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Saturday, February 27, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Alexander Schmemann, Great Lent: Journey to Pascha, p.33
Apart from my personal reading for Lent this year, see my other posts of Orthodox Prayer Life by Matthew the Poor, every night, after our Vespers prayer, my husband and I read to each other a few pages of this classic by Schmemann.
By the way, reading aloud to each other is a wonderful experience - we usually alternate a paragraph each. We started doing this on the 1st day of Lent, and I have the feeeling we'll go on after Lent.
So yesterday, we had this gem:
"Sad brightness:
the sadness of the exile,
of the waste I have made of my life;
the brightness of God's presence and forgiveness,
the joy of the recovered desire for God,
the peace of the recovered home.
Such is the climate of lenten worship;
such is its first and general impact
on my soul."
By the way, reading aloud to each other is a wonderful experience - we usually alternate a paragraph each. We started doing this on the 1st day of Lent, and I have the feeeling we'll go on after Lent.
So yesterday, we had this gem:
"Sad brightness:
the sadness of the exile,
of the waste I have made of my life;
the brightness of God's presence and forgiveness,
the joy of the recovered desire for God,
the peace of the recovered home.
Such is the climate of lenten worship;
such is its first and general impact
on my soul."
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Matthew The Poor, Orthodox Prayer Life, pp.35-40
"Through prayer,
our will becomes like that of Christ...
Prayer is an effective power
that brings us into contact
with the Christ
who is actually present within us...
If, in physical matters,
nakedness carries with itself so great a shame,
how much more shame for the person
that is naked of divine power,
who does not wear
nor is clothed
with the ineffable and imperishable spiritual garment,
namely,
the Lord Jesus Christ Himself?
St Macarius the Great, Homily 20
The stance of prayer by itself,
whether in one's chamber
or in church,
is indeed a standing before the presence of God.
It is entering
into the sphere of the heavenly hosts
as they praise and minister."
our will becomes like that of Christ...
Prayer is an effective power
that brings us into contact
with the Christ
who is actually present within us...
If, in physical matters,
nakedness carries with itself so great a shame,
how much more shame for the person
that is naked of divine power,
who does not wear
nor is clothed
with the ineffable and imperishable spiritual garment,
namely,
the Lord Jesus Christ Himself?
St Macarius the Great, Homily 20
The stance of prayer by itself,
whether in one's chamber
or in church,
is indeed a standing before the presence of God.
It is entering
into the sphere of the heavenly hosts
as they praise and minister."
Friday, February 19, 2010
Matthew The Poor, Orthodox Prayer Life, pp.25-31
"We must also know that every secret converse,
evry good care of the intellect
directed toward God
and every meditation upon spiritual things
is delimited by prayer,
is called by the name of prayer,
and under its name is comprehended...
In its true essence,
prayer is a communion with the heavenly host
in praising their Creator.
It will surely end up as such
when all things are put in subjection to God the Father...
When we delve deeply into the life of prayer,
we end up with the conviction that
it is an act of glorifying God,
a divine ministry of transcendent honor....
The foundation of prayer
is paying absolute honor to God's will:
'Thy Will be done,
on earth as It is in heaven.'
For this reason,
prayer inevitable demands that
man relinquish his own will:
'Not my own will,
but Thine be done' (Lk 22.42)...
Without prayer,
man loses the meaning of his existence
and the purpose of his creation."
evry good care of the intellect
directed toward God
and every meditation upon spiritual things
is delimited by prayer,
is called by the name of prayer,
and under its name is comprehended...
In its true essence,
prayer is a communion with the heavenly host
in praising their Creator.
It will surely end up as such
when all things are put in subjection to God the Father...
When we delve deeply into the life of prayer,
we end up with the conviction that
it is an act of glorifying God,
a divine ministry of transcendent honor....
The foundation of prayer
is paying absolute honor to God's will:
'Thy Will be done,
on earth as It is in heaven.'
For this reason,
prayer inevitable demands that
man relinquish his own will:
'Not my own will,
but Thine be done' (Lk 22.42)...
Without prayer,
man loses the meaning of his existence
and the purpose of his creation."
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Matthew The Poor, Orthodox Prayer Life, pp.23-24
"Prayer begins on God's part as a secret call to stand before Him.
We then carry it as a free response in our yearning to speak with Him.
Afterward, prayer assumes its divine purpose
as an act of repentance and purification.
It subsequently attains its ultimate goal
as a sacrifice of love and humility
that prepares us for fellowship with God...
Prayer is the condition in which we discover our own image,
on which the stamp of the Holy Trinity is impressed...
When we lose prayer,
we actually lose the glory of our image,
and we no longer resemble God in any way."
We then carry it as a free response in our yearning to speak with Him.
