Category: Mostly About Reading

Are you up for a reading challenge?

Are you up for a challenge?

As you may know …

I   love   books.   I love to read books.   I love to collect books to read.

MY DISCOVERY

This week, when I did a search for the best books ever, I found a website with lists of books. Only lists of books!

Books you can’t live without.

Books that are best sellers.

Books that are the greatest of all time.

The list consists of a compilation of 13 lists of top 100 books, a list totalling 623 books! (It’s the odd number 623 because some titles were on more than one list so only mentioned once when the lists were condensed into one. Make sense?)

NOTE: Unfortunately, most of the 623 books are more for adults and only a few are for young readers.

I was disappointed and a little surprised to discover I have read only 21 books on that combined list! But, there are a few books I had started and didn’t finish (I have to dig those ones out and start over) and there are many more I want to read. 

I would be interested in knowing how you size up when it comes to what on the list you have read and if you plan to read others on there. Sooooo …. I decided to offer you a challenge!  Yes, a reading challenge!  Are you up for it?

Starting October 3, once a week a new part of the list will be here for you to see and let me know how you are doing. Until then I will be getting those posts of lists ready and scheduled. I also have set up the Milestone widget so you can see the notice and reminders of upcoming installments, and I will include links each week to past posts of the list in case you miss any.

I know this time of year is very busy for most of us, and I think we have to learn to de-stress. When you need a break for a little time to yourself what is better than curling up with a good book … even for fifteen minutes or half an hour?

Now that I think about it, I should take on this challenge myself! I have so many books on hand to read and some of them are on the list I will be sharing with you. Shall we do it?

Who is willing to join me in this reading challenge?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

It’s Banned Books Week: here’s a list of 100 banned books

This is Banned Books Week. It seems the last time I posted anything about this was in 2010, so I think it is time to mention it again with a list of 100 banned books. I know if a book is banned … or challenged, as it is usually called in the USA … it is drawn into focus more than it would have been if left alone.

The following paragraph and list is from modernlibrary.com which you may wish to check out.

On July 21, 1998, the Radcliffe Publishing Course compiled and released its own list of the century’s top 100 novels, at the request of the Modern Library editorial board.

  1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  2. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
  3. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
  4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
  5. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
  6. Ulysses by James Joyce
  7. Beloved by Toni Morrison
  8. The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
  9. 1984 by George Orwell
  10. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
  11. Lolita by Vladmir Nabokov
  12. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
  13. Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
  14. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
  15. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
  16. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
  17. Animal Farm by George Orwell
  18. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
  19. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
  20. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
  21. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
  22. Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne
  23. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
  24. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
  25. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
  26. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
  27. Native Son by Richard Wright
  28. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
  29. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
  30. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
  31. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
  32. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
  33. The Call of the Wild by Jack London
  34. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
  35. Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
  36. Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin
  37. The World According to Garp by John Irving
  38. All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren
  39. A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
  40. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
  41. Schindler’s List by Thomas Keneally
  42. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
  43. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
  44. Finnegans Wake by James Joyce
  45. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
  46. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
  47. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
  48. Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence
  49. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
  50. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
  51. My Antonia by Willa Cather
  52. Howards End by E.M. Forster
  53. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
  54. Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
  55. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
  56. Jazz by Toni Morrison
  57. Sophie’s Choice by William Styron
  58. Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner
  59. A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
  60. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
  61. A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor
  62. Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  63. Orlando by Virginia Woolf
  64. Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence
  65. Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
  66. Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
  67. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
  68. Light in August by William Faulkner
  69. The Wings of the Dove by Henry James
  70. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
  71. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
  72. A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
  73. Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
  74. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
  75. Women in Love by D.H. Lawrence
  76. Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe
  77. In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway
  78. The Autobiography of Alice B. Tokias by Gertrude Stein
  79. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
  80. The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
  81. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
  82. White Noise by Don DeLillo
  83. O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
  84. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
  85. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
  86. Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
  87. The Bostonians by Henry James
  88. An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
  89. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
  90. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
  91. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  92. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
  93. The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles
  94. Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis
  95. Kim by Rudyard Kipling
  96. The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  97. Rabbit, Run by John Updike
  98. Where Angels Fear to Tread by E.M. Forster
  99. Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
  100. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie

For someone who loves to read my record is poor: six I have read, seven I have seen as movies, eight I have on hand to read – four of those I started.

