leahbird try, tries again for 75 books (6)

My little slice of Paradise.

“She is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain.”― Louisa May Alcott
"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."― Cicero

*Note: Descriptions are not mine, but mined from LT or other sources. Thoughts are all me.

31. The Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman and Fine Lady by LA Meyer (read by Katherine Kellgren)


Description: After being forced to leave HMS Dolphin and Jaimy, her true love, Jacky Faber is making a new start at the elite Lawson Peabody School for Young Girls in Boston. But growing up on the streets of London and fighting pirates never prepared Jacky for her toughest battle yet: learning how to be a fine lady.

Everything she does is wrong. Her embroidery is deplorable, her French is atrocious, and her table manners--disgusting! Then there's the small matter of her blue anchor tattoo. . . .

Despite her best efforts, Jacky can't seem to stay out of trouble long enough to dedicate herself to being ladylike. But what fun would that be, anyway?

Thoughts: I wasn't thrilled when I realized that the second installment in the Bloody Jack series was a boarding school story. I really love A Little Princess but I didn't need another Sara Crew story. Nora convinced me not to skip it, so I loaded it up and headed down to the beach.

There is a lot of Sara Crew here. And some Little Orphan Annie. And a large helping of Pippi Longstockings. But it's ok because there is a lot of pure Jacky Faber as well.

There was lots to enjoy in this installment but I found myself wishing it wasn't quite so long and that certain story aspects had been left out altogether (like the bits with the preacher). It just felt like there was TOO much at all times. There are some truly wonderful characters and storylines here, but they can be a little swamped by all the other goings ons.

My biggest concern going forward is that we're going to continue to meet scores of characters and then leave them behind which will get tiring.

Rating: 3.42

Liked: 3
Plot: 3
Characterization: 3.5
Writing: 3
Audio: 5

Leah, that's a beautiful photo. I'm so sorry to hear you've been sick on your vacation. I can't imagine how you must feel. I hope today is much better for you.

#2 -- A lot of those characters reappear frequently throughout the series, so never fear!

So a crime novel comes out from a new male author and it gets good reviews but doesn't sell a ton. Then it's revealed that the author is in fact JK Rowling and sales jump 507,000% in a few hours! That woman definitely has fun with publishing! I don't know if I'm going to rush out to grab The Cuckoo's Calling as it's far out of my preferred style but the temptation is there to gobble up a new JK Rowling.

Sorry you didn't have a great time on your trip, Leah, but at least you have the National Book Festival to look forward to!

Yeah, I'm not terribly interested in the book, nor was I interested in The Casual Vacancy, but I do think it's pretty funny to see how popular the book will be now. I only wish it had been poorly rated before hand, just to see if the ratings jumped up with the news that it was JK Rowling. :P

When I bought my tickets I checked on ones out of Ohio. Strangely enough, they aren't showing any Mega bus tickets out of Ohio after August. Can't tell if they just aren't up for sale yet or if they are canceling their routes... I'm still determined to get you there. ;)

Yes, I noticed that too. I thought it was my browser but after letting it sit and load for awhile I realized they just aren't selling tickets.

#6 -- The ratings here on LT were pretty good (4.14 stars) and the few reviews were positive. My guess is that the ratings will actually go down, but it will be interesting to watch . . .

>5 leahbird:: My thought exactly on The Cuckoo's Calling. Not my usual genre of book, but to get another JK Rowling to add to the library is appealing. =)

Home and trying to get back into the rhythm of things again. Had to bathe the dog in the middle of the night because she had apparently been laying out in a mud hole. Nice to sleep in my own bed.

Watching the coolest thing I've ever seen on The History Channel. It's called Clash of the Gods- Tolkien's Monsters. Super cool and I'm not even a huge LotR fan.

Welcome home! :)

Finally saw Star Trek: Into Darkness last night. It was good but maybe not great. I was excited to see Noel Clarke (Micky Smith from Doctor Who) even though it was a small part. The best bit for me was watching the battle of cheekbones and floppy bangs between Benedict Cumberbatch and Zachery Quinto. It is epic!

I thought it wasn't too bad except a) horribly sexist and b) that part where Cumberbatch and Chris Pine were fighting on top of the hovercars or whatever those things were. So unnecessarily long and boring.

That part was the bit with Zach Quinto, not Chris Pine. I loved it for the cheekbones and floppy hair but it was long and silly. I especially loved watching them chase each other. I was like "There goes tall, lanky, broody guy. Oh look, there goes the other tall, lanky, broody guy!"

This has been a very very difficult afternoon for me. We, very suddenly, had to have our beloved dog Gus put down this afternoon because he went into heart failure. He had been a bit off since we got back from our trip but last night his stomach started looking very distended and he was breathing heavier than usual. Farm vet came out today to check him out and sent us in to have him examined by our regular small animal vet. She diagnosed him very quickly with rapid onset congenital heart failure and suggested we put him down as he was in pain and treatment is very ineffective in this scenario with a 12 year old dog. She is a long time family friend and knew what we would do to help get him better and still said that treatment would only prolong his suffering. We are all devastated.

Gus had the warmest, kindest heart and you couldn't help but love him. It's ironic that it was, in the end, his heart that failed him.

I can't believe that he's gone but I am thankful for 12 years of love and comfort and friendship. He is now in his favorite spot in the yard where he can survey and protect the farm for the rest of forever.

Gus and Daisy sharing sweet secrets

I'm so sorry, Leah! Poor Gus :-(

Thanks. I never thought Gus would go before Daisy. I just can't imagine life without him. He's the dog we had the longest of any in my life and a very good one.

So sorry, Leah.

Thanks. It's all just very weird. I took Daisy out just now and it was so very strange not to have Gus get up and follow me out so he could "protect me" from anything. This dog once got mauled by a bear because he wouldn't let it in the yard. He was the epitome of what a good Aussie Heeler should be: loyal, loving, intelligent, devoted, protective, and an all around great dog.

I'm sorry, sweetie. *Hugs*

Thanks. Today is a bit better. Except when I had the brilliant idea to flip through my photo albums for his puppy pictures. Bad plan. But fewer tears today.

I'm sorry you lost your fur friend. *hugs*

Me too.

Thanks guys, I'm feeling very supported right now. My wonderful aunt just dropped by to bring us a pie and some Tennessee Caviar and to commiserate a bit. Gus was a very popular boy and seeing how much everyone loved him (and how wonderful my friends are- RL and online) is making my heart much less heavy.

A picture of Gus and I in our younger days. This is 2001, I'm 18 and Gus is about 2.5 months.

Awwww! I'm not sure there isn't anything about that picture that isn't totally awesome. :) It's so wonderful to have pictures like that, it almost makes me regret the way I vehemently refuse to have any taken of me. Almost.

Oh, I'm sorry about Gus, Leah. :( That's a wonderful picture of you two. He looks like a sweet boy.

32. Palimpsest by Catherynne Valente


Description: Catherynne Valente weaves a lyrically erotic spell of a place where the grotesque and the beautiful reside and the passport to our most secret fantasies begins with a stranger’s kiss.…

Between life and death, dreaming and waking, at the train stop beyond the end of the world is the city of Palimpsest. To get there is a miracle, a mystery, a gift, and a curse—a voyage permitted only to those who’ve always believed there’s another world than the one that meets the eye. Those fated to make the passage are marked forever by a map of that wondrous city tattooed on their flesh after a single orgasmic night. To this kingdom of ghost trains, lion-priests, living kanji, and cream-filled canals come four travelers: Oleg, a New York locksmith; the beekeeper November; Ludovico, a binder of rare books; and a young Japanese woman named Sei. They’ve each lost something important—a wife, a lover, a sister, a direction in life—and what they will find in Palimpsest is more than they could ever imagine.

Thoughts: I am a huge fan of Valente's Girl Who books. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making totally blew me away when I read it. I knew that that book had come out of another book Valente had written and I was curious to see what role the seeming children's book would play in a book that seemed to deal an awful lot with sex*... And if it would be as wonderful as I hoped.

On the Corner of 16th Street and Hieratica, a factory sings and sighs. Look: its thin spires flash green, and spot long loops of white flame into the night. Casimira owns this place, as did her father and her grandmother and probably her most distant progenitor. It is pleasant to imagine them, curling and uncurling their proboscis-fingers against machines of stick and bone. There has always been a Casimira, except when, occasionally, there is a Casimir...