Afterward, prayer assumes its divine purpose
as an act of repentance and purification.
It subsequently attains its ultimate goal
as a sacrifice of love and humility
that prepares us for fellowship with God...
Prayer is the condition in which we discover our own image,
on which the stamp of the Holy Trinity is impressed...
When we lose prayer,
we actually lose the glory of our image,
and we no longer resemble God in any way."
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
From Bishop Jonah's 2010 lettre for Great Lent
This letter is very powerful and deep.
Here is the link to it:
ARCHPASTORAL EPISTLE OF HIS BEATITUDE, METROPOLITAN JONAH FOR THE BEGINNING OF GREAT LENT 2010
And here is something that talks to me a lot in it:
"The goal of repentance is the transformation of our minds and hearts,
our very consciousness.
It means the transformation of our whole life.
To engage it means that we have to embrace change".
Here is the link to it:
ARCHPASTORAL EPISTLE OF HIS BEATITUDE, METROPOLITAN JONAH FOR THE BEGINNING OF GREAT LENT 2010
And here is something that talks to me a lot in it:
"The goal of repentance is the transformation of our minds and hearts,
our very consciousness.
It means the transformation of our whole life.
To engage it means that we have to embrace change".
Monday, February 15, 2010
Matthew The Poor, Orthodox Prayer Life, pp.16-22
"Prayer has no purpose other than to glorify God...
we must therefore examine ourselves
and see
whether the ultimate aim of our prayer
is the revelation of God's glory alone...
Mystically,
prayer is God's perpetual call within us
drawing us
toward the fulfillment of the ultimate purpose
of our creation,
our union with God...
The eternal purpose of prayer
is man's reacceptance
of the communion of God's love,
once and forever."
we must therefore examine ourselves
and see
whether the ultimate aim of our prayer
is the revelation of God's glory alone...
Mystically,
prayer is God's perpetual call within us
drawing us
toward the fulfillment of the ultimate purpose
of our creation,
our union with God...
The eternal purpose of prayer
is man's reacceptance
of the communion of God's love,
once and forever."
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Matthew The Poor, Orthodox Prayer Life, pp.14-15
Today, Forgiveness Sunday, I started reading the book I received to read every day of the Great Lent. I hope to share some pearls of it every day.
"Christ has granted us not only to know Him
and believe in Him,
but also to live in Him.
he gave us the Holy Spirit not only to teach us,
but also to dwell within us,
remold us, and renew our minds.
The Holy Spirit takes every day what is Christ's and gives it to us.
Life in Christ then,
is action,
experience,
renewal,
and ceaseless growth in the Spirit...
Prayer progressively brings about an essential day-by-day change in us...
This is brought about through God
while man remains unconscious of the change...
Prayer is opening oneself toward the effective,
invisible,
and imperceptible power of God.
Man can never leave the presence of God
without being transformed and renewed in his being,
for this is what Christ has promised.
However, such transformation will not be in the form of a sudden leap.
It will take its time and course
as an imperceptible but meticulous build-up...
When the soul ascends to the world of true LIGHT,
which is within its own being,
it begins to feel in harmony with God
through constant prayer."
"Christ has granted us not only to know Him
and believe in Him,
but also to live in Him.
he gave us the Holy Spirit not only to teach us,
but also to dwell within us,
remold us, and renew our minds.
The Holy Spirit takes every day what is Christ's and gives it to us.
Life in Christ then,
is action,
experience,
renewal,
and ceaseless growth in the Spirit...
Prayer progressively brings about an essential day-by-day change in us...
This is brought about through God
while man remains unconscious of the change...
Prayer is opening oneself toward the effective,
invisible,
and imperceptible power of God.
Man can never leave the presence of God
without being transformed and renewed in his being,
for this is what Christ has promised.
However, such transformation will not be in the form of a sudden leap.
It will take its time and course
as an imperceptible but meticulous build-up...
When the soul ascends to the world of true LIGHT,
which is within its own being,
it begins to feel in harmony with God
through constant prayer."
Monday, February 8, 2010
Books I read in January 2010
Starting 2010 at a good pace: 6 books read in January, 5 non-fiction and 1 fiction.
