Chelsea's Favorite Books (a few of them anyway)

Making this list makes me wish I was more consistent with my Goodreads account and that I'd been keeping it for a lot longer. I know there are books I have read and liked more than some of these, but these are what came to mind scrolling through my books there.

Books with a *star next to them have subject material, themes or language which you might want to be aware of before reading them. 
Books that are bold are some of my all time favorites.

Non-Fiction books I've loved:

"Shockwave: countdown to Hiroshima" by Stephen Walker

* "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah

* "The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Place on Earth" by Eric Weiner

"Eve and the Choice Made in Eden" by Beverly Campbell

"Funny In Farsi: A Memoir of Growing up Iranian in America"Firoozeh Dumas

* "Reading Lolita in Tehran" by Azar Nafisi

Historical Novels:

"The Kommandant's Girl" by Pam Jenoff

All of Michelle Moran's novels (Nefertitti etc)

"How to be an American Housewife" by Margaret Dilloway

* "Shanghai Girls" by Lisa See

"Peony in Love" by Lisa See

* "Cold Mountain" by Charles Frazier

Contemporary Novels:

* "The Hour I First Believed" by Wally Lamb

"The Sugar Queen" by Sarah Addison Allen

"Peace like a River" by Lief Enger

YA Books:

The Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan

The Little House books by Laura Ingells Wilder

Classics:

"The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexander Dumas

"Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte

"Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte

"A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith

"Cane" by Jean Toomer

"The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck

Poisonwood Bible: Related Photos

So before we met to discuss this book I had gathered up a lot of photos and information about the Congo and hunted up some pictures too.  Unfortunately my computer froze and is still not working, but yesterday we finally got the files off of it and so I can at last post that collection of photos.  I had a bunch of links too but those were copied into a word document that wasn't saved, so you just get the photos.

Impala

Poisonwood flower

In the same plant family as Poison Ivy (Anacardiaceae), all parts of Poisonwood carry the irritant that causes painful, itchy, blistering rashes in many people. 

Poisonwood Trunk

I'd never heard of the okapi and figured I probably wasn't the only one, so here are some pictures.

Okapi

Patrice Lumumba

Smiling Ike

green mamba snake

Mobutu

_____________________________________________________________________________

And a few things to cheer you up.  Here's the link to the BYUtv video Pioneers in Africa.

And since they don't have them around here I thought you might be interested to know what White Castles are if you have lived a deprived life and haven't ever had them.  They are one of those things that may be an acquired taste.  They do seem rather gross, but they are well loved!

The burgers that they serve at White Castles are themselves called White Castles and they come in those lovely little boxes, have a slimy bun, a super thin patty, steamed minced onions and a pickle.  Mmm. Seriously.

This is a photo I took when I was home last January/February.  It's the White Castle in Corydon, Indiana and yes, it is actually suggesting that you make reservations for Valentine's Day.  

Shot of a White Castle around the time period that the Poisonwood Bible is set.

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

(No spoilers within this post).
We're reading the Poisonwood Bible

 byBarbara Kingsolver.

She has her own website
Where, among other things you can:

• Read about Barbara Kingsolver.  You can view a little slideshow about her life that is pretty cool.  
• See a list of books she's written.
• Read more about The Poisonwood Bible

"The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it—from garden seeds to Scripture—is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family's tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa."

I was curious about the Congo and I looked it up on Google maps.
It doesn't look like anything is there.
There are names hovering over things, but if you zoom in you can't see anything like roads and towns

Click for the Wikipedia page
Facts from the BBC,

• Full name: Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Population: 67.7 million (UN, 2011)
• Capital: Kinshasa
• Area: 2.34 million sq km (905,354 sq miles)
• Major languages: French, Lingala, Kiswahili, Kikongo, Tshiluba
• Major religions: Christianity, Islam
• Life expectancy: 47 years (men), 51 years (women) (UN)
• Monetary unit: 1 Congolese franc = 100 centimes
• Main exports: Diamonds, copper, coffee, cobalt, crude oil
• GNI per capita: US $180 (World Bank, 2010)

Curious how the US compares?

