Nittnut's 1st thread of 2012

It's pretty much perfect, except I'm going to add a big cozy leather chair and ottoman. Feel free to bring your own favorite chair and settle in. I think there's room for everyone...

Hey Jenn, I was beginning to worry about you. Happy New Year and welcome back to this crazy but fun group! My favorite chair is pretty hefty. I might buy a beanbag for trips here if you'll promise to help me get out of it. ;-)

I'm glad to see you here again..

Hi Jenn. Dropping a big star on your new thread!

Tentative list to read in January:

North and South mine - group read - finishing up
Entwined library
I Have Nothing to Wear library - seriously needing this book
A World Undone mine - time to finish this one

Wow. So surprised to see you all here already. :)

Hey Donna! You bet - I'll keep my teenager around to pull us out of our chairs/beanbags.
Hey Kathleen! Can't live without the 75ers.
Hi Pat!! What are you doing up so early?

I'm off to star threads and then it's time to take down the Christmas decorations. We made a flying trip to Utah for three days to celebrate two nephew's birthdays. We got home last night. My 7th grader started back to school today, but the other two go back tomorrow. Then the big cleaning starts. Ever notice that you clean the same stuff all the time?

I'm usually always up this early and I should be getting ready to take my dog for a walk but I'm stalling. I got a kick out of your comment about I Have Nothing to Wear and will be interested to hear what you think about the book. I'm always wardrobe challenged.

LOL - I have this closet, overflowing with articles of clothing, and I often "have nothing to wear" and I'm so done with that. I think I'd rather be rotating about 6 outfits and know what they are than have the daily dilemma I have now. Not to mention the not being able to find the thing I want when I want it. OK, maybe more than 6. We'll see what the book says. I will definitely let you all know.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am not getting rid of shoes. My policy on shoes is that you can never have too many. Shoes and earrings - they always fit - fat day, skinny day. Keep the shoes.

Hi Jenn, starred :)

Hi Jenn -- you're starred.

Ah yes, shoes... love 'em. Addicted, slightly. Discovered Ruelala in 2010, which was fab, as I can order online at a discount when their shoe sales come up. Also finding cashmere sweaters on there at 2/3 off, which is fab, as I love wearing something that is soft, warm, but lightweight in winter.

I'm becoming more strict with myself on clothes. Solid color basics -- sweaters, jeans, whatever. Dress it up with scarves, earrings, etc. Basics, well cut & well made, with good fabrics. For shirts, Anne Fontaine's classic styles. Eileen Fisher, DKNY. Shirts made out of Thai silk that I can throw on over jeans or nice black pants. Stuff that is affordable, slightly interesting but never bleeding edge. That said, I still have closets full of stuff I can't seem to discard.

Hi Jenn! Happy New Year! If you come up with good clothes advice, I'm all ears. But I don't share your love of shoes. I'd rather be barefoot, or at most in a pair of Keen sandals.not so good for winter though.

Whoopeee.. here you are, Jenn. Starred you so I don't lose you.

You said it with the shoes! You can never have too many. But with my wardrobe, it's bursting, so I really do need to do some serious weeding and put stuff I no longer like into Goodwill bags.

Stars.

Welcome back!

Me and my chair are just checking in, Jenn!

Hi Chelle! Thanks for stopping by. I see we have a lot of books in common!

Hi Anne! Looking forward to seeing you in person this week.

Ah Suzanne - please refrain from sharing info on discount retail outlets. LOL :) Happy New Year.

Hi Amy. I admit to being a little dual personality-ish about shoes. I LOVE them, but I also love to go barefoot. I'm barefoot right now. The best thing about living where it gets cold is the boots...

Welcome Caro. I don't have a steaming pool, but how about a nice cup of hot cocoa in my library?

Hey Micky! Sorry, couldn't resist. Nice to see you here. :)

Jim - thanks for the welcome back. Glad to be here.

Stasia! Super happy to see you've pulled up a chair. I've got a nice cup of tea for you.

I totally missed you in the month of December, but I saw you around the threads so I hunted you down and found you. :D

*Starred*

#17: I will take the cuppa! I am sitting here perusing the threads with a lovely cup of Chestnut tea, my newest favorite.

Hi Valerie. I really wasn't around in December. My Etsy shop was super busy, then my computer got 13 viruses. All seems to be well now - happy to be around. I'll be starring you too!

I'm passing out Bengal spice right now, Stasia. Do you like that kind?

It's okay. I was a no show in December as well. Thank goodness for the New Year and a new start. :)

Bengal spice sounds good, Jenn! I will take a cuppa.

I'm hoping all the viruses have been killed and your computer is now disease-free, Jenn?

Nice to see you again, Jenn!

Hi Jenn, I was watching the threads to see when yours would come up so glad to find you. The clothes discussion is really funny, I am like you in that I have two closets full of clothes but often have a nothing to wear crisis. Thankfully now working at home has almost eliminated these little outbursts! Shoes, pah! Not for me. I have a few pairs of absolutely stunning ones but I hate wearing them! Give me bare feet any day. I think this is the curse of the wide-footed person, shoe shopping became so depressing (way too many narrow shoes) that I gave up!

Hooray for the new year! I agree, Valerie. I don't really do New Year Resolutions, but I am making a list of things I want to do this year.

Here's your cuppa, Stasia. Enjoy!

Hi Caro, we are computer disease free and wonderful to be there. It was a collection of paranoid viruses that were taking files and hiding them in other files and then hiding those files... took up a lot of memory.

Hi Joanne! Looking forward to our meet-up next weekend!

Hi Leonie. I agree - wide feet would make shoe shopping as depressing as my wide behind makes jean shopping... when I start cleaning out my closet, it will probably get funnier. No idea what-all is in there. If I lived where you do, I'd be mostly barefoot. Growing up near the beach in Southern CA, I rarely wore shoes. Flip-flops to school unless it was really cold (below 60F). Now, after 8 years in Colorado, anything above 40F is flip-flop weather.

Book #1 North and South - mine (Kindle)

I read this last year, so I won't re-review, but I will say that I enjoyed this group read of North and South ever so much more than my first read. It was fun to read everyone's comments and thoughts, and in the end, one of the most satisfying love scenes I have ever read. I highly recommend this book.

Thanks for the cuppa. I will take it this morning - I need the caffeine!

Glad to see you enjoyed your re-read of North and South, Jenn.

#2 I Have Nothing to Wear - library

Hmm. Well, good premise. Generally good information. Specifically, I can't take fashion advice from someone who regularly spends the cost of almost my entire wardrobe on one pair of shoes. It kind of reminded me of when I was pregnant and used to lie on the couch and watch episodes of What Not to Wear. They'd give these people $5000 and let them loose in NYC. They'd go home with maybe 4 or 5 outfits. It drove me nuts. I was thinking they could give me $5000 too. Even with spending a decent amount on a few pairs of great shoes and wardrobe basics like dark jeans and a black skirt, I bet I could make 20 nice outfits. I'm just saying. Where is the book for people who shop at DSW, Dillards & Macy's sale racks, Nordstrom Rack and occasionally even Target?

The other amusing thing was the part about finding your fashion personality. There were six categories: Classic girl, Preppy girl, Fashionista, Bohemian girl, Surfer Chick and Soccer Mom. If I had to pick I'd probably guess I'm a bohemian soccer mom? IMHO, Surfer chick shouldn't even exist as a category. Who, even in So. CA or Florida can really go around all day in a bikini and board shorts, and should that really be done by anyone over the age of 25 anyway if they aren't actually at the beach?

Overall, it was possible to pull some pretty good information and some decent tips out of the narrative, but I wouldn't buy the book.

I remember that show What Not to Wear. I would always cringe at the part in the beginning where they stepped into the room surrounded by mirrors to have their current clothes analyzed.

This sounds like a good library book. Thanks for the review.

Specifically, I can't take fashion advice from someone who regularly spends the cost of almost my entire wardrobe on one pair of shoes.

Agreed! Although I must admit that the fashion personality part sounds interesting.... too bad they don't have an on-line quiz. Now, that would be fun!

LOL! I am chuckling at your What Not to Wear comments. I remember watching that with my sister-in-law and laughing because we were saying how utterly embarrassing to watch that show and TOTALLY see yourself in the before part of the makeover and thinking there was nothing wrong with it... :/ Oh well, I'd be happy to get a whole new wardrobe is someone else was willing to foot the $5000 bill, but like you I can't imagine just buying like 4 outfits with that money...

Since I know nothing whatsoever about fashion and really do not care to, I am giving the book a pass. My fashion sense has me dressed in sweatpants and a cordoruy shirt, lol.

Hi Pat, hi Valerie! Agreed. A very cringe-worthy show. I think I would never forgive friends/family who subjected me to that kind of humiliation. Yet I watched so many episodes... I blame it on the pregnancy.

Hi Lori, and welcome! Wouldn't a quiz be fun?

Sounds warm and comfy to me Stasia. It's snowing at my house. Know of any online fashion quizzes we could all take? :)

No, I know of no online fashion quizzes. Sorry, definitely not my thing, lol.

If there was a fashion quiz out there I think I would be a 'unique dresser'. Gawd knows where that comes in with the list above, perhaps classic bohemian goth? (my favourite colour and therefore most of my wardrobe is black!)

Ha ha Leonie! classic bohemian goth Love it!

run through wave !

I had a fairy-tale weekend - I read two fairytale re-dos.

#3 Entwined YA, library
Another take on the Twelve Dancing Princesses fairy tale. The author does a great job making each of the twelve sisters unique and keeps pretty good track of her many characters. A nice mixture of romance, suspense and family drama, altogether making a sweet story. An easy read.

#4 Breadcrumbs YA, library
This is a re-telling of Hans Christian Anderson's The Snow Queen. It has a modern setting and the prince and princess are best friends in the 5th grade. I liked how there was an alternate fairy tale world right along side the real world, and that the scary things that had to be overcome in the fairy tale world were symbolic of the real life challenges the two friends were facing. Another fun and easy read.

#5 A Little History of the World YA, mine
I have been reading this on and off with my oldest son for a few years. We kept getting distracted by other books, but we finally finished it last night. It is a really fun abbreviated history of the world. I thought the author had a very decent grasp on history, and since it was so abbreviated, I liked how he spent more time on the cause and effect of events than on the minute details of the events.

I'm doing well on my tentative list for January. I just need to get back to A World Undone and then I have two book club books; Esperanza Rising and An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography. In addition, I am reading another YA book, An Elephant in the Garden, which is very promising.

Entwined is already on the TBR list but I'm adding Breadcrumbs. Thanks, Jenn!

Oh, I loved An Elephant in the Garden when I read it last year. A fascinating way to learn about the effects of the Dresden bombings on the people that lived through it.

#6 An Elephant in the Garden YA, Library

I really enjoyed this gentle tale of a family who become refugees after the bombing of Dresden. They make their journey in the company of an elephant from the Dresden Zoo.

I am working on finishing Little Bee, making good progress on A World Undone and my book club book, An Ordinary Man just arrived at the library. I will pick that up tomorrow before I have lunch with Donna, Joanne and Anne. Hooray!

I have been reading A World Undone while riding the exercise bike at the gym. I go 10 miles in about 30 minutes and I read about 20 pages. It's a heavy book and the spine is damaged to the point that a whole section fell out of the middle. It does help the book stay open better though. I also dropped the book - open - in a puddle of water on my way out of the gym on Wednesday, so this book is going to look like it went to the war by the time I'm finished.

Reading the clothes discussion... Bumped into the host(ess) of What not to wear coming out of my local bakery over the summer. I hid, needless to say.

Jenn, that book sounds like a project for you!!! I think it's brilliant -- how to shop on a budget. Want my agent's contact details???

How are you finding Little Bee? I ended up finding it sad and disturbing but also rather good. I think the author has a new book coming out this year.

Sounds like you've got some good reading going! I've added Entwined to the TBR list...

Hi Jenn, it was great seeing you yesterday. I posted the picture of you and Jonah on the meetup thread. He's such a cool kid; glad I got to meet him. I'm looking forward to seeing what your final opinion of Little Bee is. I looked up my rating, and just as I thought, I gave it 3.5 stars.

#7 Little Bee - borrowed from a friend

A couple on vacation in Nigeria meet a Nigerian girl in less than pleasant circumstances. There is a lot attempted in this novel, but I didn't feel like it quite made the grade. I had a hard time believing in the characters, and the agenda was too obvious. I did like the voice of Little Bee, but this book was probably only a 2 star for me.

