Yet another book on tape. Daniel Pinkwater reads it himself, and you can download his podcasts from his web site. A wacky children's story, about a boy searching for a cool lizard band. He runs into The Chicken Man, and together they go to the lizard island. I love Pinkwater's reading voice. He sounds so excited, and it's hard not to get sucked into the story.
This was a 45 minute recording that I listened to during the bus commute this morning. It's a sequel to The Golden Compass series. Very strange story that jumped right into an odd plot about a witch seeking reveng on her lover.
I finished this book on tape finally. I started it during a walk in Discovery Park, and then have listened to it while at the gym, in the car, or on the bus. It's narrated by Barbara Kingsolver and her family, so the recording seemed extrapersonal. The book details the year that the Kingsolver-Hopp family returned to their farm to raise their own food and eat locally and organically. They had a lot of farm experience already, but they still were challenged. For example, fresh fruit was not possible during winter months. Raising heritage Bourbon Red turkeys was also a learning moment -- how do you teach turkeys to mate? Good book, it inspired me to think about eating closer to home.
A sweet memoir about growing up on a farm. The author is in her mid-80s and seems to have a sharp memory for events that happened 70 years ago. The stories of how her family worked hard and built character are entertaining, enlightening, and sometimes funny. Some of my favorite bits are about how the kids would mishear things in church, such as "Our father who are in heaven, Howard by thy name." The stories about outhouse tipping and about the baby raccoons and jealous cat are also priceless. I finished reading this book on various bus trips.
A silly book that I read in a few days. It was like TV in book format. A Jewish widow looking for love on the internet, through hook-ups, and with press coverage. The protagonist mentioned often that she was short, I'm not sure why that was important information.
I read most of this inspiring book while I was traveling to and from New York. The Buddhist principles it outlines are sometimes quite nuanced, but the general philosophy is simple to grasp. I've read about general Buddhist ideas before; this book offers more specific concepts while maintaining the New Age-y inspirational feel.
A book on tape that I listened to around town and in NYC. The characters drove me up the wall ; their self-centered eccentricity was over the top sometimes. The story is set in the 1930s in New York (the Bronx). The characters are Jewish, but their Jewishness is undiscussed for the most part even though the Mitwisser family fled Nazi Germany.
The story was about 12 hours long. I listened to part of it on high speed..... made the tedious parts go by faster, and the reader had the amusing chipmunk voice.
The story was about 12 hours long. I listened to part of it on high speed..... made the tedious parts go by faster, and the reader had the amusing chipmunk voice.
I finished this book really quickly on the bus and at home. It's an examination of what it means to be Asian in the US. An interesting story about Asian-American issues; also interesting characters. The novel has hokey moments, but also many things that rang true for me.
Finished this book during my commute and after work. Miyazaki's movie was ostensibly based on this book but quite a few details were changed as well as some of the substance of the narrative. For example, in the novel, no war was going on in the kingdom. The scarecrow was also a bit of a frightening character. In addition there was a missing prince who was separated into several parts. Fun, lightweight, young adult fantasy novel.
I read this book while on Orcas, putzing about in Fremont, and on the bus. The book is a great conclusion to Lyra and Will's adventures. Will discovers he has a daemon, and both children realize their daemons can roam far away from like witches'. They travel through the world of the dead, are accompanied by the tiny Gallivespians, and fall in love. The love story at the end felt hokey to me given they were only 12 year olds. But maybe 12 year olds can have this kind of romantic love.
