I'm reading a lot of drupal pages, trying to figure out if it's *me* that's doing something wrong, or if there's something fuxxored that is beyond me. I think it's beyond me... It really shouldn't be this hard. :(
I'm reading a book on project management for a new thing coming my way. I have a week off coming up here though, and ALL OUR BOOKS ARE OUT OF STORAGE! So many books I have missed. I can't wait to hug them all!
28 comments on What are you reading right now?
Sat, 08/29/2009 - 4:38am
still reading atwood and also started moving beyond words by gloria steinem. it just looked interesting
Sat, 08/29/2009 - 1:46pm
Just finished Kress' Beggars In Spain, a Quaker novel called The Back Bench and a Quakerish play called The Sugar Wife. Sort of floundering for books in a busy house so I've picked up my daughter's copy of Joy Luck Club, which I realize I never actually read myself.
Sat, 08/29/2009 - 12:55am
Right now, I have started the "His Dark Materials" trilogy, and I have The Science of Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" waiting in the pile. (Says the homeschooler.) I've also started In the Name of Salome, by Julia Alvarez.
"His Dark Materials" is engaging; I'm impressed by how closely the movie followed the book. Apparently, when it comes to well-known fantasy, Hollywood is starting to realize that you piss off the fans if you deviate too far from the original. But even though the story is mostly familiar, I'm still drawn in.
I've barely dipped into In the Name of Salome, but my attention is emphatically caught. I'm dying to know more about Camila and her mother, Salome.
Tue, 08/18/2009 - 5:18am
I'm reading Eat,Pray,Love and hating it, so I've put it to one side to read Persepolis - normally graphic would not be a medium I'd choose but am rather enjoying it for being different.
Previously registered as toris mama www.jopenney.blogspot.com
Sun, 08/16/2009 - 3:15pm
Okay, I finished it yesterday. The Runaway by Alice Munro was my official holiday reading. I took it to a remote sandy beach where I allowed moments of her voice and the tales of her characters to infiltrate my domestic, wilderness bliss.
During this second more urban/ and not so remote familial retreat, I dug right into her masterfully crafted collection of short stories.
Munro has a way of writing about nothing in particular, and everything with a profundity that comments on the drama or our everyday. It is more than worthwhile!
Now I have no more excuses to keep me from my work....
lorrie
a belly full a laughter, a heart full of joy, a mind full of dreams...
http://lorriemiller.wordpress.com/
Mon, 08/17/2009 - 7:44pm
Oops, actually Shanghai Girls is by Lisa See.
Miranda: a zine about motherhood and other adventures
Sat, 08/15/2009 - 6:02pm
On PhoenixRising's recommendation, I read The Good Fairies of New York. I love fairy stories in modern urban settings, but this is the first one I've read that had me absolutely on the floor laughing.
I've been flipping through The Well-Trained Mind, because V wants to do more structured lessons this year. A friend recommended their reading lists, but cautioned me that if I read the actual book, I might want to throw it across the room. I didn't throw it across the room, but their style is clearly incompatible with ours.
I've stalled out midway through Mercedes Lackey's To Light a Candle. It's good; I just seem to be distractable right now. I have the book that comes before it in the series, but I haven't even considered opening it.
I am leaving a trail of half-read books behind me, which is not like me. I just haven't been sitting down and reading that much, which is also not like me. I think I need to get out and do for a while, instead of sitting around.
Wed, 08/19/2009 - 5:33pm
ZannaL--Glad you liked The Good Fairies of New York!
Still trying to finish the biography of Voltairine de Cleyre (well, I'm not actively trying. The mostly finished book is sitting on my desk at work. I should get coffee and just finish reading it) Also still reading Anarchist Voices.
Sometimes paper is the only thing that will listen to you.
Sat, 08/15/2009 - 11:52pm
Shanghai Girls by Carolynn See. It's an enjoyable saga about two sisters who end up in the US after escaping war in China.
Miranda: a zine about motherhood and other adventures
Tue, 08/04/2009 - 11:55pm
i'm rereading siblings without rivalry--fitting for the new one as well as nicolai and R living together. i also started margaret atwood's alias grace. still haven't finished lies my teacher told me yet. my reading time has shrunk considerably, but would like to pick it back up once i'm in the swing of things again. peep still loves goodnight moon, which when he wants to read it he says moo, moo. it's cute. he also likes us to read goodnight moon 1,2,3; goodnight bush; there's a monster at the end of this book; and one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish. tho we don't get too far into that one yet.
Sun, 08/16/2009 - 3:19am
still in the middle of atwood, lies my teacher told me and i'm rereading raising our children raising ourselves by naomi aldort. just puts me back on the page i want to be as a parent. i was losing my path for a moment...