Jenn - You know, somehow there was just something about Little Bee that somehow never enticed me sufficiently to add it to my basket at bookstores or have me bring it home from the library. I'd picked it up multiple times, but always put it back on the shelf. Maybe it was my intuition saving me from a bad read. Thanks for validating my intuition. :-)

But sorry you didn't enjoy it. Hope your next read is a better one for you.

I ended up giving Little Bee 3 stars but I went in expecting it to be a 4.5 or 5 star read from everything I was hearing about it at the time so it was a disappointment for me. Once Little Bee got out of the detention center, the plot (and the characters' choices) got increasingly unbelievable for me.

I was a little disappointed with Little Bee when I read it too - although I think I liked it more than you did, Jenn. The ending just didn't work for me.

>46 nittnut:: Jenn, I don't even finish what I consider a 2-star book so I kind of suspect we felt much the same about Little Bee even though I rated it higher. It has such potential. Like Amy, the ending didn't work for me... In fact, it made me angry with the author for ending it that way. I usually don't care that much, but it seemed so wrong!

Hi Caro, Pat, Amy and Donna! I woke up to a dusting of snow this morning. Pretty, but cold, 9F. Kind of glad my 7th grader is staying home sick so I don't have to go out.

I think the improbability of it all just finally got to me. The only character I liked was Little Bee. I thought her voice was very interesting, but I still had a few problems with her. I know a lot of people liked it. I finished it because I have a friend who wants to talk about it, my friend who loaned it to me. She liked it. I'll pass on what she says - she usually has very interesting insights.

Oddly enough, one of my book club books this month is also about Africa - An Ordinary Man. It is the autobiography of Paul Rusesabagina (Hotel Rwanda). It is very interesting. He does a good job with the history of Rwanda and the events that all added up to those terrible months in 1994. I'm about 3/4 through and so far I would give it 4.5 stars.

I feel like Caro.. I hovered over it a time or two.....Nothing much going on here today..
To me an ending can make or break a book. There have been times 3-4 stars reads became 2
star books at the very end. Or 2 star books that turn into 4 star books when the end works..
That is just me though :P

Hi Kath! So true - an ending can make a huge difference. I don't usually give up on a book unless it's truly horrid, but I get really frustrated when I labor through and the end doesn't work.

So, on to a really good read:

#8 An Ordinary Man: an Autobiography - library

Paul Rusesabagina gives his personal account of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. He begins with a brief history of Rwandan politics, colonialism and race relations, which added greatly to my understanding and appreciation of his story. He states that history is very important because it never dies, it is part of what defines us as a civilization, for good or evil, and then, as he tells his story, he shows why history is so important. He talks about growing up in the country and tells that when his father took him to school the first time, he realized that "in order to make progress as a man, you had to take a journey." Eventually, through a lot of effort and some great opportunities, he became a hotel manager. His description of the 76 days in the Hotel Milles Collines with over a thousand refugees is both amazing and horrifying. I was most impressed with his conviction that what he was doing was right, even if it was risking his life, and it was worth it. At the end of the book he says:

This is why I say that the individual's most potent weapon is a stubborn belief in the triumph of common decency. It is a simple belief, but it is not at all naive. It is, in fact the shrewdest attitude possible. It is the best way to sabotage evil.
Let me tell you the most important thing i learned about evil. Evil is a big, ugly, hulking creature. It is a formidable enemy in a frontal attack. But it is not very smart and not very fast. You can beat it if you can slip around its sides. Evil can be frustrated by people you might think are weaklings. quiet, ordinary people are often the only people with the real ability to defeat evil. They can give it the Rwandan no.

Great review of An Ordinary Man, Jenn. I just put it on my WL. I remember seeing and liking the movie. Did you see it too?

Hi Pat! I did see and like the movie. I think I liked the book even better because of the back story. But then, I usually like the book better. :)

Hey everyone. I really think this is worth a look: http://fightforthefuture.org/pipa/

>55 nittnut:: Thanks for posting the PIPA info. I've been posting the Wikipedia information page about SOPA/PIPA on social media today. People NEED to take action. It affects the whole world, not just American citizens.

I agree. Here's more:

http://blog.heritage.org/2012/01/18/morning-bell-an-internet-blackout-over-sopa-...

I like this article because it has links to more in depth explanations of the bills.

I am quiet here because I am working very hard at finishing A World Undone. I've only been reading it since last May. I thought it would be nice to finish it under a year. I've made it to 1918 and the USA just entered the war.

Joining in on the readathon - http://www.librarything.com/topic/131320# - I just know it will help me finish A World Undone. Fell asleep on it last night.

I saw your list of books you like to reread on Donna's thread and I knew I should come over and visit.

A World Undone sounds like a real challenge. Good luck on your goal of finishing it during the readathon. I'll be interested to hear what you have to say about it when you're through.

I have a couple partially read tomes on my nightstand, too. Mine are too interesting to give up on, but not what I need for a light, shiny read. I need to copy your determination and just do it!

Hi Janet! So glad you stopped by. I visited your profile and we share some really good books!

It is true that in some reading adventures, a certain amount of pure determination becomes necessary. This is usually the case for me in reading 700-800 page history books, no matter how good they are. I seem to be easily distracted by light, shiny reads. :)

I will be thinking for awhile before posting a review of A World Undone. It is a lot of book to review.

#9 A World Undone - mine

A World Undone is a comprehensive and detailed history of World War I, its causes and the long term effects it had on the world. Most interesting to me was reading the step-by-step approach to war from the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife, through the intentional or unintentional miscommunication that occurred among leaders of nations and among leaders and their generals. Some leaders wanted war, believing that it would consolidate their weak governments, some did not want war, knowing that they were unprepared to fight a long and expensive war. Eventually, the domino effect created by all of this chaos and miscommunication led to war.
I had read the casualty totals by country before, but reading about each battle and the casualties resulting from just a few days fighting was absolutely horrifying. It is hard to see how any gains could be seen as worth the cost, especially considering that nothing much was really gained by anyone in the end, except perhaps another war.
The United States entered the war in late 1917, mostly for economic and political reasons. There was nothing to gain other than political clout in Europe, aside from the fact that the Entente owed a great deal of money to banks in the United States. In addition, the propaganda machine had been so effective at creating a strong anti-German sentiment in the United States that Wilson most likely could not be re-elected without entering the war. Propaganda was used so effectively during WWI, that the "enemy" was seen as a monster that must be destroyed rather than as individual citizens at the whim of their leadership.
Another thing I really liked about the book was the occasional insertion of "Background" sections. Among the subjects discussed were: The Serbs, The Romanovs, The Ottoman Turks, the War and Poetry, Genocide, Women's Rights, and Lawrence of Arabia. All of these sections added depth to the story.
Highly recommended.

#10 Missing May - mine

The 1993 Newbery Award winner, Missing May is about a girl and her guardian, Summer and Ob, trying to come to terms with the loss of their beloved May. A sweet story about grief and friendship and reasons for living. The things that gave Summer and Ob the most comfort in the end were the simple things that May had said or done to show her love. A quick read with a big impact.

Great reviews, Jenn. I am intrigued by your thoughtful comments on A World Undone. Adding that one to my WL. I read Missing May a couple of years ago. A quick read with a big impact is a perfect description.

#53: An Ordinary Man was one of my top reads several years ago. I went and bought a copy for my personal library I liked the book so much. I am glad to see you enjoyed it, Jenn.

#62: I have already read and enjoyed (if that is the appropriate word for a book about a war) A World Undone, but have not gotten around to Missing May yet. One of these days I will!

Hi Anne, thanks :) Did you get any snow? We did not. As much as I like sunshine and dislike ice, the lack of snow has me a little unsettled. :)

Hi Stasia! Nice to see you here. Missing May will probably take you 20 minutes to read. It's only about 90 pages long. I hope you enjoy it.

I was going to read a bit more tonight, but I think I will head to bed. I took my kids' temperatures tonight. It's a little game we play when they want to pretend to be sick. Neither of them had a temp, so they wanted me to take my temp. Guess who has a fever? Terrific. Maybe I just need more reading time?

Good review of An Ordinary Man, Jenn .... makes me want to add it to my obese wish list.

Can you stay in bed tomorrow to read ...err, I mean rest?

Hi Jenn, no snow here, though it looks as though it wants to. Grey skies and blustery wind.

Hope you feel better! Maybe the temperature was just a blip. In any case, a restful reading day sounds in order, and you certainly deserve one!

Hi Jenn. I just gave your review of A World Undone a big thumbs up and added the book to my WL.

I hope, as Anne said, the high temp was just a blip.

We got a bunch of snow (7 inches) on Wednesday morning but by the afternoon it started to rain and washed it all away. This has been a very unusual winter but at least our local ski resort finally opened on Thursday--the latest opening ever for them.

Thumbs up from me, too, Jenn. Now go distract yourself with a light, shiny read! Right after you finish A Gathering of Old Men, that is.

Hi Anne. No temp today, but I sat around and read a lot anyway. :)

Hi Pat! Thanks for the thumbs up! I hope you enjoy it. Maybe it won't take you 9 months to read it either...

Donna, I finished A Gathering of Old Men today. Thank you so much for passing it on to me. It is going to rank very near To Kill A Mockingbird for me. It was amazing. I'll hopefully get my head around a review later tonight. I am looking for my next light read for sure.

Great review of A World Undone. I feel like I just know the basic facts about WWI, so that sounds like a good book to add to my wishlist.

Jenn, I'm so glad you liked A Gathering of Old Men. Feel free to keep it or pass it on as you like. It was fun taking part in this week end's readathon with you and others. I spent more time reading than I normally do. It's back to C. S. Lewis tomorrow.

Hi Carly. That's why I read it, and I'm glad I did. It wasn't easy though. :)

Hi Donna! What are you reading this week? Maybe I'll join you.

#11 A Gathering of Old Men - From Donna828 :) Thanks!

A white man is murdered by a black man, and to protect the murderer, the woman who owns the former plantation where the murder took place determines to muddy the waters. She invites the old men who live on her land and nearby to come with the identical gun and shells. They come, but in addition, they choose that they will no longer be intimidated or abused by the white men. They decide they are willing to be beaten, go to jail, or perhaps even die before they will be less than men. Each chapter tells the next part of the story from a different person's point of view. Instead of being confusing, the narrative is deepened and intensified by the changing points of view. Knowing who you are, no matter what other people think you are or treat you as can change your life, can change the world. This will definitely make the list of top reads for this year.

#12 The Very Picture of You - library
I was looking for a light read, and I found a good one. I really enjoyed this novel about a portrait artist and the people she painted. As she paints different people, she learns about their lives, and learns more about herself. The author navigates some tricky topics gracefully, and overall, it was a good read. Somewhat predictable, but good.

#13 Shooting the Moon - YA - library
Shooting the Moon is a coming of age novel set on an Army base during the Vietnam war. A young girl is excited to see her brother go off to war, but gradually learns that war is not as exciting as she had thought.

#14 Tiger's Curse - YA - library

This is an imaginative fantasy/romance set in Oregon and India. It is a fun read, occasionally suspenseful and a solid teen romance. The Indian folklore is fascinating. I didn't particularly love the female protagonist. She gradually becomes more snide, whiny and over-does the emotional conflict. The thing is, the cursed prince is dreamy. No 18 year old girl, generally speaking, is going to resist him. Nope. I can barely resist him and I'm way past 18. She's thinking that relationship through way more than is believable. Maybe the author was trying to avoid the Bella Swan-dive into deep, permanent love with a vampire, die if he's not around syndrome. Which I can respect. That is pretty nauseating.

The writing is not the best. There are some glaring misuses of vocabulary words - often enough to jar the reader out of the story unpleasantly. I just think if you don't understand the meaning of a word well enough to use it properly, find a different word. Of course, that reflects just as poorly on the editor as the writer. Unless they are the same person? Also there are a few odd shifts in point of view that disrupt the flow of the story.

That said, I enjoyed it enough to read the next book, but not enough to buy it.

Jenn, you are as busy reading as you ever were :) Hope you're feeling good, too. Any more problems after your fever?

Hi Jenn

First I want to say how wonderful it is to visit here and learn of all the incredible YA books you read.

Then, I want to note that you have the distinction of adding the most to the TBR pile thus far in 2012.

I've added A Little History of the World, Entwined, Breadcrumbs and a Gathering of Men. An Elephant in the Garden was already on the TBR pile since last May.

And, speaking of May, Missing May remains one of my all-time favorite Newbery books. It was so eloquent and charmingly poignant.

Thanks for these excellent comments and recommendations.

Hi Jenn, I'm so glad you loved A Gathering of Old Men. I'm beginning to think I didn't rate it highly enough. I think I'll take a look at my ratings at the end of each month this year and revise as needed. Sometimes I need to let a little time go by to let the book sink in better.

