Books with no other place to go….

Sex, Economy, Freedom and Community, Wendell Berry
A book that is enjoyable, thought-provoking, sometimes challenging (such as his defense of the tobacco industry or attacks on “modern Christianity”) but always interesting and worth reading. It’s my belief that everyone, at one point or another, should read Wendell Berry.

Deadly Persuasion, Jean Kilbourne
An important book for women to read. It discusses the impact advertising has on women in society and what to do about it. It made me more aware as a person, and especially as a woman.

On Paradise Drive, David Brooks
An interesting little book about American?s drive, no passion really, to make things “better” for the “future”. I expected more, though there was some food for thought.

How the Irish Saved Civilization, Thomas Cahill
A good solid, interesting piece of Irish history.

Miles from Nowhere, Dayton Duncan
I got this for Russell our first Christmas together; it’s taken me this long to get around to reading it. An excellent place book about life in the “contemporary frontier” in counties that have less than 2 people per square mile. A good read.

Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich
An upper-middle-class woman writes about her experiences with trying to live on minimum wage. A completely false set-up, (and a very liberal take) but her stories are interesting nonetheless.

On the Rez, Ian Frazier
Part of my on-going search for good travel/place books. An interesting portrait of life on an Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

Queen of the Turtle Derby and Other Southern Phenomena, Julia Reed
Not a great book, but there were several essays that just had me rolling. Ah, it’s fun to live in the South.

Schools We Need and Why We Don’t Have Them, E. D. Hirsch
An provocative book on national curriculum and standards in the public schools, though it was a bit dry for my taste.

I’m not one who enjoys reading biographies or autobiographies. I usually find them dry and boring. Hence, I don’t read them very often. Here are the one’s I’ve managed to get through:

Life and Death in Shanghai, Nien Chang

An excellent book on her life during the Cultural Revolution written by a woman who spent 7 years in prison because of false accusations during Mao’s time.

Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, Linda King Newell and Valleen Tippets Avery

A well-written and accessible peace of scholarship. Newell and Avery are thorough in their research and very eloquent in their writing. It was quite an interesting and informative book. Though I have to admit, ever since I’ve read this book, I’ve been looking (though admittedly not very hard) for a decent biography on Eliza R. Snow.

Tender at the Bone, Ruth Reichel

Her autobiography as told through food. Yummy. She’s written a “sequel”, but I have yet to read that one.

Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez, An Autobiography, Richard Rodriguez

Challenging to read because of what he writes. Though, honestly, I read this so long ago that I don’t remember why.

On the Other Side of Heaven and In the Fire of our Faith, James Groberg

It’s been a while since I’ve read a Church book. I really enjoyed Heaven; his missionary experiences in Tonga were incredibly interesting and faith promoting. Fire was okay; it was about his experiences as mission president mostly. I enjoyed his take on being a single missionary in Tonga better than him being a mission president.

Broken Music, Sting

I’m a sucker for anything Sting, and I justified this one by checking it out rather than buying it. That said, he really is a good writer, and I found myself genuinely interested (rather than being interested for trivia’s sake) in the story he was telling.

A Hope in the Unseen, Ron Suskind

This was a well-written, objective (as possible), intriguing book on one boy’s journey from a terrible high school in Southeast DC to the Ivy League (he got into Brown). It opens ones eyes (without being preachy) to the ills of the public school system and, conversely, the triumphs of one person as he puts his mind to succeeding. It’s an challenging, and excellent, book.

The Lobster Chronicles, Linda Greenlaw

I thought this would be what I call a “place book”, but it turned out to me more of this woman’s memoir of one lobster season. Still, it was pretty fascinating. It made me want to read her other book about her experiences as a deep sea fishing boat captain. There’s also All Fishermen are Liars, which I didn’t like as much, but it had a couple of fascinating deep-sea fishing stories.

The Right Stuff, Tom Wolfe

I’m not sure if this really fits as “memoirs”, but since it’s about the early space flight program and the fly boys that were part of it, it’ll work. I’m not a huge fan of Tom Wolfe (I tried reading Bonfire of the Vanities but didn’t get very far, and haven’t attempted anything else of his), but I loved this book. It’s so totally over the top, and full of lots of little bits of triva and information about both the space program and the Air Force pilots, that it was a totally enjoyable read.

White Christmas, Jody Rosen

A fascinating look at Irving Berlin, his most famous song and the impact it had on both popular music (of the time) and the Christmas season.

Bonds that Make Us Free, C. Terry Warner

Given to us by a friend of Russell, this book really is a “selfless help book”. It’s all about moving outside of oneself and becoming more aware of treating other people as people rather than as objects of our own invention. I know I’m not doing the book justice by writing this; it truly needs to be read. I wish I could say it changed my life; it did change my perspective and I’m working on the life-change. A very powerful book.



Reading Magic, Mem Fox

This book reaffirmed my love of reading to my kids (and my love of children’s books) and helped me see what I’m doing right (reading lots to them) and wrong (I would sit with Megan and make her sound out words rather than allowing her to catch the “spirit” of reading) in teaching my children to read. Not a hard book to read, but an important one.

Mommy, I’m Scared, Joanne Cantor

I got this book because I thought it would give me some tips on how to deal with Megan’s fear of movies. Instead, it gave me insights as to why she’s scared. The tips? Essentially, let your children avoid anything scary until they get older. Good enough.

$100 Holiday, Bill McKibbon

An idealist’s look at Christmas and how to make it simpler and more meaningful. An interesting history of Christmas and an interesting case for making Christmas less commercial and more spiritual, more family/friend/community-oriented and more fun and relaxed. Worth reading.



Unplug the Christmas Machine, Jo Robinson and Jean Coppoch Staeheli

Good, practical book for Christmas organization.

Before they moved at Christmas, my good friend Janice gave me a gift certificate to Books-a-Million, on the condition that I buy a book that helps remind me of her. I had a hard time coming up with one; our reading tastes don’t always coincide: she enjoys mostly historical fiction, non-fiction, and biographies. I don’t usually. I looked through the store, and stumbled across The Road From Home, by David Kheridan. It’s the true story of his mother, an Armenian living in Turkey in the early 1900s and her personal experience with the Armenian massacres by the Turkish people. It’s a powerfully simple book. It’s written from his mother’s (Veron’s) point of view, and her simple faith and hope that got her through all the terrible times she experienced. Yes, she was one of the lucky ones: she survived, though her siblings and grandfather died of cholera, her mother died of grief, her father had a heart-attack while working for the Turks and she saw her cousins killed by a bomb. So, life for her was no picnic in the park. Still, I was humbled and awed by her faith, her perseverance and cheerfulness in the face of adversity. I’m sure Janice would enjoy my selection, too.