Our New Read

Cecilia picked our new read, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. And since the holidays are such a busy time we won't be meeting till January, so you all have plenty of time to read this. It will be a fun time for some of us to brush up on a classic read and a great time for others to experience a new read. Here is a little summary of what it is about:

At the age of eight, Scout Finch is an entrenched free-thinker. She can accept her father's warning that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird, because mockingbirds harm no one and give great pleasure. The benefits said to be gained from going to school and keeping her temper elude her.

The place of this enchanting, intensely moving story is Maycomb, Alabama. The time is the Depression, but Scout and her brother, Jem, are seldom depressed. They have appalling gifts for entertaining themselves—appalling, that is, to almost everyone except their wise lawyer father, Atticus.

Atticus is a man of unfaltering good will and humor, and partly because of this, the children become involved in some disturbing adult mysteries: fascinating Boo Radley, who never leaves his house; the terrible temper of Mrs. Dubose down the street; the fine distinctions that make the Finch family "quality"; the forces that cause the people of Maycomb to show compassion in one crisis and unreasoning cruelty in another.

Also because Atticus is what he is, and because he lives where he does, he and his children are plunged into a conflict that indelibly marks their lives—and gives Scout some basis for thinking she knows just about as much about the world as she needs to.

So, grab a copy from the library, a friend, or on Amazon (You can get the paperback for as little as $6.99) Happy reading!

Our New Read

Monique picked our new read for November. It is Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. Here is what it is about:

Growing up in California in the 1920s, Louie was a hellraiser, stealing everything edible that he could carry, staging elaborate pranks, getting in fistfights, and bedeviling the local police. But as a teenager, he emerged as one of the greatest runners America had ever seen, competing at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where he put on a sensational performance, crossed paths with Hitler, and stole a German flag right off the Reich Chancellery. He was preparing for the 1940 Olympics, and closing in on the fabled four-minute mile, when World War II began. Louie joined the Army Air Corps, becoming a bombardier. Stationed on Oahu, he survived harrowing combat, including an epic air battle that ended when his plane crash-landed, some six hundred holes in its fuselage and half the crew seriously wounded.

On a May afternoon in 1943, Louie took off on a search mission for a lost plane. Somewhere over the Pacific, the engines on his bomber failed. The plane plummeted into the sea, leaving Louie and two other men stranded on a tiny raft. Drifting for weeks and thousands of miles, they endured starvation and desperate thirst, sharks that leapt aboard the raft, trying to drag them off, a machine-gun attack from a Japanese bomber, and a typhoon with waves some forty feet high. At last, they spotted an island. As they rowed toward it, unbeknownst to them, a Japanese military boat was lurking nearby. Louie’s journey had only just begun.

Sounds interesting, doesn't it? So, check your local library, borrow it from a friend or you can purchase it on Amazon for $13.49 here's a link: http://www.amazon.com/Unbroken-World-Survival-Resilience-Redemption/dp/1400064163/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319158697&sr=8-1 Happy reading!

A Late teaser Cecilia

     A wave of emotions, a mixture of angers and longings, washed over Mack and as if on cue his father's colors burst from across the meadow and enveloped him.  He was lost in a wash of ruby and vermillion, magenta and violet, as the light and color whirled around and embraced him.  And somehow, in the middle of the exploding storm, he found himself running across the meadow to find his father, running toward the source of the colors and emotions.  He was a little boy wanting his daddy, and for the first time he was not afraid.  He was running, not caring for anything but the object of his heart, and he found him.  His father was on his knees awash in light, tears sparkling like a waterfall of diamonds and jewels into the hands that covered his face.
   "Daddy!" yelled Mack, and threw himself onto the man who could not even look at his son.  In the howl of wind and flame, Mack took his father's face in his two hands, forcing his dad to look him in the face so he could stammer the words he had always wanted to say:  "Daddy, I'm so sorry! Daddy, I love you!"  The light of his words seemed to blast darkness out of his father's colors, turning them blood red.  They exchanged sobbing words of confession and forgiveness, as a love greater than either one healed them.

                                                                  The Shack by William P. Young

This book was a challenge for me to read.  The first part read pretty good and then came the part where Mack went to the shack and met God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost.  It is how the author portrayed them that I had to work through.  I did enjoy the book, I just have to realize that the world looks on religion different that I do and be open minded.

