Thursday, December 31, 2009
A New Year's Eve Challenge
It's only a few minutes into 2010 and I just had to check my email before deciding to go to bed, and happened to notice there is an LM Montgomery Challenge for 2010 that I need to sign up for. I don't know how long I have been sitting on the Anne of Green Gables series, but I am seriously ready to get them read, especially now that I have a Kindle and saw that this entire series is free in the kindle format. Tomorrow when I am more awake I will finish adding the challenge information to my sidebar.
I also devoured one last book for 2009 - Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay - fabulous! My review will be up tomorrow/today/January 1.
I also looked back over my list of books this past year...ending the year with 222 books read. I'm feeling pretty good about that. I think it's been a few year since I topped 200, which I mostly attributed to having children. Now that they are getting a little older it does seem to be giving me a bit more time to spend on reading.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Another Challenge
This year's War Through the Generations 2010 reading challenge will be the Vietnam War. The challenge will run from January 1, 2010, through December 31, 2010.
Rules:
This year you have options when reading your fiction, nonfiction, graphic novels, etc. with the Vietnam War as the primary or secondary theme.
Books can take place before, during, or after the war. Books from other challenges count so long as they meet the above criteria.
Dip: Read 5 books in any genre with the Vietnam War as a primary or secondary theme.
Wade: Read 6-10 books in any genre with the Vietnam War as a primary or secondary theme.
Swim: Read 11 or more books in any genre with the Vietnam War as a primary or secondary theme.
**Note**
*Participants anywhere in the world are eligible for most prizes in the post-challenge drawing!**
*Prize drawings will be for participants finishing either their personal goal or five books.
*Participants can always read more than their initial goals, and even if you sign up for 11+, but read just five, you officially completed the challenge and are eligible for prizes.
You can decide which books you’d like to read right away, or you can choose them during the course of the challenge. Check out the Recommended Reading: Vietnam War page for suggestions.
I'm starting out slowly and committing to reading five books set in this time period. After looking over the recommended reading list I know of three or four books that I have intended to read for some time - this will give me some incentive to get them done.
Liar
Children's Classics Mystery Challenge
My List of TBR Books - Challenge 2010
Following is a list of books I intend to read for this challenge. I could have picked hundreds (yes, there are that many to choose from) and I know I will read many books from my different TBR piles/stacks/boxes/shelves throughout the year. However, I only have 24 books on my list- 12 adult books and 12 young adult/middle grade books. That is 2 books per month, and while it might not seem like a lot, I don't think I can commit to too many more than that and still be able to read the new things that are coming out that just call my name and seriously hinder my ability to read my huge stacks of library books. So, we shall just see how it goes.
TBR List 2010
Adult Titles:
1. Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
2. Clara's War by Clara Kramer
3. While I'm Falling by Laura Moriarty
4. After You by Julie Buxbaum
5. The Mighty Queens of Freeville by Amy Dickinson
6. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
7. Shelf Discovery by Lizzie Skurnick
8. The Bright Side of Disaster by Katherine Center
9. Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
10. Mockingbird by Charles J. Shields
11. Sister of My Heart by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
12. Black and White by Dani Shapiro
Young Adult/Tween Titles:
1. Rumors by Anna Godbersen
2. Tell Me Who by Jessica Wollman
3. Dangerously Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
4. Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson
5. The Alchemyst by Nicholas Flamel
6. The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt
7. Blue by Joyce Meyer Hostetter
8. The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson
9. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
10. What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell
11. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
12. Percy Jackson - The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
As I looked through books this morning, there were several I wanted to start immediately, and a few more I have thought of while typing that should have made this list but didn't.
Be lookign for a few more challenges to pop up within the next day. I know of a couple more that I want to join within the next day or two.
