Answers to Weekly Geeks Trivia Questions

Here's my questions with their answers and who got what right:

1. The Grapes of Wrath is about what event in American history?

Though it happened during the Depression, the event that the Grapes of Wrath is about is known as The Dust Bowl, and the resulting migration of farmers from The Great Plains to California looking for jobs.

Way to go Amanda and Lahni (who got part of it right!)

2. In what country does the novel The Far Pavilions take place?

India

Way to go Maree and Chris!

3. By what name is Samuel Langhorne Clemens more commonly known?


Mark Twain

Way to go Maree, Rikki, Amanda, Chris, Eva, and Lahni!

4. Who are the four Little Women?

Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy

Way to go Rikki, Claire, Amanda, Chris, Eva and Linda!

5. What does Amir's friend, Hassan, say to him many times in the book The Kite Runner?


"For you, a thousand times over."

Way to go Lahni!

6. Anne (of Green Gables) likes to refer to her friends as... what?

Kindred spirits

Way to go Chris, Eva and Linda!

7. At the end of The Good Earth, what are the sons planning to do?


sell the land

Way to go Amanda!

8. In The Book Thief, what's the first book that Liesel steals?


A Gravedigger's Handbook

Way to go Amanda, Eva and Lahni!

9. In Wuthering Heights, which two characters does Heathcliff force to get married?


Linton and the 2nd Catherine

Way to go Rikki, Claire, Amanda, and Chris!

10. Who does Kitty run off with in Pride and Prejudice?

The true answer is no one, because it's not Kitty! It's Lydia! Silly Suey. How's that for an accidental trick question? DOH!!!! (And yes Lydia does run off with Wickham!)

For catching the "trick": Way to go Melissa and Eva!
For saying Wickham: Way to go Maree, Rikki, Claire, Amanda, Chris and Lahni!

And the "Winner" with the most correct: Amanda from The Zen Leaf with six right! (Seven if you give her Wickham!) Way to go!

Booking Through Thursday: Celebrities?

Booking Through Thursday

Suggested by Callista83:

Do you read celebrity memoirs? Which ones have you read or do you want to read? Which nonexistent celebrity memoirs would you like to see?

It seems like I have read them, but it was such I long time ago I forget which ones. I would like to read them, but they seem to get pushed to the very very bottom of the pile.

I think I read Kathie Lee Gifford's book, and I have Regis' book here to read some day. I went through a phase of watching their show without fail. But now, I haven't watched in years. Strange how that happens.

I read Mommy Dearest back when it was a craze. That was a freaky book.

Oh, and Stephen King's On Writing is a memoir, right? I loved that one.

I have here in the pile Sting's memoir, and Eric Clapton's also. And there's the new book about John Lennon also waiting a turn. I also see one by Mike Wallace. It looks pretty interesting. If only I could get to them all!

Memoirs I'd like to see done and read? One by Josh Groban of course! Did you even have to ask? Oprah's would be interesting. I've only seen "unauthorized" ones for her. Does Michael Jackson have a memoir? Now that one would be interesting too!

Yeah, I would love to read all the memoirs. Really. But they get the boot to the back, sadly.

June Reading Recap

Wow, June flew by. I read a few things. And I liked them all!

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson: Lia deals with her friend's sudden death and slowly succumbs to the demon of anorexia.

Beach Trip by Cathy Holton: Four friends spend a week at a beach house and in the process reconnect with each other while reminiscing about their college days.

Beastly by Alex Flinn: Kyle gets cursed and turns into beast because he needs to learn a lesson about what really makes a person beautiful.

And Only to Deceive by Tasha Alexander: Emily's husband dies before she even gets to know him. But through his journals and his friends, she learns to love him, and learns that he was involved in some strange doings.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski: Edgar, who can't talk, is raised by loving parents and the kennel-full of dogs they breed. Then things turn sour when Edgar's uncle shows up.

Edgar Sawtelle by far my favorite, but with the rest not far behind. A great reading month, if only I could have fit a bit more in!

