SomeReads

NEW DOMAIN - UPDATE YOUR READER!

2009-10-27T07:33:00.000-07:00

Hi there! I've officially imported my blog into wordpress. The new URL is

http://www.somereads.com

Please update your feed readers! And pardon the construction while I take care of some housekeeping and design issues! :-)

Switching domains

2009-10-25T08:52:00.000-07:00

I just bought somereads.com, so very soon, I will be moving this blog to a Word Press blog. Yay! Now I will be able to update more easily, I think...I hope...

I had so much fun cheerleading yesterday. It got me through a very long Saturday workday! I think I did at least double the time I had signed up for - go me!

I didn't get to read more than a couple of pages before falling asleep last night. But I did get to do some fabulous stargazing at a nearby state park, so all was well.

I hope everyone had a fantastic time reading yesterday. I hope that in the spring I won't be scheduled to work that day; if I am, I may switch Saturdays with someone so I can participate. Otherwise, you can bet I'll be there cheering all of you on again!

Readathon blues

2009-10-24T14:16:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much for the comments I've gotten, y'all! To answer the question, no, unfortunately I'm not reading in the readathon. Alas, I am working 9-6 today with plans for the evening. I am having fun cheerleading, though, and I may be able to fit in some reading later tonight. (Who am I kidding? Of course I'll fit in reading, even if I do fall asleep after 1 page!)

I've got a few minutes off the reference desk, so I'm going to go visit some more blogs. Keep up the good work everyone and have fun!

Resurrection

2009-10-22T10:40:00.001-07:00

I know, I've said this before, but I'll say it again. I really want to start posting to this blog again (can't believe I haven't updated since June...). Thing is, I hate writing book reviews. Any suggestions? I'd like to share what I'm reading/have read, but I need a short format.

Let's start with the past week or so. Here's what I've finished/started.

The Ragwitch by Garth Nix - liked it a lot
Rose by Any Other Name by Maureen McCarthy - liked it way more than I was expecting to!
Hard Gold: The Colorado Gold Rush of 1859: A Tale of the Old West by Avi (advanced reader copy) - kept my interest, but it was kind of boring at times. I don't think I would have liked it all that much as a kid, and I've always liked historical fiction.

I'm currently reading Waves by Sharon Dogar (advanced reader copy). I'm liking this one so far, about 75 pages in.

Next 3 on my list: Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson, Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and then The Disappeared by Gloria Whelan

Baby steps. :-)

Some reviews

2009-06-12T06:25:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I actually made a blog post (2 months? really?). When I logged in, I saw the little box that says "Remember me" and read it as more "Remember me?" That seemed more appropriate.

I've been remiss with book reviews but have several to post about. I'm just going to do a review blast here and will hopefully get back into posting "real" reviews soon.

I try to fill in the "stopped" field in LibraryThing when I finish a book, but I forgot on a couple, so these may not be perfectly chronological.

All Other Nights by Dara Horn: I got this one from LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program. I'm a big fan of historical fiction, and I am fascinated with the period surrounding the Civil War, so this one was a perfect match. I very much enjoyed this book, although I did feel the ending was lacking. It's hard to write a review a couple of months after reading, so I'll just mention that I gave it 4.5 stars in LibraryThing. Highly recommended.

The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway: Another LT Early Reviewer. This one was literarily very good and it was a quick read. It was, however, quite bleak. It is based on a true story of cellist who played for 22 days in the middle of war-torn Sarajevo in honor of 22 people killed in a market bombing. Told from the perspective for 4 different characters, Galloway brought to life the horror of living in a city under siege. I gave this one 4 stars.

Ringside, 1925: Views from the Scopes Trial by Jen Bryant: This children's book about the Scopes Trial regarding the teaching of evolution in a Tennessee classroom was written in verse. There were several narrators, and all had their own unique voice. This was a very quick, enjoyable read. I gave it 5 stars.

Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez: This book is more of a novella than a full-length novel. It was the first Garcia Marquez book I've finished (having started 100 Years of Solitude and putting it aside a while back) and I enjoyed it. The main character is an elderly man (approaching his 90th birthday, I believe) who has never married but has frequented "houses of ill repute" for most of his life. He falls in love with a young girl who he has hired, but cannot bring himself to actually touch. There is magical realism and the book is quite odd, but also rather sweet. I gave it 4 stars.

The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber: This one is a mix of historical fiction and contemporary fiction. An old manuscript, thought to lead to the hiding place of an undiscovered Shakespeare play, is found. Gangsters are after it, and a few people die. There is romance. There are chases. :-) I enjoyed the book, but it's just ok. I gave it 3 stars.

The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery: Sigh. I wanted to love this book, because I've heard such wonderful things. It just didn't do anything for me, unfortunately. I gave it a reluctant 3 stars.

Currently I'm reading (and am almost through with) Helen of Troy by Margaret George. I should finish it this weekend and will *hopefully* post a review. Also on the nightstand is (still) The Mists of Avalon, which I'm reading intermittently.

Not so much

2009-04-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

I guess trying to start in a readathon after working 8 hours, going to the grocery store, & eating dinner was too much. I did get in an hour and a half or so of reading before falling asleep on the couch. I was so frustrated, since I was only 20 pages away from finishing my book! The good news was that I got up and interacted with Jimmy & Eli for a while before we headed to bed, and by the time I got in bed, I was awake enough again to pick the book back up and I did finish. So, I met my one goal for the readathon! Yahoo!

Laura read for maybe an hour and then totally crashed on the couch. She doesn't even remember us waking her up to move to her bed.

Laura and I might have our own mini readathon over Memorial Day weekend when we have more time to devote to it. I hate that we keep missing out on the real thing. I hope everyone had a fantastic time! I suspect I will mark my feeds as all read, since I'm already behind.

Better late than never

2009-04-18T18:06:00.000-07:00

It's 8:07 PM, and Laura and I are joining in on the reading fun. Don't know that I'll check in much, and I don't plan to do any mini challenges, since I need to make up the reading time. But we're jumping in anyway!

What I'm reading: All Other Nights by Dara Horn.
Current page: 310 of 363

If nothing else I hope to finish this book!

Dewey's Read-A-Thon

2009-04-18T14:47:00.000-07:00

Well, here I sit at work on the most perfect day for a readathon. Nasty, rainy day outside. The good news is that my plans for the evening got cancelled, so I'm hoping to grab Laura and join in for a few hours at least tonight. Yippee!

State of the reading.

2009-04-07T06:32:00.000-07:00

I decided to set Mists of Avalon aside for a while. This was a hard decision, since I wanted to love it as much now as I did the first time I read it. I just don't have the time to really devote to it right now, and I was having reading wanderlust. I haven't completely abandoned it. My current reading plan is to read 3 books I have at home and then 1 library book. I am keeping Mists in the rotation, but I'm only going to give it a week at a time. So, I'll read 2 books from my home library, then a bit of Mists of Avalon, then a library book. Make sense?

Currently I am reading Ringside 1925, which is about the Scopes trial. I am enjoying it very much, and it's a very quick read. I expect to finish it today and then pick up Memories of my Melancholy Whores. My one experience with Gabriel Garcia Marquez was 100 Years of Solitude, which I had to abandon, so I'm a little wary. We'll see how it goes.

The "Loot" Part 2

2009-04-05T11:14:00.000-07:00

Wow, I could really see the effects of the economy at this conference. While last year, there were free books everywhere, and it was sort of a free-for-all, this year was very different. As I mentioned in my previous post, I snagged 10 free books on Wednesday. I snagged a total of 4 more over the next 2 days. Many publishers had limits on the number of books people could take and some made people form lines and request books. Very different. Some of the bigger publishers didn't have anything out at all whenever I passed by. Even the other swag, like pens, etc., were scarce.

Here's what I did end up with on Thursday and Friday:

1) The Girls by Tucker Shaw
2) Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink
3) You Are Here by Jennifer E. Smith
4) The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya by Nagaru Tanigawa

I grabbed #4 for Laura, since she is totally into manga right now, and the back says "the phenomenon that took Japan by storm." Little did I know this is a coveted item! I handed it to Laura and she literally squealed with delight; she was so excited! So even though the pickings were slim, I did end up with a gem.

The Loot, Part 1

2009-04-01T20:01:00.000-07:00

I'm already prefacing this with "Part 1" even though the exhibit halls have only been open for 1 day. I know I'll grab more stuff tomorrow. I am definitely restraining myself - last year I grabbed books indiscriminately, but this year I'm at least reading the back before deciding to take. Still, I came home with 10 ARCs today and bought 3 other books for my family. Here's the lowdown so far:

1) The Edge of the World by Kevin Anderson
2) Heroes of the Valley by Jonathan Stroud
3) Dodger for President by Jordan Sonnenblick (thought Eli might like this)
4) Boyology: A Crash Course in All Things Boy by Sarah O'Leary Burningham (I actually didn't grab this one; my coworker grabbed 2 and gave me one. Laura may not be quite old enough to appreciate it yet, but she'll grow into it.)
5) Clara's War: One Girl's Story of Survival by Clara Kramer
6) I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti by Giulia Melucci
7) Lyonesse: The Well Between the Worlds by Sam Llewellyn
8) Don't Let It Be True by Jo Barrett
9) The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan
10) Confetti Girl by Diana Lopez

I bought:
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (for Laura)
Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves (for Jimmy)
Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson (for Eli)

I'll be back tomorrow and Thursday. I'm sure I'll snag more...

TLA 2009

2009-03-31T07:23:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again! Most of this week I'll be attending the Texas Library Association conference, which is here in Houston this year. My goal is to NOT come home with the 45 advanced reader copies I ended up with last year, which I've barely made a dent in. I'm sure I won't be able to resist a few, though. Hopefully the fact that I'll have to drag them home on the bus will be a deterrent!

On a reading-related note, I'm still plugging away at The Mists of Avalon. Sheesh, that's one big book!

Once Upon a Time III

2009-03-23T06:34:00.000-07:00

In general, I'm not doing any challenges this year. My own, personal, challenge is to read as many of my own books as possible (generally speaking, I'm reading 1 library book for every 3 books from my own collection).

However, how can I resist Carl's challenges?

This year, Carl has included an option for general participation, without having to choose a certain number of books. This fits perfectly with my reading plan, and, as I am currently reading The Mists of Avalon, the timing is perfect.

If you've never joined one of Carl's challenges before, I highly encourage you to join in. It is more than a challenge; it's an experience.

Twitter

2009-03-18T06:24:00.000-07:00

Some of you, at least, have noticed that I now have a Twitter badge on my blog. I actually just added a new reading-specific account which will be the one that updates on this blog now. Feel free to follow any (or all) of my three Twitter profiles:

somereads
somernewland
someryarns

I am a much more prolific Tweeter than blogger, I promise! :-)

Just checking in

2009-03-15T19:23:00.000-07:00

I started re-reading The Mists of Avalon after I finished my last book, so it will be a while before I post a review, I think. It takes a really long time to read an 800+ book with only a little while each day to read! I first read Mists of Avalon in 1992, and I remember not being able to put it down. I'm not having that experience this time, but I think it's just that I don't have the time to devote to it that I did when I was 20... The fact that I have placed it on my list of favorites consistently keeps me reading.

We've had a very tough week here emotionally (my 10-year-old son had a friend who tragically died), and I haven't been in a mood to lose myself in a book. Knitting has kept me busy while not having to concentrate. It doesn't help that I have 3 time-sensitive projects going and more in the wings.

On a book-related note, we went to see Coraline for the second time today. The first time we had to settle for the 2D version, since the 3D version wasn't playing anymore. I guess they had freed up all the 3D slots for the Jonas Brothers movie (it was opening weekend), because today we noticed Coraline was showing in 3D again. I have to say, having seen both versions, the 3D version was MUCH better and more satisfying.

Goose Girl by Patrice Kindl

2009-03-07T14:40:00.000-08:00

I needed a nice, quick read after Tamar, and this fit the bill perfectly. In this adapted fairy tale, a common goose girl, Alexandria Aurora Fortunata, has had a spell cast upon her so that whenever she combs her hair, gold dust falls out, and when she cries, she sheds diamonds instead of tears. This has grabbed the attention of both the King of Gilboa and the Prince of Dorloon, who have locked her in a tower until she chooses which one she will marry.

With the help of her beloved flock of geese, Alexandria escapes from the tower and, naturally, encounters all kinds of obstacles. While the ending may not be a complete surprise, it is entertaining, as is the book as a whole. Highly recommended for fans of the likes of Shannon Hale.

