Glittering Images by Susan Howatch

Months ago, I saw someone on a message board recommend Susan Howatch's Starbridge series and thought it sounded intriguing, but I couldn't find it at the library. I was afraid I would be disappointed in it, as I have been in so many novels in recent years, but as cliche as it is, I couldn't put it down.

This is the first book in a series of 6 books relating to the Church of England, but it's a lot more interesting than it sounds. Glittering Images was a kind of psychological mystery novel. This is a dialogue intensive book, and it is a thought intensive book, definitely not an action book, although the characters do move around quite a bit and get into trouble. It's also a relationship intensive book, involving friendship, parent-child relationships, and romance. The characters are very real, flawed, interesting, well-devoloped individuals.

Since it is about the Church of England, there are quite a few religious and spiritual themes. However, I do not think this book would interest only Christians. I, myself, am an agnostic. I do think that it is of particular interest to anyone who has had clergy in their family.

I am now most of the way through the second book in the series and do not intend to stop until I have read them all!

Asleep by Molly Caldwell Crosby

Asleep by Molly Caldwell Crosby discusses in depth the disease encephalitis lethargica that affected and killed millions in the early 20th century. This is the same disease that Oliver Sachs wrote about in his book Awakenings, later made into a movie starring Robin Williams. I saw the movie as an adolescent and was both fascinated and horrified by this disease. At this point in my life, I experienced more fascination than horror as I learned more about this mysterious disease that still appears from time to time and is still not well understood.

I did find this book interesting, but the background on the events of the day and the personal lives of the doctors involved, was a little bit too heavy for me, and found myself skimming much of it, and reading in detail the case histories and information about the disease itself.

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

A few days ago, I finished Cutting for Stone
by Abraham Verghese. One of the main reasons I read it was that it was only $5 for the Kindle edition. What a bargain! I have to say that I loved this book, loved the characters, loved the story and setting, and did not put it down for the few days that it took me to read it. I would like to read Verghese's other books, although I wish they were available on Kindle. It's difficult to describe the book without writing a spoiler, so I will be very vague. This is a medical novel set in Ethiopia, both of which add to the interest and excitement of the story, but its strength is in Verhese's development of the characters. Vergese manages to pack medical and cultural information to the novel without making it boring somehow. In print, this novel is 688 pages. It's been hard for me to get into novels in recent years, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one the entire way through and was sorry when I had finished it.

The Kindle and Financial Considerations

The major thing holding me back from purchasing a Kindle was the cost. Kindle editions of books are generally slightly cheaper than new paperbacks and signifcantly cheaper than new hardcovers. However, I almost never buy new books. Over the past few years, I have mostly bought used books and sometimes taken books out of the library. Before my youngest son was born, I would frequently sell books we no longer wanted on Amazon if I could sell them for a few dollars. I also have traded books on bookins.com.

The Kindle itself was a little too pricey for me until recently, when the wi-fi version came down to $139. At that point, I decided I could buy a Kindle with our credit card reward certificates and use it at least to read books that were available free, at a lower cost than a used book, or not available at the library, or if I were buying material to read while traveling. However, since buying my Kindle, I have changed my mind. I like reading on it so much better.

I think that the cost may be worth it because books bring so much clutter into the house. I don't want to take the time to sell them or trade them, and I don't like lugging boxes of books to the library for donation. I also have problems using the library. Our library doesn't have the greatest hours or selection, and I have a tendency to lose books for several weeks.

So, I have decided to be very careful about what books I choose to buy, to read the first chapter before buying them to make sure I will like it, and to get all of my books on Kindle that I can. I have often bought used books online very cheap, and then decided that I didn't like them. I don't think I will be spending any more money this way, especially if I take care not to buy a book until I am ready to start a new one. (Unless, of course, it is on sale, in which case I would go ahead and buy it.) With buying used books online, I tend to buy several at once because they take so long to arrive, and I don't like to be out of reading material. Kindle books are available to buy 24 hours a day, so I shouldn't normally have to buy more than one at a time!

I think that with this strategy I will spend about the same on books as I do now, and very possibly less. I will also save myself time because I will not have to deal with shelving or disposing of hard copies of books.

My New Kindle: First Impressions

My first Kindle arrived yesterday! I was so excited waiting for it that I could hardly concentrate on anything else. I had seen Kindles before in Target, but I mainly bought main based on reading online reviews of E-book readers.

I got the Kindle 3 wi-fi in graphite. It is sleek, attractive, and has a really nice feel to it. The screen is just beautiful, and I love reading it and looking at the pictures when I put it into sleep mode. It was easy to use right out of the box. It came with simple instructions on how to plug it in.

The only snag I ran into was hooking it up to the wireless network in our house. I had to wait for my husband to get home to ask him where the password was. After trying to input the password several times, he realized that we had too many devices hooked up to our network. He disconnected the Wii, and the Kindle was good to go. It quickly downloaded several books I had "sent" to it from my Amazon account.

I originally felt like I would continue to use the library and buy used books when it would save me money. Now, I am thinking that I will be a little more choosey with my purchases and perhaps read mostly on the Kindle. I actually regret buying a couple of used books recently--I wish I would have waited so that I could read them on the Kindle instead.

I find that I read faster, that it is easier to hold than a traditional book. I love how I don't have to dog-ear pages. I am constantly being interrupted by my children while I read, and the Kindle keeps my place.

So, after one day of owning a Kindle, I can say I am very happy with my purchase! I will post again in about a month (hopefully) to report on how I am enjoying it (or not) at that time.

Packing for Mars by Mary Roach

I finished Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach recently. I've read two of her other books, including Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, all about what happens to dead bodies, and Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, basically showing that science shows nothing about the afterlife. I liked Stiff a lot but found Spook to be a little too dry.

Anyway, Packing for Mars made for some very good and interesting light reading. I laughed out loud several times, especially in the chapter about the space chimpanzee. It also answered many (but not all) questions I had always had about personal hygiene and bathroom use in space. It's just as difficult as one would think to manage these bodily functions in a zero gravity environment. It's kind of an "Everything you want to know about space but were afraid to ask" sort of book and even tackles zero G sex.

The book increased my admiration for astronauts and all that they sacrifice in order to do their work. Despite having no real scientific background, there was always a part of me that wanted to be an astronaut (probably too much Star Trek). Anyway, I now have no desire to be an astronaut in the 21st century. Backpacking sounds a lot more fun and a lot better for one's health and personal hygiene.

I read nearly every page, although I do recall getting bored once or twice and skipping ahead a couple of pages. It looks like the Roach book I haven't read is Bonk: The Coupling of Science and Sex, and I have that on my wish list now!