Spring Reading Thing-Wrapping it up

What a beautiful time I had with the Spring Reading Thing! I may not have posted about each book, but it felt so good that I had a schedule, I had prioritized my reading, and I knew what I was going to pick when I had a spare moment.
Please click here for my initial post with the list of books for the Spring Reading Thing to see why I selected each one of them.
And please keep reading for my impressions from those I have read.
Non-fiction
The first one I tackled was Neris and India's Idiot-proof Diet.I had already began reading this one, and I can say it was worth every penny. Even if you do not need to follow the diet itself, it is an excellent book in that it understands perfectly the female mindset and explains what triggers emotional eating. What is more, it is offering motivation to help us resist indulging ourselves in all the wrong ways. This is by far the best book of those I read, both for being useful and for being cleverly written.I'd give it 10/10.

I also read You:On a diet. Some solid, good info there, but it really IS dull, at least not what I would like to read when I am craving a chocolate bar. Still, I got some good ideas, but you have to be really selective. Do read if you are approaching the extremes and need to be scared off eating another mouthful!

Teen Zone is a design book specialising in setting up teens rooms. Clever ideas set to impress even the most demanding, design savvy teenager.

The Veronique Vienne books provide a beautiful read for women especially over 30s when you/I begin to question your ability to relax and enjoy the present moment.

The Ephron book I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman was OK, but not as brilliant humor as I was expecting it to be. A nice read if you find yourself in the doctor's waiting room. However, author Helena Firth Powell had this to say about Ms. Ephron's neck which does show Ms. Powell's British phlegm!

The The Lost Life of Eva Braun was a revelation in that it showed how a bourgeois Catholic girl got herself into the eye of 20th century's greatest storm, WWII.

Fiction
I began reading In the Walled Gardens: A Novel,which sounded promising, but didn't quite finish it. It is nicely written, just didn't keep my interest long enough.

Extras
Another book came up meanwhile, a book on a modern day Greek philosopher and University professor, named Liandinis, who disappeared some 8 years ago. The book includes his correspondence with his brother and best friend. He had asked them not to disclose the site of his voluntary death and his writings before. I haven't finished the book yet. However what is striking is his struggle between letting himself go in the hands of God by accepting the supremacy of a superior force, and his mind's struggle to deny it and set the Man as master of himself. Nietsche-esque.

Pickings from other readers' lists
Shepherding a Child's Heart. I confess I would like to be able to guide my children into a spiritual life. Although I believe our so far pantheistic approach was to some extend correct as they are tolerant and understanding of other people's beliefs, I regret I haven't helped them shape beliefs of their own. I feel I would like to do that.

If there is one thing I learned through this challenge this is not to pick so many books at a time. If Katrina bravely sets up a new challenge for autumn, I'd select a couple of non-fiction and one fiction book. I would also blog- hop more to other participants pages and pretend I am a bee~!

Thank You!

The Spring Reading Thing is here!

I am so looking forward to this challenge! As a teenager and well into our 20s and 30s both DH and I would spend the night reading till morning, then take a nap and set off to school, University, or work. But that was quite some time ago, and I am grateful to God we have now moved to changing nappies, reading along, learning Geography and spelling together!
As far as my personal readings go, the current status of things is that once in awhile I select some books I intend to read over Christmas or over the summer holidays. Apart from a fiction read I have vowed to finish there and then under the sun, most of my books are half-read. What an ugly thing to say, I know!
So, thanks and thanks again to Katrina at Callapidder Days for setting us back on course.

If you are wondering how I feel about it,

I feel like it is the first day of Spring

I feel like spring-cleaning my shelves AND my mind.

I feel like "back to school" and new books and pens and notebooks.

I feel my heart opening to all the new, beautiful words that wait to be discovered and appreciated!

So, without further delay, here is my ambitious, wonderful, reading list.

FICTION

I usually read fiction in the summer. But I have chosen three books last week that caught my attention and I find interesting. I haven't read any fiction in Greek in ages, so I am going to give it a try. Two are about life in Greece in the 16th and 18th c. and one is a translation of Anahita Firouz's In the Walled Gardens: A Novel, about life in Tehran before the islamists seized power in 1977. The first lines I've read are so poetic!

NON-FICTION

There are some half-read books here, plus some new ones purchased over Christmas. Here they are:
The Art of the Moment: Simple Ways to Get the Most from Life and The Art of Being a Woman: A Simple Guide to Everyday Love and Laughterby Veronique Vienne. I got my first Vienne book, The Art of Growing Up: Simple Ways to Be Yourself at Last, as a present when I turned 30. I highly recommend it! And I look forward to reading the new ones.

The Mommy Manual: Planting Roots That Give Your Children Wings is a new book. I leafed through it and it seems good. I am looking for books discussing the spiritual life of pre-teens and teens, so any suggestions will be appreciated!

Neris and India's Idiot-proof Diet is a wonderful book! I have been reading it in the past few weeks and it is so good! You know most diet and fitness books are written by people who don't have a life apart from looking after their looks or having people grooming them to perfection. So, this book, written by two funny, intelligent mums, is a welcome change. But it is also excellent in that it understands why we let ourselves go, and explains with humor and down to earth suggestions how we can pull ourselves together again. If you add to that the writing of India Knight who is a joy to read in her Sunday Times column, it makes a great read.

You: On A Diet: The Owner's Manual for Waist Management. I bought this one after watching the Oprah show on waist fat. God, I AM high risk! I've got to read it some day.

I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman. I hope I'll be in an uplift mood and I won't need to read this.But just in case, Ephron's bittersweet humor may come handy.
Will Write for Shoes: How to Write a Chick Lit Novel. I read one chick lit novel every summer. Curious to find out how they write them.

Teen Zone. Deco. I love all Judith Wilson books.

The Lost Life of Eva BraunThis is not usually my cup of tea. However, we have all read and seen so much about that period of History, but virtually nothing for that obscure, often caricatured person. How did a 19 year-old Catholic girl from a loving bourgeois family got to be Hitler's companion and wife and die alongside him aged 33?

The Goddess of Happiness: A Down-to-Earth Guide for Heavenly Balance and Bliss. I don't know what to expect from this little volume. An emergency read, as with Ephron's case.

This list would not be complete without my favorite spring time reads EVER. Bella Tuscany & Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes. Just perfect.

And here is a view of my pile.


It is my intention to put up a post now and then , when an interesting passage comes along, or I finish a read, so if there is a particular book you would like to know more about, please check back again and let me know!

Happy Spring and Happy Reading!