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Books I Read Last Week


Books, books, books...  I love books. I love to read them, and I especially love to talk with friends about them.




Bowling Fundamentals ....   Hi my name is Ann Leach, and I bowl on a league. There I've said it. It's true. I joined a daytime women's bowling league last autumn, not because I am a great and dedicated bowler, but because I needed something fun and social to do. Bowling meets both those criteria.

And yes, I picked up a book about bowling technique from the library, not because I want to be a great bowler, but because I thought I was making some of the same simple mistakes over and over which were costing me points. And I was right! By reading this beginner book and taking away from it just two pointers, I have increased my average by about 15 pins per game. And that's pretty darn good for this beginner bowler.


If you're a beginner bowler, like me or just enjoy bowling for fun, but want to have fun rather than all gutter balls, I do recommend reading this book.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand ... My library has a couple of book discussion groups and this is the book for one of them for February. And I will tell you.....  I just love Major Pettigrew. He's an older man, a widower, and he's quite proper in his manners. Which sounds lovely, am I right? But it's also his big challenge in this fast-paced, much-changing world we live in. And so he has his difficulties.... a son who is more fast-paced and not so elegant; a dead brother and living sister-in-law, who is now in possession of a family heirloom shot gun; and the lovely Pakistani woman who runs a shop in the village. Family loyalties, trials, and tribulations abound in this romp of a story set in a small village in England.


As it is a fun story for an afternoon or two of reading, I do recommend this book for a light read with enjoyable characters and a good plot.

Who Got Peanut Butter on my Daily Planner? ... Transitioning from career woman to stay-at-home-mom is (can be) one of the hardest transitions. And this author has done (is doing) it. She shares some of her secrets for success in this book. I'm sure there isn't one answer for this transition which works for us all, but if we read enough of these books, pulling a helpful hint from each along the way, eventually, we will cobble together our own version of successful stay-at-home mom. 



I found this book to be helpful and a good read. It has a bit of a christian slant, but not so much that you can't slide past it if that is your preference. Not a library book, but one I picked up at the thrift store. I'll be listing it on paperbackswap.com. If you're a sahm mom looking for guidance, I do recommend this book.

Beyond Buggies and Bonnets ... oh wow. This book was so much more than I expected, because, oh yes, I have picked up one or two of the Amish novels which are so popular now. And I've read some non-fiction about the Amish religion, so I thought I had a fairly good understanding of their culture. It turns out there is so much I don't know. The author of this book regularly interacts with Amish folk and helps ex-Amish (young) people when they choose to join the world of the Englisch. If you, like me, think the Amish culture is much like ours of the 1800s or what Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about in her children's books, well it is, but in many ways, it isn't. Their basic belief system, their Ordnung, is much, much different than the Christian Bible. It is the basis of all their decision-making and lifestyle choices. The people who leave Amish to join Englisch are speaking the english language as a second language and experiencing a major culture shock. The life they left was hard, very hard; but the life they are heading into is also difficult.


I love learning about other cultures and people's lives in other countries. Honestly, I didn't expect to find a culture so different from my own within my own country. This is a non-fiction book based on the lives of real people the author has assisted in joining the Englisch. I highly recommend this book.

And there you have it, my book reads for this week. Of course, I've already started the first book I'll be sharing with you next week.

What are you reading? Please share in the comments.

If you have read any of these books, please share your thoughts about them in the comments.

Cheers!
Ann





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