Malcolm Gladwell) - currently reading

Escape (Carolyn Jessop) - finished

I saw Deer Hunting With Jesus in your list and thought, "Nonfiction huh?" I had to look it up on amazon.com. It looks very interesting. What did you think of it?

[transientChris]

Just finished Bloody Secrets by Carolina Garcia Aguilera (an author I found out by reading Florida Crime Writers)

Now I am reading the latest Riuth Rendell Not in the Flesh

[PrairieAir]

Grapes of Wrath (can you believe I've never read this? I don't know how I managed to not read it in High School. Probably something I was supposed to read but chose to wing it. I wasn't a big reader until I started homeschooling. THAT is amazing in itself)


The Grapes of Wrath wasn't required when I was in high school. My ds read it his junior year and they made it tie into both American literature and American history. I don't know if dd had to read it last year. I think they change things up sometimes.

Isn't it a great book though? I have to admit that I read the first chapter and thought "WTF?" at first, but then I realized the significance and thought it was pretty cool. Dh couldn't get past that first chapter though. He's not one who likes to read fiction anyway. All reading must have a very clear purpose for him.

[Wendi]

I am almost finished with Deconstructing Penguins; it's quite good.

Planet Narnia is fascinating! If you're a C.S. Lewis fan, you MUST read this book!

What to Listen for in Music is by composer Aaron Copland. I'm currently listening to a lecture series called Masterpieces of Western Music, and was inspired to do further reading.

On the nightstand, waiting for me to crack them open:

Reason for God, by Tim Keller.

That math book by Liping Ma.

It's VBS week, so I'm a bit behind on my reading! :lol:

[Virginia Dawn]

Time and Time Again, by Jack Finney, the sequel to Time After Time.

[Testimony]

[B]How to Read a Book[/B

Blessings,
Karen
www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

[Jenny in Atl]

Just finishing Stiff by Mary Roach and listening to the audio performance of The Road by Cormac McCarthy w/ dh. :)

Loved both!!

[Janna]

Oddly enough, so far the first chapter has been my favorite. It's so descriptive, so...John Steinbeck. I am able to get such a clear visual and you could tell from the first chapter how it was the basis for the entire book.

Now, I'm only on chapter 5 (maybe it's 6 now) and it's actually starting to dull for me. I'm hoping it's interesting why Joad's family farm is vacant (he just came over the hill with the preacher and noticed that the house was "different" and no one was there).

Hmm, makes me wanna go pick it up and resume my reading. Baby is falling asleep, pizza dough is rising in the oven, kids are outside getting ready to swim, house is a mess, laundry needs to be done...sounds like the perfect opportunity to resume reading. ;)

[Diana in OR]

Going Home by Wanda Brunstetter (Book 1 in the Brides of Webster County Series)

How to Make People Like You in 90 Seconds or Less

Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire

In the queue are

Book 2 in the aforementioned series

The Jewel Trader of Pegu by Jeffrey Hantover (a novel I picked up at the library)

[Kelli in TN]

"To Say Nothing Of The Dog" by Connie Willis.

I read that last year or the year before. I found it to be laugh-out-loud-funny!! It was one of those books that I made into a movie in my head!!

[Kelli in TN]

"Water for Elephants". ".
I read that one this past February. I thought it was very good!!

[laylamcb]

The Hobbit. So far it's slow going for me. I want so badly to put it down and reread Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, but I won't do it. I will read The Hobbitt. I will. :glare:

[nmoira]

I'm listening to "To Say Nothing Of The Dog" by Connie Willis.This is probably the funniest book I have ever read.

[BritAnnia]

Still reading "The Great Indian Novel" by Sashi Tharoor. It has taken me months, I just can't get into it.
This morning just started "Knots and Crosses" by Ian Rankin and liking it so far, just a few pages in.

[Chris in CA]

War & Peace - this is the second time and I'm actually able to keep the characters straight :001_smile:
and
God in the Dock by C.S. Lewis

[BeckyFL]

nt

[Adrianne]

After finishing my refresher books on childbirth, I have started Evaluating Writing, Writing Because We Love To, and God and Ronald Reagan.

Can you tell what we are going to be concentrating on this year?

[LNC]

I'm reading The Creative Family by Amanda Soule - love her blog!
http://soulemama.typepad.com/soulemama/

I'm also reading...
Perfection Salad: Women and Cooking at the Turn of the Century
Something from The Oven: Reinventing Dinner in 1950's America
both by Laura Shapiro

I love books about the history of homemaking for some reason. Need a novel to read though!