Thu, 08/06/2009 - 5:09pm
Just finished a nice YA novel by Bruce Brooks called Dolores and am reading Probability Moon by Nancy Kress - her sci-fi has been highly recommended by a friend recently.
Wed, 08/12/2009 - 6:06pm
I love Nancy Kress! You must read her story collection, The Aliens of Earth. It's got a great one about Anne Boleyn.
I'm reading Banishing Verona by Margot Livesey, who I adore. I also just finished The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel, which was delightful and The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World, one of E.L. Konigsberg's newer ones. I didn't enjoy it as much as some of her others, though.
Miranda: a zine about motherhood and other adventures
Tue, 08/04/2009 - 12:58pm
I *should* be finishing the biography of Voltairine de Cleyre and Anarchist Voices, Paul Avrich's collection of oral histories from the children (and grandchildren) of historical anarchists.
Instead, I have been reading Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, InterWorld and Pullman's The Golden Compass. Each book drew me in and, I have to admit, I spent time lost in fantastic worlds rather than doing all the things that are on my ever-growing to-do list.
I have Martin Millar's Lonely Werewolf Girl sitting on my desk at work. I'm telling myself that I should finish the anarchists first (especially since they're due first) and then reward myself with teenage werewolf alienation.
Sometimes paper is the only thing that will listen to you.
Tue, 07/28/2009 - 9:57pm
just finished a graphic novel adaptation of the Neil Gaiman story The facts in the case of the departure of Miss Finch . Now I'm on Lisa See's Shanghai Girls . Despite having sent numerous copies of her novel Peony In Love to various women in prison, I had yet to read anything by her. I heard an interview with her on WNYC last month (or the month before) in which she talked about Chinese women's experiences on Angel Island and so that prompted me to reserve her book.
Of course, when a writer appears on WNYC or NPR, the number of holds on her book go way up, so I had to wait awhile before it arrived.
Sometimes paper is the only thing that will listen to you.
Fri, 07/24/2009 - 9:59pm
I just finished Martin Millar's YA novel The Good Fairies of New York. I originally picked this book up at the library because it was (incorrectly) shelved under G for Neil Gaiman, even though he only wrote the introduction. But the introduction intrigued me and so I borrowed the book.
the introduction is reprinted here:
http://www.softskull.com/detailedbook.php?isbn=1-933368-36-5
The book is hilarious! Just the thing to read after a long hard day when your brain can't absorb anything serious anymore!
Now I'm rereading Octavia Butler's Blood Child, a collection of short stories. I'm still sad that she's dead and that I've read everything she's ever written.
Sometimes paper is the only thing that will listen to you.
Wed, 07/08/2009 - 1:45pm
I've been reading Lucy Parsons, American Revolutionary , the only biography of Lucy Parsons ever written. It's extremely interesting although I get a little frustrated that the author sometimes doesn't cite where she got direct quotes from.
I also read a couple of back issues of the zine I Dreamed I was Assertive and loved them! (The zinester is going to be in the Raising Hell issue of Mamaphiles, so stay tuned...) Need to write her a gushing fan e-mail.
Sometimes paper is the only thing that will listen to you.
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 9:30pm
from the biography of Lucy Parsons:
“Chinese labor was a major issue throughout the country. At the end of the 1877 railroad strikes in SF, anti-Chinese demonstrators went on a rampage through Chinatown. The Workingmen’s Party of California led the anti-Chinese movement, and eastern workers supported a Chinese exclusion act after Chinese strikebreakers were brought to Massachusetts in 1870. Racism against Chinese people was widespread in the labor movement.
“The SLP [Socialistic Labor Party] passed a resolution against the importation of contract coolie labor which also called for the freedom of Chinese people already in the U.S. from such contracts. It did not call for the prohibition of all Chinese immigration. There is no evidence that Lucy or AP ever endorsed racist immigration acts, although they were members of organizations in which feelings against Chinese workers ran high. In 1882 Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act which prohibited Chinese immigration for ten years; it was extended in 1892 and made permanent in 1902.”
Sometimes paper is the only thing that will listen to you.
Tue, 06/30/2009 - 2:35pm
Just read "Call Me Okaasan" edited by Suzanne Kamata...found some essays better than others, but overall a good read and makes me want to go abroad. Just started Gary Snyder's "The Practice of Wild." Am trying to read all of the "standard" nature literature over the next year or so. I'm also in the middle of Edith Wharton's "Age of Innocence" (am also trying to read all of the classics by women), but for some reason put it down and haven't picked it back up (because I keep reading other stuff, perhaps?)
GEMINI Mama
Fri, 06/26/2009 - 1:08am
I'm re-reading the original "Dragonriders of Pern" trilogy. My daughter is reading it, and I felt the need to go through it again to point out the gender discrimination. F'nor is feted for having many lovers and raping Brekke, while Kylara is condemned as much for the number of her lovers as for the fact that she's a horrible person. And so forth. Plus, I'm finding I'm irritated by the horrible continuity errors. It's a cracking good story, but still.