And what do they make in this factory? Why, the vermin of Palimpsest. There is a machine for stamping cockroaches with glistening green carapaces, their maker's mark hidden cleverly under the left wing. There is a machine for shaping and pounding rates, soft gray fur still and shining when they are first released. There is another mold for squirrels, one for chipmunks and one for plain mice. There is a centrifuge for spiders, a lizard-pour, a delicate and ancient machines which turns out flies and mosquitoes by turn, so exquisite, so perfect that they seem to be made of nothing but copper wire, spun sugar, and light. There is a printing press for graffiti which spits out effervescent letters in scarlet, black, angry yellows, and the trademark green of Casimira. They fly from the high windows and flatten themselves against walls, trestles, train cars.

So begins Palimpsest, the most brilliantly fevered opium dream I have ever read. Valente manages to throw the reader directly into the midst- the dust and cobbles- of this amazing and disturbed place, a place that demands a high price if you want to prowl its streets. It's like reading the magnum opus of a psychopath who happens to be the reincarnation of Shakespeare, Lewis Carrol, and Ferdinand Magellan.

While the descriptions and the prose and the mythology Valente creates here are breathtaking and spellbinding, the actual plot is serpentine and possibly even a little bit uninteresting. While I liked the characters very much and found their various experiences intriguing, how they fit together was unclear for most of the book and then became somewhat tedious in its revelation towards the end. This shouldn't discourage you from reading Palimpsest, but you should be forwarned that you aren't picking up an engrossing, can't wait to see what happens next, plot driven novel. Come for the words and let the plot just be the vehicle that carries you on.

One word of warning: if the idea of casual sex offends you, this is probably not the book for you. There isn't a lot of time spent on the acts themselves and what is there is well written and feels authentic to the world, but sex plays an intrinsically important and revelatory part in the mythos of the world. This is NOT a romance novel with descriptions of quivering members and heaving bosoms. The sex is just another of the prices these travelers pay.

*For those of you who have read the Girl Who books and then pick up Palimpsest, be prepared for some scenes of the Green Wind being very... adult. It's done very, very beautifully, but I will be viewing the Green Wind a bit differently on my next foray into Fairyland.

Rating: 4.4

Liked: 4.5
Plot: 3.5
Characterization: 4.5
Writing: 5

Hugs for the fur shaped hole in your heart.

I liked Into Darkness pretty well. It's launched me into re-watching all the Star Trek OS --and then, of course I'll have to watch the movies.

Thanks for the kind words, you guys. Hugs all around.

Stephen, Nora, et al who have been talking up World War Z: Apparently I should have listened before. I just was going to read a few pages before bed and then it was suddenly 2:30am and I was 1/5 into it already.

Haha, hurray! :D

>31 leahbird: I told you!!!!!

I did the same thing last week with Odds Against Tomorrow. It was 10:30 and I told myself I would just read the first 10 pages and then go to sleep. Then all of a sudden it was midnight.....

I finally managed to get my parents library cards and signed up for Overdrive. I think they might have just been humoring me but they both read a LOT on their Kindles and they are spending a lot of money on ebooks they probably won't ever read again. We'll see how much use it gets.

Catching up! Sorry about the loss of your beloved pet.

33. World War Z by Max Brooks


Description: The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time. World War Z is the result. Never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped human society through the plague years.

Ranging from the now infamous village of New Dachang in the United Federation of China, where the epidemiological trail began with the twelve-year-old Patient Zero, to the unnamed northern forests where untold numbers sought a terrible and temporary refuge in the cold, to the United States of Southern Africa, where the Redeker Plan provided hope for humanity at an unspeakable price, to the west-of-the-Rockies redoubt where the North American tide finally started to turn, this invaluable chronicle reflects the full scope and duration of the Zombie War.

Most of all, the book captures with haunting immediacy the human dimension of this epochal event. Facing the often raw and vivid nature of these personal accounts requires a degree of courage on the part of the reader, but the effort is invaluable because, as Mr. Brooks says in his introduction, “By excluding the human factor, aren’t we risking the kind of personal detachment from history that may, heaven forbid, lead us one day to repeat it? And in the end, isn’t the human factor the only true difference between us and the enemy we now refer to as ‘the living dead’?”

Thoughts: As I said previously, this book totally had me engrossed from the first page. I typically couldn't give a rat's ass about zombies, but this book managed to make zombies into a topic of interest, and it didn't even have to result to gruesome shock tactics to do it.

I found the style and the story very believable and engaging. I was also very impressed by the wide scope of the viewpoints Brooks included, from characters you wanted to root for to some utterly contemptible scumbags.

The major disappointment for me was that there was never any explanation given, no science to even begin to explain the how and why. Even if it had just been some dude from the CDC saying "Well, we've figured out this much from our 15+ years of study but it still doesn't explain X, Y, and Z," I think the story would have felt more complete and well rounded. I mean, what is the biggest thing you'd be wondering if hordes of the living dead suddenly started taking over the planet? "Well, how the fuck did that happen?" Seriously. You might not linger on that question while fighting for your life, but you certainly are going to research it once the world isn't being devoured.

Rating: 3.8

Liked: 4*
Plot: 3.5
Characterization: 3.5
Writing: 4

*this one gets bonus "Like" points for being innovative and elevating it's genre like 1 million %

I'm glad you liked World War Z. It's one of my top books. I rarely give out 9 or 10 stars, but this one got 9!

It is in a league of its own, that's for sure.

I'm ridiculously happy you liked it, Leah! And I certainly can't complain when a lady's 1 complaint is that there isn't enough science involved. ;)

;)

Two very good and thought proviking reviews Leah. I almost bought Palimpset yesterday and probably will soon.

Have a great Sunday.

Thanks Paul! I look forward to seeing your thoughts on Palimpsest!

I have Palimsest here in the tbr tower, and your review was great!

And my sincere sympathy for your loss of a family member. May Gus live on in your heart!

I am sorry to hear you lost your beloved friend. It sounds like Gus was a very special guy.

Thanks for the continued thoughts for our loss. You guys are great.

34. Fairest Vol 2: The Hidden Kingdom by Lauren Beukes


Description: New York Times bestselling, award-winning creator Bill Willingham presents a new series starring the female FABLES. Balancing horror, humor and adventure in the FABLES tradition, FAIREST explores the secret histories of Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Cinderella, The Snow Queen, Thumbelina, Snow White, Rose Red and others.

Rapunzel lives one of the most regimented lives in Fabletown, forced to maintain her rapidly growing hair lest her storybook origins be revealed. But when word of her long-lost children surface, she races across the sea to find them--and a former lover.

Thoughts: Another solid foray into the Fables universe in the new series dealing with the ladies of Fabletown. I think this one was much more thought-out and well constructed than the last and I continue to be interested to see where we head next.

This also included some stellar and sexy drawings of Rapunzel so that was a nice plus. I mean, just check out that cover.

Rating: 3.8

Liked: 4
Plot: 4
Characterization: 3.5
Writing: 3.5

July Round-Up

Books read: 5
Fiction: 5
Non-Fiction: 0
Classics: 0
Young adult: 2
Fantasy: 2
Sci-Fi: 1
Cookbooks: 0

Average rating: 3.9

From my shelves: 0
New: 1
Library: 4
Kindle: 2
Audio: 2

This month was better than I expected. Glad Fairest Vol 2 came in today to punch the number up just a smidgen! Now I'm just 9 books behind schedule...

That's okay, we can be behind schedule together! It's been a dismal year for me where the numbers are concerned, but I've read a lot of great books, so I'm not complaining. ...much... :)

I've read some really great books as well and I'm never too bothered by the numbers since I NEVER MAKE 75. I just like to chastise myself at the end of each month in the hopes that it will motivate me.

Has anyone else noticed the strange uptick in the number of books about women or girls that are titled so as to reference only their relationships with others, usually men? It's started to irk me. There's The Time Traveler's Wife, The Aviator's Wife, The Hangman's Daughter, The Memory Keeper's Daughter, etc etc. I've only read one of these (The Hangman's Daughter) and liked it, but it just seems like a strange trend.

In the case of The Hangman's Daughter, the daughter is barely in the story. However, in the second book, The Dark Monk, she's a much more major character... I don't get this naming thing.

I've noticed it too, it's INCREDIBLY common right now! It's hard to browse the library without coming across a book or two with a title like that.

I'm guessing it's just a marketing thing, I'm sure if we could look back we'd find a couple books with similar titles of that nature and other's started following suite to try to cash in on it. The fact that there are so many popular books with titles like that seems to indicate that it's a successful strategy.