I'm reading The Narnia Code right now in anticipation of reading The Chronicles of Narnia beginning next week for my class. Can't wait to fill in this huge void in my reading history.

Hi Anne! I'm feeling fine, with the distinction of running a 100-ish fever starting every night about 6:00. It's gone in the morning, so maybe I am just being nudged to bed early, which is not a bad thing. Thanks for asking. :) I was so surprised to realize how many books I've read this month. At least three were well underway before the beginning of the month, but I didn't expect to already be to 14. Hooray for YA reads!

Hi Linda, I feel proud to have added so many to your list! I always think of you when I'm reading my Newbery Award books. I just picked up Moon Over Manifest at the library today. You can thank Donna for A Gathering of Old Men. She was so nice to bring her copy to me at the meet-up. Truly an excellent book. I can't wait to read more by Gaines.

Hi Donna. What do you think of The Narnia Code? Is it worth picking up? I just started reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe with my daughter. I realized it is time to read it out loud to her. I am re-reading Surprised by Joy, and I am enjoying it so much. I love his sense of humor and his way of putting things. So glad you're taking this class! :)

Off to finish making dinner - Autumn stew with Rosemary ciabatta bread, and then I have book club later.

This is book club week! I hosted a history/government study group yesterday, tonight is my small, but lovely book group (we just read An Ordinary Man), and tomorrow I host my social book group (we read Esperanza Rising). Not sure how it worked out this way, but it's fun.

If you're interested in WW1, there are two extraordinary books that I'd recommend looking out for. One is Paul Fussell's The Great War and Modern Memory, which is a kind of social-cultural analysis. Easily one of my 100 Fave books of all time. The other is by Modris Eksteins, Rites of Spring: The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age. He takes the Stravinsky ballet of the title as the starting point, and writes a kind of cultural history that explains the way WW1 served as a watershed. What I liked about it was that it connects the before and after.

A Gathering of Old Men just arrived from PBS; hoping I can get it read by the end of the month. I read A Lesson Before Dying last year; very powerful.

Thanks Suzanne! Both of those sound really interesting.

Jenn couldn't help but notice you in the photo of your Denver meet up with Anne, Donna and Joanne (all of whom are regular visitors to my overworked thread! - as I am to theirs) Thought I would delurk to say hi and that I will try to keep up to date with your thread in the future.

I have to say that your post in #62 gave me a bit of a start
#9 A World Undone - mine

Yikes! What could have happened! Then of course I realized what I was reading and felt much better about it all... lol. Beyond that.. I have avoided anything containing scary blue text.

That's so funny Kath! I can see how it might be a little startling.

#15 Tiger's Quest - YA, library

Second in the series about a pair of princes (Ren and Kishan) cursed to be tigers. In this installment, we spend more time with the brother (Kishan) of the love interest (Ren) from Tiger's Curse. A nice little love triangle is developing as Kishan falls in love with Kelsey, his brother's girlfriend. They go on a quest together, both to find a way to rescue Ren and to continue with their work on breaking the curse. The writing was a little better, maybe. Unfortunately, then ending was a masterful cliffhanger, leaving me no choice but to find the next book as soon as possible and continue with the story. Working on that.

Wow, three book clubs in one week - and you hosted two of them? Ummm, did you have time to finish the books? I thought my reading life was busy. ;-)

How is your daughter liking The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe? Me (I?) and my inner child are loving it. I like reading it in conjunction with Planet Narnia. I've read the corresponding chapter in PN on Jupiter, am now in the process of reading LWW, and tomorrow I'll read the Jupiter chapter in PN Lite aka The Narnia Code. That's not too much reading spread out over the week end and Monday, but I'll repeat the same pattern for Prince Caspian for Thursday's class. This probably sounds like nothing to the woman who had two book clubs meet at her house and who read 3 books for said clubs in one week!

Hi Donna! I guess we're here together for once. My daughter is enjoying LLW very much, but we're only in chapter 3 or so. I read a chapter before I put her to bed at night. Book Club Week - LOL. Funny how that works out sometimes. One book club is new, it's a sort of history and constitutional studies book club and we just got together to plan our reading. The other two were easy. For one I read An Ordinary Man earlier in the month and for the other, I chose Esperanza Rising, which I had already read and didn't bother re-reading this month. I pretty regularly read three books in a week, if they aren't terribly long.

Jenn, it's not the reading that would bother me. It would be cleaning my house and preparing refreshments, etc. I am a better reader than entertainer, but I suspect that you are quite good at that sort of thing. Have a good evening and a great week!

The next three books were recommended by Leonie (KiwiNyx). Thanks!!

#16 Three Golden Keys Children's, library

The author takes a journey through his own memories of his childhood in Prague. He illustrates three folk tales that are the "keys" to his memories of his family. Fabulous illustrations.

#17 The Tree of Life: Charles Darwin Children's, library

I loved this illustrated journal-style account of Darwin's travels on the Beagle and the effect it had on his career and future research.

#18 Tibet: Through the Red Box Children's, library

My favorite of the three - this is excerpts from the author's father's diary. He was a filmmaker and was sent to China to film the building of a road to Tibet. This, of course, changed Tibet forever. the journal entries portray it as a mystical place and the illustrations are amazing.

just passing though and saying hi!

Hi Kath.

#19 Surprised By Joy - mine

C. S. Lewis writes a different kind of biography in Surprised by Joy. It is more of a biography of the inner man, the growth of the mind and the spirit, than of the outer life. Although there were bits that were beyond me, my education was not of the same caliber as his, I was able to sense the depth of his conversion. In her review, Donna expresses exactly what I would like to, and I can't do it better, so I'll quote her here and leave it at that:

...this is a book about the friends and "glories of literature" that slowly led him from the early path of his "stabs" of joy that he called an "unsatisfied desire which is more desirable than any other satisfaction" to the point of decision where "the great Angler played His fish and I never dreamed that the hook was in my tongue." It was in 1929 that Jack Lewis finally "gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England."

January Reading

Fiction

Missing May - mine
North and South - mine
Entwined - library
Breadcrumbs - library
An Elephant in the Garden - library
Little Bee - friend
A Gathering of Old Men - Donna
Shooting the Moon - library
The Very Picture of You - library
Tiger's Curse - library
Tiger's Quest - library

Children's

Three Golden Keys - library
The Tree of Life: Charles Darwin - library
Tibet: Through the Red Box - library

Non-Fiction

I Have Nothing to Wear
A Little History of the World - mine
A World Undone - mine
An Ordinary Man - library
Surprised by Joy - mine

I am a little amazed at the reading I did, but several of the books I had been working on already, and many are YA reads. Might be a record for me though, for books completed in a month.

Upcoming reading:

Cleopatra: A Life - mine

checked out from the library:

The Power of One
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Work Song
Moon Over Manifest

and I am waiting for book three in that silly tiger series that I got sucked into. I cannot help myself.

silly tiger series.. funny, if it's fun to read then why not indulge. Very impressive list for January, you had a couple of books especially that I want to try to find (the WW book and A Gathering of Old Men) and your upcoming library reads look good. It has been about 20 years since I read The Power of One but I still can remember almost everything about it. Great book and the movie is excellent as well.

Vlad studio up top? I love that one.. and have used it many times for my desktop image. Right now I have a different one of theirs..

Hi Leonie. It's true, it's nice to indulge now and then. :) I am looking forward to The Power of One. The fact that you remember it so well after 20 years is a good recommendation.

Hi Kath. Yeah - my old picture disappeared and I can't figure out why. Needed a new one. I liked the wonky ladders.

I just realized that I've read Work Song. It's Whistling Season that I want. Must go back to the library. But not today. We're at about 22 inches of snow and it's still coming. I refuse to leave the house.

#20 In the Bleak Midwinter

A good mystery, setting up likeable characters in a likeable town. The suspense was well done and the people are interesting. I look forward to reading more. In fact, I'm off to start A Fountain Filled With Blood (gross). I am a little concerned about the obvious attraction between a couple of the characters, since one of them is married. Grrr.

Jenn, I wondered who was following me around reading my discarded books. Lol. I might post some of my intended reads for the month on my thread so you'll know what to pick up next. ;-)

92: Wow, that's the first time a review of mine has been quoted. I'm honored.

I hope you don't have to get out this weekend. This looks like one snow that isn't going to evaporate!

Hope you're enjoying being snowed in! It doesn't sound like it's going to be easy to get out.

I'm a couple of books ahead of you in the In the Bleak Midwinter series--I just finished #3. You're right, the Russ/Clare relationship is a little weird. I'm not sure why they need to have romantic tension.

I have The Bleak Midwinter... one day I will get to it.
re: your pick up top... there is a version with little elves (?) too... I like that one as well.

So.... how is your weather today ??

Haha Donna, am I reading everything you've just finished? I'm glad you don't mind me quoting your review - you just said it so well.

Hi Pat! We stayed in yesterday, today we have to venture out. It's going to take awhile to clear the driveway so we can leave. LOL.

Hi Carly. So it's still not cleared up in book three huh? Sigh. I'm feeling bad that the wife hasn't had a chance to defend herself. She's like a non-character and it's a little distracting. I finished book 2 yesterday and I'll review it later. Kind of nice to sit and read awhile with nowhere to go.

Hi Kath. Still snowing. It's supposed to stop around noon, but it won't get above 30 F today. Apparently the snowplows haven't made it into my neighborhood yet. Chances are once we get out of the neighborhood it's been plowed and won't be that bad.

Here's a photo of poor Barbie, all snowed in. A typical 24 hours of upslope snowstorm. :)

#21 A Fountain Filled With Blood - library

I didn't love this one. I liked parts of it. While I definitely appreciate the author's passion for preventing hate crimes, and I totally agree with her, I felt like she kind of went on and on about it and it detracted from the story. I don't like being preached at when I read. I like the author to have a point, but not beat me about the head with it. That's all. The whole relationship thing between the two main characters is still bugging me as well. Could be I'm just cranky altogether.

#22 The Importance of Being Married - library

A very, very light read. Almost completely weightless. A girl is left a pile of money, but only if she marries a specific guy. Lots of silliness ensues and then a very predictable happy ending. It was OK.

#23 A Midsummer Night's Dream - audio, library

I really enjoyed listening to this dramatization of Shakespeare's play. The actors did a great job and the story is a lot of fun. There is a lot going on, and I really had to pay attention just listening, rather than watching. There are really several stories going on at the same time. Hermia and Lysander are running away so they can be married, followed by Demetrius who loves Hermia, Demetrius is followed by Helena who loves him. The fairy royalty, Oberon and Titania are having a spat and a group of work men are planning a play to celebrate the marriage of the Duke. The fairies get involved in the lives of all the people and great confusion results. Oberon fixes it all (and a good thing because he was the cause of the mess in the first place) and all ends well.

I've started The Power of One and I'm really liking it.

WOW! 23 books thus far! What an incredible accomplishment.

Thanks for recommending A Gathering of Old Men. I'm reading it and loving it!

The writing style simply pulls the reader right into the story.

Have fun in the snow. We have cold, cold weather today, but no snow.

Re: the Julia Spencer-Fleming books: Russ's wife pops up in #3, but the issue isn't resolved. My sense is that it keeps going through the whole series, but that's just a guess. I agree that it's weird that you don't meet her at all in 1 and 2. #3 (Out of the Deep I Cry) is better than 2, in my opinion.

Hi Linda, I am so glad you're enjoying A Gathering of Old Men. I am sure it will be near the top of my memorable reads for this year. Blame the weather for the 23 books - that and 3 of them were nearly finished before the first of the year. My kids are off sledding and I am enjoying an hour of peace and quiet. Ahhh.

Thanks Carly - I will carry on then. :)

Oh wow, so much snow! Poor freezing barbie. Glad you're enjoying The Power of One Jenn, I'll be interested in your final review.

Hi Jenn -- did you dig out yet? What an amazing reading list so far -- you're an inspiration!

yea.. ... sorry about the snow thing.. I must have done
something wrong, because my weather goddessing seems to have gone wrong, as snow
just keeps falling in all sorts of places. Maybe I should have stuck with the fire goddessing

Safe journey out!



OH and I have the first 2 Julia Spencer-Fleming books on the strength of recs here and Louise Penny
likes her books, too.. so..

Hey Leonie *wave*.

Hi Anne. We can get out the driveway, but for some reason our neighborhood is not on the snowplow list...

Kath! Thanks for sending someone to shovel, anyway.