Tamar by Mal Peet

2009-03-03T18:17:00.000-08:00

I can't decide if I liked Tamar or not. I liked the story, and I like the subject matter, but the book just seemed to drag. It took me a couple of weeks to read, and I didn't feel overly compelled to pick it up instead of, say, knitting. That's my current gauge. If I'm really enjoying the book, I will choose to read instead of knit. If the book is just so-so, I will often choose to knit instead. I got a lot of knitting/crocheting done while reading this book.

Tamar bounces back and forth between the present and 1944/1945 and between two characters with the name Tamar. One character is the narrator, a young woman recounting the story of her grandfather's death and the process of trying to figure out a puzzle he left her when he died. The other character was a resistance fighter in the Netherlands during World War II. The stories are intertwined, as the girl Tamar was named by her grandfather, in honor of his experiences in the war. Both story lines are compelling, and the mystery revealed wasn't a dead giveaway. Still, I felt there was something missing, something that could have made the book impossible to put down. I would definitely recommend it for someone interested in the Dutch resistance or WWII history, in general.

Library Thing Early Reviewers

2009-03-03T09:48:00.000-08:00

I snagged another Early Reviewer this month, after a couple-month dry spell. This month I'll be getting All Other Nights by Dara Horn. This book looks fantastic, and I can't wait to read it!

Pardon my absence!

2009-02-21T12:12:00.000-08:00

I just realized how long it has been since I updated my blog! I'm sure I've lost any readers I have by now...

My reading is going pretty slow right now, and I guess that's part of the problem. I finished Crescent by Diana Abu-Jaber a couple of weeks ago and just loved it so much. Now it's been so long, and I don't even know how to review it. So I'll sum it up with what I tweeted on Twitter when I finished it: "It was so good I hugged it when I finished!"

Since then, I also finished The Golden Bull by Marjorie Cowley, an ARC I picked up at TLA last year. I enjoyed it and gave it 3.5 stars in LibraryThing. It wasn't terribly memorable, though, I'm sorry to say, a few weeks later.

I attempted to read The Last Summer (of You and Me) by Ann Brashares, and I had high expectations after the Traveling Pants series. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into it and returned it to the library.

Now I'm reading Tamar by Mal Peet, and while it is a pretty slow read, I am enjoying it and will finish it before moving on to something else.

I'm woefully behind on my book blog reading, too, but I am slowly catching up. Not doing any challenges right now; it's just me and crazy long book lists!

Library Loot

2009-01-29T09:19:00.001-08:00

I'm off work today and tomorrow and trying to catch up on my blog posts and reviews. The reviews are done!

Here's what I've brought home from the library since my last Library Loot post:

1) Elizabeth: The Golden Age: After finishing The Lady Elizabeth, I just happened to find this one on the DVD shelf, so I grabbed it. I really enjoyed the first Elizabeth movie with Kate Blanchett, so I'm looking forward to this one.

2) The New Amateur Astronomer came home as a request from my astronomer husband.

3) and 4) I saw 200 Stitch Patterns for Baby Blankets on a cart of books I was shelving, and I liked some of the patterns and not just for baby blankets. After investigating some, I found the other Jan Eaton book on the shelf as well and brought both home. I will probably end up purchasing at least one of these books in the near future.

5) The same day I picked up Elizabeth: The Golden Age, I found Flags of Our Fathers on the shelf. We've been wanting to watch this one, too, so I brought it home. Of course, both have been sitting on the TV since then... I'm horrible about leaving movies sitting forever. (Case in point: the Netflix copy of The Manchurian Candidate that we kept for at least 5 months, and I never watched. At least Jimmy watched it!)

Women of the Revolution by Robert M. Dunkerly

2009-01-29T08:58:00.001-08:00

I have realized that when it comes to non-fiction, what really floats my boat is history. I am also fascinated with Southern history (this is where the Mississippi girl in me shows her face), so it's no surprise that the subject matter of this book, Women of the Revolution: Bravery and Sacrifice on the Southern Battlefield, attracted me.

Unfortunately, I can't give a glowing review of the book. While, yes, the subject matter was interesting, the book was not well-written. To me, it read like a stack of notes that were thrown into book format. What bothered me the most about the book was that there were sections (sometimes even separated as entire chapters) where basically all it said was "I'm sure there were women involved in this part of the war, and this is the type of things they probably did, but we don't have any personal accounts to share." Interspersed with these sections, were some accounts of actual women and varying accounts of their stories, and I thought those were very interesting. I started the book assuming that it would be full of these actual accounts, and I was disappointed to find otherwise.

The author indicates that there is very little recorded about actual women involved in the Revolutionary War, which, of course, explains the lack of accounts in the book. But I wonder, if so little is available, why is it necessary to publish an entire book full of speculation? I noticed that there are other books on the topic; it seems that a chapter on the involvement of Southern women in a larger book might have worked better.

Another thing that bothered me a bit was the inclusion of photographs of reenactors portraying 17th century women. I would have preferred to see paintings or drawings. The photographs seemed (and were) staged; the women seemed too clean and tidy. Also, some of the photographs were repetitive - how many pictures of women sewing in camp do we really need to see? The one place in the book where I found the photographs to be a welcome addition was in the section devoted to clothing. I enjoyed seeing actual photographs of bedcoats, short gowns, etc.

All in all, this book was disappointing. It, however, was very short, and I did learn a few things, so I don't feel that it was an overall waste of my time.

The Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir

2009-01-29T08:46:00.000-08:00

The Lady Elizabeth is a fictional account of Elizabeth I's life from a small child up until she is declared queen. Alison Weir, known primarily for her Tudor biographies, does an equally fabulous jobs with her fiction!

I almost gave up on The Lady Elizabeth several times, as the beginning moves at a fairly slow pace. I have also read or listened to several other books of the time period, and they were all starting to blur together. However, once I reached the point in the book where King Henry dies, the book's pace picked up, and I honestly had a hard time putting it down. I'm so glad I stuck with it!

Alison Weir will be appearing at my library in a few days, and I am looking forward to hearing her speak about Katherine Swynford, the subject of her newest book Mistress of the Monarchy. I am unfamiliar with Swynford, but I'm sure Ms. Weir will fill me in.

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

2009-01-15T06:40:00.000-08:00

This is the second time I've read Hatchet. The first was about 2 years ago, when I was home with a sick kid. This time around, we read it for bedtime. We have gravitated towards more fantasy-esque books for bedtime, I think (I'll have to go back and look at that), and this was the first time we've read any kind of survivor fiction. I think it was a fantastic choice! Both kids were engrossed and last night, when we only had one more chapter to go, the entire family asked me to keep reading. I think we need to look at a variety of genres from now on.

If you've never read Hatchet, here's a brief synopsis. Brian is a 13-year-old boy who is traveling in a small plane to visit his father when the plane crashes. He (obviously) survives the crash and must find a way to live in the wilderness. The book is gritty in places and Paulsen doesn't skirt around some of the more gruesome details.

The only thing I didn't care for (especially as a read-aloud) was the choppy text. I think it worked when I read it the first time, but aloud it just sounded weird.

Library Loot

2009-01-14T13:19:00.001-08:00

I love this idea! I don't order enough books to warrant participation in Mailbox Monday, so when Eva posted about this idea, I was so excited to be able to participate!

Being a public librarian, I am always grabbing books off the shelf. I doubt I'm structured enough to actually post this on a certain day (whatever happened to me participating in "It's Tuesday, where are you?" for example), so my plan will be to post whenever I pick up something new.

Today you get lucky, because I will post the 2 books that I just grabbed, as well as anything that is in my account worth sharing.

1) Harry, A History: The True Story of a Boy Wizard, His Fans, and Life Inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon - I checked this one out a couple of weeks ago when it was passed to me by a coworker. I may or may not finish it.

2) The Little Shop of Horrors - This DVD is of the original film. The quality is horrible and ultimately we fast-forwarded to the scene with Jack Nicholson and then put in the 1980s version. I'll return it soon.

3) The Lady Elizabeth: A Novel by Alison Weir. This is my current read, and while I'm enjoying it, it is very slow-going. I want to finish it, but I may end up abandoning it.

4) The Portion Teller: Smartsize Your Way to Permanent Weight Loss. This one grabbed my attention as I was waiting for the elevator a few minutes ago.

5) Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives. This one is relevant to my work as well as parenting.

The Oracle Betrayed by Catherine Fisher

2009-01-11T18:12:00.001-08:00

I hate when I wait a few days to write a review, especially of a book I really liked. I always forget what exactly I wanted to say. I'll do my best to do this book justice!

First off, let me say that this is the first book I've read in quite a while that I give 5 stars. It was absolutely fantastic! Mirany is a priestess in what appears to be ancient Egypt. As the Archon ("god on earth" - sort of a pharaoh-type character) dies, he passes a slip of papyrus to Mirany, describing a plot to choose an impostor as the next Archon. Mirany must put a stop to this plot.

The book is extremely fast-paced, and the characters are well-developed. I had a hard time putting this one down. The Oracle Betrayed is the first in a trilogy, and I plan to read the next two in the near future.

The funny thing is that I almost passed this one up. My mom bought this for the kids over a year ago, and I had picked up and it put it in my to-read-next stack. When it was time to start it, I picked it up and thought "I don't know if I want to read this." Luckily, I checked reviews and saw all the rave reviews it had gotten and gave it a chance. I sure am glad I did! I was not disappointed!

Already sidetracked

2009-01-08T08:33:00.001-08:00

I'm trying so hard not to get sidetracked, but 1 week into the New Year it's already happened. But with good reason.

Tuesday night we had a huge Charlaine Harris event at the library. As far as I've heard, this was her one and only scheduled event of the year, and we had people from all over. One lady flew in from Boston! Unfortunately, I wasn't working that night and had ridden the bus in and didn't have a way to get home if I stayed. Plus, I haven't read any of her books (yet) and was afraid of spoilers.

But I noticed yesterday that the next author coming is Alison Weir, in February. I listened to Innocent Traitor a while back and really enjoyed it, so I grabbed The Lady Elizabeth off the shelf this morning to read before the event. I would have waited until I finished my current book (which I just started this morning), but I was afraid it wouldn't be available by then. And, along the same lines, since I might not be able to renew it after 2 weeks, I probably should go ahead and read it now.

I will get back on track immediately afterwards, though!

LibraryThing

2009-01-07T09:36:00.000-08:00

I'm on a winning streak with LibraryThing Early Reviewers, it seems. I got Women of the Revolution: Bravery and Sacrifice on the Southern Battlefields by Robert M. Dunkerly this month, which makes 3 in a row. Interestingly enough, this appears to have been published in 2007, so I'm not sure what makes this an Early Review copy (new edition? new publisher?).

On another note, I'm about 20 pages away from finishing The Oracle Betrayed by Catherine Fisher. This is the first book in The Oracle Prophecies trilogy, and I cannot *wait* to read the next two! A more detailed review will come, but let me just say that this one shouldn't be missed!

Gladiatrix by Russell Whitfield

2009-01-03T18:13:00.000-08:00

Lysandra is a priestess of Athene, trained in the military arts just as a man of her time. She has been captured and enslaved by the owner of a training camp for women gladiators. As you might imagine, this is not a book for anyone averse to a little violence. In fact, the reader should be prepared for A LOT of violence. Reader beware. I, luckily, generally don't mind the violence as long as it has a place, and I knew when I requested this book from LibraryThing that it would be violent.

I enjoyed Gladiatrix quite a bit, although there were a few things that I didn't care for. Lysandra was not a terribly sympathetic character - her arrogance was downright laughable at times. Also (spoiler ahead - highlight to read) the battle that the gladiatrices were preparing for for a good portion of the 2nd half of the book never happened, and the fight with Sorina was anticlimactic (although I wasn't surprised - I thought either they would both live or they would both die).

That said, I liked the book from the moment I started reading it, and I had a hard time putting it down when I neared the end. I will definitely watch for other books by Russell Whitfield!

What I Read in 2008

2008-12-31T14:28:00.000-08:00

Assuming I remembered to log everything in LibraryThing, here is what I read this year (alphabetically, since I don't always remember to put in the date)!

