FeelingCrazyToday --- Books

The Things They Carried

2006-09-12T15:07:00.000-05:00

by Tim O'Briend

thumbs up

This isn't a novel, but a collection of short stories on one subject that read similarly to a novel. The subject is a soldier's experiences in Vietnam during the Vietnam Conflict. It was a good read.

Dress Your Best: Complete Guide to Finding the Style That's Right For Your Body

2006-09-12T15:03:00.000-05:00

by Clinton Kelly and Stacy London

thumbs up

If you watch TLC's What Not To Wear you'll recognize these authors as the show's hosts. The book has all sorts of body types and what they recommend people with those shapes of bodies to wear. Good book.

The Covenant

2006-08-15T12:45:00.000-05:00

by Naomi Ragen

thumbs up

This was a good book. Part action/thriller, part story of friendship. A man and his daughter are kidnapped by bad Arab people and the man's wife's grandmother and her three friends from Auschwitz work to get the man and child safely home.

The Wal-Mart Effect

2006-08-05T11:58:00.000-05:00

by Charles Fishman

thumbs up

The first chapter or two held made no strong opinions for or against Wal-Mart, but by the end of the book I definitely walked away with more ammo for hating Wal-Mart. The book does point out a couple good things Wal-Mart has done for the world, but there are so many bad things because of Wal-Mart. Very interesting book.

The Prophet of Yonwood

2006-08-01T09:59:00.000-05:00

by Jeane DuPrau

thumbs up

This book was yet another children's book, but I enjoyed it well enough. It is the prequel to City of Ember, I book I read and enjoyed two or three years ago.

The People of Sparks

2006-08-01T09:54:00.000-05:00

by Jeane DuPrau

thumbs up

This book is recommended for ages 5th to 8th grade, but I found it enjoyable just the same. It is the sequel to The City of Ember, which is also an enjoyable book. The stories are about people surviving in a post-apocalyptic world. I look forward to reading the prequel to the series.

Magical Thinking: True Stories

2006-07-20T19:03:00.000-05:00

by Augustus Burroughs

thumbs up

Yet another books of memoirs. I just can't seem to get enough of 'em lately.

His stories are fun. I sometimes hear them in my head as if they were read to me by Carson from the Fab 5.

I will definately be looking for one of Burroughs' other books.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

2006-07-18T18:27:00.000-05:00

by Mark Twain

on the fence

I know this is supposed to be an American classic, but I wasn't gripped by the book. Maybe because, even though I hadn't ever read the book before, I had read passages here in there in English classes throughout school and scene plays/tv shows/skits based on the book.

It's a good enough story, though.

Revenge of the Paste Eaters

2006-07-18T17:31:00.000-05:00

by Cheryl Peck

thumbs up

I wanted to read this book based on the title alone. At first I was a little disappointed, thinking the essays weren't fun enough to measure up to such a title, but I eventually became endeared by the author and her essays.

Dragon Bones: A Novel

2006-07-02T21:49:00.000-05:00

by Lisa See

thumbs up

I don't usually pick up mysteries, but I enjoyed this book just the same. A Chinese wife and her American husband work together to solve a crime in China. It's a good story with glimpses into Chinese culture at the same time.

Homeless Bird

2006-06-23T18:58:00.000-05:00

by Gloria Whelan

thumbs up

This book is about a girl who is married off by her poor parents. The story takes place in India. Good enough book.

My Sister's Keeper

2006-05-06T10:41:00.000-05:00

by Jodi Picoult

thumbs up

A very good book. The story of an adolescent girl who was born to be a donor for her sick sister. The book is a great story and questions the ethics of her birth at the same time. Piccoult does a great job of telling both sides of the position by the different members of the girls' family.

The Tenth Circle

2006-05-01T18:46:00.000-05:00

by Jodi Picoult

thumbs down

I started listening to this story of a 14 yr old who is heartbroken after her older, popular, hockey star boyfriend breaks up with her. I felt the story was over after the first disc, but Wonderful Hubby listened to this book also and thought it was a good one. Perhaps I'll revisit it.

The Glass Castle

2006-04-20T13:38:00.000-05:00

by Jeannette Walls

two thumbs way up!