Waiting on Wednesday
Jodi Picoult's newest book, House Rules, is scheduled for release in March 2010. Following is a synopsis taken from Picoult's website.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
A Challenge for 2010
decide how many books you want to read from your shelves (minimum of 20 - no maximum)
find a new home for the books once you read them
post the titles and the authors of books you've read and passed on
project runs from January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2010
crossover challenge books are allowed
Best of 2009
1. American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld - a fictionalized version of Laura Bush's life story. For whatever reason, even though I know it's fiction I have a hard time separating Laura Bush from American Wife. I liked Laura Bush before reading this, and I still like her after.
2. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford- I read this one right when it was published; Target picked it as their book club pick. A World War II story about a Chinese American living through World War II in the Pacific Northwest. Years later he tries to find the Japanese American girl he befriended and fell in love with after they were separated during the war.
3. Everyone is Beautiful by Katherine Center - this one is just light women's fiction -not quite chick lit- about a mother who is bogged down by the duties of child-rearing. By novel's end she has made some changes in her life making her happier and healthier.
4. The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson - the second and third part of a trilogy (the third book won't be out in the US til 2010) these installments are suspenseful, entertaining and impossible to put down. The third book provides a satisfying resolution. This is one series I would recommend to anyone.
5. Coop by Michael Perry- I always enjoy Perry's offbeat memoirs. His ability to live without extravagance should be a lesson to all and he provides humor as well as perspective about life in general as he navigates the various twists and turns of adulthood.
6. Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls - this book - although labeled as fiction- is what I call a fictionalized memoir about Walls' grandmother. I fell in love with Walls and her unique parents in her memoir. The Glass Castle. Learning about her grandmother sheds some light on Walls' own parents and their erratic behavior.
7. In His Sights by Kate Brennan - I read this early in 2009 and still think about it every once in a while. Brennan (who writes using a pseudonym) recounts with chilling detail her own experience being stalked by an ex-boyfriend. This educated and intelligent woman is still his prey and shows how little is being done for women who live through this type of psychological torment.
8. Shanghai Diary by Ursula Bacon- I'm not sure if it is the fact that this one is still fresh in my mind, my love of memoirs, or the interesting perspective provided in this book, but Bacon's account of her years in Shanghai after fleeing Hitler's persecution in Germany are so interesting to read about. I am anxious to read more of her work.
9. My book of the year - and it has made numerous lists- The Help by Katherine Stockett. I love, love, love this book. And I will gush about it and call it a "must read" for a long time. This is a debut novel, set in the South, exploring so many themes -friendship, racism, mother/daughter relationships - to name only a few, and has a wonderful plot, characters I wanted to laugh with, cry with, and a few I just wanted to haul off and hit. It will take a long time to find another book I feel so strongly about.
I still have my own personal "best" YA books, but since I now have two children waiting in line for the computer, those may need to wait until later tonight.
Chaucer's First Winter
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Shanghai Diary
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Random Friday on Saturday
I hope to get some reading done on our car trip, look over the books I have read in 2009 and post my own personal best list of the past year, and also get signed up for some challenges for 2010. There are a few I have been looking at, but need to commit myself within the next few days.
If I have time tomorrow before we leave, I will try to post a review or two since I have several books that I have finished that I need to write about soon.
Friday, December 25, 2009
The Kind of Friends We Used To Be
As an adult I can appreciate how common it is for friendships to change and grow, and sometimes even end as years go on. Girls should be able to relate to Kate and Marylin and find some solace in the fact that what they may be going through in their life is completely normal.
Visit Frances O'Roark Dowell's website.
Other reviews of The Kind of Friends We Used to Be
Becky's Book Reviews
Abby the Librarian
School Library Journal
The Reading Zone
This is the sort of book that has left me not knowing exactly what to say about it....a good story, great realistic fiction, something I will think about for a while. And who can resist the wonderful cover showing girls making snow angels, while we are sitting here in the midwest in yet another snowstorm?
Christmas Treasures
The selections this year included:
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Merry Christmas
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Waiting on Wednesday
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Teaser Tuesday
Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
Monday, December 21, 2009
Let Me Tell You About My Day
I started the third Stieg Larsson book, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest....initial thoughts:
1. it picks up right where the second book ends (which was rather unforgettable)
2. I maybe have to concentrate a bit more because of the British-ness of it
3. I am a little confused somewhere around page 90-ish because I think they are giving some back-story that I am not quite understanding.