NON-FICTION:
Robert Darnton, The Case for Books: Past, Present, and Future
From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com Reviewed by Dennis Drabelle drabelled@washpost.com This book distills Robert Darnton's years of musing -- as a historian, university professor and librarian -- on the history and future of the book, whether printed or electronic. Though he is an unabashed partisan of books as they have existed since the codex replaced the scroll about 1,700 years ago, Darnton sees at least one ideal use for electronic publishing: to make widely available the results of scholarly research, with hyperlinks to the research itself where possible. "Any historian who has done long stints of research," Darnton writes, "knows the frustration over his inability to communicate the fathomlessness of the archives and the bottomlessness of the past." Cyberspace is the perfect solution, a medium in which such complexities can be not only suggested but also explored via links for the curious. At the end of this chapter ("E-Books and Old Books"), the director of the Harvard University Library makes clear how he thinks e-books will be classed: "as a supplement to, not a substitute for, Gutenberg's great machine." Darnton is alarmed about another aspect of publishing: the loss of old newspapers in their physical form, a state of affairs that Nicholson Baker has also lamented. Both writers are incensed by the way in which some libraries toss out archived newspapers (and many other items) without alerting the public. Darnton would change this, requiring "libraries that receive public money" to publish lists of their prospective throwaways, and he urges "libraries around the country [to] begin to save the country's current newspaper output in bound form."
good stuff, especially the first essays on the future. great balance between books in digital forms and tradicitonal shape
Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture
A lot of professors give talks titled "The Last Lecture." Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can't help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?
When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave--"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams"--wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because "time is all you have...and you may find one day that you have less than you think"). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.
In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come.
I finally read this book, now a classic. i was actually happily surprised and found it quite good, in its emphasis on some core values.
Archimandrite Sophrony, We Shall See Him As He Is
Now at the close of my life I have decided to talk to my brethren of things I would not have ventured to utter earlier, counting it unseemly.... Thus wrote Archimandrite Sophrony, then ninety-two years old, in We Shall See Him as He Is, his spiritual autobiography. In this book Fr. Sophrony, one of the most beloved orthodox Christian elders of our times, revealed to the world his own experience of union with God, and the path to that union. drawing near to God with intense love and longing accompanied by struggle, self-emptying and searing repentance, Fr. Sophrony was granted to participate in the life of God Himself through His uncreated Energies. Like orthodox saints throughout the centuries, he experienced God s grace as an ineffable, uncreated Light. It was in this Light that Christ was transfigured on Mount Tabor before His Apostles, and it is in this Light that we shall see Him as He is (I John 3:2). Born into a russian orthodox family in Moscow in 1896, Archimandrite Sophrony embarked on a successful career as a painter in Paris. There he delved into Eastern religions for a time, before repenting bitterly of this and returning to the faith of his childhood. After a brief period of theological study in Paris, he left for the ancient orthodox monastic republic of Mount Athos in Greece, where he spent fifteen years in a monastery and a further seven as a hermit in the desert. on Mount Athos he became the spiritual son of a simple monk of holy life, Elder Silouan. It was under the guidance of Saint Silouan that Fr. Sophrony experienced divine illumination, knowing God intimately as Personal Absolute as the one Who revealed Himself to the Prophet Moses as I AM and Who became incarnate as man in Jesus Christ. In 1959, Fr. Sophrony founded the Monastic Community of St. John the Baptist in Essex, England, which has since become a major orthodox spiritual center for all of Western Europe. Elder Sophrony reposed in 1993, at the age of 97.
Very deep autobiography touching to many essential Orthodox themes. I loved very much the chapter on LIGHT. This is a book with which you can meditate, or share with others.
Allan Smith, The Volokolamsk Paterikon
Funny, Amazon didn't even manage to type the title correctly!!
This is the first time this Paterikon is translated and published in English. It is accompanied with many notes and explanations about the historical and political context, quite complex.
I am not familiar with the source language of the Paterikon, but the translation does not flow well. too bad.
Bruce Wilkinsen, The Dream Giver
Bestselling author Bruce Wilkinson shows how to identify and overcome the obstacles that keep millions from living the life they were created for. He begins with a compelling modern-day parable about Ordinary, who dares to leave the Land of Familiar to pursue his Big Dream. With the help of the Dream Giver, Ordinary begins the hardest and most rewarding journey of his life. Wilkinson gives readers practical, biblical keys to fulfilling their own dream, revealing that there's no limit to what God can accomplish when we choose to pursue the dreams He gives us for His honor.
Very easy read, but not bad at all. Writen as a parable. Energizing
FICTION:
Philippa Gregory, The Boleyn Inheritance
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Returning to the scene of The Other Boleyn Girl, historical powerhouse Gregory again brings the women of Henry VIII's court vividly to life. Among the cast, who alternately narrate: Henry's fourth wife, Bavarian-born Anne of Cleves; his fifth wife, English teenager Katherine Howard; and Lady Rochford (Jane Boleyn), the jealous spouse whose testimony helped send her husband... and sister-in-law Anne Boleyn to their execution. Attended by Lady Rochford, 24-year-old Anne of Cleves endures a disastrous first encounter with the twice-her-age king—an occasion where Henry takes notice of Katherine Howard. Gregory beautifully explains Anne of Cleves's decision to stay in England after her divorce, and offers contemporary descriptions of Lady Rochford's madness. While Gregory renders Lady Rochford with great emotion, and Anne of Cleves with sympathy, her most captivating portrayal is Katherine, the clever yet naïve 16th-century adolescent counting her gowns and trinkets. Male characters are not nearly as endearing. Gregory's accounts of events are accurate enough to be persuasive, her characterizations modern enough to be convincing. Rich in intrigue and irony, this is a tale where readers will already know who was divorced, beheaded or survived, but will savor Gregory's sharp staging of how and why.