Our New Read

Shelly picked our new read for the month of October. It is The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle. Here is what it is about:

Journalist Coyle travels the world to discover the truth about talent in this fascinating account that studies how individuals can unlock their full potential and bring their talents to light. The discoveries put forth by Coyle come down to three main elements: coaching, motivation and practice. While these hardly seem like breakthroughs, Coyle's discovery process proves fascinating. Providing detailed examples from a variety of different sources, Coyle's work becomes as motivational as the stories he presents.

Sound interesting? Pick up a copy at the library, borrow it from a friend, or you can buy it online at Amazon, or some other online seller. Happy reading!

Cecilia's Teaser Tuesday

All of a sudden, every ounce of hope she still harbored within her ran out.  In the old lady's eyes she read what she most dreaded.  Michel was dead.  Dead in the cupboard.  She knew.  It was too late.  She had waited too long.  He had not survived.  He had not make it.  He had died there, all alone, in the dark, with no food and no water, just the bear and the storybook, and he had trusted her, he had waited, he had probably called out to her, screamed her name again and again, "Sirka, Sirka, where are you!"  He was dead, because of her.  If she had not locked him up that day, he could have been here, right now, she could be bathing him now, this instant.  She should have watched over him. she should have brought him here to safety.  It was her fault. It was all her fault.

The girl crumple to the floor, a broken being.  Wave after wave of despair washed over her.  Never in her short life had she know such acute pain.  "she felt Genevieve gather her close, stroke her shorn head, murmur words of comfort.  She let herself go, surrendered herself completely to the kind old arms that encircled her.  Then she felt the sweet sensation of a soft mattress and clean sheets enveloping her.  She fell into a strange, trouble slumber.


Sarah's Key   By Tatina De Rosnay

Cecilia's Teaser Tuesday

Yes! let me acknowledge that on this first day I let the charm of her presence lure me from the recollection of myself and my position.  The  most trifling of the questions that she put to me, on the subject of using her pencil and mixing her colours; the slightest alterations of expression in the lovely eyes that looked into mine with such an earnest desire to learn all that I could teach, and to discover all that I could show, attracted more of my attention than the finest view we passed through, or the grandest changes of light and shade as, they flowed into each other over the waving moorland and the level beach.  At any time, and under any circumstances of human interest, is it not strange to see how little real hold the objects of the natural world amid which live can gain on our hearts and minds? We go to Nature for comfort in trouble, and sympathy in joy, only in books. Admiration of those beauties of the inanimate world, which modern poetry so largely and so eloquently describes, is not, even in the best of us, one of the original instincts of our nature. As children, we none of us possess it.  No uninstructed man or woman possesses it.

Kori's Teaser Tuesday

My grandfather had described it a hundred times, but in his stories, the house was always a bright, happy place---big and rambling, yes but full of light and laughter. What stood before me now was no refuge from monsters, but a monster itself, staring down from its perch with vacant hunger. Trees burst forth from broken windows and skins of scabrous vine gnawed at the walls like antibodies attacking a virus--as if nature itself had waged war against it---but the house seemed unkillable, resolutely upright despite the wrongness of its angles and the jagged teeth of sky visible through sections of collapsed roof.

I gathered up what scrawny courage I had and waded through waist-high weeds to the porch, all broken tile and rotting wood, to peek through a cracked window. All I could make out through the smeared glass were the outlines of furniture, so I knocked on the door and stood back to wait in eerie silence, tracing the shape of Miss Peregrine's letter in my pocket. I'd taken it along in case I needed to prove who I was, but as a minute ticked by, then two, it seemed less and less likely that I would need it.

Liz's Teaser Tuesday

"Station is the paradox of the world of my people, the limitation of our power within the hunger for power. It is gained through treachery and invites treachery against those who gain it. Those most powerful in Menzoberranzan spend their days watching over their shoulders, defending against the daggers that would find their backs. Their deaths usually come from the front." -Drizzt Do'Urden-

Homeland by R.A. Salvatore

Debby's Tuesday Teaser

" All literate individuals possess and use many different skills. Readers and writers develop literacy and learn to use skills by having many successful reading and writing experiences and by being given instruction with strategies and skills that will help them move forward in their literacy development. The process is much like learning to play the piano. You learn your first little piece. You play it over and over, and in the process you develop 'fluency.' You are then taught a new chord, key signature, or rhythmic pattern (one that you lack or are unable to use.) Once you learn the new 'skill', you can learn new pieces. "

Literacy Assessment Helping Teachers Plan Instruction by J. David Cooper and Nancy D. Kiger. page 12.

