I read quite a considerable amount more during October than I did during September. That's because in September, I was busy finding a place to live and moving there. Once moved in, there was no television to speak of. It's all digital out here, and we didn't have a way to watch digital. So I read and crocheted a lot. Harnessed my inner old lady. (And loved it, btw.)
Oh, and I didn't have much internet, either, so the lit blog got a *tad* neglected. It happens. Needless to say, I need to update the reading list on the sidebar.
I finished "Our New Nation" as well as "Sense and Sensibility."
I also picked up "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" as my New. I literally laughed out loud for minutes at a time upon reading the first chapter. However, it started dying about half way through. The story changes a little bit and I had a difficult time getting over the author doing that. Besides, the whole bottom half of the book felt like the author was rushing just to be done with it. It lost a lot of the flavor of the original that he had managed to keep in the first half. Which I considered a shame. I've heard there's "Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters" out, though. Not sure I'm ready to pick that one up, seeing how disappointed I was with the last of PP&Z.
I had some help picking out a Random. Pulled all the books from my bookshelf that I hadn't read yet (one of my goals is to have read all the books that I own) and narrowed it down to a couple. I was on the phone with a friend and asked them to pick right or left or 1, 2, or 3 or something like that. Didn't say what the titles were, so it truly was random. And it was a rather dry choice. Freud's "The Psychoanalysis of Everyday Life." I didn't even make it 50 pages before counting my breeze through "YHWH is NOT a Radio Station In Minneapolis" as my Random Read. (It's a short humor book. Sort of like the ABC's on Jewish beliefs.)
Then I picked up "The Greatest Virtue" by Pat Robertson as my True. (The answer is humility.) It's been okay. Not the most interesting thing I've ever read, but it does get me thinking about things while I'm reading it. Deciphering what I agree with and what I don't agree with.
For my Old, I'm doing a re-read of one of my faves: O Pioneers! by Willa Cather. I bought this book in the fall of 07, after I had been in Nebraska a short while. I had liked "My Antonia" well enough and assumed I'd like this one, too. I was right. I decided last November I wanted to read through it again. It's become an annual tradition of mine, I guess you could say. Because I picked it up just the other day (Nov. 22) and discovered a break-out slip from work that I must have been using as a bookmark the last time I read it. It was dated Nov. 21, 2008.
O Pioneers!
In the Barnes & Noble edition, there is an introduction by Chris Kraus which I browsed before reading this time. (I've probably read it before, though.) And one thing that he said shed some light as to why I enjoy this book so much. He spends some time talking about Cather's distaste for women authors because all they write about is romance.
"But as Joan Acocella points out, one of Cather's greatest achievements was to write fiction in which love and marriage comprise only partial aspects her female protagonists' destinies. Alexandra does marry Carl, but this isn't the point of the story. By the time they marry, Alexandra's character has already been formed--by her relationship to the land, and to others; she is not defined by her marriage."
Reading through it, I've recognized some quotes that often run through my head so often that they're memorized.
p.11
"There is often a great deal of the child left in people who have had to grow up too soon."
p. 27
A new favorite comes just before an old one here.
"A steady job, a few holidays, nothing to think about, and they would have been very happy."
"A pioneer should have imagination, should be able to enjoy the idea of things more than the things themselves."
p. 29
The exchange between Carl and Alexandra when he tells her his family is moving back to St. Louis; I have obtained more understanding about human emotion from this scene than probably any other literature I have read.
"She brushed the tears from her cheeks, not trying to hide them."
Alexandra to Carl: "It's by understanding me, and the boys, and mother, that you've helped me. I expect that is the only way one person ever really can help another." I actually used that in a letter I wrote to someone.
Carl to Alexandra: "We've someway always felt alike about things."
Alexandra to Carl: "Yes, that's it; we've liked the same tings and we've liked them together, without anybody else knowing....We've never either of us had any other close friend....and now I must remember that you are going where you will have many friends."
p. 35
"For the first time, perhaps, since that land emerged from the waters of geologic ages, a human face was set toward it with love and yearning. It seemed beautiful to her, rich and strong and glorious....The history of every country begins in the heart of a man or a woman."
