book bliss

pre-read-a-thon

2010-09-07T22:47:00.000-07:00

There is a Catch-up Read-a-thon going on and I thought I would join. It sounds funny to do a pre-read-a-thon before the real thing, but I like the idea. Fall is my favorite time of the year and I really enjoy reading during this time. I'm going to use the week to read more after work and just slow down and enjoy the season.

R.I.P. V Challenge

2010-09-06T16:08:00.000-07:00

Peril the First: To read 4 scary books of any length.

Here are some of my picks this year. I'm not going to start reading them until October, after the Read-a-thon.

Hour Twenty

2009-10-25T00:46:00.000-07:00

I'm out! I lasted twenty hours and I read four books total today. I think I will head off to bed, words words words dancing in my head.

Books Read: Coraline by Neil Gaiman
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
Understood Betsy by Dorothy Fisher
Matilda by Roald Dahl
Total Pages Read: 878
Time Spent Reading: 13 hours, 35 minutes

Hour Nineteen

2009-10-25T00:00:00.000-07:00

Books Read: Coraline by Neil Gaiman
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
Understood Betsy by Dorothy Fisher
Total Pages Read: 818
Time Spent Reading: 12 hours, 50 min

Hour Eighteen

2009-10-24T23:04:00.000-07:00

Books Read: Coraline by Neil Gaiman
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
Understood Betsy by Dorothy Fisher
Total Pages Read: 732
Time Spent Reading: 12 hours

Currently reading: Matilda by Roald Dahl

mini-Challenge: I would rather read...

2009-10-24T23:02:00.000-07:00

Your mission, which you MUST accept, is to turn to page 23 of the book
you're currently reading (or the nearest page with text on it) and find
the most entertaining phrase to complete the following sentence:

"I would rather read than _____________ any night!"

"I would rather read than mix a lot of sawdust any night!"

"I would rather read than wear jackets with large brightly-colored checks any night!"

"I would rather read than use my brains any night!"

Matilda by Roald Dahl =)

Reading is fundamental mini-challenge!

2009-10-24T22:09:00.000-07:00

*happy dance* I won a crocheted bookmark from Joystory!

Hour Seventeen

2009-10-24T21:55:00.000-07:00

I finished reading Understood Betsy. I was surprised to learn at the end of the book that the author met Maria Montessori and was inspired by her method of teaching children. She wrote this book sort of as a manual for how to use the Montessori method with children. It's very interesting! This book was fascinating and gave me a lot of food for thought. I'm sure I will read it again in the future and to my own kids someday.

Books Read: Coraline by Neil Gaiman
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
Understood Betsy by Dorothy Fisher
Total Pages Read: 660
Time Spent Reading: 11 hours, 10 minutes

mini-challenge: Give me Five (5 children's books I like)

2009-10-24T21:11:00.000-07:00

Hour Sixteen

2009-10-24T20:56:00.000-07:00

Reading: Understood Betsy by Dorothy Fisher

Books Read: Coraline by Neil Gaiman
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
Total Pages Read: 680
Time Spent Reading: 11 hours

Hours Fourteen and Fifteen

2009-10-24T19:49:00.000-07:00

Reading Understood Betsy by Dorothy Fisher

This is about a little girl who lives with her two aunts - they are very overprotective of her and she grows to be timid, frightened, coddled, and sickly. One of the aunts gets sick and so they send her to spend some time with her other aunts and cousins on a farm. She is treated much differently there - she is expected to help out and to be responsible for herself - and she learns some independence and self confidence.

I'm loving this book so far! It's very pithy for a children's novel. I want to buy a copy to have around for my own children in the future.

Books Read: Coraline by Neil Gaiman
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
Total Pages Read: 615
Time Spent Reading: 10 hours, 10 minutes

Hour Thirteen

2009-10-24T18:02:00.000-07:00

Reading: Wicked by Gregory Maguire
Total pages read: 515
Total time spent reading: 8 hours, 40 minutes

Reading is fundamental mini-challenge

2009-10-24T17:49:00.001-07:00

The challenge is to create a post celebrating the reading child.

I don't have to post of pic of me reading as a child, because there is one over there in the sidebar. I'm reading a storybook called Skipping Along. It had all kinds of short stories and little poems and bright pictures and such. I loved that book and read it so many times. I still own it.

My mom read to me all the time as a child and she took me to the library every Saturday. My favorite books were the Little House series, the Ramona books, the Boxcar Children, Goosebumps, a set of books called Let's Talk About (they were very preachy and condemned the sins of gluttony, bullying, cheating, etc but I loved those books), the Babysitter's Club - basically all the stuff we read as kids. She also read to me from the King James Bible every night and I think I learned an appreciation for its old, lyrical language from falling asleep to it every night. She has told me that she even read to me as a baby - she would read her Harlequin Romance novels to me because she figured I didn't understand whatever it was she was reading - that I just wanted to hear the sound of her voice and she might as well read something enjoyable!

It's so important to read to kids. There is nothing, nothing better you can do for a child. My favorite book on this subject is The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease. It makes a great baby shower gift along with some picture books.

Mid-Event Survey

2009-10-24T17:04:00.000-07:00

Mid-Event Survey:
1. What are you reading right now? Wicked by Gregory Maguire

2. How many books have you read so far? two

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? I'm saving Matilda by Roald Dahl because it's going to be a breezy read and I think I'll like it a lot

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? nope

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? yes, little things here and there but I try to get back to reading as quickly as I can

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? how easy it is! and how hard it is to actually read without getting sucked into all the challenges and commenting and such because those take a lot of time!

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? nope, I think it's great!

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? Maybe I won't keep track of the time I've spent reading.

9. Are you getting tired yet? I took a one-hour nap and so I'm wide awake and alert.

10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered? No, but everyone is doing a great job!

Hour Twelve

2009-10-24T16:52:00.000-07:00

Books Read: Coraline by Neil Gaiman
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

Currently reading: Wicked by Gregory Maguire

Total pages read: 490
Time spent reading: 8 hours
Eating: an apple, cheese, ice tea

Hour Eleven

2009-10-24T16:07:00.000-07:00

Books Read: Coraline by Neil Gaiman
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
Total Pages Read: 455
Total Time Spent Reading: 7 hours, 15 min

I finished How I Live Now. What a perfect book for the Read-a-thon! Gotta dig around in my pile and find a new book, or maybe I'll pull out Wicked again.

