Book For The Week: An Echo In The Bone by Diana Gabaldon

An Echo In The Bone

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Diana Gabaldon

For almost an entire year my audio book listening has been of the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. Therefore when I reached the end of her seventh novel in the series on Monday afternoon I felt like I had lost an entire community.   At least, that is, until the eighth book comes out next year.   An Echo In The Bone takes place during the American Revolutionary War and Jamie and Claire temporarily leave The Ridge and spend a good bit of the book trying to get back to Scotland.  But once back home it is not long before they rush and return to America so that Claire can operate on one of the grandchildren's tonsils.  I enjoy this series as it has adventure,  history,  romance,  sex, and medine a mixed in together.   Please click on the title and the author's name above to follow links to more information and enjoy the video that follows:

Book For The Week: At Home by Bill Bryson

At Home

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Bill Bryson

A couple of years ago I reviewed this book because I had listened to it on audio but since that was before I moved my blog and I just recently finished reading the book on my kindle I want to review it again.  This was the book I decided to check out from my library online services for my kindle to see how it worked as I knew if the two weeks ran out before it was over I would not panic since I had heard the entire book prior to but it was a book I wanted to revisit.  The two weeks did run out on me - twice.  So when I needed to choose a library book to add to my kindle for my train ride out to Denver I decided it would be a perfect time to finish it up for the second time.  And so it was.  This is the second Bill Bryson book I have enjoyed.  Several years ago library reading group read his Notes From A Small Island and as a result I am an avid Bill Bryson fan.  I will read more of his work.  Returning to topic, At Home is a book in which he walks from room to room of his house and describes the history of some objects in each room.   I enjoyed the history of spices while in his kitchen,  the stories of the men who braved the South American jungle and the North American forests in the early 1700s gathering new plant species samples and returning them to Europe while walking with him in his garden , the history of pigments in paint while in his bedroom ,  and the human journey of food preservation while in his dining room.   Bryson develops each area into  interesting fact filled pages  that makes me think of his books as a "Where's Waldo"  for adults although there are few pictures.    Please click on the title and author's name above to follow the links to more information and enjoy the video below.

Book For The Week: Main Street by Sinclair Lewis

Main Street

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Sinclair Lewis

Snuggled down into my train seat while one small town after another sped past the window, through Indiana,  Illinois,  Iowa, and then Nebraska was certainly an appropriate time for me, curled up with my kindle,  to finish reading Main Street by Sinclair Lewis.   Half way through the book when I climbed onto the train,  I reached the end of it about the middle of  Nebraska.  A contact had blogged about Sinclair Lewis last year.  I had not been exposed to him in school like most Americans so he was a new author to me.   His topics seemed interesting so I decided to start with his most famous work to see how I liked him.  Main Street is a novel that tells the story of a young woman named Carol.   She is a  college educated woman who works as a librarian in Minneapolis.  At a social gathering,  mutual acquaintances introduce her and a single doctor from a small town upstate.  After a year of dating during his visits to the city, they are married and he takes her home to "Gopher Prairie".    The next four hundred or so pages explain how Carol experiences the disillusionment of marriage and the frustrations of arriving in a small town as a newcomer.  Carol is in many respects rather silly as she is young and has a lot to learn.   Never the less,  the way that the author is able to capture her experience and express it is amazing.    Although written around 1920,  I found the book  remains in touch with the small town experience in our country today.   Having experienced both marriage  and moving  into small towns as an outsider more than once in my life,  I found this a book that while reading  I could nod and say that I knew exactly where Carol was coming from more often than I rolled my eyes at her immaturity.   In fact,  as the story progressed,  she matured.   It is required reading for many students and perhaps if I had read it as a young person and had not the experiences I have had that made the story  real  for me,  I may not have liked it as well.   On the other hand,  reading it from the perspective that I now have,  I not only very much liked the book,  but I admire Sinclair Lewis' skill in not only being able to pick up on the experience but to express that experience in novel form.   Among the books read and listened to on audio in 2012,  Main Street by Sinclair Lewis will be in my top ten.  Click on the book title and author's name above to follow links to more information.  

Wowsers! Busted!

Rarely do I go to Walmart and when I do,  I go late in the evening, at least eleven o'clock or after.  After all it is not the most socially conscious place to shop.  Not much there is American made and the employees have no bargaining rights and not so very good working conditions.   So overall I just feel a little guilty when I shop there.   Not only that but,  when I shop at Krogers or CVS I bring my market bags.   At Walmart,  as long as I am being bad,  I figure I could use a few more trash can liners.   Occasionally though,  I need an item or two and just a few groceries.  Certainly I had a need for a couple of new sweat pants and hoodies for my up and coming very long train ride, so this evening,  shortly after eleven,  I headed out to Wal-mart, sloppily dressed in very old sweats and with out a stitch of make up.  As expected, when I arrived at the store there were just a few customers along with the  exploited employees stocking the shelves and a few other people who shop late at night.   I meander through the store and wander up to the check out and suddenly the place is packed with people.   I had no idea that The Hunger Games DVDs went on sale at midnight.   Who would have thought.   Hmmm.  maybe I should put the trilogy on my kindle.  

Book For The Week - Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher

Winter Solstice

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Rosamunde Pilcher

While it might seem a little odd to read a Christmas Story in August,  that is what I did.  Rosamunde Pilcher's  Winter Solstice has been on my wish list for quite some time and I finished reading it last night.  It is an enjoyable read.  While very G rated,  the characters that Pilcher creates are very down to earth and have the same sort of behaviors that we all have,  but without the in depth details that modern novels often contain.  It is a story of loss.  Five different individuals who have experienced recent  major loss travel to a area of Scotland to be alone and ignore the holidays.  They are all people without anyone to spend the holidays with.  These five voices each begin the various chapters of the book and are introduced to one another as the story progresses.  By the end of the book they celebrate a traditional Christmas together.  It is a story of over coming grief and venturing out to try friendships again after suffering intense hurt.  The "lonely hearts club"  Christmas that Pilcher creates is delightful and the song "if you can't be with the one you love,  then love the one you are with"  came into my mind.  It is told in a very positive manner and I enjoyed the book.   It is not going to make it in to my "top ten of 2012"  but I would recommend it to anyone who wants a good book to curl up with this December.    Click on the title and the author's name to follow links to more information.