Summer Reading

My "new" job keeps me pretty busy during the school year.  (I've held my current position for nearly 2 years now, but it still feels pretty new to me!)

As a result of all this busy-ness, I tend to keep recreational reading to a minimum during the school year and make up for it by nearly blinding myself with reading during the summer.  -sigh- so happy.....

This summer, I have been reading these books:

The Little Stranger

 This was, by far, the best gothic novel I have read in a long, long time. It was superb. And British!  :)

Captains Courageous

I couldn't stop thinking about the Discovery Channel's show, The Most Dangerous Catch. I liked this book very much, but Kipling is rather long-winded for my taste, I think.  I was ready for the book to be done about 3 chapters from the end.

On the Origin of Species (yes, STILL --- It's pretty dense)

I started reading this forever ago, and it's interesting, but very heavy on the scientific terminology. I was going to finish it this summer, but I left it at work.  Oh, well. I am about a third of the way through.

Dune

 This has lived up to, and perhaps exceeded, its reputation and my expectations.  I cannot wait for the 2nd book.  It was not at the library today, so I have requested it.

 The Killer Inside Me

I picked this up from a feature stand at the library.  It looked creepy and was billed as a "cult classic". I am a sucker for anything that falls into that category.  It was riveting.  Disturbing.  A little gross at times. I loved it.

 Infected: A Novel

 I will never look at anyone with Morgellon's disease the same way ever again. Or triangles. Or the woods in Michigan. Ever.  Very good SF book.

Gypsies

(Note: This cover is icky and tacky.  I like my book much better.) 

This book was nothing that I expected, and while the title may throw people off of reading it, it really shouldn't. It's a great book about parallel universes and specialized powers without being all magik-y. It was a very quick read, but enjoyable.

I know there was another one that I bought with a gift card at the end of the year, 

but now I cannot find it!  Hmmm.  

I bought it with The Little Stranger.  Hmmmm.

I'll let you know when I figure it out. 

UPDATED: I remembered!  I woke up with the book in mind this morning.  It was...

T

The Windup Girl
A really really good dystopian novel. I couldn't find it because I had given it away to a friend of mine who also loves dystopian novels because Bacigalupi had decided to include two very explicit scenes (the windup girl is working as a prostitute for part of the book) that made me not want to re-read the novel. I liked this book so much in spite of those two scenes, however, because the society portrayed is a plausible one. One that I hope never, ever arrives, but plausible nonetheless.

I also checked out an SF collection of award winning short stories, but I just wasn't in the mood, and I ended up returning it, unread.

Coming up: the books I checked out from the library today:

The Indifferent Stars Above

A novel crafted from a survivor's account of the horrific winter. This was on a featured display.

Cemetery Dance

I don't usually like series, especially long ones.  I cannot stop reading the Preston and Child books. Cannot.  They are so awesome!  A little graphic at times, due to the fact that they usually follow the investigations of Special Agent Pendergast of the FBI's serial killer division. They do write other storylines together at times, and they also each write separately.  Any author who makes me look up words to know what's going on makes me happy. I can't wait to read this one.

Wyrm

I really needed this one to be about dragons, but when I read the flap, it said, "The countdown to the millennium has begun and apocalypse is as close as your computer terminal" and "every hacker should read this book."  I had to pick it up!

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Chinese historical fiction is one of my favorite genres. I decided to read this one even though the author looked white. I have to admit that I almost put it back when I saw her picture....but never judge a book by its cover, right?  I looked her up when I got home, and it seems I have picked up (at random, nearly) her masterpiece. Lisa See is Chinese-American, born in Paris and raised in California. Many of my favorite Chinese authors speak highly of her, and she lived in China to research the history and story of this novel. I can't wait to read this now.  I kept it because it reminds me of another favorite of mine: The Secrets of Jin-Shei. I'm very glad now that I did.

2666

This was published posthumously and is billed as "not just the great Spanish-language novel of this decade, but one of the cornerstones that define and entire literature." I wish I could read it in Spanish, but I will have to settle for a translation of Bolano. Again, I picked this up off of the featured display. I really like our librarians, and I've liked almost everything I've picked up from these displays.

Well, that was a long post, but I hope you've made it this far.  If you're reading this, won't you add a comment telling me what you've been reading lately?  I'm always looking for ideas....

Got Celiac? Start Here

Recently I was contacted in regards to a new cookbook: gluten free every day by Chef Robert Landolphi.

Would I like a free preview copy? No strings attached. Feel free to write about it on your blog, but you don't have to.

um... ... ... YES!

Shortly thereafter, the book arrived, and I began to read. Turns out it's not just a cookbook.

The whole first chapter, "Gluten Free Basics", is informative. Each successive chapter begins with a quick breakdown of what you need to know to cook the type of food in that chapter. Some of these informational segments are just a few sentences, and others, such as chapter three "Entrees", for example, you get a two page list of possible coatings to replace the traditional flour breading. (THANK YOU!)

I wish I had had this book last year when I was first diagnosed. I didn't know which way to turn, and it seemed that almost the books I came across were either way too organic or too gourmet for my tastes and style. (Or they just had awful foods! Bleah.)

This book is excellent for someone who is just starting out. It's easy to read and it does not contain the words "for dummies" (for me this is super-important).

It's also a fairly versatile book. It has recipes that would appeal to a variety of people. Here's a short list of some of the items it contains:

• Beer-battered onion rings (super yummy, btw, and a little spicy!)
  
• Baked beans
• Cranberry-Hazelnut Rice Stuffing
• Shrimp and Vegetable Pad Thai
• White Chicken Chili
• Ricotta Cream Berry Trifle
• Parmesean-Pesto Chicken with Pecans

I think that whether you're just starting out on your gluten free life or you've been at it a while and are just looking for something new and interesting, this is a good book. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Twilight

I did it. I read Twilight.

I'm teaching freshmen English this year:21 girls, 3 boys. It seemed like a necessity. :)

It's actually a pretty good book. I would say that I was pleasantly surprised by it. It's full of teenage love and angst and vampires. What's not to love? On the bright side, the vampires are nice - sorta - and the story is quite riveting. It's no classic, but I did enjoy it as a light read.

One thing I really did like was that it was clean. In spite of the girlfriend/boyfriend aspect and the life-threatening nature of vampires, there were no steamy scenes and no swearing. The worst exclamation was, "Holy Crow!"

I obviously can't tell you what happens because I don't do that, but I will definitely agree with Bella. "I'm with the vampires."

Good Reads

My mom has me hooked on this new website called Good Reads. It lets you set up a virtual bookshelf and categorize books any way you like. You can write reviews, rate books, compare your books with your friends', and even trade books with other members. It's pretty great. I've already had more discussions with my friends about the books we've read or are reading than I have had in a long time.

Today I'd like to recommend that you read a book by Alexandre Solzhenitsyn. I didn't realize that he was still alive until he passed away this week, but he's always been one of my favorites. Plus, he was censored, banned, threatened (you name it) by the Soviet government because of his truthful portrayal of the work camps. Banned books are usually pretty great.

The two novels of his that I own are A day in the life of Ivan Denisovich and The First Circle. A Day in the Life... is a much simpler, straightforward read. It is about a day in the life of a prisoner in a Siberian work camp. The First Circle centers around a man who is in a city work camp where they run scientific experiments, trying to make discoveries for the Soviet government. The circle in the title refers to the level of prisoner and prison. They're both very good, as are most all of his works, I would imagine.