Hour Ten

2009-10-24T15:15:00.000-07:00

Books Read: Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Pages Read: 405
Time Spent Reading: 6 hours, 30 minutes

I fell sleep between 1:30-2:30, but managed to get 30 minutes of reading in for each of those hours. We got to bed at midnight last night and then I was up at 4:15 for the Read-a-thon. Maybe the nap will help keep me up later!

Feed Me, Seymour! mini-challenge

2009-10-24T15:02:00.000-07:00

"Over the next few hours let me know if you happen across any passages of food in your reading or you can also flip through some of the books in your Read-A-Thon stack(s) and find me a passage where the characters describe what they are eating or when they are actually eating – write up a post with the book, author, your selected passage and a picture of one the dishes."

We finished the mushrooms and then washed the bowl in the river and mixed a couple handfuls of blackberries with the strawberry jam for dessert
-How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

Hour Nine

2009-10-24T14:34:00.000-07:00

Still reading How I Live Now

Books Read: Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Pages read: 382
Time spent reading: 6 hours

Hour Eight

2009-10-24T12:58:00.000-07:00

I'm still reading How I Live Now and it's fantastic!

Books Read: Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Time Spent Reading: 5 hrs, 30 min
Pages: 352
Eating: a baked potato and chocolate cake

Gilmore Girls!

2009-10-24T12:20:00.000-07:00

The Read-a-thon page added a funny clip of Rory trying to cram all her books into her backpack. My favorite show! I have all the dvd's and I've watched them over and over and over. Rory's character reads some pretty heavy books and inspired me to read The Bell Jar and Anna Karenina.

Hour Seven

2009-10-24T11:52:00.001-07:00

I decided to switch books and now I am completely enthralled with How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff.

Books Read: Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Time Spent Reading: 4 hrs, 50 min
Total Pages Read: 314 pages

Hour Six

2009-10-24T10:59:00.000-07:00

Didn't get much reading done this hour as we had a grocery delivery and most of the stuff was missing so I had to call and get it straightened out.

Books read: Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Total Pages read: 260
Total time spent reading: 3 hrs, 55 min

I won!

2009-10-24T10:18:00.001-07:00

Yay! They drew my name for the Hour Three Challenge and I got to pick two books. I chose:

Atonement by Ian McEwan
A Map of the Known World by Lisa Ann Sandell

Haven't read either of these. I love everything else I've read by Ian McEwan, especially Saturday.

Hour Five

2009-10-24T09:51:00.000-07:00

Still reading Wicked. My coffee got cold and I didn't even get a chance to drink it.

Books read: Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Total pages read: 250
Total time spent reading: 3 hrs, 40 min

Hour Four

2009-10-24T08:59:00.000-07:00

Well, Hunt for the Seventh didn't hold my attention past the third chapter so I switched to Wicked by Gregory Maguire. I started this one last week and so I'm about a quarter of the way through it. Mike and I are going to go see Wicked in San Francisco on Halloween and so I want to read the book before I go see it.

My tea was cold after being ignored for three hours, so I made some foamy coffee in my french press and added lots of cream. Yum!

Books read: Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Total Pages Read: 218
Total time spent reading: 2 hours, 55 min

Hour Three

2009-10-24T07:56:00.000-07:00

I started a new book, The Hunt for the Seventh by Christine Morton-Shaw.

I felt an immediate affinity for the book when the boy stands out in the gardens and feeds the peacocks.

We have peacocks that roam our apartment complex, so I decided to go out and feed them as well.

They weren't on our deck, so I put some cat food out for them anyway, but then my own cat followed me outside and began eating it. So much for that. Then, she started drinking out of a bucket that had rainwater in it and I didn't want her to get sick. So I went and got my boots and coat and went outside to empty the bucket. I thought briefly that the deck needs sweeping, but I would rather be reading.

Books read: Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Total pages read: 180
Time spent reading: 2 hours, 10 min

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

2009-10-24T07:35:00.000-07:00

I finished Coraline. Here's a cute song Coraline's dad sings to her:

Oh - my twitchy witchy girl
I think you are so nice,
I give you bowls of porridge
And I give you bowls of ice
Cream.
I give you lots of kisses,
And I give you lots of hugs,
But I never give you sandwiches
With bugs
In.

Off to pick a new book!

Where in the World mini-challenge

2009-10-24T07:08:00.001-07:00

Hey Lady! Whatcha readin? is hosting this challenge. I put in my map location. It will be neat checking the map and seeing if there are other readers near me.

Hour Two

2009-10-24T06:57:00.000-07:00

Currently Reading: Coraline by Neil Gaiman

The light that came through the picture window was daylight, real golden late-afternoon daylight, not a white mist light. The sky was a robin's-egg blue, and Coraline could see trees and, beyond the trees, green hills, which faded on the horizon into purples and grays. The sky had never seemed so sky, the world had never seemed so world.

Total time spent reading: 1 hour, 40 min.
Total pages read: 137

In my world, the sky is a greyish-blue outside, not robin's egg, and the trees are black and the sun hasn't come up yet.

Hour 1 mini challenge

2009-10-24T06:23:00.000-07:00

Where are you reading from today? I have six books in my stack, mostly reading from the R.I.P. Challenge

3 facts about me …I'm 26 yrs old, just celebrated my fifth wedding anniversary, and I'm an INTP!
How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours? 6

Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)? No, I don't have any goals. I probably won't read all 24 hours, just as long as I can and I'll have fun with it.

If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, Any advice for people doing this for the first time? I'm a first-timer!

Hour One

2009-10-24T06:10:00.000-07:00

Oops! Already 6:10. I meant to update before six, but the time flew by and I wasn't watching the clock.

Currently reading: Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Pages read: 97
Time spent reading: 60 minutes

This book is so creepy. Here's some quotes.

Coraline went over to the window and watched the rain come down. It wasn't the kind of rain you could go out in - it was the other kind, the kind that threw itself down from the sky and splashed where it landed. It was rain that meant business, and currently its business was turning the garden into a muddy, wet soup.

______________________

The toys in the toy box were still mostly asleep, and they stirred and muttered as she moved their box, and then they went back to sleep.

______________________

"You're sick," said Coraline. "Sick and evil and weird." "Is that anyway to talk to your mother?" her other mother asked, with her mouth full of blackbeetles.

Back to reading!

Read-a-thon!

2009-10-24T04:49:00.000-07:00

It's 4:55 a.m. here in California and the Read-a-thon begins in five minutes! We got to bed around midnight and I was planning on sleeping in and starting this whenever, but I woke up anyway. I've got a cup of tea and a stack of books ready. Mostly, I'm going to read from the R.I.P. Challenge but I have some other stuff too if I get tired of those. Happy reading!

