What We Are Reading

Now that the holidays are over, I think we have all found ourselves with some extra time to kill.  The weather is cold. The fire is roaring. The hot chocolate is a-flowin'! What's better than grabbing your warmest blanket, your newest book, a hot guy to give you a foot massage, and letting yourself get lost in a story? Fine, fine, I guess having the hot guy feed you pizza would make it better.

Anyways, here's what the Village Shoes girls are currently working on...

Halle:

• Earplugs by Bram Riddlebarger In this charming novel, a quest for earplugs tries to stave off old age, unrequited love, and the burden of change. But like dark ships appearing on the horizon of small-town ear canals, bobbing masts signal beginnings and ends. A town overtaken by a new order. Antique dealers selling off the living room. Relationships that ignite and do not last. Eau de Auld versus Odeur Nouveau, in brief. 
• Solar Lottery by Philip K. Dick “Philip K. Dick’s best books always describe a future that is both entirely recognizable and utterly unimaginable.” -The New York Times Book Review
• Tree of Codes by Jonathan Safran Foer "[A]n extraordinary journey that activates the layers of time and space involved in the handling of a book and its heap of words. Jonathan Safran Foer deftly deploys sculptural means to craft a truly compelling story. In our world of screens, he welds narrative, materiality, and our reading experience into a book that remembers it actually has a body." - Olafur Eliasson, artist

Cat:

• Linguistics for Everyone by Kristin Denham & Anne Lobeck This book is for students with majors in English, linguistics, secondary education, foreign languages, communication sciences, and other disciplines that need a basic introduction to linguistics.
• The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss Harry Potter fans craving a new mind-blowing series should look no further than The Name of the Wind--the first book in a trilogy about an orphan boy who becomes a legend. Full of music, magic, love, and loss, Patrick Rothfuss's vivid and engaging debut fantasy knocked our socks off. --Daphne Durham
• Un Lun Dun by China Mieville When twelve-year-old Zanna and her friend Deeba find a secret entrance leading out of London and into this strange city, it seems that the ancient prophecy is coming true at last. But then things begin to go shockingly wrong.

Amanda:

• The Sibling Effect by Jeffrey Kluger In this perceptive and groundbreaking book, Jeffrey Kluger explores the complex world of siblings in equal parts science, psychology, sociology, and memoir. Based on cutting-edge research, he examines birth order, twins, genetic encoding of behavioral traits, emotional disorders and their effects on sibling relationships, and much more. With his signature insight and humor, Kluger takes science’s provocative new ideas about the subject and transforms them into smart, accessible insights that will help everyone understand the importance of siblings in our lives.
• Earplugs by Bram Riddlebarger
• Bossypants by Tina Fey "Absolutely delicious!" (A Guy Who Eats Books)

Jen:

• Earplugs by Bram Riddlebarger 
• (JEN WORKS A LOT...SHE'S LUCKY IF SHE HAS TIME TO READ A MENU BEFORE SHE ORDERS FOOD SOMEWHERE.)

Stacey:

• Dying to be Me by Anita Moorjani
• The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis On a daring quest to save a life, two friends are hurled into another world, where an evil sorceress seeks to enslave them. But then the lion Aslan's song weaves itself into the fabric of a new land, a land that will be known as Narnia. And in Narnia, all things are possible ...
• Crazy Sexy Kitchen by Kris Carr Crazy Sexy Kitchen gives readers all the tools and know-how needed to adopt a joyful and vibrant Crazy Sexy Diet and Lifestyle. What is the Crazy Sexy Diet and Lifestyle, you ask? A nutrient-dense, plant-happy approach to eating and living that harmonizes your beautiful body at the cellular level. It’s a celebratory way of life that’s deeply connected, healthy, awake and engaged. Now that’s SEXY!

So, I'm sure you've noticed that three of us are reading Earplugs by Bram Riddlebarger.  Bram is Halle's older brother, and she was kind enough to buy us copies of his book for Christmas! We are all very proud of him. His book can be purchased on Amazon, or you can ask your local bookstore to stock his book...actually, pester your local bookstore into stocking his book.

 

What are you reading or hope to read soon? If you're the person who has to read for work, class, etc., what kind of books do you pick up when you have time to read for pleasure?

post by Amanda

first photo courtesy of The Beauty of Words Blog

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What are you reading this summer?

The ladies at Village Shoes love to read! One of us utilizes the local library, two of us purchase from bookstores, and I purchase books online to download and enjoy using my E-Reader. Now that the weather is warm and lovely, everyone is looking forward to changing their reading venue from indoors to outdoors, and from enjoying hot tea, curled up in a blanket, to sipping iced tea in the shade.

What we are reading:

Amanda:

• In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik Larson "By far his best and most enthralling work of novelistic history….Powerful, poignant…a transportingly true story." -The New York Times

• Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs “A tense, moving, and wondrously strange first novel. The photographs and text work together brilliantly to create an unforgettable story.” -John Green, New York Times best-selling author of Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns

Stacey:

• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee "To Kill a Mockingbird is a first novel of such rare excellence that it will no doubt make a great many readers slow down to relish more fully its simple distinction. It passes the test with honors." -Chicago Tribune

Halle:

• The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers "The symbols of mythology and legend are all around us, embedded in the fabric of our daily lives, and the Moyers-Campbell dialogues are a welcom guide to recognizing and understanding their meanings." - Cincinnati Post

• Mary and the Giant by Philip K. Dick "A retelling of Mozart's Don Giovanni, with Schilling seduced and destroyed by a young woman." -Philip K. Dick

• Pursuit of Happiness by Maira Kalman

• Catch-22 by Joseph Heller "A dazzling performance that will outrage nearly as many readers as it delights." -The New York Times
  

Jen:

• “I’m reading my textbooks. Those aren’t fun, unless you are into reading about psychosis.” (Jen is currently studying Psychology and is knee deep in textbooks at all times.)

What are you current summer reads?

Post by Amanda

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