4. I am planning on reading til my eyelids can't stay open any longer tonight.
5. The book is 600 pages long which provided a great division problem for my daughter as she tried to figure out how many days it would take me to read it provided I read X number of pages per day.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Purge
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Breathing
Cheryl Renee Herbsman's novel Breathing was a wonderful, entertaining young adult novel...including some Southern charm and a bit of happiness.
Savannah (named for Savannah, Georgia) suffers from asthma, a condition her mother told her she developed when her father walked out on their family. Savannah, her mother, and brother Dogwood (Dog for short) live in North Carolina, scraping by to make ends meet as Savannah's health problems create a financial burden that is too overwhelming to a single mother who keeps losing her job whenever Savannah has to be hospitalized and she has to miss work to care for her.
Savannah is an interesting character...she seems sort of naive, yet is extremely smart, working at the library as a part time job. When she meets a boy, Jackson (yes, he is named for a city, too) the two are instantly interested in each other and begin a relationship. Despite the grown-ups around them who believe that their relationship is a passing thing since both are so young, the two remain connected to each other, even when separated by distance. Savannah begins to believe she needs Jackson around to breathe. Both yearn for the other to achieve their dreams and it is Jackson who convinces Savannah that she can learn to breathe on her own.
The writing in this book is so full of Southern charm - I loved that about it. I also loved how wonderful Savannah and Jackson's relationship was. I wonder if it is believable - I certainly didn't know of any relationships like that from my teenage years, but what an example of true love for teen readers.
I look forward to reading any of Herbsman's future work. A great YA novel.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Random Friday
I am so going to enjoy my two full weeks off. My daughters have school on Monday and Tuesday which will leave me with a bit of time to finish up wrapping and shopping and organizing. I also have some new books that arrived this week that should give some people some serious book envy: The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson showed up on Monday. Larsson's first two books: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played with Fire were wonderful (despite the fact that I almost passed them up because of their strange covers). The third title won't be released here in the United States until mid 2010, but the United Kingdom has them available and I was lucky enough to get one from Book Depository (an online bookseller) for $23 with free shipping. I am ready to get reading on this one.
Today I received Nanny Returns by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus from a pre-Christmas Amazon purchase for myself. I really liked The Nanny Diaries, so this one is also calling my name.
Other weekend activities include the Christmas program at church on Sunday and working at the library tomorrow morning. I also need to get busy and do some cleaning. The mountain of laundry in our tv room is out of control right now.
Let Christmas break begin!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
African Acrostics
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Waiting on Wednesday
Her first priorities as head of Spellman Investigations are to dig up some dirt on the competition—slippery ex-cop Rick Harkey—and to track down a stolen screenplay called The Snowball Effect. Next, faced with a baffling missing-persons case at the home of an aging millionaire, Izzy hires an actor friend to infiltrate the mansion as an undercover butler. Only he enjoys the role a little too much.
Meanwhile, Izzy is being blackmailed by her mother, who threatens to distribute photographic evidence of Prom Night 1994 unless Izzy commits to regular blind dates with promising professionals—an arrangement that doesn't thrill Connor, an Irish bartender on the brink of becoming ex-boyfriend #12.
At Spellman headquarters, it's business as unusual. Doorknobs and light fixtures are disappearing every day, Mom's been spotted crying in the pantry, and a series of increasingly demanding Spellman Rules (Rule #27: No Speaking Today) can't quite hold the family together. Izzy also has to decipher weekly "phone calls from the edge" from her octogenarian lawyer Morty, as well as Henry Stone's mysterious interest in rekindling their relationsh ... well, whatever it was.
Just when it looks like things can't go more haywire, little sister Rae's internship, researching pro bono legal cases leads the youngest Spellman to launch a grass-roots campaign that could get an innocent man out of jail—or land her in it.
