From an early age, “getting lost in a good book” has been a favorite way to pass the time. With all that reading, I am frequently sharing recent reads with family, friends, colleagues. It’s time to start sharing more of these reads on the blog.
Books under the Christmas Tree, 2013
Christmas in the Artisan home isn’t complete without plenty of books under the Christmas tree for all of us. At some point on Christmas Day, you will find all of us in a chair or on a couch with a new book. In 2012, all my books under the tree were in the form of a gift card that I immediately plugged into Kindle. In 2013, all my books were in paper form. In the course of the week between Christmas & New Year’s, I read the first 2 books (lots & lots of pages!) while putting in a full work week plus a Saturday of project cutover work. Ah, the lure of a good book!
- Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident and the Illusion of Safety by Eric Schlosser – I first saw this book in Barnes & Noble during my fall fun weekend in WI. The cover caught my eye – the cover liner confirmed it – this daughter of a Titan Missileer needed to read this book. A well written history of the US nuclear program as a whole and a detailed account of a specific silo accident. I enjoy good narrative nonfiction and this had it. Reading this book also presented the opportunity to learn a lot more about my Dad’s days spent underground in Kansas – both through the pages and talking and asking more questions while I was home for Christmas. I definitely don’t take for granted how good it was to have him back home after every 24 hour shift underground. #childofthecoldwar #heavyreading
- The Circle by Dave Eggers – Future fiction imagines “what if” all our activity is fully online. The end was meh. Makes you think about what really is too much w/ all this connectedness. Some of the connections were absurd – some were just slightly exaggerated from where we are today – some may have been introduced at recent show. Couple this fiction read with some non-fiction reads on technology overload and imbalance that I’ve read in the last 2 years- it definitely has me pondering how best to be connected. #notgoingoffgrid #dontneedtoshareall
- Everything I Need to Know I Learned From a Little Golden Book by Diane E. Muldrow – A fun compilation of the life lessons we were learning as we learned to read w/ Little Golden Books. The introduction to this quick book was almost as insightful as the fun phrases and illustrations from the childhood favorites. #wowthefunbooksweredeep
- The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde – Starting a “new to me” series that I’ve wanted to read for a while. Fun mash up of save the world + slightly altered society + literature references. I look forward to reading the rest of the series. My favorite quotation from the book: “No bond is stronger than that welded in conflict; no greater friend is there than the one who stood next to you as you fought.” #mightbetimetoreadjaneeyreagain
- Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay – A bit of chick lit – a bit of faith – a bit of Chicago. A fun & quick read that was more than just a “standard” chick lit. Also, some fun use of Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte and other classic authors. #notjustfluff
Starting this month, I’m linking up with the Twitterature reviews hosted by Modern Mrs. Darcy. Each month, the challenge is to share book reviews in “twitter-like” summary.
What are you reading these days?
January 16, 2014 at 10:53 pm
I always love hearing about what everyone is reading! I got several books under the Christmas tree too — I’m reading Stitches, and I’ve got A Million Little Ways coming up next, I think.
January 17, 2014 at 3:26 pm
I really enjoyed The Eyre Affair and am looking forward to getting to the rest of the series in 2014. And I’ve been curious about Dear Mr Knightley. It’s not the kind of thing I usually read, but I keep hearing it’s worth making an exception for this one. I’m not convinced yet. 🙂