Review of Beach Trip and a Guest Post by its Author Cathy Holton

Book: Beach Trip by Cathy Holton

Genre: Literary Fiction

Rating: A

For: TLC Book Tours

It was a little daunting to receive this book in the mail for the TLC Book Tour and see how big it was! I started it quite awhile ago to be sure I'd get done in time for my blog tour stop, but as it turned out, I didn't need that much time at all. I think I read the last half all in one sitting. I couldn't put it down!

This is the story of four college friends who get together twenty years later for.... you guessed it.... a beach trip. There's much alluding to the fact that "stuff" has happened between them which makes the success of this beach adventure iffy. The whole book then proceeds to flash back and forth between the current day when the beach trip takes place, and their college days in 1982. Also, there's many moments were each character thinks back even further to childhood incidents. In the process, the back story unfolds and we learn about their ups and downs, successes and failures and most importantly, the relationships they have with each other.

Because we see very intimately into the heads of each one at different times, this makes for a novel that is highly character driven. I'm learning more and more that this is my favorite type of book. I loved how we truly came to know Annie (a compulsive cleaner), Sara (a fairly typical mom-type), Mel (the single, more rebellious one) and Lola (the sweet and childlike rich lady). Each personality became very distinct and strong. So that's why, by the middle of the book, I was totally engrossed and needed to find out how things would end.

The end, by the way, is.... well.... never mind.... any adjective will give away too much!

The only thing I didn't enjoy about the book? All the drinking these ladies do! Sheesh, I guess not being a drinker, I just don't get it! I know it's possible to have fun without drinking until you're sick, right? Yes, I'm quite sure. But still, even all that activity added to their personalities and character.

So yes, I deem this a very worthy summer... one might even say... beach read!

And now I'm excited to introduce to you the author of this book, Cathy Holton. As part of this blog tour stop, I've asked her to do a little guest post and to tell us about her own personal beach trips and resulting friend connections.

I started going to the beach twenty-three years ago with a group of women I met through a Newcomers Club. We were all from somewhere else, our families had been transferred to Chattanooga with various companies, and so we set about making connections and friendships in this small suburban town where we now found ourselves stranded.

We were all in our twenties and most had given up careers to stay home, at least part time, to raise children. We started playgroups, babysitting coops, and learned to play bridge and tennis. It sounds pretty cushy now, and it was, except for the constant worry over finances and sick children and the threat of being transferred somewhere else.

One of the things we did for ourselves, however, was that once a year we would leave the kids with our husbands and go off to the beach. We’d leave on a Thursday night and drive seven hours and then sleep in the next morning, rising around ten or eleven. Most of the day was spent sitting around in our pajamas drinking coffee and talking (“What in the world do you women find to talk about for six hours?” my husband always asked.) Mid-afternoon we’d pull on our swimsuits, make up a batch of frozen margaritas, and head down to the beach. We ate when we wanted to, we slept when we wanted to, and we didn’t live by schedules. It was lovely.

One of the best things about the beach, besides the lack of schedules, was the way we opened up to each other. Initially, we were tentative, we kept our masks firmly in place, but by the second or third day the masks came off, and the revelations began. Childhood trauma, marital woes, hopes, dreams, aspirations; they all came tumbling out. It was better than years of psychotherapy and a whole lot cheaper.

Now our children are grown, we’ve reentered the work force or started our own businesses, and our annual beach trips have become bi-annual. But the qualities that made those old trips so wonderful still remain; friendship, shared life experiences, the ability to let go and be who you really are. T.S. Eliot said, “At the beach, time you enjoyed wasting, is not time wasted.”

He was right.


What a wonderful story and I love that quote at the end!

I also asked Cathy to share with us the five books most important or influential to her for my new feature Authors Pick Five. Here's her list:

The five most influential books in my life: Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne, because it taught me to love reading; The Collected Stories of Flannery O’Connor, because it taught me what good writing is all about; Little Big Man by Thomas Berger because it taught me that good historical fiction is about more than describing how a cotton gin works; Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris because it taught me that truth rearranged by fiction can be really funny; and Giving Up the Ghost, a memoir by Hilary Mantel because it taught me that my inability to submit to authority figures and my insecurities are what made me a writer.

