June: Books Read
Not as many as I would have liked but here are the titles that I finished in June.
- A Mercy (Vintage International) by Toni Morrison
- The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted: And Other Small Acts of Liberation by Elizabeth Berg
- The Night Villa: A Novel by Carol Goodman
- The Host by Stephenie Meyer
- The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella
Looking at the list, thank goodness for audio books or else I’d have only a couple of books read for the month. Hopefully July is better!
Current Read: They Came to Baghdad
My “running around” audio book is They Came to Baghdad by Agatha Christie. I’m running out of titles at my library to rip so I may have to start requesting some and hit up my TBR list. Normally, the audio books are just fillers for me and I grab what I see when I go.
About the book: Amazon info: Flighty but good-hearted Victoria Jones craves love, intrigue, and adventure. She strikes gold in Edward, a handsome and mysterious traveler whom she’s vowed to follow to the ends of the earth. Yet no whirlwind affair can prepare Victoria for what unfolds once she lands in Baghdad. Not a day in Edward’s shadow, and she hears whispered warnings of danger and witnesses the murder of a secret agent in her hotel room. And when she discovers that a romantic rival for Edward’s affection has arranged for her kidnapping, Victoria fears that her impetuous nature could be the death of her.
Current Read: Overcoming Dyslexia
While attending a reading professional development session this week, this book, Overcoming Dyslexia: A new and complete science-based program for reading problems at any level, by Sally Shaywitz, MD was suggested. I checked it out today and have started it already. Should be a quick and interesting read. 
From Publishers Weekly
Yale neuroscientist Shaywitz demystifies the roots of dyslexia (a neurologically based reading difficulty affecting one in five children) and offers parents and educators hope that children with reading problems can be helped. Shaywitz delves deeply into how dyslexia occurs, explaining that magnetic resonance imaging has helped scientists trace the disability to a weakness in the language system at the phonological level. According to Shaywitz, science now has clear evidence that the brain of the dyslexic reader is activated in a different area than that of the nonimpaired reader.
Current Read: A Mercy
Today’s new audio book to read while working in the yard and working out is A Mercy by Toni Morrison.
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Nobel laureate Morrison returns more explicitly to the net of pain cast by slavery, a theme she detailed so memorably in Beloved. Set at the close of the 17th century, the book details America’s untoward foundation: dominion over Native Americans, indentured workers, women and slaves. A slave at a plantation in Maryland offers up her daughter, Florens, to a relatively humane Northern farmer, Jacob, as debt payment from their owner. The ripples of this choice spread to the inhabitants of Jacob’s farm, populated by women with intersecting and conflicting desires.
Current Reads: 06/21/09
School gets out tomorrow so I’m going to be able to do lots of reading.. wooohooo!! I picked up this book, A Snug Life Somewhere, by Jan Shapin at the library because it caught my eye since she’s a RI Author.
A Snug Life Somewhere is about Penny Joe Copper, daughter of a roustabout shingle weaver, who is caught up in a 1916 union tragedy known as the Everett Massacre. Her brother Horace is killed, as is the cousin of a radical organizer, Gabe. When her love affair with Marcel, a music student seven years her junior, is thwarted, she is pulled into Gabe’s campaign to avenge the “Everett Martyrs……”
I’ve also loaded up The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted by Elizabeth Berg on the iPod for when I’m working around the yard and walking.
In this collection of mostly uplifting stories, Berg explores the everyday challenges that women face. Whether teenaged or octogenarian, Berg’s heroines brave the emotional landmines underlying domestic scenes (from holiday dinner parties to visiting family), navigate the slippery slope of constant dieting and address the process of aging. The title story features an unnamed, insouciant narrator who flees from a Weight Watchers meeting and allows herself to indulge her most fattening food cravings….
May: Books Read
I didn’t get to read as much during the month as I did during April because there was no school vacation and I had lots of paperwork to do for work. Also, I spent time sewing for our Rendezvous.
While I started a few books during May, I’ve yet to finish them so they’ll be listed in June. I only completed
Home to Holly Springs by Jan Karon
Current Read: The Host
My new audio book is The Host by Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight Series. I’m just about to start it and I’m not sure if I’ll be as hooked as I was on Twilight but we’ll see. I have lots of yard work ahead of me and audio books fit the bill.
The Host (from her website)
Stephenie Meyer. Little, Brown, $25.99 (640p) ISBN 978-0-316-06804-8 In this tantalizing SF thriller, planet-hopping parasites are inserting their silvery centipede selves into human brains, curing cancer, eliminating war and turning Earth into paradise. But some people want Earth back, warts and all, especially Melanie Stryder, who refuses to surrender, even after being captured in Chicago and becoming a host for a “soul” called Wanderer. The straightforward narrative… shines with romantic intrigue.
Current Read: The Undomestic Goddess
My latest audio book is Sophie Kinsella’s The Undomestic Goddess. My library has lots of her books in audio version so I’ve read a lot of them lately. I especially like to read non-American authors’ books via audio because the accents of the performers add so much to the experience.
From Booklist
Fans of Kinsella’s popular Shopaholic series will find the author in fine form here in her second stand-alone tale, following Can You Keep a Secret? (2004). Samantha Sweeting, an ambitious lawyer on the fast track to becoming a partner at her prestigious law firm, is horrified to discover an overlooked memo on her desk that ends up costing a client 50 million pounds. In a daze, Samantha hops a train and finds herself in the country. She walks up to the first house she sees and knocks on the door, intending to inquire about the nearest hotel, but Trish Geiger mistakes her for the new housekeeper. Still in shock, Samantha decides to go along with Trish and her husband, Eddie’s, mistake, despite the fact that she has no domestic skills. Happily, she is aided by the handsome gardener, Nathaniel. He helps her forget about her London law firm, until she makes a startling discovery. Another charming winner from the delightful Kinsella. Kristine Huntley
Current Read: Home to Holly Springs (Father Tim, Book 1)
When I’m in the mood for some feel good reading, Jan Karon is the answer. I loved the Mitford Years series and was disappointed when it ended. Here’s a new series starring Father Tim of those books. I just started Home to Holly Springs audio book tonight.
About the book: Lured by a mysterious note, Father Tim- for the first time in decades- heads for his boyhood home of Holly Springs, Mississippi. Tooling down the highway in his red Mustang convertible, he doesn’t realize how much this journey may change his life. But as childhood memories flood his mind, he soon encounters a life-altering truth and receives a gift that could cost him everything.
April: Books Read
I read a lot this month thanks to audio books. Now that the time to work in the yard and take long walks outside has arrived I’ve been able to listen along the way. w00t!
New Moon (The Twilight Saga, Book 2)
Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, Book 3)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo