Aloha
You are amazing! Two books already! I just finished Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry and am 2/3 of the way through Eyes Wide Open: Looking for God in Popular Culture by William Romanowski (for my Film and Theology class which starts Monday!). But that one I actually started in December, so I can't say I've read that much yet...
Bee Season was easy to get through quickly, and I had a long hair appointment yesterday where I got a lot of reading done. The June Carter Cash one only took a couple of hours. (And truthfully, I wish I'd spent that couple of hours reading something else. I wasn't impressed.) When my children were the ages of your girls, I didn't get this much reading done.
A film and theology class sounds fascinating. I hope you'll blog about it!
What did you think of Bee Season? I read it a few years ago and while don't remember many details from the story, remember a general creepiness about it. Your thoughts?
Megan, there was definitely some creepiness there. I thought the writing was good, and the story was disturbing. I felt so sorry for that family. They were looking for God in all the wrong places.
It's amazing to me how times have changed. In the past, I would have had a current list of books that I was reading - a mile long. Not anymore, I'm afraid.
With the exception of God's word, I rarely read ANY books anymore. Probably 90% or more of my reading time is online. I go from blog to blog (like your excellent one), to site after site (often, I read marketing websites) for my reading pleasure. Times sure have changed!
Have a great week!
-gena
www.HomeschoolBlogger.com/TOSPUBLISHER
I enjoyed the Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio a couple of years ago. What's up next on your list?
I have almost finished "It Takes a Parent" by Betsy Hart. A main part of the book is telling parents that they need to be parents, set rules, model good behavior, give direction, be involved, and stand up to their children. Betsy Hart says many that much of our popular culture tells parents to be their children's best friends, to just hand out with them, and let them learn from their own experience.
She sees parenting as being a rescue mission for the hearts of the children. We're trying to help our children develop good hearts.
What did you think of Prize Winner? I read it last year. I liked it; didn't love it. I could have done without some of the language. I think it gave a good look at a slice of Americana.
Mrs. Happy, I felt the same way - liked it but didn't love it.
Henry, I really want to read that book, and I've been hoping that my public library would get it, but so far they haven't.
Megan, I'm reading Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott right now, along with Holiness by Grace (Bryan Chapell).
Right now I'm reading The Red Pony by John Steinbeck to the chilren. I am also rereading The Disciplined Life by Richard Taylor. This is an annual read for me. It is very motivational at the start of the year.
I also want to read Total Truth by Nancy Pearcy. I don't have that yet but I want to get it soon.
Currently reading Snow in August by Pete Hamill.
Recently finished Bimbos of the Death Sun Sharyn McCrumb.
Heh, I'm so bad! I ordered "Life Together" by Bonhoeffer, and it's sitting at the Christian bookstore, but I haven't gotten over there to pick it up yet. Oops!!
We're reading all the time here.
Right now I am reading The Iliad to the kids, and I also found this great book at Books a Million, called Character is Destiny by John McCain, so far we have read about the Honesty of Thomas More and this week will be reading about Mohandas Ghandi.
I am rereading Light from Heaven by Jan Karon. It is her last novel in the Mitford series. I love these books! I hate to see them end.
I just ordered Character is Destiny by John McCain for the grandchildren - after I read it first. Am reading Our Endangered Values by Jimmy Carter. You'd agree with a lot of it, but not all. I'll follow that by reading the Reader's Digest condensed books that just came. I like to alternate heavy and light.
Our small group is studying a Yancey book. The title escapes me but I think it's Finding God in a ____of Places. It's downstairs or I'd look....
I am wanting to start "The Marketing of Evil"...anyone read this book?
Currently I am reading the Love Comes Softly series. I know I know, they've been around FOREVER but I just found them recently and I am addicted!
Lindsey, can you tell me more about The Marketing of Evil? I've never heard of it.
Here is the amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product...glance&
n=283155
It is about how us as Americans have fallen for a lie; how the media has "glorified" certain lifestyles and issues, making them seem almost glamorous when years ago they were not even spoken about.