Ok, I know most of you will not be interested in this book, but it is what I am rereading and enjoying at the moment. This is the text I use in the Literacy Assessment course I teach in the MAT program at SMCM.

Dari's Teaser Tuesday

"Where much is given, much is required," Professor Andrus repeated, "and I've one more suggestion. Believe beyond your doubts. What was it you used to say to me all the time about your fanciful creations?"

"I can paint whatever I imagine and believe whatever I paint," Thomas replied.

"How much more powerful might it be if belief came before imagination? I appreciate that may be difficult, given 'the comfortable ambiguity of agnosticism'!" He repeated the expression Thomas had used.

"Acknowledge that your talent is a gift from God and thank him for it. Ask for his help so you can perform at the extreme edge of your ability. Even if you are unable to believe," Professor Andrus said finally, "at least open yourself to the possibility of the divine beauty your masterwork deserves."

The rim of golden light on the old man's face, the quiet resonance of his voice, the dark pools of his eyes and unguarded sharing of things most personal caused a stirring within Thomas. A swelling warmth. The inner voice. A quiet grove.

What was happening?

The Evolution of Thomas Hall by Keith Merrill pg. 294

September Read: Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

Our new read for this month is Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, by Amy Chua. I am excited to hear what everyone thinks of this book: it has 217 5-star ratings on Amazon and 116 1-star ratings. I am looking forward to some intense discussion on September 20th! There were 8 library copies available last time I checked, plus a couple on audio, or order it from Amazon for $15.92.

In Battle Hymn, Chua imparts the secret behind the stereotypical Asian child's phenomenal success: the Chinese mother. Chua promotes what has traditionally worked very well in raising children: strict, Old World, uncompromising values--and the parents don't have to be Chinese. What they are, however, are different from what she sees as indulgent and permissive Western parents: stressing academic performance above all, never accepting a mediocre grade, insisting on drilling and practice, and instilling respect for authority. Chua and her Jewish husband (both are professors at Yale Law) raised two girls, and her account of their formative years achieving amazing success in school and music performance proves both a model and a cautionary tale. Sophia, the eldest, was dutiful and diligent, leapfrogging over her peers in academics and as a Suzuki piano student; Lulu was also gifted, but defiant, who excelled at the violin but eventually balked at her mother's pushing. Chua's efforts "not to raise a soft, entitled child" will strike American readers as a little scary--removing her children from school for extra practice, public shaming and insults, equating Western parenting with failure--but the results, she claims somewhat glibly in this frank, unapologetic report card, "were hard to quarrel with."

Debby's Tuesday Teaser

"One thing to always remember around Williamsburg and most of Virginia: No road runs compass-straight. Ever. The hilly, river-crossed terrain doesn't lend itself to it. Locals joke that some roads run the way they do because some native or settler wandered crookedly centuries ago.
So remember that Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown are small, and roads in the heart of the localities are paved versions of the early paths of the colonists: quaint, sometimes narrow, and often congested. Give yourself plenty of time to make it to your destination at the desired hour."
I'm currently in Williamsburg and found this book to be helpful planning my trip and also during the trip. Lots of family fun.

Shelly's teaser

"In bed that night I invented a special drain that would be underneath every pillow in New York, and would connect to the reservoir. Whenever people cried themselves to sleep, the tears would all go to the same place, and in the morning the weatherman could report if the water level of the Reservoir of Tears had gone up or down, and you could know if New York was in heavy boots [his phrase for being weighed down with stress or grief]. And when something really terrible happened--like a nuclear bomb, or at least a biological weapons attack--an extremely loud siren would go off, telling everyone to get to Central Park to put sandbags around the reservoir."

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
by Johathan Safran Foer

Debby's Teaser: Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder

Hannah Swenson's life is going well. Her cookie shop, The Cookie Jar, is successful, and she's content living a single life with her cat as company. But then she finds her delivery driver from the local dairy murdered behind her store. Assisting her brother-in-law, she starts investigating. But everyone seems to have an alibi and no motive. This is the first in a series of books about Hannah Swenson. She always finds a body and then tries to solve the mystery. Each book also has several yummy recipes included.

