October Group Read Nominations - CLOSED

[Cathy]

Hi Amy. Nice to see you here.

[Amy]

Oh thankyou Cathy and Cheryl! I better get to reading!! :-)

[Loraine]

Welcome Amy you will enjoy our discussions. Glad you have joined us.

[Natalie]

@Jodie: I see that we are also reading Southern Fried Sushi by Jennifer Rogers Spinola next month, but I'm not aware of it having been nominated. Can you clarify how you decided that it should be a group read when we're still about two weeks away from choosing the additional group read for next month? Thanks.

[Amy]

Loraine wrote: "Welcome Amy you will enjoy our discussions. Glad you have joined us."

Thanks Loraine. I am sure I will enjoy!

[Beth]

Natalie wrote: "@Jodie: I see that we are also reading Southern Fried Sushi by Jennifer Rogers Spinola next month, but I'm not aware of it having been nominated. Can you clarify how you decided that it should b..."

Natalie, we are doing more reads to give members more options. That one was decided on because it was the "runner up" on the votes for the additional group read. So, it's going to be October Group Read #2.

[Sara]

Just finished Into The Free. What an amazing book!!! I am really looking forward to this discussion!!!!

[Natalie]

@Beth: Ok. Thanks.

[Cathy]

Slightly imperfect sale going on now at CBD: http://www.christianbook.com/Christia...

[Beth]

I just requested it from the library. There are 7 copies and no other holds so I will probably be able to renew it should the occasion arise. I currently have three books here that have to be read, and two to pick up sometime this week, which will make three if we count Into the Free. :)

Beth - ;)
in Calgary

[Christy]

Hello Beth,
Do you post discussions to the book club reading selections?

[Christy]

Correction: Do you post discussion questions?

[Beth]

Hi, Christy! I typically do. I post some or all of them if there are any provided at the end of the book or I come up with my own :) Members are also welcome to post their own questions, although not many usually do that.

The discussion thread for Into the Free will open on October 1.

[Christy]

OK - thanks a bunch!

[Beth]

Christy wrote: "OK - thanks a bunch!"

You're welcome! :)

[Loraine]

I just picked this up from the library and started it. So far it's not my style of writing and I am finding it slow going. If you have read this, please tell me whether it gets better because at this point I am ready to call it quits.

[Beth]

Loraine, since this was a Christy Award winner, twice, I'm assuming that it gets better ;)

[Loraine]

Beth wrote: "Loraine, since this was a Christy Award winner, twice, I'm assuming that it gets better ;)"

I'll try a few more chapters then.

[Beth]

Loraine wrote: "Beth wrote: "Loraine, since this was a Christy Award winner, twice, I'm assuming that it gets better ;)"

I'll try a few more chapters then."

Not that a reader has to like a book that has won awards though! :) Hope it gets better! I'll be curious to hear your thoughts once the discussion opens!

[Loraine]

Beth wrote: "Loraine wrote: "Beth wrote: "Loraine, since this was a Christy Award winner, twice, I'm assuming that it gets better ;)"

I'll try a few more chapters then."

Not that a reader has to like a book t..."

Beth - I gave up on this one. Too depressing and just not what I want to read at this point in time.

[Cindi]

Sorry to hear that you gave up on it, Loraine. I absolutely loved this book.

[Loraine]

Cindi wrote: "Sorry to hear that you gave up on it, Loraine. I absolutely loved this book."

I may try to read it again another time. But right now I have too much going on with my husband's health issues and just can't deal with depressing books.

[Sara]

Loraine, I also loved the book, but parts of it were difficult to read and I understand your position right now. I have been thinking about you and all Colorado folks. Part of my heart is always In the mountains there. Stay safe & dry.

[Loraine]

Sara wrote: "Loraine, I also loved the book, but parts of it were difficult to read and I understand your position right now. I have been thinking about you and all Colorado folks. Part of my heart is always..."

Thanks Sara. We have continued rain today and already have received another inch and it is supposed to continue on through tonight. Colorado right now is a sea of water since every river in central and northern Colorado has hit flood stage and way beyond. The Big Thompson flows through Loveland where we live and it's at the highest flood stage ever. Over 700 people in Colorado are still unaccounted for at this point. We are high and dry still but surrounded in all directions by flooding. We thank God for that. Our son and his family are in the same situation - high and dry but surrounded. We are supposed to start seeing warmer temps and sunshine tomorrow and throughout next week which will give the water a chance to recede and the river levels to go down.