I loved this book! My eyes often bulged out of my head as I read Walls' tales of growing up with such insane parents. Poor by choice, she learned to adapt to living with parents that didn't want to work or pay bills or have food. Great read!

Night

2006-03-10T13:51:00.000-06:00

by Elie Wiesel

thumbs up

A sad subject, but a great book. Wiesel was a taken to a concentration camp as a young teen and tells of the ordeal with great honesty about the ugliness he witnessed, as well as the ugliness he found within himself.

Little House on the Prairie

2006-03-10T13:49:00.000-06:00

by Laura Ingalls Wilder

thumbs up

I loved this book. I loved the other two I listened to and I can't wait to listen to the rest! I can't believe I passed on reading these books as a kid.

My Friend Leonard

2006-02-02T12:17:00.000-06:00

by James Frey

thumbs up

After finishing his first book, A Million Little Pieces, I was hooked and had to know what happened next. Frey has gotten a lot of heat from the media over A Million Little Pieces, but I loved both books. I like his writing style and would like to read another book of his, whether it's a novel or "memoir."

Animal Farm

2006-01-30T12:04:00.000-06:00

by George Orwell

thumbs up

I was a little intmated picking this up. I was afraid it would be over my head. I enjoyed the book, though. The political thoughts may not have all found their way into my little brain, but enough did to make this a worthy listen.

Little House in the Big Woods

2006-01-30T12:01:00.000-06:00

by Laura Ingalls Wilder

thumbs up

After listening to two of Wilder's books (on audiobook) about her childhood in a pioneering family, I am hooked and can't wait for a chance to listen to another. I love to listen about their joy in simple things and their gratitude for all their simple blessings. I also love to learn about how things were done before technology ruled the world.

Thank goodness there are lots more! I love them!

As I Lay dying

2006-01-12T17:53:00.000-06:00

by William Faulkner

thumbs down

Maybe I switched gears too quickly, but I just couldn't get into this book. Each chapter is told from a different person's point of view. I usually like that setup for a book, like Poisonwood Bible, but it didn't work for me in As I Lay Dying. I couldn't connect which character was which and how they related together. Maybe I'll try the book again someday, but in the meantime, I don't want to waste my reading time on a book I don't like. Next...

The Quantum World : Quantum Physics for Everyone

2006-01-11T12:16:00.000-06:00

by Kenneth W. Ford

thumbs up

I didn't get a chance to read this book all the way through, but I liked what I did read of it. It taught about atoms and their subparticles in a very easy to "get it" way. One comparison was so show how tiny a proton is. If the atom itself is the MSP airport, imagine a golf ball or basketball being the proton. Crazy, huh? The book made it very tangible.

The Bean Trees

2006-01-10T09:24:00.000-06:00

by Barbara Kingsolver

thumbs up

I listened to this on audiobook. It was a good story and I am waiting to next listen to its sequel, Pigs in Heaven. The Bean Trees tells about a woman who is given a child during an abandonment. The woman is on a journey of her own, leaving her small hometown and branching out into the world to see what she can make of it. The books tells about her struggles and triumphs.

Teacher Man

2006-01-10T09:11:00.000-06:00

by Frank McCourt

thumbs up

Angela's Ashes and 'Tis were both great reads, and also both memoirs from Frank McCourt. Teacher Man is his third book of memoirs. It wasn't as good as the first two, but still interesting enough to keep me picking the book up and reading.

The Leopard Hat: A Daughter's Story

2006-01-04T11:13:00.000-06:00

by Valerie Steiker

thumbs up

This book was another book of memoirs. It was slow starting for me, but after the first 1/3 to 1/2 of the book I was curious about other stories the author would share about her life and about her life with and love for her mother.

The Long Winter

2006-01-03T08:53:00.000-06:00

by Laura Ingalls Wilder

thumbs up

This books was so interesting to listen to. I enjoyed the tv show of Little House on the Prairie and this book makes me want to get the other books by Wilder and listen to/read them all. This book was especially interesting after reading the non-fiction account of a terrible winter in The Children's Blizzard.

A Millon Little Pieces

2005-12-26T09:10:00.000-06:00

by James Frey

two thumbs way up

This book is a man's biography of his time going through drug rehab. Incredible! Must read! I couldn't put it down.