Our New Read

Our new read for this month is Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman. Here's a little teaser about what the book is about:

Twelve-year-old CeeCee is in trouble. For years she’s been the caretaker of her psychotic mother, Camille— the crown-wearing, lipstick-smeared laughingstock of an entire town. Though it’s 1967 and they live in Ohio, Camille believes it’s 1951 and she’s just been crowned the Vidalia Onion Queen of Georgia.

The day CeeCee discovers Camille in the front yard wearing a tattered prom dress and tiara as she blows kisses to passing motorists, she knows her mother has completely flipped. When tragedy strikes, Tootie Caldwell, a previously unknown great-aunt comes to CeeCee’s rescue and whisks her away to Savannah. Within hours of her arrival, CeeCee is catapulted into a perfumed world of prosperity and Southern eccentricities—a world that appears to be run entirely by women.

Sound interesting? I think so. So grab a copy from the library or a friend, or if you think this might be a book you'd like to purchase you can find it on Amazon for $6. Happy reading!

This Time Together - Teaser by Debby

I remember watching the Carol Burnett show when I was younger. We watched it every week. Carol always had a question and answer session with her audience to start the show. This book is a collection of short stories about her life. It was a quick read. There are numerous photos in the book from her shows too.

" I figured I had to stand out more, which meant a special audition dress. I couldn't afford more than $5, so I talked four other girls at the club into pitching in $5 a piece so we could buy a "community dress." With $25 in hand, we trotted off to Bloomingdales, to find THE dress that would fit us all. No easy task, because we weren't all built the same by any means.
We knew that to stand out in an audition the dress should be a bright color. It had to have long sleeves to cover skinny, plump, and average arms. It had to have a full skirt to hide any wide behinds. The material had to have a little give to accommodate each of us in the waistline. Luckily, we were all pretty close in that department."

This Time Together by Carol Burnett page 25

Debby's Teaser

Mandy hid her purchases in the orchard. The staff and children at the orphanage were at lunch, so she was unobserved. She took one look at the wall and her heart sank at the thought of getting the plants over to the other side. How was she going to manage it?

She was too late to eat in the dining room. So she went to the kitchen and ate a sandwich and watched Alice go through the piles of dishes.

She noted that Alice got a new package of soap flakes from the store cupboard. She wondered if she could persuade her to give he a package for the cottage. But - one thing at a time.

Mandy by Julie Andrews Edwards, page 47

Kori's Teaser Tuesday

The idea that I could even visit where Little House on the Prairie took place thrilled me a little more deeply than the prospect of seeing the other LIttle House sites, because I never imagined the site could be found. When I read the books as a kid, I knew that the places with names --Pepin, De Smet-- could be looked up somewhere, using the encyclopedias and maps of my world, but the cabin out on the prairie didn't seem quite real, was deep in the most remote regions of Laura World for me. Certainly the book implies the cabin was bound to be lost forever, once the family had emptied it out and left it behind.

Our New Read

Our new read for June is Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. Here is a little teaser of it for you.

1986, The Panama Hotel.
The old Seattle landmark has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has made a startling discovery in the basement: personal belongings stored away by Japanese families sent to interment camps during the Second World War. Among the fascinated crowd gathering outside the hotel, stands Henry Lee, and, as the owner unfurls a distinctive parasol, he is flooded by memories of his childhood. He wonders if by some miracle, in amongst the boxes of dusty treasures, lies a link to the Okabe family, and the girl he lost his young heart to, so many years ago.

Sound interesting? Find a copy of it and get to reading. Happy reading!

Liz's Teaser Tuesday

"You always were selfish. Your one fault. Not willing to share anything, are you?" Suddenly, Damon's lips curved up in a singularly beautiful smile, "But fortunately the lovely Elena is more generous. Didn't she tell you about our little liaisons? Why? The first time we met she almost gave herself to me on the spot."
"That's a lie!"
"Oh, no, dear brother, I never lie about anything important. Or do I mean unimportant? Anyway, your beauteous damsel nearly swooned into my arms. I think she likes men in black." As Stefan stared at him, trying to control his breathing, Damon added, almost gently, "You're wrong about her, you know, You think she's sweet and docile like Katherine. She isn't. She's not your type at all, my saintly brother. She has a spirit and a fire in her that you wouldn't know what to do with."
"And you would, I suppose."
Damon uncrossed his arms and slowly smiled again. "Oh, yes."

