Jolerie's Book Hoarding 4

I'm super excited to be back for the second year and hopefully this time will also be able to achieve that magical number of 75!! I love reading books in pretty much all genres. If it has a good story, good characters, you will find my nose in it. I have a 16 month old 2 year old toddler as well, so reading times are precious and is guarded with a passion.
Looking forward to catching up with old friends and meeting new ones! :)

Thread 1 - Books: 1-46 (no reviews), Books 47 - 50 (with reviews)
Thread 2 - Books: 51-59
Thread 3 - Books: 60-67

Currently Reading:

Breed by Chase Novak

RATING SYSTEM:
5 Stars: WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN MY WHOLE LIFE??
4 Stars: As satisfying as scratching that itch that is just right out of my reach...
3 Stars: Purr...I'm content...almost...
2 Stars: Anxiously eyeing the next book in my pile...
1 Star: Fire fodder...BURN BABY BURN!!




September's Selection (Theme: Series/Sequels)
OTS:
The Invisible Ring by Anne Bishop
2061: Odyssey Three by Arthur C. Clarke
An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon
Uther by Jack Whyte
Kushiel's Scion by Jacqueline Carey
The Scorch Trials by James Dashner
Sepulchre by Kate Mosse
The Virgin's Lover by Philippa Gregory
Shadow Puppets by Orson Scott Card
The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
The Druid of Shannara by Terry Brooks
The Tangle Box by Terry Brooks
Library:
Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld
Lament by Maggie Stiefvater
Toby Alone by Timothee De Fombelle
Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce
Switched by Amanda Hocking
Genesis by Bernard Beckett
The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross
The Search for Wondla by Tony DiTerlizzi
Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly
Matched by Ally Condie
The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove by Lauren Kate
Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel
ER:
Breed by Chase Novak

Last years ALL STAR BOARD for BEST READS of 2011!

FICTION:

SCIENCE FICTION:

HISTORICAL FICTION:

YA:

CLASSICS:

FANTASY:


Some notables not to be forgotten:
The Birth of Venus
The Lovely Bones
The Wind in the Willows
Water for Elephants
Lullabies for Little Criminals
The Arrival
Anne of Green Gables Collection

YA=Young Adult
F=Fantasy
FN=Fiction
SF=Science Fiction
CH=Childrens
H=Historical
GN=Graphic Novel
C=Crime/Mystery
**All lists are subject to changes and updates.

Ongoing Series
Alan Bradley – (YA) Flavia de Luce Mysteries (1/6) Next: The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag
Alastair Reynolds - (SF) Revelation Space (1/7) Next: Chasm City
Anna Carey – (YA) Eve (1/2) Next: Once
Anne Bishop – (F) The Black Jewels Series (3/6) Next: The Invisible Ring
Anne Rice – (F) Vampire Chronicles (4/10) Next: Memnoch the Devil
Arthur C. Clarke – Space Odyssey (3/4) Next: 3001: The Final Odyssey
Beth Revis – (YA) Across the Universe (1/3) Next: A Million Suns
David Whitley – (YA) Agora Trilogy (2/3) Next: TBA
Diana Gabaldon – (FN) Outlander (6/7) Next: An Echo in the Bone
Douglas Adams – (SF) The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (5/7) Next: The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time
Jack Whyte – (H) Camulod Chronicles (6/9) Next: Uther
Jacqueline Carey – Kushiel’s Legacy (3/9) Next: Kushiel’s Scion
James Dashner – (YA) The Maze Runner (1/3) Next: The Scorch Trials
Jessica Day George – (YA) Princess of the Midnight Ball (1/3) Next: Princess of the Midnight Ball
Josephine Angelini - YA) Starcrossed (1/3) Next: Dreamless
Jules Watson – (H) The Dalriada Trilogy (1/3) Next: The Dawn Stag
Kaoru Mori – (GN) Emma (2/10) Next: Emma Vol. 3
Kate Mosse – (H) Languedoc Trilogy (2/3) Next: The Winter Ghosts
Kiera Cass – (YA) Selection Trilogy (1/3) Next: TBA
Kristi Cook – (YA) Winterhaven (1/2) Next: Mirage
Kristin Cashore – (YA) Seven Kingdoms Trilogy (2/3) Next: Bitterblue
Lauren DeStefano – (YA) The Chemical Garden Trilogy (1/3) Next: Fever
Libba Bray – (YA) Gemma Doyle (2/3) Next: The Sweet Far Thing
Lisa See - (FN) Shanghai Girls (1/2) Next: Dreams of Joy
Lois Lowry – (CH) The Giver Quartet (1/4) Next: Gathering Blue
Maggie Stiefvater - (YA) Books of Faerie (1/2) Ballad
Marion Zimmer Bradley – (F) Avalon Published Order (1/7) Next: The Forest House
Orson Scott Card – (SF) Ender’s Universe (6/10) Next: Shadow Puppets
Patricia C. Wrede – (YA) Frontier Magic (1/3) Next: Across the Great Barrier
Pearl S. Buck – (H) The House of Earth Trilogy (1/3) Next: Sons
Philippa Gregory – (H) The Tudor Court Novels (4/6) Next: The Virgin’s Lover
Pittacus Lore – (YA) The Lorien Legacies (1/3) Next: The Power of Six
Sara Shepard – (YA) The Lying Game (1/3) Next: Never Have I Ever
Scott Westerfeld – (YA) Leviathan (2/3) Next: Goliath
Shannon Hale - (YA) Princess Academy (1/2) Next: Palace of Stone
Stephen Hunt – (F) Jackelian (1/6) Next: The Kingdom Beyond the Waves
Stieg Larsson – (C) The Millennium Trilogy (2/3) Next: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
Ted Dekker – (YA) The Lost Books (4/6) Next: Lunatic
Terry Brooks – (F) Shannara Heritage Tetralogy (1/4) Next: The Druid of Shannara
Terry Brooks – (F) The Magic Kingdom of Landover (3/6) Next: The Tangle Box
Timothee de Fombelle - (YA) Toby Alone (1/2) Next: Toby and the Secrets of the Tree
Tricia Rayburn – (YA) Siren (1/3) Next: Undercurrent

Series Owned (Partial/Complete) but Unread
Alexandra Adornetto – (YA) Halo (0/3)
Amitav Ghosh – (H) The Ibis Trilogy (0/3)
Ariana Franklin – (H) Mistress of the Art of Death (0/4)
Becca Fitzpatrick – (YA) Hush, Hush Saga (0/4)
Brandon Sanderson – (F) Mistborn (0/4)
Carlos Ruiz Zafon – (H) The Cemetery of Forgotten Books (0/3)
Carol Berg – (F) Bridge of D’Arnath (0/4)
Cassandra Clare – (F) The Mortal Instruments (0/6)
Catherine Banner – (YA) The Last Descendants Trilogy (0/3)
Christopher Paolini – (YA) The Inheritance Cycle (0/4)
Connie Willis – (F) Oxford Time Travel (0/4)
Deborah Harkness (F) All Souls Trilogy (0/3)
Eoin Colfer – (YA) Artemis Fowl (0/8)
George R. R. Martin – (F) A Song of Fire and Ice (0/7)
Hilary Mantel – (H) Wolf Hall Trilogy (0/3)
Indu Sundaresan – (H) Taj Trilogy (0/3)
James Barclay – (F) Legends of the Raven (0/4)
Jeanne DuPrau – (YA) Books of Ember (0/4)
Juliet Marillier – (F) The Sevenwaters Series (0/6)
Ken Follet – (FN) Kingsbridge (0/2)
Kim Stanley Robinson – (SF) Mars Trilogy (0/3)
Lauren Kate – (YA) Fallen Series (0/4)
Lev Grossman – (F) The Magicians (0/2)
Louise Penny – (C) Chief Inspector Armand Gamache (0/8)
Margaret Atwood – (SF) Oryx and Crake (0/2)
Mary Norton – (CH) The Borrowers (0/5)
Michael Scott – (F) The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel (0/6)
N.K. Jemisin – (F) Inheritance Trilogy (0/3)
Orson Scott Card – (SF) Homecoming Saga (0/5)
Orson Scott Card – (SF) Pastwatch (0/3)
Orson Scott Card - (F) Mither Mages (0/2)
Peter V. Brett – (F) The Demon Cycle (0/3)
Philippa Gregory – (H) The Cousin’s War Series (0/4)
Robert Jordon – (F) The Wheel of Time (0/14)
Sara Poole - (H) Poisoner Series (0/3)
Stephen Baxter - (SF) Flood (0/2)
Steve Augarde – (YA) Touchstone Trilogy (0/3)
Susan Beth Pfeffer – (YA) The Last Survivors (0/3)
Terry Brooks - (F) Genesis of Shannara (0/3)
Terry Brooks - (F) High Druid of Shannara (0/3)
Wendy Alec – (FN) The Chronicles of Brothers (0/3)

Completed Series
Alison Goodman – (YA) Dragoneye (2/2)
Brenda Rickman Vantrease – (H) The Illuminator (2/2)
Cornelia Funke – (YA) Inkheart Trilogy (3/3)
D. M. Cornish – (YA) Monster Blood Tattoo (3/3)
Donita K. Paul - (YA) Valley of the Dragons (3/3)
Francine Rivers – (H) The Mark of the Lion (3/3)
Guy Gavriel Kay – (F) The Fionavar Tapestries (3/3)
Guy Gavriel Kay – (F) The Sarantine Mosaic (2/2)
Jacqueline Carey – (F) The Sundering (2/2)
J. K. Rowling – (YA) Harry Potter (7/7)
J. R. R. Tolkien – (F) The Lord of the Rings (3/3)
Madeleine L’Engle – (YA) The Time Quintet (5/5)
Philip Pullman – (YA) His Dark Materials (3/3)
Philippa Gregory – (H) The Wideacre Trilogy (3/3)
Robyn Miller/David Wingrove – (F) Myst (3/3)
Rick Riordan – (F) Percy Jackson and the Olympians (5/5)
Robert Scott & Jay Gordon – (F) The Eldarn Sequence (3/3)
Stephanie Meyer – (YA) Twilight Saga (4/4)
Susan Cooper – (YA) The Dark is Rising Sequence (5/5)
Suzanne Collins – (YA) The Hunger Games (3/3)
Ted Dekker – (F) Circle Series (3/3)
Terry Brooks – (F) Original Shannara Trilogy (3/3)
Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins – (FN) Left Behind (13/13)

Books Read in 2012:
**Books are OTS unless otherwise indicated
(L) for Public Library Loans
(ER) books received from LT Early Reviewer
January
1. The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai 3.5*
2. (L) Anahita's Woven Riddle by Meghan Nuttall Sayres 3.75*
3. (L) A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray 4*
Favourite Read:

February
4. The Rose Labyrinth by Titania Hardie 3.5*
5. (L) Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver 4*
6. (ER) Every Body Matters by Gary Thomas 4*
7. The Rosetta Codex by Richard Paul Russo 3.75*
8. (L) Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George 3.5*
9. Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie 4*
10. Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens by J. M. Barrie 3.5*
11. (L) The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie 5*
12. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards 5*
13. (L) Across the Universe by Beth Revis 4*
Favourite Reads:

March
14. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson 3.75*
15. (L) I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore 3.5*
16. (L) Jane by April Linder 2.5*
Favourite Read:

April
17. A Book about Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived by Rob Bell 3.75*
18. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte 3.75*
19. (L) Chalice by Robin McKinley 4*
20. (ER) The Last Song by Eva Wiseman 3.75*
21. The Scions of Shannara by Terry Brooks 4.5*
22. (L) Factotum by D.M. Cornish 3.75*
23. Transforming Discipleship by Greg Ogden 5*
24. The Princess and the Goblin by George Macdonald 3.5*
25. (L) Eve by Anna Carey 4.5*
26. The Princess and Curdie by George Macdonald 3*
27. (L) Emma Vol. 2 by Kaoru Mori 3.5*
28. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison 4*
29. The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter 4*
30. (L) Un Lun Dun by China Mieville 4*
31. Shanghai Girls by Lisa See 5*
Favourite Read:

May
32. (L) The Children of the Lost by David Whitley 4*
33. Amaryllis in Blueberry by Christina Meldrum 4.75*
34. (L) The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray by Chris Wooding 3.5*
35. The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman 4*
36. (L) Rebel Angels by Libba Bray 3*
Favourite Reads:

June
37. The White Mare by Jules Watson 3.75*
38. Shadow of the Hegemon by Orson Scott Card 3*
39. (L) I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith 2.5*
40. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry 4*
41. (L) When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead 3.75*
42. (ER) The Serpent's Bite by Warren Adler 2.5*
43. (L) Stealing Athena by Karen Essex 4*
44. (L) The Selection by Kiera Cass 3*
45. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger 3.75*
46. (L) Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini 4*
Favourite Read:

July
47. Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife by Linda Berdoll 3.75*
48. (L) Eona by Alison Goodman 4*
49. The Giver by Lois Lowry 5*
50. (L) Chime by Franny Billingsley 2.75*
51. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini 4.75*
52. (L) Once was Lost by Sara Zarr 3.75*
53. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins 4*
54. (L) Wither by Lauren DeStefano 3.5*
55. The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff 4.5*
56. (ER) Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff 3.75*
57 (L) Haven by Kristi Cook 3*
Favourite Reads:

August
58. (L) Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool 4*
59. East of Eden by John Steinbeck 3.25*
60. (L) The Lying Game by Sara Shepard 4*
61. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad 2.75*
62. (L) Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus 4*
63. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman 4.5*
64. (L) Siren by Tricia Rayburn 3.5*
65. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood 4*
66. (L) Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld 4*
67. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro 3.5*
Favorite Read:

September
68. (L) Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld 4*
69. 2061: Odyseey Three by Arthur C. Clarke 3*
70. (L) Lament by Maggie Stiefvater 3.5*
71. Sepulchre by Kate Mosse 4*
72. (L) Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce 3*
73. The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson 3*
74. (L) Toby Alone by Timothee de Fombelle 4.25*

I hope this thread is open to visitors:)

Hi Valerie - hope you are having a good day. Very autumnal start to your thread.