wow, first time I read something by P. Gregory. I actually started by listening to it, and there was one reader for each character, and excellent readers at that! Sounded almost like theater. When I had to give back the audiobook and finished by reading the book, I ciould still hear the voices.
this is great historical novel stuff, and I will now go back to the whole series, reading them by chronological order of events - which is not the way the books came out. but I found a link on the web putting all her books in the historical chronological order
NON-FICTION:
Robert Darnton, The Case for Books: Past, Present, and Future
From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com Reviewed by Dennis Drabelle drabelled@washpost.com This book distills Robert Darnton's years of musing -- as a historian, university professor and librarian -- on the history and future of the book, whether printed or electronic. Though he is an unabashed partisan of books as they have existed since the codex replaced the scroll about 1,700 years ago, Darnton sees at least one ideal use for electronic publishing: to make widely available the results of scholarly research, with hyperlinks to the research itself where possible. "Any historian who has done long stints of research," Darnton writes, "knows the frustration over his inability to communicate the fathomlessness of the archives and the bottomlessness of the past." Cyberspace is the perfect solution, a medium in which such complexities can be not only suggested but also explored via links for the curious. At the end of this chapter ("E-Books and Old Books"), the director of the Harvard University Library makes clear how he thinks e-books will be classed: "as a supplement to, not a substitute for, Gutenberg's great machine." Darnton is alarmed about another aspect of publishing: the loss of old newspapers in their physical form, a state of affairs that Nicholson Baker has also lamented. Both writers are incensed by the way in which some libraries toss out archived newspapers (and many other items) without alerting the public. Darnton would change this, requiring "libraries that receive public money" to publish lists of their prospective throwaways, and he urges "libraries around the country [to] begin to save the country's current newspaper output in bound form."
good stuff, especially the first essays on the future. great balance between books in digital forms and tradicitonal shape
Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture
A lot of professors give talks titled "The Last Lecture." Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can't help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?
When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave--"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams"--wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because "time is all you have...and you may find one day that you have less than you think"). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.
In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come.
I finally read this book, now a classic. i was actually happily surprised and found it quite good, in its emphasis on some core values.
Archimandrite Sophrony, We Shall See Him As He Is
Now at the close of my life I have decided to talk to my brethren of things I would not have ventured to utter earlier, counting it unseemly.... Thus wrote Archimandrite Sophrony, then ninety-two years old, in We Shall See Him as He Is, his spiritual autobiography. In this book Fr. Sophrony, one of the most beloved orthodox Christian elders of our times, revealed to the world his own experience of union with God, and the path to that union. drawing near to God with intense love and longing accompanied by struggle, self-emptying and searing repentance, Fr. Sophrony was granted to participate in the life of God Himself through His uncreated Energies. Like orthodox saints throughout the centuries, he experienced God s grace as an ineffable, uncreated Light. It was in this Light that Christ was transfigured on Mount Tabor before His Apostles, and it is in this Light that we shall see Him as He is (I John 3:2). Born into a russian orthodox family in Moscow in 1896, Archimandrite Sophrony embarked on a successful career as a painter in Paris. There he delved into Eastern religions for a time, before repenting bitterly of this and returning to the faith of his childhood. After a brief period of theological study in Paris, he left for the ancient orthodox monastic republic of Mount Athos in Greece, where he spent fifteen years in a monastery and a further seven as a hermit in the desert. on Mount Athos he became the spiritual son of a simple monk of holy life, Elder Silouan. It was under the guidance of Saint Silouan that Fr. Sophrony experienced divine illumination, knowing God intimately as Personal Absolute as the one Who revealed Himself to the Prophet Moses as I AM and Who became incarnate as man in Jesus Christ. In 1959, Fr. Sophrony founded the Monastic Community of St. John the Baptist in Essex, England, which has since become a major orthodox spiritual center for all of Western Europe. Elder Sophrony reposed in 1993, at the age of 97.
Very deep autobiography touching to many essential Orthodox themes. I loved very much the chapter on LIGHT. This is a book with which you can meditate, or share with others.
Allan Smith, The Volokolamsk Paterikon
Funny, Amazon didn't even manage to type the title correctly!!