Yeah, I think it's been growing for a while, it just feels like it's jumping out at me constantly these days. It just irritates me that authors/publishers think it's clever and appealing.

It's certainly not clever, you can't follow trends and be clever simultaneously, I would say. It has, apparently, been appealing though, considering the number of successful books with similar titles. I think as soon as people start becoming aware of a trend and bemoaning it's existence is the day the trend starts failing. So, you're being revolutionary right now. Woohoo!!! :)

I agree that there are a lot of books and movies with daughter or wife in the title, but I don't think that is at all a current trend. I think it's been that way for awhile. I also note that most books with daughter or wife in the title are historical fiction.

Holy Doctor Who! Big big change coming at Christmas and I'm so unsure about it. I guess I have to trust they know what they are doing.

Hi Leah, I am just now finding your thread and your wonderful reviews. I know it has been a while since you lost your Gus, but allow me to offer my condolences.

I'll be dropping a star so I can continue to follow along!

Thanks Tina and welcome!

Have you perused the new ER books, Leah? There is a book titled The Shogun's Daughter. ;)

Damn them! I've pretty much given up on ER for the time being. I owe reviews of books I just can't bring myself to read.

But, more importantly, I am now busy doing assigned reading! I am officially registered for my first series of workshops for becoming a birth assistant and educator! First required book, The Birth Partner, arrived today.

Can I also take a minute to share what a complete OCD nerd I am? I spent over an hour and $30 to determine and order the perfect highlighters... I hate the smell of regular highlighters so I bought fancy highlighting pencils AND a fancy sharpener all the way from Germany. I have issues.

What if the German ones only work on text printed in German!?!?! :o

Then I'm in trouble! I guess I could order my books in German and have my cousin translate them for me.

One of my family's businesses, The Lost Sea, is on Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy on The History Channel right now (9pm EST). Check us out!

http://www.history.com/shows/only-in-america-with-larry-the-cable-guy/episodes

Ohhhhh, I missed it. :(

Do you know if they are going to be replaying it any time soon? I can't watch the online version.

If you look at the link, under "Larry Caves In," there are some alternate show times.

Oh, I see! Okay, it looks like I'll have to wait for the one on the 14th. Looking forward to seeing it. :)

The only real negative I can report on it is that they didn't cover our normal tour at all, just the hard ass spelunking tour. Normally you just walk along pathways and nothing is claustrophobic.

I missed the original air time and I don't think I'll be up in the middle of the night to watch the repeats. I'll try to catch it in On Demand. I hate to admit that I've never been to the Lost Sea. I haven't avoided it on purpose. It's just one of those places that's close enough to home that you can visit any time, but somehow that time never comes. I think my brother has been there, maybe with a Cub Scout group? He and a couple of his friends went through a caving phase in high school and college.

That's so common, isn't it? It's funny how people will pay so much money to see things in other places but then never bother to see the things right in front of them.

I hear that a lot. It's understandable especially given it's location. For locals, you really have to go out of your way to an area where there isn't anything else to do. If we were on the other side of Knoxville, near Pigeon Forge/ Sevierville, I think we'd get more casual local day trippers.

If you do want to go sometime let me know and I can hook you up with a pass.

I might take you up on that! I found the show on On Demand and I'm watching it now. Larry doesn't look like a spelunker. I think the non-claustrophobic option would be the way to go!

Hi Leah!

Hiya!

The day I've been waiting for all summer finally came today: Lisa and Wes and my godson Mark are Tennessee residents again at last! I went down but their house closing got all rearranged so I only got a few minutes to visit and Mark was sleeping but it was great just to see them. I'm going back down on Thursday to help Lisa with the movers and to steal some snuggle time.

My sister, niece, mom, and I took the opportunity to spend the afternoon at the Creative Discovery Museum, this great, interactive children's museum. It was wonderful!

I hate when I get a random urge to crazy clean. It always starts out so innocent: picking up the explosion of laundry in my floor. It rapidly cascades into moving every piece of furniture, vacuuming and mopping, typically rearranging, pulling everything out of the closet to reorganize, and then usually fizzles out with the realization that I have created more of a mess than I started with and I now have nowhere to sleep. Luckily now that my books are shelved in a lovely order, they are no longer part of the craziness equation.

Thank god it only happens 4-6 times a year!

4-6 times a year!? That's more of a once-or-twice thing for me, and I can just barely tell the difference after I'm done, so it's always a wonder I go through all the trouble.

Oh by the way, I watched Larry get literally-stuck in The Lost Sea this morning! How cool that your family owns that business! It looks beautiful. :)

I suffer from latent cleaning and organizing tendencies! ;) If I were more OCD and less lazy I would be a total nut job clean freak, but luckily I can live like a total slob most of the time. Well, messy but not dirty. Like I'm terrible at putting laundry away but I vacuum regularly.

Glad you got to catch the show! It's a totally weird thing to own actually. My grandfather just seems to acquire weird businesses for some reason. The government used to own it 25 years ago and they didn't want it anymore so my lawyer grandfather, who knows nothing about caves or tourism, decided that we needed it... It's just weird.

I'm the same way with mess vs. dirty. I'm a thorough clutterbug and tend to let my things pile up on the countertops. One day I will go to put something on a table or my computer desk and an avalanche will occur, and that will be the day I turn into a temporary clean freak and turn my house upside down cleaning it. I vacuum and sweep the non-carpeted floors 2-3 times a week, clean the bathroom regularly, etc, I just find it convenient to throw whatever I'm carrying onto the nearest flat service and leave it there.

Haha! Well, it's certainly a cool thing to own! I don't get claustrophobic at all - in fact, perhaps due to my social anxiety and natural tendencies to shut myself away from people, I'm actually quite comfortable in small enclosed spaces - so I think the hard ass spelunking tour seems pretty cool! Except, like Larry, I suspect I would get literally-stuck in some of those tighter spaces. :(

I totally forgot that Dust, the final installment in the Silo Series that started with Wool, is coming out TOMORROW!!! Granted, I'm just getting it as an ebook now in the hopes that they release hardcovers of Shift and Dust to match my hardcover Wool, but I'm still excited! Can't wait to see how it all ends.

I didn't read this article because I haven't read the second book yet, but it looks interesting: http://io9.com/9-questions-we-have-about-the-wool-trilogy-s-epic-final-112268738...

Good questions all, and many of them were the things I'm most curious about too. I'm so excited to get into the new book but I wish it wasn't coming out this weekend. I'm going to be playing with my bestie and my godson this weekend and won't have much desire to read, even with this temptation looming over me.

Hugh Howey's FB feed has been blowing up. He's so cute about it! I love that he gets just as squee-a-riffic as the rest of us. :D

ETA: I tried explaining Wool to some friends last week... it didn't go well. I think comprehension ended somewhere around "they always wash the windows" and now they just think I read crazy weird shit.

You know it's been optioned for a film? I hope that means it will really be made, not shelved for a decade and then kicked around some more.

My only thought about a film version is that you will know for certain much earlier on that they are... in the place they are in because of the visual. It all reveals so lovely and slowly in the book.

Unfortunately I spent Dust day actually dusting. And washing walls and baseboards and unpacking boxes. But the flip side is that Wes and Lisa are in their house, I got tons of baby snuggles, and I got to sleep over so we can go furniture window shopping tomorrow! Dust will be devoured tomorrow evening though!

35. Fox 8: A Story by George Saunders


Description: Fox 8 has always been known as the daydreamer in his pack, the one his fellow foxes regarded with a knowing snort and a roll of the eyes. That is, until Fox 8 develops a unique skill: He teaches himself to speak “Yuman” by hiding in the bushes outside a house and listening to children’s bedtime stories. The power of language fuels his abundant curiosity about people—even after “danjer” arrives in the form of a new shopping mall that cuts off his food supply, sending Fox 8 on a harrowing quest to help save his pack. Told with his distinctive blend of humor and pathos, Fox 8 showcases the extraordinary imaginative talents of George Saunders, whom the New York Times called “the writer for our time.”

Thoughts: This lovely little Kindle Single movies deftly from charming and quite funny (jokes foxes make about chickens crack me up even when actual foxes have eaten my actual chickens) to clever environmental piece to a sad and touching commentary on humanity. It's short but effective and I can happily recommend it.

Rating: 4

Liked: 4
Plot: 3.5
Characterization: 4.5
Writing: 4

I read this on Friday while our power was out and am just now getting around to posting about it because every time the power goes out it does something totally weird to the router. I was gone over the weekend kissing baby cheeks so couldn't tackle it until today and then it took HOURS to get the stupid thing set back up and working on actual computers so I could do more than internet on my phone. Stupid thing. But now that it's working.... I'm off to download Dust onto the Kindle and get to reading!