This final installment in the bestselling, award-nominated series is hands-down the most hilarious, thrilling, and moving one yet. And it proves beyond a reasonable doubt that Isabel Spellman, no matter how much she matures, will never be able to follow Rule #1: Act Normal.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Teaser Tuesday
Monday, December 14, 2009
Christmas Stories
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Library Loot
Adult
Final Exam: A Murder 101 Mystery by Maggie Barbieri (I like this series quite a bit, too).
Whistlin' Dixie in a Nor'easter
Friday, December 11, 2009
Operation Yes
A Personalized Message from Santa
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Another Snow Day
I did finish one book today, which I will review tomorrow, but my main project has been starting my eight year old and a good friend on their own book blog they are working on together. Stop on over and visit www.readingfever.blogspot.com. They are pretty excited about this, and I must admit I am a bit jealous because in the whole twelve hours they have been blogging they have acquired three followers. In my year of blogging I only have four followers. Sigh.
My reviewing will have to wait until tomorrow because it is already late and I have a few pages I would like to read before I fall asleep.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Luxe-Better Late Than Never
Waiting on Wednesday
This week's Waiting on Wednesday pick is Whiter Than Snow by Sandra Dallas. Due out March 3 , 2010, I have read all of Dallas' books so far and am always excited to see she has something new coming out.
St Martin's Press offers the following synopsis: "Whiter Than Snow opens in 1920, on a spring afternoon in Swandyke, a small town near Colorado’s Tenmile Range. Just moments after four o’clock, a large split of snow separates from Jubilee Mountain high above the tiny hamlet and hurtles down the rocky slope, enveloping everything in its path including nine young children who are walking home from school. But only four children survive. Whiter Than Snow takes you into the lives of each of these families: There’s Lucy and Dolly Patch—two sisters, long estranged by a shocking betrayal. Joe Cobb, Swandyke’s only black resident, whose love for his daughter Jane forces him to flee Alabama. There’s Grace Foote, who hides secrets and scandal that belie her genteel façade. And Minder Evans, a civil war veteran who considers his cowardice his greatest sin. Finally, there’s Essie Snowball, born Esther Schnable to conservative Jewish parents, but who now works as a prostitute and hides her child’s parentage from all the world.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Teaser Tuesday
Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
Monday, December 7, 2009
The Muppets
Sunday, December 6, 2009
The Gift of an Ordinary Day
Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice
Friday, December 4, 2009
Random Friday
I know this is just a busy time of year, but this week has really been a little bit too much for me. We started out the week by having the girls' elementary Christmas concert on Monday night. On Tuesday I had an after school tutoring session for some fourth graders. When I got home we quickly got on swimming suits and headed off to swimming lessons. However, when we arrived the teacher was leaving. She said she left a message on my cell phone, but when I checked later there was no message or missed call. So.....we spent an hour in the car driving to and from lessons we didn't have. Wednesday, which should have been my day to catch up, really didn't help me out much. I had another after school meeting and my husband was gone at a wrestling meet he had to help with. My mom was nice enough to watch the girls, but they returned home and claimed they were starving because my mom hadn't made supper. I doubt that was the whole story, but we looked into our refrigerator and didn't see much to choose from, so we ate some old pizza leftovers and a few other snacks. Last night I had another after school tutoring session and my husband's Christmas party for work. And - we also had our first real snow of the year. UGH. The roads were horrible. My normal 20 minute drive was 40 minutes long, and the last few miles from town to our home I drove 5 miles an hour on what appeared to be a sheet of ice. I would like to say that tonight I can relax, but Friday nights is gymnastics night, so that is where I will be.
On the agenda for the weekend:
* grocery shopping and writing up my menu for next week so I feel a little more organized
* finishing my Christmas shopping (mostly on-line so I don't have to brave the crowds)
*Christmas program practice at church
*getting my oldest daughter to and from a birthday party
*a trip to the library because I went through my big stack of books and just feel like cleaning out!
*getting in a nice, long run
*hopefully reading and relaxing
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Children of War
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Waiting on Wednesday
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Weekends at Bellevue
Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!