• Full name: United States of America
• Population: 317.6 million (UN, 2010)
• Capital: Washington DC
• Largest city: New York City
• Area: 9.8 million sq km (3.8 million sq miles)
• Major language: English
• Major religion: Christianity
• Life expectancy: 76 years (men), 81 years (women) (UN)
• Monetary unit: 1 US dollar = 100 cents
• Main exports: Computers and electrical machinery, vehicles, chemical products, food and live animals, military equipment and aircraft
• GNI per capita: US $47,390 (World Bank, 2010)

And here is a link of Southern Baptist Beliefs.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What are the implications of the novel's title phrase, the poisonwood bible, particularly in connection with the main characters' lives and the novel's main themes? How important are the circumstances in which the phrase comes into being? 

2. What do you think of the writing style used in this book and the various voices used to tell the story.  Did you trust their interpretation of events?

3. Why do you suppose that Reverend Nathan Price is not given a voice of his own? Do we learn from his wife and daughters enough information to formulate an adequate explanation for his beliefs and behavior? Does such an explanation matter? 

4.  What differences and similarities are there among Nathan Price's relationship with his family, Tata Ndu's relationship with his people, and the relationship of the Belgian and American authorities with the Congo? Are the novel's political details--both imagined and historical--appropriate?  

5.   What do we learn about cultural, social, religious, and other differences between Africa and America? 
To what degree do Orleanna and her daughters come to an understanding of those differences?

6. At the novel's end, the carved-animal woman in the African market is sure that "There has never been any village on the road past Bulungu," that "There is no such village" as Kilanga. What do you make of this?

Mary Anne's Favorites and Recommendations

My favorites:
*Marks ones that have content that may be found questionable.


Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury: I’ve read this a few times before, but I find myself looking up parts in it that remind me so much of things in my life. I just grow fonder of this book as time goes by and my little boys grow up. Here's a quote.

“You did not hear them coming. You hardly heard them go. The grass bent down, sprang up again. They passed like cloud shadows downhill . . .the boys of summer running.”

I can’t help but think of this on summer evenings when my boys are running, chasing their own shadows cast by the porch light.

Bradbury writes in a rather poetic style and I know that bothers some people so this may not be for everyone, but being set in the midwest around the time my parents grew up it felt like home to me in many ways. And now with my little boys I can relate to it and them in a new way. I would not recommend the sequel, Farewell Summer, I almost regret reading it myself in a way, but ut if you love this book talk to me about it.




by Gene Stratton-Porter.  
The Harvester: David Langston.  Sweet love story.  Set in Indiana.  Adorable animals.  Lovely countryside.  Read it with a seed catalog nearby so if you feel so inclined you can look up some of the plants.  
Girl of the Limberlost: Set in the Limberlost swamps of Northern Indiana this is a story of a girl finding a way to accomplish her goals and it has a love story too.  Again, seed catalog and a field guide to moths might be beneficial.


Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner.  Another that reminds me of my parents.  It hurts to read it though, but I imagine that's mostly because of my mother.   It is beautifully written.


The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck
This book is a great view at both sides of a Nazi occupied, unnamed European town.  It's Brilliant and with the wars our country is involved in it's very relevant today.  


by Shannon Hale. I will list them in order of my most favorite on down, but all of her young adult novels are favorites:
Book of a Thousand Days
River Secrets (Book 3 in the Books of Bayern)
The Goose Girl (Book 1 in the Books of Bayern)
Enna Burning (Book 2 in the Books of Bayern)
Princess Academy (she's writing a sequel to this)
Forest Born (Book 4 in the Books of Bayern).  This is not actually my least favorite, but being a youngest child like the main character of this book made this book hard to read for me on an emotional level so it wasn't as much fun for me as the first 3.
She has also written novels for adults:  Austenland, which if you're a Jane Austen fan you'll enjoy.  It's a light read.  She's also just written a sequel to this, Midnight in Austenland, which being a murder mystery is not as light as the first but still a fun read.  Austenland the movie should be coming out this year too.
The Actor and the Housewife is another of hers that has a seemingly appalling premise, but is well-worth the read.  Very well written and not what you think it will be.
She has also written two lovely graphic novels, Rapunzel's Revenge and Calamity Jack (I think Disney ripped off Flynn Rider from him and some of Rapunzel's Revenge too for that matter).  They are fun for kids in the 9 year old range I'd say.


Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury: This story is brilliant although disturbing because what once seemed unfathomable futuristic issues has really his much closer to today's reality than anyone would have believed.  Yet I believe too that it shows that there are those that no matter how bad it gets will step back, look and try to do something about it.  There is an excellent audio version of this read by the author (although if it's your first time through it might be a little odd) that also has an interview with him at the end.  I would also recommend that you read the afterword.  
I would also recommend Ray Bradbury's short stories, I've not read them all but all that I have read are brilliantly done.  



*The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri.  I loved this book.  I feel like it has universal appeal in the struggle of the son to determine what he chooses to be, which parts all his own and which parts from his heritage, something we all must decide.  
She has also written two collections of short stories that I loved although most of them are rather depressing, *Interpreter of Maladies (which she won a Pulitzer Prize for) and *Unaccustomed Earth.


Many of my favorites are already listed on the Books to Beat the Winter Blues and Blahs so look there too.




More to come . . . .

Books to Beat the Winter Blues & Blahs

It's that time of year that usually is rather dark, dismal and depressing.  We've had some unusually pleasant weather, so hopefully that has helped keep the blues at bay a bit, but just in case I wanted to start a post with some literature that I have found helpful.
Suggestions of two sorts.
Tragic books that give you an excuse to cry and wallow a bit and also recognize that at least your life isn't that bad.
Cheery books that help you remember how lovely the world is/can be for when you're done wallowing (it's just not good to wallow for too long).

Cheery books:

• Daddy-long Legs by Jean Webster
• Anne of Green Gables (Books 1-8) by L.M. Montgomery
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows
• Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

(all of those have the element of orphans finding family, which really is a good story, but there's more to them than that).

• The Harvester and The Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter
• Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman.   A book of essays by a book lover.  (some will make you cry too)
• Mitten Strings for God by Katrina Kenison.  Short snippets about refocusing your life.  (Yes it is about as cheesy as it sounds but easier to swallow than Gift from the Sea.  In other words, it is well done sappiness, especially if you just read a chapter a day or so).
• Good Poems for Hard Times.   Compiled by Garrison Keillor.  Ok I admit I've only read his collection, Good Poems, but I trust him enough to recommend this book unread, (although I have read and loved the intro to this).  
• Billy Collins Poetry.  He has several books out. If you aren't a fan of poetry, give him a chance.  Watch this.  He's funny.
• Bossypants by Tina Fey.  I wish I could censor this book a bit, but if you can look past those parts it has great value (teaches about accepting and valuing yourself and others etc),  and it's hilarious.  
• The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson.  A bit out of season, but a fun, quick feel-good book all the same.  

Wallowing books (I prefer these in small doses so these are shorter books or short stories:

• Interpreter of Maladies and Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri (both books of short stories)
• The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck.  Depressing situation, but inspiring story all the same.
• O Pioneers! by Willa Cather.  It is one of her Nebraska novels so if you know you don't like those then maybe don't bother, but in my opinion it is beautiful and tragic, but not without hope.

Please post your own ideas in the comments.  

I've read these.  I'm not opposed to rereading but I'd love some new stuff in the mix as well.  

2012 Newberry Winners

Since many members of our group have a great fondness for young adult literature I thought you might be interested in the new Newberry winners.  

Click HERE for a list of Newberrry winners from 1922-2011

Here's the info from their site about this year's winners:

The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

2012 Medal Winner

The 2012 Newbery Medal winner is Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos, published by Farrar Straus Giroux

The importance of history and reading (so you don’t do the same “stupid stuff” again) is at the heart of this achingly funny romp through a dying New Deal town. While mopping up epic nose bleeds, Jack narrates this screw-ball mystery in an endearing and believable voice.

“Who knew obituaries and old lady death could be this funny and this tender?” said Newbery Medal Committee Chair Viki Ash.

2012 Honor Books

Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai, published by HarperCollins Children's Books, a division of HarperCollins Publishers

Hà and her family flee war-torn Vietnam for the American South. In spare yet vivid verse, she chronicles her year-long struggle to find her place in a new and shifting world. 

Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin, published by Henry Holt and Company, LLC.

On the eve of his induction into the Young Pioneers, Sasha’s world is overturned when his father is arrested by Stalin’s guard. Yelchin deftly crafts a stark and compelling story of a child’s lost idealism.