I believe TOS had a little interview with the author in the last magazine issue?
Several church friends have read it and love it. I really want to get my hand on a copy, but since I live in a small town with an even smaller library, and it is a new book, it isn't available....YET! (note to self, fill out a request to buy!)
So far I've read Sense and Sensability, and Persuation by Jane Austen; Trusting God Even When Life Hurts by Jerry Bridges (I HIGHLY recommend this book), A Light From Heaven by Jan Karon (I'll probably go back and reread the others just to be reminded of some of the details she brings up in this one; Fitzwilliam Darcy, A Gentleman - And These Three Remain (I learned of these books from a link via your blog. LOVE them, and plan to own the set for my own library - Thank you to whoever blogged about these. They have been a precious find!). I'm currently working on: Teach them Diligently - How to use the scriptures in Child Training by Lou Priolo and Through the Shadowlands by Brian Sibley.
Tag! You're it! Check out my blog for the details. 
I will try to blog about my current reads soon.
Snow Belle, thanks for mentioning the Fitzwilliam Darcy series. I just put the first one on hold at the library. Unfortunately there is only one copy in the library system in the entire state of Hawaii, and I'm number 8 on the list.
Firefly, I saw the tag. Thanks. I may not be able to get to it until tomorrow, though.
Lindsey, thanks for the Amazon link. Sounds like a really interesting book. Our public library system here doesn't have it, though. On my wish list it will go...
Oh, at to let you know challies.com just reviewed "The Marketing of Evil" and gives it a thumbs up. I've got to get my hands on this book...alas I will drop $17 bucks to buy it. But I want it that bad!
Lindsey, yes, I saw Challies' review. Sounds really good.
I don't have near as much time to read these days as I would like...between running my store, teaching the kids, and blogging, my reading has fallen off. I finished reading the 10th book in the Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan. I read Mister God, This is Anna by Fynn at the recommendation of a friend. And I just started Cell by Stephen King. I have also read numerous books on bears, turtles, and other wildlife with the kids.
Aunt Lyn is here and suggests you would enjoy Gilead by Marion Robinson. She says you just don't want it to end..
Aunt Lyn says it's Maryanne Robinson
I read Gilead last year and really, really enjoyed it!
Read Hiroshima in high school (many moons ago), but it is a book that really leaves an impression on you. I had the same reaction to reading Malcolm X.
Currently reading:
Atlas Shrugged Ayn Rand
The Quest for Cosmic Justice Thomas Sowell. Both very interesting!
We get to hear why your least favorite got that way? You'll know why I ask if you read my review of W.E.B. Griffith's "The Hostage"-- I read that, but didn't like it.
Patrick, I haven't had time to write about my least favorite book, so I'll try to summarize here. I chose the book because it was suggested in a booklist that goes with our history study. I should have been tipped off, though, by the blurb on the book that said it had won some UN prize for tolerance.
I read it, staying a few chapters ahead of my son, and neither one of us enjoyed it. There was potential for a good book there, but the writing drove me crazy. I have little patience for those who think that children & teens will only enjoy a book if it's written in short choppy sentences and skips around a lot. I had some problems with the content as well. For starters, I don't happen to believe that children will show us the way to peace in the Middle East. I wanted to quit reading early into the book, but I always hold out hope that a book will get better. This one didn't.
The 3 reviews up at Amazon are all positive, though, so maybe I'm way off on this.
I just finished In the Gray Rain by Hazel Severson McCartney, c. 1955, 1957. Mrs. McCartney lived in Japan just prior to World War II, and then went back after the war with her husband to teach and to spread Christianity. It's more than a "missionaries" book, though. She had a gift for describing people and conditions and traditions. I grew up in an area with a lot of Japanese influence, and I've been to Japan, so I'm partial to books with Japanese themes, but I think it's a book that could have broad appeal. I also think it's useful to look at how bad things were right after World War II, for perspective.
