Top Ten Books on My Fall To-Read List

Hello from Northern Virginia! Thankfully, we weren't affected by Irene other than a few trees being knocked over.

These week's Top Ten Tuesday is about the top books on my to-read list. Be sure to check out The Broke and The Bookish where this meme is hosted.

You all know I love my Kindle. However, I still have 3 shelves of books, many of which I haven't read yet. It's time I showed my paperbacks a little more love.

1. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield -This is the October pick for one of the book clubs I attend.

2. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez -I've heard such great things about this book. I can't wait to start it!

3. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak -This is another book I've heard nothing but good things about.

4. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon -I love the artwork on the cover. The plot also sounds very interesting.

5. Everything Beautiful Began After  by Simon Van Booy -I picked this book up at the Borders closing sale. I love the texture of the pages; that's one thing the Kindle can never imitate. 

6. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford -I've been wanting to read this for a couple years, and I finally found a copy at a used bookstore. 

7. The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley - I absolutely loved The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, the first of the Flavia de Luce mysteries. I absolutely adore Flavia, and I can't wait to see her again in this book.

Now for the non-fiction picks:

8. Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi - I won this on a blog giveaway a while back. I really like the concept behind this memoir, and I'm looking forward to gaining perspective on the many things that we take for granted in this country.

9. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell -I've read The Tipping Point, and I really enjoyed Gladwell's writing. I'm working my way through the rest of his books.

10. The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb - No, this book has nothing to do with the movie with Natalie Portman. This is a book about the disproportionate impact of highly improbable events. 

Guess what? I didn't pay full price for any of these! Some were from garage sales, some from used bookstores. One of them I bought new from Barnes & Noble online for close to 40% off. That's usually how I choose between paperbacks and Kindle eBooks -whatever's the cheapest! 

Are any of these on your to-read lists? I hope you have new additions to your list after reading this post!

Love and (a book) light,

~Dorothy

What Makes Us Human?

As some of you may already know, I am a member of several book clubs in real life. On of them is called People, Places, and Perspectives. The books tend to be non-fiction and cover a variety of topics. While I love novels, a good non-fiction book can give me the insight and new perspective that I need from time to time.

The book we discussed was The Most Human Human by Brian Christian. It is based on Christian's experience as a confederate for the Turing test that occurs every year. In a Turing test, a judge sits before a screen and chats with someone for 5 minutes. They then give their best guess as to whether they were chatting with a computer or a human. Pretty cool, right?

Every year, The Most Human Computer prize is awarded to the programmers of the computer that fooled the most judges. Another prize that is given is The Most Human Human, awarded to the human (referred to as the "confederate") that convinced the most judges that they were indeed human.

What is it that separates us from computers? What parts of our dialogue, conversations, and thinking separate us from everything else? For centuries, we have prided ourselves as the only beings that could think, separating ourselves from all other animals. But now that computers can think and make calculations, what separates us from them?

This book was a great read, and the dynamic discussion made it even better. Good food, good company, and a good book -isn't that all we really want out of life? Ok, maybe not all of us.

I really learned a lot from this book. He covered a lot of different topics that I had no idea would tie into the subject, like early philosophy, chess, etc. Some parts are very technical, but skimming them won't hurt. I wouldn't recommend this to someone who has not read much non-fiction because it can be heavy at times. If philosophy and science is your thing, this would be a great read for you.

If you decide to pick it up, let me know what you think! Also, I'm always taking book recommendations, so if you know of a similar book, tell me about it.

Love and (a book) light,

~Dorothy

Throwback Thursday -The Boxcar Children

Yes! I love Thursdays for many reasons, one being that tomorrow is Friday and another being Throwback Thursdays! This is a weekly feature I created here on my blog so I can share my bookish childhood with you.

This weekend, we went to the children's book sale at our local library. I originally went there to shop for my nephew, but we ended up getting stuff for ourselves (to be featured on a future Throwback Thursday). Among the many nostalgia-inducing books, I found a favorite series of mine -The Boxcar Children. The series is about four orphaned children that want to stay together at all costs. They happen on an abandoned boxcar and turn it into their home. They have many adventures together, and the ending is truly a happy one. For all you parents out there, I definitely recommend this to your kids.

I took pictures, but they weren't great because I still get very anxious when I take photos in public because I'm afraid someone's going to yell at me to stop, so I'm not patient and I rush. :/

Did any of you read The Boxcar Children? Do you recognize any other books in the picture?

