Tuesday, September 27, 2011

What's on My Nightstand?

What's On Your Nightstand

I've read a lot this month and I finished the majority of what I aimed to finish in September. This month I took to heart some advice to grasp even the 5 minute periods available for reading instead of waiting until a chunk of time comes available. I've been amazed at how much more I've been able to read, even if some of it is in snippets!

COMPLETED (links are to my full reviews)

Biography
  • Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff - 3 stars. Interesting book, but not much detail about Cleopatra herself.
Classics
  • Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe - 3 stars. Vivid, but depressing. Not my cup of tea.
  • The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas - 3 1/2 stars - I couldn't put it down. Did you know there are SIX books total in this series? And of course, the one I most want to read is also the last. I'll be busy for awhile.
Christian Fiction
  • Stray Affections by Charlene Ann Baumbich - 3 stars. A quick, fluffy read. A good counter to The Hunchback of Notre-Dame!
  • The Noticer by Andy Andrews - 2 stars. An inspirational speech disguised as a short novel. Did not like, do not recommend.
  • Kelly's Chance by Wanda E. Brunstetter - 2 stars. Cheesy. Boring. I won't be continuing the series.
Memoir
  • Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson - 3 stars. I struggled through this one even though the story was fascinating. Not sure why.
Secular Fiction
  • Fantastic Voyage by Isaac Asimov - 3 stars. A quick read, very unique plot line!
  • The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett - 3 stars. I've seen all the movies and decided to read the book. It's not as good as the movies, unfortunately.
  • When We Were Strangers by Pamela Schoenewaldt - 4.5 stars. Excellent novel by a first time author. I can't wait to see what else she writes!

IN PROGRESS



Upcoming

What I am particularly excited about:
  • Lady Susan by Jane Austen

  • Thicker than Blood by C. J. Darlington - I've heard such good things about this book!

  • Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff - I've also heard great things about this memoir.

  • John Adams by David Mccullough - Hopefully I can squeeze in this chunkster. I had no idea it was such a huge book until I grabbed it from the shelf. My father-in-law sent us the movie and, of course!, I have to read the book first.

Happy reading, everyone!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have only read one of these...Three Cups of Tea. I would agree with you in that it was an interesting story but hard to keep my attention because of the lack of excitement, I guess...? I am going to one day read Hunchback of Notre Dame... I am trying to get more classics read. You have some interesting picks that I will have to come back and make note of. Thanks for sharing!

Jen E @ mommablogsalot said...

Great list! Everyone is Beautiful has been getting such good reviews, I'd love to read it at some point! Happy reading!

Lisa notes... said...

You did quite a bit of classic reading. Good for you.

I love Becoming a Woman of Excellence. It's not necessarily a fun read, but it helped me view care in the quality of my work (wife/mother/homeschooling) as more important and worthy of attention.

FYI, I kept waiting and waiting on "Unbroken" to become available at my library. I finally put a hold on it and had a copy within days. However, as soon as my initial 2 weeks were up, someone else had a hold on it too and I had to turn it in. Fortunately I finished it by then. It was worth the wait!

Anonymous said...

Oh I love Alexandre Dumas! Have you read "The Count of Monte Cristo?" It's prob. his most accessible work. He wrote the pulp fiction of his day.
I read 3 Cups of Tea too. I think, perhaps, what was boring about it was that the author really admired the subject, Greg whatshisface. He also deified him...it read like an old saint's biography in part. And the story and the guy are fascinating, but we can admire him without adoring him.

elizabeth from 5MFB

Jennifer said...

Yep, the Three Musketeers is actually an extensive franchise of books, and I've yet to finish the first one, but I'm determined to do it someday!
JNCL
The Beauty of Eclecticism

Tonia said...

Love your list! The Three Musketeers is on my "someday" pile. I had no idea the Thin Man movies were based on a book (love those movies!).

Trish said...

I remember my husband reading Things Fall Apart in college and being glad it had not ended up on any of my lists!

bekahcubed said...

I'm bummed to see that my library does not own When We Were Strangers--but I'm gonna bookmark your review so that I can remember it if my library does eventually acquire it.

You're definitely more circumspect about your reviews than I--I've been looking at mine and thinking "Seriously, you read that many four star books?" Or I just really like to give four stars. Hmmph. Can't quite figure out whether that's a good thing or a bad.

Beth said...

I really enjoyed Andy Andrews book The Heart Mender. Yes, he does "teach a lesson" in it, but the story is amazing.