Slacker

Nothing new to post about reading, but I did have a wonderful time in San Antonio and am now in Nashville visiting family and friends. Will try to incorporate some reading time each night before bed. Just because I'm not at home doesn't give me an excuse to be a slacker, or does it?!?

Oops

There were some good movies on the plane yesterday, and I didn't get nearly as much reading done as I had anticipated. Okay, I'll confess... I only read the first chapter of Atonement. The good news is that I made it to San Antonio, and so far, everything is going well. Meetings and all that fun stuff start tonight.

Chugging Along

For some reason, it took me forever to finish The Camel Bookmobile (#26). I don't think there was any particular cause. The story was good, although I am not a big fan of writing each chapter as told by a different main character. Maybe that was why I could never get into The Poisionwood Bible? I tried to read it twice and could never get past the first couple of chapters. Either way, The Camelbookmobile was a good book. I enjoy reading about Africa and hope to visit one day, and I work in the nonprofit sector, so that makes the book all the move relevant. It might have taken me a while, but it was worth it. I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

I leave on a 2+ week trip on Wednesday, and I will be spending plenty of time on planes and in airports, so I've picked out three (lightweight so they don't take up too much room in my suitcase) books to take with me:

#27 Atonement (Ian McEwan)
#28 Eat, Pray, Love (Elizabeth Gilbert)
#29 A New Earth (Eckhart Tolle)

I'm challenging myself to finish all three books by the time I return home on 3 March. Will update then!

M

Free money book!

Oprah.com is offering free download of Suze Orman's book in a PDF doc. The offer is only open until Thursday, 14 February 2008, evening, so check it out now. Click HERE!

A New Earth

Are You Ready to Be Awakened? I am. Count me in... I just ordered my copy from Amazon, so hopefully it will arrive in time for the first class on March 3.

For the first time ever, you can join Oprah and Eckhart Tolle, the best-selling author of The Power of Now, as they teach A New Earth in Oprah's worldwide classroom live Monday nights on Oprah.com.

By reserving your seat for this 10-week interactive webinar, you'll be able to:
Watch and participate in the live classroom webcasts
Ask Oprah and Eckhart Tolle questions before and during class
Connect with others who are seeking to become more aware of themselves—and the world around them.

Download and save your thoughts in an exclusive workbook
Access the classroom video archives…and more!
How to Reserve Your Seat:
You’ll need to be a member of Oprah.com and Oprah’s Book Club.

If you're not already a member of Oprah.com, you'll need to join now. During the registration process, you'll have the opportunity to become a part of Oprah's Book Club.

JOIN OPRAH.COM

Re: Book #23

Beah, who wrote about his time as a boy soldier, is having his story questioned. Beah defends his memories saying he wrote the book to the best of his recollection. He was only twelve years old when he became a soldier in Sierra Leone, Africa. Read about this HERE. Whatever happens with this, I think Beah was telling a story that needed to be told and drawing attention to a cause that should be at the center of the world's stage. How much longer can we pretend that the African continent is not enveloped in turmoil and despair?

#25

I thought it was definitely good preparation for this weekend's Super Bowl, but kind of bad planning on my part reading it at the end of the season. I might have to skim it again in the fall before the season starts back. In any case, I really learned a lot from this book. Robinson Peete writes clearly and answers many of the questions I have often had while watching football but did not feel comfortable asking my husband/dad/brother who was watching with me.

I am excited for Sunday's game so I can show off all my newfound football knowledge, especially the histories of the teams (I studied up on the Giants and Patriots), the history of the Super Bowl, and this past season's records and benchmarks (those weren't in the book, I googled some to find the current stats).

Guess it's time to get back to the bookmobile book, although I have a feeling it isn't going to be as entertaining as the football book. Review to come in the next couple of days... And I got four new books in the mail and another from the library today, so there should be plenty of reviews forthcoming.

Happy Catholic

http://happycatholic.blogspot.com/ is a blog that I visit regularly, and today, I noticed a link to her book blog that I thought I'd share: http://hcposts.blogspot.com/2008/01/read-in-2008.html. Enjoy!

On a side note, I took a short break from the book I was reading to read a book in preparation for the upcoming Superbowl. I've always been interested in football and followed whatever teams the men in my life like (hubby likes the Chiefs, dad likes the Giants, brother likes the Titans, etc.), but I thought it was time to take it to the next level. So this week, I'm reading Holly Robinson Peete's Get Your Own Damn Beer, I'm Watching the Game: A Woman's Guide to Loving Pro Football.

GO GIANTS!!!

Back Home in Germany

And Rome was awesome! Fortunately, I think we brought the nice weather back to Germany with us, because it is sunny and looks really nice outside today. Too bad I'll be in all day unpacking and doing laundry... I also plan on starting my new book since I finished the one I was reading on the plane this morning.

I was really into the book at the beginning and middle, but the end kind of left me hanging. It was a departure from my usual read, and I'm glad I gave it a chance. I have tried reading Jodi Picoult before, and I couldn't really get into it, but this book was good. I think I'll give her another chance!

Next I'm reading Masha Hamilton's, The Camel Bookmobile. It is about a young, female librarian from New York who goes to Africa to work with a bookmobile that brings books to Kenyan villages on camelback. See what Amazon has to say HERE.

Read about the actual Camel Book Drive and see how you can donate to Kenya's Mobile Library HERE. Here is a short excerpt from the website:

"Though The Camel Bookmobile (HarperCollins, April 2007) is a novel, the camel-borne library actually exists. It operates in Kenya’s isolated Northeastern Province near the unstable border with Somalia. It brings books to a semi-nomadic people who live with drought, famine and chronic poverty. The books are spread out on grass mats beneath an acacia tree, and the library patrons, often barefoot, sometimes joined by goats or donkeys, gather with great excitement to choose their books until the next visit. I visited the region and walked the bush with the camel library, and you can see pictures and a short video.

But of course, the bush is hard on books and the traveling library needs more. The books they have are written in either English or Swahili, both of which are taught in school."