Loved this book. One of those books where it is sad but funny, makes you think a little bit. When I was done, I put it down and immediately hugged my family!!!
It follows a 16 year old girl, Nomi, living in a Mennonite community. The book goes back and forth a bit and in the end you learn is actually a memoir to her highschool teacher. It is not in a chronological order but still very well done. There is no real plot so if you want a beginning, a middle and an end, this book does not have it. It is more of what is going on in the mind of a 16 year old who's sister and then mother have been excommunicated. The sister is the first to leave town and then the mother. Nomi's father, Ray, is quiet and reserved and completely lost and Nomi finds herself trying to look after him...cooking meals, doing laundry etc. He could not decide between the church and his family so the sister and Mom just left.
Nomi quits school and church and eventually is excommunicated as well.
That culture is very, very odd. Imagine living in a town where people are literally...ignored! Because they did not do what the church thought they should be doing! Imagine being a mother and being told to leave your family!! Never to see them again. All because the church said so. A very good read and insight into the Mennonite heritage. As odd as it is!!
Monday, April 5, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Switch How to Change Things when Change is Hard by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
I bought this on the basis of a few minutes browsing, and I'm really glad I did. Hardcover, 258 pages of text. Even though I just finished it, I'm going to read it again, and take some notes. Here is the essence of the book in bullet points, which I hope is a teaser for you to read it.
- Direct the Rider
- follow the bright spots
- script the critical moves
- point to the destination
- Motivate the Elephant
- find the feeling
- shrink the change
- grow your people
- Shape the Path
- tweak the environment
- build habits
- rally the herd
Lots of projects that involve change like to use the word milestones. When that's too big, start with inchpebbles instead. I love it!
The book is full of practical useful advice about how to start change. Not just on a corporate level, but on a personal level as well. One small example that falls under 'tweak the environment' is that I'm really bad for checking email. Even if there isn't the 'new email' sound, I'll still check. Which is very distracting if I'm actually working on something, or should be. So what I'm going to do is check my mail in the morning and do whatever is needed, then turn it off. I'll check it again about lunch time, then turn it off. The same about 4pm.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Housecalls by Dogsled
Well, I ordered up all of the books that you guys have mentioned from the library, but in the mean time I picked up this one. http://www.harbourpublishing.com/title/HouseCallsbyDogsled
D thought it was odd that I would want to read about living in the Arctic when I am living nearly in the Arctic and quite done with winter. But it is so far a really good book. It is non fiction and written more like a journal than a story, but I am always fascinating when reading about people who live in harsh conditions and adapt to life.
I am about 1/2 way through, I'll post a review when I am done.
D thought it was odd that I would want to read about living in the Arctic when I am living nearly in the Arctic and quite done with winter. But it is so far a really good book. It is non fiction and written more like a journal than a story, but I am always fascinating when reading about people who live in harsh conditions and adapt to life.
I am about 1/2 way through, I'll post a review when I am done.
Friday, February 5, 2010
The Value of Nothing by Raj Patel
The full title is The Value of Nothing Why everything costs so much more than we think. Don't be fooled. Raj has another book with the same main title. This book has a nice coffee cup on the cover. It's a small hardback, $27 at Indigo (why do books cost so much???) and I think they had a sale on it.
I'm about 70 of 194 pages into it. His writing is engaging and easy to read. I've taken some economics courses so I haven't had any surprises yet, but he presents the material well. More later when I've finished it.
Now I'm done. It was really interesting. He brings in all sorts of ideas and concepts, and relates them in ways I hadn't considered. It was worth buying if only to see an explanation about what "cap and trade" means, and more importantly, why it won't work, and why it's being pushed by the corporate interests. He takes examples from all over the world, and they are right up to date. Well, I discovered one error. He notes the Himalayan glaciers are supposed to be melted by 2035, and that has been revealed to be a mistake.
Very readable, talking about what we're going to have to go through to reclaim our lives from corporations, and how to recognize various examples of their rapacity. I'm going to have to read it again, and let it soak in more.
I'm about 70 of 194 pages into it. His writing is engaging and easy to read. I've taken some economics courses so I haven't had any surprises yet, but he presents the material well. More later when I've finished it.
