It's All About Books

Review: Where She Went by Gayle Forman

2012-02-02T06:00:00.000-07:00

Book: Where She Went by Gayle Forman
Genre: YA Romance-ish
Rating: ****
For: Fun
From: The Library

I read If I Stay last year and really quite loved it. I truly felt the pain and agony and sadness. My review here. And now spoilers for that book to follow in reviewing its sequel!

This book picks up a few years after the first one ended. Do you remember what Adam told Mia in the first book? He made a promise. Do you remember? This promise comes back to haunt him in this second book.

So, when she woke up she felt the need (which is explained in this book as it goes on) to distance herself from him. So they went their separate ways. Adam is now a famous rock star living the life, which, according to this book, is quite hellish. He is basically falling apart. It's extremely sad.

Mia is a famous cellist and is making her own name in the music world. They've had no contact these many years.

Then, when he is about to take off on tour, they bump into each other, and spend the evening/night/day talking, and remembering. Well, it's all from Adam's point of view this time around, so he is doing the remembering, and it's interesting to see how he perceives things. But the question throughout the whole book is... is there any hope for these two? Will they get back together, or just talk and continue on their separate ways?

The thing I found fascinating about this book is the detail of a what it might be like in the life of a rock star. Did the author go interview guys for research? Seriously, I want to know if it's this "bad" and sad and lonely and exhausting and wow... it does not seem like fun at all. Why would anyone aspire to this career? It's the dream for so many kids it seems and I wonder if when they make it, are they happy?

Anyway, but the book is really about Adam and Mia and for the most part I enjoyed the tension between them and the ever present question mentioned above. It's still a sad story, just like the first one. With hope though. Yes, there's hope.

Bottom line: I enjoyed it a lot.

Other Reviews:

I'm Booking It
That's What She Read
Book Journey
Rhapsody in Books

In Which I Write Letters

2012-02-01T12:47:00.000-07:00

Last year I remember seeing my awesome blogging friend, Ibeeeg, mention that she wanted to write more letters that year. I thought, cool idea, I'm going to do that someday.

So this year, I decided, I would give it try.

Then, I heard about this event: A Month of Letters, wherein we write a letter a day during February. What a perfect way to get a kick start on this letter writing thing that I wanted to do, yes? And at first I wasn't going to officially sign up, but now, I changed my mind. So sign up I did. And now I need to write lots of letters.

Which brings me to this request:

I want to write you, yes YOU, a letter (or a postcard, or send you some sort of fun thing in the mail) and if I don't have your address, as in that SNAIL MAIL thing, I can't. So if you'd like me send you something, send me an email with your address (jenstusue AT yahoo) or send me a Twitter DM (@SueySays) with your address and I will gladly add you to my letter writing list.

Back in the day, when I was young, I had pen pals. Anyone remember the them? I wrote faithfully for years to a cousin that was a few years older than me. Then my uncle connected me to a girl in Taiwan, and we wrote for years. Then my friend knew some girls in England, and so I wrote to one of them for years.

It was a blast. And now all this online connection has taken it's place, and fulfilling the same sort of need in me to connect with people all over the world. Yet, there's just something about writing a letter and mailing it that makes a person feel good... and truly connected.

I can't wait to get going!

Books Read January 2012

2012-02-01T08:56:00.000-07:00

Wow, this is a good start to the year! If I can keep this up, maybe I'll make that lovely 100 books goal, no problem!

Here's what I read this month, with my quick little blurbs and links to my reviews:

Torment by Lauren Kate: Daniel sends Luce to school in California to keep her safe and then she discovers she has a sort of power.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver: Lena has been taught all her life that love is a disease, but then she meets Alex and the questions begin.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green: Hazel meets Augustus at a cancer group meeting and they become fast friends.

Persuasion by Jane Austen: Anne gets very nervous to see Captain Wentworth again after eight years of no contact, but quickly calms down when she realizes he is probably going to marry Louisa.

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith: Cassandra and her family live in a run down castle, barely making ends meet, but their lives change when a new family moves to the manor next door.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer: Cinder is a cyborg trained to fix things and her life changes when the prince walks into her shop.

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins: Lola thinks she is over Cricket, but when he comes back after two years, she's not so sure anymore.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman: After Mia's accident, Mia and Adam live separate lives on opposite ends of the country, but then they get a chance to talk again.

May B. by Caroline Starr Rose: May is sent to be live in help for a new bride, but things do not go quite as planned.

Partials by Dan Wells: Kira risks her life to find the cure to the virus that is killing humanity.

Ah, they were all good! How am I to pick a favorite among this bunch? I can't do it, seriously. My only sadness is that I didn't manage to fit in a non-fiction.

Plans for February:

read more adult stuff, but not ALL adult stuff, like Jenny is doing
fit in a non fiction... leaning towards Unbroken
read another classic for the challenge, perhaps A Long Fatal Love Chase, or Ramona, both love stories for February.
read Atonement for book club
finish Inheritance and Path of Daggers... please let me finish these books!
read The Wise Man's Fear... please let me fit this one in!!
I got Overbite in the mail and I love to read that too.
most likely I'll read Midnight in Austenland before this month is over too!

Can't wait to get to them all! Wow, I do so love to read!

Top Ten Tuesday: Book Club Favorites!

2012-01-31T06:00:00.000-07:00

Oh my, how can it be Tuesday? Again!? Already!?

For today's Broke and Bookish Top Ten list, I've gone to my master list of book club books that we've read and have listed below what I feel have been favorites of ours over the years. This doesn't necessary mean that everyone LOVED and adored the book, but that it created a lot of fun discussion. Actually, it's best if there are differing opinions of a book, or if a book is a little off the grid for the particular group, so it gets everyone talking. Sometimes if everyone likes a book and it's just a "good" book then the discussion amounts to "yep, I liked it, it was good." And there's nothing more to say, right? So with that said, here's my list:

Top Ten Book Club Favorites

1. Life of Pi by Yann Martel (this one was totally different from what most people had read)
2. Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel (a fascinating look at Galileo's life which got us talking)
3. Charms for the Easy Life by Kaye Gibbons (I just remember this one as a favorite)
4. A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel (we laughed a lot during this discussion)
5. Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell (we STILL talk about this one, every single gathering!)
6. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (some people didn't really like this one.. GASP!)
7. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (the discussion for this one blew me away.. I was speechless)
8. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (always a book club favorite everywhere I think)
9. These Is My Words by Nancy Turner (lots of emotional talk for this one too)
10. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (many mixed feelings)

And a few failures, just for fun:

The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All by Allan Gurganus
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
1776 by David McCullough
Middlemarch by George Eliot

What have been some of your book club's favorites?

Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

2012-01-30T16:35:00.000-07:00

Book: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
Genre: YA Romance
Rating: ****
For: Fun
From: Borrowed from Jenny

I was a little worried at first about this book. I could tell I was not going to relate to Lola at all. Her life is so completely different from anything I've experienced or known. Not that that has to be true in order for me to connect to characters, but you know, I just thought I wasn't going to like her.

But I did after all, and she turned out to be an awesome character, even if she did make some pretty bad choices and decisions. Rocker dude, anyone? See, I already forgot his name. Him, I did NOT like. Ew, yucky.

But then there was Cricket, who is of course, the boy next door. No, his name I have not forgotten and will probably not forget for a long time. I really really liked him. Tall and gangly, a little awkward, so very nice and smart and sweet. I thought about him so much after reading the book that I even wore elastic bands on my wrist for a day (well a couple of hours at work) in his honor!

Anyway, so if you haven't read this one yet, and I know most of you have, there's Lola who lives with her dads (yes dads) in San Francisco. (I loved this setting by the way. It's nice to have been to a city when it's featured in a book, you know? Makes picturing it all so much fun!) And she has always been in love with her next door neighbor. But a few years ago, they had a bit of an issue, sort of a fight, mostly a misunderstanding. Then he moved away.

Well, now he is back. But too bad so sad, she is now totally over him and in love with Rocker Dude, who's name I forget.

Yeah, well, we all know how that's going to go! Or do we?

Bottom line: I loved it!

Other Reviews, just a few of the gazillions:

Alternate Readality
Jenni Elyse
Milk and Cookies
Chachic's Book Nook

The Sunday Salon: Taking it Easy

2012-01-29T16:54:00.000-07:00

It's been quite the mild, low key week. I've enjoyed that. Here's what's going on at our house:

Outside my window: Sunday afternoon and it's quite nice outside my window. A bit balmy even I'm thinking.

I am listening to: my YouTube favorites playlist. People, if you aren't making a favorites playlist ever there, you are really missing out on a great way to listen to your favorite stuff! Seriously. And I'm trying to decide what to pick for my song of the week.

Song of the week: So why is it the last few weeks no songs have stood out to me during the week, but this week I have several. And I can't decide. You are all going to think they are strange and weird songs. You are going to wonder what's up with me. Okay, we'll go with this one.

Have I mentioned Tiesto before? Most likely. He does that dj-ing thing, which I don't really get, but whatever it is, it's cool. A little head pounding if you have tendency towards a headache, but still. It's cool. So I discovered that he has a song for the Mission Impossible theme... music that I've always loved. And this video to go with it it cool too. I have yet to see the movie though.

My favorite MI music is this song from the second movie, especially at about 2:15 into the video. Oh my, blasting that in the car is so so awesome!!!

TV Talk: I've been all over the place regarding TV this week. I finished the first season (series? I think they say series over there in the UK!) of Sherlock. Awesome stuff! And last night I was in a mood so I watched the first episode of My So Called Life, and earlier in the week we watched the first episode of The Wonder Years. I also watched some random Robin Hood episode because man I miss those guys! And I watched episode 4 (season 4) of Merlin on YouTube, and also a couple of Matt Smith Doctor Who's. All this on Netflix of course (except the one YouTube one) So on REAL TV I watched Once Upon a Time and Downtown Abbey last week (more tonight, yay!) and American Idol. I tried to watch Revenge online but the episodes I need aren't there anymore. :( Oh and there was no Vampire Diaries! People! What ARE you thinkin? Um yeah, so, do you think I have a TV issue?

Reading Report
Books I've finished: This week I finished both Lola and the Boy Next Door and also Where She Went. Reviews coming this week!
Books I've started: I had great intentions of reading a ton of Inheritance this week, but instead, I ended up getting my hands on an ARC of Partials by Dan Wells, so I've started that instead.
Books I want to start: Anxious to start The Wise Man's Fear. It's time. It really is.

I am thinking: in regards to my TV viewing problem, here's what I think... I think that TV shows are like books.. they are stories, just in a different medium. So does it not make sense that if I like books, I will like TV? Yes? But so many book lovers say, blech, I don't DO TV! But I say, TV is truly just like books. Really. Hmmm... does this thought merit its own post? Hmmm....

I am grateful for: a really robust immune system! I keep thinking that I might getting something, but then, the next day I feel fine. Fight, body, fight!

What I learned this week: in order to get out of the house on time you must prepare your stuff the night before. I know. What a concept, eh?

Around the house: it's been recently vacuumed. And somehow we almost convinced one kid to keep the bathroom clear of towels and clothes. Almost. If we can accomplish this one little thing, we will have made huge progress in the "around the house" category!

Recipe of the week: For dinner today we had steak cooked with tomatoes in the crock pot, boiled potatoes, fruit salad, and homemade rolls. One day this week I made this recipe found on Pinterest and it was very delicious.

Favorite things of the week: going to the Everneath launch party, having some very relaxing no stress days (makes me wonder if this is a calm before a storm or something,) lots of reading, pondering books for next year's book club list

Family matters: One kid took a little road trip to see his friend this weekend. That sounded fun. One kid has gone on three dates with three different guys within the one week. That sounds kinda fun too. One kid is still coughing his guts out. His current song to learn on the drums and to play with his band is Bitter Sweet Symphony. And finally, one kid is reading The Hiding Place for school (in 7th grade... what do you think about this people?)

Things discussed around the house this week: blogger/author/librarian drama, computer ailments, the eating of fruits and vegetables, the price of food, how early to set your alarm so that you will still get up when you actually need to get up, and why do the bed sheets totally slide to one side every single night?

Things I hope to accomplish in the coming week: prepare for an upcoming kid birthday, write some real letters, exercise (because I seem to be doing crappy on that little assignment,) tweak more blog items.

The Blog Report: I did some book club reporting, both what we thought of our book and other stuff we discussed. I told you all about the launch party, and I told you what books I hated. I also begged lurkers to say hi, but I think I pretty much failed on that because most of the people that commented where my regulars! Too funny. Oh yeah, and I also discussed YA vs. adult books. I had fun this week!

Books Discussed at Book Club January 2012

2012-01-28T13:55:00.000-07:00

Here's the list of books we talked about last week at book club:

Karen W read:

Death Comes to Pemberly by P.D. James a fun look at what might have happened after Pride and Prejudice

Tessa read:

Persuasion by Jane Austen because it felt like time for a re-read. I think there's something in the air!

Jessica N read:

Framed by ? : sorry I'm not sure which Framed this is!

Bone by Bone by Caroll O'Conner: a murder mystery favorite!

Julie read:

The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt: catching up with last month's book club

Sam read:

Undaunted Courage by Stephen E. Ambrose: story of Lewis and Clark

Stuey read:

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson: interesting look into the life of a famous nerd who was sometimes not so very nice.

Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard: the story of the assassination of James Garfield

Michelle read:

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull: to keep up with her daughter who read them all in a month or so

Narnia series by C.S. Lewis: to continue keeping up!

The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff: only said that this was eye opening

Jessia A read:

Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson: fun thriller, scary... and I can't really remember what else she said!

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green: loved it, well four stars worth anyway

I Am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells: thought it was okay but that it caused sleep problems

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo: found it accidentally at the DI, read it in an hour or so

Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen: this Robin Hood re-telling come comes out next month, she read it on NetGalley, which lead to a discussion on exactly what that is.

Jenny read:

Don't Stop Now by Julie Halpern: a fun road trip book

Looking for Alaska by John Green: she did not really like this one, feels John Green needs a therapist... a discussion ensued!

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins: a fun romance with an awesome boy named Cricket

Trina

Before I Go to Sleep by S. J. Watson : ditto from above

Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr: the third of this series, she said it was okay

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park: a Newbery winner of the past and really really good

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen: one of those books everyone needs to read!

The Death Cure by James Dashner: to finish the series

Suey read:

Persuasion by Jane Austen: needed a re-read!

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green: loved it, five stars worth.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver: another dystopian, a little slow at first, crazy at the end

Whew! We talked a lot about a lot of books! Awesome.

Everneath Launch Party

2012-01-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

The other night I got to go to an awesome launch party held at one of the coolest book stores ever, The King's English. Finally, after years of waiting and cheering her one, we all got to celebrate the release of Brodi Ashton's first book, Everneath. It was so fun to be there and be part of the excitement. The place was crazy crowded, but filled with so many bloggers and authors and friends and family.

We waited in line for a long long LONG time to finally get our books signed, to a picture, and even a hug! But it as all good because there was food along the way, lots and lots of food!

My mom on the left, then Jenny, me and Brodi.
We also had Emily with us, but she somehow got ahead of us in line!

Yes, I had my mom with me this time because first of all, she lives right around the corner from Brodi. Second, she's never been to see this fun little book store and third, she's always wanted to see what a launch party was. So, it was perfect one to go to!

I was able to read this book for a blog tour a few months back, so click on over if you missed my review, but basically, I really think you should read this book!

Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

2012-01-26T13:53:00.000-07:00

Book: Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Genre: YA Science Fiction/Dystopian
Rating: ****
For: Fun
From: Amazon

I'd never heard of this book until suddenly, one day, the buzz started flying! And then the next day, I found out the author was coming to the library and bam, before I knew it I had the book and was meeting the author! Wow, it seemed like a really fast ride.

Have you noticed that most fairy tale re-tellings are set in a fantasy type world? This one, a re-telling of Cinderella, is in a dystopian type world with lots of science fiction-y things going on. I loved that unique difference. The other fun thing is that you could recognize the original fairy tale, yet... you couldn't necessary predict what would happen next because it didn't follow the very same line. I really loved that too.

Cinder, who does have a stepmom (well, a guardian) and two step sisters, works as a mechanic and is a cyborg. (Think the Six Million Dollar Man, for those of my era!) She's actually a pretty cool sort of creation, a mixture of human and machine/computer. But cyborgs are the scum of society and very much looked down on.

So one day, in walks the prince of the country, needing help with his broken android. Their eyes meet, and.... she overheats! Well, sort of anyway. But they become friends, and will in fact have several chances to meet again.

Meanwhile, there's a plague and that is a big problem that needs solving which Cinder finds herself right in the middle of. Also, there's political problems with the people of the moon... the Lunars. This is the prince's main issue. Oh, and he has to pick a wife at the upcoming ball, of course.

All in all, a really fun book with much action and a few twists and turns that you may, or may not, see coming. But beware the cliff hanger. Three books are to follow, all based on other fairy tales. They are going to be awesome and I look forward to them.

Bottom line: I really enjoyed it a lot.

Other Reviews:

There's a Book
Book Journey
Janicu's Book Blog
Book Harbinger
... and so so many others. I'm telling you, much buzz.

Belated Delurk Day!

2012-01-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! I missed the official delurk day, just like I did last year. But as you know, it's a favorite day of mine so I'm going to have my own delurk day... right now!

What does this mean for you? It means, of course, that if you consider yourself a lurker here on my blog, it's the one day of the year where I beg and plead for you to speak up and say hi and let me know you are here! You can do it!

As in year's past, I have a few questions for you to make commenting easier. I've thrown a couple in that will prove to me if you really ARE a lurker!

Oh, and please, regular nonlurkers are welcome to comment too. In fact, I'll beg and plead for you to participate along with the lurkers, okay? Okay.

Questions:

1. Do you play video games? If so, which ones?
2. Have you been to a rock/music concert? If so, who was your favorite?
3. Twilight fan? Yes or no?
4. Where's the best place you've traveled to?
5. What do you listen to in the car? Music, audio books, radio, nothing? Or other?

Bonus Questions:
6. Who's my favorite author?
7. Who's my favorite singer?

Now, go for it!

YA vs Adult: I Love You Both!

2012-01-25T11:26:00.000-07:00

Recently I've seen a lot of discussions and talk about YA books versus adult books and/or classic books. I always get a little crazy when I see these because I fall into both sides of the argument. (Surprise surprise!) That's because I love them both equally, and I can see the pros and cons of both.

Some of the things I'm referring to:

YA books are good for our kids because they can't handle the harder stuff.
Classics are good for our kids because YA is too easy.
Kids shouldn't be forced to read classics in school, it will kill their love for reading.
Kids should be challenged to read classics.
Adults shouldn't read YA... how juvenile of them! I will never read YA!
I'm a YA only person, I stay away from those complicated adult books.
YA has dumbed us all down. Yes? No?
Why is this particular book adult and not YA?
And why is this particular book YA and not adult?
YA is safe for my kids because they are cleaner.
The very term "adult" means there's bad stuff in it.

And on and on and on! Whew, does it make your head spin?

As one who loves YA books, I don't understand the mantra "I will never read YA" because wow, what a lot of awesome deep, thought provoking books you'll be missing! I think some people have the misconception that YA books are full of whiny angsty teenagers. I agree this would get on my nerves after awhile, but so many of these books truly have some awesome life lessons to learn. It makes me sad that some will never read them because of the way they are shelved or marketed.

On the other hand, the adult books and good old classics also have much to offer. So if we have the stance that our kids can't handle these books (or ourselves for that matter) once again, wow... what a lot of good stuff you are missing! Because we are scared to kill the reading bug in our kids, does that mean we shouldn't offer them some of those classics? Of course not. And are our kids too dumb these days to "get" them anyway? I really hope not. Besides, if we don't try to have them read these types of books, we'll never know what passion we may have missed feeding. This goes not just for kids, but for ourselves too.

Also, let's not be thinking of the terms YA and adult as a book rating system. (This was part of a discussion I had last night with Emily's Reading Room and Alternate Readality, giving you both credit for making me thinking about this particular aspect of the subject!) Some readers do start thinking this way. However, there's some YA that is so "gritty" and "edgy" that it will curdle the blood of a few conservative people I know. While at the same time, there's adult books that are as clean and as pure as can be!

I really truly think there's a middle ground here. Both types of books have their merits. It bugs me when people look down on YA and it bugs me when people pooh pooh the classics, and contemporary adult books. It's sad that this marketing scheme has put a lot of people into different camps. Books are books, I say! Read them all!

What do you think?

