Welcome to bookchat where you can talk about anything...books, plays, essays, and books on tape. You don’t have to be reading a book to come in, sit down, and chat with us.
I have seen what a laugh can do. It can transform almost unbearable tears into something bearable, even hopeful.
Bob Hope
I have been writing some short stories for practice and I think I am getting better. I really like some of my stories and several of my characters very much, but...
When I am asked and encouraged to try to get these published I hang back. One reason, is that these stories do not break any new ground, but a bigger reason is that they really do not inspire. They lack heart. They lack something that would help the reader to live better and breathe better and grow inside.
The stories have action, plot, conflict, love, characters who mean well and work hard. The dialogue is not bad though a bit wordy here and there and the settings are interesting, but...
That is what this week’s diary is about; the books, plays, poems and films that lift us up above ourselves and give us inspiration. The stories that have heart.
Those stories we read that make us cry, but lift us up and we are glad that we read them; or that make us laugh, but think; or that make us be determined to live better, are true gems.
Non-fiction
1. Three Cups of Tea about Greg Mortenson by David Relin
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/...
The inspiring account of one man's campaign to build schools in the most dangerous, remote, and anti-American reaches of Asia.
princesspat has mentioned the story for young readers:
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/...
This young readers edition of the worldwide bestseller Three Cups of Tea has been specially adapted for younger readers and updated by Greg Mortenson to bring his remarkable story of humanitarianism up to date for the present. Includes new photos and illustrations, as well as a special interview by Greg's twelve-year-old daughter, Amira, who has traveled with her father as an advocate for the Pennies for Peace program for children.
and the sequel
2. Stones into Schools by Greg Mortenson, Mike Bryan
By the time I got to page 10, I was already in tears, but good tears. I am on page 123, now.
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/...
From the author of the #1 national bestseller Three Cups of Tea, the continuing story of this determined humanitarian and the schools he has established.
3. Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis by Al Gore
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/...
This is an absolutely beautiful book to own. I am on page 205.
It is now abundantly clear that we have at our fingertips all of the tools we need to solve the climate crisis. The only missing ingredient is collective will.
Properly understood, the climate crisis is an unparalleled opportunity to finally and effectively address many persistent causes of suffering and misery that have long been neglected, and to transform the prospects of future generations, giving them a chance to live healthier, more prosperous lives as they continue their pursuit of happiness.
Our Choice gathers in one place all of the most effective solutions that are available now and that, together, will solve this crisis. It is meant to depoliticize the issue as much as possible and inspire readers to take action—not only on an individual basis but as participants in the political processes by which every country, and the world as a whole, makes the choice that now confronts us.
There is an old African proverb that says, "If you want to go quickly, go alone; if you want to go far, go together."
We have to go far, quickly.
We can solve the climate crisis. It will be hard, to be sure, but if we can make the choice to solve it, I have no doubt whatsoever that we can and will succeed.
—AL GORE, from the introduction
4. Breaking the Sound Barrier by Amy Goodman, Denis Moynihan (Editor), Bill Moyers (Foreword by)
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/...
Amy Goodman, award-winning host of the daily internationally broadcast radio and television program Democracy Now!, breaks through the corporate media's lies, sound bites, and silence in this wide-ranging new collection of articles. In place of the usual suspects—the "experts" who, in Goodman's words, "know so little about so much, explain the world to us, and get it so wrong"—this accessible, lively collection allows the voices the corporate media exclude and ignore to be heard loud and clear.
From community organizers in New Orleans, to the courageous American soldiers who've said "No" to Washington's wars, to the victims of torture and police violence, we are given the extraordinary opportunity to hear ordinary people standing up and speaking out. Written with all of the fierce intelligence and passion for truth that millions have come to expect from Amy Goodman's reportage, Breaking the Sound Barrier proves the power that independent journalism can play in the struggle for a better world, one in which ordinary citizens are the true experts of their own lives and communities.
5. Uncommon Sense from the Writings of Howard Zinn by Howard Zinn,
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/...
His remarkable wisdom and insight can be found in his earliest writings through his latest essays, speeches, and plays. Uncommon Sense brings together his most poignant and profound quotations from decades of writing and speaking. The book reveals the philosophical side of Howard Zinn and a consistency of vision over 50 years on topics ranging from government to race, history, law, civil disobedience, and activism.
6. Molly Ivins: A Rebel Life by Bill Minutaglio, W. Michael Smith
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/...
A revelatory biography of the irreverent political commentator and bestselling author whose public persona masked a complicated and compelling personal history.
7. Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/...