[percytruffle]

To Say Nothing of the Dog and Sundays in America. Enjoying them both, but looking forward to finishing and going back to my Miss Read series :D

[Jenny in Florida]

In the last week or so, I've read The City of Ember, Falling Angels (Tracy Chevalier), and Promises to Keep (Charles de Lint). I also re-read Onion Girl (also de Lint).

I'm currently reading yet one more de Lint, Widdershins, plus pre-reading a couple of things on my son's list for next year: Boy of the Painted Cave and The Number Devil.

And I'm waiting my turn for Superior Saturday (Garth Nix), which we just bought a couple of days ago. My son started reading the series, talked me into joining him, and then the two of us ganged up on his sister. They're kids' books, to be sure, but interesting and fun ones.

[SusanG]

Haven't read much lately - things have just been too hectic for me to take the time to sit down and read. I just started Undead and Unworthy, which is book 7 of the Queen Betsy Vampire series. The books are light and very funny, and I'm enjoying it. I think I might re-read the Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy books when I'm done with this one. I've got a stress-induced illness that's fairly severe right now, so anything light is GOOD!

[5knights3maidens]

I'm reading 'Know What You Believe' By Paul Little
After that I will read, 'Know Why You Believe
And I just found out there is another one...'Know Who You Believe'

[DB in NJ]

I am working my way through the Harry Potter series. I'm almost finished with the 2nd book; my goal is to finish book 6 by the time the movie comes out in November ;)

[Twinmom]

The Diet Cure. Great intellectual stimulation, I know, but good for the summer redo of me! ;)

[Robin Hood]

Caribbean and making another attempt to get farther into Moby Dick.

[Virginia Dawn]

If you haven't already, you must read Three Men in a Boat next. :-)

[clwcain]

Four Seasons in Rome, by Anthony Doerr
The Protector's War, by S.M. Stirling

Assorted books on gardening in preparation for breaking ground this fall.

[newbie]

In the last week or so, I've read The City of Ember, Falling Angels (Tracy Chevalier), and Promises to Keep (Charles de Lint). I also re-read Onion Girl (also de Lint).

I'm currently reading yet one more de Lint, Widdershins, plus pre-reading a couple of things on my son's list for next year: Boy of the Painted Cave and The Number Devil.

And I'm waiting my turn for Superior Saturday (Garth Nix), which we just bought a couple of days ago. My son started reading the series, talked me into joining him, and then the two of us ganged up on his sister. They're kids' books, to be sure, but interesting and fun ones.

I loved City of Ember and People of Sparks, my dd wont give me the prequel yet. I just finished other dd's required reading The Dark is Rising, that was good. Now I have to see if she will lend me the series.

On the adult end I am reading Pillars of the Earth, I think thats what is called, an Oprah book. I usually like her books, but this one is just trash. I am on pp 200 and cannot get through it. I dont like the language or s=x in the book. Not a fan.

Anyone have another suggestion for a great summer read, thats not smutty.

Jet

[akmommy]

At the moment I am read Twilight by Stephenie Meyers. This is really a different type of book for me.

I'm currently reading the second book in the series, New Moon. My teen talked me into reading these and although it's a bit different the my usual reads I am enjoying it. :001_smile:

[sleepy]

Various and sundry digital photography books and Imperium, by Robert Harris, which I may never finish because I fall asleep within minutes of picking it up - not Mr. Harris's fault, I'm just... tired. http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/sleep018.gif (http://www.freesmileys.org)

[Karenciavo]

I'm reading TOG Year 3 Rhetoric lit. Right now I'm on Faust by Goethe.

[Frontier Mom]

"Age of Opportunity", Ted Dekker Juvenile Series, TOG2 teachers manual, Rebel XTI camera book. However, after reading through these I put three books on hold at the library.

[Spy Car]

As a departure, I read Tobias Wolff's Old School last week-end and picked up his This Boy's Life last-night.

Bill (who is finding his style quite interesting)

[Margaret in GA]

The Kite Runner

I know I'm late to this one, but I saw it in our used bookstore and figured it was time to read it. It's pretty good (writing isn't the best, IMHO, but the plot moves nicely) and I'm learning so much about Afghanistan.

Margaret

[Jill, OK]

Hey, I'm listening to The Road right now too. What do you think?

I read The Road sometime last year...and liked it.