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books I "Hated" and a Question

2012-01-24T05:30:00.000-07:00

It's freebie over at The Broke and the Bookish today. We can list ten of what ever we want! So, after an interesting discussion last week at book club, about the fact that I seem to like everything I read, and I said, no I don't like EVERYTHING, I mean I DO like most things, but....and they said, so what didn't you like? And I said, ummm.... yeah.... well....there was something I didn't like I'm sure of it!!!

Now I've thought about it and so I give you:

Ten Books I ~~Hated~~ (well, that's rather harsh now, how about) Didn't Like So Much

1. The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus (too worthless)
2. Kiss Me Kill Me by Lauren Henderson (too boring)
3. Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel (too weird)
4. Hard Times by Charles Dickens (too bleak)
5. The Study of Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle (too wrong)
6. Love in Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (too twisted)
7. Peeps by Scott Westerfeld (too vampire wannabe)
8. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart (too feminist)
9. The Final Warning by James Patterson (too environmentalist)
10. The Fatal Waltz by Tasha Alexander (too I just don't care)

And as a bonus, here's a few that I didn't finish, like... on purpose:

1. The Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver (too one track mind)
2. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult (too devastating)
3. Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley (too NOT Gone With the Wind!)
4. The Wings of a Dove by Henry James (too wordy)
5. American Gods by Neil Gaiman (too freaky)
6. The Oldest Living Confederate Widow by Allan Gurganus (way way too detailed)

So here's my question.... now that you've seen an example of what I didn't really like, and if you follow this blog much at all and you see what I DO like... what books would you predict as something I won't like, that I might, in fact, hate?! Maybe I'll read your suggestions and we'll see if you are on the mark! It's a challenge! Find a book I don't like! (I do have the right to refuse, if you give me a suggestion that's like, against my oh so very high standards! Ha!)

Review and Book Club Report: I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

2012-01-23T19:40:00.000-07:00

Book: I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Genre: Literary Fiction, bordering on a classic, would perhaps be marketed as YA in this day and age
Rating: ****
For: book club
From: I read the library's book club set, but I do have my own copy that I bought from Amazon years ago, in fact, it was probably one of my first purchases ever from Amazon! What a strange thought.

This is a book is about a young girl, Cassandra, whose poverty stricken family has moved into a run down castle in England. This is in the late 30's I think. They have all the "modern day" conveniences though, as much of their house is an addition to the castle yet, they still use some of the castle for their living quarters. Her mom is long dead, and her dad, a famous author, has been struggling to find his muse again after taking many years off. In fact, Cassandra fears her dad is bordering on insanity. She and her sister and brother along with their stepmother are trying to make ends meet, but thanks to their "live in boy" Stephen, they somehow manage.

Then very Pride and Prejudice style, two lovely boys move into the bordering property! Things start happening and their lives are turned upside down. Suddenly there's dinner parties, and gifts, and trips to London and photo shoots and a "bear" incident that is ridiculously funny and love, of course, is in the air.

This was a re-read for me and I totally enjoyed it again this second go around. It was like a first read though, because I didn't remember many details, including how it ended! Oh man, that ending! It just doesn't make me happy! I hate it when characters make really weird decisions, know what I mean? But it's a sweet, coming of age story with a character that was a blast to get to know.

Bottom line: I enjoyed it a lot!

What the book club thought:

I wasn't the only one bugged by Cassandra's decisions and/or behavior there at the end. Though we did decide that she pretty much behaved like the love sick teenager that she was.
We talked a bit about how even in the 30s there was the division between the classes. (Downton Abbey anyone?) And that even though Stephen was basically a part of their family, and was even their breadwinner, they still couldn't help but look down on him. That makes us crazy! But, it's how it was then. Do you think it's still that way? Yes, probably.
What does the title mean? At first people thought perhaps it meant "catching a guy" or some such thing. But we decided it's probably Cassandra's way of saying that she wants to portray the castle to us, her readers, as she knows it.... she wants to capture it in words and describe it and make us feel it like she does.
We all enjoyed the journal style of this book. It made us truly feel Cassandra's voice and totally be part of the story.
We loved the bear story and swimming in the moat! Have you ever heard of swimming in a moat? Have you actually SEEN a moat? They are gross and disgusting! But this one has fresh water, so I guess it was good for swimming. If so, swimming in a moat, all around a castle, would actually be quite the cool and amazing thing to do.

Up next for book club: Atonement by Ian McEwan

The Sunday Salon: Let It Snow!

2012-01-22T14:59:00.000-07:00

It was a pretty normal week this past week. I managed to read quite a bit, and have lots of bookish interaction. Here's a few thoughts from the week:

Outside my window: I thought I'd take a picture today to show you what it looks like outside my window:

Yes, that's snow. Just a little, but it IS snow!

I am listening to: my Vangelis station on Pandora. Soothing mellow mood music. You know Vangelis? They are famous for this song.

Song of the week: Sadly, no songs have been rising to the top for me lately, but I never told you that I got an Il Divo cd for Christmas and this is one of the songs on it that I'm really enjoying:

TV Talk: American Idol started. There's been some really fun people go through on to Hollywood, so I look forward to the season. None that have totally stuck with me though, except that one named Philip Philips that totally jammed on the guitar for the judges. That was awesome. The Vampire Diaries was also awesome of course (except I'm still worrying about Jeremy) and the biggest thing this week? ELIJAH!

Reading Report
Books I've finished: I finished I Capture the Castle earlier in the week, and I finished Cinder last night.
Books I've started: Lola and the Boy Next Door
Books I want to start: Where She Went, from the library, sitting here, waiting.

I am thinking: that sometimes these posts take way too long to write and by the time I'm done the day is over!

I am grateful for: my crock pot that makes Sunday dinners much more easy.

What I learned this week: what SOPA means and that internet blackouts are a good way to get attention!

Around the house: I DID buy an area rug for the basement, which now covers up some of the grossness of that old carpet. It's been nearly 20 years since that carpet was put in and I just don't see it getting replaced in the near future so, cover it up!!

Recipe of the week: Ah the English scones from the link Hannah from Word Lily sent me. They turned out great and I loved them. I think tonight I'll make some more, because I made that fake mock clotted cream to go with and there's leftovers and that stuff won't last forever you know.

Favorite things of the week: book club of course. Everyone always gets nervous that they stay chatting too long, but I love it and wish it never had to end. I was tired this time though because I'd had one of those crazy running around non-stop days, so hopefully I didn't look too dead. The rain yesterday was nice, but it made me want to curl up and read and I couldn't. Getting a haircut is always a favorite thing!

Family matters: Two boys on antibiotics and hopefully we can finally kill the bug. We celebrated the end of Winterim for the two kids still at home in jr and high school, which means "normal" school starts up again this week. They've been doing schooling in a specialized subject for the past three weeks.

Things discussed at home this week: horror movies, dating your brother's friends, TFiOS, Popsicle bridges, a band called Of Montreal, how to say scones properly....

Things I hope to accomplish in the coming week: finish a couple of books, go to The King's English for a launch party, clean up the DVD mess, and I can't remember what else...

The Blog Report: Well let's see, I had some pretty good random thoughts one day, I reported on some bookish events, I recommended books to non-readers, and I reviewed a Persuasion and The Fault in Our Stars.

Review: Persuasion by Jane Austen

2012-01-20T21:28:00.001-07:00

Book: Persuasion by Jane Austen
Genre: Classic
Rating: *****
For: A Classics Challenge
From: own personal library (I have no idea where it came from originally!)

I've been wanting to re-read this one for quite some time now, so finally, with A Classics Challenge as a push, I've finally done it! I hardly remember my impressions of it the first time around. I must have been too young to get it or something, because I seriously don't remember anything about it.

Then there was the movie from just a few years ago that revived my interest in it. But it was weird, because I expected the book to be like the movie. Yeah, that was not right at all.

But first, in case you haven't read this one, though I assume most of you have, it's about this girl named Anne who was in love with this nice boy when she was 19 I think it was. But then she was persuaded to not marry him because it was just not right. He did not have connections? Or money? Or something. So she refused him and he went off to the Navy. When the book opens, it's eight years later and he has come back. And of course, they are put in a situation where their paths cross again.

Many have said that Persuasion is their favorite Jane Austen book, but I have yet to be persuaded to fall into that category. Pride and Prejudice still has that spot in my heart. Though I understand that this one is very real, and very emotional and very touching. I mean, there's that LETTER after all!

Also, Anne is the strong silent type too, which I think more people relate to then say Elizabeth Bennett. Though, according to that survey thing that was all the rage awhile back, I'm more an Elinor than either Anne or Elizabeth!

So, even though it's not my favorite Jane Austen, I loved it. I love them all! And now I finally have it set in my head what is the movie (running at the end) and what is the book (no running!) I did watch the earlier movie this week though (the 1995 or something one), just to see what they did with it (no running.) It seemed really quite true to the book, though I didn't like the Captain Wentworth as much. He seemed too old or something. But it was fun.

Bottom line: I loved it! (And now I can't write that anymore without hearing my book club buddies snickering. Stop it! Stop it right now!!!)

Other Reviews:

Becky's Book Reviews
The Literary Omnivore
Fyrefly's Book Blog

Random Thoughts About Recent Issues and Etc.

2012-01-19T06:00:00.000-07:00

Why is it I always miss the good stuff!? Wow, the excitement flying around the blogs and the author spots and the Goodreads this week! And I only know about it because you tweet and I click and then the things I learn... oh boy.

So just in case you wondered, this here book blog is for me to share with you my love and passion and excitement for books and reading and authors and anything else that makes me happy. I will not be objective because I will be full of my opinions, what I think and what I feel, which, as you all know, is usually positive, maybe even to a fault. But sometimes it might not be, and that's okay, as long as I'm not viscous, something I can quite honestly guarantee I'll never be.

Perhaps what I do here, when I tell you about the things I read, shouldn't necessarily be called reviews, but more like reactions or responses. They also won't be so called professional either, sad to say, because I have no clue what I'm doing, even after almost five years. It's just me throwing up words that will hopefully give people a sense of who I am with regard to the books I'm reading. And I don't expect anything in return, well, except for those connections and conversations that I love and long for. That's it.

And then what about this SOPA thing? I never heard of it before this week and then BAM! Of course, I don't understand much of it, but it seems to be that it boils down to the government controlling the internet. That sounds so dystopia novel to me that it totally freaks me out! After just reading Delirium? Oh yeah, this is just really scary stuff! Keeping my fingers crossed that in trying to fix something, we don't just make it so much worse.

That totally looks like a baking powder biscuit to me.

Other random thoughts on this fine day:

* I'm trying to figure out something very English to serve at book club tonight. I've done trifle before. Thinking scones this time. You know, the real English scones. Suggestions?

* I'm yearning for a book that's very similar to Downton Abbey. I heard one called The House at Tyneford by Natasha Solomons would fit the bill. Read it? Yes?

These are books that
I want to read, like, right now!
There's 54 books there,
I counted.

* I cleaned up my bedroom book piles yesterday. Manged to get rid of one knee high floor pile, but there are still three left. And not one spot at all on the shelf. This has never happened before.

* People have been talking about Adele for awhile now... I'm finally listening... as in... literally, right now.

* Having been on four cruises to date (I know, sad life, huh) this whole sinking cruise ship story has been fascinating to follow and freak out about! Sheesh, I can't even imagine. And only three hours after setting sail! And the captain abandoning ship! What a crazy crazy story!

* I watched the 1995 Persuasion the other night, as suggested by a commenter the other day (sorry I forget who.) It was quite different from the 2007 one that I'm a little more familiar with, but I think it fit the book better, especially the ending! But still, I want to re-watch the newer one now too. I mean, I might as well immerse myself I'm thinking!

* Yay John Green! Number 1 on the NYT Bestselling list! That's got to be a good feeling.

* I really hope you all like the little makeover here on the blog. I'm worried that the tabs are screwy in Explorer... but they look great in Chrome! I'm also worried it's too white and bright, like snow on a sunny day (as I said on a comment reply.) Do you feel like you need sunglasses?

Okay well. I better go now. But first I'm going to pound a nail in the wall and hang something.

Two Bookish Events: Marissa Meyer and Haven Kimmel

2012-01-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

This past week I was lucky enough to attend two author events at the library, one on Thursday and one on Saturday! Overload yet? Nah! I can take more! Which is a good thing, because there IS more to come!

A bunch of bloggers with Marissa Meyer
Jenni Elyse's photo, taken by Marissa Meyer's husband, I think

On Thursday we went to see Marissa Meyer as she came through on her Cinder tour. They had a small gathering beforehand just for us bloggers. Only about ten of us showed up though, which was fine since that kept it very small and intimate. She talked about Cinder and how it came to be and then we just asked questions and chatted. Very fun. Do you think this little practice will become routine? I don't know.. I guess we'll see, but that would be fun!

We then went to the main event and learned a little more about Cinder and it's series and that Marissa Meyer's "how I cam to be published" story is really quite the fairy tale. I'm guessing many authors would rather not hear that particular story!

Then we got our books signed. I've since read the first few pages and hope to keep going shortly.

On Saturday the library had what they call the Family Literacy Symposium with the keynote speaker being Haven Kimmel, who wrote A Girl Named Zippy, among other things. So, we (and when I say we, you know I mean Jenny and I... we have become quite the book event attending buddies!) went again. The keynote address was really quite different from what we've become used to. Instead of telling her story, or lecturing about one thing or another, she posed the question of how the publishing industry is changing dramatically due to ereaders, and is this a good thing, and how? And how does an author change with the industry? She genuinely seemed distraught by this question and quite emphatically dissed the ereaders. Then, she opened it up for discussion. Several audience members defended the ereader, and several agreed with the importance of physical books. All in all, it really made me think and I totally enjoyed it.

Here are some of the points/ideas I took note of:

sales of ebooks out did sales of print books last year
writers who are in it for the money don't care how their books are published
she has never seen anyone read their Kindle (or any ereader) for more than a few minutes at a time
is reading an isolating activity?
she feels like she knows no serious readers and there's no one to talk books with (she needs to find us bloggers, yes?)
everything going digital makes her feel like we are becoming a dystopian world
How will you read when the power goes off? (and thus the battery dies?)
physical books gives us a sense of sharing our legacy, they show our personality

After that we got our books signed (I bought copy of She Got Up Off the Couch) and then we went to two breakout sessions. One where some of the librarians shared their favorite books of last year, and one where a panel of local authors talked about how they became readers and how do you instill a love of reading in your own family.

The list of favorite books from last year was huge, but I starred a few that I really would love to read, and they are:

Before I Go to Sleep by S. J. Watson
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin
The Filter Bubble: What the Internet is Hiding from You by Eli Pariser

The local authors we enjoyed listening to were Kristen Chandler, Ann Cannon, Matt Kirby and Chris Crowe. Some of them were read to a lot as little kids. Some not. Some liked being read to, some not. Most of them agreed that you shouldn't force a certain kind of book onto a kid and let them read whatever they want! Anyway, it was interesting hear all their backgrounds and what made them love reading and writing.

Events coming up soon:
-- Brodi Ashton's launch party
-- Rebecca Stead comes to the library
-- Shannon Hale at Barnes and Noble
-- LTUE... if I decide to go... or not

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books I Recommend to Those Who Don't Read

2012-01-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

I think the subject this week over at The Broke and the Bookish is supposed to be the top ten books you'd recommend to someone who doesn't read stuff in your genre. Well, since I consider myself to not really have a specific genre, I'm going to answer this question the way I thought it first meant, which is, what do you recommend to people who just don't read.... at all... period.

That's pretty challenging don't you think?

And this is maybe a pointless list for those of you who DO read, but maybe you know someone who doesn't and this list might be fun. I hope anyway.

Ten Books I Might Recommend to Someone Who Doesn't Read

1. Harry Potter the first by J. K. Rowling... because it engaged the world, it might engage any non-reader
2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins... because it's a real page turner
3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney... because it's easy, there's pictures and it's so very funny.
4. Paranormalcy by Kiersten White.... because it's snarky about the genre, and easy to read.
5. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins.... because it's witty and suspenseful
6. The Maze Runner by James Dashner... because it's an awesome boy book and you know that boys (or men even) are more often the reluctant readers, right?
7. Bruiser by Neal Shusterman... because the writing is suburb and the subject bizarre
8. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card... because it's easy to read and has the wow factor
9. The Princess Bride by William Goldman... because most people love this movie so it follows that they'd love the book too.
10. Life of Pi by Yann Martell... because it's so different, easy reading and good for both young and old.

What do you think? Have you read these books? Would they be good for those who aren't book lovers?

Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

2012-01-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

Book: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Genre: YA
Rating: *****
For: Fun
From: Pre-ordered and signed... from Amazon.

It was a very exciting week last week, finally getting this book that I'd heard so much about delivered to my front door. Yes, it was "signed" (read scribbled) but no, it was not Hanklerfished. No matter, I just wanted to read the book!

This is what mine looked like.

I ended up going a bit slowly, which meant instead of finishing that very day, I managed to make it last until the following evening, but could NOT put it down in those last few pages.

Beware, this book tackles a sad sad subject... kids with cancer. But does so in typical John Green style, using humor and clever creativity to get you, and the characters, through it. In this story, we meet Hazel who is suffering with a form of cancer that has rendered her lungs pretty much useless without a constant companion of an oxygen tank. She is content to stay at home and watch TV and withdraw from the world. Yet still, when she goes to a support group, quite unwillingly, she meets a guy, Augustus, who is in remission from another form of cancer (one that left him without a leg.) They form a fast friendship.

Together, they suffer through the ups (because there are cancer perks you know!) and downs of having cancer. They know what it's like, so they can tease each other about it. They can make fun of the whole thing and laugh. It's awesome.

But then stuff happens, and one of those things includes an author that Hazel has revered forever. Ah, revering an author. Sounds a little familiar, no? And I won't tell you what happens from there, but you'll be glued, I can guarantee it.

The best way I've found to describe John Green's books, including this one, is that they are intellectually funny. They make you use your brain. You will learn new words while reading. You will ponder and think... you will want to get out a red pencil and underline things. You will learn stuff and you will want to remember it and live by it. His books are also a bit gritty and edgy, somewhat, most often, a bit depressing too. Things are not rosy in his books.

In other words, you will feel all the range of emotions. And I can't think what better praise to give a book.

On the back of the book are several blurbs by different authors... one of them I just had to share:

"The Fault in Our Stars is John Green at his best. You laugh, you cry, and then you come back for more." -- Markus Zusak, bestselling and Printz Honor winning author of The Book Thief

Awesome.

Bottom line: I loved it.

Other Reviews:

Book Harbinger
Things Mean A Lot
Reading Rants

The Sunday Salon: A Pretty Good Week

2012-01-15T13:15:00.002-07:00

Outside my window: It's a bit dreary out there today. Yesterday was awesome though, almost like summer.

I am listening to: Hans Zimmer station on Pandora. Rediscovering this one and all the fun soundtrack music that gets played on it.

Song of the week: You know, I can't think of a particular song that stood out for me this week. But I can share with you Josh Groban's new video for "If I Walk Away". It's really quite good, about what life is like on the road. It makes me sad though.

TV Talk: I've enjoyed being a part of the Downton Abbey buzz this past week. It makes we want a book about these people! I've just now watched the second to last David Tennant Doctor Who special called The Waters of Mars. Sad show and now I truly only have only one more DT one left. (Yes, all this time before when I was thinking I was at the end, I really had a handful more because he did "specials" that weren't technically part of the season. Don't worry, I got it all figured out!) The Vampire Diaries this week was crazy as usual, and I just know Jeremy is coming back. And ruthless Stefan freaks me out, but lovey dovey Damon is quite fun! I also watched the first two episodes of season four of Merlin on YouTube of all places. Not on Netflix but on YouTube! Who knew. Hey, and American Idol starts this week! So be ready to hear my run down of thoughts on that one now. It's always fun to see who I fall in love with right from the get go.

Reading Report
Currently reading: I'm very wrapped up in Persuasion at the moment. So fun to be re-visiting a Jane Austen book! UPDATE: I've just finished it! But am confused just a bit. I'll explain in a review.
Books I've finished: I finished The Fault in Our Stars by John Green the day after it arrived. I hope to figure out a review for it, but am dreading trying to find the words.
Books I've started: I read a few pages of Cinder by Marissa Meyer, who I got to meet this week!
Books I want to start: I really need to start and finish I Capture the Castle for book club this week! I also got Where She Went from the library (this one is TOTALLY to blame on Holly!) and need to read it quick and get it back.