2009-11-29
2009-08-12
Reading Journal
Yeah, there's a reason I haven't updated this one in a month...I haven't been reading for leisure much. Not because I don't have leisure time; I do. My first excuse is that I've been opening a lot, which requires me to be out the door by 4:40 a.m. to be there on time. Which makes reading my scriptures when I wake up not as possible as I'd like it to be. So I've been reading them on my break at work, which was when I normally did my leisure reading. Also, we've got cable. And it's been hot out, so not as much opportunity to sit outside and read.
I have managed to knock out a few pages in this month, though. But I feel a little guilty for renewing my library book online since I know a librarian who got laid off the other day.
Our New Nation
I didn't mark any quotations. So either I wasn't struck by anything or I was, didn't have an appropriate way to mark the page and have forgotten.
However, I do remember enjoying reading the section about "Cowboys on the Plains." Especially when the book went into great detail on the trek from Texas to the midwestern meat packinghouses.
Oh, but here's a little gem from p. 239, on the spreading of our nation into the islands of the Pacific.
"...and today the population [of Hawaii] is made up of brown-skinned Hawaiians, yellow-skinned people from China and Japan, and white people mostly from the United States."
How hilariously un-PC.
_________________________________
Sense and Sensibility
So I've apparently read more from this than I thought, considering my last quote came from chapter 19 and my first one for this post comes from chapter 22 and my bookmark is on 40. However, I had a piece of paper inserted randomly into the book, mistook it for my bookmark and read for 4-5 pages, thinking it was familiar from the movie. Just more proof that I have zero reading retention. (I'm hoping that my pulling out and posting quotes helps at least a little with that.)
Chapter 22
"I certainly did not seek your confidence," said Elinor (to Lucy).
I like the way that sounds and have felt that way many times. Especially during one circumstance this past month.
Chapter 23, near the beginning
Elinor's thoughts after Lucy's news on the way Edward had treated herself at Norland
"Her mother, sisters, Fanny, a had been conscious of his regard for her at Norland; it was not an illusion of her own vanity. He certainly loved her. What a softener of the heart was this persuasion! How much could it not tempt her to forgive! He had been blameable, highly blameable in remaining at Norland after he first felt her influence over him to be more than it ought to be. In that, he could not be defended; but if he had injured her, how much more had he injured himself! If her case were pitiable, his was hopeless. His imprudence had made her miserable for a while; but it seemed to have deprived himself of all chance of ever being otherwise. She might in time regain tranquillity; but he, what had he to look forward to? Could he ever be tolerably happy with Lucy Steele? Could he, were his affection for herself out of the question, with his integrity, his delicacy, and well-informed mind, be satisfied with a wife like her--illiterate, artful, and selfish?
"The youthful infatuation of nineteen would naturally blind him to everything but her beauty and good nature; but the four succeeding years--years which, if rationally spent, give such improvements to the understanding, must have opened his eyes to her defects of education: while the same period of time, spent on her side in inferior society and more frivolous pursuits, had perhaps robbed her of that simplicity which might once have given an interesting character to her beauty."
That is why I love Austen.
Chapter 31, near the beginning
Marianne on Mrs. Jennings
"'No, no, no, it cannot be,' she cried; 'she cannot feel. Her kindness is not sympathy; her good-nature is not tenderness. All that she wants is gossip, and she only likes me now because I supply it."
How true that can be sometimes.
Chapter 36, near the beginning
"One thing did disturb her [Mrs. Jennings]; and of that she made her daily complaint. Mr. Palmer maintained the common, but unfatherly opinion among his sex, of all infants being alike; and though she could plainly perceive at different times the most striking resemblance between this baby and every one of his relations on both sides, there was no convincing his father of it; no persuading him to believe that it was not exactly like every other baby of the same age; nor could he even be brought to acknowledge the simple proposition of its being the finest child in the world."
Chapter 37, smack in the middle
I wish I could quote this all...I've tried to pick out the good parts, but it's all good. The exchange between Marianne and Elinor in this chapter is one of my favorites of the story. When Marianne discovers not only how long Edward has been engaged to Lucy, but how long Elinor has known of it and Marianne accosts her sister...it's an exchange of sisterhood at it's finest. If you don't have a sister and want to understand the bond that sisters have, despite being so different in personality, read this exchange. (Or watch this scene in the movie, I guess. But the book does better at conveying the relationship, I think.)
Yet one more reason I love Austen.
I have managed to knock out a few pages in this month, though. But I feel a little guilty for renewing my library book online since I know a librarian who got laid off the other day.
