Mona's 2010 Reading List

[anisia]

Always Looking Up by Michael J. Fox

 

Book Description (amazon.com)

 

There are many words to describe Michael J. Fox: Actor. Husband. Father. Activist. But readers of Always Looking Up will soon add another to the list: Optimist. Michael writes about the hard-won perspective that helped him see challenges as opportunities. Instead of building walls around himself, he developed a personal policy of engagement and discovery: an emotional, psychological, intellectual, and spiritual outlook that has served him throughout his struggle with Parkinson’s disease. Michael’s exit from a very demanding, very public arena offered him the time-and the inspiration-to open up new doors leading to unexpected places. One door even led him to the center of his own family, the greatest destination of all.

The last ten years, which is really the stuff of this book, began with such a loss: my retirement from Spin City. I found myself struggling with a strange new dynamic: the shifting of public and private personas. I had been Mike the actor, then Mike the actor with PD. Now was I just Mike with PD? Parkinson’s had consumed my career and, in a sense, had become my career. But where did all of this leave Me? I had to build a new life when I was already pretty happy with the old one..

Always Looking Up is a memoir of this last decade, told through the critical themes of Michael’s life: work, politics, faith, and family. The book is a journey of self-discovery and reinvention, and a testament to the consolations that protect him from the ravages of Parkinson’s.

With the humor and wit that captivated fans of his first book, Lucky Man, Michael describes how he became a happier, more satisfied person by recognizing the gifts of everyday life.

Personal Note:

I read this because I read ”Lucky Man” about a year ago and found it highly inspirational. I was definitely not disappointed. I would lie if I said I was a huge Michael. J. Fox fan – I’ve seen some movies and a couple of TV show episodes and that’s it. I chose to read “Lucky Man” simply because I thought it might be an interesting biography to read. I became a fan of his because of how optimistic he was and after also finishing “Always Looking Up” I am looking forward to read even more (I believe there’s another book) . “Always Looking Up” is well written and the combination of drama and humor made it difficult to put it down. I recommend this even if you’re not necessarily a fan of Michael J. Fox – a lot of lessons can be learned from it.

[anisia]

"Glass Houses: Morganville Vampires Book 1" by Rachel Caine

 

Book Description (amazon.co.uk)

 

College freshman Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation, where the popular girls never let her forget just where she ranks in the school’s social scene: somewhere less than zero. When Claire heads off-campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Her new roommates don’t show many signs of life, but they come out fighting when the town’s deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood…

 

Personal Note: I was reticent to begin this series, as I’m not a huge fan of vampire books. Since it came highly recommended from a friend who’s also recommended some other good books to me, I decided to give the first book of the series a try and it was great! I read it in less than a day, could barely put it down. It’s fast paced, packed with action, well written and I really like the characters. I was worried this would be another “Twilight” which I’ll be honest and say I was not impressed by at all, but I found the writing in Glass Houses much better. The characters actually have more of a background story and their emotions and reactions make sense. Plus I already have a tiny crush on Shane and Michael Looking forward to reading the next volumes of the series.

Edited October 18, 2010 by anisia

[alison10]

"Glass Houses: Morganville Vampires Book 1" by Rachel Caine

 

Book Description (amazon.co.uk)

 

College freshman Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation, where the popular girls never let her forget just where she ranks in the school’s social scene: somewhere less than zero. When Claire heads off-campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Her new roommates don’t show many signs of life, but they come out fighting when the town’s deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood…

 

Personal Note: I was reticent to begin this series, as I’m not a huge fan of vampire books. Since it came highly recommended from a friend who’s also recommended some other good books to me, I decided to give the first book of the series a try and it was great! I read it in less than a day, could barely put it down. It’s fast paced, packed with action, well written and I really like the characters. I was worried this would be another “Twilight” which I’ll be honest and say I was not impressed by at all, but I found the writing in Glass Houses much better. The characters actually have more of a background story and their emotions and reactions make sense. Plus I already have a tiny crush on Shane and Michael Looking forward to reading the next volumes of the series.

 

 

Looking forward now to reading these from your review, thank you.

[anisia]

Oh, I'm glad!!!