This is the first time this Paterikon is translated and published in English. It is accompanied with many notes and explanations about the historical and political context, quite complex.
I am not familiar with the source language of the Paterikon, but the translation does not flow well. too bad.
Bruce Wilkinsen, The Dream Giver
Bestselling author Bruce Wilkinson shows how to identify and overcome the obstacles that keep millions from living the life they were created for. He begins with a compelling modern-day parable about Ordinary, who dares to leave the Land of Familiar to pursue his Big Dream. With the help of the Dream Giver, Ordinary begins the hardest and most rewarding journey of his life. Wilkinson gives readers practical, biblical keys to fulfilling their own dream, revealing that there's no limit to what God can accomplish when we choose to pursue the dreams He gives us for His honor.
Very easy read, but not bad at all. Writen as a parable. Energizing
FICTION:
Philippa Gregory, The Boleyn Inheritance
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Returning to the scene of The Other Boleyn Girl, historical powerhouse Gregory again brings the women of Henry VIII's court vividly to life. Among the cast, who alternately narrate: Henry's fourth wife, Bavarian-born Anne of Cleves; his fifth wife, English teenager Katherine Howard; and Lady Rochford (Jane Boleyn), the jealous spouse whose testimony helped send her husband... and sister-in-law Anne Boleyn to their execution. Attended by Lady Rochford, 24-year-old Anne of Cleves endures a disastrous first encounter with the twice-her-age king—an occasion where Henry takes notice of Katherine Howard. Gregory beautifully explains Anne of Cleves's decision to stay in England after her divorce, and offers contemporary descriptions of Lady Rochford's madness. While Gregory renders Lady Rochford with great emotion, and Anne of Cleves with sympathy, her most captivating portrayal is Katherine, the clever yet naïve 16th-century adolescent counting her gowns and trinkets. Male characters are not nearly as endearing. Gregory's accounts of events are accurate enough to be persuasive, her characterizations modern enough to be convincing. Rich in intrigue and irony, this is a tale where readers will already know who was divorced, beheaded or survived, but will savor Gregory's sharp staging of how and why.
wow, first time I read something by P. Gregory. I actually started by listening to it, and there was one reader for each character, and excellent readers at that! Sounded almost like theater. When I had to give back the audiobook and finished by reading the book, I ciould still hear the voices.
this is great historical novel stuff, and I will now go back to the whole series, reading them by chronological order of events - which is not the way the books came out. but I found a link on the web putting all her books in the historical chronological order
Thursday, January 14, 2010
About the 62 books I read in 2009
My friend Trisha wrote a fantastic blog post on the books she read in 2009. See for yourself: http://lookinginalltherightplaces.blogspot.com/2010/01/years-worth-of-reading-2009.html?spref=fb
So it gave me the idea to try and do something similar: here it is, with some different categories sometime.
Books read in 2009: 62. This is an average of 5.16/month, my highest number of books read in a year since 2001.
Among these 62, 16 were Audiobooks: I try to paint my rocks (www.rocksbyemmanuelle.com) every morning, and I discovered that I could listen to books at the same time! It took me a while to dare the plunge, as I first could not consider an Audiobook as a real book, shame on me again, but my library (http://www.elmhurstpubliclibrary.org/) has an amazing collection of audiobooks and MP3. I have never been disappointed: the readers are excellent, and I even listened to several books read by the author himself/herself.
I also listen to audiobooks when I do my ironing!
Books started and abandoned: I don't keep track of those usually, and actually there are very few - still under St Benedict's injunction to read a book from A to Z, so when I start, I always have a hard time to stop, unless it's a real bore, or totally against my deep principles, or I just don't get it, or so very poorly written that I really think I'm losing my time, and as I would need at least 3 lives to read all I want to read, better stick to the best!
But I do remember I had to stop Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle, to my total shame, because I really wanted to discover the baroque style. It was a bit too confusing for me.
As for Joyce Carol Oates, I tried several books of hers, as she was invited by Elmhurst Public Library for the Elmhurst Read Program, but I just couldn't go further than a few pages - I did read We Were the Mulvaneys in 2008.
Fiction/Non-Fiction ratio: 39/23
I'm surprised, I thought I had read many more Fiction books than Non-Fiction.
Male/Female authors ratio: 26/18
Books by the same author:20! wow! When I love a writer I keep going back to him/her
Newest: The Lacuna, by Barbara Kingsolver, probably my favorite female writer. Just published a few months ago (2009).
Best title: Born on a Blue Day, by Daniel Tammet. The subtitle tells you about the book: "Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant". VERY interesting
In translation: 9
Favorite: this is soooo difficult to choose!