100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson (children's)
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (YA)
A Doll's House (Sandman, Vol. 2) by Neil Gaiman
All Year Long by Kathleen W. Deady (picture book)
The Amber Spyglass by Phillip Pullman (audiobook; YA; re-read)
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Bark, George by Jules Feiffer (picture book)
Becky: The Life and Loves of Becky Thatcher by Lenore Hart
Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley (children's)
Big Chickens Fly the Coop by Leslie Helakoski (picture book)
Black Ships by Jo Graham
Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman
Bobbie Dazzler by Margaret Wild (picture book)
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
The Braid by Helen Frost
Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult (audiobook)
Chicken Boy by Frances O'Roark Dowell (children's)
The Crocodile Blues by Coleman Polhemus (picture book)
Doctor Illuminatus: The Alchemist's Son by Martin Booth (audiobook; children's)
Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon (audiobook)
Dreamers of the Day: A Novel by Mary Doria Russell
Fame Junkies by Jake Halpern (YA)
The Field Guide (Spiderwick Chronicles, Book 1) by Holly Black and Tony diTerlizzi (children's)
Firegirl by Tony Abbott (children's)
The Ghost's Grave by Peg Kehret (children's)
Gladiatrix by Russell Whitfield (technically, I finished this one in 2009, but I only had about 40 pages to go this morning and will count it as a 2008 read)
The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman (audiobook; YA; re-read)
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz (children's)
The Graveyard Box by Neil Gaiman (YA)
Heart-shaped Box by Joe Hill
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff (audiobook; YA)
Hubert Invents the Wheel by Claire and Monty Montgomery (children's)
Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi
Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey by Alison Weir (audiobook)
The Ironwood Tree (Spiderwick Chronicles, Book 4) by Holly Black and Tony diTerlizzi (children's)
It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, and Sexual Health by Robie Harris (YA)
Jazz on a Saturday Night by Leo & Diane Dillon (picture book)
Julie & Julia by Julie Powell
Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt (YA)
The Killing Sea by Richard Lewis (YA)
King Dork by Frank Portman (YA)
Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo by Obert Skye (children's)
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (audiobook; YA)
Life on the Refrigerator Door: Notes Between a Mother and Daughter, a novel by Alice Kuipers
Little Bitty Mousie by Jim Aylesworth (picture book)
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Look Out Jack! The Giant is Back by Tom Birdseye (picture book)
Love Marriage: A Novel by V. V. Ganeshananthan
Lucinda's Secret (Spiderwick Chronicle, Book 3) by Holly Black and Tony diTerlizzi (children's)
Masterpiece by Elise Broach (children's)
Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin
Moloka'i by Alan Brennert
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer (YA)
No Girls Allowed: Tales of Daring Women Dressed as Men for Love, Freedom and Adventure by Susan Hughes (children's)
On the Road (Down Girl and Sit) by Lucy A. Nolan (children's)
One Good Punch by Rich Wallace (YA)
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi
Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson (children's)
Pompeii: Lost and Found by Mary Pope Osborne (children's)
Preludes and Nocturnes (Sandman, Vol. 1) by Neil Gaiman
Previously by Allan Ahlberg (picture book)
Prey by Lurlene McDaniel (YA)
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale (children's)
Punk Farm on Tour by Jarrett J. Krosoczka (picture book)
Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity by Elaine Pagels
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Roxie and the Hooligans by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (children's)
Rules by Cynthia Lord (audiobook; children's)
The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 2) by Rick Riordan (children's)
The Seeing Stone (Spiderwick Chronicles, Book 2) by Holly Black and Tony diTerlizzi (children's)
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror by Christopher Moore
The Subtle Knife by Phillip Pullman (audiobook; YA)
The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray (YA)
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
A Thousand Veils by D.J. Murphy
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson
The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 3) by Rick Riordan (children's)
Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale by Holly Black (YA)
The Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur by Daoud Hari
Truckers by Terry Pratchett (children's)
Wait for Me by An Na (YA)
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata (children's)
The Wrath of Mulgarath (Spiderwick Chronicles, Book 5) by Holly Black and Tony diTerlizzi (children's)

Breakdown - some cross-categorization:

25 children's chapter books

18 YA books

10 picture books

10 audiobooks

7 nonfiction

2 memoirs

Reading plan for 2009

2008-12-28T12:48:00.000-08:00

Again I've become overwhelmed with all I want to read. My personal collection has become ri.dic.u.lous! So in 2009 my plan is to make a dent in my TBR mountain. I have other things I want to read, though, so I have to work those in somehow. In addition to my personal books, I have my Amazon wish list (which is really just a TBR list of books I don't yet own) and a YA suggested reading list. I also would like to add in some nonfiction and just books I see at the library every day that I want to pick up (I call this my "judge a book by its cover list"). So, my plan (and I am really going to try to stick with it) is to read 1 books from my defined categories for every 3 books I read from my personal collection. I will consider any Library Thing Early Review copies I receive as part of my personal collection, and they will get sent to the top of the list as soon as received.

Welcome to my crazy brain. :-)

Jonesin'

2008-12-27T06:41:00.000-08:00

My day started out pretty rough yesterday, and while it didn't get any worse, it never really seemed to get that much better. I guess the biggest factor was having to work the day after Christmas. By the time 4:00 came around, and I was in my last hour of work, I was dead tired. I was shelving nonfiction books, and it occurred to me that what I really needed was some Half Price Books time. And for the next hour, all I could think about was the *need* to get to Half Price Books!

We had plans with friends for dinner, so after a very nice dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant, I proposed a trip to the bookstore. Being with bookies, this wasn't hard to sell. For the next 30-45 minutes, I browsed the fiction shelves in bliss. Just what I needed after a hard day. I was good, too, only waiting for the books that just absolutely cried out to me. I got 4 books.

The Museum of Kitschy Stitches: A Gallery of Notorious Knits by Stitchy McYarnpants - total silliness and horrid, horrid, horrid pictures of bad knit/crochet garments

The Terror by Dan Simmons

Slammerkin by Emma Donoghue

Rules for Old Men Waiting by Peter Pouncey

Slammerkin and Rules for Old Men Waiting already had good prices ($2.98 and $2.00, respectively), but on top of that Half Price Books was having a 20% off sale on everything in the store.

My day ended on a much better note than it started. :-)

The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet by Neil deGrasse Tyson (a guest review)

2008-12-22T06:37:00.000-08:00

I recently received a copy of The Pluto Files as part of the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program. While I have every intention of reading this eventually, my reason for requesting this book was so that, if received, my husband, who teaches astronomy at the high school level, could read it and review it. He did, and here is what he had to say.

"Astronomers of all ages and levels of skill are benefiting from an explosion of knowledge on topics ranging from possible life on Mars, to the influence of dark matter on the universe, to frequent reports about newly discovered exoplanets (planets orbiting other stars). The deluge of data has resulted in a whirlwind of new ideas and the inevitable changes to the scientific status quo. Pluto's recent change of planetary status and the cultural and scientific turmoil that led up to its demotion stem directly from our attempts to get a handle on the latest discoveries.

Neil deGrasse Tyson's book "The Pluto Files: the Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet" does a wonderful job of putting all the scientific and cultural issues into a fun, well-balanced and very readable volume. The science in the book is easy to follow and presented in a very balanced way. Dr. Tyson presents the facts in the context of culture and history throughout the tale of the beleaguered Pluto. It is an approachable book and very readable. The inclusion of many humorous comics and images of the prominent players in this tragic drama makes it seem more real. You get a sense of the human element. After all, this is a story about how humans react when science and sentimentality don't get along.

Dr. Tyson makes his opinion very clear, but he is willing to admit that the topics bear more discussion. What about Sedna, Eris, and the other "new planets" that make the inclusion of Pluto a sticky problem for planetary scientists? In the end he suggests the issue isn't whether or not Pluto should be a planet, but that astronomers should do a better job of attempting to handle the newcomers to our celestial party. Can we really do science by committee? Is science meant to be a democracy? Shouldn't careful science be the way things are done? Perhaps we have all been too hasty in taking sides on the issue of Pluto's planethood. Maybe we should have a few more planets in our list or leave the number at 8. Either way, we need to understand how all the parts of the solar system work, regardless of what classification we use.

Yes, it is true that Pluto clearly doesn't fit with the terrestrial planets of the inner solar system nor with the gas giants of the outer solar system. But it matters less what name we use to describe Pluto, Ceres, Eris, Sedna, and the others yet to be discovered and more what we do as a culture with our new information. After all, Pluto's story is our story regardless of what label we use to describe it.

So even if you are not a fan of Pluto or an astronomy buff, go out and get a copy of this delightful book, and I promise you will laugh and likely learn some fun stuff, too."

Thanks, Jimmy, for letting me post your review here!

Secret Santa

2008-12-18T08:16:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was my late night at the library, so I didn't get home until about 9:30. Imagine my delight when I saw a package waiting for me on the bed! I actually slowed myself down enough to take pictures. Enjoy seeing how my Secret Santa, Lisa at Books Ahoy! spoiled me! (Forgive the terrible pictures - I had to use the camera on my phone.)

Here's what I saw when I opened the package. So carefully packed!

Here's everything laid out before I unwrapped the gifts. Already we can see a cute little jingle bell pen, a yummy-looking caramel lollypop (the goodie that looks like a little house), and a cute little bucket filled with chocolates. I've sampled the chocolates now, and they're delicious!

Inside the first and second wrapped gifts I found the following books, both of which I have had on my wish list for ages: Fasting and Feasting by Anita Desai and Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson. The Bryson is actually a UK edition, which adds to the charm. Can't wait to read them both!

And the last gift was this little book, The Christmas Tree by Julie Salamon, which appears to be a touching story about the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center in NYC.

Thank you so much, Lisa. This package was perfect!

My Best of 2008 list

2008-12-13T08:47:00.001-08:00

In hopes of kickstarting my blogging again, I'm going to compile my best of list for 2008. The only requirement for inclusion for this list is that I finished it in 2008 - copyright date is irrelevant.

Here, in no particular order besides, perhaps, the order I read them in, are my favorite books of 2008:

Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale by Holly Black
Becky: The Life and Loves of Becky Thatcher by Lenore Hart
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (audio version)
Black Ships by Jo Graham
Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
The Book of Lost Things by John Connelly
Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt
Moloka'i by Alan Brennert
The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror by Christopher Moore
Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

So sad

2008-12-05T19:06:00.000-08:00

I've been so behind in my blog reading lately, and I was completely blind-sided when I decided to check out a few last night and found that Dewey had passed away. Dewey's blog really introduced me to the world of book blogging, and even though I know she didn't know it, she was one of the reasons I started mine. Her blog was also the first book blog I ever commented on.

I had the pleasure of participating in one of Dewey's read-a-thons, along with my then-11-year-old daughter. Laura was actually just asking me within the past couple of weeks when there would be another one. She was very sad last night when I told her that Dewey had died.

I will miss Dewey's posts and her enthusiasm. My blogroll will have a huge hole for a long time to come.

RIP, Dewey.

The Killing Sea by Richard Lewis

2008-11-22T07:01:00.000-08:00

After starting and stopping two books (A Prayer for Owen Meany and Alice's Tulips), I finally finished a book!

The Killing Sea is "a novel about the tsunami that stunned the world" (from the cover). The author, Richard Lewis, is the son of American missionaries who lives in Bali, Indonesia and helped out in Aceh after the 2004 tsunami. His firsthand experience really shows in this novel.

This book is intended for readers ages 12 and up, and the difficulty level reflects that. It is not a challenging book in that way, but Lewis doesn't hold back on the subject matter. Emotionally, there are some challenges in this book, but they were handled with care. The book is a very quick read and short, at just under 200 pages. The story is gripping and characterization is well done.

Oh yes. The story. Ruslan is an Indonesian teenager whose father is the local mechanic. On Christmas Day in 2004, a Western family approaches him for help fixing their yacht. Ruslan is immediately fascinated with Sarah, the blond-haired, blue-eyed American girl. Fast forward to the next morning, when an earthquake shakes the area, and, minutes later, the land is swept by a monstrous wave. Sarah's family was anchored on an island off shore, and, while trying to get away, her father breaks his leg. Sarah's mother tells her to run for high ground with her brother, and, Sarah and Peter are separated from their parents. Meanwhile, Ruslan's father was meant to be repairing a tanker offshore, and Ruslan assumes he was lost, until he finds a note from his father saying that he had gone to Ie Mameh to talk with Ruslan's late mother's rebel family, and he hadn't wanted to tell him. Ruslan is relieved to learn that his father could still be safe and sets out towards the other village. Naturally, along the way Ruslan's and Sarah's paths cross and they travel together. I won't say anymore, except (and this could be considered a small spoiler) the ending was one of the most satisfying endings I've read in a long time. Very well done!

Secret Santa

2008-11-16T10:25:00.000-08:00

I'm so behind on my blog reading, and I'm so glad I caught this post from Dewey before the deadline!