Well, as much as one can "like" that sort of subject matter, lol...but I'm a fan of Cormac McCarthy's writing (some of it, anyway), and I enjoyed (again...not sure that's the right word) No Country for Old Men. (I'm one of the few people I've run into that appreciated the movie, too).

How far into it are you? What do you think of it so far?

[Jill, OK]

...I'm scrambling around trying to find and finish my copy of Northanger Abbey, for book club next Tuesday!

I haven't gotten that far into it, yet, but I'm enjoying it very much so far. I think it's the only Jane Austen book I haven't read, and I'm liking the (seemingly) different tone it has.

I'm also reading Change Your Brain, Change Your Life.

Interesting stuff.

[Jenny in Atl]

Various and sundry digital photography books and Imperium, by Robert Harris, which I may never finish because I fall asleep within minutes of picking it up - not Mr. Harris's fault, I'm just... tired. http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/sleep018.gif (http://www.freesmileys.org)

Oh, please recommend some good digital photography bks! I'm trying to make the move gracefully from my old SLR to my new Canon.

[SFP]

As a departure, I read Tobias Wolff's Old School last week-end and picked up his This Boy's Life last-night.



I've never read anything by Tobias Wolff that I didn't like. He's one of the best contemporary short story writers out there.

[Spy Car]

I've never read anything by Tobias Wolff that I didn't like. He's one of the best contemporary short story writers out there.

I'm quite enjoying his literary style and sentence construction. His style is spare, yet descriptive and often times poetic. Not an easy thing to pull-off, being simple and penetratingly artful at the same time.

I kept reading lines in Old School and stopping to think, "what an interesting turn of phrase...and yet it's so clean". Unusual.

Bill

[Amy loves Bud]

Emma, Alice in Wonderland, and Writing with Ease.

[Shannon]

Currently I'm reading Love Walked Among Us by Paul E. Miller and In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. And I just got Pot Luck by Emile Zola from the library yesterday.
Penrod by Booth Tarkington is our read-aloud.

Oh yeah, I forgot Sonya Shafer's Laying Down the Rails.

[wagnfun]

I'm reading Karen Kingsburys Baxter Family series. I'm on series 3, book 1. I'm trying to get them all read before she releases the 4th for this series.

[OnTheBrink]

I just got Jodi Picoult's Change of Heart. It's pretty good, so far.

[Liza Q]

Just finished Big Money by P.G. Wodehouse - an unusually funny one!

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse - I keep re-reading the bits I just read and thinking about them....for a short book it is taking me a really long time to finish!

Prisoner of Azkaban, for the nth time. I read some Harry Potter when I can't think of what else to read! I was in the park with the kids and I needed an easy read.

[Liza Q]

I'm listening to "To Say Nothing Of The Dog" by Connie Willis. I think I would have been better off with an actual book for that one as I keep wanting to rewind and listen to something again to make sure I got it.

Oh - I think that you should get a copy of this book - I would have been lost listening to it! And you should definitely get Three Men in a Boat - I am laughing just thinking about it!!!

[Sharon H in IL]

Just finished "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan, recommended by the good folk of this board as a good read for my 11yo DS. I had to check it out first, ya know. ;)

Listening to "Crocodile on the Sandbank" by Elizabeth Peters, same source, thank you very much.

Slowly working my way through a lot of other non-fiction. I keep 11 or 12 going at once, so I can have just the thing to fit my mood. For example:

1) "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism" by Max Weber -- surprisingly readable, and similar in tone to a lot of recent books like "Culture Matters" by Lawrence Harrison and "Human Accomplishment" by Charles Murray.

2) "The Story of the Bahamas" by Paul Albury. We visited the Bahamas a few years ago where I started this book, and recently decided to finish it. Did you know the first settlers to have a government were Puritans who formed the first republic in the New World, and forbad religious persecution? What kind of puritans were these???

3) "Stiff" by Mary Roach

4) "Letters to a Young Conservative" by Dinesh D'Souza

[Tatt2mama]

I'm reading "The Garden of Last Days" by Andre Dubus III. It's pretty good. I just finished "Snuff" by Chuck Palahniuk, which made me feel kind of icky. It was funny though.

I recently read In Defense of Food and highly recommend it.

[mommylawyer]

I'm currently engrossed in the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brien - my husband got me into this series (novels about the early 19th c Royal Navy). I'm on the third book (of the 20 or so in the series).

I JUST finished 1984 by Orwell. I wish I had read that book in high school!

