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June 25
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Heidi
gave
 
to:
The Nanny Diaries (Paperback)
by Emma McLaughlin, Nicola Kraus
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Heidi
read and liked
Doug's
review of The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness:
"This is a remarkably personal and insightful journey which takes us through the loss of hope and faith and then back to a higher realm of love and understanding. Here are my personal thoughts about this book:
1. By the end of the book, I felt a bon...more
This is a remarkably personal and insightful journey which takes us through the loss of hope and faith and then back to a higher realm of love and understanding. Here are my personal thoughts about this book:
1. By the end of the book, I felt a bond with her that is similar to something I have felt for some of my best professors and teachers who helped me understand complex things. Karen is extremely honest and open and able to describe emotions and reactions which many thoughtful people must have to orthodox religious training and dogma. She works so hard to do the right thing and yet she is unable to feel the connection to God and make the decision to accept things as they are. She is the opposite of the normal rebellious person who bolts. She is the long suffering special person who will follow the rules, sacrifice and do the right things over and over again to come up with the expected result of obedience and conformity. And yet, that brilliant and analytical mind of hers cannot allow herself to be tricked or cajoled into compliance. I feel that this is because she is brutally honest and pure.
2. She lets us into her very private and sometimes sad life. We know her every fear and understand that she is shy, awkward socially, and backward, and as she heals and moves to the next level of understanding in her life, we root for her and admire the things she is trying to do. Her accomplishments are huge and she has done it virtually all alone with extreme patience and many setbacks as well as thousands of days carefully studying the history of religion, various poets and other important writers. The ultra close relationship we have with her every day struggles helps us comprehend her conclusions and remarks about spirituality, religion and life. She has taken the time to do what many of us would like to do but can't do because of other more pressing obligations and, perhaps, addiction to regular shallow life things.
3. She is imprisoned by her unknown health problems, her religious obligations, fear and shyness, and yet we see her determination get her to a level of freedom experienced by very few people. She loses her faith, gains a cause to help others understand how religion at a certain level can be damaging, and as she reads and studies each of the three major religions, she gradually moves back to a spiritual understanding that gives her a new freedom and love of everyone. Along the way, she teaches us some of the basics about each of the religions and why we need to understand them before we assume that all others are incorrect and horrible. This gives us hope and makes us want to reexamine and study others and then move to that higher level that is taught by all of them. Certainly, it makes me want to study more about Judaism and the prophet Mohammed's teaching.
I finished the book with a great and positive feeling that there may be hope in the world if we could take the time to truly understand each other. It's a great book. Thanks, Karen. ...less
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Heidi
gave
to:
A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (Armstrong, Karen)
by Karen Armstrong
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in January, 2008
Heidi said:
"I'm a huge fan of Karen Armstrong, although "fan" seems an odd word choice when discussing an intelligent, articulate and scholarly writer on theology. Nonetheless, I've enjoyed (and been educated by) everything I've ever read by Armstrong...more
I'm a huge fan of Karen Armstrong, although "fan" seems an odd word choice when discussing an intelligent, articulate and scholarly writer on theology. Nonetheless, I've enjoyed (and been educated by) everything I've ever read by Armstrong, so I'll stick with "fan."
A History of God is no exception. I found it to be a lucid, unbiased telling of how God, by whichever name we choose to use, evolved over time in the theological and popular cultures throughout Arabia and the West. Unlike many religious authors, Armstrong takes a remarkably neutral point of view - I never got the sense that she was trying to convince me of anything regarding God's existence (or non-existence), or of one creed's superiority to another. The information, theories, and timelines were thoroughly researched and evidenced. If any anecdote, date, or other information were of questionable validity, Armstrong explained the source and the opposing views.
While I found most of the book to be interesting and engaging, it seemed to lag a bit toward the end. This may be my weakness - I listened to the book as an audio CD, even though I learn and retain much better visually - but some of the later and more philosophicallly complicated duscussions of the more mystical tenets of Christianity failed to hold my attention as well as the earlier stories of the founding of the three major world religions.