[anisia]

The Dead Girls' Dance (Morganville Vampires, Book 2) by Rachel Caine

 

Book Description (amazon.com)

 

Claire has her share of challenges. Like being a genius in a school that favors beauty over brains; homicidal girls in her dorm, and finding out that her college town is overrun with the living dead. On the up side, she has a new boyfriend with a vampire-hunting dad. But when a local fraternity throws the Dead Girls’ Dance, hell is really going to break loose.

 

Personal Note

 

As it happened with the first volume of the Morganville Vampires series, I could hardly put down the book down and in less than a day I was done reading. One of the things I definitely enjoyed in the book is that although Claire is the main character, so much of what happens in the book is related to the others. Everything is from Claire’s point of view, but for example in this second volume I was of course more than interested to see what will happen to Shane. The second book, just like the first one, also leaves you with huge question marks at the end. The cliffhanger is awful and it made me start reading the third book right away. It’s interesting to see how all the characters develop and to find out more and more about their backgrounds. So far I am enjoying the series a lot.

Edited October 20, 2010 by anisia

[anisia]

Midnight Alley (Morganille Vampires, Book 3) by Rachel Caine

 

Book Description (amazon.co.uk)

 

Morganville is such a nice place to live...and die. If you don't mind that sort of thing. When Claire Danvers learnt that her college town was run by vampires, she did what any intelligent, self-preserving student would do: she applied for a transfer and stocked up on garlic. The transfer is no longer an option, but that garlic may come in handy. Now Claire has pledged herself to Amelie, the most powerful vampire in town. The protection her contract secures does little to reassure her friends. All of a sudden, people are turning up dead, a stalker resurfaces from Claire's past, and an ancient bloodsucker extends a chilling invitation for private lessons in his secluded home.

 

Personal Note

 

Just like with the other two volumes in the series, it was a really great read. I’m going to repeat what I said before – I love the depth of the characters, I never feel like their “one-dimensional”, I love knowing their background. One thing though, I am starting to dislike Shane.

[anisia]

I've been horrible with updating this thread and I've actually read books. I just forgot to update both this thread and my blog Next year! Next year I'll be better at this!

 

I'm currently continuing with the Morganville Vampires series and also reading a book on Criminal Behaviour. I'm also making my way through White Fang! I've lost count on how many times I've read it so far

[frankie]

Oooh, a book on criminal behaviour... is it any good? Is it a text book for uni kind of thing, or...? Happy reading

[anisia]

Seems to be, I'm not very far ahead of it though. I went to get some random books from the library and thought I'd take a non-fiction one too. I loved Criminal Psychology as a class and this one stood out But I will definitely need to renew it cause it's quite textbookish so I can't go too fast with it

[frankie]

Oh, I wish we would've had criminal psychology! Or maybe you had a chance to take a course on it at uni, which would be a totally different case. Anyways, would you mind divulging the title for me, so I could see if I could find it for me to read

[anisia]

Sure! It's called "Understanding Criminal Behaviour - Psychosocial approaches to criminality" by David W. Jones

 

And yeah, we had one semester of Criminal Psychology at Uni, but I only really enjoyed the second part of it. The first was a lot of rambling that didn't really take me anywhere because it was also not very... in depth? So I felt like I wasn't really gaining any really understanding.

 

I do prefer reading at my own pace anyway. Cause I sometimes find stuff that interest me more so I'll just focus on those I can't imagine I'll go through the whole book in the 4 weeks I have it from the library.

Edited December 17, 2010 by anisia

[frankie]

Thank you for the title, I've been really interested in criminal psychology for a while now but haven't just looked for any books on it, I suppose I could start with that one, in case I find a copy of it at a library. Just by hearing the title it seems like a mega load of information, so yeah one might want to take their time reading it

[anisia]

I got it from the library, so you should find it

 

The thing with how our class went was that we didn't get to do much extra reading and our teacher wouldn't give us a list of books that we could read - I actually asked him and he told me next time till the end of the semester. So I'm sort of just randomly choosing books This so far is good!

[frankie]

What a weird teacher, you'd think they'd be thrilled to give out extra reading material!!

[anisia]

I know, right?! I guess because Criminal Psychology isn't very developed back home, he didn't think I needed to read about it more than his notes or something. Don't know! It's such a fascinating subject too...