The Vampire Diaries (The Awakening and The Struggle) by L.J. Smith

Liz's Teaser Tuesday

After a pause, he asked, "What do you think of Nasuada's plans?"
"Mmm...she's doomed! You're doomed! They're all doomed!" She cackled, doubling over, then straightened abruptly. "Notice I didn't specify what kind of doom, so no matter what happens, I predicted it. How very wise of me." She lifted the basket again, setting it on one hip. "I suppose I won't see you for a while, so farewell, best of luck, avoid roasted cabbage, don't eat earwax, and look on the bright side of life!" And with a cheery wink, she strolled off, leaving Eragon blinking and nonplussed.

Eldest (Inheritance #2) by Christopher Paolini

Debby's Tuesday Teaser

He seemed to understand how lost I felt, and I was grateful for that, because an older guy like him - even if he was a counselor - should've steered clear of an uncool middle-schooler like me. But Luke had welcomed me into the cabin. He'd even stolen me some toiletries, which was the nicest thing anybody had done for me all day.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan page 101

The Wednesday Sisters

HI ladies, I'm not a blogger (I'm old fashioned and still write in a journal) so I don't know how to make this look pretty but I did just finish a good book called the Wednesday Sisters. It was about a group of ladies in the late 60s who meet at the park and become friends. They help each other overcome challenges that are common to all of us and they do it by forming a writing society where they all write and then critique each other's writing. It was a good story that I enjoyed and it was a nice break after some serious WWII books I've been reading. Anyway, check it out if you just want a nice read.

Secondly, the library doesn't have any available copies of our new book so if someone is done or has one, would you please let me know and pass it on? Thanks!

Liz's Teaser Tuesday

"From this experience, I understood the danger of focusing only on what isn't there. What if I came to the end of my life and realized that I'd spent every day watching for a man who would never come to me? What an unbearable sorrow it would be, to realize I'd never really tasted the things I'd eaten, or seen the places I'd been, because I'd thought of nothing but the Chairman even while my life was drifting away from me. And yet if I drew my thoughts back from him, what life would I have? I would be like a dancer who had practiced since childhood for a performance she would never give." (pg. 349)


Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

Our New Read

The book we will be reading for this month is Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. I thought it was delightfully fun and loved it. I just hope everyone else likes it. You can check a couple posts down and see my Teaser Tuesday has an excerpt from the book, but here is a review from Amazon.com

Sophie Hatter reads a great deal and soon realizes that as the eldest of three daughters she is doomed to an uninteresting future. She resigns herself to making a living as a hatter and helping her younger sisters prepare to make their fortunes. But adventure seeks her out in the shop where she sits alone, dreaming over her hats. The wicked Witch of the Waste, angered by "competition" in the area, turns her into an old woman, so she seeks refuge inside the strange moving castle of the wizard Howl. Howl, advertised by his apprentice as an eater of souls, lives a mad, frantic life trying to escape the curse the witch has placed on him, find the perfect girl of his dreams and end the contract he and his fire demon have entered. Sophie, against her best instincts and at first unaware of her own powers, falls in love. So goes this intricate, humorous and puzzling tale of fantasy and adventure which should both challenge and involve readers.

Sound interesting? Pick up a copy at the library, or if you think you might like to own it you can find it on Amazon for $6.99. Happy reading!

Cecilia's Teaser Tuesday

After lunch, Kate put on a shapely brown fleece jacket (just because it was utilitarian didn't mean it couldn't have style), a pair of jeans, and hiking boots, and set out, eager to see the countryside.  She brought a sketchpad in the hope inspiration would strike, as it often did when she went for a walk.  The beauty of the place was overwhelming, wrapping her in a velvet cloak--such purity of color, texture, and scent.  It was everywhere, in the belled petals of foxglove, the rawness of the earth, even the handful of broken window glass she scooped up from the side of the lane, sparkling like diamonds.  She let the pieces fall in a glittering cascade, admiring how they caught the light.  She felt the stirring of creative impulse, but didn't act on it right away: she must coax it from its hiding place, like a fox from its den.  She wouldn't force anything; it didn't work that way.  She took her time, picking daisies for a bracelet, slipping it on her wrist as she crossed the meadows.  The air smelled of grass and wildflowers.

The Lace Makers of Glemara  by Heather Barbieri   page 51

Kori's Teaser Wednesday

I looked out on an abandoned, locked-down Washington. In the distance I saw smoke rising from the Pentagon. The symbol of our military might was smoldering. I was struck by how skilled and ruthless the al Qaeda pilot must have been to fly into the low-lying building. My mind drifted back over history. I was looking at a modern-day Pearl Harbor. Just as Franklin Roosevelt had rallied the nation to defend freedom, it would be my responsibility to lead a new generation to protect America. I turned to Andy and said, "You're looking at the first war of the twenty-first century."