I am thinking: that this past week was a really good Twitter week for me! You know, so many of you actually talked back! So, if you carried on a conversation with me on Twitter this past week, just know that I loved and it was appreciated! Thank you!

I am grateful for: stability. I tend to take this for granted, and I seriously shouldn't.

Around the house: I was hoping to report that I bought a new area rug to spiff up the family room, but that didn't quite happen yet, so maybe I can report that for next week? Here's hoping.

Recipe of the week: I can't think of one interesting thing I made this week.

Favorite things of the week: going to two fun bookish events with Jenny, making up fun bookish birthday cards at work that will be used for staff birthdays, reading a new John Green book, Twittering, finishing the Christmas M and M's so they won't tempt me any more!

Family matters: Big kids seem to still be adjusting and come home a lot as part of that, kid#3 went to bed sick which makes me quite glad it's a holiday on Monday so he can have extra time to get better, kid#4 went on a field trip this week to the Winter Olympic Sports Park, but sadly, no one was practicing the ski jumps into the swimming pool, or flying down the luge track either.

Things I hope to accomplish in the coming week: read a lot tomorrow to celebrate a day off, plan and prepare and host book club, help with a church activity on Saturday, buy an area rug!

The Blog Report: I listed my favorite songs of the year, did you go listen? I introduced you to Jane Austen, I sorted my Google Reader, and I reviewed a few movies. Oh, and I got threaded comments!

So, what's new with you this week?

My Top Ten Favorite Songs of the Year... I Think

2012-01-13T06:00:00.000-07:00

(I accidentally hit publish instead of save while composing this, so some of you got a sneak peek at this post on your Reader. Gah, I hate it when that happens, but anyway, here's the rest of the story.)

Last week Ibeeeg from Polishing Mud Balls listed the top ten songs for her this past year. Of course, I had to think about that and wondered what would I list for MY top ten songs of the year, if I were to do a post such as hers.

So after pondering a bit, and looking back over my music posts, I thought of some, and so now, of course, I must do a music post and share!

Do keep in mind, though, that these are not NEW songs from last year, but songs that I discovered, especially liked, played constantly, RE-discovered, and etc. And some of them I may not have posted and gushed over either, but still, listened to... a lot.

1. Silversun Pickups: Growing Old is Getting Old

2. Depche Mode: Shake the Disease

3. Pet Shop Boys: Go West

4. Porcupine Tree: Waiting

5.

6. Enrique Iglesias: Rhythm Divine

7. Muse: Eternally Missed

8. Daft Punk: Sea of Simulation

9. Blue Man Group: Rods and Cones

10. James Durbin: May (this is actually a more recent one, and technically not last year, but whatever)

Hmmm...I think I could continue on to twenty top songs. But I'll stop here for now. Do you like any of these? What were some of your favorite "new to you" songs this past year?

A Classics Challenge January Prompt: The Author: Jane Austen!

2012-01-12T10:33:00.000-07:00

Our questions for January's classic book over at November's Autumn are all about the author we are reading this month. My first classic of the year is a re-read of Persuasion and currently, I'm about half way done. Even though we are all quite familiar with this author I will go ahead with this fun challenge prompt!

So, here are the questions (in different levels according to how far we are in the book) along with my answers:

Level 1
Who is the author? What do they look like? When were they born? Where did they live? What does their handwriting look like? What are some of the other novels they've written? What is an interesting and random fact about their life?

Jane Austen
Born December 16, 1775 in Hampshire, England
Died July 18, 1817 in Winchester, England
Her novels include:
Sense and Sensibility (1811)
Pride and Prejudice (1813)
Mansfield Park (1814)
Emma (1815)
Northanger Abbey (1818, posthumous)
Persuasion (1818, posthumous)
Interesting fact: Northanger Abbey, though published after her death, was actually the first novel she wrote.

A sample of her handwriting

Chawton Cottage, where she lived with her sister starting in1809.

Level 2
What do you think of their writing style? What do you like about it? or what would have made you more inclined to like it? Is there are particular quote that has stood out to you?

LOVE her writing style! It always takes me a few chapters to warm up to it, to get into the flow of the style and wordiness, but once that happens, wow, it clicks in, and I love it. I feel like going around talking like that! I like that it's so flowery and witty and blunt, yet subtle at the same time. Ah, I don't know what it is about her writing, but it's truly amazing.

A quote that stands out? Wow, there's many and my mind goes blank! What is one of your favorite quotes, particularly from this book, Persuasion?

Okay, I'm off so I can do what needs doing today, so I can jump back into this book and finish it soon. And when I do that, then yes, I will re-watch the movie, and then when I do THAT, I will find a modern version of this story to read for Melissa's challenge! See the fun I'm having? :)

In Which I Sort You and Mark You Read

2012-01-11T10:59:00.000-07:00

So the other day, I spent a couple of hours finishing the organization of my Google Reader folders, which, of course, are still subject to change. I also marked EVERYTHING as read. That is something I've never done in all these five years. It felt wrong, but good. I woke up to 81 new posts, and came home from work to 120. I got that down to 80 again before going to sleep last night and now we are back to 167.

See how this is a losing battle? You people post too much! Yes, it's all your fault and not that I subscribe to too many, right?

But I can already see that even doing this much will help me to comment better and more. I have no idea how that works, but somehow it does. So hopefully you'll see me doing that.

And I thought it might be fun to list my reader folders here, because I know I like to see how other people organize things like this, so maybe you'd like to see what I came up with.

Author Blogs
Book Blogs divided like this:
Big and Popular (popular bloggers that get tons of comments where I want to see what they have to say, but don't necessary feel the need to comment, know what I mean?
Buddy and Challenge Friends (people that join in a buddy read or challenge with and I may want to track them temporarily, that is, until we might make some awesome connection or something!)
Favorites (yep, favorites, bloggers I've been reading forever, etc.)
International
Kids Blogging
New to Me (the spot to go if you are in the "trial" period!)
Often Commenters (you go here if you comment on my blog a lot, but I'm still getting to know you)
Random (the catch all spot)
The Guys (book blogging boys)
Top Favorites (the ones I will read and comment on every day)
Blogs about Blogging (maybe I'll learn something)
Celebrity Blogs (I deleted a lot from here, but am saving it in case a come across an awesome one)
Challenge Blogs (places created to keep track of challenges)
Food Blogs
Podcasts
Publishers
Quilting
Real Life People (usually family and a few neighbors)
Utah Authors
Utah Book Bloggers: Favorites (those I've met and become friends with IRL)
Utah Book Bloggers

Now I will leave you wondering, of course, which one YOU fit in! :) But let's just say I have a lot of favorites! And now I wish I could spend all day keeping up with you all!

Do you have any further suggestions for me? Ways to organize a Reader that have really worked for you? I'd love to learn!

How are your blogging resolutions going?

Top Ten Tuesday: Write Another One Already!

2012-01-10T08:56:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! It's time to write another book, even if you're dead!

1. Markus Zusak... yes I know. I could answer with him or his books for nearly every single bookish topic given to me. It's true. But, it's been a LONG time since we've had a book from him and I'm getting anxious. But he's working on it and if he has to go slow to crank out awesome books, that's just fine. But still... I hope it happens soon!

2. John Green.... YAY! It's been a while since we've heard from him too! But today that ends! I'm so excited. Happy The Fault in our Stars Day to you all!

3. Stephenie Meyer... I know some of you will not agree with this one, but I'm saying it anyway. It makes me sad we haven't heard from her in a long time. I hope she hasn't quit.

4. Harper Lee.... wouldn't it be cool if she wrote something else?

5. Wilkie Collins.... he wrote a TON when he was alive, but still, I find it fascinating to wonder what he'd write if he were still here.

6. Donna Woolfolk Cross... didn't we all love Pope Joan? And I thought there was going to be another one from her, but I never saw it happen. Hopefully it still happens some day.

7. David Wroblewski.... I loved The Story of Edgar Sawtelle and I don't think he's written another one yet... I would read it for sure if he did!

8. Jane Austen... of course. She needed time to write more before leaving us. Wouldn't it be great if had, like, stacks and stacks of Jane Austen books to choose from?

9. Diane Setterfield... we need more like The Thirteenth Tale, yes? We do.

10. J.K. Rowling... I would love another series... something completely un-Harry Potter related. Something a total surprise. How fun would that be!

What authors would you put on your list? Head on over to The Broke and the Bookish to link up and to see what everyone else is saying!

Mini Movie Reviews

2012-01-09T13:54:00.000-07:00

I've seen a lot of movies over the last couple of weeks, so I thought I'd tell you about them really quick-like.

Movies Seen at the Theater (I just love that the theater has not been made obsolete yet, don't you?)

Sherlock Holmes II: starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law
I mentioned this one a bit already, but am listing it again here. This is the second of the recently remade movies following the adventures of Holmes and Watson. You don't have to have seen the first one for this one to make sense, because it doesn't make much sense anyway. But who cares because the cheekiness, the special effects, the music, the locations... everything makes up for the confusion in the plot. I totally enjoyed it!

We Bought a Zoo: starring Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson
This one is based on the true story of a guy who, after his wife died, decided he needed to move away from all his memories of her. Besides, his teenage son was acting out at school and needed a move too. The family ended up falling in love with a country house that came with.... a zoo. They decided "why not?" and went for it. It's the story of how they make through those hardships, how they grieve the death of their mom/wife, and how they come together as a family. It's wonderful. It made me cry and laugh both. It's awesome to see Matt Damon in a "normal" non-action role. He was awesome. I loved it.

War Horse: starring Jeremy Irvine and Emily Watson
This movie follows the story of horse and how he bonded with his country Irish boy owner, but then was sold to the English cavalry to fight in WWI. The boy is devastated and vows to find him again. The horse goes off on his adventure, passing through many hands (including the enemy Germans) before ending back up with the English again. It's a beautiful movie all around. Except for the war scenes which are extremely realistic and awful (but good, if you know what I mean.) Another wonderful movie that I loved.

Movies Rented from Redbox

Crazy, Stupid Love: starring Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, and Emma Stone
I was a bit leery of this one, worried that it was one of those silly romantic comedies, with really not much comedy involved... and way too much "leave nothing to your imagination" romance. You know the ones? But it was raved so much about in EW and other "reliable" places that I wanted to see what I thought. Well, okay, so it had moments like that, but it did delve into the deepness that is a marriage relationship after 25 years. So I liked that it made us think about that a bit. There were some pretty funny moments too, and there was a twist at the end that I did not see coming. There was also a thing at the end that made me VERY mad and I couldn't believe the writers/producers left that in (the envelope with pictures if you seen it.) But, as you may or may not know, Josh Groban and a small bitty part in this movie, so of course I had to see it just for that reason and it was totally fun! Nerdy to the core. Sadly, he didn't sing. Oh, well. Anyway, I give this one a fair recommendation. It was okay.

Super 8: starring Kyle Chandler, Elle Fanning and some really cute kid named Joel Courtney
This was a re-watch for me, but I got it because I loved it enough to see it again, and besides the boys in our house hadn't seen it and I knew they would enjoy it, so we made them watch it! Anyway, yes, I love this one. It's about a bunch of kids who while filming their zombie movie they hope to enter in a contest, witness a train wreck that sets into motion some very creepy and strange goings on in the town. It's also about the relationship of a kid and his dad after the death of their mom (much like We Bought a Zoo.. hmmm... popular theme I guess!) The kids in it are amazing actors. The special effects blew me away and the whole nostalgic feel is a blast. My only complaint with this one is all the swearing these kids do. Sheesh.

X-Men: First class: starring James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender and Kevin Bacon
This is the movie that tells you how the Xmen began... how Magneto and Professor X were friends, then enemies. How Mystic came to be and a few of the other famous X-Men and their beginnings. This is also how the X-Men, for their first gig, stopped the Cuban Missile Crisis from happening. It's a lot of fun and worth renting to watch again.

Hey, and we got a Blu-ray player for Christmas, but we can't really tell any difference yet. These movies we rented from Redbox were Blu-ray, but...hmmm... I don't know.

What have you seen lately that was absolutely fabulous?

The Sunday Salon: One Week Down!

2012-01-08T16:30:00.000-07:00

My thoughts on the week, for what it's worth:

Outside my window: Very gray and deary, and you know, we had some snow flurries today and yesterday! What's up with that? Is it winter or something?

I am listening to: That James Durbin song I posted yesterday... May. Love it. But just before that I was watching Downton Abbey. I have one more episode to watch, and I'll be ready to watch the second season which starts tonight.

Song of the week: Besides the one linked to above, I don't have much. I have been searching for Zumba routines on YouTube and in the process have come across Zumba songs that I really like. For instance there's this one that is pretty much just pure percussion. Very fun if you're in the mood for something full of drums and such!

TV Talk: Vampire Diaries is BACK!! What an intense show. And the end? Oh. My. Word. Whew. (You can watch it... again... right here, if you want... and you know you do.) It's been fun to catch up with Downton Abbey finally. What a soap opera that is! I'm looking forward to watching more Once Upon a Time tonight too. That's about all (ha "all") the TV I did this week.

Reading Report
Books currently reading: Spent more time with Inheritance these past few days.
Books I've finished: Didn't finish anything this week.
Books I've started: Started reading Persuasion for the Classics Challenge.
Books I want to start: Got Cinder from Amazon yesterday. It'd be nice to read that.(Going to a signing on Thursday for that one.) And on Tuesday, I'll be reading John Green's book, assuming it actually comes on the day it's released. We'll see. (Dang, why is there no signing to go to for THAT one? Huh? Let's get John Green here people!)

I am thinking: that early church, though hard to get up for, is actually not bad at all.

I am grateful for: my new bed! Still, every night when I lay down, I think...."ahhhhh." :)

What I learned this week: that even thought big kids want to move and be on their own, they still like to come and just be home. I really like that.

Around the house: Christmas got all put away on Wednesday. That felt really good. It always seems so bare and boring afterwards though, you know? Anyway, I think I can say things are pretty clean around here. You know, sort of, anyway.

Recipe of the week: I made split pea soup in the crock pot with the ham bone from Christmas. Is that worth mentioning? The recipe is just throw in the peas, the bone, the water, some spices, chopped up carrots, potatoes and onions, and let it cook all day. We have tons of leftovers which no one is eating. I guess that will be dinner tomorrow.

Favorite things of the week: Going to a movie on Friday night while all the kids were otherwise occupied. That was fun. Getting back into sort of a routine was good. (The routine still isn't totally normal yet though.) Doing Zumba, on my own, using YouTube videos, has been very fun.

Family matters: Getting the big kids moved out was a big family thing of this past week. Yesterday we had two gigs to go to for one kid. He did an awesome job. Another kid had a field trip on Friday and that was a fun day too.

Things discussed: There was lots of talk at this house this past week about adjusting to new situations, roommates, and how after time, the awkwardness gets over.... usually. And how you have to just jump in and do stuff in order to find your place.

Things I hope to accomplish in the coming week: Going to see Marissa Meyer on Thursday, and there's a possibility of going to see Haven Kimmel on Saturday. That is, if we don't take off for a weekend getaway, which would be fun too. I would like to install our new Photoshop and play with that. Also, I want to keep working on blog organization, generally. I need to read more. Yes. Seriously. I do.

The Blog Report: Let's see, I did a couple of reviews this week. I listed my goals back on Monday, and I talked about reading with music or not. Reading WITHOUT music wins! What?

How was your week?

Random Stuff You Probably Don't Care About...

2012-01-07T07:30:00.000-07:00

.... but I want to share with you anyway!

Here's the book trailer for Dan Wells' Partials, which is unlike any book trailer you've ever seen:

Here's David Archuleta singing a children's church song that I'm very familiar with and it's quite impressive what he can do with it:

Here's Josh Groban with his brother, talking about how on Monday he starts another album!! Awesome, yes?!! (Do you think these boys look like brothers? Not much I say... except for their smiles. It's really quite strange.)

I didn't say it would be a good vlog from Josh Groban on Vimeo.

Here's a song from James Durbin's (as in the dude I liked last American Idol) first album. I love it. I'm trying to decide if I love the other songs well enough to buy. I'm thinking yes.

Okay, enough for now!

Ya got any random stuff you wanna share with me?

Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

2012-01-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

Book: Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Genre: YA Dystopian
Rating: *****
For: Fun
From: the library

I put this one on hold, like, forever ago and so when it came up for me, I dropped everything else to quickly read it. And quickly read it, I did! Whew, quite the intense book!

This is a future Portland where there are fence borders around the city, and also the country. Society has deemed it a disease to have the emotion of love, and so when people turn 18 years old, they are fixed or cured... by means of some sort of brain surgery. Lena is actually looking quite forward to this procedure and feels like her life will be safe and easy once she is cured. This will happen at the end of the summer and she is counting the days

But then, of course, she meets a guy.

And then, of course, everything changes. She learns that what she has been taught all her life is not really how it is. Very confusing. She doesn't know what to do and she is totally torn. The decisions she has to make are scary and frustrating. And the climatic ending leaves us all, characters and readers alike, totally breathless.

This world is very similar to other dystopian books. There are no choices. Music and books and all forms of information are limited. Technology has gone backward, and people who resist are locked up, or must run away and be banished outside the fence. So I didn't find anything particularly unique about this aspect of the book, but for some reason, everything seemed much more intense when compared to other similar stories.

At first, I got a little bugged with all the description of how bad this society is. It got to the point where I wanted to say, OKAY, I GET it already! But then again, I'm wondering if this was part of the plan to make us as readers just as frustrated as the characters. So that was the first half, but once we get to that point, then things really start happening and I think I read the whole second half of this book (not a small one) in one sitting. (New Year's Day morning I think it was!) That, and because the book makes one really think, is why it ended up getting the five stars.

Needless to say, I'm excited now, along with everyone else, for the sequel, because wow... I've got to know... what happened next!!

Bottom line: I loved it.

Other reviews:

There's a Book
Reviews by Lola
Book Journey
Erin Reads

As Seen on Twitter: Music and Reading?

2012-01-05T11:31:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago @bookladysblog (The Book Lady's Blog) posed this question on Twitter:

Do you listen to music while you read?

This question may have been addressed here before, but I, as a person who loves both music and books, always find it interesting! And I would find it interesting to see how my readers would answer the question too!

Now, as nice as silence is, and it is nice now and then, I, for the most part, don't like it. My house is usually rockin' with all sorts of noise, from live guitar and drum playing going on downstairs, to World of Warcraft/Zoombies/Minecraft and/or other video games, to blaring TV shows, to blasting iPods hooked to speakers. Not to mention the general kid sounds that go with it all.

Thankfully, I don't mind all the ruckus (except for fighting noises on the video games... ugh) and this is what I'm usually reading too, if you can call that music.

But now and then, I find myself alone in the house, with the silence. Do you think I'll sit and read to the silence? Not likely. I enjoy background noise and will often turn on a Pandora station or some other playlist on the computer to keep me company. And it doesn't necessarily need to be instrumental either, but I do notice that songs with words will make me stop now and then to sing along. But for the most part, even that's okay.

Also thankfully, I can read while the TV is on in the same room if someone else is watching it, but if I'm watching it and I try to read during commercials, yeah, that usually doesn't work so well.

So, what about you? Do you listen to music while reading? Or do you need the silence?

Review: Torment by Lauren Kate

2012-01-04T06:00:00.000-07:00

Book: Torment by Lauren Kate
Genre: YA Paranormal
Rating: *** (using a star rating now, click here for specific meanings)
For: Fun
From: part of my Borders-going-out-of-business stash

A long time ago I read Fallen, and thought it was pretty good, pretty intense and pretty different. This book, it's sequel, while I liked it okay, it was just not as good for me.

So in this book we have Luce being shipped off to a different school, by Daniel, her fallen angel boyfriend... to be protected.... from what I never quite understood. There, she makes some new friends, learns some new angel mythology things and fights with Daniel every time he comes to see her. Much of this story, actually, I just didn't get.

But did that stop me from reading it? No, it was a quick easy read and one that didn't drag or make me lose interest... so that's something. And Luce is okay, except that she picks a fight with Daniel over really stupid things... and Daniel, he's just... boring. But I really liked the new friends, especially Miles! So that's something too!

I don't know... maybe these angel books just aren't my thing?

Bottom line: It was okay... exciting in parts and confusing in others.

Other Reviews:

Annette's Book Spot
Books With Bite
Debbie's World of Books
Amy Reads

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I'm Excited to Read in 2012

2012-01-03T08:53:00.000-07:00

Wahoo! Here's a list of books I'm excited to read this year! Some will just be coming out, some I just haven't been able to get to until now.

1. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green: January 10th! One week! Yay, so excited! Those that got their copy early and read it say it's awesome. Of COURSE it's awesome... what else could it be, right?

2. The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss... this one came out last year, I bought it, but never read it. It was on, like, everyone's best of 2011 lists! I'm going to read it this month, I swear.

3. Crooked Letter Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin... this one I got LAST year for Christmas and it also showed up on many best of lists... so what the heck am I waiting for?

4. Partials by Dan Wells... this comes out end of February. I'm hoping to get my hands on an ARC circulating through the library staff. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

5. Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale... it's been a long time since we've read a new Shannon Hale book, so I'm excited. When does it come out again? Next month too?

6. Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen... I need more Robin Hood stories for sure. I look forward to this one.

7. The Twelve by Justin Cronin... the sequel to The Passage which does come out this year, yes? I think so. I'll be there.

8. Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak... will this come out this year? Oh, please yes, let it!! I don't know if anyone knows what's going on with this book, but I think there's a chance.

9. Persuasion by Jane Austen.... I've been very anxious to re-read this one all last year. THIS year, it's going to happen.

10. Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver... a lot of people are putting this on their list today, and as I just barely finished Delirium yesterday and felt so... I don't know... CRAZY at the end, I suppose put me on that band wagon too! Though I'm not sure I really WANT to know what happens next, you know? Oh boy. Scary.

To join in the list making, be sure to link up over at The Broke and the Bookish!

Goals for 2012: Bookish and Otherwise

2012-01-02T16:03:00.000-07:00

Okay fine. I'll make another little list!

Reading Goals... all very similar to last year
1. Read one NF book a month
2. Read one classic book a month and answer questions posted for this challenge
3. Read one already acquired ARC a month and catch up (ha)
4. Read one book club book a month
5. Read one literary fiction and/or historical fiction book a month
6. Catch up on a bunch of series'.
7. Read from my own stacks and really try hard to not add to those stacks!
8. BUT... still use the library too.

Blogging Goals
1. Mark Google Reader as ALL READ and start over, once and for all
2. Purge Google Reader and THEN start over.
3. Leave more comments... as always... more comments, more comments!
4. Give my blog a make over... a new fresh look.
5. Change my ratings system to a star system to match Goodreads
6. Think of something fun and interesting to do to mark the five years of blogging date!

"Life's Other Adventures" Goals
1. Try Zumba and see if it works.
2. ~~Stop eating~~ Eat healthier!
3. Do crunches every day (that's DO crunches not eat them!)
4. Conquer anxiety. ( I can dream, right?)
5. Archive all the home movies.
6. Decorate the bedroom
7. Start quilting again
8. Write more real "in the mail" cards and letters.

Ummm... I think that's good for now. Any hints, helps or suggestions on any of my goals? Throw them at me!

The Sunday Salon: Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T14:37:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone! Happy New Year! I hope you have many wonderful things to look forward to this year. It's been a year since I started doing this journal-y Sunday post and it seems to be a good thing, so I think I'll keep it up.

Outside my window: It's smack in the middle of the day on Sunday! That is new! We have early church this year, which means I'll have the whole afternoon to, you know, hang out. The past week has been beautiful, speaking of outside my window, and it's blue and sunny and clear and cold. But still, I'd like some snow please.

I am listening to: Pandora... on my newly created Jonsi station. That's because Jonsi did the soundtrack for We Bought a Zoo and I was intrigued. It's very mellow, strangely hypnotic type music. I have no better description.

Song of the week: Here's an example of a Jonsi song from We Bought a Zoo:

TV Talk: Oh boy, I've been very much into Doctor Who this week. Wow. The end of season four, though I still have one more episode left... an episode I'm avoiding because it's titled "The Next Doctor" which makes me think we'll be making the transition from this:

to this:

Now, I've heard really good things about this last doctor, but I will so much miss the other one! Especially the way he has made me look at the word "well" in a whole new way:

Let's see. I'm hoping there's an episode of Once Upon a Time on tonight. Anyone know? And I watched the first episode of Revenge awhile back and I think I'd like to watch another one. We got Supernatural season 1 on DVD for Christmas and my daughter took that over and went ballistic. She has now way passed me up!

Reading Report
Books I've finished: This week I finished The Iron Daughter and Torment, both good and interesting for the most part.
Books I've started: I got Delirium from the library and yes have started it!
Books I want to start: The Wise Man's Fear is going to be next, I swear it is!

Oh, and hey, I copied a lot of people and did a graph of my reading over the years. Want to see?

Can you guess what year I started book blogging? You'd think that all that blogging and reading blogs would have taken away time from reading books, right? Strange how that doesn't really work that way. Man, I wish I could see what the previous decade of the 90s would look like graphed out like this! I would guess I was reading maybe 40 or so books a year... maybe 30. Gosh, I have no idea. But I do know that when I started keeping track in 2002, I thought I was really revving up the reading then.

Well, that was fun! (Did you see how I snuck that in here so you didn't notice I did yet another reading wrap up post? Clever, yes?)

I am thinking: that I better get going on Inheritance and Path of Daggers before I totally forget I was even reading them. I'm also thinking that I want to see War Horse before the holidays are officially over... that leaves tomorrow.

I am grateful for: the end of one year and the beginning of another, though it always makes me sad a little, and nervous a little.

What I learned this week: that two weeks of a "doing nothing" vacation is just a touch too long.

Around the house: it's one huge mess! I did put away Christmas gifts, but the decor has not gone yet. And it's still very much cluttered and lived in and there's no way to get a handle on that until everyone goes back to school.

Recipe of the week: Not much cooking going on around here this week.

Favorite things of the week: Going to see We Bought a Zoo, seeing out of state family, sleeping in, reading, doing year end blog posts

Family matters: Kid #1 is supposed to move out tomorrow. He's feeling a bit leery suddenly. He's also sick and I hope we all don't get it. Kid #2 starts back to college on Wed. so she will move back either tomorrow or Tuesday too. It will seem weird without them so suddenly. Kids 3 and 4 start back on Tuesday, but with weird schedules for a week. I hope we figure it out without too much stress. It's going to be an interesting week trying to get them up and make them go to bed at "normal" hours.

Things I hope to accomplish in the coming week: put away Christmas, go to South Pacific at the theater, get back on a routine, call the dentist

The Blog Report: I loved doing many year end wrap posts this past week. Here are the links if you missed them and are interested: Reading in 2011 by the Numbers, Ten Best Bookish Events of the Year, Year End Book Survey, Favorite Books of the Year

Here's to a new year of reading and books!

Review: The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

2011-12-31T15:50:00.000-07:00

Book: The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa
Genre: YA Fantasy
Rating: A
For: Fun
From: First the library, then I bought it, then it has pages missing so I took it back, but THEN I got it as a gift from my Secret Santa Blogger Exchange. Whew, it was a little crazy!

This book is the second in the Iron Fey series which continues the adventures of Meghan who is half fairy from the summer court. In this book, the scepter that controls the seasons is passed from the summer court to the winter, but the bad guys (the Iron Fey) steal it and the job gets blamed on Meghan, so she has to make things right. Easier said than done!

She has help from her two guys, Prince Ash and Puck, and also a bunch of other wonderfully fun characters she meets along the way.

I don't really know what else to say about this one except that it had me turning the pages and very involved and ended with a twist that makes me anxious to go right to the next one. I think the thing I enjoy most about these books are the fun characters. The story line and plot are pretty ho hum, but the characters drive it along. The love triangle is stressful because both guys are pretty cool and I have no idea which one I'm cheering for.

Bottom line: I enjoyed it a lot!

Other Reviews:

Small Review
Miss Remmers' Reviews
Avery's Book Nook
Polishing Mud Balls

Review: Blood Red Road by Moira Young

2011-12-31T07:00:00.000-07:00

Book: Blood Red Road by Moira Young
Genre: YA Dystopian
Rating: A
For: Fun
From: Bought it at a book signing

When I went to the above mentioned book signing, blogger friend Enna Isilee from Squeaky Books was gushing her heart out about this book... a book I'd not even really heard of. Then several other bloggers at the event joined her in the gushing. I was like, wow, I better read this book or something!

So now having read it I must say I probably won't be jumping on the gushing band wagon necessarily, but I WILL say that it is one of the better and unique and crazy intense dystopian books I've read.

This story is about a girl named Saba who has a twin brother named Lugh and they have a little sister named Emmi. They live in a desolate barren part of a future Earth and one day, some really nasty dudes come and kidnap her brother. Yes, and so the whole book is her adventure, and there are many, in following him and rescuing (hopefully) him.

This future world is a nasty place. Wow. There's some really creepy people in charge, and you aren't sure who are the good guys and who are the bad, and Saba ends up fighting for her life, literally. But there's a guy and he's cool but he freaks her out and then she saves him and then he saves her and then maybe she can let herself like him, but maybe not.

This one is written in a strange no-quotation style, with lots of weird grammar much like the Chaos Walking series. It takes some getting used to, but really does make you feel immersed in their world and gets you into the head of our main character. It also reminded me a bit of Ship Breaker with the grittiness and roughness of their lives.

So yes, when you are in the mood for another fabulous dystopian, choose this one!

Bottom line: I really liked it a lot.

Other Reviews:

Squeaky Books
Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog
Rhapsody in Books
The Book Nest

Year End Number Crunching 2011

2011-12-30T13:00:00.000-07:00

I did a pretty lousy job keeping track of the numbers this year, but I've still figured it out thanks to Goodreads. Here's what it shakes down to be:

Total Books Read: 79 (So much for that particular 100 books goal this year!)
Total Re-reads: 5 (counted in the above)
Total Pages: 31,666

Authors
Men: 31
Women: 48

For:
Book Club: 7
Challenges: 4 (mostly RIP, though I think I did couple others and just didn't count them here)
Blog Tours: 5
Reviews for ARCs received: 9
Read Alongs: 7
Utah Authors: 19 (some of these are also included in other categories)
On my own for fun: 41

From:
The library: 14
My own stash: 59
Borrowed: 6

Genres
YA: 48
Adult: 31

From the YA category:
Science Fiction/ Fantasy (including dystopian, paranormal, horror, steam punk, etc.): 34
Romance: 1
Other (realistic fiction): 11
Middle Grade: 2 (some of the above books should probably be in this category, technically)

From the Adult category:
Non Fiction: 6
Classics: 4
Literary Fiction: 7
Science Fiction/ Fantasy (including dystopian, paranormal, horror, etc.): 11
Historical Fiction: 0 (are you kidding me?)
Romance: 1

My observations:

Well, wow. I didn't do much in the challenges area! And I read much less ARCs for review than last year.
Non fiction went up! I did really well reading a NF book a month for the first half of the year. I will try to do that again... well... and make it last all year long.
I lost ground with the amount of YA books I read and usage of the library. Interesting.
Most everything else stayed about the same percentage-wise compared to the past years.
I'm still sad about that classics number... and the literary fiction number. Gosh, why can't I fit more of those in? They end up being my favorites of the year for the most part.
Wait... did I really and truly not read any historical fiction this year? Maybe I did but put it in a different category? THAT has got to change too.
I would have thought that even though my total number was down from last year that my pages would be about the same, but nope, they are down about 5000 too. Do you think it's the reading slump I've been in this last while? Or maybe the big trip when I thought I'd read, but just didn't? Probably.
HEY! But I DID do a pretty good job at supporting local Utah authors, yes?

Have you crunched the numbers yet? How did things stack up for you?

Ten Best Bookish Events of the Year

2011-12-29T07:00:00.000-07:00

It's the end of the year and time for reflection on the past year. You know how the news people think back on the top ten stories of the year in news? And the entertainment people think back on the top ten stories in the celebrity world? Well, here's my version of that... the top ten stories in my bookish life this past year. (I know some of them have been mentioned in yesterday's post, so hopefully a little repetition won't bother you too much!)

1. Markus Zusak Comes to the Library! We heard this news at the end of the year 2010 and couldn't believe it was even true! But come he did! We went early and stood in line to get tickets, then went early and stood in line to get in, then stood in line to get the book signed, then waited afterward for friends to get books signed. I have no idea how many hours we devoted to this event, but every one of them was worth it. This author was AMAZING to listen to, so very humble and sweet and funny and cute. He signed for SEVEN hours after his presentation, giving every fan individual attention, writing personal messages and drawing in every book. It was an author signing unlike any other, and definitely a fanatic fan's dream come true. There's talk he may come again, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed we get to have this experience a second time.

2. The Way of Kings Read along: I discovered the fun of buddy reads, or read alongs, last year, so this year it was fun to continue that. One of my favorites was reading The Way of Kings with several different wonderful, very organized, very intelligent bloggers. The questions were fun, the discussion was detailed and vigorous and I loved reading this awesome huge fat epic book together and finding that everyone loved it just as much as I did.

3. Jenny Starts Blogging! I also mentioned this in yesterday's post, but I think some of you know what I mean when I say how fun it is to see someone you've been bookish friends with for years (Jenny grew up down the street from me, then has been coming to book club for years, then started writing very fun reviews on Goodreads) finally start their own blog and join this online bookish party! I knew her particular style would take well to blogging, and I was right. She now has her own following and I've loved seeing it all happen.

4. Working at an Author Event: Finally, just a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to work behind the table sitting by the authors, at an author event at the library where I work. This is actually another thing that I would have never predicted would happen for me. I would have never believed you had you told me this was going to happen, even just a year ago. Now, I'm hoping it will just be the first of many opportunities. And here's hoping I find my grove at being on the other side of the table.

5. Beyonders launch party: I went to handful of launch parties this year, but the one in March by Brandon Mull for his new Beyonders series beat all! This is a rockin' launch party for sure! Very oriented to the kids, with a comedy troupe, support by many other local authors, slide shows, music and all sorts of craziness! It was fun to be there.

6. Christopher Paolini Experience: This was another wild and crazy event held at the library this year. It was fun to get riled up about the signing rules that came with this particular author, and then manage to get around those rules by getting our books signed at a different location! It was sort of the opposite experience as Markus Zusak, with this author who was a bit of a "rock star" complete with body guard and all, yet at the same time it was fun to be part of the hoopla and excitement.

7. Blogger party in March: 2011 was the third year we had Utah blogger get-togethers. In March of this past year, we had a gathering at the Golden Corral where we burst the seams of the private room! It was insane how many bloggers and authors showed up! It was really fun and hopefully we'll be able to keep these events going, even if the amount of bloggers continues to overwhelm.

8. Being nominated for a BBAW award: I've participated in the the Blogger Appreciation Week since the beginning. The awards part of this event is always a fun thing, but can also make one think one will never be "good enough." Well, this year I felt loved because I was nominated for best eclectic blog. Nothing much came of it, but the stroke to the blog ego was good enough for me and a highlight of the bookish year.

9. Markus Zusak tweets: Speaking of Markus Zusak... in previous years when I've wanted to learn about him, I felt very stalker-ish (what else is new, right?) trying to find his internet presence. It was sad because there really was nothing out there. No website, no Facebook, no blog, no Twitter. Well, this year, that all changed, and he started a Facebook, AND a Twitter. And just as he proved at his signing, he is also proving with his new found connection on the internet.... that he truly seems to love his fans and feels very appreciative of all the praise coming his way. If you tweet him and say something lovely about his books... he will tweet back, as I found when I tried this. In fact, he's responded to me three times. I know this seems like a small thing, but seriously, when you consider that at the beginning of the year he was really no where out there, and now he TALKS back? It's just beyond cool.

10. Becoming IRL friends with so many Utah bloggers: I've become friends slowly but surely with several Utah bloggers after meeting them at our parties, but this year, that seems to be happening even faster. I love it. I love going to the bookish events, the launch parties, the signings, and seeing all sorts of people that have become true, real, face to face friends. It doesn't get better than that. This is what this bookish blogging hobby is really all about, don't you think?

Wow, has it been a crazy fun year or what? I can't even imagine what this next year might bring! Here's hoping it's even a little bit as fun as this last year has been! I live for this stuff. Keep it coming! :)

I'd love to know what your top ten bookish events have been this year. Let me know if you post a list!

End of Year Book Survey 2011

2011-12-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

And now I give you the End of Year Survey by The Perpetual Page-Turner, something I did last year and enjoyed and something I have a feeling will be a bit of a year end tradition! Yay! It's a bit long, but hopefully some of you will have fun looking it over and join in over at The Perpetual Page-Turner and link up!

Bookish Bests

1. Best Book You Read In 2011?

This is so so hard because I read a lot that I loved, but I think I'm going to have to go with The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. And I think the reason why is because it's so different and so unlike any book I've read, that it just really made a huge impression.

2. Most Disappointing Book/Book You Wish You Loved More Than You Did?

I was sad that upon re-reading Middlemarch, I didn't love it more. It was a disappointing re-read. I remember loving it before, but this time I just didn't. Yes, that was quite sad.

3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2011?

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson surprised me because I thought it was just going to be a normal, fun, simple YA book, but it turned out to be very deep and touching and emotional and I loved it! I totally didn't expect to have the reaction to it that I did.

4. Book you recommended to people most in 2011?

I read Major Pettigrew's Last Stand early on in 2011 and ended up recommending that a lot throughout the year.

5. Best series you discovered in 2011?

The Seven Realms series, and The Kingkiller Chronicles

6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2011?

Cinda Williams Chima, Patrick Rothfuss, Erin Morgenstern, Jandy Nelson, Helen Simonson

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?

I think Under the Dome by Stephen King was a bit out of my comfort zone and the whole horror genre is a bit new for me even though I read several this year that could be categorized as such.

8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2011?

I would say both Mr. Monster and I Don't Want to Kill You by Dan Wells (#2 and 3) in his series, were thrilling and unputdownable.... very much so.

9. Book you most anticipated in 2011?

Underdogs by Markus Zusak... finally, I can say I've read every one of his books!

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2011?

The cover of Brodi Ashton's book Everneath is pretty awesome! This book comes out in a month!

11. Most memorable character in 2011?

Kvothe from The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss is a pretty awesome and memorable character. I can't WAIT to get to him again in the next book!

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2011?

The Night Circus fits this category perfectly, beautifully written by Erin Morgenstern.

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2011?

I don't know how to answer this one! I mean, all my favorites had an impact of some sort of another. My favorites list that I posted yesterday can be found here. Yeah, all of them made me think or stuck with me in one way or another.

14. Book you can't believe you waited UNTIL 2011 to finally read?

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Leguin... while this wasn't one of my favorite books of the year, I know it's quite the fantasy classic so it's weird to me that I hadn't read it already.

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2011?

I can't think of a specific favorite passage at the moment, but pretty much every word Markus Zusak writes is something I feel the need to hug close and remember.

16. Book That You Read In 2011 That Would Be Most Likely To Reread In 2012?

Hmmm... speaking of MZ, if his new book doesn't come out this year, I'll probably re-read one of his old ones... again.

17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!

I think there are several scenes in The Night Circus that took my breath away.

Book Blogging/Reading Life in 2011

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2011?

I didn't "discover" this blog but I did have a hand in making it happen, I think. Jenny, my IRL bookish buddy, started blogging back in April I think it was (Alternate Readality), and hers is my best new favorite blog of the year!

2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2011?

My favorite is the one I wrote for Underdogs by Markus Zusak. I love gushing about his stuff, as we all know.

3. Best discussion you had on your blog?

My discussion back in February on Edgy Books vs. Gentle Books got a pretty good response.

4. Most thought-provoking review or discussion you read on somebody else's blog?

Jenny's had some really fun discussions on her blog and one of my favorites was What's in a Smell? Very fun!

5. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?

The Markus Zusak signing back in March was the highlight of my bookish year for sure.

6. Best moment of book blogging in 2011?

I think getting nominated as Best Eclectic Blog for BBAW was pretty cool. I didn't end up on the short list or anything, just got nominated but that made me happy. Thanks to whoever it was that did that!

Another really cool moment was when Markus Zusak tweeted me back... three times! Is that a book blogging moment? Yes, I say it is.

7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?

Oh my word, I'm getting tons of hits on the post where I listed potential book club reads for this year! Still, every week it's the most popular and I wrote it in March. I'm looking forward to doing a similar post when we are planning next year's books to see if that one takes over as the leader.

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

Generally, I've always wanted my Music Stuck in my Head posts to get more love. I'd love to talk music with people as well as books, but usually my readers seem to not have much to say about music (take this post for instance!) So I've stopped those posts and just throw a song thought into my Sunday Salon journal posts instead. Which seems to work for me.... for now.

9. Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?

I didn't discover anything new in this area of book life! Unless I'm totally forgetting something. What is something new I should have discovered this past year?