I had a fun surprise last night. Thinking we were headed out to dinner, I arrived at our friends' house and found a surprise b-day party for ME! Never had one before. Truth be told, I was a little suspicious, but it was great fun all the same. They had hacked my e-mail with my husband's help and invited people I hadn't seen in ages. That was the best surprise. I am not generally fond of being the center of attention while 50 people sing happy birthday, but I think I survived it well. I got suspicious yesterday afternoon when I received happy birthday e-mails from a few people who wouldn't be expected to know, and it's not my birthday until Tuesday anyway. It got me thinking a bit. My friend's two little girls with their faces plastered to the window when we arrived kind of gave it away. The Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate Cake was to DIE for. Here's the cupcake version from my friend who made the cake:

http://www.hrrecipeladies.blogspot.com/2012/01/chocolate-peanut-butter-cup-cupca...

OK. Off to get ready for church. Happy Sunday everyone.

How neat--a surprise party! So glad you could get out and the snowstorm didn't foil your friends' plans. I'll be back to wish you happy birthday on Tuesday (if not before).

Eek, a surprise party. I'm glad you enjoyed it/survived. Sounds like my absolute worst nightmare. Thankfully my (few) friends know how much I would hate one, and would simply turn round and walk out!!

Hi Pat. I wish I had a photo of all the cars in all the snow. It was pretty obvious there was a party going on somewhere. They shoveled their neighbors' driveways for the privilege of parking cars there. You know how it is when you shovel and then the snow plow comes through and makes a wall of snow along the whole road so there's no place to park and you have to shovel out your driveway, again. All the neighboring driveways had four cars each.

Hi Jenny. I survived. I am told that my expression was more resigned than surprised. Fortunately, most people thought that was funny.

Yay for surprise parties!!! Happy birthday a little early!

Fifty people were able to keep a secret? That is a surprise. ;-).

Happy Birthday, Jenn. Oh, to be 30 again!

Thanks Joanne.

Hahaha Donna. 50 people were not quite able to make it work, which is how I figured it out. I'd like to be 30 again too... but I hear 40 is also good.

Wow you really got a lot of snow! It's green here right now, our weather has been weird this year!

I'll be away on Tuesday without internet so I shall wish you a Happy Birthday now!!

Happy birthday Jenn - surprise birthdays are great depending on the crowd that turns up - sounds like yours braved the elements to turn up so they are definitely worth their weight in gold.

I am told that my expression was more resigned than surprised

That would have been me, too! Sounds awful, but I m glad it turned out not to be for you :)

What a cute birthday graphic! I'm partial to cats!

Thanks Chelle! Love the sparkles.
Thanks Paul - it's true, to come out in 2 feet of snow is one way to show you really care. :)
Thanks for the kitty Kath! I like the wink.

Happy (early) birthday!!! (...what a cute cat graphic!!!)

Wow, Jenn! I picked a great time to catch up.....AND you share your birthday with Charles Dickens, a double reason to celebrate tomorrow!!!!!
I hope you're 100% through with whatever was running your fever up in the evening. Mine used to do that, but in my case I think it was too much stress and too little rest. Retirement is a fine cordial.
In the book line, you remind me that I own a copy of A Gathering of Old Men and have plans to read it before I die: a long time before I die, I hope.

Hi Faith, thank you for the birthday wishes. I agree. People find very cute graphics.

Hey Peggy! Long time, no see. I do share a b-day with Charles Dickens and Laura Ingalls Wilder, Sinclair Lewis, Sir Thomas More, and apparently, the governor of Colorado. Huh.
I hope very much that there is a long, long time before you die and that you will read A Gathering of Old Men sooner, rather than later. Wouldn't it be nice to retire. I probably should get my kiddos through college first, though. I am feeling better. Proper sleep has a lot to do with it. I need a nap today though. My husband woke me up at 430 this morning, for reasons known only to himself. He was able to go back to sleep, but I was up for the day. I relieved my frustration by texting my brother a Happy Birthday (his is today) message at 530. heh heh.

Hi Jenn, I'm here to wish you a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I'm sure you have a busy day with the kids but I also hope you have some time for yourself.

I was watching the news this morning and they had a clip from Denver where it seems to be snowing again. You guys are getting all your winter snow this week.

Hope you got to sleep in this morning. :-)

Jenn does that mean you are a twin like me or that confusion over the various time zones strike again?!
SWMBO suffers a little from insomnia so has the irritating habit of waking me regularly from a deep and pleasant slumber at say 4 in the morning to let me know she cannot sleep when I was doing quite well myself!

Hi Pat! Thanks for stopping by. I have a friend taking my youngest this morning so I can go play. My oldest decided he is sick today, but at least he's self-sufficient. He may have to go to the Dr. nasty sounding cough. It is snowing again - since my street never got plowed it should be fun to shimmy out of here this morning.

Hi Paul. I'm an Irish triplet. LOL. My second brother was born the day before my 3rd birthday. According to family legend, I was quite put out that my mother was not home for my birthday. I do have photos of the three layer pink cake my grandmother made to compensate. I am the eldest of 6, just under 8 years older than my baby sister. Child #2 is 14 months younger than I and then #3 came along 22 months after him. 17 months later #4, a blessed 2 year break then #5 and 18 months later #6. Two girls book ending 4 boys. We had a lot of fun. There was always someone to play/fight with. I learned to read at age 4, probably out of self-defense. My next brother (almost 39!) is the only one to follow in my parents' footsteps. He has 6 children 14 and under. Good for him. LOL.

Wow - Jenn all those birthday presents to remember. Think I understood it all perfectly.?

#24 The Power of One library, but I will be buying a copy

This is a powerful story. It is about a boy and also about South Africa. In a way, the boy and the country are the same. The story is a difficult one, as is to be expected with apartheid as the subject, but just as in Cry the Beloved Country, the writing is so beautiful and the characters so real and developed that it is sometimes hard to remember it is fictional. The life and struggles of the boy and the struggles of his country parallel each other. There is much to learn and much to overcome, but the beauty and the strength that lies beneath the surface is always visible, even if it is only a glimmer. This will definitely be one of my more memorable reads this year.

Quotes I liked:

The voice music is not the keening of despair but the expression of a certainty that Africa will live and the spirit will survive brutality. The music of Africa is in the soul, and its instruments are the voices of its people.

The power of one is above all things the power to believe in yourself, often well beyond any latent ability you may have previously demonstrated. The mind is the athlete; the body is simply the means it uses to run faster or longer, jump higher, shoot straighter, kick better, swim harder, hit further, or box better. Hoppie's dictum to me, "First with the head and then with the heart," was more than simply mixing brains with guts. It meant thinking well beyond the powers of normal concentration and then daring your courage to follow your thoughts.

My concentration focused down to a pinpoint. The sadness I felt was overwhelming; sadness for the great Southland. In the whiteness, in the light was a sound, as if the light and the sound were one. It was the great drum and the voices of the People. They came together as an echo. Mayibuye Afrika! Afrika! Afrika! Come back, Africa! Africa! Africa! My life, whatever it was to become, was bound to this thing; there was no escaping it, I was a part of the crystal cave of Africa. And in the pin and confusion I wept, I could see only destruction and confusion and the drumbeat, boom, boom, boom, and the light began to fade and Doc entered the cave, his hair white as snow, tall as ever.

#25 Out of the Deep I Cry library

Third in the series of Russ Van Alstyne and Claire Fergusson mysteries. I liked the mystery to this one very much. There were some interesting twists and turns and great characters. We finally get to meet Russ's wife. About d**n time too. I won't get on my soap box about this again here, but seriously. This is looking like a very good "cozy" series, but I still like Three Pines and my dear narrator, Ralph, the best.

*ducks and tip-toes out of the room in search of book 4*

On the home front: a front loader, a scraper and a snowplow/sand truck have worked my street for two days. Now we know what kind of effort it takes to remediate the simple act of not plowing a street after 2 feet of snow. It's noisy and it's a lot of work.

My 13 year old was home Tues and Wed with an ear infection and sinus infection. Not so much fun. He's 13. Do I really need to elaborate? He went to school this am and my 7 year old puked. It's a darn good thing I celebrated my birthday last weekend, because this week isn't looking so good.

For my birthday, I got enough chocolate for 3 forty year old women, these boots, , a pair of really sexy high heels that I cant find a photo of, a gorgeous scarf that matches the sexy high heels, lots of smelly bath and body works stuff, a pair of earrings from my mother in law that will definitely help me channel my inner diva, and NO BOOKS. Do you think it's because they think I've already bought all the books? I can't quite figure it out. Not that I'm complaining, but it's kind of weird, right?

Good pressies, Jenn ... and I love the boots! But what's with no books?! That's like a sundae without the hot fudge.

My brother and sister in law have kind of the same structure to their family that you grew up in!! Julie is Sept. 15, Connor came along on Sept. 10 of the next year and then Jamie waited around a whole 20 months before making his debut. After that, my SIL shut up shop, as she puts it!

Hi Jenn, first I was too early for your birthday, and then I missed it completely. *sigh* We've had a tough week, and it sounds like you have, too. I am certainly willing to help you with your chocolate glut, though it sounds like you need all the chocolate you can get! Happy birthday.

I am receiving fewer and fewer books lately, too. I think people are (probably rightly) suspicious of my TBR pile. Stelios gave me books for Christmas -- brand new, hardcover ones. I never buy those for myself, so he probably figured he was safe, and I am very grateful!

#26 To Darkness and To Death library
#27 All Mortal Flesh library
#28 I Shall Not Want library

Yes, I did go to the library and check them all out. A couple of great mysteries. The relationship thing is still really bugging me, but obviously not enough to make me quit reading the mysteries. I don't want to do a spoiler, just in case I'm not the last person to read these. I really like the new female officer character. She's adding an interesting change. A couple of stunners in book 5...

Hey Caro - I agree - a sundae without the hot fudge.

Hi Suzanne *wave*

Hi Anne, thanks for stopping by. We've been nuts around here. My son just did his fund raiser for his Eagle project. My husband went out of town (before the fund raiser, naturally) and a couple of us got food poisoning... I forgot the valentines for my 5 yr old's preschool yesterday and those are the highlights. :) I hope your week got better.

#29 One Was a Soldier library

A little fraught, perhaps trying a little too hard to represent every class of post-war-stressed out soldier. It was just OK for me. I don't know if I've read too many to close together, but it seems like the author might be tiring of the series a little. She did leave some threads hanging though.

Jenn, it's good to hear your thoughts on the rest of the Julia Spencer-Fleming books. I share your response to the Russ-Clare situation and am interested to see how (if?) she resolves that.

Hi Jenn, you are plowing through those Spencer-Fleming books. I need to get myself caught up. Those are the kinds of books that might help offset this gloomy weather. We had our big snow on Monday. All of two inches!!

I remember being completely caught up in The Power of One when I read it. It was a keeper for me. Come to think of it, I think my DIL would like it. Not my daughter, though. She's asked me to quit passing on those "depressing" books. Those seem to make up the bulk of my reading. Thank goodness for Narnia!

That's tough about the Valentines for your youngest. That and food poisoning. I hope the rest of the week is much better for you.

Hey Carly. Let me know when you get to the end. We'll have to talk. Mostly it's bugging me because I'm a one-relationship-at-a-time kind of girl, and I just don't think there is any excuse for Russ and Clare. I'd be all kinds of furious if my husband was having regular lunches with a "lady friend".

Hi Donna. Congratulations on your big snow! It's funny how different people see books. I didn't think The Power of One was depressing. Some things were definitely harsh, but the overall feeling of the book was one of hope. I thought.

I got my floor mopped (post fundraiser - we baked 30 12" heart shaped cookies and delivered them between Saturday and Monday) and most of my laundry caught up so things are looking up. Off to scrub toilets.

Oh, wow, you know how to have fun ;) Hope everyone's recovered from food poisoning -- ugh! Hope you can relax and enjoy your clean house!

Happy Belated Birthday, Jenn! Those are some boots! I hope everyone is well and that Barbie is not still buried under snow. I have In the Bleak Midwinter on my shelf and must get to it soon!

#30 Moon Over Manifest YA, library

The double doors of the parlor whooshed open. A large fleshy woman stood before me in full regalia. Her eyes were all made up; her earrings and bracelets jangled. The sign in the window said Miss Sadie was a medium. From the look of her, I'd have said that was a bit wishful

From the moment I read that quote on the back of the book, I knew I would love Moon Over Manifest. It takes place during the Depression. A young girl's father sends her to Manifest because he knows the people there will take care of her. She spends the summer there and learns about the people and about her father and about herself. As the people in the town remember her father and the time he was there, they begin to remember the good things about their town and each other and it changes their lives.

No Books?!?! terrible

Jenn
I agree -- I loved Moon Over Manifest. It was well deserving of the Newbery award for 2011

Haha - funny graphic Kath.

