Monday, April 6, 2009

Weekly Geeks 2009.13: A Poem


One of the options this week for Weekly Geeks is to "be a poet." Becky suggests an ABC poem, which I thought might be fun, but do think of what follows as more of a fun word challenge, and not a really a poem!


******************


A is for Author and all those ARCs.

B is for Books and beautiful Bookmarks.

C is for Characters, crazy and cool,

like Dudes named Darcy or Dragons that drool!

E is for Enthusiasm for books and reading.

F's for that Feeling of finally finishing.

G is for Goodreads, and a gazillion Giveaways.

H is for happy, stay-at-Home days.

I is, of course, for "It's All About Books"

J's for just do it and Journal those books!

K is for Kindle, a technology that's new,

and L is for Libraries, tried and true.

M is for Mysteries, Magic and Myths,

N's for the Next book on the list.

O is for Once upon a time,

P is for Plots and Poems that rhyme.

Q is for Quilts and Quotes profound,

R is for Release parties where Readers abound.

S is Signings and Shelves stacked with style

T's for the towering TBR pile.

U is for Understanding unusual tales,

V's for a Variety of used book sales.

W is for wonderful wonderful Words,

X is for syntaX, if spelled backwards!

Y is for YA, those books without lack

and Z's for my favorite author, Zusak!


***************

Silly and juvenile, but fun nonetheless!

Sunday, April 5, 2009

The Sunday Salon: A Meme


Jessica from The Bluestocking Society, did this meme a few days ago, and I thought it would be fun (easy) to do it for The Sunday Salon today:


Hardback or trade paperback or mass market paperback?

I like trade paperbacks the best. Though hardbacks are pretty, and paperbacks are easy to read, so they are all good.

Bookmark or dog-ear?

I love bookmarks. They are fun to collect and make. Dog ear? Yuck. I can't do it.

Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random?
I try to alphabetize by author, sort of, on my shelf of books I've already read. Though it gets mixed up fast, since there's just not enough room to make it work, and because there's kids in this house that shuffle through things all the time. My TBR shelf (the messy one by my bed) is not organized at all, and sometimes it stresses me out. But most of the time, I enjoy the chaos.

Keep, throw away or sell?

Keep of course. Sometimes trade at Paperback Swap.

Keep dust jacket or toss it?

What? Of course keep. Hardbacks are pretty, remember? Without the dust jacket, would that be true? I think not!

Last book you bought?

I just bought a couple of books from my daughter's school book orders. Cross my Heart and Hope to Spy for me... and a Clementine one for her.

Last book someone bought for you?

I can't remember. Maybe those two a couple of you got me for my birthday! I think all the books I got for Christmas I got for myself. I can't even remember!

What are some of the books on your to-buy list?

I don't have any specific to buy list right now. I'll probably buy Shannon Hale's new book in June, and for sure the next Hunger Games book in September. Most of my buying is very spontaneous.

Collection (short stories, same author) or anthology (short stories, different author)?

Hmmmm. I'm not much of a short story person, though whenever I read them, I love them. I think I'd lean toward the collection with the same author.

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?

Harry Potter. Though Lemony Snicket stuff did make me laugh at first, but then it got old.

Morning reading, afternoon reading, or nighttime reading?

Morning on the weekends, always nighttime unless I'm exhausted beyond words, and afternoon usually between mommy duties.

The books you need to go with other books on your shelves?
I don't NEED any more books! Wait, I need to continuously work on my classics collection! :) Yeah, that's it.

Do you read anywhere and anytime you can or do you have a set reading time and/or place?

I can read anytime anywhere, but mostly I have my set times and places at home.

Do you have seasonal reading habits?

Not really, but I do try to more in the summer.

Do you read one book at a time or do you have two or more books going at once?

Two or more going at once, usually, though one usually rises to the top and gets more of my focus.

What are your pet peeves about the way people treat books?

The above mentioned dog ear. When my kids throw them, or crush them in their back packs. When someone bends a paperback all the way around to read it. However, my husband thinks I'm rough on books, so I guess I can't say much.

Name one book you surprised yourself by liking.

I just finished Jellicoe Road and LOVED it. Not that that was surprising really, but it started out so confusing, I was beginning to wonder what the big deal was about this book. By the end, I was blown away.

How often do you read a book and not review it on your blog? What are your reasons for not blogging about a book?
Several times I've read and not blogged. Mostly because I can't think of much to say about it, or I think others wouldn't be interested, or I let too much time go by and the moment has passed.
**********
If you're in the mood for bookish meme, go for it! :)

Friday, April 3, 2009

Review: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan


Review: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Genre: YA Fantasy
Rating: A-
For: TBR Challenge

Finally! It's about time I got this book read! I've been hearing about it for quite awhile now, and watching my 8th grade son eat it up and breeze through the whole series, so now I know! Well, at least I know the beginning of the adventure!

There's this kid named Percey Jackson. He is one of those misfit-type kids, getting picked on a lot, and having a rough home life, what with his mean old, and stinky, step dad and all. And also, wondering all his life what happened to his real dad. His mom isn't much help and tells him he was "lost at sea."

This book is about how Percy learns who his real dad is, and what interesting powers come from that! He ends up at a special school, one where he finally feels a little more accepted.

He also ends up going on a quest... to find the missing lightning bolt of course. You know the one that Zeus holds? Yes, that one.

