Please pardon the interruption...

The Diary of a Young Lady of Fashion, 1764-5

2011-12-26T11:10:00.002-06:00

Title: "The Diary of a Young Lady of Fashion, 1764-5"

Author: Cleone Knox

Published: 1926

Source: Downtown Books, Milwaukee

Pages: 249

A charming, funny, and interesting diary, Ms. Knox is a Mid-18th Century Bridget Jones.

Born on May 12th, 1744 at Castle Kearney, County Down, Ireland, Cleone was an heiress, and a probably typical member of her society. This journal covers her early twenties while she is at a crucial point in her love affair with a Mr. Ancaster. To distract her from this gentleman, her father takes her and her brother, Ned, on the Grand Tour, and along the way she meets the King and Queen of England, King and Queen of France, and Voltaire, along with lots of various and sundry characters.

With entries like "July 15th. To church. A sermon so lengthy that I near died. Dozed behind my fan.", and "May 19th. Lord be praised! in a few moments our Coach will have conveyed us away from this monstrously dull place. Mr. and Mrs. Talbot, to whom brother Tom gave us letters of recommendation, are as excellent a couple as one could hope to see but hardly enlivening as Host and Hostess, while as for their mansion house with its Greek porticos and its monstrously cold rooms, 'tis more fit to be a Sepulchre than a human habitation.", it makes me chuckle quite a lot.

Only edited to correct spelling and to remove "a good many entries that are of no general interest, mostly referring to purchases and personal expenditure" by her ancestor, Alexander Black Kerr, in the 1920's, this is a wonderful window into society life. If you are lucky enough to find a copy, pick it up and treat yourself to a fantastically entertaining read. 4.5 stars

2011-12-25T10:50:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas!

I hope Santa brought you everything you asked for!

2011-11-24T19:43:00.001-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope it was a happy, food-filled day!

End of Event!

2011-10-23T12:23:00.002-05:00

Last hour stats

Pages read: 316 (illustrations!)

Time reading: 50 min

Books completed: 1

Blogs visited: 0

Mini-challenges completed: 0

Total pages: 1,226

Total time reading: 17 hrs 14 min

Total books completed: 10

Total blogs visited: 8

Total challenges completed: 3

End of Event Meme

1) Which hour was most daunting for you?

Surprisingly, 1am, which was around hour 20. I'd finally gotten warm and the book I was reading was oversized and heavy. There were quite a few head-nods that I couldn't avoid.

2) Could you list a few high-interest books that would keep a Reader engaged for next year?

Nothing that I really read this time would cut it, but I like reading parts in a series so if you happen to not be 100% awake and you missed something, you could fairly easily figure out what was going on.

3) Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

The only thing (and this is minor) would be to have a list of the participants that was up before the event starts. I like to poke around on blogs and mark people to come back and check up on throughout the night.

4) What do you think worked really well in this year's 'thon?

I don't know - most things? Nothing is really popping out as being outstanding, I just enjoyed it all.

5) How many books did you read?

6) What were the names of the books you read?

"Stiff" by Mary Roach (on audio)

"Bet Me" by Jennifer Crusie (on audio)

"Moomin: The complete comic strip Vol. 2" by Tove Jansson

"Half-Minute Horrors" by Various

"The Pedant and the Shuffly" by John Bellairs

"The Vampyre" by William Polidori

"The Family Under the Bridge" by Natalie Savage Carlson

"Radiator Days" by Lucy Knisley

"Alice in Sunderland" by Bryan Talbot

"Deadly Desire" by Keri Arthur

7) Which book did you enjoy most?

"Alice in Sunderland", definitely. It was visually beautiful, full of interesting historical links, funny - it was an awesome book that I picked up on a whim, and I'd love to own a copy.

8) Which book did you enjoy the least?

"Stiff", but only because there are so many parts that describe leaky, rotting bodies in scientific detail (usually with quirky analogies that were smart-funny) and it really turned my stomach. I think I would've been better reading this one in print, rather than on audio. It's hard to "skim" while you're listening, you're forced to hear every single word and can't pass a paragraph or two to avoid the ick. It's a great book, and I liked it, but it was very hard to listen to without wanting to hurl.

9) If you were a Cheerleader.... N/A cuz I wasn't!

10) How likely are you to participate in next year's challenge? What role would you be likely to take next time?

I'll be a Reader again for sure, and I'm thinking about doing some Cheering too. Since I do several R-A-T's throughout the year (most of them do not involve staying up for the whole 24 like this one does) I feel less "pressure" to get a lot accomplished. And, I know how much a cheering comment can boost you up, having previously not received any, so that would be a fun break and would keep me going.

Thanks so much to everyone for hosting, cheering, and for reading along!

Last hour

2011-10-23T06:07:00.001-05:00

Pages read: 70

Time reading: 45 min

Books completed: 1

Blogs visited: 0

Mini-challenges completed: 0

Total pages: 910

Total time reading: 16 hr 24 min

Total books completed: 9

Total blogs visited: 8

Total challenges completed: 3 (Intro, Book Sentence and Mid-way Meme)

A little less than an hour left, I'm going to try and finish up a book I've already started. See you again shortly!

Is it time to milk the cows yet?

2011-10-23T05:16:00.000-05:00

Pages read: 92

Time reading: 52 min

Books completed: 0

Blogs visited: 0

Mini-challenges completed: 0

Total pages: 840

Total time reading: 15 hr 39 min

Total books completed: 8

Total blogs visited: 8

Total challenges completed: 3 (Intro, Book Sentence and Mid-way Meme)

Seriously - how in the world am I still this awake?

Hour too-early-to-be-this-awake

2011-10-23T04:03:00.003-05:00

Pages read: 98

Time reading: 40 min

Books completed: 2

Blogs visited: 0

Mini-challenges completed: 0

Total pages: 748

Total time reading: 14 hr 47 min

Total books completed: 8

Total blogs visited: 8

Total challenges completed: 3 (Intro, Book Sentence and Mid-way Meme)

I've somehow woken up more than I thought I would - plus, my book is starting to really creep me out - so I'm sticking with it! Here's hoping this lasts at least until the next hour is up. :)

Hour 21

2011-10-23T03:11:00.001-05:00

Pages read: 98

Time reading: 40 min

Books completed: 2

Blogs visited: 0

Mini-challenges completed: 0

Total pages: 748

Total time reading: 14 hr 7 min

Total books completed: 8

Total blogs visited: 8

Total challenges completed: 3 (Intro, Book Sentence and Mid-way Meme)

Hour 20

2011-10-23T01:48:00.002-05:00

Pages read: 149

Time reading: 1 hr 13 min

Books completed: 1

Blogs visited: 0

Mini-challenges completed: 0

Total pages: 650

Total time reading: 13 hr 27 min

Total books completed: 6

Total blogs visited: 8

Total challenges completed: 3 (Intro, Book Sentence and Mid-way Meme)

It's official - I'm freakin tired. A few times in the last hour or so, I've nodded off for a second, just enough so that the book (and my head) droop and then I catch myself again. Getting up to come over here and post an update is helping a bit, thankfully. I should probably make something to drink or eat something, keep me conscious for a bit. In the interest of honesty, if I had my heated mattress pad on my bed, I'd be crawling in there right about now, but I don't, so I won't. Ugh, where are my eye drops? How can one person be so tired when all they've done is read all day long?

Okay, it's been a few minutes since I wrote that last paragraph and I feel MUCH more awake now that I've had a snack and some V8. Look out books, here I come!

Hour 18

2011-10-23T00:06:00.002-05:00

Pages read: 125

Time reading: 1 hr 50 min

Books completed: 0

Blogs visited: 3

Mini-challenges completed: 0

Total pages: 501

Total time reading: 12 hr 14 min

Total books completed: 5

Total blogs visited: 8

Total challenges completed: 3 (Intro, Book Sentence and Mid-way Meme)

Sleepiness is starting to settle in. It all started when I started to get cold, so I put on a sweatshirt. Then I moved over to the recliner and put a pillow on my lap (both to keep warm and to protect myself from the size and heft of my current book). Then one of my cats decided to join me. So I got a little cozy and snuggly and now I'm tired. Dangit. If I do need to take a nap, I hope I can at least hold out until I finish the book. Once I put it down I'm not going to want to hold it up for any length of time, even though it's wonderful and I'm loving it.

p.s. The craziness might start to creep in on these updates from now on. Just so you're warned.

Hour 16

2011-10-22T22:02:00.003-05:00

Pages read: 125

Time reading: 1 hr 50 min

Books completed: 0

Blogs visited: 3

Mini-challenges completed: 0

Total pages: 501

Total time reading: 12 hr 14 min

Total books completed: 5

Total blogs visited: 8

Total challenges completed: 3 (Intro, Book Sentence and Mid-way Meme)

I finished two more books, one of them on audio, so now I've changed what I'm listening to. Currently, I've got NKOTB on my iPod, turned up a little loudly to keep me awake. Since it's such a big, heavy book, I've started "Alice in Sunderland" while I'm sitting at the dining room table. Plus, it's filled with small writing and lots of beautifully intricate illustrations and mixed media collages so the bright overhead light helps out. Hope you're still up and reading along!

Halfway Survey

2011-10-22T20:23:00.002-05:00

1) What are you reading right now?

I'm listening to "Bet Me" by Jennifer Crusie. Getting ready to pick up "Alice in Sunderland" by Bryan Talbot

2) How many books have you read so far?

Four.

3) What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?

"Radioactive" by Lauren Redniss. I've been looking forward to it for weeks!

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

Not really. I just had to make sure I didn't work this weekend. (I need tomorrow to recover.)

5) Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?

Well, I always plan to run one errand during these 'thons just to do something so I don't end up sleeping by hour 8, but then my parents stopped over for longer than I expected. And then there was those 2 loads of laundry. Oh well. I just get right back to reading as soon as I can.

6) What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon so far?

Honestly? How little time I've spent reading. I know I got a late start, but I feel like I've hardly missed more than an hour and a half. The clock doesn't lie, unfortunately.

7) Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

Not that I can think of.

8) What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year?

I'll do it again next year for sure. I think the only difference I'd make is that I'd make sure to keep the day before free - completely free - so I can do all of the house stuff and make a final grocery run. I didn't give myself any prep time this time around.

9) Are you getting tired yet?

Yes, but just barely.

10) Do you have any tips for others, something that is working well for you that others may not have discovered?

I'm a big big fan of audiobooks. They're great for a break from holding up a book for so long, and if you're going to walk or run errands you can still "read".

Hour 12

2011-10-22T18:22:00.003-05:00

Pages read: 145

Time reading: 2 hrs

Books completed: 1

Blogs visited: 0

Mini-challenges completed: 0

Total pages: 229

Total time reading: 7 hr 24 min

Total books completed: 3

Total blogs visited: 5

Total challenges completed: 2 (Intro and Book Sentence)

One more book down, and I'm still listening to "Bet Me". Just had a disgustingly greasy and good Chinese food dinner and I'm so full I could burst. I've had enough of the crappy food and will stick to healthy stuff for the rest of the night. It's the only way I'll make it through!

Hour 10

2011-10-22T16:19:00.002-05:00

Pages read: 84

Time reading: 1 hr 26 min

Books completed: 2

Blogs visited: 3

Mini-challenges completed: 1

Total pages: 84

Total time reading: 5 hr 24 min

Total books completed: 2

Total blogs visited: 5

Total challenges completed: 2 (Intro and Book Sentence)

I'm finally done with "Stiff"!!!! No more rotting corpses for me - at least not the literal variety - and I'm starting to read physical books instead of just listening to them. My parents stopped over to drop something off and ended up staying for over an hour, so I lost some good reading time. But that's okay - it helped keep me awake. Now it's just starting to get a little darker outside, and I'm worried that when it's pitch black in a couple of hours that I'll crash and want to take a nap! Alright, back to reading. How is everyone else doing?

Hour 9

2011-10-22T16:10:00.002-05:00

This mini-challenge, hosted by Midnight Book Girl, invites you to make a sentence out of your book titles. Mine reads "Things in the night, bound to shadows, committed the murder at the vicarage". Spooky, right?

Hour 7

2011-10-22T13:21:00.002-05:00

And I have yet to touch a page! I'm nearly done with "Stiff", which, though incredibly interesting and funny, is more stomach-turning than I expected. Yuck.

Pages read: 0

Time reading: 2 hours (all in “Stiff” by Mary Roach)

Books completed: 0

Blogs visited: 1

Mini-challenges completed: 0

Total pages: 0

Total time reading: 3 hr 58 min

Total books completed: 0

Total blogs visited: 2

Total challenges completed: 1 (Intro)

Hour 4

2011-10-22T09:59:00.002-05:00

Still stuck on audio, but I'm feeling the need to run an errand, so I'm stuck listening to cadaver stories for a while yet.

Pages read: 0

Time reading: 1 hr 58 min (all audio). I'm listening to "Bet Me" by Jennifer Crusie and "Stiff" by Mary Roach

Books completed: 0

Blogs visited: 1

Mini-challenges completed: 1(“Intro”)

Total pages: 0

Total time reading: 1 hr 58 min

Total books completed: 0

Total blogs visited: 1

Total challenges completed: 1

Good Morning (Or, Hour 1)

2011-10-22T07:49:00.002-05:00

Well, I overslept by a half hour, so yay Read-a-thon! I'm trying to catch up on my missed morning jobs while listening to an audiobook so it still counts as reading time.

Hour 1 Meme

1) Where are you reading from today?

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

2) Three random facts about me...

Skip-Bo is one of my favorite games, I own enough essential oils to practically open my own shop, and a giant snake has peed on me.

3) How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?

28, according to my earlier post, but there are a couple of books that I'm thinking of starting today, so - 30.

4) Do you have any goals for the Read-a-thon?