R.I.P. Reviews!

2009-10-18T20:14:00.000-07:00

I'm really enjoying this challenge! So far I have read three books. Here are my (short) reviews.

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

Valentina and Julia inherit their aunt's apartment by Highgate Cemetery. The twin sisters get caught up in getting to know the eccentric tenants in the building - a scholar who is writing his thesis on the cemetery and a crossword-puzzle enthusiast who suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder. AND their flat is haunted by their aunt's ghost who is fascinated with them and tries to communicate with them in many creative ways.

I loved this. I did like The Time Traveler's Wife better, but this was a very fun ghost story that hit the spot. She is such a good storyteller. There is even a little ghost kitten!

In the Woods by Tana French

This book had my attention from the beginning - three children go out to play in the woods and they don't return home after dark. Only one child is found - digging his nails into a tree, so frightened that he cannot talk for days, his shoes covered in blood. From there, the book is mostly a lot of detective work and the ending was disappointing. The biggest mystery of the book wasn't even answered. I was expecting something spooky and fun and this wasn't it, although her descriptions of the children playing in the woods and on top of the old castle were very vivid and beautiful.

Fear the Worst by Linwood Barclay

This is about a car salesman whose 17-yr-old daughter goes missing. He frantically searches for her all while being framed for her murder and being framed for other crimes. He also has to evade the police this whole time because they are looking at him as their suspect. I flew through this book in two days. It was a bit predictable, but the book moves so fast that as soon as you have something figured out, the author acknowledges it and throws something else at you. I don't think I've ever read a thriller before but I liked this a lot.

same author, different poem

2009-09-16T19:14:00.000-07:00

So much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrel

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens.

So much depends upon the simple things in life. Our lives are not held together by the goals of fame, money, and power. What keeps us going is the little things in life - for me it is reading a good book, the smell of rain, sleeping in and then getting a coffee with my husband, spending hours in a bookstore. What holds this whole world together is the astounding beauty of that red wheelbarrow, glazed with rainwater, beside the white chickens.

so sweet and so cold

2009-09-09T22:14:00.000-07:00

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
(This is just to say by William Carlos Williams)
100 Essential American Poems by Leslie M. Pockell

"It looked like iced apple juice, with a green straw and a paper parasol stuck through a maraschino cherry."

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

I like this old poem about the stolen plums and this quote from The Lightning Thief. The apple juice quote is so vivid and has the same imagery as the plums. There is also some kind of treachery involved in both - the stealing of the plums and the apple juice not tasting like it is supposed to.

Children's books part 3

2009-09-07T11:53:00.000-07:00

Classic Fairy Tales by Scott Gustafson

This is THE BEST book of fairy tales for children, simply because the illustrations inside are so rich. The cover doesn't do the book justice. You have to open the book to appreciate how lush and gorgeous the illustrations really are.

I also like the fairy tales in this book because they aren't watered down. All of the bad things happen that are supposed to happen but things turn out for the best in the end. There is a naive innocence even in the scary parts. The wolf eats Little Red Riding Hood and when rescued by the woodcutter, Little Red Riding Hood jumps out saying, "Oh dear, how frightened I have been! It is so dark inside the wolf."

I like what Jim Trelease has to say about fairy tales. "The fairy tale confirms what the child has been thinking all along - that it is a cold, cruel world out there and it's waiting to eat him alive. Now, if that were all the fairy tale said, it would have died out long ago. But it goes one step further. It addresses itself to the child's sense of courage and adventure. The tale advises the child: Take your courage in hand and go out to meet the world head on."

Children's books part 2

2009-09-06T11:14:00.000-07:00

Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran

Roxaboxen celebrates the imagination of children who, no matter the time or place, can create whole worlds out of what they find around them--here, rocks and boxes, cacti and sand. Marian and her friends find a "special place" in the desert where in time-honored fashion, they play the games that will prepare them for their grown-up lives. The rules are simple: you make them up as you go along according to the whim of the day or the personality of the residents. In Roxaboxen, "Marian was mayor, of course; that was just the way she was. Nobody minded." The rules don't even have to be consistent--as long as they make sense. Speeding was not allowed by car but "ah, if you had a horse, you could go as fast as the wind . . . All you needed for a horse was a stick and some kind of bridle."

The real beauty of the story is that it is true. The author's grandmother recalls fondly playing in their imaginary town of Roxaboxen when she was a little girl. The author even tracked down other children who played in Roxaboxen to get their memories into the story.

This book is part of the Five in a Row curriculum. They have put together a remarkable list of books. Some of them are out of print or otherwise hard to find, but they are great collector's items if you come across them.

We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen

A father and his four children--a toddler, a preschool boy and two older girls--go on the traditional bear hunt based on the old camp chant: "We're going to catch a big one. / What a beautiful day! / We're not scared. / Oh-oh! Grass! / Long, wavy grass. / We can't go over it. / We can't go under it. / Oh, no! / We've got to go through it!" The family skids down a grassy slope, swishes across a river, sludges through mud and, of course, finally sees the bear, who chases them all back to their home. It's a fantastic journey--was it real or imagined?--with the family's actions (and interaction) adding to the trip a goodnatured, jolly mood.

The rhythm of this book is great. It's easy to memorize and then you can "act it out" with young children and they love playing the game of looking for the bear. Here is a video of Michael Rosen acting out the story and you can get an idea of how the book is almost like a song.

Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban

Frances loves nothing better than jam and bread, and turns up her nose at other kinds of food. Then her mother starts giving Frances jam and bread for breakfast, lunch and dinner. "What I am/is sick of Jam," Frances sings to herself. That's the end of Frances's jam-only days, as she discovers, in her own winsome way, that variety really is the spice of mealtimes.

I adore Frances' description at the end of what she is having for lunch. "I have a thermos bottle with cream of tomato soup. And a lobster-salad sandwich on thin slices of white bread. I have celery, carrot sticks, and black olives, and a little cardboard shaker of salt for the celery. And two plums and a tiny basket of cherries. And vanilla pudding with chocolate sprinkles and a spoon to eat it with."

Children's books part 1

2009-09-05T14:38:00.000-07:00

I love collecting children's books. My favorites are usually either magical in a quiet way (like Owl Moon and A Lot of Otters) or have a rollicking rhyme to them (like Jamberry and A House is a House for Me). These are some of my favorites. I will review more throughout the long weekend!

Koala Lou by Mem Fox
Koala Lou is loved by everyone, but it is her mother who loves her most of all. She often tells her daughter, "Koala Lou, I DO love you." As the family grows and her mother gets busier, Koala Lou yearns to hear those words again. She sets out to win the Bush Olympics as a way to gain her mother's attention.

