September 2005 - October 2005:
"Eldest" Book on CD by Christopher Paolini. From Burlington Library.

August 2005 - September 2005:
"Strong Women Stay Slim" by Miriam Nelson. From Princeton Library.

I thought that I own every book she wrote already until I saw this one I hadn't read. It's again a very informative book. I have started my workout with this book. It's a very practical work out that can scqueeze in everyone's busy schedule.

August 2005 - September 2005:
"Eragon" Book on Tape by Christopher Paolini. From Burlington Library.

This book is everywhere.. bestseller list, book store display, every bookclub's front page,etc. I had to be curious about it. Of course, its front cover is a dragon. I am not very much info dragons, so I wasn't sure what I got myself into. The first couple of paragraphs into the book made me question to myself -- why am I reading this book? I mean, I don't even read the popular Chinese marshal arts books (wu3 xia2 xiao3 shuo1). So why the English versions of it?
Then as I read on, I got intrigued.. It reminds me of the world Tolkien wrote (The Lord of the Ring Trilogy, of which I own a copy). The stories are very intersting and I couldn't help. Sometimes when I am home, I would think of where I stopped at the stories and have an urge to get into my car in the garage, and listen to a couple of more paragraphs. Amazing!

What's more amazing is the book was written by a teenager! The language is so beautiful that it's hard to believe a teenager boy wrote it. Paolini has been home-schooled all his life.
Finished the book with a sigh. What a great book! I am very very looking forward to watching the movie when it comes out.

August 2005 - August 2005:
"Mother-daughter wisdom : [creating a legacy of physical and emotional health]" Book on Tape by Christiane Northrup. From Burlington Library.

The other day, I was waiting in line to get my fruppaccino at the cafe in B&N, and out of boredom I grabbed a tiny little pocket board book from the cafe book display, that's called "Mother to Daughter". I read it casually at first but immediately got into it. The gift-kind pocket book is full of great wisdoms that I can related to. Unfortunately I didn't buy it. But afterwards I keep thinking about that book, and it triggered my interests of reading more books that talk about mother-daughter relationships. Here is my first effort of doing so. It's written by a doctor so it's full of medical wisdoms. I hope that I can see more emotional and practical wisdoms as I read on.

The book ended up as medical as it can be. I did learn a lot about how human body, especially femail human body works, which is useful. I was expecting to read something different though. The search continues...

July 2005 - August 2005:
"Washington Square" Book on Tape by Henry James. From Princeton Library.

I didn't enjoy it as much as the last Henry James novel that I read (The Portrait of a Lady). This one sounded very boring to me. I remember during one interview of Gwyneth Paltrow, the actress, she mentioned during her highschool (in Spence School, a prestigious private girl school in NYC), they didn't prefer to read Jane Austen, for it's too girlish. To be rebelious, they prefered to read Henry James. I assume the interview was for the promotion of her movie "Emma", hence the related questions. However, as I see a lot of resemblence between Jane Austen and Henry James's story backgrounds, I really really prefer Jane Austen's way of telling stories.

July 2005 - August 2005:
"Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window" by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi From Princeton Library.

The first time I read this book, in Chinese, was in elementary school. I got the book from school library. Everyone who read the book loves the book. This time I am reading it, it's the Taiwan edition, still in Chinese, that I got from the precious Princeton Library near work. It's such a good book. I am reading it to An'an. I also ordered the English edition from Amazon yesterday. It's a book to keep.

An'an has got her copy of the book on her book shelves, the English version. One day, she will enjoy it.

July 2005 - July 2005:
"Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling. From My Own Collection.

The newest Harry Potter book arrived as promised on Saturday July 18th. I pre-ordered it from B&N, and it did a great job to have it delivered on time, so that I can join the rest of the world to take my look at the long-waited book on its premier day!! Last time the previous book arrived, it was when I was pregnant in 2003. I finished the book over 1 weekend. This time it's not that easy anymore, because I have the little one out of me now which means I have to attend her all the time. Therefore, I only read about 200 pages over the weekend. It's such a great book. I have been reading it during every spare minute I can find...

I finished reading the book!! It's again a wonderful book to read, extremely entertaining. J.K. Rowling really knows how to tell a story. As I turned away the last page, I couldn't wait to read the next book. She left so many things answered...

July 2005 - July 2005 :
"Princess in the spotlight" Book on Tape by Meg Cabot. From Princeton Library.

July 2005 - July 2005:
"Amber Brown is not a crayon -- You can't eat your chicken pox, Amber Brown -- Amber Brown goes fourth." Book on Tape by Paula Danziger From Princeton Library.

I am going through a phase -- I am addicted to kids books now. It started after I finished the Girl Genius book by Lisa Yee. By reading these books, I realized how different in every aspect how kids grow up in the US from us who grew up in China. I had a very nice childhood but I think the life of kids in US is also every interesting. I am interested in knowing their school routines and their thoughts. I call it Mom Research, 'cause I have a little girl who is going to go through all these...

July 2005 - July 2005:
"Otherwise known as Sheila the Great" Book on Tape by Judy Blume From Princeton Library.

Judy Blume wrote a lot of kids' books. But I found her books not quite up to my expectation.

July 2005 - July 2005:
"Girl Genius" Book on Tape by Lisa Yee From Princeton Library.

Finished it with great interest! Although it's considered a kids book, probably for teenagers, I enjoyed it very very much and am looking forward to Lisa Yee's next book (about Stanford Wong) which is coming out soon, I hope. I read Lisa Yee's blog every day now and feel like I know her already. Terrific book.

April 2005 - :
"The Body Shop Body Care Manual" by The Body Shop Staff From My own collection.

Since it's my own book, I decided to stop halfway and move on to other libary books.. because that's how I treat most of my own books. My mother said that when I was little, I always liked to eat neighbor's food instead of my own family meals. I think when something is set, it's hard to change.

June 2005 - June 2005:
"The Broker" Book on Tape by John Grisham From Burlington Library.

Every once a while, I have to read a book on NYT Best Seller list. This one is the most recent one. It fits all the stereotype of John Grisham, so why did I choose to read his book again? I don't know. There are things in life that are unexplainable.

April 2005 - May 2005:
"Simply Ming" by Ming Tsai From Princeton Library.

I like Ming Tsai. I like his TV shows. I like his Andover-Cornell past. I also like the way he put together this cooking book. I will own a copy of this book soon.

April 2005 - May 2005:
"Charlie and the chocolate factory" by Roald Dahl From Burlington Library.

It's a children's book that I read to Anan. It seems so interesting that I decided to list it here in my book journal.

April 2005 - May 2005:
"Ya-Yas in bloom : [a novel]" (Book on CD) by Rebecca Wells From Burlington Library.

I really didn't like the voice of this book on CD. The book is as attractive as the previous Ya-Ya book. I am looking forward to the movie if it's going to be made.. it has to be made. It's so good for a movie.

March 2005 - April 2005:
Lin2 Jia1 Ci4 Nu3 in Chinese by Lin2 Tai4 Yi3 From Princeton Library.

It's about Lin2 Yu3 Tang2's family life in his 2nd daughter's eyes during her childhood. It's amazing how liberal Lin2 Yu3 Tang2's mind was even during that period. I like his parenting principle of giving children exposure to all aspects of the world.