For me, this was a book to be read bit by bit, some now and some later, and not all at once. Very much at once got to be too much. But overall I thought it was a very good book.
Sounds very interesting, Kathryn. I'll have to check it out. We lived in Japan for 2 years, and we recently studied World War II in our homeschooling.
Happy Birthday! I'm reading a depressing novel about a village full of nuts in Turkey. Why? I'm asking myself the same question.
I am still on my third book. I have to quite reading phonetically.
I'm still working on Atlas Shrugged! I used to be such a quick reader but I suppose when my only chance to read is right before bed and it's 2am, it's not condusive to reading a lot of pages! 
I am envious of your reading list this year...sigh...
I've read lots of books lately (I do reviews), but I just finished Polly D Boyette's "Life Is a Buffet" - great book. Also, just finished "Lord, Please Meet Me In The Laundry Room" by Barbara Curtis. These are great books. I even got a nice note from Ms. Boyette!
I'm now reading Presumed Guilty by James Scott Bell, and it's getting VERY interesting. I'm afraid, if I sit down just to read, I won't get up until it's finished!
On the lighter side - Help!Mom! Hollywood's in My Hamper, and Help! Mom! There are Liberals Under My Bed - both by Katharine DeBrecht.
Check out my blog for reviews.
My children and I heartily recommend any book by Cornelia Meigs, although I do believe that The Invincible Louisa is the only one still in print. Look for her others at used bookstores- you won't be sorry!
So what did you think of the Marketing of Evil? Just curious!
Lindsey, it was pretty interesting. A little discouraging, too! He made some good points, though, and caused me to think. I'll be recommending it to others. Thanks again!
Thanks to your shared reading list, Anne, my husband & I learned about & enjoyed reading "Princes of Ireland" & are currently reading its sequel, "Rebels of Ireland." Such enjoyable books which, in addition to being great reading, have significantly enhanced our knowledge & appreciation of Irish history. (My husband likes Rutherfurd so much, he recently purchased his "London" but has not yet started it.) Unrelatedly, I just ordered, today, Ann Coulter's new book -- can't wait to read for myself what all the hubbub is about!
Trish, I have "Rebels of Ireland", but I haven't read it yet. I read London years ago and really enjoyed it. Glad my list helped you out!
Great post and great blog. Thanks!
I keep a reading list (have for 20 years now), but never thought of posting it on my blog till now. I like the way you move between classics, modern and fiction/non-fiction.
The best book I've read this year is Three Day Road, by Joseph Boyden. It's an amazing story of World War I seen through two young Cree men from a remote area of Canada, who join up and become snipers. It moves between their life as boys (and the encroachment of civilization in their world) and the awful, dark and filled-with-meaning experiences of the war. There is an overlay of native mysticism as well. (Can you tell I liked it?)
You have great taste in books, Anne. There are several others from your list I have researched on Amazon & have kept in mind, as well.
I have just finished "Parnasssus on Wheels" and found your blog doing a search on him. I have been reading Robert Nathan, some I've read before, and many new to me. Can't wait to start "The Haunted Bookshop"
Anne...
What did you think of Night? It is on my bookshelf waiting to be read.
Right now I'm wading through the Hidden Art of Homemaking and The Feminist Mistake. I also just picked up a book at the library called Judaism for Christians (I'm trying to learn more about the culture, I have a Jewish uncle).
Lindsey, Night was extremely moving and well-written, but also extremely sad and disturbing, as you might imagine. Heartbreaking. But important to read, I think.
i'm trudging through the marketing of evil. thanks for sending it to me. it is very discouraging though. i'm wondering if there is going to be any kind of redeeming value at all in the book. it is a real eye opener.
i enjoy looking at your book list each month. do you do reviews on each book on your blog? maybe you should consider adding a little blurb about each one in the list. i love seeing what a fellow reader thinks about a book i'm interested in.
Melissa, I found The Marketing of Evil discouraging, too.
And you're right -- I should do better at reviewing books or at least saying something about them. The trouble is that I'd rather be reading!