I forgot to post this yesterday.

Liz's Teaser Tuesday

"You are a terror, aren't you? Leave this yard alone. I know just where everything is in it, and I won't be able to find the things I need for my transport spells if you tidy them up."

So there was probably a bundle of souls or a box of chewed hearts somewhere out here, Sophie thought. She felt really thwarted. "Tiding up is what I’m here for!" She shouted at Howl.

‘Then you must think of a new meaning for your life." Howl said.




Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones



If no one is opposed to reading this I want to suggest it for our next read or a sometime in the near future read. I found it so delightfully fun and humorous. Good light reading.

Debby's Tuesday Teaser

I listen to the summer symphony outside my window. Truthfully, it is not a symphony at all. There's no tune, no melody, only the same notes over and over. Chirps and tweets and trills and burples. It's as if the insect orchestra is forever tuning their instruments forever waiting for the maestro to tap his baton and bring them to order. I, for one, hope the maestro never comes. I love the musical mess of it.

This is a sequel to Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

page 107 Love Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Reminder

Just a reminder that we will not be meeting this Tuesday, but NEXT Tuesday. We will be meeting at Kori's house to discuss the book we've been reading, Freakonomics. If you need directions call Kori or email her. See you all next week.

Great books!

Hi ladies, I just finished two books that I loved. Here is a bit from each:

"At first, Henry had to listen to Denny grumble about being caught, getting kicked off flag duty and being cornered into working in the kitchen--forced to do the work of a Japanese girl. But when the lunch bell rang and hungry kids rolled in, Denny's attitude changed as they smiled and chatted him up. They all wanted him to serve them, holding back their trays, leering suspiciously at Henry as they passed. To them, Henry thought, we're at war and I'm the enemy."

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. The other one is Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman. I already returned it to the library but it is about a 12-year-old girl who has a dysfunctional family and ends up living with a great aunt in Georgia and how she comes to accept who she is. I really enjoyed it and think you would too!

Alecia's teaser

It's unlikely that our parents ever looked up any of our names in one of those baby name books. The Riverside Shakespeare had obviously been the repository of choice. Once Rose had a summer camp counselor who, as an icebreaker, looked up the meanings of all the children's names, and Rosalind was horrified to learn her name meant, yes, "beautiful rose," but also "horse serpent." If that won't give a girl body image issues for life, we don't know what will.

The Weird Sisters by Eleanore Brown

Our New Read

Kori picked the book we will be reading for this month. We will be reading Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner. I have been wanting to read this book for some time now, so I am excited. Here is a little excerpt of what the book is about:

Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? How much do parents really matter? What kind of impact did Roe v. Wade have on violent crime?

These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist. He is a much heralded scholar who studies the stuff and riddles of everyday life -- from cheating and crime to sports and child rearing -- and whose conclusions regularly turn the conventional wisdom on its head. He usually begins with a mountain of data and a simple, unasked question. Some of these questions concern life-and-death issues; others have an admittedly freakish quality. Thus the new field of study contained in this book: Freakonomics.

So pick up a copy at the library or if you wish to own it I highly recommend Amazon for great prices on new and used books. Happy reading.

Book Club Meeting

It's the third Tuesday of the month, which means we will be meeting tonight to discuss the book we've been reading, The Help by Kathryn Stockett. We will be meeting at Alecia Darrow's house tonight at 7p.m. If you need directions give her a call. Hope to see you all there.

The Appothecary's Daughter

As she knelt to her task, she heard a dog barking outside.  she thought little of it at first, but then the barking grew louder and more fevered. 
"Down, I say!" She heard a man holler in false bravado. "Down!"
She hurried across the shop and unlatched the door, just as a man pushed it open, causing him to nearly topple into the shop, his hat dropping to the floor.  She put out her hand to stop his fall--and to keep the man from falling  into her.


