I just started Hurry Down Sunshine and it is sooo good! I had to force myself to stop because I am getting my classroom ready for back-to-school and I have work to do. I can't wait to keep reading!!

Just downloaded the audiobook version of Hurry Down Sunshine. Going to start it tomorrow. It'll also work towards my Fall Summer Challenge for another book group I am in so it's perfect. Two birds, one stone. :)

The dirt book isn't so much about germs as it is about the history of bathing. So I think you'd be safe. : P

I will likely skip the dirt read. As minday pointed out working with mentally ill, homless offenders puts me in a pretty scary place as far as dirt and germs go...so I think in this case ignorance is bliss.
I am excited to read the prison book though. I generally don't get too many female offenders on my case load, but it would be nice to have some perspective on the ones I do get.

I just got the book on dirt. Looks good! : P Mom (Jan), you know you want to read it.

I got the book on dirt and Hurry Down Sunshine today at the library! HDS happens to be the one book one community read this month at the library. I still have to read the Help, but I'm pretty hooked on New Moon right now, so I'll wait a few days.

LOL, your girls are so funny. I can't believe I am going to read a book on dirt! We'll see if I do. I might just listen to the discussion :)

I'm excited too! I got The Dirt on Clean from the library today so I can start it for Sept---and I only have about 60 pages to go in The Help--I was reading it at 4:30am today when I couldn't sleep, it is that good--I recommend it Leonora even if you have to wait a while :)

I am sooo excited. My library has all three books with no wait for any of them!! Although for The Help I am #133 - maybe all those other people will be fast readers.

I'm reading New Moon (the 2nd in the saga) and it's great....The only thing is I've got two girls who need to go back to school and I'm not getting a moment's peace.....

good to know!!! so many people have recommended it to me (including Rebecca)and everyone says it's so good, I'll be sure to report on my progress and rating.

Deb wrote: "so we have a tie for one of the categories.....to keep it easy (for me haha) we'll have 3 reads in September:
The Dirt on Clean An Unsanitized History
[book:Hurry Down Sunshine|31..."

Oh well, you can probably have the entire Twilight series done in two days. Seriously, it's like crack. You know it's bad for your brain, but you just can't stop reading. : )

so we have a tie for one of the categories.....to keep it easy (for me haha) we'll have 3 reads in September:
The Dirt on Clean An Unsanitized History
Hurry Down Sunshine
A World Apart Women, Prison, and Life Behind Bars

you can read them all, or you can pick and choose the one or two you want to read, and as always, if you read an additional book that was nominated but didn't win, feel free to start a discussion on it.

Lots of great nominations again ladies!
I, for one, am looking forward to reading each of these. But I promised a friend that I would read the Twilight series--I am torn! maybe I can amp up my reading speed and read them all

and the link for the other (I swear the website was acting up and nothing came up earlier!)The Glass Castle A Memoir

here it is: Night

woops--that was the wrong link for Night

Leonora wrote: "Here are two non-germ books that may be interesting:

NIght by Elie Weisel
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

"
for some reason goodreads doesn't have info on this book
The Glass Castle but I looked it up both on Amazon and in my local library system and it is available (published in '05 I think) and it's another one that sounds really good

and here's the link to Night by Elie Wiesel

I'll get working on the polls over the weekend

Kathryn wrote: "Yeah good picks Beth! YOu know I am always up for a good prison read.
Oh and and FYI to the germaphobes, try to stay out of jail/prison ladies.....talk about disease!"

LOL...

Kathryn wrote: "Yeah good picks Beth! YOu know I am always up for a good prison read.
Oh and and FYI to the germaphobes, try to stay out of jail/prison ladies.....talk about disease!"

Ha ha. I think there are other reasons I'd like to stay out of jail/prison. Geesh. I knew you'd spy that pick of Bethie's and want to read it.

Yeah good picks Beth! YOu know I am always up for a good prison read.
Oh and and FYI to the germaphobes, try to stay out of jail/prison ladies.....talk about disease!

