Top Ten List For 2012

It is obvious to me that I am not going to get through either the book on my kindle nor the audio book on my IPOD before the end of the year.  Well maybe the book on my kindle but I do not think it will make this list.  Therefore I think it is safe to go ahead and post a Top Ten List for 2012 from the books I have read.  I looked back over my posts for the year and came up with a total of 26 books.  There is no reason to post again what the books are about as there is a blog for each one already.  Of the 26 books I have read this year my favorite ten are:

10.  Destiny Of The Republic by Cancice Millard
09.  Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
08.  Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult
07.  Sign Talker by James Alexander Thom
06.  At Home by Bill Bryson
05.  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
04.  1000 White Women by Jim Fergus
03. The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
02. The Poison Wood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
01.  The Outlander Series (books 2-7 this year)  by Diana Gabaldon


 

Book Of The Week: 12/24/12 - The Year Of The Flood by Margaret Atwood

The Year Of The Flood

By

Margaret Atwood

Although I consider Margaret Atwood's works dark  I am mesmerized by her novels.   A couple of years ago I listened to Oryx and Crake and while the story haunted me I knew I would return to another   novel by Margaret Atwood in the future.   Finishing up The Year Of The Flood last Thursday evening has made me an avid Margaret Atwood fan.  I liked it much better than Oryx and Crake.   Oryx and Crake is an excellent back ground novel for The Year Of The Flood which tells the story of what happens after Oryx and Crake ends although there is some over lapping of time between the two novels.   The  audio format of The Year Of The Flood is especially cool.  It has three voices and also music.  The book follows two women as their lives unfold up until a plague wipes  almost all of the population of the Earth and what follows  is the story of these two women's survival along with those close to them.   Both of the women spend time with an environmental fringe group called God's Gardeners prior to the plague and the life style of this group is featured as a contrast to the more  main stream life style of the people who live in the scientific communities and  the life styles of the poor people who live in the shells of what were once cities.   Margaret Atwood writes a tale of caution of what the future could hold and this novel cries out to us to change our ways.  Especially chilling is the saint days of the God's Gardeners Group which are named after the leaders of our current environmentalist movement's leaders.   The children of the God's Gardener group learned to recite  the names of the expired species of animals which was very sad.  And one of the expressions of this group that I found meaningful was to "put light around"  a person who needed support.   A college level class could be taken on this novel and I am sure one is offered in some universities as there are so many layers of meaning to the story.   Be sure to click on  the title and author's name above to follow the links to more information and enjoy the video below from the  play list  of God's Gardener's Hymns.  

Dinner and a Movie

When my kids were junior high age I had the opportunity to get a way for a few days.  As I was telling them good bye,  I promised souvenirs for them and asked them if there was anything special they wanted.  My youngest, in his usual straight forward way replied, "I don't know mom but please don't bring me anything with Lincoln on it.".   Which probably demonstrates that while other people get excited when they go to the Bahamas or off on some sort of cruise,  if you tell me you will go with me to Springfield Illinois I am one happy person.  After all the whole Abraham Lincoln story is such a moving one.   So when Bruce told me that he would take me to see the movie Lincoln while it was in the theaters,  since I assumed I would wait till it came out in rentals,  I was very much looking forward to it.   On  this past Saturday night I was not disappointed.   This movie made the hair on my arms stand up over and over.  And dinner at Casa's on Stellhorn was yummy too.

Book For The Week: 12/14/12: Agatha Raisin The Quiche of Death

Agatha Raisin

The Quiche Of Death

by

M. C. Beaton

This little mystery is a delight and a series I will enjoy more of in the future.  M.C. Beaton creates a hilarious heroine in Agatha Raisin and this book is a belly laugher.    A career women retires early and moves to a small town in England.  Her adjustment to a new life and the situations she gets herself into are a hoot.  A light mystery story this book is great fun.  Next time I need an escape I will reach for the next book in the Agatha Raisin series.  Click on the author's name and book title above to follow the links to more information and enjoy the video below.  The video is of the audio book.  I read the book on my kindle.  It is available in paper back also.  

Just Another Woman

I probably oue you an email.  Or maybe a text message or even a phone call.  My last few blogs have been rushed.  And any FB postings have  been on the fly.  So I thought perhaps I would take just a minute to update in a general blog because I don't have time to answer the growing pile of emails in my ebox and let people know I did not fall off the side of the earth.  Well maybe I did kind of sort of fall in something.  Seriously though,  exchanging 5200 text messages with one person and spending  innumerable phone minutes with him since the third week of October does not leave a girl a lot of spare time.  Since I am not sure where to start perhaps I will start with the past weekend.

My last trip had been in August to see my son in Denver.  I have pretty much been home since then.  So I was over due for a road trip.   Bruce had been to NE Indiana three times and since it was my weekend off and he had visitation with his youngest son I was invited to Ohio for the weekend.  It was beautiful weather for the first of December driving down and I took the scenic route leaving south out of Fort Wayne and down through Decatur and across 33 to 75.  The small towns were fun to drive through and there was much to see.  Things got especially picturesque as I passed through the area SE of Dayton.  I arrived safely late Saturday afternoon as clearly I don't leave early in the morning for any where and also I wanted to allow space for those visiting on the other end.  The GPS that Nicole and Michael  gave me for my birthday got me there although I am still more than a little awkward with using it.  After  arriving we watched a documentary that I had started to watch with Nick in Denver and then it had become time to leave to catch my  train so I missed the end.  Said son G was into a ball game on the tube in the living room so we watched the following on the television in the TV room.

Following which said son G chose where we went to dinner and while there daughter A arrived with her husband and two of her children so I met a few more family members.  After dinner we watched a movie which even though it had won an Academy award a few years ago I had never seen so was glad to get to watch it.  It was excellent:

On Sunday we took said son G to a buddy's to throw around a foot ball and lunched at Ruby Tuesdays.  After which we wandered around a large flea market that is located near Kings Island.  I headed home around ten Sunday p.m. and had the unfortunate experience of driving through way to much fog but since I had to work on Monday afternoon I felt it was necessary.

So as you can see I am busy.  If you are in the category of my life that is dubbed "close female friend"  you have been hearing from me.  Other wise your email, text or phone call has probably been  left unanswered.  Certainly at 55 both Bruce and I have each gathered enough baggage to proceed with some caution.  Never the less we have now dubbed this as "seeing each other"  and clearly we both are saying "so far so good".   So um,  you know how it is . . .