What did YOU read on your vacation this summer?

1 Did you take a vacation this summer?

2 Did you read while on your vacation?

3 Did you read more or less than you usually do on vacation?

4 What type of vacation did you take?

5 Does the type of vacation you take affect the amount you read?

~~~

1 We just finished a family vacation with our five children.

2 We took a family vacation that was focused on relaxing and being with our kids and extended family members. The biggest focus of this trip was to spend time with our kids and also not to feel driven to do anything in particular.

3 I read an average or less than average amount during this vacation since there were a lot of people to interact with and that was a point of the trip.

4 We did several things during this trip.

We toured the campus my husband attended for college; the University of Cincinnati.

We attended a Reds game in 95F heat.

We ate ribs at a popular ribs restaurant on the riverfront in Cinci.

We stayed in a new quaint little cabin in Lake Rudolph Campground in Santa Claus, IN and visited Holiday World and Splashin' Safari four times. (I just couldn't take a book or my NOOK to the parks with us. It wasn't practical.)

We visited with eleven members of my extended family who all live in Indy but came down to join us at the campground for a couple nights. That meant I got to visit with one of my brothers, Duffy, which meant that my love of discussing books, films, and tv shows was nurtured a bit!

Certainly any time we were driving I was likely to be reading as much as I was able. Most nights were finished with me reading at least some. Two glorious nights, maybe three, I was found on the covered deck of our cabin in my comfortable lawn chair/lounge, with a book and my LightWedge reading light.
My Favorite Reading Light

5 The type of vacation I take affects the amount I read. I could have read a lot more if this had been a beach vacation (love those). It was not an extremely active vacation which was nice but the action (them park and waterpark) prevented more reading.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett will appear in cinemas beginning tomorrow 12 August 2011.

I loved the book. I hope to love the film. I haven't seen any previews. I have no current plans to see it but will likely watch it on DVD as soon as it is released in that format.


Read my review of the book here:
http://boundtogetherforgood.blogspot.com/2010/11/help-by-kathryn-stockett.html?m=1">

What books did I end up taking with us on vacation this summer?

I posted here
What will I read on our vacation this summer? Want to help me narrow it down or guess what I'll choose?
previously.


I was looking for some help in narrowing down my choices for reading during our family vacation.


The good thing was that our vacation was a glorious 12 days in length. That's long. And the main point of the vacation was to relax and have fun with our kids. The downside of that is that I really didn't spend nearly as much time reading as I expected to but I am happy with the way it turned out.


So...what books did I choose to take with me?


Goldie Hawn's A Lotus Grows in the Mud

Dave Gorman vs the Rest of the World
                                                                    and



The Unauthorized Guide to Sex and the Church by Carmen Renee Berry



I also finished my second reading of A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz.



I also began reading Malcolm Gladwell's What the Dog Saw because it came available as an ebook through our library and those are time-sensitive when they've been placed on hold and become available.

My favorite books on marriage and intimacy are...

I want to share some of my favorite selections on marriage and intimacy.


I will review them, individually at a later time.

For now, I just want to make some recommendations. 

Sheet Music: Uncovering the Secrets of Sexual Intimacy in Marriage             by Dr. Kevin Leman















For Women Only: What You Need to Know About the Inner Lives of Men 
by Shaunti Feldhahn












The Proper Care And Feeding of Husbands
by Dr. Laura Schlessinger

Light His Fire: How to Keep Your Man Passionately and Hopelessly in Love With You 

by Ellen Kreidman

The Gift of Sex: A Guide to Sexual Fulfillment

by Clifford and Joyce Penner

For Men Only: A Straightforward Guide to the Inner Lives of Women

By Shaunti and Jeff Feldhahn

Feminine Appeal: Seven Virtues of a Godly Wife and Mother

by Carolyn Mahaney

Ask me for book recommendations.

I've had friends on Facebook ask me for personalized reading recommendations because they know I have this site. Feel free to ask me to do the same for you. It's a bit of a time investment sometimes but I really enjoy doing it.

One friend just told me she read thirteen of my recommendations in the past few months! I lived hearing her reactions to the books too! I thrive on trying to figure out what books a person will like. I find that very interesting.

Comment on this thread if you would like me to make some book recommendations for you. Let me know: what genres you enjoy, some titles you've liked, any titles you've hated, etc.

Jane Austen Reading Challenge

Are you reading Jane Austen titles this year or reading Jane Austen-related titles?

Have you joined the Jane Austen Reading Challenge?

I read Pride and Prejudice in February of 2010. Living in England convinced me I'd probably love her writing; and I do!

I have read one Jane Austen title this year; I finished reading Emma in March 2011.

I hope to begin reading Sense and Sensibility soon.

Have you read any of Jane Austen's books? Do you have plans to?

Cash: The Autobiography by Johnny Cash

I enjoyed this book. 


Cash wrote this book in a very relaxed, conversational tone. 


He tells truth as he sees it without it seeming as if he is gossipping. In fact, he tells most stories about himself. He was frank and open about his trek into drug abuse. 

Even if you don't love country music you might still like this book if you enjoy bios/autobiographies. 