You can hear the author read the book aloud right here.

Mem Fox also wrote Reading Magic where she talks about how to read to kids. "There's no exact way of reading aloud, other than to be as expressive as possible... The ups and downs of our voices and our pauses and points of emphasis are like magic."

A Lot of Otters by Barbara Helen Berger

The first page shows a toddler walking with a book; the baby climbs into a box at the title page; at the opening of the real story, the child begins reading the book, about ``Mother Moon'' looking for her child, her ``moonlet.'' What the child sees on the picture-book page is the scene readers see; from there, the events are nonstop: The toddler drops the book, and an otter spots it from underwater. That otter reads the book aloud to a group of otters treading water, including one who floats on her back with her baby lying upon her like a fuzzy teddy bear. The moon-mother's tears fall into the sea, turning into stars--a folktale element that allows for lovely compositions as the otters dive for the stars. Mother and moonlet--who turns out to be the toddler--are reunited.

I love otters. This book has such a serene, dreamlike quality to it and the illustrations are beautiful.

A Little House Birthday by Laura Ingalls Wilder

I like these Little House picture books because they take the stories right out of the books. The illustrations are so much like the illustrations Garth Williams produced for the original Little House books. These books are great for preschoolers who are just a little young for the "real" books.

R.I.P Challenge

2009-09-04T23:21:00.000-07:00

It's my favorite time of the year! Fall is just plain magical. Everything transforms into a fairy tale with the pumpkins and leaves and hazy weather and dark, cold nights. And... it's my second year doing the R.I.P. challenge!

I'm not sure what books I'll be reading and I probably won't start the challenge until October.

So far, I have an old, black, hardbound copy of Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon. It even came with that addicting old musty-book smell. I'm excited to see what everyone is reading.

Here is a link to the challenge.

January/February Books

2009-02-28T12:30:00.000-08:00

1. The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit
2. The Pirate's Daughter by Margaret Cezair-Thompson
3. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by JK Rowling (audio)
4. The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
5. The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Divakaruni
6. The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones
7. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
8. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
9. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
10. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows by JK Rowling (audio)
11. Free for All by Don Borchert
12. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
13. Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright
14. The Little Book by Selden Edwards
15. French Milk by Lucy Knisley
16. The Inferno by Dante Alighieri
17. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
18. Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos
19. Not in Front of the Servants by Frank Dawes
20. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

Invictus - William Ernest Henley

2009-01-24T23:20:00.000-08:00

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.

Booking Through Thursday: Thankful

2008-11-27T08:08:00.000-08:00

So–just for today–how about sharing 7 things that you’re thankful for?

This can be about books, sure–authors you appreciate, books you love, an ode to your public library–but also, how about other things, too? Because in times like these, with bills piling up and disaster seemingly lurking around every corner, it’s more important than ever to stop and take stock of the things we’re grateful for. Family. Friends. Good health (I hope). Coffee and tea. Turkey. Sunshine. Wagging tails. Curling up with a good book.

1. fleece pajamas
2. Starbucks chai
3. sudacare shower soothers
4. fur elise
5. a picture of my baby neice dressed in fairy wings, big blue eyes
7. pumpkin candles

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

2008-11-23T11:09:00.000-08:00

When Tally Youngblood turns 16, she will have a surgery that will make her beautiful and she will get to spend her young adulthood partying in a tower with other Pretties. She spends her time until then playing tricks with her Ugly friend Shay and crashing the Pretty parties. Shay doesn't want to have the surgery, which is unheard of. Instead, she runs away to go live with a group of Uglies who have decided to create their own society called the Smokies. When Tally turns 16, she is told that she is not going to have the surgery until she can find her friend Shay and find where the Smokies hidden location is. Etc.

I didn't really like it. I think if it would be a great book for a preteen, which is the age group it was written for. I did attempt to read the second book in the series (There are four total: Uglies, Pretties, Specials, Extras). But it still fell flat and the dialogue and character development and the author's writing style was bland. (The sentence in Pretties, "Maybe losing blood made you starving." finally made me cringe and close the book for good).

On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan

2008-11-19T18:44:00.000-08:00

Newlyweds Florence and Edward clink their silverware and stare embarassingly at their congealed gravy dinner, thinking about what is to come that night. Florence is horrified at the thought and Edward can barely contain his excitement.

Edward, an old man at the end of the story, thinking back to this night:

"When he thought of her, it rather amazed him, that he had let that girl with her violin go... Love and patience - if only he had had them both at once - would surely have seen them both through. And then what unborn children might have had their chances, what young girl with a headband might have become his loved familiar? This is how the entire course of a life can be changed - by doing nothing."

How sad to think that the course of an entire lifetime can be derailed so easily. I think Ian McEwan is very wise.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

2008-11-18T17:53:00.000-08:00

Edgar Sawtelle was born without the ability to use his vocal chords, so he communicates primarily through his own adapted version of sign language. He lives on a farm where his family raises their own breed of Sawtelle dogs and Edgar and his parents work tirelessly to train them. The dogs are prized miles around for their intelligence and loyalty. The book eventually turns into something of a mystery novel.

Edgar's dog, Almondine, has been with him since he was a baby. When Edgar was an infant (and he couldn't cry because of his loss of vocalization), Almondine was the only one that could hear the tiny rasping noises he made when crying. Almondine would nudge Edgar's mother and then she would know that he was hungry, or tired, or wet. Edgar calls Almondine his soulmate and they are together constantly.

Dogs play a very important part of the story and I was reminded of The Call of the Wild. I think the author may have been inspired somewhat by Jack London's story.

This is a beautifully written book. The author is a master story-teller. The characters are vivid and real and each character has a very distinct, believable personality.

I fell in love with Edgar. The poor kid has been through some disastrous things but he is still smart and determined and self-sacrificing all the way through. He deserves every good thing that the author could have put down on paper. That is why the book was so disappointing.

I can't say more without giving the ending away, just that it was a crash and burn ending and a book that held my greatest admiration for 500 pages just ended in disappointment. I know every story doesn't have to have a happy ending, but I don't understand what the point was of luring the reader into turning the pages one by one in quiet amazement, and then... that's it?? That's what happens?? Bummer.

