As part of my ongoing Day Zero Project, I've made a list of my favorite 101 songs of all time. To help cut down on the possibilities, I took songs only from my iTunes account. Each edition will include ~5 songs with a theme. Enjoy!
Newboys "Hallelujah"
Jars of Clay "Flood"
Plumb "Concrete"
Caedmon's Call "The Story"
Listening To: Lots and lots of Alt Nation and Lithium during our trip. Plus, we listened to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for extra fun.
Book finished: Fables 18: Cubs in Toyland; The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill; The Color Purple; The God Delusion; The Paris Wife
Reading: A Storm of Swords; Reached
On the Nightstand: Rise of the Governor
Making Lists: Umm... grocery list. We got back from vacation and was greeted with no food in the house. I went on a major food shopping trip to get us through the week. I think I got everything, but I'm already starting the list for next week.
Watching: After getting back from vacation on Friday, we decided to lay around the house on Saturday. We needed the rest. So J decided to introduce the boys to Futurama. They absolutely love it! We also Redboxed A Good Day to Die Hard and Parker for some action entertainment. And finally J finally got me to watch Walk Hard. That movie was way funnier than it should have been.
Pregnancy Update: Overall I feel pretty decent. However, the heat in Las Vegas really drained me. I'm glad to be back to the Bay Area for 75-80 degree temperatures.
Title: The Paris Wife
Author: Paula McLain
Publisher: Ballantine Books 2011
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 320
Rating: 3/5 stars
Reading Challenges:T4MC -- NYT Bestseller List; Genre- Historical; Women Authors; 52 Books - W28
How I Got It: Library loan
Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness—until she meets Ernest Hemingway. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group—the fabled “Lost Generation”—that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Though deeply in love, the Hemingways are ill prepared for the hard-drinking, fast-living, and free-loving life of Jazz Age Paris. As Ernest struggles to find the voice that will earn him a place in history and pours himself into the novel that will become The Sun Also Rises, Hadley strives to hold on to her sense of self as her roles as wife, friend, and muse become more challenging. Eventually they find themselves facing the ultimate crisis of their marriage—a deception that will lead to the unraveling of everything they’ve fought so hard for.
This review is hard for me to write. In some ways, I loved this book and in many other ways, I was very upset by the end. Let's start with a confession: I hate Hemingway's writing. I've never been able to appreciate any of his work. In the end, this fact may have played into my thoughts on this book. Also, I knew the ending of this book before I even started it. Hemingway's life is well documented. I knew it wasn't going to be a happy ending, but I read it for our book club selection anyway. I was drawn into the story by Hadley. I loved her character. I loved her voice. I really connected with her in many ways. I saw how much she truly loved Ernest. But then there's a huge part of me that cringed every time Hadley conceded to his whims or allowed his bad behavior. I just couldn't imagine living like that and part of me wanted to give up on the book. I stayed with it, waiting to see where the doomed romance would lead. I loved the inclusion of the other real characters especially Gertrude Stein and the Fitzgeralds. Very interesting characters. But ultimately, I couldn't understand Hadley's attitude toward Ernest after the affair. I couldn't get behind her acceptance of his blamelessness. It was a bit too much for me. Ultimately I came away with a bad taste in my mouth. The book devastated me, and not in any good way. It's just not something I would recommend.
Title: The God Delusion
Author: Richard Dawkins
Publisher: Mariner 2008
Genre: Nonfiction
Pages: 480
Rating: 4/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Nerdy Nonfiction - Religion; ebook; 52 Books -- W27; Dusty Bookshelf
How I Got It: iPad read
A preeminent scientist -- and the world's most prominent atheist -- asserts the irrationality of belief in God and the grievous harm religion has inflicted on society, from the Crusades to 9/11.
With rigor and wit, Dawkins examines God in all his forms, from the sex-obsessed tyrant of the Old Testament to the more benign (but still illogical) Celestial Watchmaker favored by some Enlightenment thinkers. He eviscerates the major arguments for religion and demonstrates the supreme improbability of a supreme being. He shows how religion fuels war, foments bigotry, and abuses children, buttressing his points with historical and contemporary evidence. The God Delusion makes a compelling case that belief in God is not just wrong but potentially deadly. It also offers exhilarating insight into the advantages of atheism to the individual and society, not the least of which is a clearer, truer appreciation of the universe's wonders than any faith could ever muster.