Fall is coming! Good-looking new thread, Valerie.

Lovely new thread and lots of brilliant books. *wink*

Love the painting!

Hi! Dropping by.

Happy new thread day, Valerie! Lovely picture, but I'm still not ready to accept that autumn is just around the corner.

WOW! great picture at the top! Love it!... great looking new thread :)

Thanks everyone for dropping by and making the new thread all nice and cozy! Take a seat, making yourselves comfortable and enjoy all the book/life banter!

A crazy busy morning trying to sort things out with our insurance company about getting a rental vehicle for our trip. Long story short, we are switching companies after all this is dealt with. I guess it's too much to ask for quality service nowadays and we should just all expect people to not give a rats tail about the safety when driving a damaged car because the "rules" are the "rules". Oh wells, we are off for our weekend trip to Montana and will catch up with everyone when we get back!

Nice new thread! I hope you have a great trip.

I hope you have a lovely trip. That painting is absolutely stunning :)

Been AWOL from your threads for a few days so to catch up:

1. Belated happy birthday to the monkey! He's just so adorable!

2. Glad you liked Never Let Me Go. I highly recommend watching the film now that you've read it.

3. Have a great time in Montana!

I found Never Let Me Go difficult to review, too. I liked the book enough for a four star rating (if I recall correctly). I've heard the complaint that the end was predictable, but I didn't think "shock ending" was what it was about, when I read it...

Such a cute whimsical picture, Valerie! Good for you, that you anticipate reading 75 books this year. Last year I was amazed to have read 75 books. This year I am only up to 48 books so far, so I am hoping to make it to 75 books. I need to slot in a few shorter books! :)

Have fun in Montana!

Nice new thread, Valerie! Hope you have a fabulous time on your trip - while you are gone, perhaps I'll be able to catch up on your last thread!!

Belated birthday greetings to Caleb. He is adorable! Loved the photos you posted of him on your last thread.

Sorry about the insurance company hassles. Have a great trip!

Hi Valerie - Those are sweet, adorable photos from the previous thread!

Nice review of Never Let Me Go as well. I had to make my whole review a spoiler, because it was difficult to discuss otherwise. I may have liked it a bit more than you.

Happy Belated birthday to Caleb! Hope you guys are enjoying your weekend away

Hi Valerie, I hope you enjoyed your weekend in Montana. We are in Billings, Montana tonight, heading west and homeward bound. I was so far behind on your thread! A belated Happy Birthday to Caleb, and since you and your hubby make such cute babies, put me on the side of the "Sooner rather than Later" crowd.

I enjoyed your review of Leviathan, I have been planning on reading it this year but haven't managed to fit it in yet.

Hello hello, queen of the lists! (Im afraid to ask how long it takes you to open a new thread!!?) I love your dedication, and it is great to scan and see your faves for each period.

More faves to come I hope? ;)

Hope you're having a great time Valerie in Montana. I think I can safely say that insurance companies are the bane of our existence (at least, for most of us). Lots of great reading goin on here too.

Valerie- Hope you had a nice weekend. I liked your review of Never Let Me Go. I was very vague in my description of it, because one of the joys of reading it was having it unfold with no idea what is was about.

What's the picture at the top of your thread, Valerie? It's a cool pic.

Valerie - it is a long time since we have seen a picture of your little Monkey? It would be nice to chart his progression since his birthday has just been and gone.

Neat picture at the top of this thread. Hope you had a great time in Montana. We went to Glacier a few years ago (OK, maybe 10 years ago) and it was amazing.

Hi Valerie, I am just checking in on your new thread. I hope you have a wonderful time in Montana -- I've never been there and have always wanted to go. Post photos (with little Monkey, please)!

Just checking in on your new thread, Valerie!
We're thinking about a Montana/Yellowstone vacation next summer.....

Thanks for dropping by everyone! We are back this week for a quick rest and then we are off for another weekend in the mountains, this time on the Canadian side of the border. :)
Seems like so much work to unpack only to have to repack a few days later, but this should be the last trip of the year for us!

Thanks, Zoe and Jenny!

Rachel, I agree with you completely. I don't think a shocking ending was what the author was going for since I think anyone could have seen what was going to happen from pretty early on. Definitely not one to read if you are looking for a mood lifter.

Hi Micky! Will keep an eye out for the movie since I do want to watch it at some point. Off to Canmore I go, AGAIN! :)

Thanks, Deb! I am on pace to reach 75 and am pleasantly surprised. I was shocked that I was able to reach that number last year and this year is no different.

Good luck with catching up Mamie! I feel like I'm constantly playing that catch up game.

Thanks Terri. I am adopting a need to know basis with all the insurance irritation. I'm letting the hubby deal with them and I just want to ignore anything that has to do with them otherwise it just puts me in a foul mood.

Hi Kerri. It was definitely a difficult one to review without any spoilers. Thus why my review pretty much tells you nothing...haha!

Thanks Chelle! Hope you are on your way to recovering from all the festivities!

Thanks, Judy! Nice to know we were in the same State at some point. :) The drive back was a bit insane as it seemed like ALL the Canadians were crossing the border at the same time. Didn't seem to run into the same issue when we were crossing over to the States so that was a bit confusing. I hope you enjoy Leviathan when you get the chance to read it!

You flatter me, Megan. I merely a small player is this world of list making, although it does feel productive to look somewhat organized. My actual bookshelves are a whole other mess....

You are right, Bonnie. Can't live with them, can't live without them. You pay your premiums but when you actually need to cash it out...it would just be easier to try to shove a square peg into circular hole.

That's true Mark. I walked into it without any clue what I was getting myself into. Totally didn't realize it would be such a depressing read!

I wish I could tell you, Caro. Half the time, I don't have a clue where my pictures come from...

Hi Paul! I posted a more recent pic of him in the last thread. :) It's so hard to get a decent picture of him recently since he's adopted a grimace, which has now become his automatic camera face.

Jenn, we drove through the Glacial Park bit on our drive down to Montana and we seriously were scared for our lives. There were so many parts of the highway that was literally highway right next to a cliff with not even a barrier between your car and high heaven....

Hi Anne. Will post a picture of the little guy with me in Montana after I find a breath to catch up with everyone!

Ellen, I would love a chance to see Yellowstone at some point. Maybe a family trip once all the kid is bit bigger and can handle a longer drive. Montana has some beautiful mountains!

August Stats



Total books read: 10
Total pages read: 3412
Average rating: 3.75

Fiction: 3
YA: 5
Classics: 1
Fantasy: 1

Female authors: 5
Male authors: 5

New to me authors: 9

Library: 5
OTS: 5

Favourite Read:

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
A clever urban fantasy meets Alice in Wonderland! My only complaint - Mr. Gaiman, you left too many stories untold in this world... I couldn't get enough!

#68 Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld
Source: Public Library
Genre: YA/Fantasy
Setting: Britain, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, Istanbul, Constantinople
Pages: 434
Rating: ★★★★
Notes: steampunk, WW1, alternate history, illustrations, second in series
Books noted: None



Deryn (Dylan) and Prince Alex continue their adventures in the capital city of Istanbul. Revolution and rebellion is brewing in the Ottoman Empire with the rest of Europe engaged in a full out war of Beasties versus Clankers. New friends are won and lost and old loyalties are questioned as these two comrades put their friendship on the line in the hopes that what remains of their world may be saved.

The illustrations alone make this story worth pursuing. An all around enjoyable time catching up with familiar characters and the meeting of new ones. Reading the last book in the trilogy is not a question of if, but when.

Glad you are safely back. Hope you enjoy and can relax during your next one.

My short list (even though it's still ridiculously long) for the month of September possible reads:

OTS:
The Invisible Ring by Anne Bishop
2061: Odyssey Three by Arthur C. Clarke
An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon
Uther by Jack Whyte
Kushiel's Scion by Jacqueline Carey
The Scorch Trials by James Dashner
Sepulchre by Kate Mosse
The Virgin's Lover by Philippa Gregory
Shadow Puppets by Orson Scott Card
The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
The Druid of Shannara by Terry Brooks
The Tangle Box by Terry Brooks
The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley
Sons by Pearl S. Buck
The Dawn Stag by Jules Watson

Library:
Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld
Lament by Maggie Stiefvater
Toby Alone by Timothee De Fombelle
Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce
Switched by Amanda Hocking
Genesis by Bernard Beckett
The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross
The Search for Wondla by Tony DiTerlizzi
Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly
Matched by Ally Condie
The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove by Lauren Kate
Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel

ER:
Breed by Chase Novak

>35 jolerie: Tesla cannon is the COOLEST thing ever. I think that little toy alone made Behemoth my favourite. I'm positive you'll enjoy Goliath when you get to it.

Such a hard life heading off to Canmore. Have a bagel for me!

Jolerie - belated birthday wishes for your Caleb as well.

And what an interesting book list you have got up there. I loved "Neverwhere" by Neil Gaiman as well. I think he is such a great storyteller.

Wow, I love your list for September, and I think you had a very good reading month in August. As far as your September list goes, the only one that I have read -and very much enjoyed is the The Weed that Strings The Hangman's Bag. I had never even paid attention to the series til last November and then I gobbled everyone up all at once. I hope Alan Bradley will soon have another book out - maybe this fall?

Hi Valerie- Welcome back, (briefly). Good review of Behemoth. Looking forward to it. I LOVED Revolution. Hope you do too! Have another great get-away.

Just thinking of all the vacationing you're doing is making me exhausted! :)
Nice list of September books, too!

Thanks, Roni! My relaxation ends in a day and a half. Boy, did that go by fast!

Micky, cool things abound in this series! Even the actual creature, Behemoth was a sight for the eyes. And the body kite gadget that Lilit uses to fly over the cliffs was also ultra cool, but dangerous looking!
We went to this bagel place in Fernie called Big Bang Bagels which was DELICIOUS! It totally looked like something we would find in Canmore, but I don't think they are a chain restaurant. What a shame.

Thank you, drachenbraut. It was a pretty good month of reading. Only 1 less than July and with all this travelling I am amazed at how much I am actually able to read. I agree that Gaiman is a pretty good story teller. So far Neverwhere is by far my most favourite of his, but I know there are still so many other books of his that I have yet to read!

Hi Deb. August was a fun reading month filled with books from varying genres. I love being able to mix them all up! I really enjoyed the Bradley books as well and I keep trying to find the other books in the series whenever I hit up the used book stores but no luck so far. I just caved and bought the second book on Book Depository since they were having a 10% sale discount. Hopefully it will get to me before September ends!

Thanks Mark! At least this one is a much shorter ride than the one last week. :)

Yup, I too am exhausted, Amber. The trips themselves are super relaxing but the packing and unpacking is what poops me out! Oh well, this will probably be our last one for the year so I'll just have to suck it up and enjoy time out there in the mountains. :)

Nice stats for August - I didn't even bother because I only read four books! I do need to update my stats for the year though, so thanks for the reminder. Love the list of your possible reads for this month. I have only read one of them - Matched, which I really liked. My girls liked it, too. Rae and Abby both read and LOVED Paranormalcy, so I will be looking forward to your thoughts on that one if you manage to get to it this month.

Wow, Valerie, now that you're back posting your thread really moves along! I love your September reading list--it looks even more ambitious than mine.

I see you enjoyed Neverwhere--that's one I've been meaning to get around to.

Four books is still very impressive, Mamie, considering all the happenings in your part of the world. I'm really excited to read Matched and Paranormalcy as they are titles that I keep seeing on YA must read lists so we will see how I can fit them all into this month's reading. :)

Thanks, Anne! My lists are always a tad ridiculous and I only manage to read about half of them, but having the choice is always fun! I do hope you get a chance to read Neverwhere sooner than later as it will probably be one of my favourite books of the year!

My son is a big Tesla fan, Valerie - I should let him know about Leviathan and Behemoth.

Hi Valerie! Love your September list and am glad you liked Behemoth. It's such a fun series!

Hi there Valerie, what a great reading month you had in August! And what a lineup for September. I loved The Millenium Trilogy when I read it.

Great ots list and library list. I can plan about as far getting through the day, and that seems about far enough for me :)

Very interesting possibles list Valerie. I look forward to seeing what you think of them:)

Well, I hit the bookstores with Can Lit in mind, now that the Giller Prize Long list is up. Oh I am so boring! :) I'm interested in Y which is on the list of the Giller's. Instead I purchased The Age Of Hope by David Bergen. I'm afraid I'm going to cave and purchase Y - which so far does not have a touchstone, and the new thriller by Linwood Barclay, Trust Your Eyes. It looks good!

Hi Joe! I think that is one of the coolest things about the trilogy in that the line between fact and fiction is blended so well. The Tesla cannon is obviously a work of fiction, but the science behind was envisioned by Tesla himself, which in my opinion, makes it that much cooler. :)

I couldn't agree with your more, Katie. I throughly enjoyed the first two books and so I'm pretty confident that the last book will be equally entertaining. I think the illustrations really make the book what it is. I don't think I would like them as much without all the visuals.