I'd like to read 6 books, whether from start to finish or not. Really, I just need to thin out my TBR books, so I'll probably be reading faster today than I would normally. Well, until I get too tired, that is. :)

5) If you're a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time?

Have fun, and take a break if you need to! Sometimes you just need to not be sitting down with a book in your hand, and that's okay.

Alright, off to it!

It's almost time...

2011-10-21T23:04:00.003-05:00

Here's a quick shot of my TBR stack for tomorrow's read-a-thon. From Left to Right, Top to Bottom, they are:

"Moomin, The Complete Comic Strip, Vol. 2" by Tove Jansson

"Britten and Brulightly" by Hannah Berry

"Alice in Sunderland" by Bryan Talbot

"Radioactive" by Lauren Redniss

"Asterios Polyp" by David Mazzucchelli

"Fun Home" by Alison Bechdel

"The Pagan Stone" by Nora Roberts

"Deadly Desire" by Keri Arthur (already started)

"Summer" by Edith Wharton (already started)

"I.O.U." by Nicholas Adams

"Camera" by Jean-Philipe Toussaint

"Savage" by Jacques Jouet

"My Paris" by Gail Scott

"Henrietta's War" by Joyce Dennys

"Sizeable Reflections" ed. by Shelley Bovey

"The Family Under the Bridge" by Natalie Savage Carlson

"The Vampyre" by John William Polidori

"A House to Let" by Charles Dickens

"The Pedant and the Shuffly" by John Bellairs

"Radiator Days" by Lucy Knisley

"Griffin & Sabine", "Sabine's Notebook", "The Golden Mean" and "The Venetian's Wife" all by Nick Bantock

"Dracula's Heir" by Sam Stall

Plus, I'm listening to two more on my iPod - "Stiff" by Mary Roach and "Bet Me" by Jennifer Crusie.

Of course, I'd like to read all of them tomorrow, and while they're all short (and most have pictures) I don't know if that's really feasible. That's still a lot of pages to get through. Okie dokie, I'm going to turn this computer off and head to bedfordshire. See you all in about 8 hours!

It's Alive!

2011-10-14T18:44:00.002-05:00

Photo credit: crazy-frankenstein.com

Helloooo there! Yes, I am alive, despite my overly-long absence of six months. I apologize to the few hangers-on that are still here. But what can I say? Life just got in the way, and each time I thought to come back and update here, some kind of shiny object popped up in front of me and I quickly forgot.

To update you, I still have Job #1 and #2, with the addition of Job #3, still doing #1 but renting a room from an established MT closer to my house. It's going okay, but it's not what I thought it would be, and it's not going to change (the issue is with the owner - nothing hairy, but we just have very different ideas as to how an MT business should be run) so I'm on the lookout for another room to rent in the same area. I have to say, doing this just a few miles from my house has made my life a heck of a lot easier and I look forward to going to work again. There are still one to three days a week that I'm back at my old place, and that's just fine, but my concentration is on my new business. Please cross your fingers that I'll find somewhere else nearby to rent before the snow flies!

In book news, I'm clipping right along. As of this morning I've read 117 books, which is probably the most I've read in one year in my adult life. This is mostly due to the fact that I am not working a ton, and it's also due to my love of audio books. Each time I drive I've got a book playing, it's hardly ever music. That alone ups me at least 2 books a month. The realization that not every book I read will be The Book I Adore also helps. Every time I picked up a new title, I'd think "Okay, here we go, new favorite book", and really? That never happens, especially when you're hoping that it will. Instead, I've given myself permission to skim-read if something isn't really grabbing me. It may sound trivial, but it's helped for sure.

My new reading goal for the year is to complete my LibraryThing 11-11 Challenge before next week Saturday (only 4 more books to go, shouldn't be much of a problem) so that I can read guilt-free for both Dewey's Read-a-Thon next weekend and for the rest of the year. There are a lot of books that I've owned for years and that while I'd still like to read them I know I'm not going to want to keep them. I'm hoping to get through a fair chunk of them before 2012 starts.

Otherwise, to quote Peter Gabriel, "same as it ever was". I'm still working on de-papering my house (an on-going battle to be sure) and letting things go. My sentimental soul wants to keep everything in some kind of a preserved "Laura Museum" which is ridiculous and doesn't let me fully live my life, so culling what goes and what stays has become a new priority. Parents are good, the cats are doing well (and are, unbelievably, 8 years old) and things just keep on rolling here in Wisconsin. I'll do my best to keep up with Ye Olde Blog in the future, and you can certainly expect a flurry of posts next weekend.

Take care until next time!

Hello again, people

2011-04-10T11:14:00.004-05:00

Well, I've slept for a whopping 4 hours, I'm still deeply tired and feel some residual "crazy" lurking around here, but hey - I'm awake and it's extremely sunshine-y outside. Ignoring my vampiric tendencies today, I'm going to try and stay up for at least a couple of hours before crashing again. Yeah, that may not happen.

Final numbers

Pages read: 432 (yay for pictures!)

Total: 1,664

Time reading: 1 hr 38 min

Total: 14 hrs 8 min (3 hr 40 min audiobooks)

Books completed: 7

Blogs visited: 0

Total: 4

Mini-challenges completed: 2 (“Collaborative Fiction” and “In Other Words”)

Final Meme

1) Which hour was most daunting for you?

They were both near the end, but between 3 and 4 am was pretty bad (and unintentionally funny), and the last hour between 6 and 7 am. Focusing was something I had to really concentrate one.

2) Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?

The Hex Hall series by Rachel Dawkins really worked for me this time around. Previously though, I've had a lot of luck with books by Rhys Bowen, Shirley Jackson, and the Womens Murder Club series by James Patterson.

3) Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

The only thing that I enjoyed the previous time was having a list of all of the mini-challenges posted at the beginning. That way I could plan on having some breaks ahead of time.

4) What do you think worked really well in this year's Read-a-thon?

Everything else! I eagerly wait for this event every 6 months - any way to make October happen any sooner?

5) How many books did you read?

I finished 7 and read from 3 more.

6) What were the names of the books you read?

I read from and didn't finish "Eat, Pray, Love", "Matched" by Ally Condie, and "The Royals" by Kitty Kelley.

I finished "The Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries" by Emily Brightwell

"Feng Sh*t" by Anna Crosbie

"Henrietta Sees It Through" by Joyce Dennys

"Daddy Long-Legs" by Jean Webster

"Demonglass" by Rachel Hawkins

"Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights" by Sophie Dahl

"Amphigorey Also" by Edward Gorey

7) Which book did you enjoy most?

Demonglass, for sure. The wait for book number 3 is already driving me crazy, and this one was just published!

8) Which did you enjoy least?

Of the ones I finished, "Feng Sh*t". The ones I didn't finish, "The Royals". It was just too much of the same thing after 2 hours to keep hacking away at.

9) If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year's Cheerleaders?

N/A

10) How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

A Reader, for sure. I'd think about being a Cheerleader, but I so enjoy that long (usually) uninterrupted stretch of reading time that right now it's hard to think about breaking it up at all.

Alright, I think it's time to make some breakfast (at 12:30 in the afternoon), watch some mindless TV and take another nap or two. See you all later!

Ugh

2011-04-10T06:48:00.001-05:00

Well, I made it 'til the end, but I'm so exhausted that I'm heading straight to bed. I'll be back here later on for a final update and things.

Thanks to everyone for hanging in there with me!

Hour 22

2011-04-10T04:25:00.002-05:00

Pages read: 329

Total: 1,232

Time reading: 2 hrs 9 min

Total: 12 hrs 30 min (3 hr 40 min audiobooks)

Books completed: 5

Blogs visited: 0

Total: 4

Mini-challenges completed: 2 (“Collaborative Fiction” and “In Other Words”)

Holy crap, I am sooo tired. It's 4:30 in the morning, and I think it's officially time to switch to Books With Pictures. I was getting hungry earlier so I made a snack of some leftover chicken and coleslaw. While reading, I was rocking myself, eating coleslaw, and singing "Soft Kitty" out loud. Yeah. I think I lost it there for a little bit.

Not a high point in my life, to be sure, but I'm going to keep at it. If only I wasn't getting so comfortable with these snuggly warm cats, it's getting hard to keep my head upright!

Hour 20

2011-04-10T02:41:00.003-05:00

At least, I think it's hour 20...

Pages read: 234

Total: 903

Time reading: 1 hr 9 min

Total: 10 hrs 21 min (3 hr 40 min audiobooks)

Books completed: 4

Blogs visited: 0

Total: 4

Mini-challenges completed: 2 (“Collaborative Fiction” and “In Other Words”)

Notes: You know when you start to get really tired and you get cold and tingley and achey all at the same time. That's exactly where I am. No upright position feels comfortable, and I know if I lay down I will be asleep within 10 minutes, so I have to sit up somehow. I'm halfway through yet another book and it's good, but it's not really doing it for me totally. Oh well. Maybe if I try sitting in the recliner I'd be comfortable but won't fall asleep. Only one way to find out...

start of Hour 19

2011-04-10T00:47:00.002-05:00

Pages read: 103

Total: 669

Time reading: 1 hr 3 min

Total: 9 hrs 12 min (3 hr 40 min audiobooks)

Books completed: 3

Blogs visited: 1

Total: 4

Mini-challenges completed: 2 (“Collaborative Fiction” and “In Other Words”)

I've finished book #3, so I've hit my goal! And it's a good thing too, because I am getting quite sleepy, and there are 6 full hours ahead of me. Now I'm wondering about what to read next. Do I start on something with pictures? Try and make a little progress in The Royals? Pick a new book entirely? Try and finish something else I'm currently reading? Maybe I should just shut my eyes, grab a book and take it from there. I ate a greek yogurt with blueberries thinking it would help me stay awake, but it hasn't been so helpful. Maybe something resembling more of a meal would do it.

Hour 16

2011-04-09T22:42:00.002-05:00

Pages read: 292

Total: 566

Time reading: 3 hr 36 min (1 hr 20 min audio)

Total: 8 hrs 9 min (3 hr 40 min audiobooks)

Books completed: 2

Blogs visited: 0

Total: 3

Mini-challenges completed: 2 (“Collaborative Fiction” and “In Other Words”)

Notes: Wahoo, I finished another book! This time it was the excellent "Demonglass" - I was reading so fast to find out what happens, and now it's all over and I have to wait FOR MONTHS before the next book is published! I hate that and I love it a little at the same time. It's been awhile since I've been so enthralled with a series. Hm, now that that's over with I'm not sure what to read. There are still 8ish hours left in this thing, so I don't want to break out my "books with pictures" just yet, I only have so many of those on hand. Maybe I'll try to slog through another 80 or so pages of "The Royals". Originally I was hoping to finish it this time around, but it gets a little same-y the more I read it so I think I'm dropping that hope. Unfortunately, my eyes are starting to hurt a little, so I'm going to start on the eye drops and hope that helps. See you all again soon!

Hour 12

2011-04-09T18:27:00.003-05:00

Mid-event Meme

1. What are you reading right now?

"The Royals" by Kitty Kelly

2. How many books have you read so far?

I've only finished one, but including Royals I've read from two others.

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?

I think "Demonglass" by Rachel Hawkins. I zoomed through the first book in the series quite quickly, and this one is just as good (though I'm only 60ish pages into it).

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

Not really. I just made sure to not schedule any appointments Fri-Sun, and cancelled the weekly "Girls Night" I have with two of my best friends. We've done GN after the last couple of Thons, and it was really not a good idea.

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?

Um, yes, definitely. Called the plumber, he was here within 15 minutes and then he didn't leave for a few hours. Other than that one massive and unexpected interruption, just the usual stuff - scratch the cats, grab something to eat, finish up a load of laundry.

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon so far?

Honestly? At how fast time is going - I feel like I blink and 2 hours have passed!

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the read-a-thon next year?

Not so far.

8. What would you differently, as a Reader or Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year?

Nothing really - you can't plan for sewage back-ups, can you? ;)

9. Are you getting tired yet?

Shockingly, no. Though I'm afraid I might have jinxed myself just now!

10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered?

I'm a big advocate for audiobooks. When it's very late and holding up a book is too tiring, being able to just sit and listen is a great thing.

Hour 12 Update

Pages read: 88

Total: 274

Time reading: 1 hr 35 min

Total: 4 hrs 33 min

Books completed: 1

Blogs visited: 0

Total: 3

Mini-challenges completed: 2

Actual reading has happened - it's a miracle! I'm enjoying the book - "The Royals" by Kitty Kelley - but I think I'll have to switch books for a little while. I'm hoping that I can finish this one up before the Thon is over, but I've got 350 pages to go, and I've got a few others that I've been saving for this event so we'll have to wait and see. I've had two cups of English Breakfast tea, but some real food will have to be eaten soon - reading apparently make you very hungry!

Hour 10

2011-04-09T15:45:00.002-05:00

Pages read: 42

Total: 186

Time reading: 42 min

Total: 2 hrs 58 min

Books completed: 1

Blogs visited: 3

Total: 3

Mini-challenges completed: 2 ( "Collaborative Fiction" and BrownGirl Bookspeak's "In Other Words")

Since my last check-in, I have had some major plumbing issues. I went down to the basement to throw in a load of laundry, and sewage was coming out of the floor drain - lovely. So, I called my parents and the plumber, and it's as fixed as it's going to get for now. At least I can use my own bathroom (instead of my neighbors) and won't have to worry about it happening again, at least until this read-a-thon is over! ARGH! I've lost too many hours to this going on, which I'm hoping I can make up for later on. Shit.

At any rate, I'm planning on getting right back into reading as soon as I make myself a cup of tea and change loads of laundry.