That one looks super cute. :)

Don't be fooled, it gets heavy.

Who says things can't be heavy and cute at the same time?

Since I manage to be both every day... well, no one says it in my presence at least. ;) But I was reading cute as a bit shallow and it's not that.

I suspect intelligent cuties are difficult to compliment in their presence, I'm guessing guys get intimidated because they are afraid to get reprimanded. :P

Haha! Apparently I am difficult to compliment according to a certain friend of mine who gives it his best shot because I'm too quick to assume ulterior motives. Or drunkeness. I'm pretty sure I VERY stupidly turned down an intriguing proposition a while back by a long time friend who I adore because I was convinced that his declaration of love was the result of his being very drunk at the moment. However, a few things have been said lately that lead me to believe that he may have been genuine and is now a bit sore about it.

Here's a new picture of the man I love the most.



This was from Sunday and he's wearing another farmy outfit I bought him! I'm heading down tomorrow for some more snuggles.

In other news, this weekend is my first workshop for doula training! Anyone having a baby after the new year, I'm the girl to call to coach you through it! Give me 2-3 years and I'll be a midwife and I'll deliver your babies! Maybe LT baby catching can be my niche!

Hugh Howey doesn't play fair. I guess I should be used to it by now, but I convinced myself certain things wouldn't happen in Dust and he's making a fool of me.

36. Dust by Hugh Howey


Description: WOOL introduced the silo and its inhabitants.

SHIFT told the story of their making.

DUST will chronicle their undoing.

Welcome to the underground.

Thoughts: Wow, that description is the most sparse yet! I have been avidly anticipating the arrival of the continuation of this series. As I've probably mentioned on here before. I'd love to say that this installment knocked my socks off and got all inside me like Wool, and even parts of Shift, did. But it didn't. There were nice moments. And I wouldn't say that what Howey delivered felt untrue to the world he built and the history he created, it simply didn't take me on the journey I wanted to go on. That's not Howey's fault exactly, it's more down to my unreasonable expectations. It's just that I felt opportunities were wasted in several places, abandoned for story arches that didn't feel as impactful or interesting as he probably thought they would. Some moments felt like they were more included for a little shock value or as if he had made a list of a lot of terrible things that could happen and just needed to check some more off.

There are some beautiful moments too, but they are far removed from the desperate revelations of the Wool stories. In the end, I expected a massive event that possibly took months but that is not what is there. There is failure and destruction and death and redemption and revelation, but it just didn't carry me out of the world of the silos like I thought it would.

Read it anyway. You have to know how it ends. And maybe I'm just a curmudgeon.

Rating: 3.5

Liked: 3.5
Plot: 3.5
Characterization: 3.5
Writing: 3.5

Off to my first birth workshop tonight. Excited but I have a terrible head cold. Hope I make it through.

37. Under the Jolly Roger by L. A. Meyer (read by Katherine Kellgren)


Description: A Pirate at heart, unlikely heroine Jacky Faber returns to sea in a truly swashbuckling tale filled with good humor, wit, and courage. After Leaving the Lawson Peabody School for Young Girls in Boston--under dire circumstances, of course--Jacky boards a whaling ship bound for London, where she hopes to find her beloved Jaimy. But things don't go as planned, soon she is off on a wild misadventure at sea. She thwarts the lecherous advances of a crazy captain, rallies the sailors to her side, and ultimately gains command of a ship in His Majesty's Royal Navy. but Jacky's adventures don't end there...soon she is being called a pirate, and there's s price on her head!

Thoughts: More fun with Jacky Faber getting into trouble and making miraculous mischeif. My biggest complaint right now is that the incessant change in fortunes is starting to wear on me and this one in particular feels like it's going g to end in about 5 different places. Nice that some misunderstandings are resolved.

Rating: 3.83

Liked: 3.5
Plot: 3.5
Characterization: 4
Writing: 3.5
Audio: 5

I'm half way to the goal! It's later in the year than I would like but it's nice to get there with plenty of time to go.

Woohoo! You are a couple books ahead of me, but I'm about to start a 130 pager so I'm right behind you! :)

38. In the Belly of the Bloodhound by L.A. Meyer (read by Katherine Kellgren)


Description: Now that the King of England has called her a pirate and put a price on her head, Jacky Faber has no choice but to stay out of sight. Hoping for a safe hiding place, she returns to the Lawson Peabody School for Young Girls in Boston, but the calm doesn't last long. On a class field trip to Boston Harbor, the girls are abducted and forced into the hold of the Bloodhound, a ship bound for the slave markets on the Barbary Coast where they will be put up on the auction block and sold into Arab harems. Jacky wouldn't dream of going down without a fight, but the delicate Lawson Peabody girls are in over their heads. Although Jacky will use anything in her arsenal to help her well-heeled classmates, she isn't so certain they will find the strength and courage needed to survive. But if she can convince them to trade petticoats and propriety for her daring escape plan, the girls just might become their own rescuers.

Thoughts: This was a very nice installment of the adventures of Jacky Faber. It might not have been the most daring and exciting but it was creative and wonderful to see all the girls rally to save themselves. I was confused and disappointed that Amy was left out of the main part of the story, but otherwise this one was very enjoyable.

Rating: 4.08

Liked: 4
Plot: 4
Characterization: 4
Writing: 3.5
Audio: 5

YAY more Jacky!
Amy is ALWAYS left out. It's weird, but it serves a purpose. Though the 10th book (coming out in 2 weeks!) is called Boston Jacky so I have hopes that maybe Amy will actually be in it.

August Round-Up

Books read: 4
Fiction: 4
Non-Fiction: 0
Classics: 0
Young adult: 2
Fantasy: 1
Sci-Fi: 1
Cookbooks: 0

Average rating: 3.75

From my shelves: 1 (digital shelves)
New: 1
Library: 2
Kindle: 2
Audio: 2

I feel a tad cheated by Hugh Howey this month. The first 2 installments of the Wool series were broken up into segments (Kindle Singles originally) and therefore gave me 3-5 "books" towards my count each time I read an omnibus. Maybe this is cheating a little, but I like rating and reviewing stories on their own so I count them this way. Dust, however, doesn't play nicely and was just one big book. Damn you Howey, I needed the padding! ;)

#98 by norabelle414> You're right, Amy is always left out. It's like Ivy Hissellpenny from Soulless- likeable, funny characters that have to get the shaft so the heroine can have all the fun. Not that I want Amy to end up like Ivy, certainly not, but I'd like her to get an adventure all her own!

So, I was originally not supposed to take my Doula training workshop until November, but I found out they were offering a class next weekend so I got into it instead. This means I will be cleared to start taking on clients NEXT MONTH! Holy smokes! This is awesome but means I've had no time to devise a marketing strategy for myself. I have a basic plan but what I need is a BUSINESS NAME?!? Dear friends, do you have any suggestions? I don't want anything too cutesy but I'm at a total loss. Help! All I know if that it needs to be able to transition with me when I become a Childbirth Educator and a Midwife, so "something something Birth Services" is probably the way to go. Something vaguely literary would be fun.

Baby Extraction Services.

Bwahahahaha! That is spectacular!

#102 -- LOL!

Birthin' By the Book

hahaha

Hey, sorry I've been MIA around here lately, but I love to see you enjoyed all the Howey. I'm finally getting around to Shift and Dust is up next. :)

Woohoo! on getting thrown in the deep end right away but also Yikes! Good luck in your new venture-- I hope you find it to be fulfilling and happy-making.

:P

In all seriously, ummmm, mmmmm, errrrr, I have no serious ideas, I'm afraid.

Just a word of warning: If a screen pops up on your computer saying that you are being investigated by the FBI for downloading illegal porn but you can pay $200 and the charge will go away and they will "unlock" your computer, UNPLUG IT IMMEDIATELY and call an IT person. Do not murder your husband or ground your son for the rest of his known life (our IT guy said that women have literally attacked their husbands with blunt objects believing their husbands had been downloading child porn). This thing is super aggressive but our IT guy has seen it many many times now and got rid of it pretty easily.

Special note for Firefox or Chrome users: Because Firefox & Chrome update so frequently, they are rarely protected by anti-virus software. If you want to continue to use Firefox or Chrome and know that your anti-virus is covering it, my IT guy says to stay about 90 days behind Firefox or Chrome updates. You can go on your anti-virus software's website to see which version they are currently up-to-date with. It sucks, but I hate IE so much.