10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?

I didn't make it to 100 books this year, but that's okay. I did read a lot of very big books, so that's kind of to be expected I think. What I really liked that I did this year, even though it wasn't a conscious goal when I started the year, was to participate in several buddy reads/read alongs. Very fun stuff. Thank you to all my reading buddies!

Looking Ahead...

1. One Book You Didn't Get To In 2011 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2012?

I think The Wise Man's Fear, the next Kingkiller book, by Patrick Rothfuss, will be read very soon in 2012.

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2012?

I'm really looking forward to John Green's book The Fault in Our Stars, also Shannon Hale's Midnight in Austenland. I'm also anxious for Partials by Dan Wells, and I'd love for the next Way of Kings book to be done in 2012, but I'm not sure that's going to happen. Oh, and I really hope Markus Zusak finishes Bridge of Clay!

3. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging In 2012?

I want to change my blog's look really really bad. I'm very scared to mess with things, but we need a makeover!

Well. Hopefully you made it this far in my survey answers post. Let me know if you decide to do a post of your own!

Top Ten Tuesday: The Year's Favorites

2011-12-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

Even though I hope to read a couple more books this week, I'm going to go ahead and list my favorites of the year as it stands right now, and link up over at The Broke and the Bookish where the topic this week is Top Tens of the year! Head on over to check out everyone's lists and link up your list!

My tradition from past years... to separate out YA from other books, so I get to double the size of my favorites! Here they are, in no particular order:

Top Ten Favorite "Big Kid" Books

1. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
2. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
3. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
4. Room by Emma Donoghue
5. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
6. Under the Dome by Stephen King
7. The Soldier's Wife by Margaret Leroy
8. I Don't Want to Kill You by Dan Wells
9. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
10. The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson

Top Ten YA Books

1. The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
2. Bruiser by Neal Shusterman
3. If I Stay by Gayle Forman
4. Entwined by Heather Dixon
5. Variant by Robison Wells
6. Underdogs by Markus Zusak (one part new to me, two parts a re-read)
7. I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak (a re-read)
8. The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima
9. Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
10. Skellig by David Almond

Top Ten "New to Me" Favorite Authors Discovered in 2011

1. Cinda Williams Chima
2. Emma Donoghue
3. Erin Morgenstern
4. Patrick Rothfuss
5. Robison Wells
6. Heather Dixon
7. Jandy Nelson
8. Stephanie Perkins
9. Cassandra Clare
10. Elana Johnson

What a wonderful reading year it's been!

Our Christmas Book Loot

2011-12-26T13:36:00.001-07:00

And I thought we weren't going to get as many books this year as last:

These are the books the whole family received, not just me. Here's a list in case you can't see them well (though clicking on the picture helps that too:)

The Doctor Who Visual Dictionary
The Most Human Human
Daughter of Smoke and Bone
The Girl of Fire and Thorns
Clockwork Prince
Clockwork Angel
Steve Jobs
Shadow Moon
Shadow Star
Shadow Dawn
The Iron Daughter
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Fire
Slaughter House Five
Okay for Now
Return to Exile
Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever
Goliath
The Iron Queen
City of Fallen Angels
City of Glass
Destiny of the Republic

Whew. I really better get out of my reading slump FAST!

And here's what I got from my Secret Santa Exchange blogger.... who only revealed herself as Heather:

What a perfect present, because as you know I've recently had a little issue with The Iron Daughter, what with the missing pages from the book I had and then the store where it came from being totally out. So when I opened this up and saw a new copy of this book, I was very excited and have since been reading pretty quickly through this book! I'm very excited about the other book too, which also makes me giggle, because it's the same book I gave to my exchange person!

Thank you Heather!

Thank you Deanna and Jenny and Santa Claus and SIL Katie and Grandma and Grandpa and everyone! It's been a wonderful bookish haul!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

Here's hoping you are all having a lovely

weekend with friends and family!

Happy Holidays to you all!

The Saturday Salon: Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T07:00:00.000-07:00

I decided to do my salon journal post a day early and share my random thoughts this Christmas weekend. I'm writing on Christmas Eve Eve. We've had a bunch of college boys over eating pizza and playing cards and it's been fun. Tomorrow on Christmas Eve we'll be off in the evening for a family gathering. Party on!

Outside my window: It was a beautiful day today. Clear and blue and very very cold! Still no snow though, but we got enough of some wetness the other day to clear the air, which is very nice indeed.

I am listening to: A random Christmas music mix that has been going all day long, and also someone just turned Ghost Hunters on the TV. They are having a marathon! Who knew!??

Song of the week: Love this version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen:

TV Talk: I watched the finale of Terra Nova. Pretty intense, but that whole show is pretty just ho hum for me. Oh, well. Haven't watched much else this week, but we did go see Sherlock Holms and that was fun. Robert Downey Jr. was awesome as always, and the special effects were wow. But the coolest thing about that move was seeign The Hobbit trailer... have you seen it yet? Here it is in case not:

Richard Armitage singing? YES!

Reading Report: HA!
Books I've finished: Wait, I finished a book! Blood Red Road by Moira Young. It was really quite good! I should probably review it.
Books I've started: Well, I started The Iron Daughter... again (first time had to take it back to the library), but when I got to page 67, it jumped to page 90something. And when I went to get another copy they (Walmart) were out. Dang. And I was really quite getting into it!
Books I want to start: I can't decide what to start. I read a few chapters in A Path of Daggers today. Are you impressed!?

I am thinking: that it has been a long week and I'm anxious for the weekend to come... and go even.

I am grateful for: all the abundance surrounding me this crazy season. We are so very lucky and spoiled and blessed.

What I learned this week: family time at the holidays, for the kids actually means FRIEND time. But I'm getting more used to the idea. Tonight we combined the two and it even worked for the most part. Family and friends of kids CAN play together if all parties are welcome to the idea.

Around the house: Not bad, quite festive looking actually. Not dirty, not spotless, just about right. Oh and did I tell you about the new mattress? I can't remember, but yes, we have one! It's awesome. It's heaven. I love it. I think that's pretty much my Christmas. :)

Recipe of the Week: I have made these Andes mint cookies that I found on Pinterest so many times! Wow. But the hard thing is... finding the Andes mints.

Favorite things of the week: Kid #2 turned 20 and we all as a family went out to dinner, and then ice skating. That was a very nice evening.

Family Matters: Lots of bored kids around here. We have had a week off already and people have been going to bed at 2:00 am or after and sleeping in until noon. Seriously. Every day. It's pathetic.

Things we discussed at home this week: relationships. Sort of an ongoing topic around here.

Things I hope to accomplish: This next week? I hope to accomplish pretty much nothin'. Have no family drama at all the parties. Read a lot. And sleep and not worry about nothin'. :)

The Blog Report: This past week I aired grievances, pondered a quote seen on Twitter, reported on book club and listed my books wish list.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

In Which I Air Grievances

2011-12-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

Last year it was brought to my attention that there's a certain day set aside for grievances, something started on Seinfeld or something? (The whole explanation is here if you are interested. It's a bit of an anti-Christmas thing, but whatever.) Anyway, I thought it was a fabulous idea and I had a blast posting my grievances last year and wanted to make sure I didn't let the week go by without another cleansing complaining session.

The idea here is, of course, that everyone is too busy to read blogs this week anyway, so it's a perfect time to let it all out! Now, I may start out with bookish/bloggish complaints, but I can't guarantee that it won't morph into general all round life rants!

So here goes!

I hate it when....

.... I'm in the mood to talk on Twitter and no one will talk back. Twitter crickets... a lonely sound!

....someone tells me to take down all my Markus Zusak videos on YouTube, but other people still have their MZ videos up. (By the way, I can still give you links to mine, they just aren't public!)

....I see a blog post similar to mine, and it has a gazillion comments and but mine has only three.

..... I can't keep up with reading other blog posts. And I hate marking all as read, but I think it's going to have to happen so I can have a fresh start.

.... I am reading along in a book, totally happy, and suddenly I realize that there are 30 pages missing! And I really hate it when I go back to the store where I bought the book and they have no more of that particular one!

.... B and N messes up and releases John Green's book early to many many people!

... I get in a reading slump.

... my kids are in a reading slump too.

... I send a tweet or message or comment and see my typo after the fact.

... my kids stay up until 2, 3, 4, sometimes even 5 in the morning.

... things break.

... people fight.

... kids are in pain.

... I can't sleep.

... anxiety rules the day.

Whew! I think I'll be done now! That's enough airing for one post! How are your grievances doing?

As Seen on Twitter: Never Read for Enjoyment... Say What?

2011-12-21T06:30:00.000-07:00

Today on Twitter, Katy ( who blogs at A Few More Pages and tweets from @afewmorepages) shared this quote which caught my attention:

"You should never read just for ‘enjoyment.’ Read to make yourself smarter! Less judgmental. More apt to understand your friends’ insane behavior, or better yet, your own. Pick ‘hard books.’ Ones you have to concentrate on while reading. And for god’s sake, don’t let me ever hear you say, ‘I can’t read fiction. I only have time for the truth.’ Fiction is the truth, fool! Ever hear of ‘literature’? That means fiction, too, stupid."
-- John Waters

First of all, I had to look up John Waters, not being at all familiar with him. I guess he is a film dude and comedian? And he says some pretty blunt and controversial, but funny, things? Yes? I have no idea.

Anyway, this quote is interesting to me for many reasons.

Reason #1: First it says we shouldn't read for enjoyment, but to be smarter. At first I thought this was an argument against fiction, but the rest of the quote contradicts this. I, for one, mostly read for pure enjoyment. However, I think it makes me "smarter" (a relative term) by default. Reading, no matter what it is, just does that, don't you think? But still, can't our goal be to read just for enjoyment? I think so yes.

Reason#2: Pick hard books. I do agree with this one a little... I think we need a bit of a challenge now and then. Of course, "hard" will be different for all of us, don't you think? So we shouldn't judge what people are reading thinking it's a silly easy book.. because for them, it just may be hard. It's kind of like what the kids learn at school... just right books, and books that are too hard or too easy. We all know what that is for us.

Reason #3: "I can't read fiction, I only have time for the truth." Wow. I heard this one just recently and it was interesting to try and argue against this mindset. It makes me sad. Non-fiction is great, but so is fiction. I say, there can be a nice balance between the two, and that you CAN still learn stuff from fiction... LOTS of stuff.

Reason#4: Literature is fiction.... fiction is literature. What? Do some people confuse these terms? Do some people really consider literature as not fiction? I don't get this. What is literature then if it's not fiction? It includes fiction... and everything else of the written word. That's what I think anyway.

So... what do you think? Do you agree with this quote? Disagree? A little of both? What do you say to people who seem to have the attitude that John Waters is "upset" about?

Thanks to Katy for a tweet that made me think today!

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Wish List

2011-12-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

Last week the prompt was Books We Are Giving... this week over at The Broke and the Bookish they are asking about books we want. Yay, what an easy list to make! Here are a few that are on my wish list:

1. Where She Went by Gayle Forman
2. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
3. Goliath by Scott Westerfeld
4. Miss Peregrine's Home for Pecular Childen by Ransom Riggs
5. Among Others by Jo Walton
6. Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
7. Touch by Jus Accardo
8. The Gray Wolf Throne by Cinda Williams Chima
9. The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
10. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green... which isn't quite out yet... but so very soon!

I've seen much buzz about them all, and hopefully I'll get to them some day soon, whether it's because Santa brings them, or I find them at the library! (I suddenly find myself with way too many books stacked around me, and while I love it, I've told Santa not to bring so many this year. We'll see how that goes!)

What's on your list?

Book Club Report: The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt

2011-12-19T06:00:00.000-07:00

A couple of evenings ago we had an awesome Christmas book club gathering complete with a pile of yummy treats and a great discussion about The Wednesday Wars, a book that I think everyone in the group who read it, totally loved and enjoyed.

Here are some random group thoughts:

As is often the case, we had a bit of genre discussion... again. Is this book middle grade? Or YA.. or could it actually be considered an adult book? We pondered the fact that it's an adult narrator looking back on his childhood, much like To Kill a Mockingbird, yet it is actually marketed and shelved as middle grade. We found that interesting.
Most of us are regular readers of YA books, but we have a new book club member who is accustomed to reading adult books about strong female characters. When she started this book and realized it was about an obnoxious 7th grader boy, she nearly gave up... that is... until she discovered it was just as much about the teacher's character and growth, as it was the boy's. I thought that was a great insight!
Many book club members compared this book to the popular TV show The Wonder Years. It has a nostalgic feel to it. It takes place in a simpler time, yet covers many complicated topics.
We thought it was an awesome book for refreshing our American history especially for the year 1967... some of us even googled and did research!
We also loved the way this book fosters a love of Shakespeare. It's a great way to get kids interested.
We wondered about the Micky Mantle incident described in the book and if the author experienced something like this, or heard of something like this happening.
The author's new book, OK for Now, is about the "friend" Doug featured in The Wednesday Wars. It's getting much buzz and I think we all left want to read it, and others by this author.

Bottom line: Everyone seemed to really enjoy this one!

Other books we talked about:

Jenni really enjoyed Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake and now wants to read more about ghosts. She cautions that is has pretty harsh language though. She also finished To Kill a Mockingbird and now understands why people are naming their kids Atticus.

Jessica read A Christmas Carol and said it was awesome. She also read Three Cups of Deceit by John Krakaur which led us to discuss both the original book and this book and why? Why for both... the whole thing is very sad and confusing and strange.

Jenny read Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi and said it was okay. She also read and enjoyed 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson.

Kim read and really liked Divergent. She also read On the Fringe by Courtney King Walker, a ghost story, The Mansion by Henry Van Dyke and Pope Joan by Donna Woofolk Cross, which we though maybe should be a future book club pick.

Julie read Making the Rounds with Oscar by David Dosa, the one about a cat that could tell when the rest home patients were dying and went to be by their side. It sounds fascinating.

Karen read The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver after hearing that she was a good author for learning more about small town America. She liked it a lot.

Suey mentioned her love for The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, and tried to describe it but it just doesn't work.

Stuey reported on Jesus, my Father, CIA and Me Ian Morgan Cron, which he reviewed on this blog, and also his current read called Laughing at Wall Street by Chris Camillo, which he's not liking so much.

Sam read Buddha by Deepak Chopra and said he's converted! (But he followed that up with a big JK.) He also read Endurance about that Shackleton dude (can't link since there are two found on Goodreads and I'm not sure which one it is!), and Inheritance by Christopher Paolini. He said it was good.

Bethany read Divergent and LOVED it.

Tessa listened to Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand on audio and loved it too. She said it was 55 cds long! Whew.

And that was book club this month!

Virtual Advent Tour: I Yust Go Nuts at Christmas!

2011-12-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite blogging events that we do this time of year is the Virtual Advent Tour. This is where bloggers take turns sharing different Christmas traditions and post them on their blog. This year is my fifth year participating! Which means, I'm having a hard time thinking of something new and interesting to post about!

Here are links to my past years' posts in case you are interested:

2007: Christmas Eve Traditions (including a movie the year the nativity reenactment went to pieces!)
2008: Decorating the Tree (including a yummy cinnamon roll recipe)
2009: The Advent Box: (with a time elapsed video that was a blast to make)
2010: My Love for the Grinch

So this year, after much pondering, I've decided to keep it really simple, especially since I've found it's hard to spend a lot of time reading blogs and hopping back and forth to see what everyone's been posting (in fact, I've been really lousy at this!)

I don't really know how this tradition got started. It must have just been that my dad's family had this song on an old 78 record (I hope someone out there knows what that is!) and played it all the time during the holidays... played it enough that my dad memorized the thing... accent and all! Every year as we were growing up, he would recite/sing this silly song for us kids and we thought it was so so funny! Now that we are all grown and gone, when we do get together for our party, we make our dad do this song, just like he has every year.

Now, I really wish I had a video of him doing it, and I probably do somewhere, but I'm feeling so lazy these days that I'm not going to search for it and spend the time editing. (Besides, he'd probably rather not be featured on my blog I'm guessing) so instead, I give you this original version that my brother found on YouTube for us last year, which we all thought was pretty cool.

So.... anyone heard this song before? Does it feature in your holiday traditions at all? Doesn't the idea of my straight laced conservative dad singing this crack you up? It does me!

Be sure to check out the posts of the other participants! (All listed at the main blog here.) Thanks for dropping by!

Surrounded by Authors!

2011-12-17T20:40:00.001-07:00

Today we had an awesome event at the library.... a last minute author signing before Christmas for all those who really wanted to give away a signed book! The difference for me this time, instead of just stalking the authors, I actually got to work at the event and "host" a couple of them. And by host, I mean, sit with them and talk when/if they didn't have a signing line.

On one side of me was the famous Brandon Mull. His line was constant and steady, so we didn't get to chat much, but it was a blast to hear him interact with his fans and be so very personable and asking them questions and such. What an cool guy he is.

Brandon Mull

On my other side was a brand new author whose first book just came out in September. He didn't have much of a line and was excited for each and every person who came to him! Especially if they had already bought the book before the event! His name is Eric Patten (writing under E.J. Patten) and his book is called Return to Exile, a middle grade adventure that will, he hopes, end up being a six book series. Of course I bought it! So I will get back to you on my thoughts for the book itself. I will have to bump it up the pile.

Dan Wells signing, Eric Patten along side.
Rob Wells and Tyler Whitesides in the background.

I was also able to chat a bit with Rob Wells (whose book Variant I loved and plan to give a nephew) and Dan Wells, who had an ARC of his next book Partials sitting there very temptingly. I begged him for info on how to get my hands on one and he said, hey, I gave one to the library! So I tracked down which co-worker currently has it and said, I'm next!! Yay! Very excited for a turn with that one!

I didn't get a chance to mingle much more than that, though we all know that I'm terrible mingler anyway. But Ally Condie did request that I get a Beyonders book signed by Brandon Mull for her. So that was fun. And I did say hi to Bree Despain.

We managed to get all the authors together for a picture, and mine turned out very dark, but I tweaked it and hopefully this one isn't too bad and you can kind of see them all.

Eric Patten, Tyler Whitesides, Ally Condie, Rob Wells, Jessica Day George,
Brandon Mull, Dan Wells, Nathan Hale, Jed Henry
Rick Walton, Kristen Chandler, Bree Despain
(I linked to them all in this post, so I'm not taking the time to link again!)

And here are some more candid type shots:

I only saw a couple other bloggers there. Jenny came to say hi to Dan Wells, and Diana was there doing a very good job at mingling. Holly from Book Harbinger was working at Rob and Tyler's table, so hopefully she'll blog about anything interesting she learned from them!

Anyway, I had a blast. Hopefully we can do it again sometime!

Review: The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare

2011-12-15T16:31:00.000-07:00

Book: The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare (Newbery Award 1962)
Genre: Middle Grade historical fiction
Rating: A
For: a read along with my 7th grade daughter
From: the library

My daughter's 7th grade English class just read this one for their December book and my daughter begged me to read along with so she could better understand things. I'd never heard of this book before even though I'm sort of familiar with the author (Witch of Blackbird Pond.)

This is a great story to introduce kids to what it might have been like to live during Jesus' time, during the years he went about teaching and meeting with people. This boy, Daniel, has big reasons to hate the Romans who have taken over the country and killed his parents. His sister was emotional damaged by this incident and so he now has her to deal with along with his grandmother who takes care of them. He actually can't handle things so he runs away from home and meets up with a band of ruffians who live in the caves outside the city and are plotting to strike back against the Romans.

He meets some friends from the city and together they become spies for this rough rebellion. Meanwhile, he has several different encounters with a man named Jesus who everyone is talking about. He sees how people come to him to hear teachings of God and to hopefully get healed of their many ailments. He feels wonderful when he sees this Jesus and wonders if he can perhaps help his sister some day.

Even though he feels so good hearing Jesus' message, he is still driven mostly by his hatred of the Romans. It is this issue that in the end, may be his family and friends undoing.

I really enjoyed this sweet and powerful book about this time in the world's history. It's very interesting to get a glimpse of how it may have been like back then. Not an easy time, that's for sure. But it's a great book with a great message that is especially meaningful this time of year, without being overly preachy.

Bottom line: I like this one a lot.

Other Reviews:

Educating Petunia
What KT Reads

As Seen On Twitter: An Intro and a Question

2011-12-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

I'm staring something new around here! I'm not sure I'd call it a feature, but sort of I guess. Whatever it is, it's going to help me with discussion ideas, and I'm calling it As Seen on Twitter. (I tried to make a button. It'll do I think.)