- Life List: a woman's quest for the world's most amazing birds, by Olivia Gentile - that's the biography of bird enthusiast Phoebe Snetsinger
- Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II by Robert Kurson. About John Chatterton and Rich Kohler, two deep-sea wreck divers who in 1991 dove to a mysterious wreck lying at the perilous depth of 230 feet, off the coast of New Jersey, and found out it was a German U-boat. They spend years to identify what U-boat in was. The author will come in 2010 to Elmhurst, for the program Elmhurst reads
Shortest: Grendel, by John Gardner
Funniest: Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris
Best spiritual reading: B. Cooke, Royal Monastic: Princess Ileana of Romania
And finally:
I hope you enjoyed this post and I encourage you to do the same: it's fun and you may find some surprises.
I started listing the books I read every year many years ago, but at some important transition in my life, I stupidly got rid of the list!!
I restarted listing my reads in March 2001, when I arrived in the US. Between March 2001-2009, I read: 433 books, which is an average of 48.1/year, but actually 4.08/month (as I started counting only starting in March 2001).
So it gave me the idea to try and do something similar: here it is, with some different categories sometime.
Books read in 2009: 62. This is an average of 5.16/month, my highest number of books read in a year since 2001.
Among these 62, 16 were Audiobooks: I try to paint my rocks (www.rocksbyemmanuelle.com) every morning, and I discovered that I could listen to books at the same time! It took me a while to dare the plunge, as I first could not consider an Audiobook as a real book, shame on me again, but my library (http://www.elmhurstpubliclibrary.org/) has an amazing collection of audiobooks and MP3. I have never been disappointed: the readers are excellent, and I even listened to several books read by the author himself/herself.
I also listen to audiobooks when I do my ironing!
Books started and abandoned: I don't keep track of those usually, and actually there are very few - still under St Benedict's injunction to read a book from A to Z, so when I start, I always have a hard time to stop, unless it's a real bore, or totally against my deep principles, or I just don't get it, or so very poorly written that I really think I'm losing my time, and as I would need at least 3 lives to read all I want to read, better stick to the best!
But I do remember I had to stop Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle, to my total shame, because I really wanted to discover the baroque style. It was a bit too confusing for me.
As for Joyce Carol Oates, I tried several books of hers, as she was invited by Elmhurst Public Library for the Elmhurst Read Program, but I just couldn't go further than a few pages - I did read We Were the Mulvaneys in 2008.
Fiction/Non-Fiction ratio: 39/23
I'm surprised, I thought I had read many more Fiction books than Non-Fiction.
Male/Female authors ratio: 26/18
Books by the same author:20! wow! When I love a writer I keep going back to him/her
- Ellis Peters: the last 7 books of the Brother Cadfael series - and I was so disappointed when I reached the last one and there was no more to come!
- David Sedaris: 5. The funniest writer, even better if you are French/American. This year I read/listened to When You are Engulfed in Flames, Naked, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, Live at Carnegie Hall, Holidays on Ice
- Archimandrite Vasileios: 5, that I had to review for a monastic spirituality periodical to which I regularly have to send reviews. These were 5 short books on spiritual matters related to monastic life written by a very famous Elder of Mount Athos
- Sigrid Undset: 3, the 3 books constituting Kristin Lavransdatter.
- Wuthering Heights, The Scarlet Letter, Moby Dick - as you see, I try to go back to the big classics I read in French a long time ago - these audiobooks were AWESOME
Newest: The Lacuna, by Barbara Kingsolver, probably my favorite female writer. Just published a few months ago (2009).
Best title: Born on a Blue Day, by Daniel Tammet. The subtitle tells you about the book: "Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant". VERY interesting
In translation: 9
- 5 from the Greek, by Archimandrite Vasileios
- 3 from the Norwegian, by Sigrid Undset
- 1 from the French: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie - yes, he DOES write in French
- 6 in Greece
- 5 in Africa (Darfur, Egypt, and others)
- 4 in GB
- 3 in Norway
- 1 in Romania: B. Cooke, Royal Monastic: Princess Ileana of Romania. This is the life of the last princess of Romania who founded monasteries, became a nun and founded Transfiguration Monastery, a famous Orthodox monastery in Elwood City, PA
- 1 in Burma: a fascinating book by Emma Larkin, Finding George Orwell in Burma
- 1 in India and US: The Namesake, by Lahiri
- 1 in China: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
- 1 in Mexico: Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, by Christopher McDougall
- 1 in Ireland, a very thorough study on the legend of Saint Brendan
- 1 only in France - I am not chauvinistic! This was Rachi's Daughters - Book 1: Joheved, by Maggie Anton - set in the Middle Ages
Favorite: this is soooo difficult to choose!