A Room With a View by E.M. Forster

2008-11-15T10:37:00.000-08:00

The book opens with two women, Lucy and Charlotte, openly complaining about the hotel they are staying in because they were told they would have a room with a view and instead they were given a room that just faces into the courtyard. The other patrons can obviously hear their conversation, but politely go about their own business. Except for two men. George and his father do the logical thing and offer the women to trade rooms, since they have a room with a view but they can make do with any old room. Of course, everyone is stunned that these men are so improper and undignified as to offer such a thing and Charlotte promptly snubs them.

So you can see from the beginning that the book is largely about social conventions and the class system.

Lucy is the younger of the two women - Charlotte is her cousin, her chaperone on the trip, and kind of an old maid. During their stay in the hotel, Lucy keeps running into these two men that everyone else has ostracized. She gets to know George and they kiss. When Lucy returns back home, she gets caught up in an engagement to a man named Cecil who she doesn't have any feelings for, but she goes along with it because her family approves of the match.

Through a random twist of fate, George also ends up in England near Lucy's home and they meet again. Lucy decides she must tell George to leave her alone, but instead something else happens.

My favorite character in the book was George's father, Mr. Emerson. He always cuts to the chase and he tells Lucy exactly what she has been trying to ignore - that she has two choices. She can keep everyone in her family happy and make her own self miserable by doing what they tell her to do or she can admit that she loves George and can find a lifetime of happiness in marriage to him.

There was also some neat references in the book back to "rooms" and "views" and I think if you dig deeper you will find something meaningful. Many times a character is mentioned in the context of a room or some characters are talking about the view. I think there was some kind of comparison to liberal, forward-thinkers versus conservative thinkers. There are probably all kinds of layers and themes in this book that you can find. I think if I read it again in the future I will try to pay attention to these things and see what I can find. This book is actually a very mild book without much to recommend it at first, but if you linger over some of the themes I suspect you will find more than meets the eye.

Booking Through Thursday: Why Buy?

2008-11-13T06:45:00.001-08:00

I’ve asked, in the past, about whether you more often buy your books, or get them from libraries. What I want to know today, is, WHY BUY?
Even if you are a die-hard fan of the public library system, I’m betting you have at least ONE permanent resident of your bookshelves in your house. I’m betting that no real book-lover can go through life without owning at least one book. So … why that one? What made you buy the books that you actually own, even though your usual preference is to borrow and return them?
If you usually buy your books, tell me why. Why buy instead of borrow? Why shell out your hard-earned dollars for something you could get for free?

This is a hard question to answer... I would rather argue the side of libraries over bookstores. But I do buy reference books that I am going to refer back to over and over. I also buy the classics... usually just the Penguin edition, but they are nice to own. And I love buying children's books because kids will read a book hundreds of times over.

But I go through books pretty fast so I'm lucky it's a free hobby, thanks to the library! I know people will say that they buy books to give back to the authors, but libraries also buy books. I have requested my library to buy several books that they didn't own, and so far they have purchased every book I've requested. When a new book becomes popular, like an Oprah endorsement or the Booker prize, they order at least 50 copies so there are plenty in circulation. And they work really hard to turn children into readers and those kids do grow up and eventually purchase books like any reader does.

If you are thinking about Christmas shopping and you have kids on your list, buy books!

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

2008-11-11T21:19:00.000-08:00

What an enchanting book - it almost seems like a new genre of fiction to me. The author's style is to weave two things - food and magic - together into one story. I read an interview where she said that this wasn't her intention - that she just wanted to write a fictional novel - but the apple tree started throwing apples at people and then it took on a story of its own. Good thing that apple tree decided to speak up. I'm not a huge fan of contemporary fiction - but this added just the right touch of something else, something new and different.

Claire Waverly comes from a long line of Waverly women who are each blessed with individual gifts. Claire spends her time in the garden gathering herbs that have all kinds of magical side effects - Honeysuckle allows you to see in the dark, Lemon Balm brings you back to your childhood, Angelica calms hyper children (I would love that one!) She has her own succesful catering business and a happy, quiet life until her younger sister shows up, needing a place to live. Of course, there's lots of romance and an interesting storyline and all that, but the best part is that this is a Southern Fictional story operating under a few new guidelines.

The apple tree in the story is a character in itself, causing all kinds of mischief behind people's backs. There's lots of tidbits to make a humdrum fictional story into something as delicious as one of those apples - men who are in love trailed by a hazy, violet light, an old women who walks around town giving people just what they need - a men's shirt, a ball of yarn, two quarters, a mango slicer. I loved that not only the Waverly's have a magical gift, but every family in the story has something that stands out about them.

I think she has done the same thing with The Sugar Queen, can't wait to read it!

Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron

2008-11-11T20:07:00.000-08:00

On a bitterly cold below-zero night in Spencer, Iowa, a little orange kitten was dumped in a library book return slot. The librarians arrived that morning to find the kitten wedged between the books, the pads of his feet frostbitten and his heart barely beating.

They gave the kitten a grand name - Dewey Readmore Books - and a very important job - professional greeter and permanent tenant of the library.

Dewey made the library his home and snoozed on top of the warm copy machine, skirted ladders and ceiling lights, curled up in any willing patron's lap - or right on top of the open book or newspaper they happened to be reading!

All of the information about libraries and how they are run was almost as fascinating to me as Dewey's story. Books and cats - they just go together, don't they?

This week's books

2008-11-09T13:31:00.000-08:00

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi

A 13-yr-old girl boards a ship alone to travel to her family in the Americas. She gets caught up in all the violence onboard between the sailors and the captain and she becomes a shipmate herself.

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

The author's style is to write a story around a painting. A young girl goes to work as a maid in the painter Vermeer's house and he ends up painting her, causing all kinds of disruptions and outrage in the household. I also enjoyed The Lady and the Unicorn by the same author.

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

A young adult book about a princess who is sent to marry a prince in a neighboring kingdom. Her lady-in-waiting and the guards who are escorting her try to kill her so the lady-in-waiting can pose as the new queen. The princess disguises herself as a goose girl and lives among the peasants until she can reveal her true identity.

The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg

A woman loses her husband to cancer and leaves behind her home in Chicago to start a new life. She buys a house on a whim, opens her own business, and reconnects with some old friends.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

2008-11-02T21:28:00.000-08:00

"If everything's the same, then there aren't any choices! I want to wake up in the morning and decide things! A blue tunic, or a red one?"

Jonas' world is orderly and safe. Every person's actions are carefully monitored and controlled to ensure the wellbeing of the community.

Jonas has been chosen by his community to be an apprentice to The Giver. As The Receiver, Jonas is to receive from this elderly man all the memories the world has ever contained.