#31 War Horse YA, library

Good story. I always like a good horse story. I didn't think the writing was up to, say Black Beauty standards, but maybe that's just me.

I visited my local library today..Held War Horse in my hand and put it back on the shelf. Tell me that the horse doesn't die and then I'll read it.

Hugs to you!

Ahhh Linda.. a woman after my own heart (((Linda))))

I am no longer brave enough to read sad animal books, I don't think?

I looked at War Horse at Costco, yesterday, too and put it down for the same reason, Linda.

Also, I'm usually annoyed by the cartoonish way horses are portrayed in novels written for adults. So the other big question is also important.... was the horse believable? Because if it ran off and fought the war all my himself, I am soooo not interested.

The horse doesn't die. There is a happy ending. The book is Juvenile fiction, so although somewhat simplistic, no, the horse did not fight the war all by himself. It was a neat story. Easy read.

Did that cover all the questions? :)

Yay! The horse lives!!!!! Did you see the movie? It sounds safe to put on my Netflix queue.

I bought an audiobook of The Labrador Pact before Christmas and I am so not listening to that book.

I haven't seen the movie. It got pretty good reviews here on LT. I think the general reviewer response out in the great world was that it was cheesy. I ask you, why else would we go see it? Nobody really wants to see a horse or dog movie that is "realistic".

I'm just going to gripe here for a minute. Apology in advance for SAHM meltdown. It happens.

I just finished doing the dishes and putting the underneath of my kitchen sink back together post yesterday's faucet replacement - yes it has all been sitting there that long and folding the dishtowels my kids were supposed to fold earlier and putting my couch back together because the kids built a fort and they promised they would put the cushions back and getting bagels out of the freezer for in the morning and thinking about going downstairs to work on the project I was hoping to do but couldn't because it interfered with what everyone else wanted to do and wondering why it is that I am the only person who notices that the entire house is trashed on Sunday night and that everyone else gets holidays and weekends except me?

It probably has something to do with the fact that my husband was out of town Saturday to Thursday the weekend of my son's Eagle scout fundraiser and my son was sick so I had to bake all 30 cookies myself and deliver them with 3 kids who should have been doing homework or in bed and I'm behind in my work because if I go work then my teenager gets up and plays video games all night and then my husband came home late Thursday night and told me he's leaving again next week for 3 days and again the next week for 5 days and I always get a little psychotic when I'm a single parent for that long. And I know that he's working hard while he's gone, but he has a per diem and somebody is making his bed and cleaning his toilet and providing fresh towels and I'm home telling the kids that yep, it's peanut butter again and no we can't go out to eat because it's not in the budget...

Anyone else ever have a life like that? I'm sure I'll be fine in the morning.

>147 streamsong: streamsong - Re War Horse - The horse was very believable and nothing terribly out of the ordinary for a terrified animal. The first half of the movie was cringe worthy, the second half much better.

Sorry Jenn...some days (weeks) are like that...some worse than others... My husband used to travel all the time, too, so I know that makes it hard to get into a routine. One where they clean, make a meal, etc!

Maybe the Cleaning Fairy will stop at your house tonight? I know she misses my house all the time, but you never know... :)

Have a good sleep!

Aw, Jenn, what a lousy couple of weeks - except that it's real life, isn't it? And in another twenty years you'll be nostalgic for at least parts of it.... I must be really old. I stopped believing in the cleaning fairy years ago. *sigh*
I'll quietly recommend an adult horse book, Horse Heaven by Jane Smiley, which I absolutely loved. The horses are the strongest characters. You may react badly to some stuff, but I remember thinking "If she kills _____, I'll never forgive her." She didn't, so you can read with some degree of relaxation.
And I think that you need to reward yourself for heroic efforts on the Mom Front by giving yourself a book or two that you would have liked receiving for your birthday. Yep. That's what I think.

Ah Peggy. Good advice. I will look into Horse Heaven for sure. Book shopping sounds good. I totally deserve it...

Sorry Jenn that you are feeling overwhelmed. Do your kids have a chore list? I start to feel that way sometimes and then I "assign" chores to Nate (aka tell him to get his a** off the couch and help) and then I feel better. It sucks having to ask though eh!

Hope things are going smoothly for you today.. hang in there !

I think I've managed to ratchet things down a bit. I went to see The Artist with some friends and got a good nights sleep. It helps. :)

Yeah Chelle - my kids have a chore list. When I get feeling that way, it's a huge sign that nobody is following the chore list...

Your kitty made me smile Kath. That was me all right, except I think I was hanging on by one claw.

My husband leaves again tomorrow and it works out that he'll fly straight to TX from CA, so he won't actually come home in between trips this time. He'll be gone about 9 days. When we were younger and didn't have kids, he traveled a lot more. He sometimes would be gone 6 weeks at a time. The hard part was when he came home and we had to readjust to being together. I'd have plans and I'd head out, and he'd be saying - hey! where you going? What about me? And I would be thinking, well, you've been gone and I stopped factoring you in to the calendar. Sorry.

Hi Jenn, I can sympathize with your SAHM woes. I sometimes spend all day on my feet doing those wee chores around the house that no-one else would think of doing, this in amongst my 4 hours real work a day and when the husband comes home he wonders what I do all day! I actually enjoy the long weeks he spends overseas now but the readjustments are never easy. Anyway, very pleased you liked The Power of One, I thought you would and I still recommend the movie which is excellent. In fact, it should be required reading/viewing.

Hi Leonie! My book group is discussing The Power of One and watching the movie tonight. I'm looking forward to it.

Has anyone seen Hugo? I am thinking of taking the kids this weekend.

Hugo is great! Very sweet, innocent, with humour that will definitely appeal to the younger set. Very close to the book too.

Ahem. I'm about to spout off a firm opinion, just giving fair warning. You should know that if I really like a book, I get a bit snippy if the movie is too different. I got VERY snippy about the second LOTR film and how they portrayed Faramir, for example.

I watched the movie Power of One last night and I did not like it. I thought they took the truth of the book right out of the film. Then they invented a love interest (gak). If I had not read the book, I might have liked it OK. The book was just such a beautiful, powerful thing, and it didn't need changing.

That's all, but while I'm on the rampage:

#32 A Storm of Swords

Are they going to kill everyone? Good grief.

Jenn - sorry that things have been a tad tough lately. I am also trying to grasp at life as it seems to go hurtling past me. There is an old addage that absence makes the heart grow fonder but I'm not really sure that it is a correct analysis of real life. I had one long distance relationship that finished up failing miserably. As I am working in engineering/construction this would normally involve a lot of travelling. I set up my project management firm largely to be able to avoid such travelling which I think would have strained my relationship with SWMBO too much.

Relationships & people are all so different... I had one very LT long distance relationship that worked v. well for us both. Had we been living together? Well, there may have been a murder. But trust and communication is key. I also think it becomes v. different when there are kids, and one partner ends up feeling as if he/she is carrying 80% of the day to day burden of keeping the household running.

How was "The Artist"? That's one I want to see...

Re movies differing from books: what abt Gone with the Wind? There was a movie that chopped out entire bits of the book (like Scarlett's first two children), which really annoyed me when I first saw it. Yet lots of folks love it.

Re Russ/Clare in the Spencer-Fleming books, to me, that relationship just reflected the reality of what can happen. In a lot of relationships or marriages, people can drift apart and it takes effort on both sides to pull that back together. Also, people who marry quite young (early/mid 20s) often grow into very different people by the time they hit 40 or so. Of the marriages that I look at and say, wow, those people really fit together after years, I would say a minority are actually first marriages made in their 20s. So to me the Russ/Clare relationship kind of reflects that reality -- that people can be tugged in different directions. I have certainly known women that knew very well there husband was having a kind of "emotional affair" and were fine with it because it left them with time to get on with the kids, the house, their jobs, their friends, the things they liked that their husbands didn't share and didn't like doing with them. Obviously, not the case for everyone, but I think Spencer-Fleming has handled that relationship rather deftly, knowing that a lot of her readers would struggle with even the idea of it. I don't see it presented as a model or an ideal, but rather as the fact of two people who feel drawn to each other and who have to struggle as a result with their other commitments.

Hi Paul. Life is like that. Sometimes tough. Are you an engineer? My husband is an engineer - currently in the middle of a 40 million dollar dam retrofit/enlargement. The job just happens to be at a point in construction where he needs to be there observe rather often. Of late, I've been referring to it as the Dam(n) job. Absence, no matter how fond the heart is, is absence, no?

Hi Suzanne. :) It's an interesting balance in a relationship, to appreciate what the other does and give it equal value, especially with kids. I realize that my husband works hard, and when we chose that I would stay home, I knew I would be taking on the bulk of the household duties. He is a very helpful person, and unlike the husbands of many of my friends, doesn't really spend much of his free time away from us. I think that is why I struggle so much when he's gone LOL. I am used to having more help.

The Artist was wonderful! I think you will like it. Go see it before it leaves the theater. It was a very unique viewing experience.

I agree about the effort relationships take. I agree that people can drift apart. I just think that even an emotional affair is a violation of the basic commitment that was made - and Russ definitely acknowledges that - and the trust is not there once that occurs. I was a mere child (21) when I got married and in some ways am a different person at 40, but many of those changes actually occurred early in our marriage. We experienced years of infertility, that will challenge a marriage and change a person. We adjusted and carried on, and now we are in a new phase - how to deal with a very bright and very challenging teenager. I'm not sure, but I think it might be a bigger challenge than the lack of children. LOL. Different parenting styles and so on. The main thing is to decide that you're in it together and to stick together. I am sure that relationships where one partner is gone for long periods of time, like Russ and Linda in the books, are very difficult to maintain. Like I said about when my husband traveled extensively when we were first married, you develop separate lives and you have to really work at merging back together.

Nice post from Suz - lovely post from you Jenn.

I have degrees in Construction Management and Law (specialising in construction law) and deal with Project Management and building economics mainly.
Marriage and relationships with growing children are stressful and ageing and occasionally so so rewarding. I was a very inconstant boyfriend to my various girlfriends but have managed to be, thus far, unswervingly loyal (probably naked fear) to SWMBO and couldn't imagine the havoc it would create to so many lives if that was not the case. Your encapsulation of your marriage is at once honest, brave and splendidly realistic and shows up the warm person posting those comments.

Hear, hear, Paul!

Paul, LOL re naked fear! Don't forget lurve... and commitment.

Children change marriages, sometimes beyond recognition. I've talked about this to countless friends, both male and female, over the years. On one hand, it irrevocably changes the nature of the relationship. On the other, there is now one (or more) vulnerable young parties added to the mix, for whom parents would mostly give their lives.

Very thoughtful comments, Jenn. I suspect it's not just working at merging your lives back together again, but being 110% committed to the idea of doing that work, no? Marriage has got to be the toughest job out there, especially these days when the alternative to doing the hard work is so immediate & clear. Our grandparents certainly didn't have that option, and while I suspect for a portion of them (battered wives, etc.) that was very bad news, for others it resulted in a much tighter bond. I sometimes wonder about one g-g-grandmother, whose husband (my gg-grandfather) died in an asylum. I have no idea why he was there or for how long, but it cannot have been easy. She did remarry, and had one child with her new husband when she was already in her 40s.

Jenn, hope your week got better. I can definitely relate.

I so hope you go see Hugo -- we loved it!

So very kind, Paul, Peggy, Suzanne, Anne. Thanks for the shoulders and the ears. I appreciate the tolerance of the community here that allows me to completely unload, squawk and complain, yet believe me when I say that I'm committed to the work and my husband is actually a very nice man. Even better, spare my husband the pitying looks from my girlfriends here had I unloaded on them...
Kids really do change a marriage. I remember seeing a quote once "It takes children to make adults." I didn't know then just how true that was. That said, I told my son the other day, not in the calmest voice, "I didn't start swearing until after I had kids!"

Peggy, I took your advice, and in spite of my goal to only buy one new book a month, I went on a spree in the library sale shelves. It was incredibly therapeutic. I bought Dragonwings, Becoming Naomi Leon and Mandy for my kids and then I splurged ($12 is a splurge in the library sale shelves on an old but beautiful copy of The Harvester. I have my grandmother's copies of A Girl of the Limberlost and Freckles and this will add nicely to my collection. I looked the edition up on AbeBooks and it was $35, so I feel I got a bargain. It has the dust jacket still and the inscription reads "To Sally Jeanne, Feb. 11, 1957, Love Mother and Daddy. The price tag from McKelvey's, says $1.49. That made my day. And, I only bought one book for me, so I'm calling it good on that goal of one new book a month. Then again, none of them were actually new... oh, this is a bad, bad road. :)

We couldn't find a local theater showing Hugo, so I took the kids to The Secret World of Arietty. It was really fun. The older two liked it really well, my 5 yr. old got a little bored. I'm going to have to dig up my old copy of The Borrowers and read it to them.