This Secret Santa swap sounds like a lot of fun! I'm in!

John Irving is not for me

2008-11-16T08:50:00.001-08:00

Several years ago, I started The Cider House Rules, and I just couldn't get into it. I had hoped it was just that book, and, having heard rave reviews, I picked up A Prayer for Owen Meany. Couldn't get into it, either. I recognize both as having good stories, but Irving's writing just plods along. I enjoyed the movie of The Cider House Rules, and I would really like to know the full story of A Prayer for Owen Meany, but I just can't find it in me to finish it.

A Thousand Veils by D. J Murphy

2008-11-09T14:38:00.000-08:00

A fellow Library Thing user passed this book, which she received from the author, on to me. I really appreciate the opportunity to read this book!

Fatima Shihabi had a happy childhood in Kassim, Iraq. She was educated in the same way her brothers were, and she was encouraged by her father to indulge in her love of writing. As an adult, after her abusive husband divorced her for not bearing him sons, Fatima is hired as a journalist for Babel, an Iraqi newspaper directed by Uday Hussein, son of Saddam Hussein. When Fatima's writing begins to disclose too much about the plights of her fellow Iraqis after 9/11, she becomes a target of Saddam's Mukhabarat (secret police) and must escape from Iraq if she is to survive.

Meanwhile, in the United States, Charles Sherman, a corporate lawyer with former dealings with Saudi Arabia, gets drafted to assist Fatima in her quest to get to America and her older brother, a professor at Columbia. In the midst of a major deal with important clients, this is the last thing Charles needs, but the humanitarian side of him wins out and he tries to help Fatima.

A Thousand Veils is fast-paced and exciting, with a bit of romance thrown in for good measure. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The only beef I have with it is that the dialogue just didn't seem realistic. I thought the narrative portions of the book were very well written, but the conversational parts seemed stilted.

A Thousand Veils is the first book for D. J. Murphy, a former international lawyer, and he is obviously quite talented. I definitely recommend this one and look forward to future books.

Library Thing Early Reviewers

2008-11-05T14:08:00.000-08:00

I finally got matched with another LT Early Review copy, after several dry months! I'll be getting Gladiatrix by Russell Whitfield. You can read the first chapter via the link. This sounds like it could be really good or supremely bad!

Truckers by Terry Pratchett

2008-11-03T07:09:00.001-08:00

Truckers is the first book in Terry Pratchett's Bromeliad Trilogy, which is geared towards a children's/YA audience. This was only the 2nd Pratchett book I've read, and I enjoyed it just as much as I did Going Postal.

The book begins with a group of nomes who decide to abandon their Outside habitat in favor of something safer. They hitch a ride on one of the trucks that they have watched and end up inside the Store (Arnold Bros. (est 1905)). What ensues is basically a parody of the early Church, and it is delightful. I need to obtain a copy of Diggers, the next in the trilogy. Perhaps I'll luck out on my trip to Half Price Books this morning.

This will fulfill my "P" author in the A-Z challenge (the completion of which is looking quite grim...)

RIP III Challenge wrap up

2008-10-31T07:07:00.001-07:00

I'm not on my laptop, so I don't have all my cool graphics. But I wanted to make sure to post my wrap up for this challenge today.

I did Peril the First, which challenged us to read 4 books. And I did that and then some! I thought I had read 5, but then I remembered that I finished Tithe after the challenge started. So here's my list:

1. Tithe by Holly Black
2. Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
3. Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin
4. 100 Cupboards by N. D. Wilson
5. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

I did read some short stories here and there throughout the past 2 months, too, which added to the atmosphere. This challenge is so much fun! I sure hope Carl hosts it again next year!

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

2008-10-31T06:57:00.000-07:00

I don't know what I can say about The Graveyard Book that hasn't been said already. Bod (short for Nobody) is taken in by a local graveyard after his parents and sister are murdered and raised by the "locals" - a la Mowgli in the jungle book. Bod is granted the Freedom of the Graveyard and thus is able to do things like pass through walls and "fade" so that he is not easily noticed. As Bod learns what happened to his parents, he decides he will one day exact revenge. Does he succeed? It's Gaiman, what do you think?

Another winner from Neil Gaiman. And a bonus book for me for the RIP III challenge!

100 Cupboards by N. D. Wilson

2008-10-31T06:30:00.000-07:00

I finished 100 Cupboards last week, but never got around to writing my thoughts. (I hesitate to call what I write "reviews.") I read this for the RIP III Challenge, and it definitely fits. It, however, was not nearly as creepy as I expected based on other reviews I had read. Mysterious, yes. Exciting, yes. Scary - only sometimes.

Henry finds himself living with his aunt and uncle in Henry, Kansas after his parents are abducted in South America. After settling into his attic bedroom, he notices the plaster on the walls starting to chip and a knob sticking out of the wall. After a bit of chipping away, Henry discovers that his whole wall is covered in cupboards of various sizes - a total of 99 cupboards. When he peers into one to find that it leads to another world, he is puzzled (well, obviously!) and begins to investigate, along with his cousin Henrietta. And he discovers more than just the cupboards.

This is a quick read, and it is the first in a series. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series eventually!

This was my (official) final book for the RIP III Challenge - although I did get one more read before the deadline! Another review to come today, hopefully.

It's Tuesday, Where Are You?

2008-10-29T15:41:00.000-07:00

How shameful that I haven't posted in a week!

Today I am in a graveyard in England; no, actually, I believe I am currently at a pizza parlor in the Old Town near the graveyard. As I am about 10 pages shy of finishing The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, I won't say anymore so as to avoid spoilers!

It's Tuesday, where are you?

2008-10-21T14:18:00.000-07:00

Well, I finished 100 Cupboards today and haven't started my next book yet, but I really want to get back on track with blogging, so I'll say where I was today.

I was in Henry, Kansas fighting a witch and finding out a bit about where I came from and trying to stay out of more trouble.

By the way, I really enjoyed 100 Cupboards and look forward to reading the next in the sequel at one point. Hopefully a better review will follow soon.

Well, I tried

2008-10-19T13:25:00.000-07:00

I decided to try to read for a few hours as a half-hearted participation in the readathon and did get a little over an hour of reading in. Then I spent the next hour and a half seething because my 10-year-old boy didn't come home when I told him to. By the time I finally was in a mental place to read again, I was zonked and fell asleep within a few minutes. I really hope I'm available next time!

Read-a-thon

2008-10-18T09:49:00.001-07:00

I hear there's another fabulous Read-A-Thon going on today, hosted by the equally fabulous Dewey, author of the hidden side of a leaf blog. I, unfortunately, am at work all day today, and then have to work again tomorrow afternoon, so there will be no read-a-thoning for me this go 'round. There is a possibility I will be home this evening while my husband does his stargazing thing (I'm trying to decide if I want to go or if I want to recharge after working), in which case I think I will use my time reading along for a few hours. We'll see. I hope everyone is having a great time, and I hope to be able to join you the next time!

Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin

2008-10-16T18:21:00.000-07:00

This was just such a fantastic book! I had read wonderful reviews, and I was not disappointed in the least. I used to be a huge Patricia Cornwell fan (back in Kay Scarpetta's good ol' days), and I love historical fiction. This was a combination of both. Best of both worlds!

Someone is killing children in Cambridge, and the Jews are being blamed. As this is inconvenient for Henry II (who depends on the Jew's money), he asks the King of Sicily to send an expert from Salerno, the hotbed of medical knowledge at the time. The King sends Simon of Naples, a renowned investigator and a Jew, and Adelia, a "doctor to the dead," along with their Saracen companion, Mansur, to England to help.

This book is not for the weakhearted (or weakstomached), but if you enjoy forensic mysteries and/or historical fiction, you are bound to enjoy this book!

This is book 3 of 4 for the RIP III challenge!

Short Story Sunday

2008-10-05T14:55:00.000-07:00

I haven't read any spooky stories the past few Sundays because, well, I forgot. Yesterday I brought home two books from work (oh, the joys of working in a public library): Scary Stories, which is an anthology with stories from a wide range of authors, from Dean Koontz and Stephen King to Edgar Allan Poe. I read two from this book so far: "Kittens" by Dean Koontz and "Genesis and Catastrophe" by Roald Dahl. The Koontz was creepy, but the Dahl was just weird.

The other book I brought home is Weird Hauntings: True Tales of Ghostly Places. I haven't read any from this book yet, but they're short and I figure I'll read a few later on.

In other RIP III news, I'm really enjoying Mistress of the Art of Death, although I've had a hard time finding time to read this week. Things are finally settling back to normal this week, after the hurricane - this will be my first week at my new(ish) job working my "normal" schedule, and I'm so glad to finally be able to settle into a routine. I think my family will be glad of that, too.

Weekly Geeks #19

2008-10-03T18:31:00.000-07:00

This week's theme was to create a list of best books of 2008 (so far). These must be books that were published in 2008 or at the very least late 2007. Here's my list:

Becky: The Life and Loves of Becky Thatcher by Lenore Hart

Black Ships by Jo Graham

The Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur by Daoud Hari

The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray (late 2007)

Masterpiece by Elise Broach

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill

And, while I haven't yet finished it, I feel fairly certain Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin will also make this list.

To Spook or not to Spook

2008-09-30T06:40:00.000-07:00

I've been reading Spook by Mary Roach for maybe a week now, and I think I have to put it down. I enjoyed it at first, but now I keep finding myself glazed over and bored. Too bad - I was really looking forward to this book. Don't you just hate it when a book you had high hopes for disappoints?

I think I'm going to pick up Mistress of the Art of Death now instead. I've heard great reviews of this one, and I think maybe I'm just more in the mood for fiction.

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill

2008-09-24T08:19:00.000-07:00

I guess the best way to describe how Heart-Shaped Box made me feel is to put it into the context of the hurricane. I started the book several days before Ike showed up, so I was fully aware of the scare-factor. Friday evening, as Ike was moving in and the wind was picking up, I tried to curl up with the book to "relax." Bad move. I had to put it down, because I was already scared enough with the gusting winds that I couldn't handle the anxiety of the book on top of that.

If you're in the mood for a good chill, Heart-Shaped Box is perfect. Hill doesn't dilly-dally. The book starts getting creepy within the first few chapters. There were parts that had my eyes wide with fear. That said, I feel that the first half of the book is scarier than the second half.

What impressed me most about the book is how real the characters were. The main characters are not the type I would normally choose to read about; the main character was the aging lead singer of a Black Sabbath-type band and his girlfriends tend to be on the young side and were typically groupy, stripper-type girls. They're gritty. But by the end of the book, I really, really cared what happened to Jude and Marybeth (aka Georgia). The book nearly brought me to tears several times (but maybe that was the stressful month I've had...).

I thought this book was great and give it 4 stars.

This counts as book 2 for the RIP III challenge.

Weekly Geeks #18 and other stuff

2008-09-21T17:22:00.000-07:00

Weekly Geeks theme this week is to catch up on "something." (There's more to it, but I'm trying to be concise.) I've already caught up on my book blogs, and I did it over the weekend, so that counts. I also plan to catch up on the rest of my Google Reader, both on my "home" account and my work account. Things have been so out of whack since Ike that I have quite a bit to catch up on. I'm also planning to catch up on my reading, in general. You'd think that with having no power for over a week that I would have gotten a lot of reading done, but no. I was just too distracted to want to do much of anything. I didn't even knit or crochet! I'm not actually sure what I did! Anyway, my goal is to finish Heart-Shaped Box this week and start either Spook (which I picked up at Book People in Austin today) or Mistress of the Art of Death, which I found on the bargain table at Borders recently. That will get me caught up on the RIP III challenge.

I'm bummed that I can't participate in the read-a-thon this go 'round. I have to work that day. Maybe I'll sign up to be a cheerleader in the evening.

We went to Austin this weekend to get away, since we were still without power. We came back home to no power, but we got it back within 30 minutes of our arrival. Yay! I'm so looking forward to curling up with a book tonight!

yIKEs!

2008-09-18T07:43:00.000-07:00

I haven't read more than a handful of book blogs in the past week, thanks to dear old Ike, so I just, sadly, marked them all read. Hopefully now I can start fresh and keep up.

We made it through the hurricane ok here just outside of Houston. We're still without power, so I'm checking in here and there at work. I've hardly read anything at all since last week - maybe a chapter of Heart-Shaped Box. Hopefully today I'll get some reading in...

