59 replies to this topic

[Kyle]

I don't know if it counts as a book stack, but I received

John Steinbeck - The Pearl and Burning Bright
Karl Barth - Word of God and Word of Man

from Santa.

Lindsay and I talked of starting a Book Stack for Rory, but ended up not doing so. As it turned out she got a fair number of books anyway. Also, we frequent the library with her anyway (usually twice per month) and books are one luxury we usually don't feel bad about buying for her. It's working so far, she's 2 1/2 and absolutely loves "reading". It's amazing how many books she's memorized. The other day I caught her reciting almost an entire Amelia Bedilia book.

[Christian]

The kids got a bevy of books, including The Tale of Despereaux, from several relatives.

I didn't get a stack, but I did get a curious title, which Debthelibrarian might enjoy: Free for All: Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library, by librarian Don Borchert. My brother purchased this for me on a whim, figuring that although I'm not a librarian, I might recognize a lot of truth in what Borchert has to share. I tore through half the book (I have the paperback; the link is to the hardback) in a day. Lots of fun!

In the next couple of days, I'm hoping for more price-slashing, which will make my few gift cards go further. I didn't receive David Thomson's Have You Seen?, so that's my priority pick-up.

Edited by Christian, 28 December 2008 - 05:39 PM.

[Kyle]

With Amazon gift cards I just bought my own book stack. Yes, it is extremely theology heavy.

Thomas F. Torrance - Incarnation: The Person and Life of Christ
Paul D. Molnar - Incarnation and Resurrection: Toward a Contemporary Understanding
John Webster (ed.) - Theology After Liberalism: Classical and Contemporary Readings
Wolfhart Pannenberg - Introduction to Systematic Theology
Jurgen Moltmann - Trinity and the Kingdom
Donald Bloesch - A Theology of Word & Spirit

Aside from the obvious fact that I picked them out myself, I'm really excited for these books as they're not readily available for borrowing. I'm especially excited for Torrance's and Molnar's books as I believe they will be very helpful for my own research interests.

I've enjoyed what I've read of Webster and his edited work comes highly recommended by a professor.

I count myself as a big Moltmann fan and will continue to chip away at his expansive number of delightful works.

I find Pannenberg to be a good person to read in chorus with Barth and his introduction to Systematic Theology seemed a cheaper alternative than all three volumes of his proper Systematic Theology.

I've already read three of the seven volumes of Bloesch's Christian Foundations series. Bloesch does a good job of providing a survey of representative Christian thinkers on given areas of Christian Dogmatics and offering his opinion on where they suceed and fail yet giving room for the reader to make up his or her own mind. Any of these volumes are a great resource to have sitting on your shelf. I went with this volume as I am particularly interested in the doctrine of revelation at this point.

[Christian]

My current book stack. The titles are hard to read -- now you know why I never post photos! -- but if you can discern them, guess which book my wife added to the stack before snapping the picture? (No peeking at the text that lists the titles.)

[Christian]

New Holiday Tradition Revolves Around Reading

This holiday season I am putting my column where my heart is, and so I'm asking "Ask Amy" readers to celebrate by giving a book to a child, through a homegrown campaign called, "A Book on Every Bed."

Here's how it works:

Take a book.

Wrap it.

Place it on a child's bed so it's the first thing she sees on Christmas morning (or whatever holiday you celebrate).

That's it.

[Darren H]

Wow, it's been over four years since you started this thread, Christian. That's about the point that Joanna and I first started "trying" (I hate that expression) to start our family, and I remember reading the article that you linked to and thinking, "What a cool idea. I hope I get to do that some day." I haven't forgotten it. Last weekend I went to Borders, picked out six books for Rory, wrapped them, tied them together with a ribbon, and put them under the tree. So consider this a much-belated thanks for the link.

In case you're curious, I bought her Madeline, Harold and the Purple Crayon, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, The Giving Tree, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, and Richard Scarry's Busy, Busy Town.

[Christian]

We LOVE Brown Bear, Brown Bear..., Darren. Sarah tells me that just tonight, she read Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? -- a lesser sequel, but still kind of fun -- to our youngest. He's the fourth of our kids to enjoy Carle's books.

Edited by Christian, 09 December 2010 - 10:23 PM.

[Christian]

No book stacks this year for our kids, but my wife received America's Test Kitchen Slow Cooker Revolution. I got a book from my dad about the spiritual lives of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence. I also received a small wine guide and tasting journal.