Love and (a book) light,

~Dorothy

Book Club Meetup -The Last Child

I meet with a book club in real life (several, really). August's pick was The Last Child by John Hart. I really enjoyed this book, as did the rest of the club. We usually meet at Panera, but this week we decided to mix it up and go to a local Ethiopian restaurant. The first time we went there was to discuss Cutting for Stone, a wonderful book set in Ethiopia. We loved the food so much we decided to go back.

Yebeg Alecha Wot

If you haven't had Ethiopian food, I highly recommend giving it a try! I had the Yebeg Alecha Wot, which is braised lamb. You must have the Injera (also spelled Enjera), a unique type of bread that is porous and spongy. Be sure to ask for the red pepper sauce. I'm usually not one that enjoys spicy food, but this sauce is very flavorful.

The Last Child was a great read, especially if you like mysteries. It really kept me guessing right until the very end.

Do you meet with a book club in real life? Where do you guys usually meet and what is the format?

Love and (a book) light,

~Dorothy

Book Blogger Hop -The Longest Book I've Ever Read

Book Blogger Hop is a great way to discover other book blogs and learn more about the bloggers. This meme is hosted by Crazy for Books, so be sure to check her out.

This week's question is:

“What’s the LONGEST book you've ever read?” 

The longest book I've ever read also happens to be my favorite book. Cutting for Stone comes at a whopping 667 pages for the paperback. Granted, it's not War and Peace or anything, but it's still pretty long. Even after all that, though, I didn't want it to end. It is a wonderfully written story about twin brothers from Ethiopia and their journey through life. 

I'd love to hear which long books you've read and if you recommend them.

Love and (a book) light,

~Dorothy

Throwback Thursday -The First Book I Remember Reading

Welcome to another edition of Throwback Thursday! This is a weekly feature that I created here at The Kindled Scholar so I can share bits of my bookish childhood with you.

This week, I'm talking about the first book I remember reading. I was surrounded by many Dr. Seuss books growing up, but I distinctly remember reading One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. I remember making my parents read it to me over and over again until I could finally read it myself, more from memory than from actually reading. 

For this reason, Dr. Seuss has always been dear to my heart. Imagine how elated I was to learn that the library at the University of California in San Diego where I went to school was named Geisel after Theodore Geisel, Dr. Seuss' given name. It's an amazing and peculiar building, which does its name justice. The building also goes underground, but it's not dark down there. There are these things that look like shards of glass sticking out of the ground which are actually skylights for the lower levels. Cool, huh?

Geisel Library -picture taken from Wikipedia

So there's that -the first book I remember reading. What was yours?

Love and (a book) light,

~Dorothy

ROOM by Emma Donoghue

I've heard lots of mixed reviews about this book, but I for one belong to the camp that really enjoyed it. Reading a book narrated by a 5-year-old, not an ordinary one at that, takes some getting used to. However, there really was no other way to tell this story. Part of what makes this book great is the unique perspective Jack has to offer. I think Donogue should be commended on her ability to communicate to her readers the entirety of a situation while still using the plausible perceptions of a 5-year-old. My background is in psychology, mainly social psychology, which is one of the reasons this book was so interesting to me. It is most definitely a tragic premise, one that is very disturbing yet, unfortunately, very possible in our world.

{There are minor spoilers beyond this point, but nothing you wouldn't get from reading the back of the book (which is not something I usually do, hence the warning.)}

What was most interesting to me was Jack's perception of the outside world. You and I, having lived in relative freedom ever since we can remember, would describe Jack's coming out of ROOM as a "rescue" from a "horrible place." But what happens when that is all you've ever know, and it never crossed your mind that it was bad? We are all creatures of habit. What happens when your habits were confined to a small room for the first 5 years of your life and you were suddenly thrust into a world you never knew existed? I think Donoghue did a great job of envisioning the issues that would arise from such a strange situation and how it would affect a child's emotional, cognitive, and physiological development. While my meager 4 years in college hardly makes me an authority on the subject, I found most of Donoghue's speculations to be consistent with what we know about child development.

The book briefly addresses something that had not even occurred to me while reading, but which seemed so obvious once they talked about it. What would your perception of the mother be, and what judgments would you make about her choices? Some of her actions towards the end did not resonate with me, but I thought that she did the best she could with what she had.

I know some people may be hesitant to start a book with such a disturbing and dark concept, but this is ultimately a story of redemption. Delay no further; pick up a copy and report back here, whether you loved it or hated it. If you've already read it, let me know what you though in the comments or post a link to your review.

Love and (a book) light,

~Dorothy