Thanks so much Cathy for your wonderful post and fabulous list of books! Oh, and for such a fun read in Beach Trip!

Cathy Holton's Website

Cathy Holton's Blog

List of other TLC Blog Tour Participants

The Sunday Salon: Just Hanging Out

Happy Sunday!

Yesterday and today I've been totally, and I mean TOTALLY immersed in The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. I know I'm a little late to the party, but MAN that's a good book. I couldn't even concentrate on anything today until I finished it. Wow.

Now, I've got to continue on with Pawn of Prophecy which I started while vacationing. Right now I'm to the part where we're in the middle of a journey. Something needs to happen soon.

But first, my 10 year old daughter begged me to help her do some scrapbooking. So we hauled out all THAT mess. And as I've been sorting pictures and piles and projects, I've noticed that there's a direct correlation between when I started blogging and when I stopped scrapbooking. Hmmm.....

Meanwhile, I supposed I should fix dinner for the family. Too bad we need food in this life. That's what I say.

What the family is reading:

The Mr.: He told me last night he has officially given up on Stranger in a Strange Land, and he's halfway through! How can he do that? He says, he doesn't get anything that's going on and he's had enough.

JJ (17): She finished Unwind by Neal Shusterman this week. She told me it was sad. Now I'm not sure I want to read it too or not.

Moder (14): Percy Jackson #... whatever the newest one is.... 10?

Toto (10): Pendragon #2.

Question of the day: Have you read Edgar Sawtelle? Did it grab you and drag you in? Or was it only so-so for you?

Weekly Geeks 2009.24: Trivia Time

It's Trivia Time over at Weekly Geeks! So here's some random book questions for you:

1. The Grapes of Wrath is about what event in American history?

2. In what country does the novel The Far Pavilions take place?

3. By what name is Samuel Langhorne Clemens more commonly known?

4. Who are the four Little Women?

5. What does Amir's friend, Hassan, say to him many times in the book The Kite Runner?

6. Anne (of Green Gables) likes to refer to her friends as... what?

7. At the end of The Good Earth, what are the sons planning to do?

8. In The Book Thief, what's the first book that Liesel steals?

9. In Wuthering Heights, which two characters does Heathcliff force to get married?

10. Who does Kitty run off with in Pride and Prejudice?

Comment with your answers! No fair Googling! Answers to be posted later this week.

Random Bookish Thoughts

It's been awhile and I'm in the mood so.... presenting my bookish thoughts of the day:

1. I will SCREAM if I see anymore reviews of Catching Fire! Just know if you post one... I'll be skipping it! :) Even if you claim there's no spoilers!

2. I made a mistake when I deemed The Story of Edgar Sawtelle my treadmill book. Actually, it's good motivation to get on the treadmill, but I want so bad to keep reading that it hurts. I think this weekend I'll give in and promote it to my main reading book.

3. I need to figure out how to get on Random House's YA ARC list. Or Harper Teens... or... someone's YA ARC list.

4. I planned on reading all evening yesterday, instead I watched Michael Jackson footage over and over and over again.

5. Ya'll need to go vote in the tie breaker poll for our latest Bookword. It's up at An Adventure in Reading.

6. If I'm to make it to the 100 books this year goal, I'm behind about 10 books.

7. I had two brand new books in my hand at Costco the other day, both I'm wanting to read so so bad (The Angel's Game and The Actor and the Housewife) and I put them down and walked away. Good thing? Or bad thing?

8. We met Aprilynne Pike at the library the other day. She was wonderful talking with the kids and telling them all about the process of getting a book published. Then I had her sign my book and I stammered and stuttered at her for a bit. What an impression I made I'm sure. I still don't know how to say, "Hey, I'm a book blogger!" and make it sound halfway intelligent and like something the author would have any interest in at all.

9. Since the boys are still gone scout camping, I'm going to try again with the reading all evening plan.

10. In fact, I think I'll get started with that plan right now, and in fact, I think I'll go rescue Edgar from the treadmill too!

What bookish thoughts are you having this lovely Friday?