Reading on a Rainy Day

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Showing posts from April, 2011

Leif Reads: Life on a Farm

Every month, Ash and I are going to focus on one eco-related book for Leif Reads. To see what this feature is all about, visit this page . This month, we are reading Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs, and Parenting by Michael Perry . Coop is Michael Perry's memoir about his life on a farm. Subtitled A Year of Poultry, Pigs and Parenting , it is about how farming has been and is a major part of his life. So far, I've read about three chapters and I love it so far. I'm enjoying this book far more than I expected to. He talks about milking cows (in his childhood), buying a pig that he wants his daughter to care, his dreams for a chicken coop, splitting wood for his fireplace when previously he would just flick the thermostat switch. Before starting the book, I did assume that I may have a hard time getting into it. As I mentioned in my post last week , I am so not a farm girl. Part of it has to do with the fact that I never grew up in such an environm

The Kitchen Daughter by Jael McHenry

Knowing she's dead isn't what makes me miss her. It's the little things. They take me by surprise. Then I get stomachaches and I have to distract myself and disappear inside a dark small space or a process so deep it swallows me. I miss her because she's not here. If I invoke her ghost, she'll be here, and I won't have to miss her then. After the sudden death of her parents, Ginny is left feeling isolated and unsure of what to do. Her sister, Amanda, is trying to cope with the tragedy in her own way, but she doesn't really know how to look after Ginny, who has Asperger's syndrome. Ginny throws herself into cooking, because nothing else seems to be able to address her intense sadness the way cooking and food does. The first time, she makes a bread soup from a recipe written by her grandmother. Even before she could relish the awesome dish, her kitchen is visited by an unexpected visitor - the ghost of her grandmother herself, who warns her

Yet another Monday! (April 25, 2011)

Sheila @ One Persons Journey through a world of Books wants to know what we're reading. I'm only too happy to oblige! Another week of some good reading! Books completed in the last week Far to go by Alison Pick : This was a total WOW! You should check this one! The Long Goodbye by Meghan O'Rourke : This was a really wonderful and touching memoir about grief. The Odyssey by Gareth Hinds : What a well-done graphic novel based on the original Odyssey by Homer. News from over my blog Giveaways The Long Goodbye by Meghan O'Rourke ( ends on Wednesday Apr 27 ) Reviews up! Far to go by Alison Pick The Long Goodbye by Meghan O'Rourke Leif Reads Coop: A Year of Poultry

Leif Reads: Coop - A Year of Poultry, Pigs, and Parenting

Happy Earth Day, folks! Ideally on this day, people across the world take a minute to think about the impact our many actions have upon the world. You can choose to do anything at all today - spend an hour unplugged (disconnect all those appliances, your computers and maybe corner a sweet spot in your house with your books), convert someone in your life to actively rather than passively be more eco-aware, or you can choose to contribute online . After a break of three weeks, Leif Reads has returned with our next book - Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs, and Parenting by Michael Perry. This time, we're doing something different and light. Rather than a purely technical book, we are reading a memoir - of a guy who returns to a rural life of farming and agriculture. I can't somehow fathom doing something like that - I am mostly a city person, but not a big-city person. I like the quiet suburban life but I can't imagine doing gardening or farming. Mainly because I never g

Giveaway - The Long Goodbye (Meghan O'Rourke)

(Update: This giveaway has ended. Thanks every one for entering.) Having just finished The Long Goodbye by Meghan O'Rourke and enjoyed it, I am quite thrilled to tell you that I have ONE copy of this book, courtesy of the publisher and TLC Book Tours to give away. To enter, simply fill the form below. I'll be closing this giveaway on Wednesday 11.59 p.m. US Eastern time, and will announce the winner using the always-dependable services of random.org. To enter, You don't have to be a follower of my blog. You must be over 13 years of age. Only US/Canada please. (The publisher is mailing out the copies.) Enter by Apr 27, 2011 , Wednesday, 11.59 p.m. US Eastern time. Fill the form.

The Long Goodbye by Meghan O'Rourke

Many Americans don’t wear black or beat their chests and wail in front of others. We may–I have done it–weep or despair, but we tend to do it alone, in the middle of the night. Although our culture has become more open about everything from incest to sex addiction, grief seemed to me like the last taboo. In our culture of display, the sadness of death is largely silent. When Meghan O'Rourke's mother dies, she is totally unprepared for the grief that envelopes her. Even though, she had time to "get used" to the idea that her mother will be no more (a callous euphemism often suggested by the odd person outside the grief circle), it was still a crippling alternating detachment and emotion that grips her. The Long Goodbye is a novel about grief - her grief at losing her mother to cancer, but it could just as easily have been a grief about losing anyone you love intensely. How does one deal with such a universal yet highly personal phenomenon? When I

Far to go by Alison Pick WOW!