I just read the reviews of The Harvester.. and had to laugh. Talk about hot and cold!
You know, we never read The Borrowers at my house when the kids were little. I
wonder if my library didn't have it or? I have never read it.

Hi Kath. Stratton-Porter is an author that will definitely generate hot and cold reviews. She is more nature writer than novelist and in addition, reflected the "live clean, work hard and the American Dream can be yours too" attitude that was popular in young people's literature. A sort of descendant of the Little Women/Little Men type book, I think. I love them, but they are books tied up in memories of reading the summer away in my grandfather's garden and enjoying books my mother loved, so I don't know that my love for them is intellectual - although the moralizing doesn't bother me. If you haven't read anything of hers, Freckles is a good one to start with.

Happy Sunday. My kids let me sleep until 7:30 (gasp!) and the sun is shining, though it's a bit windy. I've been reading A Monstrous Regiment of Women and I'm about to make Beignets. Later I will pick up my best friend from her hotel and bring her here for dinner. Life is good.

I loved A Girl of the Limberlost when I was a kid--I read it over and over. I'm not sure I ever read Freckles, though--I remember being a biy confused by the Freckles references in A Girl of the Limberlost.

I loved the Borrowers books when I was a kid. I'm encouraged to hear that the movie is good. I'll have to keep an eye out for it on Netflix.

I thought you'd like to know - the beignets were yummy. Off to read some more/nap a little.

Another Borrowers fan here. I'm disappointed that my name didn't come up at the library for Hugo Cabret before tonight's Oscars. I'm watching "the beautiful people" on the red carpet as I catch up on threads

Enjoy the evening with your friend. So great that you got to sleep in this morning. It makes the day go better, doesn't it?

Today was lovely. I also finished a book in between naps and social calls.

#33 A Monstrous Regiment of Women, library

I liked it. It was easier for me to get into than The Beekeeper's Apprentice for some reason. Maybe just because I've accepted the style of the author. Mary Russell graduates, turns 21 and gains control of her inheritance and has a mystery of her own to solve.

ETA: I should say something about the journey into mystic feminism, but I am not sure what to say, exactly. It was interesting.

#34 A Letter of Mary library

Another fascinating adventure, a little more mystic feminism and developments in the Holmes/Russell relationship.

#35 Tiger's Voyage YA, library

Third in the series about Indian princes who are cursed. They must spend a large part of their time as tigers. Kelsey is the girl who is supposed to be able to help break the curse. Naturally, both of the princes are in love with her, and since they are brothers it makes for a very tense and interesting triangle. The writing is not super impressive, but the story is compelling enough to have me itching for the next book. September.

February Reading

Fiction

In the Bleak Midwinter - library
A Fountain Filled With Blood - library
The Importance of Being Married - library - very silly
A Midsummer Night's Dream - audio, library
The Power of One - library - memorable
Out of the Deep I Cry - library
To Darkness and To Death - library
All Mortal Flesh - library
I Shall Not Want - library
One Was a Soldier - library
Moon Over Manifest - library
War Horse - library
A Storm of Swords - library
A Monstrous Regiment of Women - library
A Letter of Mary - library
Tiger's Voyage - library

Non-Fiction

none! But I have made a good start on Cleopatra: A Life

It appears that every single book I read in February was from the library. Huh.

As a person who works at a library, I love that all the books you read in February were from the library.

beignets??? Where is our share, pray tell??

177: Now I'm the one following your reading, Jenn. I have A Letter of Mary on my longish list of books to read for Mystery March. "Mystic feminism" is a new term for me. I like it.

Deedledee - :) I think you may have the best job in the world.

Suzanne - here's the recipe http://allrecipes.com/Recipe-Tools/Print/Recipe.aspx?RecipeID=151366&origin=.... Or you're welcome to stop by in the morning when I experiment with the dough I froze...

Donna - I think I made up mystic feminism. I don't mean the Feminine Mystique with Freud, etc. I mean this idea of mixing religion and feminism. In the two Russell/Holmes books, the author uses Russell's interest in religious studies to bring in the idea of female leadership in religious organizations and female apostleship. Mystic in the book because there's a strong sense of spiritualism in the story and because it's unproven, in a way, although I think that anyone who has studied the Bible would find it difficult to prove that there were not female followers of Christ and even a prophetess or two. Since I grew up in a religion where women, although not priests, have strong leadership roles, it's not hard for me to see it. I'm only a feminist in the equal but different sense. I don't want to be exactly like a man, but I want to be treated equally under the law. Not exactly a bra burner :) and neither is Mary Russell.

That sort of rambled all over the place, but I don't have time to make a lovely essay out of it. Hope I make some sense. :)

My husband got home last night - he's been gone most of the last month. He said what do you want to do? I said hide with a book. So, I did.

#36 Betrayal of Trust - library

Not my favorite of the J.P. Beaumont mysteries, but a pretty good read all the same. Beaumont and his wife are an investigative team assigned to solve a case connected with the governor's family.

# 37 The Hobbit - mine

I have read The Hobbit more than twice - and it never fails to satisfy. It could be seen as just a great adventure story, as a coming of age or growing up story. It is the story of an unexpected hero, of looking beyond the obvious, of hidden gifts. The scenery is varied and magical and the different people who inhabit the story live and breathe. I love it.

Jenn, I'm way behind on threads, and now I'm kicking myself because it looks like I missed beignets? Is there a recipe?

Hey Anne! Here's the recipe I used: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe-Tools/Print/Recipe.aspx?RecipeID=151366&origin=...

Jenn - I am with you on The Hobbit. There are not so many books I need to reread from time to time but that is certainly one of them.
As a philistine I didn't know what beignets were so your recipe helps - I also notice that Joe has some on display over at his cafe. Enjoy what is left of your weekend.

#38 A Feast for Crows - library

This one was a total snoozer for me. There were some new characters added, old characters left out (next book) and some truly weird stuff going on with the characters who were familiar. I am going to return to a REAL and gripping game of thrones - Cleopatra: A Life - which I kept wanting to read instead of the George Martin book.

#39 The Moor - library, audio

I listened to the audio of The Moor. I liked this 4th book in the series much, much better than the last two. Russell and Holmes are out on the moor, revisiting scenes from The Hound of the Baskervilles. The suspense is good, the characters are interesting and the narrator was fantastic.

#40/#41 The Dark Hills Divide and Beyond the Valley of Thorns - YA, library, audio

A creative tale about a girl named Alexa who lives in a walled city that is connected by walled roads to other walled cities. She dreams of getting outside the wall to see what it is like. When she discovers a secret passageway, she takes her chance and heads off on a grand adventure that includes talking animals and an evil threat to her city. In the second book, Alexa is sent on another quest to fight evil and protect her home and way of life from those who would take them from her.

I have Cleopatra: A Life on its way to me too, Jenn, but when will I get to read it? I'll be back to see what you have to say, but it sounds like a winner! I wanted to slap GRRM around a little for A Feast of Crows too. What a way to disappoint loyal reader!
Beignets - wow! I've 'favorited' the comment with the recipe. Thank you!
The Girl of the Limber Lost was my mother's favorite childhood book, and I loved it too, but maybe less that she did because I came to it later.
And I'm glad that you found something for yourself at your library sale. Sometimes we can be too hard on ourselves, even self-indulgent me.

Hi Peggy!

#42 Cleopatra: A Life - mine

This well researched history of Cleopatra and the end of the Ptolemaic dynasty was easy to read and very interesting. Schiff did a great job of interspersing the historical detail with stories that gave insight into the personal lives of Cleopatra and Antony. She also included a lot of detail about the different biographers and historians which added weight to her interpretation of the available materials. A very good read.

Jenn

I can very much relate to your comments regarding the difficulty of marriage when your partner travels. My ex and I were married for 20 years. I loved him dearly. He traveled 80-90 % of the time before and during our marriage. He loved travel. He thrived in foreign countries. When we adopted a little girl when she was three, I literally became a married/single parent.

We adjusted because I developed a very strong support group of wonderful women friends. When he no longer traveled as much, he resented my friends. I did not dump them when he was home. They were there for me when he was not.

Sadly, when he did not travel as often, the marriage fell apart. He mentioned many times that he simply did not like being "home."

Thanks, Jenn, for the recipe!

I read Cleopatra: A Life late last year for book club and enjoyed it. Glad you did, too! Hope you have a wonderful weekend -- how lucky are we that the cold won't come back until Monday :)

Opps, forgot to thank you for your excellent comments re. Cleopatra.

Hang in there dear one. Life is good. I hope you can get some relief from stress and enjoy the spring.

Hugs!

Linda - My father was a serial womaniser (and always worked away) and it tore my mum to pieces resulting in a divorce 20 years ago which she is still suffering the affects from. I told myself that when I got married I would not chase the money or work away and would prioritise my wife and eventual family. I have stuck to that and have few regrets ~ sometimes Hani mentions so and so friend earning a fixed salary doing my job on a contract basis in some remote corner with something approaching envy but I have more than enough and he can keep the extra dosh as I have something worth a lot more. You are a lovely, wholehearted and honest individual my dear whose posts are always well considered and scrupulously fair. I will remember always your lovely posts on my threads and elsewhere but especially your proposal story which swept the subject accolades for sure.

Jenn your great too! Have a lovely weekend and I have to say I am in awe of your reading thus far in 2012.

Hi Jenn - I hope you've been able to get out and enjoy the great weather we've been having!

Hi Linda. I know it's hard when a relationship ends, but I think that you have a great guy now - and a really good story. I hope you are feeling well and enjoying your weekend.

Hi Anne! I hope you enjoy the beignets. :)

Hey there Paul. If you want to talk to Linda on my thread, it's fine with me - and I agree. Her proposal story is one of the best I've ever heard.

Hi Joanne!

We are going from soccer game to soccer game today and loving the beautiful weather. We are also looking forward to a little cold weather early in the week. My brother and his family are visiting and they would very much like to go skiing, so a good snow in the mountains will make them happy. Meanwhile, I am getting to cuddle the cutest 7 week old baby boy in the world. I'm not re-thinking being done having kids, but...

Jenn and Paul

The older I get the more I realize that life sometimes does give us pain and nasty surprises, but somehow things sometimes work out. Paul, like your father, my ex cheated often. Sadly, I didn't learn this until well into the marriage. I discovered that shortly after he asked me to marry him and before I actually said yes, he had cheated many times. For him, it was a sickness and insecurity. This pattern continued. When I received phone calls at 2 a.m. from women, it dawned on me that in giving his name to them they could track him down. As for me, I was devastated. It took a long time to bounce back, but I'm fine now.

Thanks for sharing your story.

Jenn, it America society today, it is not unusual for one of the partners to travel and be away from home. I firmly believe that if there is respect and trust and communication, then it can work. I do understand your frustration and feelings that you carry most of the burden of the housework and child rearing. Though, I have to say that even though Will is retired and I work a 50- hour week, still there are times when I do most of the housework. He helps, but he is order and has somewhat of a mentality that things can wait...don't worry...things can wait.

I've learned that his waiting to accomplish something sometimes means he knows I'll jump in and do the task. Now, I've learned to wait until he does what he is supposed to do.

Happy Saturday to all.

So true Linda. :P That's why there are still peanut shells all over the floor of my van... he let the kids eat them in the van, he's got to vacuum it. He's probably thinking I'll go do it any day now. That said, this morning, he made sure the kids got their rooms clean and coached two soccer games. When he's around, he's usually totally involved. Just not always doing what I think is important. :)

#43 Dear Enemy - mine

Written in epistolary style, in the point of view of just the one writer, this tells the story of a young socialite who accepts the position of superintendent of a orphaned children's home. It's part romance, part homily, especially on the subject of proper care and feeding of orphans. One surprising topic that is discussed very positively and authoritatively is eugenics. By the studies of the letter writer, it would seem that eugenics was accepted as the scientific method of sorting out the orphans who could be helped and those who could not, and she quite agreed that "mental defectives" should be separated from the general population. It wasn't so pervasive as to ruin the story, but it definitely dated it. We've come a long way, baby.
Daddy Longlegs is still my favorite by Jean Webster. I also have one called Just Patty that I am reading today. Cute, so far.

We've come a long way, baby. Indeed we have! I enjoyed your comments about Dear Enemy, Jenn. Hope all the soccer games went well.

#44 Just Patty

A cute read about life in a girls' boarding school. Patty is the main character and part of a group of lively and inventive girls. Fun and innocent and very typical of its time.