Now I'm done. It was really interesting. He brings in all sorts of ideas and concepts, and relates them in ways I hadn't considered. It was worth buying if only to see an explanation about what "cap and trade" means, and more importantly, why it won't work, and why it's being pushed by the corporate interests. He takes examples from all over the world, and they are right up to date. Well, I discovered one error. He notes the Himalayan glaciers are supposed to be melted by 2035, and that has been revealed to be a mistake.
Very readable, talking about what we're going to have to go through to reclaim our lives from corporations, and how to recognize various examples of their rapacity. I'm going to have to read it again, and let it soak in more.
Monday, February 1, 2010
"A Spot of Bother" by Mark Haddon
This book is on my "okay" list. Was a good read but did not grab my attention. I read it cover to cover but found I had to make myself pick it up rather than want to pick it up.
About a dysfunctional family with lots going on. Dad thinks he is going crazy...Mom is having an affair with Dad's old work buddy...daughter is marrying the wrong guy...son is trying to figure out his relationship with his gay partner...it kind of goes on and on.
Frankly, I saw alot of my own family in there and I could write a book similar if I knew how to write a book. Maybe that was the point of it?? There were some very funny parts and some of the English words and phrases are cute.
It reminded me that we are all just doing the best with what we have...we can't pick our relatives so we should perhaps forgive some of their shortcomings. It ain't all white picket fences and butterflies and rainbows.
"The Reader" by Bernhard Schlink
Picked this one up at the library this week...have ordered "What the Dog Saw" so will tackle that when it is available!!
Finished on the weekend.
A very good read. The book is broken up into three parts. The first part details an affair between a 15 year old boy and a 36 year old woman. Some of the details were kind of creepy...there are laws against this kind of thing!! He gets sick on the way home from school one day, she takes him in and cleans him up. He is sick in bed for several weeks, even months and returns to her flat to give her some thank-you flowers. She catches him sneaking a peak when she is putting on some stockings, one thing leads to another and the rest of the first section is their love affair. She is, in my opinion, emotionally abusive at times. He is a boy who is craving love and wants to please her. This affair affects nearly every part of his life and it lasts only one summer.
The second section is when the author is in law school and he arrives, as a spectator, at a trial for women who were guards at an Auschwitz satellite camp. This is where the book gets very good. The gal he had the love affair with is one of the defendants with a secret she want to hide at any cost. This part gives the audience lots and lots to think about. How could someone he loved so dearly, do such horrible things?
The third and final section is closer to "present-day" but also in the past. After she spends many years in prison, the author travels to meet the woman he had such a life defining experience with so long ago. What he remembers and what he sees are very different. She is now an old woman and the damage she has done to so many, hangs in the air.
A very good book. If anything, it hits home on how subsequent generations must continue to remember the holocaust.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Running a book club
I've been a part of several book clubs over the years. There's several way these things work. And combinations too. But we can figure out what works for us.
Genre. Some book clubs do just one type, like mystery, or science fiction, or emotionally overwrought fiction recommended by Oprah. Some are strictly fiction. Or it can be anything. I vote for anything.
Choosing a book. Some take strict turns. Others choose based on what people are reading anyway. Others bring selections and people decide which they want to read next. Usually the person suggesting a book notes where it is available, and if the library has copies. It does no good to suggest a book that is out of print, unless you want to tease your buddies. (So one of my faves, Egil's Saga is right out. Sigh.)
Meeting structure. Some meet in member's homes, and take turns. Some pick a central place such as a coffee shop, and always meet there. Some let the person who chose the book choose where to meet. In a big city meeting place can be difficult. Some are very structured about how they discuss a book, almost like a literary dissection. Others are much more free form about discussion, what they liked or didn't like, how they felt about it, how it relates to them, which characters they liked or didn't, comparison to the movie (if any), and spiraling out from there. There's been several times where our book club has read the book, met here, discussed the book, watched the movie, and discussed both over BBQ and beer. That was good.
Meeting frequency. Usually once a month is good. Sometimes less often over busy times.