Our New Nation
I didn't mark any quotations. So either I wasn't struck by anything or I was, didn't have an appropriate way to mark the page and have forgotten.
However, I do remember enjoying reading the section about "Cowboys on the Plains." Especially when the book went into great detail on the trek from Texas to the midwestern meat packinghouses.
Oh, but here's a little gem from p. 239, on the spreading of our nation into the islands of the Pacific.
"...and today the population [of Hawaii] is made up of brown-skinned Hawaiians, yellow-skinned people from China and Japan, and white people mostly from the United States."
How hilariously un-PC.
_________________________________
Sense and Sensibility
So I've apparently read more from this than I thought, considering my last quote came from chapter 19 and my first one for this post comes from chapter 22 and my bookmark is on 40. However, I had a piece of paper inserted randomly into the book, mistook it for my bookmark and read for 4-5 pages, thinking it was familiar from the movie. Just more proof that I have zero reading retention. (I'm hoping that my pulling out and posting quotes helps at least a little with that.)
Chapter 22
"I certainly did not seek your confidence," said Elinor (to Lucy).
I like the way that sounds and have felt that way many times. Especially during one circumstance this past month.
Chapter 23, near the beginning
Elinor's thoughts after Lucy's news on the way Edward had treated herself at Norland
"Her mother, sisters, Fanny, a had been conscious of his regard for her at Norland; it was not an illusion of her own vanity. He certainly loved her. What a softener of the heart was this persuasion! How much could it not tempt her to forgive! He had been blameable, highly blameable in remaining at Norland after he first felt her influence over him to be more than it ought to be. In that, he could not be defended; but if he had injured her, how much more had he injured himself! If her case were pitiable, his was hopeless. His imprudence had made her miserable for a while; but it seemed to have deprived himself of all chance of ever being otherwise. She might in time regain tranquillity; but he, what had he to look forward to? Could he ever be tolerably happy with Lucy Steele? Could he, were his affection for herself out of the question, with his integrity, his delicacy, and well-informed mind, be satisfied with a wife like her--illiterate, artful, and selfish?
"The youthful infatuation of nineteen would naturally blind him to everything but her beauty and good nature; but the four succeeding years--years which, if rationally spent, give such improvements to the understanding, must have opened his eyes to her defects of education: while the same period of time, spent on her side in inferior society and more frivolous pursuits, had perhaps robbed her of that simplicity which might once have given an interesting character to her beauty."
That is why I love Austen.
Chapter 31, near the beginning
Marianne on Mrs. Jennings
"'No, no, no, it cannot be,' she cried; 'she cannot feel. Her kindness is not sympathy; her good-nature is not tenderness. All that she wants is gossip, and she only likes me now because I supply it."
How true that can be sometimes.
Chapter 36, near the beginning
"One thing did disturb her [Mrs. Jennings]; and of that she made her daily complaint. Mr. Palmer maintained the common, but unfatherly opinion among his sex, of all infants being alike; and though she could plainly perceive at different times the most striking resemblance between this baby and every one of his relations on both sides, there was no convincing his father of it; no persuading him to believe that it was not exactly like every other baby of the same age; nor could he even be brought to acknowledge the simple proposition of its being the finest child in the world."
Chapter 37, smack in the middle
I wish I could quote this all...I've tried to pick out the good parts, but it's all good. The exchange between Marianne and Elinor in this chapter is one of my favorites of the story. When Marianne discovers not only how long Edward has been engaged to Lucy, but how long Elinor has known of it and Marianne accosts her sister...it's an exchange of sisterhood at it's finest. If you don't have a sister and want to understand the bond that sisters have, despite being so different in personality, read this exchange. (Or watch this scene in the movie, I guess. But the book does better at conveying the relationship, I think.)
Yet one more reason I love Austen.
2009-07-11
Reading Journal
I was bad. I bought a book today. Technically, I bought two. One was a birthday present, however. The other one I bought...I haven't decided if I'm going to keep it and put it in my "new" category, in case Pride, Prejudice and Zombies doesn't come through by the time I'm ready for it.
Our New Nation
It has really been interesting to see how time has changed how we view history. Textbooks like this today have more history to cover, so they can't really go into much depth, despite there being more information readily available. Journals being found and all that jazz.