Hour 4

2011-04-09T10:18:00.002-05:00

Pages read: 144

Total: 144

Time reading: 1 hr 15 min

Total: 2 hrs 16 min

Books completed: 1

Blogs visited: 3

Total: 3

Mini-challenges completed: 1

Notes: Ran to the post office, did a little work for Job #2, all while listening to "Eat, Pray, Love". I'm getting ready to turn off the audiobook for awhile and start physically reading again. Oops! - need to let the cats upstairs for a little playtime first. There, all done.

Also had breakfast, my second cup of coffee (I think that's all the caffeine I can handle for awhile), and while I can't say it's exactly sunny outside, it is getting brighter. Kind of like someone is turning up the brightness knob on a television set. (Anyone else out there remember when TV's had knobs instead of buttons?)

Hour 2

2011-04-09T08:37:00.003-05:00

A little late, almost hour 3 really, but I didn't want to stop reading.

Pages read: 144

Total: 144

Time reading: 1 hr 1 min

Total: 1 hr 1 min

Books completed: 1

Blogs visited: 0

Total: 0

Mini-challenges completed: 0

I think I'll have to take a break and hop in the shower. I need to mail something out at the post office and find something to eat. Will be back before you know it!

Hour 1

2011-04-09T06:59:00.002-05:00

Good morning! I've just my first cup of coffee in hand and am ready to get started! Actually, I'm using exclamation points so much because Dear LORD am I tired! It's a grey and gloomy day so far (only 7 a.m.) and we're supposed to be getting storms today and tomorrow - I think this may be my kryptonite, folks. At any rate, I'm going to be getting on with things in just a few.

1) Where are you reading from today?

My home outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin

2) Three random facts about me ...

I own over twenty coats, I love Nathan Fillion, and I'm seriously considering leaving Facebook.

3) How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?

Dozens, really. I'm reading over 10 books right now - I know, it's a sickness.

4) Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon?

I'm going to low-ball myself this time and say that I'd like to read 3 books. I'll probably do more than that, really, but I don't want to guilt myself into a larger number just because. My focus is going to be on books that I'm already reading, but I'd like to randomly pick a book or two from my shelves, something I haven't really done before in a Thon.

5) If you're a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time?

Yes! Take breaks, please! Don't over-caffeinate yourself either, and if you feel yourself starting to wane, hop online or do a mini Dance Party by yourself for a couple of songs to get your blood pumping again. You may look like a spaz, but you'll be awake!

Alright, off to start my first book of the Thon, "Daddy Long-Legs" by Jean Webster. See you all soon!

First Quarter Wrap-Up 2011

2011-04-08T15:34:00.002-05:00

My goal for this year is to read 121 books, but other than the slim requirement of reading at least 5 in each category (for my 11 in 11 challenge on LibraryThing) I decided to be kind to myself this year and not sweat anything else. I think I need to start "sweating" about the lack of reading in a few of these categories!

Doorstoppers: 2 / 5 read
Contemplate a Classic: 1 / 5
LT Recommends: 4 / 5
PBS'ers: 2 / 5
Main shelf #1, authors A - G: 4 / 5
#2, G - P: 0 / 5
#3, P - Z: 0 / 5
Work bookcase: 1 / 5
Travel bookcase: 2 / 5
Guest Bedroom bookcase: 1 / 5
Magpie Central: 23 / 5

Favorite book of Q: The Library by Sarah Stewart
Least favorite book: The Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way

Thoughts: I'm very surprised to have already read 40 books this quarter! Yes, some of them were children's books, but they still count! I've read almost all good books, just the one "stinker", so I hope that trend continues throughout the rest of the year. Something that I need to remind myself of in the future is that I don't need to be totally present for each sentence I read in each book. I can just read them and not be continually looking for the book that "changes my life", nor do I need to make every book I read into some version of that. Sometimes I just exhaust myself!

If I can keep this pace up for the next 9 months, it should be my most prolific reading year ever! Tomorrow I'm participating in Deweys' 24-Hour Read-a-thon, and the only goal I have for myself is to finish at least 3 books that I'm currently reading. (The fact that I'm actually reading from 10 books is a sad state of where my head is these days!) Alright, I'm off to pick up the house and prep some food for my big day of reading tomorrow!

I'm not planning on updating every hour like I have in the past, but if I get antsy enough I might be here every hour. Really, I'd just like to read as much as possible. See you soon!

QiGong Illustrated

2011-02-18T14:25:00.003-06:00

"QiGong Illustrated" by Christina J. Barea

Pub: Dec 2010

145 pages

As someone who has always enjoyed yoga, I've long been interested in QiGong but never had a concrete place to start practicing from. (I know what a difference a great or not-so-great teacher can make on a class, and didn't want to jump in to the field without having an idea of what it was like first.) This book is a very nice place to start. While the explanations can be a little uneven sometimes, having color photos of each step in the sequence/movement is incredibly helpful. I'm very glad to have received this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program and have started incorporating QiGong into my schedule. 3 1/2 stars

The Spice Necklace

2011-02-03T00:22:00.002-06:00

"The Spice Necklace" by Ann Vanderhoof

Pub 2009

480 pages

Subtitled "My adventures in Caribbean cooking, eating, and island life", this 450+ page book follows Canadian natives Ann and her husband Steve as they sail around the Caribbean in their boat, Receta, immersing themselves in the similar-but-different island cultures over the period of about 2 years. (This seems to be a follow-up to an earlier book along the same vein, An Embarrassment of Mangoes, and it's not necessary to read them in order.) Chock full of island history, characters, cultural experiences, adventures, over 70 recipes, jokes, and a lot of information about spices and their histories, there is a lot to take in, and it was all very interesting. That being said, it felt like the middle got bogged down, saturated in information, and could have used a sharper editorial pen. However, without eliminating islands (and therefore reference points later on) I don't know how it could have been done.

Most of the recipes sound delicious, and if I was a seafood-lover (which I am not) I'd be in heaven. A handy map of the islands on the inside of the front and back covers is a helpful visual reminder of where they travel to, and of the relative size of the islands. Part of me loved this book and part of me got a bit bored by it. I mean no offense to the author, truly I don't, but it got a little too "Spice Necklace-y" sometimes. A nice addition to the travel lit and foodie genres, it was a mini tropical escape in the midst of a cold and snowy Wisconsin winter. Recommended if traveling and food are things you like to read about. 3.6 stars

Ellie's New Year Read-a-thon: The End

2011-01-19T16:43:00.002-06:00

It's a little late for this update, but here it is anyways.

Total pages read: 1,020
Since last update: 513
+ 35 min of audiobook

Books completed: 3, plus decent-sized chunks of 2 others
Doctor Dolittle's Journey
Wisconsin's Own
Stitches

Total time reading: 10 hrs
Since last check-in: 2 hrs, 40 min
35 min audiobook
40 min Stitches
85 min WI Own

I stopped my "official" count 20 minutes after the deadline since I received two phone calls in the last stretch and I only had 20 or so pages left in my book. Not a bad days reading, considering I slept 6 hours and worked this morning.

Ellie's New Year Read-a-thon: The Middle

2011-01-04T00:18:00.001-06:00

This will be the last update of the night for me. I could keep reading, but I need to get some sleep.

Total pages read: 507
12 pgs in The Education of Henry Adams
134 pgs in Scarlet
65 min of audiobook
125 pgs in Wisconsin's Own
124 pgs in Doctor Dolittle's Journey
44 min audio
112 pgs in A Load of Old Ball Crunchers

Books completed: 1
Doctor Dolittle's Journey

Total time reading: 7 hrs, 20 min

I'll read for a bit on the couch before going to bed, and will try to update here before work tomorrow. Otherwise I'll see you in the last 2-hour stretch! Good night and good luck everyone!

Ellie's New Year Read-a-thon: The Beginning

2011-01-03T14:48:00.002-06:00

I know, some of you must be thinking "Really, Laura? Yet another Read-a-thon?", and yes, it's true. I love me a Read-a-thon. Hosted by the lovely Ellie at Musings of a Bookshop Girl (and on LibraryThing), it runs from 2:00 pm CST today until 2:00pm tomorrow, January 4th. I'm getting a bit of a late start here, and I do need to sleep for work tomorrow morning, so I'll only be doing a few updates in total. And now, cribbed from Dewey's Meme, here's The Beginning Meme!

1. Where are you reading from today?

Mostly my couch, if I can get the cats to move. Otherwise it'll be from my big red chofa, or my recliner.

2. Three facts about me.

Recently become obsessed with peppermint lattes, I always name my cars, and I loathe doing the dishes.

3. How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?

8, but half of them are already started so I'm going to try and finish those up.

4. Do you have any goals for the readathon?

I'd like to finish up 2 books I've already started and finish the 2 books that are due at the library tomorrow. But if it doesn't happen, it's no biggie.

5. If you're a veteran read-a-thoner, do you have any advice for first-timers?

Nap if you have to nap (don't fight it) and eat food that has some nutritional value so you don't fall into a sugar or caffeine coma an hour after eating.

Alright, seeing as I'm already an hour behind (yikes!) I'd better get moving. I'll check in again here later on tonight.

2011 Foodie Challenge

2011-01-01T16:13:00.006-06:00

While looking around for reading challenges this year, this one was on a few blogs and once I checked it out it sounded like a lot of fun! Hosted by Joyfully Retired (challenge site is here), if a book is a biography of a chef, or a cookbook, or a food-centered novel, or has anything to do with food, it counts for this challenge. Since I'm not sure how many foodie books I have in my house, I'm aiming low on this one and trying to read 3 books.

1. "The Spice Necklace" by Ann Vanderhoof, read in February

2. "Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights" by Sophie Dahl, read April 10

3. "Julie and Julia" by Julie Powell, read in August

Completed in August, 2011. I had a lot of fun (and a lot of stomach-growling moments) with this challenge, and hope that it will be held next year!

What's in a Name 4 Challenge

2011-01-01T16:01:00.008-06:00

I did the "What's in a Name" challenge last year and failed miserably, but I'm giving it another crack for 2011. Hosted by Beth Fish, this always seems to be one of the most popular book blog challenges. It's not your typical, easy-to-predict-the-outcome challenge and I think that's why.

1. A book with a number in the title: "The Twelve-Spoked Wheel Flashing" by Marge Piercy

2. A book with jewelry or a gem in the title: "Black Diamond" by Martin Walker

3. A book with a size in the title: "The Big Over Easy" by Jasper Fforde

4. A book with travel or movement in the title: "Doctor Dolittle's Journey" by N.H. Kleinbaum

5. A book with evil in the title: "Killer in High Heels" by Gemma Halliday

6. A book with a life stage in the title: "Diary of a Young Lady of Fashion, 1764-5" by Cleone Knox

The books can be read in any format and can overlap other challenges.

2011 Memorable Memoir Challenge

2011-01-01T15:48:00.007-06:00

Since I'm a bit of a memoir whore lately (don't judge) this challenge seemed a natural fit. Hosted by The Betty and Boo Chronicles, you can choose your own goal. As of now, I plan on reading 5 memoirs. Come and join me in the fun!

1. "Love is a Mix Tape" by Rob Sheffield

2. "Stitches" by David Small

3. "Dresden" by Lord Gerald Hugh Tyrwitt-Wilson Berners

4. "Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights" by Sophie Dahl

5. "I'm Not the New Me" by Wendy McClure

Completed in August, and I hope to read another memoir or two before the year is up!

2011 South Asian Challenge

2011-01-01T15:33:00.004-06:00

I'm excited to be participating in S. Krishna's South Asian Reading Challenge this year! I think she has got one of the best book blogs around, and I didn't find out about last years challenge until I was already overbooked, so I made it a point to save a space for it this year.

To qualify, a book must either be by a South Asian author, or it must be about South Asia. There are six different levels for the challenge, and I've picked the South Asian Wanderer level of a modest 3 to start out with. (I'm trying to read mostly my own books this year, please don't laugh, and I'm positive I already own 3.)

She also has a great reference list of books and authors, so if you're interested but aren't sure what titles would qualify, it's a great go-to for information.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T11:45:00.004-06:00

Merry Christmas Everyone! Hope Santa was good to you this year!

Completed Challenges

2010-12-25T11:28:00.002-06:00

I've completed 4 more challenges - yahoo! They are:

2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge hosted by J. Kaye's Book Blog

Read Your Name 2010 Challenge hosted by Name Reading

What's in a Name? 3 Challenge hosted by Beth Fish

Typically British 2010 Challenge hosted by Book Chick City

There are a few more books to be read in order for me to complete the last 4 challenges that I signed up for at the beginning of the year, not including reading 2 more books to complete the 1010 Challenge at LibraryThing. Next year I will either not join so many challenges or use broader categories so I'm not so tied into so many specifics. I'm hoping to read more books from my own shelves, but that's about as far ahead as I've planned for 2011.

So tell me - how are you doing on your reading challenges?

Final Read-a-thon Totals

2010-10-10T19:48:00.002-05:00

Sorry for yet another post today. Here are my final totals from the read-a-thon!

Pages read: 1,339

Time reading: 11 hrs 48 min

Books completed: 8

Blogs visited: 7

Mini-challenges completed: 7

Overall, not too bad. I did make my goal of reading 8 books (even if it did take me slightly past my 7a.m. stopping time this morning), and I completed more mini-challenges than last time. I'm thinking of doing my own 24 Hour Read-a-thon sometime before the year is out, just to get through a few more books. I seem to really get quite a bit crossed off of the list when I read this way, and that faster reading speed (or whatever) tends to stick around for a few more weeks, so it's a good thing for me in the end. Alright, back to the movie (watching "Last Chance Harvey" with Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman, it's good so far - cute, even) and a book.

Challenges Completed (and not)

2010-10-10T19:22:00.002-05:00

Aside from trying to read 100 books this year, and the semi-annual read-a-thon that finished up this morning, I'm crazy enough to have joined several other challenges.