#45/46/47
Breathe, Sing and Claim by Lisa T. Bergren - library

A series of fictional romance novels about Colorado. Set in Colorado Springs and in the mountains south and west (Wet Mountains, Sangre de Cristos). They were just OK. There were occasional flashes of something really good, but the dialogue was pretty bad.

I just watched the most depressing film. It's called Like Crazy. It's about a couple who fall in love in college. She's on a student visa and has to go back to England after graduation. Then they try to make a long distance relationship work. Sort of. I thought the ending was awful. Must go watch the entire P&P or perhaps North and South to rid myself of the bad taste. Anyway, all that to say that unless you like to be very depressed, I don't recommend that film.

#48 A Wizard Named Nell - library, YA
A cute fantasy adventure story with a strong female heroine. First in a series.

#49 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - mine
I just finished reading this to my 7 year old daughter. She loved it. I always love it.

I've been trying and trying to read Rin Tin Tin and I am so bored. There are parts that are great, then the author goes off on a tangent and I lose the thread of the story. Meh. I'm over it. Back to the library it goes.

#50 Pretty Woman - library
Woman married to a cheater and a user finally throws him out and changes her life - and in the end, he changes his life too. Decent read, somewhat predictable and improbable too. Perfect for a lazy Saturday afternoon.

#51 The Scent of Water - library

I will buy this book. It was lovely. A woman who has lived her whole life in London learns that her father's cousin has left her a cottage in the country. She retires from her job and moves to the cottage. She gradually gets to know the people of the village where her cottage is and learns to love them (or most of them). I think if I were studying characterization, this book would be very valuable. The book is so beautifully and naturally written that I hardly noticed it was about finding God. Gradually I realized that each of the characters was at a different step in their journey to recognize their value in the eyes of God and to accept it and live their lives accordingly. Some characters helped each other, some were more self-absorbed. Mary, the main character, is the connection, the central figure. We learn to know everyone else mostly through her eyes.

Quotes:

...Mr. Ambrose, a vague and kindly man who never looked himself except dressed in tweeds and accompanied by a cloud of dogs. Dressed for dinner he looked like someone else, someone whom he very much disliked.

The unseen spirit of a place has its deep desire and if it's the same as yours then your small desire goes down like an anchor into the depths.

So this blessing of loneliness was not really loneliness. Real loneliness was something unendurable. What one wanted when exhausted by the noise and impact of physical bodies was not no people but disembodied people; all those denizens of beloved books who could be taken to one's heart and put away again, in silence, and with no hurt feelings.

There was something disruptive about Christmas and not only in the merely material way. The original Christmas had proved exceedingly disrupting to the entire world and the tremors of the original event vibrated through every life year by year.

I admit after reading this book that a lovely cottage in the country sounded like just the thing I needed. In the middle of my crazy life with busy kids and busy husband obsessed with looking for a new car... I have cottage envy.

Hmmm, you may have zapped me with The Scent of Water. I like the idea of retreating to a cottage!!

Re your comments on feminism - to me, that's the essence of the concept. No one should be able to tell me what I SHOULD do or what I should NOT do because of my gender. That's it. Period, full stop. It stretches from people telling others that they SHOULD have children to being told they SHOULD work. It goes from someone saying you can't be a (insert name of profession of choice) to saying you should think about (insert other career here) because you are a woman. Or to using gender as an excuse for not paying people equally, or having different leave arrangements (I know many fathers who would have loved to have been able to make it to more school events, had it not been politically impossible inside their organization to leave early enough to make it to them) or discriminating on promotions. I remember working four Christmases running while my observant Jewish colleague, the only other full-time reporter in my bureau, had the same time off. He, I was told, had a wife and children; I was a single woman and thus was deemed to have less need for the holiday time. I asked if had I been married, would I have been given equal status on that, and was told yes. I later discovered he also was paid about 30% more than I was earning, despite the fact that I had seniority. That's the stuff that gets me annoyed. Well, that and people saying, "I'm not a feminist, but...." It's as if feminist is as toxic a label as racist, homophobe, etc., whereas to me it's simply a common sense description.

OKaaay, I think I'll go in quest of Elizabeth Goudge now!!!!

ETA: Hurrah, it's at my library and I now have a hold on it. Putting holds on library books is a bit like a summoning charm at Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series. I simply tell my library system what I want, and lo, it flies through the air from any other of the dozens of Brooklyn library branches to a shelf in mine, literally across the street, where I can saunter in and pick it up. The new electronic checkout terminals mean I can complete the trip to and from the library in six minutes, from leaving the house to returning home with the new books, which is great on busy days!

Hi Suzanne! I totally agree - equal under the law, the office policy, the pay scale.... and so on. I do think some people (myself included) are leery of being identified with the more radical branches of "feminism" and that's why they will say "I'm not a feminist, but..." The thing is, I am a feminist. I believe that there is nothing to be ashamed of in being feminine and wanting to have the opportunity to do the things that will bring me fulfillment. In fact, it's fabulous. I am reading The Art of Racing in the Rain right now, and Enzo has some interesting things to say about females. I will be quoting him later.

I love your description of getting library books on hold. It is so true! I love getting the e-mail that my book is in and trotting out to the library, getting it and going home to read it - I have to drive, but it's still just so fast and easy.

I will still have to put off finishing my review of The Scent of Water. It deserves a well thought out review. I have kids to get off to school and a couple of BYU lacrosse players sleeping in my basement who need to be fed and shuttled to their practice field. The team is here for a couple of games and a bunch of us are keeping players. It's fun.

ETA: Review of The Scent of Water is complete. See #203 above. Where exactly is 204?

Jenn, I loved your review of The Scent of Water!

#52 The Art of Racing in the Rain - library

At first I wasn't sure that I would like this book. I didn't mind the racing references, even though I am not really into racing. What I minded was the story of Denny, the death of his wife and his battle to retain custody of his daughter. In the end, the story just drew me in and even though it was terribly sad, I really liked it. It's an interesting device, to tell it from the perspective of a dog. My favorite thing about the story was the determination of Denny to keep fighting for his daughter and not to give in to false accusations.

Quotes:

I admire the female sex. The life makers. It must be amazing to have a body that can carry an entire creature inside.

These are things that only dogs and women understand because we tap into the pain directly, we connect to pain directly from its source, and so it is at once brilliant and brutal and clear, like white-hot metal spraying out of a fire hose, we can appreciate the aesthetic while taking the worst of it straight in the face. Men, on the other hand, are all filters and deflectors and timed release.

George Clooney is my fourth favorite actor because he's exceptionally clever at helping cure children of diseases on reruns of ER, and because he looks a little like me around the eyes.

#53 Cascade
#54 Torrent YA - Library

Very easy, kind of fun, YA romance with some time travel and strong female heroines. Quick read, OK writing. Series of three.

The Scent of Water sounds fabulous. It is definitely going on the wish list. And I'm glad you liked The Art of Racing in the Rain. I read it for my book club, after passing it by several times, and ended up really liking it.

Hi Amy. Same here. My book club chose it this month, or I probably wouldn't have read it. Hooray for book clubs!

#55 The House I Loved

Of the three books by de Rosnay that I have read, I think this one is my favorite. Set in France during the reign of Napoleon, it describes the renovations that created the city of Paris as it is known today. The story is told from the point of view of an older woman who is about to lose her family home. She describes her life in the house after her marriage, her neighbors, the shops, her children. There is a very strong sense of memory and nostalgia.

Quotes:

The next thing I remembered was that Germaine was standing in front of me wringing her hands. I could not quite recall where I was, nor what I was doing. I seemed to be coming back from another world. Germaine stared down at me, at a loss for words. I suddenly realized I was in the book shop down below. It was pitch dark outside and my stomach was rumbling.
"What time is it?" I asked feebly.
"Well, madame, it is getting on for seven o'clock. Mariette and I have been most worried...We did not find you in the flower shop and Mademoiselle Walcker said you had been gone for ages.
I let myself be led upstairs by a stern Germaine, who kept clicking her tongue and shaking her head.
"Is Madame alright?" whispered Mariette, hovering by the door, surrounded by the tempting scent of roast chicken.
"Madame is fine," snapped Germaine. "Madame was reading. She forgot everything else."

Paris is always hungry for flowers, Madame Rose. The city needs her ration, every day. Flowers for love, flowers for sorrow, flowers for joy, flowers to remember. Flowers for friends.

Now I am aware that as a reader one needs to trust the writer, trust the poet. They know how to reach out and pluck us out of our ordinary life and send us careening into another world we have not even fathomed. That is what talented authors do.

#56 The Princess and the Hound - library, YA
#57 The Princess and the Bear - library, YA
#58 Tris and Izzie - library, YA

I found a new author, I was curious, I read all three books in rapid succession. The Princess books were pretty creative, combining Germanic (?) folk tales with traditional fairy tale themes. Tris and Izzie was a take on Tristan and Isolde with a modern day twist. It was my least favorite of the three due to some weakness in plot development and the very rapid wrapping up of the story in the most convenient fashion possible.

I'm another one with cottage longing...preferably in the foothills overlooking Denver! The Scent of Water sounds more satisfying than my current "getaway" book, The Enchanted April.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend, Jenn. Good luck with the new vehicle.

Hi Donna. Have you seen the movie Enchanted April? http://www.amazon.com/Enchanted-April-Alfred-Molina/dp/B004SIP7D0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=... I think it must be related to that book, because it sounds just like. I haven't read it, but I remember really liking the movie.

#59 Why Read Moby-Dick? - library

I thoroughly enjoyed this little book about why Moby Dick is a great American novel and worth the read. Since I have already read Moby Dick, more than once, and liked it very much, I didn't need convincing. However, it was fascinating to read this - almost research paper - on the novel. My first experience with Moby Dick was similar to Mr. Philbrick's:

Moby Dick may be well known, but of the handful of novels considered American classics...it is the most reluctantly read. It is too long and too maddeningly digressive to be properly appreciated by a sleep-deprived adolescent, particularly in this age of digital distractions. I know that as a high school senior in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1974, I had expected to be bored to death by the book. But then came that three-word first sentence - "Call me Ishmael" - and I was hooked.

For me, it was 1988, but very much the same instant hooking.

I mostly agreed wholeheartedly with Philbrick's assessment of Melville, Moby Dick and the social, political and ecological commentary contained within its covers. That said, I think maybe Mr. Philbrick and I would disagree politically. I completely disagree with his assessment of the Founding Fathers of the United States:

Here lies the source of the Founding Fathers' ultimately unforgivable omission. They refused to contain the great, ravening shark of slavery

The above quote is just one example of comments that get under my skin. I wonder if he's reading the same history books I am reading? James Madison, in his Federalist papers (#42, 54), in his state of the union address in 1810, discusses openly the problems of slavery. Here are just a few quotes by Founding Fathers on the evils of slavery. The Founding Fathers did not "refuse" to contain slavery. South Carolina and Georgia would not ratify the Constitution if slavery was made illegal. The Founders had to decide whether it was more important to form a nation or to fight the battle over slavery at that time. What would you have done? What they did refuse to do was to write slavery into the Constitution. They wrote a document that made it impossible for slavery to continue indefinitely. In fact, compared to the time it took to end feudalism, slavery came to an end in this country relatively quickly. It was a terrible compromise to have to make. I am not sure I could have done it, but then, I am one to try to die on just about every hill. It's probably good I wasn't at the Constitutional convention.

The author ends with saying:
In the end, Melville had found a way back to the view espoused by Ishmael in Moby Dick: "Doubts of all things earthly, and intuitions of somethings heavenly; this combination makes neither believer nor infidel, but makes a man who regards them both with equal eye." This redemptive mixture of skepticism and hope, this genial stoicism in the face of a short, ridiculous, and irrational life, is why I read Moby Dick.

I agree.

I like the quotes fom The House I Loved!

Hi Jenn, hope you're having a good weekend. I've had Why Read Moby-Dick on my wish list since Joanne read it -- glad to see another positive review here, though unlike you, I've never read Moby-Dick. I do have a copy, though!

I also loved your comments on The House I Loved. Another WL addition.

Hi Carly and Anne. I probably should have mentioned that the character in The House I Loved who forgot everything was reading Madame Bovary.

#60 The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin - library

Masha Gessen does a marvelous job on her chronicle of Russian politics. The book is courageous, easy to read and well researched - for a book of this length. Gessen covers roughly the last 25 years of Russian politics. She shows how the attempt at democracy has failed, so far, and manages to place most of the blame on Putin. Her descriptions of Putin and his actions over the last 25 years will keep your eyes wide open far into the night. I am not sure that I would call his rise to power unlikely, however. I think it looks pretty well planned. Anyone who wants learn more about Russian politics and how things operate there, but is not a Russian scholar, this is a good book to read.