[Susan in TN]

I recently finished A Taste of Death by P.D. James (murder mystery), Watership Down (after months of ds begging me to read it), and The Yearling - wonderful. Now I'm rereading The Hobbit/LOTR since I haven't read them in a few years now.

[Michelle in MO]

The Latin-Centered Curriculum by our very own Dr. Campbell (Plaid Dad). Highly recommended! Excellent history of classical education.

I'm also reading David McCollough's A Path Between the Seas about the building of the Panama Canal. I plan to read everything David McCollough has written.

[LaMere Academy]

I've picked up Eat, Pray, Love again and this time I think I can get through it. First time I picked it up it didn't interest me.
I tried reading A River Runs Through It and I just don't like it. I liked the movie, but the book is too much about fishing, maybe it's a guy book.

I'm also reading Keeping a Nature Journal by Clare Walker Leslie

[Kareni]

Time and Time Again, by Jack Finney, the sequel to Time After Time.

I enjoyed both of those books. You might take a look at Replay by Ken Grimwood which is another favorite of mine.

See: Replay (http://www.amazon.com/Replay-Ken-Grimwood/dp/068816112X) for details.

I'm currently engrossed in the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brien - my husband got me into this series (novels about the early 19th c Royal Navy). ...

My husband also loves that series!

I've just begun Elizabeth Lowell's latest book, Blue Smoke and Murder.

Regards,
Kareni

[tibbyl]

I saw Deer Hunting With Jesus in your list and thought, "Nonfiction huh?" I had to look it up on amazon.com. It looks very interesting. What did you think of it?

My hardback copy is chock full of underlining, highlighting, and tape flags to denote "must read" sections for friends and family.

In the interest of not igniting political haranguing on the board, suffice to say that it helped me to understand the political mindset of many of the people I grew up around. The author delves into the history and culture of the Ulster Scots to explain certain values they hold.

At its heart, it about the unacknowledged and often invisible classism in our country. It is depressing yet sadly funny at times and tells truths that are uncomfortable to confront. It reminds of an angrier down-home version of Barbara Ehrenreich's "Nickel and Dimed."

Thus, I enthusiastically recommend it.

[Laura Corin]

Honestly? I'm rereading the first Harry Potter. My brain can't rise to anything higher at present. It's actually quite fun to read the first, and see all the clues to the saga that I missed first time through.

Laura

[Lizzie in Ma]

I have missed my friends there, it's been years. I love David Eddings.
Also have a couple others going, Age of Opportunity, can't tell you the author, it is buried somewhere.
World War 1 by somebody and Cleopatra by Margaret George. And I wanted to plow through my Elizabeth Peter's collection again too, the Amelia Peabody mysteries.

[Soph the vet]

The God Who is There by Francis Schaeffer. Not a light read but very good.

[percytruffle]

The God Who is There by Francis Schaeffer. Not a light read but very good.

One of my all time favorites.

[MicheleinMN]

I just started Twilight last night.

Socratic Logic

The Screwtape Letters

How to Read Literature Like a Professor

[Dana in OR]

The Gift of Fear by Gavin deBecker
Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton

just finished
When You are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris (audio)

about to start
Siblings Without Rivalry

[mellifera]

Right now I'm on Faust by Goethe.

I'm reading Faust also. I'm finding it a bit ...odd.

[DSAcademy]

I just finished Eggers' A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and Johnston's Colony of Unrequited Dreams. So Pamuk's My Name Is Red awaits me tonight.

I have also found myself In The Arena with Nixon, and having a Forever Summer with Nigella Lawson...apparently the family is a little disappointed that no actual cooking has resulted from the latter,...but I digress...

Finally, I am pre-reading the kids school literature and still attempting to carve out a quiet weekend for just Joyce,Ulysses and me!

[LaMere Academy]

I picked up The Other Boleyn Girl last night and I can't put it down. Ok, it's not great Lit. but it has me hooked! ;)

[LaMere Academy]

I just started Twilight last night.

Socratic Logic

The Screwtape Letters

How to Read Literature Like a Professor

Please tell me the big deal about Twilight...is it Teen Fiction? I keep hearing about it, should I read it?

[PrairieAir]

Oh, please recommend some good digital photography bks! I'm trying to make the move gracefully from my old SLR to my new Canon.

I think Scott Kelby books are what I've heard recommended most often. Gotta get around to looking for some myself. I looked at one time around town and couldn't find any. Guess I'll have to try amazon.com.