The challenge that I Did Not Finish was the All About the Brontes Challenge, hosted by Laura at Laura's Reviews. You could choose the number of books, movies, etc that you wanted to have read. The challenge was just for 6 months, and I didn't really pay attention to that as the spring and summer were worked away. I only watched 1 movie, which is really fine, but I was hoping for 3 books/movies total. Oh well.

The challenge that I Did Finish is the Support Your Local Library Challenge hosted by J. Kaye's Book Blog. Originally I signed up to read 25 books, but seeing as I passed that marker back in March I went up to the next step of 50 books. As of this morning, I have read 50 library books!

So, that's the good and the bad. I'm just relieved to have a couple challenges off of my plate so I can focus on the others for the next 11 or so weeks. Here's to lots more reading time!

End of Event Meme

2010-10-10T18:11:00.002-05:00

I made it! After taking a nap (longer than I planned on), I felt much better and read a couple more books.

1.Which hour was most daunting for you?

Hours 20 and 21. It's when I first started to get really sleepy, and when I started to catch myself dropping my book over and over again.

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?

I always enjoy Shirley Jackson so keep my blood and adrenaline pumping. Otherwise if you have a book or two from a series you know you already enjoy, that's always something to look forward to. I've read books by Rhys Bowen the last 2 times, and they've been a treat.

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

Nope! Really, I'd just like to have them more often (though some people probably think twice a year is enough), thought I know it takes oodles and oodles of work behind the scenes.

4. What do you think worked really well in this year's Read-a-thon?

I liked that the mini-challenges were posted early on so I could plan on little breaks every few hours or so.

5. How many books did you read?

I finished 7 1/2 by the end of the time, but I'm going to say 8 for simplicity's sake since I kept on reading to finish it up. So 8.

6. What were the names of the books you read?

"Maus" by Art Spiegelman

"Troublemaker" by Janet and Alex Evanovich

"Hood" by Stephen Lawhead

"Wishful Drinking" by Carrie Fisher (audio)

"Royal Blood" by Rhys Bowen

"Enthusiasm" by Polly Shulman

"Finn Family Moomintroll" by Tove Jansson

"The Expedition of Humphry Clinker" by Tobias Smollet

7. Which book did you enjoy most?

Finn Family Moomintroll. I started it at just the right time (late in the challenge when my brain was just starting to go mushy) so its magical, child-like wonderfullness would wash over me and sweep me away. It was great.

8. Which did you enjoy least?

I didn't really have any duds, but "Humphry Clinker" would be the one I enjoyed the least. It was charming and funny, but after a while I just wanted it to be over.

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year's Cheerleaders?

N/A

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

EXTREMELY! I was even thinking of doing my down version in a month or two since I enjoy it so much and I get a lot of good reading in.

Everyone setting this up and executing it was absolutely wonderful, and I'm really thankful. I don't know how you guys do it!

Now I'm looking forward to visiting the threads of all the cheerleaders who posted here and just be nosy. Sleep well tonight!

Hour 24

2010-10-10T06:18:00.003-05:00

I did fall asleep, but I'm going to keep on reading until the clock strikes 7:00 exactly, so I'm keeping this short.

Since the last update I finished 2 more books (1 an audio book) and am reading one more still... will I finish it in time to count?

I'll save the wrap-up post until tomorrow and I've slept for a while....

Hour 20

2010-10-10T01:44:00.002-05:00

Getting tired now for sure. Usually if I'm up at 2 a.m. I'm either trying desperately to finish a book or I can't sleep for love nor money. Now I'm voluntarily up this late/early to keep on reading! Perhaps a little juice will keep me going. I fear, however, that I'll have to lay down on the couch fairly soon, and then it could mean a nap for me. I'll try to persist and keep on truckin.

Pages read: 236

Total: 934

Time reading: 160 min

Total: 9 hrs 51 min

Books completed: 4

Blogs visited: 0

Total: 5

Mini-challenges completed: 5

I think that after I finish my current YA book, it's going to be graphic novel time for me.

Hour 17

2010-10-09T23:04:00.002-05:00

At last - a return to reading! That was really much too long of a break. At least some more progress has been made...

Pages read: 219

Total: 698

Time reading: 115 min

Total: 7 hrs 11 min

Books completed: 3

Blogs visited: 0

Total: 5

Mini-challenges completed: 5

Now I don't know what to read - I may just stick my hand out and read whatever I grab.

Hour 14

2010-10-09T20:02:00.003-05:00

I have read ZERO pages since my last check-in. I took a break to eat dinner, and then I got a phone call from a friend that lasted almost 45 minutes, so I figured "what the hell" and talked to my parents for the rest of the hour. Since I'm still not back into reading, I wanted to do the fun Hour 13 Mini-Challenge

Title Word Scramble

Unscramble all titles to win a book grab bag prize! All titles are modern fiction, classic fiction, or children's titles.

1. yfferil enal

Firefly Lane

2. aste fo eend

East of Eden

3. retwa orf pntsheea

Water For Elephants

4. ot lkli a ckomgnrbdii

To Kill a Mockingbird

5. het gtaer ysbtag

The Great Gatsby

6. yrhra tetrpo dna eth lyhdtea wollsah

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

7. hte rat fo nrgcai ni eht nair

The Art of Racing in the Rain

8. eth mite reslveart efwi

The Time Travelers Wife

9. eht rlig ithw eht gnodar ooattt

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

10. ydira fo a mypiw idk

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

11. a kwrlnei ni emit

A Wrinkle in Time

12. het rpoal sxprese

The Polar Express

13. vole dewlak ni

Love Walked In

14. reehw eth dwli hingts rea

Where the Wild Things Are

15. eht ginnhsi

The Shining

16. dnohogigt oonm

Goodnight Moon

17. vwtienrie hwti a pvmarie

Interview With a Vampire

18. eht cretse file fo eesb

The Secret Life of Bees

19. eht raesch

The Search

20. het pelh

The Help

This challenge is hosted by Sheery at Sheery's Place.

Hour 12

2010-10-09T18:54:00.003-05:00

Mid-Event Survey

1. What are you reading right now?

I'm listening to "Wishful Drinking" and reading "Royal Blood".

2. How many books have you read so far?

I've finished 2.

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?

"Finn Family Moomintroll" by Tove Jansson

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

Just take today and tomorrow off of work - not a big deal, since I make my own schedule.

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?

Just a few phone calls, but I answered them. For me, it beats having to call a list of people back. I already have to do that with my work phone (it's my cell phone) and I'm dreading Monday morning when I turn it on again.

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon so far?

At how well I'm doing, reading-wise. I was still hoping to be a little further along, but I'm not doing too badly.

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

More often! Kidding! Everything runs so smoothly - major props to all of the cheerleaders, organizers, and challenge hosts!

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year?

I'd cook all of my food the day before, so I wouldn't be faced with the prospect of having to do so the day of. I thought it would be a nice break, something to do with my hands, etc, but it's really not my thing. So I got carry-out for dinner instead.

9. Are you getting tired yet?

Yeah, a little. But that's probably because I made the not-so-wise decision to have breadsticks with dinner, and I also have lasagna to eat later. I'm going to carb-crash for sure. But so far, so good!

10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered?

Honestly, having 1 place to go during the challenge really helps me out. That way, if I'm getting super drowsy or am sick of sitting all day long, I can hop in the car and walk around Target or the grocery store for a little bit. (Plus, I always listen to an audiobook while I'm driving, and listen to my iPod while I'm in the store, so I'm not missing out on any reading time.) Having something to do to shake it up a little bit gives me something to look forward to, and if I don't feel like leaving the house? I don't have to!

Back at it, Hour 13 just started!

Hour 10

2010-10-09T16:03:00.002-05:00

Making good progress in "Royal Blood" so far. I really love this series and once this book is done I will be sad to have to wait another year for the next installment.

Pages read: 86

Total: 479

Time reading: 60 min

Total: 5 hrs 56 min

Books completed: 2

Blogs visited: 1

Total: 5

Mini-challenges completed: 3

I'll be listening to an audiobook soon, while I get ready and head to the grocery store, and then I'll be back on my behind with a book in hand.

Hour 8

2010-10-09T14:33:00.002-05:00

So far, so good. I'm still awake, which I'm surprised at, and am looking forward to lots more reading time. Finally finished "The Expedition of Humphry Clinker". It was cute, sometimes funny, and loooooong. That is, unless you enjoy reading picaresque novels of the late 1700's!

Pages read: 149

Total: 393

Time reading: 130 min

Total: 4 hrs 56 min

Books completed: 2

Blogs visited: 0

Total: 4

Mini-challenges completed: 3

Looking forward to reading something slightly less crazed than "Humphry", and trying to plan when I'll run to the grocery store and work in the yard. I don't want to wait until I'm too tired and then I won't go at all. Big decision! Alright, back to reading!

How are you guys doing?

Hour 6

2010-10-09T11:46:00.004-05:00

Well, we're one quarter done with the day - let's check up on the progress, shall we?

Pages read: 128

Total: 244

Time reading: 90 min

Total: 2 hrs 46 min

Books completed: 1

Blogs visited: 1

Total: 4

Mini-challenges completed: 3 (including Hour 5 below)

Making some decent progress on my book, "The Expedition of Humphry Clinker", and can't wait to have it all wrapped up! I had a few phone calls, changed the music, ran to the bathroom, got something to drink - but not too bad considering! I think I was planning on reading a book an hour (I know), so I feel a little disappointed at my progress so far, but really it's going pretty well. Speaking of, I had better get back to it!

Hour 5 Mini-Challenge

Crystal, at My Reading Room, challenged us to show a picture of our books! Here's a shot of my main TBR shelves, as of just a few minutes ago.

It should probably be noted that this is by no means all of my TBR heap. I also have other shelves in other rooms, and even a dresser drawer or two, all loaded with fresh books for me to read. Problem much?

Hour 3

2010-10-09T09:17:00.002-05:00

Pages read: 116

Total: 116

Time reading: 1 hr 16 min

Total: 1 hr 16 min

Books completed: 1

Blogs visited: 2

Total: 3

Mini-challenges completed: 2 (Hour 1, which is below, and Hour 2, completed on misswisabus.com)

So far so good! I finished my first book (which I was 3/4 through when I picked it up today), made and ate a yummy breakfast, visited a few blogs, had some coffee, and tried to ignore my neighbors screaming child for the last 20 minutes. Seriously, what the hell - who lets their kid scream for that long, outside, on a Saturday morning?

Think I'll close my kitchen windows, grab some water and pick up book #2!

Hour 1

2010-10-09T07:05:00.002-05:00

Good Morning Everyone!

I've got my coffee, my windows open (it's 63 degrees at 7 a.m. in Wisconsin - CRAZY!), and my first book ready to go. It looks like we've got lots of great mini-challenges this year, and I've already had one cheerleader stop by. Fantastic! I'll be doing separate posts for each hour/time I blog, so I apologize if your Reader is full of bookish updates from me today. And now, for the Hour 1 Meme!

Where are you reading from today? My couch, my big red chofa and my new recliner. I may even venture outside later on to read on the deck.

3 facts about me I'm an anglophile, I love pottery, and the amount of vitamins I take every day is verging on the ridiculous.

How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours? This time it's only 24 books. I know, it's still a huge amount, but I may pull things in "off-pile" too. We'll see how the day goes!

Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)? Well, if I remember correctly, I've only read 6 books the last 2 times I participated and I had a goal of reading 10, so I'm going to shoot for the middle here and say 8 books. No page goal necessarily. I would like to get 12 hours of reading time in, and visit at least 5 blogs for each time I'm online.

If you're a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time? Don't over-caffeinate, save a few kids books or graphic novels for when your brain turns to mush (trust me, this will happen), and just relax and enjoy yourself. There will always be people who are Serious Read-a-thoners and their stats will blow you away. Don't worry about them. Just enjoy an entire day set aside to read books!

Speaking of, I best get moving here and get some reading done myself. I think I'll try to finish up "Hood" first so I can fell like I've accomplished something early on. See you later!

Read a Thon October 2010

2010-10-08T18:50:00.003-05:00

It's that time of year again, my dearies! The 24 Hour Read-a-thon is tomorrow! I'll be up bright and early, ready to hit the books at 7 a.m.!

This is my third time joining in the reading fun, and I'm even more excited than I was the last time. I've got some healthy food all set, coffee is ready to go, and my Saturday is free and clear to read to my hearts content. I do plan on running an errand tomorrow just for a little break, and to rake my side-yard for a while (the acorns this year are Out Of Control), but other than that, I'll be reading and eating. I do plan on taking at least one nap, and if I sleep more than that, that's okay too. Now, for my ridiculously large proposed book pile:

From left to top to bottom to right:

"First to Die", James Patterson

"Enthusiasm", Polly Shulman

"Carrie", Stephen King

"The Vampire Diaries, The Awakening", L.J. Smith

"Suddenly You", Lisa Kleypas

"The Shape of Water", Andrea Camilleri

"The Frozen Deep", Wilkie Collins

"My Trip Down the Pink Carpet", Leslie Jordan

"Finn Family Moomintroll", Tove Jansson

"The Girl Who Could Fly", Victoria Forester

"Hex Hall", Rachel Hawkins

"Still Life", Louise Penney

"Royal Blood", Rhys Bowen

"Whose Body?", Dorothy Sayers

"The Happiness Project", Gretchen Rubin

"The Memoirs of Cleopatra", Margaret George

"Maus" and "Maus II", Art Spiegelman

"Gothic Classics", Ann Radcliffe

"Hood", Stephen Lawhead

"The Expedition of Humphry Clinker", Tobias Smollett

Once again, I have an absolutely enormous stack to pick from, but I have no illusions of getting through all of them. I'd like to at least finish the 2 I've already started (the last 2 on the list), read a small chunk of the Cleopatra book, and maybe read 2 more from front to back. Other than that, I'm just happy to be reading for most of the day. Well, it's early to bed for me so I can face tomorrow with a full nights sleep!

See you all tomorrow morning!

