This is a total aside from my Alaska postings but I had to mention the 10 books I purchased about 2 hours ago at Borders. Unfortunately, Borders is closing their doors; going out-of-business. Make no mistake, I'm not tragically upset about the fact that they have gone out of business (although I don't like to see anyone fail). I am more upset when I think about the hordes of small business owners and privately owned bookstores they put out of business once they came gallivanting into town.That said, the grief didn't overcome me to where I couldn't swoop in and make a few purchases.
I start my doctorate program next week and, although I haven't seen the list of required reading yet (I'm not bitter and frustrated that I can't get a head start) but judging by the 50 books on the recommended summer reading list, I am feeling a bit concerned that the workload from the required reading list won't lend much time to leisure reading.
I have already bargained with myself that if I read one chapter of "required reading" per night (textbook reading, blech) then I'll reward myself by a chapter of leisure reading. So, to dangle the motivational carrot in front of my eyes, I bought myself a few new reads; 10, in fact. It was purely coincidence that I bought 10 on a Top 10 Tuesday. The truth is that I planned to buy 8 because you were given an additional discount if you bought 8 and, well, after I reached 5 I lost all self control.
- Eating Out by Annette Natow & Jo-Ann Heslin:(You'd think they could have picked a better title, LOL) It is a book of nutrition information for every imaginable snack-food and restaurant.
- The Beekeeper's Lament: How One Man and Half a Billion Honey Bees Help Feed America by Hannah Nordhaus: Okay, so with this book I totally cheated. I've already started it. I couldn't wait another week. Over the summer I became OBSESSED with bees and bee-keeping. Lucky for me my step-father, Dan, keeps bees so it's not magical thinking that I feel I can use the knowledge about bees to help "keep bees." Bees are truly remarkable creatures and, believe it or not, we as humans owe them a debt of gratitude for perpetuating life.
- The Slippery Year: A Meditation on Happily Ever After by Melaine Gideon. "A disarmingly honest take on marriage and motherhood by a woman who realized she was sleepwalking through life when she decided she needed to do something about it" sounded really interesting to me. I thought, A.) Who doesn't sleepwalk through life, sometimes? and B.) What's her secret to living "intentionally?" Do tell, Melanie; I'm all ears.
- Whalehead Nation: Creating and Keeping an Environmental Ethic in Children by Scott Mercer (signed and dedicated copy) as someone who firmly believes that nature plays a huge role in my personal physical and mental health this is right up my alley. Plus, it gets better, the author writes mostly of NH, ME and MA.
- Amen, Amen, Amen: Memoir of a Girl Who Couldn't Stop Praying (Among Other Things) by Abby Sher- Is supposedly "a brave and exquisitely written account of obsessive-compulsive-disorder..." We shall see about that, won't we?
- Walking Wisdom: Three Generation, Two Dogs and the Search for a Happy Life by Gotham Chopra (yes, Deepak Chopra's son) Basically, a book about spirituality and how he (Gotham) draws on things taught to him by his amazing father, his own son, and (of course) man's best friend.
- The Trouble With Black Boys... and Other Reflections on Race, Equity and the Future of Public Education by Pedro Noguera. This isn't one of those guilty pleasure books but more of something that might help inform my
one-thousand-page ramble of bullshitdoctoral dissertation. - America the Edible: A Hungry History from Sea to Dining Sea by
Edible RichmanAdam Richman- Isn't he just so clever with his title? This is a book about his travels and eats (yet another way for me to stalk this tasty morsel of a food-lovin' man!) - Dissertation and Thesis from Start to Finish by John Cone & Sharon Foster- Blah, blah, blah.
- Citizen U.S.A by Alexandra Pelosi. I picked this up as an after thought because, well, if there's one thing I love more than Adam Richman, it's the red, white and blue. It outlines (via photos and personal stories) how amazing it is to be an American and what we take for granted on a daily basis. This book is phenomenal. I encourage you to view it on Amazon.com, which will allow you to "peek inside.