On a personal note: I was in Moscow and St. Petersburg (Leningrad then) in June of 1989. I remember very clearly being surprised at the lack of variety in the food we were served at our hotel. It was mystery meat ball, cucumber and potatoes, every night. They wouldn't sell us Pepsi or anything at all besides mineral water at the hotel. They had to sell us the mineral water because we weren't allowed to drink the water. I turned a wrong corner and found a market that had only cans of tuna on the shelves. No bread, nothing else at all. I was completely oblivious to the fact of the food shortages and rationing that were the reality for everyone else. Is it a tribute to the Soviet government's ability to control information, stunning ignorance on the part of the US government, or what, that made it seem like a good plan to send a large group of privileged American teenagers to the USSR at that time?

*waving* at Jenn

Jenn: I was in Moscow and Leningrad in 1986 and the situation was the same back then too, although we did have one evening when they organized an absolutely beautiful dinner for us, half of which I don't remember because they served a different glass of vodka with each course (there were 7 courses in the meal!). But I remember going to a department store and seeing empty shelves and then one shelf filled with motorcycle helmets ....but we hadn't seen a single motorbike on the roads in the whole week we were there. There were lines at the markets for everything ..and sometimes nothing. I was 18 at the time and it was a real eye-opening trip for me. I did come home with a deeper appreciation for the freedom, clean water, readily available food and anything else I needed.

Hi Stasia!

Hi Caro - I know what you mean. When I got home, I went grocery shopping with my Mom, basically straight from the airport. She went to get produce and sent me to get yogurt. She found me in the yogurt aisle, completely mesmerized by the choices available. I guess it had just hit me how incredibly privileged my life was - in ways I didn't even comprehend before.

This is a fun Meme, that I saw on Paul's who saw it on Morphy's thread:

Hardback or paperback?

Paperback - for travel and loaning, Hardback for the collecting (yes I do have 2 paperback and 1 hardback of Pride and Prejudice)

Amazon or bricks and mortar?

Bricks and Mortar

Barnes & Noble or Borders?

We don't have Borders anymore.

Bookmark or dogear?

Dogear *hangs head in shame*

Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random?

By author, to the best of my ability

Keep, throw away, or sell?

Usually keep, because I don't usually buy a book unless I already like it. I've only ever thrown away 2 books. If I don't want, I send to Operation Paperback

Keep dust jacket or toss it?

If it has one keep it.

Read with dust jacket or remove it?

Remove it and replace after completing the book.

Short story or novel?

Novel

Collection (short stories by same author) or anthology (short stories by different authors)?

Either

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?

Harry Potter, definitely. One can only take so many unfortunate events.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?

Chapter breaks - or when the book falls on my head because I fell asleep.

"It was a dark and stormy night" or "Once upon a time"?

Both - maybe slightly more to the "once upon a time" side.

Buy or Borrow?

Borrow

New or used?

Either - depends on the book. I prefer my non-fiction new so I can write in it.

Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse?

I usually have read before I buy...

Tidy ending or cliffhanger?

Tidy ending.

Morning reading, afternoon reading or nighttime reading?

Yes.

Stand-alone or series?

Yes

Favorite series?

Childhood favorite Little House on the Prairie
Adult Favorite Three Pines

Favorite children's book?

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

Favorite book of which "nobody" else has heard?

Lost Horizon or Magnificent Obsession

Favorite books read last year?

True Grit and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.

Favorite books of all time?

Persuasion, The Count of Monte Cristo, To Kill A Mockingbird, Poisonwood Bible, The Hobbit, Roots - I could go on and on...

Least favorite book you finished last year?

A YA series (seriesitis) called The Immortals. Phew. Awful.

What are you reading right now?

The Weight of Glory, Basic Economics (that will take awhile) and The Mortal Instruments

What are you reading next?

Al Capone Does My Shirts, Clair de Lune and maybe Boy: Tales of Childhood and Going Solo.

That was fun. Long, but fun.

Just checking in to say hello.. pls forgive me for not catching up :PP
Hope all is well...

Hi Jenn -- fun meme! I picked up Boy last year off of a teacher's classroom bookshelf while subbing, and loved it. Well worth a read :)

I enjoyed your Russia/USSR stories. My mother traveled to Hungary and (then) Czechoslovakia in the 1980s and had many of the same experiences, though Hungary was a little more open and had more variety. In Czechoslovakia, there was nothing to buy in stores. She said they dined in restaurants with long menus with photos, and they would point at what they wanted, and the staff would smile and nod, and then bring them the only thing they served. My husband Stelios came to the US to study, much to the disappointment of his mother (at the time there was no university in Cyprus, and many scholarships available to study in Eastern Bloc countries), but during our years in college her friends with kids studying in the Soviet Union and Bulgaria ended up having to ship staples like flour and sugar because food shortages were so severe.

Hi Kath! Happy you stopped by. Amazed you have time for anything besides reading your own thread...

Hi Anne. Aren't you glad Stelios came here? :)

#61 Open Season - library

I have seen this book mentioned around LT, so I thought I'd give it a try. It was just OK. I might like my heroes a little less conflicted and a little more sure of themselves... Since it was a first attempt, I'll probably read the second to see if it improves.

#62 At First Sight - library

I am really going to have to put my foot down. Every time someone tells me they have just read such and such a book by Nicholas Sparks and it was great and I should read it, the same thing happens. I read it and I hate it. In this case I was first bored, then nauseated, then horrified. In that order. Don't read it. Especially if you or a loved one is pregnant. Blech.

#63 City of Bones, #64 City of Ashes - library, YA

I generally liked these first two sort of fantasy/paranormal romance/adventure novels. I started them as a preview exercise to see if I wanted my son to read them. Not too sure about that... too casual an attitude toward teen sex for my liking.
In these books, the world is inhabited by regular people and Nephilim (demon hunters). Demons are gaining strength and breaking through the barriers between their realm and the Earth realm(?). There is the requisite overwrought love triangle going on, but it doesn't dominate the story (usually). There are some really creative ideas going on here and the characters seem to be developing fairly well. I am interested enough to read the next one.

>226 nittnut: I am indeed, Jenn! Great book comments, as always.

Hi Jenn - I know what you mean about Joe in Open Season. He does start to lose some of his haplessness in later books.

The CJ Box is my next "Series Starts" for my 12 in 12. I noticed the trend for a nervous beginning to series with Lucas Davenport (John Sandford) years ago and especially in Joe Leaphorn (Tony Hillerman) last time out. Let's see whether I agree with you on Pickett.

Have a lovely weekend.

I feel your pain with Nicolas Sparks, I just can't do it! (Danielle Steel too!)

Chelle! Gak! I am right there with you. How's the new house? I'll have to drop by your thread and see. I am sooooo behind!

#65 Mrs. Mike - library, audio

I absolutely loved this story. It's a sort of grown-up Little House on the Prairie. I especially liked the contrast between the girl who left Boston to go to the North and the woman who returned from the North to Boston for a visit after 5 years. I actually had no idea how much of a frontier it still was even after WWI - and probably still is.

#66 Regency Buck - mine

A little Georgette Heyer vacation on a Sunday afternoon is always nice.

I got a new car! I got a new car! I love it! I love it!

Sorry *ducks head* I am just a little excited. It's a Land Cruiser and it's awesome and I've always wanted one. Hooray! It's not brand new, but it's new to me. And it has 8 seat belts! Which I need for carpool/soccer mom purposes. It also has a sunroof and leather seats and nav - which I did not need, but wouldn't turn down for anything. I do wonder how to break the news to my MIL - who thinks I'm high maintenance because I get highlights in my hair twice a year - and this fancy of a car will just prove it. A birth announcement, perhaps?

I am now off to read until my brain fries. I have until tomorrow night at 7 to finish Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close for my book club. I procrastinated, hoping I would not have to buy it, but I think I've put it off as long as I should now. Kindle had it for $7, so I'm OK with that. Chapter 1, here I come...

Hooray -- congrats on the new car! Sounds like fun. I loved Mrs. Mike, too.

Jenn - great post and without being a chauvinisitc pig (my female friends will have to vouch for me here) it is great to see a lady discussing a new car enthusiastically without mentioning its colour! 8 seat-belts is impressive but you might finish up becoming much sort after in ferrying the unwanted.

Enjoy your reading but please don't fry your brain - I would miss your posts otherwise!

Sorry Paul. It's black. Not a preferred color, but it's fine. :)

Hi Anne!

#67 Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - mine, Kindle

An interesting book written in an interesting way. Did I like it? No. Would I read it again? No. Will it make a good book club discussion? Yes.

I don't do well with stream-of-consciousness writing. That's the main problem. Other than that, there are a lot of seriously damaged people in this story. It is very sad. I am sure with time and book group discussion, I will appreciate it more.

Congrats on the new bus car! Black is beautiful...when it's sparkling clean. The other mothers are going to love you with the "Queen of car pools" vehicle.

I see you have Clair de Lune to read. I'm looking forward to it. I loved The Moonflower Vine.

Yes, to your question about The Enchanted April way up thread. I preferred the film version with its lush Italian scenery.

yay for the new car! Sounds like a great one!
That Nav system might come in handy. Nate has one in his jeep and we love it

Donna, all the moms in my world have car pool vehicles. We're in soccer mom/carpool heaven right now. About 7 more years, and I'll be done. I'll have one in college, one ready to be driving herself, and just my little buddy to drag around. I'm going to thoroughly enjoy this truck (my husband informs me I need to call it a truck).

Chelle - thanks! I am loving it. I think we will use the navigation system more than my husband thinks. As in, I won't call him at work and have him look up addresses for me and so forth...

Congrats on the new Crusier! Between my nav system and Onstar - I'll never get lost again.

Hi Joanne! How are you? Warm enough?

Well. I just returned from book group. 5 of us had read the book (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close), 2 had not. The 5 of us discussed the book thoroughly. The 2 who had not read it sat and looked back and forth between us with a kind of mystified horror. I imagine it was pretty weird. I definitely got a lot out of the discussion. I am not a super analytical reader and I tend to make connections more by listening to what others saw in a book than I do on my own. I still don't like the book, but I am not sure the author wanted me to like it.

#68 Al Capone Does My Shirts - library, YA

I really enjoyed it this story of a family with two children, Moose and Natalie, who is most likely Autistic. The family moves to Alcatraz where their father got a job to hopefully pay for a special boarding school for Natalie. Truthfully, I had a hard time putting it down. I loved Moose. In some ways, he reminded me of my own "big for seventh grade" boy. Since I have friends who have kids with developmental issues (autism, Down's) I have seen first hand how difficult it is for parents to provide the care and attention they feel is necessary for that child, as well as giving due attention to their other children. I really felt for Moose's mom and her struggles, especially since at that time period there was a lot less help than there is now. I was so glad when Moose's dad finally stood up for him though. I also loved how most of the other kids on Alcatraz just accepted Natalie as she was and made friends with her. A highly recommended read.

#69 Half Magic - mine, Kindle

My 5 year old and I just finished this read-aloud tonight. It is a fun tale of 4 children who find a magic charm. The trick is, it only grants half a wish. All kinds of fun and confusion ensues as they try to figure out how it works.

#243 - I loved Al Capone Does My Shirts too, Jenn. The sequel Al Capone Shines My Shoes is good too. I listened to both of them on audio in my car, and I had a hard time turning them off when I'd get home from work.

#70, #71 City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels - library, YA

The next two in the Mortal Instruments series, the love triangle(s) are sorting themselves out, but the bad guys are still causing problems. I think I am pretty much done reading these. The demon ritual stuff is a real turn-off for me. I think I can definitively say that while they are well written and quite compelling, I'd prefer my 13 year old didn't read them. Perhaps because they are well written and compelling. :)

Thanks for that chuckle about your book group discussion, Jenn, esp. about the two members looking on in horror. Serves them right - maybe next time they'll read the book. ;-) I've not been tempted to read a book by Foer. He's a bit trendy for my old-fashioned tastes.

I know what you mean about the Mom Vehicles. The few times I've picked grandchildren up from school in my sedan, I feel like the orphan in the line of humongous vehicles.

Jenn
I'm very impressed that you were in the Soviet Union! I just finished another book re. Nicholas and Alexandra. I'd love to visit Russia. In college I had a wonderful history professor who taught Russian history. I learned ever so much.

Hi Donna! I'm glad you enjoyed - it was pretty funny.

Hi Linda! How are you? It was a really amazing experience, visiting the Soviet Union. Russia is a beautiful country and the history is truly fascinating.