2010-05-17T15:44:00.002-05:00

I'm alive! I'm alive, I swear! Don't ask me what has happened in the past month, I couldn't really tell you. Mostly because I don't really remember it, and I promise it's not because I was drinking. Well, except for that one time, but that wasn't really fun. I've just been working at both jobs and grating my teeth while doing it (that's what she said), getting hardly any useful work done, came close to heart attacks several times, and have only read maybe 3 books. For a frame of reference, I read 22 books in March. Seriously. So, instead of talking about books, I'll just ramble for a bit.

Do any of you read The Bloggess? I love her stuff - she's crazy, but in a delightful, humorous, sarcastic way. Perfect! Her latest weekly wrap-up (normally titled "Shit-I-Did-While-I-Wasn't-Here") included a link to a youtube video of a lecture done by Daniel Pink (author of "A Whole New Mind") about desire in the workplace. No, not that kind of desire. The regular non-pervy kind. Or was it about drive in the workplace? I don't remember. At any rate, I always click on the links that The Bloggess has, she's never steered me wrong, and this link was really interesting. I think. I couldn't really follow what he was saying because I was watching the hand drawing and writing what he was saying. It's amazingly fascinating. How can people do this?!? I know I joke about this, but I really can't draw or cut a straight line. Being talented enough to draw a picture, no matter how rudimentary, where anyone can identify a story or objects in it is totally amazing to me - this is beyond amazing. You should totally watch it just for the sake of watching it - I have no idea what he says.

Hang on, I have to run some tomato paste over to my neighbors' house, I'll be right back.

OK, I'm back. I was over there for over an hour - sheesh! She took a mental health day from work and we yapped while she made dinner and chopped veggies. All I kept thinking was "why don't I effing do this stuff for myself?!?" and staring at the clock. Not in a bad way, but you know, cuz I've got stuff at home that I need to avoid doing.

Speaking of, I should probably turn my cell/work phone on for the day, I've been avoiding it. Here goes... whew! Only one message, and it's from a friend. A nice change.

You know, after being at my neighbors' house (they have a totally new, revamped kitchen that I'm endlessly jealous of) I realized part of why I like their kitchen so much. Aside from the fact that it's beautiful, shiny, useful and has things in it that work like they're supposed to, that is. I like it because it's not filled with useless crap, and it's not treated like a giant storage area - it feels like it has life in it. Does that make sense? Mine feels dull, dead, old, used-up, and cluttered like crazy. So does most of my house, to be honest, but doesn't that really say something about my life and how I live it? Now I feel like dropping whatever I had planned on doing, pulling my big garbage can up from the alley and just start pitching shit in there. (I'd also like to do that to my office/dining room, but I need to know what I'm tossing before I toss it.) Maybe I'm entering a "pitch it" phase. Hm.

Having had more "time off" this last week (read that as working from home and not at job #1, instead of actual time spent not working) has been so eye-opening and refreshing in so many ways it's scary. I spend so little time here at home during daylight hours, no matter what day of the week it is. I do so little actual work for job #2 (instead mostly obsessively thinking about it and panicking about working is what I do). I do even littler work for this house - and even littler work for myself. I have NO IDEA how I expect myself to remember anything at all because all I do is mentally jump around like a caffeinated little dog all the time, and all of the work that I'm doing is for someone elses' benefit. I need to re-train myself in how to have one constant thought process - constant interruptions are the norm, no matter what I'm doing. Bad. Very bad.

Also, I've been thinking about that Asian saying/thought/truth/whatever about how they don't eat leftovers because it's dead food, how do you expect to feel alive if all you eat are dead things? All I eat are "dead" things. Couldn't tell you the last time I actually cooked a meal - maybe January? Let's say January for the sake of argument, it feels about right. Not cooking a meal (no matter how small and easy, I've barely scrambled an egg) in 5 months? Fuck. Not good. Really not good. Not good at all. Oh, pardon me while I eat leftover pizza and type this. See? What the hell has happened to me? How did I lose my way? I've stopped being a regular person and am now some kind of Scattered Crazy Work Robot that masquerades as a responsible adult. Damn.

Hey, this is good pizza.

Alright, I need to step away from the computer for 10 seconds altogether, so I'm going to go. And I won't watch TV, I promise. I'll maybe even do something semi-productive like laundry or sorting through a stack of paper. Or return the work phone call I just ignored. Or take a nap. Gee, which one sounds most appealing? What a toughie....

Hope you're all doing well, and I'll try and stop back again soon.

Corked

2010-04-17T17:08:00.000-05:00

I'm a big fan of travel memoirs, so when I saw that I won this through LibraryThing Early Reviewers, I was really excited! I'm glad I "had" to read it too, because I really enjoyed it.

Kathryn keeps getting caught up in the drama of her life, specifically her accidentally running over and killing a man, and her now ex-boyfriend (whom she dumped). Because of these things, she realizes that she wants to get to know dear old Dad a little better and connect with him on this trip. This memoir of Kathryn and her father doing a wine tour around France (where he is from) is actually quite wonderful. As they travel through the country, stopping at wineries and hotels, getting into arguments and having heart-to-heart moments, pitching fits and laughing it up, they get to know each other very well. And like so many things in adult life, the more you think you know, the more you realize how wrong you are.

"Corked" is cute, funny, sad, touching, with a realistic (aka a little dysfunctional) parent/child relationship...what more can you want from a memoir? Kathryn has a wonderfully quirky writing style, with unusual and spot-on ways to describe things. I really like this book, and I hope Ms. Borel will write another book in the near future.

Quick Reviews...

2010-04-16T16:52:00.003-05:00

Back to the swing of things. I've fully recovered from the Read a thon, and now have a few more days off of work due to Murphy's Law and my cutting my thumb while hoping I wouldn't cut my thumb. Brilliant. So, it's time for more reviews to catch up on what I've been reading this year. I think we're up to category 5, which is Anywhere But Here, Travel Lit and Travel Guides. I love me some good travel books!

"Bronte Country", ed. by Glenda Leeming

A nice book of pictures of "Bronte Country" in Yorkshire during all four seasons. Lots (and lots) of Bronte quotes accompany each page. More of a look-y book than a read-y book.

"Carnet de Voyage" by Craig Thompson

An amusing, honest, not-quite-rose-colored travel journal of Craig Thompson's European / African publicity tour for Blankets with a side trip vacation done on his own. Love it - there are many parts of traveling that I often think myself when I'm on the road, and it's an easy read. It's nice to travel with Craig, even when he's a little whiny and self-absorbed.

"Film + Travel Europe: Traveling the World Through Your Favorite Movies" by Museyon Guides

Meh. It looked interesting (I'm a cover sucker - that sounds gross) and it was only okay. It's a small book, and it does cover all of Europe, but it was mostly blurbs mentioning that such-and-such was filmed here. The only time the talked about a movie in detail (a 5 sentence paragraph) it was an obscure or "classic" movie made in the 60's that I hadn't seen. To be honest, I was bored. Not that it's not a great idea, I was just hoping for something a little more mainstream, or current (or even better, vintage 30's and 40's stuff. How awesome would that be?), or that had some content to it.

"French Milk" by Lucy Knisley

A great book, told graphic-novel style (with a few photos thrown in), about Lucy and her Mom spending 5 weeks in France to celebrate their birthdays. From her love of French milk (hence the title), to the acute hell of life after college when everything seems to be so monumental to THE REST OF YOUR LIFE that you become paralyzed, to all of the wonderful discoveries the city of Paris holds, I relished in every minute of reading this book. It was also kind of funny to read about some things that you take for granted as common knowledge - it's such a joy to learn a new city and the quirks that make it so wonderful. Love it!

End of Event Meme

2010-04-11T12:23:00.003-05:00

After all of my excitement and talking about the Read-a-thon this year, I most certainly did not do a very good job. I wanted to read for 10 hours, and only read for 5 hours 20 minutes. I was trying to read 10 books and only read 6 - 2 I had started previously, 1 was a children's book, 1 was quite short, 1 I only read the first quarter of (for a separate read-a-long I'm doing), and just 1 was read from start to finish. Oh well. I plan on doing much better this fall!

Pages read: 846

Time reading: 5 hours 20 minutes

Books completed: 6 (well, 5)

Blogs visited: 14

Mini-challenges completed: 3 (including the one below)

Hour 24 Mini-Challenge

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? Hour 18, when I first fell asleep.

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?

Persepolis and Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson - though from what I hear, anything she writes would work

Metro Girl and Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

Any of the Royal and Evans series by Rhys Bowen

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

Blankets and Carnet de Voyage by Craig Thompson

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Nope! Everyone does such a fantastic job, I can't imagine improvements.

4. What do you think worked really well in this year's Read-a-thon? Everything. The assigned cheerleaders, the AMAZING hosts, fun mini-challenges.... it was all great!

5. How many books did you read? 6

6. What were the names of the books you read? Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi, A Treasury of Royal Scandals by Michael Farquhar, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar by Roald Dahl, Hood by Stephen Lawhead (partial read), More Letters from Pemberley by Jane Dawkins, and Corked by Kathryn Borel.

7. Which book did you enjoy most? Corked by Kathryn Borel. I got this for review and I enjoyed every second of it. I hope she writes another book!

8. Which did you enjoy least? Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi. Though there wasn't any one thing about it that didn't really work for me, I just remember thinking "thank god this book is short and filled with pictures". Plus, the absence of page numbers drove me crazy.

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year's Cheerleaders? N/A

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? I will definitely do this again, though I'll be sure not to plan anything extra on the side. One thing would have been fine, but two was too much. I'll be a reader again for sure, and will think about being a Cheerleader. It would be fun to have to read a bunch of blogs and comment, but I'd like to improve my reading stats also. Maybe next April I will trying Cheering.

For now, that's all! Thanks so much to everyone who stopped by to comment, and I look forward to running into you all again in October - maybe even sooner!

I'm out

2010-04-11T01:05:00.002-05:00

Well, I'm afraid to say that it's curtains for me. I read another half an hour, but fell asleep, and now it's just time for me to go to bed. I found out a couple of hours ago that I no longer have to get up and go tomorrow, but my body was all ready to get some sleep, and I couldn't fight it.

I'll post a wrap up tomorrow morning. I had such a great time, but I had too many other things that came up this time, and I couldn't make it. Shoot. Oh well, there's always next time. Thanks so much for the cheering to all who stopped by!

Good night - or is it really morning?

Hour 15

2010-04-10T21:07:00.002-05:00

Well, I'm back from babysitting! While I was there I somehow managed to finish 1 book, read another, and read half of yet another! Plus, while driving there and back I finished a children's audio book. Yahoo! I feel like I'm getting somewhere finally.

Pages read: 312

Total: 509

Time reading: 3 hours / 120 min

Total: 4 hrs 5 min

Books completed: 3

Blogs visited: 4

Total: 12

Mini-challenges completed: 2

Time to hunker down and get reading once again!

Mini-challenge from hour 4

2010-04-10T12:26:00.003-05:00

Bart from Bart's Bookshelf challenged everyone to write a book title sentence using 3 or 4 books. My sentence is "Marie Antoinette corked the billionaire's vinegar, thunderstruck."

You should check out his TwentyTen challenge also, I'm having a blast working on it!

Hour 5

2010-04-10T11:05:00.002-05:00

Pages read: 63

Total: 209

Time reading: 35 min

Total: 125 min

Books completed: 0

Blogs visited: 1

Total: 8

Mini-challenges completed: 1

Only 77 pages left until book #1 is finished!

Hour 4

2010-04-10T10:03:00.002-05:00

Pages read: 40

Total: 146

Time reading: 20 min (bad!)

Total: 90 min

Books completed: 0

Blogs visited: 0

Total: 7

Mini-challenges completed: 1

Currently reading "Corked" by Kathryn Borel. It's for review (which I didn't think I'd do during the readathon) and it's so charming and fun that I'm having a great time reading it. Almost halfway through, and hoping to finish it before noon!

Hour 3

2010-04-10T09:25:00.002-05:00

Just a few stats for you...

Pages read: 107

Time spent reading: just over an hour - let's say 70 minutes

Books completed: 0

Blogs visited: 7

Mini-challenges completed: 1

Time to turn on my phone and return some work phone calls, unfortunately. Then it's back to reading!

Readathon mini challenge #1

2010-04-10T07:17:00.004-05:00

Well, kids, it begins! I'm up a little late (can't seem to get enough sleep lately), coffee just finished brewing, and breakfast is in the toaster. I don't think I'll get much reading done this hour, just nose around and drink coffee instead.

Where are you reading from today? Mostly from my couch, or my big red chofa. Probably with at least one cat next to me at most times.

3 facts about me I think the fact that I love to read is fairly obvious, so.... I'm an only child, my imaginary friends when I was little were the gang from Scooby-Doo, and I've met Justin Timberlake. Seriously, aside from the fact that he was smaller than I thought, he really really smelled nice. (That sounds a little creepy...)

How many books do you have in your TBR pile? 35. I added 2 more last night, and I included the 3 books I'm currently reading. This is WAY MORE than I will ever possibly read, but I learned from the last thon that I need a lot of options.

Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, pages, hours, comments on other blogs)? I hadn't given it much thought, but I'm going to say 10 books, and 10 hours. (I know that may sound a little wimpy considering I was up for the whole 24 last time, but I'm babysitting this afternoon for 6ish hours, and I'm meeting friends for brunch on Sunday so I'll have to get some sleep or I'll swerve off of the highway while driving.) I'd also like to comment on at least 5 blogs each time I'm online too, but won't hold myself to that one.