Okay Anne I know I'm always asking you what you think about certain books, so here goes again...how did you like Raising Maidens of Virtue? I've wanted to buy it but the cost has put me off. You think it is good?
Lindsey, honestly I had some problems with Raising Maidens of Virtue. I was uncomfortable with what I thought was moralism in many parts of the book. I had hoped that it would be a book I'd go through with my daughter, but I've decided against it. There were some good chapters,though, and I particularly appreciated the one on moving and trusting your father (as a Navy family, this one hit home!).
I can't be more specific without doing a whole post on the book, and I don't know that I'll get to that.
Thanks for tipping me off Anne...no need to worry about writing a whole post I appreciate your honesty. I had actually heard one other mother say almost the same thing you did. Not sure if that makes me MORE curious to buy it and read it or not LOL
At the moment, historical fiction: P.F. Chisholm's "A Famine of Horses: A Sir Robert Carey Mystery". It's set in 1592, on the wild border between England and Scotland. It's been quite entertaining, so far.
I see, from your most recent addition - Chosen by God - and some other books on your list that you are interested in theological books.
I wonder if you might be interested in my blogs:
www.christinallthescriptures.blogspot.com
www.theologyofgcberkouwer.blogspot.com
Patrick, I always appreciate your suggestions. Thanks!
Charles, I'll check out your blogs soon. Thanks for stopping by.
Anne,
Looks like you don't read much about the modern U.S. Navy, but that's understandable; there are far too few books about the recent achievements of U.S. Navy sailors. Perhaps you might be interested in "No Higher Honor: Saving the USS Samuel B. Roberts in the Persian Gulf" (Naval Institute Press, 2006; http://www.nohigherhonor.com).
In 1988, this third ship named Roberts was on its maiden deployment, escorting Kuwaiti tankers through the chaos of the Iran-Iraq War, when struck it an Iranian mine. The explosion broke the ship's keel, ripped a 25-foot hole beneath its waterline, and set fires on four decks. With seawater rising around their boots, the well-trained crew fought flames and flooding into the night. Four days later, the U.S. retaliated, sending two Iranian warships to the bottom in Operation Praying Mantis, the largest surface-warfare action since World War II.
Of my book, the author of "Tin Can Sailors," James D. Hornfischer, had this to say:
-- "As fast-moving and tightly built as a Perry-class frigate, NO HIGHER HONOR drops the reader into the crucible of the 1988 tanker war in the Persian Gulf, the U.S. Navy's most harrowing combat theater since World War II. The astonishing story of the saving of the USS Samuel B. Roberts illustrates the value of inspired naval leadership and the transcendent power that comes from pride of heritage." (http://tinyurl.com/jau6q)
In the book's foreword, former JCS chairman Adm. (ret.) William Crowe wrote this:
-- "Mesmerizing...riveting...should be required reading for those who choose a career in the small-ship navy." (http://tinyurl.com/h3wx7)
And Curt of "Chaotic Synaptic Activity" wrote this:
-- "Gripping descriptions... I read it in two evenings, and would have liked to have stayed up the first night and make it all the way through." (http://tinyurl.com/l5web)
With no big-bucks advertising campaign to get the word out about the book, I'd be grateful for any attention you might be able to give it, personally or on your blog. Brad
I have fond memories of _The Haunted Bookshop_ and recently found a copy in the bargain bin - so looking forward to reading it again. Happy to see it here.
Anne, are you going to submit this post to the Brandywine Books contest? I think it qualifies.
Wow! What a list.
Wow! What a blog!
I'm so glad I found you, Anne. (Or really--you found me!)
Thank you for your ministry--
Your sister in Christ,
Tara Barthel
Just finished "The Book Of Ruth" by Jane Hamilton. Good, but disturbing at the end. I also have read some of Brett Lott this month, both "Jewel" and "A Song I know by HEart". They were both great, but the second was really great.
Interesting list, here's mine...
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