The folks at 5 Minutes For Books host What’s On Your Nightstand? the fourth Tuesday of each month in which we can share about the books we have been reading and/or plan to read.Currently reading:
Johnny Cash: The Life. Robert Hilburn. 2014. Little, Brown. 688 pages. [Source: Library]
Why the sudden interest in Johnny Cash? I have no idea really except perhaps my discovery of "
Music on Murder Row," and the question what IS country music? I am finding this a very interesting read.
Testament of Youth. Vera Brittain. 1933/2015. Penguin. 672 pages. [Source: Library]
I've been wanting to read this since watching the movie. It's good, but, the chapters are LONG.
Golf Without Tears: Stories of Golfers and Lovers. P.G. Wodehouse. 1999. 320 pages. [Source: Library]
I am reading this for the VT Reading Challenge (aka Challies) for the "sports" category. For the record, I don't like golf....but I do love Wodehouse. So it is working for me.
Man in White. Johnny Cash. 1986/2006. WestBow. 194 pages. [Source: Library]
I haven't gotten very far in this one. But it's a fiction novel about the Apostle Paul...and I'm interested in reading it in the weeks ahead.
© 2016 Becky Laney of
Becky's Book Reviews
The folks at 5 Minutes For Books host What’s On Your Nightstand? the fourth Tuesday of each month in which we can share about the books we have been reading and/or plan to read.Stuffed: An Insider's Look At Who's (Really) Making America Fat And How the Food Industry Can Fix It. Hank Cardello. 2009. 258 pages. [Source: Library]
I'm about halfway through this one. It is interesting. Perhaps not as interesting as
The Dorito Effect which I reviewed earlier this month. But interesting all the same. I'm finding it a bit dated actually. Which I think is a good thing. Since some of the "new" and "coming soon" things he was talking about have come to pass. (For example, restaurants making nutrition information available to customers, fast food restaurants offering salads, etc.)
Eat Fat, Get Thin. Mark Hyman. 2016. Little Brown. 400 pages. [Source: Library]
I am next on the hold list. Assuming that the person ahead of me isn't fond of late fees and returns the book on time, I should have this one by the weekend! Not that I'm counting down the days. Okay. Maybe a little. I've seen the author talk about the book on Dr. Oz, and, I've seen glimpses of the PBS special. And I'm looking forward to seeing the big picture and not just excerpt-size bits. This is probably one of my most-anticipated reads of the year.
Churchill: The Power of Words: His Remarkable Life Recounted Through His Writings and Speeches. Winston Churchill. Selected. Edited. Introduced by Martin Gilbert.
That's Not English: Britishisms, Americanisms, and What Our English Says About Us. Erin Moore. 2015. 223 pages. [Source: Library]
I'm not very far into this one. But I hope to make time for it soon.
Heaven and the Afterlife: The Truth About Tomorrow and What It Means for Today. Erwin Lutzer. 2016. Moody. 480 pages. [Source: Review copy]
Essentially this is an omnibus edition of three of Lutzer's books: One Minute After You Die, How You Can Be Sure You Will Spend Eternity with God, and Your Eternal Rewards. All were originally published in the 1990s, I believe. I've read them all before, but, they're so good they deserve rereading. (Actually, I'm not sure I love, love, love the third book in the trilogy.)
1 Corinthians: The Word of the Cross. Stephen T. Um. 2015. Crossway. 368 pages. [Source: Review copy]
I really have enjoyed Crossway's Preaching the Word commentary series. 1 Corinthians is one of the books I find trouble digesting, so maybe this commentary will help me appreciate it a bit more!
What About Free Will? Reconciling Our Choices with God's Sovereignty by Scott Christensen. 2016. P&R. 336 pages. [Source: Review copy]
I won't lie, this one is scholarly. It requires you to have your thinking cap on, and to take your time reading it. But I'm finding it well-written and interesting.
© 2016 Becky Laney of
Becky's Book Reviews
The folks at 5 Minutes For Books host What’s On Your Nightstand? the fourth Tuesday of each month in which we can share about the books we have been reading and/or plan to read.Truman. David McCullough. 1992. Simon & Schuster. 1120 pages. [Source: Bought]
Such a THICK book. I originally had it as a library book. But decided to buy it when I saw it for $3.50 at my local charity book shop!
Tru and Nelle. G. Neri. 2016. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 336 pages. [Source: Review copy]
This one is a fictionalized account of the childhood friendship of Truman Capote and Harper Lee. It is good so far.