She nodded yes. Her jaw was clenched shut. After everything they'd shared, what did Pavel take her for? Something that could be forsaken along with the silverware and linens? He should have known better, she thought. She'd been taken advantage of too many times already. She would not be made the fool, not again, not this time. Imagine if a war is brewing around you, but you don't have the knowledge of WW2, its history, causes, and its ultimate two tragedies (the Holocaust and the atom bombings) and their repercussions. Imagine that you are not lucky enough to have read about what Hitler did, from your living room or classroom, and rail against his actions in indignation, disgust and disbelief. Imagine that WW2 never happened - instead it is only going to happen, soon, in exactly the same way and we are going to be puppets in Hitler's hands, again. As a member of a designated "inferior" race, would you trust the people who stood

Yet another Monday! (April 18, 2011)

Sheila @ One Persons Journey through a world of Books wants to know what we're reading. I'm only too happy to oblige! I love weeks like last week when I get a lot of reading done. Especially when each of the books have 300-odd pages! Books completed in the last week The Kitchen Daughter by Jael McHenry : This was a sweet read! It was my first experience reading a fiction title with a foodie background, complete with recipes. The Uncoupling by Meg Wolitzer : I actually enjoyed this more than I expected to. I've been saying this all day yesterday - Meg Wolitzer's writing is so beautiful that even if this book was missing in plot and characters (which it wasn't), I would have still remained hooked to the book. News from over my blog Reviews up! Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

The Sunday Salon (Something for Harry Potter fans and A Thread of Sky lovers)

It's been a stressful week at my end - not even hectic at work. Just stressful in life. It's a good thing for me that April is a busy month in reading. Or else I could have gone into yet another rut. The weather has been crazy over here this week, but it's been mostly hot. Last weekend, my brother and I went to watch Source Code . Well, my brother wanted to watch and I just tagged along. In the end, we were both arguing over our interpretation of the ending. What a complicated concept about parallel realities. There's a reason I didn't pursue that line in school for advanced studies. Still, if you enjoyed Inception , you would probably enjoy this, though I still feel Inception was loads better and engaging, or maybe that's just the DiCaprio effect. Harry Potter fans: Are you subscribing to the Magic is Might news? You might want to, or else you'll miss all the atrocious happenings in the wizarding world which right now is in

In memoriam - Virginia Tech

Today's the fourth anniversary of the Virginia Tech shooting. Even though it's been a while now, I never quite get to shake away the realization of how tragic it was. There's a memorial event planned at Tech today - though I'm sad I won't be able to attend in person, I will certainly be thinking of those who died that day. The last two memorial events were very sombre affairs, as they should be. Even though I personally knew none of them who suffered that day (both the victims and the survivors), it was still hard to squash the feeling of sadness that enveloped me both at the morning remembrance event and the candlelight vigil in the evening. Something that has disturbed me so much (something I never wanted to write down but think it's important) was how when someone asks me which school I went to and I say Virginia Tech, the first remark I get back, most of the time with a smirk, is " Oh that's where the shooting happened ". I'm guessing

A Thread of Sky by Deanna Fei

None of them knew how to talk to one another anymore. None of them knew how to admit sadness, or confusion, or hurt, or fear, because it felt like failure, like weakness. Maybe they never had known, not since they were children. Her father's death has ripped them open, and then they'd scabbed over, too fast, their wounds still fresh under a thick, warped cover. A Thread of Sky is the story of six women - Irene Shen, whose husband of thirty years is killed in an accident four hours after he left her to pursue an opportunity in Maine and she said " Good riddance " in response to him leaving; her three daughters, Nora, who's struggling with commitment issues with a fiancé who cheated on her, Kay, who was tired of the question " Where are you from? " and decided to find out by going to China, and the teenager Sophie, suffering from bulimia and self-image issues; Irene's poet sister, Susan, who doesn't agree with everything I

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett WOW!

What had been a few pockets of careful whispering at first was now a steady hum as people returned from the bathrooms. Having stood up and stretched their legs, they didn't feel as obedient on the floor. Quietly, people began to have tentative conversations, a murmur and then a dialogue rose up from the floor, until the room became a cocktail party in which everyone was lying prone. Finally, General Alfredo was driven to shoot another hole in the ceiling, which put an end to that. A few high-pitched yelps and then silence. Not a minute after the gun went off, there was a knock on the door. The powerful Japanese businessman, Mr Hosokawa, is in an unidentified country in South America attending a birthday party in his honor, where the well-known opera singer, Roxanne Coss, has just completed her sixth song for the evening. At that moment, the lights all go off, and a few tentative minutes of darkness later, they come back on. But even before they can s