the dave and denise book club

Dave listens to tons of books during his commute.  I listen to books while I walk and sometimes while I clean the house if the kids are asleep, gone or watching tv.  Dave is in the car a lot more than I am able to listen so  I can't really keep up with him as far as reading goes. Also, we don't have exactly the same taste in books but there have been quite a few books we've read sequentially and recently we even read one simultaneously which was fun.

Anna Karenina -

we read this 4 years ago.  We both loved it.  He read it about a year before me.  He sympathized with Anna and hated Karenin. I sympathized with Karenin and hated Anna. We've had many a heated debate about this book!   In Dave's top few favorites of all time.
Dave 10/10
Denise 9/10

Into Thin Air- 

About a year ago we both read this story about  climbing Mt. Everest. Dave read it a few months before I did.  He talked to me a bit about it and I saw that he was using his spare time to read about mountaineering and climbing and travel.  I got a little worried that he would want to go do something crazy like climb mt. Everest. He is the kind of person that would feel the need to "prove" he could do anything.   A few months later when I read the book I became COMPLETELY obsessed with the story. I spent every spare minute reading about Everest, climbing, reading news articles about the author and other authors who wrote about Everest. The story is so consuming it is hard to think about much else. Dave and I had fun discussing the different people who participated in the hike, the mistakes that were made and the amazing story-telling skill of Jon Krakauer.  I picked up an illustrated edition at the library so that I could see the people in the story. Since it was a real story I didn't feel my imagination was adequate. I really needed to meet Rob Hall, Andy Harris, Beck Wethers, and each and every other person on the trip.  I cried when certain people died. (even though you know that it is a tragic event from the outset of the book I will not spoil it by telling you anything about who dies and how they die).  

Can you believe the top of Mt. Everest is as high as you fly in the air in an airplane? Can you imagine being that high up? INSANE!


Dave 8/10
Denise 9/10

The Woman in White

- This is quite possibly my favorite book of all time. For years, Dave has been reluctant to read any book with the word "woman" in the title.  However, after much coaxing and after my third read of the book this year, I convinced dave that it was worth a try. Also, one of our mutual friends (who is male) loves the book. plus, dave did like Jane Eyre.  Dave plugged through the book but felt like he was suffering the entire time. He admits the description of Fosco is clever and fun. Aside from that, he was not impressed. Boo!

Dave - 4/10
Denise 10/10

North and South - I LOVED this book.   Such a great love story. plus there is a substantial real story that goes along with the love story so I though for sure Dave would like this one. No such luck. It was about 3 years ago I sent him with this book on a business trip. He called me after a couple of days saying, "YOU TRICKED ME!!!"  I totally did not mean to trick him. I thought it might be a chick book we could both like.



If you haven't seen this BBC movie, you should! It is amazing!

Denise 9/10
Dave - never finished and didn't rank

 

Einstein biography by Walter Isaacson -

This has been one of the best books I've read in years. It is very inspirational and very educational. I loved learning about how Einstein's mind worked and to see his path. It is amazing to see how he became one of the most influential scientists of all time.  He couldn't even find a job when he graduated college!  I have laughed out loud countless times as I have been reading and walking.  One of the funniest parts/(sad also) of the book to me was when Einstein and Maric were first having marriage problems he gave her a list of conditions for her to agree to so that they could stay married. Funniest thing I've ever read.  I will copy it here.

Conditions.
A. You will make sure
  1. that my clothes and laundry are kept in good order;
  2. that I will receive my three meals regularly in my room;
  3. that my bedroom and study are kept neat, and especially that my desk is left for my use only.
B. You will renounce all personal relations with me insofar as they are not completely necessary for social reasons. Specifically, you will forego
 1. my sitting at home with you;
 2. my going out or traveling with you.
C. You will obey the following points in your relations with me;
  1. You will not expect any intimacy from me, nor will you reproach me in any way
 2. you will stop talking to me if I request it;
  3. you will leave my bedroom or study immediately without protest if I request it.
D. You will undertake not to belittle me in front of our children either through words or behavior.

  Another part of the book I loved was Einsteins description of his faith.  Einstein believed both religiously and scientifically that the world has order. Whether or not we can observe and describe it, there are laws that govern how the world works.  "God does not play dice."  I love this Einstein quote:  "the highest satisfaction of a scientific person is to come to the realization that God Himself could not have arranged these connections any other way than that which does exist, any more than it would have been in His power to make four a prime number."  Einsteins believe in God was an integral part of his scientific reasoning throughout his entire life.

I too have always had a strong belief in the Creator and in the idea that the order and beauty of the universe testify of the hand of Christ in creating the world.  I love the scripture in Alma 30 where Korihor is asking Alma for a sign that there is a god.....  But Alma said unto him: Thou hast had signs enough; will ye tempt your God? Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of  all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.

I had a hard time keeping up with the physics described in the book.  That is why for me it is not a 10/10. It is no shortcoming of the book or the author or the topic. I just got confused sometimes.

Dave loves physics and is super good at math so he got more out of the physics than I did. dave read it and thought that he could have been a physicist (not necessarily and Einstein but could have made a career as a theoretical physicist)!  \I read it and was in awe of how Einsteins mind worked.

Dave 9/10
Denise 8/10

Atlas Shrugged -
 Dave LOVES this book. He convinced me to try it.  I struggled through the first 500 pages of this book. I thought I would barf if I heard anything else about trains. Ahhhh!  That being said, after giving up the book over a year ago, I am now starting to miss a couple of the characters and want to go back to the book and see what happens to them. I will need to finish this at some point.

Dave 10/10
Denise - not finished

Les Miserables-  

Dave has read this book but I have not. Here is a converstation we had about this book.

Denise: Sometimes I feel like a bad person becuase I haven't read this book.
Dave: You are

dave 10/10
denise not read yet