Busy, busy, busy
Feb. 11th, 2007 11:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
angela_oThe trip is edging ever closer (we leave in less than six days!) and my To Do List is getting longer and longer. I haven't really accomplished much on it yet, but I did go to see the Middle School musical production of Peter Pan last night at the kids' school. It was surprisingly good and there's something so endearing about a large group of 11-14 year olds giving it their all. We took the entire family and N sat rapt through the entire thing.
I also went back to church today for the first time in a while and I got offered a new calling. I've been asked to teach a class once a month in the women's organization. I accepted and it should be interesting. My denomination as a whole is quite a bit more conservative than I am.
I also managed to get some more books read since I last updated.
#19 is Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning(Feb/07). I liked her earlier stuff okay, but thought that she was a very predictable writer. I like the fact that she got outside of her typical mold with this one and that everything wasn't tidily resolved. It was darker and somewhat more nuanced than her previous work. I'd read more in this universe.
#20 is Another Green Country by Richard Grant(Feb/07). This was a beautiful book. Almost lyrical in nature and one of the most unusual books set around WWII that I've ever read. The story plays out between late 1944 (which is present-day in the book) and an international youth conference in Germany in 1929. A disparate group of characters meet at the conference and then find their lives on a path towards intersection as they each try to gain irrefutable evidence ordering the Holocaust. Of course, many of the references to classic German literature made me feel a trifle dim, but the writing was truly lovely.
#21 is Empire by Orson Scott Card(Feb/07). From one book dealing with factual war to another that deals with possible war. Card's book has the tag line "A disturbing look at a possible future" on the front. In it he examines how the extreme political polarization of the US lends itself to the threat of another civil war. He makes the provocative claim that the country hasn't been this divisive since the period prior to original Civil War. This isn't up to the standard of his Ender books, but it did make me question my own tendency to make assumptions based on such designations as "conservative", "liberal", "red state", and "blue state" and self-reflection isn't a bad thing.
#22 is Learning Curves by Gemma Townley(Feb/07), subtitled "A novel of sex, suits, and business affairs". And after all the war, a little chick lit served as the sorbet for my literary palate. A frothy little confection that was pleasant to read and will slip away quickly from my consciousness. But, as an aside, why are the heroines of chick lits so often flighty and indecisive? Is it a requirement of the genre?
I'm still in the market for book recommendations. I'm looking at many hours on planes for my trip. So, feel free to make suggestions. :)
Finally, aren't you glad that you don't live in upstate NY? I simply can't wrap my head around 120" of snow in the space of a week!
I also went back to church today for the first time in a while and I got offered a new calling. I've been asked to teach a class once a month in the women's organization. I accepted and it should be interesting. My denomination as a whole is quite a bit more conservative than I am.
I also managed to get some more books read since I last updated.
#19 is Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning(Feb/07). I liked her earlier stuff okay, but thought that she was a very predictable writer. I like the fact that she got outside of her typical mold with this one and that everything wasn't tidily resolved. It was darker and somewhat more nuanced than her previous work. I'd read more in this universe.
#20 is Another Green Country by Richard Grant(Feb/07). This was a beautiful book. Almost lyrical in nature and one of the most unusual books set around WWII that I've ever read. The story plays out between late 1944 (which is present-day in the book) and an international youth conference in Germany in 1929. A disparate group of characters meet at the conference and then find their lives on a path towards intersection as they each try to gain irrefutable evidence ordering the Holocaust. Of course, many of the references to classic German literature made me feel a trifle dim, but the writing was truly lovely.
#21 is Empire by Orson Scott Card(Feb/07). From one book dealing with factual war to another that deals with possible war. Card's book has the tag line "A disturbing look at a possible future" on the front. In it he examines how the extreme political polarization of the US lends itself to the threat of another civil war. He makes the provocative claim that the country hasn't been this divisive since the period prior to original Civil War. This isn't up to the standard of his Ender books, but it did make me question my own tendency to make assumptions based on such designations as "conservative", "liberal", "red state", and "blue state" and self-reflection isn't a bad thing.
#22 is Learning Curves by Gemma Townley(Feb/07), subtitled "A novel of sex, suits, and business affairs". And after all the war, a little chick lit served as the sorbet for my literary palate. A frothy little confection that was pleasant to read and will slip away quickly from my consciousness. But, as an aside, why are the heroines of chick lits so often flighty and indecisive? Is it a requirement of the genre?
I'm still in the market for book recommendations. I'm looking at many hours on planes for my trip. So, feel free to make suggestions. :)
Finally, aren't you glad that you don't live in upstate NY? I simply can't wrap my head around 120" of snow in the space of a week!