- my favorite audiobook: The Positronic Man, by Asimov
- my favorite Fiction book: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
- my favorite Non Fiction books: here I just can't choose. By alphabetical order:
- Life List: a woman's quest for the world's most amazing birds, by Olivia Gentile - that's the biography of bird enthusiast Phoebe Snetsinger
- Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II by Robert Kurson. About John Chatterton and Rich Kohler, two deep-sea wreck divers who in 1991 dove to a mysterious wreck lying at the perilous depth of 230 feet, off the coast of New Jersey, and found out it was a German U-boat. They spend years to identify what U-boat in was. The author will come in 2010 to Elmhurst, for the program Elmhurst reads
Shortest: Grendel, by John Gardner
Funniest: Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris
Best spiritual reading: B. Cooke, Royal Monastic: Princess Ileana of Romania
And finally:
- books from my personal bookshelf: 1
- books received for review: 9
- books from Elmhurst Public Library: 52! Am I supporting enough my library?
I hope you enjoyed this post and I encourage you to do the same: it's fun and you may find some surprises.
I started listing the books I read every year many years ago, but at some important transition in my life, I stupidly got rid of the list!!
I restarted listing my reads in March 2001, when I arrived in the US. Between March 2001-2009, I read: 433 books, which is an average of 48.1/year, but actually 4.08/month (as I started counting only starting in March 2001).
Saturday, January 9, 2010
My Christmas Miracle
It all started on Christmas Day.
My husband's family is very large, and they love to eat. We usually end up 40 or more people around the table, I mean the tableS...all spread throughout the house, with good stuff brought by everyone.
This year our hostess was Mary Beth, my husband's niece. She loves eating and cooking!
Last time I saw her, she was kind of really down, and not comfy in her skin.
This time, what a surprise, she was radiant, full of energy, AND she had really slimmed down! The change was really impressive.
'So Mary Beth, what's going on? what's happened to you? We want to know your secret!'
And she started with great enthusiasm sharing her experience.
She had tried so many times, with all kinds of programs and products, to lose weight, with no result.
This time, she found THE ONE thing working!
She lost 30 lbs in 6 weeks! and is working at losing 30 more!
She explained to her about this amazing product.
It's actually 4 products, and so far it's the world's only core nutrient fusion system designed to fire up energy, fat burning and weight loss at the same time.
My husband's family is very large, and they love to eat. We usually end up 40 or more people around the table, I mean the tableS...all spread throughout the house, with good stuff brought by everyone.
This year our hostess was Mary Beth, my husband's niece. She loves eating and cooking!
Last time I saw her, she was kind of really down, and not comfy in her skin.
This time, what a surprise, she was radiant, full of energy, AND she had really slimmed down! The change was really impressive.
'So Mary Beth, what's going on? what's happened to you? We want to know your secret!'
And she started with great enthusiasm sharing her experience.
She had tried so many times, with all kinds of programs and products, to lose weight, with no result.
This time, she found THE ONE thing working!
She lost 30 lbs in 6 weeks! and is working at losing 30 more!
She explained to her about this amazing product.
It's actually 4 products, and so far it's the world's only core nutrient fusion system designed to fire up energy, fat burning and weight loss at the same time.
is a scientific revolution in thermogenic fat burning
Formulated To:- Stimulate the thermogenic fat burning and weight loss process*
- Suppress appetite*
- Promote energy and stamina*
2.
is a gentle organic, highly effective daily colon cleanse.
Formulated To:- Boost fat burning*
- Support weight loss*
- Decrease bloating to create a flatter stomach*
- Improve digestion*
- Remove pollutants and toxins*
- Improve absorption of supplements*
- Restore energy*
3.
is a breakthrough power amino acid and protein smoothie.
Formulated To:- Satisfy appetite*
- Reduce food cravings*
- Support fat metabolism*
- Increase sustained energy*
- Meal Replacement*
4.
is the world’s first food sprinkle.
Formulated To:- Eliminate up to 25% of calories eaten*
- Clinically proven to reduce weight**
- Tasteless and Effective*
- Patent Pending*
We were so excited, as both my husband and I need to lose weight and want to feel more healthy, that we signed up right away, on Christmas night when we came back home!
Because of the holidays, it took 2 weeks to receive the products.
We finally just started and after our 1st day my husband already lost 4 lbs and I lost 2!
Our goal is both to lose roughly 20 lbs, and we plan to do this in max 90 days.
Another thing is that in a few months my husband's niece has also made big money. Having just 2 small part-time jobs ourselves, we are also hoping this will be a good help for us.
The company is less than a year young and has already over 10 millions of sales. They are becoming international in March, opening to 20 countries, and will launch 2 more products at the end of January 2010.
Until January 15th, you can join for free: that will give you right away a free website with the company which gives you the opportunity to educate yourself about the products and the company.