Have you read any of these? Do you agree with any of them being banned, or do you believe banning books is a bad practice?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Book Review: Unglued Devotional: 60 Days of Imperfect Progress – by Lysa TerKeurst

Unglued Devotional by Lysa TerKeurst
Book: UNGLUED Devotional: 60 Days of Imperfect Progress
Author: Lysa TerKeurst
Publisher: Zondervan
Date: December 18, 2012
Genre: Christian devotional
Pages: 208; paperback
Price: $12.99
My rating: An excellent, inspirational book of encouragement and comfort for women
 

I received this book from BookSneeze in exchange for an honest review.

Lysa TerKeurst is a bestselling author of fifteen books and a national speaker. She is also the president of Proverbs 31 Ministries (www.proverbs31.org), helping women learn to live lives centered on God in the midst of whatever life brings.

This devotional was written for the purpose of being a companion book to her bestselling book Unglued, which I have not read. As someone who knows what it is to become unglued, I thoroughly enjoyed each daily devotional. Lysa TerKeurst writes from a woman’s heart to a woman’s heart in such an understanding way. In doing so, she draws attention to God while He uses her words to minister to the reader.

Unglued Devotional: 60 Days of Imperfect Progress. If we are honest about it we all can testify to making imperfect progress. Lysa TerKeurst speaks from that place in easy conversational writing. She has put together a wonderful 60-day devotional that I wished could have been longer. It takes less than five minutes to read one day’s devotional, which begins with a scripture reading, followed by a Thought for the Day, and then a short reading usually consisting of a very suitable anecdote from her experience. Some are funny, some are painful to read because they are so familiar, all are encouraging and insightful. Each devotion ends in a very brief prayer that is an easy lead-in for the reader to continue on her own.

I like finding good devotionals. This is one of the best I have found. The author does not preach or talk above the reader, or talk down to the reader. She is honest, sincere, and transparent in her writing and addressed common issues in a way that made THIS reader stop and think.

If you are wanting to find a devotional that is real to your own life, easy to read, and suitable for those days when you have maybe five minutes to spare … try this one. Unglued Devotional: 60 Days of Imperfect Progress by Lysa TerKeurst is likely to stir your heart and encourage you in your walk with God and in your relationships with the people in your life.

You can find Unglued Devotional: 60 Days of Imperfect Progress listed on my BUY THE BOOK! page.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings!  🙂

 

 

 

Feeling blue, & Emily Dickinson’s poem “I started early”

I lost last week.

Do you ever experience those segments of time when the hours seem to simply float on to nowhere leaving you behind, alone?

Do you ever feel that you cannot even get motivated enough to be progressive, or to even care whether you are or not?

Last week got away from me. I hate when that happens. Blue isn’t just a beautiful colour.

BLUE

The up side is Spring is taking hold here now. The birds are singing and building nests, some already feeding their young. Buds are beginning to swell, although at my home on a higher landscape the snow is not completely gone. This week is expected to be rainy some days, so that will take the last of the snow away. Good, I say!

Now to the main topic of my post … Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886)

She was a melancholy person and became very reclusive. Are you familiar with any of Emily Dickinson’s poetry? I didn’t know much about her or her writing, but awhile ago I came across one of her poems and I liked it so much I thought perhaps you would enjoy it on You Tube. Please take your time and watch it/listen to it several times to take it all in. Check it out: Emily Dickinson’s I started early    

Y0u can read about her life here. It’s a very interesting article.

I used to write a lot of poetry, but haven’t written much the last many years except in an online challenge. For me, poetry seems to tap into a part of my being that nothing else can reach, and releases from my inner thought processes what nothing else seems able to do.

blue sparkles

How do you feel about poetry? Do you enjoy it? 