[Natalie]

@Beth: Just to clear this up, where are the list of group reads for this group at? I just want to make sure I don't duplicate a nomination? Thanks.

[Beth]

Sure thing, Natalie, the shelves for the group reads are divided by the year, labeled "2011," "2012," and "2013". You can find them by accessing the group bookshelf directly or find links to each shelf on the Group Read Guidelines thread.

[Rachel]

Loraine wrote: "Cindi wrote: "Sorry to hear that you gave up on it, Loraine. I absolutely loved this book."

I may try to read it again another time. But right now I have too much going on with my husband's heal..."

I know what you mean, Loraine--sometimes it's best to put a book aside if you know that you're in a place where it'll just upset you. I have very low moods during winter because of my Seasonal Affective Disorder and tend to stick to children's books and romance novels during those months, to be on the safe side :)

[Loraine]

Rachel wrote: "Loraine wrote: "Cindi wrote: "Sorry to hear that you gave up on it, Loraine. I absolutely loved this book."

I may try to read it again another time. But right now I have too much going on with m..."

I totally understand. I'm trying to stick to books that are more upbeat/uplifting right now to keep me in a more positive frame of mind.

[Beth]

Rachel wrote: "Loraine wrote: "Cindi wrote: "Sorry to hear that you gave up on it, Loraine. I absolutely loved this book."

I may try to read it again another time. But right now I have too much going on with m..."

Rachel, SAD has been a problem for me too. People think I'm joking when I mention it, so I never say anything. It was at it's worst in high school. It's kind of nice to know that I'm not alone in that!

[Rachel]

Beth wrote: "Rachel wrote: "Loraine wrote: "Cindi wrote: "Sorry to hear that you gave up on it, Loraine. I absolutely loved this book."

I may try to read it again another time. But right now I have too much ..."

Same, it was especially bad when I was in high school, but my doctor and my parents just assumed I was being a hormonal teenager. It wasn't until my husband and I moved in together and he realised how bad my "mood swings" were that he encouraged me to see a different doctor and I filled out a questionnaire to figure out if it was full-blown depression or just seasonal. I have a SAD lamp that I use, and I really need to get back into the habit of using it as the winter nights are already creeping in over here in Scotland. I'm having it pretty rough right now, to be honest, as I stopped taking my birth control pills for the first time in six years--they used to regulate my hormones, and now my emotions are all over the place, and the rapidly darkening nights aren't helping. I'm hoping it'll settle down once my body gets used to the lack of medication, but for now I'm a bit of an emotional wreck. I thought having cramps again would be the bad part, but I had no idea it would do this to my mood. So yes, SAD is a very real thing!

[Loraine]

Rachel wrote: "Beth wrote: "Rachel wrote: "Loraine wrote: "Cindi wrote: "Sorry to hear that you gave up on it, Loraine. I absolutely loved this book."

I may try to read it again another time. But right now I h..."

Prayers for both you and Beth as you deal with SAD. I know this is real because the shorter days bother me as well but not to the degree they obviously affect both of you.

[Beth]

it truly is seasonal for me. In high school it was especially bad because none of the classrooms had windows, so we were in artificial light all day. The gray, overcast weather of winter really gets to me, and like you said, Loraine, with the days being shorter, by the time I leave work at 5 PM, there is not much daylight left.

Rachel, I am curious about the SAD lamp? My doctor was never extremely helpful. He just let us know that it wasn't full blown depression and seasonal. he never actually suggested anything for it.

[Loraine]

Beth wrote: "it truly is seasonal for me. In high school it was especially bad because none of the classrooms had windows, so we were in artificial light all day. The gray, overcast weather of winter really get..."

It didn't bother me as much when we lived in Texas but in Colorado the days are very short during the winter. Dark until 6:30 or 7 AM and then again by 4:00 or 4:30. I could never live in the far north where the winter days only have a few short hours of son. I have read about the SAD lamp and they are supposed to be very helpful.

[Rachel]

Thank you for the prayers, Loraine! They are much appreciated.