If you're a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time? Really, aside from giving yourself a lot of reading options, I'd try and have a few healthy snacks (my brain can't concentrate on sugary junk alone, sadly), pace yourself and sleep if you need to, and if you have any graphic novels or children's books, I'd try and save those for when you're getting sleepy and for the last 6 hours if you're still awake. Having pictures is really quite helpful. Oh, and have fun! This is my second thon, and I had such a great time doing my first one last fall. Enjoy yourself, and happy reading! I'll try and post a list of good books to pick from, but that probably won't be until after the thon is over and I've recovered at least a little.

Off to stick my nose in a book!

'thon book piles

2010-04-09T22:46:00.003-05:00

In my first pile of potential reads, pulled from my shelves (top to bottom):

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

Howards End is on the Landing by Susan Hill

The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

Enthusiasm by Polly Shulman

The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr

The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson

Disney Aladdin Manga

More Letters from Pemberley by Jane Dawkins

French Milk by Lucy Knisley

Dead Ringer by Lisa Scottoline

Silver by Edward Chupack

Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert

And in the so-big-it-falls-over stack of books from the library, we have (top to bottom):

The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett

Evanly Choirs by Rhys Bowen

Evan and Elle by Rhys Bowen

The Lady in Red by Hallie Rubenhold

The Girls of Room 28 by Hannelore Brenner

Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More by Roald Dahl

The Sundial by Shirley Jackson

Sorcery and Cecelia by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer

The Mislaid Magician by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer

Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi

GraceLand by Chris Abani

The Sisters Who Would Be Queen by Leanda De Lisle

Stitches by David Small

Small Island by Andrea Levy

My Booky Wook by Russell Brand

Here We Go Again by Betty White

Plus, I'm in the middle of three different books, AND I have three books on hold for me to pick up at the library tomorrow. Problem much? Of course, since I'm now looking at the stacks I previously pulled, only a few of them sound like I actually want to read them tomorrow. Poo.

Also, I just ate the chocolate croissant I bought for myself to eat tomorrow night. Double poo.

Read a Thon April 2010

2010-04-09T21:37:00.004-05:00

Hey there! Just a quick heads up that tomorrow, Saturday April 10, is the next 24-hour Read-a-thon, so I'll be on here every couple of hours doing an update. Somehow I didn't mentally connect the date with the actual day and suddenly it's tomorrow! I haven't shopped for snacky food, haven't done any pictures of my planned books to be read, haven't finished cleaning up the house...aaaaah! I'll try and fill in a few things tonight, and will do my best to make it the whole time tomorrow.

Speaking of - the Thon starts at 7am for me, it's getting close to 10pm now, and I have nothing ready! Better get my behind moving. See you later!

Quick Reviews...

2010-03-30T03:03:00.000-05:00

Up to category #4 now, Get Off Of My Lawn! - Children's and YA Lit. This is one of the few categories I have almost finished, but since it includes short children's books, that's not a surprise.

"Viola in Reel Life" by Adriana Trigiani

Already reviewed here in January. Here's the link.

"Persephone and the Pomegranate" by Kris Waldherr

Great re-telling of the classic myth, wonderful pictures included.

"The Book of Goddesses" by Kris Waldherr

For kids, but an interesting read for me. There were quite a few goddesses I had never heard of before. And, once again, with wonderful pictures.

"Briar Rose" by Jane Yolen

I read this for the group readalong on LibraryThing (or, LT). This book is a retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story, involving the holocaust. I liked this book, but it was a little... I don't know, clunky? I realize it's for middle-grade readers, but usually I don't notice any disjointedness like I did here. I feel like she could have spent less time on the first two thirds, and more time on the last third - that's where I was really captivated by the story. I'm glad I read this book, and I'm glad it's at a new home courtesy of PaperbackSwap.

"Goodbye, Chunky Rice" by Craig Thompson

Unlike almost every other person out there, I didn't like this book. I like Craig's work, and the illustrations, but the overall "moral" or whatever didn't jump out at me, or do it for me, and the side characters just seemed like intentional "freaks" of society. Hm. Disappointed, but I like his other stuff much better.

"Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging" by Louise Rennison

Cute, picked up because of talk on LT. It is like a young Bridget Jones, and it's fun to read a lot of the English slang I'm used to hearing on TV. Will read the rest of the series when I need a little mindless book. And I mean that in the nicest possible way, I swear.

"Beauty and the Beast" by Jean Marie Leprince de Beaumont

Another pick because of LT (Retrogirl85), and it was a nice change to the usual versions you find today. (Is this the original? Hm.) It took me back to reading children's books when I was little - it's an oversize format, and the illustrations are very 60's. Despite the fact that I was born in the late 70's, it seems like a lot of the books I owned were from the 60's when my parents were in their twenties. ??? Anyway, a nice version, and thoroughly enjoyable.

"The Vicar of Nibbleswicke" and "The Minpins" by Roald Dahl

I loved both of these books. Vicar was cute, a quirky story about a dyslexic priest, with wonderful illustrations by the fantastic Quentin Blake. Minpins was really wonderful, my favorite of the two. I used to imagine little people living in forests like this when I was small, though I'm almost positive I hadn't read this previously. Great illustrations by Patrick Benson, the kind you could lose yourself in the more you looked at them. Will try to find it second-hand somewhere.

Quick Reviews...

2010-03-28T14:37:00.002-05:00

Holy cow, you guys. I have only reviewed 5 books here on my blog, and in real life I've read 40 so far this year. To help catch up, I'll be doing some Quick Reviews every once in a while. I think I'll do them by 101010 Challenge category so I can keep track.

Since I've already reviewed the one sad little book in category #1 (Because I Said So - Books my Mom recommends. The book is "Heat Wave".), and the three books I have in category #2 (And You'll Never Guess What Happened Next - Series Books), I'll start my Quick Reviews with category #3, Miss Austen and Her Relations - All things Austen and Austen-related.

"Jane Bites Back" by Michael Thomas Ford

While the reviews for this book tend to be mixed, I enjoyed it. In the interest of full disclosure, this is the first Jane Austen revamp (for lack of a better word) that I've read, despite owning at least a dozen others. Therefore, I have nothing to compare it to.

It's a clever book, filled with undead famous authors (Bronte, Byron), lots of books, mystery, and a few laughs. Jane Bites Back is certainly an easy read, and while I was a little annoyed sometimes by the conveniences that just pop up and are never remotely explained (like why Lucy, her shop assistant, just totally accepts the fact that Jane is a vampire and goes straight to joking about it - wouldn't she be at least a little bit shocked or questioning?), they're seemingly there because the author couldn't think of a way to fit the necessary information in the right place for the story line. (Despite that last sentence, I have no real issue with how this book is written.)

If you're looking for a nice twist on the classic author/monster genre that's out there, this book will certainly fit the bill. I'm really looking forward to the next book in the series!

"Mr. Darcy, Vampyre" by Amanda George

In this book, we follow Elizabeth and Darcy on their continental honeymoon. But all is not as it should be. Why is Darcy acting so strange? Why hasn't he come to their marriage bed? And who are all of these supposedly close family friends who dress so old-fashioned?

I liked this book, though I was annoyed with how dense Elizabeth was. And I like the ending, but it just seemed SO out of place and quick and different from the rest of it that it's sticking with me. Did that bother anyone else? At any rate, it's a quick read and entertaining. I'm really digging Austen revamps (pardon the pun) lately.

"Letters from Pemberley" by Jane Dawkins

Really nice, epistolary book of letters from Elizabeth to Jane in the first year of their marriage. Cute references to other Austen books abound, and it seems like it could be written by the lady herself. I'm trying to save the next book for the read-a-thon, but I don't know... it was just so enjoyable, I might not be able to wait another 2 weeks!

Have any of you read any of these books? What did you think of them?

Royal Flush

2010-03-21T03:49:00.000-05:00

"Royal Flush"

-Rhys Bowen, 2009

ISBN: 042522788X

From: Library

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

From Booklist:Even though Lady Georgiana is only thirty-second in line to the British throne, one would expect her to possess something other than her good name. Alas, this is not the case, and when a scheme to drum up money by being a suitable dinner companion for male travelers goes terribly wrong, she hightails it up to the family home in the Highlands. There, she finds the castle full of guests (including Wallis Simpson), who make up part of a shooting party at nearby Balmoral. But the grouse aren’t the only ones in danger as guests keep turning up injured (including one hapless woman who’s knocked about by the castle’s old plumbing while she is on the “throne”). Is there a plot afoot to do in members of the royal family? As in previous entries in the series, Georgiana makes a superb sleuth, but much of the fun comes in the contrast between impoverished Georgie and the royal life of which—financial circumstances notwithstanding—she is still a part. Also intriguing is the aptly named Darcy O’Mara, the lady’s love interest. Just what are his intentions?

Thoughts: I love this series - set in 1930's England, involving the Royal family, real people, some real events, and the ever-charming and scrappy Lady Georgiana. In this book, Georgie has two missions: the ongoing task from Her Majesty to prevent Mrs. Simpson from seducing the Prince of Wales, and her new assignment from Scotland Yard to keep watch on members of the royal succession line as there have been several attempts made on their lives. Can Georgie find out who is behind these attempts, keep Wallis Simpson at arms' length from the Prince, deal with her miserable sister-in-law Fig, and manage to catch the charming Darcy long enough to confirm their relationship - perhaps even taking it "all the way"? Such a charming joy to read, I can't wait for book #4, whenever it happens to appear on shelves!

Heat Wave

2010-03-20T03:05:00.001-05:00

"Heat Wave"

-Richard Castle, 2009

ISBN: 9781401323820

From: Mom

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

From Amazon: A New York real estate tycoon plunges to his death on a Manhattan sidewalk. A trophy wife with a past survives a narrow escape from a brazen attack. Mobsters and moguls with no shortage of reasons to kill trot out their alibis. And then, in the suffocating grip of a record heat wave, comes another shocking murder and a sharp turn in a tense journey into the dirty little secrets of the wealthy. Secrets that prove to be fatal. Secrets that lay hidden in the dark until one NYPD detective shines a light.

Mystery sensation Richard Castle, blockbuster author of the wildly best-selling Derrick Storm novels, introduces his newest character, NYPD Homicide Detective Nikki Heat. Tough, sexy, professional, Nikki Heat carries a passion for justice as she leads one of New York City's top homicide squads. She's hit with an unexpected challenge when the commissioner assigns superstar magazine journalist Jameson Rook to ride along with her to research an article on New York's Finest. PulitzerPrize-winning Rook is as much a handful as he is handsome. His wise-cracking and meddling aren't her only problems. As she works to unravel the secrets of the murdered real estate tycoon, she must also confront the spark between them. The one called heat.

Thoughts: Bravo to the people at ABC for creating a real book to go along with the book being written on their hit show "Castle". Seriously, this probably rarely happens, and as a consumer, I think it's fantastic. I really enjoy the show "Castle" primarily because I'm in love with Nathan Fillion, but really, it's a good TV program. Cute premise, funny zingers, mysteries to solve, pretty people to look at - what's not to like? At any rate, when I heard this book was actually on shelves I had to go and buy it for my mother for Christmas. She read it in about a day, and then pressed it into my hands saying "This book is so friggin good, you'll love it!" Of course, this being my mom, she didn't actually say friggin, but I digress.

To sum up, if you like the show, you'll like this book. Fast-paced, clever, funny, full of liars, cheats, and no-nonsense cops - and Castle himself too (Rook, actually). It was a quick read, and it kept me turning the pages to find out whodunit and how. Since Richard Castle isn't a real person, I'm wondering if Stephen J. Cannell, who appears as himself on the show and is featured a great deal on the Season 1 DVD extras, is the real writer, but it doesn't really matter. This is a fun book, and great for a few hours of escapism.

Clearly I can't tell time...

2010-03-19T13:55:00.002-05:00

A week ago, I was over at a friends' house (Hi, J!) and she asked me if I was still going to write on my blog. I immediately said that yes, I would be, and then realized that I hadn't written anything here since January. Poop. I thought it was maybe a couple of weeks, but obviously I have time-telling issues. My apologies, to all three of you that read this blog. I'll try to be better in future.

In my absence I have worked a lot of hours (more paid than not paid, thankyouverymuch), had several splendid naps, worked, talked to my cats in what could probably safely be classified as an "unhealthy" amount, worked, seen a few friends, worked, and read quite a few books. Despite the fact that I have reviewed only a handful of what I've read this year, and despite the fact that my house is a Disaster, I'll be writing a few updates today and will auto-post them for the next few days.

Thanks for sticking with me!

Evan Help Us

2010-01-19T19:25:00.003-06:00

"Evan Help Us"

-Rhys Bowen, 2000

ISBN: 0749003692

From: Library

Rating: 3 1/2 of 5 stars

From Amazon: An archaeological find in the town of Llanfair sparks an age-old rivalry with the neighbouring town of Beddgelert. When Llanfair's prodigal son, Ted Morgan, announces his plans for an amusement park, the rivalry turns deadly, drawing Constable Evans into a whirl of pride, deception and greed.

Thoughts: I liked this book, #2 in the Constable Evans series. Cute, quaint, with a few dead bodies thrown in for good measure. Reading these books is a pleasure, and I look forward to book #3 at some point in the near future. Picking out the murderer wasn't too hard, but it's a nice and easy ride to the end of the book, again with some nice secondary character development. I tried not to read this too fast, making deals with myself that I had to reach a certain page number in the other book that I'm reading and stuck in, but that didn't work. Hopefully I'll get somewhere in the other book tonight, instead of reading the next library book that's due, but I'm not holding my breath.

A good book set in lovely Wales with eccentric townfolk and murder. A nice series if you're looking for something enjoyable to spend a few hours reading.

Viola in Reel Life

2010-01-17T21:24:00.004-06:00

"Viola in Reel Life"

-Adriana Trigiani, 2009

ISBN: 9780061451027

From: Library

Rating: 3 1/2 of 5 stars

From front flap: Viola doesn't want to go to boarding school, but somehow she ends up at an all-girls school in South Bend, Indiana, far, far away from her home in Brooklyn, New York. Now Viola is stuck for a whole year in the sherbet-colored sweater capital of the world.