Middlesex

2005-12-21T16:30:00.000-06:00

by Jeffrey Eugenides

thumbs up

This is the story of a hermaphrodite. He/She was raised as a girl but decided to live as a man in later teen years and onto adulthood. Besides the story of the girl realizing her body isn't quite right, this book was interesting because it went back to the main character's parents stories and grandparents' stories. Good book.

The Children's Blizzard

2005-12-08T10:57:00.000-06:00

by David Laskin

thumbs up

This book was a little dry in some places, but the overall book was pretty interesting to read. It tells of a crazy winter storm in 1888 that brought such a terrible blizzard, and brought the blizzard so abruptly during a warm day that children were caught in it as they walked home from school.

Being an unusually warm day, some kids skipped hats and mittens and even coats, so when the blizzard hit, they froze to death. The snow was so small it blew threw the cloth and got inside peoples' clothing. The snow and freezing wind also froze together eyelids and they were only opened by cutting the skin. Crazy.

The Mermaid Chair

2005-12-05T21:21:00.000-06:00

by Sue Monk Kidd

thumbs down

This book was about a lady having a bit of a mid-life crisis. Her mother chopped off her own finger and when she went to stay with her mother she realized she was glad to be away from her husband. Next thing ya know she's fallen in love with a monk. Part of the book is wondering why her mother chopped off her finger and part of the book is the romance with the monk and the turmoil of her marriage. I turned off the book once I learned why her mother chopped off her finger. The romance/turmoil part wasn't good enough to keep me engaged for the rest of it.

In Praise of Slowness: How a Worldwide Movement is Changing the Cult of Speed

2005-11-04T08:54:00.000-06:00

by Carl Honore

thumbs up

This is a non-fiction book telling the different ways people around the globe are deciding not to continue racing through life, but are making subtle changes to enjoy life...at their own pace. It doesn't tell that you must be slow at everything everyday, but instead to realize when your culture is hurrying you. The book tries to empower the reader into choosing when to hurry and allowing oneself time to be slow.

Snow

2005-10-29T11:51:00.000-05:00

by Orhan Pamuk

thumbs down

I thought this would be an interesting book to read. I like to read books that take place in another time or another place. This book takes place Turkey, so I was looking forward to learning about the Turkish culture as I read.

Unfortunately, the book was so boring, I put it down halfway. I decided I didn't want to spend any more time on the book. The story is about a man who fled Turkey and lived for years in Germany. He has now returned for his mother's funeral, but also to find a bride. While back he runs into all sorts of political hoo-ha. Blah, blah, blah. Boring.

The Rule of Four

2005-10-16T19:34:00.000-05:00

by Ian Caldwell

thumbs up

This book isn't a thumbs up by a lot, but it was okay. It is about a college senior and his college senior friend trying to solve a Renaissance-era book's mystery. Along the way, there is a mystery on campus. Some parts of the book were more enjoyable than others, but all-in-all, in was entertaining enough.

1984

2005-10-02T19:00:00.000-05:00

by George Orwell

thumbs up

This book is where the phrase "Big Brother" comes from. In a time when all thoughts and actions are controlled, the proteganist of the story decides he can't take it anymore. Written in the late 1940s, it was amazing at the forethought Orwell had when writing this book, and how applicable it still is today.

How much control do we let the government/Big Brother have? When do we decide enough is enough and do something about it?

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

2005-09-26T09:35:00.000-05:00

by Mark Haddon

thumbs up

The boy telling the story, Christopher, is trying to figure out what happened to the neighbor's dog. This story is from the point of view of an Autistic 15-yr-old. I volunteer at a center for autistic children, so this book was an interesting way to get a glimpse into the mind of someone on the Autistic spectrum, but tells a good story also.

Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic

2005-09-22T21:00:00.000-05:00

by John De Graaf, David Wann, Thomas H. Naylor

two thumbs way up!

I can't believe I haven't read this book earlier. This book is definately a must-read.

The books tells how the American culture has turned into a big machine of working too much to try to afford buying too much, then wanting more stuff and working too much to try to afford more, and all the extra problems that cycle creates - plus all the extra problems that thought pattern creates.

This book is a new favorite of mine and I will sing its praises to anyone I can. I hope everyone will read this book.