First of all, let me restate (because I think I've said this before) that I have a love/hate relationship with Twitter. This particular idea has bloomed from one of the things I love about it, and that is the stuff I see there oftentimes makes me think and ponder about an issue or question or idea which makes me want to expound on it, something not so easily done over there on Twitter.

But I can do it here!

And over here I'm hoping, of course, that you will comment and talk with me about whatever it is, which doesn't necessarily happen over there (one of the things I dislike about Twitter... trying to make myself "heard").

This is all assuming that ideas that are thrown out over on Twitter are free for the taking. Right? Am I right? Perhaps this should be a topic for discussion in and of itself? Is there such a thing as "stealing ideas" if you tweet them? If someone ponders something over there, can I take it and ponder it further over here? I've decided yes.

My plan is to use Twitter's favorite button much more often if something peaks my interest. Then I can easily link back to whoever gave me an idea... whether it be someone I know and follow, or someone I've never heard of before. This will also let me know which tweeters seem to always be saying interesting things! I would find that fun to track. Doing all this will make me interact more too, force me to click around on new blogs and get to know my followers and followees better! That's a good thing too.

So here's my first As Seen on Twitter, just for example!

This morning @LizB (A Chair, A Fireplace and a Tea Cozy) asked a question that we pondered at length awhile back in book club. What's the difference between the genres paranormal and supernatural? Yeah I say! What IS the difference anyway?

Here are my very very simplified definitions:

Paranormal: a story about characters who are NOT normal... they are creatures who do not exist in our world such as vampires, werewolves and such.

Supernatural: a story about characters who are "normal" but have a supernatural power.... so they themselves might be found to exist in our world, but their powers would not such as Odd Thomas or the girl from Inkheart.

I think most books in these genres cross over a lot, thus the confusion. Someone replied on Twitter that paranormal has romance. I say, they both do. And usually they both have normal people with powers, and the paranormal creatures. So, the two really can't be separated.

So, how would you define them? Do you think I'm close or completely off? Ready, set, discuss!

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Want to Give

2011-12-13T06:00:00.000-07:00

I'm not quite sure how to approach this list today. The Broke and the Bookish are asking us to list books we want to give for Christmas. So... are the books I want to give and the ones I'm giving one and the same? I'll just leave you guessing on the answer to that! And I'm not saying WHO I'd give them to, because what if I really DO give them to that person, and that person happens upon this list? Hmmmm??? What then?

Top Ten Books I Want To and Perhaps WILL Give for Christmas

1. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
2. Variant by Robison Wells
3. Matched and Crossed by Ally Condie
4. The Clockwork Angel and Prince by Cassandra Clare
5. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
6. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
7. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
8. Wimpy Kid ... the latest... whatever it's called by Jeff Kinney
9. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
10. The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

Whew! I could go on and on with this one!

What books would you like to give?

Up next week: Books we want to GET for Christmas! Ha! That just makes me laugh!

Orem Library Author Event!

2011-12-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to do a quick shout out to bloggers and readers in my area about another fun author event happening this week, on Saturday at the Orem Library (the one were I work in case you haven't been paying attention!)

They are coming for a last minute signing for local books you might like to get for people on your Christmas list. So come out and support our wonderful local authors, buy their books, get them signed!

Here's who's coming:

Ally Condie (Matched and Crossed)

Brandon Mull (Fablehaven and Beyonders)

Jessica Day George (Princess of the Midnight Ball, Princess of Glass, Snow and Moon, Ice and Snow.. and a bunch more)

Kristen Chandler (Boys, Wolves and Other Things That Might Kill Me)

Bree Despain (The Dark Divine series)

Dan Wells (I Am Not A Serial Killer series)

Rob Wells (Variant)

Tyler Whitesides (Janitors)

E.J. Patten (The Hunter Chronicles)

Rick Walton (tons... TONS of picture books)

Nathan Hale (Rapunzel's Revenge with Shannon Hale and other picture books)

Jed Henry (picture books)

So if you've missed them when they've been at the Provo Library, or when they've come to Barnes and Noble's Authorpalooza, now is your chance! Their books will be available that day at the library for 20% off.

This will be on Saturday, the 17th, from noon to 2:00 p.m. at Orem Library. I'll be there as soon as my daughter's violin concert is over, so find me and say hi!

The Sunday Salon: Two Weeks to Go!

2011-12-11T10:39:00.001-07:00

Happy Sunday morning to you all!

Outside my window: Sunny and cold with a very blue sky. I'm kind of wanting snow about now though. It's so weird we haven't had any at all yet. Very weird. Global warming?

I am listening to: I just listened to the song Jenny highlighted on her blog today. I loved it!

Song of the week: I should be talking about Christmas music this month, but I've been obsessed with another Silversun Pickups song this week instead. It's called Sort Of. (And, according to YouTube, it's on Vampire Diaries!)

But if you want some Christmas music... here's one of my favorite Mannheim Steamroller ones, Fum Fum Fum:

TV Talk: We've started a buddy watch! You know like a buddy read, only a buddy watch? Kailana mentioned yesterday she had just started the BBC's Sherlock, something I've been wanting to do for a long time, so I said, hey, I'll watch with you! So last night, I watched most of the first episode. I had 8 minutes left when my husband turned the WiFi off. I was so sleepy that I couldn't keep my eyes open anyway, so I now I will finish those last few minutes today sometime.

But I loved it! What an awesome guy they have for Sherlock! I love his voice! Which is a good thing because he talks a lot! Anyway, very fun so far, but according to Netflix, there are only three episodes? Is that right?

Reading Report
Currently reading: Same as last week!!!
Books I've finished: Um... NOTHING! Stop asking me!!!
Books I've started: Um... NOTHING!
Books I want to start: Um... EVERYTHING!!
So yeah, as I said last blog post, I've not been reading much of anything. I have to try and finish The Bronze Bow today though, so I can help Toto with her questions/report or whatever she has to do for school. It's a good book, and short, so maybe I can actually do it.

I am thinking: that Christmas is in two weeks from today! And that feels like no time at all when I think of all that needs doing still.

I am grateful for: the Christmas season even if it is quite stressful. I look forward to the week between Christmas and New Years when suddenly life stops (usually anyway) and everything is totally stress free!

What I learned this week: that it's okay to not read if you don't feel like it. Really. It's okay!!

Around the house: We bought a mattress! Call the press! It happened quite suddenly and unexpectedly, but it's done and I'm so excited to have it arrive on Tuesday. Ah, it's going to be heaven sleeping on that thing, and I'm actually quite worried about getting up every morning.

Recipe of the Week: Toto did a science experiment this week and had four bowls of yeast growing, so after we determined which yeast was the "best" we had to do something with them! I made rolls for dinner and cinamon rolls for fun. The rolls I made for dinner are really yummy, and very very easy. (And a little more healthy because it's not full of butter... well, until you put it on yourself after baking!) We make them all the time. Here's the recipe:

2 cups hot water
1 Tb. yeast
2 Tb. sugar
Let that proof and bubble. Then add:
2 tsp. salt
5 to 6 cups flour

Knead that all up really good, roll into balls, place in pan or muffin tins, or however you like to make rolls. Let rise. Bake at 400 or so for 15 min. or so. (Now I'm thinking I may have shared this recipe already... if so... oops. Here it is again!)

Favorite things of the week: Blue Man Group! That was so very fun! Also, taking the girls in our neighborhood church group to see Toto dance at a performance at the library. Then, there was the day that they guy at the library in charge of programs came up and told me that he is getting an author crowd together to come sign this coming Saturday! More on that later. But that was fun news. Oh, and then we saw Santa at the family Christmas party last night. He brought us presents! Guess what I got? BOOKS of course! (The Iron Daughter and The Iron Prince)

Family Matters: Oh the homework homework homework! A Scarlet Letter essay (which needs fixing now,) a song recorded and put to slides and lyrics, then burned and copied and uploaded, a speech written and helped to memorize and then coaching through the ensuing "fear of speaking" panic attacks, an ACT test taken, a writing portfolio to help organize, English worksheets, a math test... and... I can't remember what else. This week will be more of the same. Most tests. TONS of tests. This prep school has finals (like REAL finals) just like college, so all four kids will be taking tests galore.

Things we discussed at home this week: traffic school and is it necessary?

Things I hope to accomplish this week: Yeah, well, where to begin. Send out Christmas cards, finish shopping, wrap, help with Christmas party at work, get birthday ready for Kid #2, survive the above mentioned finals week, book club, two violin concerts for kid#4... and I've got to clean under my bed before the new mattress comes!!

Well, I hope all is going well for everyone! I hope you are still reading through all the busyness and craziness!

Reading? Nope.... Not Me.

2011-12-08T15:32:00.001-07:00

I'm guessing it's fairly normal for a reading person to have a lull during these busy December months. However, I don't recall ever having a lull to such an extent as I'm having right now. I'm trying really really hard not to worry about it, and not to wonder if there's something wrong with me. But I seriously haven't picked up a book for three straight days now. I mean, I'm talking NOT AT ALL! Nothing. Zero.

This makes it hard to blog about books, I'm finding, when you just don't even feel like reading.

So, I thought I'd share a few things I'm doing instead of reading.

-- shopping, of course, and let me tell you, I'm not a shopper. I really don't like it much!

-- trying to compose a family Christmas letter. I know it's a dying tradition but I refuse to give in to that idea quite yet.

-- trying to get my five cards ready and mailed out for my Holiday Card Exchange people. Probably I'm making this task too hard.

-- going to dance, violin, and band performances... or least helping to prepare for these things which will
be hitting us full force starting tonight.

-- getting ready for a party coming up this Saturday wherein I have to.... have things ready.

-- going to Blue Man Group! Did this last night with my sister in law since my husband decided he just didn't want to see it. His loss, right? This one minute video gives you a pretty good feel for what the night was like. Since these were part of our season tickets, we were on the front row, complete with rain ponchos that were provided. However, we didn't get anything on us at all! But lots and lots of eyeball looks from the blue men!

-- I've decided to do another project which involves lots of working with pictures on the computer, so I've been stressing about that. And it makes my shoulder hurt!

-- homework! Lots and lots of homework! Funny thing this is, since I'm NOT IN SCHOOL! Ugh.

-- a lot of sitting and staring at the tree. I love that.

-- make lists and checking them twice.

How's it going for you guys? Are you reading still? Or doing other Christmas-y type thing? I don't know.... maybe I'll pick up a book again one of these days soon!

Guest Review: Jesus, My Father, the CIA and Me by Ian Morgan Cron

2011-12-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

Book: Jesus, My Father, the CIA and Me: A Memoir ... of sorts by Ian Morgan Cron
Genre: Memoir
Rating: A-
For: Review
From: the publisher

This book came just a short time ago with the hope that I'd read it and review it. My husband beat me to the book, so he's doing the review this time! Here's what he has to say:

An author willing to intermingle quotes from Mother Theresa, Jane Austin and Bono (the lead singer for the Irish rock band U2) must be well rounded, fully impartial, or totally off his rocker. Upon finishing the new memoir, “Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me,” by Ian Morgan Cron, I decided that the first two best describe the situation. The author is definitely sane, well, at least as sane as anyone could be after emerging from a childhood marred by the ghost of alcoholism. But don't let the “heavy” theme of alcoholism deter you from reading this positive, light, and heart warming book. For me, the book was uplifting and enjoyable.

The book is the autobiographical account of Cron's childhood growing up in the Northeast. As I ponder on the summation of the read, the main theme revolves around Cron's interaction with his alcoholic father. But, this paints a much darker picture of the book than what is delivered. Intermixed in the story line are funny tidbits, small anecdotes showing the lighter side of life, stories exemplifying how a desperate mother tried to hold a family together. Even the truly horrible scenes are told using a light, healthy point of view.

Now an Episcopal priest, Cron admits that the book is quasi-autobiographical: meaning that names were changed, and stories were told as he “remembers them.” His goal was to capture the essence of the times. And this he did very well. I cannot put my finger on a single event that defined Cron. Instead, I feel I understand who he is based on the summation, or essence, of all of his stories. Cron travels from financial bliss to the epitome of financial difficulties as his father destroys the family's financial stability. He passes through the “no friends” phase and he is constantly hounded by the thought that “there is something wrong with me.” Alcoholism rubs off of his father and lands squarely on Cron's resume. Not surprising considering the statistics.

For me, the treat was reading one of the closing scenes where Cron shows wonderful support and understanding of his own children. The local watering hole included a forty foot high jumping platform where daring teenagers show off for their girlfriends by jumping into the water below. Cron weaves a delightful story of his own children's hopes and dreams as they coax him into jumping from the high platform with them. A father loving his children. Children learning from their parents. Parents learning from their children. Triumph for both.

I hope that Cron's writing painted a true portrait of his current mental state. If so, I believe he has emerged from his childhood with his head firmly planted on his shoulders and a healthy outlook on life. He has nipped the cruel cycle of alcoholism in the bud.

Other Reviews:

Semicolon

QG's Book Reviews

A Librarian's Life in Books

Top Ten Tuesday: Childhood Faves

2011-12-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

The prompt this week over at The Broke and the Bookish is a popular one that I've done... oh... probably several times before. Without looking at my previous posts on this subject beforehand, let's see if I come up with the same list!

Top Ten Childhood Favorites

1. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls... can you say cried and cried and cried!
2. The Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder... got the whole series and loved them all.
3. The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner...made my brothers play this with me.
4. Nancy Drew by Caroline Keene... and didn't we all love these?
5. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery... I wanted to be Anne so bad.
6. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell... was fascinated by the survivor skills she had.
7. Mr. Pine's Mixed Up Signs by Leonard Kessler... begged the babysitter to bring this every time she came!
8. Ferdinand the Bull by Munro Leaf... it killed me how unfair this whole story is!
9. How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Suess.... my favorite Christmas story.
10. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett... a story could get more perfect!

Now you can check my other lists!
Childhood Favorites: Novels
Childhood Favorites: Pictures Books

What's on your list?

(I'm realizing that these lists will once again show everyone how old/young we are! You will not be finding Harry Potter on my childhood favorite list, that's for sure!)

The Sunday Salon: Baby, It's Cold Outside

2011-12-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

Outside my window: Dark and cold. Yes, it's suddenly quite cold around here. We had some wild wind this past week, but the city up north got hit much harder than we did. State of emergency even I think, up there. I was glad for my snug house and lots of quilts to cuddle up with!

I am listening to: There's a game in the background. BYU vs. Hawaii. Mmmmmm.... Hawaii. I'd like to go there again some day.

Song of the week: No song to share this week, but here's a video Toto (12 year old daughter) edited this week... a tour of our boat on the cruise we took this past summer. It will give you a good feeling for what the this boat, Freedom of the Seas, is like!

TV Talk: I'm still watching Terra Nova, but it's been a little boring. Amazing Race hasn't been as exciting as usual this season either. Survivor continues to be fun and dang.. Cochran! I just got caught up again with Once Upon a Time. It's very good actually. I haven't watched Dr. Who or Supernatural for weeks.

Reading Report
Books I've finished: Nothing finished. Still working on Inheritance and The Path of Daggers
Books I've started: The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare, because Toto is reading it for 7th grade English and I decided to join her.
Books I want to start: Gosh, so many!

I am thinking: that it's really weird that December just started, yet I already feel stressed about getting Christmas done, and that there's no time. I think it's because the kids are all out of school for two full weeks, which means things really need to be done just a week or so from now, so that we can relax and play when the kids are home.

I am grateful for: furnaces.

What I learned this week: I learned that in order to get a book signed by a famous author, you will do a lot of waiting in line for that signature... first to get tickets, then to get in to the presentation, then in line again for the actual signature. Lots and lots of waiting.

The only author I've seen sign standing up, and looking you in the eye.
Also the only author I've seen that travels with a very obvious body guard!

Around the house: It's decorated! It's Christmasy and it's very very cluttered!

Favorite things of the week: seeing Christopher Paolini... twice, getting my Holiday Swap package ready and sent off! Listening to Michael Buble's Christmas album, sitting and looking at the Christmas tree.

Family Matters: Kid 1 has signed a contract to move out in January to an apartment complex, Kid 2 keeps on studying, Kid 3 won the rubber band car race, and also gets to take the ACT next Saturday, and Kid 4 is selling books for an orchestra fundraiser.

Things I hope to accomplish this week: survive seeing Blue Man Group (we are in the front row and that scares me for this show!), a family Christmas party, the ACT test, shopping shopping shopping

The Blog Report: This past week I told you about some challenges I hope to do, I made a list of books I hope to read this winter, and I reviewed The Night Circus, which will be on my year's top ten list for sure.

Behold! A Signature!

2011-12-02T08:43:00.001-07:00

You remember back when I was complaining about not being able to get my Inheritance book signed? Alas, I can complain no longer:

And look! Personalized and everything! Something I'm realizing is NOT to be taken for granted!

So yesterday I was about to embark on a massive Costco shopping spree, when I suddenly realized a line was forming and in that line everyone was holding a large green book. Upon further investigation, I discovered that the man himself would be showing up in one and a half hours time! I asked the ~~line nazis~~ people in charge and they confirmed that yes indeed, he would sign Inheritance NO MATTER where I bought it! (Side note, I bought at Costco a few weeks before!)

So I did the only thing I could do at the moment and called Jenny.

"You want your Inheritance signed? You gotta get to Costco right now! Oh, and can you go get my book for me?"

I called my slumbering 22 year old son. It was, after all, a bright and early 11:00 a.m.! He woke up and put my book on the porch, Jenny drove by and grabbed it, then came and joined me in line. We waited about one and half hours and got our books signed! (So much for the shopping spree, eh?)

Take that Random House.

Tonight we'll be faithful fans at the library, supporting this awesome author in all his rock star fame. And I'll be bringing the other three books to be signed.... but not personalized! And I'll leave Inheritance at home.

Challenges! Challenges!

2011-12-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

I started blogging because of reading challenges. I heard of them through online book groups and everyone was keeping track of things on their blog. I felt left out. I pondered for... oh.... about a year... then finally jumped in.

Now five years later, I'm pretty much over challenges. They are so enticing, yet, I never end up actually doing them. Well, most of them anyway. So, over the years, I've committed to less and less. This past year, I did do Carl's two famous ones (Once Upon a Time and RIP) which are pretty much a given, and in which I actually succeeded for the most part. I also wanted to do the 2011 Challenge and Take a Chance 3, which both seemed like so much fun. But in the end, they were too much work and I only read a few books for each of them.

But it was fun to try.

Besides, all that, I've discovered that I really enjoy buddy reads, which are more interactive, so my reading challenge is to continue doing those, and even maybe do more of them.

All that being said, there's been a few challenges I've come across that I can't seem to pass up. And my guess is there'll probably be a few more. And like I said, it's always fun to try!

So here's a list of the few that I'm hoping to try this coming year... so far anyway:

A Classics Challenge (details found here) brought to us by Katherine of November's Autumn. I like this one because it's set up a little different. We read seven classics throughout the year (something I'm always trying to do anyway) and then come to Katherine's blog on the 4th of each month and answer the general questions she will post about whatever classic you happen to be reading, or just finishing, at that moment. I like that idea.

Seven classics I'd like to read are:
1. Vanity Fair by William Thackeray
2. Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson
3. Precious Bane by Mary Webb
4. various unread Wilkie Collins that I have here on hand
5. Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell
6. A Long Fatal Love Chase by Louisa May Alcott
7. My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara

Classic Double Challenge 2012 (details found here) brought to us by Melissa from One Librarian's Book Reviews. This one also has to do with classics, but here we read an original classic and then a re-telling of the same story. We can pick a level, and I'll try for the medium level, which is four books (two sets). My ideas so far on this one are:

1. something Robin Hood, maybe two new-to-me versions (Melissa says it counts though I'm not sure how to read the "original" story!)
2. I'm dying to re-read Persuasion and then it would be fun to read a re-telling of that one. Suggestions welcome.

Dean Koontz Reading Challenge (details found here) brought to us by Brigit from The Book Garden. Mostly I'm joining this one so I can aim to finish the Odd Thomas series! I have the next two books, here and ready to go!

So, wouldn't you love to join with me? Come on... you know you want to! What challenges have you found that you can't seem to pass up?

November Reading Recap

2011-11-30T08:55:00.001-07:00

Well, my list of books read this month is so pathetic I may as well not even do this post. I have no idea what the deal was this time around, I don't even have a big book to blame. So, for what it's worth, here's what I read during November:

The Death Cure by James Dashner: Wherein Thomas continues (and concludes) his maze/WICKED/Flare adventure and tries to figure out, once and for all, who are the good guys and who are the bad.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith: A re-read for book club that reminded me how sweet Francie Nolan is and to enjoy again her beautiful simple life in New York in the early 1900's.