Watching the Doctor Who movie with Paul McGann. What an awesome Tardis!

Yeah, I've been hearing about that virus/scam and it's totally ridiculous. Argh! I guess one of the VERY FEW benefits of having such a crap internet speed is that I'm pretty much completely immune to some of the more sophisticated attacks like that, as the file sizes are too big for me to download before I disconnect from the internet.

The thing that surprises me is that so many people fall for it and actually pay the money. Firstly, you should have a decent idea if you have illegal porn on your computer or not. Secondly, shouldn't it be VERY apparent that the FBI doesn't give out "get out of jail free" passes for $200? So they take your money and/or spy on your computer and snag all your account info.

I recently found myself with nothing left to watch, which is sad since I have TiVo and Netflix and On Demand and Pay Per View and HBO. Sad sad thing. Anyway, since several of you had been talking about Buffy I decided I might as well get around to watching it. Yes, I was a teenager when it was on and should have been a prime candidate for a fan, but I never got around to watching more than a few episodes. Anyway, I'm now enjoying it and having a great time trying to figure out why people in Southern California are always wearing fuzzy sweaters in May. Anyways, the whole point of this diatribe is to say that the Season 4 episode Hush which I just finished watching is some of the best TV I've ever seen. Super awesome!

110: I think the problem is the vast majority of people are completely incapable of thinking for themselves. The average human seems to utterly lack anyway to think analytically. People need rules and laws and other people telling them how to think and what to do, and without those things they become helpless childlike beings ripe for picking if you are a scammer.

111: I've actually never watched Buffy at all, I only vaguely know what it's about and who plays on it. I know there is a blonde lady and some vampires or something. :P

I've been watching Felicity and wondering how a girl from Southern California with no money and two jobs could instantly own SO MANY SWEATERS.

The CW must have been propped up by the Sweater Mafia or something. It's super weird.

Kindle users: Bill Willingham's Fables Vol 1: Legends in Exile is a Kindle deal today. If you haven't started the series and want to see what it's about, go grab it. I will say that this one is quite dissimilar to the ones that are coming out now. It's much gritier and a lot more sexy, somewhat vulgar, detective noir, but it's still very good. The next few collections quickly start to pull together the greater storyline that will evolve for much of the rest of the books. Sometimes when Fables is getting bogged down, I really miss the somewhat messy glory of the first few story arches.

I did grab it Leah! Can't wait to sit down with it. I've been wanting to try it out since hearing about it from you so long ago. :)

Oh! And guess what came in the mail for me yesterday? The Song of the Quarkbeast! I have far too many books to read ASAP now. I'd better lock myself in a room and get to it.

I've got about 40 pages left to go in Song of the Quarkbeast and it's pretty good. I still don't feel as much connection to this series as his others but I enjoy it as any Fforde. Seriously desperate for the next Shades of Gray book though.

Also, can't wait to hear what you think of Fables, especially since I've not read a comic on the Kindle yet.

I have read a few on Kindle, and I like it well enough. Since the advent of panel view it's even better. I can zoom in when needed-- not often but sometimes I just need some detail. And you get one page at a time in portrait mode rather than a two-page spread in landscape. I tried reading some on the phone app but the screen is just too small even with panel view. On my kindle fire though, they look beautiful.

I just finished Wizard of Oz (another daily deal the same day I think) on kindle and it was very easy to read.

39. The Song of the Quarkbeast by Jasper Fforde


Description: Magic has been in a sad state in the Ununited Kingdom for years, but now it’s finally on the rise, and boneheaded King Snodd IV knows it. If he succeeds at his plot, the very future of magic will be at risk! Sensible sixteen-year-old Jennifer Strange, acting manager of Kazam Mystical Arts Management and its unpredictable crew of sorcerers, has little chance against the king and his cronies—but there’s no way Kazam will let go of the noble powers of magic without a fight. A suspenseful, satirical story of Quarkbeasts, trolls, and wizidrical crackle!

Thoughts: As mentioned a few posts up, I don't LOVE this series like I do others by Jasper Fforde, but I can pretty much completely chalk that up to the fact that this one if YA and therefore just a little bit less fleshed than his others. The characters are great, the world is interesting, there's lots of weird and wonderful Ffordeiness throughout, but it just needs a little bit more oomph to push it solidly into great.

I found several of the major plot lines in this one pretty easily predictable but that didn't rob the story of too much. All in all, quite enjoyable.

Rating: 3.6

Liked: 3.5
Plot: 3.5
Characterization: 4
Writing: 3.5

I've come to realize that listening to audiobooks in bed does not help me get to sleep. I have to drive to Atlanta tomorrow for my doula class but I just want to keep listening to Mississippi Jack.

Ohhhh I know that feeling well ;-) Mississippi Jack is particularly hard to fall asleep to because of whatshisname's voice being so loud.

Mr. Fink! It's terrible. I had to put my hand over the speaker to drown it out a bit. I think it feels true to the character but it's seriously grating.

Since I'm late to your thread I may have missed the explanation of what a doula class is... I get it has to do with the mid-wifery goal though. Did you come up with a business name yet?

What all services will you provide?

A doula is a trained, non-medical labor support person. So I'll be working with moms to manage labor, especially if they want natural birth. This class is for my certification. So I'll be doing this work while studying to become midwife.

No name yet.

I'm feeling really blessed for great friends who recharge my soul every time I see them. I have very few people I am close to at home and don't hang out much with those I am, but the few weekends a year that I make it down to Atlanta to see friends is like a booster shot of happy, friendy goodness. I always leave feeling more positive and connected. Even this weekend where I only got to see people for a few hours, it was worth staying up ridiculously late after 12 hrs of class just to be reminded that there are people in the world who have seen the best and the worst in me, still love me, and are so happy that we have shared our lives, however separated, with each other.

I'm so warm and fuzzy and I haven't even been drinking. Drunk on friendship!

40. Mississippi Jack by L.A. Meyer (read by Katherine Kellgren)


Description: The intrepid Jacky Faber, having once again eluded British authorities, heads west, hoping that no one will recognize her in the wilds of America. There she tricks the tall-tale hero Mike Fink out of his flatboat, equips it as a floating casino-showboat, and heads south to New Orleans, battling murderous bandits, British soldiers, and other scoundrels along the way. Will Jacky's carelessness and impulsive actions ultimately cause her beloved Jaimy to be left in her wake? Bold, daring, and downright fun, Jacky Faber proves once again that with resilience and can-do spirit, she can wiggle out of any scrape...well, almost.

Thoughts: This is probably my favorite Jacky Faber book so far. The cast of characters is really diverse and rich. (Be prepared for a couple of headache inducing chapters if listening to the audio. Kellgren really goes for it with Mike Fink.) It was nice to see so many scenes from Jaimy's adventures during the story especially since they were actual adventures instead of just letters pining for Jacky.

The last several chapters contained a bit too many plot developments and scenes of action for my liking, but that wasn't enough to spoil the rest for me.

Rating: 4

Liked: 4
Plot: 4
Characterization: 4
Writing: 3.5
Audio: 4.5

AHHHHHHHH! New JK Rowling stuff AND it's in the Wizarding World! Holy crap! I only wish they were coming in book form first.

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/3913389

I'm not sure if I'm excited about it yet. It could go horribly wrong... Such a high standard of film and fandom to live up to.

Casual Vacancy will be a TV movie as well. :)

Hmmmm, interesting. I'm really not sure what to think, but I'm definitely curious. :)

If they had gone with some other writer as they were originally planning would have worried the crap out of me, but since Jo is writing it herself I'm just excited.

I don't have quite so much confidence in her screenwriting skills... We will see I guess. What worries me is, will it be for a young audience or her established (now adult) audience? If it goes too young it'll just be silly. The book is pretty silly as it is.

And then there are the days that make you hate people and think the world is damned. I hate people right now. Total and utter disgust at what one human being can do to another.

Now here is something we can agree on. People are just awful, aren't they? I find them terribly unpleasant in just about every way imaginable.

*Hugs*

Ok, I need a place to vent just a little bit of anger and sadness and I can't do that in real life right now so please feel free to ignore this bit of misery and scroll to the bottom where I talk about cats.

I guess this is my PSA for the year. This can happen to anyone. Don't think you are immune.

