November Reading List
Print Books:
1. Lick The Sugar Habit, Nancy Appleton - If you want to scare yourself off of sugar forever, than this is the book for you. I picked it up because it was on the recommended reading list provided in the handout my allergist gave me about my yeast allergy. (To be fair, Dr. Fowler told me I really didn't need to do any more research as I'd already read one of the other books.) All I can say is Ugh. I also reread/skimmed The Yeast Connection by William Crook and Bethanny Frankel's Naturally Thin to help prepare for my new lifestyle. My mother - wanting to help - gave me a copy of The Yeast Connection Cookbook, and I've skimmed that one as well. Oddly enough, it was Frankel's 'make your own rules to suit your own body' attitude that has made my transition the easiest, although it certainly helps to have a better understanding of how food allergies work - especially the crazy ones I'm blessed with.
2. The Innocent Mage, Karen Miller - A traditional off-world fantasy (the term given to sword/magic type books in made-up settings), this was an attempt on my part to find a new author in one of my favorite genres. I am quite happy to say that Miller is brilliant with her characters, who were by far the best part of the book. While many of her plot elements could easily have come across as templates common to the genre, Miller managed to keep them fresh and engaging. I'm glad to have stumbled across her books. The bad news is that this is the first of a two-book storyline, and the ending of this book set up a whole lot of really bad stuff to happen in the next book. I understand that that is a necessary plot point...but sometimes it can be a drag, which is why I haven't started the next book yet.
3. My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me, ed. Kate Bernheimer and Gregory Maguire - Be still my beating heart. I love fairy tales. They are my absolute favorite part of the literary world, and I love to both read them and study them. This book is a collection of 40 new fairy tales - each based on older tales from all over the world. The stories are dense and delicious, and I'm savoring them slowly. I'm only about half of the way through the book...so you'll see this on my list next month, too.
4. Storey's Guide to Raising Sheep and Storey's Guide to Raising Llamas - I by no means read either book all the way through, but I spent a lot of time thumbing through them both over the Thanksgiving break. I was raised with cows, rabbits and chickens...I have no idea how to care for sheep and llamas! Time to learn. I will hopefully pick up copies of both soon.
Audio:
1. A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court, Mark Twain, CraftLit Podcast - All I can say is, Thank God it's over. It'll never be my favorite book, and the ending didn't do it for me even though this is the first time I've made it that far. Perhaps if it was half as long as it is? Who knows.
2. Chastened: The Unexpected Story of My Year Without Sex, Hephzibah Anderson - I found this one while browsing the downloadable audiobooks available through my library, the Daniel Boone Regional Library, and thought, 'Why Not?' After all, I use DBRL's audio books as a way to try books I would never otherwise explore. To my surprise, this was more than just an amusing memoir. I found Anderson's commentary on sexuality in th modern world to be interesting and often spot-on. Her take on what it is to be a woman navigating the current social craziness was fascinating...and it made me very, very glad that I've lived my life as I have and that I found my husband when I did.
3. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens, CraftLit Podcast - OK, technically the last portion won't be out until Saturday. It's not that long, though, so I'm including it here. Besides, I've heard it read several times before. It's ALWAYS fun!
1. Lick The Sugar Habit, Nancy Appleton - If you want to scare yourself off of sugar forever, than this is the book for you. I picked it up because it was on the recommended reading list provided in the handout my allergist gave me about my yeast allergy. (To be fair, Dr. Fowler told me I really didn't need to do any more research as I'd already read one of the other books.) All I can say is Ugh. I also reread/skimmed The Yeast Connection by William Crook and Bethanny Frankel's Naturally Thin to help prepare for my new lifestyle. My mother - wanting to help - gave me a copy of The Yeast Connection Cookbook, and I've skimmed that one as well. Oddly enough, it was Frankel's 'make your own rules to suit your own body' attitude that has made my transition the easiest, although it certainly helps to have a better understanding of how food allergies work - especially the crazy ones I'm blessed with.
2. The Innocent Mage, Karen Miller - A traditional off-world fantasy (the term given to sword/magic type books in made-up settings), this was an attempt on my part to find a new author in one of my favorite genres. I am quite happy to say that Miller is brilliant with her characters, who were by far the best part of the book. While many of her plot elements could easily have come across as templates common to the genre, Miller managed to keep them fresh and engaging. I'm glad to have stumbled across her books. The bad news is that this is the first of a two-book storyline, and the ending of this book set up a whole lot of really bad stuff to happen in the next book. I understand that that is a necessary plot point...but sometimes it can be a drag, which is why I haven't started the next book yet.
3. My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me, ed. Kate Bernheimer and Gregory Maguire - Be still my beating heart. I love fairy tales. They are my absolute favorite part of the literary world, and I love to both read them and study them. This book is a collection of 40 new fairy tales - each based on older tales from all over the world. The stories are dense and delicious, and I'm savoring them slowly. I'm only about half of the way through the book...so you'll see this on my list next month, too.
4. Storey's Guide to Raising Sheep and Storey's Guide to Raising Llamas - I by no means read either book all the way through, but I spent a lot of time thumbing through them both over the Thanksgiving break. I was raised with cows, rabbits and chickens...I have no idea how to care for sheep and llamas! Time to learn. I will hopefully pick up copies of both soon.
Audio:
1. A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court, Mark Twain, CraftLit Podcast - All I can say is, Thank God it's over. It'll never be my favorite book, and the ending didn't do it for me even though this is the first time I've made it that far. Perhaps if it was half as long as it is? Who knows.
2. Chastened: The Unexpected Story of My Year Without Sex, Hephzibah Anderson - I found this one while browsing the downloadable audiobooks available through my library, the Daniel Boone Regional Library, and thought, 'Why Not?' After all, I use DBRL's audio books as a way to try books I would never otherwise explore. To my surprise, this was more than just an amusing memoir. I found Anderson's commentary on sexuality in th modern world to be interesting and often spot-on. Her take on what it is to be a woman navigating the current social craziness was fascinating...and it made me very, very glad that I've lived my life as I have and that I found my husband when I did.
3. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens, CraftLit Podcast - OK, technically the last portion won't be out until Saturday. It's not that long, though, so I'm including it here. Besides, I've heard it read several times before. It's ALWAYS fun!
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