My January Reading List

Following my daughter, Karen's, lead (click here) I decided to list the books I read during the last month. What prompted me to do so was that she mentioned a book that she thought I might like, so in reply, I felt I should tell her what I thought.


You'll notice that my list is so much shorter than Karen's. That is because I like to read, actually do read constantly, but not always books. I read a lot on the computer, which includes official documents found in the pursuit of genealogy. I also read magazine articles. I just don't read books very often.

When I do read books I tend to read non-fiction offerings in bits and spurts. I might read a section or chapter then put the book down for awhile. I rarely read straight through a non-fiction book whether it is a "how-to" or a biography. I also don't read just one book at a time. I usually have 2 or 3 going at the same time. Just more of my quirks, I guess.

When I read fiction I want it to be something that you can't put down, sort of like it's a hot fudge sundae. I want it to be almost entirely for entertainment. If I learn something along the way, fine. If I don't, that's fine, too. I feel the same way about the few t.v. programs I watch. I don't read a lot of non-fiction or watch much television for that very reason. I consider both to be like the aforementioned dessert: there might be a little nutrition found among the empty calories, but a little goes a long way. It isn't why I choose a specific book, t.v. show, or dessert. And like dessert, I only consume one fiction at a time. I'm watching my "waste" line.

Without further ado here are the books I read this month:



In The Shadow of the Sun King. This is the book by Golden Keyes Parsons that Karen suggested I read. It is historical fiction written in the time of Huguenot persecution in France. I enjoyed the book, but it took me several weeks to read it. Having crises after crises last month on top of the usual (and unusual) basketball schedule probably didn't help. I didn't have the energy to sit and get engrossed and that isn't the author's fault. This is a book worth reading.

I thought the book was well-written, and there was nothing objectionable in its presentation. Being of French Huguenot extraction myself (you just knew that a genealogist would have a link somewhere) I enjoyed gaining a historical prospective into the lives of one branch on my family tree. I would need to check more closely to see when my ancestors left France to see if it was during this period and for this reason. Being Baptist by profession, and being descended from Baptists during the time of colonial America when such a thing was a crime in some colonies, along with my Jewish, Puritan, and German Protestant religious roots, it became apparent to me that the type of fleeing for one's life in the name of religious persecution that was described in the book was probably played out many times in my heritage.



Back to Life. This book by Kristin Billerbeck seemed familiar to me and I think it was because it is another that Karen read and critiqued. This is purely coincidental because I did not choose it for that reason. I picked it up at the library on the same day that I got the one above. Like it, this book was on the new acquisitions shelf and I thought it looked interesting. At the risk of sounding like an airhead, I'm going to tell you that I liked this book. The reason is because it was entertaining and a pure escape from reality on the day that I read it. It is also one of those Christian chick-lit books, which I didn't realize when I picked it. This made it even better because I wasn't confronted with objectionable language or sexual content.

On the other hand, what makes me think this is a book that Karen critiqued is something that stuck in my mind. The first few chapters were absolutely littered with typos, words that were supposed to be deleted when the author changed word order or verb tenses, and other things that a good editor should catch. This was distracting and annoying. Once I got past them, I was hooked on the humor found in the story. The author writes her books like I write my blog posts. I guess that's why I connected.

The target audience is probably quite a bit younger than I am but I still enjoyed it.




Aunt Morgan knows me personally. Her mother and I stay in touch which includes sharing recipes and swapping child and grandchild stories. It's what we do. Recently Morgan's mother introduced me to Gooseberry Patch so that I could get ideas to relieve the stagnation of my usual recipe plans. I liked what I saw so much that I used a bookstore gift card to purchase this book called Gooseberry Patch Family Favorite Recipes.

What I like about it is that the recipes are real. They don't require strange ingredients or a culinary degree in order to make good things to eat. That's pretty important to me either when trying to get dinner on the table for the three of us each evening or putting out a spread for my whole family on Sunday.

And yes, just in case you're wondering, I do read cookbooks. Odd, I know, but I consider it part of my job as the home economist.



Yes, the anti-fudge book was read this month as well. It didn't stop me from eating the rest of the fudge, but I did read it.

I read this book as a reaction to all the weight loss ads touting the Glycemic Index. I wanted to know about the GI and its usefulness concerning keeping blood sugar steady and not so much for the benefit of weight loss. Although, if such a thing happened as an unintended benefit I certainly wouldn't complain.

Since I had already made some changes to my diet in 2008 this was more to reinforce some of the things I am already doing and to find more clues to help in the battle to stay healthy. This is a library book but if I find it online at a cheap enough price I might purchase one for my cookbook collection.


That's it for this month. I have 3 other books that I had hoped to have done by the end of the month, but I got so caught up in some much-needed house cleaning and organizing projects that I didn't use as much of my snow days hibernation to read as I thought I would. That just means that I should have a head start on the February reading list.


P.S.

HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY!

(Only 6 more weeks until spring. Hooray!)