When The Giver lays his hand on Jonas to transfer memories, Jonas is stunned. The apple his friend tosses to him is suddenly red. There used to be something that fluttered softly from the sky, it was cold and stinging, and it was called snow. There were once large, sorrowful animals that roamed the earth and they were called elephants. There was something else beyond comprehension that was called love.

After undergoing a year of these sessions, Jonas plots with The Giver to release all the memories back to all the people and then to flee the community. In the dark of night, Jonas sets off by bicycle into a world that he only knows through others' memories.

If you didn't read this in sixth grade (as my husband did), then you missed out (as I did) and you should read it now.

Pavilion of Women by Pearl S. Buck

2008-11-02T17:02:00.000-08:00

The Wu family is a powerful, highly-respected family who possess a great deal of land. The ancient Wu family has built their fortune and esteem generation by generation. They live in a rambling house full of enough courts to house their sons and their sons' wives and children, cousins, distant relatives, cooks, and servants to wait on their every need.

Madame Wu, the head of the family, decides that after she reaches her 40th birthday, she has fulfilled her duties as a wife and mother and will retire to pursue her own interests. She remembers her father-in-law sharing the family's library with her and forbidding her to read certain books that were intended only for men. She decides that she would like to spend the remaining half of her life reading those books in the library. She finds a small wife for her husband and then moves into her own separate rooms.

Madame Wu finds a priest, a foreign man from Venice, to tutor her in a little bit of English and they also talk of philosophical things. Madame Wu is blown away by his way of looking at the world, a way of respecting the individual's right to follow his dreams. She introduces these concepts to her family, and slowly the family untangles itself from one another and each person begins to follow their own path. A few of them work together towards a vision of building schools and hospitals in their poor community, others just grow fat and lazy, and one of them is struck by tragedy.

It's been awhile since I read The Good Earth, but I think I enjoyed this book better. It's very easy to read, each character in the book is unique and vividly drawn, and the overall message is a good one.

This is my 100th book of the year (#100 completely by accident, but at least it was a book I thoroughly enjoyed)!

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

2008-10-31T19:49:00.000-07:00

A doctor with a very analytical, scientific mind decides to study a haunted house using a tape measurer, thermometer, and careful notetaking. He invites three guests to spend the summer with him in the house to help make observations.

One young woman, Eleanor, jumps at the chance to have an adventure and leave the confines of her sister's house. She drives slowly to Hill House, drinking in all the new scenery and imagining herself living a carefree life.

I loved the banter back and forth between the houseguests and their reactions to the stoic housekeeper who only seems to be able to say three things, "I clear the table at 10." "I will not come if you scream in the night." "That's not what I was hired to do."

Eleanor slowly loses her mind during her stay in the house and the story gets creepier every time you turn the page.

Oh, and now my future daughter must have a cup of stars to drink her milk in. There's just no other way.

Booking Through Thursday

2008-10-30T07:16:00.000-07:00

Are you a spine breaker? Or a dog-earer? Do you expect to keep your books in pristine condition even after you have read them? Does watching other readers bend the cover all the way round make you flinch or squeal in pain?

That's the best part about reading library books - they already come equipped with the torn pages, chocolate smudges, bent corners, and frayed spines. If the book is new, then I have a lot of work to do! The only thing I won't do to a book is write anything in it - notes in the margins, underlining words, correcting grammatical errors, and even *cringe* highlighting stuff. It's the author's story, not mine! What they said is what they said and you shouldn't add to it or take away from it. That kind of annoys me while I'm reading and takes away my concentration from the book. Especially when the passages that they are underlining are mild parts that there is no reason to be underlining.

I read a book once where the person wrote questions to themselves all throughout the book - "What is the author saying? What does this word mean?" Translating words into another language and crossing out grammatical errors. And underlining passages that were so puzzling to me - why in the world did that person underline that when the next passage is so much more interesting? The actual story of the book faded into the background while I was dwelling on the person's inane comments. It was almost like reading two books at once.

The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent

2008-10-28T21:37:00.000-07:00

Sarah and her brothers must turn against their mother and accuse her of being a witch, in order to save themselves. This is based on the true story of Martha Carrier, of which the author is a descendant.

I thought it was pretty good. Not as great as I was expecting. The imagery from times past was very nice - churning butter and swishing skirts and all that kind of stuff.

My favorite part: Tom and his father are working in the fields and the boy looks out on the endless fields he has plowed and the endless fields still before him. He quietly walks back to the house and lays down on his bed. His father goes to him and sits on the bed beside him. He tells his son that he knows what he is thinking and that he needs to think of a reason for living, something to make all that toil worth it. His wife is his reason for getting up and finding the strength every day to keep going. He asks his son to find a reason for living and the answer the boy gives makes the whole book worth it.

How they could tell if someone was a witch: Throw them in the water and if they drown, they are innocent. If they float, they are guilty and must be executed. Uhhhh... did people back then not have a logical bone in their bodies?

Also, I hate Cotton Mather after reading this book. At least his father, Increase Mather ("It were better that Ten Suspected Witches should escape, than that one Innocent Person should be Condemned"), worked to stop all of the witch trial hysteria. Although to be fair, I looked up Cotton Mather on Wikipedia and some people believe he actually worked to stop the Salem witch trials from happening, so who knows what the truth is. Just shows how easily people can be whipped up into hysteria and can be led to go along with almost anything.

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

2008-10-26T16:15:00.000-07:00

Uhhhh.... okay... I don't really know what to think. I read to the middle of the book where Robert is in trouble and turned the page figuring he'd get out of it somehow. The next chapter was a story about a guy playing carnival games and the next chapter was about a guy planning his wife's funeral and the next chapter... wait a minute, what happened to Robert? Is that it? I flipped the book over and it says

I AM LEGEND

The complete novel, plus several more unforgettable tales.

Sooo...I think this is the only instance where I've ever thought that the movie was better than the book.

Bitsy's Bait & BBQ by Pamela Morsi

2008-10-25T21:09:00.000-07:00

I went to the library after work Friday night as I always do and pulled my holds off the shelf and then walked upstairs to peruse the fiction section. The sapphire blue of this book caught my eye and I flipped through it for a minute and then put it down and continued looking. Alofasudden, a voice over the intercom says, "The library will be closing in 5 minutes. All computers will shut down promptly at six p.m. Please gather your books, blahblah." Wha??? It always closes at EIGHT on Friday! This is my Friday THING - filling my bag with new books to arrange and admire and gobble up over the weekend. They changed the hours! Noooo! All is lost! I looked up and saw the panic on everyone else's faces as well. Better get what we can and get to the self-checkout machines because it sounds like they mean business!