A Sudden Fearful Death. Anne Perry. 1993. Random House. 464 pages. [Source: Library]
I am LOVING this series. This is the fourth in the mystery series starring William Monk.
© 2016 Becky Laney of
Becky's Book Reviews
The folks at 5 Minutes For Books host What’s On Your Nightstand? the fourth Tuesday of each month in which we can share about the books we have been reading and/or plan to read.She Is Mine: A War Orphans' Incredible Journey of Survival by Stephanie Fast. 2015. Destiny Ministries. 224 pages. [Source: Review copy]
A compelling nonfiction read that I *probably* should have gotten to last year, but didn't quite.
The Innocents Abroad. Mark Twain. 1869. 560 pages. [Source: Library]
A nonfiction-ish travel book by Mark Twain. The book is his "observations" of his travels in 1867 to Europe and the Holy Land. So far I've done the Atlantic trip, his time in France, and part of his time in Italy. Here is what he has to say about keeping a journal:
At certain periods it becomes the dearest ambition of a man to keep a faithful record of his performances in a book; and he dashes at this work with an enthusiasm that imposes on him the notion that keeping a journal is the veriest pastime in the world, and the pleasantest. But if he only lives twenty-one days, he will find out that only those rare natures that are made up of pluck, endurance, devotion to duty for duty's sake, and invincible determination may hope to venture upon so tremendous an enterprise as the keeping of a journal and not sustain a shameful defeat.
One of our favorite youths, Jack, a splendid young fellow with a head full of good sense, and a pair of legs that were a wonder to look upon in the way of length and straightness and slimness, used to report progress every morning in the most glowing and spirited way, and say:
"Oh, I'm coming along bully!" (he was a little given to slang in his happier moods.) "I wrote ten pages in my journal last night—and you know I wrote nine the night before and twelve the night before that. Why, it's only fun!"
"What do you find to put in it, Jack?"
"Oh, everything. Latitude and longitude, noon every day; and how many miles we made last twenty-four hours; and all the domino games I beat and horse billiards; and whales and sharks and porpoises; and the text of the sermon Sundays (because that'll tell at home, you know); and the ships we saluted and what nation they were; and which way the wind was, and whether there was a heavy sea, and what sail we carried, though we don't ever carry any, principally, going against a head wind always—wonder what is the reason of that?—and how many lies Moult has told—Oh, every thing! I've got everything down. My father told me to keep that journal. Father wouldn't take a thousand dollars for it when I get it done."
"No, Jack; it will be worth more than a thousand dollars—when you get it done."
"Do you?—no, but do you think it will, though?
"Yes, it will be worth at least as much as a thousand dollars—when you get it done. May be more."
"Well, I about half think so, myself. It ain't no slouch of a journal."
But it shortly became a most lamentable "slouch of a journal." One night in Paris, after a hard day's toil in sightseeing, I said:
"Now I'll go and stroll around the cafes awhile, Jack, and give you a chance to write up your journal, old fellow."
His countenance lost its fire. He said:
"Well, no, you needn't mind. I think I won't run that journal anymore. It is awful tedious. Do you know—I reckon I'm as much as four thousand pages behind hand. I haven't got any France in it at all. First I thought I'd leave France out and start fresh. But that wouldn't do, would it? The governor would say, 'Hello, here—didn't see anything in France? That cat wouldn't fight, you know. First I thought I'd copy France out of the guide-book, like old Badger in the for'rard cabin, who's writing a book, but there's more than three hundred pages of it. Oh, I don't think a journal's any use—do you? They're only a bother, ain't they?"
"Yes, a journal that is incomplete isn't of much use, but a journal properly kept is worth a thousand dollars—when you've got it done."
"A thousand!—well, I should think so. I wouldn't finish it for a million."
His experience was only the experience of the majority of that industrious night school in the cabin. If you wish to inflict a heartless and malignant punishment upon a young person, pledge him to keep a journal a year.
Death on the Riviera. John Bude. 1952/2016. Poisoned Pen Press. 250 pages. [Source: Review copy]
I am going to try to review as many "British Crime Classic" mystery novels as I can. This one--so far--is fabulous!!!
The Age of Innocence. Edith Wharton. 1920. 305 pages. [Source: Library]
I am just a few chapters into this one. I don't know yet if I'll love it, like it, or hate it. I've never read one of Wharton's novels before. Just her short stories.
© 2016 Becky Laney of
Becky's Book Reviews
