Space Station Mir

7. Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler Parable of the Sower has been on my reading list for a while and I picked it up recently at Capitol Hill Books , a used bookstore near Eastern Market in D.C. that really does seem to have everything. Fifteen-year-old Lauren Olamina lives in a walled-in cul-de-sac in a suburb of Los Angeles. The few times she has been Outside, her father, a Baptist minister and other adults from the neighborhood have escorted the children in an armed group. Although her small community helps each other, attends church together, and grows their own food, outside their wall lurks a constant assault of increasingly desperate, homeless, and drug-addicted people. Money and jobs, not to mention water, are scarce and the federal government is all but defunct. State borders are heavily patrolled and the incompetent police are only available for exorbitant fees. No child has a hope of a life better than their parents, who still keep insisting 'the good times wil...

6. King of the Murgos by David Eddings (Book 2 of The Malloreon ) I read Guardians of the West (Book 1 of The Malloreon ) a few months ago, but it's actually been a bit of a challenge to find these books on Bookmooch or at the library. I might have to give in and just buy the set, but not yet. Garion and Ce'Nedra of The Belgariad are now King and Queen of Riva. Garion slew the evil god Torak and settled the conflict between the Dark and the Light forever-or so we thought. Now, Garion and Ce'Nedra's son, the infant Prince Geran, has been stolen by Zandramas, the new Child of the Dark. The pair and a group of companions, new and old, has set out to recover the child and destroy the Dark once and for all. Unlike the original series, which featured the same crisp writing, compelling characters, and classic Hero's Journey structure, the gap between Dark and Light is not as clear. Some of the companions' new members are of deeply questionable loyalties and eve...

My house is being abducted by aliens? Sweet! Let me grab a notebook and pen, and I'm all ready for my new life among the extraterrestrials. When I was little, I always used to think about which books I'd save in case of a fire. I felt obligated to go for my Torah and Siddur and kept them on the shelf closest to my bed. Next closest to my heart? My father's copies of Lord of the Rings , which I brought into my room for safekeeping. Unfortunately, the family's copies of the Complete Works of Shakespeare and Pride and Prejudice were stored downstairs, so I despaired of saving those. 1. Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien Specifically, my father's old paperbacks from the 1970s, but I have multiple copies... 2. The Torah I have a nice copy and if I needed to start a new civilization or educate aliens about human society, I'd want this. 3. Siddur (prayer book) See above. Also, got this for my Bat Mitzvah. 4. A Tangled Web by L.M.Montgomery I can ...

Today's topic at the Broke and the Bookish is Top Ten Books That Broke My Heart A Little Lot. The change is mine. I dare anyone to read Where the Red Fern Grows and NOT cry. The final three books are Holocaust memoirs, I went through a stage of reading those as a kid, I would highly recommend all three of these to anyone interested. 1. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls 2. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy 3. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins 4. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell 5. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald 6. My Antonia by Willa Cather 7. The Awakening by Kate Chopin 8. Night by Elie Wiesel 9. The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank 10. I Have Lived A Thousand Years by Livia Bitton-Jackson

Honestly, this week's topic for the Broke and the Bookish often stumps me. Because anyone who knows me knows I am a huge bookworm, I am often asked to recommend books and sometimes to people who say they don't like to read. I don't know what it feels like not to love reading. I have always loved stories and was read to even before I could read. I remember the mechanics of learning to read were difficult and I recall struggling with it, but that's the only disincentive to read I remember. And I still wanted people to read to me. I have a lot of sympathy with kids (or adults) who are learning to read, and especially with kids I've worked with and known personally, reading a fantasy book with them, such as Harry Potter or The Hobbit or even Eragon , has inspired them to want to read or read more. But for adults who don't like to read? It's complicated. Some look down on fantasy or science fiction, refuse to read on principle or just have no interest. S...

5. The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak Eva Stachniak has single-handedly restored my faith in historical fiction. The praise on the back quotes C.W. Gortner, "This novel is literary sable." I could not have formed a more appropriate description. Stachniak's lush imagery carries the novel, though it owes much to its subject, the opulence of the 18th century Russian court, as well. Varvara Nikolayevna, a bookbinder's daughter from Poland, is left orphaned at fifteen under the patronage of Empress Elizabeth of Russia, daughter of Peter the Great. Varvara becomes a spy or "tongue," which is Stachniak's cleverest move (I'll explain why later). After a year or so adjusting to her new duties and girded with a fresh awareness of her surroundings, Varvara is invited to befriend a new arrival at court, Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst. The Empress wants to know everything about the potential betrothed of her nephew Peter, whom she has adopted as her heir. V...