Ick.

There's no way Viola's going to survive the year - especially since she has to replace her best friend Andrew with three new roommates who, disturbingly, actually seem to like it there. She resorts to viewing the world (and hiding) behind the lens of her video camera.

Boarding school, though, and her roommates and even the Midwest are nothing like she thought they would be, and soon Viola realizes she may be in for the most incredible year of her life.

But first she has to put the camera down and let the world in.

Thoughts: This was the first physical book of Adriana Trigianis' that I've read (I've listened to a fantastic reading by Stephen Hoye of "Rococo" before), and I liked it. Didn't love it, but liked it.

I liked Viola - she was real, complex, selfish, and very teen-y. Then again, she is 14 years old. While she eventually stops whining about being in Indiana and learns to love it, she has huge "understanding" swings, going from a narrow viewpoint and being totally selfish to a total adult understanding of a situation in a page or two. Um, what? There didn't seem to be a lot of description about her comprehension of things, or even an "easing into" or "slowly dawning awareness" of things. Nope, just go straight from "Why isn't it about me" to "I totally understand my parents are adults who have faults". Um...okay then. Her very first boyfriend, Jared, was great, supportive, seemed realistic for almost the entire book, and then at the end he suddenly became some completely jerky douche. Again, what? It seemed like a weird "development" of his character. On the other hand, her roommates, and their respective families seemed more fleshed out and real, as did Viola's parents and Grandmother.

I did like that Viola was an only child, like me. There don't seem to be many only children in books, so that was kind of nice. There were a couple of times (especially one in particular) that were so accurate about what it's like to be an only child, that I wonder if Adriana is an only, or if someone she is close to is.

To be honest, I first picked up this book because of the cover. It's nothing special or fancy, but her shoes caught my eye. Well, that and the fact that the word "Viola" is pretty big and I played the viola for 13 or so years - you hardly ever see or hear much about the instrument, so I thought that maybe it was about the orchestra or something...it's not. All in all, I liked this book. Didn't love it, but I liked it. I'll certainly read Ms. Trigiani's work again ( I have "Big Stone Gap" sitting on my shelf to read), but I'm not going to rush into it.

Mailbox Monday

2010-01-11T21:45:00.005-06:00

This is my first ever Mailbox Monday! It's also a slightly sad one because I only received 2 books, but still... it's 2 books!

I received "The Beekeeper's Apprentice" by Laurie King through Paperback Swap (received a book in the middle of this series as a gift and since I'm kind of obsessive about reading things in order I had to get this), and I got "Jane Bites Back" by Michael Thomas Ford from the publisher. I won JBB through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program, and I'm so glad I did!

Also, I've just realized that I haven't read one single word in a book in a week! That's horrible!!! I can hardly believe it myself. I did spend almost 6 days on the couch with that terrible cold, and then my first day up and functioning was spent at Job #1 and then at a party... and then I spent most of the next day on the couch again. Not good.

However, today I had a really good day. My parents came over to help me get a little more organized. (It might sound strange, but I had bags and boxes of paperwork that I needed to get through and I do a much better job if someone is watching me and helping me sort through it all.) I got my bills in order - whew! And, I found my new planner! Hallelujah! I was getting ready to buy a new one, too. All in all it was a good day.

I'm looking forward to reading (a lot) tomorrow and to more cleaning and sorting. Here's hoping I can finish this book and move on to the next one in the stack by the end of the week!

p.s. Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page.

Review: Evans Above

2010-01-05T13:50:00.002-06:00

"Evans Above"

-Rhys Bowen, 1998

ISBN: 0425166422

From: My shelves

Rating: 3 1/2 of 5 stars

From Amazon: Constable Evan Evans expected idyllic Llanfair to be a calm oasis far away from the violent crime of the big city. That was, until a string of murders erupts in the town, putting every "charming eccentric" under suspicion...

Thoughts: I stumbled upon the first book in her "Royal" series at the library last year, really liked it, and wanted to give this series a shot. Set in Wales, it's full of mystery and gentle humor. Evan Evans is a good, congenial character, and a reliable narrator. The other characters in the village are mostly that - characters - with an amusing sub-plot dealing with a missing apple pie and a neighbor jealous of anothers' prize-winning veggie patch.

As with most mysteries, some things are predictable and some are not. Admittedly, I might have missed some hints about the big twist at the end (having read most of this in the wee hours of the morning while dealing with this heck of a cold) but it was kind of shocking. I also didn't remember the names of some of the minor character, but I'm thinking that's the cold talking as well.

All in all, I enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next book in the series. Unlike some other series of books I've read before, I don't feel the need to run out and buy them so I can read them all right away. But if I'm ever in the mood for a book that doesn't require huge amounts of concentration or for something that's gentle, interesting, and a fairly quick read, I'll happily come back to Evan Evans and the town of Llanfair, Wales.

Goals for 2010...

2010-01-04T13:04:00.003-06:00

I'm not really a fan of the word "resolution", so I'm going with "goal" instead. I've spent quite a bit of time (more than I'd like to admit to) in the last week reading other blogs and thinking about what I'm shooting for this year. And, now that I've been up for almost 30 hours with one heck of a cold, I think I'm ready to commit to a few things and get them out there. In no particular order...

1. Work less

I need to clarify that a little more. I spend a shocking amount of time working for absolutely free. With Job #1, there are between 2 and 4 hours every week that each of us work without being paid. (It might sound ridiculous, but I swear it's honest and makes sense for the job and where I work.) But, me being me, I don't seem to be content just putting in the time I'm supposed to. No. I like to really overachieve, without much thought being put into it, and I average 26 hours a week working unpaid. This has got to stop. No one else in the world would be okay with working that much for zero pay... now that I'm aware of it, it's ending. It's made quite a big difference in the last week alone.

2. Have more money coming in

Between both jobs I should theoretically be making a livable wage. In actuality, it's totally not true. Whether this means cutting back on Job #1, doing more for Job #2 or getting rid of it altogether, I don't know. What I do know is that I need to not make myself available at all hours for anyone who calls, be mindful of my daily schedule and consider my income/expenses each day. This sort of dovetails into...

3. Make myself a priority

I have some health issues that I generally ignore and this also holds true for my time. I spent a lot of last year working 6 or 7 days a week, and even on my "off" days I still worked from home. I'm going to have more than 1 day every week where I do absolutely no work whatsoever. I spend so much time and energy directing myself toward anything and anyone else. It's time I turn that geyser down a few notches and save something for myself.

4. Read more

If I'm reading that means I'm still and focused on one thing. Plus, I have a bajillion books on my shelves (not to mention in stores and libraries) that I really do want to read. This should help.

5. Not read more than one book at a time

Two if I'm nearing the end of one/it's a heavy, thick hardcover that doesn't travel easily. I normally read 7 to 15 at a time. This is going to be a serious challenge.

6. Pay attention

This one applies to all areas of my inner and outer life. I spend so much time unfocused and running on automatic. I'm certain I'd have a fuller, happier, just generally better life if I was aware of what was going on and paid attention!

Well, that's it for now. I know they probably sound kind of generic, but they're biggies for me. Here's hoping that this time next year I can check all of these off! Speaking of off, I'm going to try to doze off for a nap here, with a little "Antiques Roadshow" in the background. Be back later for my first review of the year!

Typically British Reading Challenge 2010

2010-01-01T17:29:00.008-06:00

This is getting a little ridiculous. But I mean COME ON, how could I not do this challenge?!? Any fiction by a British author counts, as do crossovers. There are such great titles for the levels - Put the Kettle On, Gordon Bennet, Bob's Your Uncle - and since I'm fairly certain that at least a quarter of the books I own are "British-born", I should be able to complete this challenge fairly easily. (Of course, I say that now, when the year has barely begun.) The lovely host is Book Chick City - please join the TBRC here and read with me!

I'm joining at the top level, Cream Crackered, reading 8 Typically British novels.

1. "Royal Flush" by Rhys Bowen (January)

2. "Mr. Darcy, Vampyre" by Amanda Grange (March)

3. "Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging" by Louise Rennison (March)

4. "The Minpins" by Roald Dahl (March)

5. "Pride Prejudice & Jasmin Field" by Melissa Nathan (December)

6. "The Frozen Deep" by Wilkie Collins (November)

7. "Agnes Grey" by Anne Bronte (November)

8. "Cheerful Weather for the Wedding" by Julia Strachey (October)

Completed: December 2010!

Reading From My Shelves 2010

2010-01-01T15:40:00.023-06:00

I've been looking for a challenge like this one for the last couple of weeks and I'm so glad I've found it! One of my goals for this year is to read as many books as possible that I've already shelled out good money for and get them out of here! (You can only rejigger your shelves so many times before you have to accept that book piles are going to be a way of life for awhile until you get rid of a few.) This helpful challenge is being hosted by Diane at Bibliophile By the Sea. The only rule is that you have to own the book, read it, and then get rid of it (passing along to a friend, donating to charity, reselling, etc...), and crossovers are allowed!

My goal for 2010 is to lose 40 books from my shelves. Even though I have 500+ unread (I know, it's crazy!), and I only read 75 books in 2009, I'm hoping to get 100 total read and I figure a 40% goal is pretty good. Of course, any book that leaves my shelves is a step in the right direction!

1. "Evans Above" by Rhys Bowen - given to my mother - January

2. "Scandals, Vandals, and da Vincis" by Harvey Rachlin - PaperbackSwap (PBS) - February

3. "Living Well with Hypothyroidism" by Mary J. Shomon - PBS - February

4. "Heat Wave" by Richard Castle - given to my mother - February

5. "Les Miserables" by Victor Hugo - PBS - March

6. "The Scenery and Antiquities of Ireland" by J. Stirling Coyne - PBS - March

7. "Iodine: Why You Need It, Why You Can't Live Without It" by David Brownstein, MD - PBS - March

8. "The Watchmen" by Alan Moore - PBS - March

9. "Three Vampire Tales" by Le Fanu, Stoker, & Polidori - PBS - March

10. "Briar Rose" by Jane Yolen - PBS - March

11. "The Red and the Black" by Stendhal - PBS - March

12. "Letters from Pemberley" by Jane Dawkins - PBS - March

13. "More Letters from Pemberley" by Jane Dawkins - PBS - April

14. "The Penelopiad" by Margaret Atwood - PBS - May

15. "Sizzling Sixteen" by Janet Evanovich - given to Mom - June

16. "Heart of the Sea" by Nora Roberts - Goodwill - July

17. "Dance of the Gods" by Nora Roberts - Goodwill - July

18. "Pride and Prescience" by Carrie Bebris - PBS - June

19. "The Glades" by Clifton Campbell - PBS - July

20. "Valley of Silence" by Nora Roberts - donation - July

21. "The Dante Club" by Matthew Pearl - donation - August

22. "Driving Over Lemons" by Chris Stewart - PBS - September

23. "A Load of Old Balls" by Jo Brand - PBS - September

24. "The Expedition of Humphry Clinker" by Tobias Smollet - PBS - October

25. "Enthusiasm" by Polly Shulman - PBS - October

26. "1st to Die" by James Patterson - to Mom - November

27. "Jane Austen's the History of England" by Jane Austen - to Mom - November

28. "The World of Jane Austen" by Nigel Nicolson - to Mom - November

29. "Pride Prejudice & Jasmin Field" by Melissa Nathan - to Kay from LT - December

30. "An Assembly Such as This" by Pamela Aidan - to Mom - December

31. "Kings & Queens of England & Scotland" by Plantagenet Somerset Fry - to Mom - December

32. "Twilight: Director's Notebook" by Catherin Hardwick - to PBS - November

33. "Twilight The Movie Companion" by Mark Cotta-Vaz - to PBS - December

34. "The God of Animals" by Aryn Kyle - to PBS - December

35. "Up the Agency" by Peter Mayle - to PBS - December

36. "The Literary Book of Answers" by Carol Bolt - to PBS - December

37. "Bones of Faerie" by Janni Lee Simner - to Mom - December

38.

2010 Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge

2010-01-01T15:28:00.024-06:00

OK, since I didn't "promise" I wouldn't be joining any more challenges this year, I feel slightly less guilty about joining this one - especially since I can't seem to leave the library without an armload of books! I'm aiming low for this one, but fully expect to step up another notch or two. The rules are - if you read a book you've checked out from the library, then it counts for this challenge! Also, crossovers from other challenges count! :) This is being hosted by the amazing J. Kaye over here. You should really check out J. Kaye's Book Blog by the way, it's wonderful!

I'll be doing the "Mini" version, reading 25 library books.

***UPDATE*** As of March, I'll be doing the "Just My Size" version, reading 50 library books. I can hardly believe it myself!!!