Weekly Geeks #16

2008-09-12T09:51:00.001-07:00

This week for Weekly Geeks, I interviewed Bart from Bart's Bookshelf about The Invention of Hugo Cabret, and he interviewed me about Tithe. Here are both interviews.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Somer: Do you think the storyline in The Invention of Hugo Cabret could have effectively stood on its own, or do you think its success was wholly a product of the illustrations?

Bart: Hmm... Good question! There's no doubt that there would need to be some work added to the story as, so much of it is conveyed in the images, and despite the size of the book, it is actually quite a slim story (and I don't mean that in a derisory manner as it is only intended to be a short story, not an epic!) even with added text though, I think it would suffer, as the story itself is about a visual medium (film). It'd be a bit like a recipe book without pictures, it'd work, but...

Somer: Do you think that your impression of the book as an adult is different than that of, say, a 10-year-old boy?

Bart: Yes, I don't think (at least I know I would not have at 10!) a ten year old would appreciate the detail in the artwork, and the cleverness of it's execution in quite the same way ;) However I think that as an adult, in that appreciation, I miss out on the simple "Cor! this is cool"-ness (or whatever phrase the hip-kids are using) of it all.

Somer: Avoiding spoilers, as I have yet to read the book, what was your favorite part?

Bart: The art-work, easilly the art-work, you really do have to sit down and 'read' the book to appreciate it fully, you can stand in the bookshop and look at it, and ooh and ahh, all you like, but the moment you sit down to read and see it working properly, it takes it to a whole other level of brilliance.

Somer: This book is huge, and the size could be intimidating to a reluctant reader. How would you convince a young reader to pick it up?

Bart: I don't know, after Harry Potter and Twilight, are big books as intimidating as they used to be? Even if they are, it's not an intimidating book when you start to flip through it, the vast majority of pages have no text on and those that do have nice large print and lots of 'white-space'. I'd probably ask them to just have a look at the pictures on the first few pages, honestly if you can get them to do that, you won't need to do anything else.

Somer: Have you read anything else by Brian Selznick (or illustrated by Selznick), and, if so, how does Hugo Cabret compare?

Bart: No, I've not read anything else he has been involved in.

Tithe by Holly Black

Bart: What made you read Tithe? Was it the book itself or had you read some Spiderwick stuff?

Somer: I don't actually remember how Tithe originally made it onto my TBR stack. I think the cover must have caught my attention at some point, and I added it to my Amazon wishlist. I got the book as a Christmas gift in 2006 (thank you, LibraryThing tags!). Libba Bray (author of A Great and Terrible Beauty and sequels) has raved a lot on her blog about Holly Black, which also influenced my decision to read Tithe. Even though I realized Holly Black co-authored Spiderwick, it really didn't have anything to do with my decision to read the book at all.

Bart: How would you describe the atmoshere of the book? (Scary, disquietning, moody etc.)

Somer: Overall, Tithe is very dark. The main character, Kaye, is a high-school dropout with a troubling homelife. That sort of sets the tone for the whole book.

Bart: What was your favourite bit and why?

Somer: I always have a hard time with this type of question. I really enjoyed the entire book. I think my favorite parts were any of the parts set in the faery realm because I like the departure from reality.

Bart: And what as your least favourite bit and why? (I'm thinking here not so much of something that was wrong or did not work, but more of something did exactly what the author wanted it to and either scared you or squicked you out etc. :o) )

Somer: Well, I don't want to give spoilers, so I'll do the best I can. To tell you the truth, my least favorite aspect of the book is the switching of the princes in the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. This is an important part of the book, but I had a really hard time keeping track of which courth Nephamael and Roiben actually belonged to and which queen they were serving. But that may have just been me.

Bart: And finally, who would you recommend read this book to and why? And/or who would you not recommend the book, and why?

Somer: Anyone who enjoys urban fantasy would likely enjoy this book. Fans of Libba Bray, who haven't already discovered this would probably like it. Kids who have outgrown Spiderwick. I wouldn't recommend this for tweens, as it's just a bit too gritty (speaking as the mom of an almost-12-year-old). Teens, yes, but I would probably want my daughter to wait until she was 13 or 14. Mainly because there are some mature themes (a mom that parties a lot, some sexual content (though no actual sex that I can remember)).

The 39 Clues

2008-09-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

I just read this article about The 39 Clues, Scholastic's new series that combines reading, online gaming, and card collecting. I was already thinking this sounded like something Eli might actually get into (he likes to read, but it really has to grab him!), and then I saw that the first book in the series will be authored by Rick Riordan. Yes! Eli has loved the Percy Jackson books so far (we're 1 chapter away from finishing Sea of Monsters, and I've already brought home The Titan's Curse from work). I think we may have a winner.

The Myth of You and Me by Leah Stewart

2008-09-02T17:59:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed this book by Leah Stewart. Sonia and Cameron became friends when they were 14 years old and quickly became inseparable - in fact, they often referred to themselves collectively as "Cameronia." In the beginning of the book, Cameron is living in Oxford, Mississippi where she is the assistant for an aging historian. A letter from Sonia sparks the curiosity of Oliver, Cameron's boss, and, when Oliver dies, she finds herself charged with the task of delivering a wedding gift to Sonia from Oliver. Over the rest of the book, we learn all about Sonia and Cameron and the downfall of their friendship. Stewart does a fantastic job of recreating the love between two closer-than-close teenage girls, as well as the love between the girls and various other characters. I felt like I knew both Cameron and Sonia by the end of the book.

I listened to this on my commute, so this is my impression of the audiobook. The narrator was ok, but at times, the book felt a bit slow, and I think this was a product of the narration. I also didn't think the narrator's Southern accents were particularly convincing, but this was a minor complaint.

Short Story Sunday...err Monday

2008-09-01T19:16:00.000-07:00

I forgot yesterday that I had planned to devote my Sunday reading to short stories, so, since it was a long weekend, I decided to do it today instead. I read a handful of stories from Nocturnes by John Connelly.

1) "Mr. Pettinger's Daemon" - mildly creepy; short enough that I don't want to tell anything about it other than the title for fear of giving away details
2) "The Erlking" - This one reminded me a little of The Book of Lost Things. A little creepier than "Mr. Pettinger's Daemon."
3) "The Inkpot Monkey" - This one has a traditional theme, I think, but I can't think of another story like it off the top of my head. An author with writer's block acquires an unusual inkpot, which cures him of his affliction, but at a price.
4) "Some Children Wander by Mistake" - This one was the creepiest of the bunch. Clowns. Enough said.

I think I'll wrap up the evening by reading a bit of Tithe, which I've gotten about halfway through since Friday. I brought home Heart-Shaped Box from work in case we got hit by the hurricane (we didn't see even a drop of rain), so that's next up.

Michelle Moran book giveaway

2008-09-01T06:28:00.000-07:00

Lezlie at Books 'n Border Collies is hosting this awesome book giveaway!

Grand prize: Personally autographed hardback copy of Michelle Moran's new book, The Heretic Queen, sequel to Nefertiti. Also included is a hardback copy of Nefertiti with an autographed bookplate.

Second prize: paperback copy of Nefertiti with an autographed bookplate

First prize: Paperback copy of Nefertiti

To win, visit Lezlie's blogs and comment on the giveaway post. You can get more entries by posting on your blog and referring people back to Lezlie's blog. (So, if you head over after reading this post, please say I sent you!)

The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Horror by Christopher Moore

2008-08-31T17:16:00.000-07:00

I think my tags for this book in Library Thing say it all: Christmas, humor, fiction, Santa Claus, zombies

How can you not love any book that matches Santa Claus with zombies???

This is only the 2nd book I've read by Christopher Moore, but I have every one on my wish list on Amazon, and I can't wait to read them all. Moore is brilliant.

In this book, the Angel Raziel comes to Earth to perform a Christmas miracle and sort of flubs it up a bit. A little boy's wish that Santa, who he saw killed, be brought back to life. This, of course, leads to mayhem.

I particularly liked the fruit bat named Roberto.

Here is one of my favorite passages from the book:

Sour Nerds? Cinnamon Geeks? Or Gummy Boogers? Sam Applebaum's mom was picking out a "nice" reasonably priced Cabernet, and Sam was allowed one item of candy from the rack at Brine's Bait, Tackle, and Fine Wines. Of course the Boogers would last the longest, but they were all mundane green-apple finish, while the Nerds proffered a fruity variety and an impudent little top note of tang. Cinnamon Geeks had a rich nose and a bit of a bite up front, but their tiny certified-public-accountant shape betrayed their bourgeois origins.

R.I.P. III Challenge

2008-08-28T19:29:00.001-07:00

It's that time of year again, and I'm so excited! Carl V's challenges are so much fun! The R.I.P. II challenge last year was one of my first challenges, and while I didn't care for the one book I chose (House of Leaves), I did enjoy taking part. So here is my game plan.

I hope to read 4 books this year. I'm still up in the air about which pool to pick my books from - only ones I have at home or should I allow myself to branch out to the library? Since I work in a public library, I won't have any problem getting pretty much any book I want, so I think I'm going to make my list and let the randomizer do the rest of the work.

Here are the books I plan to choose from (subject to change).

From my own collection:

100 Cupboards
Billy Bones: A Tale from the Secrets Closet
Tithe
Witch Child
Nature of Monsters

From the library:

The Sister
Heart-Shaped Box
The Bone Key
The Terror
Gil's All-Fright Diner
Mistress of the Art of Death
The Ghost Writer
World War Z
Anna's Book
Wicked Lovely
Spook

I noticed that there's no official short story portion of the challenge this year, which was one of my favorite (yet largely unsuccessful) parts of the challenge last year, so I'm going to create my own "short story sunday." I have several books in the house that fit this category this year: a couple of Neil Gaiman short story collections, John Connelly's Nocturnes, a Stephen King collection, and a dark faery story collection (Black Pearls).

I'm almost finished with The Stupidest Angel, which technically fits the challenge, but I'm going to be a purist and only count books I started after the challenge was announced. So I will dive into my first challenge book tomorrow, which will be Tithe.

Booking Through Thursday - Libraries

2008-08-24T14:15:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Booksplease

Whether you usually read off of your own book pile or from the library shelves NOW, chances are you started off with trips to the library. (There’s no way my parents could otherwise have kept up with my book habit when I was 10.) So … What is your earliest memory of a library? Who took you? Do you have you any funny/odd memories of the library?

Well, since I'm a librarian, I couldn't pass up this question (even if it's a few days late).

My earliest library memory is browsing in the children's section when I was probably in kindergarten, maybe a little younger. I can remember my mom showing me Madeline and Make Way for Ducklings. (Funny, until now, I wasn't sure if that was the same memory or maybe even a false memory, but seeing that they both start with MA, I think I'm probably remembering correctly.) I know for certain I was a regular at the library before then, since I have pictures to prove it. I also can clearly remember the chairs that were in the children section: they had a white wire frame with green fabric cushions. I can even remember how they felt.

Funny memories of the library? Hmmm...the only thing I can remember is when I was in maybe 4th or 5th grade, certainly after my mom and I had "the talk" (I got "the talk" when I was in 3rd grade after a 14-year-old classmate of my brother's got pregnant), I checked out some type of "how babies are made" book. The librarian in my small-time library asked, incredulously, "Does your mother know you're checking this out???" (such a bad library practice!) to which I calmly replied with something along the lines of "Oh, she doesn't care."

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

2008-08-24T07:21:00.000-07:00

Unlike most of the reviews I've read (which I admit are few), I actually like Kite Runner better than this one. It's been a few years since I read that one, so I can't really pinpoint why this is, but there ya go. I think Kite Runner was more plot-driven, while A Thousand Splendid Suns was more character-driven, and while reading this one, I just kept waiting for something to happen.

That said, I really enjoyed this book. I thought Hosseini (a man, if you don't know), did a remarkable job writing as two separate women, with two separate voices. If you've read my blog long enough, you probably know I don't like to give away too much of the book in my "reviews," so I won't go into much detail here. If you don't much about this book, here's a brief synopsis. The book is set in Afghanistan and focuses on two main characters, Mariam and Laila, whose lives intersect. The book opens while one of the main characters, Mariam, is still a child, in the 1960s, but it covers the period from then up until almost-present-day. As you can imagine, the book is wrought with the horrors of the war-torn Middle East, and it isn't always easy to read. It is, however, a quick read and very well-written. I do highly recommend this one.

This book will fill the "T" title slot in the A-Z Challenge.