Hi Bonnie! The Millenium Trilogy was actually my first taste of crime fiction since that genre usually doesn't appeal to me. Too much violence and my brain just shuts down. I actually quite enjoyed the story in the first book, but again, there were some scenes that made me feel a bit queasy. At least with the rest of the series, I have the mental preparation so hopefully it won't be as much of a shock.

Well you know what it's like with little munchkins running around, Megan. The best laid out plans usually fall by the wayside at some point. In my world of chaos, I like to look like I have some semblance of organization, but reality is far from the ambition. ;)

Hi Calm! I just waiting for the day I can slam you with as much book bullets you've given me with your thread. ;)

Deb, there were a couple of books on the Giller Prize long list that I was scoping out as well. Our Daily Bread, The Imposter Bride, The Sweet Girl, and The Emperor of Paris were the ones that stood out for me. Hopefully I can find them at a good deal at some point in the future, but it's not like my TBR mountain is suffering for any new additions at the moment. :)

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

We are just about to embark on Weekend #2 out of town. This time the ride will be much shorter, about an hour and half to head out to Canmore, Alberta. :) The intention of this trip will be marriage retreat for ourselves and a group of 5 other couples. I spent the entire week putting together a package for all the couples and will be doing 3 sharings during the course of Saturday. After all this, I'll be ready to pack away my luggage for the remainder of the year! Will have to catch up with everyone next week!

Hi Jolerie,

have a lovely trip to Alberta - Although, what is a marriage retreat? I have never heard that term before.

Have fun, Valerie!

Hope you have a great weekend with your hubby and friends :)

Safe travels and have a productive weekend. Where is the monkey while you are gone?

Notice from your list of possibles this month that you have Sons - the second in the Good Earth Trilogy. I read it maybe 8 years ago and still remember enjoying it. Pearl Buck writes in a deceptively simple but very effective style.

Have a lovely weekend.

Hi Valerie, you are a traveling woman these days. Best to do it now before another little monkey arrives! It doesn't sound like you'll have any time for reading on your marriage retreat, but then that isn't the purpose, right? I think it's so important for couples to make time to focus on each other. Have a great week end!

I loved the pictures of Caleb on your last thread. It's true...they do grow up too quickly! Our granddaughter Haley will be 2 on Sept. 17. One of my great joys is having her in the same city after their move from Dallas in July.

The place to go for bagels in Canmore is The Rocky Mountain Bagel Company. It's usually pretty busy but SO worth it.

Hope you have a great weekend with your husband! :D

Oh! Have a wonderful time on your marriage retreat! Sounds simply lovely!

Yay! Glad to finally be back and hopefully back for good as all of our summer travelling plans should be now over. It's so nice to be back at home, except the hubby caught something the day we left out of town and he had a fever and rashes all throughout the weekend. Poor guy! Will try to catch up with everyone over the next couple of days. :)

Hi, drachenbraut. My husband and I actually lead a group of married couples in our church. The marriage retreat was just an opportunity for all the couples to get away from town and to focus on skills to strengthen their marriages, like communication, conflict resolution, and working with personality differences. It was a fun and productive weekend.

Thanks, Mamie!

Thanks, Chelle. It was a lot of fun just hanging out with other couples. The most fun is realizing that the "problems" we all struggle with, for the most part, are universal. It is NOT just my husband who likes to leave piles of clothing everywhere.... :)

Hi, Roni! The monkey actually came with us this weekend. I did the bulk of the workshops while the wonderful, and sick hubby, took care of the monkey. We are pretty blessed with the little guy since he is so easy to travel with!

I look forward to reading the second book, Paul. Now hopefully the book actually gets here before the end of September so I can fit it into the series/sequels theme. I really enjoyed The Good Earth and agree completely with your assessment of her writing capabilities!

Lovely to see you, Donna! Yes, agree very much with you about importance of taking the time to invest in our marriages. They don't just maintain themselves and do require work, but they are worth every minute that we put into them! You are such a fun grandmother and Haley is one lucky granddaughter (as are all your other grandchildren)!

Will have to check that place out another time when we get a chance to head out to Canmore, Micky. We were supposed to have a "date" lunch in Canmore after the retreat, but since the hubby was still feeling under the weather, we just drove back to Calgary so he could get some rest at home. This time driving out there really made me realize just how much I LOVE Canmore. It's such a nice and short drive to get a place that feels so far from the city and so beautiful as well!

Thanks, Deb. It was definitely a treat to be able to get away from the city, even if it was just for the weekend. :)

#69 2061: Odyssey Three by Arthur C. Clarke
Source: OTS
Genre: Science Fiction
Setting: Lunar Space Station, Jupiter
Pages: 268
Rating: ★★★
Notes: space travel, rescue mission, aliens, Artificial Intelligence, third book in series
Books noted: None

Earth can no longer be called home for Heywood Floyd. Just when most lives are at it's final chapters, his is just beginning. A once in a lifetime meeting with the comet, Halley, is interrupted by a rescue mission SOS received from the edge of our solar system. Floyd is once again called upon to return to a world he thought he would never lay eyes upon again, but returning home may not be an option this time around.

2061: Odyssey Three is the third book in the Odyssey series and so far the weakest book of the three that I've read so far. It isn't a bad book by any means, and if you are a diehard space travelling, science fiction lover, this book has enough science to power you through any technological withdrawal. Clarke doesn't seem as interested in telling the story behind the people, but that isn't necessarily a flaw if it was never his intention. All three books so far, read like a very well researched and very fascinating Discovery Channel documentary. If that is your cup of tea, then you will enjoy the series, if not, then there are plenty of other great science fiction books out there that can fill your time and your book shelves.

Glad you are home safe and sound and happy. Sounds like an interesting couples-focused weekend. I hope dh feels better.....

I still have The Good Earth on the TBR pile.....

Glad you are home safe from all of your travels! Callia and I read The Good Earth last spring -- she read it for 7th grade english, I read it because I never had before. I'm going to try to read her required english books with her -- we'll see how that goes.

Hi Jolerie,
thanks for the clarification. We don't have this concept in Germany, but it definately sounds like fun. I am glad to hear that you had such a great time. :)

A marriage retreat with children sounds... well, like staying home.. lol. Poor hubby...

Welcome home, Valerie! Sorry to hear about your husband. Bummer. hope he's feeling better today.

Welcome back. Sounds like you had a good holiday (except for your poor husband; what a time to fall sick).

Welcome back, Valerie. Glad the retreat went well, but I am sorry to hear that your husband was sick - bummer! Hope he's feeling better today.

Welcome back Valerie - sorry to hear about your husband being ill, hope he feels better soon.

I had no idea A Good earth was part of a series. I am looking forward to reading it, and hope I get the order right. Its the first one right?

So the hubby went to the doctor today and confirmed that he has a contagious virus called "Hand, Foot, Mouth" disease. Anyone else heard of it? Apparently it has been making its way around Calgary. Our family in Taiwan actually all came down with it earlier this year as well. It sounds and looks pretty gross. Sores in the mouth, hands, and feet. My husband can't eat anything as it hurts the throat and he's limping around the house because his feet are covered with sores. Strange thing is that it doesn't seem like Caleb and I got infected even though it's highly contagious.... I guess we will have to wait and see.

Thanks Ellen! I hope you enjoy The Good Earth when you get a chance to read it. I know that I really enjoyed that one and am looking forward to reading the follow-up book this month.

That's a great idea, Anne! I think it's wonderful that you are taking the time to read the same books that the kids are reading. It opens so many doors and opportunities to chat with the kids to see what they think of the books. I look forward to that experience at some point in the future! Interesting that they would choose The Good Earth as a part of the required reading!

Your welcome drachenbraut23! I will have to go catch up on your thread to see what books you are reading.

In some ways you are right, Kath! Except in this case, we had 5 other couples who were more than willing to entertain our monkey so we actually got more of a break than we do at home. :)

Thanks, Mark! Hopefully tomorrow he will start to feel a bit better. Still confined to the house as all the sores look really, really, disconcerting... but at least we know what it is!

Thanks, Nina. We are just glad that the worse part actually broke out when we finally got home. Now the hubby will be spending the next couple of days at home to avoid infecting everyone else around him.

Hi. Mamie! Thanks for the thought. The family will be hunkering down and enjoying all the "together" time we will be getting over the next few days. :)

Thanks, Calm! We are hoping he feels better soon rather than later and fingers crossed both me and the monkey are resistant to the virus...

I didn't know it was part of a series either, Megan until I read TGE and found out on LT that there are 2 other books. I've been told TGE is the best out of all three, but I'm still excited to read the remaining books since I enjoyed TGE so much. Hopefully you do as well!

Hi jolerie,

I hope your husband is feeling better soon. I know "Hand, Foot, Mouth" disease, but as far as I know it is very rare for adults to get it, and quite common in children younger than five years old.
However, I can imagine that it must be absolutely awful for your husband to have these sores, and being unable to eat.
I have heard from parents that a Calendula tincture used as mouthwash or dabbed onto the sores, apparently helps to speed healing and that it is supposed to have a very soothing effect on the sores.

At least, be happy that Caleb didn't catch it. Children are extremely grumpy.
Best wishes to your husband to recover soon.

Eesh, how awful for your husband. I hope that he feels better soon, and that you and Caleb don't catch it.

Valerie- Sorry to hear about your husband. Yikes. I hope he gets over this quick. Fingers crossed.

Valerie - sorry to see that your hubby has hand, foot and mouth disease - this is of course not the same disease common in cattle that can lead to whole herds being destroyed but in adult humans I think that it is not that bad unless there are complications such as encaphilitis. It is good to see that Caleb (and you) seem to have a level of immunity. A variant of it is coxsackie which had numerous fatalities in South East Asia but I don't think that strain is in North America. Hugs to all of you in any case.

WEll, I'm glad to hear that you had a good weekend, and very sorry to hear about your husband's woes...I do hope that you and the little one escape :-/

Oh no! Adding my wishes for your husband's speedy recovery and for your (and monkey's) continued resistance.

Eeek, what a horrible weekend for you and hubsters. I hope he's feeling better everyday and that you and Caleb are in the clear. Hugs

I hope your husband gets better soon. Sorry about his problems.

I too, hope to read the rest of The Good Earth trilogy soon, but I keep reading other books instead...hopefully I'll still remember enough about the first book when I get to the second book! :)

Ah, the dreaded HFMD. When we were in the tropics, if a doctor diagnosed it, they had to inform the Ministry of Health and the child's school, and said child has to stay at home until the spots clear, as it can be pretty bad (it's a childhood disease). But when I asked my mum about it (she's a doctor who worked in London), she said "Oh, what rubbish. It's nothing to worry about"; apparently it's a much milder version in the temperate zone.

Anyway, hope he's feeling better soon, and he hasn't passed it on to anyone else.

Bianca, that is what the doctor told my husband. It usually is quite rare in adults, but over the last couple of years, they are beginning to see more and more adult cases. I am on high alert with the little one and every little thing off about him is causing me to think the virus is about to rear its ugly head. I've mentally prepared myself for Caleb to catch it eventually, and will just hope for a miracle on the side. Prepare for the worse and hope for the best!

Thanks, Jenny! Hopefully the husband will be on the mend over the next couple of days while Caleb and I continue to say on this side of healthy!

Thanks for all the crossables, Mark! We need all the luck we can get at this point. :)

Paul, I've been told that it is a variant of the disease found in cows, called "Hoof Foot" or something along the line. All the recent animal born viruses that are now mutating and jumping to infect humans is a bit alarming. First birds, then pigs, and then now cows?? I told my husband that the zombie apocalypse is just around the corner and we should start building a bunker any day now...

Thanks, Kath! I'm also glad we were able to enjoy the weekend before we all got smacked with this round with illnesses...

Thanks, Amber! Such is life with little children. It was so much easier when it was just me and the hubby and we got sick. But now, the fear is always now about how to keep the little one from catching everything we bring home with us!

Your hugs are thoughts are appreciated, Lynda! This is such a loving and supportive group. Gives me that extra boost to get through the day. :)

I know what you mean Rachel! TGE had been lounging on my shelves for many years and it wasn't until I read some great reviews from this group that kicked me in the butt to pick up the neglected book. I'm glad I did as it was definitely a memorable read for me.

Hi Nina! I wonder if being in the tropics makes it that much worse because I'm sure the virus must have a good ol' time just relaxing in all the warm temps. We had a couple of families here in Calgary that have already dealt with it earlier this year and it seems like the average time of recuperation took about 1 week. The only concern is just about how FAST it seems to spread from person to person and the fact that you can already be contagious without showing any of the symptoms.

Hi Valerie! Hope your husband is on the mend and feels better soon. Rats if your little monkey catches it. Sending good thoughts your way.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you and Caleb as well, Valerie. Poor hubby, that sounds like a miserable thing to have. Hoping he can shake it off soon and that you and your son escape it entirely.

Well....it looks like Caleb might be coming down with something. He has been running a fever all day... Bracing myself for the worst. :/

Thanks Roberta! Good thoughts are always appreciated. :)

At this point, I'll have to take it a day at a time, Judy! Hubby looks like he is getting better, but the monkey is now starting to show symptoms. I guess I should just be glad they didn't both get it at the same time because that would be doubly hard.