Tattoo by Jennifer Lynn Barnes: Four friends end up with temporary tattoos that give them temporary powers to fight against the three Fates (well one bad one at least) who have come to take over the world.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern: A circus that operates only at night is filled with magic, mystery and intrigue and has a behind the scenes story that is equal parts romantic and deathly.

Well, at least I can say I read a book this month that will make to my year's end Top Ten list! Yay for The Night Circus.

Oh, and P.S. , I didn't really like Tattoo and thus didn't even take the time to review it. This is just another example of how my book bloggin' buddy and IRL friend Jenny, and I, are so much different, while at the same time being so much the same. I love it. (See what she has to say about Tattoo here.)

Plans for December include:

finish The Path of Daggers
finish Inheritance
read Supernaturally (buddy read with my sister perhaps?)
read some easy books that don't take much concentration because, whoa, I'm having a really bad issue with focusing lately. I blame that on Christmas.

I also realized last night that even if I think I have an evening free to just read, it's not going to happen because there's too much kid homework to be helping with. These last three weeks before Christmas break are going to be insane and yeah, I might as well give up on accomplishing much reading in December too.

So much for 100 books this year! Here's to trying again next year!

Top Ten Tuesday: Winter TBR List

2011-11-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

The question today over at The Broke and the Bookish is what we hope to read this winter. Mostly, the books on my winter TBR are ones that have been sitting around for quite awhile waiting until I can get to them, yet ones that at the same time, I'm dying to read.

Ten Books on My Winter TBR List

1. The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
2. Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin
3. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
4. Chasing the Sun by Kaki Warner (for a cowboy fix!)
5. Atonement by Ian McEwan (this one for book club)
6. The Exiled Queen by Cinda William Chima
7. Blood Red Road by Moira Young
9. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
10. The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

So, there's ten for starters! Ah, there's so many more I want to read soon! What's on your list?

Review: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

2011-11-27T23:06:00.001-07:00

Book: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Genre: Fantasy? Sort of? Magic... whatever genre that falls into.
Rating: A perhaps even with a +
For: Fun
From: Amazon using my gift certificate from Brigit at The Book Garden! Thanks Brigit!

Seriously, I don't even know how to describe this book. But I'll give it a go.

The time period is late 1800s and early 1900s. There's two rival illusionists. Over the years, they have each taken a student, taught them magic and then have them compete with each other. As the book opens, they are beginning a new competition. One student is actually the daughter of one of the illusionists, and the other is a random orphan boy.

There's also this circus, that comes... take a guess here.... only at night! And it appears out of nowhere! This circus is amazing! It's full of really awesome acts and displays. One of the students mentioned above performs in this circus. The other runs things behind the scenes but doesn't actually get to travel. Is there a connection? It is a safe bet that there probably is.

The story jumps back and forth between their story, and the story of a boy a few years later who is fascinated with the circus and especially with a pair of twins who are an integral part of the show. We wonder what he has to do with anything really, but it all comes together in the end and makes perfect sense.

With that description, it doesn't sound like it's anything special. But if you love magic and wonder and rich descriptions, it truly is special. The thing that stands out most to me about this book is how it uses every one of your senses. Color (or lack thereof) and smell and electrifying touch, all play a powerful role. It draws you in and makes you a complete and total part of the experience.

The style is slow and poetic and wonderful and beautiful. It's like you want to savor every word. I found myself re-reading passages many times just to feel it again.

Then there's the love story, which is so..so..so.. magical! Everything about this book is just.... magic! Yes! And magic that is believable too.

If you are scared of buzz and hype... don't be. Just go read this book and decide for yourself. Seriously.

Bottom line: I loved it! A lot!

Other Reviews

Book Journey
Leeswamme's Blog
Fyrefly's Book Blog
Omphaloskepsis

Here's a fun interview with the author:

The Sunday Salon: Thanks for the Weekend

2011-11-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

Wow, what the weekend, eh? I've taking a couple of blogging days off and now I'm forcing myself to do this post to hopefully help me get back into things. Not feeling the motivation at all lately. :(

Outside my window: The weather these past few days... just wow. Amazingly beautiful. Right now, cold and clear out my window late this Saturday night. The days have been perfect. PERFECT I tell you!

I am listening to: 30 Seconds to Mars at the moment, trying to decide what I think of them. That Kings and Queens song is pretty cool, one of their most popular ones I'm guessing. Ummm... some screamy songs too though.

Song of the week: Just discovered this one and have been loving it:

TV Talk: Not much TV this week, but a couple of movies to report. I went to Breaking Dawn yesterday with the sisters and that was fun. The movie was much better than I expected. Quite intense actually. I enjoyed it just fine despite a few really cheesy parts. What's with the cheese guys? Anyway, I look forward to the final installment! Then today we went to see Hugo, which I thought was wonderful. Some will think it's slow, but I thought it was beautifully done, though I have much love for the book, so that may have factored into it.

Reading Report
Books I've finished: Just finished The Night Circus and let's just say I agree with the buzz and hype. Wow. Awesome book. LOVED it.
Books I've started: Still working The Path of Daggers. Yes, I will plug along.
Books I want to start: Still wanting to start Inheritance.

Gosh these weekly reports make me realize how much my reading doesn't progress sometimes at all. How pathetic.

I am grateful for: how fun the weekend was and mostly relaxing. I stress about accomplishing shopping, but that's only because I feel surrounded by crazy shoppers, or something. So I wish I could have made progress on that a little, but oh, well. I am grateful for having all kids home this weekend! That has been wonderful.

What I learned this week: Even if you expect a crowd for Thanksgiving, don't do too many stuffed celery things. Wow, what do I do with THOSE yucky old leftovers!??

Around the house: lights are up on the house. Tomorrow we'll work on the tree and the other decorations. So wish me luck with that! Oh, and it took me three full days to get laundry done. That was not fun.

Recipe of the Week: no recipes to share this week. I have not cooked at all really. Must get back to that this week! But it's been a nice break. Oh, my husband made me try some sushi this yesterday. It wasn't as terrible as I thought it would be but I was not converted to it and I just don't get the point. (They weren't the roll things, but ones that looked like this:)

Favorite things of the week: all kids home as mentioned, some movie attendance as mentioned, The Night Circus as mentioned, lots and lots of sleeping in

Family Matters: Kid 1 may have found a place to move out to, Kid 2 has been doing homework all weekend it seems, Kid 3 got a speeding ticket, (shhh don't tell anyone) though he was hardly speeding at all, Kid 4 went to a friend's house today and filmed a movie for a school project and is now deeply into editing it. Oh, and she also got a new violin, full size finally!

Things we discussed at home this week: the randomness of speeding tickets, violins, movies, Christmas lists, shopping, and I don't remember what else.

Things I hope to accomplish this week: just please let me get going on Christmas stuff!!

The Blog Report: I picked some authors to feast with, I listed stuff I'm thankful for, and justified my reading, and reported on book club.

Stuff I'm Thankful For

2011-11-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

Because it's Thanksgiving here in the US, I will now share with you a list.... a very random list.

I'm thankful for:

-- authors who aren't scared to put themselves out on paper and share it with the rest of us to ponder of, argue about, and sometimes tear to pieces.

-- authors who take the time to come out of their comfort zone and meet with fans

-- the fact that I will never ever run out of books to read.

-- health, something I'm realizing more and more is not to be taken for granted and is quite an usual thing to have.

-- chocolate in all its many forms.

-- music in all ITS many forms!

-- a warm house and quilts to snuggle up in when it's blustery outside, and a switch I can flip to cool things off when it's stifling outside.

-- those annoying, irritating animals we call pets who somehow seem to always make us smile and bring a sense of grounding to our lives.

-- libraries... may they never go out of fashion.

-- leisure time, so I can pursue random trivial pursuits that only exist to make me happy.

-- stories in all its many forms....including TV.

-- everyone who comments here and talks to me on Twitter... so that I don't feel too invisible.

-- family and friends of course!

-- warm water in showers.

-- milk

-- all sorts of other food stuffs

-- modern day appliances

-- gadgety things that are fun to play with

-- ice

-- and so so many other things!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Enjoy the day and don't go shopping until Friday so that stores will FAIL on Thursday night and re-think their strategy!

In Which I Justify My Holiday Weekend Reading Choices

2011-11-23T13:57:00.001-07:00

So here's the thing. I have this long vacation looming ahead of me, a perfect time to read read read (you'd think anyway, it may end up being too crazy to read) and as of last night, all I had going was that very slow Wheel of Time book. Why are these things so slow in the beginning (beginning here meaning first several hundred pages)? I'm starting to second guess this quest!

Anyway, and then I thought, why should I spend my whole vacation reading this book that's not grabbing me? Why not read something I'm really anxious about and dying to read?

So I sat on the bed, gathered a few of the "loudest" books, and read the first few pages of them all. I loved the history (history here meaning a refresher course of the first three books) pages at the beginning of Inheritance, then I jumped right into the first few pages of the first chapter. They were interesting enough, but then I thought, why would I start yet another 700 plus page fantasy this weekend? Why would I do that to myself? What am I thinking??

So I read the first bit of The Night Circus, a prologue of sorts. And it was short and sweet and simple and very mysterious. And really quite interesting.

I also read the first page (maybe even paragraph) of Supernaturally, which would definitely be quick and fun and easy. And it did appear from that first little bit that it would be. But I don't know, I just wasn't in the mood!

Then I looked over a few more books in the stacks, nothing seemed right. Nothing! Argh! Frustrating! The whole weekend! I just wanted something really, really, you know, really, GRABBING!

I picked up The Night Circus again. First chapter. Love the style. The mysterious feeling continued. Second chapter. Oh boy. Something is up. Third chapter. Hooked. Grabbed.

I think this is it... I'll be reading The Night Circus this weekend, for starters anyway. I hope I can get through more than just one book.

As for the Wheel of Time quest? On hold for these few days anyway. There's just not enough time for reading this one right now while it's so slow!

(Speaking of time.... we also saw the movie In Time last night. It's making me think twice how to spend my time, you know? We all have a clock counting down our minutes/months/years left on this earth, we just can't see it. So, why waste it? You know?)

I don't know why I feel I have to justify all this! Probably because the Wheel of Time book is a buddy read and I just can't quit on it! Probably because I need/want to read Inheritance before the author appearance, and it's not short. Probably because I'm just weird. Maybe you all get it? Maybe you feel the need to justify sometimes too?

Here's hoping many good things happening with your time this weekend! And lots of wonderful fascinating books to read too!

Top Ten Tuesday: Feasting With Authors

2011-11-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

What authors would I want to invite to my Thanksgiving feast? This is the question today over at The Broke and the Bookish, and I'm thinking that you all know already who I'd like to invite! Do I even need to do this post!!? :) Well, just for fun, I throw in a few you probably are not expecting.

Top Ten Authors I'd Love to Feast With

(and I've decided to limit my authors to living ones,

as if that could make the fantasy come true or something)

1. John Green

of course, because he's so cute and funny

and intelligent and witty,

and yes I love the puff.

2. Neal Shusterman,

because he seems so nice and

smart and cool

3. Judy Blume,

just to make sure we have some class and experience included

4. Robin McKinley,

because she seems so eccentric and interesting

5. Avi,

because he's a mystery

and I'd like to see what he's all about

6. Megan Whelan Turner,

because I want to know the person

that created a character like Gen

7. Patrick Rothfuss,

because we need one of those epic fantasy types in the mix

and he seems like fun

8. Patrick Ness,

because it would be interesting to see what he's really like,

and if he's anything like his books! That might actually be kinda scary.

9. Janette Rallison,

just because she would keep us laughing

and because I could see us being friends in real life

10. And finally, hmmm.... I wonder who it could be... oh, right...

Markus Zusak!

Because. Well, because he's by far the coolest author ever.

Yeah, liked I'd be able to eat if ANY of these authors showed up for Thanksgiving!

Well, and so, who would be on YOUR list?

Review and Book Club Report: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

2011-11-21T16:25:00.001-07:00

Book: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: A
For: Book Club
From: I read the library book club set, even though I have my own copy which I have no idea when or where I got it.

This was my third time reading this book. The first time when I was probably around 14 years old. I liked it then, but didn't "get" much of it. Then I re-read it about 10 years or so ago with an online book group. And I remember thinking, wow, I missed a lot that first time around! Wow, that is really a great book!

This time around, I think I got even more from it... again! I just plain love love love this book.

A quick summary for those who haven't read it yet.... it's about a young girl, Francie, living in poverty in Brooklyn, New York from 1910 or so, to WWI in 1917. It's about her family, and how they cope. It's about her relationship with them... her mother, father and brother. Also her quirky aunts. It's about how she pretty much takes charge of her own education.... how they know that is what will raise their status in life. It's about their hardiness to all the things they face, just like the tree that grows up through the cement there by their house, no matter what happens, it keeps on growing and growing.

Some particular things that stood out to me this time around:

reading a page from the Bible and a page from Shakespeare, every single day
trying to read everything in the library from A to Z.
giving numbers a personality and creating stories and family situations out of every number pairing or group.
making a game (going to the North Pole!) out of having no food or heat
observing piano lessons
the flowers from her dad! Oh my word, that got me.
the initiative to switch schools
skipping high school and going straight to college
....and so many other things!

Something I didn't realize on previous readings is how closely this story mirrors the authors own story. It basically IS her story. It's fascinating to me that this "fiction" is really non fiction and someone lived that life.

Bottom line: I LOVED it... again.

We choose this book for book club because surprisingly, no one else had read it yet! What's up with that? So I was very anxious for them to experience this book and hoped so badly that they, too, would all love it. Well, so. That question remains to be answered because only two (three by the time it was over, and she hadn't quite finished the book yet) came to book club this month! Happily, those two said they enjoyed it. They agreed that it was slow moving, and it could be said that nothing happens. But that it didn't matter because the spirit and strength of Francie and the other women in the book proved enough to keep a person reading to the end.

So, hopefully the book club members that couldn't make it this time around were able to read the book anyway and enjoyed it. And if they didn't read the book, I really hope they fit it in another time.

Up next month for book club: The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt.

Here's a scene from the 1945 movie of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I hope to watch this whole thing some day!

The Sunday Salon: Not a Bad Week.. not bad at all.

2011-11-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

Outside my window: We got snow last night, and it's still there this Saturday evening, nice and crunchy. It's very cold out there!

I am listening to: Enrique singing I Have Always Loved You. Sweet song. I am anxious to listen to my new Michael Buble Christmas CD though. Waiting just one more week! Just a few more days actually!

Song of the week: Cliffs of Dover by Eric Johnson... the band jamming son played this at gig this week (on the drums) and to prepare he played this original over and over again, which I didn't mind at all

TV Talk: All caught up with Once Upon a Time. Really enjoying it. Finished Merlin season three, got weepy when he (Arthur) finally formed the round table and when Merlin finally stuck the sword in the stone. LOVE this show. Sad, now, to have to wait for another season.

Reading Report
Books I've finished: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (a blitz of a day or two!)
Books I've started: Tattoo by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (shouldn't take long if I can sit long enough)
Books I'm still reading: A Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan (several more chapters down!)
Books I want to start: All the same ones as last week! Inheritance tops the list now though.

I am thinking: that I must be in reading sort of slump. Also, that it can't be past mid-November, really? And... is it weird that I just created a cowboy board on Pinterest? What is up with THAT?

I am grateful for: lots and lots of things. I'll list some for you this coming week.

Happy Thoughts: Snow! Vacation! Food! Christopher Paolini tickets!

What I learned this week: it will make your arms sore if you carry two bags of Kneaders food (holding soup and bread bowls) while balancing a bread platter between them, all the way from your car, into the library, down the stairs and to the meeting were people are waiting for their food.

Around the house: I bought some Christmas lights today. Thought about getting someone to go on the roof to put them up... but then realized there was snow up there. That makes things just a bit too scary, know what I mean?

Recipe of the Week: I didn't make anything different and interesting this week, sadly. It was a depressing food week... except for the jello I made for book club which was really quite refreshing.

Favorite things of the week: Book Club! Though it was a small showing... and that for one of the most well-loved books of time! But oh, well. I guess life has been too busy this week for people. Another favorite thing was going to a fundraiser for the library's Center for Story and having a bidding war on a Las Vegas getaway with a co-worker (she won) and hearing the best storyteller ever (Donald Davis) tell us some wonderful stories. Very fun.

Family Matters: Not much new with the kids and family this week. Status quo. Hanging in there... plugging along. Last night all kids were sleeping at home. That was nice. All present and accounted for.

Things we discussed at home this week: College son wrote a paper on how he thinks the country has their priorities screwed up because athletes get paid so much more than teachers. I read this paper over and over and over again in my attempt to help edit.

Things I hope to accomplish this week: Thanksgiving! My assignment? Fruit salad, stuffed celery and pie of my choice. Thinking about Breaking Dawn too. Maybe the sisters will go with me? Hmmm... need to think of something else fun to do with the kids. Maybe the tree next Sunday? Lights up? Even some shopping? Wow, I can't believe it's really time....

The Blog Report: I reported on my library day last weekend, I gave you some fun links, Brodi Ashton picked five books that are important to her, and I shared my TBR shelf... again.

A Few of My Favorite Bookish Links....

2011-11-18T17:26:00.001-07:00

.... or Stuff I Found Interesting This Week!

The Hunger Games Trailer... very good stuff here. So excited for this movie. My guess is, you've probably watched it a gazillion times by now, but if you haven't, it's time to click on over and watch NOW. From this first impression feel, the casting seems pretty good...except for Peeta, but I'm willing to give him chance. Just not how I pictured him, you know?!

Markus Zusak lists his Top Ten favorite book characters... included on the list.... Mr. Collins from P and P (wait, WHAT?) and Sam-I-Am. Click on over to see who else is on there. One thing is sure, I've added Gilbert Grape to my want-to-read mental list... again.

Brodi Ashton, author of Everneath, worries that while her blog is funny, her book is not. Really, it's okay. I say you CAN write a funny blog AND a heart wrenching book. Yes, you can.

Neal Shusterman writes a beautiful blog post about his mom.... beware, you may weep just a bit.

The Story Siren, blogger extraordinaire, reminds us what NOT to do on our blogs. Great reminder here. I hope I'm in compliance.

John Green, once again, makes a video that makes me smile. In this one he lists his five favorite zombie apocalypses. Did I tell you? I just don't get zombies, but he makes me want to. Sort of. Maybe.

Josh sings "Smile" as a tribute to all those Regis has interviewed in his career, that have passed on. Goosebumps and maybe even a tear or two...... oh wait, did I say bookish links? Oops!

There's probably more, but I can't remember them, so this is it for now.

What did YOU find interesting this week? (Bookish or not.)

Review: The Death Cure by James Dashner

2011-11-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

Book: The Death Cure by James Dashner
Genre: YA Dystopian
Rating: B+
For: Supporting Local Authors, and finishing the series of course
From: I bought it... Amazon I think?

This book concludes the story of Thomas and his friends began in The Maze Runner and The Scorch Trials. Since both those books end on fairly crazy cliff hangers, you know that a review of this book will be spoilery to those, so beware.

Anyway, so this one begins with Thomas in the headquarters of WICKED with all the kids that survived the Scorch Trials. Teresa keeps insisting that WICKED is good, but to Thomas, it just doesn't feel right, and he is very very confused about Teresa in general, given the stuff that happened in the previous book. So, when they tell the kids they can have their memories back, some go for it, but Thomas says no way dudes.

That makes those in charge not happy and once again, Thomas is running for his life.

Oh, but first, they tell everyone who is immune to the Flare and who is not. So that's a bit sad.

Much of this book finds us in a strange future Denver where the Flare is feared by all, and everyone is eyeballing everyone else and life seems quite disrupted. Thomas finally gets a look of the world he was supposedly suppose to help.

Meanwhile, a new group of dissenters crops up, but Thomas has no idea who to trust. It's all very confusing and frustrating.

Which leads me to say that I, as a reader, often felt very confused too. I had a hard time following some of the issues this book brought up. Maybe I was reading too fast? I don't know, but I would have to say that for much of it, I just didn't get it. I found my brain wandering, which was unexpected for this particular book!

