It's All About Books

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

A Little Meme

Many variations of this meme have been going around. This time, I actually got tagged (by Julie) ... so I'm playing:

4 things I was doing 10 years ago...1998

1. Had a miscarriage
2. Three months later got pregnant with our last baby
3. Started doing online reading groups which changed my reading habits in a big way
4. Saw Donny Osmond in "Joseph". He winked at and thumbs upped us even!

4 things I was doing 5 years ago...2003

1. Went on a dream trip to England and Denmark... can I go again please???
2. Cub Scouts
3. Started keeping a detailed book journal of books read. Wish I would have done that forever ago.
4. Took kids to Arches National Park for Fall Break

4 things I did yesterday

1. tended a sick kid
2. made spaghetti
3. folded clothes
4. watched American Idol and voted to try and keep Jason in there, I don't care what those judges say!

4 shows I like (Julie changed this to movies-from-novels since she doesn't watch TV, but me? Instead, I'd say "only 4?")

1. Heroes (if it ever comes on again)
2. Moonlight
3. Survivor
4. American Idol... or Amazing Race... or Lost... or

4 joys of the moment

1. having fun with the writing bug that seems to have bitten me!
2. YA novels
3. spring
4. my new car stereo

So, if you want to play and haven't yet then TAG you're it!

Very Small Reviews on Some Books I've Lately Read

I'm behind on reviewing again, so I'm going to make these short and hopefully sweet (as usual, well, the short part, not necessarily the sweet part!):

Book: Pants on Fire by Meg Cabot
Genre: YA Romance
Rating: B+

I had a goal to read all Meg Cabot's books, but there's too many and I'm getting sick of them. This one was fine, okay, alright. It's about a girl who doesn't necessarily lie to everyone yet just says things they she thinks they want her to say or do or like. She learns to be true to herself and stand up for her own person, which, is good thing. Meanwhile, she needs to pick which boy she's going to like once and for all!

Book: Nicola and the Viscount by Meg Cabot
Genre: YA Romance
Rating: A-

Surprise! Something a little different by Meg Cabot. Though predictable and fluffy, I liked it anyway. It was like a Jane Austen-y type story for teens, set in 1810 where the girl THINKS she should get married to a particular guy, but there's something not quite right with him.

Book: Maximum Ride: The Final Warning by James Patterson
Genre: YA SF/Fantasy
Rating: B+

For some reason, I'm completely invested in this gang of bird/kids. I have to know what happens to them. I have to know if Fang and Max figure things out. I have to know what the next adventure is! BUT... this one left me quite disappointed. Instead of another great adventure for the kids, I felt like it was just a platform for the author to preach to us about environmental issues. That's just not what I wanted, you know? Oh, well. Still, I enjoyed it for the most part, and I skipped the lessons.

Book: Quentins by Maeve Binchy
Genre: Literary Fiction
Rating: A-

Finally! It took me awhile on this one. I left it on the treadmill for weeks, and so yeah, I haven't been doing so well at getting my treadmilling in! But I love Binchy's books and her style and the way she can take a community and give everyone that lives there their own story and make you love them all. This one revolves around the restaurant, Quentins, and we learn about several different cool things that happens there as Ella researches to make a film about the place. Meanwhile, Ella is having a bit of her own drama that must all be worked out!

This book has several companion books. I've read Evening Class and have Scarlet Feather awaiting it's turn. I think I've read Tara Road, but it was back long enough that I can't remember for sure.

Monday, April 28, 2008

Weekly Geeks #1: Discover New Blogs Week

Okay. So, I'm doing the Weekly Geeks thing over at Dewey's. Many of you have already heard about it, or doing it, so I won't go into ALL the details. But basically, it's all about making new blog friends, participating in a different theme every week... and lots of fun bookish stuff. HERE's the details. Go do it!