#70 Lament by Maggie Stiefvater
Source: Public Library
Genre: YA
Setting: Virginia, USA
Pages: 356
Rating: ★★★
Notes: faeries, star-crossed lovers, folklore, first in series
Books noted: None

My love, fond and true,
What else could I do--
But shield you from wind and from weather?
When the shots fall like hail,
They us both shall assail--
And mayhap we shall die together.
~"Ned of the Hill"

The summer that changes Deirdre Monaghan life is the summer she discovers that she is a cloverhand. Her ability to see faeries is not considered a good luck charm, but rather a curse she would rather have buried under a mound of rocks. Her one consolation comes in the form of a beautiful and mysterious boy named, Luke. What he wants may not be hers to give, but together they may be reenacting all the ancient Irish ballads that Dee is fond of singing. The one hiccup? All the songs always end up with the hero and heroine dying in a tragic drama of eternal pain and suffering.

Lament is my first introduction to Maggie Stiefvater's writings. Perhaps because I'm all werewolf/vampired out, the idea of mischievous, playful, and wicked faeries wrecking havoc on humans was refreshing and welcomed. With a interesting blend of Irish folklore and star-crossed lovers wrapped in teenage angst, the first book in the series was intriguing enough for me to pursue the second and last book in the series, Ballad.

Glad you enjoyed Lament, Valerie! I really liked it too. Ballad is very different, but I liked it as well. I like the take on the Faerie Queen - not your Disney fairies for sure.

Sorry about the H,F&M. It's nasty. I sure hope you don't get it, or at least your husband is all better first... Hang in there.

*waving* at Valerie

Yikes! Your husband must be miserable, Valerie. Can't they think of a cooler name for the disease? Like Paul, I immediately thought of cattle. I hope you and Caleb stay healthy.

Sorry to hear about your husband's illness, Valerie. Hope he's feeling better soon. And crossing my fingers that the bug the monkey has isn't the same one as hubby's.

>87 jolerie: I'm not a big fan of faeries but I read both Lament and Ballad and liked them. I actually really preferred Ballad, so I'll be interested to see your thoughts on it. :)

Oh boy, I'm really sorry to hear about your hubby's illness Valerie. Let's hope he's out of the woods ASAP so that he's not so miserable, as I'm sure he must be right now. I'm glad your little guy escaped the disease as I know it's fairly common in children.

Hi Jenn! Yes, that Faerie Queen was one nasty lady. I'll just say, she isn't someone I'd want to run across in real life, but at least she got her due in the end... Thanks for the well wishes. I'm hanging on with tooth and nail at this point. :)

Big waves back atcha Stasia!

Donna, the hardest part for him is probably the no eating. Nothing is going down without causing a world of hurt for him so he's basically just drinking porridge at this point. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for all of us.

Thanks, Micky! I'm really hoping the monkey just has a cold, or is teething, or anything other than what his Dad has.... I can't even begin to imagine how he is going to bear through the pain if he starts developing sores in his tiny little mouth.
I'll be interested to see what Ballad is like especially since you say it's different from Lament. I know you read the Shiver Trilogy. Would you say you prefer the Lament series over that one?

Hi Bonnie! Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for sure! The little guy is not so lucky as he is starting to display the early symptoms of the same virus. I'm bracing myself for the worse at this moment!

******************************************************
It's 11:30pm as we speak and the little guy has already twice once since he was put to bed at 8:30. He was barely able to keep his eyes open by the time bedtime rolled around. I'm sure all the energy is being sapped out of his little body as he fights whatever germs that are making themselves at home in him. It's going to be a loooongggg night...

I am sorry to hear that Caleb has come down with something as well. I hope it's not going to be to bad. Is your husband starting to feel better already? I think of you and your family and hope they are going to be better soon. :-)

Nice review on Maggie Stiefvater, I have not read anything of her yet - but I know I have got something of her on my Kindle (Somewhere).

Valerie, so sorry to hear that your husband has some sort of HFM infection. If it helps, I looked it up and yes, it's made it's rounds in Calgary -and as Paul and others said, it has no relation to animal HFMD.

Here's a link I found from a Calgary paper that I hope helps. I hope you are all feeling much better soon!

http://www.calgarysun.com/2011/06/07/hand-foot-and-mouth-disease-is-back

So haw is Caleb this morning? Hope it was just one of those quick kid things...

Hi, Valerie, how is Caleb? I don't remember; is there anything you can give to pre-empt him getting too miserable? Best of luck with this.

Oh, goodness. Hopinghopinghoping that Monkey hasn't caught It...

Oh my ... hope that whatever is wrong with Caleb is not the same thing your husband is suffering from.

Hope both are much improved very soon.

So behind! A very belated happy birthday to Caleb (I still struggle not to think of him as the little monkey) and sending my best wishes to you all re hand, foot and mouth. Sorry to hear Caleb is starting to show signs of getting ill - I hope it passes quickly and you manage to get some rest tonight.

Valerie, I hope Caleb and your hubby are on the mend soon! Hang in there!

Thanks everyone for the support! I ended up setting up a mattress in Caleb's room last night and slept with him for the night rather than waking up every 2 hours and dragging my sleepy self to his room. He and I both got some sleep that way. No fever today..HURRAY! And he is running around like the energizer monkey that he is! Let's hope it stays that way.

Bianca, the hubby is still home today but he is aiming to get back to work tomorrow. Hopefully he can shave tonight since he hasn't for a week now because of the sores on his face. He looks a little neanderthalish, but who wouldn't given the week he's been through!
I'd be curious to know what book of hers you have on your Kindle?

Thanks for the article, Deb! A bunch of my friends and their kids came down with it earlier this year and I was so thankful then that we had managed to not get infected. I guess with kids, it was just a matter of time. One thing we did find rather interesting was all the wives who were NOT born in Canada didn't seem to be infected. I was born in Hong Kong and it looks like the virus didn't affect me or maybe I didn't come into contact with it? Either way, I'm glad someone in our family is healthy enough to care for everyone else. :)

I'm hoping that is the case, Kath! After a rough night, he woke up this morning with no fever and is willing to eat some of his breakfast and lunch so hopefully like you said, it was just a quick one and he is already starting to return to his normal cheery self!

Hi Nina. It seems like the best comfort for the little guy was curling on the couch with one of us, juice in hand, watching his favourite TV show. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse was our saving grace yesterday as he pretty much spent his whole day vegetating on the couch. Today he is back to running circles around us, so that's a good sign!

Thanks, Amber! He caught something, but I'm hopeful that it wasn't the same virus that the hubby came down with. Maybe it was just a bad case of teething? Who knows, I'm just hoping whatever it is, it is on its way out!

Thanks, Calm. Both guys seem to be a bit better today so that's my silver lining for the day. :)

Thanks Heather! He is definitely still a monkey, but maybe not as small anymore. I keep finding that I'm having to put things on higher and higher shelves to keep things from his curiously groping fingers.

Thanks, Katie! We are all hanging on by whatever means and that includes a lot of TV watching, cuddles, and napping for both toddler and the parents. :)

>93 jolerie: Mmm, I don't really prefer either Shiver or Lament series over each other. They're about the same level of writing, one is just werewolves (and only werewolves, no vamps there) and the other is faeries.

So good to hear from you, and that Caleb is better. Hope you're right about the teething.

My 3 year old ... worked out how to move stools to climb on, so nothing is safe. In the kitchen, there are stools of different heights, so he puts them together to make a staircase! Or upstairs, to get things (like colour pencils which are banned for him), he piles things on top of each other. It's rather precarious looking, because some things are soft, like the poufs. I don't think he's fallen, yet, but thankfully he seems to have stopped doing that (for now, anyway)

That is interesting that none of the wives born outside of Canada ( and the US I assume?) did not get the virus. I think you could be quite right in thinking being born and living in another country for a bit could make you immune to a virus as you may have already been in contact with it.

I'm glad to hear that both guys are feeling some better today.

sending healing rays your way in the hope Caleb continues to feel better and that you do not come down with this dreaded illness.

Hugs to you with smiles and appreciate for your posts on my thread. They are a ray of sunshine while I'm recovering.

And, I must add that I love your lists!

Just popping in over here to send my good wishes for the continued recovery of Caleb and your husband - so glad to hear that the little Monkey is doing better!

Nice review of Lament - I bought that one on Kindle when it was a daily deal, and wondered if it was any good. My daughter Rae has read her other books and loved them.

Hang in there - hopefully a return to normal is just around the corner.

Hey Micky. Actually, all things considered, I think Shiefvater's writing pretty good compared to some of the other YA books I've read. At least nothing in my memory of it made me want to cringe.
I know I whine about the vampire and werewolf bit, but guess who is going to be first in line to watch the last instalment of the Twilight movies... :)

Nina, our kids never fail to surprise us with the antics they can come up with! Thank goodness my little guy hasn't quite developed that acute problem solving skill yet. We are still working with one chair at a time to reach things he can't get to on his toes. My favourite is him pulling up his chair to watch me wash dishes. He's content to just stand beside me and be mesmerized by the water rushing from the taps. :)

I wonder if it's all the dirt our parents let us eat as well, Deb, haha! ;) Parents are shocked that I let Caleb eat the cheerios after he has dropped them onto the floor. But, I know what has been on my floor. I know how often I've cleaned it, so I figure it can't really be that bad for him to build his immunity a bit that way. I try not to be too germaphobe so that he isn't a kid in a bubble where every little thing gives him a cold or whatnot. But, to each their own. Perhaps we are too concerned with sanitizing everything here in North America, whereas overseas the kids come from heartier stock and the germs don't quite affect to the degree they do here?

Sweet Linda! I can't believe you have the energy and stamina to make your way around the threads already! It can't be easy to do after your recent surgery so it means a lot to me that you've taken the time to drop by, my friend! I hope the pain is at least bearable now.

Thanks, Mamie. I don't think Lament will disappoint you when you have the time to read it. Maggie Stiefvater seems to be a promising YA writer, so I will definitely want to check out some of her other books.
Thanks for the good wishes for Caleb and the hubby. Caleb seems all fine during the awake hours, but his napping and I'm guessing his sleeping tonight is still going to be off. Since he can't tell me what is bothering him, the only thing I can guess right now is that he is a bit of sore throat which has been interrupting his sleep. Maybe I'll try some honey and warm water tonight.

Hi Valerie- I keep seeing Maggie Stiefvater name and it sounded familiar. Then I realized I read her last book the Scorpio Races, which was enjoyable.
Hope the husband is doing much better.

Glad to hear that your husband is feeling much better - and for the neanderthal business *laugh* - as you say, after such a rough week that's ok.
And good to hear that Caleb is feeling better. Fingers crossed.

I hope your family is starting to stop being a sickhouse, and you're getting back to some sort of normality.

I think that we are trying to sanitize too much and that's why some germs are getting so bad. When you are constantly killing off all the germs, only the resistant ones remain.

Totally agree with Morphy > 112

Hear hear on over-sanitising. My mum let me get as mucky as I wanted, and eat things that had fallen on the floor, and I've got a very solid immune system for things like colds and stomach bugs. Very rarely get them.

Even now, if I drop food on the yard around the horses, as long as it's not noticeably dirty after I brush it off, I'll eat it. And as for washing my hands between touching horses and eating food......no chance. Dirt is so good for you :)

114 - lunacat - If my mom could read English and would see what you just said *splutter with laughter* she would faint. My mum doesn't oversanitize at all, but everything to do with hand hygiene - that's religion. *grin*

I'm glad your husband is feeling better. And I hope your scare with Caleb last night was just that -- a scare -- and that he fought off whatever nasty germs for good.

When you are constantly killing off all the germs, only the resistant ones remain

I think there's truth in that. That's basically how the overuse of antibiotics has led to so many antibiotic-resistant strains.

I think that we are trying to sanitize too much

Not in my house... :)

#62 haha that's funny that you complain about your hubby leaving clothes everywhere as that's Nate's biggest pet peeve about me!

Sorry to see that your family has been ill. I'm sending you some healthy thoughts!

Hi Mark! I have TSR on my radar to borrow from the library at some point. Glad to see you were able to put the two and two together. :)

Oh, Bianca, you don't know how happy I was to see a clean shaven husband last night. I gave him a big hug and told him how much I missed his baby butt cheeks..haha! He is back to work today and hopefully will be able to get through the day with tolerable pain.

Jenny, Morphy, Terri, and Kath, you guys bring up such interesting points about the whole sanitation business. I had one friend who was a new mom at the time who saw the pediatrician who says in North America we tend to err on the side of caution and OVERDO the sanitation bit. Most babies, if they are of normal birth rate and are have no underlying health issues, shouldn't need ALL their stuff sanitized. We are not helping them build their immunity naturally, but are rather putting them in a bubble that when popped, end up being harder on the babies then if we introduced all those germs naturally in the beginning. On the flip side all the "stuff" we are using to clean our houses are perhaps linked to increase rate of anaphylactic allergies in kids and such as well. Good old fashion soap and water in most cases in more than enough to keep the house clean, but without killing off ALL bacteria. That whole Superbug theory....paranoia aside, I do believe there is some merit to it!

Hahaha, Jim. Are you saying you clean your house too much, or not enough??

That's funny, Chelle! I don't believe being messy is strictly a prerogative of just the men in this world. I know a number of couples where the men are extremely clean and organized and it's their wives who like to leave little trails of their whereabouts in the home. :)

So glad to hear Caleb and your hubby are feeling better.

