And yet another reading challenge for me! 2009 is going to be a really interesting year for me, juggling books and work and life. LOL!

 

This challenge is to read your name in book title first letters, ultimately spelling out your name. You can use any name you want, your real name, your blogger name, the name you always wished you were called, like maybe Princess Aurora, or Superman. LOL!

 

The challenge runs from Jan. 1st 2009, to Dec. 31st 2009, you can join anytime before Dec. 31st 2009. (Well, if you join on Dec. 30th, you can always just read one book that starts with your initial. *g*)

 

You can sign up with Mister Linky at the Read Your Name Challenge blog.

 

I'm using my nickname when I first started using the internet, and it's got my name Betty in there anyway. Here's what I'll be reading:

 

("The" as in "The Cider House Rules" will not be counted for T's, but "A" as in "A Time to Kill" will be counted for A's.)

 

1. S - The Summer Before by Patricia Windsor
2. T - The Third Eye by Lois Duncan
3. A - A Lifetime Burning by Linda Gillard
4. R - The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
5. B - The Bomb That Followed Me Home by Cevin Soling
6. Y -
7. T - Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
8. E - Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
9. S - Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

 

I've read this before, and I remembered that I liked it. It's Jodi Picoult, after all, and she's one of my favorite authors.

 

What prompted me to read it again though, was that I stumbled upon a book club video in Youtube.com, a Borders Book Club video, to be exact, that showed the book club members discussing this book together with the author, Jodi Picoult.

 

It was such a great discussion, and they talked about so many things in the book, the issues about school shootings, how and why it happens, who's to blame, how does a parent cope with it, whether their child is the victim, or the shooter, how can we, as a society, prevent a tragedy like this from happening....

 

You can watch part one of the discussion here:

 

 

 

I had forgotten much of what I read, and their discussion made me want to re-read the book and refresh my memory. So I read it again, looking out for the some of the things the book club pointed out in the videos.

 

It's definitely food for thought, and I completely sympathize with all the characters in the book, including the shooter. I don't completely agree with some of the Borders Book Club's thoughts about the book, but that's ok, I think what's important is that it makes us think.

 

And after watching the videos, and how Picoult talks about how she developed the story and the characters, I am absolutely amazed at her understanding and insight into the human psyche.

 

I don't really need to say how good the book is, go and watch the videos, there aren't any spoilers, and I'm sure you'll want to read the book for yourself too, if you haven't already. Or maybe you'll re-read it again, and get more out of it.

 

This book is available for discussion on Betty's Book Chats.

 

More books by Jodi Picoult:

What great book titles did you hear about, or discover, this week? SHARE WITH US YOUR ‘FRIDAY FINDS’!

My Finds:

 

The Wedding of the Two-Headed Woman by Alice Mattison

 

I found this while browsing Amazon.com and was attracted by the title. Apparently though, it's not about the wedding of a two-headed woman, but rather about a middle-aged woman who was inspired when she heard about the wedding of a two-headed woman.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald

 

A book about a bookshop! How can I resist? A widow risks everything to open a bookshop in a small town, and encounters resistance and hostility from a town that doesn't want change.

 

 

 

 

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Friday Finds post, or share your finds in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!

My Thursday Thirteen today features Georgette Heyer's Cotillion. I've just finished reading it earlier this week and was going to write a review for it, but I thought it would be fun to write my thoughts about it in a Thursday Thirteen post.

I also made my first graphic for Thursday Thirteen featuring Heyer's book! So here it is: 13 Thoughts on Georgette Heyer's Cotillion!

1. It's my first book by Georgette Heyer, and I loved it so much I don't know why I didn't start reading her books sooner.

2. I probably wouldn't have picked up this book if it wasn't because other book bloggers were reading her books and raving about them.

3. This book is about a girl name Kitty, whose guardian decides that he will leave his fortune to her only if she marries one of his great-nephews.

4. She doesn't want to marry any of her guardian's nephews who offered for her because her heart belonged elsewhere, but if she didn't, she would be left destitute without a penny to her name.

5. So she asked one of the great-nephews to pretend to be engaged with her, until she could get the man she had feelings for to offer to marry her.

6. I found myself getting very fascinated with the character's personalities and the way they talked. I thought the way Heyer brought the characters to life was masterful.

7. She's also the master of subtlety; showing off events, situations, and how the characters handled them, giving us the barest of hints of what's to come.

8. This is the most romantic, sensible, and realistic romance I've ever read. Although I enjoy reading them sometimes, I feel that romances that tells stories about tall, macho heroes sweeping beautiful, buxom blondes, are only good for entertainment and definitely nothing like how you should choose your partners in real life.

9. I loved this book because it parallels my own beliefs and notions when it comes to falling in love and staying in love. I think this is the kind of book people who are unhappy in love should read, instead of reading romances that make them expect a prince to come and sweep them off their feet.

10. There's a lot more that I really want to say about why I love this book, but I can't without giving it away.

11. In fact, I wanted to put down my thoughts about it so much, but I knew I couldn't without giving it away, that I actually started a private Book Journal because of this book! Just so I can record my thoughts down.

12. Perhaps one day I can discuss the things I've written in my private Book Journal with someone who's read the book, but for now I'm really happy that this book
prompted me to start a journal, because I'm really enjoying recording my private thoughts about other books I'm reading too.