Whenever I read general history books, it's always been interesting to see what gets revealed about Mormonism. A lot of the ones that I read during my schooling talked about Joseph Smith and some of the trials they went through on their way to Nauvoo. They also lumped the Mormon Trail into the unit with the Oregon Trail, mentioning Brigham Young in passing. And that was the end of the coverage of Mormonism. Except for the obligatory discussion on polygamy, which I found amusing more often than not.
This book takes a different spin. Smith didn't even make it into the index. The trials of the early saints discussed were not the persecution that drove them from place to place. Rather, it was the trek across the country and their settling Utah and making it a state. Since there were fewer states in 1948 and less wars to discuss the history of, "Our New Nation" has been able to discuss how many of the states were settled and became states. I don't remember getting that from my history books. Then again, maybe I would have learned this things in school had I been paying attention.
[Quotes]
Anyone know of Cornelius Cox? Starting on page 149, they quote some excerpts from his journal traveling to California during the gold rush.
"There is one young lady with our company, a Miss Wayland from western Texas. She is about sixteen and quite a pretty girl. I have claimed kinship with her mother, whose maiden name was Cox. But she refuses to acknowledge me unless I will shave, which is a condition I cannot comply with."
p. 163 explains, perhaps, why history can be so hard to understand.
"The long continued story which history tells is divided into many short stories. Often these short stories tell about happenings which were going on at the same time."
___________________________________________
"Sense and Sensibility"
I won't comment on the plot or writing in general, since there have been plenty of Austen critics who are much more qualified to do such, but allow me to say that I do understand why Emma Thompson made Sir John a widow, even though his wife provides an ample parallel in the relationship between family. That, and his wife is (by her nature) a rather minor character.
[Quotes]
I'll quote by chapter, since there are probably as many versions as there are chapters.
Chapter 4
Elinor discussing her opinion of Edward with Marianne.
"...I have seen a great deal of him, have studied his sentiments, and heard his opinions on subjects of literature and taste; and, upon the whole, I venture to pronounce that his mind is well informed, his enjoyment of books exceeding great, his imagination lively, his observation just and correct, and his taste delicate and pure. His abilities in every respect improve as much upon acquaintance as his manners and person. At first sight, his address is certainly not striking; and his person can hardly be called handsome, till the expression of his eyes, which are uncommonly good, and teh general sweetness of his countenance is perceived. At present, I know him so well, that I think him really handsome; or, at least, almost so."
Less wordy: She finds him pretty on the outside because she thinks he's pretty on the inside.
Chapter 15, nearing the end
Elinor discussing Marianne's possible engagement to Willoughby with their mother.
Mrs. Dashwood: "I have not wanted syllables where actions have spoken so plainly....Have we not perfectly understood each other? Has not my consent been daily asked by his looks, his manner, his attentive and affectionate respect?"
Elinor: "I confess...that every circumstance except one is in favour of their engagement, but that one is the total silence of both on the subject, and with me it almost outweighs every other."
Chapter 18
Marianne and Edward, discussing art and beauty.
Edward: "Remember, I have no knowldge in the picturesque, and I shall offend you by my ignorance and want of taste, if we come to particulars."
Chapter 19
Good advice
"You are are in a melancholy humour, and facny that anyone unlike yourself must be happy. But remember that the pain of parting from friends will be felt by everybody at times, whatever be their education or state. Know your own happiness."
Our New Nation
It has really been interesting to see how time has changed how we view history. Textbooks like this today have more history to cover, so they can't really go into much depth, despite there being more information readily available. Journals being found and all that jazz.
Whenever I read general history books, it's always been interesting to see what gets revealed about Mormonism. A lot of the ones that I read during my schooling talked about Joseph Smith and some of the trials they went through on their way to Nauvoo. They also lumped the Mormon Trail into the unit with the Oregon Trail, mentioning Brigham Young in passing. And that was the end of the coverage of Mormonism. Except for the obligatory discussion on polygamy, which I found amusing more often than not.
This book takes a different spin. Smith didn't even make it into the index. The trials of the early saints discussed were not the persecution that drove them from place to place. Rather, it was the trek across the country and their settling Utah and making it a state. Since there were fewer states in 1948 and less wars to discuss the history of, "Our New Nation" has been able to discuss how many of the states were settled and became states. I don't remember getting that from my history books. Then again, maybe I would have learned this things in school had I been paying attention.
[Quotes]
Anyone know of Cornelius Cox? Starting on page 149, they quote some excerpts from his journal traveling to California during the gold rush.
