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Post by meghan on Jan 10, 2008 19:54:05 GMT -8
Oh, I just scanned through the first handful of posts and saw Christian authors, so I thought this was a discussion about Christian writings. Whether you want to call it "Christian" or "secular" there's a definite difference between the two. I don't to read books about Christian living, if that's a more accurate way to say it.
In other areas, i tend to read a lot of novels, especially mid 20th century stuff, though i'm trying to work through more classics. I'm reading Upton Sinclair's The Jungle right now, and it's pretty good. I've also found that I like a historical book, but it has to be REALLY well written or else I get bored. I just read "The Most Famous Man in America" by Debby Applegate, about Henry Ward Beecher, and it was awesome. I'd recommend it to anyone who's interested in American history and/or religion/politics.
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aimee
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Post by aimee on Jan 11, 2008 8:46:29 GMT -8
Interesting, sounds like they would be worth checking out. Looks promising from online! Windows carries Sayers, her fiction and non-fiction.
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Post by meghan on Jan 13, 2008 18:42:47 GMT -8
Aimee!! The Tale of Despereaux is SO good. During my student teaching I read it out loud to my fifth graders and I actually cried at the end in front of all my fifth graders. haha.
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aimee
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Post by aimee on Jan 14, 2008 18:38:33 GMT -8
Yeah, I can totally relate to crying over it ;D. The tale of Miggery Sow is especially tear jerking. I really love how it turns out though! Speaking of kids' books, have you read any of the "Junie B. Jones" series? They are written for a younger audience (1st grade or so), but I love her dialogue!
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Post by meghan on Jan 16, 2008 9:35:46 GMT -8
Yes! I Love Junie B. Jones! I actually, believe it or not, used to read them aloud to my college roommates. We're all nannies/babysitters, so we could relate and thought they were especially funny. I do a pretty good Junie B. Jones voice if I do say so myself
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aimee
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Posts: 136
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Post by aimee on Jan 17, 2008 15:23:56 GMT -8
Another Junie B. lover, yeay! For a while I was reading her books so much that I picked up some of her 'isms' in my everyday speech. My husband comments on it from time to time. Things such as saying 'that guy' when refering to an inanimate object
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aimee
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Post by aimee on Jan 23, 2008 12:36:11 GMT -8
So, as to further digress from this thread's original topic.... I have lately been re-reading Douglas Adams' "The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul" in my free-time while the kid's are at school. As a result of my frequent and unexpected bursts of violent laughter, Chester (my dog) has taken to spending the afternoons in his kennel in the garage... thinking, I'm sure, "what will she do next". Because of my fondness for this book, I had to share some of my more favorite quotes with you ;D ************************************ "It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on earth has ever produced the expression "As pretty as an airport." Airports are ugly. Some are very ugly. Some attain a degree of uglieness that can only be the result of a special effort." ************************************ "London was the place she liked living in most, apart, of course, from the pizza problem, which drove her crazy. Why would no one deliver pizza? Why did no one understand that it was fundamental to the whole nature of pizza that it arrived at your front door in a hot cardboard box? That you slithered it out of the greaseproof paper and ate it in folded slices in front of the TV? What was the fundamental flaw in the stupid, stuck-up, sluggardly English that they couldn't grasp this simple principle?..." *********************************** "I see," said Dirk. "You have, if I may say so, the air of one to whom her day has not been a source of joy or spiritual enrichment." "Too ____ right it hasn't," said Kate. "I've had the sort of day that would make Saint Francis of Assisi kick babies..."************************************
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Post by michelle on Jan 31, 2008 17:52:28 GMT -8
Ok, this doesn't have anything to do with affecting my faith, but I'm reading "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini (the guy that wrote "Kite Runner") and all I have to say is that guy knows how to punch you in the gut over and over. He is a great writer and Kite Runner was an amazing book. But boy does he shatter the traditional rules of how a story should end. I had to tell my friend that she should never allow me to read one of his books again. They are really good, but so depressing. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment that way.
