Wednesday, January 04, 2006
August-December Reading
From February to July, I took the time to write a little something about the books I read each month. I'm not sure why I stopped. I think partly because these posts are the most boring posts on my blog and partly because I just don't feel like I as much time to blog (one child is harder than two - at least when they are six or older).

I don't feel like I have much to blog about right now. I'm busy and happy with both girls home and it feels good to not be on the computer half the day. But, I thought it would be nice to review the books I have read since August.

August

Freedom of Simplicity by Richard Foster
The first time I read this book was in 1996. At the time I was reading a lot of books about simplicity and budgeting and being frugal. I even started to write a book on the subject, but it seemed like I was a year late to the game and I kept finding new books similar to the one I was writing.

I loved this book because it isn't just about living simply. It is about having a Christ-centered life and how simplicity follows from that (and how simplifying your life can bring you closer to Christ). I re-read it in August because I felt I needed that message again.

In July I read another book by Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline. I had read both books in '96 and when I read them before Freedom of Simplicity was the one that really resonated with me. While I enjoyed them both, this time Celebration of Discipline was the one that inspired the most change in me. When I read it ten years ago, the message seemed too extreme and too tough to tackle. This time it didn't.


Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Fabulous book. I hadn't read this since high school and thought it would be good to re-read. It was.

September

Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
I had a lot of recommendations to read this book. I really liked it, but I didn't love it. The writing was excellent, I cared about the characters, I liked the sense of Afghanistan that I got. I didn't like some of the obvious and/or convenient plot twists. Not sure it stood up to the hype, but it was a solidly good book.


The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
Another book that I read in high school and decided to re-read. Great book.

November

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
At night I would lie in bed and watch the show, how bees squeezed through the cracks of my bedroom wall and flew circles around the room, making that propeller sound, a high-pitched zzzzzz that hummed along my skin.

Fabulously written. I loved this story from magical beginning to lyrical end.

December


The Know-It-All by A. J. Jacobs
Really funny and sweet book. This book is written by a guy who decides to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica. Each chapter is a letter of the alphabet. He shares funny stories about the stuff he learns about and his daily life.

I read the People's Alamanac Presents the 20th Century a couple of years ago, but that was 879 pages and the Encyclopedia is 33,000 pages.


Endurance by Alfred Lansing
The amazing voyage of a bunch of guys in the Antartic. This was a good book. It's one of those survival books that makes you glad that your socks are dry and your bed is warm.

Click here for a free Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon
In August, the president of our church challenged us to read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year. I finished on 12/31/05 at 11:40 pm. I should've been done about a week earlier, but I totally and completely forgot about reading the whole week before Christmas.

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Name: Laura

I have five kids including triplets. I'm too busy to blog, but I do anyway (uh, sometimes).

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My Antonia
by Willa Cather

June

Sarah's Quilt
by Nancy Turner

May

Maus
by Art Spiegelman


Housekeeping
by Marilynne Robinson

April

These Is My Words
by Nancy Turner


The Myth of You and Me
by Leah Stewart

March

Inconceivable
by Ben Elton


Songbook
by Nick Hornby


Follies
by Ann Beattie


Hungry Planet

February

About a Boy
by Nick Hornby


High Fidelity
by Nick Hornby


Stargirl
by Jerry Spinelli

January

Revolutionary Road
by Richard Yates


Morality for Beautiful Girls
by Alexander McCall Smith


A Long Way Down
by Nick Hornby


How to be Good
by Nick Hornby


Mere Christianity
by C. S. Lewis

December
Click here for a free Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon

Good Faith
The Know-It-All
by A. J. Jacobs

Good Faith
Endurance
by Alfred Lansing

November
Good Faith
The Secret Life of Bees
by Sue Monk Kidd

September

Kite Runner
by Khaled Hosseini


The Good Earth
by Pearl S. Buck

August

Freedom of Simplicity
by Richard Foster


Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen

July

Celebration of Discipline
by Richard J. Foster

Peace Like A River
Peace Like A River
by Leif Enger

Things Fall Apart
Things Fall Apart
by Chinua Achebe

Gap Creek
Gap Creek
by Robert Morgan

June
Life of Pi
Life of Pi
by Yann Martel

My Name is Asher Lev
My Name is Asher Lev
by Chaim Potok

A Prayer for Owen Meany
A Prayer for Owen Meany
by John Irving

All New People
All New People
by Anne Lamott

May
Patrimony
Patrimony: A True Story
by Philip Roth

Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters
Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters
by J. D. Salinger

Good Faith
Good Faith
by Jane Smiley

Cradle and Crucible
Cradle and Crucible History and Faith in the Middle East
by National Geographic Society

April
Saturday
Saturday
by Ian McEwan

Blue Shoe
Blue Shoe
by Anne LaMott

Emma
Emma
by Jane Austen

Operation Shylock
Operation Shylock
by Philip Roth

March
Jane Austen: A Life
Jane Austen: A Life
by Claire Tomalin

To See and See Again
To See and See Again
by Tara Bahrampour

Reading L0l1ta in Tehran
Reading L0l1ta in Tehran
by Azar Nafisi

February
A Thomas Jefferson Education
A Thomas Jefferson Education
by Oliver Van Demille

Still Alive
Still Alive
by Ruth Kluger

The Screwtape Letters
Not The Germans Alone
by Isaac Levendel

Still Alive
World War II: A Photographic History
by David Boyle

The Screwtape Letters
The Screwtape Letters
by C.S. Lewis

Persuasion
Persuasion
by Jane Austen

January
Climbing Parnassus
Climbing Parnassus
by Tracey Lee Simmons

With the Old Breed
With The Old Breed
by E. B. Sledge

All But My Life
All But My Life
by Gerda Weissmann Klein

We Die Alone
We Die Alone
by David Howarth