Hi Valerie, I am so sorry to hear that your husband has been feeling so unwell - glad to hear that he's feeling better now. One of my girls also had the coxsackie virus, but I remember she recovered fairly quickly (I'm embarrassed to say that I can't now remember which if my girls actually had it...)

Amen to husband and Caleb feeling better today! And, Jim, your comment made me smile. In our house I like to think I'm the clean freak and then, periodically I look around and find an opened book in the kitchen, an opened book in the tv/computer room, a stack of books I plan to read nestled in the bedrooms....

Chiming in to agree that a little dirt doesn't hurt. I've not subscribed to the 'sanitize everything' mode of living, and Charlie has, so far (knock on wood), been a very healthy little guy, with only a couple of very minor illnesses in his very nearly 4 years.

Thanks so much, Heather! Hubby should be home from work soon. Caleb is still struggling with this sleep, but hopefully will be normal again in due time.

Hi Anne! There truly is no name attached to this virus that is appealing. Hand, Foot, and Mouth, or Coxsackie just sounds absolutely revolting, but I guess the name only reflects the actual condition of the patient. Caleb is faring much better than his father who had all the symptoms and was miserable for the good part of a week.

Linda, I bet most of us here on LT can fall under the same category. If not having books around is a sign of tidiness, then most of us here would be guilty of keeping an unkempt home. I've tried to at least find room on my shelves, as tight as it already is, in order to the floors relatively free, especially when Caleb was in his tear everything in sight phase. :)

Thanks for the agreement, Amber! A little dirt goes a long way to help them build up that immunity before they are released into the world (like preschool) and being exposed to every and any germ under the sun!

I'm so glad Caleb didn't get as sick as your husband, and that both are recovering nicely. I'm with you on the reasonably clean bandwagon, as well.

I'm glad to hear everybody is feeling better Valerie. I'm also of the opinion that we are over-sanitizing way, way too much. There's got to be a happy middle ground.

I, too, am glad to hear your family is feeling better!

HA - so the neanderthal changed back into a cro-magnon *grin*

>128 drachenbraut23:: :-D

I am the lone voice on the other side of the sanitation argument. Well, I am a bit OCD about it, I admit. (Tidiness, no; but GERMS!!!! I can't take. My husband seems to be the other way around). Actually, I couldn't work out which side Jim fell on.

I used to have a compulsion to sanitise everything before my first-born touched it; but it took forever. With number 2, especially since my eldest is there ahead of me, making a mess ... I can't be bothered, and they're too fast for me. Plus, they're both finicky eaters, so - even if it come off the floor - as long as there is food going in, I'm happy. ^-^

Phew, glad to hear all is getting better in your household. Fingers crossed for a nice, peaceful, relaxing weekend for you :)

I am glad to hear that Caleb is doing much better and your hubby is on the mend too, Valerie!

Thanks Roni! Yes, on most days, our home is reasonably clean. Until we decide to have guests over, because then I got into hyper cleaning overdrive, which drives the hubby nuts! :)

Hi Bonnie! Yes, are are absolutely right. It's like everything else in life right? Everything in moderation, except it's the moderation part that gets us every time. ;)

Thanks for the well wishes, Joanne!

Ha! That's too funny, Bianca! I guess I have a thing for Cro-magnon man. It's all the hair that I can't handle. I realize now that I like my men a bit more clean shaven! I don't mean to overgeneralize, but usually Asian men just can't grow facial hair. Instead of looking manly, they just look dirty. Of course there is the exception to every rule, but my husband is not one of them! ;)

I think most of us have been there, Nina! With the first child, we usually have the time and energy to be OCD about things like cleanliness. Most of my friends with more than one child tells me that with each child, the standard of what is considered "clean" drops significantly. :)

Thanks, Jenny! I'm just glad it's Friday today!! *does a happy dance*

Thanks, Stasia! Both my boys are doing great and slowly getting back to their monkey selves and just in time for the weekend. :)

On the reading front, I'm still making my way through a beast of a book. Sepulchre by Kate Mosse is shaping up to be a great historical read, but wow, is it a chunkster of book. Over 300 pages in and I'm not even at the halfway mark. Trying to see it as a marathon and learning to savour the book instead of rushing through and trying to finish it as soon as possible!

Went to the bookstore yesterday night and of course came back with more books than I should have just because they were having a promotional special. I should just tell them to stop sending me emails, because it's obviously clear that it's more temptation than I can handle.....

About 10 minutes in the store and this is the damage I incurred... I walked in prepared with a list so of course I knew my wallet was in danger already...



Now that I've almost purchased the complete Wheel of Time Series except except for the 13th book at this point, maybe I'll make it a goal to read one of them a month next year since I have 12 books and it would be nice to read them closely together so I don't lose track of the storyline! :)

Linda....>122 Whisper1: books are Not clutter. You are still the neat freak IMO.

114/117 so with you! My sister cleans with bleach every day.. she sprays everything down before her grand kids show up. Duncan was banned from her house 6 months before the oldest was born.. so he wouldn't bring in germs. I won't even tell you what she recently said about my cats. She doesn't know how close she came to me not speaking to her again..being obsessed with clean is not good.

My house is pretty clean, most of the time.. I work at it since I have 5 pets... but I don't go crazy sanitizing everything day in and day out.

Valerie.. I once waited for an entire series to be published before I began reading.... I think there were 7 books.. I read them all... but the only one I liked was the last .. :P lesson learned. It was an author I hadn't ever read. Stephen R Lawhead The Pendragon Cycle...SOOO disappointing .. at least to me :P

eta

That Lawhead touchstone says it's working.. yet it isn't bah!

>133 jolerie: Your plan's a good one on the Wheel of Time series if you can do one a month, Valerie. I read them as they came out, and for me, that meant more than a few times having to do a re-read of the previous one, or more than one, first. I have enjoyed that series, and I'm looking forward to Brandon Sanderson's conclusion of it.

Kath, I did the exact same thing with the Harry Potter series. So while there was all the hype with each new book coming out, I actually just waited till the entire series came out in PB and then read it all in sequence.
That's amazing that you stuck with the series and read it till the end even though it didn't seem like your cup of tea until the very last book!
The majority of the RJ books were bought second hand so it wasn't too big of a money investment, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will enjoy them....seeing how there at least 12 books to read.

Joe, seeing how none of the books are considered short, that is the very thing I want to avoid doing - rereading! Given the nature of fantasy books and the sheer number of names, places and such, I'd want my memory of things fresh when I start the next book, but reading them back to back would also be a bit much. Once a month sounds just right. :)

Yup, you definitely want to avoid rereading! And there are SO many characters in the WoT series that I think your plan is a good one. I read up to about 8 I think, but then discovered that Jordan had died before finished the series so gave up. This was before Brandon Sanderson had signed up to finish them though.

I MAY do a full reread once it is complete, or I might decide that I have better things to read. I loved the first two, started to get more confused and frustrated as I went through the rest as I wanted more of Rand and less of the many other characters that seemed to be increasing rapidly.

I have now learned (mostly) not to read series with continuing stories (as opposed to stand-alone tales in series) before they are finished. I have only slipped up a couple of times.

Hi Valerie, I havent heard it from the horses mouth (so to speak) but the comments suggest that things are on the up health-wise around your place now. Sounds good!

And the tidiness issue? Im afraid I need to try harder on that front. Plus, exposure to all that stuff helps kids immunity develop right? Right. Yes, it does, Ive convinced myself :)

Valerie I waited for the Harry Potter books too. I'm just getting ready to start the fourth book. I usually wait until a series is finished or at least half done before I start it. I like your idea of one a month!

Thanks for the affirmation, Jenny! I think I will go ahead and start that for 2013. You and anyone else are free to join me if you are looking to start the series or do some rereading. :D
I'm trying to think of examples for your series with continuing stories as opposed to stand alone tales in series. I'm guessing books like Martin's Song of Fire and Ice series would be part of the former. What are examples of the latter?
Fantasy is a genre that is more often than not series with continuing stories, and if they are good, I don't mind them at all. The more intense, the more complicate, the more intricate, the more I will enjoy and I don't mind investing the time with them. It's the weeding the crap from the gems that is always a bit tricky.

Megan, I've adopted the mantra that a messy home means a happy home. A messy home means that I'm choosing to spend my time with my kids rather than picking up after them. We've taught Caleb to pick up all his toys before bedtime as part of his routine so during the day, my house is a disaster zone. After 9pm, the house is perfectly organized again and I'm more than happy with that system. :)
I THOUGHT things were getting better, but I noticed today that the kid is developing sores on his hands and feet.....so maybe the end is not quite in sight yet....

Thanks, Roberta! It is never too late to jump on the Harry Potter wagon. After I finished the books, I immediately attempted a Potter movie marathon when everything was still fresh in my head. I was met with limited success since having a toddler around kind of threw all my good intentions out the window. :)

I'm thinking more of things like crime fiction, where there is a series of books with continuing characters but each 'story' is different. I'll happily read those without it having ended, but not full scale series with continuing stories.

Obviously there are exceptions. Harry Potter, because I was too young to know any better at first, and there is no way I would have been able to hold out. A couple of other series where I am waiting for the next ones. And a couple that I don't think I'll get invested in them, so it doesn't matter so much. I may well join in for a reread in 2013. Could be good fun, and I think reading with others and commenting, I might be more likely to keep track of the characters!

Valerie I borrow each audiobook from the library and I borrow the movie to watch it afterwards. So I am keeping up. I don't have a toddler so that makes it easier. My fur children all seem to love the narrator of the HP books. They just sit right down when I turn the CDs on. When they are in the car with me they settle down too. It's so hilarious. I may have to buy this series. :)

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A little something I found on Etsy for you, Valerie. :P

Ahh, I see what you mean, Jenny. For the most part I was like you before and avoided started anything unless I was sure I either could buy the entire series or get it from the library easily. But with so many OCDs I had to let some go..haha! So now I'm being a bit more relaxed and allowing myself to read series, one book at a time, and *trying* not to be too caught up with whether the author has decided to finish the series or not yet...
I think Nina was also interested in reading the RJ books so that will be fun to have other people along in the journey. The more the merrier!

You are one smart lady, Roberta! That is a good way to go about the books and the movies.
Have you heard of Stephen Fry? Is he the narrator of the audiobooks you've been listening to? I heard he is the BEST when it comes to the HP books! Your fur children sure have good taste. :)

LOL. Thanks for that Jenn! According to that definition, I may possibly be the BEST mom there is! My house will be a testament to that very wise statement. ;)

No Valerie, Stephen Fry, who is amazing, narrates the UK version. The US version is narrated by Jim Dale. There is a LOT of Fry vs Dale but I am just enjoying the library version (US). He was the narrator of Pushing Daisies. I would love to hear the SF version but I'll make do with my borrowed copies.

Valerie - the 2nd quarter of the year signalled the rise of Mamie - the 3r has been highlighted by your return to activity. Great thread as always. Wishing you all an illness-free lovely weekend.

Thanks for the info Roberta. I haven't listen to any of the HP books on audio so I wouldn't be able to tell what is good or not, but yes I keep hearing Fry's name pop up in connection with them. I'm glad to hear the US version is suiting your tastes as well. :)

Well, Paul, coming from the man with over 20 threads, I'll take that as the highest compliment possible. Thanks for taking the time to drop my thread when I know keeping up to date on your own is a full time job. ;)

Hi jolerie,

I got so frustrated with some of my series, that I tend to wait for the complete series now.
Best example - George RR Martin - such a naughty author to let us wait for so many many years on the next book. I wonder how long it will take now for the next book to be published :(.

I started Robert Jordan a few years back and finished the first three, after that I got completely bored, I love descriptive books, but I felt they were becoming more and more longwinded.

You did that with Harry Potter?!?!

How did you do that !!! OMG. I am very impressed by your self control. Now mind, I do not own even one HP book myownself, I would very much like to buy the set ... I love those books. My sister bought two of each book the minute they came out ( yes.. midnight) and I read each when she finished. I admit to absolutely loving those weekends when TBS or whatever shows nothing but HP moves all day long :) They are wonderful! I love them.

hmmm wonder what todays marathon will be? lol

I mentioned (I think over on the August Where are you in Fantasyland thread) that I'm planning a re-read of Robert Jordan's 'Wheel of Time' series; but (as I can't get hold of my books, and I want to read my books), I'll probably start around mid-year. Any one else interested in joining?

Bianca (>148 drachenbraut23:) isn't wrong - the Robert Jordan books do get long-winded. I thought about pitching it over more than once, but there was enough that I loved to carry me forward.

Jenn's sign in >143 nittnut: made me think of one of my wife's great sayings to our kids - "The dirtier you are at the end of the day, the better the day has been."

Hi Valerie - just popping in to wish you a lovely weekend and send some sickness be gone mojo your way. I read the first several books in the Wheel of Time series many, many years ago, but then got bogged down by all the characters. I wonder how I would feel about them now if I revisited the first one? Not sure I would ever read the entire series, but I might reread that first book - it was very good.

Bianca, that is probably one of the top reasons by I haven't started his books yet. If he is not done the series, and doesn't plan on finishing it up anytime soon, then you run into the problem of having to reread the books before he publishes the next one. At the size that each of his book runs, that is not an option I want to take. I keep hearing how good it is though, and it's mighty tempting to start, but for now since I have so many other books to occupy my time, I am content to let them sit on my shelf and be eye candy for a bit longer. :)

People usually give me the same reaction as you did, Kath. It's funny, because the eyes are always huge when I say that I didn't read the series until all the books were published and even waited till they were PB! To be honest, in the beginning, I wasn't even actually interested in reading them at all and didn't even understand all the hype. That was back when I was a book snob and considered it beneath me to read a YA book. Boy, have I changed!! Another reason that changed my mind was the fact that my BROTHER who doesn't read, read the entire series in a week! That told me that there was something special about those books.
I do hope you get a copy of them for yourself one day! They definitely a special treasure to have in the home. :)

Hi Nina! I can probably just wait for you and we can read them together. Especially if they can get long-winded, it would be nice to read with someone to keep the motivation up. Jenny (Lunacat) expressed some interest as well. I'm sure there would be some people in the Green Dragon group that would be interested as well.

