What did you think?

What did you think of Behind Rebel Lines?

I have been wanting to read this for awhile after seeing it in a reading list that all girls should read before they grow up from the Daring Book for Girls.  It obviously is written for very young children.  It was a nice easy read and an interesting story, and I think I would have thought it interesting as a young girl.  As an adult, I found myself wondering how much of this was based on research and how much was a narrative of what the author thought happened.  It would be interesting to research a bit more.

I thought it was interesting to compare this girl to girls that are growing up today.  Would any girl growing up now feel that deep desire to serve her country and want to have an impact on history in this way?  And if they did, would they be courageous enough?  I have to admit that I don't know if I could have done this. I don't know that I'm brave enough, or that I would believe in whatever-the-cause-may-be enough to leave home and family and go on a wild adventure.

What did you think?

Debate

Before discussion begins on Behind Rebel Lines, I saw a poll in the Costco magazine that I thought would be interesting to put before you all.  The question is this:

"Should Literary Classics be Sanitized?"

Recent editions of classics have been edited to remove racially charged words and other inappropriate language.  Supporters of the revised editions say that this is helpful so that the books don't need to be banned completely and allows everyone to enjoy the work.  Critics argue that this amounts to desecrating the writer's work, rewriting history and denying modern students the learning experience of asking hard questions.

I will weigh in, myself, but what do you think?

Aaaaaaand... we're back!

Hi Everyone!  (Is anyone still there?)  I'm sorry for my unintentional Sabbatical from Book Club activity! I had some family issues and had to pare our activities down to the very bare minimum in order to get through the days, but I am ready to come back to my previous life!

I am putting together a list of upcoming reads, and was wondering if you had any suggestions?  I thought we'd start out super easy in coming back from the break with a short read.  I found the suggestion in the Daring Book for Girls under the heading of "Books that all girls should read" and it looks pretty good (and short!)

If you are interested in continuing with the Book Club, the April book will be:

Behind Rebel Lines: The Incredible Story of Emma Edmonds, Civil War Spy

What else should we put on the Docket?

Book Reviews

I hope you are enjoying Follow the River, but in the meanwhile, I thought I'd put up some book reviews from the past year.

Here are some from our friends here on the book club (Andrea, you are an honorary member...) that I put up without their permission, so give me a holler if you want this off.

Ashlee's 2010 book review

Andrea's 2010 book review (part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6)

Shayla's 2010 book review (part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6)

And if there's anyone else out there with a review, let me know and I'll put it up!


And here are some very random lists of the best of the best from 2010 lit.

Amazon's Best Books of 2010

NY Times top 10 of 2010

Best of 2010 from Fiction Award Winners

Publisher's Weekly

NY Times best illustrated children's books

More Children's books

Publisher's Weekly best of Children's books

ALA's best young adult books

Goodreads best of YA books for 2010

Amazon YA books

I don't know about you, but my "to-read" list just got about a mile longer.

A Christmas Carol

"Men's courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead," said Scrooge. "But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. Say it is thus with what you show me!"


I love to read this every year... something about the genius of the verbiage combined with the themes of the book (and the fact that I can hear muppets in my head saying the words along with me as I read) makes me feel like it is Christmas for sure!


As a play on the quote above, I was just wondering, if the ghosts of your past, present and future were to come to you today, what would you regret?  What would you be happy about seeing?  And what would you (after seeing the "big picture" of your life) want to depart courses from things that you are engaged in at the moment?


I think for me the one thing that I am not totally ecstatic about in my past and present life is how busy I get.  This last semester reached kind of a breaking point for me.  I had a ton that I was trying to juggle and I did juggle them successfully.  But at what cost?  I know that I was not as patient at home with my daughter and I know that I did not work on any of my most important relationships at all.  I have wonderful friends and family, but if I don't take time to enjoy them, I feel like it will get to a point where I will lose something extremely valuable in the exchange.  Don't get me wrong, I was doing things that I have wanted to do and am glad to say I have done them, but I think I was running faster than I had strength, if you will.  This is one thing in sitting down to reflect on the last year and making new resolutions for 2011 that I would really like to depart from and really take the time to just be and just breathe.  


Do any of you have new years resolutions?  Or was there any part of the book that spoke to you?


I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I do every year!  Merry Christmas!


"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. Oh, tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone!"

I am the Messenger

So... what did you think of I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak?  Was it better than The Book Thief?  In what way?  Don't you just love his writing style?

Catch 22 Review

We gave Catch 22 a

3 out of 5