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Post by michelle on Oct 2, 2008 21:45:09 GMT -8
A Boy Soldier. I recommend it to everyone. It's the story of how an 11 year old boy (I think that's how old he was) was forced to become a soldier for the government in Sierra Leone. It's heart-breaking and eye opening.
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Post by Margot on Oct 3, 2008 11:25:30 GMT -8
"I don't (want)to read books about Christian living, if that's a more accurate way to say it." Nice quote! Wish I'd thought of it myself, Meghan! I think the Christian non-fiction I learn most from is biographies--can anyone recommend a good one? I do like my Yancy and Donald Miller, but other than that I definitely limit my Christian Living Diet (!) Josh!!!! No way! Are you a Hugh Ross fan, too?? It's getting weird how much you and Paul and I have in common. He was a regular speaker back at our old church in California (where Gary Vandaret was --one of the--pastors.) Talk about messing with your mind! I love that guy Michelle and Aimee, I appreciate your recommendations--I'll have to look into them (I work at a 5th-6th grade school) Have any of you read "Doughnuthead?" The librarian here recommended it, I laughed so much I howled. Then I read it to my family, who howled even more and my husband read it to his class who--oh, well, it was kinda wasted on them---but, trust me, it's hilarious!! Very quirky!!!! Not for just any class. Hmmm, since we are in the middle of a rainstorm, it makes me think of running out to that bookstore in Cannon Beach, Josh...
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Post by Josh on Jan 12, 2009 11:54:54 GMT -8
Margot, I can't remember if we had further discussion about Hugh Ross or not? But I remember talking with Paul about him. What was your connection to him exactly?
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Post by meghan on Jan 12, 2009 16:54:24 GMT -8
oh! So my new favorite books I read this year were:
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by Wroblewski I was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloane Crosley The Revolution: A Manifesto by Ron Paul The Road by Cormac McCarthy
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Post by Margot on Jan 12, 2009 19:42:49 GMT -8
Josh: Paul became a Christian when he was 16, (back when dinosaurs roamed the earth,) and shortly thereafter started going to Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto, CA. PBC was started at the end of the Jesus Movement by Ray Stedman and became somewhat of a hang-out for a lot of heavy hitters: Luis Palau, Howard Hendricks, John Fischer, etc.. It tends to attract a lot it intellectuals from Stanford, because it is right down the road. Hugh Ross became a regular speaker there sometime in the late 80's, if I remember correctly. We were able to hear him teach many times and he stretched our minds significantly (!!!) We kept up on him for quite a while, but haven't lately. Does he ever teach up here in the Northwest?
For those who have never heard of him, Hugh Ross is a Christian and a physicist. Ever heard of a quasar? (No, no, not the tv!) Apparently he was the first to identify/locate them. He teaches on the relationships between God and science, specifically how He manifests himself dimensionally in the space-time continum. Heady stuff for a girl who barely slithered through Biology in college. He has challenged me greatly.
Where do you know him from, Josh?
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Post by michelle on Jan 13, 2009 17:56:52 GMT -8
I've heard many people that enjoyed Middlesex. It's on my list. I started reading Water for Elephants, but haven't picked it up in a while. I've been getting back to the good ol' B-I-B-L-E for my only reading.
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Post by Kirby on Aug 18, 2009 10:21:27 GMT -8
A book I've heard about but never read (perhaps it is unpublished) is "The Eyes of Ennochria" Have you heard of this Josh?
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Post by Josh on Aug 19, 2009 9:48:50 GMT -8
Dude either you have a REALLY good memory or you've been stalking me.
"The Eyes of Anochria" remains unpublished. Brian and I each have our chapters in cold storage.
I attempted to resurrect it twice but failed due to the overwhelming and ultimately impossible urge to "fix it up".
However, I do still read some of it to my students in our lit. class for critiques.
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Post by Kirby on Aug 19, 2009 16:36:15 GMT -8
You should self publish. Even if it is a Kinko's type self-publish.
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