The first assignment we had is to visit five "new to me" blogs from the list of participants. There were lots on there that I'm familiar with, but lots of "new" ones too. Here's my five new ones that I discovered that look like lots of fun to me:

Reader Rabbit: A site by two teen sisters, reviewing teen/YA books. And as we all know, I seem to be way into those kind of books these days! Cool.

Page After Page: I can see that Kim is very much into challenges, which makes my head spin. And we have lots in common: quilting, kids, Michael Buble, and.... books of course!

This Readhead Reads: Misa is brand new to blogging, but still, she's listed some of my favorites (The Giver, and A Wrinkle in Time) as some of her favorites, so my guess is we can become quick book bloggin' buddies.

A High and Hidden Place: Heather seems like a lot of fun. One thing I know for sure, she takes amazingly cute pictures of her kids! Oh, and she appears to be excited about the upcoming Twilight movie, just like me!

Passion for the Page: Looks like Kristi's been blogging for awhile and has a gazillion challenges going and lots and lots of stuff happening at her blog. Looks like fun!

Going to add them all to the Google Reader, even though I can't keep up as it is.....

Favorite Authors: An Alphabet List

Here's a fun list idea I've seen going around, but I saw it first at An Adventure in Reading (Raidergirl). So here's my take on it:

An Alphabet List of Favorite Authors

(My criteria: Authors that I would run out and buy their new book without blinking an eye at a hard cover price, same thing if they are dead and they suddenly somehow wrote a new book. Or authors that I've pretty much read everything they've written.... or authors that I'm trying to read everything they've written. There's a couple of hard letters where I stuck a name of an author that I'm simply intrigued by.)

A: Jane Austen

B: The Bronte sisters

C: Wilkie Collins (tons of runner ups)

D: Charles Dickens (more tons of runner ups)

E: George Elliot

F: Cornelia Funke

G: John Galsworthy and Elizabeth Gaskell (sorry couldn't pick)

H: Shannon Hale

I: John Irving? (maybe)

J: Maureen Johnson (new to me favorite)

K: M.M. Kaye

L: Lowis Lowry

M: Stephenie Meyer and Robin McKinley (another tie)

O: George Orwell? (maybe?)

P: Christopher Paolini

Q: Anna Quindlen? (maybe?)

R: J.K. Rowling

S: Anya Seton

T: J.R.R. Tolkein

V: Kurt Vonnegut (one I NEED to read, but haven't yet)

W: Scott Westerfeld

Z: Hmmmm... let me think.... oh, yeah... Markus Zusak!!! :)

So... a few blanks. Any suggestions? You'd think I could come up with one for N though.

So, who're your favorites? Let me know if you do a list too!

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Gotta Problem With That?

When my 18 year old son came home from school today and caught me vacuuming, he said:

"Let me guess... book club tonight?"

"Yeah... so... gotta problem with that?" I said.

So what if he's right.

Clean house or not, I think I better strike up a fire 'cause it's snowing like crazy outside! Did someone say it was spring today?

Booking Through Thursday: Springing

Booking Through Thursday

Well, here where I live, Spring is sprung–weeks early, even. Our lilac bush looks like it will have flowers by this time next week instead of in the middle of May as usual. The dogwood trees, the magnolia trees–all the flowering trees are flowering. The daffodils and crocuses are, if anything, starting to fade. It may only be April 24th but it is very definitely Spring and, allergies notwithstanding, I’m happy to welcome the change of season. What I want to know, is:

Do your reading habits change in the Spring? Do you read gardening books? Even if you don’t have a garden? More light fiction than during the Winter? Less? Travel books? Light paperbacks you can stick in a knapsack?

Or do you pretty much read the same kinds of things in the Spring as you do the rest of the year?

This spring I've really a noticed that I only want to read light, easy, fun, frivolous things. That's why my War and Peace project is suffering. That's why I couldn't manage one of my book club reads this month (1776). That's why Quentin's, my current "treadmill" book is STILL down there on the treadmill and for some reason isn't calling me to go work out. That's why I keep getting distracted by all the YA books that are begging to be read!

Yeah.. that's why! Of course! It's spring!