In medical school, Paul Farmer found his life’s calling: to cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most. Kidder’s magnificent account takes us from Harvard to Haiti, Peru, Cuba, and Russia as Farmer changes minds and practices through his dedication to the philosophy that "the only real nation is humanity." At the heart of this book is the example of a life based on hope and on an understanding of the truth of the Haitian proverb "Beyond mountains there are mountains"–as you solve one problem, another problem presents itself, and so you go on and try to solve that one too
.
8. Angela’s Ashes with sequels
‘Tis
Teacher Man
by Frank McCourt
9. Journey into the Whirlwind and
Within the Whirlwind
by Eugenia Ginzberg
10. The Coalwood Way by Homer Hickam, second in the series of
Rocket Boys and Sky of Stone
11. Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama
12. Brother, I Am Dying by Edwidge Danticat
13. Citizen Soldier
D Day
Wild Blue
by Stephen Ambrose
Fiction
1. Where the Heart Is...Billie Letts
2. What Is the What...Dave Eggers, fictional memoir of Lost Boys of the Sudan and Valentino Achak Deng
3. A Worn Path...Eudora Welty, short story
The story is here:
http://www.myteacherpages.com/...
4. Homecoming and the sequel
Dicey’s Song...Cynthia Voight
5. An Equal Music...Vikram Seth
6. The Land (a prequel)
and sequels
Song of the Trees
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Let the Circle Be Unbroken
The Road to Memphis
by Mildred Taylor
7. Speed of Dark...Elizabeth Moon
8. Snow Falling on Cedars...David Guterson
9. Shane...Jack Schaefer
10. Horton Hatches an Egg and
Horton Hears a Who
by Dr. Seuss
11. Secret Life of Bees...Sue Monk Kidd
12. A Prayer for Owen Meany...John Irving
13. Of Mice and Men...Steinbeck
14. I Know this Much Is True...Wally Lamb
15. Jubilee...Margaret Walker
16. Dream of the Walled City...Lisa Huang Fleischmann
17. Dragondoom...Dennis L. McKiernan
18. The Doll Maker...Harriette Arnow
19. I Heard the Owl Call My Name...Margaret Craven
20. To Kill a Mockingbird...Harper Lee
21. The Glass Menagerie...Tennessee Williams
I have left out so many good books, of course. Now, it is your turn to remind us of other titles in the comments.
Damn Yankees - Heart
http://www.youtube.com/...
So go ahead and laugh at me, but I have been watching Scrubs while I was sick and the one about Christmas in series four disc two really touched my heart. That is what I am talking about.
Update: Of the list I made of twenty challenge books to read this year, I have read four and I am in the process of reading four more. How are you doing? Remember, you only have to read a few pages each day.
Diaries of the week:
The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education by Diane Ravitch
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/...
Award-winning author, public intellectual, and former Assistant Secretary of Education Diane Ravitch critiques a lifetime’s worth of school reforms and reveals the simple—yet difficult—truth about how we can create actual change in public schools.
A book review:
Ravitch: The Death and Life of the Great American School System
by teacherken
http://www.dailykos.com/...
KosAbility -- Take One.
by KosAbility
http://www.dailykos.com/...
DK Niebuhr Book Club
by NLinStPaul
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Write On! Character-driven?
by SensibleShoes
http://www.dailykos.com/...
The Trembling Noosphere
by john keats
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Space Shuttle Replacement Pt 4: Chasing Dreams & Mysteries
by FerrisValyn
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Final Hours: 2009 Daily kOscars™ Voting
by LaughingPlanet
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Chile: A Call For Your Assistance
by davidseth
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Hike On! Grizzlies, climate, and extinction in high places
by RLMiller
http://www.dailykos.com/...
LRABT: Ideas: A history of thought and invention, Chapter 8
by plf515
http://www.dailykos.com/...
NOTE: plf515 has changed his book talk to Wednesday mornings early.
sarahnity’s list of DKos authors has grown so much that she has her own diary.
http://www.dailykos.com/...
sarahnity says:
It turns out that we have quite a few authors hanging out here who have published books in the real world. A while ago, I started keeping a list of books by Kossacks, former Kossacks and Kossacks-once-removed. I was posting it each week to the diary series What Are You Reading and Bookflurries, but the list has grown long enough, that I've decided to turn it into a diary and post it as a weekly series on Tuesday evenings.
Not all Kossack authors may wish to lose their anonymity, so I am only including the author's UID if he has outed herself here (gender confusion intended). If you'd like to be included on the list, or if you know of an author who is left off, please leave a comment or email me.
(sarahnity@gmail.com)
Poll quotations from:
http://www.brainyquote.com/...