It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Books Completed Last Week
Last week I finished The Year of the Flood, by Margaret Atwood. I'm not going to write a long review of it, but just a short one here. I loved the book all the way through, I mean, Atwood is an excellent writer. But the end bugged me because there wasn't really an end. The book just faded out; nothing was really resolved. Books with endings like that leave me feeling very unsatisfied! I seem to remember Oryx and Crake, ending in that way too.
 
Books I'm Currently Reading
I'm working my way through The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement, by Jean M. Twenge and W. Keith Campbell. Boy is this book dense! Lots of statistics and studies quoted. It's definitely interesting, but it's taking me a long time to read it. I also started Oryx and Crake again, for some reason, even though I know the end will disappoint me. I guess I want to read it again because The Year of the Flood is actually a prequel to Oryx and Crake. And I don't remember much about Oryx and Crake. I need to know!

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It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Books Completed Last Week
I only finished one book last week, yet again! The book was The Unhealthy Truth: How Our Food Is Making Us Sick and What We Can Do About It, by Robyn O'Brien. I have to admit there were parts of this book that I skimmed over quickly, or even skipped altogether, because the author would sometimes take pages and pages to make a point that she could have made in one paragraph. Also, while I did learn some interesting things about the food industry in this book (particularly about shady business practices of large corporations), the book focuses on food allergies, which don't effect anyone in my family. I think I would have found the book more interesting if we did have food allergies here.

I also got a good deal of the way through The Year of the Flood, by Margaret Atwood, which I'm enjoying immensely. I love that Atwood has gotten back into more sci fi/futuristic type writing lately, with this book and with Oryx and Crake.

Books I'm Currently Reading
This week I'm still making my way slowly through Life Skills for Kids: Equipping Your Child for the Real World, by Christine M. Field. I'm sure I'll finish The Year of the Flood, and I've started The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement, by Jean M. Twenge and W. Keith Campbell. I really enjoyed her previous sociological study, Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled--and More Miserable Than Ever Before, and so far this one is just as interesting.

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It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Books Completed Last Week
I only finished one book last week, again! The book was Homeschooling: A Family's Journey, by Gregory and Martine Millman, and you can read my review of it here. I got stalled in American Wife, by Curtis Sittenfeld, and I don't think I'm going to finish it. It's not a bad book --  just a bit too slow paced for my taste, though I adore her first book, Prep.

Books I'm Currently Reading
This week I'm reading Life Skills for Kids: Equipping Your Child for the Real World, by Christine M. Field. I won't finish this book quickly, because I'm taking notes. I'm also reading The Unhealthy Truth: How Our Food Is Making Us Sick - and What We Can Do About it, by Robyn O'Brien. I'm not sure whether I'll finish this book, because I'm having a hard time motivating myself to read it. Maybe I've just read too many books of this type lately, and I'm burned out. Or, it could have something to do with the fact that I've become addicted to watching old episodes of "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" on Hulu. Yikes! I better start doing more reading and less watching!

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Review: The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids, Alexandra Robbins. Hyperion, 2006.

I enjoy reading nonfiction, but often it feels like a bit of a chore. Not like a novel, where I tend to get so engrossed in the fictional alternate-reality that I have a hard time putting the book down. But The Overachievers is one of those rare nonfiction books that manages to pull me in just like a novel. I couldn't put it down, and I neglected my children in order to finish it! Why? Well, the book is heavy on story, which makes it read more like a novel.  It follows several teenagers through a year-and-a-half of their lives and wow, some of the stories get very dramatic at points. I felt like I really got to know these kids, and I couldn't wait to see how their stories turned out.

Also, Alexandra Robbins is an excellent writer. Even the prose interjections that appear between stories periodically are fascinating. She presents statistics, studies, and reports about high school, overachieving, and teenage life in a subtle way so as to not overwhelm the focus of the book: the stories. And personally, I find this topic interesting, which I'm sure contributes to my love of the book as well. It's amazing to me how stressed out these kids are. How they sacrifice everything for the sake of getting into a good college: friendships, sleep, health, even their own dreams and passions. And the strangest thing of all? The pressure doesn't usually even come from their parents. Where does it come from? You'll have to read the book to find out.

I feel lonely for these teenagers, now that I've finished to book. I wonder what they're doing now. Maybe Alexandra Robbins will write a sequel!

Review: Homeschooling: A Family's Journey, Gregory and Martine Millman. Penguin, 2008.

If you're new to homeschooling, thinking about homeschooling, or just want to know more about it, this book is a good place to start. This is a solid introduction to the phenomenon of homeschooling and includes topics such as reasons to homeschool, education through travel, homeschool groups, and getting into college.

There's lots of good advice here, and plenty of statistics to support the success of homeschooling, which is always helpful if you need to convince any skeptics. However, I can't say this book falls anywhere near the top of my favorite books on homeschooling. The writing style is so dry and boring that I nearly gave up on the book on numerous occasions. And the authors fail to discuss different methods of homeschooling, which to me seems like critical information. Also, I find the subtitle "A Family's Journey" somewhat misleading: although the authors talk a bit about their own family's experiences, most of the book discusses homeschooling in a more general way. That was a disappointment. As a homeschooler myself, I enjoy hearing how other families approach it.

For a more interesting and well-written book on homeschooling, try my favorite, Family Matters, by David Guterson. The author is now a well known novelist.

Review: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. Dial, 2009.

This is one of those books I've heard people mention a lot, and that everyone seems to like. I have to admit, I often shy away from books like that. I don't know why. Maybe it's because of my (somewhat) rebellious nature, or my aversion to all things "popular." And the title of the book doesn't help because it reminds me of a Jan Karon Mitford type book, which just doesn't appeal to me. But I finally gave in to the pressure and picked this book up at the library. Boy was I pleasantly surprised! It's not a sweet (read: dull) story about nature and puppies and people to whom nothing ever seems to happen. Rather, it explores the lives of people on Guernsey Island who survived the Nazi occupation during World War II. The action centers on a London writer who's looking for a new story, stumbles upon this Guernsey community, and falls in love with them and their island. There's so much great stuff in here: mystery, drama, tension, fascinating characters, and even a love story. And the entire novel is in letter form, which I found a fresh and interesting approach to fiction. So don't let the cheesy-sounding title keep you away from this book like it did me. Read it! Do it now!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Books Completed Last Week
Looks like I only finished one book last week, The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids, by Alexandra Robbins. Weird, I thought I'd read more than that. That was a long book though. I'm hoping to review it this week.

Books I'm Currently Reading
This week I'm reading Homeschooling: A Family's Journey, by Gregory and Martine Millman and a novel, American Wife, by Curtis Sittenfeld.


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