I have several other books on my list, and a few gifts still to receive and open locally and at my in-laws' place. Whatever I don't receive gets considered as part of my gift-card/cash pool, which I'll spend before the new year. At this point I'm thinking the money will go toward music, but that'll likely chnage if I don't receive the new Library of America collection of Pauline Kael's writings.

[Tyler]

For Christmas and birthday (the 17th):
Wonderstruck-Brian Selznick
Zone One-Colson Whitehead
The Illumination-Kevin Brockmeier
The Art of Fielding-Chad Harbach

And two audiobooks:
Divergent-Veronica Roth
Among the Missing-Dan Chaon

Edited by Tyler, 25 December 2011 - 02:52 PM.

[LibrarianDeb]

I didn't get any books this year (the whole "why buy a librarian books" thing) but I bought my husband The Oxford Companion to Beer.

[Andy Whitman]

LibrarianDeb, on 26 December 2011 - 12:01 PM, said:

I didn't get any books this year (the whole "why buy a librarian books" thing) but I bought my husband The Oxford Companion to Beer.

Does a virtual stack count? I gratefully received Scenes from Village Life, by Amos Oz, The Magicians, by Lev Grossman, (which appears to be a sort of Harry Potter Goes to College and Discovers Sex and Drugs), and Aurorarama by Jean Christophe Valtat. But the Kindle is still about a quarter-inch thick.

[Christian]

Christian, on 25 December 2011 - 02:09 PM, said:

that'll likely chnage if I don't receive the new Library of America collection of Pauline Kael's writings.

No Kael-book gift for me, so I've got to prioritize the items I didn't receive and figure out my next steps.

[Darren H]

Rory got her second-annual book stack: The Snowy Day, Little Blue Truck, Curious George, Romeo & Juliet: A BabyLit Board Book, and Because a Little Bug Went Ka-Choo. And then I got a nice little stack of my own: Philip Roth's Nemesis, Joan Didion's Blue Nights, Nick Hornby's Slam, and Beauty in the Streets, an amazing collection of graphic design from May '68.

[BethR]

Darren H, on 28 December 2011 - 12:01 PM, said:

Rory got her second-annual book stack:... Romeo & Juliet: A BabyLit Board Book, ....

I'm among the world's cheerleaders when it comes to giving children books as early as possible, reading to & with them, etc., but..."Romeo & Juliet"? I googled "babylit board books" and found this Publishers' Weekly article in which the editor says "Baby Lit is like a CliffsNotes versions for little kids with great illustration"--which already puts me off. There's so many great children's books. Can't they wait until high school (at least) to read Shakespeare? And what about the double suicide that ends R&J? No worries, says "creative director" Gibbs Smith in one of the comments:

Quote

Obviously R&J focuses on the love story, not the gritty details of the original play. Just like elementary schools who put the play on year after year with kids, the good can be extracted to create an enjoyable story for all ages.

So it's like "CleanFlicks" Shakespeare for toddlers? I'm not criticizing you, DarrenH, but the whole concept of this series, which also includes Pride and Prejudice. Just say no.

[Darren H]

It's just a counting book. I don't have it nearby, but, for example, five is "five friends" and each of the five people is a character from the play. I got it because it really is beautifully illustrated, and I'd been looking for a beautiful, little cardboard counting book.

[Tyler]

And Two is "Two Suicidal Lovers," so it's really not all that sanitized.

[Andrew]

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
Ozu by Donald Richie

[Russ]

Our 21 month-old Daisy got a few books, including a great board book called "Sisters," but the day was won by Jon Klassen's "I Want My Hat Back," which gets some pretty divisive reactions from the children book-buying public-- amazon's got 30 five-star ratings and 9 one-star ratings, with seemingly no middle ground. We love it, and it gels perfectly with our familial sense of humor.

[Tyler]

Russ, on 29 December 2011 - 11:47 AM, said:

Our 21 month-old Daisy got a few books, including a great board book called "Sisters,"

Based on the Brian De Palma movie?

[Russ]

You got it, man. And when I read her "Brown Bear, Brown Bear...", you can be sure that when I get to the page that asks, "White dog, white dog, what do you see?" I always say "I see Paul Winfield in a padded suit looking at me."

My toddler, newb that she is, doesn't get the reference, but I always chuckle knowingly to myself.