Last Friday night, my sister was assaulted by her husband. I won't go into details but will say that he didn't beat her up but was sufficiently violent that she called the cops, who arrested him later that night at his brother's house. Thankfully my niece was at my house for the night. Their relationship has always suffered from his severe insecurity and jealousy, which has usually manifested itself as unpredictable bouts of insane emotional abuse in the heat of the moment and sometimes spilling over for days. She has kicked him out after several of these but he is a magnificent apologizer and has always spent weeks or months of good behavior making it up to her.

My sister is a smart, strong woman, physically and intellectually. She is an alcohol and drug rehab counselor getting her masters in counseling and deals with abused women regularly. She knew all the warning signs. We all told her time and again that his behavior was escalating each time and that things weren't going to get better. They saw a therapist and it didn't help. She just kept saying that she didn't think he would ever physically hurt her. Everyone says that until the time that he does.

Luckily she is strong and smart enough to know there is no going back from what has happened. She knows it isn't worth risking herself and her daughter in a situation with a man with no self control and so many personal issues. She has filed a protection order against him and is filing for divorce. She's devastated that the man she loved could do this to her and to their family. But she's having the hardest time reconciling the man who hurt her in a fit of rage and the good dad who's 4 year old daughter doesn't really understand why daddy wasn't at her birthday party (which was Saturday, hours after all this happened, when he was still in jail). She wants her daughter to have the loving father but right now she is also very aware that one day his rage might be turned against her. And there is nothing any of us can do or say to make this easier or more rational.

It's just so unfair. My sister doesn't deserve this. My niece certainly doesn't deserve to go through this. No one does. But I just keep thinking that we're the lucky ones. We aren't the family getting a call that their daughter or sister has just been beaten to death. The fact that my sister is getting out before the stakes are that high is wonderful, but so many don't. And it disgusts me that we still live in a world where I feel thankful that my sister only got "a little assaulted." Seriously.

AND NOW FOR CATS!

My sister called this afternoon to say there were kittens in her yard. There are so many critters out here that think kitten is a great appetizer so we always try to save them. I spent most of the afternoon and some of the evening trying to find them all. They were very skinny and flea-infested so I knew they were coming home with me for some baths, meds, lots of food, and then good homes. Luckily mommy cat showed up after 3 of her kittens were in the live trap so I got her too. She's a stray that's been hanging around my grandparents' house and skinny as can be. She scarfed down 2 big bowls of food and milk replacement. She's very sweet and just needs some help.

I was impressed that I wrangled 3 out of 4 kittens without any ouchies and then the last little bastard tore my hand up good. He was so crazy that my niece got scared and started bawling. I've had worse but it bled impressively and that scared her more.

Anyway, I finally got them home and was trying to transfer them from the live trap to the giant dog crate when one, I'm suspecting the one that bit me, wiggled out between the bars. Damn thing. It is somewhere in the carport but I can't find it. The rest are back in the live trap until morning when I have time to figure out something they can't escape from. I'm hoping and praying that the lost little devil makes an appearance before I go to bed so I don't worry about him. He's too little and skinny to be alone all night. They are all getting baths- oh joy- and more fattening up tomorrow. I'll update if I still have any fingers left.

Update: Kittens all accounted for now and I received no further injuries. Yay!

Momma cat and all four kittens now bathed and nail clipped and transferred to a larger cage. It was a surprisingly easy chore. One kitten is VERY skinny and momma definitely needs to be wormed but we don't want to do too much at once. Nice to have a trainee vet in the family, though, so I've wrangled my cousin into coming to look at them all tomorrow.

Wow, Leah, I'm so sorry about the situation with your sister. Horrifying and awful, and you're right-- it can happen even where it's not expected. I'm glad she's doing the right thing and that she has you there for support.

And, um... are you keeping the kittehs??

The mother will go back to live at my grandparents since she's comfortable there and has been killing mice. My sister might take one. Don't know about the others. I hadn't planned on getting a new cat but I get attached pretty easy. ;)

I'm so sorry to hear about all this, Leah. I'm glad she is strong enough to say when enough is enough. It's horrible when someone keeps diving back into an abusive relationship! I know some people feel trapped, and I totally understand that too. As a social phobe, I can understand how helpless someone could feel when the person they rely on financially is abusive, so I don't condemn the people who do that, but it's just really disheartening. Your sister deserves a big hug and a high five.

I'm glad all the cats are safe now!

Alright, my doula page is finally up. Everything, including the name, is subject to change in the future, but I needed to get something going. Yay for weird Friday work ethic! Please spread the word if you have friends that are pregnant around East TN. Right now I'm good and cheap while working towards certification!

https://www.facebook.com/foothillsbirthservices

I know some people in the area but they're not pregnant so I'll tell them to have more sex.

Great plan! ;) I was just lamenting to a friend that I'd be rolling in clients if only I could make people pregnant just by wishing. Too bad it doesn't work that way.

Haha! Wow...

Hey! When I was in Granville visiting Foggidawn, one of the local businesses had a very clever idea. It was a single building that sold frozen custard downstairs and hot soup upstairs, so business didn't slow down during the summer or winter. Maybe you could do the same by selling birth control on the side, that way you have all your bases covered. :)

>146 Ape: I think that would be counter-productive rather than covering all the bases. I think she should open a shop that sells booze, sushi, coffee, and skydiving lessons.

Nora's got the right idea. ;)

I totally see where you are going with this. I also find it hard not to have sex whenever I go skydiving.

So, who wants to go skydiving?

Coincidentally, my family does own a restaurant brewery... maybe I need to start handing out business cards with the purchase or a certain number of beers. ;)

Oh Leah, I'm so sad to read about your sister and her family issues.

I'm very glad she has you and her family and her SMARTS to help her decide that enough is enough NOW rather than later.

Yay for all the kitty wrangling and saving! Pictures please! :)

Congrats on your business name~~ going to go take a peek next.

ETA - I "liked" your page!

Oh and I forgot to mention that I'm thrilled about the chance for a new JK screenplay!! Yay!!

Thanks Tina. She has to see him for the first time since that night tomorrow morning in court and she's very stressed out. My parents and I are going with her but it will be hard no matter what. She's doing better the past few days and I'm hoping tomorrow doesn't derail her. The promise of seeing her best friends at a wedding shower this weekend has been keeping her spirits up this week.

Here are kitties, the day after I brought them home. They are too active now for a decent pic.


And thanks for "liking" my birth page!

I hope everything goes well with your sister's court appointment this morning. It's good that she'll have so much support with her.

The kittens are adorable!

Well nothing was accomplished in court today, they rescheduled, except that I've now been appointed as the go between for my niece's visits with her Dad. I have to coordinate with his brother (who is the visitation supervisor) and take her from school to meet them but I don't have to see him. It's complicated but I'm glad it's me and not my parents.

Otherwise, a whole day of domestic abuse open court is just as much fun as it sounds. Horrid.

Leah, I love the kitties! They are so cute!

KITTIES!!! *Squees*

*Ahem* You will forget this ever happened.

;)

My family used to do puzzles all the time in the cooler months. I don't think I've done a real puzzle in about 12 years, but doing 100 piece puzzles with my niece has rekindled my love for puzzles. So, naturally I decided to tackle the ginormous 2,000 piece puzzle of van Gogh's "Cafe Terrace at Night" right off the bat. It has been in the closet probably all that time awaiting it's turn.

I am clearly insane. It's MASSIVE and IMPRESSIONISTIC! Or post-impressionist to be precise. Either way, it's a muddled puzzle nightmare. Apparently what makes me love a painting is exactly what makes it a bad puzzle.

Day 1


Day 4: little progress


ETA: There are also puzzle pieces covering the whole table and half one kitchen counter. They needed separating into color/image groups and I ran out of room.

I don't know, Leah, I think you've made some tremendous progress...well, that is to say, it looks more organized, at least. :P

I've never put together a puzzle of that size, but it does look like a great recipe for crazy sauce.

Our family always had jigsaw puzzles up at Christmas. When I was younger, we had them up quite frequently throughout the year. Unfortunately, there aren't as many of us that will still sit and work the puzzles at Christmas, but I do have a nephew who actually insists on keeping the tradition so we have one up! That puzzle would have never made it to day 4 at our house!

My mother used to love working puzzles over Christmas and throughout the winter. My father made her a puzzle board out of pressed board and yard sticks. She could put the puzzle board on the dining room table and move it if she needed to use the table for something else (like eating!)