Joe, how would you compare the RJ books to the Tolkien books? I found the Tolkien books really hard to read actually. Lots and lots of description made it hard to follow the actual story. Are the RJ books the same?

Thanks Mamie. We all seem to be doing really well given the circumstances. My husband is able to shave and the monkey is back to sleeping through the night so we will take it a day at a time.
I think when reading the RJ books, you have to go into it with the mindset that there will be "slow" portions of the books. How else would you keep a series that is already 12 books long going?? Even a TV series that has been on for 12 seasons will have its good and bad years. I for one want to make it a goal to finish the series because it's such a defining series in the genre. :)

#151

I love the idea that the dirtier you are, the better the day is. In that case, I must have some amazing days! At the moment I am sitting here smelling of horse, with creosote splattered up my arms. Definitely dirty, as always.

>153 jolerie: RJ's vs. the Tolkien books? As you probably know, I liked both a lot. My kids question my sanity on the latter - really Dad? Don't you think there was an awful lot of walking? (Close to a direct quote). They love the movies, but think the books too slow-paced.

Hmm. Seems like there are similarities - huge, detailed world created in each. The #1 complaint I hear about RJ is long-winded and "too many characters". He's like a videogame designer who forgets about the main thrust of the game and gets carried away with all the cool side stories he can create. If you're a gamer who loves exploring the world of the game, that can be A-OK. For me, there were a few books, particularly in the range of vols. 6-12, that were crying out for an editor. But who's going to say no to an author of a successful series?

Tolkien - with only 3 volumes (if you ignore the Silmarillion and so on), the problem is much less pronounced. Were there parts where I thought, would you hurry up already? Sure.

Was it worth it in both? To me, yes. For the RJ series, if you read it the way you plan, some of the frustration of keeping track of all the characters is likely to be eased quite a bit. At times you'll want more Rand, or more Matt, or more whomever, but you'll get it, sooner or later.

Hmm, I read The Eye of the World years ago and enjoyed it, then realised how many books there were in the series and got scared that nothing would ever get resolved... and gave up. If there's going to be a group of people reading through the books next year I might join in and see how far I get :-) I've really enjoyed the Brandon Sanderson novels I've read which is hopefully a good sign.

Glad to hear monkey and hubby are slowly getting better and able to sleep and shave again (respectively!).

I have never read any RJ. I will watch and see how it goes.
I struggled with other fantasy for a long time after finishing The Lord of the Rings. Nothing really measured up. Everything seemed like it was trying to be LOTR. I compartmentalize better now than I did when I was 15, I guess. :)

I found The Eye of the World in my local library several decades ago, when it was just a baby. A pretty hefty baby, mind you, when fantasy novels usually went to 250 odd pages, and the longest series were trilogies. At that point, WoT was going to be a trilogy too (you can see the change in pacing and atmosphere from the first books). Ahh, sweet memories. I loved it so much, I went out and bought the books (a rare thing for me in those days)

But then it got to the third book, and we were still going. Then it stretched to 5 books, and then we were promised it would finish with the 7th book .... Well, I knew we were doomed when I read that RJ knew what the ending would be before he started writing. But I really like the writing. I know some people get bored with the skirt twitching and so on, but it's one of those series I wanted to go on for ever whenever I got to the end of a book. Seems like I got my wish!

I should probably read the Robert Jordan series. I, too, had been putting it off because it's so long and unfinished, but then he died. :( I should start reading them now.

Jenn- I was in the same boat as you in regards to LOTR. I loved those books and read each one prior to the films being released and then didn't read fantasy again until I stumbled onto a little tale called A Game of Thrones, which kicked the door open for me, although I still don't read a lot of this genre, just a smattering here and there.

Valerie- Hope you guys are having a good and healthy weekend!

Hi Valerie - Just stopping by to say hi. I had a student who loved the Robert Jordan series; he wrote a glowing review of it. It's quite long, isn't it? I see you just read Sepulchre -- have you read other Kate Mosse books? I liked Labyrinth, her first one, the best.

Jenny, I wonder if Eau De Horses would be a seller?? ;)

Thanks, Joe! That information is definitely very useful. I will always remember the Tolkien books because I distinctly remember thinking, how can someone spend pages and pages on describing just leaves..not even the actual tree, that came later with its own pages and pages of description. .
I do hear that the biggest complaint is that the books are long winded, but given the fact that the series is going to be about 14 books long, you should kinda go into already KNOWING its going to be long. I do worry about the fact that there are characters that I feel invested in that I have to wait a long time before he goes back to them if he is chasing every side story there is possible. Either way, I've all the books set and ready to go and I'm excited!

Hi Heather! Yup, I'm preparing myself for stuff not to get resolved, and the story to lag a bit in places, but I hoping the overall experience will be worth the effort! Hopefully you do join us for the ride! It will be fun to see what everyone's thoughts are as we read together. :)

Jenn, I think it would be hard to find anything that would measure up to Tolkien since he pretty much made that sub genre of fantasy popular. I personally found his books to be a bit difficult, especially The Unfinished Tales and The Simarillion. The Hobbit in my opinion was the easiest read out of all of them. Hope you can follow along with us even if you don't actually read the books. Or we will make sooooo exciting that you will cave and join us at some point. :)

Nina, that's so great. It looks like the RJ books are near and dear to your heart. It will be fun reading alongside you and others as we discover/rediscover his worlds together! If we plan it just right, then we can finish up the series right before Sanderson publishes the last *fingers crossed* book in the series next year, which would be perfect timing! I just bought the last published book in the series, number 13, and my eyes nearly dropping out of my head when I saw it was over 1000 pages......

Rachel, how are you going to find time in your busy schedule to start the series?? You should just wait and join us next year! ;)
I think a lot of people were concerned when RJ died with the series unfinished, but I think Sanderson is going to do a great job with the books, as daunting a task as that would be...

Thanks, Mark! I keep wanting to read the GoT since you guys ALL rave about it here on LT, but with the series not done yet, and who knows when he plans to wrap it up, and the fact that I have SO many other books available, I tell myself I can wait just a bit longer... :)

Hi Beth! Great to see you visiting my neck of the woods. :) I think the series means quite a lot to his loyal readers so I'll be interested to read it and find out for myself.
I actually did read Labyrinth many years ago and LOVED it. I think I gave it a 5 star rating because I couldn't put it down. Sepulchre was good as well, but it didn't hold my attention as much as the first book did! Have you read the last book in the trilogy, The Winter Ghosts?

Well, I meant "now" in sort of relative terms. I own the first 6 or 7 of the series, but they're all at my parent's house because I've never felt the urge to move them. I would have to collect them THEN find time to fit them in my schedule, so I doubt I'd start till next year anyway. :)

Valerie- Funny, I didn't care for Labyrinth. I wasn't impressed by her writing but I know many others were. Never had interest in reading any of her other books. Hey, this happens!

#71 Sepulchre by Kate Mosse
Source: OTS
Genre: Fiction/Historical
Setting: France, Paris, Renne-les-Bains, Carcassonne
Pages: 732
Rating: ★★★★
Notes: mysteries, family secrets, timeslip, supernatural, second in series
Books noted: The Phantom of the Opera (Gaston Leroux), The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown), The Wasteland (T.S. Eliot), Tales of Hoffmann (E. T. A. Hoffmann), Voyage autour de ma chambre (Xavier de Maistre), Rougon-Macquart (Zola), Le Rouge et le Noir (Stendhal), The Subterranean Voyage of Nicholas Klimm (Holberg), Heaven and Hell (Swedenborg), Chiromancy (Robert Fludd), L'Argent (Zola), The Castle of Otranto (Horace Walpole)

Our influence upon the universe is nothing more than a whisper. Its essential character, its qualities of light and dark, were set millennia before man attempted to make his mark upon the landscape. The ghosts of those who have gone before are all around us, absorbed into the pattern, the music of the world, if you like. Pg. 317

The year is 1891. Leonie Vernier and her brother escape the increasing violence brewing in the city of Paris to a quiet, countryside estate owned by their widowed Aunt, Domaine de la Cade. What should have been a relaxing time away from the chaos and political unrest of a bustling metropolitan becomes a perilous unfolding of family secrets, murderous obsession, and supernatural manifestations.
Fast forward to 2007 where an aspiring biographer, Meredith Martin sets out to write a groundbreaking expose on the musical legend, Claude Debussy, but discovers that the mysteries of her heritage may prove to be the more exciting task. The past, the present and the future are linked to a deck of missing tarot cards, an unsigned musical score, and a photograph of a nameless stranger. It is up to Meredith to put the missing pieces together, and perhaps lay to rest a riddle that has haunted her family for generations.

I have never walked the street of Paris, but after reading Sepulchre, the streets, the place, the people are no longer just black and white text on a page. Mosse has done her research and it shows in her historical novels as you are transported both to the past and the present day locations of her books. The book itself is a monster, coming in at over 700 pages long, so time and patience are both a required necessity to see this story to fruition. To appreciate a story weaved by Mosse, one must approach it like any good stew - the journey must be savoured, not slurped in a hasty need to ingest. Be patient, not harried. Be open-minded, not skeptical. Be willing to invest the time in order to reap the benefits of a well thought out, well executed, historical novel of love, passion, and the bonds that unite us under the banner of family.

Haha, I would have been impressed if you did manage to get it all together to read by this year, with your crazy schedule and all, Rachel! ;) Well, hopefully we can get the ball rolling next year and read it together. Should be a lot of fun.

Hey Mark! That's what great about this group. We will like some books and others not so much right? I will say though, I don't think I read her books for her writing. There is nothing that sets her apart from other writers, but more so her focus on the history of a place and the stories of her characters that suck me in. :)

Hope your kiddo doesn't end up sicker. I saw you mention that Caleb was getting the sores on his feet and hands but did I miss an update saying he was better?
Hope you don't catch it!!

All this fantasy talk is actually getting me kind of excited for my first fantasy book, one that you recommended Valerie, Tigana. I'm thinking November/December.

Thumbs up - very good review on Sepulchre - another one of those books which is currently collecting dust on my shelve.

> hello brenzi, Tigana is a beautiful book, and I hope you will enjoy it.

Hi Valerie,
No time for stopping to chat tonight. It is 9pm afterall, and I have a date with my book. Straight to bed it is, Cannery Row is all I have eyes for tonight.
;)

The possibility is there that I might be dragged into, kicking and screaming, the RJ books with ya'll.

I have never read any of Kate Mosse's books, but I may have to change that! Thanks for the review and recommendation of Sepulchre, Valerie.

>165 jolerie:, 172 : Agree with Stasia. Looks like another book bullet for me.

Maybe I should stop reading LT threads and concentrate on clearing my TBR piles, first....

Wow, 4 stars for Sepulchre ! LOL. Goes to show. I actually finished my copy at the dentist a few ears back and promptly gave it to the receptionist. :PPP I can't remember why I disliked it as much as I did.. but I have never read another of her books, since. Funny about books.. we share a love for certain ones, and not others. Good thing, huh? Keeps more authors working :)

Just sticking my head in the door to make sure I'm keeping up - this thread moves fast! Hope your week is off to a great start, Valerie!

Hi Chelle! Thanks for dropping by and checking on us even though I know you are busy with after wedding busyness. I didn't catch anything, which I find strange, even if I'm thankful. The boys are pretty much back to normal. Husband is back at work and the monkey is eating and sleeping like normal. I am a much happy and well rested mother. :)

Bonnie, I am so, so, hoping that you like Tigana! No pressure of course. ;)

Bianca, have you read her first book yet? As I'm quickly realizing, people either like Mosse's book or don't really care much for it. I hope you fall under the care for it if you do give it a chance.

From mom to mom, I completely understand, Megan! I hope you enjoy your much needed rest/down time.

Morphy, we will welcome all takers. Willing and unwilling ones. ;)

Hi, Stasia! I do hope you enjoy it when the time comes for it to emerge from the blackhole. ;)

Isn't that the case for all of us, Nina. All the time we spend on this sight would probably equal a read book or two by the end of the year. But the company is so darn good, we can help but keep coming back for more!

Very true, Kath! It is very important that we don't share the same taste in ALL books otherwise it would be sad for the world of writers and this group would frankly be a bit boring, right? I love the fact that we are completely on the same page with some stories and not on the same planet with others. I would say that the supernatural part of Sepulchre that was a bit hokey, thus the whole you need to be open-minded about it. I was able to look past it and so it turned out to be a pretty good for me. :)

Hi Mamie! Thanks for taking the time to swing by here because I know how fast your thread moves as well. :) Is everything sorted out for your big move??

Pretty much -the movers are booked, the closing times are set, just have to take care of those last few details. I will be breathing a sigh of relief when we are all down there and moved in, that's for sure.

This caught my attention this weekend.
Something to aspire to and work towards.... :)

Oh, I LOVE that!

Amen.

