Posts tagged ‘reading’

Elizabeth Gilbert is brilliant!

By Monica Brand, 25 January, 2010, No Comment

Elizabeth Gilbert lived in amazing places. Italy! India! Indonesia! And where does she choose to set up housekeeping with her new hubby ? Care to take a guess?

New Jersey. Ha. Take that nay-sayers. Not only is Gilbert planted in my Garden State, but she’s right here in my part of the Delaware Valley.

We’re practically neighbors. I could bump into her at the IGA or the coffee shop or she might come to my church. (Errr. She’s probably not coming to church) Hey, how cool is it that after exploring an exotic place like Southeast Asia, it’s my unassuming little patch of Earth that she decides to call home.

Brilliant choice of real estate investing, Liz. Welcome, welcome.

Today I finished Gilbert’s latest book, Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage and this week I will be sharing my thoughts.

Have you read it? Do you plan on reading Committed?

Let’s discuss it together.

Are paper books dead?

By Monica Brand, 4 January, 2010, 12 Comments

I do. I don’t know how long it will take. You know, we love stories and we love narrative; we love to get lost in an author’s world. That’s not going to go away; that’s going to thrive. But the physical book really has had a 500-year run. . . But no technology, not even one as elegant as the book, lasts forever.

That’s Amazon.com’s Jeff Bezos, mastermind behind that eReader gadget known as Kindle answering the question posed by Newsweek magazine: Do you think that the ink-on-paper book will eventually go away?

Now I ask you -

Will the traditional paper book cease to exist?

Is technology that powerful?

Are we so addicted to our electronics that the eBook will send the paper book into extinction?

And do we care?

image: scrapetv.com

Challenge me

By Monica Brand, 8 December, 2009, No Comment

Here’s another online reading challenge for the upcoming new year: the 451 Challenge. There’s an interesting assortment of books to chose from, and even if a book challenge isn’t your cup of (reading) tea, I encourage you to click over to browse the list.

Read South Asia

By Monica Brand, 22 November, 2009, No Comment

By taking part in the South Asian Author Challenge. It starts next year, still plenty of time to decide on your goal and compile an author list. Join Jennifer of Snapshot and I (and meet other reading kindred spirits) as we read our way through South Asia.

You’ll never guess what book I’m holding right now

By Monica Brand, 21 November, 2009, 5 Comments

Twilight.

Oh, stop laughing!

I mentioned on Facebook the other day that I wasn’t going to be part of the masses descending upon a movie theater to see New Moon. Who knew from an innocent status update I would be inspired to read a series of YA novels I never, ever imagined I would read? Stranger things and all that, eh?

Joy, a dear friend, fellow homeschooling mom trying to teach her kids the same truths I am, with the good sense to live within sight of Mt. Rainier, commented that she used the Twilight books as a springboard into teaching right v. wrong, not having sex before marriage, etc.

Really, Joy? That was a first. Who has escaped all the hype surrounding Twilight? First the rage of the books, now the films, so this was the first time I knew of someone reading these books to discuss Biblical principals. I do love a good debate, especially one based on a hot book (no, that’s not a Team Jacob or Team Edward reference. Sheesh, people.)

You know me, I like to talk books. I’m not shy to speak my mind regarding my opinions. And as a mother of a pre-teen, voracious reader, I need to know what she’s picked up off the shelf. You can’t judge a book by its cover.

So I’m going to read the entire series, then blog about my findings. I’m basically interested in two questions:

What does the Twilight series teach young people about sex and purity? Do the books promote godly behavior?

I’m leaning toward posting each book separately, but I’ll see how it goes. If I suddenly have deep thoughts bursting from within, I won’t wait until I’ve finished the book.

That’s it for now. I know I’ve been usually quiet here these last few months. I just really didn’t feel much like recording thoughts here; guess I had the blog blahs, if there is such a thing. It’s been awhile since I’ve really felt fired up about writing thoughts about a book. I think Twilight is just the kick in the pants I need to get back into writing here again. Thanks for sticking with me.