Something big is coming up in the 2nd part of January, and will be only available to people who are already in, even with just a free sign up.
by the way, during 30 days after your free sign up, you can either buy products and start selling them, with amazing and excellent compensation plans, or if you choose not to upgrade from your free sign up, that's fine, you will just be taken off the database and will no longer have access to the company website. you won't be charged with anything.
oh and if you buy the products and think they don't work for you, you just return your open bottles within 30 days, and you'll have your money back - 100% money back guarantee.
But wow, I'm getting way beyond my Christmas miracle. The neat thing is that the miracle is going on, and I believe will go on for quite a while!Both my husband and I have felt so great and dynamic today.It's so good to feel again healthy in our bodies, and more alert in our minds as well.I'll keep you posting on our progress, as we fill in our chart, waiting for our Christmas miracle to go on happening everyday.The Fitnslim team!to join for free before January 15th: http://www.irepcni.net/fitnslim
Already lost 2 lbs!
Just started Core 4 products, and I already lost 2 lbs, and my husband lost 4! I can't believe it, but the scale is speaking the truth!
want to know my secret?
want to know my secret?
Friday, January 8, 2010
90 days to lose weight!
TODAY just received my CORE 4 Products and started day 1! scale at 134, what will it be in 90 days?? see http://www.irepcni.net/fitnslim to try it yourself
You want to learn French and lose weight?
Want to learn French and lose weight? join for free http://www.irepcni.net/fitnslim, and send me a message to get your 45 mn FREE French class - with a French native tutor !
Learn French...and lose weight?
The other day a student gave this feedback for my French class:
"Emma must be the best French teacher on the planet"!
this is on http://www.verbalplanet.com where I teach French - look for Emma Cazabonne.
I wish they also said I sell the best natural product to lose weight...: http://www.irepcni.net/fitnslim
What a combo: learn French and lose weight!
"Emma must be the best French teacher on the planet"!
this is on http://www.verbalplanet.com where I teach French - look for Emma Cazabonne.
I wish they also said I sell the best natural product to lose weight...: http://www.irepcni.net/fitnslim
What a combo: learn French and lose weight!
Monday, January 4, 2010
You need to lose weight?
On your New Year resolutions list, is there: to lose weight?
Did you answer yes?
So read further!
I'm not the kind of getting excited by any new product out there, but when I saw my niece on Christmas Eve in such a good shape and when she told me she lost 30 lbs in 6 weeks, I knew this had to be very good.
Have you heard about Core 4 products? The only product to help you boost your energy, curve your appetite, and lose weight at the same time, with natural products.
My niece consulted with her doctor: he not only assured her this was a safe and healthy product, but he also sells it now, along with his wife who is also in the health profession.
Core 4 comes in 4 products:
Please visit http://www.irepcni.net/fitnslim to know more (click on the right image: Core 4 Fast Results: Learn More).
And if you also want to make more money this year, you could join to sell this product: the company is 11 months old and representatives are already making big money. The company is going to launch 2 new products later in January, a power drink and another product, and they are going international in March! So it's the perfect time to join.
Send me an email to know more about how it works, give me your phone number if you prefer to talk, and if you want to talk to my niece, no problem, I'll give you her phone number.
Did you answer yes?
So read further!
I'm not the kind of getting excited by any new product out there, but when I saw my niece on Christmas Eve in such a good shape and when she told me she lost 30 lbs in 6 weeks, I knew this had to be very good.
Have you heard about Core 4 products? The only product to help you boost your energy, curve your appetite, and lose weight at the same time, with natural products.
My niece consulted with her doctor: he not only assured her this was a safe and healthy product, but he also sells it now, along with his wife who is also in the health profession.
Core 4 comes in 4 products:
- FLUSH: a gentle organic, highly effective daily colon cleans
- LEAN: a breakthrough power amino acid and protein smoothie formulated to satisfy your appetite, reduce your food cravings, support fat metabolism, and increase sustained energy
- CHEAT: the world's first food sprinkle that eliminates up to 25% of calories eaten, clinically proven to reduce weight - you just need to sprinkle the flakes on whatever you eat
- ACCELERATE: formulated to stimulate the thermogenic fat burning and weight loss process, to suppress your appetite, and to promote your energy and stamina
Please visit http://www.irepcni.net/fitnslim to know more (click on the right image: Core 4 Fast Results: Learn More).
And if you also want to make more money this year, you could join to sell this product: the company is 11 months old and representatives are already making big money. The company is going to launch 2 new products later in January, a power drink and another product, and they are going international in March! So it's the perfect time to join.
Send me an email to know more about how it works, give me your phone number if you prefer to talk, and if you want to talk to my niece, no problem, I'll give you her phone number.
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