Hi Valerie- I like the poster too! BTW- I'll be starting Behemoth tomorrow. See, the strong influence you have on me? Amazing.
I have not read Kay yet. But don't tell anyone.

Me too, Mamie!

Okay, I'm SO going to be bossy with you again, Mark! You HAVE to read it! I wish I had at least read the first Martin book so I can say with authority that it is just as good! But, still one of my favourite fantasy books of ALL time, so you have to give it a try at some point. :)

Okay, bossy! Are you referring to Game of Thrones? Because, if you are, when you read it, I will read Mr. Kay. Deal?

Well, I guess I can't argue with that. Sounds perfectly reasonable. You've got yourself a deal, Mark! :)

>178 jolerie: omg, I absolutely LOVE that quote.

I love #178 also. What a valuable notion to pass on to our kids.
Glad the boys are through with sores and other yucky stuff!

I started a new fantasy series today - can't remember on whose thread I found it. Struggling mightily from page 1 when vampires and wolves were mentioned along with a heavy Roman and Viking? influence. It was really almost too much for me, all on page 1, but I press on... the Cry of the Icemark is the title. Have you read it?

Okay, deal! Keep in mind, 1Q84 is in October and Team of Rivals is in November and they are both major doorstops. Maybe, December? Later?

Glad you appreciate it, Megan!

Thanks, Lynda! Let's hope we will all stay healthy for a bit here. :)

I haven't heard of that one, Jenn. Although, just based on your description there, it sounds like it would be a bit much for me as well. Hopefully the story grows on you with time?

Haha, we would be crazy Mark if we attempted it this year. I have no intentions of starting a new fantasy series this year, especially one that isn't finished yet! We can plan on it for sometime next year? But, you if you ever feel moved to read Tigana before I get a chance to read GoT, I will not hold that against you. ;)

#72 Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce
Source: Public Library
Genre: YA/Fantasy
Format: TPB
Published: 2010
Setting: Georgia, Atlanta, USA
Pages: 324
Rating: ★★★
Notes: werewolves, fairytales, sisters
Books noted: None



Ever since the murder of their grandmother, Scarlett and Rosie, sisters, began a mission of hunting down Fenris, otherwise more commonly known as werewolves. One sister is beautiful, while the other is marred and scarred by a battle that has left her physically intact, but emotionally fragmented. A fellow friend, a young man from a family of woodsman, joins them in their crusade against the soulless creatures who feed off the fears of young women. Their pact binds them together, but a budding love may eventually be what tears them apart, forever.

A modern twist on the Little Red Riding Hood fairytale, Pearce offers a more contemporary and gritty version of this beloved story. The premise and interpretation was interesting, but the plot was very predictable. I usually don't try to "figure" out the story before it actually unfolds, but this one was so obvious and the clues so blatant that you'd be blind not to see it coming. That aside, if you don't mind the simplicity of the plot, it could be an enjoyable storybook experience. Recommended with reservations.

On the book front...

As if my shelf designated for library books isn't groaning as we speak, I came home with a few more new titles ...



Unearthly by Cynthia Hand (Unearthly Series Book #1)
Undercurrent by Tricia Rayburn (Siren Series Book #2)
The Inferior by Peadar O'Guilin (The Bone World Trilogy Book #1)
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

The following books have found a permanent home on my TBR mountain all thanks to points!



Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordon/Brandon Sanderson (Wheel of Time Series Book #13)
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman/Terry Pratchett
The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card (Mither Mages Series Book #1)
Flood by Stephen Baxter (Flood Series Book #1)
The Long Walk by Stephen King

Valerie, I'm well over 100 posts behind, so this will be a cursory "catch-up."
And I love Post #178.

Good morning Valerie :),

I read Labyrinth a few years back, and remember that I enjoyed that one very much, so hopefully I will enjoy this one as well. And again some interesting books up there, I have been looking at Unearthly and The Inferior so I am curious what you think about them.

> nittnut - you found The Icemark Chronicles on my thread AND I did say that you meet a variety of cultures and creatures - such as something akin to Romans and Vikings, and a mix of creatures such a werewolfes, vampires, ghouls, Trolls, ghosts and lots more. Don't give up it's a beautiful woven story. :)

Valerie, thanks for visiting my thread. I'm nearly finished Our Daily Bread by Lauren B. Davis. It is dark, but not too dark -an excellent read! I'm just about 25 -30 pages from the end. You know, I got it from my local library. I had looked at it several times and thought that it might be " too dark" but it's not. It's excellent!

I'll write more about it when I'm finished. :)

The Long Walk is a horrific tale but one of my favorite King short stories.

Valerie- Early next year sounds fine! We'll have to remind each other. Have a good day.

So many good looking books here ! Dangerous ground.

Oooh, The Long Walk.
*shudders*
Very well-written, but it made me put King aside for awhile, because it really shook me up at the end.

Hi Valerie -- catching up here. I LOVED your review of Sepulchre. Good stuff!

Hi Ellen! Glad to have you here. Catching up or not is never a requirement with my thread. I just enjoy the good company when they have the chance to stop by. :)

Ahh, thanks for the clarification, Bianca. So many threads, so many books, it's so hard to keep track where we are getting our recommendations from! I was surprised at how many good and new books there were at my library this time around. It seems like every couple of weeks, they infuse some newer books into the selection. If it weren't for LT and the variety of books people read around here, I wouldn't recognize half the titles. My library experience has been tremendously enhanced by all the fine folks here on LT. :)

Hi Deb! When I first saw the cover, I thought it was creepy as well, but reading the summary of the book totally perked my interest. I added to my WL just based on that alone, but I probably won't actually pick up the book anytime soon unless I see a great deal at the bookstores!

I'm looking forward to reading The Long Walk, Morphy. Maybe in October as hopefully I can squeeze in a bunch of creepy/scary/thriller type books for the month. I have a bunch of King's books on my shelves, but shamefully I haven't read a single one of his books yet!

Have a great day yourself, Mark!

Kath, LT is one of the few places I know of where dangerous is actually a compliment. :) I like seeing all the covers as well, even if I don't have the time to read them as fast as I would like. Just staring is quite satisfying in itself.

Sounds like a perfect read for October to me, Amber! I will probably start with TLW since it's one of the shorter King's books that I own.

Thanks, Anne! It's always nice to have you visit. :)

Hi, Valerie! I love posts #143 and #178!

Sepulchre sounds interesting! Great review!

Agreed - LT is a wonderful place, and as I recently found out especially this "fine" group - only set back my wishlist is growing on a daily basis :). I think I have to take an enhanced training in "speed reading" and have to acquire the appropriate ability to retain and process all the information. *Sigh*

Just stopping by to say hi, Valerie, and hope everyone is healthy again.

Waving at Valerie!!!

Hi Valerie- I'm enjoying Behemoth! But you knew that already, didn't you?

Thanks, Terri!

Haha, we all complain about our ever growing WL, Bianca, but the truth of the matter is that we ALL love it!

Thanks for dropping by, Roni!

*Big waves* to Katie!

Of course I did, Mark. I wouldn't be hounding you to read the book if I thought it was crap. I am ever so considerate about your I only read awesome books reputation. Wouldn't want to be the source of any tarnish on that good name! ;)

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

It's ridiculous the things we celebrate as parents. Ahhh, the adventures of potty training has hit the Choi household full force! The hubby and I just spent half an hour jumping around, dancing, and high fiving each other and the little monkey because he just did his SECOND NUMBER 1 on the toilet!! I am one happy and super proud momma! :D

Hooray! Potty-training milestones are a big deal! I thought potty training Callia would kill me. You should be super proud!!

Hello Valerie!

Hi Valerie, I noticed Beauty Queens in amongst your library books. I really enjoyed that book when I read it, it's silly and light, but if you are in the right mood when reading it, you will laugh out loud.

Congratulatons on the successful toilet training.

*grin* well done on the potty-training. I remember I was horrified and so worried, because I heard quite a few negative reports from other parents - and than it just turned out to be fine.

#205 Woo hoo on the potty traiing!

Yay for the beginning of potty training. Wishing you much luck and few accidents :)

Yes, this is a crap-book free-zone! I'm glad you are honoring that. LOL. Have a great day.

Oh, those early potty successes are so exciting! Good luck to THe Monkey on the potty-training path!

>205 jolerie:: Oh, that! We're still working on dry nights (which, oddly enough, my eldest managed by himself before he was 3. And before I got up the courage to start potty training him). I think it's easier training for 2s than for 1s. Congratulations! Hope the success continues.

Thanks for dropping by Anne, Roberta, Judy, Bianca, Heather, Jenny, Mark, Amber and Nina, and thanks for celebrating with this silly mom. I know it's way to premature too throw the confetti and call it a day since it's only the second time he's actually peed on the toilet. We have been putting him on the toilet before bath for at least a month now. Usually he will sit there and swing his legs and do nothing. It didn't matter if it was 5 or 15 minutes. Like magic, he would always go do his business the minute we turned the water on and placed him in the tub. Then the first time he went, it took him 20 minutes, but boy did we make a party out of that occasion and then this second time, he went within 5 minutes. I know it will be a long journey and for now we are elated with his once a day potty time. :)
For moms out there with experience, is it true that training girls is easier than boys??

No, that is NOT true!! I am speaking only from my own personal experience, of course. We have three girls and one boy, and the boy was a cake walk - with the girls, I thought we might never see the day. And our oldest was totally put out that she could not pee standing up, like boys can. I did learn from the hubster, and it was stated in very clear terms in a horror filled voice, not to ever EVER call his...um...weed whacker...his little guy!!

Good luck with your mission - I say that every small step is worth celebrating as it means you're that much closer to your goal! SO congrats!

I only have girls, but I wouldn't say so. Callia was well over three (she'll be so thrilled I'm sharing this) and very resistant. Marina resisted also, until at about age 2 1/2 she just pretty much trained herself.

A favorite family story is about the day my mom was going to train my younger brother. Yes, the day -- she had read a book called Potty-Train Your Child in Just One Day or something like that and had a friend who swore by it (after this fateful day my mom swore at it). She sent me off to a museum with my father, as you're supposed to have the whole day alone with your child. You use a doll that feeds and wets for a demonstration, you have plenty of treats to reward your child, and your child is supposed to drink -- a lot. Unfortunately, the only doll we had that performed this function was a bath toy, and the "path," so to speak, was just a tube, or a straight shot from drinking to wetting. Since this wouldn't quite do, my mom thought she would delay the wetting part by using waterproof band-aids on the doll. She spent a lovely morning with my brother, the three of them (my mom, my brother, and the doll) drinking lots of juice, until they felt that perhaps it was time for the doll, and definitely my brother, to use the toilet. The went into the bathroom, my mother removed the band-aids, and... nothing happened. She waited... nothing. She shook the doll (it was at this point that my brother became very concerned about this whole potty-training thing), and nothing. Finally, she squeezed the doll, and the water the doll had consumed went shooting out of the roots of her hair! My brother decided this potty-training thing was NOT for him, and my mother agreed, and shelved the whole project. He has a PhD now, though, so he turned out all right :)

I LOVE that story!!! Too funny!

>217 AMQS:: Ohmygosh, I just startled the dog, I laughed so hard at that story!

Valerie: You are definitely NOT silly for celebrating - just getting them to do it for the first couple of times is a huge milestone!

That's very interesting, Mamie! I wonder why I kept hearing that were harder to train than girls?? I can definitely see how as a girl you would cry foul that your sibling has the luxury of standing up while you HAVE to sit down. Although, right now with Caleb we are starting with sitting down because we tried standing up on a stool and he is probably too short, but there was no way anything was going to land in the toilet....

Anne, that is way too funny! Your story just made my day...haha! I can't imagine how shocking and horrifying that must be to a child to think that potty training involved water coming out of your head?!?! :) Glad to hear that despite the rocky start, your brother did eventually learn and a PH.D later on in life definitely gives me some hope. ;)

Thanks so much for the affirmation, Amber. It's so comforting to know that I am not alone in the journey!

#217

Hehehe! For all you know, he's needed hours of therapy time in order to get over the trauma. And hours more to get over your mum telling everyone ;)

# 217 LOL

Alex virtually trained himself also. Once he showed interest in going to the toilett and was able to say I need a "wee", I got him a potty and a toilett seat. Eventually, he never used the potty - aside from using it as a helmet, but started quite quickly using the toilett itself. However, I think potty training is such a mile stone in your childs development, you just can't do anything else than being thrilled. :)

>217 AMQS: excellent! LOL (there goes my hot drink back down my throat)

toilet training for us worked well, because we didnt do it. Just waited and kept asking him if he wanted to use the toilet. When he wanted to he wanted to and to went from there!

Good for you as it does spell the end of stinky nappies ;)

Just a drive by wave this time... hope all is well.

congrats on the potty training success! Hope the rest of the process goes smoothly for you!

Valerie - I remember the travails of Amber with Charlie until early this year and smile at my own issues with my three terrors. The monkey seems to be very quick in this regard. Well done!

Yup, Jenny, the things we share about our kids online! I'm totally taking advantage of the fact that Caleb doesn't have a say right now and fingers crossed there won't be any evidence of this by the time he is able to read for himself. ;)

Bianca, I didn't want to go with the training potty because the thought of having to clean that out kind of grosses me out! Haha, use as a helmet? That is funny, but also slightly disgusting at the same time (even if it's been thoroughly cleaned). I'd much rather him learn to use the actual toilet so then you don't have to train all over again when it's time to transition to the real thing.