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

2008-08-22T15:20:00.001-07:00

I listened to How I Live Now on my commute this week, and I have to say it wasn't really my cup of tea. Parts of it reminded me a bit of Life As We Knew It, but I liked Life As We Knew It much better. The basic plot is that Daisy, a 15-year-old American girl, is sent to live with cousins in England, due to family problems at home. While she is in England, war breaks out, and she and her cousins have to survive. The book starts out pretty well, but it becomes bleaker and bleaker as it goes on. This is the nature of the story, not a flaw with the book. There were a couple of very violent scenes, which I find harder to deal with in an audiobook than in print, because in print you can sort of skim over them. Not so easy with audio. Another major theme in the book was Daisy's eating disorder, which while it was important (it is used as a plot device in a couple of places) I sort of felt that it was shoved in in places that weren't necessary. Overall, I just didn't care much for this book.

If you've reviewed this one, let me know in the comments, and I'll link to your review.

Moloka'i by Alan Brennert

2008-08-14T18:07:00.001-07:00

Don't assume by the length of time it took me to read this book that I didn't like it. I started it sometime last week and fully expected to finish it by the end of the week. However, life got in the way, and it took me almost a full week longer to finally get it read.

Moloka'i is the story of Rachel, a Hawaiian girl who develops leprosy at the age of seven and is sent to the island of Moloka'i which is the site of a leper colony. I was afraid the book would be depressing and bleak, but it really wasn't. I learned so much from this book. I wasn't aware that the Hawaiian people were (are?) very susceptible to developing leprosy and that there was such an epidemic of the disease. I loved this book - in fact, it makes my list of favorites. Don't be dissuaded by the subject matter - this is a lovely book.

Also reviewed by Stephanie.

Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

2008-08-10T16:28:00.000-07:00

For the last (finally!) installment from Weekly Geeks a few weeks ago, here are the answers to your questions regarding Peter and the Starcatchers. But first, a quick story. At the Texas Library Association conference in April, I had the pleasure to hear Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson speak. I learned that the idea for this book came about when one of the authors (I can't remember which now...) was reading the Disney picture book version of Peter Pan to his daughter, and his daughter asked him how Peter learned to fly. This is his answer to that question. As you may know (and this will answer Dewey's question, "Is this the same Dave Barry that is the humor writer?"), Dave Barry is a humor columnist and book author, while Ridley Pearson writes thrillers. Whichever author it was had a dilemma in that he didn't know how to write this type of book, and he sought the help of his friend, the other author. (The authors, by the way, have played in a band which consists of such other authors as Stephen King and, if I remember correctly, Amy Tan.)

1. Was, Peter and the Starcatchers, worthwhile or would it have been better to leave the world of Peter Pan, alone?

The book was fun, and I think it is worthwhile, if you take it for the whimsy that it is.

2. Did you like what the authors did with the Peter Pan story in Peter and the Starcatchers?

In some ways yes, and in some ways no. It was kind of fun to hear a story of how Peter learned to fly and how Never Land came to be. But, and it's been years since I read the original, if I remember correctly, Barrie has part of a backstory in the original book about how Peter ended up on Never Land, and it's sort of annoying that this part of the story was ignored. The book by Barry and Pearson feels much more like an adaptation of the Disney Peter Pan story than the original novel by Barrie.

3. I am curious what an adult's take on Peter and the Starcatchers is?

I love children's and young adult books as much, in many cases, as I do adult books, so I'm not sure I'm the best person to answer this one! I found the book to be almost as fun as some of the other books directed toward the same audience (The Lightning Thief, for example), but there were some things that annoyed me about it. Some of the jokes were obvious or just plain dumb. And the typos (which I hear were fixed in later editions) were almost unbearable. Seriously, this book had the worst copy editing of any book I have ever read (and I am not exaggerating - even worse than unproofed ARC copies of books I've read). That was very distracting, and it might not have bothered a child as much as it did me.

4. As Dave Barry is a humor writer, is Peter and the Starcatchers a humor book?

Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson had an interesting approach to this book. Instead of alternating chapters, as is often the case in books written by two authors, each author wrote specific character portions. As such, Barry wrote the bits for the funnier characters, while Pearson wrote the bits for the more evil characters. This worked pretty well, as they each proofed each other's sections and collaborated a good deal. The book, as a whole, is not a humor book (there are, in fact, some quite dark parts), but Barry's humor does show up a bit in certain scenes.

Book giveaway winner from last week's Weekly Geeks

2008-08-10T16:20:00.000-07:00

I only had two brave participants (Debi and Amanda) for this contest. Amanda, with 5 correct guesses, wins! Amanda, are you still interested in my copy of Becky? I can look and see what else I have to part with if you want, but I know you had expressed an interest in that one last month.

I will update my previous photo post with correct answers, if anyone is curious.

Surprisingly unproductive week

2008-08-10T16:15:00.000-07:00

You would think that being on vacation for a week would yield good results in terms of reading, but, alas, no. I am still about 4 chapters away from finishing Moloka'i, and I start my new job tomorrow. I'm disappointed that I never even broke the cover of A Thousand Splendid Suns. I think I am going to return the copy I have and check one out from my new workplace once I finish Moloka'i, since that just makes more sense. I'm excited to be working in a public library again (and the big downtown one at that), with all the books I could ever want to read at my fingertips! This will, I'm sure, wreak havoc on my current reading habits...

July summary

2008-08-04T16:01:00.000-07:00

July didn't feel very productive. Let's see what the totals look like.

Books completed:

Little Women (mostly read during June, but I finished it on July 4)
Peter and the Starcatchers (review still to come...one day)
The Braid
The Icarus Girl
Julie & Julia
Wait for Me
The Innocent Traitor
Blackbird House

Challenge update:

The only challenge I'm really working on right now is the A-Z Challenge. I was able to count 4 of this month's books toward that. I've read 16 of 26 books for the title portion and 10 of 26 for the author section.

I suppose 8 books in one month isn't too shabby, after all. The past week or so, though, has just been torture. I started, I think, 4 books before finding one I could settle on. And a good one it is! I finally settled on Moloka'i by Alan Brennert, and it is excellent so far. I also just picked up A Thousand Splendid Suns from the library, and now I'm dying to get through Moloka'i so I can start that one! Considering we're looking at probably a direct hit from Tropical Storm Edouard tomorrow morning, I should get plenty of reading time tomorrow.

Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman

2008-08-04T08:54:00.000-07:00

Blackbird House is a collection of interconnected short stories, all centered around one home, built in the 1700s by a sailor who died at sea. I enjoyed this book mainly because I have this fascination with historical places and trying to imagine what they were like at different points in history. However, the book didn't just bowl me over. I want to like Alice Hoffman's writing - I feel like I'm missing something, though. I really disliked Ice Queen when I listened to it a while back, but keep hearing rave reviews of it. I very much enjoyed Incantation, though, which I read last fall. Some of the stories made me happy, content. But others just left me cold. The book was an interesting concept, and I suspect die-hard Hoffman fans will enjoy it, but it doesn't make my favorites list.

Wait for Me by An Na

2008-08-04T08:14:00.000-07:00

I hate that I waited so long to review this book, as I'm not sure how well I'll remember it now. But still, I'm going to attempt it, using the questions I was asked as part of Weekly Geeks.

But first, since no one asked me this, here is a quick summary. Mina is a Korean-American girl, who, on the outside, appears to be the perfect daughter. She helps take care of her younger sister, who is hearing impaired (but not deaf), and she is a straight A student, with plans to go to Harvard. But Mina is hiding a secret - she has been altering her report cards to reflect higher grades than she actually is receiving, with the help of Jonathan, another Korean-American boy with whom she has grown up, and who her mother thinks is absolutely perfect. While helping at her parents' dry cleaning business, Mina meets Ysrael, an immigrant worker, and establishes a relationship that makes her uncomfortable about the life she is living.

1. Have you read any others by An Na? How would you say Wait for Me compares to her other books?

I haven't read any other of An Na's books, so I don't have a basis for comparison. I do know that her previous book, A Step from Heaven, was a Printz Award winner. As Wait for Me deals with a difficult topic, and one that is likely not far from the truth of many girls' situations (based on stories I hear from my husband, who is a high school teacher that teaches a large population of Asian students), I wouldn't be surprised to see this one win awards, either.

2. What country is An Na from? What are her books like?

An Na was born in Korea, but grew up in Southern California. As I mentioned before, this is the only Na book I have read, so I don't know if her first book has the same feel. Wait for Me was a very unhappy book. Mina is miserable at home, knows she is deceiving her mother (who greatly favors her over her sister), and knows that there is no way she will ever be able to get into Harvard with her grades. Once she meets Ysrael, she has to hide her friendship from her mother, who doesn't approve of Ysrael, because of his ethnicity. There was very little about this book that was upbeat.

3. In "Wait For Me" did An Na combine humour along with serious issues? The main character is Korean-American but I would like to know if her family pressured her to follow Korean tradition or was she free to embrace American tradition?

I don't remember any humor in Wait for Me at all. It was a very serious book, through-and-through. The second part of this question is difficult. Mina's family is very traditional and stereotypical. Her family owns a dry cleaning business, and they don't trust anyone outside of the family to staff the business, until Mina's father hurts his back and her mother grudgingly hires a Mexican immigrant, of whom she is terribly racist towards. Her mother expects her to be a perfect student and to go to a prestigious school (Harvard being the cream of the crop in her experience). I think this is her mother's vision of American tradition, but Mina is forced to abandon any activities that aren't beneficial to her college application. All her free time is spent studying, and the only activity she participates in is chorus. Mina has to sneak around to spend time with Ysrael. She certainly isn't allowed the freedome of a "typical" American teenager.

4. How was Point-of-View handled? Was there a single POV character or did it alternate among two or more. Was it always clear whose eyes and mind were filtering?

The book alternated between two characters. The parts where Mina was the focus were in first person. The other chapters focused on her sister, Suna. These chapters were written in third person. It was very clear when the POV changed.

5. How was language used to set tone and mood?

Mina's sections were generally angrier. Words like "snapped," "tirade," "shoving," were common.

6. Was the prose dense or spare? Were sentences generally simple or complex?

The sentences in Mina's section were longer, more complex. They sounded more mature than Suna's sections, which reflects the age difference between the two (about 5 years difference). The sentences in Suna's sections tended to be short and choppy.

This book fills the "N" author position in the A-Z challenge.

Weekly Geeks #13

2008-08-02T18:08:00.001-07:00

It's meme time! This week we're doing a photo meme with an "author" theme. The idea is to answer the meme using pictures, but no names attached. You, my faithful readers, are to guess who the pictures are! I would like to give a prize for this to the person who gets the most correct, but I'm not sure what books I have up for grabs at the moment. So, for now, the plan is to offer a choice of several books to the winner, from which they can choose. However, I will give fair warning that I suck at making it to the post office and my saving grace for the past 3.5 years was that there was a post office in the hospital where I worked. Alas, my last day of work there was yesterday, so whoever wins will have to bear with me - I don't even know where my closest post office is currently! Leave your answers in the comments!

1. Photos of your favorite author(s).

Barbara Kingsolver

2. Photo(s) of the author(s) of the book(s) you’re currently reading.

Alan Brennert

Rick Riordan

3. Photo(s) of any author(s) you’ve met in person (even very briefly).

Libba Bray

Garth Nix

Graeme Base

4. A youtube of (an) author(s) you’ve heard speak.

Libba Bray

6. A photo of the author of the book you’ve most recently finished.

Alison Weir

7. Photos of the hottest author(s)!

Neil Gaiman

Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powell

2008-07-30T19:36:00.000-07:00

As part of the most recent Weekly Geeks, I'm reviewing this book "interview style." I received more questions from Joy Renee, and I promise I'm not ignoring her excellent questions, but they require more thought, and in the interest of just getting this posted, and I'm going to have to skip those.

What is Julie and Julia about?
Julie Powell was 29 years old, working as a secretary in post-9/11 New York City, and was basically having an existential crisis. After running across Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking at her mother's house, Julie came up with the idea of cooking all the recipes in the book over the course of a year. Her husband, Eric, suggested she blog about it and thus started the Julie/Julia Project. The blog became extremely popular and ultimately Julie got a book deal out of it, the finished product being Julie & Julia. The book is not just a republishing of the blog in book form, but instead it is Julie's recounting of her experience cooking and blogging her way through the project. Another one of the questions was is this non-fiction. Yes, it is.