1. "Viola in Reel Life", Adriana Trigiani January 2010

2. "Evan Help Us", Rhys Bowen January

3. "The Arrival", Shaun Tan January

4. "Royal Flush", Rhys Bowen January

5. "Bonk", Mary Roach January

6. "Hands Washing Water", Chris Abani February

7. "Becoming Abigail", Chris Abani February

8."Persephone and the Pomegranate", Kris Waldherr February

9. "The Book of Goddesses", Kris Waldherr February

10. "Wench", Dolen Perkins-Valdez February

11. "We Have Always Lived in the Castle", Shirley Jackson, March

12. "Chobits, Vol 1", CLAMP, March

13. "Chobits, Vol 2", CLAMP, March

14. "Chobits, Vol 3", CLAMP, March

15. "Chobits, Vol 4", CLAMP, March

16. "Chobits, Vol 5", CLAMP, March

17. "Chobits, Vol 6", CLAMP, March

18. "Chobits, Vol 7", CLAMP, March

19. "Chobits, Vol 8", CLAMP, March

20. "Godmother", Carolyn Turgeon, March

21. "Carnet de Voyage", Craig Thompson, March

22. "Flow", Elissa Stein and Susan Kim, March

23. "Goodbye, Chunky Rice", Craig Tompson, March

24. "Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging", Louise Rennison, March

25. "Beauty and the Beast", Jean Marie Leprince de Beaumont, March

26. "The Vicar of Nibbleswicke", Roald Dahl, March

27. "The Minpins", Roald Dahl, March

28. "The Swan Thieves", Elizabeth Kostova, March

29. "Chicken with Plums", Marjane Satrapi, March

30. "Blankets", Craig Thompson, April

31. "Film + Travel - Europe", April

32. "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar", Roald Dahl, April

33. "Embroideries", Marjane Satrapi, April

34. "Persepolis 2", Marjane Satrapi, April

35. "Q's Legacy", Helene Hanff, May

36. "Evan and Elle", Rhys Bowen, May

37. "Bruno, Chief of Police", Martin Walker, July

38. "Wicked Ties", Shayla Black, June

39. "If I Knew Then What I Know Now... So What?", Estelle Getty, June

40. "Microterrors", Tony Hart, August

41. "Bruno, Chief of Police", Martin Walker, July

42. "Cooking with the Two Fat Ladies", Jennifer Paterson and Clarissa Dickson Wright, August

43. "Murder Uncorked", Michele Scott, September

44. "The Dark Vineyard", Martin Walker, October

45. "Royal Blood", Rhys Bowen, October

46. "Troublemaker", Janet and Alex Evanovich, October

47. "Maus" by Art Spiegelman, October

48. "Maus II" by Art Spiegelman, October

49. "Graphic Classics, Vol. 14" by Anne Radcliffe, October

50. "Finn Family Moomintroll", Tove Jansson, October

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T00:07:00.000-06:00

May you be happy, healthy, and blessed in 2010!

Read Your Name 2010

2009-12-31T14:54:00.009-06:00

I've been a little hesitant to join this challenge because A) I've already joined a bazillion for 2010, and B) I didn't think I could find any book titles that start with "U". Shockingly, I found a couple on my shelves, so I'm signing up for this (what may be my final) challenge. The rules are pretty simple - use your first name, pets' name, whatever name you'd like, and read books with first title letters that spell out the name. Sounds good to me! I'll be doing my first name. The contest runs for the entire year.

L: "Living Well with Hypothyroidism", Mary J. Shomon, February

A: "Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging", Louise Rennison, March

U: "Up the Agency", Peter Mayle, December

R: "Royal Flush", Rhys Bowen, January

A: "The Arrival", Shaun Tan, January

Completed: December 23, 2010!

What's In A Name? 3rd Challenge, 2010

2009-12-31T14:39:00.008-06:00

The What's in a Name? 3 Challenge, hosted by Beth Fish over here, should be kind of a tough challenge. I'm not sure if I'll be able to find the right books for each category, but I'm going to give it a shot anyway. The rules are that you read one book in each of the following categories:

a book with a food in the title
a book with a body of water in the title
a book with a title (like queen or prince) in the title
a book with a plant in the title
a book with a place name (country, city, etc) in the title
a book with a music term in the title.

Categories Completed:

1) "Chicken with Plums" by Marjane Satrapi, March 30

2) "Heart of the Sea" by Nora Roberts, July 2

3) "Doomed Queens" by Kris Waldherr, February 11

4) "Persephone and the Pomegranate" by Kris Waldherr, February 18

5) "Round About Chatsworth" by Duchess of Devonshire, July 29

6) "Evanly Choirs" by Rhys Bowen, April 21

Books can be in any format, and each title cannot be counted for more than one category. There's even a prize to be given away at the end of this challenge! Yahoo!

I'll be spending the afternoon making lists of books to read, I think. And honestly, it sounds like fun for me. What could be better than making lists of books?!?

Completed: July 29, 2010!

TwentyTen Reading Challenge

2009-12-27T15:35:00.016-06:00

This challenge sounded like too much fun to me! Hosted by Bart at bartsbookshelf. The rules:

Read 2 books from each category, for 20 books total.
The categories are intended to be loose guidelines only - if you decide it fits, it fits. (Apart from those marked **)
Categories marked with ** have tighter rules and these must be followed.
Each book can only qualify for one category.
Crossovers with other challenges are allowed.
Challenge lasts the entire 2010 calendar year.

The Categories

1. Young Adult

Any book classified as young adult or featuring a teenage protagonist counts for this category.

- "Viola in Reel Life" by Adriana Trigiani (January)

- "Briar Rose" by Jane Yolen (March)

2. T.B.R.**

Intended to help reduce the old T.B.R. pile. Books for this category must already be residents of your bookshelves as of November 1, 2009.

- "Scandals, Vandals, and da Vincis" by Harvey Rachlin (February)

- "Bronte Country" ed. by Glenda Leeming (February)

3. Shiny & New

Bought a NEW book in 2010? Then it counts.

-"Living Introverted" by Lee Ann Lambert (June)

-"Never Learn Anything from History by Kate Beaton (June)

4. Bad Blogger's**

These books were picked up purely on the recommendation of another blogger. (Any reviews should also link to the original post that convinced you.)

- "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" by Shirley Jackson. Recommended by Bad Blogger Eva at A Striped Armchair. Her review is here.

- "Godmother" by Carolyn Turgeon. Recommended by Bad Blogger Swapna Krishna at SKrishna'sBooks. Her review is here.

5. Charity

Purchased in a charity/thrift shop.

-"The Golden Bowl" by Henry James (July)

6. New in 2010

Newly published in 2010, whether it's the first time released, or the first time published in your country.

- "Wench" by Dolen Perkins-Valdez (February)

- "The Swan Thieves" by Elizabeth Kostova (March)

7. Older Than You

Books that were published before you were born.

- "Botchan", Natsume Soseki (February)

- "Carmilla", J Sheridan Le Fanu (March)

8. Win! Win!

Have a couple of books you need to read for another challenge? Then this is the category to use.

-"The Kitchen Boy", Robert Alexander (August)

-"Nicholas and Alexandra" Robert K. Massie (August)

9. Who Are You Again?

Authors you have never read or have never heard of before.

- Chris Abani (February)

- Kris Waldherr (February)

10. Up to You!

I'm choosing Graphic Novels for this category.

- "The Arrival", Shaun Tan (January)

- "The Watchmen", Alan Moore (February)

2010 is shaping up to be a great year of reading and reading challenges!!!

2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge

2009-12-27T15:21:00.009-06:00

I'm excited to be joining this reading challenge, as I stalked it online for the last few months. I've really enjoyed reading YA books this year, and this will hopefully help me feel less guilty about it. Challenge is being hosted by J. Kaye at J. Kaye's Book Blog. The challenge runs from January 1 through December 31, 2010. There are four challenge levels to choose from. I'll be doing the Mini YA Reading Challenge of reading 12 YA novels.

1. "Viola in Reel Life" Adriana Trigiani, January

2. "Briar Rose" Jane Yolen, March

3. "Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging" Louise Rennison, March

4. "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" Roald Dahl, April

5. "The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner" Stephenie Meyer, July

6. "Enthusiasm" Polly Shulman, October

7. "Finn Family Moomintroll" Tove Jansson, October

8. "The Vampire Diaries: The Awakeneing" L.J. Smith, October

9."The Vampire Diaries: The Struggle" L. J. Smith, October

10. "Hex Hall" Rachel Hawkins, October

11. "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" Grace Lin, November

12. "Bunnicula" by Deborah & James Howe, December

I'm almost positive I can finish this level, and am hopeful I can move up to the next level, Just My Size, at 25 YA books to read. *crossing fingers*

Completed: December 2010

All About the Brontes Challenge 2010

2009-12-27T15:00:00.005-06:00

This challenge, hosted by Laura over at Laura's Reviews, sounds like it's going to be right up my alley! The rules:

The challenge runs from January 1 through June 30, 2010.
You can read a book, watch a movie, listen to an audiobook - anything you like! Reading, watching, or listening for the second, third or more time is allowed.
You choose your own goal for this challenge. Changes to the goal are allowed (and probably encouraged).

To make this a little easier on myself (since I'd like to overlap for other challenges and don't have the brain power to figure out a good number), I'm going to shoot for a total of 3 items completed. However, I hope to get at least a few more in here!

1. "Bronte Country", ed. by Glenda Leeming (read Feb 11)

As of now (December '09) I'm planning on reading "Bronte Country" ed. by Glenda Leeming, "The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte" by Syrie James, and "The Professor" by Charlotte Bronte.

Reading Through the Seasons 2010

2009-12-27T14:50:00.003-06:00

This challenge should be fairly simple, as it's only four books! Book Dragon, over at Book Dragon's Lair is hosting this challenge. The rules are:

Four books, one for each season.
Title must have a season (not holiday) - winter, fall, autumn, spring, summer.
Challenge runs from January 1 through December 31, 2010.

I'm looking forward to this one, as it seems like the only one that I'll finish for sure!

Colorful Reading Challenge 2010

2009-12-22T20:08:00.008-06:00

In anticipation of all of the books I'll be reading next year, and the reading challenges that go along with them, I'll be adding my 2010 reading challenges here in the next week or so. Since I'm new to this whole interwebs thing (especially blogging), if any of you notice something amiss here, please let me know.

Okay, for my first non-LibraryThing challenge, I present the Colorful Reading Challenge!

The rules are pretty simple - read 9 books with 9 different colors in the title. The challenge runs from January 1 - December 31, 2010. This should be lots of fun! Here's hoping that I can find 9 books that I already own (trying to cut back on book buying - yikes) with colors in the title! And big thanks to Rebecca for hosting!

1. "Briar Rose" by Jane Yolen, March

2. "The Golden Bowl" by Henry James, July

3. "Agnes Grey" by Anne Bronte, November

4. "My Trip Down the Pink Carpet" by Leslie Jordan, November

2009-12-09T16:48:00.006-06:00

So if you guessed that I'm posting this to avoid working, you'd be right! You win! Congratulations - you should be receiving your free monkey soon.

Winter is officially here. I had to break out the snowblower and shovel this morning. This was the view out of my front window last night at 10pm. Yes, I assure you, I took that at 10pm...pretty stinkin bright, hey?!? This was right before I started losing electricity (five times in an hour and a half), and I was still wide awake, pulling blinds shut to remind my brain that it was actually night-time and that I should probably be getting to bed. Instead, I finished a book and watched The Golden Girls. You know, the usual.

Other than that, nothing much new has been happening. Lots of working, not a lot of paid hours, nothing new. Except for books, that is!

"Beg, Borrow, Steal: A Writer's Life"

- Michael Greenberg, 2009

ISBN: 9781590513415

From the back cover: "Beg, Borrow, Steal" is an autobiography in installments, set in New York, where the authoer depicts the life of a writer of little means trying to practice his craft -- or simply stay alive. He finds himself doctoring doomed movie scripts; driving traucks and taxis; selling cosmetics from an ironing board in front of a women's department store; writing about golf, a game he never played; and botching his debut as a waiter in a coveted four-star restaurant.

Central characters include the City of All Cities; Michael's father, whose scrap metal business looms large; his elegant mother; his first wife, Robin, whom he met in a Greenwich Village high school; their son, Aaron, who grew up on the Lower East Side; a repentant communist who fought in the Spanish Civil War; a Chilean filmmaker in search of his past; beggars who are poets; a man who becomes a woman; and rats who behave like humans and cease to live underground. Greenberg creates a world where the familial, the incongruous, the literary, the humorous, the tragic, and the mundane not only speak to each other, but deeply enjoy the exchange.

Thoughts: Once I finally committed myself to finishing this book, it was an enjoyable read. Like so many things, I had started this one, left it sitting on my coffee table for a month, and then got so sick of looking at the bland advanced proof cover that I made myself sit down and get it done with. And I really liked it! I didn't know anything about Mr. Greenberg or what his writing would be like and was pleasantly surprised with what I found. It didn't have a reading "flow" to it, and it worked out wonderfully. These 45 essays are like little snapshots of his life experiences - just enough to get a sense of what his worldview is and what he sees around him. It's good, but I don't know if it necessarily qualifies for all of the accolades it has been receiving.

"The Vintage Caper"

-Peter Mayle, 2009

ISBN: 0307269010

From Publishers Weekly: Mayle uncorks a winning wine caper in the tradition of "To Catch a Thief". When a hot-shot Hollywood lawyer's most treasured and expensive wines are stolen, his insurance company calls in Sam Levitt, a gourmand and lawyer-of-all-trades with a varied background, to investigate. The investigation takes Sam to Paris and Bordeaux, where he hooks up with the elegant insurance agent Sophie Costes, a fellow wine and food snob. The trail finally leads them to a man named Francis Reboul in Marseille, and soon, with the help of Sophie's journalist cousin, Phillipe, they get an in with Reboul and close in on closing the caper. While the plot may be predictable, the pleasures of this very French adventure—and there are many—aren't in the resolution, of course, but in the pleasant stroll through the provinces and in the glasses of wine downed and decadent meals consumed.

Thoughts: I really enjoyed this book. Then again, I always enjoy Peter Mayle. No matter if it's fiction or non-fiction his writing, stories, mysteries, etc, are a gentle escape from everyday life. This book is certainly no exception. Dealing with a wine theft from a conceited s.o.b., a wonderful trip to Marseille, and a bit of a who-dun-it, it was an easy read that I looked forward to getting back to every time I had to put it down. If you're in the mood to read a book for pleasure that's not fluff, "The Vintage Caper" will happily fit the bill.

And now, between loads of laundry, I'll be nosing around on book blogs, checking out reading challenges for 2010, and probably signing up for a few along the way. On a related note, I should check out a HTML book, or look for a class - I don't know how to make my blog look better, and how to better post sidebar things, etc. Any recommendations are very welcome! See you later!