I'm also reading Death in Holy Orders by P.D. James. A couple of friends of mine who like mysteries recommended her, and of course she's well known in the genre, so I figured I'd try it. I didn't realize until I got the book that she was a woman, though! I should have considered that a lot of time, when an author is known by a first initial, it's usually a woman. The fact that I assumed that "P.D. James" was a man explains exactly why a woman would do it, too. I'm not as free of genderist assumptions as I wish I was.
Sun, 06/28/2009 - 5:54pm
I'm reading Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches Guide to Romance Novels by Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan (of smartbitchestrashybooks.com) It is hilarious! If you have ever - in your darkest teenage past, say - read a romance novel, you will crack up over their explication of the heroine's Magic Hoo-Hoo, the hero's Mighty Wang of Love and the way they take down that awful cover art. Fun, fun, fun!
Miranda: a zine about motherhood and other adventures
Mon, 06/29/2009 - 8:02pm
Reading Passion of The Hausfrau - love it. Just finished Homeboyz, the third in Sitomer's YA Hoopster trilogy - all very good. Also on the 3rd book of a fantasy series a teen in my Quaker Meeting recommended - The Sharing Knife. I like it.
Sat, 06/13/2009 - 2:20pm
i'm reading lies my teacher told me. something that's been on my list for a while and finally fell into my lap and also inez of my soul by isabel allende. i had started a short story/poem compilation by neil gaiman and just wasn't able to get really into it at the moment, so maybe i'll finish it later. i've only read american gods from him which i liked, but haven't picked up anything else yet.
Wed, 06/24/2009 - 4:03pm
i'm also reading a lot of goodnight moon. for the last week, peep has been picking it up and bringing it to me. we read it around 3 times in a row before he's interested in something else. it's cute, we've been doing baby sign language, so when he brings me the book, he'll rub his chest for please. it's a good thing i love this book or i'd be getting tired of it by now, but i love that he wants to sit in my lap and hear me read. i'll cherish that as long as i have it.
Mon, 06/15/2009 - 4:01pm
Recently finished a book of mama poems called Tender Hooks by Beth....Fennelly, I think. I liked it. Just read the new Alice book while running around the house to keep it from the thirteen-year-old who wanted it. I love Alice. Reading a book on Godly Play to help with First Day School and some of FGC's Faith 'n' Play stuff. I think I'm going to go with a sci-fi book that just got recommended to me next - The Sharing Knife by Lois Bujold.
My baby started reading little short vowel-sound phonics books - Red Gets Fed and such - on May 28th. I'm so proud. We're reading lots of Amelia Bedelia lately (even she can tell which are really by Peggy Parrish and which are by the nephew - she doesn't enjoy the latter) and the Fudge books at bedtime. I'm trying, somewhat unsuccessfully, to get the 13-year-old to read the Old Testament before we finish our study of Islam and move on to Judaism in First Day School. She likes to be very critical but she really needs to know what she's talking about if she's going to run her mouth. She mostly just wants to read more Marion Zimmer Bradley, though.
Tue, 06/02/2009 - 4:34pm
i'm juggling a couple of different reads:
When the Prisoners Ran Walpole: an account of how the male prisoners at the maximum-security Walpole Prison in Massachusetts took over the running of the prison after the (predominantly white & racist) guard union walked out in protest of the black commissioner's policies
If I can't Dance, is it still my revolution?: a zine about being disabled & disability issues
Brooklyn Diary : a zine by a working-class white MTF trans person from Brooklyn
The Passion of the Hausfrau: our very own Hausfrau's new book! Just got it this past Saturday!
Sometimes paper is the only thing that will listen to you.
Thu, 06/11/2009 - 10:22pm
I avoided it for a long time.
But I am reading Eat, Pray, Love. It is just as navel-gazing as I was warned. But on the other hand, what personal writing isn't? People tell me it will become annoying. But so far I'm entertained.
Miranda: a zine about motherhood and other adventures
Wed, 06/24/2009 - 8:20pm
I just read The Passion of the Hausfrau over the weekend, after attending the official book launch party in Portland Friday (woo-hoo!) I'm ready to read it again. I also just read A Homemade Life (Molly Wizenburg?? Lots of yummy recipes and the stories get better as you move through the book into the author's adulthood--makes you wish you'd gone to France for a heartbreaking romance in college!), Three Little Words (Ashly something-something...god my brain is rotten...a memoir of the author's childhood in multiple foster homes...so distressing) and Made from Scratch (??? another memoir about trying to simplify/complicate life; includes chapters on gardening, raising chickens and rabbits, sewing and playing down-home music). If you really need the authors' names, come visit my blog (www.remainsofday.blogspot.com) where I wrote it all up...hint, hint.
GEMINI Mama