That's a great way to go at it, Megan. I secretly have this totally illogical fear that my child is going to end up going to high school in diapers because he was never "trained", but that's just ridiculous right?? Haha, I'm hoping to approach this with minimal stress, so the process will be longer, but I'm more than okay with that!

Thanks for the visit, Kath!

Thanks, Chelle! Although, I wouldn't call it success yet, since there is still a long road ahead of us, but it definitely is an encouraging and exiting start!

Paul, you and all the parents out there with kids who aren't still wearing diapers gives me so much hope! :)

*giggle* it WAS always a clean potty, as he never used it as a toilett - Otherwise *yack and heave up in the corner*. He thought it was much more cool to go on the "big" toilett.

Good thing, Bianca! The nice thing about the potty was that you don't need to help the little one up and down or need to use a stool, but I rather do that than clean a dirty potty!

#73 The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson
Source: OTS
Genre: Fiction
Format: MMP
Published: Original 2006, Translation 2009
Setting: Stockholm, Sweden
Pages: 724
Rating: ★★★
Notes: crime, murder, sex trafficking, second in series
Books noted: Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)

There are no innocents. There are, however, different degrees of responsibility. Page 462

Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist are once again thrown together, whether they want to or not. Salander is the focus of a triple murder investigation and Blomkvist is convinced of her innocence even though all circumstantial evidence points towards the petite statured , tattooed covered, ass-kicking femme fatale. Buried family secrets are revealed and the exposure of a large scaled sex trafficking operation becomes the backdrop in this second book of the Millennium trilogy.

I was a bit disappointed with this second instalment in the Larsson series. The big "reveal" took almost 700 hundred pages to happen and that for me is just too long to drag anything out. And when the big cat was let out of the bag, so to speak, I wasn't all that impressed by it. Regardless, I will be continuing on to finish the series, because I do want to find out what happens with Salander, because she is an intriguing character, and plus, I'm over 1400 pages invested into this series. It would seem a shame to just abandon it now.

As for the potty training thing - I only had two boys - but I'd say our first more or less trained himself at the of 26 months!!! Yes! Dry nights and all! Nothing to it! We put him on his potty a few times and read him Mr Rogers book about potty training -and that was it. As for the dry nights, I got our eldest up one morning and his diaper was dry! He was just 25 months. So I phoned my mom and said what should I do? She said - take him out of diapers and put him into underpants and get him on the toilet first thing in the morning. That was all there was to it. Our second son was about the same age. Easy peasy!!!!!! And also very lucky for we parents.

Big congrats on the monkey's success!

As for The Girl That Played with Fire - would you believe that I never read any one of them? They just seemed so long and convoluted. Instead hubby and I went and saw the Swedish Version of the movies, with English subtitles. The movies made me aware of " Scandicrime" and we enjoyed the movies, so it was well worth it.

Hi Valerie, and congrats on some early successes with potty training. I don't recall any particular trouble training my two boys and one girl, but my daughter was a bed wetter for several years. Now that was no fun at all.

Sorry about your disappointment in the Larsson book. I rather enjoyed the series, both books and films. I remember my youngest son being a big Robert Jordan fan as a young teen. I'll have to remind him that there are more books in the series that he hasn't read.

Hope everyone at your house has a happy, healthy week end!

Deb, you give me lots of hope! Although, I really don't think my guy will be fully trained by 26 months. He still loves his milk so he takes it from a cup right before bed and of course that means when he wakes up, he does so with a rather full diaper. I don't foresee us being able to go diaper free for awhile yet, but it's nice to have something to look forward to. :)
Wow, see, after reading the first book, I knew I couldn't watch the movie. The amount of violence is beyond my limit in terms of movie watching. Book-wise, I can handle a lot more graphic content, but not when it comes to actually watching something.

Hi Donna! Each child is so different, right? Yes bed wetting doesn't sound like a nice thing to wake up to, but I guess it's all part of the love we have for our kids!
I enjoyed the book enough, but I think it was the whole dragging out the "whole evil event" part that got to me after awhile. They hint at it every so often, but don't explain it till the very end and by then, I don't think any explanation would have satisfied me... :/
I hope you and yours have a fantastic weekend as well!

>230 jolerie: I didn't find these books to be very amazing in terms of mystery/suspense, but I found their description of the social justice system fascinating. That's really the only reason I liked these books as much as I did. Otherwise, I would have been turned off by the rape.

Rachel, the rape scene in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo scarred me I think. I went into it totally unprepared for something so violent and graphic. That is probably why I've stayed from the genre for so long because that kind of subject matter just doesn't sit well with me. I too am intrigued by the whole social justice aspect of the books and that is partly why I'll finish the series, but the sexual content is a bit much for my stomach at times. Sex I am more than okay with. Rape, well that is just whole other matter. I was nervous when I started The Girl Who Played With Fire, especially since it dealt with subject of sex trafficking, but was much relieved that there wan't anything in this book that made me want to put the book down.

Rape, well that is just whole other matter

yeah.. with you there. I didn't read any of those... they didn't call out to me so?

I started The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo when it first came out, and in the end I abandoned it. I just couldn't get into it, also I do enjoy some crime/thriller stories.

*Wave* at Valerie. Wish you and your family a lovely weekend as well.

They didn't call out to me either at first, Kath! I don't usually like crime fiction, but of course after several friends raved about it, I caved. Minus the violence, I actually enjoyed the books.

Bianca, the ending of the first book seriously disturbed me for the longest time. The second book just didn't have the same effect. I hope you have an excellent weekend as well! I'm counting down the hours till the hubby comes home. :)

I wasnt into the first in the series Valerie.

LOL at your imaginings of little Monkey in nappies in high school. Irrational fears are part of motherhood!? I have many too ;)

Haha, Megan, the world (my husband included) may think that I'm irrational, but I say, what are YOU going to do when your son is going off to college still wearing diapers, drinking from a bottle, and requiring you to swaddle him to sleep every night huh??? Who's going to panic then?? Although, I guess I can relax a bit since the bottle part has been weaned... ;)

Congratulations on getting started with potty training Valerie. At least that's how it was for me with my two---a process. And not a particularly fast one. I remember when I was getting frustrated with my son someone told me, "Relax, I've never heard of anyone going to college in diapers."

Hahaha Valeire never mind the kids being out of diapers I am happy enough not to be in them myself! Have a lovely weekend.

Hi Valerie, I loved The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo but I haven't had the urge to pick up the next book, I have it on my shelves so I am sure one day I will reach for it.

Have a gread weekend.

Valerie- I liked your thoughts The Girl Who Played With Fire. I liked it a little more than you but I agree that it's not as strong as the 1st. You'll probably feel the same way about the 3rd. I'm so glad you are considering joining us on 1Q84. Yahoo!

High fives to the Choi family for a successful potty training moment! I think it was Tori Spelling who said she placed cheerios in the training potty and told her son to shoot for the bullseyes.
Seems like a good idea, sadly my son was past that stage when I read her tip :0}

Valerie, I must admit that both my husband and I were shocked by some of the rather graphic depictions in The Girl Who Played with Fire. I had talked my husband into going -and both he and I were shocked. It did settle down and a few times I had to look away. But, overalll I enjoyed the movies, if that is the right word.

Finally got my review done for Our Daily Bread , if you are still interested. One of the things that I did not address in my review was that part of what put me off reading the book was - well, yes it is dark , but perhaps more than that, I wondered if it would offend me on a Christian level, as it shows a so called " God Fearing" town by the name of Gideon in a less than flattering light. But after reading it, I don't think it was an offensive book in that way at all.

Bonnie, you've just confirmed my worst fears. Well I guess not really...you've confirmed that OTHER moms share my worst fears. ;) Yup, I'm definitely approaching it as a process and not an overnight, you must master this kind of deal! That way I think I'll be able to enjoy the little "milestones" instead of fretting about when we will reach the destination.

Paul, I'm sure SWMBO will definitely agree with you on that one! But, you know what they say...life is a lot of full circle moments. It's just a matter of time. ;)

Hi Judy! The stories don't really overlap so leaving a lot of time in between the books doesn't really matter. If it weren't for September S&S, I probably wouldn't have gotten around to it anytime soon either.

Hey Mark! Yup, I have one ER book that I want to read this month and then I might start 1Q84 just so I don't end up spending ALL of October on that one. I'm glad to be reading with other people because it's such a monster of a book and it will be my first Murakami so that's exciting!

Thanks Lynda! Haha, I heard that somewhere as well, but I didn't realize she used that trick as well. I have friends say they tried and it and it works well until their kid decided trying to fish the cheerios out of the toilet with their hands was equally fun. I'm choosing to bypass that little tip for the time being. :)

Hi Deb! Yeah, I know that if I watched that movie, too many unwanted images will be permanently seared into my brain. Actually, there are SO many movies that I want to watch, but can't because there is something or other that I know I wouldn't be able to tolerate in it. Books, I have such a high tolerance of things I can read, but movies are the complete opposite.
I'll definitely swing by your thread later to check out your review!

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

If I haven't said it before, I have pretty much the MOST AWESOME husband ever. I know he doesn't "get" my need to buy every book out there and I know I'm a few books away from him calling the show, Hoarders, but here is how I know he loves me despite it all....
We went to IKEA yesterday because they had some bookshelves that were cheap. We drive a Toyota Corolla so it's not a huge car to begin with so we had to switch Caleb's carseat and then flip down half the backseat. (1st sign of ♥). Then we purchase 2 bookshelves while dealing with the 2 year old who was melting down for no apparent reason. I took Caleb out to the car so he could calm down while the hubby went to pay for the shelves. Then we come home and he gives Caleb a bath and then puts him down for bed (2nd sign of ♥). The rest of the evening was spent, pulling all 800 books off my shelves (3rd sign of ♥), piling them in alphabetical groups (4th sign of ♥), assembling 2 bookcases (5th & 6th sign of ♥), then re-shelving about half my books on the bookcases. It was close to 2 before we got to bed. This is how he chose to spend his Friday night after a long week at work! (Ultimate sign of ♥) Only about half my books left to organize and then ALL my books will now have some semblance of organization and order. I'm so tired, but oh so giddy. A husband that is willing to share in my madness is absolutely a blessing and I'm am so, so, so, thankful for him!! :D

Your husband definitely sounds like a keeper! I am similarly blessed with an understanding (and enabling) husband :)

Have a great weekend, Valerie!

Valerie - Agree with Katie that your hubster is a keeper! Liked reading your thoughts on The Girl Who Played With Fire, although I liked it much more than you did. You're so right about the big build up and then the less than wow reveal. I never finished the third one though, and now I will have to read at least the second book again when I am ready to tackle the third because I have heard they really should be read closely together.

Hope your weekend is full of fabulous fun!

You certainly found a good one there. I'd love to meet and fall in love with someone like that!

Does he have a lovely brother or cousin? :)

I agree that your hubby is a keeper, Valerie. I'm lucky in that department as well, my DH supports and even encourages me to read and buy books. Now if I can just talk him into more bookshelves ...

He sounds wonderful Valerie! It's great that you have such a supportive husband. :)

Sounds like your DH is a real "keeper"! And congrats on the new shelves! Always a reason to celebrate.

Aww, your husband is a total sweetie, Valerie. I'm sure you're enjoying all of that book organization. Any chance of pics when you're all set up? We all love us some book porn.

*waving* at Valerie

WOW! What an amazing partner! Hang on to him!

Yep... he's a keeper alright. Always good to reorganize, but better when you have help, I would think :)
Well done!

Isn't it great Katie? The fact that he doesn't share my love, but is still willing to go along with everything just makes it doubly special. :)

Thanks, Mamie! I plan on reading the third book sooner rather than later so that at least it is another completed series I can check off my list...woohoo!

Jenny, they are definitely out there! Right timing, right place, I'm sure you won't settle for anything less than the best!

Haha, that's funny, Bianca! He does have two older brothers and both happily married. Although I will say that ALL the Choi boys are the same in the way they love and take care of their families. Their parents sure raised them well, and we, the Choi ladies are definitely reaping the benefits. :)

Hi, Judy! I do remember either this year or last year that your hubby also bought you a bookcase or two for a special occasion. These supportive book buying/reading spouses are just the best!

Rachel, it sure eases the guilt a whole lot when I walk out of a store loaded with books knowing that my hubby will give me a jab or two, but all in good jest. :)

Thanks, Mark! I think my husband is secretly glad I spend all my money on books instead of shoes and clothing. Now imagine if I was hoarding books on top of the clothing...yikes! I just think, hey I can spend 40 bucks on a pair of jeans, OR, I can buy at least 3 books...hmm...the choice is pretty easy for me. :)

He is definitely sweet, Micky! I am going to take pictures of all my books after I organize it due to my irrational fear of house fires and that whole insurance deal, so perhaps we may see some book porn at some point in the near future. ;)

*Big Wave* to Stasia! Hope school isn't keeping you too busy yet!

Linda, I'm hanging for life! :)

Very true, Kath! After 5 years of marriage, I still want to spend as much time as I can with him. We try to do most things together or if we are doing different things, we still like to be next to each other. He is truly my best friend in so many ways!

What a great Friday evening! New bookcases and reorganized books--reasons to cheer! Good hubby!

Roni, it was definitely my idea of a great day. My husband probably wouldn't agree as enthusiastically, but such is love. :)

Wow, that hubby sure shows you much ♥! Definitely a keeper. I lucked out and have one of those too.

And I'm impatiently waiting to see some book porn! Boooooooook poooooooorn!

Oh, wow. What a great guy you've got! We few, we lucky few, who have husbands who allow our book madness to thrive...