Please share your impressions of Julie as a person.
This one is a tough one. If you've read my previous post about this book, you will know that maybe 1/3 of the way through the book I realized I went to high school with Julie. She was a year younger than me, and we didn't really know each other, but I definitely knew who she was. Especially since she dated someone who eventually dated one of my best friends and, um, me, sort of. So while reading this book, I couldn't keep from picturing her as I remembered her from almost 20 years ago and trying to reconcile that memory with what I was reading. Hard to do when you didn't really know the person other than in passing. I actually know way more about her now than I ever did then! One funny thing. At the point in the book where I began to really wonder if this might be the same Julie I remembered, she mentioned being on her high school drill team and that the only reason she had tried out was to prove she couldn't make it, but then did and had to suffer through it for the year. I distinctly remember being *very* surprised way back when that she was on drill team - she just didn't seem the type. I guess I was right! Getting back to the real question though. I really liked Julie in the book (even before I realized who it was). I've seen some scathing reviews, and a lot of people really disliked her, but I thought her humor was great. She may have been a little obsessive (can't really say much there, as I think I would be the same way if I were doing something like this). The one thing that seemed a little weird was her VERY STRONG dislike of Republicans. Now, I'm a Democrat, but I thought some of the things Julie said about her Republican coworkers was just downright mean.

The book came out of a cooking project and a blog. Did it inspire you to take on a similar project of your own?
It made me think this could be a cool idea, but I don't think I could ever take on anything like this. I am way too picky of an eater to work my way through an entire cookbook. I could see wanting to cook all the recipes that I would *eat* maybe... Or all the desserts in a book. Hmmm...that's not a bad idea!

Addendum: (I originally wrote out these responses last Friday, and I've thought more about this since then.) While I could never take on an official project like this, I did buy a copy of The Foods and Wines of Spain by Penelope Casas last night, and I have every intention of attempting as many recipes out of this book as possible. I even will likely blog about it (among other food-related things) at a yet-to-be-created blog which I will call "Hold the Onions, Please."
Have you ever tried to master the art of French cooking? Would you want to?

No and no! I wouldn't mind dabbling a bit, but French food's not my thing really. Or maybe it's just this impression of French food I have that's not my thing.

Did you feel that Julie adequately conveyed the humor and struggles of trying to live up to a famous cookbook author? How would this book have been different if she'd tried taking on Martha Stewart, for example?

Yes, I thought Julie did a really good job at this. I'm not sure the book would have been that different had she been trying to be Martha. Different struggles, but probably similarly frustrating.

Edited to add this question...Did you find any good recipes in the book?

This wasn't a cookbook, per se, so no. There were references to a few recipes in Mastering the Art of French Cooking that sounded good, though, that I might one day hunt down. Don't remember what they were, though....

I passed this book along to a friend of mine this past weekend that I went to high school. She was much more informed than me. When I asked, "Do you remember Julie Foster?" she said, "Yes! Didn't she write a book or something?"

This book will fill the "J" title category in the A-Z challenge.

Barnes & Noble gift card

2008-07-29T18:55:00.000-07:00

I received a nice B&N gift card today from one of my supervisors, so Jimmy and I went shopping tonight after dinner. I'm still really resisting buying new fiction books, since I have so many to read. I ended up with a cookbook (The Food and Wines of Spain), Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury, and a wooden Tangram set with a neat book that has a lot of historical information about these neat puzzles, as well as tons and tons of designs to create. My desk calendar last year was a tangram calendar, and I've missed doing them. This will be a nice coffee table item. So, one fiction book to add to the stack, but it's a classic, and I don't mind adding classics...

It's Tuesday, where are you?

2008-07-29T06:31:00.001-07:00

I am in a reading slump. Seriously, I just can't get excited about anything I pick up. I started As If Being 12 3/4 Isn't Bad Enough, My Mom's Running for President (an ARC I picked up at TLA) on Friday and decided not to read it. I found it annoying (the main character is a spelling bee winner and has a tendency to spell words out in the middle of sentences, among other things) and decided not to waste my time with it. It got pretty good reviews on Amazon, so I'm thinking it just isn't my style. So after work, before we left for Austin, I grabbed Shogun. I really want to read this, but it is an immense book and the font is tiny. At this time, I just can't get into it. I'm thinking that once I start riding the bus to work in a few weeks, that might be a good time to pick it back up (or whenever it pops up on my randomizer again). So now I have grabbed Taken by Edward Bloor, but I fell asleep about a page into it last night, so time will only tell if I
stick with this one.

So where am I?

On my commute, I am with Lady Jane Dudley (previously Lady Jane Grey) in the tower of London. I'm at the very end of this book, so I'm not going to say anymore, in case you don't know how Jane's story ends. (To tell you the truth, I'm so unfamiliar with this time period, that even being 50 minutes from the end of the book, I'm still not completely sure what's going to happen!) (The Innocent Traitor by Allison Weir)

And at bedtime, we are at Camp Half-Blood with Percy and his other demi-god pals. We just discovered why the book is titled what it is. (The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan)

Play along at http://raidergirl3-anadventureinreading.blogspot.com. And yay! Hopefully this is the last time I'll have to post this via e-mail, since next week I'm on vacation and the next week I'll be in a new job where my access to blogger isn't blocked!

Weekly geeks

2008-07-25T15:56:00.000-07:00

I had hoped to get my reviews/questions written but haven't had a chance, and now we're heading out the door for a quick trip to Austin. I just wanted to let all of you have asked questions know that I do plan to answer them!

It's Tuesday, where are you?

2008-07-22T13:43:00.000-07:00

Today I am in Cape Cod, probably in the 60s or 70s at Blackbird House. (I actually haven't picked it up yet today, but since the last story took place in the late 50s, I'm guessing at the time period for the next.) My family is the 7th or 8th generation of occupants of this old house, which has quite a history. (Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman)

Sniff

2008-07-20T16:02:00.000-07:00

What is it about colds that make it so hard to read? You'd think that when you're feeling under the weather and don't really have any desire to do much else besides lay on the sofa that that would be the ideal time to lose yourself in a book. Unfortunately, it just doesn't work that way for me, so my reading time hasn't been taken advantage of today. Hopefully I'll be feeling better tomorrow...

I'm reading Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman and am enjoying it when I feel like reading it.

My reading time is either getting ready to take a plunge or get boosted in the next few weeks. I was offered a job at our downtown library on Friday (yay!) and am going to start taking advantage of the Park & Ride service instead of driving, to save my sanity and, more importantly, on gas. Hopefully this is going to give me prime reading time before and after work, but I may also use it for knitting/crocheting. That would almost be the best of both worlds, though, since I could listen to an audiobook while knitting. I'm sure I'll get all obsessive about how I divide that time. Reading in the morning, audiobook/knitting in the evenings? Reading one day, audiobook the next? I'm sure I'll find some way to make this way more complex than it needs to be!

Book giveaway: The Host by Stephenie Meyer

2008-07-19T07:08:00.000-07:00

Lori at Lori's Reading Corner is giving away a copy of The Host by Stephenie Meyer. Hop on over for a chance to win!

Weekly Geeks #12

2008-07-19T06:49:00.001-07:00

This week's Weekly Geeks is a variation on last week's theme, in which we picked one of Dewey's books and asked questions for her to answer in a review. However, this time it's reversed. We're supposed to choose books that we need to review and ask YOU, our devoted readers, to ask questions for us to address in a review. I currently have 3 books waiting to be reviewed. You aren't limited to one particular book, as this isn't a giveaway (the library might not be too happy with me for giving away 2 library books!), so ask me about any or all of these three books. Leave your questions in the comments, and I will post about these books later in the week.

Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
Julie and Julia by Julie Powell
Wait for Me by An Na

It's Tuesday - where are you?

2008-07-15T07:38:00.001-07:00

I haven't done this in a few weeks for some reason...

I just started a new book last night and am not very far into it. I believe I am in California working in my parents' dry cleaning business. (Wait for Me by An Na)
We *finally* finished Peter and the Starcatchers, so at bedtime we are now in New York City where we just fought off a bunch of cannibals in a really ferocious game of dodge ball. (The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan)
On my commute, I will be in England where my parents and Thomas Seymour are trying their darnedest to get me married off to the king. (The Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir)

Play along at http://raidergirl3-anadventureinreading.blogspot.com.

The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi

2008-07-12T16:24:00.001-07:00

I think this book made it to my wishlist after a mention in either (the now defunct) Pages or Bookmarks. I always find it interesting to begin books that have been on my wishlist for a long time, because in most cases I've completely forgotten what it was about them that grabbed my attention in the first place. Such was the case with The Icarus Girl.

Jessamy Harrison was born in England, but her mother is Nigerian and her father British. Jess has always been a moody, quiet child, but when she meets Titiola (Jess calls her TillyTilly because she can't pronounce Titiola) while visiting family in Nigeria things start to get weird.

Overall, I really liked this book. However, the end left me a little mystified. Honestly, I'm not sure how it actually ended. So I had to knock half a star off my rating, giving it 3.5 stars instead of 4. Also, Jess is supposed to be an 8-year-old little girl, and she is much too wise and articulate for a girl of that age, in my opinion. Oyeyemi was only 18 when she wrote The Icarus Girl, which I find very impressive!

This fills the "I" title spot in the A-Z challenge.

Whoa! Weird coincidence!

2008-07-12T11:40:00.000-07:00

I picked up Julie & Julia last night. It was on my wishlist for a long time and found it on the bargain shelf at Borders (boo hiss Borders) sometime within the past year. I was pleasantly surprised to discover early into the book that the author, Julie Powell, grew up in Austin, Texas, where I lived in high school. Didn't think much about it other than, huh, wonder what school she went to, what part of Austin she lived in, etc. Then a little further in she mentions wanting to be an actress and further on mentioning that she was on the drill team, which, coincidentally, wore the same white cowboy hats the drill team at my school wore. So I really started wracking my brain. Who did I know named Julie that was on the drill team that was also in theater. And I came up with a name. Surely not. I couldn't keep reading; I had to do some sleuthing to see if I could figure out if this just happened to be the Julie I remembered from high school. Yeah. It is. So weird. We weren't friends, but our circles touched a bit at times - she was a year younger than me, and I'd be seriously surprised if she even knew who I was. But whoa. So, Julie, if you happen across this blog post, congratulations on the book (a few years late now...), which I was enjoying even before I realized I knew who you were! :-)

BAFAB Winner!

2008-07-12T08:21:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Popin, who won my BAFAB giveaway! (And yes, I did use the randomizer - it's purely coincidence that Popin was also the first entrant!)

Popin, e-mail me at somer.newland@gmail.com and let me know where to send Life on the Refrigerator Door.

Weekly Geeks #11

2008-07-12T07:37:00.000-07:00

I've been a slacker the past few weeks when it comes to Weekly Geeks.

Week #8 was the scavenger hunt which I knew from the get-go I wouldn't be able to finish, since my blog hopping time is pretty limited.

Week #9's theme was to organize your challenges or join some if you didn't have anything to organize. The only challenge I have going right now is the A-Z challenge, as I've finished the others, and I don't really want to join another one right now. I'm enjoying my current reading MO and am not ready to shake things up again yet. (What is my current MO, you ask? The Randomizer has been my best friend of late. I had 2 lists I was feeding my habit from - the Tayshas list and my TBR list of books I own. Then, I was messing with my Amazon wishlist one day and decided to throw that one into the mix, too. So now, I pick one from the Tayshas list, then one from the TBR list, then one from the Amazon wishlist. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.)

Week #10's theme was to talk about the magazines we read. I'm not really a big magazine reader, so I passed. I subscribe to Better Homes & Gardens but don't think I've ever sat down and read one in detail. I also subscribe to Cook's Country, which, actually, I really like, but probably won't subscribe to again because I just joined the Cooks Illustrated website instead. And I pick up Bookmarks occasionally.

But now I'm back. For Week #11, Dewey wants us to help her move by choosing one of the books she needs to review and part with so that she has fewer books to move. What a fun idea!

I choose Just Listen by Sarah Dessen, because it's one that I wanted to read last year but never got around to it. Here are my questions:

1. Which character from this book did you most relate to and why?
2. The School Library Journal review of this book says, "Dessen explores the interior and exterior lives of her characters and shows their flaws, humanity, struggles, and incremental successes." Do you think that Dessen is successful at this?
3. If you could pick one character to spend a weekend with, who would it be and why?

The Braid by Helen Frost

2008-07-11T18:15:00.000-07:00

I read The Braid because it is on the Tayshas List, a recommended reading list by the Texas Library Association. It got great reviews on Amazon, but I have to say it didn't leave much of an impression on me.