So of course I went back to this sapphire gem that I was planning on going back to for a reconsider if no other books spoke to me.

But all is not lost. It's a good book.

Two sisters, Katy and Emma, mistakenly buy a Bait & BBQ shop on Ebay thinking it's a Bed & Breakfast. With no other options, they stick it out and learn how to smoke meat and handle nightcrawlers. They grow to love the little Ozark town and all its quirky inhabitants and all is well until Katy's ex-husband goes after her for full custody of their 5-yr-old son. The ex and his mother show up for the summer so they can collect evidence for the court trial, but they are also forever changed by the town, the people, and Bitsy. Made for a very easy and entertaining story. A++++ would do business with again.

Reading Challenge: Peril the Second

2008-10-25T09:36:00.000-07:00

Stainless Steel Droppings is hosting a frightening reading challenge for Halloween.

Peril the Second: Read Two books of any length, from any subgenre of scary stories that you choose.
Here are my picks for the challenge. I have three books to choose from and I'll probably end up reading all three, but at least there's some wiggle room if one of them doesn't keep my interest.

A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean

2008-10-21T20:25:00.000-07:00

The author of the book, Norman, writes about his brother and their shared love of fly fishing.

What most stands out in this story is the beautiful imagery and the relationship between the brothers. Norman is looking at the foam from the waterfall and thinking that "the speckled foam was eggnog with nutmeg sprinkled on it." But then Norman says the giant fish frolicking around in that foam was a "lucky son of a bitch" that Norman was the one fishing and not the more talented Paul. There's enough of this guy-speak in the story to remind you that this is a story about brothers and not Walden Pond.

... "One of life's quiet excitements is to stand somewhat apart from yourself and watch yourself softly becoming the author of something beautiful." (p. 47)

And later... Norman and Paul go fishing together and they have to drag along Norman's brother-in-law, Neal, who brings a girl with him. The two brothers bury their beers in the bed of the icy cold river and then stand in the hot sun all day fishing. Parched with thirst at the end of the day, they go to retrieve their beers, but the bottles are missing. They walk back to the direction of the car in search of their beers and spot Neal and his girl passed out drunk face down in the sand, completely naked, their skin bright red from sunburn. The girl has a tattoo on her tush : (LO/VE)

And on his last day fishing, Paul is about the catch a whopper when his Presbyterian minister of a father lugs a giant stone into the water, scaring all the fish away. Paul smirks and goes to the other side to try again.

It's a novella and there are two other stories in the book. The second one is about Norman's experiences as a lumberjack and I skipped the third. This title caught my eye because I vaguely remember my parents watching the movie when I was a kid.

It's Tuesday. Where are you?

2008-10-21T18:19:00.000-07:00

I'm fly-fishing with my brother in Montana. (A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean)

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

2008-10-19T21:42:00.000-07:00

Snowman is a guy who lives in a tree.

His only clothing is a sheet that he wraps around himself and he lives off of energy bars, canned meat, and the occasional fish.

The world Snowman grew up in was taken over by scientists who biologically-engineered or modified everything they could get their hands on - food, animals, babies.

Eventually, one scientist created a whole new race of humans who had all of the undesirable human behavior programmed out of them. These new humans, called the Children of Crake, are pretty naive about the dangers in the world and it is Snowman's job to protect them. Snowman is also one of few surviving humans left in the world.

The book seems to go nowhere at first, with the backstory unfolding slowly as Snowman hallucinates, ruminates, and dreams up in his tree. He finally decides that he needs to go take a walk back into town to stock up on another energy bar or two. He makes it back alive just in time to discover that the Crakers have encountered other humans. Annoyed, Snowman goes off with his spray gun to take care of them.

This book was just interesting enough for me to read it through to the end. Mostly, it was depressing and crude and I was glad when it was over, even though the ending was weak.

The Children of Crake are on the same path that the humans before them went down.

So what was the point?

The Child in Time by Ian McEwan

2008-10-18T21:50:00.000-07:00

263 pages for the Read-a-thon - The Child In Time by Ian McEwan.

Stephen takes his 3-yr-old daughter to the supermarket and when he turns around after paying, she is gone. The aftermath of how he and his wife grieve and eventually heal is heartbreaking, but there is a happy ending. I'm looking forward to reading more by this author. His writing style is beautiful and seamless and I lingered over many of the passages. A lot of his insights into human nature are so simply worded and spot-on. Wow. I really loved this book.

But why is there a picture of a teddy bear on the book when Kate carries around a stuffed donkey, not a bear?

Read-a-thon

2008-10-18T09:27:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted lately, but I wanted to write about the 24-hr Read-a-thon which is going on today. I'm not reading all 24-hrs today, but I am reading off and on and going to the bookstore today, so I'm doing my part! I'm reading The Child in Time by Ian Mcewan today.

Here are my favorites from these past couple of months:

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
A meteor hits the moon, knocking it off its orbit and the moon moves closer to the Earth, becoming gargantuan in size. Panic ensues, the world goes to chaos, climate goes haywire, and pandemic and shortage of food and clean water leaves many people dead. Miranda and her mother and brothers struggle to survive.

The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian
Someone lent this one to me earlier this year and I just now picked it up to read it. It is a psychological thriller that starts off with an event that will get your heart pumping. You read the book believing one thing but there is a twist at the end where you discover that nothing in the story is as it appeared. I was expecting some kind of twist so I figured it out in the middle, but it was still a good read. The book is about a social worker who is researching a box of photographs. In the beginning of the story, she is attacked while bicycling and that ties into the events that come later. Hard to describe. It's one of those books where you're turning the pages backward almost as much as you're turning them forward.

Silas Marner by George Eliot
This was such a gentle story and very easy to read. I liked it. The story is about a weaver who has to start a new life somewhere else after he was set up for a crime he didn't do. In the new town, Marner doesn't socialize with anyone and he becomes a hermit. He accumulates a lot of wealth from working long hours and his gold is his only friend. He is robbed one night and feels like all is lost. Then, a baby girl whose mother died in a snowstorm toddles into his house and he adopts her. He finds new joy in raising his daughter and even feels like his gold was restored to him through her golden hair.

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
This is a war account and not very entertaining or riveting, but the comradeship between the soldiers held me until each character left the story through their own personal tragedy. The writing is also very beautiful and there are many quotes I went back to over and over. I was surprised to see that it's translated from German -it flows together so well.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
A story set in the future where society is strictly controlled and people are arranged by hierarchy. The story is told by a Handmaid, whose role is to bear children for the childless Wives. A frightening story.

