Merry Christmas!

I just thought I would wish you all a merry christmas. I have really enjoyed the opportunity to read and discuss wonderful books with everyone. Thanks!

December Book

Sorry I am slacking. I am the December host this month and I think a good book to read is A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle. It is the third in her Time Quintet but the books for the most part stand on their own. I started it last night and it starts with Thanksgiving dinner so I think it is seasonally appropriate. Sorry for no picture, I will do that later. I'm doing this at work. :O

I will probably post the questions sometime before Christmas, my December is shaping up to be a busy one and I will have company over through New Year's.

I hope everyone enjoys the book!!

December?

I forgot what are we reading for December, I know it is in an old post but didn't want to search through everything and figured this would be a quicker way. Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.

Discussion

Man I totally just realized I needed to post the discussion questions last week, I hope everyone enjoyed the book as much as I did. I was so glad to reread the book and also have a little break from intense reading here lately. Coming up with questions is not my strong point, so I borrowed others. So here goes...

1.Do you think the novel is a tale of redemption, despair, or both? Discuss the novel's meaning to you.

I think the novel is a mixture, I wish Heathcliff and Catherine could have been together, but understand why things happened the way they did. Class was such a big deal back then and Heathcliff was really given the tough deal. I think Catherine and Heathcliff marry others out of necessity and not true love. I think Heathcliff lives his life in despair after Catherine's death and they both torment each other with their unrequited love. This novel is one of my favorites, the depth of love and the description Emily Bronte uses to describe the moors makes me want to travel back and see more of the country side.

2. Do you think Bronte succeeds in creating three-dimensional figures in
Heathcliff and Cathy, particularly given their larger-than-life metaphysical passion? Why or why not?

I think she does a wonderful job, I can really feel their emotions and the depth of their feelings for each other and their physical yurning for each other in the afterlife.

3. Do you pity Edgar Linton or feel he can't help loving Catherine, just as she and Heathcliff can't help loving each other?

I feel he loves his wife, but doesn't understand why she is in love with another man and can do nothing to stop that. Obviously divorces were unheard of, so he loved her as best he could. He in no way compares to Heathcliff to me, who yes can be overly dramatic and cruel...but something about him still pulls me in. I think it's his passion is everything he does, his feelings for Catherine...his sadness and shear insanity after her death, if he does something it's to the fullest.

4. Ok anyone else have any questions? Feel free to post below or just give your feelings on the book in general. Happy Thanksgiving!

One more...

Anyone have any good Christmas books to recommend? My kids are really excited about Christmas this year and we've been reading different stories...they vary in length and level of difficulty. I am asking to get new ideas into the mix and not read the same 4 books over and over.

Twilight

I am not sure about everywhere else but here in Washington state I was able to pre-purchase my ticket to see twilight for the first show at 12:01! I got it from fandago, so check it out if you want to make sure you are there.

Has anyone else read the new Christopher Paolini book? I think he is a good author although I found some of the chapters really graphic in the battle descriptions. It's good though. A little slow in some spots, but the end moves and grooves and then ends!!! Hello! Book 4? I only hope it comes faster than this one.

November book

I have been really slack with getting this book up here, I was debating between two books; Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez was the one I wanted to read but a lot of other reviews said it was too racy and had some vulgur language. I decided against that one and figured that one would be better read on my own to see if I liked it. I didn't want to offend anyone with that choice and figured go with a safer classic since we all seem to be so caught up with life here lately. So I decided on Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. I love this book and haven't read it in about 9 years and would love the chance to reread this classic. I hope everyone approves and happy reading.

The Five Love Languages

So Ladies, I hope you all enjoyed this book. I think it is an interesting one that allows me to look inward and see where I am meeting the needs of my family as well as where my needs are being met.

Did you agree with the author's idea of 5 main love languages?
I did. It's funny since I read this a few years ago, I had a lot of fun giving my impression of what my families love languages were and finding out what they thought. Most of the time, I was reading them as something they weren't so it was great to find their needs and ways to show them love in their language.

Was it easy to figure out your love language?
Mine was really obvious. I feel love through service and I give love through service. It felt like I am so far to the one side, that I need to learn to feel and give love in other ways as well. I have always thought that my mom was one to feel love through gifts, because that is how she shows love. I found out that her love language is quality time, but as a child her family showed love through gifts and so that's how she learned to show love. I think it is really interesting how family environment affects love language. It has made me much more aware of how I am raising my children. I want more than ever to make sure that I am loving them in their language.

Has this been a book that has helped or hindered you?

My friend read this book at the same time and we were discussing it. She was not a fan. She said it's a great book, but I feel so frustrated. My husband is not a reader and so it's tough to know we aren't speaking each other's love language and there is not chance that he will read the book and understand that! I on the other hand had some great discussions with my husband. We were able to discuss our differences and where our needs weren't being met. We also talked a lot about trying to show love in all the languages, and allowing the kids to really find the way that they responded on their own.

Feel free to share any other comments you might have. I loved how he said to imagine each of us with a love tank. When Morgan and I first read the book, we realized that the terrible two's were tough, yes, but that a lot of that was that we were not refilling our kids love tanks. They were acting out for attention of any kind. It really made me more aware of them and gave me a great visual to keep me thinking of what I could do to fill that tank!

Practical Magic????

Anyone going to participate in the Practical Magic discussion? I guess I buried it by placing the Inkheart trailer above it, but it really is down there. Would love to hear your thoughts.

Melissa