Sunday, April 15, 2012

Reading Round-Up: Jan, Feb, March 2012 (Part One)

I have been asked a few times in recent months if the pain is still allowing me to read. I mean, I can still do that at least, right?! And, the answer to that is . . . well apparently yes.;) There have been a few times when the eye pain has been so unbearable I can't look at anything. But that hasn't happened enough times to put a noticable dent in my reading addiction. As you can see for yourself.

So here's the round-up with as many thoughts as I can muster right now. Bear with me! (and I have starred the ones I rated 5 stars on Goodreads)

Jan.

*1. True - Katherine Hannigan
nice young adult read. I'd recommend for grades 5-7?

*2. Six Thinking Hats - Edward De Bono
Interesting ways of thinking through issues using Six Different viewpoints or "thinking hats." I found it fascinating. Mostly geared for business/organizational behavior type problems but easily generalized to all interpersonal problems. Giving equal time and emotional space to looking at things from all angles. And giving different thinking types a chance to speak up without feeling pressured or squeezed out of the discussion.

3. The True St. Nicholas: Why he matters to Christmas - William J Bennett
ok, most of you already know about my Santa issues. I found it interesting to look into a little bit of the "history" (or as much as is really known) of St. Nicholas and how he has evolved into the Santa we know today. I have lots of thoughts and opinions about it. Not many people are very interested in hearing them.;)

4. A Girl of the Limberlost - Gene Stratton-Porter
hmm, Indiana swampland, lots of nature love, some romance, overall sweet story. Some over-moralizing.

*5. Raising Cain: Protecting the emotional life of boys - Dan Kindlon
Boys. Oh, where to begin. Lots to think about in terms of the whole nature vs nurture, what is innate "manliness" and what we try to instill as a culture. What is healthy and what is hurtful. How to relate to the men in my life and what kind of men I want my boys to grow up to be. Teaching Emotional Intelligence. That's the main point - and that's it is essential for all of us, regardless of gender.

6. Rogue Wave - Boyd Morrison
Action! Adventure! Disaster! Adrenaline! I don't read a lot of this kind of stuff, but it's not bad. I prefer the non-fiction kind though, actually.

*7. The Fox Inheritance - Mary Pearson
Part 2, from The Adoration of Jenna Fox. Not as good as the first but I still liked it.

8. Boundaries - Henry Cloud
Ahem. Well, you may find that I do a lot of research into various mental health issues and topics. Some relate very personally to things I am dealing with and trying to figure out. Some are just interesting to me and I enjoy reading about and researching. I may or may not reveal (intentionally or unintentionally) which are which. And I shouldn't really care what you think about that. So I won't.

*9. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years - Donald Miller
really enjoyed this, but no specific thoughts to share right now.

10. Boundaries and Relationships - Charles Whitfield
more research. This book wasn't as good as the other one.

*11. Believing Christ - Stephen E Robinson
good stuff.

12. The Amateur Marriage - Anne Tyler
sad and a bit frustrating. But also well-written and an engaging read.

*13. Loving Someone with Borderline Personality Disorder - Shari Manning
Biggest thing I learned from this is the importance of Validating someone else's experience. Even if they don't make any sense to you at all, anything else you try to do or say will be meaningless if they feel invalidated.

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NOTE: Blogger is being really weird and isn't letting me select and block a section of what I've written. So, although I wanted to save the list of books for Feb and March and actually write more about them another time and delete it from here, that's not working. So. I'm going to leave the list. And I will continue this post tomorrow and write more about the rest of the books then.

Whew!!:)

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Feb

1. Michael Vey - Richard Paul Evans
2. The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides
3. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Jonathon Safran Foer
4. The Future of Us - Jay Asher
5. Crossed - Ally Condie
6. Please Look After Mom - Kyun-Sook Shin
7. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that can't stop talking - Susan Cain
8. The Book of Awesome - Neil Pasricha

March

1. My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picault
2. Boundaries: Where you end and I begin - Anne Katherine
3. Once Upon a River - Bonnie Jo Campbell
4. Under the Greenwood Tree - Thomas Hardy
5. River, Cross my Heart - Breena Clarke
6. Mind Wide Open: Your Brain and the Neuroscience of Everyday Life - Steven Johnson
7. Agnes Grey - Anne Bronte
8. Striking Back: The Trigeminal Neuralgia and Facial Pain Handbook - George Weigel
9. Thirteen Reasons Why - Jay Asher
10. Below Stairs - Margaret Powell

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