Beth wrote: "When I Knew

A World Apart Women, Prison, and Life Behind Bars

A Long Way Gone Memoirs of a Boy Soldier"

Ooh..the Women in Prison book sounds really interesting!!

When I Knew

A World Apart Women, Prison, and Life Behind Bars

A Long Way Gone Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

Rebecca wrote: "Mindy,

Below is a link to a slide show of h1n1 challenges provided by the cdc in June 2009. A 25% increase of GBS dx was noted after 40 million Americans received a h1n1 vaccination in 1976...t..."

How interesting. Thanks Rebecca! I love the CDC website as well. It's a super resourceful site.

Here are two non-germ books that may be interesting:

NIght by Elie Weisel
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

The amount of germs at preschool would scare even the strongest of us. Sometimes I tell my husband that it is a miracle that my family has survived my job (7 years teaching 2-3 year olds)!! Then on top of all the germs the job doesn't even pay very well.

My co-worker has a young son that almost died this summer due to GBS. He's recovering and is getting physical therapy to learn how to walk again. These are difficult times and difficult decisions for parents to make. I don't know in this case if this is associated with the vaccine or if he just go the flu. I do personally feel that before vaccines we lot many more children than we do now. There is risk in vaccinating but also a huge risk in not vaccinating. Rebecca is right, the community preschools we work in are a cesspool of mucus.

Just checked my inbox and rec'd two more emails with links to the above info....

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/08/1...

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/08/1...

Mindy,

Below is a link to a slide show of h1n1 challenges provided by the cdc in June 2009. A 25% increase of GBS dx was noted after 40 million Americans received a h1n1 vaccination in 1976...then 25 people died from GBS while only one died from the actual virus. I heard about this for the first time on Sunday while I was in the UK, and it seems it is just now starting to appear in the US news. I don't think it is nearly as alarming as the media is making it.

Elementary aged children are walking germ festivals. I have two of them and I volunteer in the classroom. What I see is enough to gag a magot. My kids have back to back colds all winter long and I'm germ phobic and I've kindly passed that neurosis on to them as well. (they carry Purell on a key chain attached to their backpacks and Wet Wipes in their lunch boxes) There isn't enough bleach in the world to clean up the schools. My fear lies in school aged children with underlying conditions such as asthma, which is much more active in the winter months, at least here in the NE. I have a child w/well controlled asthma and this virus scares the heck out of me. I don't think we've hit the tip of the iceberg yet.

For those of you who don't have the CDC as your homepage (or at the very least, listed as a "favorite"), my apologies.

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/acip/do...

Jan wrote: "[bc:Dumbfounded Big Money. Big Hair. Big Problems. Or Why Having..."

Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, Third Edition is a fantastically funny and super interesting book! Thanks for nominating it, mom. : )

Kathryn wrote: "Well if you spent time around my sister (mindy) you wouldn't have to read about germs. You would be reminded several times per day after everytime you touch something, stand near something, or mear..."

So. I talk about germs (which I believe some are good and we need them, as much as I believe in vigorous hand washing - so there) and you talk about crazy criminals. Whaaa whaaa back to you. : P

Rebecca wrote: "The people I spoke to were not very concerned about h1n1, and hadn't given much thought to the NHS's preparedness. They were mostly concerned about the depressed economy. Witihin the media, there..."

Hmmm. I hadn't heard that the H1N1 vaccine was having GBS side effects. I know they are testing it in four cities in the US right now. Seattle is one of them. The thing is, one of the simplest ways to avoid seasonal illness is hand washing. Though I think it's harder with children. Some schools aren't doing "shared" supplies this year. That may help.

I'm still on the fence as to if this will become a crisis during flu season. Truthfully the H1N1 variety of flu kills as many people as the seasonal flu. The majority of people dying from it have other major health problems. There have only been a few that have died who didn't have underlying diagnosis.