What a fun way for kids to learn about mythology. I look forward to book two!

Other Reviews:




Thursday, April 2, 2009

Weekly Geeks 2009.12: Linking Reviews


So this week for Weekly Geeks, the project has been to organize our reviews and link to each others reviews. I've been trying to do this since Dewey suggested it last year. Sometimes it works, and sometimes not. (Many times, I hit the publish button before remembering to find some reviews to link to!)

Anyway, I've been wanted to stick my reviews in an alphabetical index for quite some time now, and so I finally got that ready, which you can see here. Fun to see them all listed in one spot like this! I'm thinking I might want to do an author index too. But perhaps another day. (This one gave me plenty of grief, lots of formatting and spacing issues, and other strange things started happening, so I just hit publish and hope it works and looks not too messy.)


Let me know if you'd like me to link to one of your reviews. And feel free to link to mine! It's fun to see every one's different opinions!

Alphabetical Index of Reviews

An alphebetical index of books I've reviewed:


13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

The 13th Reality: The Journal of Curious Letters by James Dashner



The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner

Austenland by Shannon Hale

Avalon High by Meg Cabot

B's


Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott


Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale


C's


The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger



D's


The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper



The Dragon's Tapestry by Martine Bates Leavitt

E's


Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson


Elephant Run by Roland Smith

Evening Class by Maeve Binchy


F's

Farworld: Water Keep by J.Scott Savage


Fighting Ruben Wolfe by Markus Zusak


Forever in Blue by Ann Brashares

Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix



G's


Getting the Girl by Markus Zusak

Gilead by Marilynn Robinson


The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman


A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray


The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson


The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows




H's


Heck Superhero by Martine Leavitt


The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood


Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling


The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley


The Host by Stephenie Meyer



I's


I Am Legend by Richard Matheson


I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak


Igraine the Brave by Cornelia Funke


Incantation by Alice Hoffman



J's


Jamaica Inn by Daphne duMaurier


K's



Katherine by Anya Seton



Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez


The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold


M's


Magic Lessons by Justine Larbalestier


Magic or Madness by Justine Larbalestier


Magyk by Angie Sage



Maximum Ride: Saving the World by James Patterson




Maximum Ride: School's Out Forever by James Patterson


Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin


The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George


The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards



Misborn by Brandon Sanderson


A Modern Comedy by John Galsworthy


Moloka'i by Allan Brennert




O's






P's








The Quilter's Apprentice by Jennifer Chiaverini




R's

Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale, Dean Hale and Nathan Hale

Relocating Mia by Rebecca Lerwill

The Reluctant Widow by Georgette Heyer

Revenge of the Cheerleaders by Janette Rallison


Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley

S's

Schooled by Gordon Korman

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis


Sea Glass by Anita Shreve

The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld

Shadowland by Meg Cabot and here too

Sixpence House by Paul Collins

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See


Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell











Booking Through Thursday: Library Week

Booking Through Thursday


Suggested by Barbara:
I saw that National Library week is coming up in April, and that led to some questions. How often do you use your public library and how do you use it? Has the coffeehouse/bookstore replaced the library? Did you go to the library as a child? Do you have any particular memories of the library? Do you like sleek, modern, active libraries or the older, darker, quiet, cozy libraries?



Now that I work at the library, I go there nearly every day! But I have noticed that my "for fun" library time has gone down since I've been working. Instead, I'll grab whatever I have on hold as I go out the door (which I just did a minute ago and came home with Jellicoe Road!) or I look something up and run and grab it when it's time to leave.


Except when I'm shelving the teen section, which we all now know is hazardous to the TBR pile, because I end up bring home a whole stack of books that are just not in the plan!

But my favorite thing to do at the library is to just walk up and down the aisles and see what jumps out. I haven't done this in a long long time. Mostly because I have too many books I own now that I feel the urge to read first, so getting library books makes me feel guilty. And also, because of challenges, I feel like I have lists of books to work from, or the above mentioned books that are "in the plan" that I have to read first.


So the spontaneity of the library has waned in the last while, which makes me sad.


No, I don't think the bookstore will replace the library. For sure not!

Yes, I went to the library as a child and loved it just as much then as I do now. Lots more browsing to see what jumps out back then! I don't have too many particular memories... just how much things have changed. I remember checking out records, and thumbing through the periodical guide to find articles for reports (remember those fat green books?) and the card catalogue and paperback sections (separate from the hardback collection.)

And if I had to pick, I think I'd go for the older libraries, but not dark. Bright and modern, but cozy.

At any rate, libraries are the best!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Review: Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin


Book: Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin

Genre: YA

Rating: A-

For: Fun


So, this was one of those books I stumbled upon while shelving at the library. Why could I not pass it up? Because I've heard so much about it from bloggers, and because I read Zevin's other book, Elsewhere, and loved it.

This book I didn't like as much as Elsewhere, but I still liked it just fine. It's about a girl who falls down the stairs of her school, and when she wakes up, she can't remember anything after 7th grade. She has to learn all the ways her life as changed since then, and some of those things are hard to deal with. She can't even remember why she likes her boyfriend. Basically, she reinvents herself, which, of course, is hard for all the people in her life too.

So, yeah, it was pretty good, and I enjoyed it! I would recommend it to all YA fans.

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