>159 Ape: Yes, organized... that's the word. ;)

>160 thornton37814: Because it would be finished by then or because it would be chucked across the room? My brother never got into puzzling but his girlfriend likes them so he's trying to show interest. He sorted through the box after I'd made 2 passes to help find a few edges I had missed and that was enough to do him in. And then he wanted me to pay him $5 for each piece he found...

>161 cbl_tn: The black felt it's on now is one of those puzzle saver roll up doodads but I would much prefer a board I could utilize in multiple places. I saw some fancy puzzle tables that are amazing with a nice slant so you can sit in your comfy armchair and them they have a cover and fold flat. Totally want but they are $300. Which is insane.

I had to stop doing puzzles because at some point it made me too sad to disassemble them again after all that hard work, so I wanted to keep them out for way too long/permanently, and it just didn't work.

I should make another, more sane, attempt at some point.

Leah> That 2000 piece puzzle would probably be finished on Day 2. 1000 piece ones are usually done in a single day, even the really challenging ones.

I need to call in your family for reinforcements! I'm pretty much doing this one solo with occasional contributions from my mom. Extra eyes would be nice.

I am currently in Nashville at a wedding shower for my sister's best friend. She needed the extra hands to help with Addy since she's rolling single now and I volunteered. I know a few people enough to exchange pleasantries but they are not my crowd and a few years younger. It's infinitely boring. Addy and I were doing a puzzle but she wandered off and I'm contemplating the lameness quotient of being 30 years old and doing a kid's puzzle alone at a cool party... I'm thinking it's high but I might not care.

Puzzles! Kitties! What a nice thread.

I ♥ puzzles and do them often. The nice ones are so freaking expensive though. I especially like art puzzles but yes they are much harder. Wish I could come over and help with the van Gogh!

I'd rather do a kid's puzzle than hang out with people at a party myself, so I'm with you there. Hurray for lameness! *High five miss*

My family will often do a puzzle when we are all together for the holidays. I don't often do them on my own, partly because they are so expensive, and partly because I don't have anywhere other than my kitchen table at which to work. The Van Gogh looks challenging!

Here's the puzzle we were doing. We started over at the hotel and Addy did this in less than an hour. I do help with the border and make suggestions when she gets stuck but she does the majority by herself and surprisingly quick when she's paying attention. She's 4 years old today and this is a 100 piece, age 6+ puzzle. She's been doing actual puzzles like this for only 2 weeks.

How ridiculously adorable is that!?

When I was a kid, my mom bought 100-piece puzzles for me (and my sister) all the time. My sister and I would never work on one together, but we would regularly ask if the other wanted to put puzzles together; then we'd go to our rooms, grab a puzzle, and put them together across the kitchen table from each other. :)

That's so cute! You puzzled adjacently.

Cute!

Picture from this weekend's party. Addy says I am the princess that the pirates captured but I think I'm Wonder Woman undercover to bust this dastardly princess kidnapping ring.

Ha! Ridiculously cute. ^_^

Watched World War Z. Totally not worth the $6 pay-per-view charge. Pointless zombie movie with 10 minutes of virology.

September Round-Up

Books read: 2
Fiction: 2
Non-Fiction: 0
Classics: 0
Young adult: 2
Fantasy: 1
Sci-Fi: 0
Cookbooks: 0

Average rating: 3.75

From my shelves: 0
New: 1
Library: 1
Kindle: 0
Audio: 1

Bad reading month. Too much tv and real life drama. And puzzles.

Third Quarter Review 2013

Books read: 40
Books paused: 2 (both textbooks)

Paper books: 6
Kindle: 20
Audio: 14
New reads: 33
Rereads: 7 (all audiobooks)

From my shelves: 7
New: 14
Library: 19

Fiction: 40
Non-Fiction: 0
Series: 33
Fantasy: 12
Sci-Fi: 15
Young adult: 17
Fairy Tales/Myths & Retellings: 6
Classics: 1
Cookbooks: 0

My rating of 4 or higher: 23
Average rating: 3.76
LT rating of 4 or higher: 30

Pages read: 6,922

Average book length: 173*
Longest book read: 609
Shortest book read: 25

* all kinds of messed up since audiobooks and ebooks aren't included in page count

I'm now 16 books behind schedule. Oops.

176: It was almost humorous how little it had to do with the book, isn't it?

Awwww, you guys are too cute! Was that a photobooth type setup at the party? Those are fun.

Yeah it was a photo booth. It's amazing how much fun you can have with a hay bale, a streamer background, and a basket of goofy stuff!

41. My Bonny Light Horseman by LA Meyer (read by Katherine Kellgren)


Description: The infamous pirate, riverboat seductress, master of disguise, and street-urchin-turned-sailor Jacky Faber has been captured by the French and beheaded in full view of her friends and crew. Inconceivable? Yes! The truth is she's secretly forced to pose as an American dancer behind enemy lines in Paris, where she entices a French general into revealing military secrets all to save her dear friends. Then, in intrepid Jacky Faber style, she dons male clothing and worms her way into a post as galloper with the French army, ultimately leading a team of men to fight alongside the great Napoleon. In this sixth installment of the Bloody Jack Adventures series, love and war collide as the irrepressible Jacky Faber sets off on a daring adventure she vowed she d never take.

Thoughts: Well, this one just really didn't do it for me that much. It seemed the most unfocused and convenient so far. Also, it wasn't very exciting. I appreciate Jacky's opinions on powerful men and that she sees them for more than what they are on the surface, for good or bad, but the rest just didn't make much of an impression.

Sure hope this series picks back up.

Rating: 3.17

Liked: 3
Plot: 3
Characterization: 3
Writing: 3
Audio: 4

That one fell flat for me as well. I really like the next two, though (Rapture of the Deep and The Wake of the Lorelei Lee). I don't think the series ever regains the awesomeness of the first few books, but I have heard excellent things about the 11th.

#183: I found the 11th book better than the 10th (which was, in my opinion, the worst in the series so far), but not back up to the quality of the first several books in the series.

>183 norabelle414: Haha, I was just trolling your past threads to see what you thought of that one and Rapture! It does sound better. I just didn't get this one at all. The relationship with Jean Paul was so unrealistic that it was almost creepy. And I won't even talk about that whole "To ease your dying, here are my boobs" thing...

>184 foggidawn: Good to know.

Rapture of the Deep is definitely better; it has Jacky back at sea, where she belongs.

Eek yeah the bit with Jean Paul was weird.

I read on L.A. Meyer's Facebook page that the 12th book, titled "She Will Play the Wild Rover No More", is going to be the end of the lineal series and we will find out what happens to Jacky for good and ever. However, he plans to keep writing prequels, sequels, tangents, etc. for as long as possible. He's currently working on a 600+ page epic called Jacky and the Pirates.

Interesting. So far everything has been pretty linear and mostly covered all Jacky's activities, save a few months in the Caribbean, the time on the whaler, and doing the runs to Jamaica. Maybe those periods will be covered in those later tangential books?

Do you think the "finding out what happens to Jacky" part really just comes down to who she marries and continues her adventures with?

>188 leahbird: Pretty much. Unless she settles down? HAHAHAHAHHAHA yeah right.

I've got my fingers crossed that she ends up with Joseph Jared.

Part of me hopes she does end up with Jaimy, but at the same time I have spent many a book now wondering how she can still love someone she's spent about 20 minutes with in a couple of years. Joseph Jared is a good match for her but I could also see her shacking up with Randal Trevelyn and making a decent (and exciting) man out of him.

ETA: I would like to see her have some kids and raise them up on a ship seeing the world. But settled down... how boring!

#187 -- Awesome. I have high hopes for that one, because I know he drafted it fairly early on.

Leah> I've been enjoying some of the cartoons that Marshall Ramsey, the political cartoonist for the Clarion Ledger (Jackson, Mississippi), has been doing for "The Peaceful Side of the Smokies" Facebook page. Have you seen them?

I haven't. I'll go check them out!

October is the time when the Food Network should be mandatory viewing because it's time for HALLOWEEN WARS!!! I love to see these insane pumpkins!

Food Network should be mandatory regardless. I'm a huge fan of Chopped! :)

I used to love the Food Network but now it all feels too similar so I don't watch much. But extreme pumpkin carving gets me every time!

I loved Food Network back in the days when they weren't so reality based. I liked it when we got to watch Emeril, Mario, Ina, etc. I'm so sick of reality TV in general. It's just an excuse for poor programming. I also noted that the switch roughly corresponded to when they moved operations from Knoxville to New York.