High Maintenance

2005-08-24T21:01:00.000-05:00

by Jennifer Belle

on the fence

This book wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. It was just okay. It was a good quick read.

The main character, Liv, recently left her husband and is making her way on her own in New York City. The book doesn't really have any great literary value, but there are some good sarcastic remarks. You know, smart sarcastic remarks like you wish you could think of when you need them, but only think of them once the time and situation have passed.

Confessions of a Pagan Nun

2005-05-31T19:56:00.000-05:00

by Kate Horsely

thumbs up

A short, easy book. This book takes place in the 6th or 7th century in Ireland. The main character of the book was raised a druid in the times of Christianity taking over Ireland. She eventually becomes a nun, but has a hard time accepting all of the Christian ways and letting go of all her druid ways. It was interesting to read about her struggle and to see the differences and similarities between the two bodies of spirituality.

The Forest Lover

2005-05-31T19:53:00.000-05:00

by Susan Vreeland

thumbs up

This book tells about an artist named Emily Carr. She painted totems in the southwest of Canada. The book is about her struggle to find acceptance in her family and in the art world for painting what many in her time thought was a waste, having no appreciation for the Native Americans.

The Passion of Artemisia

2005-05-31T19:50:00.000-05:00

by Susan Vreeland

thumbs up

This book takes place in the days of Galileo in Italy. Artemisia is the daughter of a painter and a painter herself. The book is about her life trying to be a respected, professional painter as well as a wife and mother.

The Time Traveler's Wife

2005-05-31T19:45:00.000-05:00

by Audrey Niffenegger

thumbs up

This book is about a man with a genetic problem that causes him to travel in time when he gets stressed out. The book is told alternately between the man and his wife. Sometimes, you get each of their perspectives on the same thing. I liked this book.

Guns, Germs and Steel

2005-05-31T19:43:00.000-05:00

by Jared Diamond

thumbs up

Very interesting. Definately worth a look at if you're a nerd like me. The books is Diamond's hypothesis on why the history of the world has happened the way it did. This book fascinated me.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

2005-03-22T21:28:00.000-06:00

by Harriet Beecher Stowe

thumbs up

The book is a great story about several different slaves and their owners and the paths their lives lead. What's really fascinating is to think that this book was written in 1852 and knowing what an impact the book had on slavery and life in the U.S. It makes me wonder what book is being written now that will be read 150 years later and be looked at as a book that so greatly changed our country and the thoughts of its people.

This was one of those books assigned in high school that I never read and finally got around to reading now. I mainly wanted to read it to know what it meant when someone was referred to as being an "Uncle Tom." I wish I would've read it back then when I could've had the teachers' insights to the book. My biggest question is about the meaning behind the label of "Uncle Tom." I disagree with what it's supposed to imply. Uncle Tom isn't someone who does whatever Whitey demands, he is a thoughtful, honest, hardworking Christian who does everything he thinks the Lord wishes him to do.

The Poisonwood Bible

2005-03-07T08:16:00.000-06:00

by Barbara Kingsolver

thumbs up

This is probably one of my favorite books. The book tells the story of a missionary family's time in the Congo. The chapters are told by one of the five women (the mother or one of the four daughters). This is a very interesting book, very clever, very entertaining. Love it!

Why is Sex Fun?: The Evolution of Human Sexuality

2005-03-07T08:12:00.000-06:00

by Jared Diamond

thumbs up

This isn't a how-to sex guide. It's an anthropological look at why the sexual nature of humans evolved the way it did. It's pretty darned interesting, too. The book is only a teensy bit scientific sounding, so it's a lot easier to read than other scientifically based books.

Black Like Me

2005-02-17T20:25:00.000-06:00

by John Howard Griffin

thumbs up

This is a non-fiction book, and a very interesting one at that. In 1959, John Howard Griffin, a white man from Texas darkened his skin and lived as a black man in the South to try to understand life from the point of black people.

Can you imagine?! This was before the Civil Rights marches, back when you could hitch a ride, but also back when there were separate drinking fountains. Very interesting.