I'll add this one as well. I read it some time ago and I know Beth has read it, so I didn't put it on my three books as possible choices. I do recommend it though, it's really a wonderful book.

Sorry, here is the titleHurry Down Sunshine

Here's my pick

I saw a documentary about this. It was so interesting that I wanted to read the book that the movie talked about:
Healing the Gerson Way Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases

I think reading about germs and the history of bathing is fascinating! and I am a germophobe!

so many interesting nominations!

I just saw a movie trailer for a movie based on this book:
The Blind Side Evolution of a Game
It looked very touching! I love inspirational stories of people overcoming odds. :)

Well if you spent time around my sister (mindy) you wouldn't have to read about germs. You would be reminded several times per day after everytime you touch something, stand near something, or mearly step out of your protective plastic bubble....Whaa, whaaa.

The people I spoke to were not very concerned about h1n1, and hadn't given much thought to the NHS's preparedness. They were mostly concerned about the depressed economy. Witihin the media, there seems to be some(exaggerated?) concern about the current vaccination and links to Guillain-Barre Syndrome. I could be mistaken, but I believe that GBS is associated w/flu in general so I'm not sure if it is a typical concern of this specific vaccine/flu or all flu vaccinations. As in the US, the UK is concerned about an increase of cases once school is back in session and the commencement of flu season. They adhere to the same precautionary/safety guidelines as we do.

I happen to think this is going to turn into a global crisis, especially concerning school aged children with asthma/allergies....This is certainly a most interesting time to be discussing public health issues. As interested as I am in reading The Great Influenza The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History I'm afraid I may go into complete alarmist mode if I read it!

What did they say? Do they feel the NHS is prepared?

I too enjoy a good read about germs :) Infact, whilst in the UK last week, my favorite activity (besides listening for the ever elusive "er") was discussing the prevalence of H1N1 in the Midlands and the locals thoughts about the level of preparedness on behalf of the NHS (yes, I entertain and make friends wherever I go...lol) I'll take a look at my list and get a book up by Friday.

Elissa wrote: "Mindy, Kathryn, does this one count for reading about germs or not quite? It's also on my list:
Survival of the Sickest A Medical Maverick Discovers Why We Need Disease
[bookcover..."
Oooh! I have that one on my to-read shelf. In fact I think I actually already have the book. I don't know if it counts or not but I want to read it. :-)

Mindy, Kathryn, does this one count for reading about germs or not quite? It's also on my list:
Survival of the Sickest A Medical Maverick Discovers Why We Need Disease

Whatever, there is at least ONE other public health person in this group. And lots of people want to read about germs or else those books wouldn't be published.... so there. : P

Oh I am excited this is my favortie genre! Although, really Mindy? No one but you likes to read about germs.
Here are my picks:

1. The Color of Water A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother

2. Falling Leaves The Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter

3. My Mother's Keeper A Daughter's Memoir of Growing Up in the Shadow of Schizophrenia

There are soooo many more I had trouble not listing 10!

so many books so little time--you make me laugh Mindy :)

Jo, I think I have that at home somewhere. At least I used to own it, I hope I still do, but I haven't read it yet (like so many of my books!).

I'm also going to nominate three that I recently acquired:
-Dewey The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World
-Animal, Vegetable, Miracle A Year of Food Life
-In a Sunburned Country

(Is it okay that I nominate multiple titles??)

Oh man! It's hard for me to only nominate one. Are we doing a poll or out of a hat this month?

Here's my nomination:

The Dirt on Clean An Unsanitized History

Okay, okay... here's a backup. Everyone's got to have a backup, right?

Enchanted Hunters The Power of Stories in Childhood

and this last book... well, it's just for Kathryn. (I think it is expected of me to put up at least one infectious disease book)

Plagues and Peoples


Also... it is flu season in September, so . . .

The Great Influenza The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History

Okay, okay. Deb, just pick one of them to go into the poll or hat. : )

I recently got Prozac Nation i nominate that