The book is very short - around 90 pages, so I was able to read it in one afternoon. The story is of a Scottish family in the 1850s who are evicted from their home. The entire family is supposed to emigrate to Canada, but one sister hides so that she can stay behind with her grandmother, who is moving to a nearby island. The night before the family departed, the sisters braided their hair together and, when she left, Sarah cut the braid and left half with her sister and carried the other half with her. The family encounters much hardship on the way to and in Canada, while Sarah, the sister who stays behind finds love, and, in a different way, also hardship.

The book itself is very clever. It is narrated alternately between two sisters, Jeannie and Sarah. Each narrative section is accompanied by a poem featuring some aspect of the previous narrative. At the end of the book, Frost explains the form of the book, which is quite complex. In fact, I need to go back and look at the book before returning it to the library, as I think knowing this about the book will make it stand out more in my memory.

I do recommend this one, especially since it is such a short read. While the strength of this book is in the clever format, I would have enjoyed a longer novel more I think, in order to get to know the characters more.

This book fills the F author spot for the A-Z challenge.

Belated June summary

2008-07-07T19:25:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's July already! Here's my June summary. July is off to a good start so far, too!

Books finished:

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (graphic novel)
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Prey by Lurlene McDaniel (YA)
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (YA)

One Good Punch by Rich Wallace (YA)
The Porridge Pot retold by Anthea Bell (picture book)
That Darn Yarn by Tony Millionaire (picture book)
Masterpiece by Elise Broach (children's)
Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt (YA)
It's Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris (older children's)
Life on the Refrigerator Door by Alice Kuipers
No Girls Allowed: Tales of Daring Women Dressed As Men for Love, Freedom and Adventure by Susan Hughes (children's, graphic novel)
Doctor Illuminatus: The Alchemist's Son Part I by Martin Booth (children's, audiobook)
Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult (audiobook)

WOW! That's a lot of books for me! Granted, many of those are YA and quick reads, but still. I also read most of Little Women (but that counts as a July read, since I finished on July 4), and I read part of Deadline by Chris Crutcher.

Challenge update:

Finished Once Upon a Time Challenge
Technically, I have finished the Chunkster Challenge, too, but that counts as July, so hopefully I'll remember that at the end of the month!

Currently reading:

Peter and the Starcatchers - We're 2 chapters away from finishing this one. Been reading it for aaaaggggeeessss now! Next up for bedtime is The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan.

The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi - I started this one a couple of days ago and am about 1/3 of the way through. Next up is Julie and Julia.

The Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey by Alison Weir - I chose this audiobook after hearing good reviews from both Amanda (the Librarian) and Lezlie. It is definitely living up to the hype!

BAFAB Week

2008-07-06T15:05:00.000-07:00

I'm hosting my first ever book giveaway!

The winner can choose one book from the following ARCs that I have received:

Becky by Lenore Hart
The Translator by Daoud Hari
Every Past Thing by Pamela Thompson
The Venetian Mask by Rosalind Laker
Life on the Refrigerator Door by Alice Kuipers
Prey by Lurlene McDaniel
Sexless in the City by Anna Broadway

To enter, leave a comment. I'll randomly pick a name (see, my randomizer has more than one use!) next Saturday.

Catch-up

2008-07-05T06:11:00.001-07:00

I don't want to take the time to do full-fledged reviews of the books I read for the read-a-thon last week or the couple of audiobooks I've read recently, but I do want to give them a mention, so I'll do minireviews.

First off, read-a-thon.

It's Perfectly Normal by Robie H. Harris. I already wrote a short blurb about this during the actual read-a-thon, but I'll mention it again here. This book has been challenged left and right for its sexual content. Duh. It's a sex ed book; of course it contains sexual content. I think people that challenge material like this are afraid. Afraid that if their children know more than the little bit of information they eek out, they will end up sexually promiscuous, or even just sexually active. I, personally, think the opposite is true. In my opinion, the more well-informed children are, the more likely they are to make wise decisions when it comes to sex. At least, that is the philosophy we have adopted in our family. I have no hesitations whatsoever in letting my children read It's Perfectly Normal. I think Harris presents a very balanced resource on puberty, sex, and birth.

Life on the Refrigerator Door. While this book is 200+ pages, it is a very quick read - I read it in less than an hour. As it consists of notes written between a mother and her teenage daughter, many pages hold only 1 or 2 sentences. Short though it is, I found this book very sad. Early in the book the mom is diagnosed with breast cancer, so many of the notes are reminders of appointments and quick check-ins. I found it so sad that in a time of such despair, so little face-to-face communication occurred between mother and daughter. I would hope that were I ever, god forbid, in the same situation, that I would make more time for my family and that they would do the same for me.

No Girls Allowed! This one was an ARC I picked up at TLA and hasn't been published yet. This book is in graphic format and presents the stories of several women throughout history who dressed as men in order to be successful. The targeted age for this book is 9-12 years, which feels about right. The stories were simple; the drawings all in black and white (I think this is final formatting, but the official release may have colored illustrations). I enjoyed it, but I can't see it being hugely popular. It would make a nice addition to a classroom library.

Doctor Illuminatus. Laura and I listened to this one while she was attending a 3-week band camp. It is the story of two kids (whose names I have already forgotten) who have recently moved into a very old manor house in England. They soon meet Sebastian, who, while appears to only be 12 years old, is actually nearly 600 years old. Sebastian's father was an alchemist who discovered a way to manipulate time and Sebastian is the benefactor of this gift. In this book, Sebastian enlists the help of the two children to stop the villain (whose name I can't spell - that's the problem with audiobooks sometimes), who also was privy to Sebastian's father's knowledge. The book was fast-paced and had lots of humor and lots of pseudoscience. We enjoyed it, but it wasn't remarkable. I'm sure my husband would have torn apart the science had we been reading it aloud!

Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult. I admit it. I'm a Picoult junkie. She is actually the only pop-fiction author I read, at least on a regular basis. I was hooked when I first read The Pact more than 7 years ago. In this book, a man convicted of murdering a police officer and his young stepdaughter decides he wants to donate his heart when he is executed to the daughter of the little girl he killed. Due to remarkable events, people begin to think Shay (the inmate) could be a messiah. There is a lot of religion in this book. One of the main characters is a priest who served on the jury that convicted Shay, and he undergoes a crisis of faith. Another character, an ACLU lawyer representing Shay, is the atheist daughter of a rabbi. I was afraid the religious content was going to be turn-off, but as Picoult does with many issues, she makes religion a point of debate. I was impressed that she used the gnostic gospels in her arguments. As a freethinker, I would be interested to hear what others with firm religious beliefs think about this book.

And finally, Little Women. I finally finished this one last night. I had tried to read this a few times over they years but could never settle on it long enough. I finally stuck with it, and I'm so glad I did. I can't say that it makes my list of favorites, but I really did enjoy it. I feel like I'm finally part of the club and can know what people are talking about when discussing this book. And I did love the characters. And I did almost cry several times (which does say a lot about the impression the book had on me). And I laughed out loud several times. I found Jo so refreshing. And the sarcasm and teasing between Laurie and the girls - so many books of this time (in the ohsomany I've read...yeah, right) portray young women as still and really prescribing to social norms. It was really cool to see that girls back then could be just as spunky and opinionated as girls today.

The day after

2008-06-29T13:24:00.001-07:00

Well, I didn't read nearly as much as I thought I would, but part of that is because I spent a lot of time checking out other people's blogs. By nighttime, I was distracted and couldn't settle on doing one thing for too long. Such is my life.

I had a great time, though, even though I only read 6 hours max!

Laura did, too, and thought it was really neat that all these people all over the place were just reading.

Laura's goal reached

2008-06-28T20:22:00.001-07:00

She did it! Laura wants to share that she finished Artemis Fowl. Way to go!

I, on the other hand, have pretty much reached my limit for tonight... YAWN!

2008-06-28T20:22:00.000-07:00

I've taken a bit of a break...went for a nice walk with the husband and the dog, then took Laura out for a milkshake.

Since I last posted, I read a chapter of Anne of Green Gables to Laura (which adds about 8 pages to my total). I tried to read some of this Civil War diary (Sarah Morgan: The Civil War Diary of a Southern Woman), but the introduction is very long, and I want to read it, but not today.

I think I have to give up on Little Women for today, if I want to stay awake, so I'm going to read a bit of Sandman.

Thanks to all of you who responded with encouragement for Laura. It made her day! And I got a huge hug out of it, too. She is having fun with this and is enjoying checking in with me.

Update #5

2008-06-28T17:56:00.001-07:00

Title of book(s) read this hour: No Girls Allowed: Tales of Daring Women Dressed As Men for Love, Freedom and Adventure (finished); Little Women
Number of books read since you started: 3
Pages read: 98
Running total of pages read since you started: 427
Amount of time spent reading: 1 hour, 20 min
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 5 hours, 15 min
Mini-challenge this hour: none
Distractions this hour: dinner
Current location: On my bed, with a cat on either side, but I've also read in the family room

This completed book was also a quick read. It was a graphic novel, with an intended audience of 9-11 years.

Laura's status

2008-06-28T16:16:00.000-07:00

Laura wanted me to post that she has now read 127 pages. She is 88 pages away from finished Artemis Fowl. She says her goal is to get this one book finished, if nothing else, but she's feeling a little discouraged. I know she'd love some encouragement!

My tactic (and comment responses)

2008-06-28T15:34:00.000-07:00

Someone asked how I'm dividing my reading (with so many comments it's easier to just make a post!). Little Women is long (duh), so I'm taking breaks from it by reading something lighter. So, I'll read a bit of Little Women (a chapter or two, or a whole hour), then read something else. I'm not reading multiple "something elses," just the one other until it's finished, then pick something else up. Make sense?

I loved It's Perfectly Normal. I think it's important to cut straight to the chase in terms of sex education, and that's exactly what this book is. It's a very balanced book and very frank. I want *both* my kids to read it, so that they can make the best decisions they can when the time comes (hopefully a long time from now, since they're only 9 and 11!). The only thing that annoyed me about this book were the little cartoon bird and bee interspersed throughout the book. It was like that annoying person who can't have a serious conversation without making a joke.

Update #4

2008-06-28T15:17:00.000-07:00

Title of book(s) read this hour: Life on the Refrigerator Door: Notes Between a Mother and Daughter (finished); Little Women
Number of books read since you started: 2
Pages read: 224
Running total of pages read since you started: 329
Amount of time spent reading: 55 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 3 hours, 55 min
Mini-challenge this hour: Nymeth's web comics
Distractions this hour: bathroom break
Current location: On my bed

I feel like I cheated a little, because, while Life on the Refrigerator Door is 217 pages, most pages consist of something like this:

Claire,

We need to talk. I'm in my room.

I love you, Mom

But 217 pages it was, and 217 pages I'm counting. Laura is mad because she doesn't read quickly. :-) I need to tell her to take a break from Artemis Fowl and read something quick, for a sense of accomplishment.

I'm starving, so I'm taking a dinner break!

The 9-year-old boys switched houses, so this was a much calmer hour!

Update #3

2008-06-28T13:57:00.000-07:00

Title of book(s) read this hour: Little Women; It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex & Sexual Health (finished)
Number of books read since you started: 1
Pages read: 28
Running total of pages read since you started: 105
Amount of time spent reading: 1 hour
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 3 hours
Mini-challenge this hour:
Other participants visited: Debi, C.B. James
Distractions this hour: lots (9-year-old boys make a lot of noise)
Current location: On my bed, but I've also visited the loveseat in the family room

Laura has read a total of 81 pages and is still working on Artemis Fowl.

Update #2

2008-06-28T11:58:00.001-07:00

I've decided to label my posts with my update number instead of hour number, since I may not post every hour.

Title of book(s) read this hour: Little Women; It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex & Sexual Health
Number of books read since you started: 0 (I'm not keeping track of fractions of books - I'll update this when I finish one)
Pages read: 36
Running total of pages read since you started: 77
Amount of time spent reading: 1 hour
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 2 hours
Mini-challenge this hour: Nymeth's web comics
Other participants visited: None yet this hour
Distractions this hour: bathroom break
Current location: On my bed

Laura has read a total of 47 pages so far; she's currently working on Artemis Fowl.

Hour 2 mini challenge

2008-06-28T10:40:00.000-07:00

Nymeth's mini challenge for hour 2 was to read a web comic and write a short post about it. I caught up on my Unshelved feed, which I was many posts behind on. Unshelved is a web comic set in a public library, that deals with many of the common situations that occur in a library. When I worked in a public library I found it spot on, and now that I'm not in a public library, I find it fun to remember. Sometimes the posts are relevant to special libraries, too.