It's been forever, but I'm back!

Hey ladies!
I'm alive! So, I've started my program again this semester, and so my readings are mostly about families, groups, and grief counseling. Very interesting, but not exactly blog-worthy. This summer, Jon and I worked our way through The Sword of Truth novels by Terry Goodkind. However, we only made our way through 2 of the books BECAUSE- I read them aloud. Since I think y'all have both read these books, I'll save the synopsis, but I will say that, like most long fantasy novels I read, I did NOT like the main character. Seriously, why are the male leads in those books always so annoying? Also, the main female character is super super whiny. Now- here is what I learned about reading long books aloud.
1. I should never attempt to do voices while reading aloud. I'd read the descriptions, like raspy, and give it a try the first couple of times a character was introduced. Each time, Jon went, "Oh no. Stop. That's... no." However, he did take the responsibility of making sound effects....
2. Chapters are longer than you think. Seriously.
3. There are lot of parts of books that I usually skim. Jon insisted that we not skip whole sections(!) so every word was considered! And might I say- I really enjoyed it! A lot of times when I listen to books on tapes, I am amazed by the ways that authors manage to say things so perfectly. Even so, listening to entire paragraphs about how the trees look bores me. However, reading it aloud made all the difference. I wasn't bored because I was focusing on reading it and still amazed at the wordings. I highly recommend doing this.
4. I am horrible with names. Absolutely terrible. To make it worse, usually the main character was Richard, then it would switch to sections where Rachel was the main character. Then Rachel and Richard met. I went nuts. I was switching names all the time. I always knew who I was talking about, but it seemed like every page at least, Jon would stop me and ask, "Wait- who?" And I'd re-read it and laugh. It made for some very interesting scenarios.
SO- I highly recommend reading books aloud. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. It also provides a fun and relaxing way to end the day! And I recommend the first two books of the Sword of Truth novels! They are a fun read.

The Memory Chalet

or, Tony Judt's Wordcraft is Trumped Only, Perhaps, by That of Stephen Fry.

I received this book for free some years ago from an erudite source whose taste I am slowly learning to trust (I did like his Geography of Thought, and expect to struggle with the Dirac book he indirectly lent me for eternity but no doubt I will enjoy it too).  My love of The Memory Chalet surprised me as it was a gentle slope of increased affection; I hardly noticed I couldn't put the book down until it was the middle of a new Supernatural episode and I realized I was muting the commercials to inhale another couple of paragraphs.  (This is unheard-of.)

I think I found it more precious for the complete lack of knowledge I had about it before I opened it to the first page and began to read.  I had assumed it to be a novella, something Woolf-ish or modern, contemplative; but it's nonfiction.  Judt took me on a tour of his life with an expertise I have experienced (in The Color of Water) but have not come to expect of memoirs, especially those of stuffy English scholars.

I hesitate to say any more.  I highly recommend the book, and also that you read nothing about it or its author before starting, and let him tell you his life without outside influence.  (I wonder if I've said too much as it is.)

Next on the list: Girl with a Pearl Earring