I read quite a bit about SAD a couple of years ago, and I think mine is aggravated by stress, which would be why I struggled so much at school because we always had exams and deadlines in winter. By the time I went to university, I could manage it a lot better (although we still had exams in winter) but I definitely think it improved when I got my SAD lamp. It took a while for it to start to have any affect, but I no longer felt quite so lethargic and useless in the evenings, and I had less "down" moods. It's weird how something so simple as light could affect my mood. I have this one here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Full-Spectrum... It's very light, so I can move it from room to room, and take it with me when I visit relatives. I usually start using it not long before the clocks go back an hour in autumn, and stop when they go forward again in spring. I try to have it on for about an hour a day, usually in late afternoon/evening, when it starts to get dark. But sometimes I'll just turn it on and sit and read near it if I'm feeling down. I know you're not supposed to use them too close to your usual bedtime as it can stop you from going to sleep, and I think the max. recommended time use per day is 1.5 hours. I don't know if they're helpful for everyone with SAD, but both my husband and my mum commented that they noticed a difference in my moods the past two winters.

Got to admit, my doctor didn't specifically recommend getting a SAD lamp. Like Beth's, she wasn't very helpful--she said they could either put me on anti-depressants, or I could buy a SAD lamp. I opted for the SAD lamp :)

Loraine, the light here is just like that. I used to sit in lectures that started at 4pm and watch the sun go down until it was completely dark when we left at 5pm. I find it difficult to wake up in the mornings in winter because it's so dark. I've heard you can get alarm clock lights that you can set to give off a natural, sunrise sort of glow. I wonder if something like that would help?

Apologies for high-jacking the thread, but it's nice to know we're in solidarity together!

[Loraine]

Rachel- I tend to sleep later in the morning and get tired earlier in the evening during the winter and I'm sure it has something to do with the amount of daylight. Because of having to be available for my husband's needs, I now sit with my computer at the kitchen table right by our patio door. So it will be interesting to see if that helps since I will get lots of light on me during the daylight hours.

[Rachel]

Loraine, I hope it does help! I sometimes have a tendency to follow the sun around our house :)

[Shirley]

If you are open to reading a real-life story of a Mennonite childhood (not fiction) that meets the criteria for this group, you are welcome to enter the Giveaway sponsored by my publisher: http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...

[Diana]

Loraine wrote: "Rachel- I tend to sleep later in the morning and get tired earlier in the evening during the winter and I'm sure it has something to do with the amount of daylight. Because of having to be availab..."

Just a general comment on lighting (I'm an experienced photographer in real life!): we are very much affected in every way by the nature and quality of the light we live in. It needs to be full-spectrum for health. No fluorescent lighting is full-spectrum at all, and people can be shown to get quite sick if they spend a lot of time, e.g. in an office, in such lighting. Home incandescent is full-spectrum, but with a yellow-red bias; it is usually about 3200K measured in degrees kelvin. True daylight, at least 5000 degrees kelvin, is full-spectrum, but much bluer. That's 'natural' lighting, in which we can be shown to flourish. What can make us quite ill is a prolonged lack of that as in a Northern winter.

What works just as well as true daylight is modern 5000K daylight-quality LEDs: expensive initially, but super-economical to run, long-lasting and really ecological. I am getting these for all my living-spaces here in British Columbia, especially now that I must live alone. 3200K LEDs are fine for bedrooms of course.

[Rachel]

Diana wrote: "Loraine wrote: "Rachel- I tend to sleep later in the morning and get tired earlier in the evening during the winter and I'm sure it has something to do with the amount of daylight. Because of havi..."

I didn't realise fluorescent lighting could have that affect on people, but in retrospect that makes sense--I'm fairly certain the lighting in my high school was like that, and that's when I particularly struggled with SAD. Thanks for the info! I'll have to have a look into how expensive 5000K LEDs are. Nearly every room in our new flat came with light fixtures that require 3-5 bulbs, so it might be expensive to change all of them.

[Wendy]

Rachel wrote: "Thank you for the prayers, Loraine! They are much appreciated.

I read quite a bit about SAD a couple of years ago, and I think mine is aggravated by stress, which would be why I struggled so much ..."

I have a sunrise/sunset lamp & I've found them to be really helpful on those dark mornings as the room is alight when you wake up. It will gradually light before the time you need to be awake so that it gives your body the chance to think it's daytime coming rather than just an abrupt dark awakening/then sharp light with switching on light & making your body confused.

The sunset function is also great as when you go to bed you then put the lamp on, set it, & it will gradually dim getting your body ready for rest.

Can definitely recommend them - it's made getting out of bed on dark mornings so much easier!