The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
The premise sounds kind of ridiculous - flesh eating plants taking over the world. Still, I don't read much science fiction but I really enjoyed this.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Take any old local legend of a haunted house still occupied by two ghostly women and make it true. The two occupants of the house happily tidy up the rooms, preserve jams, bake, and make clothes out of odd materials all while the local townspeople wonder whether or not people really do live in that house.

I hope everyone who is participating in the challenge has a great time!

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

2008-08-06T21:07:00.000-07:00

Fanny is the oldest girl in an impoverished family of many children. Her rich aunt and uncle offer to give her a home with a good education and a proper upbringing. Fanny sleeps in a small room in the attic and mostly acts as a servant, messenger, and companion to her aunts, Mrs. Norris (who is a penny-pincher, an opportunist, and despises Fanny) and Mrs. Bertram (who has her head in the clouds and spends most of her time laying on the sofa with her pug). Fanny has a difficult time because her older cousins, Maria and Julia are blatantly favored over her.

Fanny's cousin, Edmund, is very kind to her and takes time to talk to her and make her feel welcome. Fanny falls in love with Edmund over time, but a wealthy newcomer named Henry Crawford falls for Fanny. Fanny wants nothing to do with Henry. There are a whole bunch of love entanglements in the story but all ends well for Fanny.

I can see two reasons why people say this is their least favorite Jane Austen. One, the story takes a long time to start. You have to read about 1/3 of the book to get all the background and characters established before you can get to the good stuff. People probably lose interest and don't read it all the way through. Two, Fanny and Edmund are goody-two-shoes and nobody can relate to that. They can't even put on a play without feeling guilty and calling off the whole thing. Fanny gets out-of-breath just from taking a simple walk and needs to sit down and rest and be coddled all the time. They are always soliloquizing over moral issues and they can be pretty judgemental at times.

My favorite part of the book is when Fanny returns to her childhood home and is absolutely appalled at the chaos of the home and the brattiness of her siblings. "The boys begging for toasted cheese, her father calling out for his rum and water, and Rebecca never where she ought to be." "The three boys burst into the room together... still kicking each other's shins and hallooing out at sudden starts immediately under their father's eye." Her family offers her tea that never appears because the servant girl always wanders away, her sisters keep fighting over a knife, and there are so many kids in the family that nobody seems to even know who she is or why she is there. Of all Jane Austen's books, this is the only window we get into the life of the poor. The image we get is brilliant - so full of energy and recklessness and hilarity in comparison to the wealthy, stuffy characters her stories mostly focus on.

It's Tuesday. Where are you?

2008-08-05T19:11:00.000-07:00

I am in Moldova, the most depressing place on earth. These people are absolutely miserable to be around. I would rather be in Iceland. (The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner)

I am staying at my uncle's house and he is pressuring me to marry some jerk just because he is rich. I am secretly in love with my cousin but he just treats me like a child. (Mansfield Park by Jane Austen)

I just married my third husband Tea Cake. We have fun harvesting beans and he only beat me that one time. (Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston)

Behind the Attic Wall by Sylvia Cassedy

2008-08-02T21:54:00.000-07:00

A young orphan girl named Maggie goes to live with her great-aunts in a mysterious old house that used to be a boarding school. Maggie discovers a haunted room in the attic where a pair of china dolls calmly invite her to have tea with them. She visits the dolls often and eventually solves the mystery of who they really are.

Maggie's Uncle Morris is like the Cheshire cat, appearing unexpectedly and saying the oddest things that only confuse and annoy the poor girl. Maggie seems to be the only sane creature in the book, even though she is the one hearing voices in the walls and chatting pleasantly with haunted china dolls.

This was a cute book and reminded me of another book I read when I was a kid. It was also about a girl finding a haunted dollhouse in an attic. I think it was called The Dollhouse Murders, but I'm not sure.

Booking Through Thursday: Endings

2008-07-31T08:43:00.000-07:00

What are your favourite final sentences from books? Is there a book that you liked specially because of its last sentence? Or a book, perhaps that you didn’t like but still remember simply because of the last line?

I love C.S. Lewis' ending in The Problem of Pain. The visual of the whole universe playing a rousing game with a golden apple is breathtaking.

"The golden apple of selfhood, thrown among the false gods, became an apple of discord because they scrambled for it. They did not know the first rule of the holy game, which is that every player must by all means touch the ball and then immediately pass it on. To be found with it in your hands is a fault: to cling to it, death. But when it flies to and fro among the players too swift for eye to follow, and the great master Himself leads the revelry, giving Himself eternally to His creatures in the generation, and back to Himself in the sacrifice, of the Word, then indeed the eternal dance makes heaven drowsy with the harmony..."

The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs

2008-07-30T21:54:00.000-07:00

The title is pretty self-explanatory. A.J. Jacobs tries to follow the Biblical laws for a year. The first part of the book is dedicated to the Old Testament and Jacobs kind of half-heartedly follows some of the Biblical laws. He chooses a law to follow and then sort of attempts to follow it and then checks it off his list. The second part is supposed to be about Jacobs following the commandments in the New Testament. Instead, he interviews a few fundamentalist Christians and then his mind wanders and he begins talking about the Old Testament again. He interviews all sorts of people from varying brands of Christianity and Judaism during his experiment and even visits Israel.

I really struggled to get through this book. I finally put it down and just read it in bits and pieces in between reading other books. I was really hoping he would get something out of the experiment at the end. Maybe he would convert to Christianity or embrace his Judaic roots. I figured there would have to be some kind of spiritual payoff after going through all this trouble. Instead, he had a very nice moment at a Willy Wonka bar mitzvah where he just felt happy and loved everyone. Then, he cut off his beard and returned the Bible he had been using. And that's that.

30 books in 30 days!

2008-07-27T23:52:00.000-07:00

I created a challenge blog to read 30 books in 30 days during the month of September.

If anyone is interested in joining me on this challenge, you can sign up at the 30 books in 30 days blog here:

http://30booksin30dayschallenge.blogspot.com/

If you don't want to join the challenge but you have ideas for books that can be read in a short time, you can also post your suggestions!

2008-07-27T18:43:00.000-07:00

I love browsing book blogs almost as much as visiting bookstores. So here I am with one of my own! You can see on the sidebar a list of the books I have read in 2008. I'm not going to review all of those, but I will review the books I read from here on out.

Here are my top 10 favorites so far this year:

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
A Pigeon and a Boy by Meir Shalev
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta
The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt by Anne Rice
The Coffee Trader by David Liss
Life of Pi by Yann Martel