Lamplight and a book

Lastest Read

mbarteau — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 17:05:38 +0000

A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin is really taking me a long time to read. It has so many characters and is over 1000 pages long. However, he has developed such uniques characters, I will forge ahead just to see what will happened to them. This is his 5 book in the series and there are two more to go. I am very vested in the series. I can’t quit but I sure wish his editors would rope in his wordy ways.

Mockingjay Keeps Me Awake

mbarteau — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:48:07 +0000

I was up all night finishing Suzanne Collins’ Mockingjay. It held my attention and I couldn’t put it down. It is the third book in the series. I had to find out what happened to Katniss., Peeta, Prim and Gale.

The Scandinavian Summer

mbarteau — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 05:43:26 +0000

No, I did not literally go to Sweden. I just spent the summer with Lisbeth Salandar and via Stieg Larissons’ series The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. I never knew characters could smoke and drink so much coffee. Could I please have a cup of Swedish coffee? Loved the series.

Books, Books, Books!!!

mbarteau — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 16:01:30 +0000

I just love reading! It is a rainy day and I am happy. I have an excuse to lay around and read. Started Death Interrupted by Jose Sarmago. People stop dying in one country. There are so many ramifications, overcrowding, economical and governmental issues. Since the author is from Portugal, I need to find out if they have national health care and what the government structure is like.

Brown Bag Lunch Series

mbarteau — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 20:42:04 +0000

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Reading Five Books at One Time

mbarteau — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:20:09 +0000

Unbelievable, I have started five books. One that has a deadline. I think I will check them off as I go. The one that is currently capturing my time is The Private Patient by PD James. I love a good mystery.

New Year a Time to Reflect over 50 Decades of Reading

mbarteau — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 13:01:07 +0000

I decided I better pull together my Top Ten Favorite Book List for the BW Teacher Reading Blog. This is so incredibly hard. I did not realize how much I have read over five decades and how much my taste in reading has varied! I did not even get into the many nonfiction books I’ve read and loved. I would be better off giving the ten in various genres or listing 10 titles per decade. Here goes an attempt and none of these are in any type of order.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman and everything he has written.
Additional tops picks of his Neverwhere, Stardust, Sandman series, Anasi Boys.
Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and everything, everything he ever wrote.
Additional top picks of his Breakfast of Champions, Welcome to the Monkey House, Timequake and so it goes.
Collected Stories by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, as well as, One Hudred Years of Solitude & Love in the Time of Cholera.
Dune series by Frank Herbert
Foundation series by Issac Asimov & everything else he wrote.
Going to Extremes by Joe McGinnis
Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury & everything else he wrote. (He loved librarians. I met him and received a huge hug from him!)
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Light on Yoga by B. K. S Iyengar’s
Missing Piece by Shel Silverstein
Mystery & Detective stories any and all. LOVE THEM! I started with author Agatha Christy & Sherlock Holmes stories during my 8th Grade year and am currently into James Patterson. Fun reads and I love to solve “who done it.”
No Ordinary Genius: the Illustrated Richard Feynmann by Richard Feynmann
Once and Future King by T.H. White
Rama series by Arthur C. Clark
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
Shadow series by Orson Scott Card
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein

Challenge Has Been Met.

mbarteau — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:05:03 +0000

This morning at 5:30 a.m. I finished reading the last of the Abe Lincoln Nominees. Wickedl Lovely by Marr had the honor of being the last nominee. It took me to the land of fairies. I was unfamiliar with fairy lore. However, after spending time in Marr’s fey, I am well acquainted with all the rules from steel as protection and never ever drink or eat fairy food.

Now it is time to focus on my favorite Abe Nominee. It won’t be the winner but I did enjoy The Abundance of Katherine. I love John Greene’s writing style and humor.

I am bookless at the moment but I suspect that won’t last long. So Abe, I say ado to you until next year.

Continuing to read up a storm.

mbarteau — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:03:23 +0000

Alright. I have now read most of the Abe nominees. I have 6 more to go. This week I read Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles. I also read, a moving true story A Long Way to Go by Ishmael Beah. After losing his family to rebels, Ishmael was forced to serve in the Sierre Leone corrupt army and kill at the ripe old age of 13, a children’s army.

I finally finished Sarah Vowell’s Wordy Shipmates. She makes learning history so much fun. Who knew Puritanism could be so much fun!

Recent Late Night Reads Meg Cabot’s Avalon High

mbarteau — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:54:16 +0000

This challenge to read all the Abe Lincoln Book Nominees before December’s break is causing many a sleepless night! I start a book, can’t put it down and read until the wee hours.

I finished The Haunting Of Alaizabel Cray the other day and gave myself one night off. Today I grabbed Meg Cabot’s Avalon High to devour with dread this week. I say with dread because I figured it was going to be way too romantic for me. I am not a romantic kind of gal. Boy, was I pleasantly surprised. It was a retelling of King Arthur in the 21st century. Loved it because one of my top ten books ever is T. H. White’s The Once and Future King. I am such a sucker for anything with Arthur and Merlin in it. Also, the book had a nice twist to it. There is a female protagonist and NO she is not King Arthur!