Category Archive:Reading List

Finished Frank McCourt’s Teacher Man yesterday. I have thoroughly enjoyed each of his books – maybe it is the Irish kinsmen thing. Maybe it is that I can honestly say, gee, he had a tougher childhood than mine (because we ALL know that OUR childhood was tough, right?) Right.

The coworker who brought in the book said she didn’t like it as well (if at all) as Angela’s Ashes and ‘Tis.

but . . .

you know me – all eclectic and that . . . I thoroughly enjoyed it.

In other news – this is the chair I’d like for my “reading corner” if I had such a thing (I read ALL OVER the house!). And, now I can’t remember whose site I saw it on – sorry, but if you read this just let me know and I will give you the credit for showing it off first. 😉

In other news . . .

tomorrow is my annual evaluation with my boss – at 11 a.m. – and, for the first time in five years, I’m not even worried. Hmmm, that might not be a good thing – but I seriously don’t think I will get a bad review – and, it’s not like I’ll get a raise out of it or anything. We are a non-profit and IF we get a raise, it is because the budget can stand it and they are not on a pay freeze.

I received a COLA last year and the year before. At the first pay period of the month following my hire date – which means the first pay in August – if we aren’t on a COLA freeze, I should get one.

that would be nice – of course, since we are on a fiscal year, it is all wrapped up into the budget and such – and who knows, I may be bumped back down to 30 hours or less again. Hope not. We’ll see.

Nope, still not worried – haven’t talked myself into it, yet. Think I’ll quit while I’m ahead. Thanks to everyone who peeked in on me via webcam yesterday. I hope you didn’t see me eating that sloppy (VERY sloppy) tuna sandwich. Mercy! That would be embarrassing.

heh :moose:

I have worked my way through the bag of books brought in by my boss. Here are the latest titles I’ve added to my 2007 reading list. By the way, my boss LOVES southern flavor and most of the titles I have read from her books are set in the south. Just an interesting little tidbit.

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I found this to be a great read and I plan to look for his other books as well:

William Kowalski’s The Good Neighbor

Family matters! ’nuff said. Do go and read. I highly recommend it.

at the beginning of the month – the beginning of the year – I mentioned a book I had just finished – @ Home for the Holidays by Meredith Efken.

Shortly after I finished that book my boss brought in a tub chock full of books to share. I snagged a grocery bag’s worth. She has great taste in reading and is generous with her bounty. I am always out for a new read and so snagged away.

So, in the  past two weeks, these are the books I have finished and highly recommend to you all.

The first I completed was Pigtopia by Kitty Fitzgerald. This poignant and thought provoking book was also a bit disturbing. It is hard to read of cruelty – against a human being – by other (so-called) human beings. Fiction – but oh, so believable.

I began to read Gilead by Marilynn Robinson, only to be introduced to another before I could finish it – so I read them simultaneously. It depended on the time of day and where I was which book I had in my hands.

First, Gilead. This is a long letter from a dying old preacher (77 years old) to his 7 year old son (by a second marriage after his first wife and child died.) There is much angst over what he would have his son know – and what he learns about himself and those around him while in the process of writing the letter.

Absolutely wonderful read! I know such a preacher and I found myself thinking I wish he would read this book to get an insight to himself. Then realized I was getting an insight to my pastor/preacher by reading about this one. It’s a good read – not overly religious – very human – and heart-touching. I finished it today.

And, the book my boss handed me just after I began Gilead was New Stories from the South: the Year’s Best, 2006, edited by Allan Gurganus and Kathy Pories. I finished it yesterday and returned it as was requested by my boss. (all of the rest of the books are welcome to find new homes, although I do take them back as I finish them – to allow someone who wasn’t as quick or sticky-fingered as I to enjoy them as well.)

As can be figured out by the title – it is a book of short stories and they have an underlying current running through them – the South. All happened either IN the south or TO southerners. Pathos, angst, “the” war, slavery, humanity . . . all are covered. It is a wonderful read. When you click on the link you will see that there are other issues as well – seems there is a volume published every year.

Okay – here it is just the 24th of the first month of 2007 and I have read four books this year! I’ll report later what my next selection has been.

Our receptionist is out this week so I am doing desk duty. It’s a lovely thing to be paid to sit and read all day. And, I am free to do just that – as long as the phone gets answered, the mail gets sorted, faxes handled, people let in and out of the door, coffee made, etc. Lovely, just lovely.

So – what are YOU reading?????

I picked the book up in Anchorage. B&N didn’t have the first of the two, but I was able to put my happy little grubs on @Home for the Holidays by Meredith Efken.

If you have ever been a part of any sort of email group – (you know the sort – someone sends and email, and then the group responds to it, each adding their own little twists and turns along the way) – well, you will certainly understand the humor behind the words.

I have laughed so hard today while reading it – and I am nearly 2/3s of the way through it now – that hubby moose surely thought I was losing my mind. I would wipe the tears from my eyes and put my hand over my mouth (thus to stifle somewhat the loud GUFFAWS bellowing forth – too little, too late!) and mutter “sorry, honey” and then read the next section and have to do it all over again.

Lessa is waiting to read it and I am sure that Ladybug will want it as well. Sadly, in this account anyway, I have to go back to work tomorrow. And, I have to find a Soldotnan willing to be interviewed sometime tomorrow also . . . So, I will probably not finish it until Wednesday – at the earliest. Well, we will see, won’t we?

It really is a page turner.

Now – go and buy – and, if you find a copy of SAHM I Am also by Meredith, pick that one up, too. I am still looking for it.