I liked this Dawkins much more than The Selfish Gene. And I think the reason stems from his writing style. This book's style and language are much more accessible to the non-scientist. Dawkins takes a nice easy logical approach to the topic of God and religion. He leads us step by step through the various arguments for the existence of God and religion and shows us where they go wrong. It was a nice change to read a piece so reasoned and clear. Usually pro- and anti-religion arguments turn into ridiculous rants and name-calling. Dawkins shies away from the rants and tries to lay out logical arguments. I approve! A very interesting book.
I find myself reluctant to wear orange, but this outfit is way too adorable. I love the shoes and the coat. Maybe I should give orange another shot.
canada.forever21.com
Lahssan cotton jacket thecorner.com
One Green Elephant slim cut jeans
$56 - zalando.co.uk
6pm.com
hollisterco.com
A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops. -- Henry B. Adams
Trying to keep this in mind as we move into the next phase of the project at work...
I thought it would be a good idea to do a periodic checkup on my reading challenges. A way of reminding myself of my successes and failures. So here goes…
Total Challenges: 0/34 0%
Total Spots: 420/771 54.5%
Individual Challenge Progress:
*Successes: Many of my genre challenges are moving along quit nicely. I've almost knocked out my sub-genres and genres. Very exciting!
**Failures (Needs Improvement): I failed the T4MC Part 11; missed it by one book. I'm trying again for this go around. I also need to work on historical fiction, classics, and the T4MC Part 12. Overall, I need to get moving on my overall reading totals to compensate for the anticipation of slower reading after October. Newborns really tend to cut into free time.
Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join. If you can’t come up with ten, don’t worry about it—post as many as you can!
Very few books intimidate me. After thinking long and hard I came up with a few.
1. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray -- It's been on my TBR list forever. Every time I think about reading it, I pick up this huge book and promptly put it down. I put the novel on my Summer TBR list, so I better get over my hear and read it!
2. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo -- Another hefty classic. I almost joined a few Les Mis readlongs I before the movie was released, but I just couldn't push myself to actually take the plunge.
3. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy -- Ahhhh!!! The Russians are coming. They are a little too bleak for me...
4. Siddartha by Herman Hesse -- One of J's favorite books. I just don't love philosophy enough to actually dive into this one.
5. Time Enough for Love by Robert Heinlein -- I've been working my way through the major Heinlein novels. This one still scares me.
6. The Cat Who Walks Through Walls by Robert Heinlein -- See #5
7. The Foundations series by Isaac Asimov -- Hard scifi is just not my favorite. I find it very intimidating.
Hop on over to Booksessed to participate.
June's TBR Pile Recap:
Books Read and Reviewed (9/15 books)
1,000,000 Page Goal
Monthly Total: 2669 pages
Pages Remaining: 861,290 pages
Current Read - The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins; A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
Books Won (0)
Books I Gave Up On (0)
Challenges Completed - None yet, but so close on a few of them...
Comments - Decent totals for this month. Again my reading time was cut because of work and the addition of the boys for the summer. I've been spending most of my free time hanging out with them, mini-golfing and going to the pool. We're heading out of town for the holiday on another epic road trip. I'm guessing reading time will be scarce until we return (I sometimes get car sick reading in moving vehicles).
July's TBR Pile:
As part of my ongoing Day Zero Project, I've made a list of my favorite 101 songs of all time. To help cut down on the possibilities, I took songs only from my iTunes account. Each edition will include ~5 songs with a theme. Enjoy!
Must have songs to rock out! I've even included some oldies but goodies in here.
The Raconteurs "Many Shades of Black"
Special extra: Adele's cover of "Many Shades of Black"
Fall Out Boy "Hum Hallelujah"
Eve 6 "Here's to the Night"
Green Day "Holiday"