"There is one young lady with our company, a Miss Wayland from western Texas. She is about sixteen and quite a pretty girl. I have claimed kinship with her mother, whose maiden name was Cox. But she refuses to acknowledge me unless I will shave, which is a condition I cannot comply with."
p. 163 explains, perhaps, why history can be so hard to understand.
"The long continued story which history tells is divided into many short stories. Often these short stories tell about happenings which were going on at the same time."
___________________________________________
"Sense and Sensibility"
I won't comment on the plot or writing in general, since there have been plenty of Austen critics who are much more qualified to do such, but allow me to say that I do understand why Emma Thompson made Sir John a widow, even though his wife provides an ample parallel in the relationship between family. That, and his wife is (by her nature) a rather minor character.
[Quotes]
I'll quote by chapter, since there are probably as many versions as there are chapters.
Chapter 4
Elinor discussing her opinion of Edward with Marianne.
"...I have seen a great deal of him, have studied his sentiments, and heard his opinions on subjects of literature and taste; and, upon the whole, I venture to pronounce that his mind is well informed, his enjoyment of books exceeding great, his imagination lively, his observation just and correct, and his taste delicate and pure. His abilities in every respect improve as much upon acquaintance as his manners and person. At first sight, his address is certainly not striking; and his person can hardly be called handsome, till the expression of his eyes, which are uncommonly good, and teh general sweetness of his countenance is perceived. At present, I know him so well, that I think him really handsome; or, at least, almost so."
Less wordy: She finds him pretty on the outside because she thinks he's pretty on the inside.
Chapter 15, nearing the end
Elinor discussing Marianne's possible engagement to Willoughby with their mother.
Mrs. Dashwood: "I have not wanted syllables where actions have spoken so plainly....Have we not perfectly understood each other? Has not my consent been daily asked by his looks, his manner, his attentive and affectionate respect?"
Elinor: "I confess...that every circumstance except one is in favour of their engagement, but that one is the total silence of both on the subject, and with me it almost outweighs every other."
Chapter 18
Marianne and Edward, discussing art and beauty.
Edward: "Remember, I have no knowldge in the picturesque, and I shall offend you by my ignorance and want of taste, if we come to particulars."
Chapter 19
Good advice
"You are are in a melancholy humour, and facny that anyone unlike yourself must be happy. But remember that the pain of parting from friends will be felt by everybody at times, whatever be their education or state. Know your own happiness."
2009-06-28
Reading Journal
After over 2 months of reading, I finally finished "A Marvelouis Work and A Wonder." I'm going to pick out the quotes here and take it with me to church. The sisters said there was an investigator who might be interested in reading it, and I know my Visiting Teaching companion said she'd like to read it.
It can get dry and repetitive, but that's par for the course of a reference book. I realized about half way through it that it wasn't intended to be read the way I read it: cover to cover. The best way to read this book is by section. Use the table of contents to discover what you'd like to learn more about, and read a chapter at a time.
p. 305
"There are many faithful people who have done all they consistently could to prove themselves worthy of the choicest blessings of the Lord but how have been deprived the privilege of having children through no fault of their own. On the other hand, there are many who have borne children whose lives have been such that they will be entirely unworthy of them in the eternal worlds. The Lord has provided a millenium, during which time, no doubt, necessary adjustments will be made."
That is probably my most favorite passage from this entire book.
______________________________________________
I'm also continuing to read "Our New Nation." Which is a 7th grade history book from 1948.
Allow me to quote from the preface, or "Purpose and Plan of this Book," on page 5.
"The history contains frequent quotations from our leaders. Some of these hae been simplified to meet vocabulary requirements. The authors have also occasionally used conversations that might have taken place in order to make America's past more understandable and interesting to the pupil."
I managed to find this little gem on page 13, which I feel says a lot about history and about life. It's sentences like this that make me like reading books I wouldn't normally read. Call it "the brown sugar in the oatmeal," if you will. It's placed after George Washington has denied petitions to make him king, and the telling of people's reactions to that.
"People were beginning to understand that it might be as hard to keep freedom as it had been to win it."
Here's something page 15 of the book attributes to Benjamin Franklin during the Federal Convention (when the Founding Fathers were drawing up the Constitution). Considering the confession in the preface, I'm not sure how accurate that attribution is.