Pg 219  The Apothecary's Daughter  by Julie Klassen

Debby's Tuesday Teaser

"Once upon a time, this land was a barren and frightening wilderness whose high rocky mountains sheltered the evil winds and whose barren valleys offered hospitality to no man. Few things grew, and those that did were bent ans twisted and their fruit was as bitter as wormwood. What wasn't wast was desert, and what wasn't desert was rock, and the demons of darkness made their home in the hills. Evil creatures roamed at will through the countryside and down to the sea. It was known as the land of Null".
pg. 71 The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

Debby's Tuesday Teaser

Leader set his pen aside and leaned back in his chair. " Tell me something, Matty. You and your friend are out there a lot, fishing. And you've been doing it for a long time - since you came to Village as a little boy. Isn't that so?"

"I don't remember exactly how long. I was only about this high when I came." Matty gestured with his hand, placing it level with the second button of his own shirt.

"Six years," Leader told him. "You arrived six years ago. So you've been fishing for all that time."

Matty nodded. But he stiffened. He was wary. It was too soon for his true name to be bestowed, he thought. Surely it was not going to be Fisherman! Was that why Leader had called him here?

Messenger by Lois Lowery page 30

Kori's Teaser Tuesday

When I was a boy, I used to wonder where my mother came from, how she got on this earth. When I asked her where she was from, she would say, "God made me," and change the subject. When I asked her if she was white, she'd say, "No. I'm light skinned," and change the subject again. Answering questions about her personal history did not jibe with Mommy's view of parenting twelve curious, wild, brown-skinned children.

Our New Read

Alecia picked the book we will be reading this month. It is The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Here is snippet of what it's about:

Set during the nascent civil rights movement in Jackson, Miss., where black women were trusted to raise white children but not to polish the household silver. Eugenia Skeeter Phelan is just home from college in 1962, and, anxious to become a writer, is advised to hone her chops by writing about what disturbs you. The budding social activist begins to collect the stories of the black women on whom the country club sets relies and mistrusts enlisting the help of Aibileen, a maid who's raised 17 children, and Aibileen's best friend Minny, who's found herself unemployed more than a few times after mouthing off to her white employers. The book Skeeter puts together based on their stories is scathing and shocking, bringing pride and hope to the black community, while giving Skeeter the courage to break down her personal boundaries and pursue her dreams.

Sounds interesting to me and I can't wait to get into it. Hope you all enjoy it.

Debby's Tuesday Teaser

I know it is not Tuesday yet, but if I don't post it now, I will probably not get it posted. This book is the third and final book in The Hunger Games trilogy. We read The Hunger Games a few months ago.

Not only does he hate me and want to kill me, he no longer believes I'm human. It was less painful being strangled. Around me the recovery team members scribble like crazy, taking down every word. Haymitch and Plutarch grab my arms and propel me out of the room. They lean me up against a wall in the silent hallway. But I know Peeta continues to scream behind the door and the glass.

page 191

Mockingjay

by Suzanne Collins

Our New Read

Our new book is Eats, Shoots & Leaves The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss. :) Here is what it says on the back cover.

A panda walks into a cafe. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.
"Why?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes toward the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.
"I'm a panda," he says at the door. "Look it up."
The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.
"Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."

It sounds like it should be hilarious and informative. Debby Mitchell chose the book so we will be meeting at her house on Tues. Feb. 15th at 7 p.m. to discuss it. Hope you all enjoy it.

(The panda background was for you Alecia) :)

Book Club Meeting

Tomorrow night we will be meeting @ my house to discuss The Host by Stephenie Meyer. If you need directions just call or email me. Hope to see you all here!

Liz's Teaser Tuesday

"The volcano?" Drizzt asked, and Bruenor kept nodding as if it was all coming clear to him.
"Aye, that's it. That's the beast."
"They told you that?"
"No," Bruenor readily admitted. "But that's it."
"You can't know that."
But Bruenor kept nodding. "Ye feel the earth moving beneath yer feet," he said. "Ye seen the mountain growin'. It's waking up. The beast. The beast o' Gauntlgrym." He looked Drizzt directly in the eye and nodded. "And they're askin' for me help, elf, and so they're to get it, or I'm a bearded gnome!"
He nodded with even more determination then rushed for his pack, fumbling with his maps. " And now we're knowing the general area o' the place! It's real, elf! Gauntlgrym is real!"
"So we're going to go there?" Drizzt asked, and Bruenor looked at him as if the answer was so obvious that Drizzt must have lost his mind to even ask.
"And stop a volcano?" Drizzt explained.
Bruenor's jaw hung open and he stopped fumbling with his maps.
After all, how did one stop a volcano?

Gauntlgrym: Neverwinter book I by R.A. Salvatore