Motherless Brooklyn

2005-02-03T21:59:00.000-06:00

by Jonathan Lethem

thumbs down

This is probably a fine book if you're into detective-style murder mysteries, but I'm not. The narrator and main character of the book has Tourette's syndome, so one unique thing about the book was seeing the world through the eyes of someone who tics. That's about it. The book wasn't so terrible that I couldn't pick it up again once I had started, but I wouldn't even label it interesting until the last 25 pages or so.

Prodigal Summer

2005-02-01T13:11:00.000-06:00

by Barbara Kingsolver

thumbs up

This novel has three different storylines that occur at the same time and in the same place. As the novel progresses, the three stories start crossing lines. I liked the characters and all the stories, especially when they began coming together.

The characters in the novel all deal with nature somehow and Kingsolver uses their dialogue to tell her ideas about how nature should be left alone. At times this got to be preachy, but the story is worth it.

Jane Eyre

2005-01-02T08:25:00.000-06:00

by Charolette Bronte

thumbs up

When I was at the library getting a copy of Wuthering Heights, I saw Jane Eyre sitting on the shelf next to it and decided I should read that book also. I liked Jane Eyre. I found myself wondering what she would do next and enjoyed the other cast of characters also.

Jane is an oprhan and must fend for herself in the world, but does so with a lot of piss and vinegar. She knows how to keep her place, but she also knows how to speak up for herself when necessary. Good read.

Reading these books from so long ago, I was surprised to hear ejaculated used in place of said and other period speech. Besides that and other period differences, it was nice to "hear" the grand speech of English society throughout the book.

Wuthering Heights

2005-01-02T08:19:00.000-06:00

by Emily Bronte

on the fence

I decided to read a classic this time. I had a hard time getting into the book, but they could be because I listened to it on audiobook and my mind can wander sometimes. Trying to give the book the benenfit of the doubt, I picked up a paperback copy of the book from the library and re-read what I had listened to.

The book was okay, but it isn't great. I wasn't wondering what would happen next, and for me that says it wasn't very interesting. It was an okay story and all, but not a favorite for me. I am glad to have read the book though and met its character Heathcliff, after hearing him referenced different times over the years.

Everything Is Illuminated

2004-12-29T12:29:00.000-06:00

by Jonathon Safron Foer

thumbs down

I only got a quarter of the way through this book before I decided to give up. I just didn't like the book. I didn't like his word choice, his long sentences, or his bizarre ideas.

The Dogs of Babel

2004-12-18T19:15:00.000-06:00

by Carolyn Parkhurst

thumbs up

I read that this book was about a man whose wife dies and he thinks his dog will be able to tell him if it was an accidental death or if she killed herself, so he tries to teach the dog to speak. I thought it might be a goofy book, but I thought I'd give it a try anyway.

It is about the goofy idea of trying to teach his dog to speak, but it much sweeter than that. The chapters float back and forth between his day to day grieving over the loss of his wife and wanting to teach his dog to speak and stories of his wife and their life together. I thought it was a good read.

The Wife

2004-12-14T21:15:00.000-06:00

by Meg Wolitzer

thumbs up

I enjoyed this book. The narrator tells us about her life with her husband and about her times of unhappiness. She decides to leave him. I love the strength of the woman, even though she stayed with him through such unhappiness. I love that she is the better half of their marriage, and that she eventually decided enough was enough.

No Heroes: A Memoir Of Coming Home

2004-12-02T20:50:00.000-06:00

by Chris Offut

thumbs up

I don't know where I came across this book. I thought it would be a soldier's experiences of returning home from serving. Wrong. It's a guy who grew up in the hills of Kentucky and moved away, and has moved back to teach at the local college.

The chapters of his return are interrupted with chapters of his mother-in-law's and father-in-law's experiences in concentration camps during World War II. The two topics don't blend together from chapter to chapter, but they're interesting nonetheless. I thought by the end of the book there would be a summation that would clearly tie the two topics together, but there isn't. At least, not clear enough for this reader. Maybe somebody smarter than me would get it, though.

All in all, a good read. Especially the short prologue. The book is worth picking up just to read that. Beautiful.

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn

2004-12-01T19:46:00.000-06:00

By Betty Smith

thumbs up

I have heard this title mentioned before but never heard anything about the book. I didn't even know what it was about but I decided to give it a whirl. I like it. It tells about a poor girl growing up in Brooklyn in the early 1900s. She is the main character, but you also get to know her family.