"The longer I live...the more I hae come to respect other men's opinions. For I have noticed that when the carpenter wishes to make a perfect joint, he has to plane a little from each plank. In that way he is able to bring them together in a tight and perfect joint. Let us do the same thing. Let us each be willing to give up some of the things we want for the good of all. For, gentlemen, what we need in these meetings is light, not heat."
p. 82. I have intentionally left some of the words as blanks to prove how history can repeat itself.
"[General _______] believed that the _____(a)____ had been helping the ___(b)____. So he captured a ____(a)___ fort and drove out the ___(a)____ soldiers. He pulled down the ___(a)____ flag and raised the American flag instead.
"When news of this reached __(a)___, the king and his officers in the ___(a)____ government were very angry. They demanded that General _______ be punished for going into ___(a)____ territory. Our country hummed with excitement. The papers were filled with talk of war.
"But our government insisted that the invasion of _______ had been necessary. It refused to punish General _______ or dismiss him from the army."
___________________________________________
This afternoon, I plan on watching "Sense and Sensibility" so that it'll be easier for me to plow through the book. I'll need to really zoom through one of the two in order to get a "purse book," since neither of the books I'm reading will physically fit into my purse. Oh, well, I guess that means I'll have to write on my breaks at work, huh?
It can get dry and repetitive, but that's par for the course of a reference book. I realized about half way through it that it wasn't intended to be read the way I read it: cover to cover. The best way to read this book is by section. Use the table of contents to discover what you'd like to learn more about, and read a chapter at a time.
p. 3
Quoting a pamphlet entitled "The Strength of the Mormon Position," by Elder Orson F. Whitney
"One day he said to me: You Mormons are all ignoramuses. You don't even know the strength of your own positionn....The issue is between Catholicism and Mormonism. If we are right, you are wrong; if you are right, we are wrong; and that's all there is to it. The Protestants haven't a leg to stand on. For, if we are wrong, they are wrong with us, since they were a part of us and went out from us. If we are right, they are apostates whom we cut off long ago."
p. 115
After citing John 16:7, 12-14
"[The Savior], his Father, and the Holy Ghost are three distinct personages, and that their oneness referred to in the scriptures is only oneness of purpose and desire, else why should Jesus pray unto his Father and promise that the Father would send another Comforter? There cannont be another unless there is already one. Jesus is the one Comforter, and surely he would not pray unto himself, asking that he himself send himself as 'another Comforter.'"p. 305
"There are many faithful people who have done all they consistently could to prove themselves worthy of the choicest blessings of the Lord but how have been deprived the privilege of having children through no fault of their own. On the other hand, there are many who have borne children whose lives have been such that they will be entirely unworthy of them in the eternal worlds. The Lord has provided a millenium, during which time, no doubt, necessary adjustments will be made."
That is probably my most favorite passage from this entire book.
______________________________________________
I'm also continuing to read "Our New Nation." Which is a 7th grade history book from 1948.
Allow me to quote from the preface, or "Purpose and Plan of this Book," on page 5.
"The history contains frequent quotations from our leaders. Some of these hae been simplified to meet vocabulary requirements. The authors have also occasionally used conversations that might have taken place in order to make America's past more understandable and interesting to the pupil."
I managed to find this little gem on page 13, which I feel says a lot about history and about life. It's sentences like this that make me like reading books I wouldn't normally read. Call it "the brown sugar in the oatmeal," if you will. It's placed after George Washington has denied petitions to make him king, and the telling of people's reactions to that.
"People were beginning to understand that it might be as hard to keep freedom as it had been to win it."
Here's something page 15 of the book attributes to Benjamin Franklin during the Federal Convention (when the Founding Fathers were drawing up the Constitution). Considering the confession in the preface, I'm not sure how accurate that attribution is.
"The longer I live...the more I hae come to respect other men's opinions. For I have noticed that when the carpenter wishes to make a perfect joint, he has to plane a little from each plank. In that way he is able to bring them together in a tight and perfect joint. Let us do the same thing. Let us each be willing to give up some of the things we want for the good of all. For, gentlemen, what we need in these meetings is light, not heat."
p. 82. I have intentionally left some of the words as blanks to prove how history can repeat itself.
"[General _______] believed that the _____(a)____ had been helping the ___(b)____. So he captured a ____(a)___ fort and drove out the ___(a)____ soldiers. He pulled down the ___(a)____ flag and raised the American flag instead.