I also hate reality shows, but I do like talent competitions, which is why I still love Food Network. I hate those "lets put a bunch of people in a house and watch them bicker all the time" shows, as well as those pseudo-documentaries that are always so scripted. What's the point? But the talent competitions I can appreciate, especially if they are art-based. Syfy has a great competition running now called Face Off, about people who do special effects makeup. It's quite amazing to watch! And Spike is just wrapping up their Ink Master show, a similar show about tattoo artists.

I watched Worst Cooks in America and it seemed very...ahhhh, "reality TV"-ish, if that makes any sense. I really like Chopped though, it's so fun to see what weird ingredients people will get and what kind of dishes they'll come up with. :)

To me, the challenge shows and all these talent contest shows are nothing but reality shows. I want the old programming back!

Addy's latest puzzle masterpiece. Another 100 piece which took 44 mins (I remembered to time her today). We are now out of puzzles.

199: Hmmmm, it depends on the compitition show you watch, I guess. Many of the networks shows (like American Idol/The Voice/etc) feel very reality-oriented, it's more about the drama and the "characters" than the skill or talent. But it's great to see people demonstrating their skills, I'd much sooner watch that than game shows or scripted television series/shows.

200: Awwwww! :)

Did you ever finish the 1000-piecer?

It's 2000 pieces and I've been lazy about it lately. I moved it off the kitchen table so I don't pass it constantly and get reminded to work on it and I've had my niece a lot and she doesn't appreciate me working on a puzzle she can't help with. ;) I have tomorrow to myself so I'm gonna try to work on it some then.

Has anyone else come across the Overdrive Advantage books? It seems to be a program that is meant to get patrons access to MORE books but half of the books on my wish list have magically become UNavailable to me in the past week or so. This makes no sense. My library is listed as participating in the stupid program but all the Advantage titles now say they aren't available to my library even though they used to be. Damn them. Just when I was ready for the next Jacky Faber book.

Leah, that's not how OverDrive says Advantage is supposed to work, but there may be some bugs in their system. Have you contacted the library and asked about the disappearing titles? That happened to me about a month ago. A bunch of the Agatha Christie audiobooks on my wishlist disappeared from the OverDrive. They reappeared a couple of days later. I still don't know what happened.

Well it's good to know it's a known issue and not just something to thwart me! I discovered it at 1am when I finished one book and went looking for the next so I haven't contacted the library yet but I'm going to let them know. Hopefully it resolves itself soon and I can get back to listening. Thanks Carrie!

42. Rapture of the Deep by LA Meyer (read by Katherine Kellgren)


Description: On the very day that Jacky Faber is to wed her true love, she is kidnapped by British Naval Intelligence and forced to embark on yet another daring mission this time to search for sunken Spanish gold. But when Jacky is involved, things don't always go as planned. Jacky has survived battles on the high seas, the stifling propriety of a Boston finishing school, and even confinement in a dank French prison. But no adventure has quite matched her opportunistic street-urchin desires until now.

Thoughts: While still not as satisfying as the earlier books, this 7th installment was delightful and SO MUCH better than the last one. As foggi said above, Jacky is back at sea and that makes for a much better adventure.

Being a licensed scuba diver myself, the addition of deep water diving in a diving bell in the early 1800s was great. Even with my modern equipment, I've never dove further than 60 feet, being mostly a shallow reef diver, so I can imagine the terror and thrill of going down 200 feet in a bell and then free-diving on a wrecked ship!

It was also nice that Jacky and Jaimy finally got to spend actual time together as near grown-ups rather than just as children. I still don't know if I am certain he is who she should end up with, but I'm less bothered by it now. Lord Richard Allen is certainly a charming and exciting man! ;) Oh to be Jacky and have dashing men falling in love with you everywhere you go...

Rating: 3.67

Liked: 3.5
Plot: 3.5
Characterization: 4
Writing: 3.5
Audio: 4

Well, I think I solved the Overdrive issue... Apparently it just so happens that every Advantage title I looked at was checked out and THAT'S why it wouldn't let me access any of them. That wasn't so easy to see on my phone but quite clear on the computer. The little icon message I was reading, telling me the book wasn't available for my library, is wrong. Stupid thing.

So now on to the NEW problem. I've listened to the first 7 Jacky Faber books from the library. Book 8 was only showing up on my phone as an ebook, so I got really excited that the audio was showing up on the computer. Well, it wasn't showing up on my phone because it's a damn WMA file and my phone doesn't show those since they aren't compatible. Why in the world would they have 1-7 as MP3 and then have the rest in WMA which NOTHING seems to support?

I'm on the hold list for the ebook, but I'm struggling to get over the disappointment of not hearing Kellgren's narration for the rest of the books. Unless.... does anyone want to loan me their library card number so I can listen to a few books? ;)

I would do that for you, Leah, but my library only has Book 8 as an ebook and not an audiobook (and I'm on a Windows computer, so it should be showing me even WMA audiobooks).

That's good news! Knox County only has most of the Jacky Faber books as ebooks. Book 8 is the only one available as a (WMA) audiobook.

That's so weird on all accounts. Maybe book 8 is only available in WMA? Nora, did you get this one as an MP3?

All the Jacky Faber books after Rapture of the Deep were only available to me as WMA audiobooks. It is a pain because I really love the convenience of using the OverDrive app on my android phone. I wouldn't have bothered for anyone but Jacky.

The librarian lady was telling me there was a way to get it on the computer and then transfer it to my phone. Did you do that? I know you said at some point that you HAD done that but that it was a pain. I am developing a serious loathing for WMA format.

I transfer WMA files to my iPod Nano all the time. The couple of times I've tried MP3 files they just haven't worked for me. I have trouble bookmarking my place and starting where I left off listening the last time. So far I haven't run into any WMA audiobooks that wouldn't transfer for me. That may not be typical, though, because I know plenty of other people who run into problems with only some parts of books transferring and others not, segments playing out of order, etc.

OverDrive has a help file here with instructions for transferring audiobooks from a computer to an iPhone.

I could have downloaded it to my computer and transfered to my phone, but that method does not use the OverDrive app, and I don't like my phone's music-playing app. There's no bookmarking, it doesn't remember where I was last listening, and there's no sleep timer (which is crucial for me).

What I ended up doing is downloading to my computer and transfering to my iPod. It still has some of the above problems, but at least there is a sleep function. It remembers my place in the story as long as I don't listen to anything else with the iPod.

I never replaced my iPod when it died so that's not an option. Ohh... maybe I could steal my mom's. Thanks guys!

Let me know if you need help with the process. I found it really confusing (but the directions provided by my library were not as good as the ones Carrie has!)

I've only used OverDrive on my iPhone to look for books twice bc I get so frustrated with the unavailable titles. I think I'm doing something wrong too.

The "unavailable titles" really depends on your library. I'm a member of a few different libraries and some of them have tons of people who check out books from OverDrive (and thus lots of unavailable titles), and some of them are hardly used at all.

I'm a cheater cheater now! My friends that lived in Seattle still have access to the awesome library there that has A TON more stuff available than my little podunk library so they gave me their library card number. I feel kind of bad. But not bad enough to not do it. Cause it kicks butt!

Still no MP3 for the last Jacky Faber books but c'est la vie. I FINALLY managed to get everything working on my computer and am transferring the stupid .ODM files to my mom's iPod so I can get back to listening. SO MUCH WORK, but worth it because I have to be at the courthouse from 1:30 to possibly 6 tomorrow and most of that time will be sitting waiting to be called.

Congrats cheater!! =0)

Enjoy!!

Have you guys seen the Business Insider list of The Most Famous Book Set in Every State? There were a few on the list I've never even heard of and many I have never read, including Tennessee's own representative, The Client.

I think of The Client as being more of a Mississippi book than a Tennessee one. Sure, there are portions set in Memphis, but there are portions set in the Oxford, MS area.

Cool! Except it won't load on my dial-up. Grrr! What's the book for Ohio?

The Broom of the System

Interesting, thanks! I guess it is more popular than Zombie, Ohio after all. :P

>224 leahbird: Really? That's more popular than Beloved, Sula, The Bluest Eye, or Winesburg, Ohio?

Hi Leah!
Funny, I just put the graphic for that states list on my thread. I haven't read mine, for shame. ;)

Thanks for the states list! I've bookmarked it. I've been thinking about joining in the 50 states challenge and it looks like there are lots of good suggestions there.

Currently I'm been recording locations of the books that I've read on the map site , but not yet making an effort to fill in the states that I haven't read.

Time for a new thread and a book (an actual, physical book!) review!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/160137