Voting for Christmas Stories

When voting please consider:

• Legal to read the books free on-line



• Book information is included in my last post.



• Books are all discussable & appropriate including Wiggen books that could lead to discussion on women authors:
  
  
  • Women not often published. How does that effect their reception today?
    
    
  • Home & hearth were the only acceptable topics. How did that effect stories?
    
    
  • See: http://sophie.byu.edu/

Recommendations for Christmas Books

Please submit some Christmas books to read. Here are my ideas of books online:

1. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens: The famous miserly Scrooge is visited by his old partner and the spirits of Christmas past, present, and future. His heart is then softened and he spreads Christmas cheer.


2. The Romance of a Christmas Card by Kate Douglas Wiggin: Written by the author of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. Click the link for an explanation and review with links to free versions that you can either download or read on-line.


3. The Birds' Christmas Tale by Kate Douglas Wiggin: Written by the author of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. Click the link for an explanation and review with links to free versions that you can either download or read on-line.


4. Select several short stories in public domain:
   
   • The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Anderson: A cold, hungry match girl sees beautiful Christmas visions each time she strikes a match.
   
   
   • The Fir Tree by Hans Christian Anderson: A fir tree is granted its wish to leave its home in the woods in order to become a beautiful Christmas tree.
   
   
   • The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry: A story of a young couple’s love and sacrifice for each other.
   
   
   • Tilly’s Christmas by Louisa May Alcott: A poor girl takes care of a freezing robin and because of her example a rich neighbor grants her meager Christmas wishes.
   
   
   • Rosa’s Tale by Louisa May Alcott: Haven’t read it, but it is a Christmas short story
   
   
   • Why the Christ Child had to Smile by Karl Heinrich Waggerl translated by Miki: My personal favorite about a special little character that is present at the time of Christ’s birth.

Call for favorite quotes and why!

Have you ever told yourself this life is too hard? Have you wished that God had chosen Satan's plan in the beginning allowing us to feel less pain in order to receive a body and gain eternal glory? I have!

Well, this book reminds me of why I'm glad life is real, with both the good and the bad.

Hence, my favorite quote is:

"Let you alone! That's all very well, but how can I leave myself alone? We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?"

The whole quest of the society in this book revolves around erasing problems, which has erased free agency, individuality, and feelings. This is a nice representative quote for the book. The quote reminds me of a poem by a famous French poet, Paul Verlaine, "Il pleure dans mon coeur". The English translation reads:

There is weeping in my heart
like the rain falling on the town.
What is this languor
that pervades my heart?

Oh the patter of the rain
on the ground and the roofs!
For a heart growing weary
oh the song of the rain!

There is weeping without cause
in this disheartened heart.
What! No betrayal?
There's no reason for this grief.

Truly the worst pain
is not knowing why,
without love or hatred,
my heart feels so much pain.

I can imagine the wife of Guy Montag, Linda, relating to this poem. Guy is saying that we should be passionate and care about real things, while Linda and this poem express the deep sadness and emptiness that is caused by not having anything important to feel about. Sometimes, my husband gives me a hard time about how emotional and passionate I am about everything. Ha, I feel justified!

Here's another quote that is up the same alley:

"Stuff your eyes with wonder ... live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories. Ask no guarantees, ask for no security, there never was such an animal. And if there were, it would be related to the great sloth which hangs upside down in a tree all day every day, sleeping its life away."

Twilight Anyone?

Melissa Brandvold and I have been talking about having a girls night to go see the new Twilight movie on Tuesday, November 25. Let either one of us know if you are interested. When it gets a little closer we will let everyone know the movie time, etc. It will be a fun girls night even if you haven't read the books, so please come!

Please let anyone know who might be interested so we don't miss anyone!!

Everything...

1. I would like to read a Christmas inspired book for December, something like A Christmas Carol, The Christmas Cat, or Jesus the Christ (or some other church book about Christ). However, it will not be available through a book club kit. I'm going to post a vote about the next book for December, so please vote!

2. Julie Rowse is going to lead our discussion for this month! She has had Fahrenheit 451 on her teaching curriculum for several years and her experience and passion will add a lot to our meeting!

3. You're absolutely right! It took Ray Bradbury 9 days to write the first version of Fahrenheit 451, which was a short story called "The Fireman".

Alright, that's it for now!

Thanks and happy reading! May the books be with you. :)

Fahrenheit 451 Wins!

I went ahead and ordered Fahrenheit 451 yesterday, because I wasn't sure how long it would take for it to get to our library and it was winning. Well, it came today! We have 10 copies and I'll pass them out on Sunday. I also checked out a great CD that discusses the book. After listening to the CD, I'm really excited to read Fahrenheit 451!


Ray Bradbury on Farenheit 451 inspiration

Angle of Repose

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner

BYU-Idaho Review

"It's perfectly clear that if every writer is born to write one story, that's my story," Stegner said of this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. The narrator is a divorced, wheelchair-bound professor recalling the life of his pioneer grandparents. He was crude and adventurous; she sophisticated and self-possessed. Together they crossed the country during the nineteenth century; the vivid landscape becomes a character in this story of marriage, American mythology, and the flow of time and memory. (The Top Ten)

21 copies available
View all my reviews.

How did I choose the first books?

I chose our first books by combining the lists of large book club kits available through the library and the top ten lists from professors at BYU-Idaho. I then asked a few book club members to pick three of their top choices from the 11 books I found. One of those will be our first book!