13. I really can't recommend this book enough. I can't wait to read Heyer's other books too!

And as a bonus: 13 more books by Georgette Heyer!

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Please avoid spoilers!
  

My Teaser:

Three sentences today, because I think the teaser goes better when the sentences goes together. I've only just starting reading this book, but I can already say that it's a great book, very thought-provoking!

 

 

"You can't say there shouldn't be poisonous serpents - that's the way life is. But in the field of action, if you see a poisonous serpent about to bite somebody, you kill it. That's not saying no to the serpent, that's saying no to the situation." ~p.83, Joseph's Campbell's The Power of Myth

 

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your 2 Teasers in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!

What great book titles did you hear about, or discover, this week? SHARE WITH US YOUR ‘FRIDAY FINDS’!

My Finds:

 

Chalice by Robin McKinley

 

I've been a big fan of Robin McKinley ever since I read her retelling of Beauty and the Beast. This is her latest book, about the new Master of Willowlands and his Chalice. The Master was believed to be killed in a fire, but has now come back from the dead, changed, and the Chalice has to save him from the suspicions and the plots surrounding them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Mercy by Toni Morrison

 

Told primarily in the voice of a 16-year-old African slave, this book lets the reader take a close and painful look at the lives of slaves in the 17th century and the effects and circumstances of their situation.

 

 

 

 

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Friday Finds post, or share your finds in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!

Graphic courtesy of Kelly @ Diary of the Nello

 

This week I'm doing 13 books I bought from Amazon.com this year. Usually if I buy from Amazon.com, it means that I can't get it in my local bookstores, and trust me, there are a *lot* of books I can't get from local bookstores. =( 

 

I used to buy a lot more from Amazon, because the shipping isn't so expensive in bulk, and the exchange rate was lower before. Recently though, I can't afford it anymore, so it looks like I gotta stop buying for a while. =(

 

Oh well, it's time for me to start reading the books I've already got anyway!

 

Presenting, 13 books I bought from Amazon.com this year!

 

	1. The China Study by T. Colin Campbell I bought and read this early last year when I found it recommended on a blog because I was so impressed with what the blogger wrote about how it affected him. It was the best book I have ever read about health and diet, and I highly recommend it to anyone who cares even remotely about their health. I ordered 5 more copies earlier this year from Amazon.com for my father and his friends who were interested.
	2. Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack This book is supposed to be about the Tarot, but I was interested because it actually contains a lot of wisdom in its pages. The Tarot cards, their histories, and their symbolizations to life are very enlightening. I'm reading it very slowly because I have to stop every few sentences to think and reflect, and meditate on their wisdom. Wonderful book!
	3. Black Thorn, White Rose edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling This is one in a series of fairy-tale retellings, each book is filled with short stories of an alternate perspective of a fairy tale. I read my first book of the series many years ago and I've been hooked since. I'm trying to collect the whole bunch.
	4. The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell I've heard of Joseph Campbell but never knew what he was about. So I browsed Amazon.com for his books and decided to start with this. I've only looked through it, I haven't started reading it, but it looks very thought-provoking.
	5. Critical Path by R. Buckminster Fuller I heard about Bucky from Money N' You, he's almost all they ever talk about, but some of the stories about him and the radical ideas that he had are really interesting. What pushed me to buy it though, was when they talked about how hard it was to read, but someone they knew were able to read it in a month. I took it as a personal challenge, but I haven't started it, so I don't know if I'll actually read it faster.
	6. The Story of the Stone by Cao Xueqin This is only the first book in the series of five. A friend asked me to order them for him as he couldn't find them here. Apparently, they're about some Chinese history that written on a stone or something to that effect. I'm not so sure, I was only able to browse through them for a while before I had to pass them over to him. They're worth finding out more about though, I think. I'll do it soon.
	7. Stitch 'N Bitch by Debbie Stoller I'm trying to learn how to knit. I'm doing ok, I guess... still on the simple stuff at the moment, but the book gives some really great tips.
	8. Secrets from the Masters edited by Don Menn My fiance's a very talented guitarist, and I was looking all over for the perfect gift for his birthday. I asked him, very subtly, what kind of books would he buy if he wanted to learn more about playing guitar, and he told me he wanted to read bios of guitarists but full length bios are too long and there are too....(cont'd)
	9. Legends of Rock Guitar by Pete Prown and HP Newquist (cont'd) many guitarists for him to read each one's bio one by one. So I spent a lot of time browsing for books that had a compilation of short bios and interviews of guitarists. I found these two, and surprised him with them. He loved them!
	10. Unmasqued by Colette Gale I found this while browsing Amazon.com's Bargain Books, and it intrigued me because it was an erotic novel about one of my favorite stories, The Phantom of the Opera. There are a lot of conflicting reviews about it, but I personally thought it was great.
	11. September Sacrifice by Mark Horner Another friend asked me to order this for her. I don't know much about it except that it's true crime and she saw it on TV.
	12. The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (Boxed Set) by Patricia C. Wrede Amazon.com recommended this to me, and it seemed like the kind of book I'd love, so I got it and it was great! I love stories about dragons, and this series is fun and hilarious!
	13. Swan Sister edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling Also recommended by Amazon.com, it's just the kind of book I like, fairy-tale retellings, and any book with Datlow's and Windling's names always catches my attention.