"When news of this reached __(a)___, the king and his officers in the ___(a)____ government were very angry. They demanded that General _______ be punished for going into ___(a)____ territory. Our country hummed with excitement. The papers were filled with talk of war.
"But our government insisted that the invasion of _______ had been necessary. It refused to punish General _______ or dismiss him from the army."
___________________________________________
This afternoon, I plan on watching "Sense and Sensibility" so that it'll be easier for me to plow through the book. I'll need to really zoom through one of the two in order to get a "purse book," since neither of the books I'm reading will physically fit into my purse. Oh, well, I guess that means I'll have to write on my breaks at work, huh?
2009-06-19
Reading Journal
Technically, this should be dated for 09-06-18...
I'm fudging my cycle/rules a little bit.
I had no idea how close I was to finishing the Review. I sat down to read some this afternoon (Thursday) and all I had left was a book review (which made me want to read the book) and a couple of poems. There were some art pieces I didn't look too closely at because I just wanted to be finished with it.
I then read a Dilbert book this afternoon as my Random, so the next label on the cycle is another True, but I'm only about 75% finished with A Marvelous Work and a Wonder and would therefore be reading two books from the same category. I said I didn't want to do that because if I can read 3 books in the time it takes me to push through one (I anticipate it most often being a True), then I should stop pushing and put it down. But AMW&W is one that I want to fnish. One problem is that the font is so small, and it's made even smaller every time they block quote scriptures. Which is quite often. There's simply more text in it than there are in the other books I've read since starting.
I'm planning on reading the history book c. 1941 I got at a garage sale as my next True. So, I'll be reading two True at the same time. Although for different reasons, and they're really different genres. I'd consider the garage sale book almost comical.
I haven't decided on my next Old, though. Maybe Pride and Prejudice, since my next New is going to be Pride, Prejudice and Zombies. But I'd feel like I was wasting my time reading that, since I've already read it 2 or 3 times in the past 5 years. You know what; I'm going to the library to check for the Zombie book. I might just pick up another Austen book I haven't read yet. (Like Emma or Persuasion, probably whichever one's shorter or more available.)
Update: I picked up Sense and Sensibility because the library branch I went to only had 2 Austen's available: S&S and Northanger Abbey. I've seen the movie, time to read the book.
In list format, here's my reading rotation:
True 1: AMW&W
True 2: Our Nation's History (c. 1941)
Old: Sense & Sensibility
New: Pride, Prejudice and Zombies
That ought to keep me busy for a while.
*off to read*
I'm fudging my cycle/rules a little bit.
I had no idea how close I was to finishing the Review. I sat down to read some this afternoon (Thursday) and all I had left was a book review (which made me want to read the book) and a couple of poems. There were some art pieces I didn't look too closely at because I just wanted to be finished with it.
I then read a Dilbert book this afternoon as my Random, so the next label on the cycle is another True, but I'm only about 75% finished with A Marvelous Work and a Wonder and would therefore be reading two books from the same category. I said I didn't want to do that because if I can read 3 books in the time it takes me to push through one (I anticipate it most often being a True), then I should stop pushing and put it down. But AMW&W is one that I want to fnish. One problem is that the font is so small, and it's made even smaller every time they block quote scriptures. Which is quite often. There's simply more text in it than there are in the other books I've read since starting.
I'm planning on reading the history book c. 1941 I got at a garage sale as my next True. So, I'll be reading two True at the same time. Although for different reasons, and they're really different genres. I'd consider the garage sale book almost comical.
I haven't decided on my next Old, though. Maybe Pride and Prejudice, since my next New is going to be Pride, Prejudice and Zombies. But I'd feel like I was wasting my time reading that, since I've already read it 2 or 3 times in the past 5 years. You know what; I'm going to the library to check for the Zombie book. I might just pick up another Austen book I haven't read yet. (Like Emma or Persuasion, probably whichever one's shorter or more available.)
Update: I picked up Sense and Sensibility because the library branch I went to only had 2 Austen's available: S&S and Northanger Abbey. I've seen the movie, time to read the book.
In list format, here's my reading rotation:
True 1: AMW&W
True 2: Our Nation's History (c. 1941)
Old: Sense & Sensibility
New: Pride, Prejudice and Zombies
That ought to keep me busy for a while.
*off to read*
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