If you love country music and you love Johnny Cash, chances are high that you will enjoy this book.

He is also open about his faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour. I really like that. I hope to meet him, one day, in Heaven.

http://boundtogetherforgood.blogspot.com/2011/07/biographiesdo-you-have-any-favorites.html

Children and classics

I suppose we've all been exposed to classic fairy tales, mythology, and legends about national heroes. Have you exposed any of your children, at a young age, to stories that are considered to be classic literature?


Just this week I finished reading a children's edition of Little Women to our five year old daughter. We began reading it a long time ago. I have two other books I am actively reading to her. It wasn't an original edition but it was still a rather lengthy chapter book to read to a five year old. She loved it. Our copy is now worn from love and travel.


We finished reading it while sharing a snack at a McDonald's as our older daughter was having braces put on her teeth. When we finished the book I asked Gigi if she still loved it. Her reply, "Of course. It's about women ...and the women are little!" I'm so glad she asked me to read it to her.

What will I read on our vacation this summer? Want to help me narrow it down or guess what I'll choose?

Our vacation will be really late this summer; right before school begins in the fall.
The planning is going on right now. It takes a lot to plan vacations but especially so for big families. One can never begin thinking about it too soon.


As I was dressing this evening I stopped in front of my bookshelves to ponder my to-be-read shelf. Surprisingly, it has a smaller selection than usual. That's a good thing; it means I've been working my way through books I already own instead of simply amassing more and more titles to add to my to-be-read shelf. 


I am facing the fact that our vacation will include several days at a waterpark/amusement park. Last summer my brother and I went to the same parks and took four of my five kids and one of our nieces. I remember my brother had one or two perfectly sized books that would fit into the pocket of his shorts. He then had it available to read when he was standing in a long and inevitably boring line. I recall being envious. I love a good pocket-sized book.


I am not expecting to have much idle time...we have five kids and the parks are great fun for everyone. I think I will take some physical books in place of my ereader in case I decide to take a book with me to the park. I am thinking I can leave it in a locker while we are being active. Then I could take the book out and read it when Hubs and I relax by the pool. If I took my NOOK I'd be nervous that it might get out of my hands and be taken by someone. I wouldn't worry that much about it getting wet as I'd cover it in a zippered baggie. Anyway, I'd be crushed if someone stole it from me.


That left me thinking that I should make my selections for vacation reading by perusing my physical to-be-read shelves.


Here are the books I am currently thinking about taking:




A Lotus Grows in the Mud 
by Goldie Hawn


(I love bios/memoirs and funny but classy people.)

All Souls: A Family Story From Southie
by Michael McDonald
(Again, I love memoirs. A friend sent this to me.)

The Unauthorized Guide to Sex and the Church
by Carmen Renee Berry
(Another friend sent me this book. Books and sex (does it get any better?)

The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts
by Tom Farley, Jr and Tanner Colby
(My brother read this and passed it on to me. 
I wasn't the biggest of Farley fans but, again, this is a bio and it's about a funny person.)

Dave Gorman vs. The Rest of the World
Whatever the game~Dave takes on all comers!
by Dave Gorman
(Gorman is goofy and British. I love that (even though I love Danny Wallace's books even more.)














As for ebook selections...I'll still be reading The Book Thief which I am reading for a second time, along with our daughter. I am finishing up a second reading of another title I recommended to my best friend and we are reading it together and discussing it. I also want to purchase a Steve Martin novel soon. Those will keep me busy when I am able to read using my NOOK.

1) I wonder which books will end up making the cut? 

2) I wonder how many books will make the cut?  

3) Will someone sway me to pick a book that I haven't listed?

4) I wonder how much reading I will actually be able to do? 

5) How much time will I spend reading physical books vs. ebooks?

6) Will I finish any one title during the trip?

Only time will tell.

Who will venture to guess?

~~~~~~

Updated post here:

http://boundtogetherforgood.blogspot.com/2011/08/what-books-did-i-end-up-taking-with-us.html

Two from Galilee by Marjorie Holmes

Two From Galilee: The Story Of Mary And Joseph


What a lovely book. I'm not one who reads many love stories. This one was worthy of my attention though; enough so that I have read it twice~January 2006 and July 2011.


This is Christian fiction. It isn't proselytization. It never attempts to sway anyone that Jesus is the Christ, it simply tells his story and those who believe continue to; those who do not yet believe may.


The story begins with Mary who has just become a woman and is now old enough to be betrothed to a willing suitor. Eventually Joseph is decided upon and the story takes off.


Holmes attempts something really big by putting words and feelings to the events leading up to Christ's birth and infancy. The scene she paints draws the reader in. A virgin birth? Even though it was foretold in the Prophets it was not something most people were willing to accept. Her father and her aunt, Elizabeth, however, did accept it. They were the first believers (in her telling). As the story progressed the scales fell from the eyes of her stern but loving mother, Hannah. The final pages bring the story to the point of the small family's flight to Egypt.





Pg 215
For is not every birth a mystery and every child the child of God?