Which do you prefer – reading it or writing it? or do you enjoy equally reading and writing poetry?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings!  🙂

We have a winner of Donna Earnhardt’s book Being Frank!

Hello, Everyone! My apologies for taking longer to draw a name tonight than planned. We went to visit a family member who got out of hospital today.

Now to the exciting news …

WE HAVE A WINNER! My husband drew a name out of the basket for me, and we have a winner of Donna Earnhardt’s beautiful picture book “Being Frank“!

Drum Roll please …

snare-drum-th

and the winner is …

Michele! Congratulations, Michele! Look for my email request for your mailing information. The publisher, Flashlight Press, will be sending you your own copy of Being Frank.  🙂

Thank you to everyone for visiting and entering the draw. Keep tuned for more book reviews, interviews and book giveaways.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings!  🙂

Book review: Being Frank – by Donna W. Earnhardt

Being FrankBook: Being Frank
Author: Donna W. Earnhardt
Illustrator: Andrea Castellani
Genre: picture book, for ages 5 – 7
Publisher: Flashlight Press
Date: September 26, 2012
Price: $16.95
My rating: a “must have” beautifully illustrated storybook with a moral presented in an entertaining way
 

I met the author, Donna Earnhardt, online in a writers chatroom maybe three years ago when she was still hoping to write the children’s book that would be accepted by a publisher. Well, it has happened! Being Frank is her first picture book to be placed into the hands of eager children, and it is a beautiful one.

The story begins with these words: Frank was always frank. “Honesty is the best policy,” he said.

While that motto is a very good one, it got Frank into big trouble. Although he knew how to be honest, he didn’t know anything about tact. Eventually, everyone was upset with him, he was being ignored by his friends, and he didn’t understand what to do about it. Enter … his grandfather. Yay! for grandparents!  😉  What he learned from his grandfather Ernest changed how Frank handled his honesty so that he could still be honest but without hurting people’s feelings.

Although Being Frank is a story with a moral, it does not come across in a preachy teachy way that could put children off. It is entertaining and funny while getting the point across.

Donna has everything in this book that should appeal to a child. Words used are fun and a little challenging, there are amusing situations, she uses great names that describe the characters – another example being Mr. Wiggins, the school principal who wears a toupée – and she has brought out true feelings expressed by her characters. It is believable and entertaining for children (and grown-ups, too.)

A fabulous picture book story falls short when there are not great illustrations to back it up. Well, there is nothing amiss in this book! The characters in Donna Earnhardt’s Being Frank are brought to life through the bright and colourful illustrations of Andrea Castellani. (His name is pronounced An-dray-a.) When my grandson and I read this book together he was busily taking it all in, there is so much to see and enjoy that goes with the words.

Being Frank by Donna Earnhardt is a wonderful book to add to your bookshelf.

You can find Being Frank listed on my BUY THE BOOK! page.

Please come back on Thursday, March 14, for my interview with author Donna Earnhardt. There is a picture book to win! 🙂

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings!  🙂

 
 

Remembering Dr. Seuss

A year ago on this date I wrote a post in honour of Dr. Seuss‘ birthday. If he were still with us today he would be 104. Because I am trying to take care of some other things this week, I am going to simply give you the link to my 2012 post. I hope you will go here and read it again, or for the first time.

I miss reading Dr. Seuss‘ fabulous books to my little girls … who are all grown up now. I suppose I could dig out a few of his books and read them to the dog. If he gets up and leaves the room I’ll know I’ve lost my touch and need more practice in reading aloud again. 😉

Dr. Seuss and characters

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss! Thanks for being a rebel and breaking new ground.

Perhaps we should encourage ourselves by remembering Dr. Seuss as one who didn’t give up his dream. No one can live it or do it for us, so, to quote Dr. Seuss: “You are you and that is true, there’s no one in the world who’s you-er than you.”

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings!  🙂