I recommend this without reservation to anyone wanting to increase their historical and philosophical understanding of the foundations of Islam, Judaism and Christianity....less
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January 03
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Heidi
gave
to:
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster (Paperback)
by Jon Krakauer
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in May, 2007
Heidi said:
"Fascinating mix of journalism and memoir, Jon Krakauer tells of his adventure climbing Mt. Everest on assignment for Outside magazine. On the way, disaster strikes, and he barely survives the experience, while many of his fellow climbers do not. Th...more
Fascinating mix of journalism and memoir, Jon Krakauer tells of his adventure climbing Mt. Everest on assignment for Outside magazine. On the way, disaster strikes, and he barely survives the experience, while many of his fellow climbers do not. This type of story is hard to tell - you have to balance your story with the story, and many writers have gone to one side or the other with this kind of thing. Krakauer nails it, and it's a great read. ...less
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Heidi
gave
to:
A Short History of Nearly Everything (Paperback)
by Bill Bryson
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in January, 2007
Heidi said:
"I actually listened to the audio version of this one. Not that it makes much difference...
Basically, this is a review of all the science stuff you learned in elementary school - from the Big Bang to recent discoveries, only told in plain languag...more
I actually listened to the audio version of this one. Not that it makes much difference...
Basically, this is a review of all the science stuff you learned in elementary school - from the Big Bang to recent discoveries, only told in plain language, with lots of extra goodies. Want to know who's credited with an invention? Read a textbook. Want to know who really invented it, who stole it, and how they got away with it? Read A Short History of Nearly Everything. Highly entertaining, and it'll make you feel smart at cocktail parties....less
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Heidi
gave
to:
Pigs in Heaven (Paperback)
by Barbara Kingsolver
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my rating:
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read in June, 2007
Heidi said:
"I'm a big fan of Barbara Kingsolver. As usual, this is many intertwined stories in one. This centers on the question of what defines a family? A horribly abused and orphaned Cherokee child is given to a stranger passing through a parking lot, and ...more
I'm a big fan of Barbara Kingsolver. As usual, this is many intertwined stories in one. This centers on the question of what defines a family? A horribly abused and orphaned Cherokee child is given to a stranger passing through a parking lot, and years later, the adoption is called into question. The Cherokee Nation must approve all adoptions of Cherokee children to non-Cherokee parents. So who's right? The adoptive mother who has loved and healed this child, or the nation that understands her history? It seems an obvious choice at first, but the answers seem less clear as we see more from the perspective of the young Cherokee lawyer pursuing the case. On one side, it's nature vs. nurture, but it's never a purely theoretical debate. You really come to question what is actually best for this child. In a good way. ...less
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Heidi
gave
to:
The Poisonwood Bible (Paperback)
by Barbara Kingsolver
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in November, 2002
Heidi said:
"One of the finest examples of voice in fiction writing I've ever read. Told from four different first person perspectives, four daughters of a Georgia preacher tell the story of travelling from Georgia to the Congo in the 1960's in service of their ...more
One of the finest examples of voice in fiction writing I've ever read. Told from four different first person perspectives, four daughters of a Georgia preacher tell the story of travelling from Georgia to the Congo in the 1960's in service of their father's missionary zeal. During their stay, the nation declares its independence from Belgium, their father becomes less and less stable as his control over the village and his family deteriorates, and every member of the family now struggles for survival in a foreign and often hostile land. Each of the daughters has an exceptionally clear character and voice (after a while, you no longer need the chapter heading to tell you who's narrating - you can tell within a few words), and you really feel you know them. The writing is incredibly perceptive. I've read this book three or four times, and consider it a classic....less
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Heidi
gave
to:
The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness (Paperback)
by Karen Armstrong
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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recommended for: anyone
read in December, 2007
Heidi said:
"I just read this over Christmas break - fascinating. This is what a memoir should be, but rarely is. Karen Armstrong joined a convent at the age of seventeen, and left seven years later. The Spiral Staircase is her story of her struggle to re-join...more
I just read this over Christmas break - fascinating. This is what a memoir should be, but rarely is. Karen Armstrong joined a convent at the age of seventeen, and left seven years later. The Spiral Staircase is her story of her struggle to re-join the secular world, her anguish and sense of failure having left the order, and her continuing journey to discover her place in the world, and God's place (if there is one) in her life. You know when you read a good book, and say to yourself, "Yes, I've thought that myself, I've just never been able to say it so clearly". I said that about twenty times while reading this book. Highly recommended....less
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