That's not to say I didn't enjoy the story though. Of course I was anxious for Thomas and his buddies and was often biting my fingers in worry for the situations they were in. And I so wanted him to figure things out and to finally understand who were the good guys and who were the bad. As far as the ending itself? Well, you go read it and let me know what YOU think! :)

All in all, a very fun series that I'm sad to see end, though I do look forward to what's next from James Dashner. You know that whatever it is, I'll be there.

Bottom line: I enjoyed it.

Other Reviews:

That's What She Read
S. Krishna's Books
BiblioJunkies
Karin's Book Nook

Wow, I hadn't seen the trailer yet, but it's pretty impressive:

Five Hours with Four Authors

2011-11-16T14:30:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I went to the Teen Book Festival at the Provo Library. It was a perfect way to celebrate my birthday.... spending time with bookish people and listening to authors! I thought I'd write a post telling you a bit more about it then just the quick mention from Sunday's post.

This event highlighted four YA dystopian authors and had a bunch of fun things for teens to do. I, not being a teen (ha) ignored the "fun stuff" and just went from one author presentation to the other to other for five hours straight, along with Jenny who was with me and is thus the "we" in this narration.

The first hour: Ally Condie author of Matched and Crossed

Ally was the keynote speaker and kicked off this event. She showed some awesome pictures of southern Utah and talked about how these cool places were the inspiration for the setting in Crossed. (Check out the road trip she and Rob Wells have planned just for you!) She spent much time here as a kid hiking and exploring and it was only natural, she said, that it ended up in a book. One of the main things she wanted to get across is that we all end up at some sort of turning point in our lives where we have to decide do we go forward with courage and face the canyon that's ahead of us, or do we turn back. We all have "crossings" to make.

Someone asked her, which character in her book would she want to date? She laughed and said that she put the best things about her husband into both Ky and Xander so that she, as a writer would be torn as to which one was the "best," just as her character Cassia is torn. There's no way she could pick!

After she was done, we ran to her signing to get our Crossed ARCs signed, then off to the next presentation.

The second hour: Rob Wells author of Variant

Rob spent his hour talking about the characteristics of dystopian novels and how they are different from post apocalyptic novels. He first defined "utopia" which is "a good place." So dsytopia is a good place gone wrong.... or a utopian society with a fatal flaw. He felt like dystopian books would have:

a society that plays a major role
elements of control and loss of freedom
restricted information
characters are dehumanized
an illusion of a perfect world
antagonism to nature
conformity is good, individuality is bad
a hero that feels trapped, recognizes a problem, discovers restricted info, is NOT an outsider, is willing to take risks... etc.

So, what do you think? With those parameters, are we defining our dystopian stuff correctly? Or do we all have a tendency to get dystopian mixed up with post apocalyptic? Or does any of it even matter?

With all that being said, I wondered if he thought his own book was dystopian, and he did answer that question by saying not really, that it is dystopian-ish... a term I totally love.

Afterwards he took questions which included explaining his book a bit and telling about the Amazon book bomb his friends pulled off last week.

When he was done, we ran across the hall to get his autograph on Variant, (where he revealed that he had been "stalking" my blog which made me feel oddly content) then back over for....

The third hour: Kristen Landon author of The Limit

I haven't read this book, so I bought it then and there. It is more of middle grade type book about a kid who, because his parents are in debt, gets sent to some sort of work house. I'll let you know what I think, if I ever get to read it!

She spent her hour listing some of her favorite dystopian YA books, including like Uglies, The Giver, Birthmarked, The Ship Breaker, Brave New Wold, 1984, Divergent, Matched, etc.

After running across the hall to get her to sign the book I'd just bought, we started...

The fourth hour: Elana Johnson author of Possession

I found Elana's presentation interesting because she is sort of new to the whole author thing. Most of authors I notice have been writing forever and may or not have been trying to be published forever too, but Elana just sort of decided a few years ago to write and then she went for it, received the obligatory gazillions of rejections, but got her one (you just need one she said!) offer and away she goes! Her presentation was the journey of a book from beginning to end... all the steps it takes from being written, to getting queried, to finding an agent, editor and publisher, to going through revisions and copy setting and keyboarding entry (did you know someone has to re-type the whole book out?) and then the ARC is made and then changes are again made and finally, the book comes out. It takes roughly two years. Really really interesting.

She answered a bunch of questions regarding querying and talked a little about her book. I already had her sign my copy of her book at an earlier event this summer, so for our break we stretched!

The fifth hour: Dystopian panel

All the authors joined together to discuss their books, their writing, dysopian stuff, and their favorites. I love panels. It's very fun to see the different personalities all together. The only thing I wrote down from this discussion was what they mentioned as their all time favorite book:

Ally: Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
Rob: It was Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, but changed to Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce
Elana: Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey
Kristen: Holes by Louis Sachar

Very fun to see what they came up with off the top of their heads.... all these with rave and passionate reviews and pleas for us to read them. Millions and Skin Hunger... now on my list to be read!

What a lovely lovely day. Other bloggers I saw there for just a brief moment (besides Jenny of course) were Jenni Elyse, Emily, Enna Isilee and Diana. My sister and her friend also joined us for Ally's part. Who else came? What'd you think about it all?

Next year, they plan to have Susan Beth Pfeffer and Jonathan Mayberry as guests! Time to finish up the Life as we Knew It books and read Rot and Ruin! Maybe I can get into zombies after all.

Top Ten Tuesday: My Oldest TBR's!

2011-11-15T06:00:00.000-07:00

Once in awhile an opportunity comes along where I get to show off my lovely TBR shelf... the shelf I look at every night as I'm falling asleep. I post it now and then, but since it's always changing, I figure that's okay. So here it is again:

My newest books are stacked in two teetering piles on the floor
in the bottom left. See them? The books I'm listing here are all hidden behind the ones you see
because of course there's double shelving going on here!
Gah, what a mess1

Today's topic for Top Tens brought to you by The Broke and the Bookish is to list ten books that have been on your TBR shelf for the longest time. Well, this shelf has books that have been on there for YEARS... so I'm going to reach back to the very dustiest corner of this mess and let you know about ten random ones. I still hope that sometime I'll read them, even if they've already been here for years and years.

Top Ten Oldest TBR Books

1. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
2. The Master by Colm Toibin
3. Vanity Fair by William Thackary
4. Broken Music by Sting
5. The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti
6. Oil! by Upton Sinclair
7. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
8. Peony in Love by Lisa See
9. Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell
10. The Shipping News by Annie Proulx

Wow. I could go on for pages and pages! So tell me... of these ten, which ones do you think it's very sad that I haven't yet read? Do you see any other books in my picture that need my attention pronto?

Authors Pick Five: Brodi Ashton

2011-11-14T14:30:00.000-07:00

As part of the blog tour of Everneath that I'm participating in (see my review here) of course I had to also ask Brodi Ashton, my favorite author question:

What five books are most important or influential to you?

Here's what she had to say:

1. Fried Green Tomatoes by Fannie Flagg. I know it's a book-clubby pick, but I loved that book as a teenager, and I was inspired by the past/present style of storytelling. I'm sure it influenced me while I wrote EVERNEATH, because of it's structure.

2. Dracula by Bram Stoker. I was sort of obsessed with this book in college. My mom (an English Teacher) always stressed how the book isn't ultimately about a bloodsucking vampire. It's about love. Sure, mom. Sure.

3. Anything by Jane Austen. I love her. I love her characters. Especially Emma.

4. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. After I read this book, I told my agent, "My sequel is going to be exactly like Anna and the French Kiss!" And he was all, "Um... Brodi, your book is dark paranormal about the Underworld. Hers is about an American girl finding love living abroad in France." And I was all, "Your problem being?"

5. The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Economy of words. No punctuation needed. Me jealous.

I love those books too! Except I have yet to read Fried Green Tomatoes. Better add that to the list!

Everneath is Brodi's first book. But there are more planned as it's the first in a trilogy. Besides being a YA author, she is also a mom to two boys. According to her blog (which is a blast and you must read) she loves cinnamon bears and diet Coke. I also happen to know she plays the piano! I look forward to many many books from Brodi!

Review: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

2011-11-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

Book: Everneath by Brodi Ashton
Genre: YA Paranormal
Rating: A
For: Book Blog Tour (book comes out on January 24th)
From: An ARC passed from blogger to blogger for the tour

I've been one of those bloggers who have been waiting a long time to read a Brodi Ashton book. I've been paying attention as she went through all the ups and downs of getting published these past couple of years, cheering her on from the sidelines and so it's been quite the reward to finally be able to read this, her first book, and now to finally be able to tell you about it!

This is story based on the myth about Persephone, a myth I'm not at all familiar with so I can't tell you if it mirrors the original much or not, but here's a little summary. It starts out with Nikki waking up from something called The Feed where she has been attached is some sort of way to this immortal guy named Cole. Once awake, she has a choice to stay with him in the Everneath, or to return to her family. She chooses to return because there's a face in her memory that she simple cannot forget.

It turns out this face belongs to her boyfriend Jack. When she comes back, however, all is different between them and she is so changed that it's hard for her to figure out how to deal with it. She also has a strained relationship with her dad too that needs fixing. But she only has six months until she has to go back, and what she has to go back is not pretty.

Meanwhile, Cole shows up and causes her all kinds of stress because she is torn and because he lets her know she still has a time to change her mind. Ugh! It's all so complicated! If she does one thing, this bad thing will happen, and if she does the other, this other bad thing will happen! And Cole is an absolute lovely bad guy, and Jack is an awesome cool good one.

I truly did love this emotionally charged story. Lots of delicious drama and heart wrenching issues. The whole supernatural element was especially unique which was refreshing in this paranormal saturated book world. A very easy to read, page turning book. Way to go Brodi! :)

Bottom line: I loved it!

Other Reviews:

Jenni Elyse
Sara B. Larson
J.R. Johansson

The Sunday Salon: Let Another Year Begin!

2011-11-13T11:36:00.001-07:00

Outside my window: It's Sunday morning right now, barely. About to change to afternoon, which means I have church then, which means I better hurry if I want to do this post because after church we'll have dinner guests and other activities!

I am listening to: the TV is mindlessly on... plus I hear the sound affects of kid#3s Koss pad that he is building. (It's like a synthesizer built into a guitar, in case you wondered.)

Song of the week: I can never get enough of this version of Hotel California.

TV Talk: Vampire Diaries ended until January, sadly... but with much craziness. Survivor has been very interesting with Cochran trying to take control over Ozzy. I love it. Amazing Race has been quite boring this season. I caught up with Once Upon a Time online, and enjoyed those episodes a lot. Doctor Who continues to work it's way into my heart. I haven't watched any Merlin or Supernatural this week. The husband is completely addicted to 24 and has been watching several episodes a night.

Reading Report
Books I'm Reading: The Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan, though I don't think I actually ever read it this week. This means I am now many chapters behind in my buddy read with Ibeeeg! Dang.
Books I've Finished: The Death Cure by James Dasher, review to come this week.
Books I've Started: This morning I've been working on A Tree Grows in Brooklyn for book club.
Books I want to start: So many I want to read right now, it makes me crazy. Like seriously, I'm beginning to fear for my sanity.

I am thinking: It's really time I had a shower and got ready for this day!

I am grateful for: family, as always, but it needs to be said again this week.

Around the house: I spent one whole afternoon this week cleaning the laundry room, which is really the junk room. I throw away a ton of stuff and wow, you can actually see the room again! It was an exhausting, but satisfying task. Here's hoping I can keep it clear for awhile anyway!

Recipe of the Week: This week I made Ibeeeg's Pumpkin Soup found here.(Everyone loved it!) Also we made gingerbread men cookies for Toto's "pioneer recipe" school project. This recipe came from an old bakery in Nauvoo:

Ginger Bread Cookies

from the Scovil Bakery in Nauvoo, Illinois

1 C sugar

¾ C butter

1 C molasses

½ C hot water

2 eggs

Stir

1 Tsp. Soda

½ Tsp. Salt

1 Tsp. Cinnamon

1 heaping Tsp. Ginger

6-7 cups flour

Refrigerate dough. Roll out and cut with cookie cutter. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Favorite things of the week: Yesterday was pretty awesome when I hung out at the library all day long and listened to four authors talk, mingled with other Utah bloggers, and got books signed, etc. Another favorite thing was taking the whole family to visit a spunky neighbor we have and left laughing and happy. Why don't we do things like that more often?

Family Matters: Kid#1 went golfing with Grandpa and needs to finish is English paper, Kid#2 did not have a good week at all and we'll leave it at that, Kid#3 is building the guitar as mentioned above and continues his zoombie game addiction, Kid#4 has learned how to make things, crafty things, out of duct tape.

Things we discussed at home this week: much talk on relationships. What a complicated bit of this life we live.

Things I hope to accomplish in the coming week: I've got to read more this week. Last week was pathetic on the reading front. I'm also going to learn my new video editing program I just got... Premiere Elements TEN!! Wahoo. Beware, I may make a movie and force you to watch it!

The Blog Report: I gave away a book, I discussed issues that bugged me, I pondered getting old, and I got excited about John Green.

Don't forget to go sign up for the Virtual Advent Blog Tour!!

Iron Knight Winner!

2011-11-11T08:12:00.001-07:00

We have a winner!

Congratulations goes out to LEIGH whose number (#21) came up on random.org as the winner of my Iron Knight giveaway! Way to go.

I've sent an email out and hope to hear back from her quickly so I can pass her info on to the publisher.

Thanks everyone for entering.

On Getting Old... or Not

2011-11-10T11:30:00.000-07:00

Awhile back while at a book signing thing with a bunch of other bloggers, I suddenly looked around and realized how freaking old I am! It took me back a minute! That's because I totally FEEL not old, (well except for the occasional ache and pain and the whole how-did-I-get-so-fat thing) but then when I realized how much older I am than most of these other book fanatics I hang with now and then, I wondered if they think, what the heck? Who invited this middle-aged lady to our party??? Know what I mean?

But for the most part people seem sincerely thunderstruck when they do find out how old I am. I laugh at this because I don't know how to take it! Does this mean I look and act young-ish? Or does this mean I look and act immature? Because we wouldn't want that now would we...

So, as the weekend approaches and I have to add yet another year to my age tally marks, I'm pondering getting old.... yet trying to still "be" young.

Which of course means, I made some lists. Here's how I know I'm getting old:

-- I remember when VCRs became the thing, and we had to rent them if we wanted to try them out.
-- I remember watching final episode of Mash.
-- I remember when MTV was first popular... one of the first music videos I remember was this one:

-- I went to Star Wars in the theater when I was 12 years old. We sat through it twice and I was completley blown away by everything about it.
-- I also remember LOVING this movie (Flash Gordon) when I was 16.
-- I remember watching Donny and Marie every Friday night, Emergency, Love Boat and Fantasy Island every Saturday night and The Wonderful World of Disney and Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys every Sunday night..

-- Of course I loved Donny... and Shaun Cassidy, and also Leif Garret, Andy Gibb and Scott Baio

-- We had a class dance every Friday afternoon in 6th grade and I had a little 45 record of this song which the kids begged me to bring for that dance every week:

(I love this clip of it because it has both the original music AND the disco one which starts at 1:26 in.. plus it has clips of the movie! Embedding might not be working, so go on and click over to YouTube!)

-- Another song I remember we loved dancing to was More Than a Feeling by Boston
-- I remember watching Roots on TV.
-- I got an electric typewriter for my going to college Christmas present and that was so very very cool.
-- I was already married when CDs become the thing and we freaked out about them
-- I watched Oprah from the beginning
-- I remember when disposable diapers were the next coolest thing
-- I remember when Ibuprofen was the wonder drug and you could only get it in prescription
-- I was in college when the shuttle exploded
-- I remember when John Lennon was shot... and Ronald Regan... but no, not JFK.
-- I remember when TV shows started advertising their websites
-- I remember first getting the internet and how that AOL "you've got mail" thing was so awesome!
.... and the list could go on and on and on.

BUT... I feel/act/seem younger because....

-- I get into all the new computer stuff
-- I think it's fun to have a lot of celebrity crushes
-- I like to blast music in the car... (my kids tell me to turn down the music all the time)
-- and go to rock concerts.
-- I have the confidence of a teenager... in other words... not much
-- I get excited about weird things
-- I like to read YA books and ponder my own high school years
-- I dress like a kid in jeans and tshirts/sweatshirts and tennis shoes
-- and... I don't know what else.... what else?

Anyway, here's to getting older, but staying young! If you have the secret to that, let me know!

Random Bookish Stuff... Again

2011-11-09T13:55:00.000-07:00

Some bookish things on my mind....

** So...the other day I went to yet another library event where Dan Wells came to talk teens. The problem was, only about three teens showed up. Also a few older "kids" and then a bunch of library staff. People! Where were you??? But it was okay, because those of us that were there had a blast hearing how this crazy funny author came to write a book about a sociopathic kid named John Wayne Cleaver in a book called I Am Not A Serial Killer. And we learned his take on the steps a book takes to get published. We learned how John Wayne Cleaver took over and is now so important that he will have another series sometime down the road. We also learned there's a movie that is perhaps really going to happen. They even have the kid picked out to play this main part.... but alas, he couldn't tell us who. :( We also learned about all the other projects Dan Wells has up his sleeves, not to mention a new series that comes out in February. (Partials is the name of the first one.) Anyway, it was very fun and the hour flew by. Come see him next time he is somewhere you are!

** So... I bought Inheritance today at Costco! Sadly, I guess it won't be getting signed.

** So... there's a Teen Book Fest at the other library this weekend. I'm very excited to go and support the event and say hi to the four awesome authors that will be there, including Ally Condie who is the keynote. Yeah! Fun!

** So... someone (Holly, Allison and Angie to be specific) was talking on Twitter today about a Robin Hood book... Scarlet I think? And of course I was eavesdropping! They said they loved it! So I looked it up and it's NOT EVEN OUT YET!! Argh people. Stop that. Now I'm in the mood for Robin Hood and so must find a book that IS out and read it. (Oh and hey look, Angie reviewed it today.)

** So... other Twitter-ness making me crazy is Emily watching North and South and tweeting at the same time.... all that swooning going on. I'm thinking it's time for a rewatch of this movie? Yes?

** So... if I want to request an ARC and they say you must fax the request on company letterhead.... do I make up letterhead for my blog? Have you people done this? I need to get the hang of this requesting ARC thing so I can get the "cool" books that I'm really wanting.

** So.... anyone know why my LinkWithin thing isn't working anymore? I mean, I thought it was supposed to suggest related posts.. and lately, the posts it's suggesting aren't even near cousins! Sheesh.

** So... I think that's it for a minute here. I know there was more I wanted to ponder on, but I can't remember them now. I need to read. I need another readathon. I need Netflix to not be so distracting... and... and... so many other things.

'Till next time!

Top Ten Tuesday: Outside the Zone

2011-11-08T05:00:00.000-07:00

Today's topic over at The Broke and the Bookish for our top ten list... is what books have you read outside of your comfort zone.

Well, since my comfort zone is really quite large, I'm going to have to stretch a little to accomplish this list! But here's what I've come up with:

Ten Books I've Read Outside My Comfort Zone

1. Under the Dome by Stephen King... just finished and enjoyed this one, but I would say that anything by Stephen King is a bit outside the zone, just for the all round graphic nature of his books.

2. Truman by David McCullough.... a book read pre-blogging days and probably took me the whole summer. Books this big AND political are not my norm. Fascinating stuff here though.

3. A Thief of Time by Tony Hillerman....a mystery. Not so much into them, but we read it for book club and guess what? I enjoyed it!

4. Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz.... a genre that I'm not especially familiar with, by a popular author I thought I'd probably never read. But thanks to Jenny, I tried it and liked it.

5. The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis... books pondering religion, not my favorite. But C.S. Lewis was worth the try.

6. Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand..... a memoir about horse racing? How boring! NOT! Turns out this is one of my all time favorite books. It may be that I'm more of a horse person than I thought.

7. All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy... a very strange author, and one to be a bit scared of, that is, until you become immersed, and then he's wonderful.

8. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert... a book about someone moaning about how horrible their life is... while they traipse around the world to find themselves? Not my normal thing, and I avoided it forever, but once again, there were parts I quite enjoyed. The writing was wonderful for one.

9. Beach Trip by Cathy Holton... a book I read for a blog tour, very chick lit-y, and I worried I wouldn't get it. But it also ended up one of my favorite books that year.

10. The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff... another blog tour book I read several years ago. I'm not a fan of polygamy books, they make crazy in all sorts of ways, but I got through this one just fine, with only a few moments of insanity.

Whew! I did it! Ten books outside the zone. I bet there's more, but I really do have to dig deep to decide if a book made me nervous much.

How about you? What have you read that was outside your zone?