My thoughts on a blog book club. You knew I'd have thoughts, didn't you. These are just my thoughts, put out to spark discussion. You have thoughts too, let's find out what they are.
I start from all of us wanting to find good books to read. It's nice to talk about a book with others that have read it, or knowing that someone who's opinion you respect liked it, *before* you shell out big bucks to buy it.
One advantage of the blog format, especially with multiple authors, is that we can have multiple discussions going at once, and people can participate where they choose. If you're just a reader, you can add comments. If you're an author, you can go into the original blog posting, and add material to it.
So for example, I've got one book posted already. All discussion about that book should go in comments or in the blog post itself. This discussion might be open for months, as people get around to reading it. People might comment multiple times almost like a discussion. I'd like to see fairly open discussion, and not get into a formal literary thing. We're all smart people with a variety of life experience, and if that ties into the book, I'm more than happy to read about it.
That doesn't stop someone else from adding a good book, and getting another comment thread going, though for sanity's sake we might want to limit the number of books in active discussion. Unless, that is, we want to go into a mode where we pick one book, read it, and comment, then move one. I see this as being a fairly active place, with lots of comments. I think it's fair that someone is able to comment even if they haven't finished the book. Hmmmm, I suppose we should have a discussion about spoilers, and what people think of that.
One neat thing we could try is to combine the blog with a MSM format. That is, we pick an evening when most of us are available, and comment like mad, so it's almost like a real time discussion. I'm not sure how good blogger is at supporting that sort of thing, but we can try.
What other neat ideas do you have about how this could or should work?
Genre. Some book clubs do just one type, like mystery, or science fiction, or emotionally overwrought fiction recommended by Oprah. Some are strictly fiction. Or it can be anything. I vote for anything.
Choosing a book. Some take strict turns. Others choose based on what people are reading anyway. Others bring selections and people decide which they want to read next. Usually the person suggesting a book notes where it is available, and if the library has copies. It does no good to suggest a book that is out of print, unless you want to tease your buddies. (So one of my faves, Egil's Saga is right out. Sigh.)
Meeting structure. Some meet in member's homes, and take turns. Some pick a central place such as a coffee shop, and always meet there. Some let the person who chose the book choose where to meet. In a big city meeting place can be difficult. Some are very structured about how they discuss a book, almost like a literary dissection. Others are much more free form about discussion, what they liked or didn't like, how they felt about it, how it relates to them, which characters they liked or didn't, comparison to the movie (if any), and spiraling out from there. There's been several times where our book club has read the book, met here, discussed the book, watched the movie, and discussed both over BBQ and beer. That was good.
Meeting frequency. Usually once a month is good. Sometimes less often over busy times.
My thoughts on a blog book club. You knew I'd have thoughts, didn't you. These are just my thoughts, put out to spark discussion. You have thoughts too, let's find out what they are.
I start from all of us wanting to find good books to read. It's nice to talk about a book with others that have read it, or knowing that someone who's opinion you respect liked it, *before* you shell out big bucks to buy it.
One advantage of the blog format, especially with multiple authors, is that we can have multiple discussions going at once, and people can participate where they choose. If you're just a reader, you can add comments. If you're an author, you can go into the original blog posting, and add material to it.
So for example, I've got one book posted already. All discussion about that book should go in comments or in the blog post itself. This discussion might be open for months, as people get around to reading it. People might comment multiple times almost like a discussion. I'd like to see fairly open discussion, and not get into a formal literary thing. We're all smart people with a variety of life experience, and if that ties into the book, I'm more than happy to read about it.
That doesn't stop someone else from adding a good book, and getting another comment thread going, though for sanity's sake we might want to limit the number of books in active discussion. Unless, that is, we want to go into a mode where we pick one book, read it, and comment, then move one. I see this as being a fairly active place, with lots of comments. I think it's fair that someone is able to comment even if they haven't finished the book. Hmmmm, I suppose we should have a discussion about spoilers, and what people think of that.
One neat thing we could try is to combine the blog with a MSM format. That is, we pick an evening when most of us are available, and comment like mad, so it's almost like a real time discussion. I'm not sure how good blogger is at supporting that sort of thing, but we can try.
What other neat ideas do you have about how this could or should work?
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